Public Schools vs Private Schools Essay

Introduction Are private school students better than those in public schools? What are some of the factors that separate the quality of education received by the two groups of students? Controversy has in the past brewed over studies that have indicated that students in private schools perform better than those in public schools. This paper is therefore meant at an in-depth analysis of both the public and private stakeholders in the education system. The paper will focus on a study that reveals the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats experienced by students going through both systems. The study employs a unique selection model that involve religious and non-religious in comparison to public schools. The study focuses on how these factors affect the selection of schools by individuals and what exactly make private schools attractive. The paper also evaluates measures that can be taken to ensure that both the public schools and the private schools offer the same quality of education. Research problem The competition between private and public schools has been ongoing for a long time. It is only with determining which one is better that we can establish who is better between private school students and public school students. Although research has been continuous for quite some time, it is impossible for anyway to state empirically that one system is better than the other. Similarly, there hasn’t been enough improvement in the educational sector despite the fact that recommendations have been made constantly as to how to try and equalize these systems. This therefore begs the question. How can the research be carried out in such a way that it highlights major issues in the educational sector that need to be addressed? The research is also supposed to bring to light an empirical way through which the quality of public school students can be measured against that of  private school students. Human beings tend to be proud of institutions that they are affiliate to. That being said, conduction of an analysis of the system could be hindered by exaggeration or even false witness statements. Research questions and variables The study should allow for the comprehension of issues that lead to the rift between public and private schools. It should also allow for the answering of questions such as are private school students better than public school students? If so how different are they from public school student? Or rather, in what aspects do these students differ? The paper should also address the possibility of an intervention in the education sector so as to address the issues that demarcate the two institutions in terms of quality education. This should be able to create a lasting solution to the quality issue. Variables involved in this study include socioeconomic status, parental education, peer group characteristics and community support. Socioeconomic status This is commonly referred to as SES. This could affect education at the home level as well as the attitude towards education. The materials read at home could be very resourceful in improving the student’s intake of knowledge. Similarly, a good environment, one without parental quarrels, where all the basic human needs are met can ensure that the student can focus more on education. Availability of books and access to the internet is a major contributor to the learning process. These facilities are not available to all though and this could affect the quality of education. Socioeconomic status could also affect the attitude towards education making data collection during the research rather difficult. Parental education The level of education of the parents is also a variable in this study. Parents could influence their children to either, study hard and achieve as much as they did or to disregard education all the same. Parents with a lower education level are not able to monitor their children’s progress in school or even to determine if they are receiving quality education. This may lead to reduced standards in education. Parental education could affect the quality of a students work at school as well. Peer group characteristics. The company that is to be found at a prospective school may without a doubt determine whether a parent considers the school for his/her child. Parents always want what is best for their children. The thought that negative behavior is quite common in public schools could be a negative aspect. This study should however establish whether this is true and find ways to mitigate the same. Community support The community does in a way regulate the activities of a learning institution. The community influences discipline and behavioral mannerism that are acceptable. This is a major variable since different communities could prefer different behavior. Importance and benefits of research This research could without a doubt be the elusive solution to the issues surrounding equality and equity in the educational sector. The research will also answer the unanswered questions like what factors make private and public school students different, whether the students are different or not as well as the question as to what can be done to ensure that there is a lasting solution to these issues. Research objectives. The study and subsequently the research process, is meant to highlight issues that separate quality education provision between the public and private schools. It should also establish if at all public schools are better than private schools and vice versa. The research process will highlight areas where these two differ and find ways to resolve these issues creating a lasting solution to the issues that have plagued the educational sector for a very long time. This paper, with the focus on past studies, will also look at past recommendations and what has been done to put them into effect not to mention the results they have achieved so far. What challenges have been faced during the implementation process and how they can be remedied in the future are also questions meant to be answered in the study. Literature review The literature reviews in this paper has paid special emphasis on the choice of schools. The academic article has been tackled by David N. Figlio and Joe A. Stone. The ideas and measures stipulated in this article are as per stipulated by the two researchers. Their study is mainly aimed at comparing private and public schools. Several factors have been put into consideration. They include the performance, management of the school, the quality of the teaching process, class size and the facilities offered by the school. The writer of this article argue that private schools are more superior than public schools because the learners in private schools are more likely to successfully graduate from high school and get chances in colleges or universities. The proponents of this article can be criticized by the fact that public schools offer comparatively equal quality education. Also this article has used data from different private and public schools to understand the best school between private and public schools. This article has also placed a special emphasis on the unique difference that occurs between the public schools and private schools sponsored by the church. Reality stipulates that other factors apart from religion can influence the quality of education that can be provided. For example the writers of this research article should have considered factors such as the selection process. Perhaps the selection process used during the intake of private schools mainly focuses on bright students. The second article that has been tackled in this literature review a research that was done by The Center of Educational policy. The most unique thing with this research is that it recognizes that factors such as family background and the level of the school should be considered before making a comparison between any public and private schools. Also, a lot of studies that have been done in the past by scholars such as Hoffer, Coleman and Kilgore(1982) made conclusions that private schools are incomparably better than public schools. It is important to consider other important aspects of family life during any study. The good thing about this research is that it did appreciate the fact that the difference in issues such as the family of origin can make a great difference in the performance of different students. Although this study has considered these factors, it is still vivid that there are other issues within their methodology that have made their conclusion that those public schools are better and private schools appear lame. They argue that public schools improve the value of students and help them to continue maintaining the spirit of their private school performance, but there are still others who whose performance indicate a dropping graph. The other article dealt with in the literature review is the comparison made between private schools, public schools and market schools done by Andrew J. Coulson. His paper focused on informally collected information and this is likely to be biased. Sometimes, the media can encode information that private schools are better than public schools so that they can only create a public opinion that private schools should be preferred to public schools. The strength found in this article is that the information used is data that has been collected from various parts of this world such as Chile, Thailand, India, Nigeria and Indonesia among other countries. The Educational Next JournaL IS the last article of the literature review in this proposal. The author of this article is known as Elena Llaudet and Paul E. Peterson. This journal was written on winter 2007. They used NCES model that used to infer to a student’s background during the study and comparison of family backgrounds to identify incidences of poverty in families. They argued that the use of this model would help to identify the strengths of both private and public schools considering that the factor of poverty should be held constant. They also analyzed the number of students who had language difficulties and researched to see the language used in their homes. The writers of this article should have considered to analyze other factors that are likely to affect a student’s performance apart from their backgrounds. Research design The research design of this particular study is mainly based on the understanding that a lot of comparison and analysis should be done in order to be able to answer the research problem. This research will be carried out by the use of field interviews, questionnaires and other methods that will be found workable at that time. To ensure that all possible comparison is made, the researcher will ensure that they make a list of Ten public school and ten Private schools to compare several variables about them. The main area of comparison is the academic performance, but other factors that are likely to affect academic performance will also be considered. These factors include; facilities, human resource, discipline and the environment among other vital factors. Data collection methodology The data collection methodology of this research proposal is aimed at collecting data from students, teachers, the ministry of education and its departments together with youth correction institutions. Correctional Institutions for the youth will be very resourceful to help us to understand the rate of school truancy between the population from the public and the private schools. The data should be collected by means of questionnaires, interviews, as well as hypothesis. The questionnaire should also be aimed at helping the researcher to understand how students feel about being in a public or private schools. Other possible questions include; Do you think you would perform better if you were in a private school? Or Do you think that you would add more value in private or public school? If you were given a chance to rate the facilities of your school out of ten, what value would you give? Also, the interviews will be conducted to students in school (both private and public), teachers, Heads of various school departments and the parents too. Expected results When family background is taken into account, the following results are expected from the research; First and foremost, young adults whose education was at private schools are likely no to be engaged in civic activities compared to young adults whose education was at public schools that are known to have limited resources and traditional ways of education. Also, when the population of young adults who schooled in private schools is compared to those who schooled in public schools, it is clear and vivid that those people who attended traditional public high schools are more satisfied with their jobs compared to the others who schooled in private schools. The performance of students in public schools is also expected to be better than those in private schools considering that they are trained to be more independent. Finally the people who are more likely to attend college are those in public schools and not private schools. Generally, these expectations are meant to reveal that the people in private schools neither receive short term nor long-term academic advantages. Conclusion In conclusion, it is unequivocally vivid that to understand the differences and uniqueness of both public and private schools, a lot of analysis has to be done. This research is only a proposal of a lot of work which is in the offing to try and answer the research question. Public schools have various shortcomings and strengths at the same time. In the same way, private schools also have their uniqueness and shortcomings too. References Andrew J. Coulson, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, (2009) Comparing Public, Private, and Market Schools: The International Evidence, Journal of School Choice Coleman, J. S. , Hoffer, T. , & Kilgore, S. (1981). Public and private schools. Washington, D. C.? : National Center for Education Statistics :. Coleman, J. S. , Hoffer, T. , & Kilgore, S. (1982). High school achievement: public, Catholic, and private schools compared. New York: Basic Books. David N. Figlio, School Choice and Student Performance: Are Private Schools Really Better? , , September 1997 Elena Llaudet, Paul E. Peterson, The NCES Private-Public School Study, Winter 2007/Vol. 7/NO. 1 Hoxby, C. M. (1994). Do private schools provide competition for public schools?. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Mendelssohn, J. (2007). Which school? : beyond public vs private. North Melbourne: Pluto Press.

