Inequalities associated with the global trading system + Letter to Mr David Walker Essay

As a third world businessman I constantly bear witness to the inequalities and injustices associated with the global trade system. These inequalities and injustices could potentially be detrimental to the future stability and security of many African economies which primarily rely on the export of agricultural produce for survival (Clapp, 2006:563). The concept of agricultural protectionism is one that is a highly divisive issue that will render many Africans countries becoming susceptible to economic stagnation and ultimately economic declination as their ability to compete in the Global markets is significantly reduced. Agricultural protectionism therefore places an unfair burden on African countries and completely undermines the concept of free and liberalized trade (Clapp, 2006:564). One example can be seen in The United States, the USA spends 2-4 billion dollars annually subsidizing American cotton farmers which have severe repercussions for African farmers (Clapp, 2006:565). In 2003 US agricultural exports sold for anywhere between 10 percent and 50 percent below the cost of production, similarly, The European Union also exports key commodities for less than the cost of production. In other OECD countries, agricultural subsidies rose from US$271.2 billion in 1986-88 to US$330.6 billion in 1998-2000 (Clapp, 2006:565). In Africa, farming accounts for up to 70 percent of employment and is one of the main sources of income for many people living in poverty and therefore the protectionist policies of OECD countries and other rich countries poses severe implications for the future sustainability of many African economies (Stiglitz, 2006). Throughout Africa there have been many industries that have been severely hit by competition from highly subsidized agricultural produce from the European Union and The USA. One prime example can be seen in Namibia where a 600% increase in EU beef exports to South Africa has severely hampered the ability of Namibian cattle farmers to compete in the market as the surplus of EU beef floods the market thus lowering prices (Hooper-Box, 2003). Other industries that have been affected include the canned food sector which has experienced a period of stagnated growth over the past ten years whereas the canned food industry in Europe has, in the same period, doubled and continues to experience growth (Hooper-Box, 2003). It is therefore of the utmost that the EU and USA be forced to cut back on export subsidies in order to ensure the complete, harmonious and sustainable development and growth of the developing world. 2001 Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz emphasizes the importance in developed countries opening their markets to the developing world without ‘political or economic reciprocity or conditionality’; such a mentality would vastly aid the crippling situation in the developing world (Stiglitz, 2006). The inequalities present in the global trading system have adverse affects on the developing world as the ‘dumping’ of produce on global markets result in price deficits which hinders economic growth and therefore sparks reductions in employment and social development rates (Stiglitz, 2006). The gross imbalance in the global trading system according to Stiglitz, is primarily due to economic globalisation out pacing political globalisation. Agricultural protectionism may not be the cause of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa; however the liberalization and implementation of free trade routes without barriers would sufficiently aid and improve the perilous situation in Africa. Africa is in dire need of investors and the opening of global trade markets would entice investment and therefore encourage the much needed economic growth. The strict implementation of regulations is a necessity in policing the detrimental effects that globalisation is having on the developing world. References Clapp, J. (2006). WTO Agriculture Negotiations: Implications for the Global South Third Quarterly, Volume. 27, No.4. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 2006. Hooper-Box, C., (2003). SA in fight-back as farm subsidies cripple poorer nations. The Sunday Independant, 23 September. P.1. Stiglitz, J., (2006). Why Stiglitz’s positive take on globalisation isn’t realistic. The Sunday Independant, 17 September. Business report section.

A Strategy To Align Organization And Environment Essay

This paper analyzes the term ‘strategic fit’ exactly means, types of strategic fit, necessities to focus on strategic fit, and most importantly how well an organization can align its resources & capabilities with the opportunities that exist in the external environment so as to achieve peak performance in the business. Strategy of Nestle as an example to discuss how far it is true that effective strategic fit ensures organization’s resources & capabilities and what the environment exactly needs from it. Key Words Strategic, Fit, Strategy, Resource, Capabilities, Opportunities, Environment, Business Introduction It should be recognized that any strategy or management style is appropriate only in a particular set of circumstances. Strategic fit enables an organization to operate in its particular competitive situation at peak effectiveness. It expresses the degree to which an organization is matching its resources and capabilities with the opportunities in the external environment. The matching takes place through strategy and it is therefore vital that the company have the actual resources and capabilities to execute and support the strategy. Meaning of Strategic Fit The contingency theorist’s argument that performance outcomes are maximized when a firm achieves an alignment or â€Å"fit† between a firm’s external environment, its internal factors and its strategy has been well established in the literature (Burns & Stalker 1967; Lawrence & Lorsch 1967; Keats & Hitt, 1988). Nadler and Tushman (1979) theorized that the greater the total degree of congruence or fit between the various components, the more effective will be the organization, leading to higher levels of goal attainment, utilization of resources, and adaptation. Need for Strategic Fit Strategic fit is a quest to align the organization’s operation with the needs of the market. It also involves identification of the opportunities and the action to capitalize on the opportunities. Strategic fit can be used actively to evaluate the current strategic situation of a company as well as opportunities such as M&A and divestitures of organizational divisions. Strategic fit is related to the Resource-based view of the firm which suggests that the key to profitability is not only through positioning and industry selection but rather through an internal focus which seeks to utilize the unique characteristics of the company’s portfolio of resources and capabilities. Resources s Capabilities A unique combination of resources and capabilities can eventually be developed into a competitive advantage which the company can profit from. However, it is important to differentiate between resources and capabilities. Resources relate to the inputs to production owned by the company, whereas capabilities describe the accumulation of learning the company possesses. Types of Resources Resources can be classified as tangible resources and intangible resources. Tangible Resources The term tangible means capable of being touched, real or actual, rather than imaginary or visionary, definite; not vague or elusive, having actual physical existence, as real estate or chattels, and therefore capable of being assigned a value in monetary terms. Financial (Cash, securities) †¢ Physical (Location, plant, machinery) are some of the tangible resources Intangible Resources Resources that are not physical in nature are said to be Intangible resources. Corporate intellectual property (items such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, business methodologies), goodwill and brand recognition are all common intangible resources in business point of view. An intangible resource can be classified as either indefinite o r definite depending on the specifics of that resource. A company brand name is considered to be an indefinite resource, as it stays with the company as long as the company continues operations. However, if a company enters a legal agreement to operate under another company’s patent, with no plans of extending the agreement, it would have a limited life and would be classified as a definite resource. †¢ Technology (Patents, copyrights) †¢ Human resources †¢ Reputation (Brands) †¢ Culture, are some of the intangible resources. Capabilities Capabilities are what a firm does, and represents the firm’s capacity to deploy resources that have been purposely integrated to achieve the desired end state. Capabilities become important when they are combined in unique combinations which create core competencies which have strategic value and can lead to competitive advantage. Capabilities needed for strategic fit are 1. Coordination 2. Commitment 3. Competence (technology, management and leadership) 4. Communication 5. Creativity 6. Capacity management (allocation of resources) Benefits of Strategic Fit The extent to which the activities of a single organization or of organizations working in partnership complement each other in such a way as to contribute to competitive advantage. The benefits of good strategic fit include cost reduction, due to economies of scale, and the transfer of knowledge and skills (technological expertise, managerial know how), use of common brand name. The success of a merger, joint venture, or strategic alliance may be affected by the degree of strategic fit between the organizations involved. Similarly, the strategic fit of one organization with another is often a factor in decisions about acquisitions, mergers, diversification, or divestment. Types of Strategic Fit 1. Market related fit 2. Operating fit 3. Management fit Market Related Fit Market related fit arises when value chains of different businesses overlap so that the products can be used by same customers, marketed and promoted in similar ways, distributed through common dealers and retailers.

Eisenhower and U.S. Policy in Southeast Asia Essay - 1

Eisenhower and U.S. Policy in Southeast Asia - Essay Example An entire generation of anti-war protestors had emerged in response to the years of bloody fighting that had, for the first time in the nation’s history, been broadcast into living rooms across the country through the nightly news. Both civilians and military servicemen alike asked themselves this simple question: how did we get into such a mess? How was America, and France before her, defeated by a peasant army of Vietnamese Communists? It seems that in the wake of defeat, it is most important that blame be properly assessed. And most oftentimes, it is the presiding Administration at the time of the defeat that takes the lion’s share of the blame. Is that always where the blame lies, however? Based on the policies regarding Vietnam that President Nixon inherited from Johnson, who inherited it from Kennedy, was it even possible for America to win? No. The failure of America in Vietnam was rooted in decades of flawed policy. In fact, the roots of America’s failure in Vietnam can actually be drawn all the way back to Truman, but more significantly, to Eisenhower. It is important to study the Eisenhower era because American policy in Vietnam was strongly shaped during this time, even though the actual combat occurred under Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Indeed, it was because Eisenhower pursued a policy of containment in Vietnam that the war finally erupted.

