Thursday, October 31, 2019
The Creation of White Supremacy in the Nineteenth-Century United Essay - 1
The Creation of White Supremacy in the Nineteenth-Century United States - Essay Example ââ¬â¢ and to maintain this status they needed to place their allegiances with those in power that had the resources who could divvy up the benefitsâ⬠(McVey 18). Basically speaking, an emphasis on racial rather than class unity has traditionally been an emphasis in America. This essay explains the reasons the United States had become a supremacist nation by mid-1800s. This essay argues that white supremacy emerged in the United States during the 19th century because of economic exploitation (e.g. slavery) and racial myths (e.g. Manifest Destiny). The creation of white supremacy was a critical occurrence in the emergence of American capitalism. The concept of white supremacy emerged in the United States due to several major developments: the legacy of British exploitation of the Irish; the opposition to slavery, which concluded in the subjugation of the Baconââ¬â¢s Rebellion in Virginia in the latter part of the 17th century; the self-recognition of emancipated laborers as members of the White population in the antebellum North; and the creation of the White nation in the latter part of the 19th century. The United States could not have emerged as a White supremacist nation in the absence of slavery. It was enslaved Africans who facilitated the economic development of the United States. This economic progress climaxed from the early to mid-1800s, the era referred to as the Market Revolution. The major driving force for the emergence of the Market Revolution was the cotton trade, and this was facilitated by indentured servi tude (Roediger 32). Another thrust to the emergence of the United States as a white supremacist nation was the occupation of a large portion of Mexico. This gave the United States the opportunity to successfully gain Pacific expansion, and hence embark on a massively profitable trade with Asian markets. It also gave the United States the opportunity to tap the immense supply of agricultural resources in California and mineral resources in
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
U02d1 Adult Learner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
U02d1 Adult Learner - Essay Example The research title has been developed to study the meaning of ââ¬Ëadultsââ¬â¢. I have entered adulthood and I have an interest to learn about the adulthood stages of development. This assignment allows us to take a brief peek at what the future holds for us. There are several different ways of looking at the term aging. A few people tend to quantify aging in terms of numbers in terms of years. Others express aging in terms of the biological changes that an individual goes through (Stagesoflife, 2009). Another way of quantifying aging involves the social changes that occur in a personââ¬â¢s lives. As discussed earlier, every person goes through numerous changes and these changes in terms of biological, physical, mental, and social changes according to me form the actual meaning of ââ¬Ëadulthoodââ¬â¢ and ââ¬Ëagingââ¬â¢ (Piccini, 2008). The study aims at gaining an answer to the question "What does adult mean?" In a case like this I would suggest the title as: ââ¬Å"Stages of Life: A Longitudinal Study to understand Adulthoodâ⬠. The main reason to choose a longitudinal study has been chosen for the research as it allows a study of the same people across the period of their life span. It also allows the researcher to study the behavioral aspects and measure the differences at every stage (Thomas K. Burdenski, 2002). I prefer to use the longitudinal research method over the cross sectional research or any other type of research, as the here I get a chance to study an individual over time and also allows me to understand why a particular thing is happening. The longitudinal study allows the researcher to touch upon various aspects of life which could have otherwise been missed out in any other form of study. Hence the study title and this choice of method are preferred for the study (Other Free Encyclopedias, 20 09). Being a part of an Adult Development course allows me to get my basics right in terms of aging and
Sunday, October 27, 2019
LOTTE Confectionery: Strategy Evaluation
LOTTE Confectionery: Strategy Evaluation 1. Background LOTTE Confectionery is No1.confectionery Company that holds multiple No1 selling products of gum, candy, chocolate and biscuit segments in Korea domestic market. LOTTE Confectionery stands in unrivaled position by Xylitol and occupies strong position in chocolate by Ghana chocolate and Dream Cacao. Orion Confectionery international sale exceeded domestic sale in 2009. Orion Confectionery ranks 1st in international sale among Korean confectionery companies and possesses enormous growth rate at international market, because Orion Confectionery releases gentrified domestic products to international market. Domestic confectionery market is Red Ocean, recently revenue has been decreased. Domestic confectionery market is saturated in fact (EDaily. 2011.01.11). Even Foreign confectionery companies are joining and intensifying competition in Korea. The scale and profitability of international market are larger and higher than domestic market. Thus, Korean Major Food companies decided to enter oversea markets. Among them, Orion Confectionery ranks at 1st in international confectionery business. 2. Current strategy of LOTTE Confectionery 1) Me Too strategy ââ¬ËMe Too strategy is a business strategy that following company emulates a market leading companys strategy. It is called as ââ¬ËMarket follower strategy or ââ¬ËImitation strategy. With this strategy, a follower can gain many advantages. The market leader often bears the huge expenses of developing new products and markets, expanding distribution, and education the market. By contrast, as with challengers, the market follower can learn from the leaders experience. LOTTE Confectionery is a typical company to uses ââ¬Ëme too strategies for products. There are many cases that LOTTE Conf. emulates competitors successful products. Table 1. Me too products cases in LOTTE Confectionery Competitor Product (Company) LOTTE Conf. Product Remarks Competitor Product (Company) LOTTE Conf. Product Remarks Chocopie (ORION) Chocopie Pie (HAITAI) Snack Homerunball (HAITAI) Myball Snack DR.YOU (ORION) Mothers finger Premium Product Brand Source: Interview with ORION employee LOTTE Confectionery applies ââ¬ËMe too Strategy for overseas business. The Main countries where LOTTE Conf. constructed product factories by itself are China, Vietnam, Russia and India. Except India, the entry timings of LOTTE for 3 counties are recognized as ââ¬Ëme too strategy. In China market, ORION entered in 1993 and LOTTE entered 1 year later. Vietnam where LOTTE entered in 2007 as acquisition of BBICA, 2nd biggest confectionery company in Vietnam, was open to ORION 2 years early. ORION established a local subsidiary company, OFV (ORION Food Vietnam Company), in 2005 and constructed local factory in 2006. In Russia market, ORION established OFR (ORION Food Russia Company) in 2003. ORION constructed a chocolate factory near Moscow in 2004 and second factory for overall confectionery manufacture in 2006. But LOTTE established LOTTE KF RUS LLC in 2007. Table 2. ORION LOTTE Confectionery Overseas entry time Country ORION LOTTE China In 1993, Establishing Beijing Office In 1994, Establishing local subsidiary Vietnam In 2005, Establishing ORION Food Vietnam Company In 2007, Acquiring 30% stocks of BBICA Russia In 2003, Establishing ORION Food Russia Company In 2007, Establishing LOTTE KF RUS LLC Source: Financial News, ââ¬Å"LOTTE, Following ORION?â⬠February 25.2008, LOTTE Confectionery on-line homepage, ââ¬Å"Historyâ⬠(http://www.LOTTEconf.co.kr/images/company/pic_hi05.jpg) 2) MA Strategy LOTTE confectionery has invested 500 billion KRW to overseas market by 2010. LOTTE focused VRICs (Vietnam, Russia, India, China) with acquisition local companies and factory construction. Sales result was under than expectation. LOTTE oversea sales consistantly increased and last year recorded 500 bil KRW. They have a 650 bil KRW sales target this year. LOTTE sped up their global business as entering China, India, Vietnam, Belgium, Russia and Pakistan (6th largest population). 1 China LOTTE confectionery established ââ¬Å"LOTTE China foods limited liability companyâ⬠in Beijing, China in 1994 and in 2005 it acquired ââ¬Å"Qingdao foods limited liability companyâ⬠which renamed later ââ¬Å"LOTTE Qingdao foods limited liability companyâ⬠. In 2006 it also acquired ââ¬Å"Shanghai foods limited liability companyâ⬠and renamed it as ââ¬Å"LOTTE Shanghai foods limited liability companyâ⬠. The revenue in China in 2005 was about 90 billion Korean Won and slowly increased to 100 billion KRW in 2006, as the chocolate product which is main product of LOTTE Shanghai foods LLC hit its strides in 2006, the revenue jumped up to 140 billion KRW in 2008. LOTTE China foods limited liability company- Choco Pie, Gum Production LOTTE Confectionerys expansion into the Chinese Market was especially remarkable. Even through the heated competition of Global Food Industries, LOTTE was able to capture the Chinese Flavor. LOTTE indicates that it was possible because ââ¬Å"Steady exportation and Improvement of the Corporate image from the early 80s and the supply of eminent products due to the establishment of Local plants in the Mid 90s.â⬠Before any diplomatic relations between Korea and China, LOTTE Confectionery concentrated on supplying eminent brand products through Hong Kong. Thus LOTTE has succeeded in establishing long term faith. Lets take a look on a couple of cases. Supporting Horse Racing hosted by local merchants, production and promotion of CafÃÆ'Ãâà © Coffee Gum to help Chinese quit smoking, campaign to help victims of flood damage and other activities to capture the heart of the Chinese. Through these efforts, in August of 1994, LOTTE Confectionery established the ââ¬ËLOTTE China foods limited liability company in the Economy Technology Development Zone in Beijing. Thus it has made possible to supply suitable local products. The first established local factory was completely co-operational. LOTTE Confectionery, Japan LOTTE, and Mitsui invested in the factory and are now developed in 3 divisions. The 1st factory produced Choco-pie, Cream Cake, Koalamazzi, The 2nd factory produced plate gum, and bubble gum. The 3rd factory produced Xylitol gum, Coating gum. Among these products, it can be said that GUM represents LOTTE Confectionery. Chewing gum started being produced and sold in September of 2001, Xylitol gum, plate gum in 2002 and Coating gum in 2003.Products from these factories were sold in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and other areas of China. Also the market share in China exceeded 30%. LOTTE Qingdao Foods Limited Liability Company- snacks, biscuit production In 1996 the ââ¬ËQingdao Foods Limited Liability Companywas established at the science and technology park of Qingdao. Based on gaining the trust of Chinese, LOTTE Confectionery solely invested and acquired Qingdao Foods Limited Liability Company in 2005. Main products of that company were snacks and biscuits such as Myball, Peanut-cuttlefish ball, Choco-pie, Custard, Strawberry pie and other pies. Especially the popularity of the Custard and Choco-pie is sharply increasing and is expected to regenerate the CRAZE in Korean Market. LOTTE Shanghai Foods Limited Liability Company- Production of raw liquid of chocolate. In 2006 ââ¬ËLOTTE Shanghai Foods Limited Liability Company was solely acquired by LOTTE Confectionery, established in 1993. This factory was mainly producing the raw liquid of chocolate. In January of 2007, LOTTE Confectionery and Hersheys signed a strategic alliance to manufacture and sell the main products from this factory. And from October 2007, LOTTE Confectionery started to manufacture and supply its popular products, Ghana and Dream CaCao into all over the Chinese market. (Source: Journal ââ¬ËThe Buyer 2008) 2 India LOTTE acquired Parrys in May 2004. It was a sole invest, not joint venture. LOTTE firstly acquired 60.39% stock and gained the rest later. Stock acquisition cost was about 23.2 Bil KRW. Parrys Confectionery Ltd, established in 1914, was one of the representative confectionery companies in India. Annual sales are over 22 Bil KRW. By acquiring Parrys, LOTTE could preoccupy India confectionery market as well as secured the price competitiveness making India as production base for exporting to Africa and Middle East area. (Source: 2004/5/21 food new media) 3 Vietnam In 2007, LOTTE acquired 30% stocks of BBiCa which was the 2nd largest confectionery company with annual sales 20Bil KRW in Vietnam. Using BBiCas sales network over the country, LOTTE expected to expand market presence in Vietnam, the population was about 84 Mil in 2007. (Source: 2007/10/05 Medical today media) 4 Pakistan LOTTE Confectionery acquired Pakistan Kolson companys (K. S. Sulemanji Esmailji Sons (Private) Limited) stock 69.45% (20 Bil KRW) and became the biggest stockholder. Through this acquisition, LOTTE could begin a nationwide business in Pakistan. Pakistan confectionery market size was the 1/3 of Koreans. However it was expected to grow 10% each year, since the population under the age of 14 was 37%. (Source: LOTTE Confectionary Internal Data) Kolson was founded in 1942, one of the leading company with asset 53.2 bil KRW and annual sales were about 33 bil KRW. Kolson had the 2nd largest market share (29%) in snack, 4th(6%) in biscuit, the 1st(44%) in pasta market in 2010. 