Cox’s Container Company (CCC) Essay

In the modern constant changes business environment, company needs to change constantly to remain competitive in the market. If not, the company will be facing survival risk. There are no mercy and exception for Cox’s Container Company (‘CCC’). CCC faced increasing competitions over the past 5 years and profits are in declining trends due to reduce in margins. Harold Cox was clueless on how to rectify the problems. He has delegated the task to Erica Wilson to review CCC’s operations and oversee organization changes. Under her control and management, new central administration department was formed to implement budgeting system and company-wide information system. First time in the history of CCC, Wilson recruited external appointees to hold managerial post in the new central administration department. However, no one seemed very keen on the new system and encountered strong resistance from Abdul Aziz, manager of production department who incharged 2/3 of CC C’s total staffs. After so many years since CCC was established, Harold Cox had done not much changes to CCC’s structure and culture. CCC still practicing simple structure with flat hierarchy and decision-making is highly centralized in the hand of the Cox family. This allows Cox to run the operations flexibly, direct communication to avoid message being misinterpreted and wrongly manipulated, wide span of control as all managers reporting to him and expedites the decision-making process without going through layers of people. However, simple structure is more suitable for start-up or small firms for flexibility, control early growth and developments whereas centralization discourage innovation and no creativity. As CCC grows larger in size, it also more difficult for Cox to control and coordinate them effectively. According to General Sir Iain Hamilton once said ‘No one brain cans effectively control more than 6 or 7 other brains’. Moreover, when information and data are overloaded, he may not has sufficient times to handle and analyze to make full use out of it. Culture and authority of CCC is power culture and traditional authority. With Harold, there are addition of charismatic authority found on his supports to ethnic minorities. Power culture (Handy, 1993) depends on a central power source, few rules, informal system and decision are based on a balance of power rather than logic whereas traditional authority are the ability and right to rule is being passed down, i.e. CCC being passed down to Cox family member. Similarity of those are being very dependent to a single person and capability of that person are very much to determine the direction and successfulness of the company. In the history, many of the family businesses that stagnated and were eventually annexed in Britain after the Second World War were power cultures that had die in the centre. Hence, CCC might has going concern issues if successor of Harold is not as good as him and not supportive towards ethnic minorities. Besides retirement of Harold, majority of staffs in production department have worked for CCC for more than 10 years will have similar timing of retirement. This might be a risk of CCC facing shortage of production staffs in the future and affect productivity. Internal promotions have advantages of saving in times and costs of induction program for new staffs, boost morale and motivate staffs to perform. But, all senior positions in the production department have been filled through promotion of shop floor employees with no proper evaluation on competency and professionalism will affect company performance. It is not only no new ideas being introduced, it might be challenges for them to adapt to new technologies and working practices, i.e. new system implemented by Erica. Most importantly, senior manager are the person that make decision on behalf of the company and the effect that decision outcomes have on the lives of all organization members (Henry Mintzberg, 1989 cited in Huczyns ki and Buchanan, 2013). Another areas to pay attention under Cox management will be informal group formed due to empowerment for each functional department as form of motivation to improve performance. As Aziz being the manager of production department and ethnic minorities relying much on Aziz to safeguard their interests and benefits. This dependent relationship created Aziz as transactional leader. A leader who treats relationships with followers in terms of an exchange, giving followers (ethnic minorities), what they want (safeguard their interest and benefits) in return for what the leader desires (Aziz had easily established his identity and enjoying autonomy within the production department) following prescribed tasks to pursue established goals. Indirectly, Aziz has the capability to influence his staffs’s behaviour and contribute to mutual need satisfaction. In the other hand, in the opinion of Aziz, there are informal group being formed under John Straw to run the whole company on his own interest without knowing the complexities of production which was a formal group created consciously by management to carry out a specific task (implementing new system) and accomplish CCC’s goal (improve CCC’s operations). According to Homans (1951 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013), informal group formed according to their self-interest which may not work together to achieve the common goal. As Wilson was given the authority to make changes to CCC’s operations. She has her own management style to run the whole process of changes. She is an autoratic leader by accomplished the task entirely on her own and conclusion drawn based on her own judgement with no consultation and input from anyone. Autocratic leadership will be good when time is short but lack of creativity. She also moved CCC’s structure towards mechanistic structure with standardization, many rules and little autonomy, i.e. budgeting system to replace the rather informal system and requires all departments to inform the central administration department twice daily basis of work in progress. Different structures give rise to different culture (Handy, 1993). Thus, culture also change from power culture to role culture. Role culture also emphasize on the importance of rules, procedures and its operation are driven by logic and rationality. Authority of CCC will be legitimate authority that based on formal and written rules. According to Weber (1947 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013), an organization based on legitimate authority would be more effecient than one based on either traditional or charismatic authority. This was because its continuity  was related to formal structure and the position wi th it, rather than to a particular person who might leave or die. Since Wilson is the sole decision maker on what and which area needed for change to improve CCC’s operations. She had conclusion drawn based on her own judgement and interpretation from her personal experience, expectation and belief with no feedback obtained. Feedback will be important and enable for her to complete the survey more holistic. According to John Mezias and William Starbuck (2003 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013), management perceptions are often wrong due to selection of information that fits their expectations and pay less attention to information that does not. Generally, group decision are better than individual decision. It will be more advisable to involve relevant CCC’s staffs like Aziz contributing their diverse skills, knowledge and experience in production process for Wilson to understand the situation clearly to make better decisions and more alternatives to solve problem faced by CCC. In addition, staffs particularly Aziz felt recognition and respect through participation, understand the decision better and wider acceptance of decision make by Wilson. Likewise, if CCC’s staffs knew that Harold is more interested in finding issues that fit into causing declined in profits of CCC rather than finding out the facts with no further verification of the accuracy and basis of the report and conclusion drawn as Harold also unsure how to proceed. In addition, many people believe that making the right decision late is the same as making the wrong decision as Harold is anxious to improve the profitability of CCC. CCC’s staffs will be demoralized and demotivited, then CCC is infected with destructive cynicism. Wilson also has not informing staffs on the needs, benefits and objectives of implementing the new systems. As no clear direction and understanding the  need of change, staffs were not very keen on the new system and the degree of new system would affect their current working practices. They might also felt that they are being push out of their comfort  zone and found it stressful and frustrating to cope with the new system. As a result, readiness for change from staffs will be low and leads to high in resistance to change. With no support and collaboration from staffs these make implementation more difficult. Wilson has had making it worst with the survey was being conducted in some secrecy way created negative atmosphere in the company. The intention of Wilson to recruit John Straw, Eric Long and Simon Pedder to hold managerial post in the new central administration department is to have new blood to bring in innovation and creativity. With their experienced in previous company, they will be able to contribute an effective operational and cost controls for CCC. However, due to background and experience of them have no relevancy in manufacturing or production, it may not be convincing enough for staffs to trust and follow their instruction. Later encountered strong resistance from Aziz which has worked more than 10 years in production line and very defensive of production department has no issues on getting orders out on times and achieved zero defects. They may also have different culture and shared different values as other staffs. Communication climate (Jack Gibb, 1961 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013) exercised by Cox and Wilson was one way and closed communication climate where information was withheld, no sharing of the finding of the survey, strategies and problem faced by CCC have make no awareness to staffs. Staffs might felts discrimination, distrust and doubtful on self worthiness after long services of contribution to CCC. Misunderstanding easily created between staffs and management might led to minimum staffs engagement and  supports to comply with changes implementation and making it more difficult and may not align with CCC’s objectives. During the process of implementing the new system in CCC, there are no top management briefing conducted which is considered one of the best way to encourage staff engagement especially it is from Cox as he is regarded highly within ethnic minorities. With his traditional and charismatic authority, he is able to influence staffs behavior and engageme nt to comply with the changes implementation. 5 Once there are no effective communication internally within CCC and due to differentiation in culture, perception, politic and staff’s legitimate interests. Conflict between staffs is inevitable as each attempts pursue its own objectives. A company needs conflicts as a positive forces for managers to think, critisicism for self refection and innovation for effective performance. However, if conflict do not handle properly between Aziz and Straw team under Wilson new management. As perception of Aziz towards implementation of formal system and tight reporting is form of threatenning their’s interest and change of structure also changes the balance of power and autonomy possed by Aziz. It will be turn out to be dysfunctional conflict and hinders company performance as Aziz has the ability to influence behavior of 2/3 of CCC’s total staffs on level of productivity. If failure in resolving the conflict, CCC will have survival issue in the long run due to deteriote o f company performance. Hence, changes and continuing to change within internally is a must for CCC to survive in the long run to cope with complexity and be responsive to environment uncertainty. Do nothing will not be an alternative and choice for CCC. As globalisation and expansion of CCC, simple structure with flat hierachy and power culture may not be as responsive to opportunities and challenges in the long run. Second alternative will be remain with Wilson’s coercive change strategy to  implement the change even though without support of Aziz. According to Doug Stace and Dexter Dunphy (2001, cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013) , where organizational survival depends on rapid and strategic change and short of time, dictatorial transformation is appropriate. In the later or appropriate stage, Wilson may implement technology into producing containers using the techniques of mass production to standardised quality of products, elimination of waste and reduction costs which will go well with mechanistics structure. Mass production has characterics of boredom of repetitive of works and low morale led to high levels of absenteeism and complaints. The solution to boredom were job  rotation and job enlargement in term of installation of machine, enhancement, integration and inspection.  Third alternative of change management strategy will be the role of the change agent. This approach will need involvement of top senior management who are credible and acceptable. In this case, Harold Cox will be the most appropriate and suitable person. He with his power and charismatic leadership, he is able to influence and motivate ethnic minorities to support and cooperate with him for fact finding and proceed with the changes make to CCC’s operations. He may also appoint professional consultants to carry out the investigation or combination of both. The first alternative is not preferred due to successfulness and survival of CCC very dependent on one person whereas third alternative also not the most preferred but still workable but will be time consuming. If involving external consultant then Harold needs to manage the external consultant of their own commercial interest as well as costing issues. As there are no correct way or one way solution, the most preferred will be the second alternative. The second alternative will be able to achieve the company objective and long term goal as explained above. For making the transitional  more harmony and smooth, Wilson should be more sensitive on culture differences. She should educate staffs with training and practice open two ways communication as well as get more participation and encourage more involvement of staffs in carrying out the survey and implementation. Besides implementing rewards system will be able to motive staffs to performance and aligh with company to achieve comm on goal. According to Meaney and Wilson (2009 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013), the successful rate of planned change programmes is less than 40% and that estimate may be optimistic, and 2/3 fail to achieve their objectives (Gardini et al., 2001 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013). In order to meet company’s objective and successful with change. The  following plan of action is recommaned by John Kotter (2007 cited in Huczynski and Buchanan, 2013). 1. Create urgency Wilson should inform all staffs on problem faced by CCC with evidence. Developed scenarios and consequences, if no full cooperations and supports from staffs. 2. Form a powerful coalition Wilson should involved Aziz to form a coalition, for him to lead the change on his production department to achieve maximum results. 3. A clear vision †¢ A clear vision of change must be developed by Wilson with achievable  startegies and realities plans to inspire all staffs to change, to align with company’s goals. 4. Effective communication †¢ Vision must be communicable and communicating in two way and openly, this can be done through compulsory training to ensure familiarity and responsive from staffs. 5. Remove obstacle †¢ Harold and Wilson should have an honest dialogue with Aziz to problemsolved resistance from him and seek for collaboration. If not, backup plan must be in-hand for Aziz leaving for change to be implemented successfully. 6. Motivation and rewards †¢ Carry out change in stages to avoid unbearable failure. Once short term milestone has achieved, recognized and rewards those involved as motivation to more forwards. 7. Assessment †¢ Periodic assessment needed to ascertain improvement, enhancement and amendment in placed to cope with changes from environment and market to achieve company’s goal. 8. No anchoring †¢ Even though tradition is a powerful force but management should walk their talk to ensure new changes and culture are planted. Making it happen and making stick. The above should take placed in sequence and staffs need time to adopt and familiarised with the new of structure and culture. Thus, Wilson should understand that changes can only be carried out in stages and not to rush in order to change effectively and efficiently. References Handy, Charles B. (1993) Understanding Organizations, Chapter 7: On the Cultures of Organization pp180-216. London:Penguin. N. Anand and Richard L. Daft (2007) What is the Right Organization Design?. Elsevier Inc. Nigel Bassett-Jones and Geoffrey C. Lloyd (2005) Does Herzberg’s motivation theory have staying power?. The Journey of Management Development. Dexter C. Dunphy, Doug A. Stace (1988) Transformational and Coercive Strategies for Planned Organizational Change: Beyond the O.D. Model. Organization Studies. Andrzej A. Huczynski and David A. Buchanan (2013) Organizational Behaviour Eigth edition. Person Education Limited.

