Monday, September 30, 2019

Edgar Allan Poe – Theme of Death

Picture this. The father of modern crime and detective stories, known as Edgar Allan Poe, is sitting down about to write a beautiful piece of writing and BAM! He whisks away into a story of love, death, and just plain out horror; either characters are losing someone near and dear to their hearts or they are plotting to kill. Edgar Allan Poe, at a very young age, lost both of his parents, and later on in life, lost his wife to tuberculosis, so in one way or another, these stories reflect off of his personal experiences. A major theme in Poe’s writings is death.The theme of death is seen throughout the works of Annabel Lee, the Cask of Amontillado, the Raven, and the Black Cat. In the poem Annabel Lee, death is the dominant theme. Poe has experienced the death of his one and only true love. â€Å"And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, in her sepulcher there by the sea,† shows how Poe is going through the loss of his love in a more strange way by â€Å"lying down† by the side of Annabel Lee’s lifeless corpse, inside her tomb. You also know that the theme is death because he mentions how angels and demons could never truly separate them.â€Å"But our love it was stronger by far†¦ and neither the angels in Heaven above nor the demons down under the sea can ever dissever my soul from the soul of the beautiful Annabel Lee,† expresses the more grieving and less obsessive side of Poe. Although his darling has been taken from him and death physically separated them, they are still â€Å"together† for their love was more than love and their souls had become one. Death is an important theme in The Cask of Amontillado. The entire plot is fixated around the revenge Montressor must take against Fortuanto.â€Å"-He did not perceive that my smile was now at the thought of his immolation,† is pretty much self-explanatory; Montressor smiles at the thought of Fortunat o’s destruction†¦ His death. Once Fortuanto agreed to go down to Montressor’s catacombs, his fate drastically changed. â€Å"-He stepped unsteadily forward, while I followed immediately at his heels. † Right here, Fortuanto’s fate completely changed for shortly after this, Montessor had chained him to granite and began to â€Å"throw links about his waist;† this is where he was going to die. Once Fortuanto was officially dead, Montressor’s revenge had been fulfilled.â€Å"For half a century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace requiescat! † Fortunato’s corpse is now amongst other dead family members belonging to Montressor, and although Montressor was the cause of Fortunato’s death, he still says â€Å"may he rest in peace. † Montressor didn’t really mean it because if he did feel any remorse towards Fortuanto, he wouldn’t have killed him in the first place. Death is definitely an important the me for this short story. The Raven analyzes the theme of death. In the poem, the narrator is seeking hope and wisdom after the death of Lenore.â€Å"Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there†¦ But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token, and the only word spoken was the whispered word, Lenore? This I whispered, and an echo murmured back Lenore? Merely this and nothing more,† describes how the narrator believed he heard the name of his love, but then his hope fades as nothing more is said. The narrator had to face that his love was no longer there with him because she was dead. â€Å"Nevermore† is the only response the raven gives to the helpless narrator, and it makes him increasingly agitated because he is starting to believe that his love is never coming back.Through this, the raven, a sign of despair, helps him realize that he will â€Å"nevermore† see Lenore. Death is explored in the Black Cat. Death was experienced when the n arrator’s intoxicated actions went too far. â€Å"I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. † This shows just one consequence of the narrator’s horrifying mind set, and after he had killed his wife, he stated, â€Å"this hideous murder accomplished, I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the task of concealing the body.†The narrator isn’t so worried that he just killed his wife in a drunken stage; he is more worried about where to hide the carcass of his once beloved wife. Although not feeling much remorse for his wife, the narrator feels guilt after he abused what used to be his most favorite pet. â€Å"-I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty. † This expresses how the narrator, although a murdered, actually feels sorry; after he harmed the black cat, known as Pluto, he actually felt true remorse.The narrator may have felt sorry, but he did n’t give up his story until the cries of the cat did for him. â€Å"- Then I was answered by a voice from within the tomb! – by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream – a howl – a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The narrator’s crime was then exposed by the in-human screams. Once heard by the police, they tore down the wall that was covering the tomb of his once beloved wife.Not only did the narrator wall up his wife, but he also â€Å"walled the monster up within the tomb! † One could say the black cat got its revenge and the narrator would forever pay in guilt. Death has been seen throughout the stories of Annabel Lee, the Cask of Amontillado, the Raven, and the Black Cat. The theme of death is not limited to these stories; death is a major theme in all of Poe’s works. Poe's life-long struggle with depressi on and alcoholism worsened after the death of his own loved one, and could have possibly caused his own death. Poe will forever be remembered as the father of crime and detective stories.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Business Ownership Essay

There are three different forms of business ownership, the Sole Proprietorship, the Partnership, and the Corporation. Each of these businesses have major advantages and disadvantages. The sole proprietorship is a business which is owned and managed by one individual. Some of its advantages are, the ease of formation, its management control, and its distribution of profits. Some of the disadvantages are, its unlimited liability, the lack of continuity, the capital requirements. Let’s begin with the advantages. A sole proprietorship is very easy to create. Anyone who wants their own business simply needs to get the necessary licenses from, for example, the state, the county, and/or their local government. After he or she obtain these licenses, he/she can begin operating their business. In a sole proprietorship, the sole proprietor has full control over his/her operations. Because he/she has this control, they can respond quickly to the changes that may occur in the market. This is a great motivator for a sole proprietor because he/she can keep up with the trends. The sole proprietor also owns all the profits that his/her business takes in. They themselves own the business and therefore do not have to distribute the profits with anyone else. The only thing that he/she needs to do with the profits is pay the company expenses and the rest is theirs to do with as they please. This tends to be a great incentive for a sole proprietor. Next, we have the disadvantages. The sole proprietorship has unlimited personal liability. The sole proprietor is personally liable for all of the businesses debts. He/she is the sole owner, which means there is no one else responsible to contributing to the payment of debts. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of a sole proprietorship. There is also a lack of continuity in a proprietorship. If for some reason the sole proprietor dies, retires, or becomes incapacitated, the business could end. When this happens, if a member of the family, or an employee, does not take over the business, the business could be in big trouble. A proprietorship is usually a small business, and to find good employees that are dedicated to staying with the business could be hard. The reason for this is that most people look for security, and advancement in their employment, this usually does not exist in businesses which are small. If no one takes over the business, and the business had debts, creditors can go to the courts for a petition to sell off the assets so that they can pay back these debts, therefore the business has discontinued. It is also very hard in a sole proprietorship to obtain capital. Most banks and other lending institutions have certain formulas/requirements for determining how eligible a borrower may be. Many proprietorships do not meet these formulas/requirements and are therefore limited to whatever capital the owner has to contribute, and whatever money he/she can borrow. This can be a major set back in a proprietorship depending on the amount of capital the owner has to invest. The next form of business ownership is the partnership. A partnership is an association of two or more people who co own a business for the purpose of making a profit. Some of its advantages are its ease of formation, its distribution of profits, its capital requirements, and its taxation. Some of its disadvantages are, its unlimited liability, its lack of continuity, and it management control. Once again, let’s start with the advantages. The partnership, like the sole proprietorship, is also easy to establish. All the owners have to do is obtain the necessary business licenses, and submit a few required forms. If the business is run under a trade name, the partners will have to file for a certificate to conduct their business. When the accomplish all of the above, they can start operating their business. In a partnership, an agreement is usually made up outlining the share of profits each partner should receive. It is necessary for the partners to abide by this agreement when it comes to distributing the profits to ensure that each partner receives the right amount. Besides for this technique, there are no restrictions as to how the partners distribute the company’s profits, they just need to stay consistent with the agreement. A partnership also has a broader pool of capital than the sole proprietorship. In comparison to the sole proprietorship, the partnership has several owners instead of one. This means that each partner’s personal assets will support a larger borrowing capacity from lending institutions. When you are a part of a partnership, the business is not subject to federal taxation. A partnerships net income/losses are passed along to the partners as personal income, in which the partners have to pay income tax on. This way, the partnership avoids â€Å"double taxation†. Next, we have the disadvantages of the partnership. One of its main disadvantages is its unlimited liability. One partner is given the title of the general partner. This means that if there are any problems (for example with debts), that partner assumes full responsibility. This is also why the general partner is usually the partner with the least personal resources. A partnership, once again like the Sole Proprietorship, has a lack of continuity. Complications begin to arise if one of the partners die. A partnerships interest inheritance is often non-transferrable because the remaining partner may not agree on working with the person which inherited that portion of the partnership. This would cause great implications in the partnership because one person is no longer there, which means the work that person was responsible for now has to be distributed among the rest. There is a way of avoiding this problem though, the partners can agree on who will obtain the partnership interest in the event of them dying. Lastly, there is great potential for conflicts in a partnership. There is no longer one owner which means control is distributed among several people.  With several people in control, there is no way to completely avoid conflicts. However, the partners will have to learn to work through their problems by communicating with each other. If they do not do this, their conflicts will remain unresolved which could end up being the cause of their partnership, and business, failing. Communication is essential in a partnership, as it is in any form of business. Finally, there is the corporation. A corporation is a separate legal entity apart from its owners, in which receives the right to exist from the state in which it is incorporated. It is the most complex of the three major forms of business ownership. Some of the advantages are, its limited liability, its capital requirements, and its continuity. Its disadvantages are, the cost and time in the incorporation process, the double taxation, and the loss of management control. A corporation lets its investors limit their liability to the corporation by letting them decide the total amount of investment in the business. This is allowed because it is a separate legal entity, whereas a Sole Proprietorship and a Partnership are not. This also gives the corporation stockholders legal protection towards their personal assets outside the business. A corporation has great ability when it comes to attracting capital. The only limitation they have, is the number of shares authorized in its charter, this too can be changed. The corporation can raise money by simply selling shares of some of its stock to investors. This way they gain money to begin business and expand. A corporations future does not lie in the hands of one individual person. It has shares worldwide, and will continue to live as long as people invest in it. The only way a corporation can discontinue, is if it fails to pay its taxes or is limited to a specific length of life by the charter. Next, there are the disadvantages. To start a corporation it can be costly  and time consuming. The actual creating of the corporation can cost between $500 and $2,500. There are also fees involved in establishing a corporation which does not exist with a sole proprietorship, or a partnership. In some states you need the assistance of an attorney to establish the corporation, whereas in others you can do it all on your own. A corporation also has the disadvantage of double taxation. This means that it must pay taxes on its net income at the federal level, in most states, and to some local governments as well. The corporation pays taxes on dividends at the corporate tax rate, then stockholders must pay taxes on the dividends they receive from the same profits at the individual tax rate. As you can see it is being taxed twice. There’s also a potential loss of control by the founder(s) of the corporation. When shares are sold in the company, you are really selling shares of ownership, which gives some control to the person who bought the share. The more shares the founder sells to gain capital, the more control he/she is losing. This could be a big problem and amount to a great loss of control for the founder if he/she needs a large capital infusion. Lastly, the profits of the corporation are widely distributed. People all over the world can obtain shares on the corporation, and therefore receive dividends from the corporation. Therefore the profits are widely distributed among all the shareholders. As you can see from the information I have given, there are three major types of business ownership. All of these types have their advantages and disadvantages, so it depends on what you decide is better for you in starting a business.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Global Inequalities