3) Synergy with LOTTE groups affiliates LOTTE has a vision to make a global brand just like Samsung and Wal-Mart. One of the key strategies for achieving this goal is building ââ¬Å"LOTTE Townâ⬠LOTTE has already opened ââ¬Å"Moscow LOTTE Townâ⬠on last October, 2010, which is consisting of luxury hotels and department stores. That was the first oversea ââ¬Å"LOTTE Townâ⬠Also in Hanoi, Vietnam and in Shenyang, China are under construction ââ¬Å"LOTTE Townâ⬠which is planning to complete the end of 2013 in Hanoi, and to complete the end of 2015 in Shenyang. 1 Building LOTTE Town in China and Vietnam By 2018, LOTTE will build more than 10 LOTTE Town in Nanjing, Shanghai, Chengdu in China-, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Jakarta in Indonesia, etc, to serve them as a growth base for the LOTTEs global business. Additional oversea LOTTE Town will be constructed mainly focusing on VRICs (Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, China)In China, Nanjing Jenye District, Shanghai Zhabei District, Sichuan Province, Chengdu Jin Jiang District, Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, Zhongshan , Shandong Weihai , Chongqing, and Wuhan, LOTTE is discussing with those cities and governments for consulting the land, building size, business information in LOTTE Town. Those complex projects are targeting to complete in 2014 to 2015. In Vietnam, following Hanoi, Ho Chi min and Danang are planning to construct LOTTE Town. Jakarta in Indonesia and St. Petersburg .in Russia -following Moscow-, are pushing ahead for LOTTE Town. 2 LOTTE Town and LOTTE Confectionery global business LOTTE group is planning LOTTE Town construction, mainly targeting on rising countries such as China. Those countries are just about to create consumer markets based on high-growing economic development and high-growing spending spree. If LOTTE Confectionery is starting global business based on LOTTE Town, it can amplify the synergy to promote sales and maximize profits. 3 Overseas company management with Japan LOTTE LOTTE Confectionery has a lot of local subsidiary companies. And most of them are operated in collaboration with Japan LOTTE. It seems to make more stable business circumstance. Japan LOTTE has more overseas experience (Established LOTTE USA in 1978, and so on) and financing capacity (Low Yen Carry interest, and so on). Therefore LOTTE could share Japan LOTTE strengths and hedge against overseas business risks. Table 3. Overseas collaboration subsidiaries Local subsidiary Country Overseas collaboration companies LOTTE China Foods Co., Ltd China Japan LOTTE, Mitsui Co, LOTTE Confectionery etc. LOTTE Philippines Foods Co., Inc Philippines Japan LOTTE, Japan Taiwan Trade, Philippines Nugget Food LOTTE Vietnam Foods Co., Ltd Vietnam Japan LOTTE, Marubeni Co. LOTTE Packaging(Beijing) Foods Co., Ltd China Japan LOTTE LOTTE Taiwan Co., Ltd Taiwan Japan LOTTE Shandong FengCheng Cold beverage Limited liability company China LOTTE Invest Limited liability company, Shandong FengCheng Food Limited liability company LOTTE Trade And Distribution. PT Indonesia Japan LOTTE Source: Korea Information Service. INC, ââ¬Å"LOTTE Confectionery Contingent liability and Contract clauseâ⬠(http://www.kisline.com/) 3. Conclusion 1) LOTTE Confectionery SWOT analysis For strategy proposal, we analyze SWOT of LOTTE confectionery as below. Table 4. SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses A huge domestic and global distribution network and its affiliates A variety of No. 1 family brand held Excellent production facilities Abundant capital for investment Limitation of Me-Too strategy on premium product Poor performance in overseas investment Weak innovation strategy Centralized decision making Opportunities Threats Synergy with LOTTE Groups international strategy Target countrys (VRICs) population growth Keen competition with local and global companies Diversity of local consumers tastes 2) LOTTE Confectionerys key strategies Given circumstances and above analysis, we can find 4 key strategies for LOTTE Confectionery in terms of International Business Management. First, Strengthening MA (Brownfield method) based on abundant capital power Saving time for market penetration Risk hedging Table 5. Entry mode of Lotte and Orion Entry mode LOTTE Orion Remark Ownership MA O X Greenfield O Trading Exporting O O Importing X X Collaboration strategies Low commitment (Licensing) X X High commitment (JVs) O X Second, Synergy effect through Groups alignment Economy of scale economy of scope Cooperating with LOTTE Town Third. Decentralization for decision making Localization strategy for specific circumstances of each country Timely responsiveness Lastly, Market leading through innovation strategy Allocating investment in RD Recruiting and educating global experts
Friday, October 25, 2019
McTeague or Animalism Essay -- essays research papers
McTeague, or Animalism - Unpublished à à à à à The last decade of the twentieth century in America saw a rise in programs for humanââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"self betterment.â⬠A popular form of betterment is that of the inner animal. Interest in Native American animal mysticism, vision quests, and totem animals have increased dramatically in the past few years. No forms of media have been spared; Calvin Kleinââ¬â¢s supermodels come on during sitcom commercials to tell viewers they need to be a beast, or to get in touch with their animal within. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, however, animalism was viewed not as a method of self-improvement but as the reprehensible side of humanity that lingered beneath the surface, waiting for an opportune time to come out and play. In Frank Norrisââ¬â¢ novel McTeague, humans are no better than the beasts they claim to control. They cage and torment defenseless creatures, but cage and torment themselves far, far, worse. McTeague, Trina, Zerkow, and Marcus are animals in thin humanââ¬â¢s clothing, walking the forests of McTeague, waiting for the opportunity to shed their skin and tear each other apart, while the real animals of the world continue leading lives far superior to their human counterparts. à à à à à McTeague, the title character of the work, is the king of beasts in San Francisco. A charlatan dentist who constantly mumbles and growls when speaking, he makes his living by causing great pain to his fellow human beings. The woman he falls in love with, Trina Sieppe, is a patient in his chair. McTeagueââ¬â¢s love is spawned from the agony of false orthodontics. Although etherized, Trina experiences the hurt of McTeagueââ¬â¢s drills. As he works his macabre work on the beautiful girl, McTeague begins to see her as more and more attractive. The pain is a sexual catalyst for McTeague; like an animal on the hunt, he becomes aroused by the suffering he causes Trina. The instinct to take advantage of the defenseless girl becomes overpowering, and he eventually gives in to his raging, bestial nature and plants a dog-like smooch on her lips. From this love forged in sex, the downfall of McTeague and Trina is cast. à à à à à McTeague resembles the beast inside more and more as his marriage progresses. At first, sexually dominating Trina satiates him. Like a drug, however, a greater dosage is ne... ...bsp;à à à à The final stab at humans is the way the animals in the story act. The two dogs in the alley are constantly fighting each other with barks. They are confined to cages, so for a long time they never have the opportunity to come to blows. Cages can only hold a creature for a finite amount of time, however, and eventually an opportunity arises where the two animals finally meet. Instead of tearing each other to shreds, they sniff each other and seem quite satisfied with the other. The fact that the dogs can succeed where the humans failed goes a long way in explaining the other characterââ¬â¢s actions. à à à à à The four principle characters of McTeague fall short where two ââ¬Å"simple-mindedâ⬠canines win. According to Norris, humans are less than animals; they are slow-witted beasts barely able to come to grips with their own nature. Instead of pretending they are so high and mighty, Norris forces people to realize that their humanity causes them to fall beneath the animals. The very things humans pride themselves on are their downfall, and the animals are laughing, laughing as humans hunt and kill themselves closer and closer to extinction.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Contextualising the text – Yerma
Throughout his adult life, Garcia Lorca spoke frequently and with great pleasure about the profound importance he attributed to his early childhood in the small villages in the countryside near Granada, and later, in the provincial capital itself. Lorca's father, Federico Garcia Rodriguez was a wealthy landowner with several substantial holdings in the rich alluvial plain called La Vega de Granada. Having been widowed in his first marriage and left without children, Don Federico's second marriage (of which his family disapproved because of the inferior social and economic background of his bride) was to a school teacher from Granada, Vincenta Lorca Romero. The mere fact that she had a profession and a job is an indication of her independence and strength of character. The influence of her personality was to be of the utmost importance for Federico Garcia Lorca, her eldest son, born in June of 1898. The experience of the first ten years in that fertile region of slow rivers and poplar groves, with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada in the distance, seems to have provided Lorca with an inexhaustible well-spring of inspiration and feeling for Spain's rural people and their world. The rural folk he was surrounded by became a great influence in his work as we are shown in his second rural play Yerma. Act 2, scene 1 shows us a parallel to what Lorca would have witnessed often during his childhood. In his late teens he began to write poems that he would recite in local cafes. As a child he was known to carry on conversations with inanimate objects, bestowing upon each object a personality and speaking with them as if they were living things and might speak back at any moment. His writing career began with a book of essays in 1918, followed by a play in 1920 and book of poetry in 1921. In 1919 he left to study law at the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he met and became friends with film director Luis Bunuel and painter Salvador Dali, among other Spanish notables of his generation. With the exception of summer vacations spent in Granada, Garcia Lorca would stay in the Residencia until 1928, by which time he had become Spain's most highly respected younger poet. In the period of his greatest fame, Lorca drifted into a depressive, disillusioned state of mind. He described himself to a friend as suffering ââ¬Å"one of the saddest and most unpleasant moments of my life. â⬠He abandoned the gypsy ballad poetry that was making him famous. He even stopped reading his poetry to friends. He was rescued from this melancholy mood by his mentor, Fernando de los Rios, who took him from Madrid through France and England to New York City. In his plays, the pivotal characters are women. Women are the ones who suffer from desire and pass through conflict to tragic or comic resolution. Most of the scenes take place in women's spaces, the domestic interiors which they rule and from which men are estranged (or, as in The House of Bernarda Alba, completely prohibited). The female characters reveal themselves most easily and deeply in conversations with other women. The poetry which erupts at moments of emotional intensity usually comes from the mouths of female characters. Especially in the three great tragedies which are known as his ââ¬Å"trilogy of rural life,â⬠Lorca chooses women to exemplify the human life which is crushed by Spanish customs and social life. He went to Cuba in 1929-30 and returned to Spain in 1931. That year Spain became a Republic, which gave hope to many ââ¬â Garcia Lorca included ââ¬â that Spain's standard of living would be improved, its illiteracy reduced and its culture more widely disseminated. He became a director of a student theatre company, ââ¬Å"La Barraca,â⬠which toured small villages and in the faces of harassment by Fascist partisans presented the Spanish classics to the peasants. The company produced the three ââ¬Å"rural tragediesâ⬠on which Garcia Lorca's theatrical reputation rests. Yerma (1934), the second of the three tragedies, is the story of a woman who is unable to conceive although she desperately longs to have a child. The first and third tragedies are Blood Wedding (1933) and The House Bernada Alba, which was never performed during Garcia Lorca's lifetime. At the start of the Spanish Civil War, he went to Granada, which he regarded as relatively safe. Although he had no political affiliations, he was known to be a friend of left-wing intellectuals and an advocate of liberty. Apparently this was enough of an indictment for the Falangists who arrested him on the orders of the Nationalist Civil Governor on August 16, 1936. He was held for two days, tortured and shot. Garcia Lorca was homosexual, and he suffered greatly because of the strict, conservative nature of Spain at that time. His writings were outlawed in Granada's Plaza del Carmen. Even speaking his name was forbidden. The young poet quickly became a martyr, an international symbol of the politically oppressed, but his plays were not revived until the 1940s, and certain bans on his work remained in place until as late as 1971. Today, Garcia Lorca is considered the greatest Spanish poet and dramatist of the 20th Century.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Rachel and her Children essay Essay
