Analysis of Comments on a New York Times Article Essay

The article, â€Å"Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage,† which was written by Michael Luo and was published in the New York Times last February 28, 2009, basically told the story of people who used to earn five or six-figure amounts per year, are now being paid hourly minimum wages. One example in the article was the case of Mark Cooper, who used to earn $70,000 as a security manager for Fortune 500 Company in the United States and who oversees a budget of $1. 2 million. Nine months ago, he lost his job and now he is earning $12 an hour in his job at his friend’s janitorial services company. Although the article itself is appealing enough, it is also interesting to note the readers’ comments about it. As of now, there are 300 comments about the article and upon reviewing most of them, it can be surmised that each reader who commented had significantly different viewpoints and opinions about the story told in the New York Times article. Evidently, these readers adhere to different moral codes which are seen through their responses. In general, the readers who commented on the article can be divided into two groups: one group lauded the brave act of Mark Cooper while the other criticized the style of writing and the subtle message that New York Times writer used in the article. One of the reader’s who praised the article story admired the courage of Mr. Cooper as he was able to lower his pride and found ways to provide for his family even if it means that he has to scrub toilets and have his salary dramatically reduced from five figures to an hourly wage without any benefits. In a sense, this group highly regarded the value of hard work and starting all over again in a dignified way. Most of their comments basically indicated that Mr. Cooper is not alone and that there are hundreds of Americans who have similar â€Å"riches to rags† stories. These readers, based on their comments, also believed that there is no shame being poor as long as one has a dignified and lawful job. On other hand, the other group of readers who commented on the article criticized the New York Times for insinuating that those who work blue-collar jobs are lower forms of human beings than those who work white-collar ones. They see the article as discriminating to Americans who have been living their lives below the poverty line for a long time even before the current economic crisis. For example, one reader lamented that article more or less showed that a $12-an-hour job is an indecent way of living, which is not true. In addition, one reader did not feel sorry for Mr. Cooper and commented that he had a lot to be thankful for because he lives in an above average house and was able to live a rich life. To this reader, the economic crisis makes everyone in America equal because they are struggling to make ends meet. However, what’s common in all the readers’ responses is that they could all relate to the difficulties experienced by the people depicted in the article. In fact some of the readers, who are evidently from different walks of life, shared their own stories in their comments. In other words, the single factor that binds all the readers who commented is the hardship brought about by the financial crisis in America. In a way, the article’s comments show two things: one is that there are a lot of Americans who are so used to a good life that they are seemingly caught off-guard when a devastating financial crisis like this hits them and the other is that due to the crisis, most Americans would be willing to take on any job just to survive. But the comments also indicated that Americans are more unified in achieving a common goal which is to recover from the devastating effects of the crisis and rebuild their lives. Works Cited Luo, Mark. â€Å"Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage. † 28 February 2009. New York Times. 4 March 2009 < http://www. nytimes. com/2009/03/01/us/01survival. html? pagewanted=1&_r=2&sq=executive%20janitor&st=cse&scp=1>.

Religious or moral issue of concern to Christians Essay

Analyse and explain the way in which a religious or moral issue of concern to Christians has been dealt with in a television soap opera The moral issue that I have chosen to follow is adultery, which is when a married person has voluntary sexual intercourse with other married or not married people, rather than his or her spouse. The reason I have chosen this moral issue is because it is part of everyday life, many people are doing it and are not taking notice of the hurt and pain they are causing. I have chosen Eastenders for my soap opera, because it is a popular soap and the moral issue adultery is shown, through Natalie and Ricky’s affair. Christians have a strong view on adultery, they believe that you should keep sexual intercourse for marriage because it makes it part of a religious or spiritual contact and it makes it dependant on a commitment to spend the rest of your life with someone, also â€Å"Do not commit adultery† is one of the ten commandments, so Christians are totally against adultery. The main characters involved were Ricky, Natalie, Pat and Barry. The storyline begins with, Ricky and his son Liam coming back to the square after a few years away. After a few weeks Ricky is starting to settle down and he is renting a flat with Sam Mitchell his ex-wife, Natalie and Ricky are friends at this point. After a while Natalie realizes she still loves Ricky, her first love, and starts meeting up with him secretly and has sexual intercourse with him. Natalie makes up excuses saying that she’s working overtime and during her lunch breaks when she’s really meeting up with Ricky. One night Pat sees Ricky picking up Natalie from round the corner from their house. The next morning Pat confronts Natalie about what she saw and tells her to end it but Natalie starts crying and says that she still loves Ricky, but Pat tells Natalie about her own love life and that she would be making a big mistake by seeing Ricky. Natalie is still confused and not sure whom she wants to be with. On Ricky’s birthday Natalie stays home and looks after Jack and Liam, Ricky’s son. So Barry, Pat and Roy can go to Ricky’s party soon after they arrive Barry persuades Roy and Pat to go home and baby-sit so Natalie can come to the party. When Natalie arrives she gives Ricky his card and on the back of the envelope Natalie wrote meet me outside the back where she tells him that she is going to leave Barry. Pat and Natalie talk again and Pat shows Natalie the secret tape, which Barry has recorded for Natalie’s birthday it is a really special tape because Barry says how much he loves her, how important she is to him and how happy she makes him feel, after seeing the video Natalie realises that she is doing wrong and tells Ricky it’s over. Natalie realises she can’t forget Ricky and soon their affair is back on and they plan to move away from the square and start afresh. They plan to leave on Natalie’s birthday, Natalie doesn’t even care about the preparations that Barry made for her birthday party in the Vic. They are ready to head off but Ricky’s car has broken down so they have to take the car that Barry bought for Natalie. Barry is still in the Vic waiting for the guest of honour to arrive but Janine knows about Ricky and Natalie and tells Barry. Barry runs outside and sees Natalie driving off but he stops them. Natalie then tells Barry she’s leaving him, Barry takes her into the Vic and shows her what he has organised for her, Natalie runs off to the toilets Barry runs after her and tries o make her change her mind but her minds already made up. Natalie is ready to leave but then Janine tells Natalie that Ricky slept with Sam, Natalie leaves the square only taking her son with he r. Barry is left heartbroken, he then finds out that Pat knew about Ricky and Natalie, Pat and Roy end up having an argument about it, Roy has a heart attack and dies. The issue seen was dealt sensitively because the different characters feelings were expressed, although it was Natalie who was having the affair, you could see that not only was it the innocent partner that was confused but the partner which was committing adultery was even more confused, Natalie wasn’t sure who she wanted to be with at some points and was getting very upset over it. Pat tried to help her make the right decision but Natalie didn’t care. This soap opera made the moral issue less appealing, I think that it made people think more about what they are doing is totally wrong. The reason it did not make it more appealing is because it showed all the different circumstances people were left in, Natalie ended it with Ricky because he slept with Sam, Barry was left with no son and no wife, the baby was left with no father, Pat was left as the enemy and homeless because Roy dies and leaves the house to Barry, so the issue was shown well balanced because all the main characters feelings and circumstances were shown, many of the characters were feeling hurt. Overall I think this soap opera has shown adultery to be unpleasant because it shows just how many peoples lives are ruined not just the adultery committers, but people who try to help them understand what they are doing is wrong, but are then given the evil for not telling the truthful partner. So this teaches most viewers that adultery is not a good thing. I don’t think that soap opera’s might affect people’s behaviour because mostly they deal with issues to express the circumstances of good and bad. This issue would not cause offence because although it is an issue, which is happening in everyday life it is not based on particular people.

Occupational Therapy vs Physical Therapy

Many people might question the relationship between occupational therapy and physical therapy. Some think the professions are the same or that the terms are the same; there are a few different therapies for people who have been faced with a stroke, a disability, or any injury that has caused physical restrictions. The methods and techniques used in these therapies can overlap with each other, but both occupational therapy and physical therapy covers all aspects of the patient’s health including their physical, psychological, and mental state. Occupational therapists and physical therapists are similar when it comes to training. The fields of occupational and physical therapy usually involve the training of patients and improving the abilities of their motor functions. Occupational therapists and physical therapists share certain areas such as body awareness, strength and endurance, classroom positioning and adaptations, and sensory motor skills. They both involve accessing the medical history of the patients as well as evaluating their current performances, setting therapeutic goals, developing a plan, and applying a treatment that enables the patient to function better. After an illness, serious injury, or surgery, you may recover slowly. One may need to regain their strength, relearn lost skills or find new ways of doing things they once did. The process is called rehabilitation. Rehabilitation often focuses on occupational therapy to help the patients with their daily activities. Physical therapy is needed to help their fitness, mobility, and strength. One example of how a similar activity might be used in occupational therapy versus physical therapy is where the patient might be asked to work on a crossword puzzle or another activity. In occupational therapy, the OT would be watching to see how well the patient is able to understand and spot the words among other letters, and the patient’s capacity to hold the pencil steadily and circle the word. In the physical therapy setting, the PT might have the patient stand up at the table if he/she usually sits in a wheelchair and maintain his/her balance while circling the words. For this certain activity the gross motor controls would be more of the focus. There are also some differences between Occupational therapy and Physical therapy that may make each therapy distinctive from each other. Occupational therapy mainly focuses on evaluating and improving the patient’s functional abilities. The OT does not directly treat a person’s injury but they do help the patient gain back their freedom and their ability to accomplish their daily activities. The occupational therapists main purpose is to improve life skills and most of the time involves adaptive equipment. On the other hand, physical therapy is focused on treating the patient’s injuries itself and helping prevent further injuries. The PT will make a diagnosis and treat the physical source of the problem like the structures and injured tissues. A physical therapist studies mostly over the musculoskeletal system and the anatomy. Occupational therapists receive extra training in oral and hand skill interventions and physical therapists obtain more training in the postural development and gross motor. The common and easy dividing line is, occupational therapists work with the patient’s body from the waist up, and physical therapists work with the patient’s body from the waist down. Although occupational and physical therapy uses different methods when treating the patients, the number one goal for both professions is the same: they both solve the function of maintaining the fitness and overall health of the individual. Both of the professions make every effort to cover all the aspects of the human health such as; mental, physical, and psychological.