Human resources management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human resources management - Essay Example As such, human assets are the fundamental operational structures within an organization, and other assets to the company, such as land, capital, and resources, only come in as supplementary resources for the productivity of the company. The organization’s main goal is to develop the wisdom, skills, as well as ability of its work force in order to enhance its efficiency and experience (Chidambaram & Ramachandran 2012, p. 279). The second article deals with cultural influence on the investment strategies of the firm, as well as on the training and development program of its workers. In most cases, especially where the location of the firm depends on labor from locals who do not have the proper kind of civilization as well as modernization, the company will have to suffer serious cultural influences from the hosts. For instance, a firm located in the Maasailand in Kenya would have to incorporate the deep Maasai culture into its organizational practices because these workers still uphold their traditional practices. These include a company dress code that permits the Maasai workers to adorn their full or partial cultural dress code, such as red khangas, or ornaments, or ear piercing for men, which in some cases in very uncouth for formality amongst most men, especially in the modern culture (Chowhan, Cooke, Karlene & Zeutinoglu 2008, p.26). The third article focuses on the way line managers involve themselves in the training and development programs of their employees. The increase of line mangers participation in the involvement of learning and development of its workers plays a critical role in changing the relationships that exist between managers and the human resource. These in most cases are advantageous signs especially because the line managers get to learn the exact personality, skills, and level of expertise of each of their employee. As such, they are able to assist them to become better workers by assisting them to develop their weaker areas. Eve ntually, this leads to enhanced productivity within the company in general; all thanks to the support, each worker receives from the management to improve their skills and prowess. Furthermore, the workers also develop deeper confidence and trust into the managerial level of their organization, as well as enable them to take initiative in order to undertake their duties and responsibilities at the organization (Eduardo & Rebecca 2011, p.16). The fourth article deals with the transfer of training skills and capacities from the worker to the organization, so that the company may enjoy the benefits of their trained workers. This is however not the case in many organizations as they often fail to transfer the knowledge from their trained workers after using billions of dollars for their development. These transfer problems make it impossible for these workers to put into practice the new skills that they learned through their training, especially basing on the characteristics of trainin g, which include self-efficacy, motivation, cognitive ability, as well as perceived utility of training. As such, a company should always ensure that all its trained employees put back into the company what they learnt through their training programs sponsored by the company (Gibb 2003, 291). The last article deals with the effect of on-the-job training offered to low paid workers in the state of Canada. It is evident that on-job-training is a very

Optional subject ( apple is recommended ) Assignment

Optional subject ( apple is recommended ) - Assignment Example I will also take reference from Lance Whitney and Josh Lowensohn’s articles that would put light on the tactics used by Apple. Apple has emerged as a renowned and very popular company in the recent past due to its innovative and high quality products. Apple has always tried to come up with customer’s expectations with it continually improving products. It has always looked to bring innovation that has helped the company to compete with other brands. The organizational structure of the company is designed in such a way that it promotes competition and encourages employees to present new ideas. I think it was a very clever move by Apple to adopt innovative strategy with appealing applications as its competitors were not bringing much innovation in their products. Introduction of iphone was an example of such innovation, which had brought a revolution in the technological world. iphone helped Apple to register revenues of $65,225 million, increasing by 52% in fiscal year 2010. The company also adopted a strategy to market its product worldwide and not restricting it to a particular place, which helped the company to gain significant market share. Research and development is also a very important aspect for the company. Apple lays strong focus on research and development in the company and always come up with new ideas and suggestion that help the company to develop new products. When the company was entering into the Chinese market, initially it did not get a good response, but extensive research helped the company to make few changes in the product. These changes made it easy for Apple to introduce its product in China, which became a great success. The focus on research and development helps the company to compete with its competitor very efficiently. Initially, when Apple introduced its smart phones in the market, it was a totally new concept, so it decided to charge higher prices due to the advanced features of its

HISTORY COURSEWORK PLEASE ANSWER EACH QUESTION Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HISTORY PLEASE ANSWER EACH QUESTION - Coursework Example The problem with this particular type of governance was that it lacked a central form of government that would have given it coherence and a uniform direction in governance. It was the problem of governance relating to economics, legislation of laws, and central leadership that created the problems within the confederate government. â€Å"Brackemyre, T. â€Å"Americas First Failure at Government: The Articles of Confederation†). So, while the ideas behind the conderacy form of government were based upon good intentions and safeguards, the implementation and lack of central leadership created a confusing form of governance which eventually led to the disintegration of the condeferacy. 2. The main problem they faced was not having a central form of government that could create a cohesive plan of action for the states. Since each state had individualized, extreme powers, there was an uneveness in the mode of governnance because of the federal state power. Each law that was created needed to be ratified by 9 of the then 13 states before it could be passed into law. Economically speaking the government could not directly tax the citizens so the existing congress did not hae a budget and could not request money directly from the states either. That said, any changes to the articles were hard to implement because all 13 states needed to approve the changes. There was a military problem as well due to the fact that men could not be drafted. Thus creating a smaller than usual military force. There was also a judicial problem since all the state conflicts had to be settled in state courts. Additionally, since congress did not have the power to resolve state disputes, the problems between states tended to escalate (Sage, H. â€Å"American Under the Articles of Confederation: 1783-1989) As such, the problems that existed had a tendency to escalate due to the lack of a moderating body within the government. 3. The two party system of the United States stemmed from the

Birth Control In South Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Birth Control In South Africa - Essay Example No stepping-stones. Summer Winter" Located in the southern tip of African continent, South Africa, known as South African Republic till recently, has mixed racial background of whites, blacks and Indians. It was discovered by Europeans during the age of discovery competition among European powers. Both Archbishop Tutu and President Mandela called South Africa as The Rainbow Nation. Country has world renowned archaeological sites and fossil wealth at Sterkfontein, Makapansgat and Kromdraai which has given the world homos, homo habilis and homo erectus etc. It presents the most fascinating tapestry patterns of human struggles and endeavors, where almost all the stages and results are visible. The Portuguese, Dutch, and British competed for supremacy that slowly paved way to practice of severe apartheid that the world abhorred for decades. Workers came from countries like India, Madagascar and Indonesia, who are called Cape Malays now. Great Britain defeated the rest of European powers, especially Dutch, and after 1860, finding diamonds and gold became the main cause of greater potential and resulting immigration. "The South African whites must either be embarrassingly stupid of Machiavellian;there are nine million Africans against their three million; how do they propose - in a democratic arrangement - to balance this numerical superiority" asks Modisane (1963, p.239).

Large firms typically use a variety of structures to manage their Essay

Large firms typically use a variety of structures to manage their organisation. Summarise and evaluate the advantages and disadv - Essay Example Good decision making in an organization is because of good communication between members of the organization a virtue that is determined by the organization’s structure. This essay tries to analyze the different types of organizational structures and gives the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. It also evaluates the different structures to come up with the most preferable structure in terms of ensuring a business’ success. The first type of organization’s structure is a vertical structure. It is a structure whereby the business leaders or managers feature at the top while the bottom features the other employers. This structure can be either centralized or decentralized. For a centralized system, the organization’s members at the center of the structure make most of the decisions while, for a decentralized structure, most of the decisions are made by the members at the ends of the chain of the organization (Mills, 2007: p 54). The main advantage of this structure is its easiness in designating duties to the lower level employees. It forms a chain structure that can be followed without difficulty. The other advantage is that it promotes efficiency in the organization. Equally important is that, it encourages the development of skills and expertise as employees find it easy to go for further learning activities. The disadvantage of this stated structure is that it requires extensive power and effort to maintain order, balance, and power. It also narrows a department’s aims and objectives not to reflect the overall company’s goals (Mills, 2007: p 58). The next type of organizational structure is horizontal structure. This one differs from the vertical structure such that there are few power levels. A single department can oversee a number of activities in the same level without necessarily going to the next level. It has the advantage of giving employers greater freedom hence good turnaround and employee satisfac tion. It can help create competition in the different organizations hence innovation and creativity. There is also easy communication and cooperation between the departments. The disadvantage of this structure is its creation of loose management; the managers have little say over their employers due to tight schedules of meeting targets and finishing work. In addition, this is attributed to managers and workers maintaining a peer-to-peer relationship at the place of work hence no respect for leaders (Mills, 2007: p 89). Following on is the functional structure. In this type of structure, employees and departments are put into groups according to the function they play. The advantage of functional structure entails the help it has in growing specialists; people of the same skills are grouped in the same department. It also helps improve skills of employees, as the poor ones will learn from the better ones since they are grouped in the same department. Grouping skills of the same natu re at one place also helps improve performance. This is mainly through combined efforts of doing a task by many employees. It also boosts employee’s morale, as an employee has to do his best since it is his area of specialization according to the grouping. The main disadvantage of functional structure involves its complicated decision-making and communication processes. Communication between the different departments to enable the completion of a task is difficult since

