Disability Discrimination & OSHA Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disability Discrimination & OSHA Laws - Essay Example This would create an undue hardship for the Postal Service. The Postal Service could also claim that Davis is not qualified for the clerk position. Since she is deaf, Davis cannot answer the phone. That is a major requirement of the job. Under the American Disabilities Act, a disabled American must be qualified for the desired position. In the case of Halsey, as defined before by the American Disabilities Act, he is also disabled. The question becomes how disabled is Halsey? He could fail the vision test for a driver’s license, but still see well enough to service vending machines. Coca-Cola Bottling Company hired him as a vending machine serviceperson. Since they hired him, one assumes he was qualified for the job. The issue then becomes if it would be an undue hardship for Coca-Cola to accommodate Halsey. Coca-Cola is a large corporation, with almost unlimited resources. It would not be an undue hardship to provide transportation for Halsey, or even elect to have Halsey to service the vending machines other employees bring back to the Coca-Cola plant. An accommodation could be reached between the two parties. In the case of Whirlpool, Whirlpool knows of the hazardous condition caused by the conveyor belt above the employees’ work station. The wire mesh guard screen was placed to safeguard employees. The company policy is for the employees cleaning the mesh to stand on the wire frames. Not all of the items can be reached by standing on the wire frames, forcing the employees to stand on the wire mesh. Keller has a few options. Keller can stop doing a job he feels is dangerous. He can stop retrieving objects out of reach of the wire frame, due to the dangerous situation. If Whirlpool knows the job cannot be preformed without going on the wire mesh, other safety measures should be put into place. If Whirlpool demands Keller to do the job or else, Keller can call OSHA and become a whistleblower.

Research Preliminaries Essay Example for Free

Research Preliminaries Essay This course is a brief overview about research design that is intended to cover the basics of designing and implementing a scientific study. Although this course will address every step of the research process, it is by no means exhaustive and is no substitute for a college level course in research methodology, nor is it a substitute for an experienced research advisor. Choosing a Topic For a researcher to choose a topic for a project, it is important to consider a broad area of inquiry and interest. This may be as broad as â€Å"global eye health† or â€Å"personality psychology,† but it should be an area that is of interest to the researcher. However, a broad area is useful only at the beginning of a research plan. Within a broader topic of inquiry, each researcher must begin narrowing the field into a few subtopics that are of greater specificity and detail. For example, a researcher may be interested in â€Å"global eye health,† but could focus more specifically on â€Å"proper eye care and how it affects individuals.† Although this topic is still too broad for a research project, it is more focused and can be further specified into a coherent project. Literature Review The literature review should be conducted early in the research process, directly after you choose a topic. A literature review can bring clarity and focus to your research problem and broaden your knowledge base in your research area. The literature review is crucial because an important responsibility in research is to add to a body of knowledge and to compare your findings with others. The procedure is simple: search the literature in your area of interest, review the selected studies, and develop a theoretical framework for your own study \What makes a good research question? Not all research questions are good ones—in other words, not all questions can be answered through qualitative and quantitative research methodology. A good research question needs to: 1. â€Å"Make sense†: In other words, you must clearly define your terms using known definitions outlined in the literature. For example, a poor research question would be: How do people’s lives improve after surgery? Not only does this research question fail to specify the study population, it contains the vague term â€Å"improve†. The researcher must specify what he/she means by this term—does it involve a physical improvement or rather an improvement in mental state? The more specific your research question, the better. 2. Address an important and relevant issue: Scientific research is done to increase knowledge, not simply for a single researcher’s personal satisfaction. Whatever question the researcher sets out to solve must have some beneficial implications. A good research question will also always have relevance to the time, place, and population of the study. Not already have been done: A good research study will be novel. This means that there will be some new aspect of the study that has never before been examined. In fact, not only is replication a good way to get a research methodology, it is how science is supposed to advance knowledge. When replicating a pervious study, it is best to add or change one or two things to increase the novelty of the research. 3. Be â€Å"operationalizable†: Oftentimes, beginning researchers pose questions that cannot be operationalized, or assessed methodologically with research instruments. From the example above, the idea of life improvement could be operationalized by a Quality of Life survey—a well known and validated research tool. In general, the more abstract the idea, the harder it is to operationalize. 4. Be within a reasonable scope: A good research project will be manageable in depth and breadth. The scope will depend on the amount of time and the availability of resources you have for your study. In general, the more focused the research question the more likely it will be a successful project. For example, a study that seeks to identify the prevalence eye disease in a specific village is more likely to succeed than a comparable study that seeks to identify eye disease prevalence in the world population. Qualitative and Quantitative Studies Not all research projects require study measures. Some research simply involves observing the results of events in the field and drawing conclusions based on a theoretical framework. Others may involve analyzing data from clinics or other institutions, using statistics and reasoning to find patterns that may have important implications. However, many projects involve direct contact with participants, using an operationalized definition of a phenomenon. These projects require well-designed measures in order to be considered valid. There are two broad categories of research: quantitative and qualitative. A study is classified as qualitative if the purpose is primarily to describe a situation, phenomenon, problem or event; the information is gathered through the use of variables or measured on qualitative measurement scales, and if analysis is done to establish the variation in the situation or problem without quantifying it. Qualitative studies tend to be more â€Å"in-depth†, focusing on a smaller population but probing deeper into a given problem. This research is often associated with focus groups, interviews or surveys and seeks to answer open-ended questions. Thematic and content analysis are two methods used to analyze qualitative data. Disciplines such as anthropology, history, and sociology are more inclined towards a qualitative approach. On the other hand, quantitative studies often use standardized measures, numerical values, have larger sample sizes, and analyze data using statistical programs. A study is classified as quantitative if the researcher seeks to quantify the variation in a phenomenon and if information is gathered using quantitative variables. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, and advantages and disadvantages. Disciplines such as epidemiology, economics and public health are more inclined towards quantitative research. Hypothesis A hypothesis is a suggested explanation for an observed relationship or a causal prediction about a relationship among several variables. Every research project is based on a hypothesis, which generally begins with a specific question. A hypothesis takes the operationalized definition of the factors to produce a clear prediction of the causal relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable in the statement. The independent variable is a factor that the researcher can control or manipulate (whether or not a person receives basic eye care services), and a dependent variable is a factor that the researcher cannot manipulate, but instead varies in relation to the independent variable (the economic productivity of the individual). For example, a hypothesis might be â€Å"We predict that if nearsighted participants are provided with corrective lenses that bring their vision to 20/20, they will earn more money per week on average over the course of three months than nearsighted participants who did not receive corrective lenses.† When formulating a hypothesis, it is important not to try to â€Å"prove† that the hypothesis is true. Instead, one should seek to find evidence that it is not true.

The Womens Room Experience Essay -- Personal Narrative Essays

I slid down off of my barstool and picked my way across the room. Luckily, the women’s restroom wasn’t too far because it was a crowded night at the bar. I opened the large wooden door and was surprised to see that even though there appeared to be another girl waiting, one of the two stalls empty. Before I even had a chance to let my eyes adjust to the lighting change, the other girl said, in that just-a-little-too-loud drunken voice, â€Å"There’s no toilet paper in that one!† I hadn’t yet made any attempt to enter the stall and she was making sure I didn’t. She then took it upon her self to make sure that we acquired some of the precious paper as soon as humanly possible. She did this by leaning in towards the door of the other stall (which was occupied) and demanding, in the same slightly-too-loud voice, â€Å"Help us out and give us some toilet paper, will ya?† There was no answer from the other side of the stall door so she continued to make her demands. The girl on the outside of the stall gave more warnings to others that stumbled into this semi-chaotic restroom. Still no response from inside the stall. I was half tempted to launch into the Seinfeld â€Å"Spare a Square† tirade (in which Elaine gets into a fight with a woman in a neighboring stall who refuses to pass her some toilet paper), since it seemed fitting in such a situation. But I held off, doubting that either girl would understand the joke. Fortunately, I didn’t have to ponder what to do for too much longer because, just then, the door to the occupied stall swung open and a strikingly tall, slim girl stepped out, still zipping her pants. â€Å"There, have as much as you like!† she said, as a form of greeting, in the same intoxicated voice. She was... ...ng co-eds in the bathrooms of fraternity houses (technically not â€Å"ladies rooms,† they are usually populated with a female majority during large parties) and discussed everything from hairstyles to events on the nightly news with women while waiting in line use a bar bathroom. One would think that somewhere where such a â€Å"private† act takes place would not be considered so freeing. However, Good Housekeeping was right on the mark in its comment on the importance of the ladies room. The ladies room is a place where traditional social norms loose their importance and, as strange as it may seem, new honesty emerges. Now, I don’t have first hand knowledge of the typical men’s room experience, but I have been told it is far from similar to its female counterpart. It’s too bad really, imagine what sort of peace agreements could be made if they were held in the loo.

tweak settings :: essays research papers

CDI2Nero 0.9 beta7 - (C) 2001 by DeXT http://cdirip.cjb.net *** WARNING! This is beta software. It has not been fully tested and may *** contain bugs. Use it at you own risk. *** This tool must not be used to duplicate copyright-protected content. *** The author will not be responsible for its improper usage. Purpose ------- This little tool will convert a CDI (DiscJuggler) image to NRG (Nero) format. Both CDI 2.0 and 3.0 image versions are supported. It currently has support for: - CD-ROM/XA type CDs - Mode 2 and Audio tracks - Single session and Multisession images It lacks support for: - Audio-only CDs (TAO only) - Mode 1 data tracks These will be added soon. Usage ----- Usage is very simple, just double-clic the executable file and an Open File dialog will appear, select your source CDI image to convert and press OK. A Save File dialog will then appear on the same path as source image. Write the desired name for the destination NRG image (you don't need to write any extension) and press OK. Default name is "image.nrg". You can also use it from command-line. Syntax is: cdi2nero image.cdi [image.nrg] For command-line usage, if you don't specify a destination filename, the source image filename will be used but with NRG extension. Burning ------- Once converted you can burn the newly created image. If a DAO warning message appears, you should select Yes (although this depends on burner, I think). This will only appear on Multisession images. Notes ----- This is a unified DAO/TAO version, unlike previous ones, where you can select NRG image type when saving. DAO images are most standard ones, and is the only format that Nero itself is able to generate. TAO images are special ones, which lacks a cuesheet, and track positions are managed by the burner itself. Nero is not capable of generating these. On most burners, these images will be burned in "Track at Once" mode (hence the name) instead of default DAO. A general note is to burn in DAO (default) mode and if something fails, try TAO instead. But note that if your burner doesn't support "short" tracks (i.e. those below 302 sectors) you still will get errors when trying to burn such images. These errors are usually "cannot write track at correct position", or seeing CD-Extra discs as Audio-only (i.e. no data track). Below is a list of tested burners, reported by users, which get successful or failed in burning process: Success: Acer CRW 6206A BTC BCE-432IE Gateway 8x4x32 HP CD-Writer 7100i HP CD-Writer 7200e HP CD-Writer 8100i HP CD-Writer 9310i Iomega Zip CD 650 Iomega Zip CD USB (DAO only) Memorex CRW-1622 (DAO only) Mitsumi 4801TE OTI-975 Socrates Philips CDD3610 Philips CDD3801 Philips CDD4201 Philips PCRW404K Teac CD-R56S