The Impact of the Social Media on the Relationship between Saudi Annotated Bibliography

The Impact of the Social Media on the Relationship between Saudi Arabia and Egypt after the 2011s Egyptian revolution - Annotated Bibliography Example The article allude that relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has not been a good one since the time of Ottonman Empire. Further, the article perceives that the relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia has been rough since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Social media such as facebook and twitter has exacerbated the poor relationship between the two countries. Samin Nadav is the author of this article that appears in Arab Media and Society Journal looks at the contribution of social media to Arab uprising in the year 2011. The article points out that Egypt has large portion of her population in the social media among the countries in the Middle East. According to the article, social media plays important role in bring change that reshapes Middle Eastern societies. The article asserts that social media such as twitter and facebook have been instrumental in developing close ties between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. This is after the overthrow of the authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak whereby social media was crucial in instigating revolts and rallies. The article depicts that social media has been vital in directing discussions and democratic ideas between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Egypt uses twitter to disseminate its latest development after the2011 uprising. Social media allows the other countries in the Middle East especially Saudi Arabia to get an inflow of information. The article reveals that Saudi Arabia has invested a lot in social media for networking. This article points out that Egyptians have used social media to mount protests at the Saudi Arabia Embassy. According to this article, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been in a state of tension since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. This article points out that the two countries have their negative perception on each other. This is despite the fact that they share religion, intermarriage, mutual political interests,

Protection and Security of a Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Protection and Security of a Company - Essay Example Securitization of information helps the organization to achieve its goals in an effective and efficient manner. If an organization fails to securitize information then it would face difficulties in both the short and the long run. Organizational efficiency suffers in scenarios where data is lost, destructed or fabricated. Hackers and malicious codes might affect the overall performance of the data and this affect the organization. Viruses are not only a threat for data security but in order to protect and secure an organization's data a solution or an effective data recovery and backup plan must be maintained by an organization. Security analysts are hired to maintain security in an organization both internally and externally. Security control procedures are essential to every organization and every organization usually devises a strategy on how to monitor and control its security issues. The element of data security involves a request message at a network node and on the intermediate level (Lehtinen & Gangemi, 2006). Then this request message is linked with the total number of data packets that are emitted from a communicating device. Organizations must develop a comprehensive set of instructions and procedures in order to assess the effectiveness of security controls that are implemented in the computer systems. ... In order to securitize the data all the security procedures must be implemented effectively and they should fulfill all the security requirements. Security control procedures must continuously check the changes that are taking place in the information systems and should frame the security procedures accordingly. Proper planning and strategy must be developed when preparing the procedures of security within an organization. Disruption can cause serious threats to security and it might result in data loses and malfunctioning of information. Lack of retrieving valuable information or data errors can create havoc for any organization and it might result in losses to the company in the long term. Security control procedures must be designed in such a way that they must provide a proper backup to the data (Carr & Snyder, 2006). A firewall must be installed for eliminating external threats like hacking, viruses etc. Disruptions are the most dangerous threat to data security because data can be damaged and fabrications in the data can be lethal to an organization. In the scenario of destruction a proper back up plan on storage devices is the ultimate remedy of this problem. Moreover, data backup should be placed online and to secure places. Security control procedures of nearly all the organizations revolve around the idea of maintaining backups for data prior to destruction. However, conventional organization s rely heavily on data backups through physical devices but this won't stop data from destructing in the long run because a disaster like flood or an earth quake can ruin all the devices and storage capacity of the data (Bishop, 2002). Therefore, organizations must maintain

Criminological Theories Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Criminological Theories - Case Study Example Society reacts by punishment, treatment, or prevention. These sequences of events come together to comprise the object matter of criminology (Sutherland, 1947). Theories are logical constructions that explain natural phenomena. They are not in themselves always directly observable, but can be supported or refuted by empirical findings. Theory and empirical research are connected by means of hypotheses, which are testable propositions that are logically derived from theories. The testable part is very important because scientific hypotheses must be capable of being accepted or rejected. Theories can be simple or complex, it depends on how relationships are made in formulating them. Human behavior tends to be very complex, almost abstract. Theories on crime causation are complex, too. Theories not only provide a framework for us to interpret the meanings of observed patterns but they help us to determine when these patterns are meaningful and when they are not (Sutherland, 1947). The case under analysis here is Cecilia's inclination to embezzle funds from her employer. Her behavior can be best explained using two sociological theories of criminology namely, Social Disorganization and Institutional Anomie. The Institutional Anomie is sometimes also called the 'American Dream' theory. This theory comes under the more widely known 'Strain theory'. Strain refers generally to the processes by which inadequate regulation at the societal level filters down to how the individual perceives his or her needs. Strain also refers to the frictions and pains experienced by the individual as they look for ways to meet their needs (the motivational mechanism that causes crime) (Messner & Rosenfeld, 1994). This theory talks of a state in which sometimes material success is evaluated as success in life. Achieving such a success might mean relieving the strain the person is under. When a person is in this state, economic success takes a very high priority in life. Contentment a nd satisfaction in life are rated only based on how much money they make or how well placed they are in society. As in the case of Cecilia, as long as she was economically stable, for example during the initial period of working, she did not resort to any type of deviant behavior. Social Disorganization theory basically refers to the failure of social institutions or social organizations (e.g., schools, family, group networking) in certain communities and/or neighborhoods. Organization can be defined as definite and enduring patterns of complementary relations and social disorganization as the weakening or destruction of the relationships which hold together a social organization such as a family (Sutherland, 1947). The lack of a proper childhood leads to a feeling of imbalance which in turn leads to the need to procure this balance. In Cecilia's case, the death of her father at an early stage and the lack of a close personal bond with her mother caused in her a feeling of detachmen t and desolation. Since she also did not have close friends, social networking was totally lacking leading to a very strong need to feel attached to something or someone. This craving leads to a depression which if not identified leads to deviant behavior which could lead to the individual developing into a

Stage 2 Of Updating Hometown Deli Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stage 2 Of Updating Hometown Deli - Essay Example This paper will attempt to describe how the technology proposed in Stage 1 will be used throughout Hometown Deli to help improve the business into a viable restaurant and local hangout for many more years to come. In Stage 1, the author identified that Hometown Deli was in need of a major improvement since nothing about it has changed since the 1950s. A technological upgrade would allow the store to become more efficient by having information pertaining to customers, recipes, and business accounts stored on computers. It would also, allow the deli to introduce the use of technological services such as Wi-Fi for customers to use while hanging out at the deli. Lastly, it would mean that new ways of advertising would be available, such as using social networks like Facebook or even creating a Hometown Deli blog to gather feedback from its customer base on how the Deli can be improved. Hometown Deli would need to acquire restaurant style point of sale (pos) equipment to help facilitate t he speed and accuracy of improving the restaurant. This equipment would also allow us to keep up with an accurate database of customer information, menus, recipes, inventory, business accounting information, amongst other possible information that could be used. Also, the deli would need to acquire phone lines and an internet connection with a wireless router. The wireless router would serve as the hub for the new Wi-Fi service offered to those hanging out at the Deli. Most of the major components to help with the solution for the integration of the business coming into the 21st Century, technologically speaking, can be found on the web in various packages. The packages that seem to work best come from International Point of Sale.com. From this company you can purchase complete packages consisting of touchscreen monitors, cash drawers, keyboards, the Restaurant Pro Express software, a signature pad, and printers for the receipts among others.