ENG Wa 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ENG Wa 9 - Essay Example The constitution was weak. At one period between 1919 and 1933, there were 28 different parties in government. There were only coalition governments. From 1918 to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the government did nothing to improve widespread poverty, massive inflation and unemployment. They remained basically ineffective for 13 years, a point in which Hitler used to gain popularity. Upon signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the social and economic situation of the country became drastically worse. The government lost all credibility setting the stage for the growth of nationalism, anti-Semitism and the rise of the 3rd Reich . The purpose of this paper is to show why the German people had no choice but to accept the 3rd Reich. When a country is in such economic and social turmoil, it sets the stage for a dictator and totalitarian regime. The paper will conclude by showing how a country changes from economic turmoil to WWII. The Treaty of Versailles set the stage and there w as no other choice. Towards the end of the war, in January of 1918, President Wilson proposed to the US Congress the "Fourteen Points" and "Four principles". He sent the proposal to the Germans on the 5th of November 1918. (http://www.germanculture.com.ua) The new Weimar Republic was created November 9th 1918 on the premise that the Wilson proposition would be ratified as part of the peace settlement. The armistice was asked for November 11, 1918. Cease fire began by a country who thought they were winning the war at home and had no idea of the losses on the front.().France and Britain wanted retribution. They wanted Germany to be reduced to a insignificant European country.(Duffy 2004 ) .Of Wilson's Fourteen Points, nothing was taken into account other than the creation of the League of Nations. (Fuller 2010) Germany was completely demoralized. Had the proposal been considered, the blame of World War I would have been shared, and reparations would not have fallen completely on one country. The German people had no faith in the new governing powers. The Weimar Republic stayed in power from 1918 to 1933.(Wadell) In 1919, a new constitution was drawn, but it was never ratified. The fallacies of the constitution were later used by Hitler to gain toletarian power when he became Chancellor in 1933. Though it was a democratic constitution, " the president had the right to dismiss the cabinet, dissolve the Reichstag, and veto legislation. The legislative powers of the Reichstag were further weakened by the provision for presidential recourse to popular plebiscite. Article 48, the so-called emergency clause, accorded the president the right to allow the cabinet to govern without the consent of parliament whenever it was deemed essential to maintaining public order". Defining public order was highly subjective. (http://www.germanculture.com.ua) Â   In 1918, the economic situation was catastrophic. The government had no power to improve the financial situation of its c itizens. One is four men lost his life in battle which was equivalent to one third of the civilian population. The advances of mass production of technology required human labor to operate the machines and financial stability to finance the investment in the machines. Had the 14 Points been signed, Germany would have had a chance to recover its losses. (Karpovsky) Germany was forced to sign a treaty. The Treaty of Versailles was compiled in

Joseph Stalin Essay Example for Free

Joseph Stalin Essay Joseph Stalin played a very important role in the history of Soviet Russia. He was exposed to Karl Marx’s ideas at a very young age in the Tiflis Theological Seminary school he was enrolled in. He continued with these ideas throughout the early years of his life; modifying them as he went along. Eventually, Stalin came to power in Eastern Europe. In my opinion, Stalin was a harsh and hypocritical leader. He did not have fair policies and he changed them to apply to a particular problem he was facing. Joseph Stalin in Soviet Russia was harsh, hypocritical and forceful. Stalin made a name for himself when he joined the Social Democratic Labor Party in 1901. After the overthrow of Nicholas II, Stalin did not think that the Russian people were ready for a Socialist revolution, apposing what Vladimir Lenin thought. Lenin was the leader of the Socialists at the time. When Lenin heard about this, he made Stalin choose. He could either challenge Lenin for the leadership of the Socialists, or he could change his mind about the revolution and remain loyal to Lenin. Stalin chose to stay loyal to Lenin in an article he wrote. Lenin was pleased with Stalin, and appointed him Commissar of Nationalities. Stalin told people that the new Soviet government promised â€Å"complete freedom for the Finnish people, and for other peoples of Russia, to arrange their own life†. This meant that he supported the idea of self-determination and making a life for yourself. After a while, Stalin found it hard to control the non-Russian people under his power. They were creating many independent states without his agreement. These states were often hostile to Stalin and his government. This made Stalin change his policies so that self-determination was not allowed. In 1939, Stalin made a pact with Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, which divided the two powers. Taking all of this into consideration, my opinion on Joseph Stalin is that he was a harsh, hypocritical ruler who wasn’t fair. His ideas and actions shaped Soviet Russian history to what we know it to be today. Stalin was hypocritical because he told the people that he supported self-determination, but the once the people put it into action, he punished them for it. He was harsh because when he punished people who went against him, he killed them with no questions asked. Also, he was responsible for at least 20 million deaths from forced famines, labor camps, forced migrations, state terrorism and labor camps. He did these things to try to unite his power base into a smaller area; eliminating lesser powers. Next, after World War II, he continued mass murdering entire areas. He did all of this while practicing callous control over the Soviet Union and it’s surrounding states. This makes me believe even more that Stalin was a horrible person and leader in Soviet Russia’s history. Overall, my judgment of Joseph Stalin in Soviet Russian history is that he was a horrible leader who caused the death of many innocent people. He was hypocritical, ruthless and harsh to the people he ruled. I think that many people probably have different opinions about how much of an impact Stalin actually had on Russian history, but I believe that without him, things would have been completely different. Even though Adolf Hitler still would have caused the Holocaust, Stalin would not have been there to increase the number of deaths. This is how I would judge Joseph Stalin’s place in Soviet Russia’s history.

