Wednesday, December 25, 2019

The Practices of Dr. Rank in A Dolls House Essay examples

The Practices of Dr. Rank In the play A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, the convention of marriage is examined and questioned for its lack of honesty. The play is set in the late 1800s, which provides the backdrop for the debate about roles of people in society. Ibsen uses the minor character, Dr. Rank, to help develop the theme of conflicts within society. This, in turn, creates connections with the plot. Dr. Ranks function in the play is to foreshadow, symbolize, and reflect upon the truth of life and society and to break down the barrier between appearance and reality. One function of Dr. Rank in the play is to foreshadow events to come. Upon Ranks introduction in Act I, the reader is immediately given†¦show more content†¦It is also believed that Ranks illness is a product of his morally corrupt father, which widens the connection with societys ignorant beliefs. On the night of Ranks final examination, one can see the symbolic connection between Ranks death and the death of Nora and Torvalds marriage. This can clearly be seen in what happens after the statement Nora makes about receiving Ranks calling cards telling of his coming death, That when those cards came, hed be taking his leave of us. Hell shut himself in now and die (1604). It is with this extremely symbolic statement that the reader can see the connections between Rank, the death of a society which does not allow honesty in marriage, and the end of pretending by Nora. Almost immediately after Nora makes the statement about Dr. Rank, she decides to perform a final e xamination of her life and lets the letter from Krogstad be revealed. It is through the symbolism of Rank that the reader sees the deterioration of society as it was known by the main characters. Another function that Dr. Rank serves is that of reflecting upon the true personalities of Nora and Torvald. Ranks friendship with Nora and Torvald is thought to be the same, yet they are independently different. Nora is able to talk more seriously with Rank then she is with Torvald. This aspect of Ranks friendship with Nora becomes evident in her statement: You see, TorvaldShow MoreRelatedA Doll s House And Ghosts1118 Words   |  5 Pagesas a motif to represent the moral corruption that lies within the characters in A Doll’s House and Ghosts. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can result in extremely fatal consequences if not treated properly and in a timely matter. Syphilis, in Ghosts, leads Mrs. Alving having to make a life-changing decision for not only herself but a person she loves dearly, her son Oswald. In A Doll’s House, Dr. Rank is infected with syphilis which not only leads to his death but influences the wayRead More A Dolls House: Nora Essay1401 Words   |  6 Pages In Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House, the personality of the protagonist Nora Helmer is developed and revealed through her interactions and conversations with the other characters in the play, including Mrs. Linde, Nils Krogstad, Dr. Rank and Ann-Marie. Ibsen also uses certain dramatic and literary techniques and sty les, such as irony, juxtaposition and parallelism to further reveal interesting aspects of Nora’s personality. Mrs. Linde provides and interesting juxtaposition to Nora, while KrogstadRead More A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen Essay1111 Words   |  5 PagesA Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen The play â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen is about a wife that is hiding a big secret from her overprotective husband. The play takes place on Christmas Eve till the day after Christmas. Nora Helmer and Torvald Helmer have been married for 8 years, yet Nora is hiding something from Torvald that she thinks would ruin everything if he found out. It opens up with Nora coming home and decorating the house for Christmas and making preparations. They have 3 children:Read MoreThe Ethics And Morals Of A Doll s House Essay1559 Words   |  7 PagesLiberty and happiness are inexorably linked and positively correlated. Through the lens of the protagonist, Nora, Henrik Ibsen, in A Doll’s House, criticizes nineteenth-century European society’s moral, laws, and social structures for their deleterious effects on freedom, happiness, and self-determination. Specifically, the characters of Nora, Krogstad, Torvald, Dr. Rank, and Mrs. Linde lack freedom and happiness because of society’s backwards gender roles, moral righteousness, and an excessive concernRead MoreEssay about a doll house1558 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ â€Å"A Doll House† Henrik Ibsen play â€Å"A Doll House,† written in 1879, focuses on a story of a disparaging role of women in Victorian society through his doll motif, played out in Nora’s sudden distaste for her home. Throughout the play there are many examples of Nora’s husband Torvald treating Nora in an insulting manner because she’s a woman. Torvald calls her little pet names, and states that she’s frail. Nora does things according to what Torvald wants. Everything is done by his standardsRead More Henrik Isbens A Dolls House Essay1126 Words   |  5 Pages Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll House examines a woman’s struggle for independence in her marriage and social world. Through the use of character change, Ibsen conveys his theme that by breaking away from all social expectations, we can be true to ourselves. When Ibsen presents Nora Helmer, we see a â€Å"perfect† wife, who lives in a â€Å"perfect† house with a â€Å"perfec t† husband and children. The Helmer children have a nanny that raises them. By having the nanny, Nora has the freedom to come and go as sheRead MoreA Dolls House1307 Words   |  6 PagesA Dolls House: 2. How does the imagery in the play aid the audience to appreciate the themes, the dramatic question(s), of the play? A Dolls House is a play written in 1879 by Henrik Ibsen depicting the story of a couple Nora and Torvald Helmer. The play specifically follows the journey of the character Noras self-discovery and struggle against the oppression of her husband Torvald and the society that he represents. Ibsen uses non-verbal elements such as screen directions and setting descriptionsRead MoreA Dolls House Critical Analysis1477 Words   |  6 PagesIn Henrik Ibsen’s controversial play, A Doll’s House, the audience witnesses Nora Helmer, a Norwegian housewife, struggle to hide a secret financial transaction from her husband, Torvald Helmer. At the conclusion of the play, Nora decides to leave Torvald and her children in order to find self-fulfillment. Throughout the play, Henrik Ibsen offers vivid criticism on the social expectations imposed upon women in Victorian-era society. Ibsen communicates this central message of the play by utilizingRead MoreThe Doll House by Henrik Ibsen1215 Wor ds   |  5 PagesTHE DOLL HOUSE The Society above Individual Freedom or The Suppression of the Woman The author Henrik Ibsen used the play to elaborate on the irony of the 19th century culture of restriction of individual freedom and excessive adherence to ‘societal norm’ at all cost without paying attention or having recourse to the core values and norms that brings about individual happiness and freedom. Torvald Helmer tried to elucidate the abnormality of seeking individual freedom instead of societal norm whenRead MoreExploration Notes- as Level Drama and Theatre Studies- Metamorphosis and a Dolls House4285 Words   |  18 PagesExploration Notes 1) Discuss and compare the exploration of characterisation in Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff and (A Doll’s House). Draw your own practical understanding of the skills used including use of language and voice to portray character. In our practical sessions of Modelling Gregor in â€Å"Metamorphosis†, we thought about how we would physically see Gregor. To do this, we had to individually create the shape of Gregor with our bodies. We all started off thinking about it really

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Human Resource Management ( Hrm ) - 1883 Words

Human resource management (HRM), â€Å"the management of human skills and talents to make sure they are effectively used and in in alignment with an organization’s goals† (Youseff, 2012, Glossary), is an important part of any organization that deals with personnel procedures, managerial duties, and policies that affects the workforce. Human Resources deals with all issues and makes many of the decisions that are related to employees within the company. HR is important to the company because it helps take care of the most important part of any company, the people that work there. Many companies look to the employees that work there as one of the most valuable assets since they help the company achieve their goals and objectives. Therefore, the work of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to ensure that the company s employees are treated fairly, that the employees hired are the best for the company’ strategic development, that they are compensated fairly through salary and benefits, employees are safe in the work environment and there are good relations between the employees and the company. Today business is constantly changing due to competition, changes in products, changes in consumer demands and increased globalization, these changes make it even more important to have a great HRM in order assist employees to grow and develop skills. The human resource department (HR) of an organization is crucial in assisting employees grow and develop their skills. Employees are the mostShow MoreRelatedHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1508 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Human resource management (HRM) is the managing of human skills and talents to make sure they are used effectively and in alignment with an organization’s goals† (Youssef, 2012). The primary role of human resource management is to plan, develop, and order policies and programmers designed to make prompt use of an organization’s human resources. It is that part of management which is concerned with the people at work and with their relationship within an organization. I currently work for a HumanR ead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1552 Words   |  7 PagesHuman Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an association that has emphases on the employment of, administration of, and providing direction for the employees within an organization. The Human Resource Management department members deliver knowledge, training, tools, administrative services, and lawful and organization advice. The HRM department is organized by very talented managers who has a mission to make sure the rest of the business has the needs for successful operation. HumanRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1562 Words   |  7 PagesHuman resource management (HRM) is an important strategic and systematic approach that provides each company with the opportunity to create policies and practices, as well as to establish administrative forms (Pfeffer, 2007). According to Armstrong (2009) HRM is an approach that deals with ‘employment, development, and well-being of the people working in organizations’. However HRM has evolved significantly through the years due to the rapid social, economic, political and environmental changes.Read MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1142 Words   |  5 Pageshe HRM Process Human Resource Management (HRM) is a combination of elements that work interdependently on each other to carry out the daily functions within an organization. Human Resources Management operates in several roles serving as a liaison between the organization and the employee. This dual role often present challenges within HRM; therefore it is vital the HRM Department is skilled on various issues that may arise on a daily basis within an organization. In this paper, I will discussRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1105 Words   |  5 PagesHuman Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an association that has emphases on the employment of, administration of, and providing direction for the employees within an organization. The Human Resource Management department members deliver knowledge, training, tools, administrative services, and lawful and organization advice. The HRM department is organized by very talented managers who has a mission to make sure the rest o f the business has the needs for successful operation. HumanRead MoreHuman Resource Management : Hrm772 Words   |  4 Pagesa brief description of the models of HRM discussed in the first chapter of the textbook, and explain how each one relates to strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management (HRM) at its best seeks to manage people and resources to maximize economic and social outputs. Social output resulting from providing opportunity for advancement will ultimately make employees become true participants in the company. Bratton and Gold (2012) outline six HRM models, they are: the Forbrum, TichyRead MoreHrm And The And Human Resource Management1094 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The main purpose to write this essay is to analogize the differences in the field of HRM and IR. The Foundation of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management is based on intense academic study. The essay is an endeavor to illustrate by scrutinizing their objectives and the viewpoints or the approaches of this field. The first part of the essay is an attempt to define HRM and IR and it further continues to explain the differences and similarities between the two. In the lastRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )1405 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Resource Management (HRM) seeks to manage people and resources to maximize economic and social outputs. Bratton and Gold (2012) outline six HRM models which include: the Forbrum, Tichy and Devanna model, the Harvard model, the Guest model, the Warwick model, The Storey model, and Ulrich’s Strategic Partner model of HRM. Forbrum Tichy and Devanna model of HRM is based on the principle of selecting, appraising, developing and rewarding employees who fulfill management strategic business interestsRead MoreHuman Resource Management ( Hrm )2412 Words   |  10 Pages these human traits can bring considerable benefits to organizations† (Mullins 1999). However, when managed poorly they have the potential to limit organizational growth and threaten the viability of a business. â€Å"There are countless examples of corporate and project crises in the construction sector which have arisen as the result of people s behaviour, and it would seem that human resource management (HRM) has the potential to eliminate more construction risks than any other management approach†Read MoreHuman Resources Management ( Hrm ) Essay794 Words   |  4 Pages Human Resources Management (HRM) is people who work in an organization. The manager is a person who manages people, leads, facilitates and provide tools for the organization. Human resources management also, sets strategic processes and procedures, run difficult and complex communication as the organization attracts the best talents from the recruiting process. Human resources management is where everything begins and ends for an individual and the organization. Consequently

