The 4 functions of management within the Department of Defense Assignment

The 4 functions of management within the Department of Defense - Assignment Example The three steps of planning involves setting out the goals which the organization plans to achieve , creating a plan for achieving these goals .Once the plan has been made the last function of planning is to decide how the limited resources need to be allocated in order to achieve the plan. (Richard L. Daft, 2010) The DoD is very complex in the terms of organizational structure. The planning for DoD is done at the top level of the country. The President along with the secretary of defense and the national security council determines the security needs of the country or in other word we can say that they set the goals which are to be achieved by DoD. Once the goals have to be set the plan for the execution of these goals is made by the commander in chief in consultation with senior military and intelligence officials. The allocation of resources in DoD is done by the U.S congress which controls the budget for the various plans. Various committees of both the houses examine the goals w hich have to be achieved and allocate the resources accordingly. Organizing Organizing means creating working relationships between the members of the organization to facilitate better working conditions which leads to achievement of goals. An organization structure is the outcome of this organizing activity. (Flamholtz, 1996) The structures are made to breakdown the goals into different components and assign it to individuals who can complete them. The organizational structure of the DoD is shown in the figure below – Apart from this broad level organizational structure presented above there are various agencies and departments which function under the defense secretary. (Kinnard, 1980) Leading Leading is very vital part in management. The leader determines direction, in which the employees have to move, helps them understand the roles that have to be played by them and motivates them to achieve their goals. Leader uses his power, influence and vision in order to motivate hi s employees and make them dedicated in achieving the goals that have been set. The goals made in the planning stage will never be realized without proper leaders. In DoD the functions of leader are performed by various persons. Leading is done at the top by the president who tries to motivate the nation and the whole department of defense on the general level as to why a particular war is necessary. He along with the joint chief of staff’s can motivate the soldiers only on a very broad level; the various officers who are in charge of the field units have to perform the function of leading at the ground level. They have to motivate the soldiers in their command to achieve the goals. Leading is the most complex function in DoD as it is entirely different from corporate leadership. Leadership in DoD means motivating your employees to even lay down their lives for the nation. That is why officers are trained thoroughly in order to inculcate leadership values in them. These values are very essential to win wars and to achieve the overall goals of the DoD. Controlling Controlling means evaluation. This evaluation may be mid-term or after a particular time period has elapsed. Controlling defines how well the organization is doing, how far it is from achieving the goals which have been set; any changes in the goals or resources needed to achieve the goals. Sometimes even the goals might be changed midway if they are considered to be too easy to achieve or very

Symbolic Interaction in the movie ‘None stop’ Essay Example for Free

Symbolic Interaction in the movie ‘None stop’ Essay Symbolic Interaction in the movie ‘None stop’ Introduction            Symbolic interaction pertains to the social perspective on oneself and the society. The core idea in this is that humans live in what is known as a symbolic domain. The symbols here are objects which are culturally derived socially with shared meanings which are brought up and maintained through social interaction. Through communication, thought and language, symbols put forward the means for reality construction. What is referred as reality is a social product that is primarily humanly consequential. Culture mind, self and society is dependent on symbolic interaction for its existence and emerges from the same. Even the physical environment that we are living in is taken as being relevant to the conduct of humans, mainly the main reason being it is all interpreted through symbols and the way it interacts with the ones who live in it. There are three key pillars of symbolic interaction. These consist of, the meaning which is the construction of social reality, language which is used to bring up the meaning and thought which are used to internalize the languages to come up with a certain meaning. To show symbolic interaction, I will base my argument on the movie ‘non stop’ by Bill Marks.            In the Jaume Collet-Serra‘s most recent film, Non-Stop, clearly brings out the concept of symbolic interaction in that its hero receives a chain of mysterious text messages. Here symbolic interaction portrays itself as this hero has to think, internalize and come up with the meaning of what the person in the other end. Liam Neeson, who plays Bill Marks is a United States Air Marshal and he brings with him baggage both factual and symbolic. While he is on a trans-Atlantic flight ending in London, he receives a text message directing that a sum of $150MM be deposited into a bank account. One thing that is put clear in this demand is, if it is not met, one passenger will die. Mark is confused on what to do as he is trying to figure out things, hence this is a clear show of symbolic interaction in this film. After the occurrence of one death, Mark who is helped by a flight attendant and one passenger tries to unravel this misery by trying to find who was making s uch threats. They do not want to face more deaths and so they must know what these people want so that more deaths cannot be experienced. As mark tries to think what was the meaning of all that, he tries the elimination method where he tries to eliminate the passengers one by one as the possible suspects. One by one, Marks attempts to eliminate each of the passengers as a possible suspect. Nevertheless, the table gradually turns on the marshal, who is suspected of hijacking the plane for ransom money and not the only savior. This becomes even worse after the discovery of a bomb in the other marshal’s briefcase. This also is a big show of symbolic interaction as Mark is confused about want the society rely demands from him.            The other show of this aspect of this movie is when one is unable to clearly tell who the villain here is as all the characters are straining to achieve two dimensions of the story. There are many suspects ranging from the suspicious bald man with attitude complications, the middle-eastern doctor the unassuming woman insisting on window seats and the black man who won’t let off his sunglasses. There are many questions crossing one’s mind as trying to know who the bad guy is for sure. Mark goes through most scenes in the movie with an air suspicion concerning him.            He is portrayed as a heavy drinker, not only because he is seen mixing booze with tea before entering the airport, but also his habit of stirring it with his toothbrush. His drinking becomes ultimately how people define him and not something that defines himself. By this language that this movie maker tries to bring up the thoughts which ultimately make people to conclude mark’s drinking problem. This also shows an instance of symbolic interaction in this movie.            Finally, an aspect of symbolic interaction is seen when it is revealed that the terrorist mastermind was trying to manipulate matters so that Neeson’s marshal appears to be the hijacker. The waving of his gun and roughing up the passengers does not seem to help. As the passengers were really ready to rise against their fake captor, Neeson offers everyone a free international travel for one year. References   Friedkin, William (2014-03-02).  NON-STOP is a great action suspense movie. I highly recommend it.. Retrieved 2014-03-28.   Chitwood, Adam (November 8, 2012).  First Synopsis for Director Jaume Collet-Serra’s NON-STOP Starring Liam Neeson. Collider.com. Retrieved December 11, 2012. Source document

Intellinex, LLC :: essays research papers fc

Executive Summary Intellinex LLC is an eLearning company that was recently spun off from its parent Ernest & Young LLP. At its inception Intellinex claimed to be one of the largest eLearning providers. They have an aggressive strategy to take advantage of the consolidating eLearning market and become a "one-stop" provider of all eLearning services for their clients. Their focus is on creating customized training for clients and helping them to implement and maintain their on-line courses. Products and services are geared toward large companies that spend approximately $1 million on their eLearning projects; not individuals or small companies. They have asserted a strenuous goal of $100 million revenue in the first year of business. Company Background Intellinex LLC is an eLearning provider of â€Å"one-stop learning solutions that are faster, lower in cost, more flexible, and more convenient than traditional classroom training,† (www.intellinex.com). Ernst & Young LLP launched their wholly owned eLearning venture, Intellinex LLC, on October 5, 2000. Ernst & Young was the first of the â€Å"Big 5† firms to create an operating company that offers eLearning services. With less than a year of experience practicing business on their own, much of the background information for Intellinex stems from their internal work with Ernst & Young prior to the spin off. Their parent had already seen the light of eLearning and began creating training that â€Å"focused on everything a young audit person would need when first starting their career†. Almost all Ernst & Young employees had begun taking eLearning courses through a unit now known at Intellinex. They found that it was less expensive to train them onl ine than to fly them to training centers for multiple courses. Due to Year 2000 concerns, Ernst & Young changed its curriculum-development procedures and what previously took 200 hours to create 1 hour of online training now takes 20 hours. (Walsh 2) Intellinex was able to take advantage of this change. Ernst & Young already had more than 40 clients receiving eLearning services using this unit. Ernst and Young will continue to use Intellinex for internal training through a third party agreement. (Howell 2) Ernst & Young’s decision to separate from its online corporate training department was in hopes of increasing the unit’s profitability by acquisitions. Intellinex started with more than 400 employees and five major locations. Their focus was providing customized training for clients through satellite, desktop web casting, streaming video, and web-based courses. Intellinex, LLC :: essays research papers fc Executive Summary Intellinex LLC is an eLearning company that was recently spun off from its parent Ernest & Young LLP. At its inception Intellinex claimed to be one of the largest eLearning providers. They have an aggressive strategy to take advantage of the consolidating eLearning market and become a "one-stop" provider of all eLearning services for their clients. Their focus is on creating customized training for clients and helping them to implement and maintain their on-line courses. Products and services are geared toward large companies that spend approximately $1 million on their eLearning projects; not individuals or small companies. They have asserted a strenuous goal of $100 million revenue in the first year of business. Company Background Intellinex LLC is an eLearning provider of â€Å"one-stop learning solutions that are faster, lower in cost, more flexible, and more convenient than traditional classroom training,† (www.intellinex.com). Ernst & Young LLP launched their wholly owned eLearning venture, Intellinex LLC, on October 5, 2000. Ernst & Young was the first of the â€Å"Big 5† firms to create an operating company that offers eLearning services. With less than a year of experience practicing business on their own, much of the background information for Intellinex stems from their internal work with Ernst & Young prior to the spin off. Their parent had already seen the light of eLearning and began creating training that â€Å"focused on everything a young audit person would need when first starting their career†. Almost all Ernst & Young employees had begun taking eLearning courses through a unit now known at Intellinex. They found that it was less expensive to train them onl ine than to fly them to training centers for multiple courses. Due to Year 2000 concerns, Ernst & Young changed its curriculum-development procedures and what previously took 200 hours to create 1 hour of online training now takes 20 hours. (Walsh 2) Intellinex was able to take advantage of this change. Ernst & Young already had more than 40 clients receiving eLearning services using this unit. Ernst and Young will continue to use Intellinex for internal training through a third party agreement. (Howell 2) Ernst & Young’s decision to separate from its online corporate training department was in hopes of increasing the unit’s profitability by acquisitions. Intellinex started with more than 400 employees and five major locations. Their focus was providing customized training for clients through satellite, desktop web casting, streaming video, and web-based courses.

