Perception and Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Perception and Decision Making - Essay Example Perception is defined on the Wikipedia as follows: "In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information." (Wikipedia, 2006b). It goes further explaining how perceptions are formed, how they change, and how there can be no perception at all. Let's see: "Many cognitive psychologists hold that, as we move about in the world, we create a model of how the world works. That is, we sense the objective world, but our sensations map to percepts, and these percepts are provisional, in the same sense that scientific hypotheses are provisional (cf. in the scientific method). As we acquire new information, our percepts shift. () Just as one object can give rise to multiple percepts, so an object may fail to give rise to any percept at all: if the percept has no grounding in a person's experience, the person may literally not perceive it." (Wikipedia, 2006b). "Decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. Every decision-making produces a final choice. It can be an action or an opinion. It begins when we need to do something but we do not know what. Therefore decision-making is a reasoning process which can be rational or irrational, and can be based on explicit assumptions or tacit assumptions." (Wikipedia, 2006a). In the decision-making process many biases can get in the way. Among the reasons for this kind of drawback the Wikipedia enumerates the following reasons: "Selective search for evidence Premature termination of search for evidence Conservatism and inertia Experiential limitations Selective perception Wishful thinking or optimism Recency Repetition bias Anchoring and adjustment Group think - Peer pressure Source credibility bias Incremental decision making and escalating commitment Inconsistency Attribution asymmetry Role fulfillment Underestimating uncertainty and the illusion of control Faulty generalizations Ascription of causality". (Wikipedia, 2006a). On a closer analysis to all these causes that provoke error in the decision-making process it is easy to find "perception" at the core of all these evils. Most of the causes for faulty decisions in the business real of action happen due to misperceptions in one way or the other. The Wikipedia goes on explaining how the ethical principles of decision making vary widely. It lists the following principles and methods as the most common in any decision-making process: "the most powerful person/group decides (method: dictatorship or oligarchy) everyone participates in a certain class of meta-decisions (method: parliamentary democracy) everyone participates in every decision (direct democracy, consensus decision making)" (Wikipedia, 2006a). As "Groundwork for Making Effective Decisions" the Josephson Institute of Ethics states the following concepts, emphasizing our responsibility and accountability in any decision-making process: "Whether or not we realize it at the time, all our words, actions and attitudes reflect choices. A foundation to good decision-making is acceptance of two core principles: we all have the power to decide what we do and what we say, and we are morally responsible for the consequences

Linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Linguistics - Essay Example Additionally, it is structural understanding of knowledge and languages in terms of their differences. This can well be explained by, when one is born; one cannot be able to communicate with adults who are surrounding us, using their language. However, by the time we reach the age of six or seven, we are able to produce sounds, sentences, make rhymes, and understand jokes, among other activities. Therefore, one becomes a good speaker, in which we all have experiences that learning a language has never been easy, especially during the first years of our lives, where we accumulated a broad range of knowledge about the language (Fromkin, 2002, Pg 13-15). According to Akmajian (56-58), language speakers seem to have a wide range of knowledge on their languages, either by knowing or without being aware. Some of us possess the language of sounds, for example, consonants. Linguistics therefore, seeks to investigate how this kind of knowledge is acquired, as well as how it interacts with oth er processes mentally. It also investigates how the knowledge varies from one region to another region, from one person to another, in addition to how specific programs in a computer model the knowledge. Additionally, Linguistics also study the language structure like phrases and sound, in terms of how they can be characterized, and how diverse language components interact with others, like meaning and intonation. They also work with people who converse different languages and designs carefully the experiments on how to answer all the questions on language. Clearly, linguistics is considered as a science. Linguists are people who specialize on specific or different languages, whose main goal is to understand the language nature in general. However, the main goal of linguistic study in academics is to increase understanding and knowledge of the world. Akmajian (56-58) claims that language is essential and universal to all human relations, and knowledge acquired has many applications that are practical. Linguists are prepared to find answers to questions like, how a specific language can be written and analyzed, teaching of foreign languages, speech synthesization, computer programming and how the problems of language can be rectified and analyzed. While studying linguistics, one gets to learn many aspects of the language, sounds structure and their physical properties (Fromkin, 2002, Pg 13-15). Question 2 Phonology and Morphology is one of branch of linguistics but can be explained in different ways. Fromkin (13-15) highlights that phonology is organized study of sounds in language. People who study this branch of linguistics are referred to as phonologists and are concerned with sounds that have contrast in a language but not others. For example, Spanish speakers have a problem of ch and sh and people who speak English have trouble pronouncing â€Å"u† in their French words like Wheel and steel they pronounce as roue. On the other hand, morphology is th e study of formation of words. People who study this particular branch studies questions like, extent to ways words are formed, if they are productive or not. For example, they seek to answer questions like why we say words like amusement and arrival, and what determines the words change, like adding er to adjectives when it comes to making comparisons, like pretty becomes prettier, or getting a computer recognize the roots of words to be separated from their affixes like, crawl, crawls, crawling and crawled. Sentence structure, which includes clauses and phrases enables a clear segmentation into sentences, phrases and clauses. The relationship of these structures with each other forms syntax of domain. Fromkin (13-15) claims that this is the same as morphology, where this syntax does not concern what the meaning of