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Concert Aerosmith free essay sample

Thissummer, I went to an Aerosmith concert it was awesome! I went with abroken leg, my mom, aunt, and boyfriend on an incredibly hot and humidday in Kansas City. Sounds like I would have been miserable, doesnt it?Despite the uncomfortable circumstances, I had a great time. Themembers of Aerosmith are true performers. They have a colorful lightshow and are still coming up with pretty colorful lyrics. Steven Tyler,the bands lead singer, is in his mid-50s, but is still full of energyand fire. He can, amazingly, still hit those crazy-high notes. As leadguitarist Joe Perry said at the end of the show, he is still theDemon of Screamin. Speaking of Joe with hispowerful guitar licks added to the talents of the other band members,the music surges with energy. There seems to be a current of adrenalinethroughout the show, even during the slow songs. And Aerosmith canreally put out some sound we had lawn seats at a good-sized outdoorarena, and our ears were still ringing. We will write a custom essay sample on Concert: Aerosmith or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For me the best part ofthe show came in the middle. There was a small stage at the edge of thelawn seating and Aerosmith came through the crowd to perform threesongs. One was their classic Dream On, and we saw it from 50feet away! The experience was amazing. If you havent seenAerosmith in concert, do it. This band has been around, and though theirmusic will last forever, their performances may not. Go to their showwith friends. Itll be an experience youll never forget.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Swot Analysis Giant Step Records free essay sample

As Giant Step has expanded its employee base, this allows for group decision making which can lead to increased creativity and networking. †¢Through the use of a company website, Giant Step can expand its market significantly and generate an increase in revenue by selling downloads and merchandise. In addition, fans can interact with artists and stay on top of tours/concerts and album release dates. †¢As an independent record label, Giant Step is not pressured by a board of directors to sign a specific sound. This allows for Giant Step to sign and promote artists they are truly interested in because they love their music and believe in them. †¢As a smaller, independent label, Giant Step has to opportunity to form stronger, more personal relationships with their artists. Threats †¢Online music piracy. As thousands of people obtain music illegally and for free, CD sales plummet and artists/record labels miss out on music profits. We will write a custom essay sample on Swot Analysis Giant Step Records or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Legal MP3 companies, such as ITunes, allow for customers to purchase individual songs, instead of entire albums, which causes a decrease in record sales. Competition from major record labels can push the smaller independent labels out of the market. †¢Due to that fact that Giant Step Records is a smaller, more informal music label, there is a possibility for disorganization and mistakes. If accounting or finances are overlooked, this could lead to incorrect payment for artists. †¢Although it is smaller in size and can form more personal relationships with artists than larger labels, Giant Step runs the risk of having less influence and power within the music industry. Giant Step may not be able to cater to all of the tour and promotion needs of their artists.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Essay on individuals who have contributed significantly to the development of computing as we know it essays

Essay on individuals who have contributed significantly to the development of computing as we know it essays Essay on individuals who have contributed significantly to the development of computing as we know it Computing, as we know it has developed greatly and rapidly in the last fifty years or so. Many individuals can be said to have contributed to the computer revolution this century, some more than significantly than others. This is assignment will concentrate on a few of these individuals and describe their pioneering achievements along with the circumstances and situations in which they materialised. The person who arguably made the most important contribution to the development of computing was an army radar technician named Douglas Engelbart. Back in 1945, he read Vannevar Bush's article As We May Think, and he had a vision! His vision was that computer-based tools could augment human intellect, thus improving our overall ability to tackle the problems and goals of the individual, and of society. During the 1950's and 60's Douglas Engelbart went on to develop the mouse, many of the features that are found in all GUI's, integrated help systems, electronic mail, teleconferencing, and interactive Hypermedia. In 1963, he set out the conceptual framework for an interactive hypermedia system in a paper entitled, A Conceptual Framework for the Augmentation of Man's Intellect. In 1968, he had completed the NLS (oN Line System), which was the early realisation of Engelbart's concept of an Augmentation System. NLS pioneered many of the features that are now integral to modern online multimedia systems; mouse, windows, e-mail, word processing, and hypertext. To Engelbart, hypertext was quite important to his Augmentation System. That it would allow users to expand the information available to them, facilitate collaborative authoring, and become a critical focus for community, all key elements of the WEB, which is a vital part of modern day computing. An assignment such as this must include some content concerning Bill ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

George Washington Carver, Agricultural Chemist

George Washington Carver, Agricultural Chemist George Washington Carver (January 1, 1864–January 5, 1943) was an agricultural chemist who discovered 300 uses for peanuts as well as hundreds of uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. His work provided a much needed boost to southern farmers who benefited economically from his recipes and improvements to adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder, and wood stain. Fast Facts: George Washington Carver Known For: Agricultural chemist who discovered 300 uses for peanuts as well as hundreds of uses for other cropsAlso Known As: The Plant Doctor, The Peanut ManBorn: January 1, 1864  in Diamond, MissouriParents: Giles and Mary CarverDied: January 5, 1943  in Tuskegee, AlabamaEducation: Iowa State University  (BA, 1894; MS, 1896)Published Works: Carver published 44 agricultural bulletins laying out his findings, while at the Tuskegee Institute, as well as numerous articles in peanut industry journals and a syndicated newspaper column, Professor Carvers Advice.Awards and Honors: The George Washington Carver Monument was established in 1943 west of Diamond, Missouri on the plantation where Carver was born. Carver appeared on U.S. commemorative postal stamps in 1948 and 1998, as well as a commemorative half dollar coin minted between 1951 and 1954, and many schools bear his name, as well as two United States military vessels.  Notable Quote: No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way are revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain, I would be helpless. Only alone can I draw close enough to God to discover His secrets. Early Life Carver was born on Jan. 1, 1864 near Diamond Grove, Missouri on the farm of Moses Carver. He was born into difficult and changing times near the end of the Civil War. The infant Carver and his mother were kidnapped by Confederate night-raiders and possibly sent away to Arkansas. Moses found and reclaimed Carver after the war, but his mother had disappeared forever. The identity of Carvers father remains unknown, although he believed his father was a slave from a neighboring farm. Moses and his wife reared Carver and his brother as their own children. It was on the Moses farm that Carver first fell in love with nature and collected in earnest all manner of rocks and plants, earning him the nickname The Plant Doctor. Education Carver began his formal education at the age of 12, which required him to leave the home of his adopted parents. Schools were segregated by race at that time and schools for black students werent available near Carvers home. He moved to Newton County in southwest Missouri, where he worked as a farmhand and studied in a one-room schoolhouse. He went on to attend Minneapolis High School in Kansas. College entrance was also a struggle because of racial barriers. At the age of 30, Carver gained acceptance to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he was the first black student. Carver studied piano and art but the college did not offer science classes. Intent on a science career, he later transferred to Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in 1891, where he gained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1894 and a Master of Science degree in bacterial botany and agriculture in 1896. Carver became a member of the faculty of the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanics (he was the first black faculty member at the Iowa college), where he taught classes about soil conservation and chemurgy. Tuskegee Institute In 1897, Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes, convinced Carver to come south and serve as the schools director of agriculture, where he remained until his death in 1943. At Tuskegee, Carver developed his crop rotation method, which revolutionized southern agriculture. He educated the farmers on methods to alternate the soil-depleting cotton crops with soil-enriching crops such as peanuts, peas, soybeans, sweet potato, and pecans. Americas economy was heavily dependent upon agriculture during this era, making Carvers achievements very significant. Decades of growing only cotton and tobacco had depleted the southern region of the United States. The economy of the farming South had also been devastated during the Civil War years and by the fact that the cotton and tobacco plantations could no longer use slave labor. Carver convinced southern farmers to follow his suggestions and helped the region to recover. Carver also worked at developing industrial applications from agricultural crops. During World War I, he found a way to replace the textile dyes formerly imported from Europe. He produced dyes of 500 different shades and was responsible for the invention of a process for producing paints and stains from soybeans. For that, he received three separate patents. Later Years and Death After finding fame, Carver toured the nation to promote his findings as well as the importance of agriculture and science in general for the rest of his life. He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column, Professor Carvers Advice, explaining his inventions and other agricultural topics. In 1940, Carver donated his life savings to establish the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee for continuing research in agriculture. Carver died on Jan. 5, 1943, at the age of 78 after falling down the stairs at his home. He was buried next to Booker T. Washington on the Tuskegee Institute grounds.   Legacy Carver was widely recognized for his achievements and contributions. He was given an honorary doctorate from Simpson College, named an honorary member of the Royal Society of Arts in London, England, and received the Spingarn Medal given every year by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In 1939, he received the Roosevelt medal for restoring southern agriculture. On July 14, 1943, The George Washington Carver Monument was established west of Diamond, Missouri, on the plantation where Carver was born and lived as a child. President Franklin Roosevelt provided $30,000 for the 210-acre complex, which includes a statue of Carver as well as a nature trail, museum, and cemetery. Additionally, Carver appeared on U.S. commemorative postal stamps in 1948 and 1998, as well as a commemorative half dollar coin minted between 1951 and 1954. Many schools bear his name, as do two United States military vessels. Carver did not patent or profit from most of his products. He freely gave his discoveries to mankind. His work transformed the South from being a one-crop land of cotton to a region of multi-crop farmlands, with farmers having hundreds of profitable uses for their new crops. Perhaps the best summary of his legacy is the epitaph that appears on his gravesite: He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world. Sources â€Å"Distinguished Alumni | Iowa State University Admissions.†Ã‚  Admissions, iastate.edu.â€Å"George Washington Carver.†Ã‚  Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 17 Apr. 2019.â€Å"George Washington Carver Publications from the Tuskegee Institute Bulletin, 1911-1943 3482.†Ã‚  George Washington Carver Publications from the Tuskegee Institute Bulletin, 1911-1943.â€Å"Learn About the Park.†Ã‚  National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.Kettler, Sara. â€Å"7 Facts on George Washington Carver.†Ã‚  Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 12 Apr. 2016.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Late Roman, Early Christian and Byzantine Art Essay

