Roe V. Wade Summary

Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973) Facts: Texas had passed a law that made it illegal for women who were expecting to have an abortion, unless, pursuant to medical advice, given to save the life of the mother. Jane Roe was an unmarried, pregnant woman. She was unable to get a lawful abortion in Texas because her life was not endangered by going through with her pregnancy. A law existed in Georgia at that time also and was heard as a case relating to it. Issue:Whether or not a pregnant woman has a constitutional right to terminate the pregnancy of her baby by means of abortion. The issue also involves whether or not it is in the state of Texas interests to preserve the life of the child and or mother, as well to establish under what conditions a medical abortion is allowed. Decision and Reasoning: The Roe v. Wade decision stated that a woman, with her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy, and with restrictions in later months, based on the right to privacy.Roe v . Wade was decided primarily due to the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court's decision in this case was that the Ninth Amendment protected a woman’s (person’s) right to privacy. Critical Analysis The Supreme Court case I have discussed above of 1973 is one I believe may be overturned in the future. Although it has relevance to the ninth amendment as I have previous stated, there are a lot of people today that seem to disagree with the court’s decision.After reading this case brief I still hold my opinion of being, â€Å"pro-choice. † Having not made abortion completely illegal, while setting restrictions on it, was a smart thing to do, taken into effect the setting of this case. The Supreme Court not only compared its decision to the ninth amendment but also to the case related to it from Georgia. The decision of the case I have discussed held to be an appropriate one setting limitations on abortion will still allowing it for unde r the stipulations set forth by the Supreme Court.

Analysis of “John Donne’s” “The Flea”

Phillip Hassoun English 1102 Dr. Thomason 03/14/12 Analysis: The Flea, By: John Donne Most of John Donne’s work during his time frame was usually seen as being vulgar or too much, usually for the sexual themes he put behind them. But being the witty and clever author John Donne was, it is by no surprise that most people raise their eye brows after reading his poem titled The Flea. In the poem, he makes the unusual connection between a flea and sex between couples. Using a metaphysical conceit, the poem is written using that relationship in mind, which today most people would see as kind of funny or odd.In this unique comparison, he ultimately try’s to persuade his beloved to become fearless of the consequences in pre-marital sex. It is important to understand the use of metaphysical writing, and how it enabled writers like John Donne to write so well about two very seemingly different things. When the term metaphysical is used, it is referring to a very powerful form of philosophy dating back to Aristotle. It is used to explain something usually complex in simple to understand terms, by making a comparison. One does this by asking themselves two questions; what is there?And what’s it like? These two questions lead the person into a higher level thinking proses, which usually end up in a form of descriptive writing like parables and poems to add ever more understanding and emotion to the thought. This is how authors like John Donne can write of comparisons between something simple like a flea, and something as complex as the emotions we feel. However, the poem to most people today would still not make sense. But when considering the knowledge and ethics of the people during his time frame, this poem makes much more sense.When John Donne’s 16th century love poem was written, it was believed that when two people had sex, the partners would share each other’s blood. Also hygiene wasn’t a very big issue, since it wasnâ€℠¢t common knowledge to know that bacteria and viruses could make you sick or more obviously that people didn’t share blood during sex. Due to lack of hygiene, people during this time all had some sort of human flea that lived on them, which ate their blood. The people from this time frame really didn’t see it as something gross like people would see today.Because everybody had fleas on them, they were all equally as gross to each other in their minds. When John Donne is trying to persuade his beloved into sex with him, this is how he comes up with a metaphysical connection between the two, which is also a perfect example of why people thought he was coarse or dirty in his writing. Keeping this knowledge in mind as you read the poem is crucial in order to understand the poem. In the first stanza he begins to set up his argument with the girl he is addressing.Using the metaphysical conceit he makes between a flea and sex he writes to his beloved, explaining why he thinks she should have no reason to be worried about having sex with him. â€Å"Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little you denist me is;† He says to open the poem. Look at how small this flea is, that’s how small the fact of why you won’t have sex with me is, to reword what he is saying. Describing how little the issue is as he goes on in the first stanza. He says that the flea can suck his blood, and then jump to the girls and suck her blood, and share all three of the souls in one body.Then says that by doing so, the flea is not causing â€Å"A sin, nor shame, not loss of maidenhead;† (1: pg. 571) talking about her virginity. He describes the nature of the flea to enjoy the mixing of blood from humans before it is in love, or without care at all since it is a flea. He finishes the argument at the end of the stanza by saying to his beloved that the flea, is doing far worse than what only they would be doing. He continues in the second stanza by tryin g to protect the flea’s life from the girl.It is understood from the reading that his beloved has become obviously upset with what he said, and so she attempts to kill the flea in spite of him. To prevent her from doing so, he starts to explain to her that the flea is carrying three souls inside it, him, her, and the flea. And reiterates how the flea is doing far more than them even if they are to be married, since it shares all three souls. He says that since there blood is mixed with inside the flea, to look at the flea as their â€Å"marriage temple† and their custom right to properly have sex, since their blood is already mixed.And furthermore says that although your parents urge you to not get married to me, we already have inside the living soul of the flea. He then in the last parts of the second stanza states his second argument for why they should have pre-marital sex. â€Å"Though use make you apt to kill me,† (1: pg. 172) hysterically saying that she wouldn’t mind killing him. He argues that although she wants to kill the flea, doing so would mean killing herself, himself, and the flea.An odd way of explaining that there mutual love would die, and the fleas love for both would also die, which would be sacrilegious by killing all three souls. As he continues to make this unconvincing argument to his beloved, she kills the flea at the beginning of the third stanza, probably from his almost mockingly sounding poem about a big step in their relationship. However it is at that point when he turns the argument on her completely. â€Å"Cruel and sudden,† he describes her actions as she kills the flea. Saying that the flea was only innocent, and only was guilty for was stealing two drops of blood.By killing the flea that shared the couple’s blood, he asks her if she feels as if their relationship is weaker. Obviously not feeling like their relationship had grown apart, he then completely switches the argument on her , after destroying their â€Å"wedding temple,† By saying that he taught her a lesson of fear. He explains further in the end of the last stanza that the honor she lost in killing that flea, would be just as much honor lost if she were to engage in intercourse with him, since she obviously did not care about the death of the flea.He reiterates in his last statements that he is doing the exact same thing as the flea that took life from her. This concludes his not so romantic poem, but very interesting explanation of their situation. John’s poem is written in a clever way, unlike most of the poems people would read from Shakespeare’s century. He makes a good metaphysical connection between the flea and sex, and almost sounds like he denies the fact that he is really just trying hook up with her. If any girl was to be read this poem as a pickup line, and understand it, then they would probably be offended.This is why the poem cannot be read far too seriously when h e explains that the important subject of losing your virginity can be compared to the instinct of a flea, and dooms the poem to have you chuckling while you read it. However, when he ties everything up in the final stanza it turns into an eye opening poem. This was a very ingenious way to explain the feelings of the man in a relationship. The one who is trying to get the girl in the bed, but she fears all of the consequences.The connection he made between something as small and irrelevant as a flea being described into a deep elaborate though about love, and man’s thoughts just show his great writing skill. Works Cited Page Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. A Little Literature: Reading/writing and Argument. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. Print. â€Å"John Donne â€Å"The Flea† and Persuasion† StudyMode. com. 10 2011. 10 2011 . Analysis of â€Å"John Donne’s† â€Å"The Flea† Phillip Hassoun English 1102 Dr. Thomason 03/14/12 Analysis: The Flea, By: John Donne Most of John Donne’s work during his time frame was usually seen as being vulgar or too much, usually for the sexual themes he put behind them. But being the witty and clever author John Donne was, it is by no surprise that most people raise their eye brows after reading his poem titled The Flea. In the poem, he makes the unusual connection between a flea and sex between couples. Using a metaphysical conceit, the poem is written using that relationship in mind, which today most people would see as kind of funny or odd.In this unique comparison, he ultimately try’s to persuade his beloved to become fearless of the consequences in pre-marital sex. It is important to understand the use of metaphysical writing, and how it enabled writers like John Donne to write so well about two very seemingly different things. When the term metaphysical is used, it is referring to a very powerful form of philosophy dating back to Aristotle. It is used to explain something usually complex in simple to understand terms, by making a comparison. One does this by asking themselves two questions; what is there?And what’s it like? These two questions lead the person into a higher level thinking proses, which usually end up in a form of descriptive writing like parables and poems to add ever more understanding and emotion to the thought. This is how authors like John Donne can write of comparisons between something simple like a flea, and something as complex as the emotions we feel. However, the poem to most people today would still not make sense. But when considering the knowledge and ethics of the people during his time frame, this poem makes much more sense.When John Donne’s 16th century love poem was written, it was believed that when two people had sex, the partners would share each other’s blood. Also hygiene wasn’t a very big issue, since it wasnâ€℠¢t common knowledge to know that bacteria and viruses could make you sick or more obviously that people didn’t share blood during sex. Due to lack of hygiene, people during this time all had some sort of human flea that lived on them, which ate their blood. The people from this time frame really didn’t see it as something gross like people would see today.Because everybody had fleas on them, they were all equally as gross to each other in their minds. When John Donne is trying to persuade his beloved into sex with him, this is how he comes up with a metaphysical connection between the two, which is also a perfect example of why people thought he was coarse or dirty in his writing. Keeping this knowledge in mind as you read the poem is crucial in order to understand the poem. In the first stanza he begins to set up his argument with the girl he is addressing.Using the metaphysical conceit he makes between a flea and sex he writes to his beloved, explaining why he thinks she should have no reason to be worried about having sex with him. â€Å"Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little you denist me is;† He says to open the poem. Look at how small this flea is, that’s how small the fact of why you won’t have sex with me is, to reword what he is saying. Describing how little the issue is as he goes on in the first stanza. He says that the flea can suck his blood, and then jump to the girls and suck her blood, and share all three of the souls in one body.Then says that by doing so, the flea is not causing â€Å"A sin, nor shame, not loss of maidenhead;† (1: pg. 571) talking about her virginity. He describes the nature of the flea to enjoy the mixing of blood from humans before it is in love, or without care at all since it is a flea. He finishes the argument at the end of the stanza by saying to his beloved that the flea, is doing far worse than what only they would be doing. He continues in the second stanza by tryin g to protect the flea’s life from the girl.It is understood from the reading that his beloved has become obviously upset with what he said, and so she attempts to kill the flea in spite of him. To prevent her from doing so, he starts to explain to her that the flea is carrying three souls inside it, him, her, and the flea. And reiterates how the flea is doing far more than them even if they are to be married, since it shares all three souls. He says that since there blood is mixed with inside the flea, to look at the flea as their â€Å"marriage temple† and their custom right to properly have sex, since their blood is already mixed.And furthermore says that although your parents urge you to not get married to me, we already have inside the living soul of the flea. He then in the last parts of the second stanza states his second argument for why they should have pre-marital sex. â€Å"Though use make you apt to kill me,† (1: pg. 172) hysterically saying that she wouldn’t mind killing him. He argues that although she wants to kill the flea, doing so would mean killing herself, himself, and the flea.An odd way of explaining that there mutual love would die, and the fleas love for both would also die, which would be sacrilegious by killing all three souls. As he continues to make this unconvincing argument to his beloved, she kills the flea at the beginning of the third stanza, probably from his almost mockingly sounding poem about a big step in their relationship. However it is at that point when he turns the argument on her completely. â€Å"Cruel and sudden,† he describes her actions as she kills the flea. Saying that the flea was only innocent, and only was guilty for was stealing two drops of blood.By killing the flea that shared the couple’s blood, he asks her if she feels as if their relationship is weaker. Obviously not feeling like their relationship had grown apart, he then completely switches the argument on her , after destroying their â€Å"wedding temple,† By saying that he taught her a lesson of fear. He explains further in the end of the last stanza that the honor she lost in killing that flea, would be just as much honor lost if she were to engage in intercourse with him, since she obviously did not care about the death of the flea.He reiterates in his last statements that he is doing the exact same thing as the flea that took life from her. This concludes his not so romantic poem, but very interesting explanation of their situation. John’s poem is written in a clever way, unlike most of the poems people would read from Shakespeare’s century. He makes a good metaphysical connection between the flea and sex, and almost sounds like he denies the fact that he is really just trying hook up with her. If any girl was to be read this poem as a pickup line, and understand it, then they would probably be offended.This is why the poem cannot be read far too seriously when h e explains that the important subject of losing your virginity can be compared to the instinct of a flea, and dooms the poem to have you chuckling while you read it. However, when he ties everything up in the final stanza it turns into an eye opening poem. This was a very ingenious way to explain the feelings of the man in a relationship. The one who is trying to get the girl in the bed, but she fears all of the consequences.The connection he made between something as small and irrelevant as a flea being described into a deep elaborate though about love, and man’s thoughts just show his great writing skill. Works Cited Page Barnet, Sylvan, William Burto, and William E. Cain. A Little Literature: Reading/writing and Argument. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007. Print. â€Å"John Donne â€Å"The Flea† and Persuasion† StudyMode. com. 10 2011. 10 2011 .

