How Does Alcohol Affect Our Society and Our Health?

An alcoholic beverage is a drink which has ethanol in it. There are 3 types of alcohol, beer, wine and spirits. The highest percentage of Alcohol is normally in spirits and the lowest is in beer. Alcohol is legally drunken in most countries however, â€Å"100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption†. In England one is allowed to be served alcohol when they are 16 and over however one can only buy alcohol when they are 21 or over.In my opinion this is wrong because most people consider a drug, yet most people don’t see alcohol anywhere near as bad for you as taking drugs even thou â€Å"Alcohol kills around 85,000 people per year†. For the amount of deaths from drugs annually it is hard to tell because â€Å"Cause of death is recorded on death certificates but doctors may not mention drugs, even where drugs might be involved†. After listening to the 85’000 deaths a year fact it is surprising that alcohol is warmly welco med at any dinner, cultural event or even political events. Alcohol is widely used and seen in our society today.In this essay I will go through the health risks and how it plays a part in our modern world. Health Risks * The NHS recommend: * â€Å"Men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day. * Women should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day. † Regularly means drinking these amounts every day or most days of the week. National Statistics say men drink an average of 18. 7 units a week, compared with 9. 0 units for women. On average this is correct however far too many people are drinking much over this statistic a week, and that is what is damaging or society as well.In Great Britain, just under a third of men (31%) and one in five women (20%) drink more than the advised weekly limits of 21 and 14 units a week respectively. Alcohol is a toxin which kills cells† When put in those words most people then take alcohol more seriously. Out of most drugs Alcohol is high in the middle section of dependence-physical harm graph. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include intoxication and dehydration. Long-term effects of alcohol include changes in the metabolism of the liver and brain and alcoholism (addiction to alcohol). Intoxication mostly causes slurred speech, loss of oncentration and delayed reflexes. â€Å"Alcohol stimulates insulin production, which speeds up glucose metabolism and can result in low blood sugar, causing irritability and (for diabetics) possible death. â€Å" Alcohol also leads to heart disease, dementia (long term and short term), cancer, diabetes and stroke. Society In our society today especially Britain there is a huge amount of Binge drinking and over use of Alcohol. We are one of the most well known countries to abuse alcohol and it will definitely affect our future generation. Being brought up in a world where this is common is not good for anybody.Now children will be growing up to think it is ok to drink this amount of alcohol. Health Warning! Alcohol is widely advertised all around the world, from rich highly developed countries to poorer countries. This is one of the big issues on how Alcohol as a drink should be displayed. The question is, â€Å" If alcohol is a killing drug, should it be advertised in the manner of making one think it tastes great and will make you stronger? †. There are many complaints about this is issue especially because it is encouraging the younger generation that drinking alcohol is cool and it tastes great.The adverts make people think alcohol is good when the truth is most aggressive people will often be alcoholics. Some solutions to these adverts brainwashing people is to have a health warning sign at the end of the advert like on cigarette boxes. This would maybe stick in the watchers minds. The other option would be to ban alcohol adverts all together or at least on some channels and times. Banning the adverts would end the propaga nda about alcohol altogether however it would cause a large uprising from the brewing industry because sales would go immensely down.The other solution of banning the adverts is to ban them on channels that children tune into or young adults and teenagers tune into, this would stop the younger generation from being tempted. An example of this is â€Å"In Malaysia, fast food advertising during children's programmes was outlawed in 2007† The media coverage on risks of alcohol should be increased and the laws of advertisement and exploitation of alcohol should be controlled by a separate board and not the government. However the Government in my opinion should rise taxes alcohol.On the other side of the argument there is the fact that for some people alcohol is essential in there life for many reasons. â€Å" All socialites have a drug, in stressful places it Is good to relax† After looking over the information and facts on alcohol in modern day, I have come to a conclusi on that the government or other organizations need to do something about how alcohol is a killer and is not good for you. However I do understand the reasons for people to drink it but I still think higher taxes or other problem solvers should be introduced.

Family Portrait Essay

My great-grandmother, who is ninety-five years old, recently sent me a photograph of herself that I had never seen before. While cleaning out the attic of her Florida home, she came across a studio portrait she had taken about a year before she married my great-grandfather. This picture of my great-grandmother as a twenty-year-old girl and the story behind it have fascinated me from the moment I began to consider it. The young woman in the picture has a face that resembles my own in many ways. Her face is a bit more oval than mine, but the softly waving brown hair around it is identical. The small, straight nose is the same model I was born with. My great-grandmother’s mouth is closed, yet there is just the slightest hint of a smile on her full lips. I know that if she had smiled, she would have shown the same wide grin and down-curving â€Å"smile lines† that appear in my own snapshots. The most haunting feature in the photo, however, is my great-grandmother’s eyes. They are an exact duplicate of my own large, dark brown ones. Her brows are plucked into thin lines, which are like two pencil strokes added to highlight those fine, luminous eyes. I’ve also carefully studied the clothing and jewelry in the photograph. Although the photo was taken seventy-five years ago, my great-grandmother is wearing a blouse and skirt that could easily be worn today. The blouse is made of heavy eggshell-colored satin and reflects the light in its folds and hollows. It has a turned-down cowl collar and smocking on the shoulders and below the collar. The smocking (tiny rows of gathered material) looks hand-done. The skirt, which covers my great-grandmother’s calves, is straight and made of light wool or flannel. My great-grandmother is wearing silver drop earrings. They are about two inches long and roughly shield-shaped. On her left wrist is a matching bracelet. My great-grandmother can’t find this bracelet now, despite our having spent hours searching through the attic for it. On the third finger of her left hand is a ring with a large, square-cut stone. The story behind the picture is as interesting to me as the young woman it captures. Great-Grandmother, who was earning twenty-five dollars a week as a file clerk, decided to give her boyfriend (my great-grandfather) a picture of herself. She spent almost two weeks’ salary on the skirt and blouse, which she bought at a fancy  department store downtown. She borrowed the earrings and bracelet from her older sister, Dorothy. The ring she wore was a present from another young man she was dating at the time. Great-Grandmother spent another chunk of her salary to pay the portrait photographer for the hand-tinted print in old-fashioned tones of brown and tan. Just before giving the picture to my great-grandfather, she scrawled at the lower left, â€Å"Sincerely, Beatrice.† When I study this picture, I react in many ways. I think about the trouble that my great-grandmother went to in order to impress the young man who was to be my great-grandfather. I laugh when I look at the ring, which was probably worn to make him jealous. I smile at the serious, formal inscription my great-grandmother used at this stage of the budding relationship. Sometimes, I am filled with a mixture of pleasure and sadness when I look at this frozen long-ago moment. It is a moment of beauty, of love, and—in a way—of my own past.