European Convention on Human Rights Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

European Convention on Human Rights - Case Study Example The CPR provides under Part 35.3 that: "(1) It is the duty of an expert to help the court on the matters within his expertise. (2) This duty overrides any obligation to the person from whom he has received instructions or by whom he is paid." Moreover, Part 35.4 of the CPR likewise provides that: "(1) No party may call an expert or put in evidence an expert's report without the court's permission. (2) When a party applies for permission under this rule he must identify - (a) the field in which he wishes to rely on expert evidence, and (b) where practicable the expert in that field on whose evidence he wishes to rely. (3) If permission is granted under this rule it shall be in relation only to the expert named or the field identified under paragraph (2). (4) The court may limit the number of the expert's fees and expenses that the party who wishes to rely on the expert may recover from any other party." Hence, it is settled that under the CPR, the experts have an overriding duty to th e court and that the court has the power to restrict expert evidence. Clearly, these provisions in the CPR is geared towards the objective of satisfying Article 6 ECHR affording a party to a dispute a right to a fair trial by having his case heard before an independent and impartial tribunal that has the power to control and restrict expert evidence. The Act, on the other hand, has several provisions ensuring that a party to an arbitration proceeding is afforded his right to a fair trial as a guaranteed in Article 6 ECHR. Section 1 provides: "1. The provisions of this Part are founded on the following principles, and shall be construed accordingly-- (a) the object of arbitration is to obtain the fair resolution of disputes by an impartial tribunal without unnecessary delay or expense; (b) the parties should be free to agree how their disputes are resolved, subject only to such safeguards as are necessary for the public interest; (c) in matters governed by this Part the court should not intervene except as provided by this Part." All the provisions in the Act must be read with these words in mind. The concepts of fairness, impartiality and the avoidance of unnecessary delay or expense are not new. The importance is the emphasis given to them at the start of this overhaul of arbitration--they are the lodestone for the parties and t he arbitrator when deciding appropriate procedure in the arbitration. Next is a strong statement of party control, subject to public interest safeguards. Finally, a provision that the State will not frustrate the parties' arbitration agreement. On the contrary, it will support it by punishing a defaulting party if that becomes necessary.  

Organizational Change Applications Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Organizational Change Applications Paper - Essay Example This is the process used by a company to implement its desired and required changes in it. And also controlling the environmental impacts of this change within and outside of the company. This research paper will cover up almost all the basic concepts of Change and also cover up all the steps involved in Change Control and Procedures. This method will be applied to Amazon, the number one internet company, that have the best internet online library for its readers. With the help of suspicious procedure and planning, it is possible to reduce risks associated with changes thereby minimizing the likelihood of detrimental impacts on business operations (5 measure to minimize risk). A change is something that is completely unavoidable and it is one of the most adopted facts of life. To be changed, is a matter of human nature and the need of time in order to provide defined Service Level to the users and give them ultimate satisfaction. Amazon, with its advanced Information Technology, is required to give all the required books to its customers at its library (How to Make Better Decisions). To bring change, is to bring betterment and advancement for the maximize availability of products. But, at Amazon, we will maintain our standard along and with the adoption of new enabling technologies for our clients, whose mostly are students. Although this change will help us grow our business and bring positive feedback to us but, we surely will maintain a high level of internal security of the company (Amazon, 2012). Amazon was founded in 1994 Founded in 1994 in Seattle, USA and currently it has up to 28,300 employees working with its online internet and shopping services. Amazon is the Global leader in e-commerce and a best internet company which has a wide range of products for its customers which all are available at very affordable price and

Just about every aspect of sport which we find exciting today was present at the chariot races of ancient Rome Essay Example for Free

Just about every aspect of sport which we find exciting today was present at the chariot races of ancient Rome Essay I agree with this statement to an extent, some aspects of chariot racing are similar to that of today’s modern sport. In Ancient Rome’s chariot races there were four teams, red, white, green and blue. Every roman would support a team, and stay loyal to it. These teams became the focus of support among spectators. The Romans were always very loyal to which ever team they supported. Fights would sometimes breakout due to the supporting of different teams. There are lots of aspects that made these chariot races exciting for the Romans. By supporting a team they could feel more involved. Competitors from the same team / stable might work together / pull stunts and gang up on other teams to gain popularity, make the race more exciting. This is just like nowadays, in football, rugby, cricket and many more of our modern day sports resemble the Romans approach to their teams and their support for them. Most men nowadays support a football team and stay loyal and supporting that team. Going to a football match is a really exciting experience, everyone supporting the same team will be feeling in a similar way, the atmosphere and feeling that you are all there together supporting your team, taking part is a very exciting experience and one that both us and the Romans share. The anxiety of waiting what’s going to happen, is he going to push him off the track? Is he going to die? The excitement when someone does a trick. Is he going to score? Will they be able to score in time? Will he get the penalty? Will he get sent off? It unified people of all sorts of social ranks, and encourages them to socialise just like we have nowadays. Betting also would have been and exciting experience for the Romans, just like us and any human being they were money driven. So the prospect of wining some money would have been a very exciting experience, they could have won a lot of money. Just like nowadays when we place a bet on a team or a horse to win a race / match, it then gets us more involved in the match / race, we want the person / team who we have backed up to win so we win money in return, so you get very excited when maybe your charioteer does a very clever stunt and nocks someone of the track / they are battling it out for first position you almost feel as if you are taking part in the race. The structural features of the circus maximus would have also made it exciting for the Romans the seating meant that they could integrate with women, which they would not get to do often, there are several sources explaining the excitement the men had in checking the women out. Nowadays that would not really affect our excitement on the sport as we are much more integrated through daily life than the Romans would have been. Therefore these don’t really increase the enjoyment of our sport nowadays. The ‘spina’ would have also made the race very exciting for the Romans, especially the ‘metea’ or turning posts, these would have tested even the best charioteers to their limits, when the charioteers reached the metea they would try and cut in as close as possible to the metea as possible, this could have resulted in a very bad injury or death very easily, if they wear pushed into the metea or turned to closely into the metea, as the charioteers approached the metea the crowd would start to cheer more especially when stunts and tricks were pulled on other charioteers. The Romans also enjoyed the egg markers and dolphin markers; these would have shown them at what lap they were in the race, obviously it would have been important for the Romans to have been able to keep track of how many laps the charioteers were on. Every time a marker went down / up this would have signified it being closer to the end of the race, I think this would have made it more exciting for them because it is that time aspect for them, when time is applied to something it often means pressure, whether it be they only have so long to score a goal or to knock their component of the track / make them win. With every lap it would have made it more exciting for the Romans, as there would be less and less charioteers each time and the race would be getting more violent / heated. Although nowadays although we do have score boards to help us to keep up score I would not say it adds that much to the excitement , only really the time aspect that they have so long left to score / win this game. In the chariot racing most of the competitors would have been slaves, and of a low social status, they would get sold to other teams and made to compete in races. In a way the charioteers had their own status within charioteering – they had dual status’ if they were good charioteers they would start from nothing a built their way up the charioteers rank, and become well known every time a charioteer won in a race they would receive a percentage of the winnings the rest would go to the stables, they would receive quite a high pay.. This is sort of similar to what we have nowadays for example a footballer might start from nothing and is all of a sudden he is launched into a high status / idolised. In a way the footballers are owned like a slave would be the club / manager owns them and they are sold onto other teams. Just like the charioteers they also receive very high pays. This aspect of charioteering / modern day sport would have made it exciting because you could get to see well known really good charioteers, maybe that you idolised; it’s just like nowadays meeting a really famous footballer like David beck ham something that an average person would find really exciting, because they are iconic figures that people look up to, and you want to see them perform. With chariot racing there is a real danger aspect it seemed the Romans would do anything to try and make their sport more dangerous and exciting, teaching the charioteers to bash into each other, the crowd would cheer loudly if someone was Have a battle with another charioteer / killed them, the Romans were very blood thirsty. The got thrills out of seeing people hurt and pushing each other close to the edge. Nowadays I don’t think we share the Romans passion quite so much for fighting and death/ blood, although for instance in motor racing when the cars are racing and perhaps giving each other nudges I think we do find it exciting we like to see how far we can push things, and if some one crashed and it was quite a big one every one would sort of be talking about it – did you see that crash? Without realising we get a sort of buss out of it. I think now looking closely and examining this statement I do agree with it , most of the points I have brung up are connected to chariot racing we share that thrill and excitement the same as the Romans do maybe we just don’t realise it as much / it is a bit more toned down.