Land Reform Essay

I. Land reform and Agrarian Reform Land reform or mainly called â€Å"Land redistribution†. It mainly refers to the right of owning a land. Meanwhile, Agrarian Reform is much broader than land reform. It refers to changes that are made in the land tenure system. It covers issues such as, â€Å"who owns or does not own land†, how land is used or who shares to the products of the land†. It also pertains to land productivity and rate of agricultural development 2. Land redistribution There is a so-called land-ownership and landlord class (upperclass/owners of land) receives rent from tenants such as farmers. Large landed estates are expropriated by the state authority. These lands are then broken into small farms and distribute it to farmers. As distribution to farmers occur, gov’t will come in between to pay the landlords for the farmers. The NEW landowners has to find a means of paying the installment to the gov’t who took place in paying the landlords. 3. Philippine Land reform CAR – Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Republic Act 6657 in 1988 and ended last 2008. An act instituting a comprehensive agrarian reform program to promote social justice and industrialization, providing the mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes Definitions 1. Agrarian Reform – Distribution of land, regardless of crops and fruits produced, to farmers and farmworkers who are landless to help lift the economic status of the beneficiaries. 2. Agricultural Land – Land devoted to agricultural activities. Minerals, forest, residential, commercial or industrial lands are not included. 3. Farmer – Primary livelihood is cultivation of land or production of agricultural crops. 4. Farmworker – Render service as a laborer or employee in an agricultural enterprise or farm POLICIES * Every state should pursue a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Landless farmers and farmworkers will receive the highest consideration to promote social justice and to move the nation towards development and industrialization. * Distribution and ownership of lands shall take place to provide farmers and farmworkers with the opportunity to enhance and improve their quality of life. * CARP is founded on the rights of landless farmers and farmworkers to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, to receive a just share of fruits thereof. * The state shall encourage and undertake the districution of all agricultural lands, subject to the priorities set by this act. Nevertheless, the state shall respect the rights of small landowners and shall provide incentives for land-sharing. CARPER – Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms Bill Republic Act 9700 An act strengthening the comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP,), extending the acquisition and distribution of all agricultural lands, instituting necessary reforms, amending for the purpose certain provision of republic act no. 6657, and appropriating funds therefor. Some of the amendments are; 1. CARPER primarily extends the redistribution of lands for 5 years.   2. It also redefines the scope and some definitions in CAR 3. In Sec. 18, the CARPER also mandates that all land reform cases must be under the jurisdiction of the DAR except for cases falling under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and the DENR. Only the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to issue any restraining order or writ of preliminary injuction against the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), the DAR, and other related agencies on agrarian reform cases. 4. A new Congressional Oversight Committee on Agrarian Reform (COCAR) is also created by virtue of the CARPER, composed of the Chairpersons of the Agrarian Reform Committees of both Houses and three members each from the Upper and Lower House, to be designated respectively by the Senate President and the House Speaker. 5. It also incorporates a new section into the existing CARL, Section 37-A, specifically mandating the inclusion of equal support services for rural women and the establishment of a women’s desk under the DAR. According to GMA news, Aquino stated that one of the ways in which CARPER will quickly be implemented is with a multi-stakeholders mechanism. They will be tasked to mnitor the implementation of the CARP specifically focusing on; 1. Coverage and distribution of agricultural land 2. Movement and performance of Department of Agrarian Reform personnel 3. Delivery support services to the beneficiaries, and 4. Budget allocation and utilization RA 9700 has allocated ate least P150 billion for the program which will be utilized to successfully complete the implementation of agrarian reform. Aquino and the land reform advocates adopted the commitment made by Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo during a meeting with the farmers last June 12, 2012. Robredo committed the government to: – work on a list of areas where there are CARPER enforcement issues, – review the PNP’s tasking and refer to the DOJ the proposed changes in 2009 guidelines, as it applies to DAR orders, – establish PNP outpost in critical areas where installed farmers are being harassed, and – establish a direct line of communication with the DILG. Sources: Sicat, G. (1983). Economics. NationalBook Store Publishers. Metro Manila Philippines. www.gmanetwork.com/news http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno9700.php http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno6657.html#.US8wcDAaNps

