Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Wirless Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Wirless - Essay Example As cell phones are easier than laptops to lug around, it becomes convenient for cell phone owners to check their emails from their cell phones. Text messages, video camera and other applications that cell phones offer today, I believe, are not as important as the previous needs. However, I consider text messages to be more significant than the video camera and other features. They are useful in passing information to others quickly, or to remind them about the schedule or location of a meeting, especially when one cannot make a call, due to any network or other issues. Cell phones will, soon, come equipped with more devices and applications making them more beneficial, and this might result in some health hazards to people. However, that is not a proven fact. While comparing AT&T, T-MOBILE, VERIZON and SPRINT some of the biggest cell phone service providing companies, it was discovered that all of them have some advantages and disadvantages. We found that SPRINT has the best coverage in the Chicago area, but SPRINT also is the most expensive as compared to other service providers. AT&T, which I use right now, is almost identical to VERIZON. These two companies have a very close competition. However, AT&T is winning right now because of the deal they have with Apple regarding their product, the iPhone. The iPhone is very popular with the customers, and because there are new people buying iPhone everyday, new customers are constantly coming to AT&T for cell phone services. However, the coverage both companies offer is not as excellent as SPRINT, although it is still good, moreover, the rates of both are quite high too. T-MOBILE has average coverage and their rates are not too high either; it does not cost a lot, but the coverage is not ver y excellent either. My recommendation is that the choice should be made depending on the desire of the consumer. The

Monday, October 28, 2019

Weimar Republic Essay Example for Free

Weimar Republic Essay The WR began after WWII the Treaty of Versailles was signed by the Germans and forced to have a democracy rather than a monarchy. The Government from the start was full of problems with its economy, social and political areas, what made it worse was the Great Depression in 1929. The WR was vulnerable to a number of attacks from many different areas including the Nazi party and its leader Hitler. It was attacked for its constitution, unfamiliar structure and its inability to quickly restore Germany. The Nazis appealed to their audience with its foreign and domestic policies, its authoritarian rule, propaganda radical policies and Hitler’s Charisma. After many problems challenging the WR, it collapsed in 1933 and the Nazis thrived from this. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919 by the WR and was a huge hit on Germany and its people. The treaty was seen by Germans as the loss of Germany’s image of a great nation with a powerful military. As a result the WR was often called the ‘November Criminals’ and accused them of the idea of the ‘Dolchstoss(stab in the back)†. Most of this was due to the fact that the allies forced Germany to pay the harsh terms of the war reparations amounting to 60 billion dollars. The WR’s obvious economic problems and the public’s view on them made it look like it was inevitably going to collapse. Hitler used the idea of ‘November Criminals’ and the Treaty of Versailles as propaganda to show the shame that the WR brought on Germany. In one video it is shows Hitler ripping the Treaty of Versailles in front of the crowd causing a frenzy of high German spirit. The WR as a democratic system was very new to the Germans as they were used to an authoritative monarchy. Germans had a â€Å"rich monarchical tradition that had substantial success under authoritative moulds of government† which made it difficult to accept the democracy. Another problem faced by the WR was that the constitution clause of the Reichstag being that of proportional representation which meant a political leader for every party. This was troublesome as it was difficult to find a majority because of many conflicting perspectives. The fire in the parliamentary building in 1933, which some believe the Nazis started, was a situation used by Hitler to show the failure of democracy. He also took advantage of Article 48. In years later when Hitler has much power he completely contrasts the WR policies by being a single powerful dictator and making policies to get rid of all opposition by any means as shown in the ‘Night of the long knives†. In 1924 to 1929 Germany was surprisingly paying the reparations rather quickly. During this period Stresemann agreed to the Dawes Plan, the system of loans from the United states helped Germany get back on its feet which got rid of the French in the Ruhr that troubled the Germany people as well as the WR. â€Å"The Dawes Plan sounded the signal for a period of recovery, the scope and intensity of which were unparalleled in recent German History†. This period of stability however fell due to the depression in which the stock markets crashed. Unemployment soared and many lived in poor conditions. The German people had last all hope in the Weimer republic and started looking for radical change like the communists and the Nazis. As a result, Hitler became popular and made promises to the military and to the industrialists that Germany would return to greatness once again. Hitler exploited the trust of the German people to its fullest during these times of hardship so he could gain support to become in full control of the German state. The depression was a main factor in Hitler’s success and the rise of the Nazi party. The weakness of the WR were truly revealed by Hitler and showed its shame and thus gaining support from the public. â€Å"The depression put the wind into Hitler’s sails†

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Childlike and Biblical Connotations in The Lion, the Witch and the

The Childlike and Biblical Connotations in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe       Throughout his writing career, CS Lewis has been known for writing many books with a hint of biblical connotations in them. As Kathryn Lindskoog states, "CS Lewis is known for opposing the spirit of modern thought with the unpopular Christian doctrines of sin and evil" (2083). Lewis himself has said, "You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you" (Freaks 60). Although his belief in God has not yet presented itself in that manner, he continues to devote his time to the artful presentation of what he believes to be true about God and man, as observed by Dr. Bruce Lockerbie (177). The second book in the Narnia Series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is no exception. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis uses the vehicle of a children's fantasy novel to present latent Christian theology and beliefs.    Children who read the Narnia Series do so for the action and excitement. Authorities say that they are likely to accept the actions and ideas without doubts of how real the story may be (Who's Who 29). Lewis uses childlike images to create deeper meanings than what might otherwise be accessible. One of the most noticeable is the fact that throughout the Narnia Series, the use of children as the main characters establishes a physical connection with young reader. When the main characters grow older, they are told they are not to come back. In Prince Caspian, after the children have helped to defeat Miraz, Aslan warns Peter that he and Susan are too old to enter Narnia again (236). Lewis keeps the main characters young, keeping t... ...m. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale. 1992. 2092-2094. 6 vols. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Pattering of a Fantastic World." Folio Bound Views. CD-ROM. Folio Corp. 1994. NIV Collegiate Devotional Bible. Gran Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House., 1998. Fisher, Margery. Who's Who In Children's Books. New York: Holt, 1998. Lewis, C[live] S[taples]. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperTrophy, 1950. ---. Prince Caspian. New York: HarperTrophy, 1951. Lindskoog, Kathryn, Ann. " Lewis, C. S.". World Literature Criticism. Ed. James P. Draper. Vol. 4. Detriot: Gale. 1992. 2082-2084. 6 vols. Lockerbie, Dr. Bruce. "LEWIS, C(live) S(taples)." Contemperary Literary Criticism. Ed. Carolyn Riley. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale. 1973. 177. 21 vols. DCTalk., and Voice of the Martyrs. Jesus Freaks. Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1999.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympic Games is an international event that features various winter sports disciplines. This year, it will be hosted in Socio, Russia, which is costal to the prominent Black Sea. These competitions are scheduled to take place between February 7th and February 23rd, 2014. With more than the estimated 2,800 athletes participating, and approximately ninety-eight events, It Is sure to be exciting. However, It seems that many people are uncomfortable with the 22nd Winter Olympics being hosted in Russia. Many are concerned about the security Issues and fatty.London Reed expressed that â€Å"It's not safe at all†, and many agree with him. â€Å"Vive seen on CNN that fifty-seven percent agree that It's not safe†, said Reed. He Insists that terrorism activities are extremely possible. Another two persons retorted the same. Land's brother, Jack Reed had a negative overall view for Russia. When asked his thoughts on the Winter Olympics he responded, â€Å"As beautiful as the events are, Its dangerous†. He too was knowledgeable about the terrorist threats. Reed gave a brief history lesson. He explained, â€Å"The threats today are threats due to an Islamic LOL war.He also mentioned that Austrian competitors have already received threats. Furthermore, the American government insists that persons not represent their flag to avoid being a target. Yet, according to some people and news blobs, the 22nd Winter Olympics will be secured. It is said that 40,000 police will be operating in the Socio region. This will be double the amount on duty during the London Olympics. There are also much more security measures implemented to ensure a safe successful competition. But of course, its almost impossible to guarantee absolute safety. Let the games begin?

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Calaveras Vineyards

To: Dr. Lynna Martinez Subject: Calaveras Vineyards Valuation As per your request, my associates and I have calculated a valuation for Calaveras Vineyards using the present value of cash flows. We used the valuation of future cash flows method in order to value to value the company. We have come to the conclusion, based on a number of future projections, that the best valuation of the vineyards is $4,356,000 in assets and $1,104,000 in equity. The process at determining this valuation was as follows: 1.First, using the projected EBIT forecasted income statement; we took out the 37% tax, change in working capital, and CAPEX for 1994-1998 and added back the depreciation and amortization expenses to arrive at free cash flows. We assumed that 1996-1998 would need an extra 100k in CAPEX in order to project the reinvestment necessities for the company. 2. In order to discount those free cash flows, we had to find the discount rate of the company using a weighted average unlevered Beta, and the risk free rate vs. the market risk premium: a.Beta: This was determined by using the three comparable companies and their unlevered betas as a percentage of what product lines they relate to. b. The risk free rate was taken from the standard 30 year T-bonds rate of 5. 85%. c. The risk premium used was the expected return of small companies less the return of long term government bonds, which was 7. 4% historically from 1926 to 1992. All of these values were used to calculate a discount rate of 14. 5% for Calaveras which was used to discount the cash flows. The total discounted cash flows equal $1,585,000 for 1994-1998. 3.Next, the tax shield for Calaveras was calculated by using the interest payments for each year and multiplying each value by the company’s tax rate of 37%. It was assumed that we used the 9. 5% interest rate, per your suggestion, instead of the average interest expense provided in the projected income statement. These future values were then discounted u sing the interest rate. The total PV of tax shield for 1994-1998 valued at $383,000. 4. For the terminal value calculation, we chose to use a range of growth rates. The range that we chose to use for growth rates was 1%, 1. 5%, 2%, and 2. %. We believe that Calaveras will continue to produce a high quality wine upholding a strong brand name and position in the market. Along with this, we believe that the wine industry as a whole will be growing into the future because of a growing economy. These rates represent indefinite growth; therefore, we are positioning your company to be growing slightly above the industry average. The free cash flow that we used to calculate the terminal value was from the year 1997. We did this because we felt that the cash flow in 1998 was not a true representation of future cash flows.In 1998, there was a large drop in current liabilities due to the drop in current loans; this caused the change in working capital to be unusually high. We believe, Calavera s will return to normal levels of working capital. This will be after the new marketing push and establishment of more revolving line of credit for planned future growth in sales. 5. We discounted the terminal values of free cash flows at the same discount rate that we discounted the free cash flows. We then averaged the range of present value terminal values to get an average present terminal value of free cash flows. This value was $1,820,000.We then calculated the terminal values of the interest tax shields by taking the 1998 interest tax shield and using the terminal value equation, with a discount rate of 9. 5% because we discount interest tax shield using the interest rate. This then gave us a range of terminal values of the interest tax shield. The average was $568,000. In conclusion, the PV of FCF (1585k), the PV of TS benefits (383k), PV of TV of CF (1820k), and PV of TV of TS (568k) all total to a current asset value of $4,356,000 for Calaveras Vineyards. Please feel free to let us know if you have any further questions or requests per the Calaveras’ valuation.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Prussian Needle-Gun - Austro-Prussian War