We see them almost everywhere! We can hear them around the corner, and we see their shadow from far away. We try to avoid looking directly into their eyes, and we pretend we did not hear them when they talk to us. We walk around the block to avoid them, and walk faster to leave them behind. These people that we consider to be invisible are actually homeless human beings. Homelessness in America remains an issue of deep concern in the 21st century. Without a permanent roof over their head, these people seek refuge in various places such as homeless shelters and tent cities. If they are fortunate they will find a safe place to stay the night. The less fortunate ones are forced to spend their night in public places that are unsafe and unfit to sleep in. Although homelessness is not a new issue to write about, in ââ¬Å"Rachel and her childrenâ⬠, Jonathan Kozol brings us into an entirely new world. A world where the homeless are not just figures with hands held out asking for spare change. He brings us into the lives of these homeless story by story case by case sharing his personal interviews with these unfortunate people. What Kozol describes deeply in the book throughout true incredible stories goes beyond our expectation. Especially in chapter 5,â⬠Distancing ourselves from pain and tearsâ⬠which is one of the center of the book, the author raises more concern about our attitudes toward poor homeless people. What Kozol means by ââ¬Å"distancingâ⬠in the chapter is that people do really care about homelessness. They do understand and feel guilty about what homeless people are suffering day by day. Because of the guiltiness, they try to create a ââ¬Å"distanceâ⬠by themselves to ignore the responsibility for these homeless people. Instead of blaming the reckless negligence of the governmentââ¬â¢s welfare system, people end up blaming homelessness for creating their own destitution. In some ways, it is surely that most Americans would have a certain enhanced sympathy toward homeless people. However, not many of us do truly care about them, want to know what the story is behind them becoming homeless, and try to help them get out of their dark side. We do have compassion, but our compassion is not big enough to connect us closer to homeless people. Even though we feel very bad whenever we hear about the poor people, every one of us does have a distance ourselves from homelessness. The first thing that come to my mind and other peopleââ¬â¢s when thinking about homeless people is that all of them are panhandlers, those who are mentally unstable, and victims of ââ¬Å"dumpingâ⬠by greedy hospital or drug addiction. Last summer I came to visit my friend who lives in downtown San Francisco. As I was walking down to the bus station, I remember passing an old homeless woman who was asking people for money at the corner of the station. Being careful not to touch her, I dropped a few spare coins in his hand. Automatically assuming that the money I gave her would be used for drugs or alcohol, I looked upon her with contempt. After reading this book, I understand that the woman I saw at the corner of the station could have, at one time, been just like me. Even though being a little proud of just doing something good, I found that I (as well as other people) fail to create a distance from homelessness. At the beginning, Kozol opens his book with the story of Peter and Megan who are living in the Martique homeless shelter. Before ending up being homeless, they had a happy life with their five children. Peter did plumbing and carpentry. He was also a contributing and working. After a fire destroyed the house and all of Peterââ¬â¢s collection of tools he had built up for years, Peterââ¬â¢s family had to struggle in the Martique. By opening with this story, Kozol gives the readers a new vision of homeless people. Stereotypes of the homeless as individuals struggling with mental health issues or substance addictions no longer hold. They used to be normal members in the society just like us, but for some reasons cause them to become destitute. Kozolââ¬â¢s book documents how many homeless were recently employed, cast into homelessness by financial misfortune such as ongoing unemployment, staggering medical bills or medical disabilities. Many homeless people are in their existing condition of living on the streets because of being born poor, while many other homeless people used to have money, fame and property before but lost it all in some big personal or external event. We have never thought what lead those people into their dark sides. We are too hasty to put everyone into the same category. Because of that failure in thinking, we naturally build an invisible distance that separates us from homeless people. There are hundreds of fears which could be called typical of human needs existing inside of us such as: going broke, foreclosure on house, humiliation from public speaking, running out of food, or major disastersâ⬠¦. However, a life that is financially is unsecure, and in a depressed economy, the fear of being homeless seems to be considered as the biggest concern for human beings. For those who have been homeless and are now off the street, generally they promise themselves never to let that happen again. Many people now fear being homeless who are close to foreclosure. Too many people bought at the top of the market or re-financed with variable rate deals. Therefore, this fear of being homeless is a real fear. When people are scared of something so much that they cannot face it, they tend to ignore it in order to release the fear that they are going through. We all know that homelessness still exists. We also know that that the number of people who stay in the street as their home, lack of food, tremble because of cold, and carry on so many disease is increasingly higher in every states of the U.S. Since we fear of being homeless, we try to disregard the existence of homelessness. We even blame homeless people for creating their own situation. In order to push away our own ââ¬Å"nightmareâ⬠, we unintentionally create the distance between ourselves and homelessness. Not only do we eliminate our ââ¬Å"nightmareâ⬠by blaming the homeless people but also we evade our responsibility by making an excuse that there is no ââ¬Å"quick fixâ⬠for erasing homelessness in America. That means people who are living in the street have to wait a long time to get a house. Most of us usually think that we already gave a hand for helping homelessness by the tax we pay to the government every year, and that the government themselves have had programs for low-income Americans. However, we do not know that the money the government gives up to help poor people is ââ¬Å"just over a tenth of the federal budgetâ⬠(131). Yet, that ten percent of the budget was cut into one third by the Reagan budget cuts. In other words, when that amount of money reaches to the homeless people, it means nothing. The question here is: What is the rest of the money gone instead of using to help homeless? The rest of billions of dollars is used for national defense such as: military, weapons, and so-called warsâ⬠¦ Without knowing this, we blame homeless people for creating their own destitution instead of the government. The book ââ¬Å"Rachel and her childrenâ⬠incredibly tells stories of homeless people. Each person has his or her own different circumstances, but generally these people used to have the same normal live before they became homeless. Many of us would sympathize with homeless people on the street, but only few truly want to help them get out of their extreme circumstances. In some ways, we still draw ourselves a distance from homelessness either because of our guiltiness or our own fear of being homeless one day. When we confidently give up our little spare coins to homeless people without worrying if they are used for drugs or alcohol, that is when we little by little erase our distance and get closer to these poor homeless human beings. View as multi-pages
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
American Films and Mall Floor Essays
American Films and Mall Floor Essays American Films and Mall Floor Essay American Films and Mall Floor Essay In my attempt to remember the night, Id discovered why some things were convenient to forget. My head was throbbing. But it wasnt Just from lack of hydration, it was also from excessive humiliation. And the question still remained: had I attacked **** with my tongue? In more ways than one? And did I ruin his shoes? No. F-ing. Way. I KISSED This was bad. This was bad bad. This was the Colossus of bad. They were going to build a giant freaking statue commemorating my horror and terrible decision-making nd unintended bestie betrayal. And then theyd probably build another. Whoever they were. The kiss was Just an additional thing I could add to the list of reasons why Id potentially Just screwed up everything with****. But for now, **** could wait. Sienna couldnt. I had to talk to her before doing anything else. The kiss didnt mean anything. I didnt even remember it. If only I could make her forget it, too shed understand, right? Unlike **** ****** wasnt afraid to be a dork. And I was ready to dork out with him. I was living in the moment. And I didnt know if it was by chance or by choice. But I didnt care. It was time for me to bust a move. On the mall floor, Brittney found out that ***** had been her missed connection. I told **** Id explain it later, but in truth, the story was short. Brittney had connected with the guy she thought was missing. Which made me wonder if I was still missing the guy I had been connected to? And then I stopped thinking. And I let myself live in the moment. Everything with ****** was easy. Everything was as it was meant to be. Cuz finally the other guy I had been pining over was all but a distant forty feet away. **** had come to find me at the dance. Clusterf*ck #1. And he saw me in a scene with ******. Clusterf*ck #2. We were speaking in code and he wanted to know if it was too late. Too late to be with me. I was confused. I didnt know if I should listen to my head or my heart. So I went with my hand. that slipped into ****** One door to my heart had closed. Which meant a new one could open. And
Monday, October 21, 2019
Descartes Summary essays
Descartes Summary essays Introduction: Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy 16th Century: emergence of modern philosophy : changes from Classical inheritance Descartes: certain that knowledge is possible : uses philosophy to show how knowledge is possible : figures knowledge is a Philosophical principle, not way of world organization knowledge: (a.k.a.: K) secure t come from empiracle world; philosophy is the only way to achieve it : provides foundation for science Meditations: written in Latin and French Part 1: gives us approach to what we will be reading in the Meditations... I observed with regard to philosophy, despite being cultivated by best minds, it certained no point that is undisputed or doubtful. Philosophy: provides blue print dealing with knowledge, in order to show flaws in theory of K Descartes: gathered the great minds of his times to contribute to his book Things that are disputable t rely on what anyone says. Doubt: pernicious, difficult to construct system of knowledge in climate of doubt Descartes: admits situation: any project of knowledge should be placed center stage to defeat... 20th C: Hana Arendt: says Descartes was first to conceptualize modern doubting... its invisible Modern Age: conceptual philosophy, article of wonder, things are amazing... : constructed ramifications of doubt Descartes: not interested in skepticism with philosophy : confronts question: are you mining knowledge? : says you must: make doubt center stage and defeat it : obsessed with questions: how do I know if I am awake? How do I know if I am dreaming or if this is reality? Knowledge: important, so natural sciences can continue without interf ...