Group A, Class 1 Introduction to Sociology Final Essay Which of the following perspectives offers the most convincing explanation for the existence of global inequalities: modernization theory, dependency theory or world-systems theory? 4 July 2012 Which of the following perspectives offers the most convincing explanation for the existence of global inequalities: modernization theory, dependency theory or world-systems theory?Globalization has had both a positive and negative impact throughout the world. An interconnectedness within the world where complicated issues can arise creating an unevenness that can contribute to a societies as well as the individuals happiness in life (El-Ojelli, 2006:p1). The negative impacts of globalization can be seen as inequalities spread throughout the world today.This essay will first explore global inequalities, next the three main perspectives of global inequality will be compared including, modernization theory, dependency theory, and world syste ms theory; following this comparison will be the argument that the dependence and world systems theory are very similar and that they are the two theories which best explain the existence of global inequalities. Global inequality can often be a topic that is overlooked in core countries such as the United States and Western Europe. However, global inequalities can be found in many peripheral countries like Africa as well some Latin American countries.Inequalities can be measured in various ways. These methods can include the GDP (gross domestic product) and GNP (gross national product) as well as HDI (human development index). GDP refers to the income earned by the value of goods and services produced by the people who live within the countries borders, GNP refers to the capital such as foreign earnings from any corporations, businesses or individuals outside of the country, where as HDI offers more in-depth measurements of inequalities such as life expectancy, education, standards of living as well as human satisfaction (Macionis and Plummer, 2012:p 286).Some inequalities in the world include areas like, income, wealth, poverty, literacy, crime, drugs, gender inequality as well as health related issues. Because of global inequalities between the rich and the poor, humans who are poor experience poverty, poor sanitation, and world hunger (Macionis and Plummer, 2012:p 306). Even though the world’s wealthiest countries are becoming wealthier, global inequalities are still growing. World hunger and poverty is a couple of the largest issues in the world, about twenty percent of the worlds population lives on one percent of the worlds income (Macionis and Plummer, 2012:p 285).The global economies development has increased which can be seen as a positive, however, the rise in the economy only goes to the rich creating larger barriers between the rich and the poor societies (Macionis and Plummer, 2012: p309). These inequalities can be found in many third world countries, where often a high population, low life expectancy and poor housing can be found. Among the global inequalities comes the capital from which is made in under developed countries and has divided the wealthy nations from the poor.A few models of development in global inequalities can be found, these include modernization theory, dependency theory, and the world systems theory. The first theory explained is the modernization theory. The modernization theory is much different than the last two perspectives on models of development. In this theory societies are brought together by modernization. There are four phases of modernization which show the different areas of growth, these phases are a traditional stage of society, a take off stage, a drive to technological maturity, and a stage which shows a high mass of consumption (Rostow,1990:p 4).Throughout these phases of modernization in societies where this theory has been introduced the development in the world is due to adva ncing industrial societies taking over societies that would have been living in a more traditional society (Macionis and Plummer, 2012:p 306). The first phase of modernization according to Rostow (1990:p 4), the traditional stage refers to a country that did not have much production because of little or no technology within the country.The second phase, the take off stage, is essentially the building of the economic structure and technological advances provided by a foreign power within the underdeveloped country, and third the drive to technological maturity is when these economic and technology building blocks advance about 40 years and there is now a mature economy of imports and exports, and last the fourth phase of mass consumption in which a modernized society in the twentieth reaches the maturity phase and the international economy reaps the benefits (Rostow, 1990:p 12).Over time some societies become more modern than others creating an unequal balance among other states glob ally. It is the thought that the modernization theory in some societies, are left behind because of advances in technology and within the economy also (Macionis and Plummer, 2012:p 306). Rostow (1990: p12) suggested that the modernization theory is created by an outside government or corporation to introduce new technologies and build industries to make money.As the four phases of modernization are explained above, it is simple to understand how these societies built upon modernization can create global inequalities and unequal balance within an underdeveloped society. However, the modernization theory is not only based on industrial and economic progress but also on political progress as well (Kamrava, 2000: p30). Governments from other states such as the USA or UK among others can become powerful when using cheap labor and production through these industries creating a higher economy for the western states opposed the under developed states.Some criticisms of modernization can be the loss of a country’s traditions, the culture, and religion practiced within the country (Kamrava, 2000: p31). Although the modernization theory is based on ideas of development in an under developed country, the dependency theory is a theory structured and very different than that of the modernization theory. The dependency theory is in which under developed countries such as Africa are being exploited by slavery and colonialism (Macionis and Plummer, 2012: p306).Most under developed countries do not grow out of this phase; instead they depend on the larger capitalist countries for support (Macionis and Plummer, 2012: p306). These under developed countries often do very poor after such exploitation creating high poverty in the world. In various poor countries such as Africa where the British and the French integrated through society, the idea of development was when the problems of global inequality was defined due to both the economic and social failures in Africa (Fergus on cited in India and Ronald, 2002: p146).Some colonized countries are often left under developed and lack in basic necessities to live a happy and satisfied life. The under development was caused by colonialism and the forthcoming international division of labor, offering low cost labor to create industries for western societies (Kamrava, 2000: p32). With various industries being built and the creation of jobs for those who lived in exploited countries, workers in these countries would still not reach expectations of higher standards of living and still do live on very little money in this very day and age.With the building of industries, western society has reached their development goal, causing the under developed to depend on western societies more so, all the while the western states earn capital and the rest of the third world countries remain under developed (Kamrava, 2000: p32). Under developed countries were mostly at one point colonized; therefore the countries were built by developed nations who have greatly mislead the developing countries. The developing countries have had the misfortune to then be led to work and serve the developed nations by producing goods and a lower price, thus, creating global inequality.The international market was the leading force in the dependency theory, there the developing countries worked to meet the needs of the international economy instead of meeting their own needs (Kamrava, 2000: p 32). Developing countries were depending greatly on the developed countries themselves. The developed countries helped the developing countries financially in order for the developing countries to keep production flowing. Developing countries were given loans to aid the promotion of industrialization in order to keep continuing flows of exports (Kamrava, 2000: p33).With the aid of the developed countries, the developing countries would keep not only exports flowing but capital flowing as well. According to dependency theorists, capi talism was the key reason to keep exports flowing from third world countries to the west (Kamrava, 2000: p33). Capitalism, the financial profit of purchasing or the trade of goods is also a key feature in the world systems theory. World systems theory or also known as world system analysis is based on an approach to earned capital in a world system rather than through individual nation states, by leaning on this theory the developed countries remain the super power.The world system theory is based on the world’s economy within its relationship to core and periphery countries, creating inequality throughout different parts of the world (Macionis and Plummer, 2012: p 306). Core and periphery as well as semi periphery countries fall into what is called an economic zone, some core countries include the United States, and United Kingdom as well as Western Europe, Periphery would be countries in Africa and also a few in Latin America, while semi periphery would fall under countries such as Mexico or Brazil.Within the world system theory the semi peripheral countries remain neutral, they are neither a rich developed country nor are they under developed and the core countries are categorized as the developed countries, while the periphery are the under developed leading to the economic power that places developed and under developed countries in an unequal world (Macionis and Plummer, 2012: p 306). The world systems theory is without doubt a capitalist economy in which the developed countries dominate.Core countries remain strong within their borders and internationally, whereas the peripheral countries have weak economies because they depend on the core countries for international trade (Randall and Theobald, 1998: p145). The core and periphery countries both have their own areas of expertise when it comes to who does what in these industries. The world system theory is focused more on advanced core economics drawing attention on manufacturing and banking, whi le the periphery areas are focused on the production of goods (Randall and Theobald, 1998: p145). These areas of focus are also directed to everyday human interaction.With the food, music, and clothes people buy on a daily basis, these areas are connected to a world system. Clothing for instance can be connected to the world system, for example, when buying clothes in the UK which are beforehand manufactured in areas such as Africa or Mexico among other countries in the world (Kardulias, 1999: p300). Out of the above three theories, not only does dependency and world system theory result in the best explanation of global inequalities but they are built off each other and become like one, therefore these two theories are very much alike and similar in certain details.The dependency theory and world systems theory are similar, they both have a core and periphery area, however, the world systems theory looks at one more area, the semi periphery which is a more neutral zone working with both the core and periphery countries (Randall and Theobald, 1998: p 144). Besides the difference of economic zones in these two theories, the dependency and world systems theory are always in favor of the dominant developed countries, which are interested in economic and political power. The core ideas in both theories are very much related and together both theories can be the reason for global inequalities.An article in The Economist describes how global capitalists believe that the gap is widening between the rich and the poor, the reason for global inequality could be due to an unjust trading system (The econo mist, 2004). Within the three theories on global inequality, the modernization theory, dependency theory, and world systems theory, the modernization theory could be held accountable for global inequality with its ideas of advancement in technology and industries. However, The dependency and world systems theory are in my opinion the sources of global inequality.While th e modernization theory looks into advancement in technology and development of under developed countries, the dependency and world systems theories focus on how to gain economic and political power, which gains higher dominance in the core countries. The peripheral countries will continue to depend upon the dominant core countries until a new and justified trading system is implemented. Word Count: 2021 References Inda, J. and Rosaldo, R. (2006). The anthropology of globalization. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing ltd. Kardulias, N. (1999).World-Systems Theory in Practice. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, inc. Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (2012). Sociology, a global introduction, 5th Edition. England: Pearson Education Limited. Randall, V. and Theobald, R. (1998). Political Change and Underdevelopment, 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan Press LTD. Rostow, W. (1990). The stages of economic growth, 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The Economist. (2004). Poverty and inequality: a question of justice?. Retrieved July 3rd 2012 at, http://www. economist. com/node/2499118