Late Roman, Early Christian and Byzantine Art - Essay Example Galla Placidia passed on in Rome, and irrespective of a long custom to the contrary, it is nothing like she was ever buried in Ravenna. Most likely, she was laid to rest in the Rotunda of St. Petronilla. The Rotunda is acknowledged as to have been the mausoleum of the relatives of Theodosius, and Galla herself. Modern erudite opinion is that Mausoleum of Galla Placidia was constructed as a rhetoric rather than mausoleum. It was uniquely linked to the narthex of the close church of Santa Croce, which is recognized to have been constructed by Galla Placidia so she possibly bespoke the oratory, and it fittingly takes her name, though she was never laid to rest there. The mosaics of Galla Placidia have fascinated millions of visitors from across the world over the centuries (Stokstad 25) The mausoleum of the oratory features a beautiful mosaic of a glittery night sky. The stars over eight hundred of them are set in concentric orbits around a golden Latin cross, with the cryptograms of the Four Evangelists upon the spandrels. The arcs of the side niches have equivalent golden patterns upon a dark background, featuring an assortment of flowers and plants down with additional stars. Next, it is essential to consider that the cross on the catacomb is jutting toward the east instead of being united with the position of the Chapel. This is nearly surely since the Chapel is not aligned to the in harmony with the set up custom, and the decorator partly corrected that by offering the central cross the appropriate alignment. May be the most essential mosaic in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is an early illustration of Christ as the Good Shepherd, situated over the entry upon the north side. The image was common in the Roman vaults of earlier centuries, but there are essentia l advancements to be witnessed in his adaptation. As opposed as to being depicted as an atypical countryman, this Good Shepherd has a

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Organization and Organizational Change Assignment

Organization and Organizational Change - Assignment Example With time constraint, management must maximize its time to alleviating the most pressing problems or issues. By identifying the actual performances, management can focus more time on the poor performances. After the poor performances are resolved, management can focus on improving the poor performance activities. Next, the author rightfully observes change management can allocate time to increasing performance outputs. Finally, management can use the remaining time to increase the average-rated activities. Resolving the above average performances, management can now use any possible time to ensuring retention of the best rated performances. Dean Anderson emphasized â€Å"different factors contribute to the change management process† (Anderson 31). The author correctly states that several factors are used in the formulation of the change management decisions. One of the factors is the competitors. When the competitor reduces its selling prices, the other competitors are persuaded to reduce their selling prices. Further, another factor is technology. When the author rightfully insists some competitors introduce new product technologies, all competitors are persuaded to acquire similar or even better product technology. For example, one company offers online booking services to its current and future customers. To retain customers, competitors are persuaded to implement similar online booking or marketing services. Furthermore, the author correctly insists changes in government statutes contribute to responsive change management strategies. For example, some governments require companies to reduce their factory smoke stack emissions. Consequently, management must comply. New government policies may require factory facilities to stop including all ozone layer damaging ingredients in the production process. Professor Robert Paton (51) emphasized â€Å"Companies must do their best to alleviate any resistance.† Some employees dislike learning

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Genetically Modified Foods Essay Example for Free

Genetically Modified Foods Essay Technology has been responsible for bringing about some of the most noteworthy accomplishments of recent generations. Medical cures for deadly diseases, the World Wide Web, faster and more efficient travel options, and advanced irrigation systems are just a few of the recent successes which have all resulted from better technology. Like anything, though, technology can be problematic at best and detrimental at worst if not employed properly. One recent use of technology which leaves many conscientious people uncomfortable is genetically modified foods (GMF). These new food sources are derived from genetically modified organisms (GMO) that have undergone a molecular level change to their DNA by genetically engineering techniques (Gaskill et al. , 1999). Not everyone is convinced that GMF are a positive use of technology. In fact, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) encouraged all physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks† (Edwards, 2013). Many skeptics are concerned with the product’s health risks and environmental impact, along with the repercussions for local farmers, particularly those operating in developing countries. Nearly everyone is affected by GMF in one way or another, but some groups of people are more directly affected than others. They include local farmers, food manufacturers, food purchasers, environmentalists/ conservationists, and government agencies. Due to insufficient scientific data concerning the safety of GMF, and the possible catastrophic consequences resulting from the development and use of this product, they should be highly monitored by government agencies and immediately banned in order to protect the public at large. James P Collins CS 300T 9/30/2013 4 Some studies have shown that GMF are potentially hazardous to consumers, especially children, pregnant women, and individuals with compromised immune systems. Many scientists and healthcare professionals argue that GMF are a major contributor to the deteriorating health of people worldwide and possibly even a carcinogen (Edwards, 2013). An increase in blood pressure and heart disease is linked to the consumption of GMF, although these food products are too recent for most researches to be able to conclude anything decisive regarding their long-term effects. Dr. Stanley Ewen, a homeopathic physician, argues that a cauliflower virus oftentimes used in GMF could potentially increase the risk of both colon and stomach cancers. Even if one is able to completely avoid GMF, they are still not safe from the harmful effects. Water sources near crops of GMF are often contaminated by the runoff from the soil. Dr. Ewen maintains that this amount of exposure alone may hasten the growth of malignant tumors (Edwards, 2013). Other studies suggest that animals fed GMF suffer from severe illnesses and die faster than expected. In India, animals that grazed on genetically modified cotton plants died almost immediately. Cows in Germany that ate genetically modified corn products experienced the same fate. Scientists are attributing this phenomenon to GMF’s tendency to produce toxins and suppress the immune system (Kuiper et al, 2001). The Institute for Responsible Technology listed 65 health risks associated with GMF. Rats fed genetically modified potatoes developed precancerous cells in the digestive tract. These rats also showed signs of inhibited development of the brain, liver, and testicles, along with atrophy of the liver and immune system damage. Another study indicated that rats fed Monsanto’s genetically modified corn showed significant changes in their blood cells, livers, and kidneys. Not surprisingly, this mega-company denied James P Collins CS 300T 9/30/2013 5 these findings and refused to conduct follow-up studies to confirm the safety of their food products (65 Health Risks, 2013). A second major drawback of GMF is their negative impact on the environment. As already stated, genetically modified crops pollute soil and water systems. This, in turn, causes adverse consequences on plants and animals (to include humans) that rely on these two natural resources. Insects that live in the soil are oftentimes negatively impacted and die due to chemical changes in the soil composition. The damage to the water affects nearly all animals, as most animals obtain their water from runoff systems (Dill, 2010). Additionally, GMF produce unnatural chemicals that give plants a new way to defend themselves and insects and animals that naturally consume these organisms die. Spiders, caterpillars, and other small insects are particularly vulnerable to these engineered chemicals. Unfortunately, many species are becoming endangered or threatened. Due to cross pollination, crops that are not genetically modified are becoming contaminated. Some scientists are concerned that if this trend is not halted, unaltered food species will become severely compromised and may even go extinct (Kuiper et al, 2001). One noteworthy example is North Dakota’s genetically modified canola plants. Scientists took thousands of random seed samples from across the whole state. Nearly every sample – whether wild or domesticated – contained genetically modified seeds. Further studies identified genetically modified canola seeds in locations as far-reaching as Japan and Ireland. Researchers interpret this data as suggestive of cross-pollination in the wild (Biello, 2010). Furthermore, scientists maintain the genetically modified crops greatly increase the amount of herbicide used. Farmers know that their crops are resistant to most herbicides. Therefore, they tend to use these toxic chemicals more liberally. Since genetically modified James P Collins CS 300T 9/30/2013 6 crops are also modified to produce their own herbicides and pesticides, the end result is that even more toxins are added to the food supply, causing even more contamination (Dill, 2011). A final reason to ban GMF is the negative economic impact these food sources have on small farmers. Many local farmers, who pride themselves on naturally growing their products, are forced out of business due to rising food costs. They cannot compete with large farms that use genetically modified seeds and pesticides on their crops. As more and more organic farmers close their doors, the available unmodified, natural food sources decrease steadily. This, in turn, drives up the prices for consumers, making it harder for the average person to afford healthy alternatives. Local farmers oftentimes have their fields completely destroyed or are forced to forfeit their harvests due to cross pollination. Large seed companies, (such as Monsanto), patent their seeds. If these seeds contaminate the local farmers’ crops, then the mega-companies are legally permitted to confiscate the produce and destroy what remains. This is particularly problematic in developing countries. According to the Center for Food Safety, big seed companies attack and target any farmer who wants to save their seeds. This plan of attack consists of three stages: â€Å"investigations; coerced settlements; and, if that fails, litigation† (Lo, 2013). In the United States alone, Monsanto has sued 410 independent farmers and 56 small business owners for violations of seed patents (Lo, 2013). Unfortunately, this mega-company won every case to date. This resulted in their receiving over $24 million from small time farmers and businesses. Countless other businesses have been forced to close their doors due to threats from Monsanto and other mega-seed corporations (Lo, 2013). Presently, many companies are working to produce even more genetically modified plants and food sources that are even more resilient to predators. Also, many large companies James P Collins CS 300T 9/30/2013 7 are lobbying policy makers in order to have stricter laws and regulations enacted to protect their modified products (Lo, 2013). If these companies are allowed to continue with their agenda, there will be dire consequences. More people will develop horrific illnesses and diseases, the environment will suffer terribly, and local farmers will be forced out of business. The Union of Concerned Scientists (2013) has proposed five ways to prevent these hazardous products from further contaminating consumers’ food supply. First, they suggest that research funding for public crop breeding programs be expanded to help subsidize the cost of producing unaltered, natural food products. Second, they advocate public research funding to develop agro-ecologically based systems of farming. Third, they propose changing patent laws to allow independent companies to experiment on GMF without legal repercussions. Fourth, they maintain that stricter controls should be placed on GMF so that these products do not come to market until scientists and private researchers can better understand their health risks. Lastly, they support food labeling laws that mandate all GMF be labeled appropriately. In conclusion, GMF are detrimental to society as a whole. They are extremely unsafe for human consumption, pose huge risks to the natural environment, and place unfair and unnecessary stressors on local farmers. Due to the numerous uncertainties associated with GMF and the data that supports their harmful side effects, these products should be heavily monitored by government agencies and banned from the public market. It would be wise for the government to adopt the five suggestions put forth by the Union of Concerned Scientists in order to better protect its people. Unfortunately, mega-seed companies have substantially more disposable income than non-profit health and welfare organizations; therefore, they can afford to buy lobbyists to petition lawmakers to make rules and decisions profitable to their agendas. James P Collins CS 300T 9/30/2013 8. Works Cited Biello, D. (2010). Genetically modified crop on the loose and evolving in U. S. Midwest. Scientific American. http://www. scientificamerican. com/article. cfm? id=genetically modified-crop Dill, J. (2010). The dangers of GMOs: Know the environmental hazards. Natural News. http://www. naturalnews. com/029869_GMOs_dangers. html Edwards, R. (2013). GM expert warns of cancer risk from crops. Sunday Herald. 16 February 2013. Gaskill, G. , Bauer, M. , Durant, J. , Allum, N. C. (1999). Worlds apart? The reception of genetically modified foods in Europe and the U. S. Science, 285 (5426): 384-387. Kuiper, H. A. , Kleter, G. A. , Hub P. J. , Noteborn, J. M. , Kok, E. J. (2001). Assessment of the food safety issues related to genetically modified foods. Plant Journal, 27 (6): 503-528. Lo, P. (2013). Monsanto bullies small farmers over planting harvested GMO seeds. British Broadcast Channel. 14 April 2013. N. A. (2013). 65 health risks of genetically modified foods. Institute for Responsible Technology. http://www. responsibletechnology. org/gmo-dangers/65-health-risks/1notes N. A. (2013). Genetic engineering in agriculture. Union of Concerned Scientists. http://www. ucsusa. org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/genetic engine ering.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Military Governments Essay -- essays research papers