Leadership Perspectives and Theories

Leadership Perspectives and Theories Discussion about two fundamentally different perspectives toward leadership development ‘Leaders are born and ‘Leadership skills can be developed. Leadership is seen as an important component of any organisations structure because at all levels in an organisation there tend to be positions of authority. In every organisation there will be people under the control of people with higher job titles and status, for example, employees under the power of team leader, i.e., precisely stating â€Å"subordinates under the control of super ordinates (Finchman, R. et al, 2003).† Though there is a wide range of definitions of leadership, it can be generally be defined as the ability to motivate and influence other people to perform tasks and achieve objectives which otherwise they wouldnt be willing to do. Moreover, leadership depends upon the context in which it occurs along with an understanding of the needs and opinions of its followers. But, still there has been a lot of argument and debate concerning the difference between management and leadership. It is true that differences between the two terms can be put neatly on paper, but still it is suggested that the distinctions between the two are vague, with the two qualities usually overlapping each other in business context. This is because it is believed that every manager is bound to possess leadership qualities to be able to work effectively towards the success of an organisation. As literature states, there have been different perspectives relating to leadership development. They basically are the Trait Approaches, Behavioural Approaches, Contingency theories and the Transformational theories of leadership. The trait theory believes that leaders are born and possess certain personality traits beforehand which ultimately lead them to take on a powerful dominant position. Behavioural approaches look for certain ideal behavioural patterns in the leaders and contingency theories state that there is no one idealistic leadership quality and that leaders should modify their qualities and skills according to the situational demands as well as relating to the cultural and organisational context of the organisation. Finally, the transformational theories introduce the emergence of the new leader with qualities such as being visionary, inspirational and participative along with encouraging change. According to theories and researches conducted, it is pointed out that a good leader would be the one who understands himself, his fellow and group members with whom he interacts and the company along with the broader social environment in which he works to be able to choose wisely his skills. Also, he is able to behave appropriately in times of perceptions that are very importantly relevant to his behaviour, i.e., to be able to direct when called for direction and to be able to provide freedom when there is requirement of participative freedom. They are believed to establish direction and are expected to encourage people to come into their strategies and plans. Also, there are some leadership skills which are considered indispensable. These generally include an ability to have an intuition and judgement, the intelligence factor, motivation, assertiveness, risk- taking ability, smart enough to analyse situations and take actions, relevant knowledge and many more. Now, here we are concerned with the two fundamentally different perspectives of whether ‘Leaders are born or ‘Leadership skills can be developed towards the development of leadership qualities and their respective implications on the development of management in an organisation. However, choosing one perspective can sometimes be difficult. This is due to fact that leadership being such a subjective topic, it is impossible to believe in a single perspective. Both the perspectives are right to an extent of their own. It is indeed a true fact that there are born Leaders. Moreover, the old age saying that ‘Leaders are born and not made even gets stronger by looking at all the examples of great and historic leaders, like Hitler, Mother Teresa, etc. These leaders gained their status and respect because of their strong personalities or some in-born attributes which are difficult to come through training and development. It is an elusive charisma in some people which ultimately makes them World leaders and the followers look up to them. And these certain qualities looked in a leader are generally the ones that are the in-grown traits of ones personality, for instance the ability to have an intuition and vision, motivation factor and the natural intelligence. These are all characteristics which differ from person to person. Also, by birth certain kind of talent is already embedded in a few people because of which they stand apart and go on to the path of becoming a leader. For example: A person wh o is an average basketball player will never be able to achieve the skills which Michael Jordan excels at in spite of getting the best training, putting in all his efforts and practising to the fullest. Though, his skills would improve but never to that extent. And hence, we see that the concept of born leaders is existent. But then to what extent can this be seen to be true? Should we believe that the skills by birth are just the skills to be possessed to become leaders, i.e., there can be no self-development for a person lacking the so called necessary skills to become a leader. Here comes a noteworthy point that, by just being born with talent, it isnt necessary that one becomes a leader. Unless and until one works on the pursuit of perfection and improvement, he/she will not be able to able to become a Leader. In fact, all the great leaders who reached their status today did so due to their hard work and maybe went through some sort of learning process. It was necessary for them also to hone and develop their skills and learn from their predecessors. For example : It was seen that President John.F.Kennedy though made a great leader, maybe for some people, due to his charm persona but the fact was that he also had some learning from London School of Economics and he also undertook a Leadership training program in the military services during World War II. Moreover, there is a problem associated with identifying what kinds of leadership skills are apt. When it comes to choosing Leadership positions in organisations, the organisations generally look out for expertise, work experience and the respective seniority levels. They look for people with strong or charismatic personalities, who are commanding and can manage other people well by mesmerizing them with their stage presence. However, these are usually wrong indicators of choosing great leaders. This is seen from the fact that even the extraordinary organisations having the most intelligent, experiences and insightful board of directors have made the errors of choosing the wrong leaders. In California, when there was a rapid-change in the technology sector due to the growth of internet IPOs, HP realised that they needed a leadership change with a leader with a freshly new business perspective to help control its languishing stock prices and stalling growth. For this they hired a lead er who had won quite a lot of business titles and had had an impressing background. But, in the hands of the new leader, the company suffered its first loss, lost many jobs and saw a decrease in their stock prices. But, contrastingly, in the hands of the former down-to-earth CEO, HPs annual sales increased. This showed that leadership plays an important role in the success or failure of an organisation, yet still many companies do not have effective Leadership Development programmes in place and they indulge and invest in it only in terms of emergencies. A research conducted by the Institute of Leadership Management showed that a significant proportion of business leaders today must owe the credit to the gaining of their leadership skills from experiences learnt outside the school, as 12 percent left school before the age of 16 and only one-third of them (31 percent) had a University degree on leaving full time education. These statistics, therefore, state that in order to achieve success, academic qualifications might not be a pre-requisite and leadership skills can be developed through coaching and formal training also with an effective development programme in place. Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, showed traits of becoming a future leader from childhood. But since he didnt have an academic degree he was not seen to be fit for the description of a classic leader. When he joined JC Penny as a management trainee, he always worked hard but then his paperwork wasnt up to the mark because of which his boss always told him that he wasn t fit for retail industry. At last, he resigned, not to sit back but to open his own firm which gave competition to JC Penny and surpassed it in retail dominance. This example suggests that in spite of not having academic qualification, Sam Walton would have been a great leader for JC Penny, if it had an effective system to tap the leadership potential in him. Hence, the above points suggest that leadership skills can definitely be developed not only through leadership training development programmes but also from real-life learning experiences arising on the job front. Hence, the perspective ‘Leadership skills can be developed holds more importance than the perspective ‘Leaders were born. However, no amount of teaching can ever fully help a person to know about leadership. Leadership is a phenomenon which can always be learnt through practical application. Leadership skills can be developed by watching other leaders, i.e., role models and emulating their behaviour. Leaders also enhance their skills by realising the fact that one can never get stuck in a situation. Even if one fails in a task, one needs to use that lesson to enhance his performance in future. This shows that the only failure they see is the failure to not learn from a mistake. They also improve by using the feedback from their supervisors, peers and junior colleagues to get better results. Moreover they learn by trying out new things and then review their performance critically. The best thing about the development of leadership skills and not assuming the notion of born leaders is that, leadership training helps to bring out certain behavioural aspects like character, passion and vision in people not having them and builds them to develop skills which can be used in future for becoming effective leaders. Furthermore, according to an article written by James Brava, teaching leadership skills to front-line managers through the support of the organisation as well as senior leaders can help lead to an improvement in an organisations flexibility to change and productivity. This is due to the fact that if front-line managers become leaders they can make decisions, can then use their own judgement and implement improvement. These techniques will assist in increasing employee engagement and employee motivation and thereby have a positive impact on management development in terms of an organisations performance level. A contrary point to note here is that, certain leadership skills even though believed to be associated with a persons character only, can still be developed among people to a great extent and affect the development of management of an organisation in a worth notable point. This means that if a person does not have skills to lead, he should not fall for the development of non-leadership aspects as there are a number of places to demonstrate ones leadership abilities. There are a lot many number of qualities looked in a person to become a leader which have already been mentioned relating to ability, motivation and sociability. But, the recent developments in the field of leadership show that it is not the just the old-age qualities of authority and intelligence that are enough to become a leader. No doubt, Intelligence is needed but rather than IQ and relevant knowledge, emotional intelligence is the pre-requisite to become a great leader. Emotional intelligence is the key factor which distinguishes star-leaders form the average leaders. Here we see a number of leadership skills that can be developed and how it might affect the development and learning of skills by managers for their own good as well as for their organisations. Emotional intelligence, a quality associated with leadership can definitely be learned, but it requires time and commitment. Hence, it is not believed that a person should have this trait by birth. Although, sometimes genetics do not play an important part in this as our parents qualities of empathy can be imbibed into us by birth. Self awareness is an aspect of emotional intelligence which tends to work for the organisation resulting in increasing its and its employees performance by being aware of the fact that how their feelings will affect themselves as well as of their colleagues. Also, motivation is an indispensable virtual quality of leadership which aims at achieving for the sake of achieving and not for external rewards. Even though, this can be seen as a personality trait to be associated with the concept of ‘born leaders, still it can be developed with course while learning in an organisation when one introspects about his passion for work, doesnt get disappointed with failures and has an urge for commitment towards his organisation. Therefore, it isnt difficult to see the outcomes of motivation for organisational management development. This can be seen from the fact that people with such qualities can always lead to the building of a team with managers sharing the same qualities. Also, as one sets a high performance bar for oneself, so will he for his employing organisation leading to the latters success. ‘Born or classic leaders are often seen as the ones having fiery temperaments because their outbursts are often associated with their respective style marks of charisma and power. And hence self-regulation is generally not seen as a good trait of leaders. But self-regulation is a quality which is necessary to be developed among leaders because it leads to the creation of a fair and trusted environment reducing politics and infighting and hence an increase in productivity. More so, it has a positive effect on managing development as employees want to be level-headed instead of hot-heads considering their leaders being calm and less moody. As a consequence, talent flocks to the organisation. In terms of environment changes, management development needs arise which can be taken care of effectively if managers are in control of their emotions. This is because in such a scenario they do not panic and tend to accept the challenges in a positive way. Empathy is another quality which is rarely seen to exist in the concept of ‘leaders are born. This is because according to this concept, they usually have attributes which are seen as being autocratic and exploitive. And hence, the perspective regarding born leaders might seem to fail here. Empathy or consideration skill is strongly recommended as a component of leadership due to it being effective while dealing with teams, diversification in organisations and for retaining talent in todays competitive market-world. It is usually developed while working in a team where there can be a mismatch and misunderstanding among the viewpoints of the members. This helps leaders develop their skills of understanding and recognising the emotional makeup of the team leading to collaboration among employees which can ultimately lead to higher job market for the organisation. Also, in order to keep good talent within their organisation coaching and mentoring is necessary for which empathy ski lls are needed. Therefore, a leader having these skills will effectively provide good coaching which leads to an increase in job performance along with job satisfaction and less attrition rate. Another fact which proves that Leadership skills can be developed can be seen during situations when a persons leadership skills might come under a test. This can seem to happen in terms of a crisis as was in the case of Intel Israel. During the First Gulf War when Iraq was resorting to its Scub missile attacks, the operation of the Intels firm unit in Israel was at stake because the civil defence directive had ordered organisational units to close down ensuring safety. But Dov Frohman continued the normal operations as he was concerned about the companys survival and success as he considered that a core aspect of leadership. Also, according to his belief during such situations there are three major points a leader should develop focus on the survival of the organisation in the long-term giving it the highest priority, going against what everyone says and expects to do and finally trusting ones instinct. As a result of following these qualities, commitments to Intel were met for the future of Israels high tech economy as well as for Intel Israel, because of which it today is â€Å"the headquarters for the companys global RD and product development in wireless technology as well as a major centre for chip fabrication (Harvard Business Review, December 2006)†. Also, following these three rules not only help deal with the situation aptly but also thinks about the organisations success which is the basic rule of leadership and management development. Moreover, this can be seen as a time for managers to be able to learn and develop skills not only for their own good but even for their organisation. In all organisations it is seen that management generally means conducting, controlling, directing and linking. But an article by Henry Mintzberg who has studied a lot of managers and management in a symphony orchestra, states that Covert Leadership, an aspect which can seem to develop might be better than overtly display of leadership. This is because in todays world knowledge and trained workers respond to inspiration and not supervision because they know what to do. According to him, management in a symphony orchestra can be seen as a good deal of what managing in todays world is all about. The article throws light on the fact that though the conductor manages all its musicians, but he does so in a covert way be it controlling, directing or developing culture. It showed that what is generally seen as conventional leading is seen as operations doing in the context of an orchestra because the conductor got involved directly and personally in all the tasks getting done. Also it was s een that extreme supervision isnt necessary today and that the coordination can occur independently, but however certain amount of power is necessary. Lastly it is noted that though the conductor managed all the inside operations, he was also concerned with the external networking for his orchestra. Hence, a positive outcome of covert leadership on management development is that it not only satisfies employees but in the end it also tends to give a feeling of satisfaction to the leader. And if managers accept this trait of leadership and follow all the six qualities of internal controlling, leading and doing along with external communication, linking and dealing, they can raise the organisation to a high level. Furthermore, it is evident that in todays modern world every manager or leader is faced with the dilemma of being torn between which leadership style to use and when democratic or authoritative. According to the earlier times, leaders were just seen as ones possessing the required intelligence, vision and the ability to empower others. But todays scenario sees the fact that leadership skills tend to be developed and be used according to the demand of the situation. A continuum developed by Tannenbaum and Schmidt concerning the authoritative versus democratic choice of leadership style, shows that any one of these extremes (either emphasis on manager or on the subordinate centred behaviour) isnt apt and that there are a range of behaviours which are best to use when necessary. The decision of what leadership style to use is highly influenced by factors which concern managers behaviour, non-managers or subordinates behaviours and the situational aspects. If a manager understands his p ersonality traits effectively, he is likely to know clearly which style to use. The situational factors such as organisation type (might approve certain behaviours and not others), group effectiveness (how well people coordinate together to resolve issues), nature of problem (depends on whether subordinates have relevant knowledge about the problem) and time constraints (depends upon the criticalness of the situation) also affect the way a manager thinks in decision-making situation). Similarly, a clear understanding about the employees behaviour and their expectations or demands from him, can help him decide to be permissive or coercive. This can ultimately lead to the development of good and flexible communicative relationships among organisation members leading to the creation of good work teams, i.e. the development of management which ultimately can affect an organisations success rate. Therefore, whatever is the case, the implications would always be in the favour of the organ isation with the manager being flexible and insightful so as not to face the issue of leadership dilemma. Finally, in the end wed like to discuss two main important points. Firstly, how companies can create leadership development programmes in order to tap the talent of people showing the capabilities of becoming future leaders. In regard to this, companies ought to create a development profile needed for identifying strong leader including qualities they think should be suitable for their particular company or the industry. On completion of the creation of profile, the company can use a number of effective assessment tools like psychometric tests, employee surveys, feedback reviews etc. to identify these characteristics in their employees. Secondly, we need to discuss critically as to what we need whether it is the image of a heroic leader with a vision, inspiration and charisma or the image of a manager who can organise, plan and control issues in an organisation. In the beginning, it was mentioned that there are differences between management and leadership but they usually overlap. However, arguably it is seen that now there has been a widening gap between managers and leaders. According to studies in the twenty-first century, it was seen that a new perspective of transformational leaders came into being. These transformational super leaders had all the characteristics which were suitable during a hostile and a rapidly changing environment. This new leader had the ability to create visions of what can happen in future and was able to communicate them. These traits indicated the difference between management and leadership according to some writers. But a more recent study of leadership trends stated that such views could be dangerous and that what is more importantly required is the capabilities of change management. According to a lot of writers the concept of visionary leaders is not good as they can destabilize the organisation. For instance, in the opinion of Jim Collins, leaders who are seen to be world class are generally not effective, and it is the senior ordinary managers or executive which actually handle work well by combining both humility and persistence. Moreover, it is believed that the efforts of these middle managers should be appreciated because in spite of them not being top managers they still are implemental in starting and aiming change. Finally these repercussions against the concept of new leaders, leads back to the argument between the distinction of management and leadership suggesting that now leadership destabilises while management drives change. To sum it all, it can be said that though leadership skills are developed but still in-born traits are sometimes necessary and that in reality organisational change occurs due to the help of competent managers and not because of the concept of leaders possessing charismatic visionaries and personalities. (3898 words excluding references) Works Cited Brava, J., (n.d.) Are Frontline Leadership Skills Instinctive or Learnt?. Available: http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Frontline-Leadership-Skills-Instinctive-Or-Learnt?id=3231942. Last accessed January, 2010. Britains Bosses Learn to Lead at an Early Age. (n.d.). Available: http://www.i-l-m.com/research-and-comment/1449.aspx. Last accessed January, 2010. Buchanan, D., Huczynski, A. (2004). Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text, 5th Edition, London: FT Prentice Hall. Donaldson, D., (n.d.) Can Leadership Training Make Great Leaders?. Available: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Can-Leadership-Training-Make-Great-Leaders-/509240. Last accessed January, 2010. Finchman, R., Rhodes, P. (2003). Principles of Organizational Behaviour, 3rd Edition, Oxford: University Press. Frohman, D. (2006). Leadership Under Fire, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 84, No. 12, pp. 124-131. Goleman, D. (1998). What makes a leader?, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76, No. 6, pp. 93-102. Hurst, R. (September 10th, 2007). Is a leader born or made?. Available: http://leadershiptrainingdevelopment.com/is-a-leader-born-or-made. Last accessed January, 2010. Leadership Development Are Leaders Born or Made?. (n.d.). Available: http://www.impactfactory.com/gate/registered/leadership_skills_training_development/registeredgate_1619-9103-73572.html. Last accessed January, 2010. MacDoanld, D. (December 8th, 2009), Why is it so hard for companies to find great leaders?. Available: http://learnthis.ca/2009/12/the-problem-with-leadership/. Last accessed January, 2010. Mintzberg, H. (1998). Covert Leadership: Notes on Managing Professionals, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 76, No. 6, pp. 140-147. Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. (1973). How to Choose a Leadership Pattern, Harvard Business Review , 51(3), 162-180.