Management and Siemens Continuing Business

1. What explains the high level of corruption at Siemens? How did managers engaged in corruption rationalize it? The corruption was brought on by Siemens continuing business practices that were legal at one time but they continued to the activity for financial gain. They rationalized the corruption by believing they were saving their business and the jobs of its employees. 2.What do you think would have happened to a manager at Siemens if he or she had taken a stand against corrupt practices? Knowing the level of corruption, I think it safe to assume that anyone opposing the corruption would be fired or worse. Siemens probably had strong influence on politicians that could have brought false legal actions, through trumped up charges, against anyone who spoke out against the corruption. 3. How does the kind of corruption Siemens engaged in distort competition?These practices did not allow any real competition since competing businesses had no chance of winning contracts with these gov ernments. It gave Siemens an unfair advantage. 4. What is the impact of corrupt behavior by Siemens on the countries where it does business? It has a negative impact on those countries. The countries, where Siemens bribed officials, would lose the trust of their people and the corruption would show a negative impact on their political system.Business Management Study GuideIt could also lead to those countries not receiving the best goods or services they could have gotten and might not have been for the best price available since the competition was kept out. 5. If you were a manager at Siemens, and you became aware of these activities, what would you have done? It would be a hard decision but I would have exposed the corruption. I would have to be prepared for the consequences but I couldn’t be a part of a company that had those types of business dealings.

Electoral Reform Green Paper: Strengthening Australia’s Democracy Essay

The term electoral system has broadly been used to refer to all elements of procedures used to choose or elect political representatives. However, the public discussion in Australian electoral system has narrowed down since the September polls. These include the mechanism voters preference over set of aspires are captured and further aggregated to produce the results of the elections. The description dismisses the important concerns considered critical criteria which should employed to select the groups, candidates and parties that will appear on the ballot paper. The two critical dimensions of the electoral systems are what Rae terms as ballot structure† and the â€Å"electoral formula.† According to Australian Government Electoral Reform Green Paper, (2013) the ballot structure is the choice of the electoral system that is presented to the electorate on the ballot papers and the procedures of recording their preferred candidate. Notably, the electoral formula is the ru le applied, given specific set of recorded electorates, to determine the victor or the winners. Ballot Structure of the Senate Elections Since 1934, it has been established that the ballot structure of the senate elections has been one full preferential candidate. Essentially, the electorate is the prima facie that the law permits to indicate the order of preference for every candidate appearing on the ballot paper. However, in 1948, the formula for electing the senate was changed from the originally majoritarian one to the version in which the single transferable vote proportional representation. As noted by Bonham, (2013) from the initial application of the system in 1949 until 1993, the number of candidates per vacancy steadily went up. Together with the increased number of senators from each state from six to ten in 1949, and from ten to twelve in 1984, the increased number of the electorate per vacancy produced a shocking growth in the ballot papers. Therefore, the increased length of the ballot papers coupled with the full preferential voting requirement encouraged voluminous number of the citizens to vote by si mply transcribing the numbers from how-to-vote cards given to the voters by the party agents at the polling stations. Furthermore, disparities are observable in the electoral systems as reported by Australian Government Electoral Reform Green Paper, (2013) in its argument, the party voting concept allows the candidates with low votes to legitimately build their votes up to the level of emerging a winner. Besides, the system insists that the votes transferred to them from other candidates must mirror the considered will of the electorate. Unlike the ticket voting, it permits the voters to adopt the preferred order of which they are ignorant of, or they are less concerned thereby surrendering their votes to parties. Besides, the party voting rather than voting individual candidates denies the voters absolute flexibility as a proportional representative voting system. Notwithstanding this, a trend emerged during the period of 1949 to 1983 for the senate elections to use the informal vote. Therefore, since 1970 to 1983, at every senate elections the rating of the informal voting nationally was over 9 percent. However, during the senate elections in 1974, in New South Wales, the voters had a task to order 73 senatorial candidates correctly for them to cast their votes formally. During the tenure of Whitlam Government, the stakeholders opted to retire the requirements for full preferential numbering; however, the overwhelming number of opposition senate in the opposition blocked the Bills. Finally, the current system of electoral system of ticket voting â€Å"above the line† voting system as well as full preferential electoral system referred to as â€Å"below the line† was introduced (Farrell & McAllister, 2003). Notable differences in the two electoral systems are identifiable in the procedures. In the preferential system, the electorate makes decisions on the most desirable candidate to the least. However, when no candidate attains the required majority votes, the candidates in possession of the least number of votes are awarded according to her or his wishes and the following preference is then counted. This process is repeated until that time a particular candidate attains an absolute majority. Unlike the proportional representation system, the above the line system in which the candidates are elected on the preference of their proportional representation in the party. Farrell & McAllister, (2003) points out that the elected surplus of the elected candidate votes of the first quota is then distributed in a fraction that values the continuing candidate of the next preference shown on the line. In a nutshell, the candidates are elected until vacancies are entirely filled. When selecting the senators, the voters use preferential voting system. The preferential voting system allows the voters to list the candidates in their preferred order. The Australian cross-party parliamentary committee has recommended tough and party rules and changes to the voting system of the senates. This is geared towards stopping the minor electoral games. The joint standard committee on electoral matters recommended the changing of the electoral laws for optional preferential above the line voting and optional partial below the line voting in the senate. According to the proposers, this would give the voters’ additional control over the flow of their preference by giving them the option to rank all the parties above the line (Farrell & McAllister, 2003). Above all, the process would make it easier for the electorate to choose to vote below the line requiring ranking a minimum of six candidates. The current senate voting laws, the voters have the power to choose one pa rty above the line. Besides, their preference flows are determined solely by the party, or they must number all the boxes below the line to distribute their preferred candidate evenly. Moreover, the current electoral system leads to election of senate candidates of those occupying their or second group of the popular party. This leads to election of the senators with very small votes. This system differs from the preferential representation system which their tally is an absolute indicator of their support by the people. In fact, in a preferential voting system, these are no scale of measuring popularity of senators. However, they are rather defined by the electorate in terms of comparison with the other candidates. In this voting system, it is easy to conclude on hypothetical examples in which the candidate with zero polls on first preference would have defeated all the other opponents in a head to head contest. The absolute difference in the two voting systems can also be observed in the strategic manipulation of voters, thus sacrificing democratic rights of the electorate. Strategically, most commentators have argued that ticket voting system can be manipulated by preference harvesting. Kelly, (2008) asserts that the system involves micro parties exchanging their voting tickets, hoping party with least votes would ascend to senate. The preference harvesting was clearly observable in the 2013 voting results. Essentially, the preference harvesting differs from the individual electoral process because t is pragmatic. Unlike the representative voting system which considers the ideological alignments of the electorate, the system is based on the basis where the electorate hardly has control on the outcome. It is established in the outcome of the elections that the above the line voting system has no credit to the voters. Above all fundamental differences in the two electoral processes, the outcome of the election should be determined by the wishes of the voters. In the evidence of the last election, there was no observable connection between the preference that the ticket voting system attributed to the voters and the ones they actually held. This raises a key difference in the electoral systems and on which covers the wills of the voters. Proportional representation The common feature of proportional representation is that the political parties must exceed a certain vote threshold in order to win the seats. It is clear that the previous election results have led to effortless demands for electoral reforms with the constitutional objectives addressed. Essential research done on the 2013 election found that the 38 percent of the small parties in the senate were beneficial for democracy. Besides, the most favorable, if the public opinion is to be observed is the abolition of the group voting tickets, currently operational. The proportional representation is critical to chapter seven of the constitution that requires the election process to be left in the conscious decisions of the voters. Thus, the obvious route to consciously respect the constitution in the electoral reforms is to copy the example of the New South Wales and distribute voting preference as the voters allocate them, or authorizes the voters to number the every box above the line. Additionally, the determination of the parties to respect section seven of the constitution is reflected in the representative voting system. According to section seven of the constitution, the senate shall be compost of senators for each state, directly elected by the electorate. Justifiably, the in 1984 the Chief Justice of the High Court rejected the above the line senate voting on grounds that the section required the voters vote for individual candidates as they wish to choose as senatorial representatives (Ghazarian & Monash University, 2010). However, the rule did not admit that above the line voting system amounted to any contradiction other than section seven. Notably, the principle that held by the proportional representation system of the electoral system of the senate must be based on choosing individual candidates rather than parties were, nevertheless, objective. As noted by (Kelly, 2012) more than a single authority involved in electoral reforms suggested that the voting system would be violated by the provisions that limited individual candidates in respect to aggregate of their party votes. Ideally, this is can be observed from the electoral threshold based on individual candidate would eliminate all the major party candidates with the exception of those at the top of the party ticket. Critics of the proportional representation voting system highlights that it not clear that the preference threshold would attain this. They assert that there might not be a handy alternative for challenging the above the line voting system that limited the candidates from choosing their preferred candidate. Besides, holding to the backers of the individuals with the good taste of the proportional representative voting, voting for the parties remains a constitutional disorder (Kelly, 2012). Arguably, it is unreasonable to penalize the political parties performing poorly for failing to meet the threshold seems to pass the consequences to the electorate who voted for them. Besides, democracy foundations of any conscious voting system respects the fact that the vote belongs to the electorate who registered, however, not to a particular party that the above the line voting which happen to give first preference to particular political parties. Happily, a report from Australian Government Electoral Reform Green Paper, (2013) asserts that the adoption of the proportional representative will grant observable credit to the most honest alternative of optional preferential voting above the line. Besides, the electoral body in the line of meeting section seven of the constitution examined photo identification, no-brainer of prohibiting people as serving the state as registered officers for more than a single party and tightening of the late campaign blackout. The senate electoral system should be changed to adopt the optional preferential voting. . The greatest impact of the 2013 election of preference harvesting should be abolished. Notably, the results of 2013 elections were unusual and interesting, preferably in the senate where small parties enter into back door negotiations. This raises the integrity of the voting process and the constitutional threshold. Holding that below the line voting system is constitutionally required, it is wise to argue that the basic criterion for election of the senate should that that puts the democratic rights of the voters in the heart. This can be achieved by allowing the voters to record their preferences truthfully and meaningfully. Therefore, considering the role of the senate in the constitutional reforms, the nearly and easily achievable deal is the OPV. However, the OPV does not achieve it fully. Essentially, the system does not permit the electorate to express equal preference for more than one candidate. Besides, it does not permit voting indifference to be shown with an exception from the least preferred candidate for the voter. The good news holds that the OPV does not require the voter to write large numbers on the ballot paper purporting to express preferences that are never held. But the system will ensure that the numbers on the ballot papers express the true preference of the voters. Besides, the introduction of the OPV below the line will automatically default the use of above the line voting. The key policy for implementation will be to use ne ballot paper to suffice the votes. The single ballot raises expresses as genuine preference the voter holds. Bonham, (2013) argues that unless the voters are required to write more than one ballot paper, vote exhaustion may lead to the election of candidates with less than a quota. Conclusion Voting in Australia is compulsory and uses preference ballot in single seats for the representatives of the house. Today, there are many parties that usually vie for the senate. Although it varies from state, dozens run and some parties gunners no votes. However, due to the preferential allocation system, it is equally possible to be elected to a senate even with less than 14.3 percent of the primary votes (Ghazarian & Monash University, 2010). For instance, in New South Wales the senate papers are printed in 7-point font and the voters are given magnifying lenses to read them. In a nutshell, proportional representation system is advised to lead to proportional results of the election. Besides, parties should win the senatorial seats on the proportion of their vote size. However, to uphold the integrity of the constitution, the senate should adopt democratic voting variations such as single transferable vote which votes for candidates rather than parties. References Australian Government.( 14 November 2013) Electoral Reform Green Paper: Strengthening Australia’s Democracy (2009), at Bonham, Kevin.( 14 November 2013) â€Å"Senate Reform: Change This System, But To What?†, at http://kevinbonham.blogspot.jp/2013/10/senate-reform-change-this-system-but-to.html, accessed Farrell, D. M., & McAllister, I. (January 01, 2003). The 1983 change in surplus vote transfer procedures for the Australian senate and its consequences for the single transferable vote. Australian Journal of Political Science, 38, 3, 479-491. Ghazarian, Z., & Monash University. (2010). Australian minor parties in transition in the Senate, 1949-2007. http://www.dpmc.gov.au/consultation/elect_reform/strengthening_democracy, accessed Kelly, N. (2008). Evaluating Australian electoral reforms: 1983-2007.Kelly, N. (2012). Directions in Australian electoral reform: Professionalism and partisanship in electoral management. Canberra: ANU E Press. Source document