Tektronix Inc Global Erp Implementation Information Technology Essay

Tektronix Inc Global Erp Implementation Information Technology Essay The present business environment is changing dramatically and is mainly characterized by increasing competition, rising customer expectations, expanding markets and shorter product life cycles. This has put tremendous pressure on companies to reduce costs across the value chain and inventory, provide better customer service and reliable delivery dates, improved quality and efficiently manage the demand, production and supply across the globe. In order to remain competitive, in the light of these pressures, firms are exploring different ways of doing business and also realizing the importance to improve their internal processes and practices. It is crucial for organisations to share timely and accurate business information with their customers, suppliers and distributors and in order to meet this objective firms are aggressively using enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems. ERP system provides two main benefits. One, it provides a unified enterprise view of the organization. The entire information from human resources, accounting, finance, sales, inventory, logistics and supply chain management are integrated by ERP. This integration allows firms to respond rapidly to changing market and competitive forces, efficiently manage supply chain and inventory thereby realizing cost savings. Second, the ERP acts as a central information database that allows information to be stored, processed, analyzed and monitored. This prevents information and communications gaps thereby allowing better co-operation and co-ordination across the various departments and functional units in an organization (Umble et al, 2003; Bingi et al, 1999). The ERP system, by providing timely and accurate information, aids in the strategic decision making functions of the top management. Although the ERP system can be considered as one of the strategic tools used by organisations to realize their business goals and objectives, its implementation is a cause for concern. ERP systems are highly complex systems and its implementation is usually a difficult and costly exercise fraught with risks. This essay evaluates the global ERP implementation at Tektronix, a manufacturer of electronic test equipments. The essay begins by briefly outlining the state of affairs at Tektronix prior to ERP implementation and can be considered as driving factors behind the adoption. The implementation has been analyzed in different stages business plan and Vision, requirements analysis, software selection, implementation planning and implementation. Such an approach will provide more clarity about the adoption process, the critical success factors and risk mitigation. NEED FOR CHANGE AT TEKTRONIX Tektronix, in spite of being the world leader in most of the businesses that it was catering to, was limited in terms of flexibility of its operations and growth opportunities. In order to overcome these limitations the top management felt that the organization had to be restructured starting with information technology (IT) infrastructure. The IT infrastructure at Tektronix was a complete mess. They had over 450 legacy systems only in the United States, apart from the systems used in the 60 countries in which they were operating. There was no standardization of these systems or business processes globally. Inventory tracking was a problem and sales order processing had to be carried out multiple times in different systems which resulted in increasing processing time, reduced customer service and order errors. The financial systems were not very efficient with multiple charts of accounts across the company and therefore taking weeks to close the books at the end of the month. It was also challenging to retrieve business performance information such as the profitability with regards to each product or division. It can be inferred from these business challenges that the driving forces for ERP adoption at Tektronix were the need for business process integration, common template for IT, unified enterprise view of informatio n, operational cost savings and increased customer responsiveness. BUSINESS PLAN, VISION, TOP MANAGEMENT SUPPORT AND COMMITMENT One of the most critical success factors for any ERP implementation is the creation of a clear and compelling vision identifying goals and objectives along with their alignment with information systems strategy (Umble et al, 2003; Finney Corbett, 2007). Along with this vision, the business plan should provide the justification for the investment based on reliable data and reasonable assumptions (Nah et al, 2001; Kraemmerand et al, 2003). In case of Tektronix, the vision was provided by the CFO and it stressed on three key aspects -seperablity of business, leveraging shared services and a plain vanilla system, where possible. With regards to ERP investment justification, Tektronix did not spent time carrying out detailed return on investment (ROI) analysis. The decision to adopt ERP system was based on the judgment of few senior managers, in particular the CFO. One of the risks of such an action, and which did occur, is costly implementations. A detailed budgeting and ROI analysis wo uld have put a control on the cash outflow for the implementation. Top management support and commitment is another critical success factor and is required throughout the implementation by way of monitoring progress and providing direction (Murray Coffin, 2001). They play a key role in the allocation of resources apart from legitimizing the new goals, objectives and business process changes. Their support also helps to reduce user resistance which is likely to be present in large transformational projects such as an ERP implementation (Nah et al, 2001; Sumner, 2003). In case of Tektronix there was continuous support and approval from the CFO, divisional heads and senior managers during the project life cycle. REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS Most of the times, the reasons cited for the abandonment of ERP projects is because firms realize, midway, that the new system does not support some of their business processes (Koch et al, 1999). One of the reasons for this is the failure to conduct a detailed requirement analysis prior to ERP adoption. As part of this analysis, functional requirements should depict the various data requirements, process linkages and work flows. In Tektronix implementation, it is clear from the case study that the management had not carried out detailed requirement analysis prior to ERP adoption. Although they managed to have a successful ERP adoption, this was a very risk approach. SOFTWARE SELECTION The software selection process at Tektronix can be analyzed from three key aspects buy-versus-build decision, the software selection process and finally, the single vendor approach to enterprise systems integration. Firms adopting an ERP system face the decision to whether build the system in-house or to purchase packaged software and this depends on a number of factors, one of which is the level of technical expertise and ERP development knowledge existing in-house (Sawyer, 2000). Firms involved in the in-house development of the ERP systems face the risk of cost and schedule overruns and in some cases the end system not meeting the user requirements (Lucas Jr et al, 1988). The decision to go for packaged system, in Tektronix, can be considered to be a wise decision because of two main reasons. Firstly, Tektronix had no experience in developing IS systems. It would not have been possible for them to develop a robust system with the same efficiency as a package software developer, who could leverage from its RD and varied implementation experiences. Secondly, Tektronix did not have the necessary technical skills, which was also evident during the implementation stage. With regards to software selection process, Tektronix spent very little time. The decision to implement Oracle ERP solution was based mainly on the experiences of the CFO and CIO. Very little resources were spent in evaluating the alternatives in terms of features and costs. An ERP system, by default, will impose considerable influence on a firms strategy, organization and culture. Some of the ERP failures can be attributed to the incompatibility that exist between the new systems technical capabilities and needs vis-Ã  -vis the organizations existing business processes (Umble et al, 2003). It is therefore critical that the ERP selection process is conducted with great care. The selection between the single vendor and best of breed approaches to systems integration is debatable. Both the approaches have risks and are considered to be complex with regards to their scale, scope and business process reengineering requirements (Shehab et al, 2004). The best of breed strategy can offer the best functionality for each module, but its implementation is complex because of the need for establishing interfaces between the disparate systems (Bingi et al, 1999; Shehab et al, 2004). The cost and the need for extensive training to maintain these interfaces is also likely to be high (Light et al, 2001). In case of single vendor strategy, it might not have all functionalities but it will easier to implement (Mabert et al, 2001). The other benefits include simplified contracting and relationship management as well as a single point of control for all software related problems (Shehab et al, 2004). Taking into consideration Tektronix growth strategy as well as the scale a nd complexity of the ERP implementation, it can be argued that the single vendor strategy seemed suitable. It mitigated, to a great extent, the integration, maintenance and upgrade related risks likely to be present in multiple package implementations. IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION An important activity, during implementation planning, which plays a crucial role in the success of an ERP implementation, is the creation of a steering committee consisting of senior management and end users (Somers Nelson, 2004). The role of the steering committee is mainly to determine the project scope and objectives prior to implementation and to ensure adherence to it (Parr Shanks, 2000). In case of Tektronix, the steering committee refined the companys vision and developed the global business model along with business process change and guiding principles in order to provide clear direction for the implementation. The steering committees portrayal of top management support and commitment was also instrumental in overcoming resistances. Effective project organization and management is another critical success factor in the adoption of an ERP (Umble et al, 2003). It is also necessary to ensure that the project team is well balanced consisting of members from different divisions or functional units possessing both business and technical skills (Finney Corbett, 2007). In case of Tektronix ERP implementation, there was an efficient project management team consisting of representatives from different functional and geographical locations. Apart from this, the members had a combination of business and technical skills which made it easy for to identify and resolve issues quickly. In this context it would be appropriate to stress the importance of a project champion; who oversees the entire implementation process, helps to achieve consensus and plays a major role in handling organizational change. This project champion should be a high level executive with transformational leadership qualities and should have the authorit y to set goals and legitimize change (Nah et al, 2001; Ngai et al, 2008). The CFO as a project champion can be considered one of the success factors behind Tektronix implementation. In case of large scale ERP implementations, most companies fall into the trap of a big bang seduction. Introducing the ERP system at one strike can be extremely risky and can affect the success of the project (Vogt, 2002). The overall strategy used by Tektronix for the ERP implementation can be considered to be incremental approach. It was a single change program consisting of several waves or implementations with each implementation lead by a senior executive and addressing change in a particular division or geographic region. Although the different locations were managed independently, they were monitored by a central project team to ensure a timely and smooth change. The advantage of this was that it gave regular feedback regarding the implementation thereby allowing fast corrective measures in case of any deviations, provided vital learnings which could be used in subsequent installations and allowed flexibility in project scheduling. Apart from this, each successful implementati on acted as a proof of concept (Watson Haley, 1998) for the ERP, which helped to keep the team morale high as well as to ensure continued senior management support and commitment. In case of global rollout, again the incremental approach was followed, with the initial implementation being carried out across Europe. This allowed the project team to learn and address majority of the global implementation challenges, which proved beneficial in the subsequent implementations. Although the overall approach was incremental, it was interlaced with big bang approach where possible. The incremental approach helped to overcome the challenges arising from geographical distances and the lack of business synergies that existed between some countries. It was also instrumental in managing the language difficulties that existed in some countries. One of the risk factors associated with an ERP implementation is the failure of adopting company to redesign the business processes to align with the new ERP system. Rather than redesigning, these companies customize the software to fit the existing inefficient business processes, leading to cost overruns, delays and project failures (Sumner, 2003; Ngai et al, 2008; Somers Nelson, 2004; Nah et al, 2001). These risk factors were addressed to great extent in the Tektronix implementation. As part of business process redesign it carried out a number of activities. It standardized the charts-of-accounts, eliminated existing complex transfer pricing practices and changed the financial transaction processes. Apart from this, as part of organizational restructuring all European country managers were removed, English was declared as the single language for business within Tektronix and local business practices were standardized. With regards to customization, Tektronix undertook it mainly be cause of two reasons the differences in business operations between the divisions necessitated it and the Oracle ERP system did not have all the functionality required; a fallout of not carrying out the software/vendor process diligently. Change management programs are an important part of organizational transformation processes such as ERP adoption. Although it is mentioned here under planning and implementation, it is usually initiated at the start of the project and continues throughout the project lifecycle. An enterprise wide ERP implementation such as at Tektronix is likely to cause changes to the organizations culture and structure (Nah et al, 2001). If users are not prepared for such a change, the likely consequences will be user resistance, chaos and denial. To avoid such a situation the users need to be involved during the design and implementation of the ERP system. This should be augmented with education, training and re-skilling, which will help them in understanding the need for change and the associated implications on their job (Umble et al, 2003; Al-Mashari et al, 2003; Kraemmerand et al, 2003). In case of Tektronix, there are indications from the case study that the change management was not handled effectively. One instance was the resistance to change faced during the implementation of Order Management/Accounts Receivable (OMAR) at CPID division and the project team having to reiterate the need for change. Another instance was during the implementation of OMAR at VND division. It was post implementation that VND realized the level of resources and the skill set required. Although VND managed to have a successful implementation, this could have been risky leading to user resistance and chaos. The insufficient training of the end users is considered as one of the risk factors associated with an ERP implementation (Sumner, 2003). Based on the approach of using power or super users, it can be argued that Tektronix followed cascaded training to mitigate the risks arising from insufficient training of end users. The risk arising from the lack of internal expertise, technical and functional, was mitigated by the deployment of external consultants. In order to avoid the risks and surprises arising from the integration of complex business operations with the ERP system, Tektronix pursued a vigorous testing program simulating live work environment. LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS IMPLEMENTATION There are some key learnings, based on the above evaluation. Firstly, it is necessary to carry out a detailed requirement of analysis prior to an ERP implementation. This will ensure that a proper understanding of existing business process and benefits that can be realized from the adoption of the new system. Secondly, the ROI analysis and budgeting apart from providing the economic justification for the project will also help to control the implementation costs. Third, in case of software/vendor selection sufficient resources must be spent in comparing features and costs between the various alternatives. This can avoid customizations at a later stage. In their article, Umble and Haft (2003) recommends a selection process which includes identification of potential vendors and evaluation criteria, creating the request for proposal, evaluation of the proposals, choosing the vendor/software, negotiation of contract, pre-implementation pilot test and finally, establishing service level a greements. Fourth, the presence of a steering committee consisting of representatives from the senior management and end users along with the appointment of a project champion can have considerable impact on the success of the implementation. Fifth, the lack of business process reengineering coupled with excessive levels of customizations can lead to cost overruns, delays and project failure. Lastly, incremental approach is suitable in the case of large scale ERP implementations as it provides feedbacks and quick gains which acts as a proof of concept along with the learning which can be utilized in subsequent installations. CONCLUSION It is clear that although the implementation at Tektronix was expensive it was a successful implementation. This was due to the presence of a number of critical success factors along with risk mitigation approaches that were followed. The presence of executive sponsorship during the project life cycle, along with a transformation leader such as the CFO as the project champion was critical to the success of this project. In terms of global rollout, avoiding the big bang seduction and following the incremental approach was a wise decision. However, there are few areas such as the requirement analysis, software/vendor selection process and change management where the project team did not carry out detailed analysis or execution. Focus on some of these areas could have made avoided some of the problems that were faced during the implementation. In a nutshell, the successful adoption of ERP at Tektronix helped it to overcome many of the inefficiencies which were present earlier and in the process enabled it to become much more agile and flexible.