Ancient Greece The story of Medea

Ancient Greece The story of Medea Essay In Ancient Greece, the name of the monstrous murdering mother Medea was well- known. The story of Medea, the mysterious sorcerer-princess who helped Jason steal the famous Golden Fleece from her father, is a mythical romance with a terrible, terrible ending. Splendids new creative adaptation puts the audience at the heart of the performance, as a twenty-first century chorus presents a timeless tale of passion, betrayal and revenge. The performance took the audience through all sorts of emotions, as the story of a mother and wife took revenge on her hero husband that betrayed her by cheating with a princess. Medea takes revenge so far and even though she is banished from her city, she takes the ultimate revenge on Jason killing her own children. Although the play had many characters and a chorus, there was only 3 actors in whole performance. These 3 actors managed to multi-role play perfectly by using such simple ideas that made the audience recognise the characters they were playing easily. One of the most recognised and in my opinion, effective way they managed to change characters was by using scarves. It wasnt a complicated fiddling about changing clothing, it was a simple scarf and a belt. When the actors were being narrators or not performing, they wore these scarves in a different way each time to represent the character that they were playing. All of the costume changes were to the audience and sometimes they would tuck the scarf in their belt, to represent a strong character, like a hero. Other times they would be storytelling and wrapped the scarf around their heads to represent an old granny telling a old story. I thought this was highly effective and a creative way of adding to a character. It made the transitions between characters simple and it only took minimal seconds to change the way they wore the scarves. As soon as they placed the scarf differently, the actors switched instantly and stepped into the shoes of the characters. It was clear that they didnt need a big costume change for you to imagine the character because using the scarf was just effective enough. For me, it seemed like one of those ideas that you would think why didnt I think of that because it was an unique way of changing character. Another way the actors used multi-role play was by how they used their voice and positioned their stance and posture. Each actors voice or stance was never the same. The pitch, tone, volume and accent changed every time to represent the different character. No character was similar in voice which made it clear to the audience who they were playing. For example, the male performer (Jimmy Whiteaker) played a narrator while wearing his scarf around his head. His posture was bent over like he was old and frail and his movement was slow and soft. His voice was in a welsh accent, which is a great story telling accent. His tone was soft but happy and uplifting and his facial expression was always in a smile with his eyes bright. Compared to his other character, Jason, this is a dramatic change. Jasons posture was always strong and upright with his head held high and his nose in the air. His movement and gestures were sharp and without regret or thought. And he spoke confidently, in a serious, bold tone and the pitch low and manly. Each actor changed all these qualities in their own way, to create a personality and traits for the character they were playing. Another way they used multi-role play was by using personal props. These props were very minimalistic but once again they were personal to the character they were playing. I thought all of the 3 actors did an amazing job of multi-role play and they have given me many ideas and inspired me to think more about my roles. READ: Catholism 19th century EssayThe set on the stage was very simple and minimalistic. This was definitely more of a quality to the performance than negative. It didnt look over the top and it didnt need to be. Splendid productions state on their website that Splendids powerful cast of three will show how an ancient story can resonate through time, and how the simplest of theatrical ideas can have a devastating impact. And this is exactly what they did, especially with the set. It was so simple yet creative at the same time and even though a rope was just placed in a square on the stage, once the actors stepped into that rope the whole atmosphere changed and thats what created such a devastating impact. The set represented Greek Theatre. It represented the Unities that the play was all in one day, one place and one story. It made the audience concentrate on the actors and appreciate what they were doing and how much of creative thinking had been put into the performance. What I thought was most effective about the set was that the audience was used as part of the set. Multiple times the actors came into where the audience was watching, and they were still in character. Other times they would interact with the audience. But the fact was, they knew the audience was always going to be part of the set however, we didnt. And thats what I thought was so interesting and using the audience really involved them and kept them interacted but also added a lot of symbolism to the story. The main piece of set was a thick rope shaped in a large square centre stage. The rope was the most used part of the set because inside of it the were playing a character and playing the scene. Yet outside of the rope, they were telling the story and being narrators. The minimal set was most effective and was more effective then it wouldve been with complicated set because it forced the actors to be creative and imaginative by miming etc. As they didnt rely on the set to do the job for them. The actors used choral speaking which is when actors speak at the same time. They did this when they introduced Ancient Greece. This was very effective as they changed their voice style a lot throughout and added a lot of humor to it and gestures which gave the audience a break from the seriousness and intensity of the storyline, broke up the story and kept them interested in the performance. It was in unison perfectly and in my opinion it was important that they added humor as it brightened up the performance. The actors performed this very clearly and loud. The actions during the song made it more effective as it added character to the performance and made it more interesting. Also, it involved the audience through laughter. Another reason it was effective was that it focused on the tragic elements of the story but these negative themes were not as harsh as they spoke boldly and humorously about it. The choral speaking had an interesting contrast between conversations and the formal narrative and without it I dont think the performance would have been as enjoyable because it was clear the choral speaking had a great lasting impact on the audience.

Language Development Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools Essay

Language Development Methods for Secondary and Middle Schools - Essay Example It presents a comparative study of about the effectiveness of the programs and services offered, key strategies implemented, significant organizational features, as well offers an insight into the challenges faced during the process. As a teacher / educator / student teacher, at the ____________ school, California; I had the opportunity to visit and observe the various programs and services offered by the school to an Elementary class and students of eight grade SDAIE class, which requires and implements both, special education as well as education in English as a second language. With most of the children identified as developmentally handicapped, and coming from non English speaking backgrounds, I was delighted to know that a majority of them responded well to the customary greetings â€Å"Good Morning, Teacher†. I observed that students of the Eight grade, displayed an impressive understanding of the language and had excellent expressive and receptive skills in the English language. Their oral and written abilities were more or less similar to those of their English speaking counterparts with the same form of disabilities. I remember a particular incident – of my interaction with one of the Span ish students called ------------------, who was a first generation American, who spoke fluent Spanish at home, lived in a predominantly Spanish speaking community of California, but interacted in manageable / fluent (choose as appropriate) English with his English babysitter / housemaid (choose as appropriate). ----xyz--------, age ----, another such student spoke fluent Spanish as his/her mother tongue, and learnt English at age 6, displayed adequate reading and writing skills in the secondary language. From these observations, I can safely conclude that the degree of proficiency and expertise in the second language i.e., English, was found to be similar to that of their primary language i.e., Spanish, especially when the secondary language was needed for day to

TEXTBOOK CJ2012 FAGIN-Which philosophy of punishment do you believe in Essay

TEXTBOOK CJ2012 FAGIN-Which philosophy of punishment do you believe in and why - Essay Example 285). The theory of incapacitation, on the other hand, is founded on the philosophy that criminal circumstances must be negated so that the crime will not occur again while deterrence theory contends that the punishment awarded to an offender should be â€Å"sufficient to prevent future instances† of such crimes (285). Rehabilitation theory attempts to provide the offender a positive environment and creating awareness whereas restoration theory focuses on a restoring process by bringing the stakeholders together, with the offender taking responsibility for the offence and providing restitution to the victim. I believe restoration is the best approach because while refuting the effectiveness of other theories, it strives to bring positive outcomes for both the victim as well as the perpetrator. Punishments should rather address the crime than the criminal, especially in the context that an offender commits a crime not merely based on the faculty of free will. Several factors, such as biological, psychological and social influences contribute to criminal behavior in people. Therefore, punishments need to be focused on these causative elements rather than on the person who commits a crime. The approaches of vengeance and deterrence are found on the concept of punishing the perpetrator and not on eliminating the tendency to commit crimes. Thus, these may not yield any positive outcomes either for the person who commits the crime or the one who falls prey to it. Similarly, the philosophy of incapacitation also will not preempt a criminal from committing a crime, when the opportunity ripens. The concept of rehabilitation, focuses on providing positive environment for the criminal, and can be understood as a better approach than the other three. However, it does not guarantee a transformation of the offenders because they may embark on criminal behavior when the environment changes. Besides, it does not take into account the victim in any manner. On the other

Any evaluative article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Any evaluative - Article Example Furthermore, Peter Travers identifies the source of this movie, and it emanates from a classic novel by James Fenimore Copper (Travers, 1). Peter Travers also identifies the plot of this movie, and he begins by identifying the alliances between whites and the native Indians. In identifying the plot of this movie, Peter Travers explains the siege of the Fort William Henry, and also the ambush of Huron. Furthermore, Peter Travers identifies the excellent work of the director of this movie, Michael Mann. This is by explaining that he managed to depict a clear relationship that existed between the Indians and whites (Travers, 5). Furthermore, through this review, Travers identifies the various themes depicted in the movie, and mostly the theme of violence. He begins to depict the theme of violence through the action of Daniel Day Lewis, when his fires his rifle, and identifying the ambush of Huron, and the siege of Fort William Henry. Travers has also managed to effectively identify the roles played by leading actors, such as Huron, which is played by Wes Studi, Hawkeye, which is played by Daniel Day Lewis, Chingachgook, Uncas which is played by Eric Schweig (Travers, 7). Based on these facts therefore, Peter Travers manages to perform this evaluation, focusing on the themes, role of characters and directors of the movie, and plot of the movie. The overall impression that Peter Travers has regarding this movie is that it is a perfect piece of motion

Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson - Essay Example The producers of the song were Moody and Hodges, whereas the song was sung solely by Clarkson. The song ‘Because of you’ was released as a single on August 16, 2005. One can like the album because of its touching approach. For example, the song ‘Because of you’ takes away the soul of a person to a world where everything is fine but the traces of the circumstances go back to the experiences of some other person who had suffered a lot to enlighten the way for others. In this song, Clarkson tries to tell that she has learned a lot about living a safe life through the experiences of another person. She is living a life based on the experiences of some other person. Given below are a few lines from the song. Kelly Clarkson is an American singer who rose to prominence by winning the American Idol competition in 2002. She signed contracts with 19 Recordings, RCA Records, and S Records soon after winning the competition. Her first and record-breaking success as a singer occurred in 2002 with a commercial hit, ‘Before your Love’. This song led Clarkson to the heights of success and fame from where she never looked back. Since then, she has continued to deliver high-quality hits to the world of music. If we talk about the twelve songs included in the album, ‘Breakaway’, we can say that all of them are wonderful and are able to take away the mind and soul of the listeners to the world of feelings and emotions. The music sounds good both stylistically and emotionally, as well as the way it goes with the lyrics of the songs. The album received a good reaction even from the critics who were left with no other option than to admire the composition and approach of the songs included in the album. Comparing the album with other musical works of the same time, one will find it revealing, heart touching, and stylistically different.