Performance of Equipment Maintenance Services in Healthcare

Performance of Equipment Maintenance Services in Healthcare Performance Monitoring in Equipment Maintenance Services checklist Title Abstract Method: Introduction Choosing And Using Key Performance Indicators Benchmarking In Clinical Engineering Audit Summary Discussion And Conclusion Abstract The objective of this literature review is to deliver results to the key performance indicators in monitoring the performance of equipment maintenance services. Method: Medical equipment management, health source and Medline were used and the search was conducted using different keywords such as key performance indicators, equipment maintenance services and performance monitoring equipment maintenance services. Introduction The medical equipment management approach defines the strategies for oversight and interaction of the medical equipment’s used in treatment, diagnosis and treatment of patients. All the related procedures and policies govern event from selection to acquisition, incoming inspection and the medical equipment management. The mission is ensuring that the medical equipment used in patient care is affordable, safe, accurate and available. The scope of this plan is clinical laboratories and different health systems. (McDermott 2009) Performance indicators should be chosen with care, if not individuals tend to respond by optimizing what is being estimated and hence lose focus of the quality. There are two important questions that should be asked concerning any performance indicator. First, can the performance indicator in question lead to perverse incentives and does it have the required potential to induce the desirable changes. Key performance indicators help a company measure progress towards their set objectives. (Kyan et al. 2004) Additionally, key performance indicators help an organization present of service delivery to come up with the course of action. Different key performance indicators differ depending with the exact nature of service delivery and the company’s approach. Choosing And Using Key Performance Indicators The right indicators vary depending on the reason why the management is choosing them. All key performance indicators contain numerous hidden assumptions. For instance, the company can quote is a known guaranteed downtime percentage with the inclusion of the time when the equipment will not be required. However, at times statistical measures can be very hard to interpret, while clinical users do not consider the actual time of action. (Willson et al.2008) On the other hand process indicators appear to change more often than those that have been made to support specific improvement, and monitor the key factors affecting to quality of output. Result measures are more bound to estimate the effectiveness of initiatives to boost the service. Reasons for the poor performance should be thoroughly investigated, for instance, a reduction of 15% in monthly number of the exact routine maintenance logged in by the workers could be caused by alternative external demands or slipping internal stand ards. The steps that need to be taken to improve the services include modifying procedures and services, modifying demand or delivering more services. If an indicator has been modified to make it more strong, then it will be very important to maintain comparison with the old for long enough, to find out whether the changes have had any positive impact. Process targets can be interpreted and set in regard to local circumstances, because the detailed practice commonly varies, on the other hand, outcome indicators are directly comparable between the services when similar definitions are used (McDermott et al. 2009) Cost measures are quite sensitive to what the service chosen omits and includes. Across a typical hospital, the annual maintenance cost per item included varies widely. Detailed research will give the right guidelines on where the reduction of cost will be more effective. At this point, a lifetime strategy to costing can greatly help avoid the situation where technicians spend endless hours repairing the same equipment because the clinical staff lucks the funds required replacing it. A great sense of perspective is required, for instance, so that the total amount of time required to find the right technician can be reduced, this will help theatres to avoid great loses associated with the breakdown of equipment. The clinical engineer will be responsible for balancing urgency and cost and justifying his/her actions to the clinical staff (Gruber et al. 2012) Key performance indicators are reported and monitored to the relevant safety committees in the hospital throughput the year to provide feedback to the efficiency of the medical equipment management plan, the following performance indicators can be quite helpful if well used in a clinic set up. Critical life support performance maintenance completion rate, with a 100% goal and a requirement rationale. Second, the overall performance maintenance completion rate, the goal is 90% and the best practice to report and monitor rationale. Third is the service requests caused by user errors or mishandling, with a 10% or less gal of all the service requests that had not been planned, in this regard, the exact number of chances may be synonymous without consideration of the overall volume of all the service requests received. Mishandling mistakes with the exact requirement will have to be evaluated to find out if the trends exist, with the overall ratio that has been tracked over time providing relevant information for risk reduction. Another performance indicator is the equipment failure rendering harm to staff or the parties, the goal is zero occurrences and the best practice to report and monitor rationale (Swan et al. 2004) The next performance indicator chosen is the hazardous investigations, the main reason for choosing this key indicator was getting the right information, the rationale of choosing the hazardous investigation KPI Is all SMDA recalls, reportable events and medical equipment accident investigations will be instantly reported to the relevant safety committees. The next performance indictor chosen was the performance improvement standards. First, clinical engineering is responsible for identifying performance improvement indicators, based on the priorities that have been identified by users of the medical equipment in question, the relevant department and the environment or safety care committee. The environment or safety committee has the sole responsibility of approving the thresholds and monitors on yearly basis. All performance maintenance indicators are reported after every three months to the safety committee. The information provided is then submitted to the governing body involved via the regular reporting channels. All the elements of performance indicators can be changed upon request based on the administrative input, the institutional experience and regulatory change (Willson et al. 2004) Benchmarking In Clinical Engineering Over the years, there has been a lot of benchmarking activity with the clinical engineering sector. Clinical staff and hospitals are continually finding that there are many issues that are pushing them towards benchmarking. In this sector, we shall look at different methods in which benchmarking in the hospitals in used and the most common measures that are available. These different measures fall into different categories depending with the service they are used to measure. The outlined derivation of benchmarking measures differ between different organizations, and checking into the differences is often vibrant than opting to do a direct comparison. This results into a debate when estimate the cost against other relevant performance measures. In addition, they help guide in making evidence based decisions which integrate the quality with the worth of money. (Willson et al. 2004) In Canada, standards for evaluation and measurement of the best clinical engineering services were introduced back in 1998. To put everything in order, the Canadian biological and medical society created a review to boost the sharing of concepts. Another alternative option is making the use of external consultants to measure the service and advice on the utilization of performance indicators and quality systems to enhance it. Audit This is very important to getting and maintaining the highest quality standards. In its simplest terms, the audit compares the current and the intended practice and immediately reports on the difference. For instance, many follow a person through the maintenance process whilst looking out for any deviation from the right procedures, checking out the records and terms to ensure they have been completed successfully. This strategy is relevant to the internal audits and has the capacity of identifying whether the procedure is working as expected, unfortunately, it does not capture the power of exactly what the audit can achieve. (Willson et al. 2004) As a result, an auditor requires some level of incidence without carrying the responsibility of the area being audited single handedly, this is something that is very hard to achieve in small organizations. If this is done successfully, external audits may bring sufficient benefits mainly if the auditing was conducted by an experienced audi tor from another company. In simpler terms, a simple audit process visits are made up of: Preparation and planning: The auditor agrees to the extent of the audit in advance. Opening meeting where the auditor meets with the management representative to discuss the importance of the audit. Audit: Includes visits to several areas, interviews with the organizations staff and examination of the databases. Closing meeting: The audit meets the management to explain and share their audit findings and confirm the queries, indicating how the issues will be resolved. Audit report: The audit writes a conclusive report clearing outline recommendations for improvement. Once both parties agree to the report, it is signed and passed to the relevant bodies. Follow up: The auditor follows up checks out the corrective actions to see whether they have been completed. Organization auditing can be used to measure how technical and scientific procedures are being followed and whether they will give the right results. This perfect type of audit may be conducted by experienced professional bodies under registered national schemes. For instance, thorough checks between radiotherapy determinants for quality assurance schemes and dose delivery. Basically, it looks at the product, so that they can test a complete system that is where it differs to outline quality control. (Willson et al. 2004) Summary In this report, we have identified many reasons why a company should monitor its performance; we have also discussed the importance of integrating monitoring in a top-notch management system. We have vividly described the design of key performance indicators and looked at how they can be implemented in medical equipment management. (We have also outlined the pitfalls associated with developing and interpreting performance indicators and considered their utilization in practice. We have also reviewed how benchmarking can assist organizations enhance their performance. Finally, we have considered how audits should be strategized, what happens during the audit and how different groups of organizations can combine efforts and assist each other with benchmarking and mutual audit activities. (Grubel et al.2008) Discussion And Conclusion One important thing to understand is the fact that key performance indicators are not performance targets. They are put in place as monitoring facilities with the idea of moving towards the direction of the successful implementation of the procedures, policies and process. Performance indicators are categorized into two distinct groups, namely, quantitate and qualitative. (McDermott et al. 2009)There are two things that must be identified in order to use KPIs effectively; these include the points in procedures or process through which the data is gathered to support the equipment monitoring. Secondly, the locations in service where the data gathered should be presented as important information for quality management. KPI’s are important because they enable facilities to have systems in place for better management of medical equipment and devices. A few of the reasons why key performance indicators are used include more complicated, enhanced technical preventative maintenance, regularly needs consistent quality assurance and specialized user training. (McDermott et al. 2009) References McDermott, R. (2009) Key Performance Indicators Medical Devices/ Equipment Management.’ A Case Studies Of Equipment Management. London: Routledge Willson, K., Tabakov, S., Ison, K., et al 2013, â€Å"Medical Equipment Management.† [Online] 1, (1) 274-280. Available from http://www.openbooke.com/ebook/medical-equipment-management.html> [accesed on 30th April 2015] Gruber, S (2012) Exploring Analytical Solutions For Healthcare Improvement [Online]. Healthcare Analytics, New York. Available at: http://healthcareanalytics.info/2012/02/is-it-a-metric-or-a-key-performance-indicator-kpi/#.VUJEvlFMK_I [Accessed on 30th April 2015]

Essay on Relationship between Art and Life in Death in Venice

Relationship between Art and Life Explored in Death in Venice      Ã‚   The novella Death in Venice by Thomas Mann examines the nature of the relationship between art and life. The progression of the main character, Gustave Von Aschenbach, illustrates the concept of an Apollinian/Dionysian continuum. Apollo is the Greek god of art, thus something Apollinian places an emphasis on form. Dionysus is the Greek god of wine and chaos, hence something Dionysian emphasizes energy and emotion. In The Birth of Tragedy Friedrich Nietzsche suggests that,"... the continuous development of art is bound up with the Apollinian and Dionysian duality--just as procreation depends on the duality of the sexes, involving perpetual strife with only periodically intervening reconciliations.. in the Greek world there existed a tremendous opposition, in origin and aims, between the Apollinian area of sculpture, and the nonimagistic, Dionysian art of music "(33). The Greeks embodied this concept in the "clear figures of their gods" just as Thomas Mann, a great reader of N ietzsche, embodied it in his characters (33).    At the beginning of the novel, Gustave is depicted as an extremely, if not overly, civilized man. He is an artist, but he approaches art coldly and rigidly. It is more a job than a joy for him, and it is actually his urge to seek "flight from his rigid, cold, and passionate service" that brings him to Venice (Mann 6). Although Gustave loves this service, he is currently in a state of frustration: "To him it seemed that his work had ceased to be marked by that fiery play of fancy that is the product of joy..." (7). His beliefs can be summarized in the words "mind and art," thus missing the crucial ingredients of life and sensuality. Gu... ... painting Figures on Rocks at the Edge of the Sea. Life is found to be problematic if lived at either extreme, a midpoint of some type must be established. A dynamic state of oscillation, the best environment for the cultivation of creativity, would have prevented Gustave's uncontrollable exhibition of previously inhibited Dionysian qualities. The ideal state for the production of art and living in general seems to be a mixture of art, mind, and life.       Works Cited Mann, Thomas. Death in Venice and Other Stories. New York: Random House, Inc., 1989. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music. 1872. In The Birth of Tragedy and The Case   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of Wagner. Trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Vintage Books, 1967. Vibert, Jean-Georges. Figures on Rocks at the Edge of the Sea. Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame, Indiana.   