Accounting - Income Statements, Balance Sheets

Accounting - Income Statements, Balance Sheets Accounting is the science of recording, arrangement and summarising everyday business transactions, generally in terms of money, and includes the checking, analyzing, understanding and reporting to the interested users in the dealings of the individual, firm, company, government or the nation to which the transactions relate. final reports for most accounting are the balance sheet, describing the position from the start of the year to the current year, and the income statement, a statement of the recent year's performance. the main accounting assumption and principles guide the formation of these 2 final reports.Income statement is a report that shows the result of company's earnings for a specific period of time. It reports all the revenues earned minus the expenses which results in either profit or loss. If revenue exceeds the expenses, it will incur a profit. But if the expenses are greater than the revenue, the company will report a net loss.Componenets of the asset side of the F ederal Reser...When preparing an income statement, it is important for the company to indicate the length of time it took to realize the profit or loss. The length of time can be for a month, three months, six months or for the full year. Someone who just started a business may want to monitor their business performance during the early part of the business establishment, therefore a monthly income statement would be helpful for the owners. Income statement is useful to anyone who would like to determine if the company is performing well or not as it shows whether profits are being made at any specific period of time.Income statement is also known as profit and loss statement, operating statement or statement of financial performance.Income statement is expressed in the following equation:Revenue - Expenses = Net Profit or LossThe two components of income statement are the...

The Hospital Window Essays - James Dickey, Elevator, Wick Burns

The Hospital Window Essays - James Dickey, Elevator, Wick Burns The Hospital Window The death of a loved one can put unimaginable stress on the loved ones of the deceased. This stress can make one's life chaotic and unpleasant for long periods of time if the mourners do not underezd the death. James Dickey, who believes, "poetry is the center of the creative wheel," wrote the poem, "The Hospital Window". The relationship between mourners and death becomes apparent in this "simple 54-line poem . . . about a parent's dying as a transformative experience, and the possibility that love conquers fear." The poem takes place on a city street adjacent to a large hospital. In "The Hospital Window", Dickey uses images which represent life and death to demonstrate that the death of a loved one can make one enter a surrealistic state, in which everyday occurrences appear to be heavenly; however, if one can overcome the death by underezding it, he can then return to a peaceful life. In the beginning of the poem, the images which distinguish life and death show that the speaker perceives normal events as spiritual after leaving his father's hospital room. Dickey's persona enters this state when he is on the hospital elevator. As the elevator brings him down to ground level, he remembers his father lying in his room above "in a blue light."(3) According to Gertrude Jobes, the color blue represents heaven and God. Therefore, its shining down on the speaker's father represents God's presence with his father. For any other observer, the light is obviously "shed by a tinted window,"(4) but the speaker's state of mind leads him to believe that the light shines from heaven. Once outside, the speaker turns to face the hospital. As he turns, he sees that "[each] window possesses the sun / As though it burned there on a wick."(13) To Jobes, the sun represents life. A candle wick burns for only a certain period of time, and then dies out. Therefore, the speaker believes that the reflection of the sun in the windows is actually his father's life. When the speaker reaches out to the sun, and "[waves], like a man catching fire,"(15) he tries to grab his father's life back. At that moment, the glare from the sun reflects in a certain way, making "all the deep-dyed windowpanes flash."(16) This flash, in the speaker's mind, is God reaching out for the father's soul. Also, the flash mocks the speaker's attempts at grabbing his father's life from the grips of death. Furthermore, the speaker visualizes God's presence by "all the white rooms / [turning] the color of Heaven."(18) To the speaker, the heavenly white color of the rooms represents purity and innocence, as described in Jobes, while others see merely white rooms. As the speaker studies the windows, he sees that all reflect "flames"(21), or the candles of the living still burning. It is then he realizes that his father's window is different. It reflects "the bright, erased blankness of nothing."(23) The flickering light visible in all of the other rooms is not visible in his father's room because he is dead. Once the speaker realizes his father is dead, he can start to overcome the death. In the middle of the poem, images representing life and death show how the speaker overcomes his father's death. After experiencing the madness of death, the speaker transitions from not believing in the death to realizing that his father is leaving him. First, the speaker realizes that his father's body remains in his room "[in] the shape of his death still living"(25). Death still living represents the father's dead body, with the soul still alive within. This thought causes a madness within the speaker because he realizes that his father's soul, oreverything he was, may remain within the corpse forever. Eventually, his father's soul "lifts [its] arms out of stillness at last"(31), causing the speaker to realize that his father's soul is leaving the body. The speaker "[turns] as blue as a soul / As the moment when I was born"(33-34) from the realization that his father will live on with him forever. This realization holds true because his father gave him life, so therefore his father will live on in his life. Additionally, the speaker

Narcoterrorism - Definition and Examples

Narcoterrorism s Definition: The term â€Å"narcoterrorism† is often attributed to Peru’s president Belaunde Terry in 1983, to describe attacks by cocaine traffickers against the police, who suspected that the Maoist rebel group, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) , had found common ground with cocaine traffickers. It has been used to mean violence waged by drug producers to extract political concessions from the government. The most famous example of this was the battle waged in the 1980s by Pablo Escobar, head of the Medellin drug cartel, against the Colombian government by way of assassinations, hijackings and bombings. Escobar wanted Colombia to revise its extradition treaty, which it eventually did. Narcoterrorism has also been used to refer to groups understood to have political intentions that engage in or support drug trafficking to fund their activities. Groups such as the Colombian FARC and the Taliban in Afghanistan, among others, fall into this category. On paper, references to narcoterrorism of this sort suggest that trafficking merely funds a distinct political agenda. In fact, the drug trafficking and armed violence by group members can become an autonomous activity to which politics is secondary. In this case, the only distinction between narcoterrorists and criminal gangs is the label.