Sunday, October 20, 2019
All About Speciation
All About Speciation Evolution is most usually defined as a change in a population of a species over time through the accumulation of adaptations that are acted upon by natural selection. That may be a mouth full and nearly impossible to truly understand if there is not a full grasp on what a species actually is or how one changes over time. Sure, things change, but what makes them change? How does that affect other species? How long does it all take? Here we will shed some light on these questions and others like them about how evolution and speciation works. Definition of Species Perhaps the most important thing to be understood before truly grasping the idea of speciation and evolution is correctly defining the word species. Most books and reference materials will define the word species as a group of individual organisms that can interbreed in nature and produce viable offspring. While this definition is a good starting place, lets examine why it may not be quiteà as accurate as it should be. First of all, there are many species out there that are asexual. This means there is no real interbreeding happening within those species. Any unicellular organism would be asexual. Some other types of fungi also produce their own spores for asexual reproduction. Some plants can also self-pollinate meaning they also do not interbreed. Do these species undergo speciation and ultimately evolution? The short answer to this question is yes, they do. However, while evolution is usually driven by natural selection, natural selection cannot work on a gene pool that does not have any variation. Offspring of an asexual organism are essentially clones and have no traits that are different within the entire population. However, some changes at the microevolutionary level may occur. Spontaneous DNA mutations are one way new genes can enter the picture and natural selection then has diversity to work on within that species. Eventually, those mutations and adaptations add up if they are favorable and the species changes. Another problem with the basic definition of a species is the existence of what are known as hybrids. Hybrids are offspring of two different species, like how mating a horse with a donkey gives a mule. Some hybrids are sterile, which is sort of taken care of with the viable offspring part of the original species definition. However, many other hybrids are capable of producing their own offspring. This is especially true in plants. Biologists do not agree on a single definition of the term species. Depending on the context, the word species may be defined in more than a dozen different ways. Scientists often choose a definition that fits their needs or combines several to take care of that problem. For the majority of evolution biologists, the general definition above usually suits their purposes, although alternate definitions may be used to explain various parts of the Theory of Evolution. Definition of Speciation Now that a basic definition of species has been decided, it is possible to define the term speciation. Much like a family tree, the tree of life has several branches that show where species change and become new species. The point on the tree where a species change is called speciation. Using the definition of species above, it is when the new organisms can no longer interbreed with the original organisms in nature and produce viable offspring. At that point, they are now a new species and speciation has occurred. On a phylogenetic tree, speciation is the point on the tree where the branches diverge from one another. The farther back on the tree the branches diverge, the less closely they are related to one another. Points, where the branches are closer together, means those species recently diverged from each other. How Does Speciation Occur? Most of the time, speciation occurs through divergent evolution. Divergent evolution is when a species becomes less similar and changes into new species. The original species that branches off is then known as the most recent common ancestor of the new species. That is the process that causes speciation, but what triggers divergent evolution? Charles Darwin described the mechanism of evolution which he called natural selection. The basic idea behind natural selection is that species undergo changes and accumulate adaptations that are favorable for their environments. After enough adaptations have built up, the species is no longer the same as it was and speciation has occurred. Where do these changes come from? Microevolution is the changing of the species on a molecular level like with DNA mutations. If they are significant mutations, they will cause adaptations that may or may not be favorable for their environment. Natural selection will work on these individuals and the ones with the most favorable adaptations survive to create the new species. Changes in species can also happen on a larger scale. Macroevolution examines those changes. One of the most common causes of speciation is called geographic isolation. This is when a population of a species is separated from the original population and over time, the two populations accumulate different adaptations and undergo speciation. If they were brought back together after the speciation has happened, they will no longer be able to interbreed and are therefore not the same species anymore. Sometimes speciation happens because of reproductive isolation. Unlike geographic isolation, the population is still together in the same area, but something causes some of the individuals to no longer be able to mate and produce offspring with the original species. This could be something along the lines of a change in mating season or a different mating ritual. In some cases, males and females of the species have special colors or distinct markings. If these mating indicators were to change, the original species may no longer recognize the new individuals as potential mates. There are four types of speciation. Allopatric speciation and peripatric speciation are caused by geographic isolation. Parapatric speciation and sympatic speciation are the other two types and are generally due to reproductive isolation. How Speciation Affects Other Species Speciation of one species can affect the evolution of other species if they have a close relationship in an ecosystem. When populations of different species come together to form a community, they often depend on each other in some way for survival or to make life easier. This is especially apparent in food webs and food chains and in particular predator and prey relationships. If one of these species were to change, other species may also need to change. An example of this coevolution or cospeciation could be the speed of a prey species. The prey may accumulate adaptations that create larger leg muscles to help them run faster. If the predator does not adapt, it may starve. Therefore, only faster predators, or perhaps stealthier predators, will survive to pass down their favorable adaptations to their offspring. That means since the prey evolved or became a new species, the predator had to also evolve or change.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Ethics andPublic Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Ethics andPublic Administration - Essay Example The author of the paper "Ethics and Public Administration" assumes that morality defines the way in which one differentiates their intentions, how they arrive at their decisions and choose actions that their consciousness perceives to be right over what is wrong (Kakabadse, Korac-Kakabadse & Kouizmin 2003). Politics, on the other hand, entails the practice of structured control over people on an individual or civic level by those in governance positions. The functions of politics range from making laws to negotiating with opposing political views in order to promote oneââ¬â¢s views, to exercising force against enemies (which may include warfare). On the social level, politics is practiced from family units, clans, tribes and societies. On a broader scale, it is inherently present in local governments, institutions, states and international levels (Kakabadse, Korac-Kakabadse & Kouizmin 2003). In view of morality and politics, Machiavelli, an Italian writer, humanist, philosopher, d iplomat and politician of the renaissance period, argued that the requirements of the two are not compatible. Although there are upright, incorruptible politicians, it is common knowledge that most require help from influential individuals or corporate bodies to get past the preliminary stages of elections. However, this help is more often than not to be paid back, which forms the basis of argument of this paper, which will support the argument that the requirements of a moral and political life are incompatible.... When factional conduct is pursued, it always compromises the goal of common welfare which politicians are ideally meant to achieve. Evidently, factions are, therefore, the results of both public and private corruption among the citizens. Machiavelli believed that to avoid the corruption, one had to choose between two sets of virtues. Whoever chose personal morality would have to give up any vision of an unwavering and prosperous society where everyone flourishes on what is rightfully earned. On the other hand, whoever chose politics would have to give up all hopes of quenching personal anxiety. One sees that Machiavelliââ¬â¢s thinking shows that although the ultimate goal of personal morality and politics may be the same, they are driven by entirely different sets of values that contradict each other and may lack rational, achievable solutions (James 2003). After officiating in the Florentine Republic as secretary to the chancery and being responsible for military and diplomatic a ffairs, Machiavelliââ¬â¢s arguments must have been informed by actual experiences. One of his popular writings, The Prince, was done after the recovery of power by the Medici, who were not in power during the time he served as secretary to the chancery. From The Prince, one can draw a picture of Machiavelliââ¬â¢s view of political rule without influence of ethics or morals, where the politicians are completely conscious of the institution of politics in exercising power effectively. Like many political philosophers, Machiavelli believes there is a correlation between authority and moral uprightness. However, he goes further to point out that the relationship is different when it comes to ââ¬Å"legitimateâ⬠authority. Exercising political power can
Friday, October 18, 2019
Regression and Statistical Effects Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Regression and Statistical Effects - Assignment Example The data is divided into two groups. The total data set is divided into 4 segments: low lifetime, low revenue; low lifetime high revenue; high lifetime, low revenue, and high lifetime, high revenue. The first step ion the analysis is the calculation of bivariate Pearsonââ¬â¢s correlation coefficient between lifetime and profit. The author graphically analyses the trends between profitability and lifetime of the customer. Then, a linear regression model is developed to describe the relation for the four segments. The author then suggests a method using discriminant analysis that helps managers find out the most profitable customers. The research finds that it is not necessary that long-life customers are more profitable than short-life customers. The author also concludes that long-life customer do not necessarily pay more, and have higher costs. Regression analysis has been used in the study to the relation between the profitability of the customer and time. The researcher regress the profitability of the 4 segments with respect to time using the equation The relation between the profitability and time can be ascertained by the sign of the regression coefficient. A positive coefficient indicates a positive relation between the profitability and time for the particular segment. The researcher also makes use of a dummy variable to reflect the effects of a large first month purchase because purchase amount for the first month is generally found to be higher than succeeding months. Besides this, the researcher also attempts to draw broad conclusions regarding the direction of relation between the profits and time by using Pearsonââ¬â¢s correlation coefficient, and charts depicting the behaviors of the 2 groups. The small correlation coefficient (0.175 for Cohort 1 and 0.219 for Cohort 2) indicates a moderate linear relation between the lifetime duration and lifetime profits. Besides this, the researcher draws the graphs with lifetime
Radical feminist vs Liberal feminism Research Paper
Radical feminist vs Liberal feminism - Research Paper Example According to these feminists as discussed by Joy, all their problems emanate from men and patriarchy (James 78). When it comes to liberal feminists, Joy explains that they blame the source of their inequality and unfair treatment in society as a result of them being viewed by society as less intellectual and also not being physically strong enough in comparison to the men. It is this societal view that makes the liberal feminists want to emancipate themselves and want to gain equality. These feminists advocate for equality through rights to work and fair compensation. They also advocate for an end to domestic violence and sexual exploitation which has been the common thing women go through. An example of radical feminism that really needs to be changed is the issue of social class accorded to women and men. For a long time, men have been the ones accorded the upper social class in society as a result of the patriarchal system in society. This upper social class status has made the men be seen as the superior beings and women as the inferior in all sectors other than in home matters or domestic affairs like house-keeping and rearing children (reproductive roles). This is the notion and concept the radical feminists want to remove and show that women too can work in productive roles the same as men (Hannam 54). The liberal feminists on the other hand advocate more about reproductive rights which as a result of being seen as the gender whose roles are reproductive are not accorded the necessary reproductive rights they deserve. The need to advocate for these rights is because in as much as they directly involve women, they are ignored when it comes to planning or even implementation of reproductive laws for example the abortion laws. Women were initially not consulted or asked their views on abortion and whether they would like it to be made legal to avoid