English Immersion Programs: Who is Targeted? Essay -- Essays Papers

English Immersion Programs: Who is Targeted? The topic of immigrant students entering not only our country but our public school systems, is slowly becoming a bigger and bigger controversy within the United States. Students are coming in from all over the world and entering our English-speaking school system without a word of English in their vocabulary. When they are thrown into the melting pot of today’s pubic schools, their presence affects so many more people than one would think. My belief that English immersion should replace bilingual programs can be correlated with three main groups all taking opposing stances on my argument. The three primarily affected groups are the immigrant students themselves, today’s workforce, and the bilingual education teachers. These three groups, all things considered, all take different approaches to the abolishment of bilingualism. Students would most likely agree with English immersion so that they can adapt better and sooner, while teachers would most likely disagree because their entire curriculum and teaching style would be subject to drastic changes. While these two groups are extreme opposites, today’s workforce serves to go either way. The three groups: students, the workforce and bilingual education teachers, serve as representatives for the many sides of the controversial changing of bilingual education in today’s high schools. Students are without a doubt, the most affected group within the bilingual education controversy. They are the children who are entering a new environment at one of the most crucial time in their lives. They need to learn the academics to help them succeed in the future, but how can they learn anything if they don’t even speak English? Fo... ...English immersion programs. There are perhaps thousands of groups that are and will be affected by bilingual education now and in the future. However, three main groups are affected more directly than most. Their correlation with the bilingual education controversy makes their standpoint on English immersion very biased. Students, today’s workforce, and bilingual teachers take very different sides when the education debate is considered. These three groups represent different sides of the growing controversy over the replacement of bilingual education with English immersion education in the United States. Works Cited: Valdà ©s, Guadalupe. Learning and Not Learning English. New York: Teachers College Press, 2001. Valdez, Elsa O. â€Å"Winning the Battle, Losing the War: Bilingual Teachers and Post-Proposition 227.† The Urban Review 33 (2001): 237-53.

Greek Mythology Research Paper Essay

Do you know any historical background on the word giant? Greek and Roman mythology is present all around us. Many new and interesting words were created from the Greeks. There are many types of myths that we hear about including; gods, goddesses, mythical heroes, other heroes, monsters, and villains. When looking up these myths, research will show that many of the words we say today come from these gods and goddesses. An example of this is the words gigantic and gigantism comes from giant. The word giant has a long, unique, and mysterious background. According to dictionary. com, â€Å"Giant is very large; abnormally great development in size. †(dictionary. com) Prior to my search, I predicted that a giant was a very large man that lived in the forest and had no connection with either gigantic nor gigantism. I inferred this because of movies and books. When I saw the word gigantic I remember hearing it and I thought it meant a large person, but I had no idea it was related to Greek or Roman mythology. Gigantism puzzled me because I’ve never heard it before. As I came across the definition of gigantic, I found out that it meant very large which connects to giant and gigantism. (dictionary. com) upon conducting research, I learned more about the root word giant, coming across information about its etymology and actual story behind it. Perrizo 2 Giant’s roots go all the way back before gods or even humans existed. The etymology relates back to Greek mythology the giants were the children of Uranus and Gaea. They were involved in a conflict with the Olympian gods called the Gigantomachy, which was eventually settled when the hero Heracles decided to help the Olympians. The Greeks believed some giants lay buried from that time under the earth and that they resulted in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Many stories have been written about giants in lots of cultures. In Norse mythology, the giants are the origin of most of various monsters, and in the eventual battle of Ragnarok the giants will storm Asgard and defeat them in war. The gods themselves were related to the giants by many marriages, and there are giants such as ? gir, Loki, Mimir and Ska? i, who have little difference in status to them. In Bulgarian mythology, giants called ispolini inhabited the Earth before modern humans. They lived in the mountains, fed on raw meat and often fought against dragons. Ispolini were afraid of blackberries which posed a danger of tripping and dying, so they offered sacrifices to that plant. Giants stand for the Basque people not willing to convert to Christianity who decides to stick to the old life style and customs in the forest. Sometimes they hold the secret of ancient techniques and wisdom unknown to the Christians, like in the legend of San Martin Txiki, while their most outstanding feature is their strength. It follows that in many legends all over the Basque territory the giants are held accountable for the creation of many stone formations, hills and old structures, with similar explanations provided in different spots. There are many similarities and differences in the words giant, gigantic, and gigantism. Gigantic is big: very large, tall, or bulky. Giant is a very tall imaginary creature: in fairy tales and legends, an imaginary being who resembles a human but is much taller, larger, and stronger. Perrizo 3 Gigantism is the quality of being giant: the quality or condition of being much taller, larger, or stronger than is usual. These three definitions are similar to each other because all of them have to do with being large. Today these words are all used to describe how tall, strong, or big someone is. All of these words also share the same Greek, Roman, and other origins. These he creatures. This particular word has a very long and precise background, whereas gigantic and gigantism have a short and not informational background. Not only is the word giant relevant in today’s world, famous playwright William Shakespeare alludes to the word in one of his plays. In Shakespeare’s play much ado about nothing, Claudio uses the word giant in act 1 scene 3. â€Å"He is then a giant to an ape; but then is an ape a doctor to such a man. †(line 2276) Shakespeare uses the monsters name as an illusion to illustrate the comparison between a giant, an ape, and man. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to show the difference between stupid and so-called smart. Giant is being used to illustrate that a giant and an ape are two unintelligent creatures. Aside from Shakespeare’s use of the word, giant is used in the following quote from measure for measure. â€Å"O, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake, lest thou a fevorous life shouldest entertain, and six or seven winters more respect than a perpetual honor. Darest thou die? The sense of death is most apprehension; and the poor beetle that we tread upon, in corpual sufferance finds a pang as great as when a giant dies. † (isabell). The word giant is used in reference to emphasize the greatness of a giant dieing with Claudio dying. perrizo 4 Whether giant is used in Shakespeare or other forms of literature, the words etymology seems to be prevalent in today’s world. The word Is regularly used today, ranging from a gas company, to a disability center. The general meaning of giant hasn’t changed over time, but only people who are educated about the word know its true mythical meaning. For example gigantism organization is an organization for the tallest people in the world. I did not find a relevant industry on website on giant or gigantic. When writing this paper, I learned a plethora of information about the word giant, and its ethnic background. Not only did I learn about this interesting monster, I gained experience on learning how to evaluate reliable sources and search the web cautiously. This essay taught me that the majority of the words we use today have an origins that dates back to Roman and Greek times. Giant originated the words gigantic and gigantism, and I found a great deal of information that connected giant to both of the other words. Furthermore, locating the information necessary to complete the project was easy and fast, but then I began to write my report, I had to think about where to start and how to organize the information I had into a cohesive essay. Finally,, I learned that people can misconstrue the meanings of words easily if they do not understand or use the words correctly. All people need to develop their communication skills and look up unfamiliar words or inquire about the origin of words so they learn about the amazing history of our amazing language. Perrizo 5 Works cited et, al. http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/giant. N. p. , 6 2012. Web. 6 Nov 2012. burton, robert. http://www. bartleby. com/100/151. 5. html. N. p.. Web. 11/6/2012. encyclopedia britannica online . † http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/232937/giant. encyclopedia Britannihjca, 24 2012. Web. 7 Nov 2012. Lindemans, Micha F.. â€Å"giant. † http://www. pantheon. org/articles/g/giant. html. N. p. , 03 1997. Web. feb 24 2004. shakespeare. â€Å"merchant of venice. † http://www. opensourceshakespeare. org/concordance/o/? i=768422&pleasewait=1&msg=sr. university 2012. Web. 2007-2012.