Investigation of Failed States & Democratic Intervention Essay

Failed states have been an issue in human society for many years. Today there are a total of 177 failed states, which is an all-time high. (Haken) Failed states are not only a terrible situation for the country itself, but for its neighboring countries as well. Some situations are worse than others, but for the most part they all share several factors that classify them as failed states. These factors include a severe economic decline, lack of formal government, deterioration of public services, social disorder, and more. (Haken) Once a country becomes classified as a failed state it is quite difficult for them to fully recover. For this to happen, assistance from allies and neighboring countries is usually necessary. Obviously nobody wants to see a country’s government overrun and its citizens forced into turmoil, but that is unfortunately the way our society operates with radical militant groups such as Al-Qaeda in existence. It has become a global problem and the day may never come when there are no failed states. However, if groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) can be eliminated then these failed states can begin to rebuild themselves and give their citizens the chance to live free, happy lives. An example of a failed state that is making headlines these days is the country of Mali, which is located in Northern Africa. The situation in Mali began over a year ago and has developed into a very serious matter. Much like Libya in 2011, Mali’s government has been overthrown by Islamic militant groups that will do whatever it takes to spread their influence and power. (Larison) The major group behind this invasion is known as Al-Qaeda. As Al-Qaeda forces moved in on Bamako, Mali’s capital, a French military invasion halted them in their tracks. French and Malian forces have now teamed up against â€Å"Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb† (AQIM), which is Al-Qaeda’s militant organization based in Mali. (Larison) The two sides are both ready to battle one another and the situation looks to be headed towards a full-on war. AQIM forces are invading towns and villages while torturing and killing citizens in their path. They are a strong force to be reckoned with and outside help will be needed if Mali is to rid itself of these radicals. This is where neighboring countries become involved. Countries close to Mali, such as Niger, Mauritania, and Algeria, are all looked upon to intervene and to offer aid and/or assistance to the Malians. On top of that, they are forced to live under constant fear and uncertainty of AQIM’s next move(s). Although the United States has no vital economic ties to Mali, some Americans feel obligated to intervene and offer assistance to the French, much like we did in Libya. (Larison) However, the majority of American politicians are against issuing an invasion because all signs point towards an ongoing war similar to those in Iraq and Afghanistan. These two countries experienced this type of situation during the 2000s and Libya did as well in 2011. Libya’s situation was very similar to that of Mali’s current one. Islamic forces invaded and took control and outside help was needed from either neighboring countries or Western forces. Whatever the case may be, many parties were/are involved and too many unnecessary deaths have been recorded already. Going forward we can only hope that the situation in Mali ends up like the ones in Iraq and Libya. The only way this can happen is if the Islamic militant forces are driven out and the country has the opportunity to once again govern itself and eventually prosper. Western intervention has been a major component of global warfare for the last 100 years. From World War I all the way through the Cold War, the United States has always been looked upon to give military assistance to its allies and anyone who holds great importance to our economy. Most recently we’ve gone to war to protect Israel in the Middle East and to aid France in Libya. (Traub) The United States has been involved economically in the Middle East since the late 1980s but became active militarily in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. We were involved in warfare with Iraq for over a decade and are still at war with Afghanistan. (Traub) Other notable instances of Western military intervention include our involvement in World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and many other smaller wars. The United States has clearly played a crucial role in global warfare for a very long time. One major reason for this amount of military activity is the fact that the U.S. is a democracy. Non-democracy governments typically have less involvement in warfare than democratic governments do. This is because autocracies operate under the discretion of less than 20 people and often times only 1 person. Also, under a democracy a presidential order can be overturned by either the citizens or another branch of the government. A democratic leader would most likely order a military invasion if there is an immediate threat to his/her country’s national security or if there is a very significant amount of economic importance involved in the situation. Giving assistance to allies is also a common reason for entering into a war. These have been the main reasons for American involvement in global warfare over the years. America is undoubtedly a military superpower in the eyes of the world and will most likely remain that way for many more years to come. Works Cited Haken, Nate. â€Å"Interpreting the Arab Spring and Its Effects.† Fundforpeace.org. The Fund for Peace, 28 June 2012. Web. 22 Jan. 2013. . Larison, Daniel. â€Å"In Mali the Domino Theory Is Real.† Theamericanconservative.com. The American Conservative, 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2013. . Traub, James. â€Å"Think Again: Failed States.† Foreign Policy Magazine, Aug. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2013. .

Certain Catalysts Can Affect Change, Gow’s Away Compared to the Help

People can act as catalysts for change. Both Gow and Taylor use the main character’s circumstances to affect change in attitude amongst the other characters. In ‘Away’, Tom’s fatal illness causes the other characters to realise the value of their lives and become more positive about life. In ‘The help', Skeeter’s mission to write a book to uncover the harsh mistreatment of the African American helpers to change the white community’s attitude. In both texts the authors use techniques appropriate to their medium to demonstrate this change in attitude. In ‘The Help’ the character Skeeter is the catalyst for change. The change she causes is a change in mentality towards the African American helpers. This change in mentality is represented through Skeeter’s mother. Gow uses contrasting scenes to show the mother’s change in mentality, which is also represented through the general change in the attitude of the white community. This is shown through the juxtaposition of the early scene where Skeeter and her helpers are sitting in the television room watching an African American speak on TV. Skeeter’s mother finds them watching the African American and commands them to turn it off. With the use of a low camera angle Skeeter’s mother shows authority and power over the African American helpers as well as Skeeter herself. In the end scene Skeeter and the African American helpers are watching the same thing on TV. Skeeter sees her mother and goes to turn off the TV. Skeeter’s mother says to leave it on and joins them on the couch. The camera angle changes in this scene from the early scene whereby Taylor makes use of a low camera angle. Skeeter’s mother does not show authority or power over everyone including the African American helpers. Skeeter is shocked by this change in attitude, but is happy that her mother is finally changing her mentality towards the helpers. Therefore through the use of contrasting camera angles, Taylor shows a change in attitude, brought about by the catalyst of Skeeter’s character. In ‘Away’, Gow also uses the main character as the catalyst for change. Like in â€Å"The Help†, the change he causes is a change in mentality of the other characters. This change occurs due to Tom’s fatal illness, which makes the other characters in the play become more positive and realise how precious life is. The change in mentality is shown through one particular character, Gwen. The techniques used to show the change in mentality is the use of stage directions and dialogue. The use of these techniques show the way that Gwen changes her attitude towards life. At the beginning of the play, the use of repetition of the word ‘no’ demonstrates her negativity. This negativity is changed when Gwen finds out that Tom has a fatal illness and does not have very long to live. This causes Gwen to see her life in a different mentality, changing her into a nicer and more appreciative person. This is shown through the technique of stage directions in the final scene of the play, where ‘the applause is led thunderously by Gwen’. This technique shows the shift in mentality to a much more positive outlook on life. In conclusion, both Gow and Taylor show how people can act as catalysts for change. In both ‘Away’ and ‘The Help’ the main characters are the catalysts for a change in mentality. This change is a time consuming process, however both Gow and Taylor show how valuable this change can be.

Main Challenge in International Staffing

ADRIEN KARCHER EIM4 UB1 International Human Resources Management 2nd Assignment  : Describe the main challenges in International Staffing. Ever since the globalization began, companies became more aware of the competitive environments they operate in. It is obvious that a competitive advantage such as technology, resources and quality can be imitated. It’s the peoples that a company employs that makes the difference. Making the right selection and most efficient use of it will surely provide the advantage needed.In this assignment, we will define in a first part the four main approaches to staffing within International Human Resource Management and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to international management. In a second part we will speak about recruitment and selection of the staff in foreign subsidiaries. Heenan and Perlmutter identified approaches to manage foreign subsidiaries which are, ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric and regiocentric.In this part we will examine the connection between this approaches and staffing practices as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this differents approaches. The first approach is called ethnocentric. Employees from headquarters base it on the occupation of a key position. It is assumed that expatriates can manage subsidiaries more efficiently. This is because expatriates are more informed about the company's goals and objectives, strategies compared to the local managers. This method is used when expanding globally and there is need of good communication, cooperation and control of activities.Consequently, PCNs are assigned to top management positions who implement strategic decisions coming from headquarters. Hence, the selection of expatriates will depend on the technical knowledge required or the type of international expansion a company is planning. The ethnocentric approach provides the parent company with more control, which is vital when expanding to a new country. The refore, expatriates are seen as more able than host country nationals. The polycentric approach will opt for HCNs manager in their subsidiary even if PCNs occupy key positions at orporate headquarters. It’s a multinational approach, there is continuity in management of foreign subsidiaries, language barriers can be eliminated and for MNEs still less expensive to hire locals than expatriates. All this elements represent advantages of this approach. But, there are disadvantages for firms and local employees, which have restricted career opportunity outside the subsidiary. With the geocentric approach, MNEs try to find the best people for key positions regardless of nationality. The mix of PCNs, TCNs and HCNs maintains the international team.That’s why HR department play an important role in the international staffing however taking into account staff availability, time and cost constraints, host government requirements and ineffective HRM policies. It’s a Global a pproach in which one each part makes a unique contribution with its unique competence. So now, let see the regiocentric approach which is similar than the geocentric approach but much more nationally focused, the staff may move outside their countries but within the particular geographic region.It’s on the way between ethnocentric or polycentric approach to a geocentric approach. Challenges for MNEs are to work with all of these different characteristics and find the most appropriate approach according to their policy. They have to take in consideration, the context specificities, the company specificities and the local unit specificities as well as IHRM practices. All these factors affect staffing choices, which represent a real challenge in international staffing.Recruitment and selection of staff for international assignments is a considerable challenge because it’s an important and crucial factor of the international expansion for MNEs. They need to find the right people to make position and particularly key managers. In fact, a selection error can lead to an expatriate contract failure and correspond to a return to home before the period of assignment is completed, then it could have long-term negative consequences in term of subsidiary performance.Several factors have to be taken into account in the failure of international assignment: the inability for expatriates to adjust to the foreign culture, the family concerns, career concerns, security concerns, the length of assignment etc. They represent a critical IHRM issues in international staffing, so the challenge is to find the right people which are consistent with all the factors of expatriate selection.Selection criteria are family requirements, technical ability, the cultural requirements, the language and the MNEs requirements. Mendenhall and Ouddou have proposed a four-dimensional approach that attempts to link specific behavioural tendencies to overseas performance. We see these day s appear another constraint for companies : the dual-career couples who are now considered as a barrier to staff mobility and it’s why the MNEs techniques are now utilized to surmount this constraint.To conclude, and according all the facts defined in this assignment, Recruitment and selection of staff still criticals because the future employees have to gather the maximum of criteria which correspond to the MNEs standards and expectations particularly in international assignments. The International staffing is a complex process in which many criteria have to be taken into consideration in order to achieve the best international assignments in the way to insure a sustaining international business operations for MNEs.

Assignment8 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Assignment8 - Assignment Example In particular, I care to know what you plan to do to address this issue. Sales are important to every business’ survival and growth, but you should draw the line between making a sale and making customers angry. I did not report these incidents to the managers at the time because these restaurants are so jam-packed that even managers are cleaning up tables and taking care of customer needs. I asked my friends and they also experienced these problems recently. I noticed that these cashiers are also new ones. I believe that you may be training them incorrectly by focusing too much on sales and not on ethics. What I want now is to know how you plan to address these complaints. I called your attention to see if your Hamburger University should look into these practices and how their training may be causing or contributing to it. I also want you to look into your corporate culture if ethics is no longer that strongly taught, modeled, and enforced. These are all duties under Human Resources, and as its top officer, I believe that you have the power to understand and resolve my concerns. As a long-time customer of McDonald’s, I want to help you deliver good food and services. You can start by investigating this issue if it is already widespread and determining proper and timely courses of