Organizational Life Cycle Essay -- essays research papers

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE CYCLE Organizational Life Cycle Organizational Life Cycle Organizations go through different life cycles similar to those of people. For example, people go through infancy, child-hood and early-teenage phases, which are characterized by rapid growth over a short period of time. Similarly, Organizations go through start-up, growth, maturity, decline, renewal and death. Employees in these phases often do whatever it takes to stay employed. (Ciavarella, 2001) In the start-up phase of an organizational life cycle, employees are eager to make a name for themselves and often act impulsively, making highly reactive decisions based on whatever is going on around them at the moment. Struggling to survive. This is just one of the many challenges a manager will face during this phase of change. To help staff understand the complexities of the early phase of organizational development. The manager must provide a clear understanding of the purpose of the organization to the employees. Emphasizing the importance of recognizing the direction the company is going and how its methods of working can be improved. Plus, explaining the identification of general objectives would lead to the clarification of responsibilities and purpose at each level of the organization. When a manager discusses these issues with his team, he is encouraging ownership by the employees. (Moore, 2004) The distinction between the start-up and growth stages in not easily defined. The distinction lies in the revenues, profits are stronger and are consistent with an increase in customers, as well as, new and exciting opportunities for the employees to pursue. Managers can look forward to many managerial challenges, perspective policy issues and re-evaluating the business plan for revisions. A manager’s focus should be in the running of the business, with a greater emphasis on accounting and human resource management systems. New staff will have to be hired, trained and prepared for the influx of business. Managers should be ready to teach the importance of decision-making skills and reinforcing organizational policy. Avoiding hasty, careless decisions, which can have devastating results on the manager's unit or the entire organization. Decisions made with forethought, using the many managerial tools available will lead to better and more profitable operatio... ...ity of purpose and direction for an organization. We create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization's objectives. Managers are responsible for changing behaviors. Which is probably the most critical area in the organizational life cycle. Finally, managers empower and involve people to achieve the organization's objective. (Lester, Parnell, & Carraher, 2003) References Adizes, I. (2004, Mar/Apr). Embrace One Problem After Another. Industrial Management, 46(2), pp. 18; pp.7. Ciavarella, M. A. (2001). High Involvement Environments to the Organization Life Cycle: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Approach. Academy of Management Proceedings, , pp. C1; pp. 6. Lester, D. L., Parnell, J. A., & Carraher, S. (2003). Organizational Life Cycle: A Five Stage Empirical Scale. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 11(4), pp. 339; pp. 16. Middlebrook, B., Caruth, D., & Frank, R. (1984, Summer 85). Overcoming Resistance to Change. Management Journal, 50(3), pp. 23. Moore, G. A. (2004, Jul/Aug). Darwin and the Demon: Innovating Within Established Enterprises. Harvard Business Review, 82(7/8), pp. 86; pp. 7.

Essay --

Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States when the Cherokees were removed from their land in the southeast of america. On the Trail of Tears nearly one fifth of the Cherokee population died. While on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee’s suffered greatly because of the horrible conditions they were in on the way to the new land in Oklahoma. When Andrew Jackson removed the Cherokee’s from their land, he had to go through many steps to move them. The way the Cherokees were treated on the trail of tears caused many Cherokees great pain, deaths of friends and family, and suffering. The government made promises saying that no Americans would settle in their new territory. The government and the Cherokees signed the Treaty of Hopewell in 1785. The Treaty of Hopewell set new boundaries of Cherokee lands. Jackson promised the cherokees money if they moved west into new lands.(http://www.cherokee.org/AboutTheNation/History/TrailofTears/ABriefHistoryoftheTrailofTears.aspx) Jackson also made many treaties with the Cherokee people keeping peace, but striping them of a lot their land...

A Look at Healthypeople 2020 Health Disparities

Healthy People 2020 Laura Siegel Do you know someone with a mental illness? Do you know someone who has been turned down for employment because of having a mental illness? Do you have a family member or a patient that has a mental illness and has experienced the challenges of trying to find a service that hasn’t been reduced or completely cut? The challenges of dealing with mental illness in our country are among the highest of all diseases, and the vast array of mental disorders are one of the most common causes of disability.According to Healthy People 2020, 1 in 4 adults in the United States had a mental disorder in the past year typically being either depression or anxiety and 1 in 17 had a serious mental illness. * Reading the above statistics was the catalyst for my decision to choose mental illness as my leading health problem for this paper. In addition, I have experienced mental illness in my family and all too aware of many of the challenges that come with having or knowing someone with a mental illness.Also, working in an Emergency Department setting, patients with mental illness frequently come to the ED in crisis and it seems that much of the time, their crisis due to practical or logistical reason. * As a nurse working in the emergency room, having the tools needed to effectively respond to the needs of patients with mental illness is crucial. These patients often present to the ED because of medication noncompliance or lack of proper information or resources.As a result, these same patients also present with medical problems, because without appropriate resources or medication, people with mental illness often engage in high risk behaviors that might involve self destruction, drug abuse or violence. * Dealing with patients with mental illness can often be challenging, scary and leaving healthcare workers feeling burned out.It is my belief that if nurses, physicians and ancillary staff are properly educated, resulting in people with mental illness being de-stigmatized, everyone will be better off. Laura Siegel CINAHL

Properties of Hydrates Essay

Purpose: The purpose of the â€Å"Properties of Hydrates† lab is to study hydrates, and be able to identify them. This lab also focuses on observing the reversibility of hydration reactions by hydrolysis, and also testing substances for efflorescence of deliquescence. Procedure: A.Identification 1. Place 0.5 grams of each compound (Nickel Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tetraborate, Sucrose, Calcium Carbonate, and Barium Chloride) in a small dry test tube. 2. Heat gently with a burner flame and observe carefully. If droplets of water appear on the test tube it may be a hydrate. Note the nature and color of the residue. 3. Let the tube cool, and try to dissolve the residue in a few cm3 of water, warming if necessary. A true hydrate will dissolve in water, producing a color similar to that of the original hydrate. A carbohydrate will give off water, but tends to char. The residue will also often be a caramel color. B.Reversibility 1. Gently heat a few crystals of about 0.3 grams of hydrated Cobalt(II) Chloride, CoCl2 x 6H2O in an evaporating dish until the color change appears to be complete 2. Dissolve the residue in the evaporating dish in a few cm3 of water from the wash bottle 3. Heat the residue to a boiling and carefully boil it to dryness. Note any color changes. 4. Put the evaporating dish on the lab bench and let it cool. C.Deliquescence and Efflorescence 1. Place a few crystals of Na2CO3 x 10H2O, CaCl2, KAl(SO4)2 x 12 H20, and CuSO4 in an a separate evaporating dish next to the CoCl2 prepared in part B. 2. To see weather the samples gained or lost mass, weigh each of them on a top-loading balance and record to the nearest hundredth. 3. Weight them again after an hour to detect ANY changes in mass. 4. Observe the samples occasionally. Note any structures in color and structure  and degree of wetness. D. Percent of Water in Hydrate 1. Clean crucible and its cover, and also make sure that crucible tongs are clean. Put over fire, and let cool. 2. Weight the crucible to the nearest thousandth. Handel with tongs 3. Obtain a sample of an unknown hydrate, and place about 1 gram in the crucible. 4. Weight the crucible, cover and sample on the balance. 5. Put the crucible on the clay triangle, with the cover off center to allow water vapor to escape. 6. Heat again, gently at first, and then with the bottom red for about 10 minutes. 7. Center the crucible cover, and let it cool to room temperature. 8. Weight the cooled crucible and with its cover and contents. 9. Examine the solid residue. 10. Add water until the crucible it two thirds full. Warm gently if the residue doesn’t readily dissolve. 11. Does the residue appear to be soluble? Waste Disposal: Dispose of the Copper mixture, and the Aluminum mixture in the correct bowl under the waste hood. All of the acids and bases can be disposed of down the sink. If the compound isn’t water soluble put in the organic container. Chemical Principles in the Laboratory: Experiment 6 Conclusion: The purpose of the Properties of Hydrates lab was to be able to identify if a substance was a hydrate or not. In lab, experiments where conducted to see if a compound was a hydrate or not. In order for the compound to be deemed as a hydrate it had to: 1. Release water upon heating 2. The anhydrous residue had to be water soluble 3. Exhibit reversibility If, and only if the compound showed that it could exhibit all three of these  properties, could it be distinguished a hydrate. In part â€Å"A† of the experiment, Nickel Chloride and Sodium Tetraborate were the only two compounds that were true hydrates. Both of these showed water residue when heating, where soluble in water after heating, and converted back to it original color after performing the first two experiments. Some of the other compounds had positive results for one or two test but not all three. For example, Sucrose, when heated, water residue appeared on the test tube, and was soluble in water, but the compound didn’t show reversibility. In part â€Å"B† of the experiment, CoCl2*6H2O was heated, dissolved, and then heated again to show that it was a true hydrate. When the Cobalt Chloride was heated, it turned from the color of fuchsia pink, to a light blue. And then after being dissolved into water, the compound turned back to its original color of fuchsia pink, demonstrating reversibility. The color change in this compound shows that by adding water to the anhydrous residue, that the same bonds that were broken my dehydrating the compound where reformed when adding water. In part â€Å"C†, four compound, plus the Cobalt Chloride mentioned above were tested for deliquescence, and efflorescence. Only one compound turned about to be efflorescent, which means that it lost water, which was Sodium Carbonate. The compounds mass before sitting out was 50.645g, after being exposed to the conditions of the laboratory for an hour, the sample weight 50.603g losing approximately 0.042g over the period of an hour. The Calcium Chloride (gained 0.258g), Copper Sulfate (gained 0.007g) and Cobalt Chloride (gained 0.068g) where all deliquescent, meaning that again mass while sitting in the laboratory. The Potassium Aluminum sulfate, exhibited stability while sitting out for an hour, neither gaining nor losing mass. For part â€Å"D† of the experiment, the percent of water in the unknown hydrate was %12.290. The closet percent of the given facts of the unknown was Barium chloride (BaCl2*2H2O), which has %14.8 water in it. This percent was found by using the formula below: % water in hydrate=(mass of water in hydrate/mass of the entire hydrate) The wide range of difference between the percent of the given and the unknown could have been due to the fact that there was wood debris in the unknown sample . This could have thrown off the amount of water present in the sample, and messed up the amount of water able to evaporate.