Friday, September 27, 2019

Developing states Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Developing states - Essay Example As pointed out, some states within world nations are generally termed as ‘developing’ because those states show development in certain areas, but certain problems hinder those states from attaining development. For instance, less industrialization is a serious problem faced by the developing states in Asia and Latin America. Comparing with poor states/nations, the standard of living in the developing states is comparatively high. But this does not prove that the standard of living in the developing states is similar to that of the developed nations in Europe and America. On the other side, most of the developing states lack economic independence. â€Å"These nations have often been handicapped by poor infrastructure, inadequate education, rampant corruption, and high trade barriers.†1 So, one can see that income disparity is a common problem faced by developing states. Still, developing states share certain societal, financial and political characteristics. For instance, most of the developing states were under colonial rule. This resulted in the amalgamation of certain colonial elements with social structure of these states. For instance, one can easily identify the influence of European cultural characteristics in the developing states in Asia and Africa. Besides, almost all the developing states face the problem of unequal distribution of wealth. To be specific, the inefficient political systems within these states allow the elite class to enjoy all the economic benefits. So, one can see that developing states share certain common characteristics, apart from poor and developed states. Summing, the developing states show progress, but the same is insufficient to term these states as developed. In addition, lack of effective political system is an important problem faced by developing states. One can see that the efficiency of political system can lead a nation towards rapid economic development. Still, the political systems within

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Social responsibility as part of the Livity youth marketing agency Essay

Social responsibility as part of the Livity youth marketing agency - Essay Example Society expects corporations to get involved in the community and to act in a socially responsible manner. Customers support companies that are ethical in their dealings with internal and external stakeholders. Social responsibility can be defined as the principle that businesses should contribute to the welfare of society and not be solely devoted to maximizing profits (Investopedia, 2012). A company that believes in the value and importance of social responsibility is the Livity youth marketing agency. â€Å"Livity is a socially responsible youth communications agency that works directly with young people every day to produce co-created campaigns and content for brands, broadcasters, charities and local and central government that achieve client objectives† (Livity, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate ways to achieve social responsibility at Livity. The organization performs advertising campaigns to a diverse group of corporate clients including Google, BlackB erry, C4, Virgin Media and Big Lottery Fund. A way for the company to improve its social responsibility program is by donating the time of its employees to work on projects for nonprofit organizations. The company can set a quota of how many hours it will donate during a fiscal year. Nonprofit organizations interested in labor donations must file an application with the administration of Livity. The expertise of the team at Livity can help a lot of these organizations get noticed by the community. The operations of Livity currently use a lot of paper. Deforestation is a serious environmental problem that must be addressed by corporations worldwide. â€Å"The net loss of the world’s forests is estimated at 7.3 million hectares per year† (Facingthefuture). Some of the causes of deforestation are fires, industrial consumption and population growth. The United States, Europe and Japan consume approximately 22% of the paper worldwide. Livity can take a stance to act in a so cially responsible manner if it changes its paper utilization policy. The company can formulate a long term plan with the ultimate goal being to transform the company into a paperless environment. The use of technological tools is essential for companies to switch from traditional paper usage to a paperless office. A way to train employees to learn how to work in a paperless environment is to expose employees to virtual teams. A virtual team convenes and operates with members linked together electronically via networked computers (Schermerhorn, Hunt and Osborn, 2003). A simple first step to apply social responsibility to paper usage is to purchase only recycled paper. Another option for the company is to substitute the use of pulp based paper with another material. A company in Australia called Papyrus Australia Ltd (PPY) invented a new form of paper called banana ply paper. Banana ply paper is a new form of paper made out of the trunks of banana trees. The trunks of banana trees ar e a renewable source. Livity can negotiate a partnership with Papyrus Australia to license the manufacturing process in order to produce banana ply paper to supply the yearly needs of Livity. An environmentally friendly and socially responsible action that Livity can take is to sponsor a recycling program in the community. The company can set up a recycling program with the scope of covering an area of 100 square miles around the corporate headquarters office. In the future the target is to increment the reach of the program to 500 and 1,000 miles from the corporate headquarters. Some of the materials that will be picked from the homes of the participants of the program are paper, plastic and aluminum. The people that recycle must separate each material into separate bags. The company will also perform recycling in-house.

Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Stress - Essay Example It depends on the ability of the persons involved to be able to cope with the demands, effectively and efficiently. Looking at the definition of the stress, we can see that there are three major approaches that may be used to manage the stress; action oriented approach, emotionally-oriented approach and acceptance-oriented approach. In action-oriented approach to manage stress, we seek to confront the problem which was causing the stress. This is done by changing the environment or the situation. To be able to take an action-oriented approach, we must have some power or control, in the situation. If we possess that power, then action-oriented approaches are some of the most satisfying and rewarding ways of managing stress. Through these techniques, we can manage and overcome stressful situations, by changing them to our advantage. In emotionally-oriented approach for stress management, we do not have the power to change the situation, but we can manage stress by changing our interpretation of the situation and the way we feel about it. If we do not have the power to change a situation, then we may be able to reduce stress by changing the way we look at it, using an emotionally-oriented approach. Emotionally-oriented approaches are often less attractive than action-oriented approaches. The stresses can recur. However, these approaches of stress management are still effective and useful. The third approach is acceptance-oriented, where it is assumed that something has happened over which we have no power and no emotional control, and where our focus is on surviving the stress. Sometimes, we have so little power in a situation that all we can do to survive it. In these situations, often the first stage of coping with the stress is to accept one’s lack of power. These different approaches to stress management address the problem for solution in different ways: the action-oriented techniques help us to manage the demands upon us and increase the resources