College Entrance Essay Essay

Over the past few years I have increasingly become confident that a career in psychology is the right path for me. I am by nature a very caring, helping person, a good listener and someone who enjoys being able to connect with others. My friends and family see me as the kind of person they can go to when they need to talk about their problems, and they know that I am someone that they can trust. To me, there is nothing more fulfilling than the feeling of reaching out and connecting with an individual, and being able to offer them support. Both my parents were clinical psychologists, and undoubtedly this influenced my desire to become a psychologist. They exposed me at an early age to psychological ideas and the practice of psychotherapy. I could see the passion they brought to their profession, and the satisfaction they experienced by helping others. I believe also that my mother’s death when I was ten helped influence my interest in psychology. My mother’s death was a traumatic event for me and my family, and when she passed away I had to help emotionally support my younger brothers. Our subsequent participation in family therapy showed me how important it is to talk about feelings and problems, and how families can heal and move on from even the most traumatic experiences. In order to make a career of my interest, I will need both undergraduate and graduate training in psychology. If I should choose to open up a practice, I will need business training as well. My choice of college is based on finding a strong psychology program and an environment where I can feel like I can make a personal connection with my professors and my peers. In addition to having a strong psychology department, I am looking for a college or university in New England with a small faculty/student ratio. I want to feel like I can personally connect with my professors and peers, and not be just a number in large classes. Castleton State College meets all of these requirements. To me, Castleton State seems to be more then just an  institute of learning, it’s a place where the students are able to experience new ideas and encounter new challenges that will later help them learn critical skills needed to be successful in a diverse and interdependent world. In addition to a good education, I feel that Castleton State is a place that will allow me to grow intellectually, socially, and spiritually. The health field, and mental health in particular, is becoming increasingly challenging and competitive. After my bachelor’s degree, I plan to pursue either my master’s degree or my doctorate in psychology, and I know that I will need strong undergraduate training to be effective at the graduate level. I believe that Castleton State College will provide me with the training and perspective on myself and my career that I will need to be successful and to pursue my dream.

Planes, Trains, and...Chariots essays

Planes, Trains, and...Chariots essays Planes, trains, and automobiles: we probably see at least one of these everyday. Could our society function without these invaluable inventions? Could we learn to live without these creations that we take for granted? Probably not. The relationship between our society and technology has become increasingly intertwined. This relationship however began eras ago; as far back as man lifted his first tool. This correlation was strongly evident in Ancient Greece. Its features are drawn out in detail below. The first feature that correlates science with technology in Ancient Greece is there critical intelligence. The Greeks were the first to use this type of deduction. They decided that they shouldnt just accept the way things happen because they just occur that way. They realized that everything needs to be proven with justification. Richard Olson writes They developed formal rules of logical inference and required that mathematical propositions be proved. (Olsen, Page 3) Plato himself challenged the idea of an acceptance of things by looking for naturalistic explanations.(Class notes) The Greeks demonstrated and set the precedence for a theory and way of thought used today by much of western civilization. Another school of thought adopted by much of western civilization is knowledge is power. The Greeks realized that those who would lead the people, be a custodian of the people, must have knowledge of the calculations, not to the degree of the local pheasants, but a knowledge that will drive them to a greater understanding of the world and the worldly things. (Plato, Page 9) This knowledge would be helpful in making the leader more powerful, wiser in leading the people of the state. This is something that is expected from our leaders today. The understanding of the world was at its infancy, but the Greeks made strides to ensure the future advancement of science. ...

How to Make Every Word Count

How to Make Every Word Count Youre filling out a job application or academic program admissions packet and you encounter the essay question that everyone dreads: In 700 words or less, please provide information that will give a more complete and accurate picture of you as a candidate, e.g., greatest accomplishments, personal philosophy or traits, etc.Even with a limited professional background, most essay writers find this type of response to be daunting. If the writer has been in senior management, or has been involved with multiple researches or projects, the 700 word limit on an essay that adequately fleshes out that kind of history seems almost impossible to write. How can you combine decades of experience and personal philosophy into a little over a page of writing and feel comfortable youve summed yourself up adequately? Beyond that, how can you still make yourself stand out from the rest as a candidate when you are so limited with word count?Below is a list of 4 steps you can take to tackle an assignment like this.Step 1 - CategorizeThis is really a brainstorming activity that should be done from the onset of writing the essay. I often suggest that clients begin this exercise by sitting down with a piece of paper and writing a list of their most notable accomplishments or moments. Anything that was significant in about your lifes work or endeavors should be included.The list should then be categorized, with accomplishments placed into categories. For example, if you are a researcher and have published multiple studies on two or three topics, you might separate the studies into those topics. Category 1 might be Studies relating to brain function while category 2 might be studies relating to sleep deprivation. Or, if you participated in multiple studies in collaboration with other researchers and then multiple studies as the sole researcher, you might separate your categories this way.If your experience is in sales or if you have a history of successful deals or projects in corporate management, list them all and then perhaps categorize these by company, total dollar amount, or even by decade. This will allow you to group accomplishments together when you discuss them.Example:I successfully managed multiple building projects, from planning through completion, including†¦My successfully managed deals with x, y, and z all resulted in tripled sales for the company.Step 2 - Avoid redundant and wordy expressionsThis is just a rule for good writing, and one that you should follow at all times and in all communication, but keep in mind that it is especially important when word count is limited. Redundant expressions could be taking up valuable space that would be better filled with other information. Here is a list of some of the most common wordy expressions people tend to use, as well as words that can easily replace them while also lowering word count.is indicative of – indicateshad occasion to be – wasowing to the fact that – sincetake i nto consideration – considerin spite of the fact that – althoughStep 3 - Dont provide unnecessary detailsWhile discussing your personal reasons for getting into a specific career might be effective on some essays, you generally want to leave this information out of an essay requiring low word count unless you are specifically asked this question. Family history, tragedy, life-changing events, and epiphanies about ones future are all excellent topics of discussion in interviews, etc., but almost always take up too much space when word count is an issue.In this same vein, discussing specifics about your job requirements, research results, or sales numbers will also use up too much space when a general overview is what the admissions or job search committee is seeking from your essay. If the search committee reading your writing is interested in learning more specific details, you can be sure that they will ask for those details in interviews that will follow if you are chosen as a potential candidate.Step 4 - Dont repeat what you have already mentioned in other parts of the applicationMost applications require multiple essays and generally each essay has its own word count. This allows you to choose which essay best allows you to showcase your accomplishments and/or publications without repeating the same information in each. In such cases, you might use one essay to focus on the profits youve brought to a company or the dollar amount of grants youve written for academic research, while using another to focus on your volunteer work, community service, and participation in the global community at large.Also, many applications will ask that you list individual research publications, sales awards, or positions held within a company, so spending a large portion of word count repeating this information is not necessary. Again – the use of categorization will help to mention your accomplishments in brief, while they might be given more attention and more detail in other parts of your application or essays.The most important thing to keep in mind with repeated information is that admissions committees or hiring committees will have your entire application packet in front of them when considering your candidacy for the position or potential admission to an academic program. Dont look at each essay or each part of your application individually – consider the information contained within as a whole. This will help when you might be tempted to overly repeat information or provide details within a word count restricted essay that are not necessary to provide.

Summary of Sartres The Transcendence of the Ego

Summary of Sartres The Transcendence of the Ego The Transcendence of the Ego  is a philosophical essay published by  Jean Paul Sartre  in 1936. In it, he sets out his view that the self or ego is not itself something that one is aware of. The model of consciousness that Sartre  provides in this essay  may be outlined as follows. Consciousness is always intentional; that is, it is always and necessarily consciousness of something. The object of consciousness can be almost any kind of thing: a physical object, a proposition, a state of affairs, a recollected image or moodanything that consciousness can apprehend. This is the â€Å"principle of intentionality† that forms the starting point for Husserls phenomenology.   Sartre radicalizes this principle by asserting that consciousness is nothing but intentionality. This means conceiving of consciousness as a pure activity, and denying that there is any ego which lies within, behind or beneath consciousness as its source or necessary condition. The justification of this claim is one of Sartres main purposes in The Transcendence of the Ego. Sartre first distinguishes between two modes of consciousness: unreflecting consciousness and reflecting consciousness. Unreflecting consciousness is simply my usual consciousness of things other than consciousness itself: birds, bees, a piece of music, the meaning of a sentence, a recollected face, etc. According to Sartre consciousness simultaneously posits and grasps its objects. And he describes such consciousness as positional and as thetic. What he means by these terms is not entirely clear, but he seems to be referring to the fact that in my consciousness of anything there is both activity and passivity. Consciousness of an object is positional in that it posits the object: that is, it directs itself to the object (e.g. an apple, or a tree) and attends to it. It is â€Å"thetic† in that consciousness confronts its object as something given to it, or as something that has already been posited. Sartre also claims that consciousness, even when it is unreflecting, is always minimally conscious of itself. This mode of consciousness he describes as non-positional and non-thetic indicating that in this mode, consciousness does not posit itself as an object, nor is it confronted by itself. Rather, this irreducible self-awareness is taken to be an invariable quality of both unreflecting and reflecting consciousness. A reflecting consciousness is one that is positing itself as its object. Fundamentally, says Sartre, the reflecting consciousness and the consciousness that is the object of reflection (the reflected consciousness) are identical. Nevertheless, we can distinguish between them, at least in abstraction, and so talk about two consciousnesses here: the reflecting and the reflected.  Ã‚   His main purpose in analyzing self-consciousness is to show that self-reflection does not support the thesis that there is an ego situated within or behind consciousness. He first distinguishes two kinds of reflection: (1) reflection on an earlier state of consciousness that is recalled to mind by memory–so this earlier state now becomes an object of present consciousness; and (2) reflection in the immediate present where consciousness takes itself as it is now for its object. Retrospective reflection of the first kind, he argues, reveals only an unreflecting consciousness of objects along with the non-positional self-awareness that is an invariable feature of consciousness. It does not reveal the presence of an I within consciousness.  Reflection of the second kind, which is the kind that Descartes is engaged in when he asserts â€Å"I think, therefore I am,† might be thought more likely to reveal this I. Sartre denies this, however, arguing that the I that conscious ness is commonly thought to encounter here is, in fact, the product of reflection. In the second half of the essay, he offers his explanation of how this occurs. Brief Summary Briefly, his account runs as follows. Discrete moments of reflective consciousness are unified by being interpreted as emanating from my states, actions, and characteristics, all of which extend beyond the present moment of reflection. For example, my consciousness of detesting something now and my consciousness of detesting the same thing at some other moment are united by the idea that I hate that thinghatred being a state that persists beyond the moments of conscious detestation. Actions perform a similar function. Thus, when Descartes asserts I am now doubting his consciousness is not engaged in a pure reflection on itself as it is at the present instant. He is allowing an awareness that this present moment of doubt is part of an action that began earlier and will continue for some time to inform his reflection. The discrete moments of doubt are unified by the action, and this unity is expressed in the I which he includes in his assertion.   The ego, then, is not discovered in reflection but is created by it. It is not, however, an abstraction, or a mere idea. Rather, it is the concrete totality of my reflective states of consciousness, constituted by them in the way that a melody is constituted by discrete notes. We do, says Sartre, apprehend the ego out of the corner of our eye when we reflect; but if we try to focus on it and make it the object of consciousness it necessarily disappears, since it only comes into being through consciousness reflecting on itself (not on the ego, which is something else). The conclusion Sartre draws from his analysis of consciousness is that phenomenology has no reason to posit an ego within or behind consciousness. He claims, moreover, that his view of the ego as something that reflecting consciousness constructs, and which should, therefore, be regarded as just another object of consciousness that, like all other such objects, transcends consciousness, has marked advantages. In particular, it furnishes a refutation of solipsism (the idea that the world consists of me and the contents of my mind), helps us overcome skepticism regarding the existence of other minds, and lays down the basis for an existentialist philosophy that genuinely engages the real world of people and things.

CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE COGNITIVE AND PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO Essay

CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE COGNITIVE AND PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING AND TREATING DEPRESSION - Essay Example But on the other hand, a clinically depressed patient would be one who has immersed himself either in grief, self pity, worthlessness, anger, helplessness and even very low self esteem. In such â€Å"over the top† cases great care and understanding should be shown to a person suffering from such depression as this may lead to a â€Å"suicide attempt†. Depression not only affects our mental state of health but it also affects our physical state. In fact it affects every aspect of our lives – from the way we eat or sleep to the way we interact with everybody around us. 2nd biggest cause of death. Depression is more than a feeling of â€Å"down† or low† – it affects our thinking, working, our behavior, our emotions and physical health. â€Å"Clinical depression† is a whole body disorder resulting from a great loss or trauma and as such has to be treated diligently. Dysthymia is a type of depression that is a lot worse than a major depressive disorder and takes a longer time to cure, usually around a year. Dysthymia is characterized if a person has many of the symptoms of major depressive disorders but these symptoms may not be so severe. Many of the professionals feel that a person having Dysthymia disorder is very likely to get into a major depressive disorder. A person going through depression could be easily recognized by the following symptoms – Generally they lose their zest for life and show lack of interest and enthusiasm and enjoyment for their day to day activities. Some of them exhibit a loss of appetite while others eat excessively and put on lot of weight suddenly. Anxiety seems their key word and they have a total lack of concentration. In other words they seem to be lost in no man’s land. They suddenly complain of chronic pain and loss of memory. A depressed person shows a lapse in personal hygiene and has uncomfortable sleep patterns ranging from very poor sleep to no sleep at

Young goodman brown Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Young goodman brown - Research Paper Example Hawthorne writes the masterpiece with a pool of symbols that promotes the understanding of the story. Symbolism is used to depict Goodman’s experience in and out of the forest enhancing the understanding of the concept of good and evil. The story begins with an ironical situation where Goodman leaves his three months’ old married wife for something not known deep in the forest. He is very persuasive despite his wife’s plea that he should not go. This aspect is symbolic of the drive that entices humans to pursue their hearts’ desires despite the counsel they get from people who care about them. Leaving ‘Faith’ for the wild symbolically represents a situation where a person will depart from good to pursue something not certain. In the case of Goodman, an evil venture. The forest life presents very unnatural situations, just like the way evil powers manifests supernaturally to men. The forest is a place for the wild. It has been used as an expres sion of the horrible occurrences that happens in there. The first instance he meets an older man who resembles him completely. The appearance of this man symbolises the decision to pursue evil at the age when he already knows how to do good. The resemblance depicts that evil is available among all men including to Goodman. He sees it as a place of no good. He echoes the dominant point of view of seventeenth-century Puritans, who believed that the wild world was something to fear and then dominate (Ezghoul and Zuraika 2). It is symbolic that despite being in the midst of evil Goodman is able to recognise the faith he had always upheld, when he says, â€Å"We are a people of prayer, and good works to boot, and abide no such wickedness† (Hawthorne 1123). This statement is symbolic of the knowledge of doing well that Goodman had been exposed to in his life. The names of the characters in the story are full of hidden meaning. The main character, Goodman, is a symbol that depicts a man who knows how to do good and has the capability to do good, but ironically the symbol reveals that it is good people who end up to committing evil. Apart from him, his wife is also symbolic. Faith had married good man for only three months before he decides to take a walk into the forest at night. She symbolises the belief that Goodman had been upholding but now makes a decision to abandon them. Her name is symbolic of good, Faith is an advantage to him, but he leaves it for unknown results. The devil’s stuff is a very symbolic figure that is used to show the combination of the devil and evil. Just like the biblical deception Eve was exposed to, Goodman takes the staff in order to travel faster but this result into further frustrations. This demonstrates the extent to which humans lose their innocence and faith to curiosity and selfish desires (Fogle 209).. Serpent, further symbolises the ability of evil powers to harm rather than benefit an individual, encircled the stu ff. Because of the inherent human weakness and the inability to fight spiritual aspects physically, Goodman ignorantly held the stuff and was pushed by the powers of evil. The serpent is symbolic of the devil and wickedness. The choice to hold the stuff by Goodman symbolises human weakness in taming their desires. The experience in the forest symbolises the effect of engaging in evil. Goodman Brown, like other Puritans, associates the forest with the wild â€Å"Indians† and sees one hiding behind every tree. The real life situation under the influence of the supernatural powers makes Goodman to rethink about his being and the way he perceived fellow human beings and God. The author has framed the story symbolically for the audience to get the image of good and evil painted. The use of night is symbolic of

History of Twitter write a well researched paper on the evolution, Research

History of Twitter write a well researched on the evolution, current status and future trends for the New Media topic you have selected - Research Paper Example Barely into its fifth year, Twitter registered users are already currently estimated to be in the hundreds of millions and its revenues to be in the billions of dollars. Indeed, Twitter is a successful story worth telling and following. In 2006, a software engineer named Jack Dorsey approached Odeo, a media syndication company, to discuss his ideas of creating a â€Å"real-time status-communication platform with a social spin† where one could share and simply broadcast to others just about anything from gossip to simple thoughts. Biz Stone, the founder of Odeo, liked the idea and Dorsey’s proposal was declared as a side project of Odeo. It was decided that the SMS platform of mobile phones would be ideally suited for the project and a maximum of 140 characters, short of the 160 characters-limit of SMS text messaging, should be used as the broadcast limit (Thomases, p. x; Sagolla, p. xvii). Dorsey’s idea was a breath of fresh air to Odeo, which was at that time having a difficult time selling its latest technology Audio Blogger to users because of the stiff competition posed by such heavyweights as Apple Corp. The company decided it had to reinvent itself and Dorsey’s social networking microblogging idea was seen as an opportunity after it was presented in a day-long brainstorming of Odeo technocrats. Dorsey, Biz and Florian Weber went on to hammer out the prototype model of Dorsey’s proposal while the others continued with the usual company business to make sure that if Dorsey’s idea fails the company has something to fall back on (Sagolla p. xviii). The prototype was built in two weeks and the service was first tested by Odeo personnel and other insiders such as their immediate family members. It was entirely web-based and the first messages, which were broadcasted by Dorsey, were â€Å"waiting for dom to update

What was the ideal female image projected by mass media in the 1950s Essay

What was the ideal female image projected by mass media in the 1950s Was this ideal also the reality Why, or why not - Essay Example While the husband was away, the ideal woman would clean the house, make porridge for the babies and bake cookies for the children returning from schools. The family seemed to offer a psychological fortress, a buffer against both internal and foreign threats. In this ideological climate, independent women threatened the social order. Under cultural pressure and with limited options for work outside the home, women, contained and constrained, donned their domestic harness. (Meyerowitz, 1994). The ideal image was not quite real because many women did not feel comfortable restrained into the boundaries of their home. They felt that their rights were subdued and they did want things to change for good. Women of 1950s wanted to play their role in social development along with men and yet maintain a balance between their professional and domestic life. Their constant effort improved their lifestyle in the 1960s when more women joined schools and entered the workplaces than ever

Cloning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cloning - Research Paper Example Advocates of cloning practices say that it may, among other things, serve society as an effective alternative treatment for infertility. The cloning of animals has stirred the debate about the ethical, legal and social aspects regarding human cloning. Cloning is the creation of an embryo by the method of human somatic cell nuclear transfer. This procedure involves implanting DNA cells from an organism into an egg whose DNA nucleus has been removed then chemically treated so that the egg begins to behave as though fertilization has occurred. This results in the creation of embryonic growth of another organism that contains the complete genetic code of the original organism. Through this process, the cloning of mammals has resulted in, to date, hundreds of cloned organisms born. â€Å"The term clone is used in many different contexts in biological research but in its most simple and strict sense, it refers to a precise genetic copy of a molecule, cell, plant, animal, or human being. In some of these contexts, cloning refers to established technologies that have been part of agricultural practice for a very long time and currently form an important part of the foundations of modern biological research† (Nussbaum & Sunstein, 1 998, p. 1). Though this process has produced many live successes, it has proved considerably less likely to produce successful pregnancies than those conceived through sexual reproduction. In addition, the majority of cloned animals have experienced some type of birth defect. Replication of an organism’s DNA identity does not occur naturally within mammals. Only plants produce offspring through replication from one generation to the next. â€Å"The prospect of such replication for humans has resulted in the most controversial debate about reproduction ever to be taken up in western civilization† (McGee,

What was the ideal female image projected by mass media in the 1950s Essay

What was the ideal female image projected by mass media in the 1950s Was this ideal also the reality Why, or why not - Essay Example While the husband was away, the ideal woman would clean the house, make porridge for the babies and bake cookies for the children returning from schools. The family seemed to offer a psychological fortress, a buffer against both internal and foreign threats. In this ideological climate, independent women threatened the social order. Under cultural pressure and with limited options for work outside the home, women, contained and constrained, donned their domestic harness. (Meyerowitz, 1994). The ideal image was not quite real because many women did not feel comfortable restrained into the boundaries of their home. They felt that their rights were subdued and they did want things to change for good. Women of 1950s wanted to play their role in social development along with men and yet maintain a balance between their professional and domestic life. Their constant effort improved their lifestyle in the 1960s when more women joined schools and entered the workplaces than ever