Prussian Needle-Gun - Austro-Prussian War Creation of the famed Prussian Needle Gun began in 1824, when gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse first began experimenting with rifle designs. The son of a locksmith in SÃ ¶mmerda, Dreyse spent 1809-1814 working in the Parisian gun factory of Jean-Samuel Pauly. A Swiss, Pauly tinkered with various experimental designs for breech-loading military rifles. In 1824, Dreyse returned home to SÃ ¶mmerda and opened a business producing percussion caps. Utilizing the knowledge he gained in Paris, Dreyse began by designing a muzzle-loading rifle that fired a self-contained cartridge. These cartridges consisted of a black powder charge, a percussion cap, and a bullet wrapped in paper. This single unit approach greatly reduced the time needed to reload and permitted a higher rate of fire. When the weapon was fired a long firing pin was driven by a coiled, conchoidal spring through the powder in the cartridge to strike and ignite the percussion cap. It was this needle-like firing pin which gave the weapon its name. Over the next twelve years, Dreyse changed and improved the design. As the rifle evolved, it became a breech-loader which possessed a bolt action. Revolutionary By 1836, Dreyses design was essentially complete. Presenting it to the Prussian Army, it was adopted in 1841 as the Dreyse ZÃ ¼ndnadelgewehr (Prussian Model 1841). The first practical breech-loading, bolt action military rifle, the Needle Gun, as it became known, revolutionized rifle design and led to the standardization of cartridged ammunition. Specifications Cartridge: .61 acorn-shaped round, paper cartridge w/ black powder and percussion capCapacity: 1 roundMuzzle Velocity: 1,000 ft./sec.Effective Range: 650 yds.Weight: approx. 10.4 lbs.Length: 55.9 in.Barrel Length: 35.8 in.Sights:Â  notch and front postAction:Â  bolt- actionolt-action The New Standard Entering service in 1841, the Needle Gun gradually became the standard service rifle of the Prussian Army and many other German states. Dreyse also offered the Needle Gun to the French, who after testing the weapon declined to purchase it in large quantities citing the weakness of the firing pin and a loss of breech-pressure after repeated firing. This latter issue led to a loss in muzzle velocity and range. First used by the Prussians during the 1849 May Uprising in Dresden, the weapon received its first true baptism by fire during the Second Schleswig War in 1864. Austro-Prussian War In 1866, the Needle Gun showed its superiority to muzzle-loading rifles during the Austro-Prussian War. In battle, Prussian troops were able to achieve a 5-to-1 superiority in rate of fire to their Austrian enemies due to the Needle Guns loading mechanism. The Needle Gun also allowed Prussian soldiers to easily reload from a concealed, prone position while the Austrians were forced to stand to reload their muzzle-loaders. This technological superiority greatly contributed to the swift Prussian victory in the conflict. Franco-Prussian War Four years later the Needle Gun was back in action during the Franco-Prussian War. In the years since Dreyse had offered his rifle to the French, they had been working on a new weapon which corrected the issues they saw with the Needle Gun. Despite its success during the Austro-Prussian War, the French criticisms of the weapon had proven true. Though easily replaced, the rifles firing pin had proven fragile often lasting only a few hundred rounds. Also, after several rounds, the breech would fail to close completely forcing Prussian soldiers to fire from the hip or risk being burned in the face by escaping gasses. Competition In response, the French designed a rifle known as the Chassepot after its inventor, Antoine Alphonse Chassepot. Though firing a smaller bullet (.433 cal.), the Chassepots breech did not leak which gave the weapon a higher muzzle velocity and greater range than the Needle Gun. As French and Prussian forces clashed, the Chassepot inflicted significant casualties on the invaders. Despite the effectiveness of their rifles, French military leadership and organization proved vastly inferior to the Needle Gun-equipped Prussians and led to their swift defeat. Retirement Recognizing that the Needle Gun had been eclipsed, the Prussian military retired the weapon after their victory in 1871. In its place, they adopted the Mauser Model 1871 (Gewehr 71) which was the first in a long line of Mauser Rifles used by the German military. These culminated with the Karabiner 98k that saw service during World War II. Selected Sources New York Times (December 25, 1868): The Needle Gun - Dissatisfaction with it in the Army

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on The Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act: Is it Working to Keep our Rivers and Streams Safe? Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. As amended in 1977, this law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act. The Act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. It gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. The Clean Water Act also continued requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under the construction grants program and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by non-point source pollution. This act lays the footwork for how we live day to day and how we are supposed to protect our country ¡Ã‚ ¦s water supply, but is it working? Are we working to protect our water supply? How clean is our water? In this paper I intend to answer these questions and others that relate to this act and also of its effectiveness. Water Quality Reports For a 1998 report, all 52 states, 2 interstate river commissions, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and 9 American Indian tribes rated water quality. These states and tribes assessed conditions in 842,426 miles of rivers and streams or 23% of the total miles of all rivers and streams in the country. Most were perennial water bodies that flow all year, though some of the assessments were conducted in non-perennial streams that only flow during wet periods. States and tribes rate water quality by comparing data to standards. These standards are in place so that they have something t... Free Essays on The Clean Water Act Free Essays on The Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act: Is it Working to Keep our Rivers and Streams Safe? Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. As amended in 1977, this law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act. The Act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States. It gave EPA the authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry. The Clean Water Act also continued requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters. The Act made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions. It also funded the construction of sewage treatment plants under the construction grants program and recognized the need for planning to address the critical problems posed by non-point source pollution. This act lays the footwork for how we live day to day and how we are supposed to protect our country ¡Ã‚ ¦s water supply, but is it working? Are we working to protect our water supply? How clean is our water? In this paper I intend to answer these questions and others that relate to this act and also of its effectiveness. Water Quality Reports For a 1998 report, all 52 states, 2 interstate river commissions, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and 9 American Indian tribes rated water quality. These states and tribes assessed conditions in 842,426 miles of rivers and streams or 23% of the total miles of all rivers and streams in the country. Most were perennial water bodies that flow all year, though some of the assessments were conducted in non-perennial streams that only flow during wet periods. States and tribes rate water quality by comparing data to standards. These standards are in place so that they have something t...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Up to 75 Percent of US Youth Ineligible for Military

Up to 75 Percent of US Youth Ineligible for Military About 75 percent of Americas 17- to 24-year-olds were ineligible for military service due to lack of education, obesity, and other physical problems, or criminal history in 2009, according to a report issued by the Mission: Readiness group. Since Congress ended the military draft in 1973, the U.S. armed services depend on a constant flow of new volunteers every year.  While that figure has since dropped to 71 percent, the problems with military recruiting remain the same. Military Eligibility Key Takeaways At least 71 percent of Americans between 17 and 24 are now ineligible to serve in the military- some 24 million of the 34 million people in that age range. The strength of the U.S. military depends on a constant flow of qualified volunteers.National security is directly compromised by manpower shortages in the armed forces. Just Not Smart Enough In its report, Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve, Mission: Readiness - a group of retired military and civilian military leaders - found that one in four young people between 17 and 24 does not have a high school diploma. About 30 percent of those who do, states the report, still fail the Armed Forces Qualification Test, the entrance test required to join the US military. Another one in ten young people cannot serve because of past convictions for felonies or serious misdemeanors, states the report. Obesity and Other Health Problems Wash Many Out A full 27 percent of young Americans are simply too overweight to join the military, says Mission: Readiness. Many are turned away by recruiters and others never try to join. Of those who attempt to join, however, roughly 15,000 young potential recruits fail their entrance physicals every year because they are too heavy. Nearly 32 percent have other disqualifying health problems, including asthma, eyesight or hearing problems, mental health issues, or recent treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Due to all of the above and other assorted problems, only about two out of 10 American young people are fully eligible to join the military without special waivers, according to the report.Imagine ten young people walking into a recruiters office and seven of them getting turned away, said former Under Secretary of the Army Joe Reeder in a press release. We cannot allow todays dropout crisis to become a national security crisis. Post-Recession Military Recruiting Goals in Jeopardy Clearly, what worries the members of Mission: Readiness - and the Pentagon - is that faced with this ever-shrinking pool of qualified young people, the US military branches will no longer be able to meet their recruiting goals once the economy recovers and non-military jobs return.Once the economy begins to grow again, the challenge of finding enough high-quality recruits will return, states the report. Unless we help more young people get on the right track today, our future military readiness will be put at risk. The armed services are meeting recruitment targets in 2009, but those of us who have served in command roles are worried about the trends we see, said Rear Admiral James Barnett (USN, Ret.), in a press release. Our national security in the year 2030 is absolutely dependent on whats going on in pre-kindergarten today. We urge Congress to take action on this issue this year. Making Them Smarter, Better, Sooner The action Rear Admiral Barnett wants Congress to take is to pass the Early Learning Challenge Fund Act (H.R. 3221), which would pump over $10 billion into the slate of early education reforms proposed by the Obama administration in July of 2009. Reacting to the report, then Sec. of Education Arne Duncan said the support of the Mission: Readiness group demonstrates how important early childhood development is for the country.I am proud to be joining these senior retired admirals and generals who have served our nation with courage and distinction, Sec. Duncan said. We know that investing in high-quality early learning programs helps more young children enter school with the skills they need to be successful. That is why this administration has proposed a new investment in early childhood development through the Early Learning Challenge Fund. In its report, the retired admirals and generals of Mission: Readiness cite research studies showing that children who benefit from early childhood education are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and avoid crime as adults. Commanders in the field have to trust that our soldiers will respect authority, work within the rules and know the difference between right and wrong, said Major General James A. Kelley (USA, Ret.). Early learning opportunities help instill the qualities that make better citizens, better workers and better candidates for uniformed service. Stressing that early education is about more than learning to read and count, the report states, Young children also need to learn to share, wait their turn, follow directions, and build relationships. This is when children begin to develop a conscience differentiating right from wrong and when they start learning to stick with a task until it is completed. Some Improvement by 2017 In 2017, the Pentagon reported that 71 percent of young Americans between 17 and 24 are ineligible to serve in the United States military. While an improvement since 2009, this still means that over 24 million of the 34 million people of the eligible age group cannot serve in the armed forces. The Pentagon continues to stress the situation’s alarming threat to national security. As former commander of the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, Major General Mark Brilakis stated, â€Å"There are 30 some million 17- to 24 year-olds out there, but by the time you get all the way down to those that are qualified, you’re down to less than a million young Americans.†

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand Essay

Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand - Essay Example The last component is the model of marketing which refers to the model that is followed by an organization and its marketing team in developing and implementing marketing plan in order to increase the sales and awareness of an organizations goods and services. One of the most important part of the marketing intelligence system is internal records of the system and these records are essential as they help in identifying and differentiating between those marketing process that are operating in an effective and efficient manner and those systems that are ineffective and inefficiently operating. Example of one such record are the sales invoices of an organization and these sales invoices help in depicting the sales level of different products and services of a company (Kotler, 2012). If the sales invoices depict that the sales of a particular good and service has declined, the information can be useful in identifying the reasons that led to the decline and can even help in identifying so lutions to increase

WEEK 8 DISCUSSION PART 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WEEK 8 DISCUSSION PART 1 - Essay Example In addition, the researchers used generalized themes to organize the data in a coherent manner (Branthwaite, & Patterson, 2011). Unlike Jacobson, Krause use a closed hypothesis by assuming that people engage in Medicare fraud for economic purpose only. On the other hand, Jacobson approaches the study through an all-inclusive hypothesis that assumes variation in the reasons for engagement in Medicare fraud. Both articles have similar approach in data representation. The two researchers rely on statistics to represent as the main segment of their data. Statistical facts and other numerical constants are the main numerical facts presented by the researchers. However, the two articles have a slight variation in their interpretation of data. Krause relies on limits to prove most of her arguments. For instance, she claims that the US government spent over $2.5 trillion on health care in 2009. The numerical values are not accurate but they represent the margin of the lowest or minimal value. To enhance accuracy or reduce workload, researchers are tempted to exclude some variables or restructure their variable space. Similarly, the two articles indicate a great deal of variable space shrinkage. For instance, Krause ignores the efforts of judicial system in cubing Medicare fraud. On the other hand, Jacobson consider time as the most significant variable in his analysis. Research constraints and the inability to apply all variables encountered in a given study is the main source of weaknesses or limitations in a research. For the purpose of future studies, researchers are encouraged to highlight some of the limitation in their studies. Both articles have significant limitation or disagreements between theoretical and actual inferences. However, both researchers have different approaches in reporting limitations encountered in their studies. Unlike Krause, Jacobson’s article has discrete statements that describe the limitations