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

A Critical Discussion about British Airways and Its Entry into Central Essay - 1

A Critical Discussion about British Airways and Its Entry into Central and Eastern European markets proposal - Essay Example In aviation industry however entering new markets is not easy as airlines need a lot of permissions to fly to their preferred destinations. For domestic routes, an airline gets a national license by the regulatory authority. For international flights, the regulatory authorities of all involved countries have to permit the course and destination. For expansion purpose if an airline to operate from out of a host country, like a multinational it also has to decide a suitable entry mode. Majority of the airlines prefer equity participation in existing airlines, or through mergers and acquisitions. In this paper, the opportunities for British Airways (BA) will be studied for entering the East European Market. Earlier this market was closed but now the airlines like British airways have the option to join this market. Aims & Objectives Eastern Europe has gone through an economic policy change. It is now a free economy and thus now it is possible for the West European and other airlines to enter this market for profitable business ventures. This paper aims to research and find for British Airways a suitable market entry mode. The scope of this research will be to find the best options and to figure out the best one. Here are the aims and objectives of this research: 1. To understand Mergers and Acquisitions: Although East Europe is now a free market, however, every country has its own set of compulsions which any new entrant in the market has to face and which might act as a hurdle in establishing business in such a region. Mergers and Acquisitions can only work for the benefit of trade if both parties joining hands have common synergies. This brings us to the point where understanding Mergers and acquisition becomes very important. This is to be done especially in the light of existing political and economic conditions of the market we plan to enter. 2. To discover the cultural and knowledge base of the region to be explored to see if British airways can tackle them successfully or not. In the long run, investment in any country is not only a financial investment. The culture and environment also play their own very significant role in business success. 3. To evaluate competencies and internal strength of British Airways. This will help show if Mergers and Acquisitions or Joint ventures can be the best solution to entry in east Europe for British Airways. 4. To discover the capability of new venture to be able to merge seamlessly with the global operations of British Airways. This is to be done with special focus on technology. 5. To study customer requirements and needs in Eastern Europe where cost will act as a deciding factor. Literature Review: British Airways is targeting new markets and to enter a new market as an airline, a lot of factors are to be considered. As per (Hill et al, 1990) the four motivation factors include market seeking, resource seeking, efficiency seeking and strategic resource seeking. When the opportunities in home ma rket appear to be limited, the companies in any of the markets and industries have to look for newer options in the markets outside the home zone. On 25 August 2009 the British Airways celebrated its 90th anniversary. The origins of one of the most profitable airlines can be traced back to the birth of civil aviation, the days after the World War 1. Air travel has changed beyond one’s imagination since the first scheduled air service on 25 August 1919. The day the world’s first commercial passenger air service from Hounslow Heath, Middlesex to Paris in August 1919 by British Airways’ forerunner company Air Transport & Travel was no ordinary day. It was a historic

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Food labelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Food labelling - Essay Example Basically, a food label is meant to inform a consumer about how a certain type of food is appropriate or otherwise into one’s overall daily diet. It contains pertinent information about the nutritional value of food. Different jurisdictions usually have different laws and regulations governing their food labeling industry, but, most of them are generally similar. For example, all food labels are required to provide useful, accurate and complete nutritional information. Genetically modified foods (GMF) are those foods whose production starts from the introduction of precise changes in the DNA of the organism that the foods originate from. This is done through a complex process called genetic engineering. The genetic structures of foods can therefore be controlled, therefore introducing new traits in foods. Genetically modified foods were first sold commercially in 1994 (Davidson, 2008). The labeling of genetically modified foods is a fairly new and controversial concept. There are jurisdictions such as England where it is mandatory for all genetically modified foods to contain food labels. However, in other jurisdictions such as the United States, food labeling is not a mandatory regulatory procedure. The controversy arises from the fact that farmers and scientists are happy about genetically modified foods because of the advantages they bring to them whereas certain consumers view them suspiciously (McCluskey, Grimsrud, Ouchi & Wahl, 2003). The labeling of genetically modified foods has a number of advantages. First, the controversy surrounding the health issues associated with genetically modified foods gives consumers the right to know the type of food they are consuming and whether it is genetically modified or non-genetically modified. Therefore, GMF labeling will relieve the fear of consumers since they will be accurately informed

Monday, September 23, 2019

Public Relation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Relation - Essay Example Thus, PR can be defined as the management function that recognizes, ascertains and upholds communally valuable relationships between an organization and the various publics on whom its success or failure depends (Lattimore et al, 2004). Categorically, organizational functions of PR are activities carried out by an organization for its own benefit. On the other hand, societal functions of PR are activities carried out by a business for the advantage of the society alone. I have chosen Metro Toronto Inc as an organization, Metro Toronto Inc is a retail company operating in the food industry in Montreal, Canada. Metro Toronto Company is one of the largest grocers in Canada having over 200 locations all over the cities of Ontario and Quebec. Metro Toronto Inc buying group is currently created in a specific economic context. Moreover, in order to fulfill the functions of PR, Metro Toronto Inc considers factors such as the type of product market, the channel intentions, the consumer prompt ness to purchase, the company’s focus and the cost. On the other hand, according to Lam, (2000) the organizational functions of public relations comprises of community relations, the media, consumer relations, exposure, industry relations, governmental and political campaigns in which each carries out its own function. Therefore, most of the organizational functions entail keeping the public and the organizational shareholders alongside each other (Bizcovering, 2010). Among the organizational functions, the most vital one is media relations, which need formulation of suitable media mix through channels like, television, newspapers, and magazines. In addition, media relations frequently depend on planning and executing a well-designed plan. Hence, when talking about media relations, an organization has to decide the type of media that is most preferable for them to use in terms of accessibility and affordability, as well as to messages that are most appealing to their targeted audience, in addition to understanding of the audience's requirements, sensations, concerns and activities to guarantee the accuracy and significance of any message (Karpf, n.d). Furthermore, publicity is the responsibility of reporters and writers to choose what will be publicized and not the organization itself. As per Metro Toronto Inc website, excellent business and good values go hand-in-hand with each other. Therefore, Metro Toronto Inc accomplish following to heed consumer needs. Firstly, it listens to its clients through regular meetings and seeking their suggestions. The business accomplishes this by offering high quality products that are delicious and enjoyed by consumers. Secondly, the business converse with the clients directly and this enables it understand their trends. Additionally, the business has set aside an office that deals with consumers’ uncertainty and grievances. Thirdly, the business responds promptly to the clients’ needs to ensure they are satisfied with their quality of products and services. Nevertheless, this is accomplished by producing a variety of products through suggestions from clients (Sriramesh and Vercic, 2012). Conversely, societal functions of public relations are social liability and publicity. In other words, the purpose of societal public relations is to sustain a reliable relationship with the organizations structures (Bizcovering, 2010). Thus, to accomplish this, Metro Toronto Inc carries out diverse tasks to satisfy the public; firstly, it ensures the increasing community value

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Qvc Case Analysis Essay Example for Free

Qvc Case Analysis Essay Case QVC Author: NA HG495 – Case Analysis Instructor: NA Abstract This case analysis will be focused on the company QVC (Quality, Value, and Convenience). We will perform an analysis review, which, will provide a comprehensive insight into the company’s historical and current business structures, strategies and efficiencies in their operations. It will include a detailed SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) (Humphrey) and the primary activities of the Value Chain Analysis (Porter), to provide greater insight into the firms’ competitive advantage. These key concepts will be used to analyze QVC’s business model, define potential challenges and initiate a plan of execution. We will then recommend solutions such as advocating products with higher profit margins, finding evolving technologies and untapped markets and streamlining logistics. These strategies would expand the customer base and create higher ROI (Return of Investment), positioning the company towards timely growth. Introduction: QVC is a multimedia retailer, specializing in televised home shopping, broadcasting in five countries (US, UK, Germany, Japan and, Italy), 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to over 90 million households in the United States and 160 million homes worldwide. They offer a wide range of products with over 1500 major brands and 50,000 products, including beauty, fashion and accessories, jewelry, craft and leisure, home electronics, garden, and do-it-yourself (DIY), and clearance goods. The company has store operations in the US, which includes Delaware and Pennsylvania. QVC also has a lucrative website called iQVC (www. qvc. com) that generates over 1 billion of sales on its Internet operations. Since it was launched in 1986; QVC has rapidly grown to become the largest television shopping network. By 2006, its reach had extended to over 95 percent of all U. S. cable homes, as well as, over 25 million satellite homes. It shipped over 140 million packages during 2006 to customers around the world, resulting in almost $7. 1 billion in sales and over 1 billion operating profit. Sales were made to over 10 million customers, who watched its shows across the US, UK, Germany, Japan and Italy. Problem: Doug Rose, QVC’s vice president of merchandising brand development, claims that the interactivity in all aspects of the firm’s business and operations, including its television shopping channel, will need to become more pronounced. Making it easier for customers to act on what they see. QVC believes that it still has a lot of room to grow, since only about 2% to 3% of its television viewers currently purchase at any given time. Bringing that percentage higher is the main problem that affects the major revenue stream and would require an internal/external analysis (balance scorecard) to bring in new viewers/customers to purchase their products. There are other challenges that can attribute to generating more revenue, such as, selling products with higher margins and offering shopping channels to customers outside North America. They could also add more interactive features that would allow more access.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Strategy of Channelization in River Systems