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Article analyse Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Article analyse - Assignment Example other choice but to acquire its service at that expensive charge (Alderighi, Nicolini and Piga 73).Commercial air travel has received many changes over the past hundred years with it budget much stretched. With much completion starting to take charge, the commercial airlines were forced to reduce their fair cost to attract more customers. The slow global economic growth also ensured economic growth of air travel in the emerging regions where less air travel increased substantially (Alderighi, Nicolini and Piga 86). Besides, the commercial air travel took advantage of increased cost of fuel to increase its market structure. The domestic airplanes could not afford travelling long distances. Therefore, the commercial air travel was able to receive more customers to acquire it services. This situation reduced the completion it was earlier receiving from other airlines. International air travel indicates that mature airlines in the market of Europe experienced slower growth rate. The frontier airline, has now posed new challenges to commercial air travel in many areas. This has resulted to reduced economic growth of airlines. The frontier airlines now has reduced the cost of travelling, making several flights to various cities as compared to the air travel (Alderighi, Nicolini and Piga 45). In overall, the frontier has provided better services making company to receive more customers than any other airlines. This improvement has caused a lot of concern to business community about the effects of delta years of high cost and long flights in order to ensure they are not outdone. The market entry for competition and further innovation is important and largely undisputed in any industrial organization. Many factor s influence general pricing and passenger traffic in air transport industry (Peng, 67). The most popular determinant is low cost airline. It has been reported that low cost line has significant resulted to depression of prices associated with increase of
Being educated is not about certificates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Being educated is not about certificates - Essay Example He is against the traditional way of imparting education because it falls miserably short of what the "actual" aim of education should be. Kohn is of the firm view that being educated has no co-relation with having and/or acquiring certificates/degrees. He contends that the present cirriculum and the standardized system of testing in vogue today in the United States, should be abolished and a "progressive" system be put in its place. This is so because he wants the students to be no only well trained and literate in their chosen fields but also be well rounded personalities who on the one hand are intellectually sound and on the other hand are loving, caring and lovable individuals. The author has experience of people who have many certificates, but according to him they can in no way be considered educated because they lack the essential hands on experience to deal with many expected and unexpected situations/experiences that the real world affords them. They lack the qualities to face such situations because they (the students) have been brought up in a cloistered environment of the class room/school. To give an example, consider what would happen to a plant that has been grown in a controlled environment inside a laboratory, once the said plant/sapling, is exposed to the natural (uncontrolled) environment, it will wilt and die. 3. Both Kohn and the writer are in agreement that a great barrier in improving the standard of education in the United States is the out dated stance of the conservative politicians, the policy makers/ bureaucrats and the heads of big corporations who are in league that favors the traditional system because it serves their purposes. This traditional system provides an inexhaustible line of clone like individuals to the big corporations, who act according to their commands/orders without question and help run their mills and factories smoothly without
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Inequality, Corruption and Distribution of Income in Indonesia (Post Term Paper
Inequality, Corruption and Distribution of Income in Indonesia (Post Independence) - Term Paper Example Islam has also played a significant role in the Indonesiaââ¬â¢s identity and economic issues. The name of Islam has too often been used to promote an agenda as in the case of Indonesian politics bringing with it death, destruction and deception in order to establish an Islamic state with Sharia as the state law. It is uncertain if these agendas were sincerely to establish an Islamic state, or it is a propaganda tool used by governments to influence its people to respond in a certain way, or it is a bit of both. The Bali and Jakarta bombings are examples of death, destruction and deception where only time will reveal the truth. When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, young radical Muslims pressured Sukarno to declare Indonesiaââ¬â¢s Independence, uniting Indonesian against the Dutch attempts of re-establishing a colony in Indonesia. The Ulama declared Jihad against the Dutch. Muslim militias under the command of the Ulama with the Dutch-Japanese trained Indonesian armed forces drove out the Dutch. However, this unity of people did not last long. (Scott, 2008) Muslim militias in the West of Java broke ranks with the government after the government accepted a ceasefire agreement with the Dutch to withdraw its forces to central Java. Kartosuwiryo, a Muslim Politian, continued to lead the breakaway group against the Dutch and eventually establishing their own government and state with the sharia as law. This group was later known as Darul Islam or the Islamic state of Indonesia. Darul Islam remained a thorn for the Indonesian government with many other rebel movements from other provinces like Aceh and South Sulawesi joining Darul Islam. There were many other Muslim leaders who although supported an Islamic state, were in favor of the Indonesian Republic and condemned the violence of Darul Islam (Bruinessen 2002). Darul Islam was finally crushed and went underground in 1962 after the capture of its leaders (Bruinessen 2002). It was later to surface
Being educated is not about certificates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Being educated is not about certificates - Essay Example He is against the traditional way of imparting education because it falls miserably short of what the "actual" aim of education should be. Kohn is of the firm view that being educated has no co-relation with having and/or acquiring certificates/degrees. He contends that the present cirriculum and the standardized system of testing in vogue today in the United States, should be abolished and a "progressive" system be put in its place. This is so because he wants the students to be no only well trained and literate in their chosen fields but also be well rounded personalities who on the one hand are intellectually sound and on the other hand are loving, caring and lovable individuals. The author has experience of people who have many certificates, but according to him they can in no way be considered educated because they lack the essential hands on experience to deal with many expected and unexpected situations/experiences that the real world affords them. They lack the qualities to face such situations because they (the students) have been brought up in a cloistered environment of the class room/school. To give an example, consider what would happen to a plant that has been grown in a controlled environment inside a laboratory, once the said plant/sapling, is exposed to the natural (uncontrolled) environment, it will wilt and die. 3. Both Kohn and the writer are in agreement that a great barrier in improving the standard of education in the United States is the out dated stance of the conservative politicians, the policy makers/ bureaucrats and the heads of big corporations who are in league that favors the traditional system because it serves their purposes. This traditional system provides an inexhaustible line of clone like individuals to the big corporations, who act according to their commands/orders without question and help run their mills and factories smoothly without
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
A Review on Lifeboat Ethics Essay Example for Free
A Review on Lifeboat Ethics Essay Lifeboat ethics: the case against helping the poor is a famous essay written by Garret Hardin, a human ecologist in 1974. This article aims to re examine the lifeboat ethics which was developed by the author to support his controversial proposal. In the theory, the world is compared to a lifeboat with a carrying capacity of 60. There are totally 50 people on board, representing comparatively rich nations, while the 100 others swimming in the ocean outside the lifeboat stands for the poor nations. To solve the dilemma of whether the swimmers should be allowed to climb aboard at the risk of lifeboatââ¬â¢s safety, Hardin suggested that no admission should be granted to boat, or to interpret it in a straight way, no humanitarian aids should be offered to the poor countries. Regardless of the additional factors which the author took into consideration from the real world in the essay, in my opinion, the basic metaphor itself is questionable. Firstly, the status of the lifeboat is not an accurate reflection of reality. Arguably, natural resources of the earth are finite, however, this does not equal to the scarcity of resources in the control of the rich nations. On the contrary, nowadays in the developed countries, what the rich have used is out of proportion to their actual needs, which not only leads to colossal waste each year but also creates disposal problems. A familiar example is the popularity of losing weight among the western world, which is not solely a way of pursing beauty but also a clear indication of the growing number of obese people who consume food excessively. In contrast, in the third world especially poverty-stricken nations like Ethiopia, millions of people are filled with untold suffering. They drag themselves on the street from day to day, begging for only a slice of stale bread. Due to the unfair distribution of resources caused by the affluent peopleââ¬â¢s favorable political position, most rich nations currently obtain more than enough resources and they are still casting their greedy eyes on the untapped poor regions. In the light of the facts above, in the lifeboat metaphor people on board actually occupyà more room than normal and the real carrying capacity of a lifeboat is more than 60. With no admission given to those swimmers who are in need, the room is not allocated to each according to his needs, a principle the author cited in explanation of the rationale behind the lifeboat ethics. The second doubtful point is related to Hardinââ¬â¢s computation of conscience. In defense of the survivorsââ¬â¢ guilt arising from not helping the poor, he claimed that ââ¬Å"the net result of conscience-stricken people giving up their unjustly held seats is the elimination of that sort of conscience from the lifeboatâ⬠. He defined guilty about oneââ¬â¢s good luck as a type of conscience and the newcomerââ¬â¢s lack of guilt about the rich peopleââ¬â¢s loss as conscience drain; but the author deliberately omitted the morality of rich peopleââ¬â¢s indifference to the poor asking for help. Counting the negative effects on total conscience in the lifeboat if no rescue is attempted, the final solution to the lifeboat dilemma might be changed. Essentially, the authorââ¬â¢s negligence of social injustice against impoverished people and the ethical issue indifference is just a result of his bias for the rich countries. To improve the general population quality, the author repeatedly emphasized the necessity of reproduction control in poor nations and increasing the proportion of rich nationââ¬â¢s population. This suggestion in fact is based on the assumption that the people in rich nations are innately superior to their counterparts in poor countries, which is an apparent violation of the creed that everyone is born equal. In conclusion, the poor people should not be the sacrifice of the population growth in the developed regions. Logic and rigorous as the essay Lifeboat ethics: the case against helping the poor may appear to be, the author wrote more on behalf of the countries on board, group of which he belonged to. The author urged people to get rid of sentiment and make rational decisions, but ironically he himself deceived his mind with prejudice and sense of superiority.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Discuss Seven Key Characteristics Of Leader Nursing Essay