Military Governments   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military governments have been around since the days of feudalism. It is the oldest and most common political state. According to Shively, a military government is one in which a group of officers use their troops to take over the governmental apparatus and run it themselves. Military governments are usually weak in appeasing the masses for they are known to be brutal and power hungry and are also rather fragile, both internally and externally.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In its primitive state, existing as feudalism, the high ranking officials/nobility and the military itself was composed solely of the elite ruling class. But as society became more complex, the role of the elite was slightly altered as technology progressed and the nobility and kings no longer controlled weapons nor could prevent the disintegration of the feudal society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Modern military governments usually occur after the military stages a coup. A coup is the forceful deposition of a government by all or a portion of the armed forces and installation of a new military government. Coups ordinarily take place when the present government poses a threat to the state or the status quo. Because the military controls more armed power than anyone in a state, they have the ability to take over the government at any given time. In Power and Choice, Shively questions the notion of the infrequency of military governments. Yes, they are common, but why aren't they more common? The reason being that as societies advance and become more complex, it is necessary for the ruling elite to be more knowledgeable of the processes by which a government is operated. This explains the recurrence of civilian-run governments. The military may have a few leaders who are skilled politically, but the armed forces are not customarily trained to run governments. Recall that the role of the military is to protect and serve the state, therefore there is usually a cycle, known as the Barracks cycle, in which the military brings about a coup, but later reestablishes civilian control, and is the new state threatens governmental stability, the military stages yet another coup, etc. The longer the military stays in power, the more the political state exists unstably.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Nigeria, for ... ... form of government or evolve to a new sophisticated government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In any case, military governments are weak internally and externally. They pose as forms of transitional governments, not necessarily in times of revolution, but in times when the state itself becomes weak or poses a threat to the status quo. Though some military governments do perservere for years and years without being overthrown, their inability to run the state efficiently forces the military to restore democracy or to stage another overthrow of the government. Also, because the military government itself takes power through no regular process as other, more stable forms of government, but simply seizes it, they encounter the problem of legitimacy. Lastly, coalitions internally are in itself a whole other government. The weakness and competition present between these coalitions usually causes the downfall of the military government and installment of a new civilian-run government decided so by the general consensus. Generally, all military governments will fail in time and return to it previous government or evolve to a whole new governmental system with a revolution.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Characteristics of Voluntary Schools in Relation

The Characteristics of Voluntary Schools in Relation to Education Stages and Governance When choosing a voluntary school there are several things that you should consider. Firstly, there are two kinds of voluntary school; voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled. Both have strong connections to some description of religious organisations and/or charities. A voluntary-aided school is managed by its own governing body.It is the governance of the school who decides upon the criteria set for admissions. They also have complete control over the employment of both internal and external staff. However, the school’s buildings and the land on which they sit are owned by religious organisations and/or charities. These organisations or charities help to fund the school alongside the Local Education Authority (LEA).The school’s governance contributes to any building work and the maintenance of the present building structures and outdoor areas. A voluntary-controlled school is both funded and managed by the LEA, but the land and buildings are owned by a charity or religious organisation. The LEA and governance of the school are responsible for the provision of any services the school requires, such as general maintenance and hiring staff.It is the job of the governors to choose those they wish to hire, however there are usually a few members of staff employed from the charities or organisations who are involved. Both voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled schools teach children in primary as well as secondary schools, although there are a higher percentage of primary schools in the voluntary school category*. *(http://en. m. wikipedia. org/wiki/voluntary_aided_school#section_2) * (http://en. m. wikipedia. org/wiki/voluntary_controlled_school#section_2)

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Psychodynamic Personality Theories Essay

Contemporary society is intrigued with the notion of human behavior as it expresses itself in our personality. Psychoanalytic model is most noted for introspective strategies such as depth interviewing and projective techniques, which have emanated from its theoretical perspective. Classical psychoanalytic conceptualization approached the study of character or personality in two very different ways, each deriving from an early theoretical model of individual development. In the era of Freud’s original drive theory, an attempt was made to understand personality on the basis of fixation. Later with the development of ego psychology, character was conceived as expressing the operation of particular styles of defense. This second way of understanding character was not in conflict with the first; it provided a different set of ideas and metaphors for comprehending what was meant by a type of personality (Magnavita, 2002). The contemporary psychodynamic model of personality is very popular, particularly with clinical practitioners, and offers much that is useful for conceptualizing personality and personal disorders. The strength of this model seems to lie in the power of many of its fundamental constructs, such as the unconscious, defense systems, and the relation among component personality structures. It is hard to imagine a psychology of personality without some reference to these and other constructs. The limitations of this model are many. Unfortunately, after years of perpetuating itself in a closed system, a crisis developed about the viability of this model. Another draw back is the tendency to eschew empirical research, which would have established wider scientific acceptance. For many, the conceptualizations and esoteric language make it difficult to immerse oneself in what seems a dogmatic intellectualized system for those who hide behind language. In conclusion knowing where to approximately place an individual on the structural continuum is as much a clinical art as a science. Reference Magnavita, J. J. (2002). Theories of personality: contemporary approaches to the science of personality. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Ethics and the “War on Terrorism” Essay Example

Ethics and the â€Å"War on Terrorism† Essay Example Ethics and the â€Å"War on Terrorism† Essay Ethics and the â€Å"War on Terrorism† Essay 1. The definition of terrorism is problematic. How does this affect our view of terrorism? a. There exist a number of â€Å"official† and legal definitions as well as those suggested by researchers and commenter’s. Some explanations of the meaning of terrorism focus only on terrorism cared out by individuals and groups and ignore state terrorism altogether, others emphasize the political objective of terrorist acts, and still other frame terrorist acts of criminal events and downplay the political motivations. One clearly understood factor amongst all of these approaches is that terrorism is a method or means of achieving by objective. 2. Which is the better approach- to treat terrorism as a criminal activity or to fight terrorists as if they were enemies in a war? Explain. a. Terrorist are motivated by political objectives, and while criminals employ violence (often similar to that of terrorists like kidnapping, murder, arson) to achieve their ends, their motivation is quite different from that of terrorist, because of criminals commonly act solely to secure a material gain. . The U. S. administration has indicated that the War on Terrorism will continue until terrorism is ultimately defeated. Given that the War on Terrorism is neither a metaphorical as like those concerning crime, poverty, and drugs, nor a conventional war, it generates a set of moral questions about how it should be conducted. 3. Does the Patriot Act give the executive branch of government too much power in pursuing ter rorism? What effect does the exercise of that power have on civil rights in the United States? a. The Patriot Act of 2001, sought to enhance national security through what had previously been regarded as generic crime control measures. It introduce more than 1,000 provisions concerning surveillance on financial transactions and border control, as well as new criminal offenses and penalties against terrorism. The acted is targeted at non-U. S. citizen terrorists, was formulated to augment national security, and both conceptually and in policy terms is outside the conventional parameters of crime control legislation. b. Crime control measures of the conventional kind such as increased penalties for offenses are integrated into the criminal justice system. In the War on Terrorism however, the criminal justice system has been judged inadequate or inappropriate. Thus, while the U. S. considers itself â€Å"at war,† it does not regard many of those taken prisoners in threat war as prisoners of war who are to be treated in accordance with the rules laid down in the Geneva Conventions, especially treatment of combats captured during an interactional armed conflict and with civilians who are involved in the armed conflict. . What measures should a democratic government take to respond to terrorism that are consistent with its ethical responsibilities? a. Democracy can respond to terrorism without destroying the values for which it stands. The position between those who argue in absolutist terms that no restrictions on rights ought to be imposed or justified and those advocating a consequentiality ap proach who judge counterterrorist measure purely by their effectiveness. Prohibit certain torture, illegal detention, and unlawful assassination on the basis that they violate â€Å"foundational commitments to justice and dignity. † Democracies commonly permit derogations from guaranteed rights and freedoms in emergencies, so rights do not always trip other considerations like national security, but ultimately, in his view, it is the task of the courts, the media, and the legislators to scrutinize such measures for justifiability. 5. Is it ever ethically acceptable to torture a person in the War on Terrorism? Explain. . Title 18, section 2340 of the US Code defines torture as â€Å"an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control. † Torture is a federal crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and even death if the victim dies follow ing the torture. This applies to torture committed outside the United States but includes acts by the US citizens. b. Even an act utilitarian would be unable to justify torture in practice and that a rule utilitarian approach would expressly prohibit torture in principle on the same basis that would cause a state to prohibit the practice of assassination. To torture a human being is to treat him or her not as a moral person but as an object, and according to Ronald Dworkin, a â€Å"core list of human rights† would include the right not to be tortured. 6. What, if any, human rights should be suppressed in the interests of winning the War on Terrorism, and how would suppressing these rights contribute toward â€Å"victory†? . the events of 9/11 have prompted some to argue that torture is justified as a national security counterterrorist measure in the interest of defending democracy. For example, torture might be applied and regulated by the judiciary through a â€Å"torture warrant† that would prescribe the kinds of torture to be inflicted and its limits and the federal Judge Ric hard Posner has written that anyone who doubts torture â€Å"is permissible when the stakes are high enough should not be in a position of responsibility. †

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Return Multiple Values From a Delphi Function