Marks and Spencer Company Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marks and Spencer Company - Case Study Example It can be summed up as: The company has a triangular top management structure; this triangular management structure consists of the three Board Committees that are the Audit Committee, the Remuneration Committee, and the Nomination Committee. All the three board committees supervise and exercise power on different aspects of the company's activities and operations. Also, these committees further consist of different members with specialised tasks. The Audit Committee consists of three members and manages the financial activities inside the company, such as supervising the company's periodic audits, coordinating with the external auditors conducting annual mandatory audits for the company, and superintending the process of annual statutory accounts formulation and furnishing it to the shareholders of the company. The Remuneration Committee undertakes the task to manage the remuneration related activities for the company's employees such as bonuses and increments etc. The Nomination Committee manages the activities concerning the appointment and designation of the company's directors and managers. Apart from the above-mentioned committees working as part of the board, the company's top management also consists of seven directors and one group secretary also acting as the head of Corporate Governance. The financial base consists of two Group Finance Directors, Ian Dyson and Alison Reed, who undertake the responsibility to control and regulate the financial matters in the company. MARKS AND SPENCER-THE COMPANY HISTORY Marks and Spencer plc has had centuries old history of expansion, augmentation and amplification. It started when a Jewish immigrant Michael Marks alone opened a store in the year 1884. He continued to run and manage the small business alone for a decade and after 1894 it was joined by another individual i.e., Thomas Spencer. The business continued to expand and grow under the management of these two legends. They both believed in expanding the scope of their business and therefore, by the end of the 19th century, they managed to open and run 24 stalls and 12 shops in England. Especially in the beginning of 20th century, they practically stepped into the corporate world by getting registered as a private company under the name of "Marks and Spencer Ltd". After adopting this name, the company continued to gain popularity and public acceptance all over the Great Britain with a strategy of selling the British-made products only. By this way, the company earned prestige and stabilised relationship with reputable manufacturers and suppliers in the Great Britain. The son of Michael Marks, Simon Marks, became the Chairman of the company in the year 1916 along with his brother in law Israel Sieff who with joint efforts turned the company into a retail chain store. In the year 1926, the company's shares were float ed in the stock exchange and thus Marks and Spencer continued its further expansion with a significant share of public in its capital and profits. In the mid of the 20th century, the company expanded the scope of its business operations

Mr. Jayanti Purohit Essay Example for Free

Mr. Jayanti Purohit Essay Q 1. When Shanaya Malkan boarded her Air India flight to London in Mumbai, she was seated in the middle of an unkempt person who apparently had not bathed recently on one side and a baby crying on the other. The person in front of her immediately reclined his seat. Shanaya knew she would not be comfortable in making the seven hour long trip under these circumstances. What can Shanaya do to make the trip more comfortable? Q 2. Ms. Anjali Chaturvedi is the head of the sales division in Fedington Technologies. Whenever she asks for feedback during the departmental meetings, she blasts anyone offering criticism which causes her sub-ordinates to agree to everything she says and not voice their true opinion on the way they manage their functioning. You want to talk to her about it , but what should you say ? List some of the points that you would like to make with when you would discuss this issue with her.

Portrayal Of American Upper Middle Class Teenagers Film Studies Essay

Portrayal Of American Upper Middle Class Teenagers Film Studies Essay I decided to write my mini extended essay on the issue of the portrayal of American upper middle class teenagers in cinema, because it is personally relevant to me, it provides insights about teens lives and how teens deal with issues, and I enjoy watching teen movies. Recently, I watched a film from a series of very popular teen movies that portrayed teens as vampires and wolves and I wondered to myself if the way teens are portrayed on the silver screen has been the same over the past few decades, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s. And if the way teens are portrayed in the movies is an accurate portrayal of upper middle class teens actual lives in America. The number of teen movies, a key demographic for movie makers, is very large, so I first had to narrow my choices. I decided to focus on three movies from each decade, but I also recognized that I could not just select any three teen movies. I wanted to select teen movies that in some way portrayed teen life in those years. I used a list of the 50 most popular teen movies of all time to select some of the most popular teen movies of these decades with the thought that the popularity of these movies, primarily with the teen audiences, would indicate that the movies actually spoke to teens. I chose the following movies: 1980s: The Breakfast Club (1985), Risky Business (1983), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) 1990s: Never Been Kissed (1999), American Pie (1999) and Clueless (1995) 2000s: Mean Girls (2004), Napoleon Dynamite (2004), Superbad (2007) The areas I will examine in terms of teen lifestyle are: parent-teen relationships, peer relationships, romantic relationships (sexuality and romantic love), and coming of age (issues of identity and overall maturity). The analysis focuses on the continuity and change in the depiction of these issues over the three decades of movies. The Portrayal of Parent- Teen relationships across the decades Parents play a vital role in a teenagers life and should be portrayed in teen films. The 80s through the three films showed uninvolved or uninterested parents in regards to their teenager, in matters outside of school. In the Breakfast Club all of the five teenagers had parents that only cared about grades, sports, money or didnt care at all. Teenagers in the 80s also put an effort to separate from his/her parents. In Risky Business (1983) a teenage boy has a weekend free from his overbearing parents. When his parents go out of town we see Tom Cruises character, Joel, partying, smoking, driving his dads Porsche, courting a hooker named Lana and fighting with her pimp. In this movie both of Joels parents are presented as the overly demanding type. In the five minute encounter between Joel and his parents at the beginning of the movie we hear his mother tell him to retake the SATs over again because his scores werent high enough. Then his father scolds him for touching his stereo but n ot putting it back exactly as it was before, followed by the familiar phrase, My house, my rules. In the end, Joel triumphs and gets into Princeton but through his own ingenuity and not by following the path imposed by his parents. He did it by taking control of his own life, rejecting their values, and taking some risks The 90s portrayed observant parents that were willing to help, but awkward in their interactions. American Pie (1999), the most successful teen movie of the 90s portrayed parents as either very lenient or completely unaware of their son Jims activities (he has sex in his bedroom while they are downstairs). His father understands that his son is interested in sex, but is very awkward in his ways to advise him. In the 00s movies portrayed mixed parenting styles such as, the caring and involved parents or the laissez affaire parents. In Mean Girls Cadys parents were caring and involved in her life, but Reginas mom was more hip and let the girls do what they pleased. In Superbad (2007) and Napoleon Dynamite(2004) parents were not existent and uninvolved. So from the 80s to 00s all three decades showed that teenagers have attitudes and values different from their parents. However, the parental traits that they despised have changed from rigid, conservative, authoritarianism, to ignorant, irresponsible and awkward. In addition, the nature of the struggle has evolved from an external struggle for power to a more internal intellectual journey for the adolescent to accept their parents flaws, to offer forgiveness and to realize that they are not destined to follow in their footsteps. Peer Relationships The teenagers concern with their peers is a theme in found in most teen movies. Regularly presented is the adolescents desire to expose the flawed nature of the high school clique system and to discover the meaning of true friendship. In some movies the basis for popularity is never explicitly presented, it is just noted that some youth are popular, others are not, and that cruelty, and conflict accompany these differences in status. In the Breakfast Club (1985) we see that status divisions are superficial and painful, not only to the unpopular but to the popular kids as well. They resolve in the end to see each other as more than their one dimensional profiles (princess, criminal, basket case, jock and brain). In Never Been Kissed (1999) we see how an undercover reporter rejects her initial friends for popularity but then later realize that popularity is unimportant and that it is better off to be friends that accept her for who she is. The same theme is found in Mean Girls (2004) ( with Cadys character) and in Napoleon Dynamite (2004). In Napoleon Dynamite (2004), the antagonist Napoleon is uninterested in popularity but instead lives by doing what he wants to do. He befriends a Mexican immigrant named Pedro and helps him run for Class president, in doing so he becomes popular. So in the 00s friendship will beat popularity any day. Romantic Relationships and Sexual Activity An interesting theme in teen films is the preoccupation with sex (losing ones virginity in particular) and the presentation of romantic relationships as being much more than sex. Youth in the films watched appear to simultaneously obsess about sex and yet reject it as being all important. Losing ones virginity is perhaps one of the most consistent ideas in teen movies, one that clearly transcends time. One of the central themes in American Pie (1999) is the drive for teenage boys to have sex. However, it isnt always the boys that work so hard to lose their virginity. In Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) Stacy the young and inexperienced teenage girl becomes so preoccupied with losing her virginity that she dates several guys and ends up getting an abortion. While sex did not play a major role in some movies such as The Breakfast Club (1985), Never Been Kissed (1999) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004) most movies repeatedly emphasized the importance of sex and the appropriateness of sex for teenagers: You are 15 years old, What are you waiting for? (Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982) You are a woman, you are ready for sex! (American Pie 1999) While many movies offered shallow or even silly stereotypes of hormone ridden teenagers, most displayed the more substantive, tender side of teenage love. It appears that American Pie (1999), is known for its crude and immature portrayal of adolescent sexuality (e.g. a teenage boy has sex with an apple pie because his friends described female genitalia as being like warm apple pie). However, even this movie has a few reasonable moments where the boys, who were in a race to lose their virginity, realize that sex isnt as important as they made it out to be. They also come to understand the importance of honesty, discretion, and true feelings in not only a relationship but sexual activity as well. In general, whether sex is presented or not, characters repeatedly emphasize the importance of finding a love interest that is based on real compatibility and commitment. This theme is also found in Clueless (1995) and Never Been Kissed (1999) Coming of Age (issues of identity and overall maturity) In all movies teens struggle with challenges that often symbolize the leap to maturity. However, the most notable change in the coming of age theme is the sense of accomplishment. In earlier films the challenge presented is usually met with the implication that an important step toward adulthood had been taken. However, in more recent films there is considerably less clarity in whether the teenager made a transition from adolescent to adult. In some cases it was made clear that the transition to adulthood had not occurred but rather concludes with the question, Whats the hurry? In these instances the realization is that adulthood shouldnt be forced at such a young age. Here we see indications of the extension of adolescence and social acceptance of delayed maturity. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) displays a mixture of the pursuit of adult status combined with the message that it is perhaps an unrealistic and hard to achieve goal for teenagers. In Fast Times, the teenagers repeatedly try to be adults and engage in what they consider to be adult behaviors. Brad works hard to have responsibility at a fast food restaurant because he wants to feel grown up. Stacy wants to have sex so she can be a woman. Throughout the film we see youth struggling to be adults even though their efforts are presented as misguided and in some cases silly. In the end they come to some decisions about themselves. Most become successful (e.g. Brad becomes assistant manager when he foils a stick up). In addition, Stacy proclaims in the end, I finally figured it out! as she relays that she doesnt want just sex but a more meaningful romantic relationship. While the youth display a sense of accomplishment the way their efforts are presented, and even the title, Fast Times suggest that maybe these teens are trying to grow up too fast. This perspective becomes the normal view of adolescence presented in the movies from the 1990s on. In American Pie (1999) two youth agonize over how to answer the college entrance exam question What is your most emotionally significant moment? The girl says How am I supposed to know what my most emotionally significant moment is? I have no idea what I want to doà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Thank God, I thought I was the only one. In another scene in American Pie the boys acknowledge their confusion about what they want and where they are going. One boy says, I dont know what Im doing, but the movie ends happily as they all agree they arent supposed to know. They say, You cant plan everything and then they toast to right now and the next step. Plots regularly talked about how you cant control things, cant plan, things never work out the way you expect so why bother? The youth try to embrace this venture into the unknown and tie it into their decision to pass on identity closure. They dont know who they are but that is all right. On a Side Note: The portrayal of drug usage such as alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. In the 80s there seemed to be common casual use of alcohol and tobacco in every type of setting but marijuana use was uncommon or experimental. In the Breakfast Club (1985) the teens smoked the weed that the criminal had brought, for the other teens, this was their first time. They used weed as a way to relax and bond but it was obvious that they dont usually encounter weed. The use of tobacco could really be noted as common in these films also. In Risky Business (1983) almost all characters smoked cigarettes occasionally. In the 90s the use of alcohol and tobacco stayed casual but marijuana transformed from a experimental drug to a more widely used recreational drug. This can be seen in Clueless (1995) during one of the house party scenes where the main character Cher casually smokes a marijuana cigarette offered by a classmate. The 00s portrayed many changes in drug use, alcohol became much harder to obtain and tob acco use turned unpopular, however marijuana use is still prevalent. In Superbad (2007) the antagonists have to resort to using fake identification and stealing to acquire alcohol for a friends party. Another commonality that I noted in these teen movies across the decades, are topics that they did not deal with. These include topics such as violence, suicide and death, teen pregnancy and parenthood, drug addiction, financial difficulties and other serious situations. These films deal with well-off upper middle class teens with plenty of opportunities, limited by their own insecurities. Conclusion

