Monday, September 30, 2019

Ambition & Emotions

Dr. Faustus stands at the onset of the Renaissance period and the dawn of the middle ages as he contemplates the religious drama of his time. Indeed, during those medieval times, the understanding of heaven and hell was not far removed from the conceptual understanding of the occult. The play is lined with supernatural beings, angels and demons, which might have stepped onstage to clarify a major ambition in the medieval ages, the fervent pursuit of salvation. Indeed, this type of ambition is contrasted very well in the play Dr. Faustus, by the onset of the Renaissance period and the ambitions it provides.A quick overview of the Renaissance period shows that it was also the Age of Discovery; word has just reached Europe of the existence of exotic places in the ‘New World’. This Age of Discovery is responsible for the change in focus of ambitions from the ‘otherworldly’ of the medieval ages, to the more familiar ‘worldly’ ambitions of our times. We see Faustus, although moving to embrace worldly ambitions beset by mullings of the other world. For example he asks the demon Mephistopheles, FIRST WILL I QUESTION WITH THEE ABOUT HELL. TELL ME, WHERE IS THE PLACE THAT MEN CALL HELL (5.120–135) And later, after being given an explanation, he says, COME, I THINK HELL'S A FABLE. (5. 120–135) In fact these arguments seem to capture well the transition between the middle Ages and the Renaissance period since no neat dividing line exists. As Dr. Faustus encourages his ambition to focus on the opportunities presented by this so-called Age of discovery. His single-minded concern is with luxurious silk gowns and powerful war-machines than with saving his soul. This contrast between wealth and salvation must be understood from the standpoint that Dr.Faustus intends to acquire such wealth through an ambitious carrer5 in necromancy. Indeed, black magic seems to him as the only career that can match the scope of his ambition, t he subject that can challenge his enormous intellect. Being a scholar, he has mastered the major professions of his time. Specifically he claims to have mastered Law, medicine and theology, and he finds them all dissatisfying. Dr. Faustus finds that his huge ambitions have seemingly met their match as he ponders to dig deeper into necromancy. Faustus is full of ideas for how to use the power that he seeks.He imagines piling up great wealth, but he also aspires to plumb the mysteries of the universe and to remake the map of Europe. Though they may not be entirely admirable, these plans are ambitious and inspire awe, if not sympathy. They lend a grandeur to Faustus’s schemes and make his quest for personal power seem almost heroic, a sense that is reinforced by the eloquence of his early soliloquies. Ironically, Faustus’s ambition seems to sap as he realizes the initial goal of his ambitions, to master the dark powers of black magic.This is depicted from the way he speed ily narrows his horizons once he actually gains the practically limitless power that he so desires. Now that he realizes that everything is possible to him, he trashes the grand designs that he had contemplated early on, contending himself with performing conjuring tricks for kings and noblemen and taking a strange delight in using his magic to play practical jokes on simple folks. Strange as it may seem, the realization of Faustus’s ambition makes him mediocre rather than elevating him to higher levels of grandeur.The question begs; does power corrupt Faustus or is it through power that Faustus becomes mediocre? This is because Faustus’s behavior after he sells his soul hardly rises to the level of true wickedness. Rather, gaining absolute power corrupts Faustus by making him mediocre and by transforming his boundless ambition into a meaningless delight in petty celebrity. Indeed this is a paradox since at the beginning of the play; Dr. Faustus seeks to gain more grea tness from the realization of an insatiable taste to rise above manly standards of achievement.Yet, as he gains the goal, he seems to sink lower than the basest man. Could we say that he should have been content with quelling his ambitious flames, as the medieval times’ logic seemed to encourage? Saying so will mean he learns to live with his dissatisfying and unfulfilled life, which only opens the door to more emptiness in life. Extrapolating from the fore going leads us to believe that such an ambitionless lifestyle will lead him to the very state that he is now at the end of fulfilling his quest, only he would have reached there quicker than after twenty four or so years.This state is of course, the state of being mediocre. From the fore going, it appears to me that it will be misguided to believe that Faustus is a villain. I believe that it is fitting to view him as a tragic hero, a protagonist whose character flaws lead to his downfall. THESE METAPHYSICS OF MAGICIANS, AN D NECROMANTIC BOOKS ARE HEAVENLY! (1. 