Libyas Tourism Industry Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Libyas Tourism Industry - Research Proposal Example The sudden increase of travel to the country from different parts of the world has resulted in enormous pressure on the natural environment. Negative impacts due to recreational activities within the country parks have occurred. Littering was one of the impacts caused by recreational activities. Refuse throughout the parks, as well heaped in rubbish bins was a common occurrence. In addition, animals' lives were also threatened by so-called ecotourism activities, which were organized by local travel agencies. Since this time, the government became aware the ecotourism market and the invaluable ecotourism resources in the country could serve as alternative attractions for visitors. The government cannot rely only on the man-made tourism infrastructure to retain the visitor number, as limited land is available for the construction of new tourism facilities. These facilities, on the contrary, may not be able to perform earn their keep because of the increasing number of visitors. Thus, m an-made infrastructures are not necessarily a cost effective way to develop tourism in the country. The present study will not only demonstrate an effective tool for ecotourism planning, but also will help in assessing and identifying potential ecotourism destinations, which conformed to eco-tourists' preferences, to facilitate ecotourism development in Libya. The assessment has provided a comprehensive understanding of the invaluable ecotourism resources within the country to identify the best suitable locations for ecotourism development. The study may be considered as a pioneer in ecotourism planning in Libya, especially in its application of ecotourism planning, which aims at filling the knowledge gap on ecotourism research. Despite the likely uncertainties and limitations, the study will offer a relatively comprehensive approach in assisting decision making for ecotourism planning. The study will also result in a better understanding of ecotourism resources, and where they are located. Comprehensive recommendations are also given to improve the approaches and strategies for t he destinations management. The understanding and recommendations contained in this report would provide essential information and advice for related departments in the government, to improve their ecotourism development strategies in the country. 3.0 Statement of the Problem The outbreak of eco-tourism passion triggered to the emerging needs for ecotourism products, as people believed that participation in outdoor activities could help to improve their health. Many travel agencies then started to package local tours in the name of ecotourism. These inappropriate tourism activities did not fit with the principles of ecotourism, but caused tremendous negative impacts to the natural environment. Many ecologically sensitive hotspots have been swarmed with visitors. This caused a far-reaching impact, which deteriorated the ecological value of the sites. Although the government has noted this issue, nothing has been done to stop and control such unhealthy development. Regulations may, therefore, be set in order to restrict humans' impact on the environment. To search for the most appropriate ecotourism planning and management approach in Libya, extensive research is needed. However, little

Fossil Inc. clothing and accessorys Legal Structure Essay

Fossil Inc. clothing and accessorys Legal Structure - Essay Example a  partnership  ran by two or more people.  Also, another option is an incorporated company where business activities  are incorporated  into a company, which bestows  life  on business as a separate legal person (Mancuso 4). The Fossil inc. Clothing and Accessory is a  design, development, marketing and distribution, company that focuses on consumer products predicated on fashion and  value  such as sunglasses, watches, and leather goods among others, for retail sale on an international basis. Fossil Inc. is an incorporated  business  since it  is formed  on a corporation. Incorporating a business provides a liability  protection  and  considerable  tax advantages. The business can  move  on despite the death or bankruptcy of shareholders or  management. Moreover, it offers the best  means  of  expansion  and the provision of  outside  investors. Fossil Inc.  is under the ownership  of two brothers; Tom and Kosta Kartsotis who own about 30% of Fossil stock. In 1993, the Fossil Inc. sold 20% of the company to investors, but Tom retained 40.5% control over the  company  while his brother retained 18.8% ownership. According to Richardson (1), initial public offering of  stock  (public ownership) yielded $19 million, which Fossil Inc. used half of it to reduce the company’s  debt  and the other half to be kept as working capital. Additionally, in 1993, Fossil Inc. had  several  subsidiaries in Europe, led by Fossil Europe GmbH i.e. the company’s  primary  European  operation  in Germany. Other subsidiary companies of Fossil Inc. included Fossil Italia SRL and Fossil France SARL, which served as Fossil’s marketing, as well as distribution entities in those countries.  In addition, Fossil B.V., formed in 1993, stood as a company holding for the three European subsidiaries, where Texas-based Fossil Inc. controlled 70 per cent of the newly formed European holding Company (International Directory of Company Histories 1). In 1994, Fossil Inc. was able

Letter reference former prof Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter reference former prof - Essay Example I believe it will be worth mentioning her unique teaching style that really brought out the best in us, her students. She is a teacher in every sense of the word because she was able to make her students understand the toughest concepts about Molecular Biology almost effortlessly. Her teaching approach is very supportive that made us very comfortable in her class. She always has this unusual calmness and patience that even if we mess up with our experiments, she does not lose her temper. She was always there to guide us and to discover by ourselves certain problems that really made us understand the subject. She was very patient and never made her student feel inadequate whenever we ask questions. She explained it to us very clearly to the point that she made molecular biology very easy even if many students find it difficult. I can remember that I always looked forward attending to her class because I find it stimulating in the atmosphere of support and encouragement which makes Pro fessor X’s class unique. Professor X’s love for knowledge is contagious. Her enthusiasm about the subject matter rubbed on us that made everybody look forward for the next class. Her method of teaching does not only elucidate, but also encourage the students to excel thus encouraging her students to be the best that they can be. Professor X is also an authority on the subject she teaches but despite of her academic stature, she is very generous to accommodate students in her research that allows us to grow in ways that classroom experiences cannot provide. After graduation, she let me work for her as a Research Assistant for two academic years which provided me invaluable learning insight about the practical aspect of Molecular Biology. Professor X does not only encourage us to learn about theoretical concepts but also the experimental aspects of Molecular Biology and its application to the

4 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

4 - Coursework Example Researching on legal matters is exciting in that it helps the researcher to be more critical by asking more questions and having realistic expectations and perception of the law. Researching the law is vital because this skill enables the researcher to find answers to legal questions and better understand judicial system. Understanding judicial system and knowing how to get answers is an important skill that helps bring study of law into focus. For instance, one needs to know consequences that surround certain actions particularly to police officers such as the intra agency discipline comprising of anything from negative letters to one’s personal file to being suspended without pay. Therefore, it is important that one to be informed with the ever changing law and knowing how to find out about changes is important. Another important reason as to why it is important to research the law is to keep credibility in that a person is able to research the law correctly so that viable or proper result is found. Using texts or treatise for researching the law is very dangerous because such works are invaluable resources, expensive and frequently multivolume. Though highly effective and commonly used as compared to other methods in learning law, depending on text learning becomes an ultimate predisposition to partial intellectual deficiency. In addition, several pitfalls are likely to come from the rigidity of text-based learning alone. Texts may elaborate on evidence but may not be able to come up with a legal formula on how to handle unique evidences that may arise. iv. The holding and the policies and reasons that support the holding, in this regard, the holding of the case is the rule of law applied to the relevant facts of the case and the actual decision of the court. In addition, legal opinion contain the skills and process needed to read case laws which are drawing inferences, thinking in reverse and untangling the

Management accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management accounting - Assignment Example These total overhead costs are then divided by the total number of labour hours to obtain the budgeted factory over head rate. That rate is multiplied by the number of hours to complete one unit of Vivaldehyde and Kathanol in order to determine Factory Overhead Rate per unit of Vivaldehyde and Kathanol. These FOH rates are then multiplied by the total number of units of both Vivaldehyde and Kathanol to obtain Total Factory Overhead costs. Similarly, total number of units produced was then multiplied by direct material cost per unit and direct labour cost per unit in order to calculate total direct material cost and total labour cost respectively. Per unit direct material cost, per unit direct labour cost and per unit factory overhead cost were then added to get the total per unit cost of both products. 40% mark-up was then added on the total per unit costs of both the products in order to arrive at the selling prices for both of the products. Activity Based Costing is the technique that is applied due to the lack of appropriateness of the traditional Absorption Costing. For Activity Based Costing, in the first step the relevant cost drivers and their total activity levels are identified which cause the factory overheads to incur. Total factory overhead costs of every department are then divided by the relevant activity level of each cost drivers to find out the activity rates. Those activity rates are then multiplied by the exact level of activity consumed by each product to obtain the factory overhead cost incurred by the each product. In this way, the factory overhead rate is calculated. Factory overhead rate along with direct material per unit as well as direct labour per unit are then added up to reach at the total cost per unit of both Vivaldehyde and Kathanol. Total Factory Overhead Costs of both products are having different values in Activity Based Costing than those of Absorption Cost due to

Emerging Issues in Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Emerging Issues in Criminal Justice - Essay Example The US Supreme Court has maintained that DNA testing and storage of records does not violate this right. The report further describes the value of DNA testing in the prevention of repeat offenders of violent crimes. Statistics are included on the scope of the program and reports on the number of cases that it has aided, as well as the number of potential cases that it could help in the future. In addition, it was found that the economic expense might become overwhelming to operate the program in a prudent manner. The rapid expansion of the program has called for increased lab space, storage facilities, and technicians as law enforcement begins to rely more heavily on DNA evidence. In addition, social pressure needs to be handled in a manner that does not give the public the perception that it has further eroded their constitutional guarantees. The report reaches the conclusion that meeting the financial and social challenges presented by NDIS will be an important step for the future of forensic investigations. Recent advances in DNA technology have been both a blessing and a curse for the United States' justice system and federal and local law enforcement agencies. It has offered law enforcement officials an important new tool to track, investigate, and prosecute dangerous criminals. DNA evidence has provided for the proof beyond a reasonable doubt in thousands of cases involving the most serious crimes of murder and rape. DNA evidence has also been useful in the exoneration of countless convicts that had been wrongly convicted, many of them on death row. To take advantage of this new technology, the US government has pursued a program of compiling a databank of DNA information taken from US citizens. This database can later be used to crosscheck for suspects that may be linked to crime scene DNA evidence at a later date. The US system is similar to the program that is operated in the United Kingdom. While there are significant benefits to be gained from maintaining a large DNA database, it has come at a substantial cost. The economic cost places a burden on law enforcement's already scarce resources. There are also significant social costs due to the perception of the invasion of privacy and the constitutional questions regarding the right to privacy. In addition, there are several logistical challenges to be overcome to assure the proper collection, analyzation, and long-term storage of the mounting quantities of DNA evidence. Determining the most appropriate policies regarding the US DNA databank requires an evaluation of the benefits and costs of the program, while examining the issue in light of the US constitution and global human rights standards. The federal government coordinates the DNA databank program as advocates have sought to expand the database. Individual states vary in their DNA reporting requirements but all states participate in the gathering of DNA information on the most serious violent crimes, which is passed to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a program managed by the FBI (Walsh, 2006). This DNA information is made available to law enforcement agencies through the National DNA Index (NDIS), which currently has over 6,384,379 offender profiles and 241,685 forensic profiles on file and has aided 77,700 investigations as of

Consulting for Entertainment Weekly Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consulting for Entertainment Weekly - Case Study Example Disney has the rights to â€Å"any other technology yet to be invented,† this includes the distribution of videocassettes of the Lady and the Tramp film in 1987. The company has also made clear that it was their practice not to allow profit participation deals for voice performers, as manifested by the testimonies of Jodi Bension (the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid) and Cheech Marin (voice performer in Oliver and Co.). As for the case of Ms. Peggy Lee, she is pressing the advantage that despite the contract’s specification on residual payments she is also pressing the right that the company violated her right to privacy, especially on the use of her name and likeness without her consent. The distribution of the 1987 videocassettes, with her voice used, is in her case a violation to her right to privacy. However, it must also be pointed out that she misinterpreted her claim that she is entitled to $9 million as of March 1988 videocassette sales of Lady and the Tramp. Lee misinterpreted the Income Statement and multiplied the $77 million sales to 12.5% residual payments Based from the evidences presented, it is clear that Disney has an edge in winning the case against Ms. Lee. The unauthorized commercial use of name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness is defined as the unknowing use of a person’s name, voice, etc. without such person’s permission. In this case, Ms. Lee permitted Disney to use her voice and talent when she agreed on working with the film back in 1955. The later release of the film in 1987 is not a violation of her right to privacy since her contract specified that Disney has rights to â€Å"any other technology yet to be invented† and that phonographic recordings later sold entitles her to residual rights. If this is the case, then Ms. Lee is only entitled to 12.5% of the profit generated by the videocassette release, which was capped (under union rules) to $381,000. If the future value of money is calculated, Disney would calculate

Discuss South Africas apartheid policy of 1948. How was it initiated Essay

Discuss South Africas apartheid policy of 1948. How was it initiated Provide historical information of the time from the passing of this policy until gaining independence in 1979 - Essay Example In 1948 the National Party, which represented primarily the interests of Afrikaners, used the idea of ​​apartheid as their program and won the elections (Black South Africans already did not have the right to vote). All South Africans were divided by race into White, Colored, Black and Indians (Asians). Different groups had different rights; of course most of them belonged to Whites. Government introduced separate education and health care, transport, social and recreational facilities, churches; mixed marriages were banned. Even shops and beaches were â€Å"for whites only† and â€Å"for others.† Development of the policy of apartheid led to creation of Bantustans (Bantoestans in Afrikaans), the areas densely populated by indigenous Black South Africans; in fact those were reservations. The South African government created ten Bantustans in South Africa and ten in the South-West Africa (Namibia), which was under the control of South Africa. In fact, Bantustans were totally dependent on South Africa, their independence was not recognized by any country in the world. South Africa’s black population was forcibly resettled in the Bantustans. South Africa’s policy openly declared that the ultimate goal of creating Bantustans would be a situation in which no man with black skin color could be a citizen of South Africa and, accordingly, would not have any rights in this country. Due to condemnation and rejection of apartheid by the countries members of the British Commonwealth in 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth and became an independent republic of South Africa. In 1994, after the end of apartheid South Africa’s Commonwealth membership was restored. Apartheid caused a strong resistance in South Africa itself. A number of organizations, primarily the ANC (African National Congress), organized numerous protests.