Formal Speech Analysis :: essays research papers

Formal Speech Analysis In the past, I have participated in a lot of classes and training dealing with many different topics, but unfortunately, public speaking and/or communications was not one of them. In fact, the last class that I took even relatively close to this one was while I was in the military. In some sense, I guess that this class could be thought of as a good experience, because now I can learn at a college level and be more at ease with getting up in front of a group of people and giving a presentation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My goals for this class are fairly numerous, but all are based on all around knowledge and improvement of public speaking in a general sense. I want to be able to get up in front of a group of people and deliver a message in a way that makes people want to listen. I am planning a career in the field of psychology, and as much as I may not like it, I think public speaking will definitely show its face many times. My specific goals for the course include improving on my stance, speaking more clearly, and improving on my fear of speaking in front of a large group. After reviewing my videotaped speech and also in previous presentations, I have noticed that, among other things, I am constantly fidgeting and doing something with my hands like playing with my note cards or something. Also, I am clearly not comfortable with standing up there. Although it is not overly visible on the tape, I can tell that I look very nervous, and I tend to stutter a little and lose my place and focus in the middle of the speeches frequently. I really do not understand why speaking in front of the class bothers me so much. If I were to give the speech from my desk, even though everyone would still be looking at me, I think that I could do a much better job and would be more relaxed as well.

Love, Sonnets and Songs :: Sonnet essays

Love, Sonnets and Songs.   Mary Wroth's prose romance, The Countess of Mountgomeries Urania, closely compares with her uncle, Sir Philip Sidney, 1593 edition The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia.   Wroth was undoubtedly following her uncle's lead by trying to emulate Astrophil and Stella.   Astrophil and Stella and Pamphilia to Amphilantus are both about being in love and they both have over one hundred sonnets and songs. After rereading both pieces, I was struck not by their similarities but by their differences.   For example, Stella is assertive and Pamphilia is passive.   Stella is truly bound by her love for Astrophil while Pamphilia cannot break herself free from the love she feels forAmphilantus.   Sidney creates a female beauty that retains her voice and speaks, whereas Wroth allows her woman to remain inactive and vulnerable.   However, Wroth no longer allows the female to be the object.   She gives the female a voice and she is now the speaking subject.   Pamphilia remains inactive and unfulfilled but very patient. A good question for the reader to ask oneself is why would Wroth not establish a strong female speaking subject like the one she was trying to imitate?   Wroth was the first woman writer in England to publish a romance and a sonnet sequence.   She was by no means conservative or cared about what people thought of her, which has been proved by the antics of her personal life.   So why not establish that same woman character/speaking voice in her prose?   I would like now to look at the similarities and differences of Stella and Pamphilia. First, Philip Sidney and his female character Stella.   Stella has a voice and does speak, however, she speaks in the songs and not the sonnets themselves.   We see in the first two lines in each stanza of the Eleventh Song, Stella speaking and Astrophil answering her. Who is it that this dark night Underneath my window plaineth? It is one who from they sight Being (ah) exiled, disdaineth Every other vulgar light. Because she is not granted a sonnet, the standpoint that women are not allowed a voice has some truth to it.   Another standpoint is the way the women are viewed.   Women are viewed by their physical aspects.   For example, in sonnet 7, the speaker states: When Nature make her chief work, Stella's eyes In color black why wrapped she beams so bright?

Plantation System Essay

This essay seeks to account for the emergence of the plantation system in the Caribbean. Discuss with special reference to the sugar industry. According to the Oxford Concise Dictionary a plantation is a long, artificially-established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption. The term plantation is informal and not precisely defined. Plantations are grown on a large scale as the crops grown are for commercial purpose Crops grown on plantations include fast-growing tress (often conifers), cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugar cane, sisal, some oil seeds (notably oil palms) and rubber trees. Farms that produce alfalfa, Lespedeza, clover and other forage crops are usually not called plantations. He term â€Å"plantation† has usually not included large orchards (except for banana plantations), but does include the planting of trees for lumber. A plantation is always a monoculture over a large area and does not include extensive naturally occurring stands of plants that have economic value. Because of its large size, a plantation takes advantage of economies of scale. Protectionist policies and natural comparative advantage have contributed to determining where plantations have been located. Among the earliest examples of plantations were the latifundia of the Roman Empire, which produced large quantities of wine and olive oil for export. Plantation agriculture grew rapidly with the increase in international trade and the development of a worldwide economy that followed the expansion of European colonial empires. Like every economic activity, it has changed over time. Earlier forms of plantation agriculture were associated with large disparities of wealth and income, foreign ownership and political influence, and exploitative social systems such as indentured labor and slavery. The history of the environmental, social and economic issues relating to plantation agriculture is covered in articles that focus on those subjects. In the 17th century Europeans began to establish settlements in the Americas. The division of the land into smaller units under private ownership became known as the plantation system. Starting in Virginia the system spread to the New England colonies. Crops grown on these plantations such as tobacco, rice, sugar cane and cotton were labor intensive. Slaves were in the fields from sunrise to sunset and at harvest time they did an eighteen hour day. Women worked the same hours as the men and pregnant women were expected to continue until their child was born. European immigrants had gone to America to own their own land and were reluctant to work for others. Convicts were sent over from Britain but there had not been enough to satisfy the tremendous demand for labor. Planters therefore began to purchase slaves. At first these came from the West Indies but by the late 18th century they came directly from Africa and busy slave-markets were established in Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston and New Orleans. The death-rate amongst slaves was high. To replace their losses, plantation owners encouraged the slaves to have children. Child-bearing started around the age of thirteen, and by twenty the women slaves would be expected to have four or five children. To encourage child-bearing some population owners promised women slaves their freedom after they had produced fifteen children. In the early days of the Southern colonies land was inexpensive but workers were hard to find. Men could buy up huge estates on which to grow profitable crops such as tobacco, but they couldn’t find anyone willing to work the land. At first they solved this problem by using indentured servants. An indentured servant was a type of temporary slave, contracted to work for a period of several years in order to pay back the cost of a passage by ship from Britain to the colonies. The conditions of plantation life were harsh and dangerous, and 40 percent of indentured servants died before paying off their debts. The classic plantation was a politico-economic invention, a colonial frontier institution, combining non-European slaves and European capital, technology, and managerial skill with territorial control of free or cheap subtropical lands in the mass, monocrop production of agricultural commodities for European markets. The plantation system shaped Caribbean societies in certain uniform ways: the growth of two social segments, both migrant, one enslaved and numerous, the other free and few in number; settlement on large holdings, the choicest lands (mainly coastal alluvial plains and intermontane valleys) being preempted for plantation production; local political orders excluding the numerically preponderant group from civil participation by force, law, and custom; and a capitalist rationale of production, with the planter a businessman rather than a farmer-colonist, even though the investment of capital in human stock and the code of social relations lent a somewhat non-capitalist colo ration to enterprise.

American Idol and the Presidential Elections

The industry of broadcasting has long been taking its toll to the mindset of the general population. For the very long time, media outputs have played a vital role in providing its patrons the kind of entertainment they intentionally or non-intentionally introduce. However, due to the fact that media is almost always represent the popular culture of the people, it can’t be denied that the whole reflection of the social function of a nation can be seen clearly in any forms of media communication. The creation of the popular reality program American Idol has changed the way viewers portray the role of an ordinary observer.The program has provided a fresh new outfit of correspondence where the interaction of the viewers is as valuable as the program itself. Apparently, because of the increasing number of communication device options in the market today, it is now very easy to take part in any media event with just a click of a button. This event has prompted many television netwo rks to tap the marketing capability of communication devices to increase the so-called advertising revenue. The American idol was able to use this strategy by introducing the electronic voting system for the viewers.They have designated the use of a phone or mobile device, which serves as a medium to participate in the casting of votes for the contestants. The release of statistics that reflected the number of voters in American Idol has somehow stirred a relatively significant concern when it reflects out that it has outnumbered the actual number of votes in the presidential elections. This scenario has lead to a good argument whether the government system is really at the verge of being disgusted or if the data is merely a raw commodity that has not yet reached the maturity of analysis.Somehow, there has been a feeling of disgust that currently manifests in the world of politics. Some of the attributes in the elections provide a rather inconceivable effect of aversion among the pu blic. This is because politics are only very much concerned on how it will project its image rather than how it will serve the public. Just pondering the billions of dollars spent in a presidential election would make an individual squirm because of the fact that the money, wherever it came from, only the advertising component will benefit form it.Even though, we cannot readily say the electoral process system is broken just for the simple fact that the public is not interested in politics at all. We can look at the statistics about the voting numbers of the American Idol as against to the presidential election but being as a critical thinker. If in any case there is still a large discrepancy based on factor analysis, then that would be the only time when assumption of massive hatred in that politics have resulted to the public’s apathy and have fallen apart from its grip of public trust.The American idol voting system is practically very attuned to the convenience of the par ticipants while on the other hand, the presidential elections needs a specific format process to address the standard requirements in casting a political vote. For American idol, landline phones and mobile phones give instant results of the voting with a simple keypad button sequence while you have to register and be at least 18 years old to vote for America's leader. In the television program, you just have to dial a phone to vote for the next American Idol.You don't have to be 18; you don't have to â€Å"register,† and you aren't limited to one vote; you're limited to two hours. You don't have to use gas to get to the polls, and you don't have to decipher any ballots; you just pick a person and dial a phone (Falk, par. 2). This might have been the very reason why number figures favor much of the data in the American Idol voting compared to the presidnetial elections. Of course it is not possible to compare the numbers since they were acquired in two very different modes.As a matter of fact, the voting system has some serious voting problems were tens of millions of votes were lost (Seibel, par. 3). Even though this is the case, the problem of people diverting away from their interest in politics will still have a very large negative impact. The principles employed in the political advertising arena makes it a very unrecognizeable aspect of social function. People will just find a more appealing and more realistic system such as the American Idol where they see and feel the actual results almost instantly.There is not much that politics can do to acquire back the interest of the public whether they do good or not. Ploticians will always be embarked on the unusual activities of advertising their platforms to gain the public’s approval of their competnecies. However, the media has the responsibility to provide the most realisitc analysis of true representation of what is actually happening in the society. In the case of the American Idol being mor e popular than the national electoral process, it can readily define how people preceive the actual dilemma of the community, more of a nation.This attention and preference discrepancy can only be resolved if there is a complete transparency in disseminating info coming from both sides. The American Idol should exemplify the actual process of voting and its statistics while the presidential electoral institution should clearly present their advocacy in their politcal ads. Works Cited: Falk, Michael. 17 May 2006. Seibel, Deborah. 17 May 2004.