Discuss Seven Key Characteristics Of Leader Nursing Essay Leadership is defined as a combination of skills, internal motivation or personality traits and characteristics in any particular situation in which a person is able to influence the values, attitudes, beliefs or behaviour of a team (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2006). It is an art which can motivate or inspire a person or a group to do well and achieve a common goal. In leadership a person who works as a leader directs a group by using knowledge, skills and personality traits and all team members follow this leader. Leadership occurs when someone influences others to act in a situation by guiding, inspiring and motivating (Davidson, 2010). There are seven major characteristics of a leader which play a vital role in leadership. The first and most important characteristic is self esteem. A leader should have knowledge of his or her strengths and weaknesses. If a person is able to find their own self then he or she can build strength in others and can also create confidence which can counterbalance any weaknesses or ineffectiveness in others. This is very important in every field of leadership. A leader should know about his or her own worth and be able to make good decisions (Blais, Hayes, Kozier Erb, 2006). Secondly, a leader should be a good communicator, because communication always works to increase unity and it leads to teamwork. A leader who has good communication skills can understand team members views and think about them. A leader always motivates team members to share their ideas to ensure that all are able to contribute to achieve the common goal. If a leader can communicate well with group members regarding their plans and ask them about their ideas, they will feel more motivated and valued for their work and also will understand their duties. This characteristic empowers the team members to equally participate in achieving common goal (Vanhove, 2010). Integrity is an important and effective quality of a leader which involves honesty, loyalty and trustworthiness in leadership. It is demonstrated by a persons thinking, attitudes and actions. People always judge integrity by a leaders behaviour and truthfulness during work. If a person treats others well with a strong sense of right and wrong and shows dedication towards their work, they are a trustworthy and respected leader. Leaders can display integrity by working clearly and honestly with team spirit (Kelly, 2009). A leader should have balance between professional or family life. It is a good trait of a leader to have a balanced life. If a person pays attention to their work or their goals at the appropriate time and then is also able to maintain their personal relationships by giving time to family members and friends, then that person can lead without stress in their work place. A leader can become a role model by balancing their life (Whitehead, Weiss Tappen, 2004). Having a good vision is another essential quality of leadership. By this characteristic a leader can find out new opportunities and new trends to make their organisation strong and successful. A leader who has good visualization of upcoming possibilities and trends can make a difference in discerning good and bad opportunities. By this visionary leadership, leaders can imagine effective goals for team members and apply these in order to avoid difficult problems. Leaders should screen opportunities or information and choose the useful information for their team to attain the best outcomes. This personality trait is also important for the professional growth of a person (Sullivan Decker, 2009). In addition, a leader should have the power to make decisions and empower the team members to share their ideas with management. Empowerment makes a leader confident and relevant to work in the organisation. By empowering group members, their contribution to thinking and planning increases their passion to work in a group (Huber, 2006). Moreover, awareness and observance of their environment should be in leadership. A person who has the ability to observe that what is happening around him or her can work as a leader. In some tough situations a leader can observe the problem and make some relevant decisions to solve it. Good observational skills help to detect upcoming difficulties and enable strategies to be put in place to prevent harm by informing the group in advance (Spears, 2010). These characteristics are very important in nursing leadership because an effective nurse leader can work with others to gain universal goals like better client care, make new policies and create new procedures. In nursing leadership, integrity is very important because patients and health workers always accept honesty and rely on trustworthy leaders. As a leader, a nurse has to notice different issues and perspectives to improve clients health, so good characteristics make him or her passionate and a source of encouragement to do the best which result in a good impact on others (Carroll, 2002). In the health care environment, leaders and teams or team work are necessary for success so it is important to have good traits in a leader to promote the health and take appropriate action in order to meet patients needs. In nursing field effective leadership require all these characteristics to understand the human emotions that nurses face daily basis. By having good self esteem, nurse leader can understand and accept own self in nursing. Some traits like good communication and good observation in nurse leaders make them strong to focus on achieving common goal related to client care and it increase leadership capacity which are vital to ensuring assessment of situation and implementation of a suitable plan of action. Nursing leadership based on honesty and truthfulness because patients trust on nurses for improvement in health care with understanding (Daly, Speedy Jackson, 2010). Nursing practice is affected by these characteristics which are needed to shape and improve the structure of health care facilities. They help to make new strategies in order to achieve common goals. Health field is a difficult field so staff and management have to tackle difficult situations in daily routine so this helps in decision making and problem solving (Shaw, 2007) Empowerment makes staff members independent to share their ideas and power to take decision in client care. By having these characteristics in nursing leaders they can learn from adversity and show dedication to the job. By good observation a leader can monitor the staffs work to maintain quality and provide the best direction to staff for future. It is essential for nurses to realize that people require ongoing feedback which can be positive or negative. In the practise of nursing, effective leadership requires understanding common goals and needs of staff and patients which can be created by motivating and empowering the team and others who will interact with it (Blais, Hayes, Kozier Erb, 2006). Change always affected by power. It can be in different position. Power works for change by using different methods and ways. It can be knowledge, money and experiences of particular field. In nursing field nurses can make change only in their limitations and by using their own power which should be related to client care (Painter, 2010). Power is defined as one persons effect or influence on others to gain support in order to implement new ideas. It can be used to reward or punishing others for right or wrong action. People are always affected by power and sometimes it influences every day practice in nursing and nurses represent the power capacity to react and respond in a range of ways. Power can produce changes in work place and quality of work for best result in health care environment. Nurses knowledge, practise and understanding of their role in helping people make them more able to influence people by particular decision making related to peoples health and wellbeing. Their power and authority can be used to improve the patients condition and nursing practise (Marquis, 2009) Nurses have power to discuss new policies and plan. They can speak about right and wrong in practise and share their ideas to benefits clients care. Power also can be use to improve skills and knowledge of working group. Nurses use their power to work for client for better outcomes (Huntington Gilmour, 2006). Nurses can exercise their power by educating to patients and their families in order to achieve better health and make changes in their power. Secondly, nurse can use power effectively by changing behaviour of colleagues by introducing new policies and plans. Nurse can improve their performance in their profession by getting training which will improve their good practice (Tomey, 2004). Nursing managers use their power to make changes in organizations by evaluating staff in order to reward and punish them. Nurses use power to share information and work as experts in nursing field. Nurses use information and reasonable power to promote health. Empowering everyone in this field, prevent conflicts and other unsatisfactory behaviour in the work place. Moreover, empowerment provides independence to make decisions for health worker in their field (Yoder- Wise, 2003). Nurses should always use their power to be trustworthy health care providers because power makes a relationship of trust between nurse and client. In other words, nurse can effectively use power strategy to motivate others to connect and collaborate to achieve professional goals (Huber, 2006). In conclusion, leadership is a process to influence others by some characteristics to make change and achieve common goal in profession. Seven key characteristics like integrity, self esteem, communication skill, power, balance in life and observation, are very important for nursing leader because by these characteristics a leader can impact strongly on others and feel more confident to motivate others. Honesty and vision to know opportunities create trust among staff, client and leader which is important to improve health services for better care. In nursing field power of a leader and nurse creates changes in others to get success for the implementation of plans and improve knowledge by training. Appropriate use of power in nursing, plays a vital role in managing difficult situations in decision making.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Comparison and Contrasting Between 3 poems: - The Flea (John Donne), Es
Comparison and Contrasting Between 3 poems: - The Flea (John Donne), Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day (William Shakespeare), and Jenny Kissed Me (James Leigh Hunt) These three love poems or sonnets were all written pre 1914 but by very different writers. The authors of these poems use different styles of writing love poetry. For instance, John Donny is very clever. His poem, 'The Flea' brings out an angle of smart sayings to get people to have sex. William Shakespeare focuses more on actually love, while James Leigh Hunt focuses primarily on a blunt approach. Two of these three poems are very short, merely one verse if you can call them that. 'Jenny Kissed Me' by James Leigh Hunt rhymes creating a quicker tempo and bringing a real life experience to the readers mind. It brings over the fact that someone is infatuated with another. Someone 'stole' Jenny's love in this poem. ''Time, you thief, who love to get' indicates that someone picked their time to steal her love. However, much like Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day', this poem is about love, and not infatuation. It shows that the love has stayed through the course of time. William Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' is a very popular sonnet. It is about love, very much unlike John Donne's the flea, which is merely about sex. It is easy to see the love shown in this sonnet by a variety of quotes. 'Though art more lovely and more temperate', 'Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines', 'Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest', and 'So long as men can breathe or eyes can see'. Almost every other line there is a reference to the beauty of the subject of this poem. 'Shall I compare thee to a summers d... ...onne's 'The Flea' is about someone trying to seduce a woman to have sex with him before marriage, while William Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' is more about how love can be good, but can also hurt. A complete contrast to both is James Leigh Hunt's 'Jenny Kissed Me', which has a theme about someone being loved once, and clinging on to that memory, which could be for a few reasons. The actual dates of the poems reflect something about them. For instance, both Donne's 'The Flea', and Shakespeare's 'Shall I compare thee to a summers day' were written around the same time and culture, however, 'Jenny Kissed Me' by James Leigh Hunt was written about a hundred years afterward, this may reflect the dramatic change in styles of writing, just like the old English of the past and the contemporary writing styles have a remarkable difference.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Death Of A Salesman- Overview :: essays research papers
Death of a Salesmanà à à à à Crazy Willy Willy Loman is one of the most tragic heroes in American drama today. He has a problem differentiating reality from fantasy. No one has a perfect life. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these personal conflicts can differ as much as the people themselves. Some insist on ignoring the problem as long as possible, while some attack the problem to get it out of the way. In the case of Willy in Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, the way he deals with his life as a general failure leads to very severe consequences. Willy never really faced his problems in fact in stead of confronting them he just escapes into the past, whether intentionally or not, to those happier childhood times where problems were scarce. He uses this escape as if it were a narcotic, and as the play progresses, we learns that it can be as dangerous as a drug, because of its ability to addict Willy, and it’s deadliness. Willy is like an impetuous child who uses dilutions to escape his problems. The first time Willy is seen reminiscing is when he encounters Biff after arriving home from work. The conversation between Willy and Linda reflects Willy’s disappointment in Biff, and what he has become, which is for the most part a bum. , Willy “Biff is a lazy bum';. After failing to deal adequately with his feelings, he hallucinates into a time when things were better for his family. It is not uncommon for one to think of better times at low points in their life. This is used as a defense mechanism so that they are able to deal with the problems they encounter, but Willy Loman takes it one step further. His refusal to accept reality is so strong that in his mind he is transported back in time to relive some of the happier days of his life. He gets taken back to a time when no one argued, a time when Willy and Linda were younger, the financial situation was less of a burden, and Biff and Happy e nthusiastically welcomed their father back home from a long road trip. Willy’s need for this “drug'; is satiated and he is reassured that everything will turn out okay, unfortunately for the Loman family things are not that simple.