Strategy of Channelization in River Systems The purpose of this essay is to analyze the strategy of channelization in river systems in order to reduce flooding, and other purposes such as navigation. Also the importance of channel forms and the value of the systems approach are evaluated within this essay when considering the pros and cons of restoration activities and whether these schemes are beneficial to the environment. Overall this essay will look at the environmental degradation caused by channelization and determine whether channelization is the most beneficial strategy in reducing flooding or are there alternatives that lead to less environmental degradation. Channel forms: Channel forms help humans comprehend the behaviour of rivers. This is vital as one can foresee how rivers may be affected by various changes and restoration schemes. Thus, the ability to protect and restore river health is enhanced. Channel forms are regulated by convoluted interactions between profuse environmental variables. This is why the systems approach is a useful method when analysing channel systems, as it does not just look at one variable but all of the linked variables involved. Even with this system shaping channel forms is highly dependent on geology; directly and indirectly over a prolonged period. Human interactions have also had an impact on the change of channel form for instance channelization (Water and river commissions, 2002). Channelization and its implementation: Human interaction with river systems is both the reason why channelization was implemented for example as a result of flooding and the cause of environmental degradation of the river systems. Humans interact with river systems in many ways and have impacted flooding of river channels due to increased population pressure, which has put a growing demand on water supply systems leading to environmental degradation. Deforestation around river channels have also increased flooding as deforestation impacts the interaction between precipitation and the drainage basin response. Due to increased awareness of river behaviour and dynamics new strategies were implemented and overtime humans modernised engineering structures and built broad structures to control and regulate river flows, such as channelization. Channelization according to Brookes is a type of â€Å"river engineering whereby the natural river channels are modified to control flooding, drain wetlands, and improve river channels for navigation, control stream-bank erosion and to improve river alignment† (Brookes, 1988). River channelization has seven types of alterations (Gregory, 2006). These are â€Å"(1) re-sectioning and realignment, (2) Dredging, (3) Snagging and clearing, (4) Levees or artificial embankments, (5) Bank protection, (6) Bed protection and (7) River training† (Charlton, 2008). An example where these alterations have been implemented is during the channelization of the River Raba in Carpathians, Poland (Wyzga, 1993). However, these engineering structures tend to have a large impact on river and the natural ecology and hydrology of the channel system. For years humans have interacted with channels and altered the natural geology of the systems and thus have lead to severe impacts on the â€Å"physical, chemical and ecological condition of the channel systems† (Brookes, 1988). The impacts of channelization usually involve the alteration of river hydraulics and the decrease of instream habitat. Other impacts discovered as a result of these alterations include increased water temp, erosion, elimination of bankside habitat. These impacts can cause severe environmental degradation (Gregory, 2006). Environmental degradation: The deterioration of systems within the environment by either natural or human influence is considered environmental degradation and as channelization alters the natural river system it leads to extreme environmental degradation. Impacts on the environment associated with human interference are usually quite complex and are mostly long term effects. Nevertheless, few studies have been conducted on the long term effects of channelization (Brooker, 1985). Swales (1982a) however inspected several environmental effects on channel engineering systems, in particular the impact on stream habitat and discovered that channelization has a major impact on instream and bankside habitat (Brooker, 1985), as well as the hydrology, aspects of flow and suspended sediment within river systems (Wilcock, 1991). Effects of channelization can also occur downstream in a channel system which broadens the extent of ecological disturbance (Brooker, 1985). The increase of flow velocity and its carrying capacity as a result of shortening and straightening the channels has an immediate ecological effect on instream habitat as many ecosystems need particular conditions in terms water velocity (Gore, 1978). This destruction within the channel systems leads to erosion of bankside vegetation which increases sediment loads in the channel (Keller, 1976; Karr and Schlosser, 1978). Sediment loads in channel systems are usually low (Lewin, 1981), however, in channelized rivers se the loads are increased as bed/channel wall sediments are scraped up. This release of sediment has major effects on the ecology of the river (Wilcock, 1991) as removal of bankside vegetation leads to temp changes and in results affects the ecosystem as well as reducing energy flow (Brooker, 1985). In some cases channel slopes have also seen as increase whilst channel roughness is seen to reduce. An example of environmental degradation was shown in Gregory (2006) which involved the Channelization of the Blackwater River in Johnson County, Missouri. This channel was shortened in 1910 in order to reduce flooding by deepening and widening the channel by â€Å"up to four times its original size† (Emerson, 1971). This subsequent lowering and increase of channel width lead to increased erosion in the river system, also bridge repairs have had to be carried out and there has been a severe loss of farmland. â€Å"Downstream reduction in channel capacity has caused suspended sediment in turn increased flooding rather than reducing it due to termination of dredging† (Emerson, 1971). Alternatives: Channelization was initially implemented to straighten and shorten river channels to reduce flooding. It was also implemented to decrease flow velocity and prevent flooding, however, this lead to environmental degradation which resulted in the depletion of instream habitats and depleted drainage function. As channelization has had problems leading to environmental degradation, alternative channel schemes have been developed to enhance water quality functions whilst preserving drainage function and lessening environmental degradation (Evans, Bass, Burchell, Hinson, Johnson and Doxey, 2007). There are many alternatives to channelization that environmentalists could install; one such method is stream renovation which has been implemented on â€Å"streams in Charlotte, North Carolina† (Nunnally, 1978). Unlike channelization stream restoration aims to decrease the risk of flooding and drainage problems â€Å"by employing channel design guidelines that do not destroy the hydraulic and morphologic equilibria that natural streams possess† (Nunnally, 1978). Minimal straightening which promotes bank stability by leaving trees is employed in this scheme. Also the reduction of channel reshaping and the use of bank stabilization techniques are used here to reduce flooding and control erosion as well as sedimentation problems (Nunnally, 1879). Other alternatives involve the formation of in-stream wetlands and â€Å"lowering of the floodplain to reconnect the channel with the floodplain, redesign of channels using natural channel design principles, and establishment of conservation easements† (Evans, Bass, Burchell, Hinson, Johnson and Doxey, 2007). Restoration: Recognising channel forms and understanding how they behave and change is crucial for managing and protecting channel systems, especially for river restoration activities. Due to severe environmental degradation restoration schemes have been implemented. Though, it is not known whether these schemes are beneficial. Restoration activities generally improve bank stabilization (Florsheim, Mount, and Chin, 2008) and have positively increased depth and flow variety and velocity as well as increasing habitat diversity in channel systems (Pretty, Harrison, Shepherd, Smith, Hildrew and Hey, 2003). Other benefits include the protection of infrastructure around river channels, and in relation to instream habitat it guarantees overall ecological system. Restoration schemes allow the natural process in the channel systems to redevelop and surrounding landscapes to restore. Restoration schemes are constructive in counteracting the environmental degradation caused by channelization; yet there are a few cons. For instance natural processes may not necessarily be enhanced. Also a clear understanding of channel process is important in implementing these schemes, as they may sacrifice natural conditions in order to protect infrastructure. Restoration schemes are extremely expensive and very complicated therefore it is generally impossible to remove all human influences meaning restoration may not lead to higher biological diversity. Channelization is commonly used to prevent flooding of channel systems; however, it has been found that the adverse impacts created by channelization projects far outweigh the benefits they intend to create. It is for this reason that alternative strategies are being developed so that in the long run creates less environmental degradation. The use of the systems approach is important as the use of all variables regulated by channel forms is necessary in making the new strategies environmentally acceptable. Also increased knowledge of channel systems and its dynamics have helped better restoration schemes and thus leading to the recuperation of many already channelized systems.

