Greek history reading analyze in comparing character of Helen in two Essay

Greek history reading analyze in comparing character of Helen in two reading - Essay Example In this account, Helen is portrayed as a victim of circumstances who had no choice but to go with Paris and succumb to his every whim and demand in order to save her life. In the poem we see Helen "dressed herself in fine silvery linens and came out of her bedroom crying softly" when she heard of Menelaus' attack on Sparta clearly illustrating she had no alternative but to wait and see what the aftermath of the war will bring for her future. Later, talking to Paris's father, she says, "death should have been a sweeter evil to me" explaining that she should have taken her own life than yield to Paris's seizure. She incriminates herself by calling herself a "shameless bitch" for yielding to his demands. Furthermore, she is seen as very embarrassed to have had her family find her in a situation which she apparently had no choice. There are several colors to Helen's character that are portrayed in Homer's Iliad. She calls herself a "hateful wife" when she thinks of Menelaus winning her away from Paris. On Paris's return and eventual defeat in the Trojan War, Helen reproofs him by telling him he should have been killed by Menelaus, a "real hero" In the Iliad, Helen is represented as a prey plucked from her serene life with her husband and taken away by Paris to be subjected to subservience despite her many objections. She is shown to have compassion, guilt, love and even acceptance in the way she lives her life in Paris's kingdom awaiting her end. However, in Helen a play by Euripides, the playwright puts the theory that Helen was a victim of circumstances down and has something else to say. Helen is sought by Menelaus, a grieving husband, who wants to bring her to justice by killing her following the rumors that she went to Paris willingly and was not abducted after all. Hecuba, Paris's mother describes Helen as a woman who "captivates you with longing", "destroys cities" and "sets homes aflame". While Helen defends herself saying that she was bought and sold for her beauty and has been blameless even attempting to run away, Hecuba negates this by saying she should have hung herself if she was so desperate to get out. Helen states she was kept as a wife by her new husband "in defiance of the Trojans" and Hecuba negates that as well. She is characterized as a vicious and calculating woman who Hecuba states "saw my son in the splendor of gold" and "looked forward to a deluge of extravagance" while Helen says she grieves the death of the Trojans. This is a total contradiction to what the Homer states in the Iliad. Essentially, Helen has been depicted as the cause of the war between the Trojans and the Greeks whatever the truth may or may not have been. Homer too has treated Helen as a cause of war but also as a helpless victim of her celebrated beauty. There could be any number of reasons why Euripides depicted Helen in a negative light. Some scholars say that it is impossible for so many heads of states / cities to leave their work to go all the way to Troy to rescue a chit of a woman to whom they did not have much interest in except for her renowned beauty. At the time this story is placed, a lot of women and children were abducted and sold in slavery in Troy and it is thought by some scholars that this was the reason so many city heads brought about the Trojan War. This theory is followed by the hypothesis that Helen never existed! It was all a ply to put the Trojans down for their illegal slave trade. However, if

James Beard Essay Example for Free

James Beard Essay James Beard was one of the most famous chefs of the 20th century. He was born May 5, 1903, and died January 21, 1985. Beard was well known for bringing French cuisine to the American middle and upper class population, and being the first to bring cooking to television. Julia Childs once described James â€Å"Beard was the quintessential American cook. Well-educated and well-traveled during his eighty-two years, he was familiar with many cuisines but he remained fundamentally American. He was a big man, over six feet tall, with a big belly, and huge hands. An endearing and always lively teacher, he loved people, loved his work, loved gossip, loved to eat, loved a good time. † This is what made him so renowned in the field of cooking, his love, passion, and willingness to learn as much as possible about culinary arts. James Beard will forever be in history though his 20 books, numerous writings, his personal foundation and the many awards and scholarships that go out named after him On May 5, 1903, James Beard was born in Portland, Oregon. His mother, Elizabeth Beard ran the Gladstone hotel, and his father, John Beard, was employed at the city’s customs house. Both his parents also had a love for cooking. The family spent many summers vacation at the beach in Gearhart, Oregon. This is where James was first introduced to the unique local foods of the North West. His family would fish, gather shellfish and wild berries, and then prepare their meals with whatever the found or caught in the area. Beards recalled his earliest memory of his interest in food was the Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905, when he was only two years old. Beard reminisced in his memoir saying: I was taken to the exposition two or three times. The thing that remained in my mind above all others, I think it marked my life, was watching Triscuits and shredded wheat biscuits being made. Isnt that crazy? At two years old that memory was made. It intrigued the hell out of me. At only two years of age, Beard developed a love for cooking. When James was three, he got malaria and had to stay in bed. His mother and their Chinese helper took care of him and fed him. This gave him time to really enjoy the food. This is when he began to be influence by Chinese culture and there cooking habits, along with his mother’s cooking abilities. Both of these would help him later in life in culinary arts. Once he was out of bed he was back to his normal life, vacation at the beach, and spending time with his family. Another spot that James liked to go to was Seaside, a town only 3 miles away by train. There was an ice cream stand there, West’s Dairy, which was a popular hangout among the kids his age at the time. They had five cent milkshakes, and 28 flavors that included tutti fruity of course, along with cherry, wild blackberry, and blue huckleberry. Beard once said â€Å"It was probably the best five cents worth of anything I have ever had†. There were even times when James would walk the 3 miles so he could save his five cents on the train fare and use it for spending at the ice cream stand. Later on in his life, Beard went to college briefly at Reed College in Portland, from which he was expelled due to homosexual activity. Beards memoir states: By the time I was seven, I knew that I was gay. I think its time to talk about that now. † The James Beard Foundation said says in 1923 Beard went on the road with a theatrical troupe. † In the 1920’s, Beard briefly lived in France. There he observed French cuisine at their many bistros. He became a Francophile due to the influence the French culinary culture had on him. The James Beard Foundation said â€Å"he lived abroad for several years studying voice and theater, but returned to the United States for good in 1927. Initially training for being a singer and actor, for years Beard tried to get into the movie and theatre business but had no success. In 1935 he gave up and realized that was not the route he needed to take. This is when he and his friend, Bill Rhodes, decided that they need to capitalize on the cocktail party trend that was sweeping the nation and they opened their own catering company. In 1937, he opened up a small shop for his business, called Hors dOeuvre, Inc. † At that moment, Beard realized that his future was in culinary arts. This then led to the publication of Beards first cookbook in 1940, Hors DOeuvre and Canapes, a collection of his catering recipes based on cocktail foods. Then World War 2 came around, and rationing problems brought his business to a halt. Beard spent most the years during the war in Puerto Rico, Rio de Janeiro, Marseilles, and in panama with the United Seaman’s Service setting up sailors’ canteens. He also spent some of this time in cryptography. In 1945, Beard returned to New York City and completely devoted himself to his work in culinary arts. In 1946, James Beard starred in the first cooking show ever aired on television, I Love to Eat, on NBC, which began his rise to infamy. He started appearing on other television shows, and the radio. He started contributing the writing of many famous articles and columns such as Womans Day, Gourmet and House and Garden. He ran his own restaurant, and began consulting other restaurant owners and food producers. In 1955, he opened The James Beard Cooking School. For the next 30 years, he taught men and women the art of cooking. He didn’t only teach at his own schools in New York City and Seaside, Oregon, but around the world to culinary groups and other schools. The main lesson that he tried to instill in upcoming American chef was the preparation of truly good food using fresh American ingredients. James Beard died at the age of 82 on January 1, 1985. He was cremated and his ashes were spread over the beach at Gearhart, Oregon, where he spent his summers as a kid. Beard started out with nothing but a catering company and a love for food, and became one of the most famous Chefs in history. He was known as â€Å"The Dean of Cuisine† and â€Å"The Father of Gastronomy†, and the name James Beard will always be in culinary arts history.