The Outbreak of the HIV Virus, AIDS in 1980s

Who would have ever thought that a disease, possibly brought to America by infected African monkeys, would affect the country forever? This is exactly what happened in the late nineteenth century when the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was introduced to America. The unpredictable epidemic caused a huge outrage for years to come. The outbreak of the HIV virus, AIDS, in the early 1980†³s resulted in medical research, public misconceptions, and ultimately growing awareness. Appearing first only in homosexual men, AIDS was an unfamiliar virus to the entire United States. Reports of unknown and unexplainable symptoms caused much confusion among patients and even doctors. In 1981, the first reports explained that 41 homosexual men in the San Fransisco area had â€Å"†¦ a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer† (Altman n. p. ). After years of researching these cases and millions of others appearing later in the decade, scientists discovered that it was not cancer they were dealing with. They called it HIV (Human Immune Virus) which leads to AIDS (Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome) that â€Å"†¦ rogressively destroys the body†s ability to fight infections and certain cancers† (ARIC n. p. ). With minimal research there was nothing to initially â€Å"combat† the virus; but, thanks to time and funding, there were some drugs that seemed to help stop the spread of the virus in ones body. These anti-retroviral drugs still don't constitute as cures ! for the virus, but have definitely helped and continue to help patients live longer (ARIC n. p. ). Since a vaccine to â€Å"†¦ evoke an immune system response that will prevent infection or disease development† still has not been found, other treatments have been tested. Accupuncture, stress management, hypnosis, exercise, good nutrition, and an overall positive attitude all seem to alleviate symptoms even if they are not proven cures of the virus (Packer 78-88). Although AIDS is a life threatening disease, there were many people living with it by keeping healthy and staying safe. Scott Fried had not tried any of the aniviral drugs; however, practices such as taking 80 herbs and vitamins a day, staying physically fit, visiting the doctor every three months, and being happy have kept him alive with the virus for thirteen years (Fried speach). Most victims have not lived as long as he which is why AIDS has lead to some extensive research. Investigators supported by private and public funds continued to search for a cure or even an explanation of HIV/AIDS for two decades because like the â€Å"b! lack plague†, AIDS has killed off millions of people in a short time. Also like the black plague did, AIDS carried with it a long string of misconceptions. In the Middle Ages anyone carrying the â€Å"black plague† was to be avoided. Similarly, the public would often avoid people with AIDS. There were fabrications that AIDS could be caught by another human being from sneezing, coughing, hugging, kissing or even any â€Å"casual contact† ; so, people stayed away from those who were infected by AIDS. Another lie was that AIDS was caused by something magical or mystical (Taylor 23-24). Though some were overly careful of â€Å"catching† the virus, others were not careful enough. Since the initial outbreak was among gay men it was simply assumed that only gay men could be affected. Then reports of IV drug users having the disease still seemed to eliminate the chance of the common person being infected. Next, hemophiliacs and people who had had blood transfusions were reported followed by blacks, Hispanics, lesbians, straight women and finally white, heterosexual, males. Still everyone said â€Å"It can†t happen to me,† until it did (Fried speech). This assumption that AIDS only affected few amounts of people and only minorities was the basis of all misconceptions about that virus. People did not believe the virus could have any impact on their lives; but, it did impact everyones lives directly and or indirectly. Now that â€Å"AIDS is the second leading cause of death in the United States among people aged 25 to 44†³ (ARIC n. p. ), the misconceptions have been proven to be false. Although it was statistically correct that 66% of people infected by AIDS were homosexual males, 24% were IV drug users, and only 4% were heterosexual males or females (Packer 17) it was still a fact that AIDS can affect anyone. After years of research and statistical reports there were finally people relaying these messages to the public. Motivational speakers, like Scott Fried, continue to reach out to teens and adults about AIDS and sex. Information about these subjects can also be found easily, not only at hospitals or doctors† offices; but in books, magazines, pamphlets, and even on the internet. Conducting a simple search on http://www. yahoo. com came up with 164 â€Å"category matches,† 1,206 â€Å"web site matches,† and 237,000 web page matches. This means that HIV/AIDS appears at least 238,370 times on th! e world wide web and it shows that AIDS in an important component of modern life. Not only are people becoming aware of the AIDS epidemic, but they are becoming aware of sexuality through learning about AIDS. Before the outbreak of this fatal virus sex was only spoken about discretely. Now even kids are being made aware of the dangers of sex and spreading HIV. In this way HIV/AIDS had a positive affect on the country. People are aware of the facts and probably make better decisions. Some experts have said that AIDS will remain the way it is now and others predict it growing into a â€Å"huge epidemic† (Taylor 28). Hopefully due to this expansion of knowledge and recognition, he AIDS virus will not spread as quickly and infect as many people as it has in the past. HIV positive, homosexual, male, Scott Fried, said, â€Å"Ironically one of the blessings that HIV/AIDS has brought me is the abundance of love. . . † and perhaps that is true. Pertaining to the eighties and the early onset of the virus, AIDS caused much more commotion than love. However, every cloud has a silver lining and the hysteria has finally cleared up some myths. It has opened up the public to not only HIV/AIDS awareness, but sexual cognizance as well.

Process Analysis Case Study

Process Analysis Case Study Process Analysis Case Study Process Analysis Case Study: Let Us Cope with It In order to start writing your process analysis case study, it is essential to get acquainted with the notion of case study first. Thus, if you do not know what case study is, you are welcome to read its definition and a brief explanation of the notion of case study below. Case study is a method of research widely used in social science. The main aim if this very case study is to define the main principles of the notion. This method is considered to be the most effective one in collecting information at some definite subject and analyzing this very subject. After you have understood what case study is, it is a high time to pass to the process analysis case study itself. Process Analysis Case Study Writing Can Be Interesting Process analysis case study is a rather interesting assignment to accomplish, as it helps you not only to get acquainted with the process of something in all the details, but also to perceive the underlying pr inciples of it. You see it is not simple at all to cope with process analysis case study if you are trying to do it on your own. However, if to get some useful help at the matter of process analysis case study writing, it is possible to manage coping with process analysis case study. At this point, the question arises: where to find this very process analysis case study help. Well, if you are reading this article it means that you have almost found what you have been looking for. Our custom essay writing is here to help you with your process analysis case study writing. If you visit our site, you will find all the necessary information to complete your process analysis case study assignment successfully. Process analysis case study topics, process analysis case study theses, process analysis case study ideas, and process analysis case study samples are waiting for you in order to help you with your work. All this information is offered to you free of charge as we really take care a bout our customers and want to help them a great deal. Rely On Professionalism Of Our Writers! If you either do not have time or just do not have a desire to write your process analysis case study on your own, you can appeal to our professional writers and order your process analysis case study. The piece of academic writing you are going to receive will be of the premium quality in spite of being offered to you for the moderate price.

Entertainment Writing Jobs You May Not Have Considered †Part 2 of 2

Entertainment Writing Jobs You May Not Have Considered – Part 2  of 2 In this follow-up article, I put more of an emphasis on the feature film world. Thanks to the proliferation of â€Å"prosumer† technology like HD cameras and editing software, more films are being made now than ever before, offering increased accessibility for writers who are willing to attempt a more non-traditional approach to their careers. Write Film Treatments Feature film scripts usually begin with a treatment essentially an extended synopsis between two and ten pages that outlines the entire narrative beat First, you should read books like â€Å"Story† Ghostwriting for Indie Filmmakers Many independent producers, writers, actors, and directors have ideas for films they would like to make, but not the will or skill to write the material on their own. If you have experience writing screenplays and would rather pocket the green than see your name in lights, consider offering your services as a ghostwriter. This involves you working hand-in-hand with the person who hires you to craft the script he or she wants or to rewrite a script he or she already has without taking any credit. While you have less creative control this way, you get to ply your craft as a paid writer. Books like Screenplay   Write Marketing Materials Film and television marketing alone is a multi-billion-dollar business, and much of that money goes toward creating promotional writing for pre-existing content. If you have the ability to capture the essence of a project in a concise way with a bit of wit and flare, marketing-based materials might be your niche. This includes everything from actor

How to Conjugate the French Verb Pleuvoir (to Rain)

How to Conjugate the French Verb Pleuvoir (to Rain) Meaning to rain, the French verb  pleuvoir  is an easy one to study. Thats because its an impersonal verb, which means you dont have a lot of conjugations to memorize. A brief lesson will walk you through the steps for say rained, raining, and will rain in French. Pleuvoir  Is an Impersonal  Verb A rarity in the French language,  pleuvoir  falls into the category of  impersonal verbs. That means you will only have to worry about the  il  forms in the present, future, and imperfect past tenses. The reason for this is quite simple: only it can rain. Think about it for a minute. It is impossible for a human to rain, so that eliminates the need for all the other subject pronouns. I cannot rain, you cannot rain, and we cannot rain. Despite the fact that  pleuvoir  is an  irregular verb, this lesson is much easier because you dont have so many words to memorize. All you have to do is determine which tense is appropriate for your sentence. For example, it is raining is  il pleut  and it rained is  il pleuvait. A fun expression to practice this in is,  Il pleut de cordes, meaning Its raining cats and dogs. Present Future Imperfect il pleut pleuvra pleuvait The Present Participle of Pleuvoir Pleuvoir  may be irregular, but when forming the  present participle, you will use the same ending as the majority of other verbs. Simply attach -ant  to the verb stem  pleuv-  and you get  pleuvant. Pleuvoir  in the Compound Past Tense A  common way to express it rained is with the compound past tense known as  passà © composà ©. This requires the  auxiliary verb  avoir  and the  past participle  plu. Again, you only need to know the  il  present tense conjugate of  avoir, so this results in  il a plu. More Simple Conjugations of Pleuvoir Studying the other basic conjugations of pleuvoir is just as easy because theres only one subject pronoun to worry about. While the subjunctive says it may or may not rain, the conditional implies that it will only rain if something else happens. Both of these are very useful given the uncertainty of the weather. There may also be times when you encounter the passà © simple  or  imperfect subjunctive  forms of this verb. However, there is no imperative  form of  promener. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive il pleuve pleuvrait plut plt