Friday, September 20, 2019

About Pakistan International Airline Pia Management Essay

About Pakistan International Airline Pia Management Essay We will have to selectd Pakistan International Airlines for our report. And we are supposed to write a report where our major area of concern is employee relations against a changing background and nature of industrial conflict and the resolution of collective disputes. Due to the prevailing strict security conditions, we were unable to visit PIA for collecting information. Therfore, information regarding PIA is largely collected from internet. Executive summary In the beginning of our report, we have a brief background regarding PIA About Pakistan International Airline (PIA): Pakistan International Airlines usually better known as PIA can sketch its beginning to the days when Pakistan had not yet achieved independence from the  British Raj and is a public sector venture of Government of Pakistan. In 1946, the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah  apprehended the need for a flag carrier for the prospective country and for this purpose the founder of the country requested financial help from a wealthy capitalist  Mirza Ahmad Ispahani. PIA was first known as Orient Airways, and was registered in  Calcutta  on 23 October 1946. PIA bought 3  DC-3  airplanes in February 1947 from a corporation in Texas and achieved a license to fly in May of the same year. Later, the airline started its operations in June, providing services from  Kolkata  to  Sittwe  and  Yangon. This was the first position second-world-war airline flight by a  South Asian  registered airline company. Orient Airways (early name of PIA) began operations for the ne w country (Pakistan) when it came into being on 14 August, 1947. (PIA, 2012) PIA was once considered as Asias best airline.  PIA is headquartered at  Jinnah International Airport  in  Karachi  and PIA provides services to 24 domestic destinations and 38 international destinations in 27 countries across Asia, Europe and North America. PIAs major bases are at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Whereas, PIAs secondary bases entail  Peshawar,  Quetta, Faisalabad,   Multan and Sialkot. Through secondary bases PIA connects the metropolitan cities with the main bases, the  Middle East,  Europe, and the  Far East. It is largely owned by the  Government of Pakistan  and is regulated by the Ministry Of Defense as an autonomous body. PIA employs 18,043 individuals as of May 2008. (PIA, 2012) Outcome: 1st Tasks for P1: The unitary and pluralist perspectives of employee relations: Since the 1980s, there has been a major standard change in managing employee relations to one stressed on more strategic and incorporated frameworks that are based on employee dedication and mutual workplace interests, as an alternative of the traditional managerial control and conflicts between employers and employees. According to Alan Fox managers have different frames of reference' and everyone has a frame of reference, which can be identified as a lens with the help which one perceives employment relations. Number of other authors also argued that the managers frame of reference impacts how these perspectives are understood and used or not used.  The two well known kinds of ER perspectives are: unitary and pluralist. Before explaining the two main kinds of ER perspectives, we would first like to explain what frame is. Frames: According to Alan Fox, a frame is basically a sociological point of view that may assist in building of a frame of reference with the help of which issues of industrial relations can be observed practically and placed more open to solutions. (Fox, 1966) Unitary perspective: According to Michael Armstrong, the unitary perspective is basically held by managements who perceive their task as that of directing and controlling the employees to accomplish economic and growth objectives. To this end, management thinks that it is the rule-making power. Management tends to observe the venture as a unitary system with single source of authority, itself, and single focus of loyalty, the organization. It admires the good quality of teamwork, where everyone struggles together for a common objective and everyone accepts their place and work willingly, following the leadership of the selected manager. This unitary view, which is basically autocratic and dictatorial, has sometimes been stated in agreements as managements right to manage. The philosophy of HRM with its focus on commitment and support is based on the unitary perspective. (Armstrong, 2006) Characteristics of unitary perspective: First, there is only one source of power in organization, which is usually the management.  Second, the function of organizational leaders is to encourage loyalty and commitment among employees.  Third, organizations are observed as teams that are working together for common or mutual goals and objectives, and there are also no conflicts of interests between managers and employees.  Fourth, the management must represent effective leadership to achieve organizational goals objectives.  Ã‚  Fifth, Trade unions are not perceived as significant for the pleasant managing of conflicts. Sixth, conflicts in the organization are seen negatively and they are dysfunctional and results to disloyalty, thus harming the well-being of the organization.  Ã‚  Seventh, the state is autonomous and forms industrial relations systems (IR). Advantages of unitary perspective: Following are some of the advantages of unitary perspective of employee relations. A major advantage of the unitary perspective is that it openly wants to incorporate employer and employee interests, so that it can enhance employee commitment and loyalty. The unitary perspective also focuses on the role of managers in achieving win-win situations for employees and organizations, wherein their interests can be properly associated with each other Managers are forced to go beyond their managerial styles of managing employee relations and focuses on their leadership abilities and if they can be persuasive and prominent leaders in the organization, there will be no strong demand for trade unions. The unitary perspective is fundamentally individualist in its employee relations approach, which works best for individualist IR systems. Many IR systems all over the world have changed from the collectivist IR standards to individualist standards. Therefore the unitary perspective will be mainly valuable for this kind of IR perspective. Disadvantages of unitary perspective: Following are some of the disadvantages of the unitary perspective of employee relations. The main disadvantage of unitary perspective is the lack of understanding that there are power inequalities between employers and employees which will create different kinds of conflicts. Managers often use greater power over their workforce in shaping work conditions In unitary perspective, conflict is treated too negatively, and not seen as a force that imitates inequalities and which can be used as opportunities to recover work harmony. In unitary perspective, it is ambiguous how individual worker attitudes can be effectively integrated into the organizational objectives, because the unitary perspective is very normative and lacks explanation of how common interests can be recognized and distributed across organizations. Pluralist perspective: According to Alan Fox, an industrial organization is a plural culture, including many connected but separate interests and objectives which should be sustained in some kind of balance. In place where business unity reflected in a solitary focus of authority and loyalty, management has to accept the existence of opponent sources of leadership. It has to face the fact that a business venture has a triple personality: it is at once an economic, a political and a social organization. In the first, it generates and distributes profits. In the second, it represents a system of government in which managers jointly exercise authority over the managed, but are also themselves involved in a complex pattern of political relations. Its third personality is discovered in the plant community, which develops from below out of face-to-face relations based on common interests, attitudes, beliefs and values between diverse groups of employees. (Alan Fox, 2006) Whereas Cave (1994) describes pluralism as, an equilibrium of power between two controlled interests and a adequate degree of trust within the relationship for each side to value the others lawful interests, and for both sides to renounce from pushing their interest separately to the point where it became impossible to keep the show on the road. (Cave, 2006) Characteristics of pluralist perspective: First, pluralist theory considers that the workplace is composed of different sets of beliefs, standards and attitudes. Second, there are opposite sources of leadership in organizations.  Third, conflicts are expected because there are inborn opposing interests and sometimes conflicts can even be useful, if recognized and controlled within institutional reactions.  Fourth, the function of the management is to arbitrate between competing interests.  Fifth, Trade unions are lawful legislative body of employees, and they are perceived positively because they help employees focus on their decision-making power. Sixth, the state encourages public interest. Seventh, employee relations constancy can be achieved through a chain of negotiations between managers and employers through the collective bargaining method. Advantages of pluralist perspective: Following are some of the advantages of pluralist perspective of employee relations. Pluralist theory focuses on the effectiveness of industrial relations involvements as it assists in resolving conflicts. Pluralist perspective also considers other different decision-making practices such as communication and consultation with employees. In pluralist perspective conflict is not ignored, but are dealt effectively through stakeholder involvement. Conflict can then be used to recognize fundamental tensions, so that they can be recognized and properly rectified. The pluralist perspective does not ignore or disregard the part of trade unions in managing employee-employer conflicts rather it embraces a broader range of employee relations policies. Disadvantages of pluralist perspective: Following are some of the disadvantages of pluralist perspective of employee relations. The major weakness of the pluralist perspective is the tendency to settle on set of rules and procedures and ignore the methods that also contribute to the resolution of conflicts. The pluralist perspective is unable of recognizing that the state also represents business interests and not just public interests. The pluralist perspective may stress too much on worker interest, which can result to the inefficiencies of collective bargaining practices. Frame of reference at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA): According to our findings and observations, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) uses unitary frame of reference and following are some of the justification for proving that PIA uses unitary frame of reference. The first and main characteristic of a unitary perspective is that the source of power in organization is with the management which is exactly the same in PIA. The power to make any major decisions is with the management of the PIA because PIA is regulated by Ministry of Defense as an autonomous body. The management bodies of PIA encourages loyalty and commitment among employees through number of different monetary and non-monetary approaches, this is another characteristic of a unitary perspective. Employees of the PIA struggle for one common goal which to attain profit by delivering the best possible services to their valued customers. This is also one of the characteristic of unitary perspective. Conflicts are perceived negatively because this negatively affects their business for example, the recent strikes of the employees regarding pay increase severely affected PIAs business. One of the characteristics of the unitary perspective is that it ignores the involvement of trade union and this what the PIAs management did several times in the recent time which lead them to face number of problems. These evidences clearly indicate that PIA uses unitary perspective of employee relations. Tasks for P2: Importance of trade union: Before we discuss importance of trade union it is important first to know what trade union is. Trade union: According to Michael Armstrong, the basic purpose of trade unions is to encourage and protect the interests of their members. They are there to equalize the balance of authority between employers and employees. The basis of the employment relationship is the contract of employment. But this is not a contract between equals. Employers are more or less always in a stronger position to order the terms of the contract than individual employees. Trade unions give workers with a collective voice to make their needs known to management and as a result bring real and preferred conditions closer together. This pertains not only to terms of employment such as pay, working hours and holidays, but also to the way in which employees are treated in such aspects of employment as the remedy of grievances, authority and redundancy. Trade unions also exist to let management know that there will be, from time to time, a substitute view on key matters affecting employees. More largely, unions may see th eir role as that of contributing with management on decision making on matters affecting their members interests. (Armstrong, 2006) In short trade unions have two specific functions, to protect their members through collective bargaining, better terms and conditions, and to support and counsel to their members as individual employees. In additional trade union roles involves, that of providing legal, financial and other services to their members. Importance of trade union: Employees are not the only ones who enjoy the benefits of joining the trade union but its the employer or the organization that enjoys and takes advantage of the benefits of trade union as well. Employees can use trade union as tool through which their voices can be reached to the employer or management. Whereas, trade union greatly help employer or management as it saves their huge amount of time not only in solving their issues but also when they wishes to implement any new rule they do not need to inform each and every employees rather they inform only the trade union leader who then informs all their members. The importance of the trade union can observe by the following advantages of trade union. Representation: As mentioned earlier, trade union represent employees when they an issue at work. For example, if an employee considers he/she is being unjustly treated, he/she can ask the union representative to assist sort out the problem with the employer. In short, union is there to represent employees. Negotiation: Trade union representatives negotiate the problems that affect employees working in an organization. There may be a dissimilarity of opinion between management and union members. Trade unions negotiate with the employers to discover remedy to these problems. Trade union usually negotiates for the problems such as pay, working hours and changes to working practices. In many organizations usually there is a formal agreement between the union and the management which declares that the union has the right to