40–50) This is because, even from the above quote, the logic he uses to reject religion is flawed, since it leads him to use his ambition in diabolical pursuits.This plays out slowly because initially, in Faustus’s long speech after the two angels have whispered in his ears, his rhetoric outlines the modern quest for control over nature (albeit through magic rather than through science) in glowing, inspiring language. He offers a long list of impressive goals, including the acquisition of knowledge, wealth, and political power, which he believes he will achieve once he has mastered the dark arts. These are indeed impressive ambitions that inspire wonder, to say the least. However, the actual uses to which he puts his magical powers are disappointing and tawdry.Furthermore, Faustus goes on to exhibit blindness quite unlike a man of knowledge. This blindness serves as one of his defining characteristics throughout the play, and is ar guably inspired by his ambition. He chooses to see the world, as he wants to see it rather than as it is. This shunning of reality is symbolized by his insistence that Mephistopheles, who is presumably hideous, reappear as a Franciscan friar so that he may not be terrified by the devil’s true shape [as depicted by Mephistopheles’ appearance]. Faustus even ignores Mephistopheles’ urgings to him to abandon his â€Å"frivolous demands† (3. 81).It is important to note that this so-called blind ambition of Faustus had catastrophic results. The height of which led Faustus not to even realize that he had reached the limits of his quest for knowledge. In scene six, we see the limits of the demonic gifts that Faustus has been given begin to emerge. He is given the gift of knowledge, and Mephistopheles willingly tells him the secrets of astronomy, but when Faustus asks who created the world, Mephistopheles refuses to answer. Faustus does not realize that this is th e first occasion that the demon has been unable to divulge to him the knowledge he so dearly aspires to gain.I believe that if faustus had not been blindly ambitious but kept his head as he did when he mastered the knowledge of Law, Theology and Medicine, then his ambition would have led him to the following realization: that all the worldly knowledge that he has so strongly desired points inexorably upward, toward God. As it is, of course, he is completely detached from God to the point of being an atheist. This detachment started awhile back when he misread the New Testament to say that anyone who sins will be damned eternally—ignoring the verses that offer the hope of repentance.Even when he sees Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Mephistopheles appear to him and becomes suddenly afraid exclaiming, â€Å"O Faustus, they are come to fetch thy soul! † (5. 264), Faustus still decides against repenting. This behavior is attributed to the bad angel and Mephistopheles who makes him believe that it is already too late for him, a conviction that persists throughout the play. This fact is seen at the end of his days when he says, SWEET HELEN, MAKE ME IMMORTAL WITH A KISS: HER LIPS SUCKS FORTH MY SOUL, SEE WHERE IT FLIES! (12. 81–87) At this point, he has realized the terrible nature of the bargain he has made.Despite his sense of foreboding, Faustus enjoys his powers, as the delight he takes in conjuring up Helen makes clear. Faustus continues to display the same blind spots and wishful thinking in that he seeks heavenly grace in Helen’s lips, which can, at best, offer only earthly pleasure. â€Å"Make me immortal with a kiss,† he cries, even as he continues to keep his back turned to his only hope for escaping damnation namely, repentance. In conclusion, Scholar R. M. Dawkins famously remarked that Doctor Faustus tells â€Å"the story of a Renaissance man who had to pay the medieval price for being one.† While slightly simplistic, thi s quotation does get at the heart of one of the play’s central themes: the clash between the medieval world and the world of the emerging Renaissance. To Faustus, his ambitions for power worked as a corrupting influence to him so that although early in the play, before he agrees to the pact with Lucifer, Faustus is full of ideas of how to use the power that he seeks, he later uses this limitless power to achieve rather vain exploits and finally earn himself eternal damnation References: http://www. sparknotes. com/lit/doctorfaustus/themes. html