Isolation in Death of a Salesman

Isolation in Death of a Salesman Arthur Millers play Death of a Salesman is the story of a man, Willy Loman, gone deaf to the outside world. Though many try to help him, he shuts them out and creates his own reality in which he is successful and loved by everyone. In Death of a Salesman, Willy has many influences both good and bad attempting to direct his life; it is his refusal to choose the helpful advice that will ultimately lead to his downfall. One negative influence in Willys life is the inability of his friends to confront him about his problems. It is Willys wife that causes him the most harm. In her vain attempt to protect Willy, she actually allows his eventual death. The first sign of her negligence comes in one of Willys flashbacks. Willy brags, I did five hundred gross in Providence and seven hundred gross in Boston(35). But as Linda begins calculating his commission, the value rapidly diminishes to roughly two hundred gross on the whole trip(35). Linda sees what is going on but does not confront him. A very similar situation occurs later in their life when she finds out that Willy is no longer on salary, but borrows money every week from Charley. Again she will not confront him. By not confronting Willy in either of these instances, Linda allows him to sink further into his false reality. But Linda makes an even worse mistake that allows for Willys suicide. She acknowledges his suicidal tendencies when she says, He s been trying to kill himself(58). She tells the boys that she has found the rubber hose in the basement, but she still will not confront Willy. Another character who is unable to be straight with Willy is Willys boss Howard Wagner. Howard allows Willy to keep his job, but does not pay him. If he had just fired him right out it would of forced Willy to find a new job. By stringing him along, Howard allows Willy to maintain his fantasy world unchallenged. These are examples of the most negative influences in Willys life simply because they have the ability to help but choose not to. It seems that the only people who want to help Willy, are those who he least listens to. In fact the two best influences on Willy come from the same family. Bernard grew up with Biff and Happy but chose a much different path. At a key time in Biffs life, Bernard warns I he doesnt buckle down hell flunk(40). In this scene Bernard is trying to tell Willy that he is instilling the wrong values in his sons who are destined for failure. Willy however does not want to listen to Bernard because he has the most popular and athletic son in town. But even later when Willy sees Bernards success he will not listen. Bernard sees that Willy is still holding on to a job that is not working for him and tells him sometimes, Willy, its just better for a man to walk away(95). Willy can only respond by asking But if you cant walk away?(95). Charley, Bernards father, even takes trying to help Willy a step farther. Charley sees early on that Willys job is not working out and begins offering him a job. Cha rley continues to offer this job until the end. And even though Willy refuses to take a job from Charley, Charley continues to loan Willy the money he needs every week knowing he will never get paid back. In this play Charley and Bernard are the only characters from the beginning to the end that truly do everything they can to help Willy; yet still Willy refuses to listen to them. Because Willy does not want to listen to the outside world, he is forced to create his own sources of guidance. This guidance comes in the form of Ben his brother and Dave Singleman. Ben appears to the audience in the form of Willys flashbacks. He excites Willy with tales of self-made fortune. Willy uses Ben as a scapegoat in order to explain his own failures. He makes himself believe that if he had gone with Ben, he too would be rich. By doing this he avoids facing his own failures as a salesmen. Though we never see Dave Singleman, he is the single most powerful influence on Willy. He is Willys personification of the perfect salesman. Willy hopes to gain the respect and success that Dave Singleman had. But in reality Dave represents the superficiality, which Willy bases his life on. All of the good qualities that Dave Singleman possessed were superficial. Nothing is said about his family life or character. Willy needs to realize that it is the inner qualities that count. By creating a mold of the ideal man in his head, Willy sets himself up for disappointment. When he is unable to be the ideal man he wants to be, he looses his will to live and deems himself as a failure. But because he has shut himself off from those around him, no one is able to reach him before it is too late.

Macbeth :: essays research papers

Historical MacBeth compared to Shakespeare's MacBeth Although most of Shakespeare's play " MacBeth " is not historically accurate, MacBeth's life is the subject of the tragedy. There are characters and events that are based on true events and real persons but, Shakespeare's "MacBeth " differs significantly from history's MacBeth. The first example of a difference between the Shakespeare "MacBeth" and historical MacBeth is the death of Duncan I. In Shakespeare's " MacBeth ", Duncan I was murdered by MacBeth. A prophecy said to MacBeth by one of the three witches "All hail, MacBeth, that shalt be King hereafter1 ." was what prompted Gruoch, MacBeth's wife to plot the murder of Duncan I as he slept in their castle. In history, MacBeth established himself as the King of Scots after killing his cousin Duncan I, in battle near Elgin not as in Shakespeare's play by killing him in his sleep. Duncan I was killed on August 14, 1040. MacBeth then reigned as king for seventeen years. As previously stated Duncan I and MacBeth were cousins, a fact not brought out in the play. Shakespeare loosely based the play," MacBeth " on events he found in Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. " Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, are the materials that furnished Shakespeare with his plot2. The chronicles were an account of the history of the country of which they came from. Another major difference, is that Duncan I was not the ageing and respected king Shakespeare makes him out to be, In real life, Fiona Summerset Fry author of History of Scotland says " He was actually an impetuous and spoilt young man whose six years of kingship brought glory neither to Scotland nor to his family3." In the play's last scene, McDuff kills MacBeth and automatically becomes the new King of Scots. In actual history MacBeth is killed by Malcom III but Lulach, MacBeth's stepson, becomes the king after the noblemen of Moray fight for his succession. Lulach reigned for seven months and was then dethroned by Malcom III of Caenmore. MacBeth is presented in the play as clumsy and unorganised. In reality though, he was one of the best kings that Scotland ever had. " During his reign, he went on a pilgrimage to Rome for several months4." His kingdom was in well enough order and he was in high enough regard with his nobleman that he could leave for a long period of time. Another way you could tell that MacBeth was a good

Economics Problems

Homework #3: Question 1. Problem and Application 4 on page 285. Please work on a, b, c, d, and e only. That is, ignore f. When you reconstruct the table in your work, please lower the space for Marginal Product and Marginal Cost by a half step. In other words, the first entries of Marginal Product and Marginal Cost should be aligned with the second entries of other columns. (50 points) Table of Costs: WorkerOutputMarginal Product Total CostAverage Total CostMarginal Cost 00–$200———– 12020 300$15. 00$5. 00 25030 400 8 3. 33 39040 500 5. 6 2. 50 412030 600 5 3. 33 514020 700 5 5 615010 800 5. 33 10 71555 900 5. 81 20 A. The table shows the marginal product; marginal product rises at first, but then starts to decline because of diminishing marginal product. B. The table shows the total costs for this scenario. C. Again, the table shows the average total cost. The average total cost will be shaped like a â€Å"U. † The average total cost declines as quantity rises when the quantity is low. When the quantity is high, the average total cost rises. D. The table shows the marginal cost. The marginal cost, like the average total cost, is also â€Å"U† shaped, but unlike the average total cost it rises steeply as the output increases. This is because of diminishing marginal product. E. When the marginal cost is falling, the marginal product is rising and vice versa. Question 2. (20 points) The licorice industry is competitive. Each firm produces 2 million strings of licorice per year. The strings have an average total cost of $0. 20 each, and they sell for $0. 30. a. What is the marginal cost of a string? Marginal cost = Change in total cost/change in quantity .30-. 20=. 0=Change in total cost .10/1=. 10 The marginal cost of one string is $0. 10. b. Is this industry in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? No. In a long run quilibirum all firms are maximizing profits. No firms have incentive to enter or exit because all firms are earning zero economic profit. The firms in this competitive market are making a profit of $0. 10 on each string of licorice. At this rate there is no long-run equilibrium, but if more firms join this market to get in on some of the profit then there will be a long-run equilibrium; when too many firms join the market the demand goes down. This can cause firms to make zero profit. Question 3. (30 points) Consider the following table. The price of the product is $8. Quatitity Total cost 0. $8 1. 9 2. 10 3. 11 4. 13 5. 19 6. 27 7. 37 a. Calculate profit for each quantity. How much should the firm produce to maximize profit? b. Calculate marginal revenue and marginal cost for each quantity. Graph them. At what quantity do these curves cross? How does this relate to your answer to part (a)? c. Can you tell whether this firm is in a competitive industry? If so, can you tell whether the industry is in a long-run equilibrium?