The Efficacy Of Economic Sanctions As Instruments Of Foreign Policy in Essay

The Efficacy Of Economic Sanctions As Instruments Of Foreign Policy in The ase of Iran - Essay Example trument for Foreign Policy Although using of economic sanctions, as an instrument for foreign policy, tends to face various criticisms within the global realm, it can also be implemented by the countries to achieve multiple goals with an intention to strengthen its political, economic and trade relations with other global countries. Conceptually, economic sanctions were generally used by countries in order to obtain better control of its economic sources from being exploited by foreign investors, thereafter making the domestic economy more dependent on the partnered nations. Arguably, it also enables the targeted country to influence stable and sustainable growth in the foreign market. With respect to the implementation of the sanction by numbers of global countries, it has been widely recognised that the sanctions are quite effective in terms of empowering nation’s power of domination and dealing with the negative influences of the particular country(s) (United States General Accounting Office, 1992). In this regard, the major advantageous implications, which can also be classified as the major motivations to countries applying economic sanctions as a tool for foreign policy measures, have been briefly demonstrated in the following discussion. The use of sanctions always tends to obtain adequate facility to the nation for accumulating a stable support in demonstrating authoritative supremacy and differentiating capability of the nation against the sanctioned country(s). Hence, it can also be used as a tool to obtain global power advantages to a substantial extent. Moreover, it also enables the country to uphold international policies through taking adequate measures against the targeted country, regulating controlled trade measures with the imposition of taxation...This research paper aims to to bring adequate insights regarding the efficacies and implications of economic sanctions as an instrument to regulate foreign relationships, taking the example o f Iran in the recent global context. The policy analysis sources in this globalisation era has long been concerned regarding the usage of economic sanctions by the countries with the aim of achieving favourable and more constructive outcomes. Various countries have experienced numbers of disagreements through the implementation of economic sanctions as a measure to control foreign relationships, during the period of 1990s Although using of economic sanctions, as an instrument for foreign policy, tends to face various criticisms within the global realm, it can also be implemented by the countries to achieve multiple goals with an intention to strengthen its political, economic and trade relations with other global countries. Conceptually, economic sanctions were generally used by countries in order to obtain better control of its economic sources from being exploited by foreign investors, thereafter making the domestic economy more dependent on the partnered nations Although the implementation of economic sanctions is effective to protect countries from different external threats, it is also essential for the countries to be supported by a large number of global participants. The example of Iran can be further stated as a major concern which had faced numerous challenges due to the political turmoil with the US.

Case study Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case study Report - Essay Example This globalization develops a significant test to service providers like PwC: the manner in which to arrive at the needed degree of international co-ordination of the efforts of 160,000 individuals globally without reducing the firm’s receptiveness locally in 150 countries where PwC operates. Human resource management as well as management development specifically play a vital role. This issue is significantly compounded since PwC is a firm where most of the workforce has the capability to advance to management positions, even though only a limited number have the aim, prospect or chance to actually get there. Many junior staff members could have joined the management development or trainee program of another large organization but at PwC, managers as well as those who wish to become managers are a majority when all the staff is considered. Conversely, PwC has global management positions that are supposed to be filled. Internationalization has always been an intricate tactical problem and continues to be so for PwC and on the contrary, the huge dimension of local markets demands for progressive watchfulness and suppleness locally. On the contrary, the continued existence of the firm is dependent on its capability to arrive at global synergy in dealing with big global customers. A lot of literature has been written to date concerning the internationalization of HRM and many models created to address the dissimilarities and resemblance in several forms of global human resource management. These models are founded on the boundaries to which one or more national cultures are involved with the global HRM (Perlmutter, 1969) while the boundaries to which either one international HRM policy is sought or many local centers are employed (Adler and Ghadar, 1990). Party to the internationalization procedures of the heritage of Coopers & Lybrand, all these models proved insufficient to act as a principle for arriving at the needed

Quantitative research appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Quantitative research appraisal - Essay Example Determinations of the effectiveness of pain management, effectiveness of nurse-led diabetic clinic, effectiveness of appropriate or specific dressing methods in management of venous ulcer, effectiveness of specialist nurse practitioner in the accident and emergency as a primary care giver are just few of the numerous examples to assess evidence and change practice based on evidence (Sousa et al., 2007, 502-507). Observational and Interventional Research Designs: The investigator conducting observational research observes both the independent and the dependent variables, when there is insufficient knowledge about a phenomenon, or for ethical reasons or otherwise, an observational design is most suitable. In experimental research, researchers actively intervene and create the independent variable, which means that people in the sample will be exposed to different treatments or conditions (Driessnack, et al., 2007, 684-688). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs: Experimental designs provide strong evidence about the hypothesis and provide a causal relationship between independent and dependent variables. ... However, quasi-experimental designs lack randomization to treatment groups, which characterizes true experiments. Quasi-experiments, thus, are not as powerful as experiments in establishing causal connections between interventions and outcomes (Coughlan et al, 2007, 658-663). Differences between Inferential and Descriptive Statistics: Statistics are either descriptive or inferential. Descriptive statistics are used to describe and synthesize data. Averages and percentages are examples of descriptive statistics. Actually, when such indices are calculated on data from a population, they are called parameters. Inferential statistics on the other hand is used to draw some inferences out of the numerical data (Zellner et al., 2007, 55-59). The title of the research article chosen by the author to base this assignment is "Randomised controlled trial to compare surgical stabilisation of the lumbar spine with an intensive rehabilitation programme for patients with chronic low back pain: the MRC spine stabilisation trial" by Fairbank and coworkers published in the British Medical Journal (Fairbank et al., 2005, 1233). Purpose: The purpose of this particular study is to assess the clinical effectiveness of surgical stabilization in the form of spinal fusion compared with that with intensive stabilization for patients with chronic low back pain. The design obviously was a multicentric randomized controlled trial (Cook et al., 2008, 128-133). Randomization or random assignment involves placing subjects in groups at random. Random essentially means that every subject has an equal chance of being assigned to any group to avoid systematic bias in the groups that could affect the dependent variable. Randomization remains the most trustworthy and acceptable method of

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FedEX company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

FedEX company - Essay Example The Company also aims to achieve a 10% increase in its operating margin. In order to attain to this long term objective, the Company has set out certain business goals, as laid out below (www.fedex.com): Additionally, the Company also plans to improve its reputation as an environmentally friendly organization, by reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020. (www.thaipr.net). The central focus of the Company’s plans and goals revolves around its people, i.e., â€Å"people are the wind beneath our wings.†(Frock, 2006:201). In the achievement of its goals, FEDEX has capitalized the vision of its founder, Smith who believed the success of the Company lay in IT(Lappin, 1996) and has implemented IT systems that are geared towards strengthening its e-commerce operations. The realization that information systems could play a vital role in ensuring the success of business has enabled the Company to survive and gain a head start in package delivery (www.garyclarke.com). The Company has made large investments in technology, using tracking software in order to ensure that the current delivery status of a package is always available, through the use of its proprietary network called Cosmos. The Company also sets up computer terminals at its customers’ offices and allows them access to the tracking software as well, so that they are able to generate their own pick-ups and deliveries (www.brainmass.com). Customer tracking of packages is facilitated through the use of the Powership software and terminals (www.informationweek.com). The Company has been using wireless applications for a long time, but the efficiency of its current operations has been achieved by integrating SAP into its tracking system in managing its supply chain. The significant aspect of its technology development is the use of SAP R/3 systems to integrate its tracking systems with its supply chain logistics.

Language ,culture and knowledge Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Language ,culture and knowledge - Coursework Example ould thoroughly explore the importance of language in our society if we want to gain an accurate understanding or appreciation of the social change mechanisms which we observe working all around us. Basically, language is an indispensable element of human communication and is a vital component of all forms of society and culture. It is an open and multifaceted structure that enables change, adaptation, and progress (Agha, 2007). It can be conveyed or passed on in a number of ways—verbally and non-verbally. Language is important to culture and society, with human beings making use of it not only to communicate or express themselves, but also to relate to a specific cultural or social group (Agha, 2007). Language is a medium of expression and enables an individual to take part in community or societal affairs. It may be used as an instrument to build and sustain a democratic society. It is also vital as shared human achievements and continuing expressions of human innovation and creativity. This is supported by the rationale of UNESCO for language conservation that the world’s languages embody a remarkable fortune and array of human ingenuity (Agha, 2007). They comprise and convey the overall traditions and wisdom cultivated over time through rituals and heritage passed on through native languages. In essence, our culture and society are preserved or continue to exist because of language. I have heard the programme of UNESCO and strongly agree to their efforts to preserve the world’s languages because, as already mentioned, language is the vessel and the medium of traditions that uphold culture and society. Furthermore, language can create opportunities, facilitate social mobility, and endow power. Some scholars compellingly claim that in several aspects, language is power. A society’s linguistic status generally reveals its power structure, since language is a potent mechanism of social control. In my experience, it is true that those speakers of minority