Friday, October 11, 2019
How to Assess Employee’s Needs for Training
COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA, FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT HOW TO ASSESS EMPLOYEEââ¬â¢S NEEDS FOR TRAINING INTRODUCTION Aà subject of my seminar assessment from Human resource management is Training needs assessment, or how to assess employeeââ¬â¢s needs for training. The training needs assessment is a very effective way, how to identify employeesââ¬â¢ needs for training. An object of my assessment is to acquaint readers with this topic, explain them, how the training needs of employees are identified, what the process of identification consists of and how to manage the training needs assessment.HOW TO ASSESS EMPLOYEEââ¬â¢S NEEDS FOR TRAINING Every company has goals which the company is trying to achieve. The main role plays employees who are the ones that actively participate in achieving the goals. That is the reason why the company should pay attention to them and evaluate if the employees have all qualifications, skills and knowledge that are the most efficient in ach ieving the goals. This evaluation can be provided through a very efficient method called training needs assessment, that discovers the training need of employees. Training needs assessment Staff training needs are assessed through a process called a training needs analysis. The exact form that this takes will depend on the nature of the organization, the technology available, and the nature of the staff. However, the fundamental elements of a training needs analysis are the same. It is a three-step process: * Identify the training needs * Deliver training that meets the needs * Assess the effectiveness of the training. These three steps are repeated over and over during the life-cycle of an organization. Continual assessment is required because the needs keep changing.Employees do not remain static they take on new roles and responsibilities. Their environment is also not static ââ¬â technology keeps changing, as do the demands of their organization. â⬠(Knowles, 2009) Iden tifying the Training Needs The best way how to identify training needs is with a three-step approach consisting of organizational analysis, analysis of employees and task analysis. 1. Organizational Analysis -Organizational analysis identifies abilities, knowledge and skills needed for employees in the future, when their job and the company will change.The analysis collects data through looking at few aspects like lost workdays, customer complaints, grievances, absenteeism, turnover rates, safety incidents, different performance problems, etc. Afterwards these data are assessed to detect where performance could be improved through training. The organizational analysis should be also prepared for future changes and it should also plan for changes in the workplace like worker demographics, laws and regulations and future skill needs. * Workforce.Workers growing old and women or other minorities becoming more prominent make the workforce change. Operating cost modifications and economi c changes also may need workplace changes, when competing internationally. If the company understands these possible changes, then it has a good advantage, because that may help it to adapt to employeesââ¬â¢ needs while the companyââ¬â¢s needs are still met. * Laws and regulations. An organization might be forced to arrange training in specific areas because of new laws and changes in current safety and environmental regulations.Also other policies which include employees need to be communicated to them. * Future skills. Future skill needs can be recognised if an organization understands, how it might change in the future. For instance, will new equipment be installed or new processes applied? Will standards or regulations be changed? Is technology going to change? Will there be interpersonal or communication skills needed from employees because they will have to work with others or in teams? Will cultural changes be taking place in the organization? 2.Analysis of employees- A nalysis of employees looks at individual employees and assesses their performance in their jobs. Their individual level of skills or knowledge can be determined through interviews, questionnaires or tests. Their performance reviews can contain useful data as well. Furthermore, problems with performance can be recognised by assessing aspects such as output, non-attendance, lateness, equipment repairs needed, accidents, complaints, client complaints and product quality. When shortages are recognised, an individual employeeââ¬â¢s needs can be met through initiating training.All three stages of the training needs analysis are interconnected and information has to be gathered at all stages. Based on the data collected, training needs can be recognised, and the company can form learning objectives and develop a training program so the needs can be met, both companyââ¬â¢s and employeeââ¬â¢s. 3. Task Analysis- Task analysis examines requirements of knowledge and skills that are nee ded for each job and compares them to actual employeeââ¬â¢s knowledge and skills. Any absence reveals a need for training.Analysis of job safety, standard operating methods, job description, performance standards, examination and questioning on-site, literature review and best practices are all sources for information collection. An efficient task analysis detects: * tasks that need to be accomplished * terms under which tasks can be accomplished * when and how often tasks are achieved * quantity and quality of work required * skills and knowledge needed to achieve tasks * where and how these skills are best gained Figure 1- Training needs assessment process (Bajzikova, a ini, 2011)Delivering Training That Meets the Needs Training can be provided through many different ways. It can be formal, classroom like, in the organizationââ¬â¢s building, together with colleagues or it could be delivered through an external training company, also in class, but with people from other organ izations. Other option is to provide the training on-line. The training might be short or long-lasting. Short lasting, such as classes lasting a day or even longer, that provide quiet big amount of information, or long-lasting trainings, that are delivered in small parts, maybe an hour a day or less.The trainings can be on a one-to-one basis, or they can take place in a group with one teacher. But the one-to-one basis trainings could become more like mentoring than formal teaching. What is important is that the teaching method and content matches the needs of the learners. Assessing the Effectiveness of Training In order to know whether the training has achieved the goals that were set for it, the organization needs to set up some sort of assessment. ââ¬Å"Happy sheetâ⬠is the most basic form of assessment, especially for training I classes.The sheet is about one page long and it asks those who were trained if they enjoyed themselves during the training, whether they felt like they learned anything and what could have been better. There are also more complex and sophisticated forms how to evaluate training and these, after the training, measure the employeesââ¬â¢ performance and compare it with their performance before. This cycle needs to be repeated even several times, because it is improbable that just one cycle of training needs analysis and following education will solve all problems. Models for Training Needs AssessmentsMcClellandââ¬â¢s open-systems model McClelland (1993) presents an open-systems model for managing training needs assessments. This model contains of eleven steps which help to manage the assessment. 1. ââ¬Å"Define assessment goals. 2. Determine assessment group. 3. Determine availability of qualified resources to conduct and oversee the project. 4. Gain senior management support for and commitment to the process. 5. Review and select assessment methods and instruments. 6. Determine critical time frames. 7. Schedule and imple ment. 8. Gather feedback. 9. Analyse feedback. 10. Draw conclusions. 1. Present findings and recommendations. â⬠(Cekada, 2010) Barbazetteââ¬â¢s model Barbazette says that training needs assessment should answer 4 questions: what, who, when, how and why. * What- ââ¬Å"What is the best way to do a specific job? This helps to achieve the desired results. Standard operating methods may indicate how to manage a task or which government regulations need to be considered when completing a task. Other important thing is to ask what jobs are involved in the shortage. This recognises critical tasks that have the possibility to cause a personal or property damage. Who- ââ¬Å"Who is involved in the shortage of performance? â⬠This will identify those employees that are involved and guarantee that the training is customized for them. It is also essential to consider the target audience for the training; what information does the organization have about them to design and customiz e the training; and who else may profit from the training. * When- ââ¬Å"When can be training best delivered? This helps to minimize the impact on the business. It is also crucial to determine other things that are needed to make sure that the training is provided and delivered effectively.These models help guide development of a training needs assessment. * How- ââ¬Å"How the shortage of performance can be fixed? â⬠This helps to determine whether training will resolve the issue. That reveals if a skill or knowledge shortage led to the issue. * Why- ââ¬Å"Why? â⬠This helps to connect the performance shortage to a business need and asks whether the profit of the training is greater than the cost of the current shortage. CONCLUSION The training needs assessment is used to identify an organizationââ¬â¢s and its employeesââ¬â¢ training needs and determine the type and range of resources that are needed to support a training program.It helps the organization to desig n or choose the right type of training and afterwards it helps to assess if the goals were achieved. The training needs assessment is a very good, not complicated and effective way how to deal with educational needs within a company. And even though the cycle might have to be repeated several times, it is a helpful huma resource management tool. BIBLIOGRAPHY * Bajzikova, Lubica, et al. 2011. Manazment ludskych zdrojov. Bratislavaà : Comenius University Bratislava, 2011. pp. 92-96. 978-80-223-2989-7. Cekada, Tracey L. 2010. www. asse. org. [Online] 3 2010. http://www. asse. org/professionalsafety/docs/F1Cekada_0310. pdf. * Knowles, Andrew. 2009. suite101. com. How to assess staff training needs. [Online] 9 7, 2009. http://suite101. com/article/how-to-assess-staff-training-needs-a146161. * Miller, Janice A. , Osinski, Diana M. and SPHR. 1996. www. ispi. org. [Online] 2 1996. http://www. ispi. org/pdf/suggestedReading/Miller_Osinski. pdf. * Unknown. www. opm. gov. [Online] http://www . opm. gov/hrd/lead/TrainingNeedsAssessment. asp.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Role of Public Libraries in bridging the Digital Divide