Corporate Social Responsibility Concept in Modern Economy

Corporate Social Responsibility Concept in Modern Economy Abstract The 21st century is being insulated by a concept that originated in the 20th century called corporate social responsibility. Today, due to globalization and internationalization of businesses, most MNCs are under great pressure to embrace socially responsible behavior in their global operation. As this need arises, one is left to ask how well are MNCs able to develop and implement CSR policies in cultures that are diverse and largely heterogeneous from theirs.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Corporate Social Responsibility Concept in Modern Economy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other questions may include: Why is there much greater emphasis for CSR policies than earlier and why are most businesses voluntarily embracing the concepts of CSR? With wide adoption of CSR and companies jostling to design them, what are the overall effects of the policies on the performance of the business? How well can the CSR policies get integrated into the company’s strategy? Which are some of the dominant themes that guide the CSR policies today? These questions may seem to be ordinary but their relevance and implication to the business world cannot be bypassed or assumed. Therefore, this paper tries to generate detailed information through investigation and analysis of these concepts and largely give precise insights into the concept of CSR specifically in modern economy. Use of scientific data and information is what guided the research since it is only from such data objective information can be generated. What became true after the research is the fact that CSR as field still need more research work especially due to dynamism being experienced in the business arena. On overall, it was evident that CSR has become an integral necessity in most business and that success and growth of a business today depends on implementing a workable and sustainable CSR. Corporate Social Responsibility Introd uction The history of corporate social responsibility (CSR) dates back to almost one and half centuries where organizations discovered that, their role was not only obliged to profit making but also to the development of the wider society. Generally, CSR can be classified into four eras that defined the breadth and growth of the field. Murphy establishes that the period preceding 1950 was largely characterized as, ‘philanthropic’ era whereby most companies got involved in donating to charities[1]. Prior to the period 1953-67 classified as ‘awareness’ era, there was greater recognition of the larger responsibility of the business and subsequent involvement in various community affairs. During the period 1968-73 termed as ‘issue’ era, most businesses started to pay a lot of attention to the specific issues such as urban decay, racial discrimination, and pollution problems. Lastly, there was ‘responsiveness’ era which took place betwe en 1974-78 and beyond, in which business entities began to view management and organizational actions more seriously with aim of addressing the issues to with CSR[2].Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In 1953, Bowen published his book, ‘Social Responsibilities of the Business’, setting ground for the beginning of modern literature on corporate social responsibility. At that time, the author observed that numerous, larger business entities acted, and operated as critical centers of power and decision making where at the same time, actions implemented by the businesses in many ways touched the lives of people involved. In the Book, Bowen raised many questions, for instance, he asked, â€Å"what responsibilities to society may businessmen reasonably be expected to assume?†[3] In exploring the concept of social responsibility (SR) what exactly did Bo wen mean? Defining the concept, the author noted that it refers to, â€Å"the obligations of businesspeople to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society[4]. Therefore, the concept of corporate social responsibility can be seen to have a relatively long history prior to its current usage and understanding. As a result, the aim of this research will be to explore the concept of corporate social responsibility with much emphasis on topical issues. These include, why modern businesses are increasingly engaging in corporate social responsibility issues; what constitute socially responsible behavior for the business as opposed to the management of corporate image management; and what are the predominant themes arising from the definition of corporate social responsibility and their conceptual value added. Other issues include how viable can CSR framework be linked to the busi ness strategy and which approach highlights can be considered for CSR across the six dimensions of a firm strategy; how can a model that bridges the gap between CSR definitions and strategy be developed; and lastly what is the impact of CSR on profitability, the benefits and criticisms against CSR. Relevant data and information will be generated from relevant scientific literature. National culture and social corporate responsibility GeertHofstede asserted that, â€Å"culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy; cultural differences are nuisance at best and often a disaster†[5]. The author of the famous five cultural dimensions notes that people working in the international business are confronted with dilemmas on how people in those specific countries behave. Although humans generally assume that almost all people are the same, it generally becomes disastrous when certain ideas and styles are implemented in a particular country, leading to clash of cultures.Ad vertising We will write a custom report sample on Corporate Social Responsibility Concept in Modern Economy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In developing the five-cultural dimension model, Hofstede studied each country and produced a score for the country based on power distance index (PDI), individualism (IDV), masculinity (MAS), uncertainty (UAI) and lastly, long term orientation (LTO) where every country appeared to be culturally different from the others based on these factors[6]. According to Ibrahim Nabir and Parsa Faramarz, concentration on the aspect of social responsibility by organizations is an issue that continues to confront many businesses. For instance, they view social responsibility as, â€Å"a process in which managers take responsibility for identifying and accommodating the interests of those affected by the organization’s actions†[7]. The authors note that there have been many actions and debates a mong many researchers which in turn have spurred the need for more diverse literature in the field of corporate social responsibility. Unfortunately, the diverse literatures touch little on the concept of national culture and the way it affects or influences corporate social responsibility (CSR). The observation made by the authors is that numerous existing literature and field data indicate that there is a significant impact of national culture on, managerial values, attitudes, styles, and perceptions depending on the operational environment[8]. In a detailed study carried out on national cultures of USA and France, the two authors categorize the work done by Bedeian where it was found out that, â€Å"it is a well-established fact that different cultures possess different organizational norms and behavior standards and that they recognize these as legitimate forms of influence†[9]. In another study of American and Australian students undertaking business courses, Dowling and Nagel found out that there existed certain differences between these two groups specifically in their work-related attitudes, a situation that made them to conclude that,† national culture has an impact upon the ethical beliefs and conduct of managers†[10]. Why modern business are getting involved in corporate social responsibility Carly Fiorina in 2003 noted that,Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More † for many years community development goals were philanthropic activities that were seen as separate from business objectives, not fundamental to them; doing well and doing good were seen as separate pursuits; but I think that is changing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..cutting-edge innovation and competitive advantage can result from weaving social and environmental considerations into business strategy from the beginning†[11]. The above observation just indicates how social cause has become an issue in almost all quarters of life. In addition, key actors in society are more aggressive in promoting sustainable social welfare[12]. The dynamics taking place in the business sphere where many business players are yearning and struggling to create a more competitive, productive and knowledge-based economy is in turn forcing business entities to realize that ethics and social responsibility are vital and therefore should be given the necessary attention by businesses. Th e same businesses are operating the conviction that success in the market place has shifted and in future, it is greatly going to depend on the confidence and respect the people have in the specific business. Presenting as evidence is the fact that many actors in the field of business are being held morally responsible for the actions and that on increase is the fact that more individuals, firms and companies are in continuous process to improve their business practices. In this case, they are putting more emphasis on both legal and ethical behavior while at the same time accountability increasing at a faster speed. Consumers are the key stakeholders for any business entity to survive or grow. Earlier, it was considered that only employees were the vital aspects to the company but as reality continued to dawn, many of these businesses realized that consumers could not be sidelined and therefore most businesses have made it a duty to fulfill and to be careful with their social respon sibility towards their customers[13]. With regard to environment, humans beings together with other organisms depend on the resources present in the environment for their survival and as such, humans have an almost natural moral duty to take care of the environment and have respect to the natural order of things. When compared to other organisms, humans appear to have the role or responsibility of taking care of everything in the universe on behalf of the others. As a result, from the period of creation, although human was given insurmountable authority, the same is expected from him to protect the environment and not at all to disrupt the forces of nature[14]. In modern world, businesses have appeared to be benefiting immensely by utilizing environment to produce goods and services to meet the needs of the business to prosper; and as a gesture to show appreciation to the environment, businesses are obliged to design and establish corporate social responsibility policies with aim to preserve and maintain the balance of nature[15]. Further, Roa observes that modern businesses need to establish and implement corporate social responsibility policies emanate from the fact that most of these businesses are discovering that they need to establish good conducts and form positive images among the various people of the community. Because of such established association, there is likelihood that competitive advantage will be accrued on the part of the business. From this recognition many businesses worldwide are being motivated to respond favorably since such responses of being responsible has resulted into business improving in terms of financial performance and profitability, improved accountability and assessments from the investment community, enhanced employee commitment, decreased vulnerability through stronger relationships with communities and improved reputation and corporate image building. What constitute socially responsible behavior for the business? Today, corporate social responsibility is being undertaken more on voluntary basis rather than as a legal obligation. Although some legality are intertwined in some CSR, the dynamism and increasing stakeholders demand for businesses to be more responsible is acting out to be the firm premise upon which most businesses are forced to incorporate and implement corporate social responsibility. Francoise Quairel-Lanoizeelee makes precise argument by saying that CSR is connected with sustainable development. His claim is grounded in United Nations assertion that many corporations and businesses have a role, which they need to play in sustainable development, and this can be achieved by managing their operations and stimulating economic growth while in the same measure designing and implementing protection mechanisms and promoting social responsibility[16]. A derived idea from this is that a business or firm should be seen to be part of the society where its concern for environmental and social issues needs to be reflected in their strategic management plans and policies. When it spreads its wings into the international environment, the business is required to contribute to the solution of all vital problems concerning world politics specifically with regard to the environment, the fight against poverty, prevention of war and conflict without forgetting the promotion of human rights, good working conditions, and social stability. Francoise Quairel-Lanoizeelee finally concludes that, â€Å"corporate social responsibility implies the conscious contribution of the firm to engage in the problems of the world community as revealed by the different declarations and statements of intent by international bodies of the United Nations†[17]. Taking the case and argument by the European Commission, it becomes evident that for business to be regarded as socially responsible, it needs to show concerted efforts in promoting and enhancing human rights, the environment or good relat ionships with others key stakeholders[18]. The modern world can be seen to be transforming the institutions of economy whereby, to be viewed as socially responsible, efforts by the business in areas such as human rights issues, environmental degradation concerns and also world conflicts have to be largely reflected in the operations of the business. On their part, Kumar and Sharma observe that a business can qualify as a socially responsive entity when such business participates in finding solutions to social problems in the community. When the management of such business device initiatives to address the social problems then they are likely to receive considerable public approval for their actions. Therefore, today business is supposed to facilitate or show social-responsiveness that in turn contribute to social responsibility hence an entity is largely viewed to promote two broad themes of social responsibility: involvement in activities that are geared to prevention as well as so lving social problems; and organizations are seen to be the most effective problem-solving organizations in capitalist society[19]. The two authors go ahead to construct a continuum of social responsibility in which they identify the three meanings of social responsibility. First, on one extreme of the continuum is social obligation-which constitutes business behaviors that shows and reflects a business’s responsibilities as outlined both legally and economically. Second, the middle part of the continuum largely constitutes social reaction-which includes the behavior type that re generally demanded by various groups that are concerned with the actions of the organization. Lastly, the far extreme is composed of social responsiveness-that is, behavior that is largely a reflection of anticipatory, proactive and preventive expectations[20]. Specifically, a business will be socially responsible when, within its limits, it is able to provide the following eight categories of social ly responsible actions. A business should manufacture and distribute products and services that are safe, reliable and of exemplary quality; Fostering marketing practices, A business needs to be truthful and complete especially in its product advertising; Business employees should be effectively prepared to perform duties well and also be subjected to continuous re-training rather than laying off the employees when a new technology is adopted; With regard to the environment, a business is regarded to be socially responsible when it is able to implement a production technology that is able to reduce the amount of pollutants produced by the manufacturing process; With regard to employee relations, a socially responsible business is one that is able to provide benefits to employees while providing a satisfying and enriching job environment; With regard to do with employed minorities of the society, a business is seen to be socially responsible when it is able to provide and promote em ployment opportunities to the minority groups; Be able to participate in providing a clean, safe and comfortable working environment that enhances the safety and health status of the employees[21]. Therefore, for a business to be considered as socially responsible in terms of behaviors then it has to be seen or it has to integrate the above outlined measures in its management strategies. Predominant themes arising from the definition of CSR and their conceptual value added The recent decades have witnesses much involvement in seeking to understand better the concept of corporate social responsibility. First, many debates continue to revolve around the role that corporate social responsibility plays in the society, and as