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy I was held back in fourth grade, because my teacher failed to realize that I was struggling. My parents tried everything from money incentives to grounding me until my work was done. Nothing seemed to work with me; I didn’t understand what I was supposed to be learning and no amount of pressuring, grounding, or incentives were going to help. The second time around, my teacher didn’t put as much pressure on me and made the class a little more interesting. The following year, my teacher Mr. Barger, told us on the first day that he’d â€Å"give [us] just enough rope to hang ourselves†. I often found myself in such a position. This teacher is the best teacher I have ever had, because he made the class fun. By the end of the year I was on the B honor roll. It wasn’t until my senior year in high school that I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I realized that I wanted to give something back to the students. I wanted to become the teacher that students would remember for making a difference in their life. I believe that the nature of knowledge is constructed and dependent upon person, place, or time. Knowledge depends upon the teacher’s teaching styles, foundations, and how much time the teacher can allow for certain subjects. With the student, it depends on his/her age, their learning process, and their learning environment. How well he/she does can depend on how much time the teacher spends on the subject. You could have a slow child in a class, but if you spend just a little longer on that math problem they just may get it. You may have a six-teen year old boy who chooses not to learn and goofs off, but if you keep trying to capture his interests he’ll probably come around. The nature of knowledge is relative; it just depends on how much the teacher and the student want to put into it. I believe that public education was established so that all people could get an education.

Ron Howard :: essays research papers

Ronald William Howard was born March 1st, 1954 in Duncan, Oklahoma. He is the older of two brothers. His parents, Rance Howard his father was an actor, director and writer, his mother Jean Howard was an actress, in 1959 his family relocated to Hollywood. Young Ron quickly joined the family business and his first television role was on an episode of "Playhouse 90" and was followed by an appearance on "The Red Skelton Show." He also was in four episodes of "Denis the Menace" and five shows of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." (Encarta) Ron has the face that refused to age. No matter how much of his hair he looses, or how much of a beard he grows, he continues to have a boyish charm. For some viewers he is always remembered as Opie Taylor and to others as Richie Cunningham, while the more populated group of the confused he is know as Opie Cunningham. (sitcomsonline) The television producer Sheldon Leonard, who had seen Howard’s performance in Barnaby and Mr. O’Mally, cast the actor in the "Andy Griffith Show" which began its eight years on CBS on October 3, 1960. The gentle and subtle comedy of the show was set in the sleepy town of Mayberry, North Carolina, and was centered on the daily lives of sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith), his young son, Opie (Howard), Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), who was the live in housekeeper and Opei’s surrogate mother, and Barney Fife (Don Knotts), Andy’s deputy. The scenes between Andy and Opie were sensitively written by Ron’s father with similarities of their relationship, some of Opeis lines were also written by his father. Howard’s parents intervened in certain ways in his life since he was a child star like making sure certain aspects of contracts said didn’t say that he had to do promotional tours. When he was not working he was enrolled in public schools so he could interact with other kids his age. "In school I was a novelty at first," Howard told Edwin Miller. "People got very jazzed up about the idea of having a kid actor in class. That would blow over in a couple of weeks, and then I was able to blend right in." Howard later made the basketball team at Burroughs High School in Burbank; Howard then had to turn down acting assignments so he wouldn’t miss any basketball games.