Workplace Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Workplace Issues - Essay Example One of the more typical elements that lead to gender workforce diversity problems is the manner in which the company or firm views the independent skills and abilities of their workers, or the existence of bias and stereotyping in other people's behavior. For example, in corporate governance issues, the manner in which the company or firm views the responsibilities of males and females can inhibit or deny workers to particular occupations (Riccucci, 2002). The traits and attitudes of both males and females are also not the same from each other and can be identified as a major cause of gendered workplace problems. According to Smith (2003), males in the workplace are normally identified by dominant traits, which are the reasons why they are not lacking in self-belief, brute force, coercion, freedom, the will to win and the motivation to succeed. These traits of males enable them to utilize an aggressive managerial mechanism, which is helpful in persuading other people and enhancing the special capabilities of the workers. Meanwhile, females in the workplace possess serene traits that stand for love, respect, compassion and understanding. Females with serene traits normally talk with hesitation, manage a simple lifestyle and provide help to her co-workers (Lieberman, 2003). As these traits are not really significant components as to the manner that managers and presidents of organizations are typically viewed, females are not the immedi ate preferences for top level jobs in the firm. Males meanwhile assume their top positions as company managers and CEOs. d. What personality traits are beneficial and/or detrimental in your workplace In my workplace, males and females perform most of the time of acts as the foundation concerning how other individuals perceive them as potential CEOs of organizations. The interactive capacities for instance, which is an integral element of an excellent manager, are not the same among males and females in my workplace. As the interactive mechanisms of males are seen to be perfect for leadership positions, men in my workplace normally are always on the top candidates for highly coveted leadership jobs. e. Who is responsible for fostering motivation in the workplace Despite the various dilemmas concerning cultural workforce diversity, research studies prove that this is an essential factor of an excellent firm as well as gives positive points. According to Arredondo (1996), the hiring of an extremely diverse workforce with regards to race and ethnicity can be very helpful as it gives the company a greater roster of highly qualified individuals. This also improves the chances of the company to recruit workers that are capable enough for particular organizational deficits and necessities. In most organizational functions, workforce diversity can also support in providing a variety of helpful concepts that are critical in making informed choices. Therefore gendered workforce diversity widens the organization's views and improves its choices for establishing selections.

The CAtcher in the Rye Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The CAtcher in the Rye - Essay Example Holden, as narrator, treats the events of the book as separate from the rest of his life, not feeling it worth getting into â€Å"all that David Copperfield kind of crap† (1). He is attempting to treat his life separate from his psychological condition; however, without intending to do so, he illustrates how very connected it really is. Without the brief bits of information we receive about his younger brother Allie, it would be difficult to understand the events of the book and Holden’s motivations. Through a psychological examination of Holden’s breakdown, we can see that many of the attitudes expressed by Holden and his irrational behavior can all be traced back to the death of his younger brother when he was thirteen. It is significant that the traumatic death of Holden’s brother Allie took place at thirteen. This is the age that is generally considered the be the end of childhood and the beginning of the teenager years. This is often a difficult time for people as they are beginning to experience sexuality and find that the world is not what they were led to believe when they were children. James Bryan states that Holden â€Å"is hypersensitive to the exploitations and insensitivity of the post-pubescent world and to the fragile innocence of children† (1065). He is forced to accept the unfairness of the adult world when Allie died, which he did not handle well by any means: â€Å"I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage† (38-39). Unable to handle his emotions, he acts out in a destructive manner, which becomes a pattern for him for the rest of the book. His brother Allie for him represented inno cence and the way people should act: â€Å"He was always the nicest, in a lot of ways. He never got mad at anybody† (38). Allie’s death represented the adult

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Leadership - Essay Example This system is clearly working since Employee 1 is doing more than the minimum with the aim of accessing the end-year bonus. The second source of power in an organization is expert power, where an individual possesses significant knowledge or skills in a certain domain in the organizations operations. In most cases, the individual performs a duty or responsibility that others cannot undertake to the same level, and hence is an important asset to the organization. Since the organization does not wish to lose such an individual, it seeks to make them comfortable and thus submits to their requests. Employee 2 draws his power from being the only expert accountant in Corporate A. Since he is the only individual who can prepare the company’s financial statement he has negotiated for a 4 day work-week that is inaccessible for the rest of the employees in the accounting department. His being the only Certified Public Accountant is a source of power within the organization. The other b asis of power in organizations stems from personal characteristics. Having individual special qualities such as charisma and people skills results in admiration from the rest of the workforce and management and thus places one in positions from which they can gain audience within the organization. Charismatic qualities make certain employees convincing enough to side with, besides making their ideas attractive. This is certainly the case for Employee 3 who despite having not been in Corporate A longer than the other employees is already influential in the company. The rest of the employees are attracted to his positive and charismatic personality, and this is a source of power to him as we can see his project idea being spiritedly adopted by the department. Coercive sources of power are felt in the case where leaders create the perception of threats to the employees. This can either be through making others believe that the individual may implement punitive measures, reprimand them or withdraw certain advantages. Individuals can also coerce the management to listen to their wishes for example through threatening to withdraw service through labor unions. The marketing manager clearly coerces his staff members to work beyond the minimum through threatening to withdraw end year bonuses which for individuals like Employee 1 are absolutely crucial if they are to afford certain desired things. The last source of power is legitimate/positional power which is wielded by leaders within organizations by virtue of being appointed to head other employees. The extent of positional power is dependent on the position one holds, for instance middle level managers, senior managers among others. Corporate A scenario presents three examples of positional power in the marketing manager, the accounting department manager and the sales manager who lead employees in their respective department. Relationship between Dependency and Power According to Murphy and Willmott (2009) there i s a relationship between power and dependency because the power resides implicitly in another person’s dependency. Examples of this can be clearly seen in Corporate A, where the marketing manager wields power on employees who are dependent on him due to his discretion in distributing rewards. Due to the various sources of power within

Addiction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Addiction - Assignment Example Relapse can be handled in case the client has established that there is a clear plan to deal with the situation; hence, making it easier to manage after it has happened. In the case of a slip, there is a recurrence of behavior where the individual attempts to change but keep on engaging in problem behavior (Lowinson, 2005). Therefore, it is clear that a slip is less serious than a The prevalence of men relapse is more than that of women this is because staying sober requires that a person has outside support where in the case of women they are likely to seek group counseling. Additionally, people who are isolated by the addiction process need contact from other in order to give them moral support. By so doing, they help them with drug or alcohol relapse prevention plans, as well as, reducing stress and depression as they associate with other people. It has been established when individuals who have addiction issues develop a friendship with people who do not encourage their behavior they avoid relapsing (Marlatt & Donovan, 2008). Additionally, having an anonymous source of communication and support plays a vital role in ensuring that the individual has a person to encourage him or her in changing their behavior. Various warning signs that help in knowing that a person has relapsed. They include sudden relapse where there are emotional triggers, physical change and social situations where an individual withdraws from their friends and family. A person may also relapse is they have lost a loved one in a tragic death or illness.

LLB contract law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

LLB contract law - Essay Example In other words, a consideration is the benefit to the promissory. Although contracts are only binding on the parties when they are supported by a consideration, the English law allows a person to desert his/her promise to another without recourse. Nevertheless, there have been many incidences where persons end up claiming back their rights after deserting such rights by making promises to the other parties to a contract. Therefore, to help the promisee in such situations, the doctrine of promissory estoppels was developed to prevent people from claiming back the rights they had waived by promising the party to the contract that they are no longer willing to receive consideration either partially or in full in return for making such a move2. In plain, the doctrine of promissory estoppels requires that the promisor must be true and faithful in making a promise. Accordingly, the doctrine bars the promisor from changing the promise that he or she had made to the promisee. Therefore, from the definition, it can be stated that the promissory estoppel acts as an alternative to consideration. This is because, instead of having to provide a consideration for the contract to be enforceable, an aggrieved party can argue promissory estoppel as a defence for a promise made by the promisee in a contract. This is because the doctrine of promissory estoppel prevents the person who has made a promise to reclaim the gratuitous rights that they had given back. In this regard, promissory estoppel doctrine offers an effective defence to an aggrieved promisor in the event that the promisee breaches their promise by reclaiming initial terms of the agreement. This is because the doctrine makes a promise binding to both the parties to the promise without the need of consideration3. Nonetheless, some legal experts have argued that, as much as equitable promissory estoppel can offer effective defence in a contract, the doctrine cannot offer the same defence