How to Return Multiple Values From a Delphi Function A most common construct in a Delphi application would be a procedure or a function. Known as routines, procedures or functions are statement blocks you call from different locations in a program. Simply put a procedure is a routine not returning a value while a function returns a value. A return value from a function is defined by the return type. In most cases you would write a function to return a single value that would be an integer, string, boolean or some other simple type, also return types could be an array, a string list, an instance of a custom object or alike. Note that even if your function returns a string list (a collection of strings) it still returns a single value: one instance of the string list. Further, Delphi routines can really have many faces: Routine, Method, Method Pointer, Event Delegate, Anonymous method... Can a Function Return Multiple Values? The first answer that comes to mind is no, simply because when we think of a function, we think of a single return value. Certainly, the answer to the above question is, however, yes. A function can return several values. Lets see how. Var Parameters How many values can the following function return, one or two? function PositiveReciprocal(const valueIn : integer; var valueOut : real): boolean; The function obviously returns a boolean value (true or false). How about the second parameter valueOut declared as a VAR (variable) parameter? Var parameters are passed to the function by reference meaning that if the function changes the value of the parameter- a variable in the calling block of code- the function will change the value of the variable used for the parameter. To see how the above works, heres the implementation: function PositiveReciprocal(const valueIn: integer; var valueOut: real): boolean;begin result : valueIn 0; if result then valueOut : 1 / valueIn;end; The valueIn is passed as a constant parameter- function cannot alter it, and it is treated as read-only. If valueIn or greater than zero, the valueOut parameter is assigned the reciprocal value of valueIn and the result of the function is true. If valueIn is 0 then the function returns false and valueOut is not altered in any way. Heres the usage: var b : boolean; r : real;begin r : 5; b : PositiveReciprocal(1, r); //here: // b true (since 1 0) // r 0.2 (1/5) r : 5; b : PositiveReciprocal(-1, r); //here: // b false (since -1 end; Therefore, the PositiveReciprocal actually can return 2 values! Using var parameters you can have a routine return more than one value. Out Parameters Theres another way to specify a by-reference parameter- using the out keyword, as in: function PositiveReciprocalOut(const valueIn: integer; out valueOut: real): boolean;begin result : valueIn 0; if result then valueOut : 1 / valueIn;end; The implementation of PositiveReciprocalOut is the same as in PositiveReciprocal, theres only one difference: the valueOut is an OUT parameter. With parameters declared as out, the initial value of the referenced variable valueOut is discarded. Heres the usage and the results: var b : boolean; r : real;begin r : 5; b : PositiveReciprocalOut(1, r); //here: // b true (since 1 0) // r 0.2 (1/5) r : 5; b : PositiveReciprocalOut(-1, r); //here: // b false (since -1 end; Note how in the second call the value of the local variable r is set to 0. The value of r was set to 5 before the function call but since the parameter in declared as out, when r reached the function the value was discarded and the default empty value was set for the parameter (0 for real type). As a result, you can safely send uninitialized variables for out parameters- something that you should not do with var parameters. Parameters are used to send something to the routine, except here with out parameters :), and therefore uninitialized variables (used for VAR parameters) could have weird values. Returning Records? The above implementations where a function would return more than one value are not nice. The function actually returns a single value, but also returns, better to say alters, the values of the var/out parameters. Because of this, you may very rarely want to use by-reference parameters. If more results from a function are required, you can have a function return a record type variable. Consider the following: type TLatitudeLongitude record Latitude: real; Longitude: real; end; and a hypothetical function: function WhereAmI(const townName : string) : TLatitudeLongitude; The function WhereAmI would return the Latitude and Longitude for a given town (city, area, ...). The implementation would be: function WhereAmI(const townName: string): TLatitudeLongitude;begin//use some service to locate townName, then assign function result: result.Latitude : 45.54; result.Longitude : 18.71;end; And here we have a function returning 2 real values. Ok, it does return 1 record, but this record has 2 fields. Note that you can have a very complex record mixing various types to be returned as a result of a function. Thats it. Therefore, yes, Delphi functions can return multiple values.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

PESTEL of Arsenal Football Club Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

PESTEL of Arsenal Football Club - Essay Example The economic condition of the club is really good compared to other clubs; the club has sold players in the recent past at a good profit. The transfer of Samir Nasri from Arsenal to Manchester City was a really good deal for the club, the transfer of Fabregas from Arsenal to Barcelona was also a really good transfer for the club money wise. Economically the club is quite sound, they also generate revenue by selling season tickets and their stadium is arguably one of the best stadiums in Europe. â€Å"Socially the club is really famous and has a large fan base but the fan base can always improve, Arsenal can tap the untapped markets. India is a largely untapped market and Arsenal can easily tap the Indian market but a lot of homework needs to be done in order to do so.† (Hornby, Nick, 1992) Technologically Arsenal is far ahead of most clubs, the club offers all the latest facilities to the players and the coaching staff. The gym is equipped with the most modern of all facilities so that the players can make the full use of the resources available. Environment wise Arsenal needs to do more, the fans often leave trash after almost every game and this is degrading the environment to a large extent, they do not use bins and end up polluting the environment. This needs to be sorted out by the club so that they do not play a role in degrading the environment. ... Legally the club is in safe hands, the financial fair play regulations brought in by UEFA will not affect the club because it does not spend money excessively, this rule will take a toll on clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and so on. SWOT Analysis of Arsenal Football Club Arsenal football club is a very famous club based out of England. It is located in North London and has a very huge fan following. It is also known as the Gunners, the club has gone from strength to strength. Arsene Wenger is the present manager and he has done a fantastic job at the club. The club used to play at Highbury earlier but they have invested a lot of money in building a new stadium â€Å"Emirates Stadium†. The club does not shell out big money in the transfer market and still finish in the top four more often than not in the Barclays Premier League. Arsene Wenger has made some very sagacious signings off late, Arshavin was bought from Saint Petersburg Russia and he has been a sensational signin g for the club. Other major signings include Gallas who was bought from Chelsea, Thomas Vermaelen who was bought from Ajax. Strengths Emirates Stadium: â€Å"The new Emirates Stadium is one of the biggest strengths of Arsenal Football Club; the revenue generated is huge from the tickets and other exhibition events that take place at the stadium. The club can invest a little more in the stadium so as to accommodate more supporters, this will fetch more money through tickets and the club will end up making more revenue.† (Joy, Bernard,  1952) Players: Some of the players who play for Arsenal are world class players and the club should capitalize on the same. A lot of money can be generated through

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Globalization and the Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Globalization and the Environment - Essay Example There is also an element of double standards because most of the global corporations operating in developing countries belong to the west (Kwong 21). The author recognizes the positive impact of globalization as far as environmental development is concerned. Globalization promotes free trade. In an environment of free trade, a country is free to choose a trading partner and the best ways of exploiting her resources. Globalization promotes development of institutions that advocate efficiency in production. Such institutions design laws that protect environment in a business world. Globalization promotes competition amongst global firms, which invest in innovation and efficiency in production. Efficient technology promotes environmental conservation and sustainable growth. The curve is U-shaped and shows a positive affiliation between economic expansion and environmental dilapidation, for example, pollution, before the curve’s turning point. From the turning point, there is a negative relationship between pollution and economic growth and development. The curve is important because it shows the important of globalization as far as environmental development is concerned. I support the author’s arguments. This is because they explain the real situation in the global economy. For example, in the developing countries, economic growth increases with the increase in pollution. On the other hand, pollution within developed countries decreases as the level of development increases. This is because companies adopt innovative technology in production, which enhances environmental

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Description of four specific ways in which Neuman's HCSM could be used Dissertation

Description of four specific ways in which Neuman's HCSM could be used to improve nursing practice - Dissertation Example 242). The HCSM in Nursing Paradigms The field of nursing usually utilizes four paradigms or concepts in its practice, namely, the person or client, environment, health, and nursing itself. These concepts are defined in Neuman’s model, according to how it is applied in organizing the structure of the profession. As presented by Neuman and Fawcett, the client may be a person, family, group, or community, and there is the need for a clear definition of who are included in the client system and how they relate to other members (as cited in Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010, p. 79). The client or client system is then viewed in five variables, which are the physiologic, psychologic, sociocultural, developmental, and spiritual aspects. The environment is described as all internal and external factors that surround the client, while health is connected to both wellness and illness. Wellness is the client’s system to remain stable at any given time, and illness is the failure to ach ieve homeostasis in the presence of stressors. Nursing, on the other hand, is concerned with assessing the client in response to stressors, and assisting him to cope with them according to the three levels of prevention in order to achieve the optimum degree of wellness.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Risk Management and Work Breakdown Structure