Physical Health in Doha Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Physical Health in Doha - Essay Example The rapidly increasing obesity rates would predispose people to developing medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases among other weight related medical conditions. Research findings also indicated that both children and adults indiscriminately developed type II diabetes as a result of obesity; whereby, 15.4% of adults and 28.8 % of children below 5 years of age were diabetic. The high obesity and diabetic statistics is attributable to a variety of factors that are discussed in detail below (Bell 1). Qatar’s inhabitants’ binding traditions, poor eating habits and the privileged lifestyle led by many Qatari natives play a significant role in contributing to the rise in obesity within the region. Qatar’s per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the second highest in the world, and is attributable to its third largest natural gas reserves globally. Of the 1.6 million Qatari inhabitants, 250, 000 are natives born within the privileged class keen on following and keeping their traditions in spite of the diverse cultural influences in existence created by the many non-native inhabitants. Majority of this privileged class resides in the capital city of Doha where modern conveniences are not in short supply (Slackman 1). From a very tender age, the indoctrination of children occurs through the process of socialization; whereby, young children learn through modeling and conditioning desirable attitudes and behaviors. Among the things learnt include; eating habits, food preferences and attitudes towards exercising. Qatari children face no restrictions when it comes to their dietary; whereby, their parents, relatives and friends ply them with both home cooked foods ( rice, lamb and clarified butter being a major delicacy) and fast foods such as hamburgers and French fries throughout the day. It is also hard to control

Management information systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Management information systems - Essay Example The external identities are outside the applications, but interact with it to facilitate the entire process. For example, Kitchen is a significant for the external identity in the design since it represents the source of food to be ordered. In order to make ideal the food ordering process, there must be customers who make orders. Customers are represented as external identities in the design (Oz 65). The restaurant has to be managed; therefore, the manager identity is also represented as an external identity. From the food ordering system, certain data elements are represented in data flows. Food order is the information represented in the data flow from the main system to the kitchen. From the customer identity, another data flow represents the customer’s order while the center of the process has to produce a receipt back to the customer. After the entire process, the management report is taken to the restaurant manager. This is represented in a data flow which contains the reports directed to the restaurant manager. The entire design is a simple representation of a food ordering system in a

Philosophy of mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Philosophy of mind - Essay Example Summary of Searle’s Claim Searle’s (1980) reply to the query: â€Å"Could a machine think?† is built on two propositions, which he stated as follows: â€Å"(1) Intentionality in human beings (and animals) is a product of causal features of the brain. (2) Instantiating a computer program is never by itself a sufficient condition of intentionality.† Searle explains that the strict logical consequence of his first two propositions is (3) the explanation that the manner by which the brain produces intentionality invalidates the claim that intentionality is also produced by instantiating a computer program. Hence, a computer program cannot produce intentionality. He furthers that the trivial consequence of his first proposition is (4) the need to possess causal powers similar with those of the brain to enable any mechanism to produce intentionality. Hence, a machine should have a human-like brain to be able to think. Lastly, he explains that what follows to his propositions 2 and 4 is the proposition (5) that any literal attempt to create intentionality through artificial way would fail to do so if it will only design programs like the AI; what it needs to succeed is to recreate the human brain’s causal powers. ... Hence proposition (1) can be stated as human beings have intentionality because they have the causal powers of the brain. This way of saying it is to state Searle’s argument in another way – that intentionality is the mental activity that human beings are capable of doing because of the causal powers of the human brain that they biologically possess; for a machine to think it must have intentionality which can only be possible through having the causal powers of the brain. Hence, not unless the machine has the causal powers of the brain similar to human beings, the machine could not think. Thus, to say that AI, as what functionalism and computationalism persistently assert, can fully think – with the understanding that thinking here has intentionality – is short of saying that AI can also be human beings – a claim that obviously Searle does not want to accept, rejecting every possibility that AI could think and consistently defending his position th at intentionality is a mental characteristic inherent to human beings. Actually, AI’s claim seems harmless, but perhaps Searle has perceived its dangerous implication that’s why he obstinately opposes it. Hence on his part, Searle simplifies his proposition (1) in a way that does not allow an AI to become capable of thinking: â€Å"†¦ certain brain processes are sufficient for intentionality† (p. 417). Searle’s way of simplifying his proposition (1) is to emphasize his point that intentionality requires necessary causal features of the brain that is far more than the information processing system that computationalism is so proud of or the formal symbol manipulation of functionalism, because these causal features of the brain are in fact

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

EvolutionEcology - Essay Example Paper starts with the hypothesis demonstrating mitochondrial DNA as primary tool for investigation of evolutionary diversion among closely related species and development of new approach in terms of PCR-RFLP based rapid and inexpensive techniques to established phylogenitic correlation among different species. They also investigated correlation between two different approaches and indicated that data obtained by two different techniques may not be identical and hence caution must be taken to interpret them. For validation of hypothesis the authors selected four avian sp. found in North America, those having high rate of hybridization namely, Dendroica occidentalis, D. townsendi, D. virens, and D.nigrescens. To investigate above mention hypothesis the first experiment was based on classical RFLP based technique. The total mitochondrial DNA were Isolated and digested with 14 restriction enzymes to obtained band pattern which was subsequently analyzed by David L. Swofford's paup* 4.0d64 program for calculation of Nei-Li distances. Similarly, for sequences based analysis, three genes located on two sites on mtDNA were selected and sequenced, namely 681bp cytochrome oxidase I, and 1074bp ATP synthase8 and 6 genes from 30 representative warbler individuals.

Research paper Bachelor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research paper Bachelor - Essay Example 2. This was predominantly media circulated story. It is essential to know that media had been unbiased throughout its reporting and distorting reality had not taken place. It is a fact that more media dependent people become, interaction with other humans lessens proportionately and our understanding of human nature diminishes. "As media remain a primary information and entertainment source, many scholars express concern that interpersonal discussions about important social topics will continue to decline leading to accelerated civic and social disengagement of the audience members, Wicks (2001, p.5). 4. If in reality, the victim is a prostitute, how could the men be justified in forcing their attention on an unwilling prostitute and it has to be treated as rape, even though it was not violent and here, it was a violent sexual assault, which has no justification. It is wrong to presume that prostitutes do not have morality or lack the power of saying no. 5. Media coverage had been overwhelming. Media can produce mass hysteria, sway people's minds, alter opinions, force accused to be flushed out into open, create awareness and question if incident was isolated. It has to be probed if media had been successful in this case. 7. Presence of two Muslims amongst accused has created a cultural question.

Bruce Bodaken, Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bruce Bodaken, Leadership - Essay Example The non-profit making insurance company was receiving a hostile response from the public. Currently, he works as the chairman, President and the CEO for Blue Shield of California, which is a non-profit health insurance company. Under his leadership, the insurance company is ranked as the fastest growing company in California. He also serves in various boards such as the American Association of Health Plans. He influenced the Health Maintenance Organization of California to support free evaluation of doctors who denied health malpractice which was later put in the law. He also mobilized actors in the insurance industry in Washington DC for the adoption of an overall plan that was formulated by Blue Shield (Julie Appleby, 2004). Since he became the CEO of Blue Shield, positive changes have occurred in the company, making it a highly profitable company. Prior to this, he acted as the deputy CEO in the same company in the year 1999. During this time, Blue Shield gathered a net income of $16.9 million as well as a reserve fund of $547 million (Julie Appleby, 2004). There was a rise in administrative fixed costs by 16, but the net income grew by more than three and a half times when he was deputy CEO, to a high of $62 and over time, the net income has risen to $314 million. Under his leadership he has demonstrated management practices that led to a decrease in overhead costs as well as substantial growth in reserve fund. The company enjoys a reserve fund that is close to $1.1 billion (Blue Shield of California, 2008). Blue shield has been categorized as one of the fastest growing insurance company. Last year, Blue Shield registered 392,000 members, raising its total to 2.7 million (Blue Shield of California, 2008). This was as a result of an idea that he raised, of registering members through the public retirement system of California. In 2002, he put forward a particular

Research paper Bachelor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research paper Bachelor - Essay Example 2. This was predominantly media circulated story. It is essential to know that media had been unbiased throughout its reporting and distorting reality had not taken place. It is a fact that more media dependent people become, interaction with other humans lessens proportionately and our understanding of human nature diminishes. "As media remain a primary information and entertainment source, many scholars express concern that interpersonal discussions about important social topics will continue to decline leading to accelerated civic and social disengagement of the audience members, Wicks (2001, p.5). 4. If in reality, the victim is a prostitute, how could the men be justified in forcing their attention on an unwilling prostitute and it has to be treated as rape, even though it was not violent and here, it was a violent sexual assault, which has no justification. It is wrong to presume that prostitutes do not have morality or lack the power of saying no. 5. Media coverage had been overwhelming. Media can produce mass hysteria, sway people's minds, alter opinions, force accused to be flushed out into open, create awareness and question if incident was isolated. It has to be probed if media had been successful in this case. 7. Presence of two Muslims amongst accused has created a cultural question.