Ethics and Placebo Trials Essay Example for Free

Ethics and Placebo Trials Essay Placebo trials are experimental trials that involve the administration of a substance that does not really have any effect on the individual’s system. This means that it is a neutral trial that will have neither positive nor negative effects on the physiology of the person it is administered on. Whatever positive benefits may be derived out of placebo trials are merely therapeutic and may arise from the potency of the power of suggestion. These trials are most often used in randomized control trials in investigating the effectiveness of a specific treatment. (Miller and Brody, 3) However, with the rise of the use of such trials, there have been many more questions raised. Are these placebo control trials indeed necessary? What ethical issues are raised with the implementation of placebo trials? The debates regarding the ethicality of placebo trials in investigative research continue to rage across the scientific community. The discussion has become so complex that the sides taken regarding the matter have evolved to more than just â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no† to the question of placebo ethicality. There have been numerous aspects of placebo trials that have undergone the scrutiny of those directly involved with fields utilizing these trials. The main aim of this paper is to understand the obligations of medical practitioners who are employing placebo trials in their own scientific investigations of the effectiveness of various treatments. What ethical standards should these individuals, physicians and the like, take into consideration when conducting investigative researches with placebo trials? Glass and Waring The main problem with a physician’s utilization of placebo trials for investigative purposes is the fact that they are part of the profession that involves the assurance of optimal health for their patients. Some of the researchers and critics exploring the ethical holds on medical practitioners with regards to placebo trials have looked at it from a legal standpoint. Glass and Waring (582) indicate that they have foundâ€Å"no legal precedent allowing physicians to ‘opt out’ of their professional obligations because they are researchers in addition to being physicians†. It is emphasized that the physician must do all in his power in order to insure that the client receives all possible modes of treatment that would maintain or enhance his or her health. As a researcher, the physician is viewed as a fiduciary, a person delegated with power that will be used for the benefit of another person and who is held legally against the highest standards of conduct. The physician-researcher as a fiduciary, then, has a moral ascendancy over his or her patient-subject. (Glass and Waring, 578) This means that a placebo trial that would involve having the physician-researcher observe the null effect on the health of a patient-subject and at the same time have knowledge of the betterment of the health status of patient-subjects in the other experimental trials. (Glass and Waring 579) Thus physician’s are now ethically compromised and even legally liable for their utilization and continuation of the placebo trial. Knowing that there is a treatment that could improve the health of those in the placebo arm of the experiment but not applying that treatment on the participants in that arm indicates their sacrifice of the health of those participants for the scientific progress afforded by research data. The ethical responsibility of the physician-reseracher, therefore, is in the fact that clinical studies of treatment effectivity make use of participants who have been diagnosed with the specific medical condition hoped to be treated by the experiment’s procedure. Hawkins Hawkins (484) states that the true problem faced by physician-researchers is a moral one. The moral norms and societal dictates placed upon those in the medical profession involve the fact that they need to be able to give a sick person all the possible chances of being treated. However, Hawkins (484) points out that this moral responsibility is limited. She states clearly â€Å"researchers do not owe effective treatment to everyone around them. † (473) The obligations of a physician to his or her patient are enclosed within a given framework, that of the physician-patient relationship. In order for such a relationship to be established, the physician must come into agreement with the client that he or she will indeed act as one half of that relationship. The same agreement must be made on the part of the client. Although this agreement may not be explicit, it is nevertheless positively acknowledged by both parties. (Hawkins, 476) There is, according to Hawkins, no ethical dilemma in a physician-researcher’s use of placebo trials. Just because these researchers have had medical training and have taken a medical oath does not mean that they are always in the role of a physician. These are individuals that have many other different roles as fathers, mothers, non-practicing physicians, friends and the like. The role they take as a researcher, therefore, does not mean a continuation of their role as a physician. (Hawkins, 479) The obligations of an individual in the role of a researcher is separate from his or her role as a physician thus their obligation in placebo trials involves simple assurance that the participant will not be harmed by the procedure that will take place. Miller and Brody Some critics of placebo control trials state a weakness in therapeutic obligation of physician researchers as the main grounds of contestation of the ethical foundations of the said trials. Miller and Brody (8) state that even when based on the principles of clinical equipoise, an ethical basis of assigning participants in different experimental arms which involves disagreement among experts as to the effectiveness of either arm, therapeutic obligation is still a weak attack against the ethics of placebo trials. The individuals who knowingly participate in experiments with placebo arms are not exploited as long as no harm befalls them. Also, they are aware that they enter the experimental set-up as participants in a research and not as patients of the researchers who happen to also be physicians. (Miller and Brody, 5) Miller and Brody thus state that â€Å"placebo trials are not unethical just because they withhold proven effective treatment†. (6) It is thus seen that the responsibility and obligation of the researcher with regards to the ethicality of placebos is not in their therapeutic obligations as physicians. However, this does not mean that placebo trials are completely ethical. This also does not mean that researchers are devoid of ethical obligations to their participants assigned to placebo arms of the investigative experiments. The ethical obligation of the researcher in placebo trials is the same as that of researcher in any clinical trials. This involves the proper acquisition of informed consent from the participants. Also, researchers must be able to assure the fact that participants will not be exploited or put in harmful situations. Miller and Brody also insist that researchers must first establish that the investigation has scientific merit and that scientific merit is increased with the implementation of the placebo trial. (8) Analysis and Argument All three articles assessed above have merit and, at the same time, also have faults. Glass and Waring (582) stating that no legal precedents were found that indicated physicians were no longer tied to their professional obligations is faulty. In much the same way that a lawyer does not have to give counsel to every jaywalker he or she sees, the physician likewise does not have professional obligation over individual’s whose relationship to him is simply that which exists between researchers and participants. I also disagree with Hawkins’ statement that morality is what binds the physician thus the use of placebo trials is not unethical. What is ethics but a concept in the realm of morality? Yes, there are standards and regulations with regards to ethical conduct. However, as a whole, ethics is based on morality thus a moral problem is, in fact, an ethical problem. The middle ground taken by Miller and Brody also seems to be misled. A placebo trial is not equivalent to other clinical trials. It involves factors that are not present in other trials, such as the exposure of the participants to neutral treatment. In other clinical trials, there is still exposure to some form of treatment thus there is an effort to aid the participant. I believe, however, that physician-researcher’s obligations to the patient-participant, is limited solely to the relationship of researcher and participant. The role taken by the individual is not that of a physician but that of a researcher. The participants are also aware that they enter into the experiment not as patients but as participants. Although they are not given the chance to undergo possibly effective treatment, it is not the moral obligation of the researcher to insure that they do. Even if, for example, a person persists to smoke, I am not morally or ethically obligated to make sure that he or she stop. Placebo trials are valid research designs and should not be stopped simply because of a feeling that it is unfair to those who, in the first place, willingly submitted themselves to the experiment’s conditions. Works Cited Glass, Kathleen G. , and Waring, Duff. â€Å"The Physician/Investigator’s Obligation to Patients Participating in Research: The Case of Placebo Controlled Trials. † The Journal of Law, Medicine Ethics 33 (2005): 575-585 Hawkins, Jennifer S. â€Å"Justice and Placebo Controls. † Social Theory and Practice 32 (2006): 467- 496. Miller, Franklin G. , and Brody, Howard. â€Å"What Makes Placebo-controlled Trials Unethical? † The American Journal of Bioethics 2(2002): 3-9