Friday, October 18, 2019

Approaches to Psychology and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Approaches to Psychology and Ethics - Essay Example This is one of those areas of studies which receives much attention from scholars and researchers and is evolving rapidly. There different approaches of the psychological studies such as cognitive approach, evolutionary approach, socio-cultural approaches, humanistic approach, behavioural approach, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approach and others (Walker et al, 2007). All the approaches of psychology can be linked with each other as these study different aspects of feelings and emotion within a social context of an individual. Social psychological research studies the psychological aspects in social settings. Social cognitive studies are amalgamation of the social psychological research and cognitive approach wherein beliefs of an individual is studied within his social world. Cognitive approach is based on beliefs of individuals whereas cognitive behavioural approaches study behaviours and beliefs together. Humanistic and narrative approaches are based on lived experience of individ uals in different settings. Psychodynamic approaches are based on feelings of individuals. All the approaches can be explained individually or with respect to each other. In the treatment of mental illness, behavioural processes and other psychological disorders, professionals can use one approach or mix of tow or three approaches for the best treatment of the client. Figure 1: Approaches of Psychology Source: Walker et al, 2007:5 Psychoanalytic Approach This approach originated through the disagreements psychologists had over the behavioural theories. One of the prominent contributors in this approach is Sigmund Freud. Freud treated various patients suffering from mental disorders by the use of conversation methods over a period of time. This is based on the assumption of â€Å"unconscious conflicts, motives, and defences† of the client which is not otherwise expressed in normal social circumstances. In the same process patient's self-knowledge also got improved. Freudâ€⠄¢s theories are based on the psychoanalytical concepts that focus on the ‘unconscious internal conflicts’ of the clients. Freud argues that the unconscious awareness of the client consists of his desires, thoughts and memories of lifetime particularly the early life experiences. There are various contributors who expanded psychoanalytical approach like Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, Heinz Kohut, and others (Maitland & Hannah, 2008, p. 45). According to Maitland & Hannah (2008) this brought changes in thought and process of psychoanalytical approaches. These are also described as psychodynamic approach.   Behaviourist Approach Behaviourist approach roots back from the time of Aristotle, Locke Thorndike, Skinner and many others. This theory ignores the genetics theories and determines behaviour of an individual purely on the based on assumptions of his environment and experience. According to Maitland & Hannah (2008), â€Å"The behavioural approach focuses on measuring and recording observable behaviour in relation to the environment. Behaviourists think behaviour results from learning. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a tone, demon- strating stimulus-response learning.  (Maitland & Hannah, 2008, p. 45)† Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs are used in understanding human behaviour in various stages of his life. This hierarchy consists of

W6Distributed Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

W6Distributed Knowledge - Essay Example With the help of new advancements and movements in communication technology and IT, specialists from everywhere in the world are able to work together as a team. This kind of teamwork is growing at the present. Despite the fact that, new studies on distant and distributed team association have exposed that functioning in these locations brings a challenge to the joint building of novel knowledge. The fundamentals for bringing bright awareness are the similar as in face-to-face location. One precondition for generatinng new information is that to exchange information and distinguish what others are articulating, distributed team associates have to create various postulations regarding what other group members carry out as well as do not identify (Piritta Leinonen, 2008). In addition to judgment of others information, to arrive at the wide-ranging objectives of the team, team associates have to as well assess the knowledge that is previously communal and realized which subjects needed additional development in order to attain conclusions in their mutual assignment. Despite the fact that, in distributed team circumstances it is complicated to review what is familiar or common knowledge. As well as, inside studies on cognitive objectives and self-regulation, opinions have been obtainable regarding how persons strivings to estimate others and common perception that rely upon ones motivational state and cognitive abilities. Like that evaluation tendency, as well as consequently there might be variation in individuals assessments of others and shared information in collaboration also (Lori Rockett, 1998). Data and Knowledge transfer is a course of action in which one person, group or organization recognizes as well as learns detailed knowledge that exists in to another person, group or organization, and reapplies this

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Why do you think you should be considered for this acholarship Scholarship Essay

Why do you think you should be considered for this acholarship - Scholarship Essay Example nd of country I hail from which is now-developing geographically, economically and emotionally, expressing how important this scholarship is to me would be an essential beginning. I am from Haiti, and finished all my schooling here. As the world knows, it is a place where â€Å"just in 35 seconds,† it had to give up many friends, families, schools, churches and hospitals to the devastating earthquake in 2010, a couple of years after it had seen the massive flooding too. Its ever sensitive geographical location is currently in the tight recovering mood which needs assistance from its own people from all corners of the planet, it mainly needs motivation from the within. Being a very part of it, I feel not only responsible to give it back the necessary assistance, I also believe that it is a gift to work where I am needed. Considering my past educational qualifications, my outreach abilities and my experience so far, I am confident I can make a significant difference in many lives as a registered nurse. Although, Haiti is right now in a hopeful shape, where school enrollment increased, vaccination rates and pre-natal coverage increased, and malnutrition among children and mortality rates declined; it still has 0.25 % of physicians and 0.8 % hospital beds for every 1000 people, about 620,000 cholera cases, and several hundred thousands of displaced people still in the camps. More than anything else, through an education program aided by this scholarship, my kind of passionate to-be registered nurses can tremendously contribute to the vulnerable, Haiti. Taking this as the right occasion, I must thank the board of this scholarship to have brought in such an opportunity for students like me to pursue their dream career. I am certain that this scholarship will not only be a key contributor for my financial struggle, it will eventually make me the person who can make a difference in people’s lives. My qualifications, my experiences, my background and not the least, my

Migrant Workers to Qatar Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Migrant Workers to Qatar - Article Example At the start of the century, Qatar resolved its disputes border disputes with Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Owing to enormous revenues from oil and natural gas, Qatar attained the highest per capita GDP in the world as of 2007. Partly because of vast wealth, Qatar was not affected by the uprising that affected the Arab world in the 2010-2011. Doha has however supported many of these revolutions specifically in Libya and Syria. In 2013, Hamad stepped down and left power to Tamim bin Hamad his son aged 33 in a peaceful transfer of power which is uncommon in the Gulf States. Tamim has embarked on improving the welfare of Qataris in terms of healthcare, education, and infrastructure. Qatar is also on a massive expansion of infrastructure particularly in anticipation of the 2022 World Cup that it’s hosting. The economy of Qatar is a vibrant one. Because of the vast energy reserves, Qatar boasts the highest income per capita in the world. The country also has the lowest unemployment in the world. During the financial crisis that hit the world, the government focused on protecting the domestic banking sector. This was through direct investments into the local banks. The GDP of Qatar is mostly driven by the oil and gas sector. The government policy is however focused on improving the investment in the non-energy sector although oil and gas still contribute more than fifty percent of GDP, around 85% of earnings from exports and half of government revenues (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). Qatar has proven oil reserves in the range of twenty five billion barrels which at the current extraction rate should last another 57 years (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). Qatar has proven natural gas reserves in the excess of twenty five trillion cubic metres; this is the third largest in the entire world and 13% of the world’s total. Qatar was successful in winning the 2022 world cup bid

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Why do you think you should be considered for this acholarship Scholarship Essay

Why do you think you should be considered for this acholarship - Scholarship Essay Example nd of country I hail from which is now-developing geographically, economically and emotionally, expressing how important this scholarship is to me would be an essential beginning. I am from Haiti, and finished all my schooling here. As the world knows, it is a place where â€Å"just in 35 seconds,† it had to give up many friends, families, schools, churches and hospitals to the devastating earthquake in 2010, a couple of years after it had seen the massive flooding too. Its ever sensitive geographical location is currently in the tight recovering mood which needs assistance from its own people from all corners of the planet, it mainly needs motivation from the within. Being a very part of it, I feel not only responsible to give it back the necessary assistance, I also believe that it is a gift to work where I am needed. Considering my past educational qualifications, my outreach abilities and my experience so far, I am confident I can make a significant difference in many lives as a registered nurse. Although, Haiti is right now in a hopeful shape, where school enrollment increased, vaccination rates and pre-natal coverage increased, and malnutrition among children and mortality rates declined; it still has 0.25 % of physicians and 0.8 % hospital beds for every 1000 people, about 620,000 cholera cases, and several hundred thousands of displaced people still in the camps. More than anything else, through an education program aided by this scholarship, my kind of passionate to-be registered nurses can tremendously contribute to the vulnerable, Haiti. Taking this as the right occasion, I must thank the board of this scholarship to have brought in such an opportunity for students like me to pursue their dream career. I am certain that this scholarship will not only be a key contributor for my financial struggle, it will eventually make me the person who can make a difference in people’s lives. My qualifications, my experiences, my background and not the least, my

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Who is responsible for the sexual activities , the woman or the man Essay

Who is responsible for the sexual activities , the woman or the man - Essay Example ue that the responsibility for sexual activity lies solely with the woman, others feel that it lies with the man and yet others maintain that it lies with both partners. Julia Serano, for instance, maintains that women must take some responsibility for the way men behave. He argues that if women do not reward men love or sexual relationships, then men will become bad boys (Serano 16). This paper will first attempt to explore whether Serano is guilty of blame shift in light of sexual activity. Secondly, it will examine how responsible men and women are in sexual activity. Serano’s argument that women must take some responsibility for the way men behave has met serious opposition from many women who feel that men should be held responsible for their actions. Nevertheless, Serano’s assertions appear to reflect the reality in the contemporary society. This is because the behavior of a majority of men are shaped by how they are treated by their women. This means that if the women fail to fulfill the obligation conferred upon them by rewarding their men with love or a satisfying sexual relationship then the man will most likely not behave in the right way as emphasized by Evans (33). Love and sex are very crucial elements in any marriage and must be fulfilled by both partners (Hek and Hoggart 16). In this regard, men are expected to show love to their wives and be ready to play sex when need be. On the other hand,women, are ought to show their husbands love and reward them with sex for enjoyment and for procreation. However, just as Serano noted, a woman mostly takes the greater responsibility of their partner’s behaviors with regard to love and sex (Serano 21). In this regard, Hek and Hoggart note that men who are loved by their wives and rewarded with a good sexual relationship tend to become good men and stick to their relationships as opposed to seeking love and sex out of wedlock (18). In addition, such men also tend to show greater responsibility in the