negotiate with the employer. Voice in decisions affecting employees: The economic protection of workforce is determined not only by the level of wages and duration of their employment, but also by the managements personal rules which incorporate selection of workforce for layoffs, promotion and transfer. These policies basically directly affect workforce. In order to ensure these policies are developed fairly, the involvement of unions in such decision making is a way through which employees can have their voice in the decision making to protect their interests. Member services: Now a day trade unions are providing number of different services to their members in order to ensure their rights are not ignored and to make their members effectives. These services involves education training, legal assistance, welfare benefits and financial discounts etc. On the basis of the above benefit of trade union to the organization, we can conclude that Trade union can greatly help PIA to resolve different issues. For example, recently PIAs employees were on strike because they wanted to increase their pay levels, if the management of the PIA had good relations with the trade union they might not had faced this problem. Therefore, considering the importance of trade union PIA must value their trade union otherwise they will face different other serious problems in the near future. Tasks for P3: Role of trade union in employee relations: Trade union plays an important role in forming peoples working lives in almost every part of the world today, though their power in this respect has decreased in current times. The percentage of employees who are members of unions fell in the first decade of the twenty-first century, though this decrease was modest, and far less impressive than the decrease of the previous two decades. The experience of firms and industries to greater market pressures, a growing movement in outsourcing and the growth in unusual employment, employer supported forms of involvement and representation, and the nuisance of legal limitations on the ability of unions to recruit, organize, collectively bargain and take industrial action, has all added to a quick fall in membership. Despite the acceptance of different internal strategies and the introduction of laws pushing employers to recognize unions, the downward trend in membership all the same continued in recent years, although at a slower pace. As mentioned earlier that employees are not the only ones who enjoys the benefits of joining the trade union but its the employer or the organization that enjoys and take advantage of the benefits of trade union as well. Employees can use trade union as tool through which their voices can be reached to the employer or management. Whereas, trade union greatly help employer or management as it saves their huge amount of time not only in solving their issues but also when they wishes to implement any new rule they do not need to inform each and every employees rather they inform only the trade union leader who then informs all their members. Following are some roles of trade union in employee relations: Member services Voice in decisions affecting employees Negotiation Representation The roles of the trade union mentioned above are briefly explained earlier in our report. Tasks for P4: Role of main actors in employee relations: According to (1966), the term employment relationship basically explains the interconnections that exist between employers and employees in the place of work. These interconnections may be formal, for example contracts of employment, procedural agreements. Or they might be informal interconnections as well in the form of the psychological contract, which states certain assumptions and expectations regarding what managers and employer have to provide and are willing to deliver. Employer and employee may also have an individual dimension, which pertains to individual contracts and prospects, or a collective dimension, which pertains to relationships between management and trade unions. (Kessler and Undy, 2006) Whereas according to Michael Armstrong, the parties of the employee relations are managers, employees and employee representatives (union). The substance includes the job, reward and career of individuals and the communications and culture of the organization as it directly affects them. It may also involve collective agreements and mutual employee relations like works councils etc. The formal aspects contain rules and procedures, and the informal dimension contains understanding, expectations and assumptions. At last, the employment relationship exists at different levels in the organization such as management to employees usually, and managers to individual employees and their representatives. The function of the relationship will also be affected by practices such as communications and consultation, and by the management style existing throughout the organization or implemented by individual managers. (Armstrong, 2006) Parties in the employee relations Role of the parties in the employee relations: The role of the employees in the employee relations is to consult their representative or union at times when he/she feels they are treated unfair or if they wish for a demand such pay increase, decrease in working hours or holidays etc. Another role of employees in the employee relations is they must obey the orders from trade union. Whereas union or employees representative have two specific functions, to protect their members through collective bargaining, better terms and conditions, and to support and counsel to their members as individual employees. Similarly, the role of managers or employers is to maintain good relationship with the unions representatives which otherwise leads to different major issues. The role of managers or employers in employee relations is to communicate new policies and regulations to their employees through employee representatives or unions. Tasks for M1: An effective judgment of PIA: Due to the prevailing strict security conditions in Pakistan, we were unable to visit PIAs office for collecting data. Therefore, we had to collect data via electronic sources. Disputes at PIA: According to the report of Mr. Qasim Moini the correspondent of the Dawn News that five flights were affected on Friday after a clash over pay and a working agreement between the management and pilots of PIA threatened to have an effect on the flag carrier`s plan. (Dawn News, 2011) The Pakistan Airline Pilots` Association (Palpa) the delegate body of most of PIAs 450 or so pilots advised its members to go by the book, read articles that allow them to take 10 days off in a month and not fly until given notice 12 hours before a flight in writing. Another dispute at PIA was very shocking in terms of financial cost and passengers dissatisfaction. According to Dawn News on 10th of February 2011, employees strike at PIA that lasted for four days, trapped thousands of passengers and abandoned nearly three dozen domestic and international flights on Friday. PIA spokesman Mashhood Tajwar said 33 flights were canceled. No PIA planes were flying to or from the capital, Islamabad, while the timetable in the southern city of Karachi has been disturbed. Even though PIA is at the brick of bankruptcy but this strike cost PIA a loss of about $22 million. (Dawn News, 2011) The problem was later resolved by federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik by meeting with the employees association leader Suhail Baluch. Being an HR manager of PIA our decision: An ideal manager is one that never gives a chance to the birth of dispute, but since we know that managing human is not an easy task and their behavior is not constant and it changes situation to situation. It is also a believe at large that where human exist there must be some sort disputes because of the nature of human being is they often challenges or perceive things wrongs or take things personally. Our decision for the dispute of the pilot over pay increase and employment hours, we would first look at our policies and employment contract in order to know what they state. After doing so we will critically analyze the party that is wrong (the management of PIA or the pilots). Even if the management of PIA is right, we will still not try give a chance to disputes because it badly effects not only the business but it also dissatisfy customers because as a result of dispute customers may not be served with in the scheduled time. Whereas, even if the pilots were right then we being HR managers of PIA would try to the best of our abilities to carefully and effectively rectify this issue because as mentioned earlier the dispute can result in delays of flights which will financially affect PIA and it will dissatisfy customers as well. In order to rectify this issue, we would humbly request pilots to carry out their tasks on time. For this reason we would like to provide them with some extra incentives because they are working extra hours. And to rectify pay increase issue, we would have contacted employees representative of PIA and being ideal HR managers of PIA we would have adopted win-win approach. This approach basically states that some aspects must be tolerated by the management and some the by the employees representative (employees). We believe our decision will not only help PIA to rectify the arising issue but it will also help them not dissatisfy their employees and their customers as well. While for the second dispute (strikes of the employees of PIA), our decision is almost the same. We will first not give a chance to raise such issues. This issue clearly indicates that the management of PIA is not good towards their employees as a result they were on strike and faced PIA will loss of millions of dollar. According to our deep observation regarding the strike of the employees that lasted four consecutive days creates both a huge advantage and a huge disadvantage. The advantage of this issue for PIA could be a lesson that they should focus and give values to the issues of employees and the disadvantage of this strike is that employees showed their power that they are capable of doing anything with PIA if their wishes were not considered or valued in the future. We being HR managers of PIA would have consulted the union leader prior the issue had reach to a crucial level and in such situation we would have adopted you win-I lose approach because this approach would at least have saved the amount of loss that resulted as a consequence of the strike. Outcome: 2nd Task for P5: Importance of framework approach in industrial relations: Before we discuss why framework approach is importance in industrial relations, we would first like to explain what industrial relation is. Industrial relations: Industrial relations may basically be considered as a system of rules regulating employment and the behavior in which individual behave at work. The systems theory of industrial relations, as put forwarded by Dunlop (1958), described that the function of the system is to create the regulations and practical rules that govern how much is distributed in the bargaining practice and how the parties contributed to one another. (Dunlop, 2006) Industrial relations is described in many more or less formal or informal forms; in legislation and statutory orders, in trade union regulations, in collective agreements and arbitration awards, in social conferences, and in managerial decisions. The rules in industrial relations may be defined and logical, or ill-defined and illogical. Whereas, the only issue with industrial relations is that it does not adequately focus on the distribution of power between management and trade unions. Importance of framework approach in industrial relations: A framework is basically a supporting arrangement around which something can be constructed or a system of rules, ideas or principles that is used to plan or decide something. Framework approach is significant in industrial relations because it will help not only employees, employees representative but also the management or employer in showing them direction of their rights or authorities. Suppose an employee feels he/she treated unfairly such paid low or no holidays are given to him/her, the employee can consult their representative for this issue in order to rectify it. Similarly, if employer feels his/her legal orders are not obeyed, will consult employees representative in order to rectify this issue. This is all because of the proper framework, if there is no proper framework in industrial relations then, both employees and employers may not be able to resolve any issue. In simple words, we can say that framework approach to industrial relations helps in balancing the use of power both for employers and employees. It often observed that employers misuses their power and dictate their employees, to avoid such situations framework approach is used in industrial relations to maintain the balance of power between both the parties. Tasks for P6: Types of collective disputes: Before we discuss different types of collective disputes, it is important first to know what is a dispute and collective dispute. Employment disputes are basically divided into two main types Individual disputes: Collective disputes: As the name indicates, individual disputes are generally those that involve a single employee whereas collective disputes involve groups of workers usually represented by a trade union. The definition of a collective dispute is pretty wide and can involve issues in dispute such as terms and clauses of employment, physical working conditions, commitment, termination, duties of service, provision of work, regulation and a group of other issues associated with employment relations. Collective disputes are further divided into two sub-types which are: Rights disputes: Interests disputes: A rights dispute arises where there is disagreement over the implementation or understanding of legal rights. Whereas in contrast, an interest dispute involve disagreements over the determination of rights and responsibilities of those already exist. Interest disputes generally arise in the perspective of collective bargaining where a collective agreement does not exist. Dispute and their different types Elements of collective disputes: Elements of the collective disputes are usually the grievances between employees and employers. These grievances are usually formed either due misuse of power by the employer or by the disobeying the orders of employers by the employees. Following are some of the elements of collective disputes: When the normal methods of argument or negotiations between an employer and employee representatives fail to reach a conclusion a failure to agree must be recorded and a proper dispute course of actions should be appealed. The dispute methods must be in writing and, depending on the degree of the organization, it must give an opportunity for a dispute to be forwarded to a higher management-employee representative level. If the higher level of management-employee representative negotiation does not resolve the dispute then the issue should be forwarded to external conciliation. Logical time limits must be set for reference to the internal and external levels of a dispute method. In many cases employers and employee representatives may wish the dispute practice to provide for arbitration or mediation. It is advised for both the parties to try to resolve a dispute through conciliation before using these other types of dispute resolution. <