Businesses and organizations Essay Example for Free

Businesses and organizations Essay â€Å"Businesses and organizations use various types of information systems to support the many processes needed to carry out their business functions. Each of these information systems has a particular purpose or focus, and each has a life of its own. This â€Å"life of its own† concept is called the systems development life cycle or SDLC, and it includes the entire process of planning, building, deploying, using, updating, and maintaining an information system. The development of a new information system involves several different, but related activities. These activities, or phases, usually include planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance/support. In other words, SDLC is a conceptual model that guides project management in information system development.†(Wikibooks) The life cycle starts with preliminary investigation which all the available information needed for the system elements and allocation of the requirements to the software are gathered. Next is the analysis of the requirements. This involves the analyst understanding the functions of the software which is required for the system based off the gathered information. Then is the system design in which the analyst designs and finalizes the best suited design for the system. The difficult step of system coding or development comes next which is where the analyst translates the design and programs into code for the computer. After the previous steps next are the testing phase where the system is testing to see if it works as intended or not. Then is implementation where the system is given to the customer and feedback is returned to insure the program works as intended. And finally system maintenance is the last step, here the analyst insures the system remains working within the proper bounds and functions appropriately and fixes any problems. I think this relates to database development in a number of ways. One is how it starts, gathering information and finding the intent of the system. Next you must plan out how to set up the database, by determining the vital information. Then comes the minor details. You set up your database fill in some test information insure it works properly and make needed adjustments. Finally you implement your database design where in it works properly you merely maintain and fix any errors. 2. Look up â€Å"Requirement Analysis† on the web. What kinds of topic headin g do you find? I found headlines like â€Å"Business Requirement Analysis†,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Software Requirement Analysis† and â€Å"Five common errors in requirements analysis (and how to avoid them)† References Wikibooks Systems Analysis and Design/Introduction- Open book for an open world http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Systems_Analysis_and_Design/Introduction

Evaluating flash as an animation tool

Evaluating flash as an animation tool Adobe Flash is used as an animation program because it offers a lot and makes life easier for people who animate or who create animations. The tools that it offers help the user get on with their work easier and without a problem. Here is a list of some of the animation features that it comes with and how they help develop the animation, on the other hand there are some disadvantages with using Flash such as compatibility issues etc. Frames help gain full control over separate animation characteristics with object based animation, which applies tweens directly to the objects. Flash also uses tweens which are used to fill gaps in between two key frames. A key frame is something that will copy one frame and paste the exact same one into another, they also come as a start and end point for the moving in the animation. There are two types of tweens in which one of them is called motion tween and the other one is called shape tween. A motion tween is the thing that fills in the gaps between two keyframes when you are animating a selected object, they can be used to make things like vehicles move but their weakness lies in the fact that you do not have control over the motion as well as you would if the animation was created with individual key frames. One advantage that they do have however is that they could be reused again just like symbols in order to reduce the file size. Shape tween animation is used mainly in flash designs for example it could be used to make circles into squares, blue letters into yellow buttons etc. Any vector object can be changed by the shape tween animation in flash tool. This change can either be in shape or colour depending on the requirements of the flash design. It offers various choices which can be change, such as size, colour, location and so on. Flash designs are mainly used for things such as shapes, colours and appropriate positioning of the object. However there are some disadvantages of using these motions because the user does not have full control over them, the computer may not do it correctly which can result in the animation not looking right when it is being previewed. However some shape tweens can cause problems as well for example if there is a shape and accidentally there is a dot or line drawn in, then it will tween that into being in the shape as well which could mess up the way the shape should look and the way it ought to be moving. One Advantage flash has is that it has the ability to switch between scenes, this is an advantage because it gives the user more room to work with and still have all the functions working, for example one can be designing and on the other scene they could be creating the second part to the animation. This would save more frames for the selected scenes as there are a limited amount of frames. Adobe Flash comes with a lot of creative tools and features which can help the user in creating animations etc. However there is a slight disadvantage in that which is that it can take along time to load if you have a computer which is slow this would be a problem because Flash comes with a lot of content and features and if you have a slow computer then it would take along time to load the software. One of the common and most obvious disadvantages is that you must pay for the full Adobe suite even though you just want to use and work with one application. However other free flash editing programs do not offer the features that Adobe Flash does, there are a few versions of Flash such as CS3 and CS4. The file extensions that these versions use are Fla which stands for Flash and swf which stands for Shockwave Flash. Flash can let the user adjust the positioning of the objects for example if there is a background on layer 1 and a drawing on layer 2 of a car, then the order of the layers will change the positioning of the way the animation was meant to be set out. If layer 1 is above layer 2 then the background will fill the entire page, however if layer 2 is above layer 1 then it will appear above the background and look as the way it should do. It also has an option to move objects from front to back which does not work well because it makes things worse. Flash is very good for publishing animations etc on the Internet, however creating Web Pages, interactive games and videos in Flash CS3 can be a problem for people who are beginners on using the Software because to create these things you need to have a fair amount of knowledge which can make it easy to create and design things in Flash, without that it would be a struggle. Flash uses actionscript code which is a series of commands that can instruct a flash object what to do, it can tell the animation to go to a certain keyframe or scene, control object movement with the arrow keys or anything your specify, most of the advanced features you want to add to a flash document are implemented through actionscript. It has three versions available, actionscript 1.0, 2.0 and the latest 3.0, each are slightly different in there context, 3.0 features some new 3D related code and uses much less text than action-script 2.0 however it can be slightly more complicated and annoying if your familiar with the previous version of the script. When I used Flash I found the different ways of accessing features slightly confusing. However over the course of designing and creating my animation I learned about how to create Key Frames, Shape Tweens, and Motion Tweens. I also learnt how to work on different scenes and add sound to scenes. As I got to know how to do some of this it made me interested in learning about it more. However I found some of it hard for example I found the action-script hard because I didnt understand where to put the text or which text performed which function. But apart from that I enjoyed working in Flash because it offered a lot of features.

John Locke Primary and Secondary Qualities

John Locke Primary and Secondary Qualities Locke, when presenting his theory of representative realism, focused on the differences that existed between the primary and secondary qualities. His work on this subject is basically a rectification of the naive mindset of the people. It is because of this naive nature that the people tend to confuse the two qualities together. Locke while explaining the human psyche said that the images of the items present in the real world are formed in our minds as ideas and are only symbolic representations of what is actually present. He is of the opinion that all the items and things present in the external world are analysed by our mind on the basis of having two types of qualities either primary or secondary. The primary qualities are the ones that have a direct relation to the objects being. This means that if the objects picture that is in our mind is not having the primary quality than the picture would remain incomplete and the true sense of the object would not be formed in the mind. Because of this integral relationship in between the primary quality and the object our mind visualizes the primary quality as the object itself. The example of primary quality would be mass and not weight. This is because mass is not dependent while weight depends on gravity. The secondary qualities on the other hand are not that important for the visualization of the object in its true form. The secondary qualities are merely the additional features that add variety to the object if anything. Locke says that the secondary qualities only exhibit themselves when they come in contact with the primary qualities. The perfect example of a secondary quality is colour. Even if the colour of an object in our mind is different from the objects colour in reality it would have no bearing on the physical being of the object. Thus, according to Locke colour is not a primary quality even though many people because of having a naive mind set think that colour is necessary for the visualization of the object in its entirety. Locke is of the opinion that size of an object is the primary quality and not its colour because our mind formulates the ideas that are blurry and have no structural form so that they might have an effect on our senses. Thus, a round thing which is r ed in colour would be visualized by our mind as a round figure without colour. The secondary qualities only have an effect on our senses and they do not play any part in the existence of the object. Locke is very clear in his mind about the differences that are present in between the primary and the secondary qualities. He even has come up with classifications of the qualities in terms of being secondary and primary. In the secondary category he has listed the colour, sound and taste while in the primary category he enlists solidity, figure, size and number. This classification is not approved by all and many people have begged to differ from it. Firstly, people say that solidity is temperature dependent so it cannot be a primary quality. Secondly, number is not a quality of an object it is a man-made concept so its inclusion is baffling to say the least. Because of these disorientations, it is best to not focus on classifying the qualities in to secondary or primary but to just find an explanation if the qualities can even be distinguished as primary or secondary. The causality law presented by Locke is at loggerheads with this resemblance issue. Locke opines that the perception of the objects made by our mind and the objects in real both are linked together in a causal way. The basis of his theory is that all the objects that are idealized by our mind are for any cause and it is this cause which is responsible for the objects existence in the real world. Berkeley opposes this concept of Locke and says that if such a causal relationship would have existed then the independent analysis of the cause and effects would have to be made. Lockes ideas are not necessarily proven wrong if the ideas presented by Berkeley are taken in to account. The idea that Berkeley advocates is that there can be no causal relationship in between the ideas made by our minds and the objects that are real still it is a fact that there exists a causal relationship in between our ideas and God. Moreover, Locke in his theory of representative realism negates the idea that objects that we make perceptions of are not present in the real world. He just denies the idea that our mind can visualize an abstract thing that has no representation in the real world. Still this discrepancy of Lockes theory does not make the entire theory flawed. The concept of primary and secondary qualities is a little difficult to understand still if we look to other sources for the proofing of the concept we might find a better explanation to the idea. Locke not only used the method of variability in his studies to differentiate between the two but also employed the method of measurability. According to him, if the object is measurable then it definitely is a primary quality because only the primary qualities can be measured like the size and mass. But with the advancement of science we now know that even the colours can be measured through frequency and wavelengths measurement which are considered secondary qualities by Locke. Hence, the measurement idea is not true. Because of the failure of the concepts of Locke in discriminating between the primary and secondary qualities it is best to look elsewhere for evidences that support the primary and secondary quality theory. Once we broaden our research and look away from Locke, we find that many other philosophers also have worked on the theory presented by Locke. Aristotle was the one who first presented the idea that there is a difference in between the objects that are concerned with a single sensory organ and those that have an effect on multiple sensory organs especially the eyes and the hands. This proves that Lockes theory was not an original one but was in fact a derived one. Locke does not in any way point out this concept in his studies and has not mentioned it significantly. Still this concept serves as a perfect supporting act for the actual theory that primary qualities have an effect on all the senses while the secondary qualities only effect and are identified by a particular sensory organ rather than all the senses. An objection to this theory which is made by Mackie is that it is not necessary that the secondary qualities would have an effect on only one sensory organ. He presents the example of sensory organs like nose and tongue responsible for the sense of smell and taste. He says that even though these senses are different from each other yet they perform as one and usually work together. Nevertheless, this objection is easy to rule out if we look at the sensory organs of smell and taste as a single unit as opposed to two different units. The reason for this singular approach is because the two senses are very closely related to each other and its functionality is dependent on the other. Fortunately, the modern advancement has helped in realising the differences in between the primary and secondary qualities and the studies of Bennet are very helpful in this regard. He takes the route of exposure with the objects and the qualities rather than the visualization of them. He opines that the more a quality comes in contact with us the more it is a primary one and the less a quality comes in contact with us the more secondary it is. He gives the examples of colour-blindness and size-blindness to advocate his case. He says that a colour-blind person can live his life easily rather than a size-blind person because the interaction of colour in our life is limited while the interaction of size is extensive. Thus, colour is a secondary quality and the size is a primary quality. This explanation is very much understandable and appeals to the lay mans mind. In the end, it is evident that although the case put forward by Locke about the differences in between the primary and secondary qualities is very strong and has reasonable proofing accompanying it still it fails to connect with the audiences because of the complex nature of his explanation. However, if the case is viewed through methodical analysis, as is the case in this essay, the argument does become easy to understand. Furthermore, the Aristotles theory mentioned in this essay is also supportive of the idea presented by Locke. The outcome of all the debate is that even if there is a difference between the primary and secondary qualities it is mighty difficult to determine the point of difference between the two.