Monday, October 14, 2019

Changing Self Essay Essay Example for Free

Changing Self Essay Essay How do composers use texts to explore concepts of Changing Self? Discuss ideas and techniques. In Gwen Harwoods poems Prize-Giving and The Glass Jar, the prescribed text Sky-High, and the novel White Teeth by Zadie Smith, the composer have used many varying ideas and techniques to investigate and illustrate concepts of Changing Self effectively. The ideas looked at in Gwen Harwoods poetry include imagery, retrospect, metaphor, and inversion of the connotation of adjectives. Ideas conveyed in Sky-High include imagery, retrospect, and comparison. The techniques and ideas in White Teeth, to name the most important, are long and erratic chronology, removing characters for a period and the exposing of the least important change are evident in the texts that are compared. In Gwen Harwoods poem Prize-Giving, the composer has adeptly used imagery to examine and represent the Changing Self evident in this poem. This striking imagery at first portrays an egotistical middle aged man, such as his inurbane behaviour when he scowled with violent distaste. This works in revealing the major change of Eisenbart, in comparing the self-righteous man at the start of the poem, to the awkward and confused man at the end. The imagery used to describe the titian haired girl is also evocative, especially when comparing her supposed insignificance in contrast to Eisenbart, and the affect she has on him. She seems to be nothing but a cheeky, though attractive, schoolgirl: one girl sat grinning. This thought of her insignificance is reinforced when she winked at nearby friends, possibly reinforcing to Eisenbart her immaturity that was earlier established through her audacious behaviour during the opening prayer. However, Eisenbart was flung from his calm age and power merely by a touch of this immature schoolgirl, indicating a change. This change in the girls attitude is reinforced when she changed her casual schoolgirls for a masters air, indicating the power that she has that Eisenbart has not detected thus far. In the text Sky-High by Hannah Robert, the concept of Changing Self is analysed and emphasized through retrospect, apt imagery, and change of language. The best climbing tree indicates the experiences of a child and their joy in everything no matter how small. However, the responsibility in the statement it is unlikely the washing line could support me divulges that the persona is now more responsible, and, it is discovered, also older, revealing a physical change of self. The comparisons in the final stanza show the insight that the persona now has; as seen in I was once the curious onlooker, I now write my own semaphore secrets in colourful t-shirts. It also shows, however, that no matter how much a person changes, that he or she is still the same person, and that they still retain what they were before. The metaphors used in The Glass Jar, and the way in which they are developed and often exaggerated, shows and typifies the change of self that is experienced by the persona, so that greater audiences may understand the experiences of a small child. Only a small child could imagine an ordinary glass jar as a monstrance in which the sun could be caught for the night. This vision of the holy commonplace of field and flower coming to save the boy is lost when he awakes from his nightmares. The religious metaphor is now lost except for the mocking image of the resurrected sun in the final stanza. The inversion of the usual use of adjectives shows the confusion associated with the change of self for the persona, such as the malignant ballet. The novel White Teeth, by Zadie Smith, develops the concept of Changing Self with a long and somewhat inconsistent chronology. All the characters in this novel, which reaches from World War Two to the end of the century, obviously change physically due to this long chronology. However, the retrospect as to how much the characters have changed in other ways is far more potent because of the extensive chronology. The comparison, for example, Josh Chalfen turning away from his family and becoming less of a nerd: he was the kind of guy who could measure an eighth with his eyes closed (so fuck you, Millat). The original focus of the book on Archie Jones beguiles the reader into thinking that he is the main focus for the book. However, Archie serves  merely as a connection between all the original characters. From these characters the Jones, Iqbal, Chalfen and Bowden families and their stories emerge, and all the adults, in the end, only accentuate the changes that the children (Irie, Millat, Magid, and Josh) undergo, that is, comparing where the children have ended up to what their parents expected of them. The later and extended focus of the novel on Millat Iqbal, who changes in the most radical way out of all the characters, hides the slow and, in the sense that Millat changes, insignificant changes of Irie Jones, but her changes are more symbolic and emotional. The removal of Magid from the story means that his change of self seems sudden, because the persona is taken away at the age of nine years and only returned at the age of seventeen. In the texts Prize-Giving and The Glass Jar by Gwen Harwood, Sky-High by Hannah Robert, and White Teeth by Zadie Smith, ideas and techniques are flaunted in terms of how they are used to display the change of self in the personas. The numerous ideas used in each of the texts, often overlapping to be used in more than one text show the skill of the composers and their flexibility in applying various techniques.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

literary essay joy luck club :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Joy Luck Club   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Amy Tan’s novel â€Å"The Joy Luck Club† there are many themes and imagery throughout the book, but one theme that is relevant and stands out is the issue, â€Å"Cruel men? Weak men? Fair portrayal of men?† The novel is based on women in the Chinese traditional families, but does not discuss the men. What role do they play in their lives? Were they the people that made there lives unbearable? The men that will be looked upon are associated to the Jong, The Hsu, and the St. Clair family. Although many people would believe that the men in â€Å"The Joy Luck Club† were vindictive, they have shown that they not only are they feeble but that the weak men over power the cruel, and through their actions this statement will be apparent to all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Jong Family have two key males that fit the description of cruel and or weak men. The first was Tyan-Yu, Linda Jong’s first husband. Lindo and Tyan-Yu’s wedding was arranged marriage. Lindo’s parents were forced to depart their home leaving Lindo behind. Even though she was only twelve years old, Lindo belonged to the family of her betrothed. The Huangs, the family of Tyan-yu, were very wealthy and took little interest in Lindo which lead to the first impression that Tyan-yu was a cruel man by the way he acted. He and his family made her stay in their servants’ quarters and made her perform physical tasks, such as cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, and embroidering clothes. Tyan-yu would make her sleep on the couch lying to his mother so that he would not get himself into trouble which was a sign of weakness on Tyan-yu’s part. Lindo proves this by saying â€Å"That’s when I could see what was underneath Tyan-yu. He was scared.†. (58) Lindo’s marriage was miserable, for there was no love in it. Tyan-yu, feeling no emotion for his wife, would not touch her. Matters were made worse when everyone wondered why Lindo did not become pregnant and for this came trouble. Tyan-yu was to much of a coward to make any moves and left it all for Lindo to do herself. Lindo found out that â€Å"it was his fear that made Lindo think he had no desire for any woman. He was like a little boy that had never grown up†. (58) Lindo totally changed her view of Tyan-yu from once being terrified of him, to feeling as if she was playing the role of an older sibling.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Hitler Youth :: essays research papers

I thought the most interesting aspect of the Hitler Youth movement was the beginning of it all, when the numbers were small to when the organization held a lot of power. The years 1933-1938 were the most influential of the youth movement. These years determined what the organization would become and how much power they would hold.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Hitler came into power as the German Chancellor in 1933, the Hitler youth was not nearly close to an idea of what it was to become. Around this time, The Hitler Youth Organization numbered around one hundred thousand. Until two months later when Hitler was given dictatorial powers, which meant the state, was behind the Hitler Youth now. Immediately Hitler ordered that either organizations join the Nazi’s or disband. If the organizations chose to join the Hitler Youth Movement were under the power of Baldur Von Schirach who Hitler appointed to be the head of The Youth organization, with only Hitler to answer to.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schirach began quickly by sending the fifty boys into The Reich’s Committee of German Youth Association, and taking the six million members under the authority of the Hitler youth. So most of the recruitment for the Youth Movement was forced. Some groups did join willing though, but groups like The Catholic Youth Organization held out for as long as three years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schirach soon organized Hitler’s Youth Movement into a precise running machine. He set up age brackets as well as a Hitlers youth for girls called the BDM(Bund Deutcher Madel{League of German Girls}). The age brackets for boys started at ten to fourteen were the boys were in the jungvolk, and the boys from fourteen to eighteen were in the HJ(Hitler Jugend{Youth}). The girls had their age brackets as well the young girls from ten to fourteen were in the Jungmadel, and the girls from fourteen to eighteen were in the actual BDM.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The youth organization was based on competition on what ever they did boys or girls. The boys and girls did not participate together though, they did do very much of the same things. The boys played War games, and often started brawls, which was not discouraged because the Nazi’s believed it was toughing up the youth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The only problem Schirach was running into was that he could not find enough qualified people to be Youth leaders. Schirach could not fill the positions because the youth movement was growing so fast.

Friday, October 11, 2019

HCF Company Essay

Evaluate the option of continue or shutdown of the Malaysian or Thailand operations. Should HCF consider starting its own label? Regarding to the case, HCF have two options either to continue or shutdown operations in Malaysia or Thailand. If they choose to shutdown operation in both Malaysia and Thailand, HCF should consider a few things. Firstly, the shutting down all factories in Malaysia and Thailand would costly around RM4.3 million. The costs are refer to the sale of Penang and Butterworth factories ( RM8.5 million), Chieng Mai and Jitra (RM1.2 million) and redundancy payments around RM3.0 million at minimum. Here, there have advantage and disadvantage of pulling down operation in Malaysia and Thailand. One of the effect of closing down is harm HCF reputation as quality manufacture for both men’s and women’s clothes. In additions, closing down the factories in Malaysia and Thailand causes HCF loss of human capital. As said by Teoh Chin Teh, Factory Operation Direc tor, a large number of employees would have to be retrenched and most of them are working with HCF more than 10 years. Thus, it will affect to workers if Malaysia factories are closed. Secondly, HCF has an option to close down the factories in Jitra and Chieng Mai only. The costs of shutting down both factories are RM1.2 million. Besides that, Jitra and Chieng Mai are located in rural area and will make HCF hard to find new buyers to sell the factories rather than Penang and Butterworth factories which is located in strategic location. Other than that, HCF can save cost of workers in Jitra and Chieng Mai and concentrated the operation in Penang and Butterworth. Regarding the issue about HCF plan to have their own label, they should take a few consideration before proceed with the planning. First, the cost for setup the label is RM32.1 million (fixed costs and advertising costs). Besides, the probability id producing own label is small about 70% while the successful is only 30%. Thus, HCF should not yet started their own label until the companies getting stable and have profit.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Indian Psychology Essay

The term Indian Psychology refers to the Psychologically relevant materials in ancient Indian thought. Usually this term does not cover modern developments in Psychology in India. Modern Psychology at the beginning of the century emphasized sensation, perception and psychologists in India took out Indian theories of sensation and perception from the classics and created an Indian Psychology. For example Indian theories emphasise the notion that in perception the mind goes out through the senses and assumes the shape of the objects. In 1934, Jadunath Sinha wrote a book on Indian theories of perception. As soon as Western Psychologists started studying cognition, Indian Psychologists started looking for Indian theories of cognition. In 1958, Jadunath Sinha wrote a book on Cognition. Later on modern Psychology started emphasising emotions, and in 1981, Jadunath Sinha wrote a book on Emotions and the Will. The major part of ancient Indian scriptures (Hindu, Buddhist and Jain) emphasise self-realization, samadhi or nirvana. After 1960 Humanistic Psychology emerged and Psychologists became interested in paranormal dimensions of growth. Maslow’s theory of self-actualization and transcendental self-actualization established the link to the major part of ancient Indian theories and methods and almost the whole of ancient Indian writings became psychologically relevant. Psychology of Consciousness, Parapsychology, Psychology of Mysticism, Psychology of Religion and Transpersonal Psychology borrow extensively from Indian writings. The terms Oriental Psychology, Buddhist Psychology, Yoga Psychology , Jain Psychology, etc. are frequently found in modern psychological literature now. Many book lists in Psychology now include books on Yoga, Buddhism and Zen. There seems to be a paradigm shift in Western Psychology, a shift from the notion of mental disease and healing to personal growth, the reference point shifting from the statistical average or â€Å"normal† to the ideal or upper limits of man’s potentiality. The rudiments of the theory of consciousness can be traced back to the Indus valley civilization (6000 to 1500 B.C.). Artifacts of a man sitting in Padmasana have been obtained in excavations. The Swasthika symbol was used in Indus valley script. Buddhist thought and methods (6th century B.C.) are in line with the objective spirit of modern science and the law of parsimony of science and Buddhism can be easily incorporated into a scientific framework. The Psychological relevance of the four noble truths and eight-fold path and Sunya vada of Buddhism and Buddhist techniques of meditation are of considerable relevance in modern Psychology. Similarly Jain scriptures also are found to be relevant to Psychology in more than one way. The Vedas date from about 1500 B.C. However, Upanishads (appendices to the Vedas, which date from 600 B.C.) which describe the Vedanta philosophy and provide the theoretical foundation of Jnana Yoga are of more direct relevance to Psychology. The Bhagavat Gita gives a quintessence of Indian way of life and philosophy and it describes the four yogas, Karma, Bhakthi, Raja and Jnana. Several books have come on the psychological relevance of Gita. Maslow’s theory of Meta-motivation is very similar to the concept of Nishkama karma outlined in the Gita. Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga is a very systematic presentation of Raja yoga. Both Bhagavat Gita and Ashtanga Yoga are supposed to have been written around the turn of B.C. to A.D. Sankara’s writings (8th century A.D.) on the different yogas as well as his Advaita philosophy are considered as classics in the area and are of great value to the Psychology of consciousness as well as personal growth. Modern interest in relaxation can be traced to studies on Savasana. Rising popularity of meditation practice links Psychology to Oriental religious practices and philosophy. Indian literature on aspects of consciousness is vast, considering the classics and their commentaries. Mental states have been analyzed, classified and differentiated in detail. Similarly paranormal powers (siddhis) have been classified in detail. The process of personal growth and obstacles to growth have been examined thoroughly. There is a great deal of maturity resulting from long experience in these areas reflected in the writings. Indian theories of linguistics, social behavior, crime, etc. are all based on the holistic approach and the broad-based intuitive understanding of behavior in contradistinction to Western theories which are piece-meal, analytic and situation specific. The increasing importance given to the holistic approach and need for synthesis makes it possible to integrate modern Western Psychology with ancient Indian thoughts as well as methods. The psychosomatic relationship was well known and salient in ancient times. The very first invocatory stanza of Ashtangahridaya (the main text in Ayurveda, written in 4th century A.D.) describes how emotions like desires lead to both physical and mental diseases. Many attempts are being made to integrate ancient Indian Psychology with modern Western Psychology. More than 40 books have appeared in the field of Indian Psychology. There is a journal of Indian Psychology published from Andhra University which has an Institute of Yoga and Consciousness. At least five persons have developed personality inventories based on the Triguna theory (Satwa, Rajas and Tamas) of Kapila (Sankhya philosophy, 6th century B.C.)