a result, standards governing CSR have been defined differently by the ideological orientation of each society[22]. The authors further notes that, â€Å"high performance and high integrity are good for the bottom line and that citizen require a rigorous, unwaveri ng compliance with the law that strictly blends and adhere to capital performance with integrity to never allow that commitment to corrode those principles†[23]. Critics of CSR pursue their stand by claiming that CSR possess the potential to be â€Å"insulated, self-serving and self-affirming-often to the detriment of the society where it is supposed to be social, political, technical, and financial benefit†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [24]. No fierce debate has been witnessed in CSR like that initiated by Milton Friedman in 1970, who boldly asserted that CSR was an absurdity. The period that followed witnessed those who supported and defended Milton on one side and those who criticized him on the other side. Friedman argued that companies that were publicly managed had only one responsibility-to increase profit for the organization which it him was an efficiency paradigm of organizational starling performance[25]. He went further to claim that companies should only give wages and salaries t o employees to a level they are able to operate efficiently while at the same time they should not hurry to pay taxes. Those who champion and defend this position claim that, there exists no any viable and exhaustive data, which explains or shows that there exists a positive relationship between the numerous activities of CSR and the corporate financial performance in terms of profits[26]. The modern themes underlying the concept of corporate social responsibility can be traced to the origin of the concept itself. For instance, Arthur Page, a renowned historian and editor of the World’s Work did a detailed work of analyzing the origin and development of the CSR concept. Working on the same works by Page, Remund did a literature examination of 180 issues of the World’s Work and noted that CSR rested on five key themes: â€Å"environmental protection, labor rights, consumer protection and education, child welfare and corporate transparency†[27]. During this period , Page was more involved in Agitating for,† sustainability in logging practices, labor rights for African-American cotton workers, better safety measures for underground miners, greater consumer education about investment banking, an end to child labor, and more corporate transparency†[28]. Prior to the year 2000, Crane, McWilliams and Matten noted that CSR themes were shifting from over-concentration on the theoretical orientation to empirical research and new modern themes revolved around stakeholders theory, business ethics, sustainability and corporate citizenship[29]. Writing during the same period in the year 2000, Bryan Husted developed and outlined a contingency theory of corporate social performance (CSP) where he advanced the argument that the theory fitted well between the nature of the social and its subsequent strategies and structures. As such, modern themes of CSR revolve around corporate social responsiveness, issues management, and stakeholder management [30]. During the 2001-2, other numerous researches were conducted that revealed the broadening themes in CSR. For example in 2001, Smith et al., examined the extent to which characteristics of diversity and stakeholder role influence corporate social orientation, and Jones and Murrell in 2001, established how a business public recognition for excellent performance has the ability to serve as a positive signal of the business performance to the shareholders. In 2001, Zyglidopolous studied the impact of accidents on a business’s reputation for social performance, and Schwartz and Carroll in 2003 developed and presented a three-domain approach that constitute the main themes of modern CSR and in the model the authors postulated that modern CSR themes centers on economic, legal and ethical aspects[31]. How viable can CSR framework be linked to the business strategy? Bilson writes that,â€Å"an effective strategic social responsibility framework aligns community efforts with core business strategy, company expertise and market needs†[32]. When a business is able to develop a strategy incorporating the three main actors outlined above, then possibilities are that the business will manage to empower the society in addition to building its own reputation and income stream. In creating a framework that aligns the business strategic goals to the CSR, key steps have been outlined which when followed, there will be numerous success. First, the business should develop a value proposition, on which abilities and guideline to sell corporate social responsibility needs to originate from the board. At the same time, the business needs to indicate to the board how viable the business will be socially responsible while the financial prospects and fortune of the business remains healthy and sound. Why is the board important in all these? The board as the vital organ of the business plays and assumes a vital role that frequently has been seen to â€Å"shape and deve lop the value proposition, especially when performing business performance management†[33]. Second, the business needs to engage the larger community, which will in turn lead to sustainability. Building on this premise, businesses are advised to seek by identifying the various social opportunities in which the business can get involved in, while at the same time remaining and improving long-term competitiveness of its overall business fortunes in the environment. As such, the business needs to draw wider participation of the community it is responsible to without removing or divorcing the business’s expertise from the process[34]. Therefore, the premise of this strategy I that the business while reinforcing and pursuing its strategic goals needs to modify value chain activities so that the larger society can benefit. Third, business needs to participate in a continuous process of measuring and weighing corporate social responsibility efforts and results. First, it is a basic fact that anything that is measured is the one that will be accomplished or one that will draw sustainable efforts to accomplish it. This fact does not run away from businesses that are involved in corporate social responsibility activities whereby they are required to establish sustainable measurability tools, which have the ability to conduct analysis in the most cost-effective, and beneficial way as far as CSR expenditure is concerned[35]. On his part, Collings Rebecca observes that for an organization or business to be regarded as socially responsible, it has to engage in promoting and facilitating good things specifically in the eyes of its stakeholders[36]. The process of finding out what each of these stakeholders considers, as the right thing generally has to involve carrying out dialogue with the concerned stakeholders then afterwards make changes to the existing business behavior. Again, how is behavior changes monitored? The suggestion given is that business should create sector benchmarks and other necessary performance indicators and the commitment of the business to fulfilling them should be characterized by continuous measurements. The author note that, â€Å"it is a forensic process that involves year-on-year data collection and analysis process, that apart from addressing the weaknesses and threats in the environment it should at the same time investigate and identify strength and opportunities present†[37]. Summarizing research on CSR strategy, WAL-MART publication outlined the basic but fundamental steps to realization of a viable CSR strategy. The advice was directed to businesses that senior leadership and management of the business has to make an authentic, firm, and public commitment to CSR efforts and also engage with them; determine top three business objectives of the company and develop CSR goals that will contribute to the achievement of those business objectives. After the process of determining business objectives has been done, there is now need to align goals with the firm’s core competencies; integrate CSR efforts into the governance of the business and into existing management systems; and lastly, there should be establishment of clear performance metrics, or key performance indicators to measure the impact of the CSR effort[38]. Which approach can be considered for CSR across the six dimensions of a firm strategy? Strategy has been depicted to be concerned with understanding and addressing issues that have the ability to influence a business potential and capability to realize its mission and broader objectives. Hence, within these perspectives, a strategy is concerned with six issues. What is business participating in order to realize long-term goals; what are the current internal and external issues that are likely to affect the business ability of realizing the established strategic issues; which markets offers the business the greatest chances to compete; what specific products a nd services suites the customers in the identified markets; how well is the business internally structured in terms of key resources; and which strategies can be adopted for the business to excel in the identified markets[39]. Developing a model, Carroll in 1979 identified key responsibilities of the firm to involve: the economic responsibility to generate profits; legal responsibility to comply to various laws and treaties that the business operate within; ethical responsibility to meet social expectations by avoiding social injury, respecting moral rights of people and largely doing what is right; and lastly, to foster those behaviors and activities the society deem to be right for the business. Therefore, in building a CSR strategy that address the six dimensions, the strategy should be based on mission that integrate strategic issues, competitive advantage, business resources, customer needs, and the market forces. In essence, these aspects will interrelate and interact to produ ce a viable CSR model that covers the six dimensions of the business strategy. What is the impact of CSR on profitability, benefits, and criticisms against CSR? Studies done have indicated that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and business financial performance. Studies by Beliveau, Cottrill and O’Neil in 1994; Sen and Bhattachanya in 2001; Rochlin, Witter, Monagah and Murray in 2005 conclude that, â€Å"CSR performance can increase market clout if it relates to product quality and consumer personal preferences views on key social issues†[40]. Further, research by Gildea in 1994 established that, when a business formulates good CSR decisions, there is high potential that the business will realize increased sales and good reputation on its management. Their data analysis also revealed that, 34 per cent of consumers expressed their position not to make any purchases from a business that they thought was unethical, 16 per cent demonstrated that they always seek information concerning a company’s practices and ethics before making any purchase decision, and another 50per cent of consumers indicated that they were not ready at all to make purchases in any company they perceive not to be socially responsible[41]. Although many other researchers have criticized the role of CSR claiming that it only siphon financial and other key resources of a business, the wide evidence shows that, CSR is becoming one of the determinant for a business to succeed and when a business is seen or regarded to lack CSR then it is as well as dead. Conclusion Globalization and internalization of businesses is bringing new challenges to both the corporate and social world. As business strives to produce goods and services using the available resources, it is becoming clear that social and environmental responsibilities are intertwined in most strategies of the business. CSR policies are becoming the new faces of modern business and those that have effecti ve CSR gain both social and economic approval from the public. Essentially, sustainable development, a new and widespread anthem in 21st century, is rooted in CSR hence making it a key priority for business to adopt them for survival. The overall observation that can be made I that when properly and efficiently designed and formulated CSR have the capacity to impact positively on the business in terms of financial performance and social approval. Bibliography Anderson, JW, Corporate social responsibility: guidelines for top management, ABC-CLIO, NY, 1989. Crane, A, A, McWilliams and D Matten, The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, Oxford University Press, London, 2008. Galbreath, J, Building Corporate Social Responsibility into strategy, Curtin University of Technology, Australia, 2008. Kotler, P and N Lee, Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause, John Willey and Sons, MA, 2005, retrieved https://books.google.com/books?id =2ppzhuJyyPgCprintsec=frontcoverdq=International+business+AND+CORPORATE+SOCIALRESPONSIBILITYhl=enei=ylC1TOmtOMah4Qa14K2gDQsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5ved=0CEgQ6AEwBA#v=onepageqf=false. Kumar, A, and R Sharma, Principles of Business Management, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi, 2000, retrieved https://books.google.com/books?id=zllZQ153nWwCpg=PA573dq=HOW+BUSINESS+CAN+BE+SOCIALLY+RESPONSIBLEhl=enei=qZm1TNfyOIOQjAfz-qW2Awsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=2ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepageq=HOW%20BUSINESS%20CAN%20BE%20SOCIALLY%20RESPONSIBLEf=true Roa, FC, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Rex Bookstore Inc. Manila, 2007, retrieved https://books.google.com/books?id=SeBIFRqxrDACpg=RA1-PT143dq=why+businesses+are+emphasizing+corporate+social+responsibilityhl=enei=_n-1TNT5M9OSjAfzi_W9Awsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=why%20businesses%20are%20emphasizing%20corporate%20social%20responsibilityf=false. Rendtorff, JD, Ethics and Legitimacy of Co rporations, Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen, 2009, retrieved https://books.google.com/books?id=r0OaXokpW8UCpg=PA153dq=what+constitute+socially+responsible+behavior+for+the+business+as+opposed+to+the+management+of+corporate+image+managementhl=enei=V4u1TPOuHJCTjAfejaW_Awsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=5ved=0CDYQ6AEwBA#v=onepageqf=false WAL-MART, Building your CSR Business Strategy, N.d, retrieved https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=vq=cache:Ca4m9T_o9ggJ:admin.csrwire.com/system/book_excerpt_pdfs/311/original/book_info.pdf+how+viable+can+CSR+framework+be+linked+to+the+business+strategyhl=engl=kepid=blsrcid=ADGEESglqleWQN6wTDaEdoCuhjfH2Af2HIBIpqxRvg-T6nltxNvNIZgCKJQyc9PTtkrSMae5YkkVrk0CVdo75oBTB7wg1lwsRENBQmXehyg5JDhSy0njDvgRT8_DEdFyENtiunkNqxrYsig=AHIEtbT-mm7zydsaBR5mXOAV-yz5L6l9QA Werther, W, and D, Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment, SAGE, CA, 2010. Footnotes A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten, The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, UK, Oxford University Press, 2008, p.25 A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten, P.25 A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten G Hofstede, Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, Itim International, n.d, p.1 geert-hofstede.com/ G Hofstede IA Nabir and P Faramarz, Corporate social responsiveness orientation: are there differences between U.S and French managers? Review of Business, 1 January 2005,p.1 highbeam.com/doc/1G1-132561424.html IA Nabir and P Faramarz, ibid IA Nabir and P Faramarz, ibid IA Nabir and P Faramarz, ibid P Kotler and N Lee, Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause, MA, John Willey and Sons, 2005, p.1 P Kotler and N Lee,p.2 William Werther and David Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment, SAGE, CA, 2010. Jerry W Anderson, Corporate social responsibility: guidelines for top management, ABC-CLIO, 1989. FC Roa, Business E thics and Social Responsibility, Manila, Rex Bookstore Inc., 2007,p.201 JD Rendtorff, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations, Denmark, Copenhagen Business School Press, 2009,p.151 JD Rendtorff, p.152 JD Rendtorff A Kumar and R Sharma, Principles of Business Management, New Delhi, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2000,p.572 A Kumar and R Sharma,p.573 A Kumar and R Sharma,p.576 RL Heath and L Ni, Corporate Social Responsibility, Essential Knowledge Project, Institute for Public Relations, 2008,p.1 instituteforpr.org/essential_knowledge/detail/corporate_social_responsibility/ RL Heath and L Ni RL Heath and L Ni RL Heath and L Ni RL Heath and L Ni Science Blog, CSR origins earlier than supposed, 23 August 2010, p.1 http://scienceblog.com/37736/csr-origins-earlier-than-supposed/ Science Blog,p.1 A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten,p.39 A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten,p.39 A Crane, A McWilliams and D Matten,p.40 J Bilson, Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility, Online Article , 10 March 2010,p.1 suite101.com/content/framework-for-corporate-social-responsibility-a211771 J Bilson, p.1 J Bilson J Bilson C Rebecca, behind the brand: Is business socially responsible? Consumer Policy Review, 1 September 2003,p.1allbusiness.com/marketing/branding-brand-identity/942403-1.html C Rebecca,p.1 WAL-MART, Building your CSR Business Strategy, n.d,pp.7-9 J Galbreath, Building Corporate Social Responsibility into strategy, Curtin University of Technology, Australia, 2008,p.2 RL Heath and L Ni,p.1 RL Heath and L Ni