Risk Management and Work Breakdown Structure 1 Introduction This report is to examine the theory of project management and practice of project management techniques which consist of Work Breakdown Structure, Gantt Chart ,risk management and SWOT and PESTLE analysis. Also, the report will show the personal learning experience from the module. Finally, the journal will be comment for project management analysis. 2.1 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Work Breakdown Structure is a fundamental project planning technique which is used in the beginning of the project. Also, it was designed to use the systematic methods to break down the whole project into deliverable units. Therefore, it is an effective technique to organize the project for each element. By using work breakdown structure, it is possible to understand the tasks and activities in the project easily which makes the structure more comprehensible. Also, the tasks are able to be conducted by different people or groups individually which improve the efficiency and easier to allocate the responsibilities (Maylor, 2005). Nowadays, Work Breakdown Structure has been admitted to the common and essential tool for project manager who need to manage and monitor the every process in the project. The process is to divide the entire project into several main stages which included many rudimentary tasks in sequence. Every task can be an independent activity (Maylor, 2005). In the work breakdown structure planning process, it needs to be noted that WBS should not be split extremely detailed which will make the structure complex. However, it has been claimed that even Work Breakdown Structure is a practical tool to utilize the project, there are still some problems. The main problem is that the task in different stages is independent to be executed but they are still in the same project (Maylor, 2005). WBS does not show the relationships of tasks between different stages. Therefore, divergence will happen in the different part of project. Moreover, the WBS does not show the time that each task execution needs (Young, 2006). Thus, project managers need to monitor the conflicts and solve the problems during the project execution. Moreover, project managers should use other tools to control the task process time. In the product case study, WBS plays a major role to help group mates easy to break the project into two main parts. One is about Design development and another part is to focus on manufacture and launch plan. Each part has many stages which consist of several tasks. After, it is easy to identify the scope of tasks and make the content of tasks clearer. In order to avoid the conflicts happening, the tasks have been considered to find the sequences in the same states. Each task shows a key step in the project that keeps the WBS structure clear not being complicated. WBS of this project was created by every group mates. Therefore, it was clear to understand the basic elemental and tasks in this project. 2.2 Gantt Chart: Gantt chart is a useful technique which was designed by Henry Gantt. It can be used to represent the time costing of activities in the project (Maylor, 2005). There are two main parts in the Gantt chart. Vertical part is to list the different activities in the project. Horizontal line is to show the time scale from start to end. It can clear identify the time need and time limit. By using different colour, it is easier to make viewer how to understand the time cost of tasks and the time sequence between other activities in the project. (Lock, 2007) Moreover, it is effective tool to overview the duration of each tasks or whole project. Therefore, Gantt is widely used in the project manager to manage the time need. Manager can evaluate the real activities to extend or reduce the time by Gantt chart. However, there are some limitations of Gantt chart. Firstly, Gantt chart is suitable to use on the a small amount of activities of project. If there are numerous tasks in the project, the G antt chart will be complex. Secondly, it is inflexible to revise the time and make change during the project. Due to It will influence the other sequent tasks (Maylor, 2005). Finally, even Garnt chart can provide the time sequence of tasks, it still lack of showing the relationship of interdependence between each task (Lock, 2007). Therefore, Gantt chart is to show the time cost of tasks but does not improve the resource arrangement (Maylor, 2005). In the case study, Gantt chart was used to arrange to time management to ensure the project that can be finished in the limited time. It is easy to draw by computer or hand and clearly identifies the order of task executions. The time cost will be influential fact in the case and Gantt chart help the project manager or group member to effectively plan or monitor project (Thomsett, 2009). It also make executors clearly understand the timeline to finish the tasks on time. 2.3 Risk Management Project risk management is an essential part of project management that ensure the result and the profitability that are correctly produced by processes. There are variety of uncertain fact and risks in the project (Young, 2006). The aim of risk management is to reduce the risk to treat the project and minimize the influence. Moreover, most risks are not unexpected and uncontrolled. In other words, the risk can be indentify and quantify to be controlled. There are many risk identification methods such as key risk symptoms, External source, TCQ analysis and assumption. By using quantification techniques, the risks can be measure and demonstrate by likelihood, effect, hide-ability (Maylor, 2005). Thus, it can be estimated or avoid. By Adjustment to alter the possible result is another scheme. In addition, insurance is a feasible method in the modern society. Therefore, risk management processes include the identification of the risk, quantifying the risk, prioritising the risk, develop ing the strategy and taking the action. Most of risks which include positive risk and negative risk can be shown and controlled after these analyses (Harries, 2010). Even though process through these steps, the project managers still need to concern about any other influential facts happening and ensure the project as expectation. In case study, the risk management was considered to the one of main assignment conducting from beginning to the end. In the barnstorming meeting, the possible risks were list by group member from high risk to low risk and measure the probabilities of occurrence by scale. To quantify the risks make it easy to tell what is most risky or what most possible fact to impact the project is. Thus, pre-preparing the strategy and solution for each risk to minimize the impact to our project are crucial for the result. 2.4 SWOT and PESTLE Swot is a strategy analysis tool to identify the internal and external facts to the project and organization. It is widely used in the strategy planning work (Haughey 2010).There are four main parts in the SWOT model which includes Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity and weakness. The internal part of SWOT model consists of Strength and Weakness. Project Manager and members can evaluate the current strength and weakness of organization to the project. To list the realistic fact and group ability to appraise the condition are the necessary for planning project strategy. External analysis is made by opportunity and weakness (Bianes P. et al, 2008). External issues will be the influential facts to influence project strategy. It needs to consider that the competitors activities and society issues relate with project development. However, external environment has variety of issue which is completed. Therefore, in order to clarify the environment, PESTLE analysis is effective model to investi gate it. PRESTLE consist of Political, Economic Social-culture, Technology, Legal and Ecological. However, it has been admitted that SWOT framework has been popular in the business and some of disadvantage that has been claimed and need to be overcome (Haughey, 2010). Firstly, there is no any process to re-thinking whether the output strategies are practical or not. Secondly, there is no priority in the framework. It is hard to tell the importance of each strategy. However, SWOT framework has little problems that need to consider and improve. It is still an useful model for strategy analyze. Therefore, using SWOT and PESTLE to determine the situation can explain the current situation clearly but project managers need to pay more attention to make the decision cautiously. To use SWOT and PESTLE in the case study, it is clear to distinguish the internal and external conditions to the organization. Use PESTLE in the case study, it is easy to collect the environment issues which are relative with product and future trend. By analyze the facts, the strategy can be considered to unsure the strategies that there is no conflict to the environment. SWOT model is an efficient methods to plan the strategy. Using strength to analyze with external fact and output the strategy to overcome treats. Also, it can use external facts to supply internal weakness. Therefore, project manager can understand the organization and circumspectly plan the efficient strategy to achieve the aim of project. 3. Project management skill and contribution to the group In the project management, there are many techniques and skills to help project members to manage the case study. Every technique and skill has the particular use to develop the project. Also, each practice of framework was discussed by the team members corporately. How to use the theories is the challenge to the team. The techniques are useful to improve the project and the skills help the work productively. For example, WBS is a practical framework that was not known by the team until the session. It was effective to divide the oyster key project into several tasks. The content of tasks was created by the group mates and the information was searched from the internet and designers in the field which is about the product design that will make the tasks of oyster key project close to the real design project. It shows the skill of solving problem. How to use internal source and external source to solve the problems was learned in the project. Due to the team have no design background that is the challenge to plan the product development process. Use external source is crucial to overcome the tasks. The project process has been considered by the team to show the main stages and activities. In order to keep the WBS clear to be understood, there is no extremely detailed tasks on it and every activity o n WBS is vital in the project. After using WBS, the team understood what the main stages in this project are. Moreover, Risk management was another new knowledge for the team. It was seen the crucial part of the project that monitor the whole project from beginning to end. By assumption to list the possibility, it is relative with the analysis skill. How to find the potential risks from the project process relate to the skill of analysis and organize data. In the beginning of this project, the product of the project needed to be decided. A suitable product was hard to be found that can be agreed by every group mate. Therefore, the situation needed to use communication skill to make a common decision. The author offered the idea about personal experience of need for design product. It was from the perspective of design innovation to improve the human life. It was convinced by other two of group mates. Then, the rest of group mates show their opinion to the idea. It was the communication process to make the different opinion integrate the common decision. In addition, the author is willing to provide the personal working experience to help the group in the process. The opinion from working experience provide the project to improve the integrity of the project which include planning ability to the WBS and Gantt chart, time management, Risk assumption and strategy planning. Meanwhile, the rest of group mate showed the ability of organizer that can efficiently manage the information and document. The rest of group showed the ability of cost estimates. All of these skill make the project more complement to achieve the aim of project. 3.1. Personal Learning and applying in the future Project management is a useful model in the DMU. Honestly, it will be the one of the practical model for postgraduate study in this year. Many techniques and skill have been learnt by session. Case study help the author understand how to practice the techniques in the field. The advice of tutor is helpful to conduct the process of project. Moreover, the most important learning of this model to the author is that how to be a successful project management. Inspiring and leading the group to the common aim is the duty of the project manager. It also relate with the team-building skill. By communication and negotiation skill to produce the effective plan have been the required skills for a manager. During the module, time management is important to ensure the work can be finished on time. In addition, there would be some risks to impact the project. Besides risk management, manager personal ability to handle the pressure is also important. It will be helpful to train the ability to face pressure. Moreover, most of future works can be seen as a project to manage and operate. For instance, risk management can use to evaluate the any decision in the future that is not only in business. The problem solving skill can be the methods to deal with any problem in the life. Thus, the learning from project management will help to benefit the work in the future. 4. Brief Critique of academic journal 4.1 Journal 1 Is more information technology better for new product development? 4.1.1 The aim of research This article shows that the relationship between information technology department and new product development department. There is a growing number of companies which invest a great deal of money on information technology to improve the product quality and reduce cost. The article is to show does the information technology help the product development successfully and how the cooperation works between these two departments. (Durmusoglu et al. 2006). 4.1.2 Prior literatures Prior literatures identified that number of study which are about the internal communication to new product development departments have been examined (Durmusoglu et al. 2006). Porter and Millar (1985) as cited by Durmusoglu et al. (2006) that computer technique is the effective tool to assist the new product development such as product functions, cost reduce and produce speed. Boutellier et al. (1998) as cited by Durmusoglu et al. (2006) that project manager also expected the information technique to support the project team. Meanwhile, they can share information, creativity and personal networks to each other. 4.1.3 Research method The research method was used in this research is survey to collect data. The questionnaires were sent to the top managers of information thchnology department and new product development department of 21 companies. These companies are in the 14 industries such as farm equipment manufacturing, automobile parts and supplies manufacturing, hand tools manufacturing etc (Durmusoglu et al. 2006). This approach was effective to get the depth perspective from the magagers. 4.1.4 Finding The finding show that information technology department support the new product development that can enhance the new product flexibility but also increase the cost. Moreover, the two department managers have the common perception to share the knowledge and information to each other. Finally, even though the Information technology can enhance the product development process, it did not totally equate the increase of sales or outcome to new product (Durmusoglu et al. 2006). 4.1.5 Future use of the research This research reveal that the corporation of information technology and product development department. It also shows the influence of support by technology department. Moreover, cost increase is the main facts that need to be considered in the future. To control cost and increase flexibility will be the concerning issue in the product development process in the future . 4.2 Journal 2 The association among project managers leadership style, teamwork and project success 4.2.1 The aim of research This research is to investigate the relationship between project managers leading style and the influence of teamwork to the project outcome. There are variable of sub facts to impact the project performance like the team size, project type and industry sector(Yang Huang Wu 2010). 4.2.2 Prior literatures Turner and Muller (2005) as cited by Yang Huang Wu (2010) that he impact of project managers leadership style to project performance was ignored in the most of past study. However, there are some study which mention about project managers leading style. Kendra and Taplin (2004) as cited by Yang Huang Wu (2010) leadership behaviors will be the influential reason to the project. Moreover, DuBrin (2004) as cited by Yang Huang Wu (2010) that leadership is an achievement to conduct by communication. 4.2.3 Research method The questionnaire-based were conducted in this survey. There are four section in this survey which include project managers leadership style, teamwork, project performance, and personal information. The respondents composed of project executive, superintendents and higher level project leader Yang Huang Wu (2010). Therefore, the respondents from different work position to answer the questions which make the finding more objective. 4.2.4 Finding The finding in this research show that the leadership style might influence slightly. Also, teamwork is the most significant influence to the outcome. Moreover, different type of project show the different relationship with the group mates (Yang Huang Wu 2010). Even the feeling is hard to correctly measure, the finding still show that the teamwork is really influential in the project. 4.2.5 Future use of the research This report demonstrates that manager need to communicate with the group members and to develop the common attitude to make teamwork work effectively. 4.3 Journal 3 Cost targets and time pressure during new product development 4.3.1 The aim of research The research is to find the impact of cost target time limit to the project. Quality is the main fact to be compare with the two restricted conditions. The outcome of project was tested in this research to find the effective method to product development. 4.3.2 Prior literatures The cost-oriented product was expected by past study. Fisher (1995) as cited by Everaert Bruggeman (2002) that define the target costing is that planning the reducing cost method in the beginning execute the expectable process to cut the cost. Moreover, Kato (1993) as cited by Everaert Bruggeman (2002) show that human play a main roles in the new product development and time reduced plan in the project management has been the source of pressure to most engineer. 4.3.3 Research method The research was conducted in the laboratory to test by experiment. The experiment use the haphazard two-by-two factorial design which to compare the test result. One laboratory was given the cost charge, time limit restriction. It was designed to simulate the real customer requirement. Also, if the engineer only finished the project on time but quality was not achieve the requirement, there is no any rewards (Everaert Bruggeman 2002). By this method, it is easy to tell the impact of restriction to the project. 4.3.4 Finding The finding is that the products which were developed by cost target project did not show the poor quality and reduced. In addition, in the time limited project, engineer have to spent more time to develop the product that result the cost reduced aim were not reduce as expectation(Everaert Bruggeman 2002). 4.3.5 Future use of the research In this case, it shows that it have to be considered the impact of time limit to the cost target. If the restriction is too much, it is hard to reach the cost target aim. 4.4 Project portfolio management for product innovation 4.4.1 The aim of research The aim of research is to establish the standard of test to evaluate the suitable use of product portfolio which can be conducted for product project or service project. 4.4.2 Prior literatures Andersson (2000) as cited by Killen Hunt Kleinschmidt (2008) that most of companies have noticed to practice the portfolio management to organize the resource to create the profitable outcome. Dye and Pennypacker (1999) as cited by Killen Hunt Kleinschmidt (2008) that current product portfolio widely practice on RD management and pioneering projects. Therefore, Project portfolio has been used in the industry and need more explanation to show the scheme of effective use. 4.3.3 Research method The research is conducted by survey in Australia. There were 166 organizations in this research who receive the mail to answer the questionnaire which consist of 88 questions. Those companies use project portfolio to manage their new product develop projects (Killen Hunt Kleinschmidt 2008). This sample method is suitable to compare the practice of portfolio from different industries. 4.4.4 Finding There is no significant difference of Product portfolio use in this research. However, it has been found that even the companies has used the product portfolio, many companies do not have enough time to conduct the product portfolio completely (Killen Hunt Kleinschmidt 2008). Therefore, time limit is still a obstruction to practice product portfolio management. 4.4.5 Future use of the research Most of product portfolio methods were design by the past environment and the use process is not flexible. Therefore, it need to improve the new Product portfolio methods to be suatible to use in the current business environment. 5. Conclusion Project management not only is theory, but also useful to practice in the business world. Furthermore, most of business cases can be seen a project to manage and planning. Many techniques of project management are suitable to be used in analysis. Meanwhile, the techniques and skills are also crucial to a project manager and academic journal would be the another source for managers to acquire the knowledge. After learning the theories and practice in the case study, being a successful project manager would an expected aim to be achieved.