Alcoholism in families Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Alcoholism in families - Research Paper Example People from all walks of life are subject to its dangers and most importantly, those living close to the victims also suffer the consequences of uncontrolled alcoholism, which promotes antisocial behavior. This paper is a critical evaluation of alcoholism in the families. Alcoholism as discussed herein, is a condition which has the potential of creating havoc in relationships as well as families. For one, alcohol itself is a substance, which reduces understanding and judgment skills in a person, in some cases leading to poor emotional intelligence. Under such circumstances, it may be found out that people who abuse alcohol are more capable of engaging in unwarranted fights with their spouses out of simple arguments (Ketcham, 2001). However, the victims of such violence especially women tend to develop an understanding at the onset of such behavior, finding excuses to justify their husbands’ actions. In this context, they may be heard making excuses such as; it is only because he was under the influence of alcohol among others, but in the long run, the behavior develops into a habit, which may be difficult to tolerate. Research indicates that alcoholic couples are 3 times more capable of perpetrating spousal abuse as compared to non-drinking or occasional drinkers (Frederickson, 2009). Relationships are supposed to be based on love and if so, it is against the expected norms to hurt your spouse either while sober or under the influence of alcohol. Definitely, if such behavior persists, these relationships continue to deteriorate and eventually, divorce or separation becomes the only viable option. In addition, it has been noted that alcoholics are more prone to committing incest with their own children. According to research, it is observable that 30% of incestuous activities involving father and daughter are as a result of alcoholism. This is one of the worst experiences that a female parent can undergo and

Mary Schwartz and Beach Electrical Systems Case Study

Mary Schwartz and Beach Electrical Systems - Case Study Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that Mary’s absences pose many problems to the organization. Under social learning theory, employees will model behaviors of those in the workplace that they witness receiving reward or punishment. Since Mary was never even given a warning for her past experience, there are risks that employees will model her behaviors. She was considered a credible role model and under social learning theory, employees might reproduce her behaviors believing they can also get away with higher absences. There is one problem, though. Mary’s excellent employment record is documented with employee appraisals. This means that in her employment file there is evidence that she is a model employee. This could make it more difficult for the organization to develop a case against her termination. It is only the opinion of the management team that she has suddenly failed to meet performance expectations. This can be easily challenged by her many merits in her employment file for performance success. From the point of view of the organization, the past employment record should not have anything to do with her being terminated today. However, legally, Mary has much support for winning an argument that she was wrongly terminated based on her track record. Due to her current negative attitude and ongoing absences, the business has the ethical right to terminate her employment. The Health and Safety Executive warns that it is not good practice for companies to make assumptions about what causes an employee to be absent. This is because there are many laws established that protect her. Mary is a protected class employee under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and this makes the situation even more sensitive. However, from the organizational view, the business requires individuals who are team-focused and ready to contribute to meeting performance standards and strategic goals.

Macroeconomics Interview Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macroeconomics Interview Assignment - Essay Example as a set of actions and conditions that were fundamental attributes of a financial crisis and ensuing recession, which become evident and visible in 2008. Some of the actions or factors that contributed to this crisis of rise and fall of housing costs are attributed of the securities held by the financial institutions. The ensuing years leading to the crisis, the United States had received large sums of money in terms of foreign loans from fast developing economies such as Asia and other oil manufacturing nations (Rao, and Sisodiya, 11). The huge inflow of foreign funds and low U.s rates of interest between 2002 and 2004 is attributed to the volatile milieu characterised by easy credit conditions. This environment is immensely attributed to the housing and credit bubbles. However, the immediate cause of the subprime crisis was the bursting of the US’s housing bubble. The bubble peaked between 2005 and 2006. The crisis was characterized by an increase in subprime mortgage negligence and foreclosure, and the consequent decrease of securities that were guaranteed by the said mortgages. The mortgages included the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and the collateralized debt obligations (CDO). The securities offered attractive incentives and rates of return in the beginning; nonetheless, the abnormally low credit factor eventually resulted to substantial defaults (Rao, and Sisodiya, 27). Fundamentally, the crisis is connected to numerous factors; however, the primary ones include the inability of homeowners to submit the mortgage payments due to predatory lending and speculation factors. Other factors include high level of personal and corporate debts, poor monetary and housing policy, global imbalances and inapt government regulation, which aimed at expanding homeownership. It is imperative to note that, the MBS, CDO and credit default swap caused the disproportionate housing debt. For the case of the home sellers and business people, the increase and sharp fall of

Marketing Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Principles - Essay Example They also tend to be the high volume, low cost items. The top FMCG companies are characterised by their ability to produce the items that are in highest demand by consumers and, at the same time, develop loyalty and trust towards their brands. Danone is an FMCG company with over 90,000 employees and operates in 125 countries World-wide. Danone’s brands include Evian ,Actimel, Volvic and Activia. Officialy created in 1990 as a branch of Danone Belgium, and hit UK with the yogurt drink Actimel in 1999. Worldwide Group Danone has two subsidiaries in the UK - Danone UK Ltd and Danone Waters UK & Ireland. Danone UK Ltd is the fresh dairy business behind Britain’s fastest growing yogurt brands, Activia and Shape, as well as Britain’s best-loved yogurt drink, Actimel and new luxury Greek-style yoghurt, Oykos and one more new range of super thick, super tasty strained yogurt with a hidden layer of fruit compote, Danio. Danone Waters UK & Ireland represents Evian, the worlds most popular mineral water. Its portfolio of bottled waters also include Volvic, Volvic Touch of Fruit and Badoit. Danone mission is â€Å"to bring health through food and beverages, to as many people in the UK as possible†. Danone funds nearly  £180 million in research and development each year. This essay about Danone UK Ltd., has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with explaining marketing process and marketing orientation to the newly developed product in organization. The second – is analysing the macro and micro environmental factors, examining the concept of segmentation and identifying the factors that will influence buyer behaviour and propose a new positioning strategy on newly developed product. The third, explaining how the new product was developed, evaluating a range of distribution methods, discussing and critically evaluating pricing methods,

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt Essay Example for Free

A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt Essay When looking at the play, A Man for All Seasons, Richard Rich lied, cheated, deceived, hurt close friends and committed perjury to obtain his goal. He went from Attorney General of Wales to the Solicitor General, to the Secretary for Norfolk and finally to the Chancellor of England. Sir Thomas More, was very selfish towards achieving his own personal goals. He believed that if he went about everything the way God would have done it that he would reach heaven. In this process he managed to hurt his wife Alice, his daughter Margaret, and put his friends in awful positions. When every aspect is considered Sir Thomas More, evidently wanted eternal salvation and only really truly cared about him self. King Henry VIII was a man of power and intimidation. He did not let anything stand in his way. Cardinal Wolsey, was executed because he put up resistance toward the King, along with Bishop Fisher and Sir Thomas More. Any individual that caused a ripple in his path was executed. Henry VIII, started with everything and squandered it all (Bolt, vii). Henry VIII wants an heir for his thrown and no matter how many women he has to marry then divorce to get it that is his primary intention. Richard Rich, Sir Thomas More and King Henry VIII all use reprehensible means, which harm others in order to achieve their own personal goals and in the end are never justified. Sir Thomas More does not justify the pain and suffering he causes by trying to live a glorious life that will put him in heaven. More has a one-track mind. With this, his beliefs and values are very strong towards the way of God and the right and the wrong; but his actions are very self centered and selfish. When More, was asked his opinion on the matter of King Henrys divorce he replied, As I think of it I see so clearly that I can not come with Your Grace that my endeavor is not to think of it at all.There is my right arm. Take your dagger and saw it from my shoulder, and I will laugh and be thankful, if by that means I can come with Your Grace with a clear conscience (Bolt, pg31). His pride and values get in the way of his loved ones future and outcome. More is acting the way his heart tells him but not the most beneficial way in his circumstance. King Henry is one who hates opposition or doubts and Sir Thomas More is giving him doubt and grief on not siding with him on this issue. With having the King on your bad side the chances of you living a good life or living at all is very slim. Also, More shows selfish acts when Margaret approaches him, while he is in his jail cell. When a man takes an oath, Margaret hes holding his own self in his own hands (pg.83) This shows his selfishness towards himself and his goal of going to heaven. He does not care about his life hear on earth or what he leaves behind he just wants what is best for himself. Hence, Sir Thomas More attitude toward his familys life was very poor. By talking about the King and by not siding with him he threw his life and his families life out the window. For food he made Alice eat mutton and did not provide for his family. Also, by him thinking of resigning his position is another example of himself being selfish and not providing for his family. His selfish acts towards himself hurt his friends and his family and do not justify his means for eternal salvation. Firstly, Richard Rich does not justify his means by his ends at all. This man is a lying deceiving little man that will do whatever it takes to gain rank and power. His betrayal towards Sir Thomas More was very futile in Sir Thomass conviction. Ive lost my innocence.(pg.44) Rich has just sold out information to Cromwell in order to move ahead in rank. From here on Rich is starting down a path that will lead to hurting a lot of peoples lives. Secondly, Rich betrayed More for obvious reasons. He wanted to get ahead in life but also, there was the taste of money that came along with it. Every man has his price.(pg.2) This is just showing again why Richard Rich keeps on hurting individuals. In life one will betray another for some benefit and this in it self is an example of Macchiavelli. Hence, when Rich took the stand in the court to persecute More he showed again his greed and will to not stop at any cost to get what he wanted. He said, Parliament has not the competence. Or words to that effect. Rich was saying what he knew the King wanted to hear. He was committing perjury against More so that he could eventually move into the spot of Chancellor of England. With this being said it shows that his greed and lust could not justify Richs means for money and self-advancement. Lastly, King Henry VIII only lived and strived for power and for dominance over everybody in England. If anybody ever crossed his path they were executed and nothing was said about it. Henry liked to show everybody that he ruled and no one else. No opposition I say! No opposition! (pg.33) King Henry is again showing More that his opinion on his divorce is not going to be taken lightly in any sense. Even though More is the Chancellor of England Henry is still pressing him to side with him on the matter and not the Pope. Also, Henry showed dominance over Margaret. The King always has to be the smartest and most powerful one among all. In this certain occasion when Margaret could speak better Spanish then Henry he was very defensive. Right away he asked her if she could dance her response was no. Well I can dance superlatively! (pg.28) Henry is trying to put her down for showing her dominance over him. Also, Henry always wanted to be in power of the Church of England. This was the only thing that he was not in full complete control of and he needed to be to divorce Catherine for Anne Boleyn. The only way he could do this is to kill Cardinal Wolsey and clear the path for his dominance. Catherine provided him with a daughter and without an heir to the thrown this marriage and his legacy would not work. Queen on the throne of England was unthinkable. (pg. Viii) The King had to have power over the Church of England because he would not receive a divorce if he did not receive a boy through Anne. Henry used intimidation to justify his goals and his means were not reasonable nor were his actions justified. With Sir Thomas More, Richard Rich and King Henry VIII all having their means not justify their actions it showed that they were all doing this for some self-advancement in life. So again clearly through points and quotes all three used reprehensible means which harm others, in order to achieve their own personal goals and in the end are never justified. Work Citied Bolt, Robert. A Man for All Seasons, Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 1963