Business Integration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Integration - Essay Example On his part, Otley visits the performance management framework and stresses the need for management to be distinguished from strategic planning and operational control. This is because, in performance management, the actual essence of functionality is focused on a combination of management planning and control systems. Performance management framework looks at overall future success, strategies for achieving the said success, level of performance expected of staff to realize successful implementation, rewards to be gained by achieving the goals, and finally the information flow to the used in the implementation process. Reading through the case of Emirates Airlines, it can be generally said that the company, and for that matter, its management made sufficient effort in utilizing the performance management framework. However, this was not done to its logical conclusion. For example, future successes were clearly identified with accompanying strategies to achieve them, bringing about a n organizational culture focused primarily on expansion and growth. The global brand that was developed, acquisition of New Zealand as Emirates’ most easterly destination, and brand building that went on within the company is all factors to prove the success with the organizational culture that was created. However, in terms of performance management, there was a level of deficiency that was recorded with aspects of the performance management framework such as rewards to be gained through achieving goals and emphasis on information flow.... anagement framework looks at overall future success, strategies for achieving the said success, level of performance expected of staff to realize successful implementation, rewards to be gained by achieving the goals, and finally the information flow to the used in the implementation process. Reading through the case of Emirates Airlines, it can be generally said that the company, and for that matter its management made sufficient effort in utilizing the performance management framework. However, this was not done to its logical conclusion. For example future successes were clearly identified with accompanying strategies to achieve them, bringing about an organizational culture focused primarily on expansion and growth (Otley, 1999). The global brand that was developed, acquisition of New Zealand as Emirates’ most easterly destination, and brand building that went on within the company is all factors to prove the success with the organizational culture that was created. Howeve r in terms of performance management, there was a level of deficiency that was recorded with aspects of the performance management framework such as rewards to be gained though achieving goals and emphasis on information flow. Knowledge management strategy Hansen et al (1999) based a lot of their framework on knowledge management strategy where they outlined the need for companies to appreciate the kind of knowledge they have and the worth of each of these knowledge. Generally, it is said that knowledge exists within the human resource but through a comprehensive human capital development, it is possible to transform and translate the knowledge into aspects of organizational management such as competitive strategy (Kaplan and Norton, 1992). But for a company like Emirates Airlines to make good

Evaluate the role of religion in the perpetuation and resolution of Research Paper

Evaluate the role of religion in the perpetuation and resolution of conflict - Research Paper Example ry religion has been a major engine to war, bloodshed, hatred and intolerance, in most case we have seen religion acting as an arbitrator between the conflicting parties. Therefore, to resolve conflicts between conflicting parties, religion has used empathy, openness to and even encouraged love for strangers, the suppression of unbridled ego and acquisitiveness, the communicative of human rights, unilateral gestures of forgiveness and humility, interpersonal repentance and acceptance of responsibility in past errors as a means of reconciliation and the drive of social justice. Religion has emphasized that people should view life as sacred and a gift offered to humankind by God. Therefore, each person should value others life by avoiding hurting the inner feeling either by messing with ones peace of heart by conflict or by murder. Many religion has encourage to practice the virtue of love to each other by practicing forgiveness in case one wrong the other instead of engaging themselves in a tug of war as a means of conflict resolution. Therefore, the sanctity of life should be observed at personal, social and political level. Religion has practiced the aspect of interiority by observing disciplines even in societies that are quite communally oriented. Through prayer, meditation, the experience of divine love, ecstasy, guilt and repentance all reflect the central importance of inner life of a person. When religion influences all these virtues in inner life of people it encourages people to have conflict resolution techniques. Conflicting parties through application of religious virtues are able to have self-control of their ego through the practice of love and kindness to each other. The role of empathy in western religion and traditions is critically essential. Religion has impacted the experience of empathy in terms of religious contexts to people either in terms of advocacy and long-term education or more directly in the workshop setting. For example, there is

Biological Factors Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biological Factors - Term Paper Example Families with weak family bonds and poor communication are predictors of future offensive behavior in the child. Parents who do not take disciplinary action against children as and when needed are likely to contribute to development of antisocial behavior in their children. Another predictor of criminal behavior is abuse and neglect in childhood. Peer groups also have an influence on criminal attitudes and behaviors. Poor peer relationships and company of criminal attitude peers contribute to criminal activity tendencies. 2) What biological factors appear to influence criminal propensity? Behavior of human beings is multidimensional and both biological and environmental factors play a major role in the development of human behavior. The limitations of biological influences on human behavior is evident from family, adoption and twin studies. Evidence from these studies has shown that genetic factors alone are not responsible the complex human behavior and that environmental factors al so have an influence on behavior. Biological factors contributing to criminal behavior can be genetic or neurochemical. Twin studies have shown that there is high hereditary factor in criminal behavior. This is evident from a study in which follow up was done on monozygotic twins who were reared separately and despite different environmental influences, strong criminal behavior was noted among the twins.

Cultural Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural Nursing - Research Paper Example Since 1960s, leaders in nursing have continuously recognized the need for nursing schools to educate students on how to provide cultural care to the people. Educating graduates on transcultural care has enabled them sharpen their nursing skill which are needed in the society. The provision of care is not only limited to hospitals and health centers but requires nurses to be equipped with the knowhow to go to the villages to provide cultural care. The recruitment of graduates well trained with transcultural nursing skills significantly improved the services offered by the nurses to people with diverse cultural backgrounds. Many nurses worldwide have been trained to provide effective culturally harmonious care. The need for cultural care in the twenty-first century has increased the offering of courses in transcultural nursing both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Transcultural nursing has also been recognized and incorporated as a fundamental program element and accrediting ag encies are expected to be competent. A faculty has also been prepared under transcultural nursing with an aim of addressing cultural care issues. The application of the transcultural nursing research based knowledge is available today. ... Research in the entire world has demonstrated the appeal and applicability of the theory across various cultural backgrounds. Transcultural nursing has grown internationally and this is a clear indicator that the nurses are committed to including cultural care in their profession. They had embraced diversity unlike in the past when the concept of transcultural care was being introduced. (Luckmann, 1999, p. 57). Principles of transcultural nursing have been recognized in the entire world nowadays. The volatility and dynamism experienced in the past while addressing nursing care as citizens, educators, clinicians and researchers has changed. Transcultural nursing has opened an opportunity for people to engage, speak, debate, develop, grow, deliberate and contemplate on cultural issues and their diversities. The awareness on cultural care as a reasonable area of study has opened avenues for nurses to conduct research on cultural issues. Cultural aspects such as nursing, health, sickness and health care are being researched in different cultures. Transcultural nursing is made up of four main sections currently: Culture and health, mental health, globalization and cardiovascular health. When dealing with transcultural nursing, the impacts of migration, globalization, social inequity, colonization and health technology and management play a crucial role. Cultures keep on changing and thus there is a need for the nurses to invent knew ideas and methodologies on how to cope up with the cultural changes. Cultural care has forced the education sector to change its curriculum to cater for the new cultural beliefs and practices. It is only through this that