Cross Cultural Communication Essay

A country that was annexed by another country is sure to have exchanged or been impacted culturally and in many other aspects. An excellent example of this could be the British India. India was ruled over by Britishers for almost 350 years. Therefore, many traits and systems in India today are derived from the time they were under the British rule. One of the most vivid illustrations of this is the schooling system and English as a medium language for teaching and learning. The number of English speakers in India is more than 125 million people (â€Å"Indiaspeaks,† 2010). Analyzing from the graph of Hofstede’s cross cultural dimensions of India and England, it is clear that both countries rank closely in two dimensions which are Masculinity and Uncertainty Avoidance. In terms of masculinity, both countries especially India, rank very closely to the neutral point. India scored 56 and United Kingdom scored 66. Even though India scored very close to the mid range, it actually is a very masculine country specially in terms of displaying success and power (â€Å"India,† n.d.). However, India is also a country with ancient spiritual history which involves richness of culture and traditions that were shaped by its main religion i.e., Hinduism. This often reigns in people from indulging in Masculine displays to the extent that they might be inclined to (â€Å"India,† n.d.). As for Britain, it is considered a masculine culture. Nevertheless, there is confusion among foreigners as to how can English people value modesty and understatement and at the same time be highly success driven (â€Å"United Kingdom,† n.d.). India scored 40 on Uncertainty Avoidance which means that the country has a medium low preference for avoiding uncertainty. It is due to the perception that nothing has to be perfect nor has to go exactly as planned. Indians have very high tolerance for the unexpected and is welcomed as a break from monotony (â€Å"India,† n.d.). They believe in the notion of adjustment and adaptation. Each situation or problem they face will be handled and taken care of differently. Their behaviors are usually influenced by circumstances. In this dimension the UK scored 35 which indicates that England has a low preference for avoiding uncertainty. According to Geert Hofstede, they are happy to â€Å"make it up as they go along† changing plan as new information comes to light. On the other hand, both countries do have interesting differences in their scores of Power Distance and Individuality. Power Distance is one main dimension where both countries have largest difference which is 42. Indian scored 77 whereas the UK scored only 35. India is strictly a large power distant society where hierarchy is appreciated and accepted. In this kind of society, inequality and centralization of power prevail. Privileges and status symbols are popular. People with no power or younger are not allowed to have a voice. Parents teach children obedience and children ought to treat parents with respect (â€Å"Hofstede,† n.d.) . Teachers are considered as gurus as well. An illustration of this can be seen from the ancient history of India where Gurus taught everything, right from academic to wisdom, to children and groomed them to be good human beings. In terms of business, subordinates are usually not consulted during decision-making. However, they expect to be told what to do. An ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat or good father (â€Å"Hofstede,† n.d.). The UK is a small power distance society. It is interesting to see Britain among one of the small power distance societies as Britain has a rich culture and heritage as well as the monarchy system where there are princes and princesses in the society. In small power distance like Britain, inequalities are minimized. Parents and children treat one another as equals. Teachers are experts who transfer academic knowledge and not life virtues. An ideal boss is a resourceful democrat who consults his subordinates while making any decision. Another dimension where both countries differ greatly in terms of their scores is Individuality. It is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people’s self-image is defined as I or We (Hofstede, n.d.). India scored 48, therefore, it is a collectivistic society whereas Britain scored 89 which makes it a clear individualistic society. In collectivistic society, there is a high preference for belonging where individuals are expected to act in accordance with what other members of the group expect one to do. Behaviors and actions of people in this society are highly influenced by opinions of their family, relatives and members of their social network group. In contrast, in individualistic society, people are supposed to look after themselves and their direct family only (Hofstede, n.d.). British are highly private people, children are taught to think for themselves and make their own goals in life. The path to happiness is believed to be through personal fulfillment. Another interesting aspect of culture was looked into by Deborah Tannen who wrote a book called â€Å"Languages and Linguistics† where he explained a deep connection between culture and languages and how both are interrelated. One aspect that Tannen stated in his book is about Crosscultural Miscommunication which is about rising and falling intonation. For English, rising intonation means questioning and falling intonation reveals inconsiderateness and indifference which are rude and impolite. Problem arises when business deal or agreement is to take place because this is the most crucial time when contracts are to be signed and both parties definitely do not wish for anything to go wrong. However, just a drop of sound can change almost the whole scenario. It shows that speakers of different cultural backgrounds develop systematically different conventions for using and interpreting linguistic features (Tannen, 2005). Hence, it is very important for everybody, especially those who work in the service field to recognize this difference and work towards improving it. The last important aspect from Tannen’s theory is High involvement and High considerateness. Since Indian society is a highly collectivistic society, it is a high involvement society as well. People in the same area will consider their neighbors as their family members. This stands true at the time of crisis; people would gather and ask with concern about the story and offer suggestions and aid that they could provide. However, Britain is a private society where people are individualistic. They do not like to impose on other people’s business unless they are related or close to the person. Imposition can be taken as ill-mannered or rude in some circumstances. In conclusion, India and British are two completely different cultures that couldn’t have had anything in common if British hadn’t ruled India. Both countries adopted and shared some of the good values and characteristics with each other contributing to the development of quality of life and relationship between both to prosper. Without Hofstede’s dimensions and Tannen’s theories, cross cultural communication would still be difficult and this would hinder growth of business, tourism and cultural sectors of each and every country. Reference Hofstede, G. (n.d.). Dimensions. In Geert Hofstede. Retrieved March 17, 2012, from http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html Hofstede, G. (n.d.). What about India. In Geert Hofstede. Retrieved March 17, 2012, from http://geert-hofstede.com/india.html Hofstede, G. (n.d.). What about the UK? In Geert Hofstede. Retrieved March 17, 2012, from http://geert-hofstede.com/united-kingdom.html Indiaspeak: English is our 2nd language [TNN]. (2010, March 14). In The Times of India. Retrieved March 17, 2012, from The Times of India website: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-14/india/28117934_1_second-language-speakers-urdu (n.d.). HOFSTEDE: Cultures And Organizations – Software of the Mind [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://westwood.wikispaces.com/file/view/Hofstede.pdf Tannen, D. (2005). Interactional Sociolinguistics as a resource for Intercultural Pragmatics. In Intercultural Pragnlatics (Vols. 2-2, pp. 205-208). Walter de Gruyter. Tannen, D. (2006). Language and culture. An Introduction to Language and Linguistics, 345-347. 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Tragedy at Lumba’s Bend Essay