Study the Impact of advertising on children ( all media) Essay

Study the Impact of advertising on children ( all media) - Essay Example For this reason, a number of governments have passed several legislations that are aimed at protecting children from some of the advertisers’ efforts to induce them into some of the products and services in the market. One of the most critical consideration is the idea that the development of commercial appeals on children was not a common thing until the exponential growth of widespread television adoption (Lawlor and Prothero, 2002). This growth allowed programmers to come up with some channels that exclusively air children programming as well as advertising. It is also possible to identify the fact that with the growth of the internet, advertisers have been able to develop children-oriented advertising. However, the internet is a more privately controlled media. With the development of advertising content, that is specific to children; this paper looks into some of the impacts that this kind of advertising has had on children. The paper specifically looks into some of the cognitive developmental impacts of the advertising on children as well as the effects that such exposure has on the children. For any individual to obtain a mature understanding of some of the messages in advertisements, one of the most basic requirements is that the individual should be able to distinguish between noncommercial and commercial content. More specifically, the individual should be able to establish the difference between an advertisement and a program. According to some studies, young children might not be in a place to discern the difference between programming and commercials in a mature way (Lawlor and Prothero, 2002). For this reason, they base their judgment on affective or perpetual cues, which means that they are comfortable to watch commercials since they are shorter and funnier than programs. The other cognitive task involves a mature recognition of persuasive content in the commercials (Rozendaal et al, 2011). The comprehension of the advertiser’s intent

Human Behavior Task Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Behavior Task - Essay Example Therefore, proper OB will assist the managers to get people prepared for participating and interested in the organizational processes. This not only deals with the employees but also ensures change and innovation managements across the various stakeholders involved in the functioning of the organization. In this paper, we will focus on both theoretical support and practical examples to reflect more on the critical OB concepts. Research Question: How an understanding of OB concepts helps managers to overcome the challenges? Literature Review: Supporting Theories Organizational behavior is a sector independent management specialty, which demands considerable research and study today. In the 1990s, world wide adoption of open markets and subsequent globalization led to more dynamic developments and tendencies inside the various organizations around the world. Changing organizational practices become more important than ever since managers from different cultures, countries, backgrounds, and management schools began to interact and handle more diversified labor force. As a result, in today’s business environment, dynamics of OB extensively involve an understanding of real world organizational changes. Hence, experts like Brief and Dukerich (1991) have raised the critical question that whether theory in OB is useful or not. Yet, they state, â€Å"On a more positive note, it then is argued that theory in organizational behavior has practical value even though it may not be useful in a more narrower sense.† (Brief and Dukerich, 1991, p.327) Several theories in the realm of OB do suggest that robust concept of the subject can help managers to handle challenges. Motivation theories related to personality theory help the managers to motivate their subordinates, peers, and themselves. This behaviorist pattern is further reinforced with the help of organizational level theories that utilize group leadership and group dynamics concepts. So, theoretical approac h has helped the sphere of OB to evolve on a more scientific and rationalistic scaffolding. (Miner, 2006) In today’s multicultural and multinational business environments doped with competition and rivalry, understanding of OB can further help the managers to develop proper leadership practices and counter the challenges they face. Leadership theories become functional in this behaviorist segment. Avolio et al (2009) have proved that theoretical perspectives on transactional, transformational, and/or charismatic leadership do impact the function of an organization with the help of empirical research. Organizational behavior, in fact, is an interdisciplinary field of study, which covers various theoretical concepts. Thereby, the scope of OB involves theory based practical trials. Hence, OB concepts help managers to develop both subjective and objective understanding of the organization in general. They thus become instrumental for the managers to counter various challenges of the modern business world; and organizational change remains a prime focus area that requires holistic managerial commitment. (Alange and Steiber, 2009) Case Example In this section, we will discuss that how implementation of OB concepts help managers to overcome challenges in real world scenarios. The Case of Yasar University Yasar University is located in Turkey. It was established in 2001 â€Å"with the goal of helping students excel both academically and as members of society.†

Surrealism artistic movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Surrealism artistic movement - Essay Example The essay "Surrealism artistic movement" concerns the surrealism movement. The main political factor of the movement is the political situation after the war: political instability in France and other European countries. The main economic factor of surrealism development is the postwar economic crisis in Europe and world economic crisis after 1929. This situation led to the social factor of surrealism development: people’s uncertainty in present day and in future and their aspiration to escape from reality – surrealism gave people the possibility to open unreal and ideal world. There are many representatives of surrealism, but the most significant among them are Breton, Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte. Bretom was one of the founders of the movement. He, â€Å"as the leader of the Surrealist movement, not only published its most thorough explanations of its techniques, aims and ideas, but was the individual who drew in, and expelled, writers, artists and thinkers† . In his writings (Second Surrealist Manifesto, Nadja, Mad Love, etc.) he explained his ideas and thoughts. In 1927 he joined the Communist Party. Salvador Dali was a famous Spanish painter. His father was a notary. In 1929 Dali joined the Surrealist group in Paris. He was an author of more than 1500 paintings. Rene Magritte. His career as a Surrealist began in 1926 when â€Å"Magritte produced his first surrealist painting, Le jockey perdu, and held his first exhibition in Brussels in 1927†. Then he moved to Paris and joined the surrealistic group.

The Story of an Hour Essay Example for Free

The Story of an Hour Essay Mallard is feeling, and how the to contradict each other. An irony of fate occurs when there is difference in what a character realizes what they want and how they are treated in the end. Mrs. Mallard in this short story is the abyss of irony of fate. â€Å"When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease – of joy that kills† (Chopin 170). Mrs. Mallard spends the first half of the short story feeling intense guilt and sadness with the news that her husband has died. Later on in the story Mrs. Mallard realizes that she is now free, without her husband she can do what she wants. When Mrs. Mallard has finally come to terms with her husband’s death and learned that it is a good thing, her husband walks in the door. Mrs. Mallard sees her husband alive and drops dead of a heart attack. Mrs. Mallard truly lives up to the irony of fate because instead of her husband being dead and her being free, Mrs. Mallard dies and her husband is the one who is alive and free. The metaphor, simile, and the irony of fate that Kate Chopin uses in The Story of an Hour help the reader follow Mrs. Mallard on her journey from grief to joy. The metaphor helps the reader understand the sadness she is feeling. The simile shows how Mrs. Mallard is dealing with her grief after hearing the news of her husband’s death. The irony of fate shows how after accepting that her husband’s death means freedom to her, she dies and it shows the reader the irony in it all. The three literary devices help illustrate the journey Mrs. Mallard takes when learning of her husband’s death. The simile and metaphor illustrate her sadness and then the irony of fate illustrates how her acceptance and joy of her husband’s death is her true end.