In what sense and to what degree are consumers in China distinctively Essay

In what sense and to what degree are consumers in China distinctively different from their counterparts in Western countries - Essay Example Thus, analysing the nature of consumer’s tastes and preferences is important for determining the long run growth of an economy. The essay enumerates the distinctive nature of the consumers demand in China from that of the western countries (Molano, 2009). Consumption in Modern China The framework of the society of China is primarily collectivistic in nature. The people in China give high value to tradition, conformity and benevolence. However, with the emergence of economic growth and modernization, the country has undergone dramatic changes in its cultural and social aspects (OECD Insights, 2013). Chinese society now resembles individualistic and materialistic principles apart from the ancient collectivistic attitude. The trace of modern consumption pattern in China is observed when some detailed analysis is made over the sales of several goods and services in the shopping malls of the country. It was empirically found that collectivism, individualism and materialism were all directly proportional to the consumption values of the consumers in China (EIA, 2013). These values include epistemic, functional, social and emotional principles in them. For the materialistic and individualistic consumers it can be found that they have greatest magnitude of consumption value (Alabama, 2005).The individualistic and materialistic consumers achieve high utility from consumption of goods and services. However, if the underlying disparities are ignored, then it can be analyzed that the overall living standard of the people in China has improved in the recent era. This is because the country has achieved a substantial growth in its Gross Domestic and National Products (USITC, 2011). China is now regarded as an emerging economy in the world. It is included in the group of BRICS, who are the nations showing higher growth rates in the world than the developed economies. It is believed by the analysts that by 2050 China’s growth will surely make it one of the global leaders in the world (World Bank, 2013). Since 1970 the country has undergone rapid development in its industrial sector. Consumer Value Analysis (Source: Alabama, 2005) The above diagram elaborates the idealistic values of the consumers in China in the modern world. Consumer behaviours can be estimated by observing the actual purchase decisions of the consumers in the economy. It can also be estimated by studying the amount of expenditures made by the consumers in China. It is found that the relation between the consumption value and socio cultural value is extremely high in modern China. Those consumers who have high social values are more attracted towards the expensive branded goods and services. These rich consumers invest high in conspicuous consumption. On the other hand, the consumers who have less social values and are not very rich and generally go for less speculative investments (Selden, 1993). On the other hand, most of the emerging economies in the world are enumerati ng high level of debt crisis in their economies. The sovereign debt crisis in the European economy has slowed the velocity of circulation of money in the European nations. Thus, the European Central bank is now implementing quantitative easing by which the commercial banks are able to get access to some fluid fund to lend the borrowers. Thus, the consumers in the western world are now having less purchasing power. Unlike the emerging affluent classes in China the consumers in

South China Sea and the possible construct of a multi-national joint Research Paper

South China Sea and the possible construct of a multi-national joint force command - Research Paper Example The study was undertaken through a qualitative analysis approach. The analysis was aimed at answering the question will multi-national joint force enable global unity? If so, what ways can we use to undertake the process. Information from previous sources concerning the same issue was used to come up with constructive details to answer this question. The independent variables identified were the multi-national force whereas global development depended on the national relationships between different countries in order for peace and harmony to prevail. Scholarly articles by distinguished researchers on the area were thoroughly relied on to bring out a clear picture. The study will aim at identifying the relationship between the multi-national joint force and its impact on the future stability on the world’s economy and security. The results that will be obtained will be useful in making amendments to daily decision in regard to the future prediction. Another objective of the study will be recognizing the factors in organizing the multi-national joint force to ensure that the interests of the affected countries are considered. The results that will be obtained will be used to ensure that necessary amendments are put into place for the equity of all parties involved. The hypothesis developed suggests that there exists a significant relationship between multi-national partnership between different countries and the stability of the future world’s economy and security. Due to the increasing and high probability that tension will continue in the South China Sea region, there is need to determine the impact of constructing a multinational national joint force structure on the world’s future stability. United States’ engagement in military, economic and social involvement with the pacific region has a positive impact. Various researches have been conducted to identify the

In what sense and to what degree are consumers in China distinctively Essay

In what sense and to what degree are consumers in China distinctively different from their counterparts in Western countries - Essay Example Thus, analysing the nature of consumer’s tastes and preferences is important for determining the long run growth of an economy. The essay enumerates the distinctive nature of the consumers demand in China from that of the western countries (Molano, 2009). Consumption in Modern China The framework of the society of China is primarily collectivistic in nature. The people in China give high value to tradition, conformity and benevolence. However, with the emergence of economic growth and modernization, the country has undergone dramatic changes in its cultural and social aspects (OECD Insights, 2013). Chinese society now resembles individualistic and materialistic principles apart from the ancient collectivistic attitude. The trace of modern consumption pattern in China is observed when some detailed analysis is made over the sales of several goods and services in the shopping malls of the country. It was empirically found that collectivism, individualism and materialism were all directly proportional to the consumption values of the consumers in China (EIA, 2013). These values include epistemic, functional, social and emotional principles in them. For the materialistic and individualistic consumers it can be found that they have greatest magnitude of consumption value (Alabama, 2005).The individualistic and materialistic consumers achieve high utility from consumption of goods and services. However, if the underlying disparities are ignored, then it can be analyzed that the overall living standard of the people in China has improved in the recent era. This is because the country has achieved a substantial growth in its Gross Domestic and National Products (USITC, 2011). China is now regarded as an emerging economy in the world. It is included in the group of BRICS, who are the nations showing higher growth rates in the world than the developed economies. It is believed by the analysts that by 2050 China’s growth will surely make it one of the global leaders in the world (World Bank, 2013). Since 1970 the country has undergone rapid development in its industrial sector. Consumer Value Analysis (Source: Alabama, 2005) The above diagram elaborates the idealistic values of the consumers in China in the modern world. Consumer behaviours can be estimated by observing the actual purchase decisions of the consumers in the economy. It can also be estimated by studying the amount of expenditures made by the consumers in China. It is found that the relation between the consumption value and socio cultural value is extremely high in modern China. Those consumers who have high social values are more attracted towards the expensive branded goods and services. These rich consumers invest high in conspicuous consumption. On the other hand, the consumers who have less social values and are not very rich and generally go for less speculative investments (Selden, 1993). On the other hand, most of the emerging economies in the world are enumerati ng high level of debt crisis in their economies. The sovereign debt crisis in the European economy has slowed the velocity of circulation of money in the European nations. Thus, the European Central bank is now implementing quantitative easing by which the commercial banks are able to get access to some fluid fund to lend the borrowers. Thus, the consumers in the western world are now having less purchasing power. Unlike the emerging affluent classes in China the consumers in