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Comparison Matrix Essay

Within the comparison matrix, the author will provide information from three empirical articles. The articles were titled, Transformational Leadership in the Public Sector: Does Structure Matter? (Pandey and Wright, 2009), The Effect of Transactional and Transformational Leadership Styles on the Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction of Customer Contact Personnel (Barker and Emory, 2007), and Empirical Research on Ethnic Minority Students: 1995–2009 (Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. , Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P. L. , 2011). The first article provides information on the public sector, and the transformational style of administration. It shows that there is no true influence on the behavior of management (Pandey and Wright, 2009). Within the second article was not only discussion on the transformational style of leadership, but transactional leadership as well. This article offered a comparison of the two styles and the impact on performance and satisfaction while on the job (Barker and Emory, 2007). Lastly, the third article focused on actual empirical research and the effect it has on minorities. It covered a fifteen-year span (Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P. L. , 2011). This essay is meant to review the specific areas that were exhibited in the matrix in order to gain a better understanding of how to compile and complete a substantive comparison with realistic and verifiable information. While reading the essay the following comparisons will be covered, research questions posed, sample populations, and the limitations of the research. Comparison of research questions All of the articles present supported questions. In the first article, the author raised the question of the public and transformational leadership. It mentioned that a transformational leadership that is structured at a high level may have the ability to alter the way an employee performs. The makeup of an organization operating under Transactional leadership can influence the amount of rewards given to individuals. Additionally, the weakness of communication can influence behavior as it pertains to transformational leadership (Pandey and Wright, 2009). Meanwhile, the research conducted in the second article asked for the association when dealing with the attitude, satisfaction, and commitment of employees. It asks for the affiliation between two surrogates of employee attitude types. In addition to this, it speaks on the dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership and how they assist with defining and examining the actual impact on the attitude of the employee. Lastly, the affiliation between positive employee attitudes and transformational and transactional leadership. Respectable directors inspire and motivate employee groups to unearth an innovative way of doing something (Barker and Emory, 2007). The last article is not about leadership styles, but the effect of research and minorities. The article identified and counted the number of published empirical articles in each of the issues reviewed. Additionally, it identified articles by using four categories to narrow the data identified, and lastly the methodological characteristics of the articles (Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. , Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P. L. , 2011). Comparison of the Sample Populations Each of the populations varied in size and format. Article one used 1,322 high-level public administrators in municipalities exceeding 50,000 residents (Pandey and Wright, 2009). Whereas article two, used 77 branch managers from three regional banking organizations and 47 store managers from one national food chain(Barker and Emory, 2007). Lastly, article 3 used four specific journals which circulate principal research pertaining to special education and those with a learning disabilities, and used a specific time frame from 1995-2009 (Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. , Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P. L. , 2011). This clearly shows that one can use multiple means and respondents in order to compile information as long as it can be proven at the conclusion of the research. Comparison of the Limitations When looking at any form of research the limitations must be taken into account. As it pertains to article one, a limitation may be that the typical age of those who responded was fifty years old. In addition, the fact that they were generally Caucasian, which may cause bias, was another. Ironically, a lot of areas in which the study was conducted, only had three individuals respond, this may not be symbolic of the thoughts of other direct statements. Moreover, a condensed number of inquiries were used to assist with minimizing the size of the actual survey; this may have caused false identification of leaders who were transformational (Pandey and Wright, 2009). In article two, one limitation may be gender bias. There were less females then males in the study. In addition, males may act differently towards female managers and females may act differently towards male managers (Barker and Emory, 2007). Finally, the third articles limitations are the fact that there are multiple students who are assisting with the study, and that each student must participate without individual bias (Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. , Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P. L. , 2011). Conclusion Contained in the comparison matrix were characteristics of three investigations conducted by various researchers. Pandey and Wright suggest that public organizations are not as bureaucratic as stereotypically believed and that the performance measures in place support higher levels of transformational leadership in these organizations than might be expected based on their hierarchical structures. The argument is plausible established on the necessity for groups to be flexible in order to be motivated (Pandey and Wright, 2009). Barker and Emory, 2007, suggested that a key influence in customer service and the retaining staff members is the actual attitude of those who are employed. The way in which the staff portrays the leadership will determine their commitment and positive outlook. The author builds a conceivable argument based on the association of commitment on as it pertains to the organization, and satisfaction of both customers and employees (Barker and Emory, 2007). Lastly, Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. , Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P.  L. classified how frequently research conveys and disaggregates statistics in a manner that would back conclusions about certain ethnic minority groupings. The authors suggest that education should be recognized as being twofold. They feel that instructors must afford students with basic understanding and skill sets which are necessary to in order to benefit from accelerated opportunities in education. Furthermore, the authors suggest that instructors must prepare students to meet life’s challenges and have the ability to actively contribute to our society. The authors build a conceivable argument based on the need for educators to ensure that every student has the chance to succeed in school, despite locality, gender, race, socioeconomic status, or disability(Vasquez III, E. , Lopez, A. , Straub, C. , Powell, S. , McKinney, T. , Walker, Z. , and Bedesem, P. L. , 2011). Based on all of the research shown there is a true need for confidence, inspiration, and presentation of a true understanding of the data being collected and delivered. The data that is revealed may determine the actual thoughts of the reader. All research should be valid and unbiased.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Analysis Of The Royal Dutch Shell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Analysis Of The Royal Dutch Shell - Essay Example The cases of oil spillage are the serious issue and also the shift of the consumers demand towards cleaner technologies to reduce pollution is a serious problem. In terms of opportunities, Shell is innovating newer technologies and low carbon solutions so as to ensure product standard and the cleaner environment. The company has been benefitted by the rise in the global demand for the Liquefied Natural Gas and therefore, there is an opportunity to expand in other economies. The threats faced by Shell are mainly oil price fluctuations in the global market, high competition, product substitution and stringent governmental rules and regulations regarding environmental concerns. 1.2. Operational strategies. The successful performance of a company depends on the organization structure, its external and internal environment. Shell has its own service stations, wide market, and transport and trade network, energy-efficient technologies for production like solar panels. The company also work s with collaboration with government, society, and industry which enables them to provide best quality products and services (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). 2.0. Social and Ethical Issues for Evaluation of Economic Impact There are certain social and ethical factors that are needed to be emphasized because they have been known environmental activists for their mistakes. There are constant questions regarding the use of the technologies used by Shell and whether they are environmentally friendly or not.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance - Assignment Example One should consider the following primary risk of buying stock on margin; enlarged losses due to amplified leverage. This happens when one experience a loss. He is accountable for repaying the money rented plus the interest on top of the loss when there is increased leverage. The second risk is maintenance call. It requires maintaining of a smallest amount equality level in the form of cash. When sustenance condition fails, a preservation call will be issued that requires one to sell securities, put down cash, among others, until the account meet the minimum equity requirement (Zweig, 2012). The necessities for the early acquiring of securities using rented assets are characteristically higher than the maintenance necessities. Apart from fed calls, one should also consider forced bankruptcy and finally the margin interest which one is required for repaying the interest on his/her margin loan regardless of any changes in interest that occurred during the time you loan was outstanding. They include; liquidity ratios. This type of ration is used to measure the ability of cash to pay debt. Activity ratios, measures the firm’s ability to repay long–term debt. Productivity ratios measures the firm’s usage of its benefit and control of its expenses to make a satisfactory rate of return and finally market ratios, which measures inventors’ reply to possessing a firm’s stock and also the price of issuing stock. These are also concerned with the return on investment for shareholders and with relationship between return and the worth of an investment in the company’s shares (Zweig, 2012). The difference is that the company using debts as leverage will prosper faster than an individual using margin in that, the company will enjoy the appreciation of the assets over time than an individual who borrows money to cover the risks. The other difference is that debts as leverage is used in mainly investment, but the margin is mainly applied to cover