Math assignment Essay Example for Free

Math assignment Essay

The Challenges Facing Cultural Diversity

The Challenges Facing Cultural Diversity These days cultural diversity plays a significant role in a company. The criteria discriminating these groups include race, geographic basis, civilization, gender, age, functional or educational background, physical and cognitive competence, language, lifestyles, beliefs, cultural background, economic category, occupancy with the organization and sexual preference. As a MNC works in a global market it must be ready to detect all possible changes in the global environment and it has to be able to communicate and adapt the identity of the company to them. For example in India womens will not work for night so they have to manage time for their convenience. The company cant offer quality products or services to the customers if it doesnt understand and take in account the impact that the culture has in all the processes. Workers usually think that their behavior hasnt got any influence on the final product or service, but to be effective, every part must have a clear vision of the company and a clear mission on it. The social, political and enterprise structure depends on everyone in the company, so the internal area and the human resources, one of the most important areas of a company, must be developed with the rest of the company to achieve their goals. The misunderstanding and ignoring of different cultures, language and historical background lead to disasters in the field of setting up multinational business. To avoid this, a general knowledge of another nations culture and history is essential. So general cultural knowledge, if coupled with prejudice and prejudgment, is an obstacle to effective global management. 2.1 Communication and language barriers One main challenge under culture is language barriers. Communication is necessary for management. Yet communication relies upon a common language, a condition that does not exist in many global business situations and that is when the problems start. The most pronounced sign of the language barrier at work can be found in the relationship between a multinational parent company and its network of global subsidiaries. Several factors contribute to the difficulty of achieving and sustaining effective communications and a productive, collaborative relationship. Even if an employee is relatively competent in the language of the other party, loss of rhetorical skills is always present as the use of humor, symbolism, sensitivity, negotiation, persuasion and motivation requires a very high level of fluency. 2.2 Attitudes towards Appointments and Deadlines In America, Americans were give strict obedience to time commitments and it was a basic principle of professionalism and polite behavior. Because everything tends to be strictly scheduled, postponements in one appointment or deadline can have a serious ripple effect on a coworker or customers other work commitments. But for example: The more flexible and open-ended approach to time of Indian and Sri Lankan businesses culture can create tensions and adverse impressions on American counterparts 3. MNC Workforce Diversity Multinational Companies (MNC) had to face a number of new challenges in their daily business over the past couple of years. Globalization changed various things for global players. In general MNC structure shows a focus on their main resources and departments like finance, technology, marketing, sales and production, because they want to have a large number of customers and to earn profit. A huge challenge MNC have to manage is their workforce diversity. The milestone research by Hofstede with 116,000 recruits of IBM, a giant MNC in 50 countries and 3 regions recognized four cultural values in the workplace: Individualism-collectivism, Power difference, Uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity. For example: the United States was the greatest and Guatemala was lowest in individualism. Malaysia was the highest and Austria was the lowest in the power distance values. Greece was the highest and Singapore was the lowest in the uncertainty avoidance values. Japan was the highest and Sweden was the lowest in the masculinity values. There have been significant amount of intercultural and cross-cultural studies with these cultural values, and some studies demonstrated the relationship between communication styles with some of these values. Because of this diversity one of the key success factors of MNC is the recruitment and selection of human resources who offer valuable uniqueness. These individuals are forming the values and beliefs of a business. There are two key challenges within global HRM specifically building global corporate cultures and developing global leaders that have to be mastered in order to manage diversity and be successful in the global business surroundings. Managing diversity in MNC during HRM To manage workforce diversity in MNC its a challenge for the human resource management to set up a global corporate culture. To recognize with the corporate culture of the company is the most significant thing for the workforce. That is why building a global corporate culture is one of the most important challenges for Multinational Companies. Employee behavior is possibly the most critical challenge that multinational organizations have to deal with. In Multinational Companies there is a huge potential of conflicts, because of its diverse personalities. As a result of this anxieties will arise among employees. Individuals try to adapt their behaviors to fit the demands of a particular environment. In order to adapt to the environment, individuals sacrifice their individualities to fit in with their new cooperatives. Individuals become incorporated into the culture of an organization when they are successfully understood into the workplace. Successful cultural adaptation reduces members anxiety, role conflict, and intentions to leave. Additionally, successful adaptation increases organizational obligation, job satisfaction, confidence, and job familiarity as well as successful acculturation and establishment of relationship. 4. Challenges of Working across Culture 4.1Stereotyping They are usually misrepresentations and inaccuracies fixed in false guesses and faulty analysis. Usually this valuation is seen in a negative perspective. The challenges to organizations are to acknowledge differences in positive terms. Power struggles and can be the result of stereotyping in organizations. For example, placing women, who stereotypically have had lower status than men in society; in senior management positions create status incongruence in the minds of many of the people. This can root complexities in the leader/subordinate relationship and can root power differences in a business. This is done in such a way that affiliates of minority groups may find it hard to use influence over decision processes in the organization. 4.2 Ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism results when managers identify the differences in cultures but have a propensity to think that their culture and their way of doing things is the right way, their way of doing things is the only way and the best way. Any difference from their culture or from their way of doing things is seen as distortion or as a mistake or as Wrong way. Most people have the propensity to pursue ethnocentrism. Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Germans, French, Scandinavians, and Russians are more prone to ethnocentrism than other cultures when compared to other Asians, Latin Americans, British, Australians, Africans and Indians. 4.3Informal Integration Informal groups play a significant role in any business. They influence both the success of the business and the career success of individuals. Total quality plans depend heavily on employee contribution and informal networks can greatly impact this process. Informal groups are influenced by factors such as common language, perceived social similarity, and ethnocentrism. These collective networks are critical for communication in organizations. It has been found that race has a major effect on collective networking. This is not astonishing as you would expect people to have a preference for interaction with members of ones own culture group, especially in an informal context. 4.4 Parochial Attitude Parochial attitude refers to a persons incapability to see cultural diversity. This is exactly the reverse of ethnocentrism. Managers who are sent overseas frequently meet people who are also dressed in suits and speak their language this prompts them to disregard all other cultural differences and make them feel that all others are just like us. In todays business globe, most people are apt to dress similarly in suits or other formulas and talk in English, but this does not indicate that all people have the same culture but people often only see the surface and think that the other person shares the same cultural values. Managers from US/UK often tend to display a strong parochial attitude mainly because the people with whom they relate on regular basis can speak English and are dressed similarly in suits or western dresses.

The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers

In The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald offers up commentary on a variety of themes justice, power, greed, and betrayal, the American dream and so on. Each one of these themes is demonstrated through the relationships, which the characters have. Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into distinct social groups, in which each character fits. By creating distinct social classes – old money, new money, and no money, Fitzgerald shows the differing in the way relationships turn out. This book offers a vivid peek of what life was like during the 1920’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first relationship introduced in the novel is Tom and Daisy Buchanan. Tom is a very powerful domineering man, very self-centered and self-absorbed. While Daisy is a charming, beautiful lady, with a thrilling voice, she is very self-centered as well. Tom and Daisy’s relationship is undergoing stress. When Daisy notices that her finger is hurt she says, â€Å"You did it, Tom†¦ That’s what I get for marrying a brut of a man, a great big hulking physical specimen (Tom interrupts) â€Å"I hate that word hulking†¦even in kidding.† â€Å"Hulking,† insisted Daisy. (P 16) Daisy knows how to push all of Tom’s buttons and how hard to push them. Daisy tells Nick how cynical she is about everything, she shows her views in the statement â€Å"She told me it was a girl and I turned my head away and wept†¦ all right I’m glad it’s girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool – that’s the best thing a g irl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.† (P 21). It’s rumored that Tom is having an affair, â€Å"Tom’s got some woman in New York.† (P 19), and from what Daisy says she would just rather not notice what is really happening. Daisy and Tom never seem at peace with each other, just in an oblivious state where nothing can change them. They know â€Å"their place† is together; it suits society, they are perfectly matched. Daisy goes astray with Gatsby. â€Å"As he (Tom) left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulling his face down, kissing him on the mouth†¦You know I love you.† (P 122-123) Daisy uses Gatsby to rebel against Tom’s infidelity, but would never even consider leaving him, especially for an old flame. They are so materialistic; they except their flawed relationship as normal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Myrtle and Tom have a very fiery relationship.

Pearl Harbor Essay -- essays research papers

December 7, 1941 was a day that will â€Å"live in infamy†, a day when 2,400 men needlessly lost their lives while serving America. Millions of dollars of American military equipment was destroyed. It was a day of horror, disbelief, discontent, and shame. The people of the United States never imagined anything like this could happen to them. They were a neutral country, only providing supplies for the Allies. This activity made the Axis powers mad. At the time of the start of World War II the United States was a leading world country, not only did it have one of, if not the most, feared militaries on earth, its technology was also rapidly growing. Japan reacted by planning and seeing through a massive attack on America in an effort to disable the American military and try to permanently keep them out of the war. Pearl Harbor is a day that will never be forgotten. Japan started the planning of this attack a year earlier in 1940. The Japanese used pictures taken by spies to locate exactly where all of the ships were located and when the base was at its rest. Japan was having many problems with its economy at the start of the Second World War. On the other hand, the United States was the leading economic country in the world. This made the Japanese jealous and frustrated. The Japanese believed that they were being pushed into a corner by Roosevelt and felt that they must act to protect the Empire. They believed if they took out Pearl Harbor the United States would not be able to co...

Racism in the Video Skin Deep Essay -- Skin Deep Racism Racist Essays

Racism in the Video Skin Deep In the ideal world everybody is equal. In the real world there is racism. Situations stemming from racist feelings and conflicts between ethnic groups remains a serous problem. The video Skin Deep brought together college students of different races to express their feeling and beliefs about racism. The video supported the idea that the environment you are raised in is an influence on beliefs and feelings you might have towards other races. Dave’s grandfather was a confederate. He grew up listening to his grandfather talk bad about other races. Dave’s best friend is Mexican, and he said he can not bring him around his grandparents. Marc comes from a good Italian family. His father has some strong views about people of other races. Marc adores his father, but he’s not sure if he agrees with him. In fact, Marc loves to sing and when he joined in an all Black gospel choir, he did not tell his father for several months. Most of the other students expressed that they had the same upbringing, to discriminate against other races. Even though it was wrong of our grandparents and parents to raise us in such an environment, I can understand why they did. Some of our grandparents lived in the days of slavery and war and had to deal with the experience first hand. Their experience is all they knew to teach their young. I think our generation can look past how we were brought up and recognize that it is wrong, and teach our children better. Tammy made a point that the black students at her school often did not get involved in events. She said that when she went to school meetings she made an attempt to sit by students of other races, when she tried to make friends with them by sitting next to them and making conversation, she could tell that they did not feel comfortable sitting next to her. This made her feel uncomfortable. The Black students felt that they were often left out of groups and schoolSkin Deep 3 events so they decided to have a graduation ceremony for Black students only. My first thought of this idea was that it was only splitting the races up even more. After listening to other’s thoughts in class I understood more why this was so special to the Black race. One reason was because for most of the students, they were the first to graduate in their family and that is something to take pride in. Judith is th... ...one of another race has the same opportunity as me. I do think I feel this way because I have not had to experience life as a person of a different race. Brian a black student, felt that White people think if one Black person does something bad, then all Black people do it. I also think that the media, movies, and music play a big role in stereotyping. Stereotyping is something that most people do. I don’t think it is done to hurt people intentionally. Overall, I thought the video was good and the students expressed their opinions and feelings openly and honestly. The video is pretty old and I do think that people are more accepting of other cultures, interracial marriages, and biracial people now. I might even say that I am ignorant to racism because I am not racist. Maybe I do not really see racism when it is right in front of me. Being a nurse I have patients of all races and cultures. I see my patients as equal humans. When I look at them, the color of their skin or their appearance is not important to me. What I see is a patient who is sick and needs my care. There is no one solution to racism in this country. We each need to contribute to the solution in our own way.