Electrophoresis Machine Essay Example for Free

Electrophoresis Machine Essay Gel electrophoresis is a laboratory procedure used to separate biological molecules with an electrical current. In this lesson, well review how agarose gel electrophoresis works and introduce the equipment necessary to perform an electrophoresis experiment. Separation of DNA molecules of different sizes can be achieved by using an agarose gel. Recall that agarose is a polysaccharide that can be used to form a gel to separate molecules based on size. Because of the gelatin-like nature of agarose, a solution of agarose can be heated and cooled to form a gel in a casting tray. Think of casting the agarose gel like pouring hot gelatin into a mold. The hot agarose liquid is poured into a casting tray. Once the mixture cools, a thin agarose brick will form. To ensure theres a place to put the DNA in the gel, a comb is placed in the agarose liquid before it cools. Each tooth in the comb will become a hole, or well, in the solidified agarose gel. Once cast, this gel is placed inside a piece of equipment called a gel box. An electrode one positive and one negative resides at each end of the gel box. The wells are always oriented, so theyre farther from the positive electrode. This ensures that the DNA molecules in the well must travel through the majority of the agarose gel, thus providing sufficient time for separation. Air isnt a great conductor of electricity, so we cover the gel with electrophoresis buffer. Electrophoresis buffer is a salt solution. It isnt table salt, but the salt ions can carry an electrical charge just like salt water can. The salt in the electrophoresis buffer completes the circuit between the positive and negative electrodes. When the electrodes of the gel box are connected to a power supply, electricity flows through the electrical circuit, causing the negatively charged DNA molecules to move into the agarose gel. The DNA molecules continue to travel through the agarose toward the positive electrode as long as an electrical current is present. Recall that shorter DNA molecules travel through agarose faster than longer DNA molecules. In this way, agarose gel electrophoresis separates different DNA fragments based on size. Once the samples are loaded, the electrical current supplied by the power supply not only moves the DNA samples through the gel but the dye molecules as well. Note the colored lines that appear. These lines do not represent the DNA fragments. These lines represent the dye in the loading buffer that was used to visualize the samples during the loading step. Once the gel run is complete, the agarose gel can be removed from the gel box and soaked in an ethidium bromide solution. Recall that ethidium bromide is used to visualize DNA. Ethidium bromide molecules intercalate, or insert, between the nitrogenous bases in a DNA molecule. In summary, gel electrophoresis is a laboratory procedure used to separate biological molecules with an electrical current. Together with a gel box and a power supply, an agarose gel can be used to separate DNA molecules based on size. Loading buffer enables scientists to insert DNA samples into the wells of the agarose gel. Once the electrophoresis procedure is initiated, the dye in the loading buffer forms a dye front that is used to determine when the procedure is complete. When the electrophoresis procedure is complete, the agarose gel can be soaked in an ethidium bromide solution to visualize the DNA bands on a UV box.

The Automobile Industry And Performance Economics Essay

The Automobile Industry And Performance Economics Essay The success of Malaysia automotive in producing the national car should be a proud of because of internationally outstanding performance. In this journal, the authors determine that Malaysian government do a lot of alternative ways to protect automotive industry to sustain the industry locally keep survive especially to compete in internationally such as various protective measures for example tariff and non-tariff barriers and local content policy. In 2002, the automotives industry show great achievement in highest production point when producing half a million of vehicles in economic prosperity. PROTON and PERODUA becomes the two main national auto manufacture contributed mostly in producing small and medium class production of national cars Malaysia. Thailand becomes the biggest competitors when full implementation of AFTA in 2005 that cause the national car industry faces a lot of challenges. Some proactive measures taken by two automakers through cooperate with foreign automaker s to allay the challenges in auto production to increase the production and market of the national car company. Since 1985, Malaysia has obtained accepting regionally and internationally for its great achievements in the automotive industry. Proton itself make a collaboration with its affiliate, the Lotus International (United Kingdom ) in 1996.Proton cars have captured local markets for medium car class and made its presence felt even in certain developed countries by producing various car models including Proton Saga,Wira,Waja and most recently, the Gen-2.The author states that in this journal reveals the Malaysian experience in promoting the automotive industry and examines the overall performance of the sector especially in national auto production. The automotive industry in Malaysia proves that Islamic countries gives a big impact to participate and compete in economic activity which is known well naturally controlled by non-Muslim countries that shows the ability of Malaysia to start and improves the industry. There are a lot of efforts and sacrifices to face the challenges and compete in highly competitive and technology-intensive industry to Malaysian industry survive in future. To compete in local market since the neighbor country close competitors such as Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines, Malaysia should focus on production of commercial vehicles in short term. While in long term, stiffer competition would be faced by the national automakers with full implementation of AFTA (Asian Free Trade Area) and this would may affect that in this industry can no longer be heavily protected as it was past. Automotive industry in Malaysia: an assessment of its development In this journal, the authors analyzing and evaluating the growth of Malaysian automotive industry within the reason of infant industry and trade protection by the government will cause many arguments when using a global value chain perspective including the impact of global crisis in 2008-2009 on the Malaysian automotive industry. Even though the impact of global crisis is moderate but the domestic demand is decreasing and the weaken performance of the industry remain continue. The industry having difficulties when failed to increase to upgrading the industry and international competitiveness base on their quality of production even though the industry trying to expand the sales, production ,employment and local content every past year. Inadequate of encouraging political for high challenge with high maintain situation, low technological and marketing abilities and small amount of participation in the global value chain are the basic things that lead the industry easy to achieve the failures. By push the industry to achieve good performance, more transformation and strategy trough forming coalition with multiple shareholders even though there are industry protection policies that may help with their own initiatives. At the end, this industry applying captive of the regionalized Japanese keiretsu system in manufactures the production. The authors also mention about some question on how industrial policy might assist to place in developing countries in terms into the global economy. Based on the journal, the industry mainly focusing in manufacturing on passenger car manufacturing and causing increasing employment and average incomes with its employees in years 1980 to 2009 which is the industry has expanded too much starting from their infant industry. Japanese cars makers still dominating the auto market and industry because they have high competitive benefit to infiltrate global markets due to its high scale of technological advancement and product advancement mainly among parts and component suppliers, a lot of and high skilled workers and strong global marketing abilities when compared to Malaysian automotives industry. Introduction of new models shows the positive way of PROTON to increase the marketing strategies in the industry. Malaysian automotive industry still have an option when applying and generating more vibrant automotive group throughout production improvement and strengthening of advance method such as create high performance working systems to give more knowledge and working experience to the automotive industry workers. Supplier Development Framework in the Malaysian Automotive Industry: Protonà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s Experience In this journal, the authorsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ main focus is in Malaysian automotive industry on PROTON which is in raising the suppliersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ relationships and their development. PROTON plays a important role with their supplier development to expanding inclusive support in example supplier selection and meeting, improvement, match making and encouraging constant performance expansion and enhancement programs. Supplier improvement stands for inventiveness by the buyer firm to enhance the performance and abilities of their suppliers and is explained as an important that have been applied by PROTON. However, the importance on price-cutting and independent achievement by PROTON represents the frequent observe of most US buying firms. A supplier advance effort stand for inventiveness by a buying firm which may assist the firm to assemble strategic organizational objectives. Buying firms must be agreeable to spend in the relationship with a lo ng-term perspective. Successful two way communication, long-term commitment, and continues support may give more benefits to the achievement of supplier expansion efforts will help the automotive industry can compete in global market successfully. PROTON should immediate concerns to face the problems which is they need to have a better relationships with their suppliers. To see the relationships have a better impact, the procurement practice is the best ways to be practiced by PROTON. In contrast, the long term relations between the suppliers can happens when the partnerships characterized by joint decision making within the buyers and suppliers. However, the internal suppliers force and effort to develop them are the most important things in development of supplier and the advancement of technology will increase their effort to boost up competitiveness through continuous research and development (R D), reduction the cost of production and value added with engineering value in main taining market value. New strategies such as find partnership to share the technology and enough effort and knowledge can help the industry to penetrate the markets whether in locally and global. Literature Review Performance of national cars in Malaysia should be boost up so that the industry can perform well to compete with our neighbor country such as Thailand and Indonesia and even worldwide. Automotive sector will become more competitive and by empowering the human capital available to high technology. In fact we are the pioneers of the automotive sector in the region, so we need to rise up with a new formula to bolster this sector. Our main national cars manufactures PROTON and PERODUA should come out from comfort zone. However, the success of Malaysia producing their own national cars should be a proud of all Islamic nations especially out citizens (Rosli, 2006).Malaysian government takes a lot alternative ways to make the industry remains survive especially to compete internationally such as provide tariff, customs tax and other local policy. Thailand becomes the biggest competitive of our production in national car when full implementation of AFTA was released. In additional , Malaysi an automotive industry faces many challenges to survive and compete based on their quality of production the industry already expanding their sales, production, employment and technology every past year. By making collaboration with foreign automakers can improve the quality of the national cars and some of its part and component. Besides, Malaysian automotives industry also should have good relationship with their supplier of the product. PROTON as well must maintain their communication and full commitment to their supplier so this will gives better outcome of their performance. Our national car industry performance can be improved by reducing production costs, increasing knowledge and skills among the worker who works in the industry, find another foreign partnership that can help the automotive industry to penetrate the local market but also internationally