films&tv increase violence essays

films&tv increase violence essays We are all influenced by things that happen to us. Watching films and television programmes are one of the main activities of human beings, so we cannot help but be influenced by them. Whether we are influenced adversely or beneficially depends on what we watch. Films and television programmes of today are filled with violence. There is never a shortage of violent shows. we get shows on crime, war, martial arts, psychopaths, murders, the occult and all manner of human degradation. The public seem to love these shows. They get a thrill out of someone kicking another to death, or see a man shoot another in cold blood, or watch a psychopath slice someone to shreds. If they enjoy seeing such shows I do not see how they can avoid being influenced. My personal experience is that after seeing a show that I enjoy, I find myself wanting to emulate the hero. At one stage of my young life, I imagine myself being James Bond. At other times I fantasize about being Rambo, Dirty Harry, Bruce Lee and other celluloid heroes. Of course I know I cannot be like them, but the influence these shows have on me is obvious. Unconsciously I imitate them. How do we get to use terms like no sweat, man, cool it, baby and others? They are all straight out of the movies. We are all influenced, whether we admit it or not. There have been cases where armed robberies copy the methods shown on popular films. The police admit this. This shows the direct influence of film on crime. Also recently there were cases of people being attacked by person wielding Samurai swords. Would these not be the influence of violent Japanese and martial arts films? They certainly look so. I have seen my friends taking up martial arts after watching one of Bruce Lees films. It is all right if they do not go out and pick a fight with someone. But who can tell? Given the opportunity they might just become another crime statistic. ...