Susan Glaspells Trifles - The Loyalty of Mrs. Hale :: Trifles Essays

The Loyalty of Mrs. Hale in Trifles The major idea I want to write about has to do with the way Mrs. Hale stands behind Mrs. Wright even though it seems like everyone else especially (the men) would rather lock her up and throw away the key. We see this right away when she gets on the County Attorney for putting down Mrs. Wright’s house keeping. I find this to be wonderfully symbolic in that most women of this time usually allowed the men to say whatever they wanted about their sex, never standing up for themselves or each other You notice this to be so because Mrs. Peters is struggling against what she is hearing the men say versus what she feels herself. When Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters that she would hate for the men to be in her kitchen snooping around and criticizing, Mrs. Peters responds by saying "Of course it’s no more than their duty". This reflects to me a lady who has been so brain washed by the manly view of her time that she can’t even see the simple feelings that women feel for and between each other. We then come to the part where the ladies are talking about Mrs. Peter’s interactions with the other women in town. Mrs. Hale said she was not part of the Ladies’ Aid (which seemed like the thing for the women to do in that town), she dressed shabbily which she never did before becoming Mr. Wright’s wife. Mrs. Hale also clearly states that she does not believe that Mrs. Wright killed her husband whereas Mrs. Peters is struggling with this, saying that the Attorney thinks it looks bad because she did not wake up when her husband was being killed in bed right beside her. Mrs. Hale takes the view I would by saying don’t blame her because obviously he didn’t wake up either or maybe he would be alive or at least maybe he could have awakened her in his struggle. Another symbolic part of the play is when the men overhear the women talking about Mrs. Wright’s quilt, wondering if she was going to quilt it or knot it, and they laugh at them. Mrs. Hale is immediately offended by the way they laughed at them where Mrs. Peters is apologizing for them because "they have a lot on their minds".

Eating Disorders and the Media :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Eating Disorders and the Media Today's society is undeniably marked by cultural norms and ideals.   The question is, however, does the mass media's depiction of this norm cause harmful behavior in its population?   Researchers have shown that there is a bias in the way television targets children in advertising (Ogletree, S., Williams, S., Raffeld, P., Mason, B., Fricke, K., 1990) and that this media influence over people has always been observable (Miles, M., 1995).   This targeting of audience members serves the purpose of singling out the most desirable consumer for the product to encourage their economic support.   So if advertising is only concerned with selling product, why is it blamed for the low self-esteem and body image and thus the bulimia and anorexia seen in today's women?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The images projected by the media in commercials, products, wrote ads etc. give today's consumers an idea of what "normal" should look like (Sellers, M., Waligroski, K., 1993).   The people in the ads would all have the ideal body proportions, material possessions and social status in order to deserve the attention the ad places on them.   Viewers see the ads and compare the body images they see to themselves, which is likely to reveal a discrepancy.   Five years ago, the average female model weighed 23% less that the average woman of the time (Miles, M., 1995) and the difference is only growing.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Men to are affected by the media's portrayal of what ideal looks like.   Jirousek explains the evolution of the ideal male figure from a slim and "romantic" shape to the "superhuman" image we see in television and the rest of media today (1996).   With the beginning of televised football in the 1930's, the popularized image of males incorporated the larger than life appearance from shoulder pads and other "armor" to encompass movie heroes, comic book characters and clothing models.   With the males in the public eye having these muscular figures and distorted proportions, the "normal" male then received the impression that this is what women wanted even if the look does not come easily to most men.   Fabio is a good example of this image (although Jirousek states that Fabio is more for the female consumer than the influence over male viewers, 1996).   This male image could be just the thing a man needs to see in order to feel completely below expectations t hus, resulting in low self-esteem.