Defining And Analysing The Concept Of Hope Philosophy Essay

Defining And Analysing The Concept Of Hope Philosophy Essay 1. DEFINITION: Define your phenomenon. In this section make it clear how you know it when you see it and what it is not. Concept analysis papers can be helpful in writing this section. Be certain to include a variety of viewpoints/definitions (nursing and/or others such as psychology) and do not use only Tabers or other dictionary definitions. Make certain you clearly identify the nursing perspective/definition including standard language (NANDA) Hope can be used as both a noun and a verb. When being used as a noun, hope is defined as a feeling that what one desires will happen, the thing hoped for, a cause of hope, a person or thing that gives hope to others or that others have hope, the ground for expecting something/promise (World Book Dictionary 1976) When used as a verb, Hope is defined in Websters New Collegiate Dictionary (1986) as trust, reliance, desire accompanied by expectation or belief fulfillment Hope has also been defined as an ambiguous or uncertain anticipation of something desired (Green 1977), a desire accompanied by expectation (Frank 1968) and a positive expectation in a studied situation which goes beyond the visible fact (Mennmger 1959) Stotland (1969) expanded the definition of hope to include a degree of expectation when he defined hope as expectation greater than zero of achieving a goal Hope has also been defined m active terms as a response of the creature to the Infinite Being (Marcel 1962), a con fident leap mto the future (Alfaro 1970) and a psychic commitment to life (Fromm 1968) Other definitions mdude a sense of the possible (Lynch 1965), a conviction that a good future is possible (Smith 1983) and a stage of being, an inner readmess, intense, but not yet spent activeness (Fromm 1968) Implicit withm these definitions are two attributes (a) the desu-e for some good, and (b) the ability to look to the future with expectation (McGee 1984) From these definitions and attnbutes, a tentative definition of hope can be proposed hope is an antiapation, accompanied by desire and expectation, of a positive possible future Antonym Hope has been contrasted with its antonym hopeless The term hopeless means to be without hope, and the term hopelessness means the condition or state of bemg without hope {World Book Dtdionary 1976) Two more terms which come from the same Latm root speare are despair and desperation, and are defined as bemg without hope Desperation suggests a state of strong mental anguish or feeimgs of discomfort Other defirutions that reflect hopelessness ^ e a sense of the impossible (Lynch 1965), negative expectations about the future (Stotland 1969) and inaction m the face of threat (Lazarus 1966) A review of the antonyms suggest that bemg without hope has both a cognitive and behavioural component HOPE AS A PROCESS Impliat withm vanous statements is the idea that hope mvolves an active process The theme of antiapation is 1457 C Stephenson reflected in the definition of hope as a process, an adventure, a gomg fcwward with confidence (Mennmger 1959) Hope IS also characterized as an openness (Molhnan 1967), a creahve expectation (Bloch 1970) and a set of dispositions (Macquame 1978) Conceptually, hope involves an active interaction of a persons thoughts, feelings, action and relationships (Dufault Martocchi 1985, Hickey 1986, Miller 1983) For example, if a person has hopeful thoughts, that person will feel hopeful and ocf in a hopeful manner toward self and others The thinking component of this process of hof>e involves visualizing something not yet existing Macquame 1978) Typically the individual identifies an object of hope, which can include a goal, solution, relief, a relationship or anything meaningful to the person (Dufault Martocchi 1985) After the identification of the object, the calcii lation of probability or estimation of certain outcomes is made by the person (Marcel 1972, Mishel 1984) In addition, the person searches for dues to provide the grounding for hope This grounding can be based on realistic or unrealistic expectations, but as long as the individual believes that a foundation is present upon which hope rests assurance will be felt (Wnght Shontz 1968) Reality grounding methods may include considenng the environmental conditions and assets available, seeking confirmation firom others, and comparing self with others Interpretation of these clues will depend on the persons past expenences and the valuation of self as confident and competent (McGee 1984) ^notion Although no single emotion has been assoaated with hope, a positive feeling state usually exists Typical descnptions of this state include feeling good, uplifted, inspired, cared for and loved (Lynch 1965, Marcel 1962, Miller 1983) Hope has also been assoaated with a feeling of confidence diluted b y a degree of uncertamty Engel (1963) suggested that hope moves the person away from self-reliance and toward seeking support from others The behavioural component of the hoping process is reflected m the idea that hope seems to be a prerequisite to coping and adaptation (Rideout Montemuro 1986) Beliefs about ones abilities and antiapated responses to ones efforts go togethCT Usually hope, plus self-efficacy, will lead to effechve copmg However, if a person is unable to acbeve a sense of control or belief in ones own abihty, this control may be relinquished to a health professional or therapist for a penod of time (Hinds Martm 1988, Simtix 1983) The relationship component of the hopmg process is stressed by Lynch (1965). He states that hope is an intenor sense that there is help on the outside The process of hope IS really an mward appropriation from other people, God (higher being), or some other living thing (Dufault Martocchi 1985, Miller 1983, Vaillot 1970) According to Macquame (1978), hope becomes trust within a relationship, and a bond is made between the persons in exchanging and shanng of hope In studies reported by Campbell (1987) and Owen (1989), individuals who were hopeful were descnbed as active, energehc and able to set goals In contrast, persons who were ho peless were descnbed as inactive, apathetic and unable to set goab In studying cases of sudden death, Engel (1963) noted a failure in the coping mechanism which he called the giving-up given-up complex Individuals who had given up demonstrated certain common charactenstics which included feelings of incompetence and being out of control, feeling at the end of their tether, a loss of gratification fi-om roles, a sense of disruption m continuity with the past and fiiture, and the recall of previous helpless situations This failure of coping could be called loss of hope HOPE AS A THEORY Stotland (1969) proposed a theory of hope that incorporates the active process of hope and cfefines hope as an expectation greater than zero of achieving a goal Hopefulness refers to high expectation and hopeless refers to low expectation Stotland states that the greater the perceived expectation of goal attainment, the more likely the organism is to achieve the goal He also states that the greater the antiapation of havmg the hoped for object, the greater would be the attention to, thinking about and action toward getting the object The perceived importance of the goal to the person and the probability of attaining the desired goal are both important Meaning in life The presence of hope has been equated with mearung and value in life (Frankl 1959, Hickey 1986, Travelbee 1971, Vaillot 1970, Watson 1979) Aitei World War H, Victor Fimikl (1959) wrote about his expenences in a concentration camp He observed that individuals who had hope were able to endure very dilibailt physical cuui e motional crcumstances However, when a person lost h c ^ , he or ^ The concefi of hope In studying people with suiadal behaviours, Jourard (1970) also found that a person lived as long as hfe had meaning This theme was also discussed by Travelbee (1971) m her theory of nursing as an interactive process Travelbee defined hope as a future orientation m which one looks forward to a time when life will be more meaningful She implied that, without hope, one cannot be spintually or emotionally healthy ASSOCIATED WITH NURSING In nursing literature, the term liope is connected with nursing activities cind role obligation According to Roberts (1978), fostering hope is one aspect of the professional nurses role In fact, nurses have been identified as sources of hope and have been admonished to inspire hope (VaiUot 1970) In a study reported by OMalley Menke (1988), patients perceived nurses who were kind, supportive of the patient, and conveyed confidence in the treatment as promoting hope Watson (1979) states that the instillation of faith-hope is involved in the canng and curative processes However, the author does not define this faith-hope Antecedents and consequences The antecedents to hope are not clearly understood If hope IS a trait of the person, it is always present and a necessary part of hfe (Fromm 1968) However, the state of hope or the process of hoping seems to imply that there can be levels of hope withm a person Marcel (1962) states that hope IS a response to captivity, tnal or entrapment For Marcel, hope anses oul of despair and the more a person expenences confinement the more the person experiences hope A cnsis has been suggested as an antecedent to hope (Oufault i 1985, Komer 1970, McGree 1984, Nowotny 1989) The crisis could include loss, a life atening situation, a hardship or a change A difficult decision or a challenge could also be an antecedent to hope (Nowotny 1989) However, in this vmters opinion, the antecedent to hope could be anythmg that would be significant to the person since hope is uniquely related to the individuals life expenences The consequences or outcome of hope can be a new perspective (Boros 1970) For examp le, hope seems to energize, empower and strengthen the person (Lynch 1965, Vaillot 1970) People who have seen their hopes fulfilled, descnbe themselves as invigorated, full of purpose, renewed, calm, and encouraged (Hmds 1988, Stanley 1978) Conceptual attributes and a tentative definition Definitions and contextual usage of the word hope have been presented However, the term wish (a synonym) needs to be mentioned m relation to hof>e To hope and to wish may be very similar, m fact wishing may be part of hoping However, a wish is not hope m the fullest sense Usually with a wish there is little personal commitment or investment, and if it comes true there is an element of surpnse With hope there is usually a pwrsonal investment and the fulfilment does not bnng a surpnse, but a calmness, reassurance or sense of encouragement (Green 1977, Miller 1983) Four attributes In analysmg the definitions and contextual usage of the word hope, at least four attnbutes have been identified 1 The object of hope is meaningful to the person, 2 Hope IS a process involving thoughts, feelmgs, behaviours and relationships, 3 There is an element of antiapahon, 4 There is a positive future onentation, which is grounded in the present and linked with the past These attnbutes can be used to answer the corKeptual question What is hope? Hope can be defined as a process of anticipation that involves the interaction of thinkmg, acting, feeling and relating, and is directed toward a future fulfilment that is personally meaningful CONCLUSION The concept of hope has been analysed through the use of common definitions and contextual usage fiom the literature In addition, attnbutes, antecedents and consequences of hope have been identified and a definition of hope has been proposed Qanficahon of the concept of hope has implications for nursmg and health care delivery Nurses are m a unique position to interact with individuals and family members m a holistic manner Assessment of personal health care needs could include gathermg data on hope fi-om the mdividual as well as from the familys perspective Data on hope could serve as a cruaal foundation for assessing quality of life in general In addition, interventions could be designed to strengthen the hoping process without givmg false reassurance Further research Further study could be done on the behavKMirs of Iwalth personnel and sigruficant others that impact the hoping 1459 C Stephenson process Although these thoughts may not be applicable to every individual, study of the concept of hope contnbutes to the knowledge base necessary for quality nursmg care for al] people Abstract Hope has been described in theoretical terms for many years but the recognition of the importance of hope within the practice of nursing is a more recent phenomenon. Despite the recent growth of references to hope within contemporary nursing literature, it is reasonable to suggest that there remain gaps in the substantive knowledge base and that there appears to be room for both additional research and further discursive literature. Accordingly, this series of six articles will explore the nature of hope, review the existing theoretical and empirical work in several discrete areas of nursing, and provide case studies to illustrate the role that hope plays in clinical situations. This article focuses on the origins, background and definitions of hope. The next article will examine hope within mental health nursing, and further articles will focus on hope within palliative care nursing, hope in gerontological nursing and hope in critical and acute care nursing. Hope is defined as to cherish a desire with expectation of fulfillment; trust, reliance(Websters New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973). Hope enables realistic appraisal of an event and the identification of options (Morse Dobemeck, 1995; Wang, 2000); has a causal effect upon many biopsychosocial and spiritual factors (Wang); mobilizes energy (Rusteon, 2000); has a dynamic quality in that it waxes and wanes (Morse Dobemeck; Parse, 2000); coexists with no hope (Parse); incorporates a bracing for negative outcomes (Morse Dobemeck); promotes a determination to endure (Morse Dobemeck); is future focused, facilitates a positive outlook (Herth, 1992); encompasses a measure of control (Parse, 2000; Wang); facilitates transcendence (Hasse, Britt, Coward, Leidy, Perm, 1992); and provides comfort (Hinds, 1999).Frankl (1963) writes that hope is basic to life and loss of hope can precipitate death. Without hope, persons despair and lose the interest or energy to cope or endure (Levine, 1989). Events that Elicit Hope: Wished for object Dilemma Crisis Qualities of Hope: Universal yet unique to each individual Dynamic in its presence Enabling Outcomes of Hope: Resilience Transcendence Positive psychologically, spiritually, physiologically Psychology Hope begins with thoughts (cognitions) (Benson, 1996). Bums (1980) writes thatthoughts are the manner in which you view things, your perceptions, mental attitudes,beliefs, and what you say to yourself about your perceptions. Bums further assertsthat thoughts influence emotions and behavior. Experiences are first processedthrough the brain and given a meaning before an emotional response is elicited(Bums; Meier, Minirth, Wichem, 1982). Clinical psychologists, Alfred Ellis (1970)and Aaron Beck (1970), developed therapy models based on the premise thatinterpretations of situations and events influence emotion with corresponding actionsand behaviors (Fortinash Holoday-Worret, 1996). Ellis and Beck purport thatbeliefs and values are formed from experiences, scripting by significant others, andones inherited temperament and this in tum determines the interpretation of andreaction to situation or events (Fortinash Holloday-Worret). Religion: Faith communities have traditionally referred to God as the Ultimate Hope. Numerousverses