Internet - Disclosure of Personal Information On-line and Identity Thef

Disclosure of Personal Information On-line and the Occurrence of Identity Theft Introduction Identification is a critical and common process which we encounter on a regular basis as we carry out our daily activities. Companies, government agencies and institutions routinely ask individuals for personal information in order to help identify a specific individual from another. In the past, people have relied upon face-to-face exchange of information and identity verification but with the recent explosion of the Internet this system has become relatively obsolete. Personal information that had previously been stored in file cabinets in secure locations is now easily collected and stored on databases. Does this fast and efficient system violate the security of our personal information? Is our personal information and basic identifying data truly secure on the net? Irwin Winkler’s movie â€Å"The Net† illustrates the type of problems that can arise if an individual’s personal information falls into the wrong hands. Winkler’s main character, Angela Bennett, played by Sandra Bullock, fell victim to identity theft as her personal information and key identify data were stolen and used in order to exchange her identity with another.1 Although the plot of the movie seems a little far-fetched, identity theft by means of the Internet is a serious and common problem that occurs frequently in real life. How do we identify ourselves on the Internet? In the virtual realm of the Internet physical means for identification verification are relatively non-existent since it requires specific technology, such as biometrics, which is not widely used. Instead the most common methods for identity verif... ... lives an open book just waiting to be read. In order to prevent identity theft on-line we must take into account that Internet companies and the Internet, itself, play just as an important role in identity theft on-line as hackers and thieves. References 1. Winkler, I. (1995), â€Å"The Net†. 2. Noack, D. (2000), â€Å"Identity Theft Thrives in Cyberspace†, http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/internetcrime/2000/03/08/idtheft0308.01html 3. Marlin, A. (2000), â€Å"Online Identity Theft a Growing Concern†, http://www.europe.cnn.com/2000/tech/computing/08/16/id.theft.offline.idg/ 4. Barlow, J. (2000), â€Å"Privacy On-line: A Shattered Illusion†, http://wings.buffalo.edu/Complaw/CompLawPapers/ryan.html 5. Chaum, D. (1996), â€Å"Achieving Electronic Privacy†, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace, edited by Peter Ludlow, pp.224-225. Internet - Disclosure of Personal Information On-line and Identity Thef Disclosure of Personal Information On-line and the Occurrence of Identity Theft Introduction Identification is a critical and common process which we encounter on a regular basis as we carry out our daily activities. Companies, government agencies and institutions routinely ask individuals for personal information in order to help identify a specific individual from another. In the past, people have relied upon face-to-face exchange of information and identity verification but with the recent explosion of the Internet this system has become relatively obsolete. Personal information that had previously been stored in file cabinets in secure locations is now easily collected and stored on databases. Does this fast and efficient system violate the security of our personal information? Is our personal information and basic identifying data truly secure on the net? Irwin Winkler’s movie â€Å"The Net† illustrates the type of problems that can arise if an individual’s personal information falls into the wrong hands. Winkler’s main character, Angela Bennett, played by Sandra Bullock, fell victim to identity theft as her personal information and key identify data were stolen and used in order to exchange her identity with another.1 Although the plot of the movie seems a little far-fetched, identity theft by means of the Internet is a serious and common problem that occurs frequently in real life. How do we identify ourselves on the Internet? In the virtual realm of the Internet physical means for identification verification are relatively non-existent since it requires specific technology, such as biometrics, which is not widely used. Instead the most common methods for identity verif... ... lives an open book just waiting to be read. In order to prevent identity theft on-line we must take into account that Internet companies and the Internet, itself, play just as an important role in identity theft on-line as hackers and thieves. References 1. Winkler, I. (1995), â€Å"The Net†. 2. Noack, D. (2000), â€Å"Identity Theft Thrives in Cyberspace†, http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/internetcrime/2000/03/08/idtheft0308.01html 3. Marlin, A. (2000), â€Å"Online Identity Theft a Growing Concern†, http://www.europe.cnn.com/2000/tech/computing/08/16/id.theft.offline.idg/ 4. Barlow, J. (2000), â€Å"Privacy On-line: A Shattered Illusion†, http://wings.buffalo.edu/Complaw/CompLawPapers/ryan.html 5. Chaum, D. (1996), â€Å"Achieving Electronic Privacy†, in High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in Cyberspace, edited by Peter Ludlow, pp.224-225.

Sauna pants

The pants are simple to wear with adjust-ability in waists and thighs but still, since it has limited sizes to fit all types of body shape for both men and women, there are complaints grading inconvenience among users' reviews. You have the option to dial your desired temperature, but by sacrificing the moving-around due to the 4- inch cord. On the other hand, it is guaranteed 100% money back in 90 days after purchase for the relatively reasonable price $29. 99 – $39. 95 (compared to a standard sauna normally around $40-$60).No matter how promising this product may sound, if you wish to lose real weight this is not a desirable equipment. One deficiency is no clinical test or patent being mentioned; hence, skin irritations or other health-related problems like infertility are upon your own risk. Like how the claim ingeniously claims, the user just gets rid of some extra water weight, a small amount of weight that will be easily gained back during a re-hydration session. No musc le workouts or any kind of physical activities is needed while the real weight loss plan lies in the reduction of fat volume, leaving muscle and water remained.Same heating mechanism to accelerate water weight loss, we have another apparel item, the sauna suit. Unlike the sauna pants, the sauna suit â€Å"features high insulation and low water vapor permeability, due to the thickness and the lit-layered fabric design†, then serves as a major physiologic defense against overheating through sweating during vigorous physical activity, which makes it by far a more effective product in support of weight loss according to a research about sport bra and integral fitted sauna suit.Regarding the warm, relaxed treatment for soothing sore joints or tight muscles, it is just a temporarily relieved feel due to the heat, which a light intensity of exercise or a heating pad can do the same with far lesser cost. Legend the discussed understandings, would not use it for the sake of losing wei ght, nor commend it to anyone. This product is no use in any perspectives, also promotes laziness towards work-outs and unrealistic crave for healthy well- being with no effort.

Lord of the Flies Essay

Statement Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that the defendant, Jack Merridew, is guilty of two counts of murder. We will show that Mr. Merridew was fully responsible for the deaths of Simon and Piggy when the boys were stranded on an island without adult supervision. We will show that Jack quickly became a sadistic savage who believed that the rules and laws of civilization did not apply to him. He constantly fought against and disobeyed Ralph who was the democratically elected leader of the boys. He valued killing above all other activities and constantly tried to convince the other boys to follow him and not listen to Ralph. Although the circumstances surrounding Simon’s death were accidental, the prosecution will show that Jack’s behavior caused the boys to act as killers. Jack ruled his boys through fear and he made them follow him because they believed that he could protect them. We will show that Jack knew that the beast was not real but he pretended it was so that all the boys would continue to be afraid. One of Jack’s strategies to make the boys feel braver was that he created the death chant, â€Å"kill the beast, cut his throat, spill his blood. † Also Jack created the dance where a boy pretended to be a pig while all the other boys stood around him and pretended to spear him to death. It was in the middle of this crazed dance that Simon stumbled out from the jungle and all the boys fell upon him and killed him. The prosecution will also present evidence that shows that Jack was responsible for Piggy’s death. Shortly after the boys crashed, Jack broke Piggy’s glasses making Piggy even more helpless than he already was. Then Jack raided Ralph’s camp and stole Piggy’s glasses. This final act was a death sentence for Piggy because without his specs he could not see the rock tumbling down the mountain towards him that killed him. The prosecution will also show that from the very beginning Jack’s hatred of Piggy influenced all the boys. Jack hated Piggy because Piggy was fat and physically weak. Jack believed in the law of the jungle, which states that only the strong survive. Jack makes up the chant â€Å"kill the pig† and this chant always causes the boys to be frenzied, crazed, unthinking savages. â€Å"Kill the pig† could be seen as being close to â€Å"kill the piggy† so it’s not a surprise when Piggy is finally killed. Piggy wants Ralph to remain the leader because he knows that he is protected and won’t be hurt by Jack as long as Ralph is the leader. When Piggy is killed, Ralph is no longer the leader and after Piggy dies Jack screams â€Å"that’s what you’ll get† and he throws his spear at Ralph. Questions for Witnesses Ralph 1. When Jack threw his spear at you and then hunted you, did you think that he was going to kill you? 2. Were you afraid of Jack? 3. Was Jack a bully? Sam and Eric 1. Did Jack’s boys ever hurt you? 2. Were you afraid of Jack? 3. When Jack kidnapped you and tied you up did you want to be part of his tribe? Piggy’s Auntie 1. How well could Piggy see without his glasses? 2. If Piggy had been wearing his specs could he have seen the rock coming towards him and gotten out of the way? 3. Since Jack stole his glasses do you believe that Jack is responsible for Piggy’s death? Naval Officer 1. When you arrived on the beach what was Ralph doing? 2. How did all the boys look? 3. Do you think that they were playing a game or was the hunt real? Roger 1. What do you admire about Jack? 2. When you pushed the rock down the mountain and killed Piggy how did you feel? 3. When you were torturing Wilfred and Sam and Eric did you believe that this was wrong? Jack’s Parents 1. Did Jack ever get in trouble at school for being a bully? 2. When Jack played with other boys what kinds of games did he like to play? 3. Did Jack ever steal anything? Percival 1. Were you afraid of Jack? 2. Why did you choose to join Jack’s tribe? 3. Do you think that Ralph or Jack was the better leader? Maurice 1. Why did you choose to go with Jack to steal Piggy’s glasses? 2. Why didn’t you just ask Piggy if you could borrow his glasses? How did you feel when you knocked over the littluns’ sandcastles? Robert 1. When you pretended to be the pig, were you hurt? 2. Were you afraid during this activity? 3. Were you afraid of Jack? Closing Statement Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, we believe that the constitution has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the defendant, Jack Merridew, is a sadistic bully without conscience or regard for the laws and appropriate behavior that are part of civilized society. Jack chose to be a savage criminal on this island. He disobeyed Ralph’s rules that provided structure and order. Ralph was the elected leader and Jack intentionally broke away from this group and formed his own tribe of savage hunters. He ruled this group through fear and physical violence. The boys of Jack’s tribe paid no attention to morals or good behavior. They simply did what they wanted to do and never stopped to say to themselves, â€Å"Is this a good way to behave? † or â€Å"is this right? † From the beginning Jack was a boy who was obsessed with hunting and killing pigs. Then he became a complete savage and the sport of hunting pigs became boring. He needed more excitement so he invented the sport of hunting and killing human beings. You the jury have the responsibility to render a verdict of guilty for two counts of murder. Jack is responsible for the deaths of Simon and Piggy. It is true that he did not push the rock down the mountain that killed Piggy. But he was responsible for creating a tribe of boys who no longer had good moral behavior and who didn’t value human life. It is true that Jack alone that Jack did not kill Simon. But he was responsible for creating the frenzied crazed behavior through his chant and dance that led to Simon’s death. Jack is guilty of murder. The prosecution rests.