Allied Irish Bank SWOT Analysis and Strategic Evaluation

Allied Irish Bank SWOT Analysis and Strategic Evaluation Allied Irish Bank performed the Market Entry Strategy to expand their business size. Stated below is the brief of their strategic evaluation in the aspect of suitability feasibility acceptable. Suitability Build on/exploit strengths In the late 1990s and early/mid-2000s, and capitalized on the buoyant housing market, booming business banking profits and much lower write-offs than in previous years, such profitability and growth have had a significant positive effect on the Irish Economy. That helps AIB having good capital base for future market development such merging. Shape Managements sense in the company, they clearly realized that internationalization is a good way for business expansion. Good/tailored services to be provided by the company towards customers, it can be helpful for the business penetrating into the market. Simultaneously, they are easily winning the reputation too. Good experiences in managing banking business, that helps the company to control over the new merging company. Overcome/avoid weaknesses Cultural Difference the company cant fully twin their culture to other countries, as easy to generate other contingencies problems. Complicated organizations chart caused human resources problems, like salary expenditure increased, hard to manage†¦. Exploit/Develop Opportunity Economy Growth in East Asia, that creates new opportunities for the company. Through Merging, obtaining the other customer base, co-efficient is expected. Counteract/avoid threats The other countrys government may not allow foreigner to obtain national bank and may set some restriction as a barrier. Expanding too fast may cause lack of capital if the business is running not as good as expected. Feasibility From 1966 to the end of 2005, the assets of $323.8 jumping up to 133 bn. Employee 24000 people and 750 offices now, that proved the company is profitable, emerged in the obvious capital gain and more employee needed Acceptability As the company asset built up rapidly, no wonder the companys price in stock market will be going up as well. That can fulfill the stakeholder needed. The company becomes biggest bank in Irish and gradually penetrate into other market and seems grow healthy. Stakeholder should also satisfies for the continually grow. Never heard that the company has any news about layoff, so assuming that the companys finance is good and staff is working stably. As company focused on the tailored service, their customers loyal should even be higher. Page 4 of 12 Subject : Strategic Management Name of Student : Chan Sheung Ming Student ID#2102 5544 Section A : Question 2 Here is the Strategic Development Plan of Allied Irish Bank (2007 2012) Background of the Company Allied Irish Banks (AIB) was structured in 1966, they brought together with the three distinctive Irish Traditional Banking companies: the Provincial Bank in 1825 the Royal Bank, eleven years later for mercantile links; the Munster Leinster that was formed in 1885, considered as the largest banks with the most large scale of branch network During that moment, the alliance was thinking out a best way to overcome the fragmented nature of the Irish banking industry. Hence in the middle of 1960s Ireland was changing fast and the merger had strengthened the position of the bank in the developing global business era. Over the decades, the company had showed an increasing expansion in the global arena, from its establishment of branch network in Britain during 1970s to its investment in the USA during 1980s Four decades since its establishments, it and be said that AIB has a dynamic and successful organization. As a result, in 1966, AIB had showed aggregate assets of Є323.8 million that had grown to Є133 billion AIB Groups is considered as the leading banking and financial services organization in Ireland that operates principally in Ireland, Britain, Poland and the USA. It has more than 24,000 employees word wide in more than 750 offices . It has four main divisions: AIB Bank (Republic of Ireland); AIB Bank AIB Capital Market; and Poland. SWOT Analysis (S)trengths Strong position in the home market; Good Image of the organization to the home market and other countries; Specializes in straight forward approach banking; Relationship oriented approach. (W)eaknesses Do not have enough knowledge and experience towards global banking; Not willing to take the risks; Afraid to jump to the bandwagon of internalization. (O)pportunities Blooming domestic economy; Large increases in the credit growth in 1990s and mid-2000s; Development of non-traditional bank; Trends towards international banking market; Exploit the Irish ethnic market in the UK; Access to Asian market; Merging and acquisition. (T)hreats Growing number of competition; Competition from businesses or banks that are offering e-banking. The SWOT analysis of AIB which pertains on the different characteristics or attributes of the organization as well as the external environment that can affect the entire decision-making process of AIB. The strength of the company focuses on its strong position in the home market. Thus, it enables the company to have a good image in other countries where in it also offers their services. In addition, the company also specialized in straightforward banking approach and relationship oriented approach where in it is considered as their primary advantage towards their relationship with the customers. The said aspect is the reason why AIB was voted as Britains greatest bank. On the other hand, the weaknesses of AIB focuses on its immaturity n terms of international banking, or lack of much knowledge in management in distance. The most visible example is their withdrawal from the Singaporean market. As a result, the company no longer has interests in taking the risks in other important markets in Asia, primarily in China. There are different opportunities that can be exploited by the company in order to improve and expand. First is the blooming domestic economy as well as the large increase in the credit growth during 1990s and mid-2000s. In addition, there is also a growing trend towards non-traditional banking or e-banking. This is due to the massive impact of the Internet. Thus, it is important to consider that in terms of emerging markets, the leaders in e-banking are found in Asia, and Singapore is considered as the primary e-banking customers, garnering 5% ( 2001). Thus, it shows that it will be important to focus on the Asian market, primarily in China, that is facing fast growth in terms of economic aspects. This can be done by the process of merging and acquisition. The major threat for the company focuses on the growing number of competitors in the industry, particularly those banks that are offering e-banking features and services. Mission The mission of Allied Irish Bank is to strengthen both domestic and international performance and position in the market of the bank. Objectives The following are the objectives of AIB: To maintain the competitive advantage of the company; To expand the size and branches of AIB in different part of the world; To promote efficiency, stability and effectiveness of AIB banking system; and To meet the changing demands, needs and preferences of the people towards their banking experiences. Strategies The Ansoff Growth Matrix is a tool that is used in order for a business to decide regarding their product and market growth strategy. It suggests that a business ability to grow depends on whether it markets new or existing products in a new or existing market (2007). The strategy of AIB will focus on Market development or offering the same product to a new market. This is important due to the growing influence of globalization to the banking system, thus going global is one of the most important way of expansion of size that will help to increase profits. In the case of AIB, the company had been able to apply new technologies including the Internet in their services, thats why it will be important for them to explore and exploit other nations or markets, particularly China. This is due to the continuous growth of Chinese economy. However, alongside with the said strategy, it will also be important to focus on improvement of the core banking system, together with the human resource management. Recommendations The following are the recommended strategies: Improvement of the System Application of Information System and IT in an organization is one of the most important actions that can be done by the organization due to the fact that it can help them to manage all of the data and information that are important and use it in the process of decision making. That is why it will be important to focus on application of core banking system that will give way for future enhancement or changes in the internal and external aspects of the company. In order to support the growth plans from 2007 2012, improve AIBs speed to market for new product introduction as well as to provide greater back-office integration, it is important to make a move to transform the core banking system by using packaged banking application that will ensure scalability, performance as well as reliability. This is important due to the growing competition, where in all of the major players in the world of banking are looking for innovative ways to modernize and improve their core systems that can help to reduce the operational costs by changing the massive server farms to a more flexible as well as efficient systems ( 2007). This strategy will focus on the product development, where in it will focus on the initiative of the company to offer new products. By doing this, it will enable AIB to gain competitive advantage by means of offering differentiate products or services towards the customers. As of now, more and more people are becoming aware of the security issues regarding their money, thus the technological advancement of a bank can affect the image of the brand, thus will help to create a feeling of security for the clients. Development of Centralized HR Activities It is important to consider that AIBs human resource management as the companys strengths due to its ability to motivates the employees, particularly the managers to work at their bests, as well as to communicate and relate to the customers in order to give what they needs and want to understand. However, the company is having difficulty in managing in a distance. This is due to the different issues, primarily culture and tradition. It is important to consider that culture plays an important role in the process of motivating employees. It will be important for AIB to apply international standards or principles, however it is important to know that people from other country, primarily Asia, has a different perspective and understanding towards several things, specially in terms of management that are related to leadership styles and approach. This also goes the same as the clients of the company. There are different characteristics between their client from the US and Asia. The said f actors must be considered in order to ensure that all of the rules, regulations as well as policies will meet the expectations and needs of all the stakeholders that are involved in the entire process of the company. This strategy will help the company to have a good customer relationship that will help to strengthen their connection with the customers. The said aspect is very important due to the fact that the attitudes, behaviors and knowledge of the employees, specially the branch managers and front personnel can affect the perception of the clients towards the bank. If the employees or personnel were knowledgeable enough, they will be able to answer the queries of the clients; therefore, it can help to build up trust, and later on strong and long lasting relationship. Expansion to Asian Market, Particularly in China As of now, Asia is considered as one of the most profitable on a pre-tax return on asset basis. As a matter of fact, the report of BCG in 2007 showed that the wealth managers in the Asia-Pacific reported a median pre-tax margin of about 45.5% during 2006 that beats the overall global profitability of 34.7%. As a result, the industry is expected to continue to growth to about 20% to 30% a year, together with the increasing number of well-heeled individuals as well as greater awareness regarding shifting of cash in the banks (2008). The improving and booming economy of China has been accompanies by the fast-growing banking sector of the country. It has been showed that by the end of 2007, the total assets of banking sector of China had reached a total of 52.3 trillion, showing a great annual growth of 17.4% from 2003 2007. The banking industry in the country is considered as the primary provider for capital of about 80% of the non-financial enterprises fundraisings in the most populous nations in the world as well as the fastest growing major economies ( 2008). This strategy will help the company to expand to a vast market, particularly China, due to the development of its economy. Section B: Turn Around Management in Marks Spencer Background of the Company Marks and Spencer emerged as one of the largest retail companies in the world that had become a limited company in 1903 in Manchester, Britain ( 2006) Marks and Spencer plc is the largest retailer in the UK. It has 300 company-owned stores, with more than 68,000 employees around the world that sell clothing, footwear, gifts, home furnishing and food to more than 13 million shoppers. Most of the products being sold under the private label St Michael brand ( 2006 (. In addition, the company also owns and operates more than 100 stores in different part of the world such as Europe, Hong Kong and Canada. There are more than 85 franchise stores of the company that can be found in Europe, Far East, Australia, the Middle East, the Bahamas and Bermunda . MS owns the Brooks Brother, its chain of store of mens clothing that has more than 170 units in Japan as well as the US. In addition, MS also owns 20 stores of King Super Markets grocery store chain in New Jersey Causes and Symptoms of Decline It is important to consider that the primary cause of any decline in profitability is bad management. This is because if management were enough and applicable in the process of tracking the success of the companys products and changes that are likely to take place in their respective markets, and if the company is taking the correct actions, then profits would not decline. However, as such success would require omniscience; even the most systematic managers will make mistakes (1996.) Poor Management All of the problems start at the top, thats why poor management is often the primary reason to the decline in profitability. This is due to the fact that those personnel or people that are responsible for the different operations of the company are making wrong decisions regarding the specific strategic decisions that are being made or even to the personnel that are being employed in order to implement the said decision ( 1996, ). In 2002, , a Belgian executive who is responsible in the turn around of MS, that causes the company to report a four consecutive increase in terms of sales, hand over to Roger Holmes, considered one of the youngest chief executives of blue-chip Brits companies (2002). The said event is considered as one of the primary reason for the decline of MS, due to mismanagement by the CEO. Most of the senior and middle management reported that they are disappointed with the lack of progress, due to leadership problems of Holmes such as being to nice, taking too long to make decisions and lacking relevant in terms of experience. Another cause of decline of MS is the complicated structure where in beyond the main board was an operating committee with 19 members. The said aspect is due to the fact that CEO was not that familiar with the core products of the company. Financial Control It is also important to include that poor financial control is a common cause of falling profitability due to poor budgetary control, inadequate costing system as well as the inability to monitor as well as control cash (1996). In the cause of MS, Holmes believes that throwing more money at the problem can be the best way to boost profits. This can be seen in the massive actions of the company which involves acceleration of transformation of the business by firing employees, and development of stores and other line of products ( 2004). Marketing Efforts Lack of trust from the customers is considered as one of the causes as well as symptoms of decline. This has been one of the primary problems of the company. Customers had complained that the trust had been damaged, due to the fact that the company was already offering low-quality products. In addition o that, the company had a problem regarding their innovation process, which is considered as very important aspect in any company. Production and Operations The fallen quality of the product is one of the primary aspects that focus on the production and operations aspects of the company. In MS, it was due to poor labor relations of the upper management. Environmental Factors The changing demands, tastes preferences and needs of the customers are the primary factors that can affect any company. However, in the case of MS, the company did not focus on strategies that will help them to meet the said change. The said aspect is important because it can greatly affect the perception of the customers in any brand. In addition to that, more and more customers are looking for products in lower price but in good quality. Thus, in order to meet the said expectations, the company decided to implement different strategies that will help them to lower their price, like their competitors, however, the said aspect affected the quality of their products that later on affected the demand of the customers. As a result of the said causes, the company encountered falling profitability, falling dividends, increased debt, decrease liquidity and falling sales (1996). This can be observed on the fact that despite of more than 10 million customers every week, the company have not yet recaptured the glory days between 1997 and 1998 when it had made over  £1 billion pretax profits. In 2004, MS announced a decreased in sales of 3.6%, compare last year (2004). Recovery Strategies The management was changed in 2004, as part of the entire organizational change when Robert Rose took place. Rose focuses on the five core values of new MS: quality, value, service, innovation and trust. This is due to the fact that Rose believe that Holmes management focuses on the management processes instead of products, costs and disapprove of their decision for not growing out of town. As part of that, Rose decided to have a partnership with HSBC in order to manage the financial division of the company. This is due to the fact that the company, under the previous management showed characteristics such as no coordination across department; as well as the fact that the product proliferation by sub brands had weakened the core proposition. Aside from that, it was also found out that the process from drawing board up to the shop floor was kind of slow that resulted to lack of innovation due to weak pricing strategy. The change strategy of the company focuses on abandoning , because it was not targeted at natural MS customers; obtaining Per Una from Davies for  £123 million; canceling more than 500 food products; developing supply chain and sourcing in order to reduce the overhang of the stock; stopping waste and unnecessary administration costs; improving different core services; returning  £2.3 billion to the shareholders; moving to out-of-town retail centers; restructuring and redundancy; changing the mentality of the employees; and closing or upgrading the companys stores The said strategies had been done by focusing on the internal communication process, as well as focusing on the needs and demands of the customers in terms of styles and qualities of their products, as well as the services that are being rendered by the employees towards the customers. Current Strategies In 2007, under the new management, MS had reported its strongest results since 1998, showing a profit of 29%. In addition, the company increased their appeal beyond the middle-aged, middle-class housewives by offering younger brands such as The Limited Collection. The said strategy enables the company to focus on one particular segment of their customers. The primary problem of the company is the pricing process; this is due to the fact that MS primarily perched at the top end of the mass market by selling high-quality products that the customers were willing to pay a little more for. However, due to the changing preferences of the customers, together with the growing competition with other stores, primarily Tesco, that is offering the same type of products, the company decided to focus on lowering the price of the products that they are offering. Aside from that the company also focuses on their food division in terms of marketing, by showing to their customers the importance of the quality of their products (2008).