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Angela Carters The Bloody Cha essays "How can the bitten apple flesh out its scar again?": Bridging the gap between our Natural and animal selves, in Angela Carters The Bloody Chamber Angela Carters The Bloody Chamber sets out to examine sexuality for women within a misogynistic society. I believe that Carters transformation of such classic fairy tales as Beauty and the Beast, and Little Red Riding Hood, is her attempt at bringing to light ideas that have always existed within those tales yet have never been understood. What Cater is trying to show is that society embraces these fair tales for a reason, and its not because of the handsome prince s, and happy endings but rather because of the fact that they show how todays culture has distanced itself from nature, and the problems that arise as a result of that. Carter seems to feel as though civilization has pushed nature aside, and is fully intent on covering it up, and that todays culture would rather go after what is fake and unreal rather than what comes from nature. The question that The Bloody Chamber seeks to answer is ...how can the bitten apple flesh out its scar again? In other words, now that society has become so distant form nature, how can it go back, and repair the damage it has caused? Carters answer comes in the form of one word mutilation, which in her case is not a reference to bodily harm, but rather the idea of mute or silence. I would like to argue that it is this idea of muting or silencing nature that is the key to understanding how the bitten apple can flesh out its scar again. In my opinion, Carter is suggesting that it is when we stop silencing the voice of nature and begin to embrace it, that the irreparable gulf that currently separates us from our Natural and animal selves can be bridged. At that point, the scar that marks our separation from Nature can finally begin to he...

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Change Resistance within Armed Forces - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, technology has for long time been a potential in civilizations and military theatres. More so, development of technology in 20th century had a big impact to be internalized as being a requisite instrument and a determining factor in warfare. The mentality has been epitomized by the nation states which continually invest large amounts of money, time and resources in research and purchase of the new technology (Creveld 19). The perception of the technology necessity was further powered by splendidly victorious operational functionality of nuclear weapons during the Second World War (WWII) and other following frantic Arms Race take on by the two preceding Superpowers. Thus, put into operation conceptual or technological change in armed forces has always been difficult and a critical task though it has usually been that manner and happens with the great rate of organization changes (Ronald 19). Whether the change is brought by external matters like the wartime scenarios or base rearrangements and closures or from internal influence through leadership decisions, it has always been difficult. Some changes may entail consolidated financial services, weapons refurbishing or fighting technicality (Lamb et al 1984). However, the armed forces may not be opposing the change but the transition or process the changes requires and its influence. In this technology age, there has been a natural inclination to overrate the role of weapons. Prevailing views showed the degree of military technological success was estimate to be astonishing and prove decisively to outcome of wars. The importance of technological succession in the military is that the new equipments would provide a complete advantage that could be translated into an obvious victory. It is known the armed forces of a state are not longer neutral than state itself. The challenging assertion reviews the fact that armed forces like any institution of state get their legitimacy from state itself and established political regime (Kuhlmann 20). The points become most apposite in the liberal democracy where it is usually welcomed as a matter of principle which the armed forces entirely subservient to civil political authorities even when armed forces are deemed into professionalism (Lamb et al 19). When those implementing political power lose their popular support and the entire political regime loses a whole, its legitimacy no longer take pleasure in acceptance and trust of population and the state's organizations are considered inappropriate upon bringing the legitimacy of armed forces into question. In the civilian authority, the opportunity made available by technology would persuade the belief that technology is the only determinant factor in warfare. Essentially, technology is perceived to be the determining factor which offers the potency if deployed which could wane the enemies resolve and fighting capacity (Irwin 13). More so, the induction of technology would limit casualties since mounting casualties may have similar implications of wrath occurrence in its population and a drooping morale which would influence the army plans and resistance to fight. In these circumstances, it becomes a professional responsibility though it goes contrary to standard assumptions of

Training and Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Training and Development - Research Paper Example Pascale et al. (1997) argue that the companies excel in the present business environment when a large percentage of employees contemplate deeply about the success of the organization. The feeling motivates employees to take a greater interest in activities of the organization creating increased involvement of the employees in the organization. Dickson (2011) defines employee engagement as a feeling of passion, commitment, and energy that transforms into taking initiative, increased innovation and persistency with the tasks. In a survey carried out by Melcrum, a research and training consultancy firm, it was found that 27 percent of the organizations undertook a dedicated engagement program while 54 percent of the organizations took engagement as a routine philosophy ingrained in overall employee practices. This proves that organizations do recognize the employee engagement as an important ingredient for their success. Bradford (2012) argues that aligning everyone to the organization strategy is critical to achieve what organization has earmarked as its strategic goal in the short as well as long run. Bradford outlines five basic steps to establish employees’ alignment with the company strategy. At the outset, employees must be imparted with the conceptual tools so as to have a good strategic thinking about the work. The examples of such tools are training and role models. That is to say, employees must have freedom to make strategic decisions in line with the company's strategy. It is necessary that employees understand the basics of business to see that the strategy is going to make their organization better, enhance their job security and chances of promotions. Without such conceptual tools, it will be difficult to achieve employee engagement. Secondly, employees must have clear understanding about strategy of the organization. Employees aligned with strategy of the organization will have more focused objective before them. Bradford suggests that the best way of aligning employees is to make it their strategy. It is better to involve as many people as possible in

Change Resistance within Armed Forces Research Paper

Change Resistance within Armed Forces - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, technology has for long time been a potential in civilizations and military theatres. More so, development of technology in 20th century had a big impact to be internalized as being a requisite instrument and a determining factor in warfare. The mentality has been epitomized by the nation states which continually invest large amounts of money, time and resources in research and purchase of the new technology (Creveld 19). The perception of the technology necessity was further powered by splendidly victorious operational functionality of nuclear weapons during the Second World War (WWII) and other following frantic Arms Race take on by the two preceding Superpowers. Thus, put into operation conceptual or technological change in armed forces has always been difficult and a critical task though it has usually been that manner and happens with the great rate of organization changes (Ronald 19). Whether the change is brought by external matters like the wartime scenarios or base rearrangements and closures or from internal influence through leadership decisions, it has always been difficult. Some changes may entail consolidated financial services, weapons refurbishing or fighting technicality (Lamb et al 1984). However, the armed forces may not be opposing the change but the transition or process the changes requires and its influence. In this technology age, there has been a natural inclination to overrate the role of weapons. Prevailing views showed the degree of military technological success was estimate to be astonishing and prove decisively to outcome of wars. The importance of technological succession in the military is that the new equipments would provide a complete advantage that could be translated into an obvious victory. It is known the armed forces of a state are not longer neutral than state itself. The challenging assertion reviews the fact that armed forces like any institution of state get their legitimacy from state itself and established political regime (Kuhlmann 20). The points become most apposite in the liberal democracy where it is usually welcomed as a matter of principle which the armed forces entirely subservient to civil political authorities even when armed forces are deemed into professionalism (Lamb et al 19). When those implementing political power lose their popular support and the entire political regime loses a whole, its legitimacy no longer take pleasure in acceptance and trust of population and the state's organizations are considered inappropriate upon bringing the legitimacy of armed forces into question. In the civilian authority, the opportunity made available by technology would persuade the belief that technology is the only determinant factor in warfare. Essentially, technology is perceived to be the determining factor which offers the potency if deployed which could wane the enemies resolve and fighting capacity (Irwin 13). More so, the induction of technology would limit casualties since mounting casualties may have similar implications of wrath occurrence in its population and a drooping morale which would influence the army plans and resistance to fight. In these circumstances, it becomes a professional responsibility though it goes contrary to standard assumptions of