The United States National Telecommunications and Information Administration popularized the term ââ¬ËDigital Divideââ¬â¢ in the mid 1990s to indicate the societal split between those had and those who did not have access to computers and the Internet (Warchauer, 2003). With the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution sweeping across the world, the term has since caught the imagination of social scientists, administrators, media-persons, economists and politicians alike.They have interpreted it in turn as a social, economic and political problem from their respective perspectives, and sought to offer a variety of solutions to ââ¬Ëbridgeââ¬â¢ the Digital Divide. ICT was initially heralded as a great equalizer. The general impression was that by providing interconnectivity and access to information to all, ICT would provide equal opportunities, and therefore reduce inequalities.But it was soon clear that the ââ¬ËMathew Effectââ¬â¢ of Merton (1973) c ould come into play and increase the inequalities even more by translating the initial advantages of those who gained early access to computers and the Internet into increasing returns over time i. e. by widening the Digital Divide. The Social and Community Context The basic problem however lies in defining ââ¬ËDigital Divideââ¬â¢. According to Mark (2003) any attempt to bridge the Digital Divide without consideration of the social context could lead to failures and frustrations.He cites a project undertaken by the Municipal Government of New Delhi in India through which computer kiosks with dial-up Internet connectivity were set up for the urban poor children in New Delhi. According to the policy of minimal invasive education adopted in the project, there were no teachers or instructors to guide the children in computer usage. The project could not achieve much beyond children learning to play games and use simple applications to paint and draws.On the other hand, The Gyandoo t Project in rural areas of the state of Madhya Pradesh in India achieved success because of its community orientation. In this case, the use of computers fulfilled social and community needs. The role of public libraries in providing access to computers and the Internet also has to take all these factors into consideration. The responsibility of public libraries does not end with the provision of the equipment for computer and Internet access.Public libraries have to take on the role of the educator and the instructor so that users are able to utilize the ICT services efficiently and effectively. The larger orientation of all such services has to be around the fulfillment of social and community requirements in line with the ideals of social and community informatics. The Five Components of Individual Access The concept of ââ¬ËDigital Inequalityââ¬â¢ as defined by Hargittai (2003) identifies Technical Means, Autonomy of Use, Social Support Network, Production of Content Acces s and Political Access as the five components of individual access.Public libraries therefore have to concentrate on providing all the five components to the individual. This would imply that libraries provide state-of-the-art equipment so that users are in no way limited or restricted by the state of the facility itself. Ensuring autonomy of use would suggest providing convenient access to a wide range of users taking into consideration the different timings that could be convenient to different categories of users. This could even entail public libraries offering round-the-clock access to their users.Public libraries will have to play an active part in building up social support networks for their users. This will not only help the users in picking up Internet usage skills faster but will also bring in new users into the network. Content is a very vital issue that determines the quality of online access of any user. Any effort to reduce digital inequality will have to ensure that the user is able to locate relevant information on the net. Hargittai (2003) differentiates between ââ¬Ëavailableââ¬â¢ information and ââ¬Ëaccessibleââ¬â¢ information.The available information may not be easily accessible. The phenomenon of information gatekeepers in the form of search engines and other indexing and searching mechanisms adds complexity to the situation. Commercial interests on the Internet more often than not lead the unwary browser away from relevant sources of information. Public libraries will have to take on the added responsibility coaching the novice user in looking for and locating relevant information.Each library will also have to ensure that they adopt an indexing and searching mechanism linked with their digital subscriptions so that users can find information customized to their requirements. Public libraries will also have to play their part in ensuring that users have access to the institutions that regulate the technologies that they are u sing so that they are also able to participate in policy formulations and decision-making exercises. ConclusionThe role of librarians and library staff will have to undergo vast changes in order to fit into the new responsibilities. Foster (2000) opines that the underlying concerns surrounding the issue of the digital divide are actually more about the nature and future of education than about the current distribution patterns of technology. Librarians and library staff will thus have to don the mantle of technical educators and social activists to contribute meaningfully to the reduction of the Digital Divide.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Acne Dressing project Essay
Introduction In early 2005 T.C. Chung, the departmental head of 3M Taiwan healthcare division was facing a decision whether to launch a product called Acne Dressing in Taiwan. The Taiwanese subsidiary had been transformed from a petty sales office in 1969 to one of 3Mââ¬â¢s most extensive and successful subsidiaries in the 2000ââ¬â¢s. The development project has a couple of major problems that need to be solved before Acne Dressing can be kicked off in Taiwan. Chung had the product go through 3Mââ¬â¢s evaluation system and now heââ¬â¢s facing a big question ââ¬â what to do with the product and how to make rational decisions about the future. In this case answer we analyze the problems that need to be solved if the launch is to be done. We address these problems and offer concrete recommendations for Chung and his team on how to continue with the project. Although Chung seems to be quite inexperienced and in need of support, the powerful 3M resources for product development and the knowledgeable project team consisting of different departments in 3M will provide him with all the resources he needs. Analysis As the development of Acne Dressing is a strongly technology-based project, the company HQ was heavily involved in the NPIS review that the product ultimately passed. Some aspects of the final form on the product however, still remain not clear enough. During the review process the local financial and technical divisions took part in finding ways to transform Hydrocolloid Dressing into a marketable product which costs were reasonable. The extent of this analysis seems not to have been adequate, as in the final stage of the review the HQ raised the issue of the potentially very costly product development. As this was the main concern raised by 3M HQ, it should beà carefully looked into and further analysis done. There were two additional concerns, these raised by the local project team. Firstly, according to the teams review, the potential customer group for acne treatment products in Taiwan seemed to be used to traditional methods for acne treatment. However, 3M had already noted that especially teenagers were using other kinds of products to help with acne ââ¬â e.g. 3Mââ¬â¢s Micropore Surgical Tape. Another thing to note relates to the fact that at this point nurses were the primary consumers of 3M hydrocolloid dressings. The case states that nurses had a tendency to cut the product into small pieces and use those pieces for superficial skin blemishes. This shows 3M that well-educated users of the product had already started using it for their planned purpose and in an innovative way ââ¬â even without 3M asking them to do so. Secondly the team concluded that there are no similar products as Acne Dressing in the taiwanese market. As this was the case, the information on customer behaviour and potential sales was limited. This strongly suggested that customers would need to be educated to realize the potential of the new product. During the time there was an ongoing hype for do-it-yourself health care in TW during the time, and people were actively looking for new ways to look healthy. This fact suggests that the target groups of Acne Dressing could well be very receptive for the marketing of never-seen-before products. Conclusions Chung has multiple options concerning the product. With help from HQ, he should analyze the process costs of transforming the high-end hydrocolloid materials into customer-size Acne Dressing. The team should calculate if the material could be reworked into a usable size with the designs made by technical service department, and specifically focus on the costs of manufacturing. If the process is costly, the retail price of the product might be too high for the average 15-35 years old customer. A laymanââ¬â¢s idea would be to cut down the size of the package and redesign it so it would be used like a plaster, of which one can cut suitable sized pieces for use. Also, the project team should have the HQ laboratories conduct a proper research on the dressingââ¬â¢s effectiveness against acne. This would be crucial in marketing efforts especially as the customer group is used to ââ¬Ëtraditionalââ¬â¢ scientifically proven acne-treatment methods. A thoroughà research for all hea lth effects is not needed with this position innovation because the material has already proved its value in hospitals around the world. This would follow the position innovation strategy through product upgrading (John Wiley & Sons, 2009). As 3Mââ¬â¢s marketing department sees an opportunity in the new product, this would be a great possibility for a nation wide marketing campaign around the new product. With the risk that the price might be too high for some consumers, it should be sold in three different varieties of packages. Small, medium and large. The small package would be aimed at a segment that could not afford to constantly use the product. It could be used for the absolute worst kinds of acne induced blisters. Also the small package would work as an low risk purchase for the customers. After the product proved its excellency, the consumer would gradually move on to the medium and large packages. As the product would be quite new and require consumers to change the way they purchase health-care, it is important to emphasize two aspects: sampling and user experiences. This would be achieved by letting consumers test the product and see its effectiveness. Then it would be important for the user experiences to be distributed in nation-wide campaigns in the largest media platforms. Recommendations The Acne Dressing is a great product for the current market situation. It has gone through 3Mââ¬â¢s organization-wide evaluation system, NPIS, without too many challenges. The product should be launched if the financial and technical service approve of the costs of manufacturing and deem the product positive. Chung must trust his local team and their advice, and abandon HQââ¬â¢s advice in this matter. Should Acne Dressing prove to be a tremendous success in Taiwan, the possibilities for expanding are huge. As 3M Taiwan already has expanded to China, bringing in a new product to the market of a billion people could be business transforming. The whole acne market in the world is estimated to reach revenues of over $3 billion by 2016 (Wood, 2010). Chung must remain firmly behind the decision and trust the local team in Taiwan. The pessimism of the headquarters are not to be taken into wider consideration as long as necessary additional analysis is done. References Bibliography: Wood, L. 2010. Research and Markets: The Global Acne Market Is Estimated To Reach Revenues of $3.02 Billion by 2016 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) Of 0.7%. [online] Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/05/07/idUS223712+07-May-2010+BW20100507 [Accessed: 30 Sep 2013]. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2009, Managing Innovation (Lecture slides)
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