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Entrepreneurship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example 2. Business idea. To put up a company to be engaged in providing health care services, sell health beauty products and provide therapeutic relaxation thru the establishment of a Turkish bath, sauna and spa in UK. 3. Business name and Business structure. Business name and structure will have to be registered with proper authorities before it could start operations. A big fine and penalty will be slapped to owner for failure to register. Tentative name of MT Wellness will be registered for availability of trade name. If no one uses the name, then it will be registered and nobody can use that name while it is in operation. If necessary, a trade mark can be registered. Business should be registered in the locality where business will operate and another registration is needed if it will have a branch in other state. 4. Finance structure. Capital is required in starting a business and this could come from borrowing, bank loans, financing from friends and family, commercial mortgages and money coming from the owner. A study should be done to come up with an appropriate loan package for the business proposal. 5. Management. The business calls for hiring qualified people to help owner run the company. There are several processes required in selection and hiring of employees. Owner should have a right mix of people qualified for employment in the business. Owner needs to determine the following: Company will keep products on top of the line and look for new and innovative products and services to satisfy customers, first by keeping subscription on trade magazine for trends both local and abroad. Look for new inventions that can be used by the company. 9.2 Advertising. On line selling and marketing is one way of advertising the products and services of the company. Company should get help of advertising experts for the design to make it attractive. 9.4 Pricing. There is a need to come up with the correct strategy of