Cell Structure Essay Example for Free

Cell Structure Essay After completing the exercise, I was able to: a) Prepare the specimens for staining. b) Observe and identify the unique and typical structures of the microscopic world. c) Identify and use different stains for different types of organelles. Introduction Cell is the simplest unit of life as we see it now. All organisms are made from cells. It is first explained by Robert Hooke in the year 1665 and it is now known to be of almost universal occurrence in organisms. Cell theory refers to the idea that cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing. Development of this theory during the mid 1600s was made possible by advances in microscopy. In the hierarchy of biological organization, the cell is the simplest collection of matter that can live. There are diverse forms of life that exist as single-celled organism or complex organism. Though in general, most cells are similar, they still show considerable diversity especially in their contents, shape and function. However, with the creation of microscope, scientists and researchers are able to study the specimen of a cell and identify its different structure. Big structures such as the cell wall, cell membrane and nucleus could be seen under the light microscope. Nevertheless, some smaller structures are still too small to be identified without first staining it. Stains can be used to enhance contrast in microscopy image. The choices of stain are important because different stains react or concentrate in different parts of a cell or tissue. This can be seen when acetocarmine stains the nucleus and its contents; iodine solution stains starch grains. Through this experiment, we will be able to determine the structures in the cell. Results and Discussion I. Epidermal Cells of Plants Low power| | The diagram drawn is the upper layer of the cell of the Rheo Discolours leaf. From the diagram, we can see that the cells structured together, that is it seems to be a layer of over-lapped plant cells. Some of the cell have rhombus shaped object. Most of the cells have thick cell wall. After adding the stain iodine, the nucleus of the cell can be seen clearly on the few cells with a few smaller dark spots, that is the starch grains. High power| | The diagram drawn above shows the lower side of the Rheo Discolours leaf cells. While the upper surface has the simple structures such as cell membranes, cell walls and vacuole, the lower structure consists of all that and also a clearer view of the epidermal cells of the leaf. When magnified, the guard cells and also the stomata. The guard cells are lip-shaped, surrounding the stomata. Most of the cells have thick cell wall, with signs of the parenchyma cells on the surface layer and the lower layer of the cell. There are signs of collenchymas especially when there are thickening around the edges of the cell wall when both corners are joined at the cell wall on both surfaces. The lower surface have definitely larger amount of guard cells and stoma compare to the upper surface of the leave. The cell that contains green plastids is the guard cells which contain the chloroplast. II. Cell Wall and Middle Lamellae | The structure drawn above is the transverse section of celery cell. The cell wall is seen from the microscope, surrounding the structure and keeping it intact. A cross-section of a celery sample is composed of many cells. Transparent cells are in pith, vascular tissues and endodermis. Endodermis is like a border between the inner and outer parts of a leaf. In the inner part of the leaf, the vascular tissue can be seen quite clearly grouped together, although the difference whether it is a xylem or phloem is indistinguishable. Collenchyma cell can also be seen in this cell when the walls are joined angularly at the corners. The fine channel in the cellulose that connects the adjacent cells is the plasmodemata. III. Yeast Cells (Saccharomyces) The cell drawn above is the structure of the yeast cell which is small when observed under the microscope. Yeast is a tiny form of fungi or plant-like microorganism (visible only under a microscope) that exists in or on all living matter. Inside the yeast, one could see the nucleus, which are the dark colour dots, a liquid solution of protoplasm, protein, fat and mineral matter that the yeast is mainly composed of and the dark patches called the vacuole. However, it can be seen that the yeast cells do have irregular shaped cell walls. In a way, yeast cell resembles the plant cells as they also have a cell wall. Budding is a type of asexual reproduction commonly seen in yeast cells. New individuals will arise from the outgrowths of existing ones. Budding allows the cell to grow without the fusion of the egg and sperm cell. Therefore, individual cells can also reproduce without a mate. I can conclude that yeast is neither a plant nor an animal cell; it is a type of fungi like mushroom. IV. Blood cells The structure above shows the drawing of the red blood cells. The red blood cells are so small that none of the structures are distinguishable. However, I could be sure that the red blood cell does not contain any nucleus. It is irregular in shape, so the cell wall is also absent. The blood cells mostly clump together. They differ from the regular animal cell in the sense that it does not contain any nucleus whatsoever and it has no starch grains. The red blood cell is surrounded by a type of liquid, named the plasma. V. Spirogyra Cells The Spirogyra cells are cells that consist of a chain of elongated cells joined end to end. It consists of the basic structure seen in the plant cells, which is cell wall, cell membrane, nucleus, small starch grains and most importantly the chloroplast which is the most visible under the microscope. The chloroplast consists of stacks of grana that can be seen clearly spiraling along the elongated cells. Chloroplast is important for the plant during photosynthesis as it converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen and energy. VI. Flagellum The cell drawn above is the Euglena cells. It is a one body cell that exists individually. It is very small even under the microscope and is barely visible even with staining. The euglena cell is green in colour. However it is not a plant cell because the shape is an irregular shape. Some of the Euglena has a tail structure that comes from the top of the cell. This tail is called the flagellum. It seems that the flagellum is its mode of transport. Conclusion In a cell, whether an animal or a plant cells or cells from other groups in the animal kingdom, there are also smaller molecular structures that can only be seen with a high power microscope. Some structures require staining in order to be visible to the eye even with a microscope. Every staining is unique in order to see certain structures of the cell. Different types of cells have different structures and shapes. Every cell has their own special characteristics in these structures.