Aristotle on the Soul Essay

Aristotle’s notion differs from the usual conception of a soul as some sort of substance occupying the body, existing separately and eternally. To him, the soul is the essence of a living thing. The soul is what makes an organism an organism at all by actualizing its potential for life, and it’s constituted by its capacity for activities essential to that specific type of being. His investigation into the nature of the soul demonstrates basic principles of his philosophical theories at work, including Hylomorphism, potentiality and actuality, and his four causes. His use of these theories in analyzing and teasing out the complexities of the soul make for a cohesive and comprehensive study, easily amenable with his other works. In this paper I will analyze his notion of the soul as described in De Anima, recounting how he came to define the soul, the explanation of the soul, how the souls of different kinds of ensouled beings differ, and his unique concept of how the soul is related to the body. Aristotle begins Book 1 of De Anima by stating that since the soul is a principle of animals, and here I will interpret animals to mean more broadly beings, describing its essence has implications beyond its obvious scope. In unfolding the nature of the soul, it is possible to determine which attributes belong to the soul alone and which belong to the organism in virtue of having a soul (Aristotle, De Anima 402a). So besides exploring the nature of life, his analysis will also seek to answer the question of whether all mental states (of the soul) are also material states of the body, or whether some attributes of the soul are unique to it. In doing so, we are confronted with the interesting implication of Aristotle’s position on the mind/body problem, to which I will get to later on. Returning to the question at hand (what is the soul? ), Aristotle starts his investigation by use of his explanatory theory of Hylomorphism, which states that substances are compounds of matter and form, and change occurs when form actualizes matter (Shields). There are three sorts of substances; form, matter, and the compound of form and matter. Matter is potentiality and form is actuality. Form actualizes matter, which possesses the potential to be what it is. So using Aristotle’s example of a bronze statue, the matter, in this case the bronze, only actualizes it’s potential of being a statue when it acquires the form, or the shape and features. Of interest is the third kind of substance, compounds, which make up living beings. The body is the substance as matter, so the soul is the substance as form or shape. Here we get to Aristotle’s preliminary definition of the soul as the actuality of a natural body having life potentially (Aristotle, De Anima 412). It is in virtue of this form, the soul, that makes an organism alive. Without the soul, the body would only have the capacity for life potentially, and so the soul is the essence (the form) of living things. This preliminary definition is taken a step further when Aristotle identifies the soul as the â€Å"first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive† (Aristotle, De Anima 412a). He claims that the actuality that is the soul is like the actuality that is knowledge, in that we speak of it in two ways. We can distinguish between a state of knowing x and a state of attending to the knowledge of x, where the latter is more of an active process. The passive of state of knowing x is the first actuality, first because it must necessarily come prior to attending or remembering that knowledge i. e. potential precedes actual. Similarly, the soul of a sleeping person is like the passive state, the first actuality, while the soul of an awake person is like the active state. The soul must be the first actuality, for if not we would be forced to say a sleeping animal lacks a soul, a conclusion we do not want to make (Aristotle, De Anima 412a-412b). First actuality seems to correspond to a capacity to engage in the activity of the second actuality, and in this way is a kind of potential to exercise some function, like the ability to engage in thought. Aristotle makes this clear when he states that, â€Å"If the eye, for instance, were an animal, sight would be its soul† (Aristotle, De Anima 412b). Sight is the capacity of the eye for seeing, where sight is the form and the eye is the matter. The first actuality is the capacity for seeing, and the second actuality is seeing, actively exercising the potential ability. So it seems that beyond defining the soul as the ‘first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive’, we can say the soul is a set of capacities that characterize living things. These characteristic capacities are different in different beings, and we will see that it is by these that Aristotle creates his hierarchy of ensouled beings or the degrees of souls. I will return to this distinction later in this paper, when describing how the souls of different ensouled beings differ. At this point we have a definition of the soul, but as Aristotle stresses throughout his various works, we must determine the cause or explanation in order to truly grasp the essence, and therefore get at complete picture of his view of the soul. The definition just given explains the what, but a full account must explain the why. He states in the Physics, â€Å"for our inquiry aims at knowledge; and we think we know something only when we find the reason why it is so, i.e. , when we find its primary cause† (Aristotle, Physics 194b). His criteria for an adequate definition, one that is sufficient for knowledge, rest on his theory of causation and explanation. The four causes include the material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause. Material cause is what something is made of, the formal cause is the form or pattern of which a thing is what it is, the efficient cause refers to the agent of change or rest, and the final cause is the intended purpose of the change or the reason why a thing is done (Shields). We must, therefore, determine why the soul is what it is in virtue of these four general causes. The soul is the principle and the cause of the living body, for it is in virtue of the soul that the body is alive, and thus it plays an explanatory role. It is the cause of the living body in three of the four ways, as â€Å"the source of motion, as what something is for, and as the substance of ensouled bodies†(Aristotle, De Anima 415), corresponding to the efficient cause, the final cause, and the formal cause respectively. It is the source of motion in that it causes growth and decay in the organism. The soul is also the cause of the living body by being the final cause, as the body is merely an organ for the sake of the soul, aimed at the soul. And finally, the soul is the formal cause of the living body for it causes life by being the form and actuality of what is potentially. The body makes up the fourth cause, the material cause, by being the matter that makes up a living organism (Aristotle, De Anima 415). I will use Aristotle’s example of the nature of a house as described in Book One, when he is discussing the importance of form, in order to better illustrate the necessity for analysis of a concept under his theory of causation and explanation. To merely define a house as stones, bricks, and timbers, is not to capture its full essence. A house is stones, bricks, and timbers (material cause), built into an enclosed structure (formal cause), fashioned together by a carpenter (efficient cause), in order to provide shelter from the elements (final cause). We can describe the what, but without further details about the explanation, we don’t really know the nature of a house. Similarly the soul is why, it gives the explanation for, the life activities of a living body. At this point Aristotle’s notion of the soul is quite clear; it is the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive, it is a set of capacities for life-giving and defining activities of organisms, and it is the form, the source of motion, and the means (it directs) to the end of the living body. Souls of different living beings are differentiated by their capacities to engage in the activities characteristic of that type of organism, which comprise their livelihood and survival. It is these differentiating faculties that make up the soul. Among these faculties are the nutritive and reproductive, perceptive, locomotive, and the capacity for thought and understanding. Aristotle claims, â€Å"the soul is the principle of the potentialities we have mentioned—for nutrition, perception, understanding, and motion—and is defined by them† (Aristotle, De Anima 413). There are three types of souls, arranged in a nested hierarchy, so the possession of a higher soul entails possession of all that are below it. The lowest, or most basic, in this hierarchy is the nutritive soul. All living things possess the capacity for self-nourishment, for without this they would not live. Next is the sensitive soul, which is possessed only by animals. The highest type of soul is the rational soul, belonging only to humans. These three souls are differentiated by their function, corresponding to the ensouled being in possession of the soul with the power to exercise that function. While the animal soul possesses the nutritive and the sensitive, and the human soul the rational as well, each has but one unified soul with a various sets of capacities (Shields). The nutritive soul is the potentiality held by all living things to preserve it and equip it for life. The function of this soul is the use of nourishment and generation, or reproduction. Generation is the most natural function, as it is a means for a living being to participate in the future (the â€Å"everlasting and divine†) by producing something else of its own sort. The use of nourishment allows the being to preserve itself, only existing while it is nourished. Nourishment allows an organism to grow as well as decay, according to its form. Since all living things possess the nutritive soul, all living things have the capacity for self-nourishment, growth, decay, and for reproduction. Further, since all nourishment involves digestion, and digestion involves heat, all beings contain heat (Aristotle, De Anima 415-416). The sensitive, or perceptive soul, distinguishes plants from animals. Perception is a type of alteration, in that a suitable sense-organ in perception is affected or changed by an external object. The external object acts as the agent, possessing the qualities in actuality that the sense-organ possesses potentially. Aristotle describes that it is through an intermediate condition, such as air, that sense organs receive the forms or qualities of the objects of perception, not the matter, when involuntarily acted upon by the external object. Thus, the sensitive soul has the capacity to receive sensible forms, resulting in perception. The sense-organs become like the agent after being affected, or receiving the qualities (Shields). Again, we can see Aristotle returning to his theory of Hylomorphism in describing perception as the change in the sense-organ as a result of the acquisition of form. The potential of the sense-organ is made actual in virtue of the external object which possesses the form in actuality. Aristotle states that every animal has the sense of touch, but not all possess the sense of sight, hearing, taste and smell. Animals are further distinguished along these lines; while each possesses a nutritive and a sensitive soul, there are various degrees of complexity of the latter soul corresponding to the activities of the animal. Aristotle continues further that the possession of the perceptive soul implies that the animal has the capacity to desire, and desiring includes appetite, emotion, and wish. He also determines possession of this soul entails the ability to feel pleasure and pain and it is in virtue of this soul that some animals possess the power of locomotion (Aristotle, De Anima 413-415). The rational soul, perhaps the most difficult section to interpret of De Anima, is essential and indicative of humans alone. It is in virtue of the rational soul, the intellect, that we come to know and understand things. The intellect is the seat of thought and thus reason. Thinking is similar to perception, as it involves the reception of form by a suitable capacity. However, while the object of perception is external and is the composite of form and matter, the object of thought is within the soul and is form alone (Shields). While hard to follow, I believe the objects of thought are the forms of forms; they get their intelligible forms in virtue of the sensible forms sensed in perception. Aristotle discusses the concept of â€Å"appearances†, which are different from perceptions and beliefs, for appearances exist while we sleep, with no external stimuli actualizing the ‘sensation’, and beliefs involve conviction, while appearances do not. Appearances are images resembling objects of perception (Aristotle, De Anima 428). It is helpful to think of appearances as the representation of reality we see in imagination. I believe Aristotle is claiming that it is these appearances that are the objects of thought. In intellection, the mind is made to be like the object of thought through reception of its intelligible form. The intellect is pure potentiality, it potentially has all of these objects of thought, and only in thought do these intelligible forms become actualized in the mind (Shields). As Aristotle’s philosophical worldview rests on a Hylomorphic principle, it is difficult to see how the alteration, bringing the intellect from potentiality to actuality in thought, comes about. In perception, this is in virtue of an external object that acts as an agent for change in the sense-organ. But what is the agent of change in intellection? Aristotle divides the intellect into the active and passive intellects. The active intellect acts as the agent of change; when the mind thinks the active intellect actualizes the intelligible forms in the passive intellect. The passive intellect stores the concepts of knowledge and intelligible forms in potentiality, to be recalled by the active intellect during thought. This means however, that the actual must precede the potential, contrary to what was discussed above. The nature of the active intellect is its activity, so it must be unremittingly active in order to cause the passive intellect to act and us to have thoughts and reason. If it is continuously active, this part of the rational soul must be eternal and thus stands in stark contrast with the rest of the souls Aristotle posits, but this controversial point is something I will not take up in this paper (Shields). Returning to the more broad implications of De Anima and Aristotle’s larger philosophical framework, we can analyze his notion of the soul in terms of the mind/body problem. Explicating his position, or lack thereof, on this matter will also illustrate his views on the soul in terms of unity, oneness, seperability, and mortality. Substance dualism is the position that the mind is separate from the body and that the mind is non-physical, often posited as being eternal. Aristotle’s conception of the soul, however, is that it is not ontologically distinct from the body. All nourishment, perception, and even thinking require a body. Further, as the living body is the composite of form (soul) and matter (body), it represents one inextricable substance. The soul and body are inseparable, except for perhaps the active intellect. While we can conceptually distinguish between a soul and a body, or form and matter, they are but one substance, related in terms of this composite. So when the body perishes, the soul does as well. Leaving aside the debated active intellect, the soul cannot be immortal. Therefore, Aristotle cannot be said to be a substance dualist. Materialism, on the other hand, claims that all that exists is physical and that substance is pure matter. But as has been said, Aristotle’s position on the soul takes it to be pure form and thus immaterial. The primary substance of a living body is the unity of body and soul, which is not purely matter. So, he cannot be a materialist either. While Aristotle does not clearly take a position towards this dilemma, he does suggest a new way of viewing it. Instead of presupposing the mind and speculating on the body as dualists do, or vice versa if you are a materialist, identifying the two as a unit and illuminating the association in terms of unity relations may prove more feasible. To summarize, Aristotle’s notion of the soul is that it is the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive. The concept of first actuality represents a sort of capacity for undertaking the action that characterizes the second actuality. So the soul is life-giving and facilitates the body for undertaking the actions necessary for survival and well-being. Plants have only the nutritive soul, enabling them to sustain themselves and reproduce. Animals have this soul as well as the sensitive soul, which facilitates perception and feelings of pleasure, pain, desire, appetite, etc. Humans are further distinguished in virtue of the elusive rational soul, which gives us the unique power of understanding, thought, and rationality. Aristotle’s soul is unlike other conceptions as it posits that although the body and soul is one, inseparable unit, the soul is immaterial while the body is physical. His consistency on his views of the soul with his views of nature and reality are obvious, as he frequently makes use of his broader theories of Hylomorphism, his four causes, and the potential/actual nature of everything that exists, making for a powerfully cohesive portfolio. Works Cited Aristotle, Terence Irwin, and Gail Fine. â€Å"De Anima. † Aristotle: Selections. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. , 1995. 402-34. Print. Aristotle, Terence Irwin, and Gail Fine. â€Å"Physics. † Aristotle: Selections. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. , 1995. 184-263. Web. Shields, Christopher. â€Å"Aristotle’s Psychology. † (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). N. p. , 23 Aug. 2010. Web. 20 Dec. 2012.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