Retail Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Retail - Research Paper Example There are numerous retail organizations in the United States of America. Coach, Inc tends to deal with luxury leather based goods and is situated in America. It initiated as a small leather goods company and in the present times the company is popular for its ladies handbags as well as other items such as luggage, wallets, novelty accessories and briefcase among others. The main focus of the study is to comprehend the history of the chosen retail organization i.e. Coach, Inc. The study further progresses with the identification of the corporate stakeholders and responses to their issues. It will also attempt to offer the role of the retail industry in its social, economic and political setting. The domestic and the international ethics along with the ecological as well as natural resources affecting the company will be discussed in the paper. The retail industry might confront numerous social issues which need to be paid due attention. Therefore, the paper will try to throw light upo n the social issues faced by the company i.e. Coach Inc. The paper will endeavor to rate the industry’s overall social responsiveness and its accomplishments in the retail sector and will also attempt to rate the industry in terms of Saint Leo University’s core values. It will try to suggest changes that need to be made to be more in line with the core values of the Saint Leo University. History Coach Inc. was initiated in the year 1941 in the New York City. It was formed as a partnership named as Gail Manufacturing Company. Gail Manufacturing Company started as a family-owned business possessing that used to prepare small leather-based goods such as wallets as well as handbags. It was in the year 1946 when Miles Cahn as well as his spouse Lillian entered into the company. Both Miles Cahn and Lillian were the proprietors of the leather handbag producing company and they had good information regarding the leatherworks as well as business. It was by 1950s when Miles Cahn took over the business and operated it himself. During 1960s, Miles Cahn identified the different properties belonging to leather utilized for making baseball gloves. Miles Cahn recognized numerous ways of processing leather so that it can be made stronger as well as flexible. The company began preparing numerous handbags in order to complement the factory’s small margin in wallet manufacturing. The brand name given to the purse was Coach. It was during the 1960s when Miles Cahn recruited Bonnie Cashin to work for Coach. Before joining Coach, Bonnie Cashin was a renowned fashion designer. This deal proved to be the most renowned business alliances. Bonnie Cashin was there in the company from the year 1962 to 1974 and thus made alteration in the design of the bags. It was during the mid 1970s when the manufacturing of the handbags was shifted away from New York City to some other place in the United States. It was during the same period when the name of the company was change d to Coach Products, Inc. The company recorded strong business during the 1970s as well as 1980s and the company as well evidenced good demand for its products, it initiated a mail order system. Gradually, the company restricted its sales to

Toyota Company Limited Essay Example for Free

Toyota Company Limited Essay BACKGROUND When we talk about company, we are talking of the world’s seventh largest corporation. On the car manufacture Industry, the company is the third ranked. Toyota is a Japan based motor company that manufacturers cars, vans, Lorries and tractors selling them to a wide variety of global markets. It is also a renowned manufacturer of tracks and motor car accessories. Toyota Company started in 1937 with the headquarters currently based in Japan. The very first car that the company manufactured was the Toyota AA in the early 1930s. Later, new brands emerged like the Luxuries, Lexus. These gave rise to more Luxurious brands like the Tundra, Camry, Scion and Prius. Currently, the company manufactures and sells millions of vehicles each year. In 2008 for instance, it plans to manufacturer more than ten million vehicles. The company has set up marketing bases in the UK and parts of Asia to help in the marketing of its vehicles. To-date, the company boasts of profits of up to $ 12 billion (made in 2006) accompanied with increased sales. To further boast its market share, the company has acquired stakes in other automobile companies like ISUZU Motors (6%) and in Fuji industries (8%). The company’s shares are traded publicly on the New York stock exchange. Products and Services offered Toyota produces the following Toyota type of cars: Hilax Surf, Land Cruiser, RAV4, Caldina and Auris. Other brands include Vitz and Lexus. Toyota also offers financial services such as giving credit in form of Loans to small and medium enterprises. The company offers these financial services to over twenty five countries across the globe. The Toyota subsidiaries operating these financial services are wholly owned by the parent Toyota Company. Started in Australia, the services are now offered Europe, USA and Asia. Besides, automobiles, the company also make robots and has even entered the textile industry. The company is best known in making computerized loans and sewing machines. Corporation culture and Management The company has development out of certain believes which the members of staff and top corporate directors hold. To them, management decisions are based on long-term developments rather than school-term objectives. There is a culture of consensus in decision-making as opposed to chest thumping and neglect. There is also the culture of people avoiding fixing of problems, instead of getting quality of work is advocated for. There is always the desire of using only high technology in the manufacturer of vehicles that would satisfy customers. The company doesn’t believe in wastages. By-products of processes are used as raw materials of other processes. Work is planned in such a way that there are no over-production unnecessary motions of medicines. Waiting costs are also kept at a minimum through thoroughly calculated machine operations. The company deals with its clients with the highest level of accountability. Every brand of vehicle truly represents what its descriptions are. The profit margins and mark-ups (of cost) are calculated without customer exploitation. Mission statement â€Å"To have a profitable growth through the provision of the best services to customers and support is the dealers. The company aims at becoming the best companies across the globe. Organizational structure Toyota has a flat organizational structure with the managing Director who doubles as the Chairman being at the top. Down the hierarchy is the General Manager and various managers who report to the General Manager. These are: Financial Manager, Marketing Manager, Commercial Manager, After-Sales Manager and the Administration Manager. The Commercial manager controls the retail sales, marketing, Fleet sales, Long-term rental, and daily rental. Under the financial manager are the internal control , accounting and the financial analysis departments. The After sales manager governs the Buying and Purchase shops, customer care and accessories. Departments under the admistrative manager are the human resources, financing, Information Technology, Purchasing and Quality control management. All these work towards realizing the overall goals of Toyota. Decision-making strategies In Toyota, everybody is brought into board as far as   decision making is concerned. However, the junior staff do not make decisions rather are given the chance to express their suggestions in a written platform. It is on the basis of these suggestions that policy is formulated by top management. SWOT analysis is greatly employed before decisions can be made on pertinent issues. SWOT means Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The management evaluates what their strengths are before a decision to embark on a new brand is reached and before making any new acquisitions among other several decisions. Other new opportunities are also rated against the company’s strengths. The company uses the knowledge of its weaknesses to seek for means of reducing them against the threats imposed by the environment The pros and cons of every aspect is also looked at before decisions are made. The direction the decision would take would then depend on the number of   merits and demerits if a given path is undertaken. In complex areas, the company applies scientific processes like linear programming and other stochastic models to make decisions. Motivational Strategies Top management get their goals executed through the employees. It is therefore important to ensure that employees are motivated for them to effectively carry out their daily chores. The management of Toyota has however ensured that its workforce is highly motivated to avoid problems associated with demotivation such as go-slows, sit-downs and strikes. One of the things that Toyota has done is to empower employees. Toyota comprises of very many departments each of which is occupied by persons qualified in that field. Every department has been left to make control its own activities whereby people are left to make their own decisions. There is little or no interference from the top management who feel that such an arrangement makes the employees to feel a sense of ownership of the company. To foster empowerment of employees, suggestion boxes are evenly distributed within the company premises. They use these boxes to air their grievances without fear or intimidation. This doesn’t end here because the management meets regularly with the employees to deliberate on the findings of their suggestions. Benefits Employees of Toyota get some rebates/discounts on the market price of the vehicles. This special concession has been in existent for quite some time. Workers also obtain gifts for better performance be it in the sales and marketing department or the assembly department. The gifts range from cash to even free motorcars. In this way they are motivated to perform even better in the season that would follow. The Toyota company’s employees also have a savings plan/ scheme to which they make annual savings. This gives them financial security even after their terms of services expire. They do not fall short of a healthy insurance Scheme that gives them a surety of compensation incase one gets ill or is injured while serving the company.