ICT Specification for a spreadsheet for the Hairdressing business

The specification points are very useful because they are like a shopping list and help us to make sure we follow a list of requirements that are important in order for us to ensure that the system that we will create will be able to do certain things in the list below. To have a list of specification points so that when it comes to planning and creating the spreadsheet it will be much easier for us. The list below is extra support and a helpful list to guiding me when I create the spreadsheet for the Hairdressing business. 1. Allows creating a booking system for example an easy way to organise all the clients in a useful way for example in alphabetical order. The booking system is able to store and organise the clients details in alphabetical order this can be done by left clicking ascending order. 1. The system should be allowed to create queries such as multiple criteria or simple search criteria search. To help find for only certain clients that I need to find for example if I there is a discount on women’s haircuts so then I will need to identify only females in the system. Queries can be made on the system for example multiple or simple searches. This will help to identify the people that are only needed to find. 1. I will have a validation rule to minimise errors in the database. E.g. presence check or a formula checks in the system. Validation rules have been entered to reduce the amount of errors occurring in the database system In order to keep the records correct and up to date. 1. The system must be able to have a print button and save the work quickly and easily I will have a print or save button. The system I have created will have a print button on it. 1. I should be able to edit for example to delete old clients and store details and keep record of the data and keep record up to data and recent. Records on the table are able to be stored deleted and kept up to date on the recent data. 1. Include a menu page for the system to make it easy to navigate from page to page and this should help get us easily from page top page. My system has a menu page in order to help to ease the use of navigation 1. Include a primary key to give clients in the system a unique number so it will be easy to find him or her with reference to that specific unique number that is supplied to them in the system. The primary key has been put on the booking ID field because this is recognised to be the key field. 1. To have a back up strategy in case the system is hacked into or is lost or damaged so the back up program is a USB or a CD containing the program/system on it and their details. The information has been stored on my USB and that there is anti-virus is stored to prevent any data or memory loss. 1. To have tables and then link the tables together by relationships and this should make it easier for the user to navigate from page to page quickly. Relationships have been attached to both the tables the Customer details table and the Appointment booking table. 1. I will create a form that will make it another way of presenting the information to the user or the receptionist. Forms will be created to help make the reading of the details and the information easier for the person using it. The testing that we had previously carried out helped to improve my system and the evaluation has helped to make sure that all the criteria of the specification points have been met. The specification points have helped me to carry out the task as a whole more efficiently and to make sure it has appeared on my database the way I have wanted it to turn out. Testing made sure that all the specification points were all able to be fulfilled and achieved but at the same time realistic in order for me to carry them out efficiently. The new database system can now carry out some new and amazing functions it can now make the spreadsheet function well. For the database I have made macros/ navigation buttons to help make moving from one table to another much more simpler and easier. The Database will help me to store my information and store the data precisely in ascending order. There have not been many problems that have occurred from the database that I have created because the database that’s been created has hardly and errors and is functioning well it seems to be making good progress. The database has been made with the purpose to help to make sure that the new Hair Salon will be able to function properly. The two tables that I have created will help me to quickly find out which appointments have been appointed for which person and which person and the customer details have been sorted to keep them safe and in a more reliable way. This also makes it easier to view the information for each customer.

Moral and Social Philosophy

Moral philosophy is focused on the habits, customs, and values of a certain individual (Wikipedia, 2007). It has the following sub-categories: meta-ethics; normative ethics; as well as, applied ethics (Wikipedia, 2007). One of the major contributors of this school of thought is Immanuel Kant who said that â€Å"deontology† holds that an act is considered to be right if it goes with the moral rule or principle (Ethical.., 2001). For example, parents will have to decide whether or not to have their children immunized. Since it is required by the law then the parents will have to allow their children to be immunized; it is the right thing to do because it goes along with the moral rule or principle (Ethical.., 2007). Social Philosophy Social philosophy is technically defined as a study which addresses dilemmas concerning social/human behaviors (Wikipedia, 2007). It covers the following areas: effects of culture, effects of science, revolution, social contract, etc (Wikipedia, 2007). Simply put, social philosophy concerns itself with moral principles as applied to problems of equality, freedom, as well as, justice (Wikipedia, 2007). One of the major contributors of social philosophy is John Locke who stated that: men are equal, free, as well as independent; thus, they possess the faculty of reason, which gives them the right to preserve their property including their life, liberty, as well as, estates (Bennagen, 2000). In addition to that, he believes that the state of nature is one that is in a state of perfect equality, freedom, liberty, and rationality but it is possible to turn into a state of war especially in cases where there exists the absence of a common judge (Bennagen, 2000). Thus, for him, entering into social contract is necessitated so as not to go through anything that is similar to the state of war (Bennagen, 2000). Last but not least, he also believes that the people have the right to resist a government that tyrannical in nature (Bennagen, 2000). Subjectivism Subjectivism is the act of making moral judgments, however, based on an individual’s emotion (Ethics.., n.d.). For example, in judging if something is â€Å"nice†, an individual has to have a positive emotions about it otherwise it should not be labeled or declared as something â€Å"nice† (Ethics.., n.d.). Advocates of subjectivism claim that since moral judgments are decided upon subjectively or basing on emotions, then individuals are fully rational during such a period (Ethics.., n.d.). The major problem with subjectivism, however, is that, since it is based on emotions, the person may all the more arrive at wrong decisions or judgments, for example, dating a nice and handsome young but married man may feel nice but that doesn’t mean it is moral to do so (Ethics.., n.d.). One kind of subjectivism is known as metaphysical subjectivism and one of the major contributors of the aforementioned school of thought is Descartes (Wikipedia, 2007). Egoism Ethical egoism or simply egoism is doing something to fulfill an individual’s own interest whether it may be good or harmful to other people (Wikipedia, 2007). Egoism does not take into consideration the well-being of others nor does it do anything to be of assistance or help to others (Wikipedia, 2007). One of the contributors of this particular school of thought is Thomas Hobbes who advocated that self-interests should be pursued and practiced so that freedom may be equal to everybody (Wikipedia, 2007). He also believes that even if there is self-interest, it is impossible that an individual may be harmed because humans are typically the same when it comes to their wants and needs (Wikipedia, 2007). Virtue Ethics Virtue Ethics is where Aristotle’s moral theory is taken into consideration (Ethical.., 2001). Here, it is said that â€Å"an act is right if it is what a virtuous agent would do in the circumstances† (Ethical.., 2001). Let’s take for instance, the case on immunization, currently, there is a dilemma with regards to having every child immunized before going to school, utilizing virtue ethics in critical thinking, parents may decide that they will allow their children to be immunized because it is not only good for their children, but it will benefit all the others as well (Ethical.., 2001). Ethical Relativism Ethical relativism is where social, personal, historical, as well as, cultural considerations are the basis of one’s judgment or decision (Wikipedia, 2007). A contributor to this school of thought named Jean-Paul Sartre in fact claims that somebody’s morals, if any, will be proven only if the person follows certain social norms (Wikipedia, 2007). Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism is built on the concept or principles of utility, which he believes is the foundation of morals (Bennagen, 2000). It holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (Bennagen, 2000). Happiness, according to John Stuart Mill, is equated to pleasure and the absence of pain, while unhappiness, for him, refers to pain and the privation of pleasure (Bennagen, 2000). Categorical Imperative This rationally dictates a course of action independent of whatever goals the agent may have (Encarta, 2007). By this, Immanuel Kant also meant that the moral law is categorical or that it applies to all situations, and by imperative, he meant, it is commanding, thus making it absolutely authoritative (Gaarder, 1991). Immanuel Kant stated the Categorical Imperative in two key formulations: 1) Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a general natural law (Encarta, 2007), meaning, that it should apply to all people in all societies at all times (Gaarder, 1991); and 2) Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only (Encarta, 2007). By this statement, he meant, we should not exploit others to our own advantage (Gaarder, 1991). References Bennagen, Pia. (2000). Social, Economic and Political Thought. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press. Encarta. (2005). Immanuel Kant. Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://www.encarta.com. Ethical Theories Compared. (2001). Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://www.trinity.edu. Ethics 02 – Subjectivism. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://www.jcu.edu/philosophy/gensler/et/et-02-00.htm Gaarder, Jostein. (1991). Sophie’s World. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc., Wikipedia. (2007). Cogito Ergo Sum. Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_Ergo_Sum Wikipedia. (2007). Egoism. Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_egoism Wikipedia. (2007). Ethical Relativism. Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_relativism Wikipedia. (2007). Moral Philosophy. Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_philosophy Wikipedia. (2007). Social Philosophy. Retrieved May 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_philosophy               