Five men were killed early this morning by a prematurely-exploded blast. Words flew fast in the village, and before long there was a crowd gathered near the scene of the accident. However, not one of them could come very near because the rocks and earth on the mountain side still rolled every now and then. We know were working in the mines did not yet know that there had been an accident. We only came to know of it when we are having our mess. Possibly it was either Demetrio’s gang or Pito’s gang that had perished, but as yet we could not be certain. After the mess we fell to work again, but many of those who were personally acquainted with men of Demetrio’s or Pito’s gang could not work very well. I myself was a great friend of Demetrio, and I could not keep my thoughts away from him. When my shift came, I crawled out of the hole and found that several of my friends had already volunteered to dig out the bodies. As soon as we entered the village, we were met by a number of excited women and children. They told us that only one of Demetrio’s men had escaped death, and even he was in a very serious condition. He had been taken to the hospital†¦.So it was really true that Demetrio had died. We passed by the hut where we boarded, and I felt a pang. I could only stare vacantly at the old woman who was looking out of the window. She was our occasional washer woman, and now she had brought a clean suit to the hut so that by the time Demetrio’s body was found we could easily change his clothes. My companions saw her also, but not one of us broke the silence. Instead we hurried to the shop where the company kept it tools, and asked for implements. There were already a number of men excavating the mountain side, and they were working with furious haste. But as there was still a know what to do, for she just stood there precariously, trembling and widly staring around. She was very pale and her eyes had the vacancy of an idiot’s look. Her dress had been ripped in places, and her hair hung in disorder. For a time, she seemed to communicate the same enervation to us, and we stood silent and watchful, as if waiting for her first move. Her sobs were growing weaker and weaker. Finally, they were only like distracted sighs. But after her eyes came to rest on us, standing there silently watching her, she broke into a loud fit of weeping. She suddenly  knelt down on the ground, covered her face with her hands, and cried louder. Some of the men approached her and tried to calm her, but when comforting hands were laid on her shoulders, she flung them away and shouted that she be left alone. For a time we did not know what to do with her. Later on, however, her parents came and cajoled her io going back to town. She walked between her parents, crying like a child. By nightfall we had found only two bodies. One was that of Busio. The other was so considerably disfigured that it was not recognizable as yet. We put the bodies on makeshift stretchers and carried them to the village. A representative from the company met us in the village and took care of the bodies. With him was an embalmer from the funeraria in town who began to embalm the bodies so that they would last until the company received word from the families of the dead men as to what was to be done with the bodies. A car from the funeraria came to the village and carried the dead to town. It is the policy of the company to indemnify the family of a worker who meets with an accident while working for the company. The company pays thirty pesos to the family that is willing to let the company bury the dead. But if the family wants to have the body, the company shoulders the transportation of the remains to the family, but does not feel obliged to pay any more money. Usually, however, it sends five or ten pesos as a sort of consolation to the bereaved family. We watched the car speed away, and when we could not see anymore, we talked about the accident. I moved from one group to another, unable to make up my mind to go home. And even though they talked mostly about the accident and I was beginning to think that I could not stand it any longer, yet I could not go anywhere else for I did not want to be alone and be left to my own thoughts. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I seemed to sense that the atmosphere in the village had become ominous and subtly suggestive of death. The village was usually quiet, as if these workers who labored in constant danger had been brought too close to the reality of their danger. The women were so strangely subdued. I hastened away from them and went to the hut where I boarded. I thought I could sleep easily after such a fatiguing day, but I was mistaken. After I had put out the light, the darkness oppressed me and I seemed to hear the breathing of Demetrio beside me. I hastily relighted the kerosene lamp, but even the light could not dispel my nervousness, so I slipped down from the house and went to an open-all-night  restaurant. There were many people there and they talked loudly. I was glad when at last the faint glimmer of dawn broke on the horizon. Outside the restaurant, the streets were already thronged with men going to the mines. The men who had been in the establishment also came out, some going home to sleep and others going to work. I ate my breakfast, and when I went out I fell in with a bunch that was go ing to dig out the dead. By the middle of the afternoon, we had extracted the last body. This with two others we had previously found were placed in the waiting car sent by the funeraria and taken to town. I had seen Demetrio’s taken from under a huge boulder, and in some parts it looked as if it had been ground to a pulp. Even before the stone had crushed him, he had already killed by the blast. One of his arms had been torn away and his face has been so mutilated that instead of a face, he had blackened, raw mash of flesh. The sight of him greatly unnerved me and some of the men who dug with us turned away. Pepe, who had been at a distance from the others of Demetrio’s men when the accident occurred, was not so horribly mangled, but he was a limp as if all the bones in his body had melted†¦. After the car had left, we slowly wended our way back to the village and returned the implements we had borrowed. In answer to the telegrams sent out the company after the accident, two of the families replied that they would let the company bury their dead. One of the men who died did not have any family and nobody seemed to know where he came from either. Demetrio’s wife replied that she would have his body, and Pepe’s remains were taken by his wife. TONE: Turns out Sadly for the characters often with most of them dying. Characters: Demetrio’s gang Pepito’s gang Pepe Old woman-an occasional washer woman

Cath Kidston Limited company- Critically review that role of Essay

Cath Kidston Limited company- Critically review that role of enterprise in the social and economic development of a region. Include a comparison of different cultural contexts - Essay Example ording to the performance review estimates; the growth value that they have added in the United Kingdom economy is around 49.8 percent (Wang & Altinay 2012, 8). SMEs also contribute a great deal to larger companies, by providing vital resources and completing business functions that bigger enterprises are unable to complete. Such companies are better able to attract and train new talent to develop innovative products that are better targeted towards the needs of their local communities. However, these enterprises face a number of challenges as they are often overlooked by the policy makers. Information regarding them is often scarce; support and policy targeted to their needs are also a great challenge (Bravo-Biosca & Westlake 2009, Par 1). Many businesses start up as one’s person idea and the creator in most cases is often an entrepreneur who spots a gap in the market or an opportunity that they can engage in business. The entrepreneur will, therefore, seize the opportunity and start a business to fill the gap and will grow to a large enterprise with proper support and management (Barnes & Haskel 2002, par 1). With the a few exceptions, most of the world’s largest companies all started as small business enterprises and through the supportive economy, access to the right people and capital turn to become global corporations. In regards to this, this paper discuss the Cath Kidston limited company that started as a small sized enterprise and over the years the company has grown to be recognized as a global brand. The paper will analyze the company’s products, its targeted social class, growth and productivity, societal impact as well as its role in the social and economic development of the region. Cath Kidston Limited is a business of home furnishing retail shops that are located in England under the designer Cath Kidson, who opened her first shop in 1994 in London. The enterprise was opened as a small enterprise that initially used to sell hand embroidered

The Uses Of Liberal Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

The Uses Of Liberal Education - Essay Example Using logos, the author explains that poor people lack the power to negotiate their position and life condition. They are trapped by external and internal forces, which sometimes appear too overwhelming and thus insurmountable. The only weapon they can use to navigate through life is an equal force to match the forces they are encountering. This force for them is violence and gun culture. It is for this reason that many of them end up in prison. If they knew that there were other ways to negotiate and that they too could enjoy a voice in public matters, these people could come out of the vicious circle of poverty. Pathos has been effectively employed- mostly to highlight the plight of those who suffer from extremes of poverty. It is most prominent in the case of Niecie, the inmate at Bedford Hills who first gave the idea of the use of liberal education as a weapon for success. Viniece Walker was a twenty-year-old when she came to the prison and during her time there, her HIV had progressed significantly but she had defiantly pursued a college degree in psychology. She had been described as the best inmate because apart from her education, she was also fully engaged in offering counseling services to inmates. Ethos comes into action when the author tries to establish the moral grounds for his research. Why should the poor always remain poor? Why must the rich have the tools of negotiation while poor were completely ignorant of them? The author raises the question: why are poor people poor? And realizes that none of the people he interviewed mentioned lack of money or proper jobs. Some of them had a vague idea; others clearly felt that lack of education was the reason. The ethics of this argument lies in the inability of the poor to access the tools of negotiation that rich possessed.

The Experience Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Experience Economy - Essay Example The importance of themes can be seen in the success that businesses that have identified a right theme for their business activity have attained. It is this right theme that gives customers something to associate with the business activities of the business enterprise. Very common examples of this are eateries that have identified a theme and built their business activities around such a theme. Customers coming to such eateries attracted by the theme put out like Hard Rock Cafà © or the House of Blues and continue coming there because the experiences there have appealed to all the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Chapter One on â€Å"Welcome to the Experience Economy† attempts to convey the message or argument that experiences are a clear and distinct economic offering and provides the means for future economic growth against stagnation since the agrarian economy and the scale economy of industrialization. The book starts with these words â€Å"Commoditized. No company wants that word applied to its goods or services†. (p.1). However, that is exactly what has happened. With the sole concentration on price there is hardly any differentiation between products and services and so margins crash. Coffee is a true commodity. Yet, it also offers to be a commodity, good, or service depending on the how customers can be made to attribute value to it. Sold as coffee beans it remains a commodity, but as coffee powder it becomes a good. However, sold in a restaurant the value of ambience lifts the value of a cup of coffee sold and provides a sensation of experience to the cup of coffee thr ough teasing the senses, through theatre experience or the like and thus the value of the cup of coffee rises even further. This is the economic offering that experience offers and the basis of the experience economy of the authors. In Chapter Two on â€Å"Setting the Stage† the authors try to reinforce this message by taking and demonstrating with examples

Engage Gladwell, Olson, and Nathan in a conversation to explain how Essay - 1

Engage Gladwell, Olson, and Nathan in a conversation to explain how individuals - Essay Example People spend most part of their childhood, until early adulthood, in learning institutions. For that reason, it is likely that they will grow up with what they learn. This will also increase interaction with other groups and fortify relationships (Olson 339). Gladwell joins Olson through the focus on Freedom schools (Gladwell 233). On the other hand, Nathan points out those students who do not socialize benefit less from integrated schools (Nathan 321). In the main, intermarriages bring together people of different races. Intercommunity dating is an asset rather than a liability (Olson 343). In Olson view, advantages of intermarriages outweigh disadvantages. Social interactions such as intermarriages should be encouraged (Nathan, 319). In essence, this will reduce intolerance by the children born from parents of different races. These children will be more open to the whole world at large, hence build stronger relationships. Open-mindedness, especially on issues relating to intermarriages, strengthens relationships. Inclusion, sharing and participation are important (Nathan 317). Acquaintances are also important since they generate more ideas than friends do (Gladwell 234). By sharing information through social media, people accept other people’s culture and develop strong relationships. In addition, cultural differences become less, for the greater good of the