Grace And Sin :: essays research papers

Grace In order to completely understand the theology of grace you have to take a look at Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Rahner, Segundo, and Boff, and how they understood what grace was. Their theories on grace have some valid points and yet they also have some invalid points. Augustine took a personal approach to grace and he believed in the massa damnata, which basically means that on the whole people are damned. He said before the original sin, you had a choice to be good or evil. Also, Augustine said that there is a double predestination, which means only some people are chosen before they are born if they are going to go to heaven. I don’t agree with this because it is basically saying that there is no salvation for all people. Aquinas thought that grace was added to nature and it elevates nature. He wrote the Summa, which demonstrates the beatific vision. The beatific vision is when the mind is unified to God. Aquinas’ theology is dualistic which displays natural and supernatural as separate entities. I don’t believe in his beatific vision because I believe that God allows us to make our own choices out of free will so our mind cannot be unified with Him. Unless I am wrong, this is saying God knows what is going to happen before it happens. If this is the case why do we have suffering; because God gave us free will. Luther viewed grace through his own view of himself as a sinner. He was so obsessed that he confessed his sins seven times a day. He said that grace is a favor of God and it heals a person’s sinfulness. He said that Jesus’ word was a vehicle of grace and that grace cannot be merited. I think his views on grace are not very good only because he views God as an active member and humans as a passive one. In order to be truly graced I believe that both parties need to be active and involved. Rahner believes that grace is intrinsic to nature and he also believes in Anonymous Christianity. This theory is that every person on this Earth is a Christian even if you do not know it. I don’t agree with this theory because, once again God gives everyone free will and this allows people to believe the way they want to. Boff says grace is a relationship with the trinity. I agree with this because it consists of showing love and devotion to all three persons of our one God. He also said that liberation is the key to grace. I some what agree with

The Hidden Relationship Between Government and Media :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Hidden Relationship Between Government and Media Rather than being a neutral conduit for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequate functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. Henceforth, all known sophisticated social structure, have always dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally will exploit the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality. One way in which government achieves this objective, is by its ability to misuse the media’s ability to set the agenda. Contrary to popular belief, media is in fact an enormous hegemony. In fact, separate independent news organizations relatively do not exist. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of there own, generally lesser smaller news organizations adapt to a prepared agenda, previously constructed by a higher medium. Based upon this information alone, it is quite apparent that media functions in adherence to the characteristics of a hierarchy. This simply means that media is structured in a way that it operates functioning from top to bottom. This is also identical to the hierarchical nature of the human body, in that from the commands of the brain transferred through the central nervous system, the body responds accordingly. In order for the U.S. government to control and determine the public’s popular perception of reality, the government must shape and oversee the information that the media reports to the existing populous. This particular process of democracy is known and referred to by political scientists as cognitive socialization. However, many of us, who do not adhere to the cushioning of political correctn ess, refer to it as the propaganda machine. Numerous political scientists consider cognitive socialization to be the most effective form of political socialization. According to theory, cognitive socialization is doctored up information, which is strategically fragmented in such a manipulative manner, that the probability of its rationalization is highly predictable. The manipulative properties of cognitive socialization are so diabolical and Machiavellian in nature, that I consider it to be the ultimate perversion of the democratic process. In all seriousness, numerous intellectuals, and gentleman held in good stature agree, that cognitive socialization is the product of an evil genius.

Relating Philosophy to Pedagogy Essay

Within any early childhood education (ECE) setting the pedagogy of the educators will have great impact on the programmes and philosophies which the children within that setting will be influenced by. Teachers have a responsibility to build and maintain authentic, open, reciprocal relationships with children, families and the community (Gailer, 2010). This is not only an integral part of the early childhood curriculum Te Whariki which has relationships as one of its four foundation principles (Ministry of Education [MoE], 1996) but also part of the teaching standards and ethics. As a teacher I relish in the chance to build relationships with many different children, all unique in their culture, strengths, ideas and way of being. The importance I place on relationships sits well with both Vygotsky’s and Bronfenbrenner’s sociocultural theories. Vygotsky emphasised the importance of the people surrounding a child, seeing them crucial for supporting and enhancing the child’s development. Bronfenbrenner extended this into a model of contextual factors, using ideas about five kinds of contexts surrounding the individual child including their micro- and meso-systems where the interactions of their day-to-day realities occur (Drewery & Bird, 2004). These theories have been vital in the development of New Zealand’s early childhood curriculum, Te Whariki, and so my understandings of these and with my personal philosophy I hope to have the skills to be able to build respectful reciprocal relationships with all learners. Building these relationships however is not as easy as people outside of the profession often assume. Appendix 2 shows Suzie Gailer’s (2010) article on being professional, the article discusses how professional integrity of practice is reliant on teachers having a particular set of values, respect, authenticity, empowerment and transparency. The image of the child is culturally constructed and linked to our time and place in history, the image I have as a teacher today of children is very different to that of which I was viewed as a child. My image of the child has altered as I have gained both practical and theoretical teaching experience. In my first practicums I did not necessarily know what to expect about building initial relationships with children but as I have gained knowledge I now know that children can be trusted to build these relationships in timeframes which are right for them. Te Whariki (MoE, 1996) presents the image of children as competent learners and communicators and I now uphold this image in my teaching practice and as a parent (Appendices 3, 4 & 5), along with the values of respect which I have articulated through the following of Magda Gerber’s work. From my own relatively limited practical experience and theoretical knowledge I can relate to the notion of Edwards & Nuttall (2005) where â€Å"the pedagogy, or ‘the act of teaching’, is not only mediated by educators’ understandings about the children, learning, and the curriculum; their understandings about the social settings in which they work, their personal experiences beyond the workplace and their engagement with the centre’s wider community all have a role in determining the educator’s actions† (p. 36). My own underlying beliefs, values and philosophies all impact on my teaching style and, although often unconsciously, on the way I relate to individuals. Commitment to reflective practice, the personal philosophy I have articulated and the desire for professional development will aid me in holding true to a pedagogy which is responsive in time as well as to individuals. This pedagogy with its identified aspects of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation is influenced by my values and experiences and I attempt to explain and reflect upon these in this essay. The main assessment process I use is ‘Learning Stories’, an approach developed by Dr. Margaret Carr. Learning stories show a snapshot of a learning experience which has been shared with the child or children involved and are a record of the interests and strengths of the child. Research shows that learning is more effective when it is derived from interests, encouraging motivation and the sense of confidence that comes from working within one’s own strengths. The learning story framework is based on the belief that developing good learning dispositions is the most important skill in early childhood and this fits well with my values of respect and having the Te Whariki image of the child, a confident, competent learner and communicator. The foundations of learning stories are the dispositions found in Te Whariki and in my own learning stories these are highlighted, showing fellow educators, parents and whanau how I work to support children’s learning in all aspects of the programme and curriculum (Appendices 4, 6 & 7). Upholding this image of children in practice is however met with challenges. Woodrow (1999) describes how there are resulting constructions of childhood based on how individuals experienced childhood, on cultural artefacts and on professional knowledge, Ellen Pifer (2000) also describes these conflicting images in her book Demon or Doll (Appendix 8) which has truly opened my mind to ways of seeing individuals. Other teaching professionals may hold different images of children such as the child as innocent or as an embryo adult and this will impact on the way they act around and towards children. Having a commitment towards reflective practice and regularly evaluating my personal pedagogy will allow me to deal with these challenges, giving me the skills to explain my viewpoint and understand that of others so that the best possible outcome is achieved. To undertake such assessment it is important to build a relationship with the children and these reciprocal relationships are another key part of my philosophy. This value has changed with my experience and theoretical knowledge, in my initial practicum I was unsure about how to go about building relationships that are both respectful and reciprocal (Appendices 9 & 10) but my confidence in this has, and will continue, to grow (Appendix 11). I believe that building a reciprocal relationship means sharing aspects of my life with children and not expecting them to reveal themselves without the favour being returned. I have a huge passion towards animals and I have shared this with the children on my last two practicums by taking along my guinea pigs (Appendix 12). The children feel aspects of empowerment and trust as I allow them to be intimately involved with a very important part of my personal life. Building such relationships prior to undertaking assessment highlights the spiral nature of teaching and the aspects of pedagogies. Taking the guinea pigs to the centre required planning and careful implementation, including discussion with staff and families to ensure cultural needs were met. Some cultures do not agree with the keeping of animals as pets and in order to uphold the respectful image of the child and relationships with the family and community I needed to accept and respect this belief. The centre policies and legislation also play a role in planning and implementation, health and hygiene regulations needed to be considered for this activity and for others many different policies will come into play. For further assessment and planning the involvement of colleagues and whanau in the learning stories and other documentation would play a vital role in the continuation of the interest but unfortunately the short nature of the practicum did not allow for this. Cultural needs and matches weight heavily in the planning and implementation stages of my pedagogy. This is linked to all the values in my philosophy; relationships, respect and equity. These values mean that I believe in focussing on skills and talents rather than on deficiencies to create learning environments, for example respecting that crying is a valid attempt at communication and can be a qualified learning experience (Appendix 11). Nyland (2004) describes how the participation rights and contexts of infants’ knowledge can be overlooked in childcare settings. On-line discussions with fellow students regarding this reading give support to the idea that disrespectful environments adversely affect the identity and participation of children. What happens in an environment when an identity is missing altogether and children are faced with images of white middle class able bodied members of society? What message is that giving to these children and their families? You don’t belong? You are not a real member of our society? We don’t value you? The environments we plan for the children speak volumes about how we view society and the people we respect and value (Ellis, R. , Fuamatu, P. Perry Smith, A. M. Moodle; September 2011). During planning I therefore need to think ahead about resources which reflect the cultures within the setting and the community. This can be achieved through communication with other educators in the setting, parents, and other members of the community such as kaumatua or the local priest. Planning for social occasions is also important to me as I feel they link the ECE setting with the wider community and social values. This includes events such as Mother’s and Father’s day (Appendix 13) as well as cultural occasions such as the Lantern Festival, Diwali and Pasifika events. Although during such planning I am mindful of the goals and learning outcomes which Te Whariki and the teaching standards present I also constantly remind myself of the holistic nature in which the learning will occur. Lawrence (2004) describes the shift in thinking and programme planning in ECE settings over the past two decades, from keeping children busy to planning cycles and then Te Whariki. Lawrence clarifies that although the word planning is still used; it is not in the traditional sense of the word but rather can be seen as â€Å"reflectively responding to children’s thinking (p. 16). † An example in her rticle shows how the learning experience of children can be very different to that pre-planned or expected by the teacher (Appendix 14). A challenge presents itself where teachers have been trained and had experience in times where different planning programmes were utilised, disagreeing views and beliefs can lead to conflict within teaching teams and a dedicat ion to reflective practice is required by all parties if favourable outcomes are to be reached. This reflective practice is a vital part of the evaluation process of my pedagogy. What worked? What didn’t work? Where do I go from here? Schon (2002) described how the entire process of reflection-in-action, where our knowing is in our action, is central to the skill practitioners have in dealing with situations of uncertainty, instability and uniqueness as well as valuing conflict. Holding true to a value where children are respected as individuals and valued for their own unique set of skills, uncertain and unique situations are inevitable in the day-to-day practice of an ECE setting. With the set of reflective skills I now possess I hope to be able to turn these situations of uncertainty into ones of learning, for both myself and children involved. With continuing professional development and an ever increasing amount of practical experience I feel I am in good stead to continue my career as an early childhood educator and support the children within my influence to grow up in line with the aspirations of Te Whariki, â€Å"competent and confident learners and communicators †¦ a valued contribution to society†.