Thematic Analysis on the Book American Buffalo by David Mamet

A buffalo accepts minimum from the society and gives the maximum-its food is grass (unless you feed something special) and the finished product that you get is milk! The junk store shown when American Buffalo opens, doesn’t inspire much. Normally, when the curtains are raised, the opening scene/set is supposed to be the best, highly impressive, to create a lasting impression with the audience. The secondhand â€Å"antique† store run by Don Dubrow nevertheless, kindles curiosity. The stage is filled with lots of junk. It is ‘easy’ to create neat and clean or fascinating sets.A jumble set needs so much imagination to do. For example, a big overflowing dustbin prominently kept at the stage evokes as much curiosity as the big flower-vase full of colorful flowers. It evokes immediate enthusiasm in the minds of the spectators, â€Å"Why it is there on the stage at this initial stage of the drama? † The opening dialogues go to the credit of Don who is deliv ering a business discourse to Bob, inviting his attention to the promised deals and the necessity to stick on to it. Bob was busy with not so healthy and socially acceptable ideas to get rich quick.Bob apologizes, but Don speaks with a frustrated note at his friend’s temporary betrayal. Don retorts, â€Å"Don’t tell me you’re sorry, I’m not mad at you. † This observation speaks about the sincerity of Don to bring his friend to the right track, by involving him in the respectable business of junk dealings! Filling the stage with the junk in such voluminous and vast quantity is not the easiest of the things to do. Clive Barnes (writing for the New York Times) called the Broadway set â€Å"astonishing† and described it as â€Å"an agglomeration of trash that must have taken a team of assistants months to acquire.† (American†¦) Out of that confusing and unclassified dump, David Mamet tries to find the essential needs for a dignified life. The junk yard is the not the final destination for those articles. They rather wait for a new beginning—yet another lease of respectful life! The theme as conceived by Mamet, has some hidden agenda as for the welfare of the society. He has strange ways of propounding how to achieve his objectives! American Buffalo received intense critical attention, for it set the critics thinking and disturbed their psyche.What they saw on the stage was not an ordinary effort as depicted by an ordinary story. The emotional highs and lows of the characters were realistic as per conditions obtaining in a big chunk of the American Society. David Mamet used the lowest of the language, the meanest of the vocabulary, to say his truth. He was bold in his approach, but no so beautiful and refined. But where is refine ness in the real-life situations that he was explaining? But the nods and appreciation that he secured for the plot and for his characters must be from those who have experienced such situations, either with or without success.David Manmet doesn’t value victory or defeat much. He sees the truth in the permanent efforts. The untiring ones! His thematic approach to the language and expressions he used in the play is with a definite purpose. He could have written the dialogues in ‘King’s English’, but he preferred the idiosyncrasies and the latent humor of everyday speech of an average individual. Such characters responded and reacted to the routine situations in an ordinary but emphatic way. They expressed their opinions in a crude manner, by ‘keeping the essential dignity’ of their position in the society.Every individual lives his life along with certain ambiguities, which he carries as his luggage, when he is unable to solve them. He however has a hope that one day he will be able to solve them, and will achieve a problem-free state. Reading a play is one thing, and looking at the performance, when many characters â €˜read’ the play in accordance with their acting abilities, is another matter. The script, when you read may confuse you, may keep you less-inspired, you may feel that you are making desperate efforts to go through confusing paragraphs and sentences.But when the characters do their sincere job of pronouncing them on the stage, David Mamet proves to us that he is right. He has judged their spirits and caught their moods right, with those appropriate utterances, what if they are half-thoughts and obscenities. He has showed and depicted the reality of obscenity, because you find it very much prevalent in the vocabulary of the society about which he is writing. So, what harm is there in calling the spade a spade? The incident shown about three crook’s planning to steal a coin collection in the name of â€Å"good business† is right according to their level of thinking.(It is better than stabbing an individual to rob his wealth or cheat a bank with fraudulent ideas ) That is the stage of their progression in life. They are able to offer justification for their actions as per their own perfected reasoning. Whether the society accepts it or not is another matter. But they have no confusion about their objective. The characters of David Mamet have a particular level of existence. You can’t pass judgment on them by sitting on the ivory tower. To know them, you need to reach their level. Understand their real-life situations and put you in their shoes!They do, what they do, not out of pleasure; but out of sheer necessity of existing in this world. Therefore, the seemingly inarticulate utterances yield a rhythm found in few other playwrights' work. â€Å"Part of the fascination of the play,† wrote Women's Wear Daily's Howard Kissel, lies in â€Å"noting how the same banal language takes on different colors as we perceive the changing relationships† between the characters. (American†¦) To maintain friendship and business tog ether requires lots of understanding. The beginning seems to be good, but what really matters is maintenance of the relation ship.Business world is not always the domain of ethics. The fundamental principle and the goal in business are profits, success and self-interest. The play makes good beginning as for the combination of business and friendship but by the end of the play, the edifice of friendship collapses, and self-interest hoists the flag of victory. The theme of any story always tells something about the author, even when the author makes conscious efforts to avoid it. Recollections of author’s past appear in some form or the other.May be some dialogues, situations, trials and tribulations, duty and beauty of the characters—somewhere between the interactions of the character it surfaces in a subtle form. David Mamet had a difficult childhood. He was born in Chicago, and was raised in a Jewish neighborhood. His father being a labor attorney, discussion about la bor problems must have been commonplace. Mamet has learnt and depicted the anger, frustration and slang of American youth and men very well and this can be learnt and captured in the printed page only through direct experience and exposure to situations.David Mamet introduces a unique theme in American Buffalo-the judicious use of sabotage. They say, all is fair in war and love. Mamet adds one more category to this-business wisdom (when reduced to its basest form. ) He was appreciated for his ability to find equation with the common man through this play. Their slang became his weapon of success. His characters rarely speak full sentences, but what they utter has the telling effect. You nod in approval, as it appeals to you emotions. The three main characters, the low life thugs, succeed in taking potshots at the American way of life and its business ethics.The bricks of foundation of America are dispossession of the land from the former owners and genocide of the local Indian popul ace. â€Å"The drama and conflict among the characters is intense in a very disturbing way. This is a play that makes you very uncomfortable about the way that people relate to each other and challenges your hopes that values like friendship and honor are greater than the drive to get a bit ahead no matter who you step on in the process. † (Theatre†¦) Conclusion: American Buffalo is a common man’s drama, in common language, dominated bycommon characters, but written by an uncommon author. ========== References Cited: Article: Theatre Card: American Buffalo By David Mamet . †¦ www2. netdoor. com/~campbab/theatre/buffalo. html – 10k – Retrieved on October 10, 2007. Article: American Buffalo Summary and Study Guide – David Mamet. †¦ www. enotes. com/american-buffalo – 15k –Retrieved on October 10, 2007. Mamet, David: American Buffalo (Paperback) Publisher: Grove Press; Subsequent edition (January 11, 1994) ISBN-10: 0802150 578 ISBN-13: 978-0802150578

Advantages and disadvantages of religion definition Essay

Identify and Briefly explain one advantage and two disadvantages of Functional definitions of Religion. (9 marks). One disadvantage of Functionalism in defining religion is that Conservative force states that it’s difficult to see how religion can be functioning to socialise society’s members into morality and social integration if only a minority of people attend church on a regular bases. Durkheim used the idea of Totems being able to bring ‘clans’ together and that the society used this totem as a way of worshipping togetherness. However, only a small amount of aboriginal groups were used, so it could be invalid and misleading to use this to generalise all aborigines let alone Religion as a whole. An advantage of functional definitions of religion is through the example of collective worship within a country of civil religion to show that there is still collective worship. For example, America’s new collection of beliefs, rituals and symbols with respect to things esablished within American’s society, it’s not opposed to Christianily and in fact shares a lot in common with it but is not in any extent Christian. This allows the bringing together of nations and allows the symbolisation of the nation as the ‘people’, so therefore people in America worsip Americanism. Anotheer criticism of functional definition of religion is that it ignores dysfunctional aspects and gives little consideration to hostility between different religious groups. For example, Northan Ireland and Bosnia. These religious diversions have caused social disruption and conflict rather than promoting social order which Durkheim says is maintained by the teaching of moral norms and values and creating a collective conscience where everyone sticks together. Therefore this is proven false on the aspect of it being relevant to all religions due to the religious conflict in Ireland and Bosnia.

Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC)