Friday, October 25, 2019

My Grandparent’s House Essays -- Personal Narrative

My Grandparent’s House It was another summer at my grandparent’s house that I woke up to one sunny Saturday morning. The smell of eggs, bacon, and tortillas was a greeting to the home-cooked breakfast I could sense as I lie in the bedroom still lightly dreaming. I could hear my grandpa in the distance, chopping wood for the stove my grandma was cooking with. Very old fashioned my grandparents were, convincing me to become more independent, I always enjoyed their company. It was a summer where I would be taught the value of wisdom and of the people I love. Though the past summer at my grandparent’s place was pretty much the same, I didn’t understand the words and talks my grandparents would have with me. At such a young age I wasn’t able to account for everything they had said or appreciate what they had to say, but this particular summer was different. My cousins were about the same age I was and had only live half a mile away from my grandparents. As I quickly did my chores, I could see three of my cousins walking down an old dirt road form their house. When they reached the porch I was just about finished packing my water bottle along with my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I opened the door finding my cousins outside replying â€Å"Hey Kev! How are you?† As we started our walk towards the creek behind my grandparent’s house, I looked back and saw my grandmother frowning, knowing that we were going to use the rest of the day to our own content. Becoming full of excitement, one of my cousins yelled â€Å"last one to the creek is a rotten egg!† as everyone dashed towards the wash. As midsummer approached, our rendezvous at the creek became an even more popular event for more of relatives to join in on. At certain times, there were as many as 15 of us down at the creek laughing, running around, and splashing each other with the cold refreshing water containing a sweet scent from the near by willows. I still remember my grandma’s dogs barking and running after the little kids. I could feel the squishy sand between my toes and hear the trickling of the water brushing against the grass. We followed the creek and it led through a small pond where we swam in. We were having so much fun that we didn’t see that it was getting late as the sun sat gleaming, sinking beneath the horizon, giving one last wave bef... ... the time spent with people you love and those who love you because life isn’t very long for anyone to not regret spending time with your loved ones. Here's one of my favorite songs by the Smashing Pumpkins: {rotten apples} dirty your face with longing and grace, God-given suffer her heart, and love her when your love goes unrequited Where the cool winds blow, I must surely go For my love calls me lo, drag her from the depths of my soul When will I see her again? The other side of friends The darkened clouds of death The empty-breathed desire Dirty your face with longing and grace, God-given Suffer her heart, and love her when your love goes unrequited Restless in my speech And ruthless in my teach So vacant in my breach, I drive the dirt of her garden Sorrow She'll never listen again No other lovers to bend Just rotten apples to eat Slathered yellow distant scorn Dirty your face with longing and grace, God-given Suffer her heart and love her when your love goes unrequited Life just fades away Purity just begs Dust to dust we're wired into Sadness

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Perfect competition Essay

Monopoly is the final type of market structure in which a single seller dominates trade in a good or service for which buyers can find no close substitutes. A monopoly is distringuished from a monospony, in which there is only one buyer of a product or service. It can also have a monopsony control of a sector of a market. All types of Monopolies can be established by a government, form by integration. The way Monopoly derive their market power is from a berrier to entry. There are three major tpes of barriers to entry which are the economic, legal, and deliberate. Im going to tell you how each one works and what it is helpful more. First, the economic barriers include economies of scale, capital requirements, cost advantages, and the technological superiority. Secondly, are the Legal barriers. It can provide opportunity to monopolise the marker of a good. Lastly, is the Deliberate actions whivh a company has been wanting to monopolise a market may engage in various types of deliberate action to exclude competitos or eliminate competition. Market structures are very important in Monopoly. It provides he basis topics such as industrial organization and economics of regulation. Traditional economic analysis, perect competition, monopolictic competition, oligololy, and monopoly are the four types of market structures. Monopoly versus competitive markets is a challenge. They are similar due to the fact that they both minimize costs and maximize profit. Presiding over eachothers territory can cost millions. Many governments regulate monopolies because a monopoly market lacks the benefts of competition. The U. S. Governement appiles laws against monopoly behavior by Microsoft not allowing big companies in some industries. The Government permits certain monoplies in exchange for regulating their activites. A pure monopoly has the same exact economic retionailty of perfectly competitive companies. Total revenue and total cost maximizes a monopol over a chose of the cost.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Globalization of the Media: A Bicultural Woman’s View Essay