Black People and Dorothy Allison Essay

Race, class and gender have been a topic for most books that have been written. A lot of books talk about these topics because it is something most people face. Whether you’re at work and can’t get a promotion because of your gender, excluded from a place because of your class or hated because of your race. Know matter what you will be faced with one if these topics in your life time. Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina deals with these issues in a very intriguing way. She uses them to keep the story flowing and keep the reader interested. In the novel BOC, Allison uses race, class and gender in a very stereotypical way. The story of Bone takes place in a time where race was a conservational topic. You can say America was split in two groups, the whites and blacks. If you were black life was not easy. Black people were discriminated against. Even though slavery was over the black nation was not accepted by the white people. Racism means Discrimination or prejudice based on race (2). This word was not really used in this book because the narrative was Bone, a white girl. When Bone would visit Aunt Alma’s apartment she would come to face black children. There and then is when the stereotypes of black people started. The grown up’s in Bone had nothing good to say about the niggers that lived by Aunt Alma. â€Å"Running off with a man’s children, living in the dirty place with niggers all around. My little girls having to go up those stairs past those nigger boys. My wife walking the street past those peckerwoods! † (Allison 89). The family really did not approve of Aunt Alma living around black people. They were thought to be dirty and uncivilized people. Black people were also thought to be stupid and worthless. Bone was young at the time and did not know what to think about them. But she did not feel the same as her elders. Instead she made friends with them and learned to like them. I think Allison is trying to show the innocence of a child. Most kids are caring and loving until they are taught to hate. Bone grew up in a poor family. They would be considered in today’s society as trailer trash. The stereotype of poor white folks was present in Bastard out of Carolina. Anne and Glen did not really have money so it was hard to support the kids. They basically lived with very little. They couldn’t settle down at one house so they moved from one run down house to another. A lot of the characters described in this book had a lot of resemblance to what we would consider a red neck. For instance Uncle Travis has a big Chevy. Bone says it was jacked up so high that it easily cradled little kids or pregnant woman (Allison 1). Almost all the boys in the family had trucks. That’s typical for a red neck. Bone describes the Boatwright men as rugged, kind of dirty strong boys. They loved to fight and drink beer. The Boatwright family was big which again stereotyped poor white families. Also poor people are known to have kids out of wedlock. That was the situation Bone was. She was born out of wedlock and she never knew who her father was. That is the significance of the title Bastard out of Carolina. Gender also played a big role in this novel by Dorothy Allison. The male and female gender played a very distinctive role. In the Boatwright family the men are thought to be the physically strong. They take care of the family. They get into fights and are feared by a lot of people in town. Women of that time were supposed to stay at home cook and clean. They were supposed to wait for their husbands and never talk back. But I think Allison reversed the stereotype about women by making the Boatwright women very different. Most of them had jobs and were supporting them self’s. Aunt Raylene and Aunt Alma were some of the girls that lived by themselves. The women were strong too and they stuck together. Another way gender played a role was the relationship between Anne and Glen. From all the Boatwright women Anne was the weakest one. In the relationship Glen basically controlled Anne. Every time he did something bad she would end up forgiving him. Even after she found out he has been beating Bone she forgave him. Glen had all the power and Anne couldn’t do anything because she loved him. Bastard out of Carolina faces issues about race, class and gender. Allison builds a world where all these issues are faced. Through the main character Bone, we see how race, class and gender affect her and her family. Race played a role when Bone meets black people for the first time and instead of judging them she became friend with them. The Boatwright’s social status is not the best but they are feared by the community. They are considered poor and red necks. The last big issue that is seen in BOC is gender. Allison changed things up by making the women in the family stronger and more independent than other women of that time. In the end I think Allison decided to stereotype race, class and gender to show us it makes things worse then they already are. Work Cited 2 entries found for racism. 2003. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. 19 Feb. 2006 http://owl. english. purdue. edu/handouts/research/r_mla. html Allison Dorothy. Bastard out of Carolina. New York. Penguin Group. 1993.

Tuition Is Necessarily for All Students, What Do You Think?

Nowadays, tuition has become indispensable for the new generation. There are many tuition centres in our country. Tuition has also become common among students nowadays. Many of them are attending tuition classes after school. Some of them have to attend tuition classes every day even during public holidays. I agree that tuition is necessary for students. It is needed in order to achieve the optimum academic performance. Tuition is an effective extra coaching for all students. Some of them are unable to catch up in school due to too much work load give to them in school. As a tuition class is smaller compare to a class in the school, the tutors can give their students more individual attention. Tutors can also target students’ weaknesses and try to improve their academic performance in school. Normally, students who attend tuition will be able to catch up and have some improvement in their studies. Besides that, the tutors can get more freedom in tuition. They do not need to follow and stick to the syllabus in school strictly. There is more variety in tuition and this can make the students gain more extra knowledge. Tutors can also set the exercises according to the students’ needs. The exercises according to their needs are very effective to help them to score good marks in the exam. Tutors can give the weaker students more remedial work to help them to catch up. On the other hand, they can give the brighter students some enrichment exercise to help them score better in the exams. Tuition is a necessity to achieve the optimum performance. It helps students to have a good preparation for the exam. Tutors specifically teacher students on how to score well in exams. The tutors will give them plenty of exam oriented questions so that they will know how to answer the questions and score good marks in the exams. Tuition has good track records. It helps students to pass their tests or exams in flying colours. Students can achieve good results by attending tuition classes. In addition, tuition is essential to balance the students’ studies and recreation. It can prevent them from wasting their time doing recreation activities such as watching movies, playing computer games, shopping and others. It can help them to utilize their time efficiently but not wasting their time for recreation or just doing revision at home. It is important in balancing their free time. Lastly, students can get many benefits from tuition. Students can deepen or enrich their knowledge about the topics on core subjects. Tuition also gives extra knowledge that is useful in the future. The students who attend the tuition classes have the edge over the others. This can make them perform well in class and score well in exams. In the nutshell, attending tuition classes I necessary to all students. It gives an edge to students who attend the classes. They are able to perform better in exams and score good results. It is important to balance studies and recreation as students will not waste their time doing something unbeneficial. Thus, I agree that tuition is a necessity for all students as it gives lots of benefits to them.

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

British Airways - Research Paper Example Three countries have been selected as the most appropriate targets for such initiative: Mexico, Brazil and Ukraine. Each of these countries can offer different benefits in regard to the firm’s particular plan. Mexico seems to meet all criteria as a target country for outsourcing activities. Brazil and Ukraine can also respond to the firm’s specific needs under the terms that appropriate arrangements of cooperation are made. The various aspects of such plan are presented below emphasizing on both the theoretical and practical implications of the specific project. Table of contents Executive Summary 2 1. Introduction 4 2. British Airways – Outsourcing of Aircraft maintenance services 4 2.1 Company overview 4 2.2 Aircraft maintenance services – industry characteristics 5 2.3 Outsourcing of Aircraft maintenance services 5 2.3.1 Brazil 5 2.3.2 Mexico 6 2.3.3 Ukraine 7 2.4 Outsourcing as a business strategy – theoretical perspectives 8 2.5 Conclusion 9 Re ferences 10 Appendix 13 1. Introduction The effects of firms’ strategic decisions can be quite important influencing the organizational performance either in the short or the long term. For this reason, when managers have to develop a critical strategic decision need to review all parameters of the relevant plan, taking into consideration potential failures or unexpected problems. In the Aviation industry a similar approach has to be used when such decisions need to be developed. This paper focuses on the potential effects of the decision of British Airways (BA) to outsource part of each supply chain activities, its aircraft maintenance services. There are three countries that have been reviewed, as of potential targets of this strategy: Brazil, Mexico and Ukraine. Each of these countries has been involved in such activities, but not at the same level. For example, Mexico has been found to be a country that can effectively support all aspects of outsourcing in regard to an ai r carrier’s aircraft maintenance services. The other two countries, Brazil and Ukraine seem to be less developed in this sector; still, Brazil and Ukraine also can offer a series of benefits to firms that would decide to outsource their aircraft maintenance services to these countries. The theoretical aspects of outsourcing, as a common business strategy are also presented in this paper, aiming to highlight the implications that BA would have to face in case it would decide to proceed to the specific plan, i.e. to outsource its aircraft maintenance services to Brazil, Mexico or Ukraine. 2. British Airways – Outsourcing of Aircraft maintenance services 2.1 Company overview British Airways is a major competitor in the global aviation industry. The firm was first established in 1919 under the name ‘Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T)’ (British Airways History 2012). In the decades that followed the growth of the firm was significant (British Airways History 2012). At the end of 2011 the fleet of the company was estimated to ‘245 aircrafts’ (IAG About Us). In 2011, January, BA was merged with the Spanish Air Carrier, Iberia (IAG About Us); the firm resulted has been IAG, International Airlines Group, a firm based in Spain (IAG About Us). The financial performance of BA, as a member of IAG can be characterized as quite important, as indicating in the financial report of IAG, the parent company, for 2011 (Figure 4, Appendix). In a more