Noh Extended Essay

Every culture in the world has its own theater. In Japan one of the most ancient forms of theater is Noh. The Noh theater found its form in the fourteenth century and continues in much the same form, with many of the same plays, in present day Japan. A Noh play portrays one all-encompassing emotion dominating the main character, the  shite. Whether jealousy, rage, or sorrow, all music, gesture, dance, and recitation are used to build the emotion to its final climax at the close of the play. Often the plays depict the return of a historical personage, in spirit – or â€Å"ghostly† – form, to the site of a significant event in his or her life.A warrior might return to the battle field, or young woman to the scene of a love affair. According to Buddhism of the fourteenth century, a person could not find spiritual release even after death if he still possessed a strong emotion or desire. To exorcise this emotion, the warrior might appear in his armor and recreate t he battle in a dance. The dance would reveal his humiliation at suffering defeat. Noh plays are extremely intense. In order to express something so abstract as an emotion, words are often inadequate. As the play progresses, then, dance and poetry are used to express the tortured heart.Other elements which contribute to an intensification of the mood are the bare simplicity of the stage which allows no distraction from the main character, and the gorgeous costumes of the main character himself. The stylized movements also help to focus the energy on the emotion rather than on the individual personalities. In Noh as in classical ballet, every movement is choreographed and often symbolic. There is no individual interpretation. Masks are used in many different cultures. In Japan, Noh masks are used for theatre and dance performances.Each mask represents a certain person, hero, devil, ghost, or legendary animal, depending on what the character is in the performance. As Noh is an art form that utilizes masks, there is a great variety of them. There were originally about 60 basic types of noh masks, but today there are well over 200 different kinds in use. Noh performers feel that the noh mask has a certain power inherent in it which makes it much more spiritual than a prop used to change ones appearance. Taking into account the status of a certain noh, the noh performer will carefully choose a noh mask, known also as a noh-men or omote.In most cases, the exact mask is not predetermined, but depending on which noh is being done, the shite has a variety to choose from. In the end, it is up to the shite to make the final determination as to which mask is chosen. Exactly when the noh mask came into being is not entirely clear however it is believed that masks, and their names still used today, were developed from the mid to latter part of the Muromachi period (1392-1573). Previous to that time, the mask conventions were not entirely set and masks themselves had stronger religious connotations.It was during the Muromachi period that the religious significance of the masks began to wane and they took on more human characteristics. It is thought that as performers started to think more about the use of yugen (mysterious beauty) and profundity, they felt they needed to hide the unattractive aspects of their own faces and concentrate on making the beauty of noh stronger. Between the end of the Muromachi period and the modern age the art of making noh masks was established as a hereditary art with a long lineage.Two examples are the Deme family from Echizen (present day Fukui prefecture) and the Iseki family from Ohmi (present day Shiga prefecture). Following the establishment of noh mask making families, the stylization of noh masks significantly advanced. Even today there are many independent mask makers. While some nohgaku performers still make their own masks, the performance world and the mask-making world are essentially independent of each other. As it is often difficult to tell the actual feelings expressed in a noh mask, it is said to be made with a â€Å"neutral† expression.The mask carver tries to instill a variety of emotions in the mask. It is up to the performer to imbue the mask with emotion. One of the techniques used in this task is to slightly tilt the mask up or down. With terasu (tilting upwards) the mask appears to be slightly smiling or laughing and the expression lightens somewhat. While kumorasu (tilting downwards), produces a slight frown and can express sadness or crying. Basically, by using minute movements, the performer is able to express very fully. Noh masks, like costumes and props, are extremely valuable heirlooms and handed down from generation to generation.After having the costume put on, the shite then goes to the kagami no ma (mirror room) where in front of a mirror, the shite faces the mask. In putting the mask on, the word kaburu (putting on clothing) is not used. Instead the word kak eru (to hang) or tsukeru (to attach) is used. In this way, it is implying that the performer is â€Å"becoming† the mask, and its emotions, in order to better express the characters feelings. In reality, a noh mask does not entirely cover a noh performer’s face when it is being worn. In fact, it is thought best if some part of the chin and/or jowls show.Also, as the eye holes of the mask are very small, the field of vision of the performer is very limited when wearing the mask. Consequently the simple design of the stage and the use of hashira (pillars) assists in helping the performer know their location during a performance. Not all the main performers on stage wear masks in noh. Usually the shite and the tsure wear masks and occasionally there are instances where the ai will as well. The waki as a rule, playing a character who is living in the present, does not wear a mask. This is called hitamen or a â€Å"direct mask. However, even without wearing a mask, the per former is meant to â€Å"make their face a mask. † The performer must inject power and emotion into their performance while not using their face to express. In some genzai noh the shite or tsure do not wear masks. Noh performances reflect upon the daily life and times of the Japanese. An extremely stylized art form which dates back to the feudal period, the masks used convey the mood and character of the part played by the performer. Thus, each mask is a manifestation of elegant simplicity and rustic tranquility.