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Cloning :: essays research papers

The History of CloningThe theory of being able to make a genetic copy (a clone) of another animal has been around for quite a while. In this section as the title reads I will show the history of cloning.400 million years B. C.- Plants have been cloning themselves since not to long (as far as the Earth is concerned) after their introduction to our planet. They send out runners that create an identical copy of the parent plant. 1938- Hans Spermann, of Germany, envisions what he calls the "fantastical experiment". He suggests taking the nucleus from a cell in the late-stage embryo and transplanting that nucleus into an egg.1952- Scientists Robert Briggs and T.J. King use a pipette to suck the nucleus from the cell of an advanced frog embryo, they then add it to a frog egg. The egg didn't develop.1970- John Gurdon tries the same experiment with the same procedure. The eggs developed into tadpoles but died after they were ready to begin feeding. He later showed that transplanted nuclei revert to an embryonic state.1973- Ian Wilmut just finishes his doctorate at Cambridge University when he produces the first calf born from a frozen embryo. Cows only give birth to five to ten calves in a lifetime. By taking frozen embryos produced by cows that provide the best meat or milk then transferring that to surrogate mother it allows cattle farmers increase the quality of their herd.Mid to late 1970's- Scientists cut down small forests publishing research papers arguing the ethics of cloning and if it can be done. While they do this other researches around the world are actually investigating if it can be done. 1981- Karl Illmensee and Peter Hoppe report that they clone normal mice and embryo cells. It is later found to be a fraud.1982- James McGrath and Davor Solter report that they can not repeat the mouse cloning experiment. They conclude that once mouse embryos reach the two cell stage they cannot be used for cloning. Others confirm their results.1993- Embryologists at George Washington University cloned human embryos: they took cell groups from 17 human embryos (defective ones that an infertility clinic was going to discard), all two to eight cells in size. They teased apart cells , grew each one in a lab dish and a few got to 32 cells- a size when they can be planted into a surrogate mother, although they weren't.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

We live in a time in which everything is categorized by lists, whether it’s a dreaded school rubric or a David Letterman Top Ten List. As the millennium turns, we are deluged with lists: the best books of the millennium, the greatest songs of the millennium, the most influential people of the millennium. Personally, I may be sick of all these lists, but no graduating class of 2006 could let this occasion slip by without one more list: The Top Ten Things I Learned in High School. So listen along and see if your experience parallels mine. Here goes: Lesson No. 10: It is 10 percent of the people who do 90 percent of the work. I’ve heard that, unfortunately, this is true in the real world, too. Whether we were organizing food drives or class activities or a pep assembly, the same people always came through, no matter how busy they already were. Lesson No. 9: Contrary to popular belief, there is free parking near the Key Arena. Get off the freeway at the Mercer Street exit; take a right on Third Avenue North, and a left on Valley. I am proud to say that we found street parking the... Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address We live in a time in which everything is categorized by lists, whether it’s a dreaded school rubric or a David Letterman Top Ten List. As the millennium turns, we are deluged with lists: the best books of the millennium, the greatest songs of the millennium, the most influential people of the millennium. Personally, I may be sick of all these lists, but no graduating class of 2006 could let this occasion slip by without one more list: The Top Ten Things I Learned in High School. So listen along and see if your experience parallels mine. Here goes: Lesson No. 10: It is 10 percent of the people who do 90 percent of the work. I’ve heard that, unfortunately, this is true in the real world, too. Whether we were organizing food drives or class activities or a pep assembly, the same people always came through, no matter how busy they already were. Lesson No. 9: Contrary to popular belief, there is free parking near the Key Arena. Get off the freeway at the Mercer Street exit; take a right on Third Avenue North, and a left on Valley. I am proud to say that we found street parking the...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

A person’s mind is a very simple venue for many interesting cognitive

A person’s mind is a very simple venue for many interesting cognitive phenomena, unusual ways of thinking and mental mistakes, no matter how trivial or significant, which are usually unconsciously committed by a person even in the most mundane of mental tasks.This paper shall focus on number of interesting cognitive phenomena and mental lapses or mistakes which are chronologically presented based on what the writer perceives as the most important and common.FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR Fundamental attribution error is a very common human tendency when a person is placed in a social situation. It occurs when a person attributes someone’s behavior or reaction to a situation as having been caused by the person’s disposition or personality rather than by the situation at hand.According to Lee Ross, a professor of social psychology at Stanford University, a fundamental error forms the conceptual bedrock for the field of social psychology. He coined this term based on the classic experiment conducted by Jones and Harris.In the said experiment, subjects where placed in a situation where they were made to listen to pro- and anti- Castro speeches.They were initially made to believe that the persons who gave the speeches were freely given a choice as to what stand to make (i.e., pro- or anti-), the subjects naturally rated the persons who gave the pro- speeches as having a positive attitude towards Castro, and people who gave anti- speeches as having a negative attitude towards Castro. Before the experiment, Jones and Harris hypothesized that behaviors resulting from freely given choice shall be attributed by the subjects to disposition, while actions or behaviors resulting from chance to situation.However, this hypothesis was proven wrong when as part of the experiment, the subjects were told that the person’s choice of position (pro- or anti-Castro) was determined by a coin toss. It turned out that the subjects were still of opinion that pe rsons who gave pro- speeches were still, on average, in favor of Castro than those who spoke against him.Therefore, the subjects were unable to see the speakers as merely persons who were tasked to perform by virtue of chance or circumstance. They could not refrain from attributing the speaker’s actions or behaviors to situation rather than to disposition (Fundamental Attribution Error, 2007).

Monday, September 16, 2019

Importance of Qualifications from an Aviation Manager’s Perspective Essay

Aviation is described as aircraft operation with the objective of providing air transportation. Air transportation can further be defined as all the civil flying which is performed by air carriers which are certificated and also the general aviation. The industry of air transport can be credited for its vital role it plays in the today’s global world. Management of the aviation industry is complex and thus it requires one to be competent so as to be able to deal with the challenges that face this industry in our modern world. In addition, the organizational and industrial overview of the air line business is also a complex task and can not be managed by a person who does not have qualifications in aviation management. One needs to have qualification in aviation management so as to make the organization to excel in the job market as well as to manage the other employees so as to improve performance of the organization (Yilmaz, 2008). To be able to manage the organization effectively, one need to understand on the quality of services that the company should produce so as to attract more customers and also he should have leadership traits which can enable him or her to control the behavior of the employees toward achievement of the organization. He should also be able to control conflicts that may be arising in the organization to make sure that workers are satisfied and thus they are working in a conducive environ Aviation industry need a management personnel who is competent so that he or she can be able evaluate the quantitative methods and applications in the organization. The personnel should be able to use the scientific management theories so as to support the situations of decision making by giving sound decisions which can help the organization to grow and even run profitably (Yilmaz, 2008). He or she should be able to use and apply various concepts in the organization such as the techniques of linear programming, the simulation methods, and the models of inventory control as well as the decision theory to ensure the organization is running efficiently. Furthermore, there is need for management personnel in the field of aviation to have knowledge about managerial accounting since it is a necessity in management. This will enable him or her to identify, accumulate, report and interpret the information about cost so as to make decision and control the general operation context (Yilmaz, 2008). It will also enable him to utilize and evaluate information supplied to him or her from accounting department. Having knowledge on managerial accounting can enable the management personnel to be able to have accounting tool which can enable him or her in determining on the performance of the organization. Aviation management personnel should be also qualified in the non profit and governmental accounting to enable him or her to be able to investigate the environment for decision making from a perspective of non-profit entity or public sector. This will enable the personnel to be able to analyze the consequences and also the regulation impact and the established pronouncements by governmental Accounting standards board, which is the comptroller of US and also the office of the general accounting for the federal. Aviation management personnel should also have knowledge on the financial management so that he can be able to have financial analysis, have measurement on the capital costs, capital management, capital budgeting, valuation and also in determining the analysis of the capital structures. A manager in the aviation industry should be competent and should be aware on the impact of the government as well as the current issues concerning aviation industry. He should be aware of this issue not particularly in the country but at a perspective of the world or globe. Aviation management personnel should be able to identify the market segment, to identify the trends that the organization must follow to achieve performance of the organization as well as identifying the developments that need to be introduced in the organization depending on the change in technological know how (Yilmaz, 2008). He should also be aware of the international standards required in the air transport industry so as to be competitive the market. Also being qualified will enable one to understand on the regulations and rules that govern air transport industry and make decisions on how to manage the operation of the organization according to such rules. The personnel should be able to forecast on the future trends and challenges using the present and the past trends of the industry so as to make the organization to be competitive in the market. There is also need of management aviation personnel to be competent so as to be able to identify the output and demand determinants in the organization as well as the labor relations. All in all, it is important for one to be qualified in aviation so as to be competent in the field of management in aviation industry. This is because one will be able to control all activities necessary in such industry so as to make it run efficiently and effectively for the growth or profitability of the organization.