MGT 501 MoD 5 Cases Managing the Organization Essay

MGT 501 MoD 5 Cases Managing the Organization - Essay Example Highly skilled personnel are the most important valuable of a business enterprise. Qualified workers enable the tasks and the objectives of the company to be achieved appropriately thus putting the organization to a benchmark of great level of success. These goals are ultimately achieved through effective coordination as spelled out in an organization structure that the company might prefer (Buhler, 2008). The type of structure and design a company might opt for, have explicit and implicit effect on how each employee relate with one another in terms of communication. A well designed business structure has significant effects to its members. These effects are portrayed based on how members react to changes within their work environment and their ultimate output. Organizational structures which are well planned are easy get accustomed to and enhance collaboration between employees for the best interest of the company (Buhler, 2008). Effective Communication is a crucial tool within an o rganization which enables it to thrive. Authorities are distributed among different level of ranks. For example, a new employee who has just been hired will know where to report and where to seek for help when confronted with a hard situation. Most companies prefer addressing issues affecting the organization through departmental official who is in turn forward the complain or a request to the executives of the companies for subsequent analysis and coming up with solutions. An organizational structure enables the employees to communicate with the authorities following the right channels which have been put in place (Buhler, 2008). A well-built organization design boosts the morale and confidence of its members. Respect is an important value which motivates workers at their work place. Employees need to feel valued by their employers in terms of their contribution in achieving the organizational main objectives. Giving Incentives to the members is an important motivational factor, wh enever they are faced with challenges in the course of their practice. Incentives help them see more opportunities which might enable them to advance in their carrier. Conversely, organization structure might also have a negative impact on the employee spirit and morale (Walker, 2002). For instance, raising salaries for the heads of projects and giving them incentives e.g. bonus while delaying payments of team member salaries, can demoralize the minor employees involved in those projects. How a business is structured to operate plays a crucial role in relation to the level of motivation an individual might have (Klewes & Langen, 2008). Decision making is an important aspect of an organization structure. How fast or how slow an organization makes decisions depend on the efficiency of a company’s executive coordination. For a simple structure composed of the manager who is answerable to the director, the decision making process is faster hence the quick growth. Big companies ha ve a stratum of management. Responsibilities are more elaborate thus it is important to identify the individuals that are the overseers of certain functions and practices of within the company (Puffers, 2004). Productivity of each employee is best evaluated and determined by a well organized organization structure. Supervisors are able to gauge the efforts that are put in by their subordinates according to the work assigned to them. Supervisors are

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Relationships Suffer When a Person is Depressed Essay

Relationships Suffer When a Person is Depressed - Essay Example As a person’s partner is likely to be in their company more than anyone else, and relies on them and has certain expectations for their relationship, then it is the partner which is likely to feel the adverse affects of the person’s depression more than anyone else. The exact ways in which depression causes these types of relationships to suffer, include immediate, remote and contributing factors. The immediate cause of a suffering relationship due to an individual’s depression is the psychological manifestation of the depression itself. When a person is depressed, they often experience feelings of loneliness, sadness, despair, unhappiness and isolation. These feelings are very strong and persistent in the condition of depression, hence such a diagnosis. Due to the strength of these undesirable feelings, a person can easily change in terms of demeanour, mood, personality, outlook and behaviour. They may want to avoid social activities and any occasion where they must interact with others. They may be in very low moods which makes them difficult to talk to and engaging with them while they are like this is often quite an arduous and frustrating experience. They often find it impossible to be optimistic, friendly or willing to try anything new. All of these things are a manifestation of the feelings they experience when depressed. In this way, depressions seriously can affect the individual’s relationship. If the persons partner is forced to tolerate being with someone who is unhappy, moody, pessimistic and unwilling to socialize or engage in activities, this can easily and quickly put a strain on the relationship. Another possible cause of relationships suffering when a person is depressed is previous abuse of some type, which is a remote cause. For example, if the depressed

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Health and environment questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Health and environment questions - Essay Example Economic growth would considerably reduce because of the estimated prevalence of AIDS and hence social development based on education, medical care, etc. will be adversely affected. (McFarlan et al, 2001) In order to tame the tide of AIDS in Africa, the developed countries must address the fundamental issues. Adult education is important, since the population has to learn the key facts about the disease. The developed countries must invest in medical campaign. The population must be informed about the use of condom, contraception, and risks of having multiple sex partners. The American organization USAID can play a vital role in this regard. The Canadian government is also active in this direction. Last but not least, the population already affected by AIDS must be given inexpensive and steadfast medical relief so that the epidemic may not spread. Diseases like TB, Malaria, etc., which are related to immunodeficiency must also be controlled. Precautionary principles have only been accorded their significance for less than two decades (O’Riordan & Cameron, 1994). With the lapse of time, the importance of precautionary principles has increased manifold. Chernobyl disaster in the erstwhile USSR or Bhopal gas tragedy in India could probably be avoided if the authorities worked on the precautionary principles in time. For example, before introducing a new technique to produce nuclear energy, evaluation must be done on its probable effects during an accidental meltdown. Therefore, the government and regulators cannot remain regardless of the consequences of contaminated land and polluted aquifers that might add polluting or potentially polluting agents to water, air, or land. Moreover, media response to precaution should also be aligned to environmental principles and ethics. (O’Riordan & Cameron, 1994) The risks related to the increasingly powerful information and communication

Saturday, October 5, 2019

The importance of Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The importance of Auditing - Essay Example The research paper is specifically meant to explore the reasons why developing countries in particular often fail to meet their expectations in terms of economic development. As such, the hypothesis for the research is: "Implementing better regulated auditing systems with severe consequences for not passing the audit will help developing countries to improve their economic development and avoid widespread corruption." Along with this hypothesis, the methods for data collection that will be mainly used include qualitative research. This will be mainly comprised of secondary data obtained from published literature such as journals as well as other official documents in the same area of study. The main advantage of using secondary research for this particular research is that the data going to be used is authentic. This data would have been validated in other previous studies. One of the reasons for the financial success of developed countries is their reliance on strict auditing practices. However, one of the reasons for the financial problems of many developing countries is lack of regulation of auditing system. Developing countries fail to apply the right plans for developing because they depend on accounting and neglect the auditing systems. By not involving auditing systems in the process, the range of corruption will increase. Unfortunately, accounting and auditing systems or procedures of developing countries are currently struggling to keep pace with those of the developed nations because they were specifically designed to meet the needs of centrally planned economy and not globalized economies (Prather-Kinsey, 2006). Therefore, the accounting systems lack uniformity as well as accounting standards because they are applied differently across industries and sectors. The auditing and accounting systems normally set clear objectives of providing accounting information related to tax, statistics, and financial

Friday, October 4, 2019

Week 5discusiions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week 5discusiions - Essay Example An active that will lead to weight loss is a treatment procedure. Therefore, an expense incurred during the weight loss process becomes a permitted deduction. However, the deductions must be more than 10% of the Annual Gross Income of the taxpayer (U.S Department of the Treasury, 2015). Furthermore, the taxpayer should not appear as a dependent on another person’s tax returns. A client who owns stocks can fund qualified organizations through appreciated securities in the stock market. The decision to sell the appreciated shares means that the client will forego the capital gains associated with them. The client will forego the capital gains and tax liabilities, but will include them as potential deductions. Furthermore, the deduction will be on the prevailing market value. However, when the qualified group is receiving the stock and wants value for money, they will have to cash the shares. Since the organization is non-profit, it would not be liable to tax liability associated with capital gains. For instance, consider a client with appreciated securities of 10,000 with a market value of $45. The client decides to offer the stock (10,000) to a qualified organization. They can deduct $45,000 as part of the potential deductions. They will have contributed the appreciated shares, and realized gains through the

Thursday, October 3, 2019

A short story that is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Essay Example for Free

A short story that is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Essay This is a short story that is written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. At the time in which this short but very good story was written it was one of the first detective fiction story. This review of it will guide you through why it is a typical but very well written story. It includes the most famous detective in the world and is still a household name to this very day. The detectives name is Sherlock Holmes and has been written and read about for a number of decades. The main frame of the story is a lady called Helen Stoner who is worried about her life and comes to Sherlock for help and advice. Holmes with his partner Doctor Watson investigates Helens sisters death and hopes to find out the reason for this sinister crime. After looking and analysing the story it is evident that it has the right ingredients for a good detective fiction story. The ingredients that have been well placed into the story are a good opening. The opening starts with Sherlock waking up to his companion Watson and explaining that he is needed as a client is in deep worry. The other essential ingredients are drama, suspense a heroine or a such as Holmes as the hero and Helen stoner as the heroine. Detail is important in every story and detective fiction is no exception. Without detail the reader cannot properly understand what the situation the detective is in. Also the story has to have a good ending to it or maybe a twist like The Speckled Band does. The twist in this is totally unexpected as the killer is the father. The most important ingredients to a story, which I think is essential to the reader, are characters with good and believable characteristics. Without this ingredient the story is simply not a story. The reader has almost to know the character and then when this is accomplished they read on knowing that the person will follow the description that they have been given by the author. A good example of this is Dr Roylett. The words that are used here give a basic impression of him. violence of temper, ferocious quarrels with whoever might cross his path, shut himself up in his house. From reading these statements the reader can imagine that this Roylett man will be any help with Holmes investigation. If they read on from here then they find out that he is not.

Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness | Analysis

Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness | Analysis â€Å"Human Resources Reputation and Effectiveness.† SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE This issue of Human Resource Management Review considers the past, present, and future of HRM theory and research, exploring how these issues have considerable potential to enhance organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The compilation includes suchthemes as identifying the shortfalls of the science of HRM; predicting, understanding, and influencing the behavior of individuals in organizations; and the status of research on compensation in organizations. Organizational theorists have suggested that reputation is one of the few resources that can give firms a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is viewed as a non-tradable, non-substitutable, non-imitable, resource that can be managed. HR-firm performance linkage examines the impact of an overall set of HR practices on firm performance. This perspective advanced the literature from examining the effect of a single HR practice on performance, to examining a set of practices that work together synergistically. Another perspective explains the positive findings between HRM and firm performance by emphasizing the role HR plays in implementing strategies. To effectively implement a particular strategy, HR practices must â€Å"fit† with the strategic goals of the firm. The two studies indicate that HR reputation does have an impact on the larger overarching image of the organization. It is important to have an HR reputation of fairness, and to advertise this quality to important stakeholders. It is important to examine the more intermediate linkages between HR reputation and firm reputation and performance. It would also be interesting to examine negative HR reputation signals, and their impact on the reputation of the organization. Employees are likely to recommend an organization for employment when that organization is fully committed to work-family policies. As human capital continues to gain credence as a critical resource, organizations have viewed their HR departments as holding the key to unlocking this important resource. Thus, the power of HR has increased over the past several years, and should continue to grow. In light of the foregoing review and evaluation, and the strengths and limitations of prior work on HR reputation and effectiveness the authors have proposed some directions for theory and research in this area that they believe could result in useful and productive streams of work. â€Å"Effectiveness Index† can be one of the tools to identify firms with very progressive or reputable HR functions. Also, the need to determine what might be the underlying dimensions of HR reputation, and, if multi-dimensional, are all dimensions equally important for effectiveness, or are they differentially weighted? Firms bring about this publicity by taking non-conforming actions and proactively seeking to manage impressions to facilitate their own celebrity to the degree that celebrity increases access to critical resources such as human capital, capital markets, and raw materials, celebrity status for the firm increases a firms competitive advantage. Many firms such as Johnson Johnson, Starbucks, and Hewlett-Packard, frequently hit these lists year after year and are on several lists each year. Many of these firms are known for their ability to â€Å"partner† with the HR function to facilitate strategy execution, administrative efficiency, employee commitment, and innovation. At such an early stage in the evolution of this area of scientific inquiry, it is not clear that HR reputation necessarily has only linear relationships with outcomes; such relationships could be non-linear in form. Perhaps there is an optimal level of reputation for the HR sub-unit, and that a ‘more is always better is not accurate. AUOTHERS CONTRIBUTION IN THIS ARTICLE The author has given a brief and precise history on the evolution of Human Resource Management as an important part of any organization from a record keeping employee towards a strategy building. As the number of personal policies continued to increase during the 19th century the importance of human resources management grew as well. Author have noted down that Competitive advantages, such as organizational culture, employee morale, and worker loyalty, fostered by HRM practices, are more difficult to imitate than manufacturing processes or cost management strategies. CRITICAL REVIEW What is interesting about this information? This article revolves around the evolution of Human Resource Management as the integral part of any organization to run smoothly. From the clerical job of just an employee record keeper to a strategic human asset manager this article has evaluated status of theory and research on HR reputation and effectiveness, and recommends directions for future work. The article starts of by looking at the beginning the change chain in the HR function progression. Born from the industrial relations movement, personnel management was first examined in 1920 by Tead and Metcalf. And During the industrial revolution, utilizing the scientific management of work (e.g., Taylor, 1895), companies began to quantify â€Å"†¦ the most efficient method for performing each work task, piece-rate systems of compensation to maximize employee work effort, and the selection and training of employees based on a thorough investigation of their talents and skills† Starting from the first look at HR function more seriously in 1920 it has moved from the century focusing on the years which hold importance towards the shaping of HR functions as we see them today. In 1925 Craig Charter adding to the chain proved that personnel management 1) became autonomous from the line managers and foremen, 2) turned an interest to psychology, 3)said a firm must be focused on leaders ability to â€Å"†¦effectively deal with employees and earn their loyalty and support† As in 1926 Lewisohn noted, the inherent labor problems that exist between workers and organizations were not a matter of capitalistic dialectic incompatibility, but, rather, incongruence between â€Å"†¦the organizational and administrative practices of management.† Thus, the core of a good organizational-employee relationship is recognizing and capitalizing on the mutual interests of maximum satisfaction and financial return (Filene, 1919). More work was done by Follett and Tead in 1929 and further by Kaufman in 1993 which said â€Å"To obtain cooperation, trust, loyalty, and hard work among employees, firms must attempt to simultaneously fulfill the goals of the worker and the organization† As the number of personal policies continued to increase, so did the importance of human resources management (HRM). As HRM grew, even more laws and regulations were passed in the 1950s and 1960s that promoted equal and fair treatment for all able workers (Russ, Galang, Ferris, 1998). However, it was not until the 1970s and 1980s, when U.S.-based companies realized that their technological processes were no longer a source of sustained competitive advantage (Pfeffer, 1994), that HRM was viewed as impacting on organizational performance. As explained by Barney (1991), in his resource-based view of the firm, in order to remain profitable in the long run, organizations must have a sustainable competitive advantage. As organizations placed more emphasis on the human factor, the field of human resource management was formed from a result of various scientific fields of inquiry such as industrial relations and psychology (Dulebohn et al., 1995). In the last 15 years, HRM has further justified its strategic importance, increasingly being viewed as a key resource organizations possess (Pfeffer, 1997), and an essential link in firms strategies (e.g., Arthur, 1994; Huselid, 1995). As human resources are managed appropriately by matching unique internal processes with environmental opportunities and needs, HRM has the potential to be a source of competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. In turn, HRM has been held more accountable to contributing meaningfully to firm performance. Because human resource management is now seen as an important factor in organizational performance and effectiveness, the power and, as a result, the reputation of HR also has increased. How does the author(s) support the hypothesis? Reputation of the firm in the market is based on the Human Resource as an asset to the firm. By quoting; The study of reputation in the organizational sciences largely has been focused on reputation at the corporate level. Organizational theorists have suggested that reputation is one of the few resources that can give firms a sustainable competitive advantage, because it is viewed as a non-tradable, non substitutable, non-imitable, resource that can be managed (Barney, 1991; Kothaa, Rajgopala, Rindova, 2001). Work done by Reed DeFillippi, 1990; Barney, 1991; Lado Wilson, 1994; Huselid 1995; Delaney and Huselid, 1996; Ulrich, 1997; Becker Huselid, 1998; Boxall in 2003; Lawler Mohrman in the year 2003;; Colbert 2004;; Hatch Dyer, 2004; Bowen Ostroff 2004 showed that personal reputation is a collectively agreed upon perception by others, and that reputation exists in a vacuum of imperfect information. When an audience is attempting to gather information regarding an individual (or organization), reputation is relied on to â€Å"fill in the blanks.† This is similar to corporate reputation theory in that personal reputation is based upon social norms, as opposed to market norms. Established upon the notion that reputation is related to social norms, current research suggests that to successfully acquire a reputation, an individual or organization must â€Å"stand out† from others in the field. Rindova, Pollock and Hayward (2006) reflected these beliefs in a recent piece dev oted to celebrity firms, acknowledging the relationship between reputation and celebrity. Suggesting that reputation reflects a predictive measure, they argued that both celebrity and reputation are based on others perception of some entity. Similarly the department level reputation depends on the production of the department individuals respectively and collectively different departments form the reputation of the organization as a whole. This view is supported by work done in 2005 by Roberts. Research in CEO celebrity has shown that a leaders reputation may change the reputation of the company (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). Logically, the same process should apply to departments. If an HR department has a strong, powerful leader, the members of the department should feel an increase in power (Cialdini et al., 1976). Consistent support has been found for the HRM firm performance link in the literature, and with the continued development of theory, a richer understanding of how this relationship occurs can both advance the literature and facilitate improvement in practice. The theoretical underpinnings of the literature examining the relationship between HRM and firm performance have developed from; o Examining specific sets of HR practices. o Examining a match between HR practices and strategy o Examining the role of HRM in building and maintaining organizational resources and capabilities that contribute directly to a firms competitive advantage. The linkage between HRM and performance has be identified by the authors on the work done by Barney, 1991; Lado Wilson, 1994; Ulrich, 1997; Becker Huselid, 1998; Perry-Smith and Blum 2000; Boxall, 2003; Lawler Mohrman, 2003;, Ranft Lord, 2000, 2002; Collins Clark, 2003; Colbert, 2004; Hatch Dyer, 2004; Bowen Ostroff, 2004; Hatch and Dyer, 2004 HR reputation does have an impact on the larger overarching image of the organization. It is important to have an HR reputation of fairness, and to advertise this quality to important stakeholders. Although only one of the signals from the study affected share price, there may be other advantages of HR reputation at the firm level that are just as important, such as performance, labor costs, and employee turnover. This theory is based on the work done by Wright, Ferris, Hiller and Kroll in 1995; Hannon Milkovich in 1996 and Koys in 1997. What is the main aim of the article? The aim of the article is to provide a base line from the work done throughout the 19th century on the importance of the Human Resource Management as an integral part of the success of any firm. And to provide the readers with information from so many writers from 1920 to 2006 in the history of HR functions enabling the reader to suggest even more on the basis of research work done by them working in their environment any where in the world as human psychology is ever changing. Is the article timely? In the era of fast growing technology and change in almost every firm around the globe the need to develop and consider human resource as an integral part of any organizations success is the key as we read in so many journals and magazines such as â€Å"Times† and â€Å"Business Recorder† the stories of better human resource management success stories of successful companies, it does show that the importance of HR in any firm can not be ignored any more. This article was published in the year 2007 which is to me some what late because of the already changing trends in organization management. So I would have liked the article to be published before the beginning of this century as the boom in technology and industrial revolution has forced companies to review their HR policies and still there are many countries and firms around the world which lack the awareness of the importance of HR as an important mix in the success of their company. Is the methodology appropriate? Any weaknesses? The authors supported their perspective by using quotations and the research work done by over 20 people; from different research papers, articles, books and publications from the year 1920 to 2006. As they moved along the history starting from 1920 little indication of any work between 1930 and 1990 is given. Which I believe has left a big gap in the research work. Although some indication has been given that not much work was done between theses years to promote the importance of HR. Suggestions for future theory and research remains incomplete as many of the ideas merely seem to be repeated of what they have explained in the previous sections. For example: Just as celebrity status for a CEO or a firm has been shown to increase the breadth and volume of resources available to these actors, the popularity and celebrity of HR practices in an organization may increase the resources allocated to the HR function in those organizations. As resources increase, the power and influence of the HR function increase (Pfeffer, 1997). Research in CEO celebrity has shown that a leaders reputation may change the reputation of the company (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). First paragraph quotation is taken from the work done by (Pfeffer, 1997) comes in the article in the first part. And the second written in the conclusion part from (Hayward, Rindova, Pollock, 2004). Both implying the same idea, supporting the conclusion by a repeating quote can affect the strength of the conc lusion itself. How does the article contribute to the field? Does it make an original contribution to the field? Human resource management has evolved into a strategic business partner linking organization goals to the internal and external customers of the company. This article contributes to the field of Human Resource Management vitally as organizations today are shifting and transforming into a global business and fostering local businesses. The importance to align the strategic goals with the HR efforts remains vital to the success. How does the article relate to the course? The course entitled