1. What is Mountain Man Brewing Company’s positioning relative to its competitors? Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC) is a 2nd tier domestic beer manufacturer based out of West Virginia. MMBC is positioned as a leader among local brewers in the East Central region, being one of the four regional breweries still operational in West Virginia. MMBC brews only one type of beer – the Mountain Man Lager, a dark bitter tasting beer. Target market for the product is middle aged men from the blue collared working class. Branding includes an image of coal miners on the bottle suggesting a strong taste and reinforcing target market segments to a niche.The beer sells mainly in off-premise locations. There is no variant of Mountain Man Lager available. Although MMBC is a local brewer it really competes against national brands such as Anheuser Busch and Coors. Priced at the same level as national brands, MMBC’s product is a legacy brew and enjoys high brand awareness in the r egions it sells the beer. The brand also enjoys high brand loyalty in its target market segment against national brands. MMBC has been able to achieve this brand equity without significant spending on traditional advertising but rather pursuing on grass-roots advertising.The company however is losing market share and revenues in line with the lager market. Since MMBC does not manufacture a light variant of its lager product the company has not been able to maintain its profits over the past few years. All its competitors are invested in the light beer segment given this scenario. MMBC has also seen shifting market segments due to an aging initial target market segment. The company is also at the risk of losing distributor loyalty thanks to increasing pressure on distributor margins.Summing it up, MMBC is losing market share due to changes in market dynamics while still seeing significant brand loyalty and awareness in its home turf. 2. What factors have contributed to making MMBC a strong brand? Factors contributing to MMBC’s strong brand image are as follows a. Brand awareness and loyalty Mountain Man lager has a high level of awareness among consumers in its target segments. Being positioned as a strong, bitter tasting beer it resonates with the values of hard working blue collar workers. The brand has seen high consumer loyalty over several years. b. Pin point target marketMMBC has been able to target the Mountain Man Lager brand towards specific market segments and been successful at it. Targeted towards middle aged, low to medium income working men, the brand has been able to deliver value to its consumers. c. Grass-roots marketing MMBC has been able to achieve the brand awareness without spending less than 3% of its revenues on advertising. The sales team has been able to create grass root level awareness by positioning the beer as an off-premises brand and by word of mouth advertising as opposed to traditional advertising. This has enabled MMBC t o reap greater brand commitment from its consumers. . What factors have contributed to the decline of MMBC? Although successful, MMBC has seen a decline in sales in the recent years. The main factors contributing to this decline in sales are a. Shifting market segment Mountain Man Lager’s market segment has started to age and new market segments are beginning to form, especially a younger market segment. This has allowed other brands to target the new younger population with â€Å"light† variants of beers which MMBC has not. Mountain Man Lager does not resonate with the younger population’s tastes as it is a strong, dark beer. . Emerging product segmentation The lager segment has been on the decline for a few years, mostly losing to the â€Å"light beer† segment. Given the rapid growth of the light segment of beer the lager market has been steadily losing market share. The light beer segment has grown 4% annually at the cost of the lager market’s s hare. MMBC has not been able to capitalize on this trend as it does not currently offer a light beer. c. Ineffective advertising Given the younger market segment’s preference to consume beer on-premises, MMBC has been unable to promote its products effectively.National beer brands have been able to splurge on advertising and use lifestyle based advertising apart from on-premises advertising to attract new customers. Given MMBC’s small advertising budget it is an uphill task to promote their brand to newer consumer segments. 4. Assuming the company introduces Mountain Man light. Conduct a 1 year and 2 year analysis for the Mountain Man Light brand? Calculation of Break Even Volumes Required – First Year Breakeven|   | Year 1| Current Revenues of MM Beer| 50,440,000. 00| Projected Revenues of MM Beer Next Year| 49,431,200. 00|Projected Contribution from MM Beer| 15,323,672. 00| Projected Loss of Sales from Introduction of MM Light| 2,471,560. 00| Projected Loss of Contribution from Launch of MM Light| 766,183. 60| # Barrels of MM Light Needed to recover Loss of Contribution | 30,188. 48| Cost of Advertising MM Light| 750,000. 00| Incremental SG&A cost| 900,000. 00| # Barrels of MM Light Needed to recover new Advertising Costs + SG&A| 65,011. 82|   |   | # Barrels of MM Light Needed to Break-Even in First Year| 95,200. 30|   |   | Compared to forecast sales in the first year of | 48,735. 19|   |   |Calculation of Year 2 Volumes (Needed to Calculate the 2-year Breakeven|   |   | Year 2| |   | Projected Revenues of MM Beer Next Year| 48,442,576. 00| Projected Contribution from MM Beer| 15,017,198. 56| Projected Loss of Sales from Introduction of MM Light| 2,422,128. 80| Projected Loss of Contribution from Launch of MM Light| 750,859. 93| # Barrels of MM Light Needed to recover Loss of Contribution | 29,584. 71| Cost of Advertising MM Light| 0. 00| Incremental SG&A cost| 900,000. 00| # Barrels of MM Light Needed to recover ne w Advertising Costs + SG&A| 35,460. 99|   |   | Forecast Sales in Year 2| 101,369. 19|   | Calculation of Break Even Volumes Required – Two Year Breakeven|   |   | Two Years of Lost Contribution | 1,517,043. 53| Initial Advertising Costs (One Time only)| 750,000. 00| Two Years of Incremental SG&A| 1,800,000. 00| Contribution per Barrel of MM Light| 25. 38| # Barrels of MM Light Needed to Break-Even in Two Years| 160,246. 00|   |   | Compared to forecast sales over the first two years of | 150,104. 38|   |   | | | 5. Should MMBC introduce Mountain Man Light? Options Grid| | Option 1| Option 2| Description of Option| Launch Mountain Man Light| Do not launch Mountain Man Light| Benefits of Option| a.Tap into a growing market b. Introduce brand to new market segments c. Retain current distribution network| a. Maintain brand image of Mountain Man Lager b. Risk losing market share further c. Lose out on shelf space in distributor network| Strategic Fit| a. Better long term strategic fit b. Ability to turn things around for the brand c. Will help brand position itself among younger consumer segments d. May induce lower brand alienation in the short term| a. No changes to current fit b. Slowing revenues from product segment c.High brand loyalty| Financial Attractive ness| a. Break even in just over 2 years b. High contribution margins (51%) over the long term compared to main brand c. Exposure to new product segments will ensure continues revenues| a. Falling market share (falling by 2% per annum) b. Long term losses imminent c. Long term advertising budget has to be increased drastically| Noteworthy Risks| a. Revenues fall at 2% per annum for the Mountain Man Lager brand b. No significant changes in market dynamics b. Cannibalization is at 5% c. Growth in market share is at 0. 25% for light brand a. Fall in market share not higher than 4% per annum b. Investment in advertising not increased beyond current levels| Final summary MMBC has to int roduce Mountain Man Light to capture market share in the light segment. Without doing that the company runs the risk of losing market share almost in a guaranteed manner over a period of time if not in an accelerated fashion. MMBC has to capture market share by using traditional advertising although it will lose money over 2 years. However since the contribution margins are larger for the Light brand the losses can be made up from year 3.

Organizational Staffing Plan: Part 2

The purpose of this paper is to provide additional insight into the staffing process to be implemented by the coffee shop. This paper will present several key points in order to procure final loan approval. These points include the formulation of a recruitment plan and strategy, which will be used by the coffee shop initially and throughout the next three years. The targeted communication message and delivery medium will be presented for the purpose of attracting applicants. The selection process to be used will be identified as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this process.The types of initial and substantive assessment methods that can be used to select external candidates and how these assessments align with the staffing strategy will be discussed. And finally, the predictors which will be used to assess the KSAOs will be identified. Recruiting Plan and Implementation Strategy The coffee shop is a smaller business and does not have the staff or budget to run its own rec ruitment functions effectively. The recruitment strategy that will be used to staff the coffee shop initially and throughout the next three years will be the use of an employment website.This open recruitment plan will allow the coffee shop to attract a very diverse set of applicants. The benefit of the employment website is that they will be able to provide the advertising, video advertising, pre-employment screenings, and applicant tracking (Heneman, Judge, & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012, p. 222). Once the initial recruitment has been accomplished, it will be in the best interest of the coffee shop to change the strategy slightly and move towards a more targeted recruitment plan. The coffee shop will be better equipped to handle placing their own advertisements, utilizing social media, and networking from within the staff.This strategy will benefit the coffee shop because they will be able to seek specific individuals with certain, knowledge, skills, ability, and other characteristics. Creating a Communication Message Once the coffee shop moves into their more targeted recruitment plan, they will need to develop a communication message. The communication message is one of the most important aspects to attracting applicants to the available positions. It will be very important to resist the urge to make the message all inclusive. To increase accuracy, the coffee shop will need to aim for one target audience per message.This will mean that there will be multiple messages, but only one message for each position description. It will also be very important that the targeted message reaches the target audience. Therefore, it is imperative that the message convey the benefits of the position to the proper audience (Massachusetts Service Alliance [MA Service Alliance], 2013). The coffee shop is considering using the following targeted communication message for advertising the coffee server positions. Of course this message is being targeted to the nearby college students. Are you looking for a way to make some extra money? Are you looking for more than just a job? Join us in our warm, friendly coffee shop. This will be different from other jobs. You will enjoy working in our fast paced environment. You’ll have the opportunity to make great connections with our customers while providing them with quality beverages and food products. Come join our team while building relationships that will last a lifetime. We offer flexible schedules, great benefits and an environment that is truly welcoming. Selecting an Effective Communication MediumBecause the coffee shop’s initial strategy is to use an employment website, the communication medium for the recruitment effort would be the internet. Utilizing the internet will enable the shop to recruit from a vast and diverse talent pool of applicants. An employment website is second only to referral as a source of new hires (Heneman, Judge, & Kammeyer-Mueller, 2012, p. 222). Once the initial recruitmen t is complete, the coffee shop will move to a different communication medium. The coffee shop will be able to utilize advertisement options such as classified ads, radio and television ads, and word of mouth.Because word of mouth is one of the most powerful methods of communicating job opportunities, the coffee shop is anticipating that the current employees will be able to ‘sell’ the coffee shop. In order to minimize advertising costs, it will benefit the coffee shop to utilize social media. Facebook, Twitter, and many other social media sites are a great way to reach out to the community. By maintaining pages on these social media sites, the coffee shop not only will be able to advertise for open positions, but they will also be able to advertise the company and drawin new customers. Selection Process Putting the right person into the right position is the goal of an effective selection process. By selecting the right applicant for each of the positions, the coffee sh op will face less absenteeism and employee turnover problems. In addition, the coffee shop will also save time and money (â€Å"Selection Process,† n. d. , Para. 1. ). To begin this process it will be necessary to determine the Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other characteristics (KSAOs). And then determine which KSAOs are necessary to assess the applicants.Once identified, a method to assess the KSAOs will need to be determined. The advantages of selecting the employees this way is that the coffee shop will eliminate unqualified applicants early in the process. However, the disadvantage is that it may significantly lessen the pool of applicants. This may require additional time and cost in advertising again for the positions. Selection Assessment Methods By utilizing an employment website, the coffee shop will be presented with applicants that have been prescreened.However, once the coffee shop is established and discontinues the use of an outside agency, it will need to prescreen them to determine which applicants are likely to be high performers if hired. The initial assessment begins with a review of the resume. This review will be necessary to determine if the applicant has listed any skill or experience that meets the qualification requirements. In the case of the store manager, the coffee shop will be looking for retail experience, supervisory experience, and experience analyzing financial reports.Although, a college degree in business or a closely related field may substitute for a portion of the required experience. In addition, the manager position requires a high school diploma. For the server, the experience should be reflected by customer service and cash handling experiences. Once the applicant pool has been reduced to eligible candidates, a structured interview will be conducted. This substantive assessment will be conducted by the owner of the coffee shop. The structured interview will allow for three to five questions.These same ques tions will be asked of each candidate and will be developed based upon the KSAOs relevant to the position. The questions should reflect the candidate’s behavioral response, either by past behavior or by potential future situations. Benchmark responses and rating scales will be developed in conjunction with the questions to allow for the most desirable evaluation. If it is determined that some of the questions are more important than others, those questions will be weighted. Predictors to Assess KSAOs As seen in the first paper presented, the KSAOs have already been presented.The coffee shop will utilize the necessary KSAOs to further assess the applicant’s knowledge and experience. For the position of store manager, some of the KSAOs that will be necessary are the ability to manage effectively in a fast-paced environment, ability to manage store operations independently, ability to manage multiple situations simultaneously, interpersonal skills, knowledge of customer s ervice techniques, organization and planning skills, team-building skills, ability to plan and prioritize workload, and ability to handle confidential and sensitive information.For the position of coffee server, the KSAOs used in the assessments would be the ability to learn quickly, strong interpersonal skills, the ability to work as part of a team, and the ability to build relationships. In order to predict successful job performance both the resume and the results of the structured interview will be reviewed. The knowledge listed on an applicant’s resume should become highly relevant during the structured interview. The structured interview will allow the candidate to reveal verbal skills, which are necessary to successfully communicate with both fellow workers and customers.The applicants resume will reflect required abilities while the interview will appropriately assess them. Other individual characteristics may be predicted through during the interview. The candidateâ €™s personality, which will not show in a resume, will be revealed at the structured interview. Conclusion For the coffee shop to be successful, it will need to have a recruitment plan as well as a strong strategic plan for the first three years of the business.