America The Most Powerful Nation Media Essay

America The Most Powerful Nation Media Essay America is arguably, the most powerful nation on Earth, having one of the largest military forces and in addition to this, American culture saturates the market, almost drowning out cultural exports from other countries, both developed and developing, this cultural overshadowing of the rest of the globe allows America to, in effect be the power house of the entire World. There is not a major urban metropolis on the planet without a McDonalds or a Starbucks. This Globalisation has also helped to cement Americas position as the most powerful nation on Earth. Many authors have attempted to identify precisely why and how America achieved this fantastical global domination, including Ziauddin Sardar who lists The Ten Laws of American Mythology in his text, American Dream/Global Nightmare. Rather than examine every one of Sardars laws of American Mythology, I have instead decided to merely look at five examples and see if they support Sardar claims that every citizen in the world is a citizen of America. Sardars first law of American Mythology is that; Fear is Essential (Sardar, 2004, pp.21) and living in this modern age of terror, it is hard not to see that law applied across the Globe. Terrorists, so we are told, can strike anywhere, at anytime and can be absolutely anyone. This atmosphere of fear and distrust, very similar to that which was created under McCarthy in America in the Nineteen Fifties, or even ironically under Stalin in Communist Russia. Sardar states that; To live in America is to be beset by fear, anxiety and insecurity, to be surrounded by potential harm, enemies and evil intent. (Sardar, 2004, pp.21) This fear of terrorism and general atmosphere of fear is supported by the news media, who spend the entirety of their time either reporting on stupid n onsense, of absolutely zero interest or significance on anyones life, which is also an American influence, worship of the cult of celebrity, or alternatively forming a state of fear, creating folk devils and moral panics, much as they did with hoodies in the early years of the Twenty-First Century, or punks before that in the Nineteen Seventies. Sardars second law of Americana also supports the theory that everyone is a citizen of America; Escape is the reason for being (Sardar, 2004, pp.21) Sardar states that America was created for people; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦in search of room to breathe, in search of a place to recreate themselves and shape a new lifestyle free from constraints. (Sardar, 2004, pp.21) This especially applies in the modern world where escapism seems to be virtually everyones ultimate goal, people can even have entire virtual lives on the internet, generally playing American made games. Even if someone decides to experience some escapism at a lower level, maybe some light reading or watching a film, chances are they are American made as well, and will almost undoubtedly portray an American bias, either in the spellings, or the pronunciations or possibly even just the cultural standards that everyone needs to reference in order to fully appreciate and enjoy a work of art. War is a necessity (Sardar, 2004, pp.25) America is probably the most pro war nation on the planet, having, in the last twenty years, sent troops into: Iraq , Somalia, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, The Philippines, Iraq again and most recently Libya. As Sardar states; Even before 9/11, [America] had waged war on over half the nations of the globe. [Americas] economy is a war economy. Its science and technology is deeply entrenched in the military machine. (Sardar, 2004, pp.25) Arguably most of the wars in Americas recent history, havent even been waged for ideological reasons, or for any necessary reason, but instead for money, and to further advance or merely enable the atmosphere of terror that Sardar identified in his first law. Sardars seventh and eighth laws, namely that; Cinema is the engine of empire and that; Celebrity is the common currency of empire (Sardar, 2004, pp.24) both support his theory; The [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] notion that America is the idea of nation, was formalised and made manifest in cinema. And this standardised, industrialised, manufactured product became Americas greatest export, the idea of Self it represented to the world, and through which it demonised, appropriated and brought other cultures within its own purview. (Sardar, 2004, pp.24) The dominance of America in the world of Cinema is staggering, as well as owning one of the worlds greatest movie-making and movie exporting locations, Hollywood. In the very early days of cinema almost all films were American made, and this legacy has not gone away, the film world is incredibly America-centric, and so of course the country itself profits greatly from this exportation of film. In addition to being the location of the movie capital of the world, American films are translated and shipped all over the world. As well as this, many big American films are simply remade by large foreign studios, such as Bollywood. However, this trend has begun to reverse in recent years, with the apparent lack of original thinking in Hollywood leading to an exceptional number of remakes of foreign films. It is impossible to speak about American films, without mentioning celebrities, the passengers for whom these vehicles are crafted. American celebrities, and celebrities in general all over the world, perform little basic function in the real world but are universally praised regardless of their talent or charisma, and there is no shortage of opportunities to applaud them, such as the Oscars, as Sardar states; They are collective ritual where obeisance is made to the engine of empire. The ritual performance of the Oscar ceremony is a demonstration of global power and domination that will provide headlines, column inches and immense economic rewards around the globe for the year to come. (Sardar, 2004, pp.24-25) There is little doubt that America has a massive effect on the rest of the world and on citizens of all nationalities, but especially upon Great Britain. America has dragged Britain into many ill-ventured Wars in the last two decades, including; Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently Libya. How many of these military ventures would Great Britain have been involved in if not for America and the special relationship that exists between the two countries. There are many possible reasons for this to have occurred, not least of which, in my opinion, is due to fear on the part of British politicians and leaders, fear of America and the power that America can wield, after all fear is essential according to Sardar. However the War on Terror was not something that purely affected America, while the destruction of the World Trade Centre was undoubtedly a tragedy and spurred America into taking action against virtually the entire of the Middle East and a large portion on the rest of the world, there were also other terrorist attacks on major European capital cities, there was the bombing of the London Underground and the number 30 Bus on the Seventh of July 2005, and the bombing of the Cercanias in Madrid on the Eleventh of March 2004, but it was definitely America that led the charge against the perceived threat of terrorism. However America did nothing when there were terrorist attacks that did not affect or threaten them, such as the campaign by the Real Irish Republican Army; including the Banbridge bombing on the First of August 1998, and the Omagh bombing of the Fifteenth of the same month, even continuing their hands-off attitude towards world security when the Real IRA began their campaign against London in the year 2000. But maybe this carelessness on the part of America was for the best as their response to terrorism has been heavy handed at best, War on Terror has already become deeply embedded in laws, policies, and the practices of government agencies, But nearly eight years since the 9/11 attacks, US charities are still treated as a threat to security. Although, the change in administration in Washington gave hope that the US government would adopt more measured responses to the threat of terrorism, (Howell, 2009. Pp53) Another way in which America is slowly but surely wearing away any sense of individuality in any other country is Globalisation and the impact that America has on the rest of the world economically. The recent economic crisis that has plagued the entirety of the world, has its roots in America, on Wall Street, and the greed of American bankers sending the world economy into a meltdown. Much like the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression that followed it, the economy of the entire world looks to Wall Street for its cues, economically, and when that collapses the entire world follows suit, not just in the United Kingdom, across the entirety of Europe national economies have collapsed completely and require bailing out. This is in contrast to the way in which America affected so many countries before the breakdown, with its material security; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the availability and expansion of material security and comfort enabled early American social patterns and culture to expand and solidify, to both delineate and spread an American national character. With growth, more people could participate in that distinctive culture more fully and could become more American (Fischer, 2010) This greed of America has other less deep effects, rather than the drastic nature of an economic meltdown, the desire for greater profits means that many American companies subcontract work abroad, where they have to pay workers less money for doing the same work; Most American computer firms now subcontract basic work to Bangalore, (Wes, 1996, pp.49) The ultimate result of this is that foreign workers have a loyalty to America for providing them work and allowing them to feed their families, and as they have to speak the language and think about America for the majority of their day. Inevitably American culture and sensibilities work their way into the daily life of these foreign workers. Americas globalisation is not only confined to high street outlets, as was mentioned in my introduction, but in actual fact goes much deeper than that. The majority of household brands consumed in England are American in origin, such as Mars, and every subsidy of that which comprises most of the chocolate eaten in the country and Coke and Pepsi which together produce the majority of all soft drinks. Even brands which ostensibly appear to be British are in fact American, such as the fact that ASDA is actually owned by Wal-Mart. Globalization as an economic phenomenon has been the dominant force for economic integration and the main driver of growth worldwide for many decades, although the speed of globalization- taken to include trade, finance, flows of information and technology, and offshoring- is unprecedented in modern economic history. The increased economic interconnections between countries are widely credited as one of the driving forces that significantly reduced poverty in China and Vietnam, enabled the poorer nations of Europe to ride the European Union train to higher incomes, and gave hope to some African countries. (Spence, M. 2010. Pp 4) However, as Spence states, Globalisation is not merely a one way system with America pushing its culture onto the rest of the world, there are many other cultures with a huge influence over the worldwide ethos, such as Japan and the huge influence Manga and Anime have over the fields of western animation and comic books, or the influence of J-Pop and J-Rock on music or the fashion sensibilities of Japans youth subcultures. It certainly appears that America has a far greater influence on other cultures than any other country, but I believe that this is simply because America is, comparatively, a newer country, having only existed independently for two-hundred and thirty-five years, and rather than gradually coming into being like most other countries, America came into being with a bang with the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. Therefore, rather than gradually affecting neighbouring countries through occupation or the spread of changing languages, the use of foreign words in the English language is not seen as dominance of other cultures, American culture has had a much more sudden influence on the rest of the world. In regards to language, American words; sidewalk instead of pavement and American spellings of English words; color instead of colour for example have for the most part completely failed to influence the English language in any way. However there are many words in the English language which are actually foreign words in origin, for example French, abandon, abattoir and abbreviation, and German words such as, zeitgeist. However this may be due to historical concerns, the American language is essentially a slight variation on the English language which would explain why there has been little influence, and the fact that approximately thirty percent of the words in a standard English dictionary have a French origin is due to the Norman conquest in the 11th Century. Another reason for the dominance of American culture is the fact that, as a nation, America has entered the Empire building stage of their development during a time in which Empire building is strongly discouraged by the international community, all other countries that have had extensive Empires; Rome, Great Britain and Mongolia, greatly spread their culture around the Globe through sheer force and domination of the natives. Whereas America has to be more subtle in the ways in which American culture is spread, it is no longer acceptable to conquer a country and force the local populace to speak your language and follow your customs, so America has to make itself seem like the ideal, Sardar in fact refers to this with the title of his essay; American Dream/ Global Nightmare The American Dream in many ways, is the ultimate goal of every person on the globe, regardless of nationality or creed, to be allowed to support yourself and live how you want to live, but by naming it The America n Dream gives the impression that to be American is in itself the ultimate goal, this dream can only be achieved in America, The Land of the Free supposedly. However I do not believe that this submission to American cultural dominance is a necessity as Sardar claims it is, while it would undoubtedly be difficult to remove all American influences from your life, it would not be impossible. American culture is not as essential to life as oxygen or food or water, but the influence it has, both directly; such as the import of American brands and culture, like books and films, and also indirectly; such as the influences that American culture has had on books and films created in other countries, for example, as was mentioned earlier in this essay, the news media now reports either stupid nonsense of terrifying stories of horrific violence. This has come from an American influence, the cult of the celebrity is definitely American in origin, and possibly serves to fill the void left by the lack of a monarchy. In conclusion I believe that while America undoubtedly has a massive influence on the rest of the world and that the difference between American and non-American citizens is rapidly decreasing, but that doesnt mean that everyone is becoming an American citizen, it merely means that everyone is a citizen of the World. The increasing availability and dominance of technology means that communication across the world is now incredibly simple and the dominance of the internet means that practically anyone can interact with anyone else on the globe without actually having to meet them. In addition to this, Nietzsches Death of God, and the increasing redundancy of National Identity means that there is very little loyalty to either country or religion, only loyalty to ones self and ones family, this in itself is Americas greatest influence over the rest of the world. This combination of atheism and almost a self loathing of your country of origin, is what is causing many people to seem like American citizens, even when they are not. Americas worldwide domination is undoubtedly on the decline, the rising powers of India and China are threatening Americas hold over the culture of the world, in addition to this, Americas military imperialism is causing many people, both in America and throughout the World, to question the way in which the country is run, the torture committed at Guantanamo Bay and the suspension of civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism is causing America to be painted as the real villain of the World building on the image sketched out by the war in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal. The blind, heartfelt patriotism of Americans who willingly went to die on foreign soil in the Second World War for Uncle Sam and Moms Apple Pie is well and truly dead, modern Americans are much more likely to question their country and their place in the world as is exemplified by the work of modern artists; such as film directors and rappers.