Gun Control Research Paper

Guns In The United States In today’s society of political turmoil, violence, and economic tragedies, many gun control advocates are pushing for more gun regulations from the government. Guns have been a part of America’s way of life for centuries. However, it was not until the 20th century that the government enacted it’s first gun control act. The National Firearms Act was enacted in 1934, as stated in â€Å"Firearm Laws, Regulations, and Ordinances,† edited by Sandra Alters, in response to the increased criminal and gangster activity as a result of prohibition (19).This act aimed to make it more difficult to acquire specific firearms by establishing a $200 tax on firearms (Alters, ed. 19). In 1968, the Gun Control Act was passed and amended the National Firearms Act of 1934 to include a wider range of firearms. This act was passed in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. The act required firearm dealers to be federally licensed, restricted interstate sales of firearms, and forbid the sale of firearms to minors or criminals (Alters, ed. 19).The passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968 was criticized, however. The main criticism involving the Gun Control Act of 1968 was that the act penalized law-abiding citizens and rewarded criminals (Alters, ed. 20). In 1986, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act greatly amended the Gun Control Act of 1968 in an attempt to address the various criticisms and concerns linked to the act. There have been various gun control regulations enacted since 1986; however, the enactment of the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act is one of the largest regulations ever put into place.Much of the controversy over gun control laws now and then involves the second amendment to the constitution. Today, lawmakers face much pressure from gun control advocates, as well as anti-gun control advocates regarding gun laws. However, putting more regulations on guns is no t going to change the way that people use them, which many gun control advocates believe to be true. There should be no further government gun control in America because additional gun control will not lower violence and it is not financially feasible to enforce additional gun control laws.The most significant federal gun control act today is the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, as discussed in James Jacobs and Kimberly Potter’s article â€Å"Keeping guns out of the ‘wrong' hands: the Brady law and the limits of regulation. † This act requires federal firearm licensees to run background checks on gun sale purchases, and also created a federal database for federal firearm licensee’s access to The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (Jacobs and Potter). A 5-day waiting period for the purchase of a gun was also introduced.The National Instant Criminal Background Check System is to provide access to names of those persons not allowe d to purchase a gun (Jacobs and Potter). The aim of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was to prevent criminals, or ineligible persons from purchasing guns. The Brady Act expanded the definition of an ineligible person to include: illegal drug users and addicts, former mental patients, illegal aliens and persons dishonorably discharged from the armed forces (James and Potter). This act, along with the other regulations discussed, form the current federal gun control laws.One central view of gun control advocates in support of additional gun control is the belief that banning guns would lower violence in America. Stephen E. Wright, writer of â€Å"From the Bluff,† claims that the main focus of anti-gun groups is on gun ownership (par. 2). Anti-gun groups claim that if citizens did not own guns, fewer crimes would be committed. Although taking away guns appears to be a good plan to reduce crime, it is not a realistic one. Banning gun ownership could have an effect simila r to the Prohibition Act of 1920.In 1920, the American government put a ban on all alcohol in the United States. One of the central ideas behind the Prohibition Act was to create a safer America for its citizens. The Prohibition Act did not make for a safer America; however, the effect of the Prohibition act was the development of widespread organized crime, resulting in a increase in the number of criminals. Jeff Hill, writer of â€Å"Defining Moment Prohibition,† explains, widespread disregard for the prohibition act resulted in corruption of government officials, police forces and law enforcement (75).Government statistics show that crime actually rose during the prohibition years, contrary to what the government believed would occur (Hill, 76). The banning of guns could have the same effect as the Prohibition of alcohol. Prohibiting guns could create more widespread organized crime and an increased number of criminals, as it would be a criminal act to purchase or own a gu n. While the idea that fewer guns would lead to less violence in America seems reasonable, when the effects of the Prohibition Act of 1920 are considered, it is seen that the prohibition of guns may have very negative consequences.Another common belief of gun control advocates is that increased purchasing regulations will help prevent gun violence. The general current regulation system for purchasing guns consists of a simple background check, usually on the first purchase of a gun, with a 5-day waiting period. In the Opposing Viewpoint article â€Å"An updated Background Check System Will Help Prevent Gun Violence,† the editor explains that the current background check system needs to be fixed (par. 11). The various loopholes in the current background system are a main focus of the gun control advocates.To fix the various loopholes, gun control advocates believe the government should gather everyone’s name that should be prohibited from buying a gun and put him or her in the system for tracking and they should require a background check for every single gun sale, not just on the first purchase (An Updated Background). The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act fixed these issues presented through the National Instant Criminal Background System Check (Jacobs and Potter). Gun control advocates viewed the Brady Act as a positive step towards lowering violence in America.However, the act has not reduced gun violence like gun control advocates believed would occur. The view that the Brady Act was a simple solution to the gun violence problem is not only false, but also creates great expense for the government. The problem related to gun violence is not the current background check system; instead the problem lies in the use of illegal guns. Amy Roberts, writer of By the Numbers: Guns in America, explains that each year an estimated 40 percent of all guns purchased in America are through unlicensed, private sellers (Roberts).Thousands of gun shows are held each year in America; it is at these gun shows where thousands of guns are bought and sold illegally each year. Most gun vendors at these shows do not require any background check. Many gun control advocates feel that many of the murders and shootings in America would not have happened if a background check was ran on the individual purchasing the gun. When a gun is bought illegally, there is no background check. The seller has no way of knowing if the buyer is a criminal. An example of the violence related to the use of illegal guns is he Columbine High School shooting in Colorado. The Columbine killers were able to purchase guns illegally at a gun show from an unlicensed seller, who required no personal information before selling the guns (An Updated Background). This example shows how easily one can obtain a gun illegally; no increased purchasing regulation would have stopped the Columbine killers from purchasing guns. Increasing purchasing regulations will not stop a crimin al from getting a gun. Obtaining a gun illegally is so easy that a criminal wouldn’t even think to go through a registered firearms dealer.Gun control advocates’ views on gun control laws and the prevention of violence only lead to increased spending by the federal government. The federal deficit today is around 16 trillion dollars and growing. The view of the Brady Act as a simple solution to the gun violence problem has been proven not to be true, as mentioned earlier. The Brady Act presents various loopholes through which greater enforcement could prevent. One loophole presented by the Brady Act is the federal licensing system (Jacobs and Potter). Practically anyone can become federally licensed by paying a small fee and submitting required information.There is also no way to determine if an applicant has lied upon submission of their information for federal licensing. Inspections are rarely conducted upon the federal firearm licensees to ensure cooperation regardin g the Brady Act (Jacobs and Potter). The federal government could increase regulation regarding the federal licensing system to ensure proper Brady Act enforcement, but this requires increased spending. Greater information requirements and increased inspections would require increased data processing and hiring of federal inspectors, both requiring greater spending.The introduction of new gun control acts would require even greater spending than required through greater enforcement of the Brady Act, which is already in place. The recession has placed an enormous strain on federal funds. Increased enforcement of gun regulations is not seen as the greatest need at this time for government spending. There should be no further government gun control in America because additional gun control will not lower violence and it is not financially feasible to enforce additional gun control laws.The main arguments in support of additional gun control are: banning guns would lower violence and in creased purchase regulations would help prevent gun violence; however, these arguments are insufficient. There are potentially negative effects regarding the banning of guns, compared to the Prohibition era. Also, the increased purchasing regulations do not fix the problem of violence related to gun control because of the illegal or â€Å"black† gun market. Greater enforcement of the increased purchasing regulations could curb the use of current loopholes.However, greater enforcement leads to greater spending by the federal government. Greater enforcement also does not deal with the â€Å"black† market for guns. In the current state of the economy it is important that the government focus on decreased spending or spending to pull the United States out of the recession. Focusing on increased gun control is not of any benefit to the economy. Increased government spending through greater enforcement of increased gun control laws is not necessary to lower violence, instead focus should be shifted to alternative ways for reducing violence in the United States.By focusing on informing people on gun safety and gun laws, a new path may be made for the younger generation. Works Cited â€Å"An Updated Background Check System Will Help Prevent Gun Violence. †Ã‚  Guns and Crime. Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from â€Å"A Plan to Prevent Future Tragedies. †Ã‚  MayorsAgainstIllegalGuns. org. 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. â€Å"Firearm Laws, Regulations, and Ordinances. †Ã‚  Gun Control:  Restricting Rights or Protecting People?. Sandra M. Alters. 2009 ed.Detroit: Gale, 2009. 19-39. Information Plus Reference Series. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. Hill, Jeff. Defining Moment Prohibiton. Detroit MI: Omnigraphics, n. d. Print. Jacobs, James B. , and Kimberly A. Potter. â€Å"Keeping guns out of the ‘wrong' hands: the Brady law and the limits o f regulation. †Ã‚  Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology  Fall 1995: 93-120. Academic OneFile. Web. 2 Dec. 2012. Kates, Don B. , Jr. â€Å"GUN CONTROL: A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT. †Ã‚  Gun Control: A Realistic Assessment. N. p. , 1990. Web. 01 Nov. 2012. lt;http://www. catb. org/esr/guns/gun-control. html>. Roberts, Amy. â€Å"By the Numbers: Guns in America – CNN. com. †Ã‚  CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 02 Nov. 2012. . Wright, Stephen E. â€Å"Gun Control Laws Will Not Save Lives. †Ã‚  Guns and Crime. Ed. Christine Watkins. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from â€Å"Anti-Gun Group Common Sense Gun Laws and Real Common Sense. † StephenE Wright. com. 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 1 Nov. 2012