Culture and Care Value Base Essay Example for Free

Culture and Care Value Base Essay In this assignment I am going to examine and explain my own personal values and principles influence my own work in professional practice. I will compare my principles and values with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council codes of practice and the Care Value Base. The NISCC and the Care Value Base have many similar codes of practice which all health and social care practitioners should adhere by and work with. The values I feel that are relevant within my experience of healthcare and within my current placement are confidentiality, dignity and respect, effective communication, anti-discriminatory practice and culture and beliefs. In researching NISCC codes of practice and the Care Value Base, I have found that their values are also similar to my own values within my care practice. The first value I am going to discuss is confidentiality. According to the Care Value Base maintaining confidentiality of information is an important part of caring. Any information clients give is private and confidential. Individuals need to be aware of what they say to other carers and clients and also who have access to client files. Previously undergoing work experience in the stroke ward I found that all patients’ medical information is on a clipboard on the front of their bed, anyone could read this information, I feel the patient’s confidentiality is  being breached. During my work placement at Ceara School, I observed that each pupil has individual care folders within school; these are kept in a secure filling cabinet and only the members of staff who are looking after a particular pupil is allowed access, I feel this is very good practice to uphold confidentiality. Within my placement I feel my values would be similar to the Care Value base, if a service user informed me of private information I would keep it to myself to build trust and confidence unless the individual or others were at harm. The second value that I feel is most important and relevant to my experience and work placement is effective communication. According to NISCC, one of their codes of practice is to communication in an appropriate, open, accurate and straightforward way. Within my work placement you have to have recognition and respect of the pupil’s opinions and ideas so they gain confidence within you and be more comfortable to talk. You also have to talk respectfully and use a lot of humor and creativity to keep them interested. On a regular basis there are group conversations and also one to one conversations, simple language is used that is easily understood and additionally open questions are applied to develop the conversation. With having previous work experience in Craigavon Area Hospital I have learnt the importance of communication. Many doctors used jargonistic terms, which can be very hard for patients to understand, I consider this to be ineffective communication. I feel my values are comparable to those of the Northern Ireland Social Care Council. I think that my value of communication within my work placement will come across positively. While in placement I make the speaker feel heard and understood, I make sure to create an environment where pupils feel safe to express ideas opinions and feelings. I keep suitable eye contact and show interest in what is being said and sure my posture is open and inviting. The Care Value Base deems that it is important to acknowledge an individuals personal beliefs and identity. The NISCC feel that respective diversity and different cultures and values are very significant and can have extensive affects on a persons care. I went to an integrated secondary school with many cultures and religions. I took part in a multi-cultural day in school, I got to see other communities and cultures and what they believed in, this widened my views and changed my opinions of different religions. While in Craigavon Area Hospital completing work experience I learned that meals and meal times were very important in some religions and culture. Some individuals were vegetarian; I had to be very respectable of their culture and identity. They were supplied with a different menu with different foods that they could choose this promotes the right of choice and independence. Before my work placement commenced I hoped that the employees and pupils had the same value as myself in consideration of different cultures and are open to express their beliefs and identity and be proud of who they are. My next value is extremely important in my care practice and that is upheld by NISCC and the Care Value Base is anti-discriminatory practice. Anti-discriminatory practice is action to prevent discrimination against people on the grounds of race, class, gender and disability. Anti-discriminatory practice promotes equality by introducing anti-discriminatory policies in different situations of work. http://uk.ask.com/question/what-is-the-definition-of-anti-discriminatory-practice The Care Value Base describes one of their values by promoting anti-discriminatory practice and to protect the individual from abuse. There are many pieces of legislation that are in place to protect individuals from discrimination including the Disability Act 1995, Human Rights Act,  Equality Act 2010 and the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995. In my work placement I will work in an anti-discriminatory way, I will not discriminate or judge the service users on their gender, race, class or disability. I believe everyone is different and we all have rights set in place to prevent us from being discriminated against. While undertaking work experience in Craigavon Area Hospital, disabled individuals were protected from discriminatory practice, there were lifts and ramps so all wheel chairs could access the building. There were wide and automatic doors so wheel chairs could get through them with no difficulty, although I feel this is very good practice there was also bad practice within the hospital. I consider individuals with different religions and languages were discriminated against. There were no interpreters for different languages therefore the patients didn’t know what had happened or what was about to happen. I feel my values hinder those of the Care Value Base and I imagine my values will come across positively within my work placement. I feel my personal culture and experience has influenced me in many different ways in supporting users of services and others in health and social care settings. My parents have taught me from a young age to say please and thank you and to be respectful to others. I have grown up knowing these simple values and therefore it has influenced me to show dignity and respect to all service users. Although I am of a Catholic background and practice the Catholic faith, I went to an integrated primary school and secondary school with many different religions and cultures. I now have an understanding of other cultures within health and socials care settings and I am able to accept other religions and their beliefs. I believe this have had a positive influence on my personal culture and experience. When I was in primary school, I met my best friend, he was homosexual. My parents were quite weary of this as they didn’t like the way he dressed and  acted. They came to the terms of his sexual orientation and accepted him; because I have had the privilege of meeting him it has allowed me to open my eyes to all sexual ordinations. When working and supporting users of health and social care service I wouldn’t mind what sexual ordination the service user was, I would not discriminate against them. I would promote and uphold my values to protect them from harm. From experience I know many people have been discriminated on because of their gender. Some individuals will not be chosen for a particular job because they are male/female. Service users are also judged on their sexual ordinations, recently in the news according to Poots, Northern Irelands Health Minister he said that all gay men are not allowed to give blood. I feel this sexual ordination is being discriminated against, it is very bad practice and defeats the purpose of legislation created to protect individuals from this happening. I will promote and uphold my values to protect individuals from being discriminated against. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15014823 I think a pedophile and a murder would cause a barrier in the care setting I am working in. I have grown up knowing that they are bad from family, friends and the media. This may affect and hinder my work but as I am now aware of this negative point I need to work on this barrier. I can not make an assumption until I work and understand them, until then, I will try not to judge this group. New developments and changes to personal values can have a major impact on working in the Health and Social Care sector. Firstly a new development of mine is starting a new course; I have met new people and got to know them. Working in different practices can impact work in a care setting, partnership can be developed and new skills can be gained. I have started a new placement in Ceara School, I am very excited to see if it is the right area of health and social care I want to do further studying in. I feel this experience can be very education and rewarding. This experience will help me in my future and will give me a good start. I can now see that it is the first time I have looking at my values thoroughly and reflected on them, I  will challenge my values to become a better professional. I feel guest speakers were a new development of mine, they give me an insight into their organisation, and they also give me information on how I could get work experience. New developments and changes to my personal values can benefit the service user. I could reflect more in action rather than later, use communication more effectively and user my initiative in different situations. To conclude I believe that personal values is very significant in influencing my own work in the health and social care sector. I have found that my values are similar to the values of the Care Value Base and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council. I have found that there is legislation to protect individuals from unconfidentiality and anti-discriminatory practice also to promote dignity and respect, effective communication and culture and beliefs. I have also explored my new developments and what changes I could make to my personal values to create more effective and efficient care.

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change

Relationship Between Knowledge and Social Change How are Changes in Knowledge Connected to Social Change? Introduction Knowledge and society have a reciprocal relationship. Religious and scientific ideas bring changes to the social order, likewise changes in society help to shape knowledge. This has been most evident since the time of the Enlightenment. From earliest times philosophers had concerned themselves with questions about God and about the human condition, what are sometimes called timeless truths. Sociology, on the other hand was more contextual and historical in that theorists were concerned with the historical emergence of all aspects of human social life. Sociology emerged through the conditions of modernity, which began in Europe in the 17th Century but later spread to become worldwide. The new scientific view questioned previously held ways of knowing and thinking about the world. Religious doctrine and teachings that had been seen as authoritative and objective truths which dictated the way most people lived their lives were called into question by advances in science. At the same time modernity engendered huge technological and social change that led to a break with what had gone before. The French revolution, and in England, the Industrial revolution, which dramatically changed the face of the social world, were decisive elements in the emergence of a theory of society that was distinct from other branches of philosophy (Giddens, 2001). The revolution was based on notions of individual freedom and human rights; it shook the social and political foundations of France and had repercussions across Europe. It also contained within it economic consequences that destroyed the foundations of feudal society. It questioned the idealized and inward looking existence of philosophy (see Morrison, 1995). Historical development’s impact on philosophy was most evident in Hegel’s work which had profound implications for the development of social theory. Hegel took the view that the revolution had not just influenced the way philosophy saw itself; it fundamentally changed the way philosophers dealt with reality and history. History and the social order had been seen as fixed, the revolution changed that and Hegel observed that as one form of social and political existence ended so another took its place.. Hegel viewed the individual as a subject within history and history as developmental and thus liberative. This was the first time that history and humanity’s role within it had been recognised as an ongoing and changing process. Other 19th century thinkers sought to understand the changing world in which they lived. Knowledge and Social Science Auguste Comte is sometimes called the founder of sociology as he coined the term. Comte was influenced by the way scientists investigated the physical world and he sought to create a science of society which would explain the social world in a similar manner. He believed that the scientific method allowed us to uncover universal laws. Comte’s thinking developed into what is known as positivism. This holds that science should be concerned with observable facts thus knowledge about society had to be based on empirical evidence i.e. observation and experiment (Callincos). Comte was followed by Durkheim who also took the view that social life should be studied in the same way that scientists studied the physical world. He and other positivists believed that social facts about the world could be established through the collection of statistical data. In this way sociologists could study cause and effect in society. For Durkheim sociology was about the discovery of social facts, sociologists should study aspects of life that shape individuals such as religion and economics. Because social change is so rapid the modern world presents us with difficulties that affect our lifestyles and cause human beings to feel unsettled. Durkheim described this process as anomie, a feeling of despair that was a result of modern life. The ideas of Karl Marx contrast with those of Comte and Durkheim who were interested in the structure of society.He also sought to explain the changes that were taking place in society. Marx said that the philosophers had only interpreted the world when it needed to be changed. Drawing on Hegel’s idea of the development of history Marx developed what he called a materialist conception of history (Morris, 1995). Social change, he argued is not the result of ideas, but of economic processes. Historical development is the result of class conflict. Religion was a false ideology that upheld the interests of the ruling class and kept the working classes in submission. Max Weber also wanted to understand social change but was critical of some of Marx’s views. Weber believed that ideas and values were just as important as economic processes and he felt that sociology should focus on action not structure (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000). Weber maintained that capitalism was not si mply the result of class conflict, what he termed the ‘spirit;’ of capitalism was the result of a particular view of the world. He maintained that capitalism was the direct result of a particular religious view of the world, that of Calvinism. They worked hard[1]because that was what God wanted and this resulted in the accumulation of capital. Their success was, for them, a sign of God’s grace. Thus, for Weber, rather than study society as a set of social facts, we need to try to understand the meanings that human beings give to their actions. This brought about a continuing divide in sociology between positivism and interpretavism, social structure versus human action. Those who follow an interpretative view of studying society argue that no causal explanation of human behaviour is possible without some understanding of the meanings that individuals give to their actions (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000).[2] Weber believed that human action was creative whereas Dur kheim believed that our actions were limited by social structures. Later Developments Marx, Durkheim and Weber, are known as the founding fathers of sociology who although divided in their accounts of society all sought to make sense of the changing societies that they lived in (Morrison, 1995). Their thought influenced later sociologists. Functionalism developed out of Durkheim’s thinking. Its most prominent thinkers are the American sociologists Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons. Functionalism holds that society is a system whose various parts work together and this produces social solidarity and cohesion (Giddens, 2001).[3] Thus functionalists examined the institutions of society, the family and education to show how they worked in the development of society and promoted social cohesion. Marx’s thinking developed largely through conflict theories. Inherent in Marx’s thought was the idea that one set of people in society were in conflict with another (the class divide) this has been most obvious in the development of feminist theories. Feminists such as Walby (1990) have used Marx’s analysis of class in the analysis of the rise of patriarchy and the struggle between the sexes. These relationships are characterised by the fact that one group has power and authority while another does not. Weber’s thought has been seen as important to the development of symbolic interactionism as found in the work of George Herbert Mead an American anthropologist. This view holds that individuals have an image of themselves that is reinforced by their interactions with others. Phenomenology is a further development of interactionism but it goes further than interactionists in that they focus solely on the subjective aspects of social life. The ideas of the founding fathers have been termed ‘grand theories’ but with the demise of modernity the idea that history is progressive has been called into question. Society is not a seamless whole but plural and diverse, it has thus been described as post-modern (Lyotard, 1989). Postmodernists argue that objective knowledge of the world is not possible because knowledge reflects the interests of its producers. Michel Foucault (1975) was a French sociologist who argued that knowledge was a result of the power relations that exist in society. Power works through discourse[4] and shapes our attitudes towards sexuality, crime and criminals and madness. Foucault, through his ‘archeology’ of knowledge[5] Foucault argued that what we understand of say mental illness or sexuality is a result of social development. Conclusion Clearly knowledge and social change are very closely linked. The immense changes in society over the past three hundred years have resulted in philosophers and social scientists attempting to understand the world, why things happen the way they do, why we do what we do. They also look at the development of social institutions, and in Foucault’s case[6] the development of knowledge itself through discourse. The emergence of sociology is directly related to social change and sociologists attempts to understand such changes have resulted in the production of knowledge. At the same time new knowledge about the world we live in helps to facilitate social change, e.g. feminist perspectives have resulted in huge changes in women’s status in today’s society. Bibliography Callinicos, A 1999 Social Theory New York, New York University Press Foucault, M 1991 (1975) Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Harmondsworth, Penguin Giddens, 2001 4th ed. Sociology Cambridge, Polity Haralambos and Holborn 2000 Sociology: Themes and Perspectives Collins, London Morrison, K 1995 Marx, Durkheim, Weber: Formations of Modern Social Thought 1 Footnotes [1] What Weber termed the Protestant work ethic [2] See page 972 [3] See page 17 [4] The way we talk and think about a subject An approach which tries to make sense of what we know and how we know it by digging into the past [5] [6] And also Khun’s with his ideas about paradigms or models of acceptable knowledge which change over time. Thus changing views about mental health, childbirth and parenting.