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Resume Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 22

Resume - Essay Example I also possess laboratory safety skills and protective techniques. I have substantial skills that enable me to perform Online and print research that manifest in academic scientific publications and medical journals. I also have wide knowledge on the findings of other researchers that reference their studies on Genetics chemistry and Cell biology. In have strong analytical skills to interpret my test results and the findings of other researchers. I am also familiar with the DNA analytical tools, DNA sequencing, DNA extraction, and all statistics that relate to Genetic studies. I have the skills that enable me to carryout long-term observations in my research projects. I have relevant skills to record the results and operate the gene imaging software. More so, I am familiar with fundamental computer package that include MS Word, Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint, and Excel, which were significant in the presentation of my research results. I have strong organizational skills and recommendable interpersonal communication skills. I also have the ability to interact with others both orally and in writing. Moreover, I can work independently and as part of a research team. I have been preparing equipment and supplies for lab instruction. I also assist fellow students in addressing various laboratory queries. I have been a Teaching Assistant for Cell Biology Lab and Genetics Laboratory for about six

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Customer Relationship Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Customer Relationship Management - Essay Example The paper tells that privacy refers to a state of personal information being kept free from unsanctioned intrusion. It is concerned with the handling and protection of personal information that is sensitive. Individuals often give such information in the course of everyday business. On the other hand, data security is a means of ensuring that personal data is kept safe from corruption and access suitably managed and controlled. The differences between privacy and data security are important in handling customer information. This is the reason many organizations have staff responsible for data security totally separated from those in charge of privacy. The differences will ensure that the company responsibly uses customer data to avoid legal suits related to misuse of customer information. It will also help in building customer trust. Building customer trust is vital for the company’s success. This is because it has the impact of building or breaking customer loyalty with the c ompany. For this reason, customers prefer that their private information be kept secret, only being disclosed to authorized persons under their consent. It is, therefore, important that the company maintain both data privacy and security. Customers mainly trust those companies that they believe maintain a high degree of privacy and security of their information. However, companies that do not maintain security and privacy of customer’s data may not be able to ensure customers’ trust. This in most cases resulted in legal action by customers who feels aggrieved by leakage of their personal information... Selladurai, (n.d) notes that companies that apply mass customization realized many positive outcomes. The advantages they attribute to the fact that mass customization increased their market share, customer satisfaction, expanded customer knowledge, and reduced their order response time. Others reported reduced manufacturing cost, which resulted in increased profits. Customers benefit from the fact that they are reasonably priced, and products are manufactured in accordance with their personal preferences and specifications. Disadvantages of Mass Customization Companies that practice mass customization reported a number of disadvantages. Most notable one is the fact that it increases the cost of production. This is due to the use of premium cost that the manufacturing system incurs for factoring in the flexibility of customization, and for sacrificing a certain degree of cost efficiency that is associated with standardization. Mass customization also lowers on time delivery to the cu stomers. It lowers supplier delivery performance due to uncertainty in customer specification, which result in increased order response time. The method may also result in low product quality. On the customer’s point of view, mass customization result in increased lay over time. This makes the product take longer to reach them. Customers are also not given a chance to return a customized product in case they are unsatisfied with the quality (Selladurai, n.d). Types of Mass Customization Component Sharing Modularity Mass Customization In this case, component swapping modularity is used to customize products by reusing a functional module across a variety of products. It can be a single motor across the power tools or in case

Monday, September 23, 2019

The impact of service recovery on customer satisfaction, loyalty and Literature review