Human Resources Management in Business Essay

Human resources department is a part of business that deals with its staff. The department is seen as part of strategic management, in the effort to achieve the goals of the business, and is crucial to the business’s success. Some of the human resources department’s responsibilities include recruitment, retention, selection, job enlargement/enrichment, motivation and leadership, job role allocations, training, and payroll appraisals. The department’s decisions are influenced by, however, internal issues for workforce planning. One of the issues could be the cost of its operations. The business would want to minimize cost, so any decisions made by Human resources should be cost-effective. Another issue could be the company’s business strategy, for example when the company want to expand, the Human resources department would have to recruit more employees; if the company wants to cut costs and increase profit, the department would have to consider reducing the number of staff. It is also responsible for training current employees for any new equipments. There are also external factors that affect how workforce planning is carried out. These external factors include government actions that affect the business environment. For example, the government can impose new minimum wages that would increase the Human resources department’s spending on wages payment. The education situation of the country can also affect Human resources, as education is the means that workers gain their skills; without proper education, Human resources wouldn’t be able to recruit highly skilled workers without paying large salaries or recruit foreign nationals. An important external factor is the economic situation of the economy. If unemployment rates are high, Human resources would be able to recruit new employees much easier and cheaper than when the economy is in boom, which makes labour more expensive. The age ranges of the labour force can affect Human resources decisions, since they don’t want to recruit too old of employees who are going to retire soon. The business often want more young employees who can potentially contribute to the company for a long period of time, and can also be more innovative. Another external factor is technology advancements, as this may result in the introduction of new equipments into the company. The Human resources department would then have to organise training for their current staff to enable them to work with the newly acquired machineries. There are many benefits to Human Resources planning. One of the most important purpose of the Human Resources department is to motivate staff. This can be done by means of promotions, training, and rewards. Another benefit is that Human Resources help import important skills into the business through the process of recruitment. Human Resources would compose a recruitment process that selects the right people for the business. Without a Human Resources department, a firm cannot efficiently recruit employees that they need. Also, the department helps the business plan the right number of workers. They make sure that there are no redundancy or shortages of labour in the company, and if there is any, Human Resources would fix this either by cutting or recruiting staff. Human Resources department also ensures smooth operations in regards to labour management. This means they make sure that employees arrive when they are needed, and are allocated to the right tasks, and that each workers know their role within the business. In addition, they resolve whatever arguments that may arise between the workers and company management, making sure that the employees are clear of company regulations, and that management are clear of their workers’ conditions. Finally, the Human Resources department ensures that no laws are broken in regards to labour employment. For example, the recruitment process must not violate discrimination laws. All necessary laws are briefed to staff to ensure no illegal activities are conducted within the company. Before selecting staff for any position, key skills needed for that particular job need to be identified, creating a list of criteria for candidate selection. British Sugar is one of the largest provider of sugar products in the UK. Their Human Resources department has been directed to recruit three new production managers, as part of the company’s expansion project in China. The Human Resources department has identified the key skills for a potential production manager: Confidence: the manager needs to be confident in handling large responsibilities, whether it be meeting production deadlines, ensuring worker safety etc. They need confidence to be able to make decisive actions, taking the initiative without too much dependence on higher directives. As they direct the production process, confidence is also needed for negotiating with suppliers, making the best deals for the factory. Technical skills: a production manager has to be sufficiently knowledgeable about the production technology of their factory, to be able to understand and resolve technical problems should they arise. Technical knowledge of a manager does not have to be detailed, but must be sufficient to issue correct directives to the factory’s engineer force. High technical skills is preferred, as the manager will be more likely to be innovative in improving production methods of the firm. Communication skills: a good production manager is able to communicate to all different divisions of the company. They are quick to absorb information from different levels of the company, whether it be top management or floor workers, and then provide quick and effective feedback. Communication skills are crucial in a manager, as it helps him ensure the coordination between different elements of the company. Problem-solving skills: the production manager should be able to independently deal with problems within their factory. They will be extremely resourceful in coordinating factory or company-level efforts to solve problems. This requires an intelligent person that can improvise upon their resources to damage-control and reverse the problem and put the factory back onto its original course. Motivating staff is an important part of company operation, as it ensure the employees do their best and be productive while working for the company. There is a variety of reasons why employees would want to work harder in their working environment. Such reasons could be money, bonuses, power, working with friends, social aspects of work, the need to provide for family, promotion, team work, and promotion. Frederick Taylor’s theory of motivation simply stated that all workers are worked by money. This means that in order to better motivate employees, the employer simply just has to raise their pay, and this would make them work harder. Taylor introduced the Theory of Scientific Management, which said that workers are naturally lazy and need close supervisions and control. The theory also says that managers should break down work to the simplest tasks to their employees. Workers also need adequate training and equipment to perform their simple tasks as efficiently as possible, then they would be paid according to the amount of products they had produced. The theory is often applied in mass production lines which involves repetitive tasks. Elton Mayo later introduced a new theory of motivation of his own. He believed that money is only part of the worker’s concern, and social needs are more important in motivating workers at their work place. Mayo published the Human Relation school of thought, which encourage managers to focus more on social interactions between workers. Mayo went further in his studies and conducted his own experiment at the Hawthorne factory in Chicago. From these series of experiments, he concluded that although physical conditions worsened, they do not affect the productivity of the Hawthorne workers. Instead, social factors such as better communication between workers and managers, better involvement in employees’ lives from their manager, and team work was what improved productivity levels. In the 1950s, Abraham Maslow introduced the Neo-Human Relation school of thought. This new theory focus on the employee’s psychological needs, which are structured into five different levels of needs. The theory says that once a lower level of needs is satisfied, would then the worker could be motivated by an upper level of needs. These levels of needs in lower to higher order are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualisation respectively. Managers also need to realise that each worker moves up this ladder at a different pace, and therefore might need different sets of incentives from worker to worker. In financial-related type of motivations, the most common motivation is salaries and wages. Salaries are what permanent employees are paid monthly or annually. Wages, on the other hand, is what is paid to workers per hour they have worked. These can motivate the employees, for the harder they work, the more they would earn. A piece rate system is when an employee is paid a fixed rate for each unit of production; In other words, they are paid by results, which motivate them to achieve better results. Commission and fees are similarly dependent on the results of the workers. Commission is a percentage of the sale revenue, and fees are fixed amounts that are earned after sale. The more the employee sells, the more commission or fees they get, motivating them to sell more. Fringe benefits are any non-wage payment or benefit such as pension plans, profit-sharing programs, vacation pay, and company-paid life, health, and unemployment insurance. Having these extra benefit with their jobs can make the employees feel more secure and work harder. Performance-related pay or pay by performance is money paid relating to how well the employee works. This would motivate them by giving them knowledge that the better they perform in their field, the better their assessment would be and the more they would be paid. Profit sharing is another way of motivating staff, it consists of a plan that gives employees a share in the profit of the company. Each employee receives a percentage of those profit based on the company’s earnings. This makes staff work harder, knowing the more their company earns, the more they would get in shared profit. Share ownership is when employees who have worked in the company for a long time are given part of the business as shares. These shares would give the employees power, and they get to take part deciding how the company is run. Other than financial motivations, there are non-financial ones that could boost motivation while costing minimal for the business. Job redesign involves restructuring the elements including tasks, duties and responsibilities of a specific job in order to make it more encouraging and inspiring for the employees. Job enlargement is basically increasing the employees’ work load, so that they feel more responsible and work harder. Job rotation is when employees are moved between two or more jobs in a planned manner. The purpose of this is to expose the employees to different experiences and wider variety of skills to enhance job satisfaction and to cross-train them. Job enrichment is a variation of job enlargement. Job enrichment adds new sources of job satisfaction by giving the employee additional authority, autonomy, and control over the way the job is accomplished. Team work is a Cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal. Working in a team may motivate employees to do better to fulfill their part on the team. External link for employees motivating can be found here: http://www. forbes. com/sites/glennllopis/2012/06/04/top-9-things-that-ultimately-motivate-employees-to-achieve/ The fundamental method which British Sugar would use to motivate their staff is to make them feel safe. Feeling safe would clear the employees’ minds from external worries, helping them to focus more on their tasks and try harder to achieve. This method would include providing their employees with adequate facilities to work in. This means that British Sugar’s factories and offices would to the most basic safety regulations such as fire safety, electrical safety, and protection from hazardous conditions inside their factories. British Sugar would also make sure that their facilities have appropriate security measures to protect employees and their possessions safe. This method of motivation is one of the most basic levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Another method that British Sugar uses is providing extra employee benefits beside their regular salaries and wages. They would give company cars for manager and directors, along with free O2 mobile phones. British Sugar also looks after their employees by providing them with free healthcare in the form of free check-ups with company nurse, eyesight tests and glasses, and subsidised scheme with AXA. Families of employees can also enjoy company benefits with provided child vouchers and team meals for spouses. British Sugar’s factory workers are also provided with free safety work wear. There are numerous other benefits that employees can enjoy working for British Sugar, which includes sports clubs, gym facilities, free parking†¦etc. A popular method of motivation from Taylor’s school of thought is recognition. British Sugar would give out tokens of appreciation and to recognise employees/teams that have made a significant contribution over and above that reasonably expected. Company managers would award their employees with vouchers, meals, bouquet of flowers, or bottles of wine to boost their work morale. Long Service Awards are given to employees with significant length of service. Annual bonuses of ? 400, ? 600, ? 800, and ? 900 are given to employees who have served 20, 30, 40, or 45 years in the company respectively. British Sugar also use chances of promotion to encourage their employees. This is a process known as internal recruitment. When a position is open, employees are often promoted to fill the position instead of recruiting new people externally. This keeps the employees motivated to work harder, knowing there are chances of future promotion. Another method of motivation used by British Sugar is performance management. Performance management is a proactive and continuous process of communicating and clarifying role responsibilities, performance expectations and priorities in order to ensure mutual understanding between managers and employees. To ensure the proper functioning of the business, British Sugar would have to maintain a high level of cooperation and satisfaction in its employees. Making employees cooperate would increase productivity, reduce labour turnover, and make sure that they can maintain the quantity and quality of work they are capable of. One of the methods of doing this is by communication. This method involves staying in touch with the staff to make sure they are updated with company information. When staff have the information that they need for their job, they will be more likely to be oriented towards their tasks, and be able to do it correctly and more efficiently. Communication with employees can be done by many means. It includes emails, which are quick, efficient, and reliable. Face-to-face communication is an important form of communication, often in the form of meetings; however it has time and distance limitations , for example a manager might not have the time to see all of his employees to talk about new policies, while he could just send them all an email. There are other methods such as telephone calls, which can be made easily over long distance or face-time technology that allows employees to communicate despite the long distance. Another way of improving employees’ cooperation and commitment in the business is making them more involved in it. In British sugar, this is know as the â€Å"quality circle†. British Sugar would engage its employees group discussions, where groups of workers meet and discuss the good and bad side of the issues that they face. The employees would try to resolve their problems together, and discuss ways to improve how they work and how the company works. This method generates a feeling of involvement, employees would feel that they are a contributing part of a team, and therefore view their work more positively and become more inclined to cooperate with other employees as well as the company managers. Clear employment contracts also help boost staff cooperation and commitment. A clear contract would have to explicitly explain the details of the job, such as explaining the roles and duties that the employee is expected to carry out, along with the hours of work required. The business would also need clearly identified procedures such as disciplinary policies or grievance policies. A clear pay structure that explains basic time as well as overtime is essential. All of these will reduce arguments in the company, enabling more efficiency and cooperation within the business. Motivational methods are a way of getting more cooperation from staff. Motivated employees would perform better while feeling better about their prospects than demotivated ones, therefore cooperating more in their work. Similarly, training and charity links should also be used to boost the morale of workers. Training would increase the employees motivation and performance, as well as charitable activities such as helping out the local community. A well-motivated workforce with high morale is more likely to cooperate with the company and to each other. The culture of the business itself will also affect how its employees cooperate. If the company has a culture of cooperation and an atmosphere of teamwork, then the employees are more likely to have more cooperation in their work. Training in a large organisation such as British Sugar is carried out extensively. An example of British Sugar’s training operation is their Graduate scheme, a scheme in which British Sugar finds apprentice in universities. The company would offer university graduates a period of vocational training, with the assurance of a job at the end of their training, in addition to have year-long job placements for engineering students. British Sugar also organises over 1000 training courses every year involves all levels from senior managers to new apprentices and our seasonal workers. The company encourages its sites to play an active role in local communities through media visits, schools activities, agricultural and environmental events. British Sugar have regular dialogues with leading and local non-government organisations. They also organise sponsorships and charitable funds, allocated to their employee fundraising activities through a â€Å"Supporting YOU to support others† programme. Measuring the workforce can be done by a number of ways. This is generally looking at the key indicators in the business’ workforce such as labour productivity, health and safety, labour turnover and absenteeism. Labour productivity is how much the workers produce in terms of goods and services per hour worked. In the business, it can be measured by looking at the efficiency of individual or teams. However, this method should be used with cation, because there are factors that could affect labour productivity such as the age of machinery, type of sector that the business is in or whether production is automated or labour-intensive. If machineries are old, they wouldn’t be able to produce as much, therefore being the cause of low labour productivity. A business in the secondary sector would be more productive than one in the tertiary sector since manufacturing makes more products than service. Similarly, a business that has automated production will be much more productive than one with labour-intensive production, since machines are able to mass produce more products than individual workers. A business can try to improve labour productivity by using motivational tools such as bonuses. Training can also be used to add productivity to workers, and business plans help staff work more efficiently. The business can also buy new equipments to improve productivity of their workers. Another measurement is health and safety. As it is one of the motivational factor, the quality of health and safety at the workplace can affect the staff. The better the health and safety standard, the better the staff will perform. The business must consider the possible causes of poor health and safety, such as poor equipment, dangerous environment and also the poor training in the matter. Labour turnover can also be used to measure a company’s workforce. Labour turnover is the proportion of staff leaving the business over a period of time, usually each year. A company can lose their staff due to de-motivation, retirement, social factors, better opportunity elsewhere ,or that the employee wants to start their won business. Staff leaving can also be involuntarily as their positions become redundant or they are fired due to performance. A high labour turnover is generally not good because it spawns many problems such as the loss of productive capacity, the costs and the time taken to recruit new staff, and the extra training and induction programmes to new employees. However, new staff can bring benefits such as introduction of new ideas to the business, or more efficient workers. Absenteeism is another measurement to the company’s workforce, as it tells managers how much their staff go on break from work. This can be a substantial problem for the business, because production output will suffer if employees are absent, projects will run into delays, and the quality of products affected due to the lack of staff. There are many other costs associated with absent staff, such as sick pay, and temporary staff pay, which is often expensive. Absenteeism also cause de-motivation in the business, as other employees will have to take the work load of the absent employees. To lower the level of absenteeism, the business can issue fines to absent staff, improve the safety of the work environment so staff would want to be at work, and improve their motivational methods. British Sugar uses a range of performance indicators to evaluate and improve their performance. SMART targets are a set of criteria that are based on the specific words: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-specific. These criteria are applied in the process of making goals and objectives, to maximise the business chances of obtaining them. Punctuality is the characteristic of being able to complete a required task or fulfill an obligation before or at a previously designated time. Attendance is the frequency with which a person is present. An appraisal system, or performance management, is a proactive and continuous process of communicating and clarifying role responsibilities, performance expectations and priorities in order to ensure mutual understanding between managers and employees. It is very useful as it is both a motivational strategy and a review system where mangers can assess their employees. The appraisal system would fulfill the employees’ social and recognition needs according Maslow’ theories, motivating to work harder to achieve more and be more recognised. The system is not without flaws, however. The appraisal system can be very costly, requiring a lot of administrative work, and is time-consuming. It is also exposed to favouritism. Managers can tend to trust and praise some employees more than others, causing distrust discontentment among team members.