in the Holy Bible speak to hope and the human condition. Matthews (1999)refers to hope as a means of transcending or rising above lifes difficulties. Religiouspractices and rituals such as prayer, singing hymns, Bible reading and study, churchattendance maintain connection to a Higher Power and foster hope that goodness,emotional comfort, and/or peace of mind will prevail (Peale, 1990; Graham, 1991;Matthews). Koenig (1999) concludes religious belief can manifest psychologically byreplacing despair with hope and physically by affecting the immune system responseand lowering blood pressure. Thus, hope is viewed as an attribute linked withbiopsychosocial and spiritual factors (Wang, 2000). Medicine: Research by Benson (1996) provides strong empirical support conceming the powe of beliefs and thoughts on physiological outcomes within the body. Benson (1996) proposes that hope has considerable influence physically and emotionally. Hope is elicited and nurtured with memories and thoughts of happy times and wellness (Benson). There is a placebo effect in that there is a positive correlation with increased hope and relief of certain symptoms (Benson). Nursing:Parse (2000) writes that hope is enmeshed with health and life quality, is ersal, and a way of living with imagine possibilities in each day. Parse also notes that a hope-no hope quality is always present. Other insights derived from Parses work are that hope is derived from memories, is influenced by interpersonal relationships, romotes a moving forward, offers new insights and purpose; and that hopeful persons ponder situations realistically, and consider options and consequences (Parse, 2000). Dufault and Martocchio (1995) identify six interrelated dimensions of hope: cognitive (thoughts), affective (feelings), behavioral (actions), affiliative (relationships with others and a Higher Power), temporal (future-oriented, influenced by present and past), and contextual (circumstances that occasion hope). Antecedents to hope include relationships with others including a Higher Power, positive personal attributes, ptimism, and an ability to use thoughts to mitigate perceived threats (Haase, Britt, ard, Leidy, Penn, 1992). Hope moves a person to action directed at providing a vel of comfort or attainment of hoped for objects (Dufault Martocchio, 1995). Systematizing the Observations The development of nursing knowledge and interventions involve understandmg human responses and needs The human response of hope was identified as a concept m need of further danficahon The purpose of this paper was to review definitions and contextual usage of the word hope from the hterature and answer the conceptual question What is hopef Literature from theology, philosophy, psychology and nursing was reviewed for contextual usage of the word hope In the hterature, hope was viewed as part of human development, a process, a theory and a source of meaning in life In addition, antecendents, attributes and outcomes of hope were identified from the literature that contnbuted to a clearer understanding of the concept When the world says, Give up, Hope whispers, Try it one more time. (Unknown, 2010) The definition of hope and hopelessness differs from person to person. In Scripture, according to the Hebrew and Greek words, hope is an indication of certainty. (Keathley) Tabers dictionary defines hope as, The expectation that something desired will occur. One of the bases of professional health care is encouraging and supporting the presence of hope while providing accurate information and realistic reassurance. (Hope, Hopelessness, 2009) Hope and hopelessness all depend on your expectations and goals. Without them hope would cease to be. On the contrary, hopelessness is despair; loss of faith on the possibility of a positive outcome. (Hope, Hopelessness, 2009) Although hopelessness can lead depression, desperation, or antisocial behaviors, hopelessness is a feeling that many people experience without the ill effects. Hopelessness is a common human response, and can be overcome. THEORY Chinese perspective According to Landrum (1993), while the early Chinese believed that human destiny depended on the gods, they also recognized the value of human virtue. Their four basic human qualities love, righteousness, propriety and wisdom are developed through moral training and social education. Chinese culture has a strong sense of optimism because human nature is considered to be essentially good. No specific reference to the origin of hope or the role that it has is made. However, one could speculate that optimism is an expression of hope, albeit couched in different terminology. East Indian perspective Landrum (1993) asserts that an East Indian perspective is concerned with the notions of the subjective nature of humans, the value of knowing oneself, the links between the supreme inward reality of spirit and the outward reality of matter. This perspective sees the universe as being in a meaningful and constant state of flux, that yet, paradoxically, provides order. To survive one must act. No specific reference to the origin of hope or the role that it has is made. Ancient Greek perspective When describing the ancient Greek perspective, Landrum (1993) suggests that the early ancient Greeks regarded people as individuals who received feelings and ideas from external sources. The soul allowed understanding and consequently direction in life. The mind and body were viewed as separate and several human qualities and physiological responses were explained in relation to mans psyche, with reason regarded as the dominant part of psyche. Reference is made to courage, truth, and temperance and Hippocrates alludes to the positive effects of these qualities and hope, without ever dwelling on or exploring the actual processes of hoping (Barnard, 1995). Christian perspective If hope is considered in terms of the Christian faith then it can be argued that hope has existed almost as long as man has existed. Mans existence began when God created Adam and Eve. Adam knew nothing but contentment, satisfaction and exhilaration and, consequently, his existence can be seen as a hopeful one. He was in a state of contemplation; he lived the beginning of his life in the presence of God and therefore experienced the total absence of despair. Once Adam, through eating forbidden fruit, was alienated from God, the reality of his own demise or annihilation, or permanent separation from God, had to be faced. How does he reconcile his eventual demise and separation from his creator if not but by the action of faith in God (and subsequent redemption) producing a sense of hope that the state of contemplation could be achieved again.For those whom hold Christian beliefs, hope then would seem to be a product of faith (Lynch, 1965), whereby individuals engage in a process where their beliefs in their ultimate salvation, and also their empowerment in the present, are dependent on God. This faith enables the individuals to be hopeful and the hopefulness enables the individual to transcend is/her current difficulty (Lynch, 1965).This is in terms of not only ones eventual redemption, but also a pragmatic sense, in that, despite his fall from grace, Adam eventually achieves his reconciliation with his creator, and enjoys a long and fruitful existence. Existential perspective Existentialism can be regarded as the philosophy of despair, the opposite to hope. However, there is merit in examining hope from an existentialist, philosophical standpoint as some existential literature attempts to explain ho w hope is derived and shares commonalities with the theological perspectives outlined above. The existential philosopher Sartre (1943, cited in Blackham, 1986) claimed that to be truly human is to travel a path towards nihilism (i.e. an extreme form of skepticism maintaining that nothing has a real form ofexistence) to be alone. The more acutely aware of this pointless and isolated existence a man becomes, the more aware hebecomes of the absurdity of his existence. The only outcome of such a perspective is a state of despair. Nietzsche (1938, cited in Rawlins et al, 1993) makes comments which echo the sense of despair that accompanies mans existence when he argues that hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man. If we consider ourselves in a position relative to the progression of linear time (from the dawn of time to the end of time), whilesimultaneously considering ourselves in a position relative to the infinity of the universe, the likely conclusion from suc h a comparison is to view our existence as pointless, minuscule, futile and hopeless. Alternatively, if we view our existence and the world in a finite, more individual, and specific way, the opposite argument becomes apparent. We exist and operate in a finite world, and we can have influence and control over our existence. Indeed, at a micro level each individual potentially makes a difference to the world. Such an existence then can only produce a more hopeful outlook. This view is supported by the contemporary existential philosopher Marcel (1948, cited in Blackham, 1986), who proposed humans achieve being by engaging as fully as possible in life tasks. Such tasks require communication and interaction between people. This existence has endless possibilities and opportunities for personal growth, of increasing human stature by existing in conjunction with other humans. According to Marcel, man has wide horizons that he can move into and influence, as opposed to Sartres view of man as someone who is surrounded by a sea of nothingness. Therefore, if despair is the state of being of Sartres man, then hopefulness (and the potential to be hopeful) is the state of being of Marcels man. Marcel asserted that the human soul, or internal self, exists only by hope, it breathes hope. This view is supported by Blackham (1986) who maintained that the model of all hope is salvation, which means for the Christian, the hope of achieving contemplation and living in the presence of God. Therefore, certain existential philosophers allude to the origins of hope, implying it is implicitly bound up with existence, human spirituality and faith in God. Kiekergaard (cited in Blackham, 1986), did not write directly about hope; however, he elaborated upon the concept of faith (faith in eventual salvation). Faith, he argued, is the antithesis of reason. It is unreasonable to have belief in something that cannot be proved and has no substance. Since hope can spring from this faith, it is possible that Kierkegaard would also consider hope for ones salvation to be unreasonable. To illustrate this point further, the authors point out that having hope for future outcomes that do not yet exist can be seen to be a process akin to possessing faith, in that there is often no evidence for peoples hope, especially since not everything people hope for is of a physical state. Thus, by considering Kierkegaards comments regarding believing in something that cannot be proved, similarly, hoping for outcomes that have no evidence to substantiate the focus of the hoping could, according to Kierkegaard, be deemed to be unrea sonable. However, to the person who has hope and who experiences a sense of hopefulness, it is likely to be the most logical, sensible thing. If hope provides one with a sense that one has a future, and also enables one to cope with events in the present, then (if one wishes to preserve ones existence) it is a logical state of being (Hinds, 1984; Raleigh, 1992). A fundamental question for the existentialist philosopher has been the problem of the final destiny of the individual and the issue of the intensity of human existence (Macquarrie, 1972). Life is viewed as more than a biological experience and particular concern is given to the most extreme human experiences such as anguish, despair and confrontation with death (Landrum, 1993). Consequently, the consideration of death involves examining the essence and meanings that people ascribe to their death. Thus, existential analysis of death indicates that understanding the meanings is unlikely to be restricted to the limits of ones p hysical existence and earthly life. Therefore, questions and answers need to consider the possibility of fulfilment beyond death (Macquarrie, 1972). This begs the questions: Where is hope in this scheme of things?. Does hope in the individual project beyond his/her physical existence into the possibility of life after death?. It is likely that if the origin of hope was to enable man to reconcile his alienation from God, then the existential understanding of hope cannot be complete without examining what hope does in terms of fulfillment after death. Pannenberg (1962, cited in Macquarrie, 1972) further described the connection between life after death and hope suggesting: The phenomenology of hope indicates that it belongs to the essence of conscious human existence beyond death. There appears to be a perspective that posits hope as enabling humans to contemplate life after death without entering into utter despair. Hope clearly projects into the spiritual realm of existence (Lynch, 1965; Herth, 1990; Kylma and Vehvilainen- Julkunen, 1997), and this philosophical view of hope supports the thoughts on the origins of hope. If there is no existence after ones physical demise (if, in terms of Christian theology, the universe is Godless), then there is only complete nothingness awaiting each individual, and such a perceptionis the perception of despair. However, if the universe is meaningful (if, in terms of Christian theology, God exists), if the individual is capable of transcending his/her physical existence, then the perception of hope is made possible. By examining the theoretical and empirical literature it becomes evident that attempts have been made to define and understand hope from the 1960s onwards. Lynch (1965) described the spiritual view of hope. Wri ting in the position of a Reverend and as someone who had ministered to many people in times of distress, he suggested that hope comes close to being the very centre of man. Stotland (1969), writing from a psychological perspective, indicated that even though there was an awareness of the role hopefulness plays in everyday life, the subject had not been fully introduced into the mainstream of psychology and psychiatry. Hope in adolescents In the 1980s, studies were conducted to define hope in specific groups (Hinds, 1984; DuFault and Martoocchio, 1985; Owen, 1989) and Miller (1983) carried a review of the relevant literature in order to describe hope (and inspiring hope). Hinds (1984) attempted to define hope in adolescents. She interviewed 25 adolescents, eight of whom were inpatients, and 17 were termed well. While Hinds describes the demographic details of her sample (e.g. age range, sex) she does not state the criteria used to describe an interviewee as well other than that they attended a learning centre for secondary education; in addition, she does not explain how the interviewees were selected. Hinds (1984) then describes using grounded theory methodology and the data reduction technique of Glaser and Strauss (1967) to induce a construct definition of hope, stating hope is the degree to which an adolescent believes that a personal tomorrow exists. Furthermore, Hinds argued that this belief spans four hierarchical levels, from lower to higher levels of believing (Table 2). Unfortunately, Hinds fails to make any statements concerning how she attempted to establish the credibility of her findings. Hope in patients with cancer DuFault and Martoocchio (1985) collected data over a 2-year period from 35 elderly patients with cancer, then collected similar data over a further 2 years from 47 terminally ill patients of various ages. This study i