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

Debt - Essay Example void the fiscal deficit as much as possible by the repayment of massive public debt in order to save the current and future generation from the burdens of debt. The American deficit in 2009 was around $1.8 trillion which was equal to 13.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). This deficit was $157 billion higher than what is expected. The additional spending to recover the economic sector from the current financial crisis was the major reason for the increase in deficit (An Analysis of the President’s Budgetary Proposals for Fiscal Year 2010, p.1). America was one of the worst affected countries as far as the current recession is concerned. Many big companies were one the verge of close down unless the government helped them. The close down of big companies will definitely increase the unemployment problem which the government don’t want to occur. So, only option available in front of the government was to declare a stimulus package to pump money to the ailing economy. Since the gross domestic production growth was less, the pumping of money to the ailing economy may increase the fiscal deficit again and again which means e ach American’s debt was also increasing. The Iraq and Afghan wars were also contributed heavily to America’s deficit. It is difficult for America to stop the military exercises in Afghanistan and Iraq before achieving the objectives. It is suicidal for America to stop these wars since neither of the objectives was achieved yet. At the same time, new war fronts are also on cards for America. For example, Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons cannot be watched silently by America. Many people believe that America will be forced to open another warfront in Iran in order to prevent Iran acquiring the nuclear power. Any such moves will again put American economy in jeopardy. It is difficult for America to conduct wars in three different regions at the same time. Immediate stoppage of wars is the only possible solution in front

Banking Risk Management in a Globalizing Economy Essay - 1

Banking Risk Management in a Globalizing Economy - Essay Example The second part discusses the linked risks to banking globalisation with reference to the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. One of the obvious reasons as to why banks manage to go international in their operation is their ability to deal with risks. In the age of modern technological advancement, banking technology is becoming an integral component of the decision-making process (Hughes and Mester, 2008, p.1). Information is vital in the decision-making process (Timmerman et al., 2008, p.113). With sufficient information, there is an available tool that can aid in the decision-making activity. In the case of banks, especially those performing in the international setting, they evaluate and manage risks, by simply referring to their databases and online information, making them easily have access to problematic clients, and problems that are non-performance that require immediate attention. Banks are always on the go to measure risks (Angelopoulos and Mourdoukoutas, 2001, p.158). Aft er all, risks are associated with their banking business activity. When banks started to employ diversification process in the global background, prior to initiating it, they have already calculated the level of risks facing them. However, the reason as to why they still go forward to investing their business at the global level is their ability to mitigate the presence of threats. The advancement of technology and their ability to adapt it in their entire working system are the mere advantages they have over the presence of varied risks. In other words, one of the reasons why banks go international in their operation is due to their capability to manage risks. They have vital aid that could support them in times of tough decision-making activity, allowing them to decide what is best for their clients and in their whole business operations.

The sale of Gatwick Airport Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The sale of Gatwick Airport - Case Study Example Gatwick Airport, the second largest airport in the United Kingdom, has been offered for sale by BAA, its owner following a move by the competition commission to push the Company to dispose three of its British airports due to dominance concerns of the Airline business market. Gatwick, being the country's second biggest airport, acts as a major component of the national infrastructure as well as a significant constituent of the British aviation industry. There have been misgivings through out the country's economic sector with many feeling that the airport has been flogged off with less attention to the bigger social effects.According to BBC NEWS (2008), the competition committee, which is charged with the job of ensuring and regulation the operations of airports in UK ruled that the BAA had no option but to give away three of the company's airports based in the UK to create more competition in the sector. It insisted that the organization have to sell two of the South East airports w hich comprises of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Regarding this, BAA which is possessed by Spanish company Ferrovial ruled out the sell of Heathrow and Stansted thus leaving Gatwick airport for bidding. Other airports ran by the BAA includes Glasgow, Edinburgh and Scotland based Aberdeen as well as southern England based Southampton. The competition commission has been trying to make to an end the monopolistic control on airport operations to install quality of the services offered in order to provide its clients with efficiency. As a result of this, different companies have indicated their interest in purchasing the airport that has been estimated to have a value of around $ 1.8 billion as per regulators although the price for the airport is likely to be set by the current market circumstances.. Some of the major companies who have indicated there interest in Gatwick include Manchester Airports Group Plc (MAG), Global Infrastructure partners and Lysander Gatwick Investment. Since early 1970s , the control of Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports has been under BAA which the competition commission blames for the insufficient competition between south-east English airports and the central Scotland based ones. As per BBC NEWS(2008), this monopoly control has resulted to low levels of service provision to passengers and airline companies and as well lower the incentives for more chances of improvement. BAA has been blamed for slow implementation of new route development plans at several airports as well as being sluggish in venturing into fresh terminals and creating more runways. This situation has been contrasted with other airports such as London city and Manchester airports which have been in the front line in implementing these changes. They have been trying to expand the facilities and services and lowering charges as well as being more responsive to the special needs of the customers. . Major Airport Operators in UK and Europe Manchester Airports Group Plc (MAG) It is the second biggest airport operator in the country and runs Manchester Airport, the third largest airport in the United Kingdom, presently handling 20 million freight passengers annually and having flights to more than 180 destinations globally with over 90 airlines. Other airports ran by the operator includes Nottingham East Midlands airport, Humberside airport and Bournemouth airport. The company also runs Borealis Capital Corporation and Manchester Pension Fund. Global Infrastructure partners Is an organization that possesses London City Airport. It has a brand value of $5.64 billion fund. It is run by professional investment executives' partners who experience direct investment to the fund. London City airport is the leading commercial airport in UK. It has ten airlines operating 32 destinations all over UK and the rest of Europe. It also connects to the rest

Voice of the Customer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Voice of the Customer - Assignment Example Customer loyalty is yielded by customer satisfaction through improvement of products and processes. Customer loyalty is similar to customer satisfaction since they both participate in bringing new customers and they are a tool an organization can use in fighting competition. However, customer loyalty develops over a long period as opposed to customer satisfaction that is immediate. Voice of customer refers to all the activities undertaken by an organization so that they get the response of their clients so that they can respond to their unmet demands. These activities are continuous since the demands of customers keep changing over time. The tools used for VOC include interviews, surveys observation and field report. These activities differ depending on the kind of product being offered by the organization. It helps the business to identify the necessities of their customers so that they can respond positively to their needs and hence create customer satisfaction and later customer loyalty. A satisfied customer has a high probability of becoming loyal although it is not a guarantee. A satisfied customer who requires the product often can become loyal but if he/she does not require the product often they may not become loyal. Changing needs may also limit a satisfied customer from being loyal to a

The new pearl harbor revisited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The new pearl harbor revisited - Essay Example Zubaydah had mentioned that some members of the Saudi royal family was in support of al-Qaeda and had been informed in advance that there would be terrorist attacks in America on September 11,2001. Besides Posner’s honesty being in doubt thanks to his past works his information was important in preparing the American public on future attacks by Saudi Arabia in efforts to gain control of the richest oil reserves in the world. (Griffin 142) Zubaydah was one of the main characters in the Commissions report but even then not even once did the commission mention that three members of the Saudi royal family had known about the attacks of 9/11 including Prince Ahmed. One of the commission’s duties was to cover up any links between Saudi Arabia and the attack of 9/11 and therefore would not mention Posner’s account of Zubaydah’s testimony, for the same reason the CIA destroyed tapes involving Zubaydah’s interrogation(Griffin 150). Later Abu Zubaydah’ s testimony was in doubt with Risen wondering whether his recitation of telephone numbers had been well rehearsed earlier on so as to be employed incase he is captured and create discord between the Saudi royal family, which Osama hated, and America. ... The CIA however viewed him as a central member of the al-Qaeda with important information to give, a view that was publicly supported by President Bush (Griffin 158). Posner’s account was in agreement with the FBI’s view that Zubaydah produced most information on traditional interrogation and the CIA’s view that he was a central person in Al-Qaeda. In both cases Zubaydah gave the names of Jose’ Padilla and Khalid Mohammed but no Saudi officials were mentioned. With the information publicly available it becomes impossible to determine whether the testimony by Zubaydah as presented by the Posner account was true. This could however could have been possible if there was a thorough investigation which unfortunately the 9/11 commission did not give (Griffin 160) . On the issue of al-Qaeda funding, Zubaydah had mentioned that the terrorists got funds from the Saudis. The commission however, did not even mention this reported claim in their report but instead den ied even having found any evidence of funding from the Saudi government and the senior Saudi official’s .Later a Los Angeles Times story presented the information to have been politically instigated. The author of the story, Josh Meyer, had interviewed several senior members of the 9/11 commission. The commission had uncovered that the Saudi Arabian government funded the terrorist group and even provided equipment even maybe directly to Osama. With the commission being bipartisan had wondered how to present this information in its report .They finally decided to deny getting any information on the funding (Griffin169) The 9/11 commission had sent a memo to the FBI headquarters through Ken Williams to which they did not respond. The commission decided to down play this by simply