Disaster recovery plan Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Disaster recovery plan - Term Paper Example In this regard, Cisco involves in introducing along with executing pioneering technologies as well as programs to deliver quality products to its huge figure of customer base and also to build a strong community worldwide (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2013). Thesis Statement The paper intends to review the present network architecture of Cisco Systems, Inc and propose network architecture of an alternate computing facility in relation to the occurrence of a disaster. Subsequently, a disaster recovery plan policy will be developed which will take into consideration aspects such as disaster declaration, assessment of security and disaster recovery procedures among others. In terms of market size, the business of Cisco is divided into various segments that include the United States, Canada, Asia Pacific region, European market and Japan as along with other emerging business markets. With regard to determine the layout as well as the organizational structure of Cisco, it has been apparently obse rved that the organization employs nearly 72,400 employees worldwide. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organization named John Chambers has designed a top-down organizational structure segregating into four main parts i.e. ... rganization is facing certain difficulties relating to its network architecture owing to the reasons of complex business environment and gaining momentum of extreme business market competition. The present network architecture of Cisco can be recognised raising greater value especially in the service sector providing emergency services at the time of happening any sort of disaster like earthquake and fire among others. Cisco introduced as well as developed a Network Management Reference Architecture (NMRA) to assist the customers in understanding as well as addressing the operational needs concerning on people, process and technology. At present, the strategy of the organization relating to the aforesaid network architecture is developing an innovative technological vision which is aligned with the business requirements to comply with the clientele requirements by a greater level. The aforesaid network architecture which follows by Cisco can be better explained with the help of the f ollowing pictorial illustration. Source: (Cisco Systems, Inc., 2013) Proposed Network Architecture of an Alternate Computing Facility in the Event of a Disaster For developing an alternate computing facility, CISCO needs to remain much focus upon strengthening its existing organizational framework. In addition, the organizational network structure of the organization is also required to be standardized in order to assist the customers for understanding the technologies as well as the offering facilities at the moment of the occurrence of any disaster. It is worth mentioning that at this present era of modernized world, the global business lifecycle vastly depends upon information and communication technology (ICT) by a greater level. The initial objectives of the IT network disaster

Minorities in criminal justice Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Minorities in criminal justice - Dissertation Example Overrepresentation occurs at all levels of justice system. Those who oppose the opinion that minorities are overrepresented say that the average percent of arrests of black people, for example, is only 26 compared to 74 of whites. However, these 26% result in 45% of cases with detention (Miller 1997). In addition, the overrepresentation of minorities is found in violent crimes and confinement. Thus, the overrepresentation can be explained with other factors, different from discrimination but some prejudice still plays an important role. Further, there is enough evidence to prove the notion that the minority groups are in reality treated differently from the majority groups by the representatives of the justice system. Approximately 75 percent of the researchers in this question have concluded that racial and ethnic differences have influenced the decision making in the justice system (Miller 1997). Some believe that the overrepresentation of the minority groups in the justice system is not discriminatory because these minority groups tend to commit more crimes than Whites, for example. However the following examples prove that the problem is not in amount of committed crimes: (1) police policies and practices: targeting the low income neighbourhoods, group arrest procedures; (2) location of the crime: minorities tend to sell drugs on the street while the white youth does it at home where the chances to be caught are much lower; (3) different reaction of the victim committed by the majority or minority representative.

The Business Cycle & Policy Response in France Coursework

The Business Cycle & Policy Response in France - Coursework Example In 2000, France growth was close to 3%, its unemployment fell twice, and when compared to Europe it was a 1.5-percentage decline for France versus 0.7-percentage in Europe. The introduction of the single currency marked the period of strong growth. From this, we conclude that, in the last twenty years, it is evident that the periods of falling unemployment always coincided with periods of strong economic growths (French Ministry of youth affairs, 2007:4). A fall in a country's GDP relates to contraction in the economy, when the country does not show any improvement in the GDP it may result in an economy recession. Reasons may be due to inflation, or massive unemployment in the country, a rise in the GDP conforms to an expansion, stability of a country s currency, a peak relates to a continuous rise in the country’s GDP (Trading Economics.com, 2005:4). All forces of supply and demand affect business cycle. The availability of capital does boost a healthy expansion a rise in the price of assets at this point leads to inflation, the stock market then rectifies this by creating fear and contraction(About.com, 2001:1). A rise in GDP signals an expansion in the business cycle whereas a fall in the GDP signals a contraction. Reports show that the GDP of France expanded 1.6%in the second quarter of 2011. Historically France annual GDP growth was1.9% its highest observed in 1988 at 4.9%, a record low was -3.90% in march 2009. Judging the country's  state  at this point of the cycle, it will be  right  to  say  France’s economy is in  contraction.  We look at France in 2009, where its GDP shrank by 1.2% in the first quarter, however, this  was counteracted  by a 3% in the third quarter, another  fall  was recorded  1.5% in the final quarter.  The  recession  observed when we experienced two quarters of negative growth. In 2008 president, Nicholas Sarkozy gave a speech in Toulon he thought that there was the need to rethink the  entire  world’s financial system in  connection  to the economic crisis that the world faced. The president stated that what France was facing at that time was an economic recession and that it was a long-term problem. According to the latest  data  the French economy contracted, a 0.3% in the 2nd quarter in the year 2008, from the  previous  data economists concluded that the two quarters recorded negative growths. These data raised fears of a further recession in the economy.  This recession resulted in the rise in unemployment and a  struggle  in households to try to beat the recession (France 24, 2008:1). We  further  look at the  fiscal  policy and how it functions in stabilizing the  economic  fluctuation. How this is a  solution  to the recession problem?  According to Weil,  fiscal  policy involves utilising of government

Risk management Consultant Proposal and Presentation Assignment

Risk management Consultant Proposal and Presentation - Assignment Example Rowing Diversity International Event for 2011, to be held soon. We are a team of consultants bidding for controlling the risk management factors related to this event and in this context are required to make a presentation to the organizing committee. Discussion Risk management can be defined as the process of determining the probability of an undesirable consequence connected with an action or event and then finding out the best ways to mitigate the undesirable consequences through preparation and counter measures (www.investopedia.com). Risk and its management is a very important part of any public event and one such as rowing is fraught with its own particular risks. Among these are the risks of injury or even death that can be caused by sinking and drowning. Not only are the race participants to be taken care of, but also the onlookers and rowing enthusiasts who have come to watch the competition. The US Rowing Association conducts around 150 or more rowing events of various kind s all across the USA every year and also trains the national team. It holds local, regional and national championships and also selects the US National Rowing Team to represent the country in various international rowing events. At a news conference held recently, Mayor Tom Richards announced that the City of Rochester, New York will host the Cross-Country Minority rowing races under the auspices of the US Rowing Association that that will be held in the Genesee River this year (www.whec.com). This was by no means a surprise, for the sport and the number of local enthusiasts has been growing in recent years. New York is a cosmopolitan city with people of different ethnic backgrounds, some of who are keenly interested in rowing and other water sports. Goals in the Risk Management of this Event The main objective here is to conduct the event in a safe and secure manner, protecting the lives and property of all participants and onlookers, as well as controlling risks of hazard to the n atural environment. As an event management and organizing company, we are well aware of the activities that are connected with the event and the risks posed by them. An unfortunate mishap can result in loss of life and property and overshadow the entire event. We have to plan to control every eventuality and limit or mitigate possible losses and damages. It all boils down to good thinking, organizing and implementation of an action plan, should any risks arise (Crouhy et al, 2005). Our first priority is always to look at the venue for the event and anticipate the possible risks that the holding of the event at that venue will present. Distance to the nearest hospital and fire station, as well as police precinct is taken into account. In fact we make sure that a representative of each unit is present at the venue, complete with fire brigade, police vehicle and ambulance to take care of any eventuality. In all cases, there is a fully functioning system for backup if needed. You will b e amazed to know that we even have our own bomb disposal expert on hand in case of any such device being found on ground or in the river where the event will take place. As one of the first steps, our local lab expert even checks a sample of the water in the river to ensure that it does not contain a high degree of contamination that would pose danger to onlookers or race participants. We also plan to have three fully trained lifeguards on