Imagery in Prose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Imagery in Prose - Essay Example He wasn’t a rock star in a traditional meaning either (well, everybody knows those adored handsome guys following the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll motto); he didn’t earn a fortune of money and never grew vain. His fans found something disarming about his kind and easy-going manners, and everyone would sense something so familiar in his songs. He didn’t want to be famous worldwide and wasn’t obsessed with fame, he knew that it was a delusive thing. Now, hurrying to meet his fans (who were certainly the best fans in the world, he thought) at a charity concert, he thought about the legacy he wanted to leave: not because he was going to die, not at all. It was in his nature, this desire to be useful to the society, and he had so many plans and so many purposes. Miles wanted to communicate his message to people. â€Å"The legacy and the message,† he thought. â€Å"That’s what makes artists live forever in the minds of people. But is it enough? Is it enough to write a couple of mediocre songs? Guys like me are not starry enough to get themselves listened to.† If he shared these thoughts with his wife, she would surely say that he was too modest and underestimated his significance. Well, he did. The cellphone rang – it was Steve, the concert manager (he always communicated with all the staff himself). Miles picked up the call with his right hand, holding the driving wheel with the left one. The car lost traction on the icy turn and ran against the truck. The collision set the Range Rover afire. Everything was blurred in his eyes, and the last thing he saw before he fell into darkness was the strange fiery bird of red and gold hovering above him. Miles found himself standing near the cathedral of his hometown amidst the overwhelming crowd of grieving people dressed in black. The weather was lousy, cold rain falling from the leaden clouds; however,

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

Business Ethics - Essay Example People also differ on how businesses should approach diversity efforts. Some say that firms should manage diversity for legal compliance, while others assert for greater proactive initiatives (Eagley and Carli 110; Sandel 169). I believe that businesses should go beyond following laws that prohibit discrimination, and instead, they should exceed the requirements of the law and actively encourage diversity as the new ethical business strategy, because promoting diversity is a â€Å"common good† and provides multiple benefits for concerned stakeholders. Businesses have a moral obligation to promote diversity as a common good. Firms understandably aim to reduce costs and maximize profits, because those are some of the obvious purposes of having a business. Companies aim to turn profits, so that they can grow either locally or internationally and improve shareholder wealth. However, past and present experiences have shown that these goals should not be the only aims of businesses, because they should also be held accountable for the social, economic, environmental, cultural, and political consequences of their actions. They should be aware that the Machiavellian principle is not always ethical; not all means justify the end. For instance, it is not right to prefer promoting male candidates, because of the belied that women are often divided between family and work roles and responsibilities, and so they may be less reliable than men. It is not also right to hire female workers and pay them less than male counterparts, so that the company can save money. Companies should also be responsible for promoting and contributing to the â€Å"common good† and they can do this through seeing diversity as an ethical business strategy for their good and the good of society. The common good represents what is good for the society in general and not only for individuals. In Chapter 7, Sandel argues for affirmative action. He stresses that affirmative action can serv e the common good, because it corrects the testing gap, balances the wrongs of the past, and supports diversity (169). There is evidence that standardized tests are possibly biased. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and other standardized tests are disputed for not being able to accurately predict academic and professional success, as well as measure different forms of intelligence (Sandel 169). Martin Luther King, Jr. had mediocre scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and even scored below average in verbal aptitude (Sandel 169). Studies also show that African Americans and Hispanics generally score lower than white students in standardized tests and scholars argue that test scores should also be properly interpreted in the context of the students’ social, family, cultural, and educational conditions (Sandel 169). In the same way, firms should also promote diversity, because standardized HR practices and measures are not always fair to minorities. In â€Å"Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership,† Eagley and Carli describe the labyrinth of challenges for women in and vying for leadership positions. They reveal that only 6% of the top positions in corporations on the Fortune 500 list belong to women with only 2% holding the position of CEO (Eagley and Carli 105). They argue that the main causes of gender gap in leadership positions are not the â€Å"glass ceilings,† but because organizations have created a â€Å"labyrinth† for female employees. Firms can address this by changing norms, values, and

Theories essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Theories - Essay Example In regards to the theories, artists will use a piece of the previous artworks so that they can achieve success in their latest artwork (Schmidhuber, 2012). This makes a pattern that identifies the artist. See Apendix 1. The sociocultural theories are used when considering if the piece of art has cultural and value systems. This theory is used to look at the environmental conditions that may have influenced the piece of art. It also checks how the economy is a factor while creating the piece of art. The economic condition of the artist while producing the piece of art bares a huge influence on the final piece. It also explores the possibility of political conditions during the production of the piece. This theory takes a more physiological approach. The theory dates back to the Russian revolution. The theory is closely associated with the Russian psychologist Les s. Vygotksy. He stated that the social design of regrets is the main influence on an artwork. The personal, social design and regrets come second The expressive theories investigate if the artist tried to express his personality on the art piece or he expressed the views of the world. This theory was created out of the Romantic Movement. This crashed with the classifications which placed an individual at the center of the artwork. The theory states that good art should show the artists emotions and felling successfully. The art piece should communicate these feelings to the ones looking at the piece well. The today’s definition of art has been derived from this particular theory (Bourne, 2001). A good piece of art should be able to express all these theories successfully. These theories are used to classify paintings and deduct reason from them. They help in understanding what the artist was thinking about while making the painting. All the three theories have different dimensions and each dimension applies to a specific painting so as to make a good analysis. For example the

Summery Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Summery - Article Example This has raised question concerning the superiority of each strand of paradigm to another. This diverts attention of the main issues which are: activities to be included in requirements engineering, what institutes a requirement, and issue that need more attention. Requirements engineering activities involves the incorporation of standard mechanisms in fashions that are advanced instead of persisting with the exercise of reinventing the constituents themselves. What constitutes a requirement explains the complete statement of what the system will do without regarding to how it will do it. To understand this we should differentiate functional and non-functional requirements. Issues that are fundamental include: backing-up market-driven inventors, ranking requirements according to desirability and necessity, integration of design artifacts, accessibility of requirements methods and tools, and coping with incompleteness. For effective management of these requirements we should seek to avoid common mistakes like underestimating the cost of the shifting requirements, discovering wrong requirements when it is too late, lack of understanding the main user needs and problems, and lack of communication of urgencies and status to the team. The main objective for requirements engineering is to narrow the gap between research and

Discussion board forum Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion board forum - Assignment Example Advertisement policy for target recruitment strategy can be denoted by certain population as fair. Some of valid reasons behind the implementation of target recruiting strategy are recruitment of the special KSAOs, attract employees who are passive, making further relationship with the former employees and filling the diversity gaps in the organization. But the reality is that targeted recruitment can help organization to bring diversity in the workplace. This resembles the fact that the targeting recruiting strategy is unfair regardless of its minimal advantage to bring diversity. Some of the organization provide target recruitment message by taking in to consideration gender and minorities. The system is regarded as unfair when certain member of the community is targeted exclusively. The fairness of the message to target member denies providing equal opportunity to the other groups of people who do not have the chance to view the message (Gatewood, 2010). Organization may sometimes target particular groups who may be more mature workers. This creates a sense of unfairness on the mind of other groups of people who thinks that they are been ignored and can lead to demotivation. Every employee has the right to vie the necessary requirement for the job. Every workplace must be diverse and reduce the poor performance of the employee. Targeting recruitment strategy can take much longer time and could eventually cost more than that of normal recruitment strategy. This can also lessen the morale of the employee which can rather lead to less in productivity. Bias on one age group can create a sense of negative motivation on the employees. The application of target recruitment strategy can create a sense of inflexibility among the employee. Every organization must implement change management in the organization to sustain in the

How to Merge Two Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

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