Labrouste and Ledoux

Henri Labrouste and Claude Ledoux were French architects during the 18th and 19th centuries and are pioneers of modern architecture. Henri Labrouste was born in 1801 and was the product of the renowned Ecole des Beaux Arts School of Architecture. He believed that architecture should reflect society, and his work reflects the rationalism and technical aspects of industrial society. His work also embodies the ideals of writer Victor Hugo, who believed that architecture is a form of communication, like literature, and that in the beginning phases of construction it expressed the generalization of society and social commonalities. Claude Ledoux was born in 1736 and was one of the earliest exponents of neoclassical architecture. He gained architectural relevance after marrying the daughter of someone who worked for the royal court and was offered a job for the courts Water and Forestry Department. He was considered a utopian architect and had some very modern ideas about industrial production, urban planning, and territorial intelligence. Henri Labrouste was one of the first architects to master using iron structure in an aesthetically pleasing way. Iron had already been used in structures like train stations, but never in a formal interior environment, as in a library. One example of his skillful use of iron is in the library, Bibliotheque Ste. Genevieve, where he incorporated past masonry construction practices with iron. He kept the huge arches of past churches, but instead of using heavy stones he used iron trusses for support. With this new design, the exterior walls no longer had to hold all of the forces from the arches, and the iron supports could simply rest on top of the walls. The walls were also modified with the use of iron by essentially applying reinforcement bars encased with plaster to make thinner walls, that had just as much strength as previous thicker walls. Since the new iron arches are so strong, Labrouste was able to take pieces out to create a design and pattern out of the support itself. Even the connections between the arch and columns or walls were made to look decorative and light while keeping a strong connection, which he also did in Bibliotheque Imperiale, but with domes rather than barrel vaults. In another one of his libraries, he Bibliotheque Nationale de France, he once again used massive arches and domes of antiquity, but manages to make the dome look very light by inserting oculi and supporting it by thin, reinforced columns. The dome is made from plaster, but has a web of steel to allow for it to be thinner and to support the massive openings that are covered in glass. Unlike Bibliotheque Ste. Genevieve, he hides almost all of t he steel structure so that it looks like a feat of engineering and design to have such a large dome that is so thin and supported by such thin columns. Labrouste was on the forefront of integrating new technology with past materials and design concepts. Rather than using new materials like Labrouste, Claude Ledoux used new ideas to establish a new architectural language. He designed many tollhouses around the walls of Paris through his connection to the royal court. Many of them resembled Greek and Roman temples but had new elements that gave them a modern look. He travelled to England in 1769 and became very familiar with Palladio and since then usually used a cubic style with a broken portico that allowed any structure to look important. He built several homes during his time in England, including the King’s mistress, who became a good connection for Ledoux in later years. In his work, Barriere des Bons-Hommes, he simplifies architecture down to its purest form by essentially placing a large cube on stilts, much like later architect Le Corbusier did in his Villa Savoye. One of Ledoux’s most notable works was the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans where he explored the concept of an ideal community. He located the community near a forest, rather than a source of salt water because it would be more efficient to transport water than wood for the furnaces. It was constructed in 1775 and was intended to be a multi-phase project, but after 1778 construction stopped with only the first phase complete. The design still functioned as intended with a central building for the controllers that was between the two furnaces and had a view of all of the housing. All of the buildings would act independent from one another but were still placed in a logical order to allow for maximum efficiency, such as the placement of the blacksmiths near the furnaces. The perfectly circular design was also intended to evoke the harmony of the ideal city. Ledoux was one of the first architects to design such thought out communities and maximize efficiency through the use of architecture and explore the concept of a self-sustaining utopian society. As he put, â€Å"unfortunate is the one who fails to see in reality what he is being made to see, who is unable to imagine,† showing how ahead of his time he was with his concept of designing ideal societies. Claude Ledoux and Henri Labrouste were two of the most important neoclassical architects because of their innovative thoughts and designs. Labrouste successfully experimented with the use of iron to innovate his designs and change the way buildings were built forever. Through the simplification of design and studying of geometries, Ledoux pioneered the concept of utopian communities and maximizing resources and efficiency. Ledoux and Labrouste were at the forefront of modernity and their concept of design are still used and perfected to this day.

Bonds and Trustees Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bonds and Trustees - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the legal structure of a trust agreement to provide that the rights of the bondholders are vested in the trustee through the trust agreement which confers upon the trustee rights to â€Å"represent the holder in dealing with the issuer and to enforce action on their collective behalf†. By virtue of the trust agreement, subject to the provisions of the deed, the trustee shall represent the bondholder and the bondholder shall not be allowed to represent him/herself unless there is a breach of the agreement, which will render it unenforceable. Thus, the provision in the conditions of trust, which states, â€Å"no bondholder may take enforcement action against the issuer following a default unless the trustee, having become obliged to act thereon, has failed to do so† is valid. As held in case of Highberry Ltd v Colt Telecom Group Plc (No.2) a no-action clause is valid. Under Chapter 29 Part 1 of the Trustee Act 2000, the trustee has the duty to â€Å"exercise such care and skill as is reasonable in the circumstances, having regard in particular- (a) to any special knowledge or experience that he has or holds himself out as having, and (b) if he acts as trustee in the course of a business or profession, to any special knowledge or experience that it is reasonable to expect of a person acting in the course of that kind of business or profession.† The degree of care in transacting business for and on behalf of the bondholders binds the trustee to deliver what is in the best interest of the bondholder. The same rules apply as in the case of negligence. Therefore, where the trustee is faced with a situation where it becomes obliged to act, the failure thereof to act accordingly would constitute a statutory breach as well as of the agreement.