The Old Man and the Sea :: essays research papers

The book â€Å"The Old Man and the Sea† was written by Hemingway in 1951. Just as Hemingway himself said, the work is the best one he ever wrote in his life. The book was so successful that it enabled Hemingway to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. The story of is quite simple: an Cuban fisherman finally fished a very big marlin after eighty four days’ taking no fish, but the fish was too big, the old man spent three days conquering the marlin. However, on his way home, he and the big fish were attacked by a lot of sharks. At last, when he came back, only the head, tail and vertebra of the fish remained. I was really moved after reading the book. I regarded the old man as a hero. After eight four days’ taking no fish, he decided to go farther on the eighty-fifth day. When meeting a big marlin, though he knew the fish was much more powerful than he was, he still determined to fight it unless he died. Because he thought he was born a fisherman. He won, for he finally killed the fish. Just as he said: â€Å"Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.† The old man had been ready very well. He had caught the chance. However, â€Å"Every day is a new day†, a pack of sharks broke all his hope. He never gave up, he fought with the sharks even after loosing his tools. This proved his bravery again, â€Å"Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.† After the first shark took away about forty pounds of the fish, the old man said like that. I thought it also showed the topic meaning of the book. The old man really gave me a vivid lesson, not only by his heroic behaviors, but by his simple words. Isn’t it the attitude we should take forwards our lives? The old man is also very optimist at the same time. After the first shark’s attack, he said to himself â€Å"Think about something cheerful, old man. Every minute now you are closer to home. You sail lighter for the loss of forty pounds.† Other than complaining about the unfortunate things happened to him, the old man encouraged himself and used an optimist attitude to comfort himself.

Authoritarianism: Until the Resources Dry Out Essay -- Government Poli

History has known far more authoritarian regimes than any other form of government. Authoritarianism is a form of non-democratic rule defined by state power being centralized in a single person or a small group of people. Unlike democracies, these individuals in power are not dependent on the people for power. Thus, under authoritarianism, state leaders have little accountability to the public and there is little individual freedom. Additionally, authoritarian regimes are not bound by a constitution that might limit their power. Such democratic liberties such as the right to assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press are highly controlled or non-existent. State policies are designed to maintain the power status quo in favor of the ruling group and perceived threats are marginalized or, in some cases, extinguished. Authoritarianism is more likely to exist in countries that have not yet experienced a high degree of modernization. This is because, without modernization, many of the fundamental institutions thought to be required for democracy are not yet thoroughly developed. These institutions include intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and the emergence of an economic middle class. In fact, it is highly correlated that a middle class is a vital requirement for the existence of democracy. However, modernization by itself does not always mean that the end result will be a democracy. For instance, if modernization occurs in some urban areas but lags behind in the rural areas it could be destabilizing to democratic institutions. Poverty is also strongly linked to authoritarianism although it alone is not a correlation. Authoritarian regimes would not survive if there was not at least a segment of the population that supp... ...ain control of the country’s wealth and resources. Authoritarian regimes use coercion and limit individual freedom to maintain their power. They are also able to keep a middle class from emerging by hindering economic development. In these regimes, when the resources run out they are no longer able to buy off the segments of the population, the elites, necessary to maintain that power. Resource rich, countries are able to sustain authoritarian regimes longer than those without. However, as evidenced by the eventual demise of the Soviet Union, even the most powerful of authoritarian regimes are vulnerable when the resources start to dry up. Works Cited O’Neil, Patrick H. â€Å"Essentials of Comparative Politics.† Third Edition. 2010 P. 142 P. 146 P. 146 P. 146 P. 146 P. 147 P. 143 P. 142 P. 147 P. 147 P. 144 P. 152 P. 153

La Guagua Aerea

â€Å"La Guagua Aerea† Many things in life are learned the hard way. We learn to overcome these obstacles and adapt to rapid change. The movie we saw in class is a perfect example of these points. It takes place in the 1970’s when tickets from Puerto Rico to New York where lowered down to $20 in order to promote immigrants to come to the U. S. This was found to be a big scam done by the U. S. to trick the Puerto Rican community to selling their properties. This movie takes place mainly on the plane on the way to La Guardia Airport.There were many interesting points I noticed in this film. One of my observations was how all these immigrants were traveling with the same dream. The American dream is this hope that all immigrants who come to the United States have of becoming successful. They believe that by coming to this country they will make a lot of money. For many it’s false hope and when they come here they realize how hard it is to actually make a living over here. Jobs aren’t opened everywhere especially not jobs that are willing to pay good.A good example of this is the taxi driver who was in the movie. He had previous experience of what life was like in New York. He went there once before with hopes of getting a good job and instead he realized that things were hard. That is why he became so angry when the stuck up Puerto Rican man tried to act like he was going to be so rich in New York. My personal opinion towards this movie is it’s definitely an eye opening visual of what really happens when immigrants come to the U. S.Their false thoughts and how we never let go of our culture no matter how far we are from home. I thought the movie was very funny at points especially when the people on board began eating their rice and beans. It was really hilarious how they kept looking at the pickle that came in the sandwich like it was from outer space. I understand how these people feel especially since I am an immigrant from Pe ru. It was very hard to adapt to this new world. Especially being so far away from family and what I grew up knowing.

The Costs of Congestion

Costs are divided into private costs and cost to third parities. The cost to the third party is called an externality. Private costs are costs that are personal to a person or company and so an example of that would be fuelling an airplane with petrol. Externalities occur when a person is doing something, but the full cost of doing the thing is not paid. An example of this is pollution, because no one actually pays for the damage caused. The most efficient outcome to society would be when marginal social cost and marginal social benefit equal each other. The externalities that are caused have to be the main problem. The environment is greatly damaged because of this. The more vehicles driven, the more the pollution caused. 44% of nitrogen oxide emissions in the UK come from cars. Cars also contribute to 24% of carbon dioxide emissions. Both nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide are big contributions to global warming. Because of global warming, the Earth's average temperature rises which causes sea levels to also rise. Nitrogen oxide also harms the bodies respiratory and immune systems. Carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the bloody and could prove to be fatal. The UK road traffic is responsible for 69% of Carbon monoxide emissions. Another externality that is less obvious is noise pollution. This occurs because of vehicles. It causes a lot of disturbance to people. There are very few places left in England where noise pollution doesn't affect anyone in anyway. To reduce car congestion a number of ways have been developed to try and achieve the aim. ‘A new deal for transport' was published which outlined policies to create a better public transport system. The increase use of public transport would mean that congestion would be cut enormously as cars won't be in much usage. The congestion charge in London that was introduced last February was developed to try and cut the congestion problem in the centre of London. This would be effective as people could be put off with the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 charge and would rather use the public transport as it is cheaper. As this scheme is seen to be a long term success, other cities may well introduce them too. A criticism of the congestion in London however is that rich people would be able to pay and the people on lower incomes wouldn't. Although the money gained from the charges would then be used to improve public transport. To carry on using cars and not polluting the environment would be impossible, unless you switch to cars that run on hydrogen. This would be more environmentaly friendly as they emit less pollution than petrol. However the downside of this is that in current times, these cars are very expensive. In the future we may be able to see more of these cars being manufactured and slowly replacing the petrol-run cars.