management organizational policy is the study of how organizational strategies are made to run the processes and to make the firm as competitive as possible. This article throws light on Human Resource managements importance and how it thrived and evolved over the years. The most important asset in any firm today is considered to be the Human Resource and managing it properly is the key to success. Diagnosing Human Resource Management Practices: Increasingly, teamwork is seen as one of the main building blocks of successful organizations and much time, effort and resources are being invested in developing and managing cohesive teams (Katzenbach and Smith, 1994) The potential benefits of these investments are numerous and diverse. Perhaps the greatest is the achievement of organizational synergy where the output of the whole team becomes greater than the sum of the individual contributors and in so doing boosts the productivity and creativity of their units and functions. In addition, teamwork can benefit the company and its members in the following ways (Wilson, 1994): For many organizations, decentralization and delegation have been central features of their new management philosophy. Current thinking leads to the removal of as many levels as possible in an attempt to rid the organization of bureaucracy. This is expected to provide faster communication both up and down the organization with less chance of distortion. Another benefit of de layering is that individuals and groups can be more autonomous and responsive to customer needs (Wilson, 1994). Within the general policy guidelines of the organization, employees at the customer interface are empowered to make decisions that previously would have to be referred to higher levels. Finally, another application of the framework presented in this paper would be to investigate the relative influence of so-called best practices on different organizational outcomes. Many of the HRM practices identified in the recent literature seem like fads because they often are implemented without much understanding of the underlying principles of human behavior as well as a tendency to do whatever is popular at the moment, regardless of whether it makes sense in the specific setting or organization (Pfeffer, 1994). It is this trendiness that makes the task of measuring and demonstrating the effective contribution of HR policies and practices of organizations so difficult. Yet, for many line managers, it is the ability to show that HR adds value, not the rhetoric, that forms the basis of policy making and which gives HR its place on company boards. If the HR policies and practices are misaligned, or no attempt is made to provide line managers with a framework to assess practices on an ongoing basis, the credibility and influence of the HR function will suffer. The framework put forward in this article may help to avoid these mistakes. Linkage between Production and Effective HRM: The aspect of this model presenting the greatest practical difficulty is in specifying and measuring employee productivity. A couple of factors complicate this task. The one receiving the most attention in the past has been the problem of measuring productivity, and the more fundamental problem concerning the definition of productivity. At the simplest level, productivity can be defined in terms of quantity of output. Quality is also an important aspect of productivity, but it is the quantity definition of productivity that has received the most attention. The practical difficulty is that many measures of productivity (both quantity and particularly quality) are subjective measures, and thus not very amenable to simulation. Blue collar and routine clerical occupations are the ones most amenable to simulations at present, due to the relative simplicity involved in defining and measuring productivity. Due to the difficulty in determining acceptable objective performance measures, many organizations and studies rely upon subjective measures of productivity, but Bommer et al. [13] conclude that the measures are not interchangeable due to the low published correlations between objective and subjective performance measures. In practical terms, this means that the performance measures used by most organizations are useless for the purpose of simulation studies. The model just illustrated and discussed makes it clear just how complex the human resource aspects of production can be, yet complexity is not a sufficient reason to warrant inclusion in models of production systems. It is only important to include human resources in production system models if biased or deficient conclusions would result from ignoring human resources. The discussion will thus turn to some examples that will highlight the importance of considering carefully the human resource implications of policy decisions. Finally, a brief example of an informal test of the model is discussed. In the example, a post hoc evaluation of an actual example is performed, with simulation results that are consistent with the actual outcome. Leaders influence on organizational effectiveness: Most effects of human capital on firm performance are mediated by efficiency and innovative adaptation. Employees with strong skills and motivation are likely to be more productive, because they will do the work faster and smarter. Research shows that talented employees can improve efficiency and process reliability (e.g., Hatch Dyer, 2004; Ichniowski Shaw, 1999). Talented employees can also improve adaptation by helping to develop innovative products and services, by marketing them effectively, and by providing excellent customer service (Baer Frese, 2003; Pfeffer, 1998; Vermeulen, Jong, OShaughnessy, 2005). Because efficiency and adaptation mediate the effects of human resources and relations on firm performance, the importance of human resources and relations increases when talented, dedicated employees are needed to achieve optimal levels for these other two performance determinants. Human resources are more important when operations are labor intensive, the work is complex and difficult to learn, successful performance requires a high level of skill and experience, and it is difficult to recruit and train competent replacements for people who leave. Examples of organizations likely to have such conditions include hospitals, consulting firms, law firms, advertising agencies, research universities, and companies that rely on advanced manufacturing technology (Snell Dean, 1992). Human resources and relations are very important when the competitive strategy requires unique experts or celebrities to attract and retain customers (Grant, 1996; Pennings et al., 1998). If unusually talented employees are dissatisfied, they can often find jobs in competing companies or start their own company. Voluntary turnover of key employees can be important not only for the loss of unique skills, but also for the loss of their special external relationships with clients, suppliers, strategic partners, and others (Dess Shaw, 2001; Leana Van Buren, 1999; Pennings et al., 1998). Examples of organizations with high dependence on uniquely talented members include professional sports teams, advertising agencies, talent agencies, consulting companies, and investment banking firms. Human relations and resources are less important when much of the work can be done by unskilled workers, there are many people who are able and willing to do simple repetitive work for low wages and benefits, and there are few labor laws or other limitations on how employees are treated (as in many third-world countries). Likewise, human resources and relations are less important when an organization needs few employees except for the headquarters staff (e.g., a chemicals company with highly automated processes, an internet services company, or a â€Å"virtual organization† for which nearly all functions are outsourced). Leaders can improve the performance of an organization by influencing the performance determinants. One form of influence is the use of specific leadership behaviors in interactions with subordinates, peers, and outsiders. A second form of influence involves decisions about management programs and systems, and organizational structure. A third form of influence involves decisions about the competitive strategy for the organization. The three forms of influence must be used together in a consistent way for effective strategic leadership. The Changing Role of HR Managers in Europe: European HR management appears to be a field in transition; external forces such as increasing demands for quality improvement, privatization and completion of the Single European Market are important influences affecting the nature and scope of HRM across European countries. Competitive pressures have added to the challenges created by the changes in the occupational and demographic make-up of the workforce. What are the implications of these developments for the HR function across Europe? It is interesting to note that HR and non-HR managers attached a different degree of importance to the various skill and knowledge areas. In particular, HR managers rated organizational change skills, general business management, and knowledge of general Personnel HR techniques significantly higher in importance than non- HR managers. In contrast, non-HR managers attached more importance to consultation skills, improving employee motivation, and working in teams. These differences were most pronounced in the manufacturing sector. In fact, analysis of sector scores showed that respondents from manufacturing companies consistently rated the need for skills to improve employee motivation, teamwork, and cross-cultural communication higher than those employed in the service and public sectors. These growing demands put the HR manager in a difficult position. If (as the EAPM findings indicated) HR managers are often perceived as too administrative and traditional, line managers may hesitate to allow them to rotate out of the narrow confines of their function into areas where they can gain broader business experience. In addition, what remains unclear is what will happen to the potential role overload and growing expectations on someone in the role of a hardworking HR manager who cannot do all that is required. The senior HR executive in a Swiss company put it candidly: ‘It scares me to think that I might be expected to go out and run a business after twenty years in HR. Im afraid Id fail. HRM Practices in small firms: According to the RBV, human resources (as distinct from human resource activities) are viewed as a potential source of sustained competitive advantage because value, rareness, inimitability and non substitutability is derived from the inherent heterogeneity, ambiguity and complexity of these resources and the conditions under which they are deployed (Wright et al., 1994). Value derives from the unique contribution of skills, knowledge, and cognitive abilities (for example) to achieving firm goals. Research shows that training is an important HRM issue for many small firms, but formal training is less likely to be provided in these firms (Storey, 2004). Storey and Westhead (1997) provide two explanations for this. First, training is less likely to occur in small firms because of ‘ignorance of the benefit it can bring and second because the cost is too high for small firms (Storey, 2004; Storey Westhead, 1997). Importance of Corporate image and reputation: From the perspective of marketing, the impact of corporate image and reputation on consumer behavior is well recognized in spite of the lack of empirical evidence. Numerous authors assert that a good corporate image or reputation helps to increase the firms sales and its market share (Shapiro, 1982), and to establish and maintain a loyal relationship with customers (Andreassen and Lindestad, 1998; Robertson, 1993; Yoon et al., 1993). How is corporate image related to corporate reputation? A review of the past research in the field shows little empirical results except for some general statements. For example, Porter (1985) suggests that a good reputation may help a pioneer rebuilding an innovative image in the industry, while Franklin (1984) proposes that corporate reputation is a global and final outcome of the process of building a corporate image. Impact of Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance: Throughout the 1980s there were a number of variations along this theme of strategic fit (Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 1988). One of the clearest expositions and developments of this theme was given by Schuler and Jackson (1987). In their model, HRM is seen as a menu of strategic choices to be made by HR executives intended to promote the most effective role behaviors that are consistent with the organization strategy and are aligned with each other. The models starting points are the generic competitive strategies outlined by Porter (1980) i.e. quality enhancement, innovation and cost leadership or reduction. For example, Kravetz (1988) conducted a survey of 150 Forbes 500 companies to examine the relationship between Human Resource Progressiveness (HRP) and a variety of financial measures drawn from Standard Poors Compustat Services, such as five-year growth in sales, five-year growth in profits, and P-E ratio for the latest twelve months. HRP was measured by asking the vice presidents of human resources of each company in the survey to complete a fifty-one item questionnaire on human resource policies and practices in the areas of communication, management style, career development, performance management, working hours and employee participation. Finally, it is clear the contribution of even highly skilled and motivated employees will be limited if jobs are programmed or structured in such a way that employees do not get the opportunity to use their skills and abilities to improve their performance. Consequently, HRM practices can also create competitive advantage through provision of organizational structures, leadership and work conditions that encourage initiative and creativity among employees and allow them to find ways to improve how their jobs are performed. Delegation, cross-functional teamwork and participative management are examples of such conditions. FINAL CONCLUSION With the increasing demands of todays business environment, company executives are placing more pressure on the human resource function to perform better, smarter, faster, and cheaper, while providing more value added services. Now, in addition to supporting workforce requirements and general business initiatives, the activities of HR are increasingly focused on managing the broader human capital capabilities required to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage (e.g., succession planning, leadership development, performance management, cultural transformation).In order to accommodate this shift in focus, HR needs to rapidly align their priorities and resources to provide the wider range of expertise necessary. References: How leaders influence organizational effectiveness Gary Yukl Management Department, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222, USA. The Leadership Quarterly 19 (2008) 708-722 Hatch, W. N., Dyer, H. J. (2004). Human capital and learning as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 1155−1178. Ichniowski, C., Shaw, K. (1999). The effect of human resource management systems on economic performance: an international comparison of U.S. and Japanese plants. . Management Science, 45(5), 704−721. Baer, M., Frese, M. (2003). Innovation is not enough: climates for initiative and psychological safety, process innovations, and firm performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24, 45−68. Pfeffer, J. (1998). The human equation. Boston: Harvard Business School. Vermeulen, A. M. P., Jong, D. P. J. J., O, Shaughnessy, K. C. (2005). Identifying key determinants for new produ