Sarbanes Oaxley Act And Reporting Of Employee Compensation Essay

Sarbanes Oaxley Act And Reporting Of Employee Compensation - Essay Example The reason of the new law is to defend depositors by developing the accurateness and consistency of company revelations. The law formed a sovereign Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to supervise the inspection of public companies to shield the interest of investors and additionally the public interest in offering functional and correct information. Further sections of the act comprise but are not inadequate to Corporate Responsibility, Auditor Independence, and Enhanced Financial Disclosures. The law also deals with company and illegal scam, and it gives illicit punishments for defrauding shareholders of publicly dealt companies. Since the SEC has oversight and enforcement influence over the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, it is expected that the SEC will have input into auditing and corporate authority concerns after the establishment of the board in 2003 and as its rules come into existence. The Act forbids companies from expanding, openly or not directly, acclaim in the shape of private loans to its executive officers and directors. Accessible loans (as of July 30, 2002) are grand fathered as long as the terms of such loans are not customized. This ban influence ordinary performance like cashless exercises of stock options, advances and loans to help with home purchases, and might influence certain slit dollar arrangements and 401(k) plan loans. The Act a Closedown Limitations Notice Necessities The Act atonement the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") to need that plan administrators of distinct payment plans offer advance notice to plan members of an imminent "blackout period." For this reason, a blackout phase is described as a period of three (3) or more successive business days through which members' aptitude to direct or branch out possessions in their accounts, or to attain loans or to division from a plan, is restricted or limited. A blackout period does not embrace any postponements, limits or boundaries that (1) happen by cause of request of the securities laws, (2) pertain to simply one member, or (3) are alterations to the plan that offer for a frequently programmed deferral, restriction or constraint, provided such alterations are revealed to members. Plan members usually should obtain notice of the blackout period at least 30 days earlier than the beginning of the blackout period. The notice must offer: Causes for the blackout period; Pretentious investments; Duration of the blackout period; A declaration that members and recipients should assess the suitability of their present investments in light of the limitations forced throughout the blackout period. Any other matter required under system. The Department of Labor is authorized under the Act, to accumulate a civil fine of up to $100 a day per member for collapse to offer the notice. The Department in addition, is aimed at issuing a replica notice no

I. The CEO of the company believes that the company should incorporate Essay

I. The CEO of the company believes that the company should incorporate fair value accounting from next year while preparing and - Essay Example The other stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, and stockholders also find fair value accounting more realistic in predicting the trends in business. It is, therefore, easier to ascertain if the business is a going concern concept is on course or otherwise. According to the international accounting standards, fair value refers to the value of an asset or liability, which forms the basis of exchange between willing parties trough arm’s length production. In other words, in free market transactions the fair value is equal to the market prices, which is determined by the forces of demand and supply. The fair value accounting has several models, which include equity approach, mixed approach, income approach, and full fair value. The equity approach incorporates the realized and unrealized profit or losses in the revaluation reserve (Bazley & Hancock, 2013). When any transaction is realized, the changes in fair value will be reflected under equity. Under equity approach, not a ll the realized gains have any effect on the income statement. The mixed approach on its part, allows all changes in the unrealized fair value to be incorporated in the income statement while the changes in the realized profits or losses are reflected in the income statement as opposed to equity. On the other hand, income approach takes into consideration in the income statement, all the changes in the fair value because of holding losses or gains (Britton & Jorissen, 2007). Finally, under full fair value model, all the changes are incorporated in the income statement including the internally generated goodwill. Proponents of fair value asserts that historical approach has lost its meaning since it does not take into consideration the relationship between market capitalization and the firm’s reported financial performance. For instance, if the firm depreciation policy is based on historical cost accounting, then it becomes increasingly hard to determine the actual market valu e of equity net worth for the firm. Moreover, it is very hard to ascertain the true financial position of the firm if the firm values its assets based on historical cost accounting (Britton & Jorissen, 2007). On the other hand, the opponents of fair value accounting approach asserts that fair value accounting cannot bridge the gap between market value of all equity and market capitalization. The reason for this is that most accounting practices through the fair value approach do not report the internally generated good will. Due to this fact, it becomes increasingly hard to have a convergence between net assets of the business and the market value for the business. The debate on historical cost and fair value accounting takes into consideration the concept of reliability and relevance. The fact that fair value accounting approach incorporates existing market conditions; it has a better platform to predict the future patterns of the business as compared to the historical approach to accounting. It is therefore widely viewed that historical approach is the most relevant approach used to determine the net assets. However, when the assets are held to maturity, the historical cost approach becomes more relevant since fair value appro

Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wal-Mart - Essay Example However, this paper will try to evaluate the success of Wal-Mart which is indeed the market leader in the retail industry, and it will prove the supremacy of the organization with personal experiences and supportive facts. Personal viewpoints and some observations about Wal-Mart: The base of this argument can be put as the undisputed crowd pulling ability and growing footfalls in Wal-Mart. There are many other retails stores are there and they also pull the crowd very efficiently but do they pull crowd like Wal-Mart? Well, from many personal experiences it can be stated that the world number one retailer indeed pull the crowd efficiently than any other stores. If a person goes to any Wal-Mart store in USA in any time, he or she will see a gathering of huge crowd looking to buy something or the other. The cash counters are always busy with long queues and happy customers are always coming out with their purchases. However, the question is how they are so successful and how they overco me the tough competition in the market. From the personal experiences and viewpoints it can stated that Wal-Mart follow the strict rule of POCKETS (price, operations, culture, key item promotion, expenses, talent and services). They follow unique penetration pricing policy, they never tend to compete, break through operations management can handle the customers and the employees wisely within the store, great culture, they promote the key products very tactically and the inner talent of the management is distributed properly within the lower level of the organizations. There are some points are also there to support the positive aspects of the Wal-Mart and they are mentioned bellow. Remarkable business strategy of the Wal-Mart to support the argument: Wal-Mart has changed the seller’s market to the buyer’s market with their great business strategy. In the United States the main strategy of the Wal-Mart is to open stores in every five kilometers. And the main concept is selling practically everything under one roof with large discounts. The main strategy is to compel the people to buy more and more. Evolution of the supply chain management system: Supply chain is a very important factor for a g lobal giant like Wal-Mart. And in this case they are very strict to choose their thousand of suppliers globally. Mattel, the toy maker is one of the biggest suppliers of toys to Wal-Mart and they admit that it is a great business channel but a tough client as they want great quality parameters. Wal-Mart looks for close and strong relation with their suppliers. Wal-Mart is always hungry for customer satisfaction and that is the reason they also look for great suppliers who can provide good quality products in proper time with competitive pricing. Evaluation of the brand image: Wal-Mart has always been in the way to strengthen its existence. Around 2000 they opened the walmart.com which is the online portal for online shopping. And they have all the facilities like on-time delivery, great products and easy to use. In 2008 they have changes their total brand image, from the Wal-Mart store; Inc they changed their brand name to Walmart. Criticism about Wal-Mart: It is a true fact that gr eat brands have great criticisms. The Wal-Mart has been criticized in many ways many times but somehow I had overcome the criticism and embarked towards the success. In many times it has been criticized as the slaughter of the small grocery businesses. There are many times when small grocery stores owners have opposed the erection of the Wal-Mart store in their vicinity. But, the success relies on the verdicts of the customers. Mr. Sam Walton understood the importance of the demanded products to be sold in a low price in a price sensitive market. The Wal-Mart is

Persuasive reseach paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Persuasive reseach paper - Essay Example If a person goes against the nature or predetermined notions linked to the dog’s breed, it is an obvious phenomenon to face the negative reaction from that creature. In this context, judging the dog or any other animal as vicious or even dangerous does not qualify. The owner is somehow responsible for the dog’s negative reaction and not the guiltless animal. Before keeping a dog as a pet, the owner must read and research about that breed of dog. If there are certain factors which may hinder with the natural priorities of the dog, the owner should dismiss the idea of keeping it. The food requirements, living requirements, taming needs as well as attention requirements differ from one breed of dog to the other. Pit Bull dogs are not born to fight but they are tamed and motivated to do so. The recent incident where owner was accused of malnourishment of the Pit Bull dogs is linked to the NFL star Michael Vick. Vick has been found guilty of being cruel with animals when Pit Bull dogs were observed to be mistreated in his territory. The pit Bull dogs are observed to be wounded by fighting and were found to be half-starved. They were not taken care as was observed by their health and apparent condition. Vick was also accused of burying Pit Bulls on his property that lost their lives due to extremely violent fighting wounds. The example of Vick’s cruelty is evident in explaining how dogs are misused and misguided to perform cruel acts. It is obviously not the dog’s will to fight and get those serious wounds but for the entertainment and pleasure of the owner, the dogs are tamed to do such vicious acts. It should be noted that 47 Pit Bulls were saved from Vick’s property and 45 of them were rehabilitated effectively. One of the remaining 2 was euthanized for health risking factors and the other because of