Does globalization mean we’re being conditioned into thinking only of CNN or Al Jazeera when disaster strikes and we need detailed news of an event? Yes, very likely, because many media in the Arab world fall short of the task of providing good, accurate, news that’s to the point. Can we face globalization? Should we be part of it? What tools can we manipulate to our advantage? What role can women play in globalization of the media? Do they face obstacles? Doesn’t it hurt us when foreign journalists report wrong information about us? Shouldn’t we help them by making it easy to get the right information and not fall into the same trap of doing to them what they do to us? 1. NEED FOR UNDERSTANDING & BALANCED INFORMATION ON BOTH SIDES: We need more media that can understand our cultural backgrounds and societal needs on both sides of the cultural divide – i.e. those that strike a balance between accurate information and understanding of the story’s background. All too often reporters are parachuted into a country to cover a hot story without having solid grounding in the subject. This applies to Arabs as well as Americans and Europeans. I’ve seen it happen in many countries and we need to rectify that. U.S. and European correspondents often arrive on Arab shores with no notion of what’s happening in the country or the region, little or no knowledge of Arabic (or French) and expecting everyone to understand them in English, for example. Some don’t do their homework and don’t read about the background that led to recent conflicts, as if they exist in a vacuum. It’s a major failure on their part. An American reporter I know was too scared to enter Tripoli (Lebanon) during one of the major firefights of the Lebanese civil war, took a taxi to the edge of the city, saw some exchanges from a distance, ran back to Beirut, filed the story with a Tripoli dateline and proceeded to detail the raging battle which he never really saw. There are many such stories from all over the world. That’s a great disservice to the readers, viewers, listeners and browsers. 2. THE GENDER PROBLEM: On the gender front, an Arab woman journalist may be lucky to cover the same news as a man, but she can’t expect the same pay. Why? â€Å"There’s a ceiling women can’t penetrate in media and government,† says May Kahale, a veteran journalist and media adviser to former Lebanese president Elias Hrawi. Mona Ziade, news editor at The Daily Star in Lebanon, notes that women’s coverage of politics and other â€Å"serious issues† is fairly recent and continues to raise male suspicions. Which is why women have to strive harder to prove themselves and abide by very professional standards to be taken seriously, and be respected. According to Dr. Mohammad Ibrahim Ayesh of Sharjah University, the chances of Arab women in the media are still limited compared to men and the lack of opportunities for professional growth is a major depressant they face in media organizations. He attributed this to traditional stereotyping of women in the media as consumers only concerned with beauty and fashion and lacking the ability to think and make decisions. Another obstacle is that media work requires flexible hours and mobility, which often conflicts with the responsibilities of married women, who have children and homes, he added. Why don’t we have stories of women who have succeeded in this field highlighted in our own media? Why don’t we make them available to foreign media in their own languages? It doesn’t take genius, just a bit of effort. I spent many years covering the Pentagon (in addition to the White House, State Department and Congress) and enjoyed writing on defense and security issues, focusing on weapons, rapid deployment forces, low intensity warfare, terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Mastery of languages is very important. It’s helped me in many situations. Reading Farsi (with my command of Arabic) helped me cover stories in Tehran; knowing Greek enabled me to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet while on assignment in Moscow and while living in Cyprus; and being fluent in French has served me in many locations, like North Africa and elsewhere. Thinking and speaking in English’s many variations is my strength. If women are to prove themselves in the field – and many have excelled over the years – they should do their homework, and more. They should keep pushing that executive glass ceiling by being experts in areas not considered â€Å"women’s issues.† 3. HOW ARAB MEDIA SHOULD COUNTERATTACK: On November 26, the Arab League opened a two-day conference to discuss how to deal with the world’s eagerness to equate Islam with terrorism and started a fund with an initial $1 million donation to finance research and publications to promote dialogue among civilizations. That’s great, but we need to ensure the availability of satellite broadcasts (mostly in English), good use of the Internet, and an army of articulate communicators who can convey the ideas of peace, common humanity and fairness to all in non-rhetorical language, short sound bites and cyber kilobits. Arab media need to counter-attack, but I would argue that to do so, they must act decisively, promptly and credibly. The Detroit Free Press, published in the city with the United States’ most concentrated Arab-American population, is trying to better understand and explain issues concerning Arab-Americans and Muslims. It has a list called â€Å"100 Questions & Answers About Arab-Americans: A Journalistà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s Guide† to help with more accurate journalistic portrayals of Arab-Americans, their backgrounds, culture, religions. The Florida-based Poynter Institute, which specializes in media matters, ran an online article called â€Å"Understanding Ramadan† with links to various sites journalists could use as resources. Equally good were two features in the Seattle Times Online called â€Å"Understanding Turbans† and â€Å"Interpreting Veils† with illustrations and descriptions of headdresses worn by men and covers for women. We should have such information handy to provide our media contacts. Speaking on Arab-American perspectives on the anti-terrorism war, the president of the Arab-American Institute in Washington, James Zogby, delivered the Secretary of State’s Open Forum address in December, noting that his community can play a bridging role in the Middle East. â€Å"We understand the reality of the region,† he said. â€Å"We also want to have input in the discussions about how we approach the Middle East.† So what do readers in America, for example, really want? Pam Johnson writes on the Poynter Institute site that international news needs relevance. â€Å"For many Americans, what happens in the Middle East, Western Europe, Great Britain, Afghanistan, the Indian sub-continent, and the rest of North America now is a subject of great interest,† she said. â€Å"Similarly, events in the United States that are related to the U.S.-led ‘War on Terrorism’ take on greater importance.† The Columbia Journalism Review of November/December 1997 ran a story entitled â€Å"Reporting Foreign News: Who Gives a Damn?† Author James F. Hoge, Jr. wrote that except for the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-90, the coverage of international news in American media had steadily declined since the late seventies, when the cold war lost its sense of imminent danger. The reason: A world less threatening to America is less newsy, he reported. Or as one TV executive said, â€Å"sunshine is a weather report, a raging storm is news.† Journalists have also ignored historians, wrote Charles Bowen in Editor & Publisher. He pointed to a new history-rich website called History News Network (www.historynewsnetwork.org) as a potentially powerful resource, providing linked headlines to its latest analyses. Shouldn’t the Arab World have something similar to serve its purposes? George Krimsky, a veteran foreign correspondent and editor with the Associated Press, who now has a consulting firm, co-authored a very useful book called â€Å"Bringing the World Home: Showing Readers Their Global Connections.† It’s an invaluable resource for Americans who don’t see a link between their own back yards and the universe at large. Arabs can help by finding links between what interests Americans and their own region. It just requires homework, research, and perseverance. Several organizations award journalists for the work they do and risks they take to inform us about what’s happening in the world, or even in our own neighborhoods. We should support these awards and create worthy prizes. I was heartened to learn that the conference of Arab news agencies’ federation which met in Doha in December recommended the establishment of the federation’s own internet site in English and Arabic and another site to counter the negative image portrayed in the perceived campaign against Arabs and Muslims. I would still like to see more references made to women’s participation in that effort and mention of how the image of women in the Arab world can be presented in a positive light, not via stereotypes. â€Å"Empowering Arab & Muslim women is the key to eradicating terrorism at its source† was the headline of an article by Lebanese journalist Saad Mehio in The Daily Star Dec. 12, 2001. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS: With all that in mind, here are my recommendations for positive change: Women journalists should have facts ready at their fingertips, ask intelligent questions, be persistent without being obnoxious, show inconsistencies in what’s being said and done, document everything, and be thorough. Arab women journalists need to learn American English fast and tune in to the nuances of official Washington before presuming to know how to cover the White House, State Department, Pentagon, Capitol Hill, etc. They also need to understand the intricacies of international finance and lending institutions if they’re to cover the World Bank and IMF. They should be well versed in the language of international relations, treaties, history, geography, etc., before tackling the U.N. and its agencies. There’s a lot of legwork involved. Have female economists available to speak on western business shows about their economic concerns and the common ground that exists between people from the Arab world and other parts of the world. It would strike a responsive chord. Have female engineers or physicists or doctors or lawyers available to appear on TV shows, radio programs, in print, etc., to explain how things work in Arab or Muslim countries. They would probably find more in common with their sisters in the west than differences. Above all, have articulate journalists and media experts available to answer questions about the media and other issues of concern across the cultural divide. Hollywood has enlisted former heavyweight boxing champ Mohammad Ali to help America’s campaign abroad to show that the war it’s launched isn’t against Islam or the Arabs, but against terrorism. Why can’t the Arabs enlist Omar Sharif and women stars who speak English well to do the same and address the western world to talk about the riches of the Arab world and Islam, and even Christianity in Arab countries? One thing we’ve failed to do well is addressing the hinterlands in America and Western Europe. It’s never too late to do that but definitely requires time, money and effort. How about mobilizing our women politicians to go out to De Moines, Iowa; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Athens, Ohio; Columbia, Missouri? Set them up to talk to women’s clubs, get on women’s talk shows and programs, even religious programs and talk about how their beliefs are similar to those of the women in the small towns and cities. We need to have a handbook of Arab-American legislators, Arabs who’ve made it in business and science, the media, etc. Have biographies of them and summaries on how the political system in the US works at the city, state and federal levels. Some of these things are already available through Arab-American organizations, but need to be made available to us in simplified form. It’s not just a matter of buying our way into the media and politics. It’s more a matter of working our way through the system, by first understanding it. We can’t claim expertise in the field. There’s still much to learn. We should have media directories and handbooks of Arab experts available for correspondents who visit us or live in our countries. Make them clear, concise and user friendly. Update them regularly, make sure they’re properly edited and printed on good paper and are attractive online. It’s the details that count and lend to one’s credibility. No matter how powerful or rich a mass medium, it cannot succeed if it does not offer accurate and unbiased information. We may present glossy pictures but if the text is bad, the whole story goes out the window. How do we contact the media? How do we write a letter to the editor or an op-ed column? Here are a few suggestions from the Arab American Institute in Washington, which also provides links to media sources. We can follow the guidelines and create our own local/regional version: 1. Be timely. Respond while the issue is still fresh in the minds of journalists and their audiences. Send your letter no later than a week after the article appears in print or is broadcast. 2. Be direct. The opening paragraph should contain your main point. You want the reader to be able to quickly identify your message. 3. Be concise. Your letter’s length will affect its chances of being published. Most publications will not print more than three short paragraphs. 4. Use words that convey a firm and resolute stance. If you’re writing a letter critical of news coverage, use adjectives such as distorted, inaccurate, out-of-context, one-sided, skewed. If you are complementing an article or editorial, make sure you note its fairness, balance and/or thoroughness. 5. Stay cool. Hostile or overly emotional language in your letter will hurt your chances rather than help them. Stating your case in a convincing fashion is the most important criterion for getting published. 6. Spread the word. Don’t just send your letter to the editor. You can maximize its impact if you send a copy to other people responsible for the article, such as the reporter, foreign editor or syndicated columnist, as well as those mentioned in the article, such as a congress member or public official. 7. Claim credit. Before publishing a letter, most papers will call to verify that you wrote it. Make sure you include your full name, title, address and daytime phone number in the letter. 8. Follow up. Inquire about the status of your letter with a phone call or letter. If you submit a letter in the future, the editor may remember you and give you more immediate consideration. In December, CNN and MTV – two cable networks launched in the 1980s with different ownerships and audiences – teamed up to offer viewers of both networks a series of reports on young people in Afghanistan. What an interesting experiment! Why can’t we have something similar with young women from a youth-oriented Arab station reporting on the plight of Palestinian women under siege, young people in Iraq, students in Sudan, or women farmers in southern Lebanon? In fact, I would propose creating an online news service for children, run by children – let’s say ages 8-18 – under the guidance of adults. Its young reporters can reach out to others around the world and share their concerns and fears about the planet they all share. Another place I’ve loved to visit in the past few years has been something called the Newseum (or news museum) outside Washington. It’s a magnet for anyone interested in news. We could easily have something like that in Lebanon, for example, dedicated to the news business, with exhibits in at least three languages and user-friendly, computer-generated, interactive displays. We must learn to network more effectively and develop media literacy programs for children and adults. A specialized media group defines media literacy as a four-step â€Å"inquiry† process of Awareness†¦Analysis†¦Reflection†¦Action. There’s a lot that can be done online to reach a far greater audience than traditional media. One woman in New York called Amira Quraishi with a group of friends launched a non-profit organization called Muslims Against Terrorism and started a website. According to Wired News Online, they began with a spare website that tracked hate crimes and cited key passages from the Koran that call for peace, justice and tolerance. Within three weeks, the site had slick Flash graphics, a press kit, links to other good resources, links to the group’s listserv and contact information for members. One of our shortcomings has been that we’re always reactive, not proactive. We need to change that. We should provide speakers, information, access, courtesy, and much more, in real time. We should learn to make friends with reporters and editors – not with the idea of buying them, but with being good sources of reliable information to them. It’s an easy task that should be taken seriously. We should learn to respect time and deadlines. We need to have long-term vision. Our editorials should be rational discourses, not irrational outbursts. If we’re going to set up more satellite stations to address western public opinion, let them not be carbon copies of what we already have. We need original content to face today’s challenges. We need in-depth coverage of issues that concern our people and that have common threads with others worldwide. Let’s be creative about it. We’re catching up in the use of technology, but shouldn’t bar access to its various manifestations. Blocking websites won’t do it. It’ll only make people want to try harder to reach the unreachable. We have too many armchair analysts. In Beirut, dozens of famous writers sit in cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s and expound on matters about Lebanon and the world. They don’t travel extensively, they don’t mix with all manner of people, and they don’t even read English well enough to decipher American or British media. And yet they get paid for that. It’s a disgrace. They should be dethroned. Analysis and good writing aren’t done by remote control. They require involvement, getting down to the grassroots, digging for facts, and constantly communicating with people from all walks of life. We in the Arab world should also learn to handle bad news. In the West they create crisis centers to handle the flow of information in an emergency. We tend to cover up things. Why? We’d be more credible if we shared what we knew in a sober and rational way to help all those concerned, including ourselves. People will continue to stereotype Arabs and Muslims so long as Arabs and Muslims don’t present their case in an effective way, away from stuffy official statements that most people don’t believe anyway. We need substance. It’s our job to change the negative image we have abroad. We have to bridge the cultural and media divide. Provocation won’t get us anywhere. Communication will. To improve our image we need to clean up our own act, reform our methods, abide by media ethics, follow guidelines of good journalistic practice, promote transparency in our work, capitalize on our human assets, promote more women in the media to fill higher positions and provide balanced leadership. We need to coordinate better and should learn to share information among each other in a cooperative spirit. â€Å"Keep it simple and don’t assume anything† are two basic rules I used to teach my journalism students. They’re universal. Finally, always keep children in mind when creating a message. They’re the most impressionable and valuable audience we have and they’ll grow up to become tomorrow’s leaders.