The impact of service recovery on customer satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth - Literature review Example This essay discusses that service quality in the hospitality industry and hotels specifically has been an area of great research interest. Research has shown importance of service quality. Parsuraman et al. indicated that service quality of hotels is both a significant differentiator and the most aggressive weapon possessed by them. Leading organizations in the hotel industry ensure to put up a high level of service quality over their competitors for over large durations of time. The relationship between service quality and customer loyalty has been of great interest. Researchers have also investigated the relationship between customer loyalty and the complaints received from the customer. Heskett et al. define customer loyalty as repeated purchasing by the same customer and their willingness to recommend the product/service to other customers without any outright benefits. High customer loyalty is beneficial to the organization as it reduces the firms’ marketing costs and inc reases its market share. There can be various reasons of a customer being loyal to a hotel. While some might be loyal because of lack of options, others might face the problem of high cost of switching. Wong and Sohal in their research found that there is a positive relationship between service quality and customer loyalty in the retail trade. Researchers have concluded that service quality is positively related to behavioural outcomes including word-of-mouth, complaints, recommendations and loyalty. Measurement of the service quality expectations of service organizations is primarily done by using the tool SERVQUAL or its variants. Babakus & Boller (1992) and Carman (1990) found that amongst the hotel customers, the most important service quality dimensions are: assurance, reliability and tangibles. Many further studies (Saleh & Ryan, 1999; Fick & Ritchie, 1991) suggested the absence of any significant differences among the rankings of any of the five dimensions. The application of Servqual to two fine dining restaurants revealed the emergence of assurance, and reliability as importance expectations of the customers, and tangibles as the least important (Lee & Hing, 1995). Gabbie and O’Neill (1997) in their research in the hotel sector found that reliability and assurance were the most important

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Intelligence Case Essay Example for Free

Intelligence Case Essay In the traditional view of China, people think intelligence is a person with high IQ and could get high score at the intelligence test. However, this should be the biggest misunderstanding at all. A person who can get high grade at the test may just be good at the test, and it can never prove the person is intelligence in every field of life. Intelligence is a word to describe a person who is wise. According to my understanding, intelligence includes much more than smart. I think intelligence is a kind of ability or wisdom a person get as long as he/she grow older. Within the settling of time, people can learn more and more from life experience or other people. There are some natural born intelligence, but not all. According to Howard Gardner, â€Å"[intelligence] is an inborn attribute or faculty of the individual† (Howard, 109). Apparently, this quote give a clear explains of where intelligence came from. Gardner gave 7 different intelligences to improve his idea which I could not agree with him at all. Based on my own experience and growing environment, I should say intelligence is a kind of ability to learn, and we can become intelligence if we worked hard on those specific fields. When I was I young boy, I couldn’t speak clearly. It was an natural thing and the doctor from the hospital said that I will become mute within as time goes on. My mother was really sad about it and kept crying everyday about this. However, my father never gave up on me. He started training me after the doctor told the bad news when I was only 3 years old. At the beginning, it was really hard. I could not say even a single word as normal kids. My father forced me to bite a leaf over my tongue, and keep saying simple word like â€Å"a†, â€Å"yi† etc. I was wearing an earphone on my ear every day and could not take it off without my father’s permission. After about 3 years, at the age of elementary time, I could speak, even its still not clear enough. My father kept working hard with me, and I could speak like a normal person until I got 10. My experience told me that I may not have the linguistic talent as others, but I could speak Chinese, Japanese and English now. Intelligence can be trained as other skill. My father is my example of intelligence. When my father was graduated from high school, he was arranged to a bank by my grand-father. However, he had a slightly autism at the time. He was afraid of talking to others. But at that time, no one in China mentioned that and no one understand it’s a kind of psychological disease. My father was afraid of almost everything in the world, including my grandparents. Therefore, he never told my grandparents about it. He decided to work it out by himself. He had to speak to others and saved his job as a normal worker. He went to public place at spare time. It was really hard for him to talk to people at first. He could only stand around people and watching them doing their things. He’d ran away when somebody tried to talk to him. However, he just kept going there, he tried more and more, he practiced in front of the mirror and imagined he was talking to someone who he can make friends with. After 3 months of trying, he succeed. Another 3 years later, he met my mother and married her. And now, he ran one of the biggest hotel in my hometown and several other kinds of business. He had meetings with his employees every day and became a successful person at the interpersonal field. My father might not have the interpersonal talent, but he had the interpersonal intelligence for sure. Some intelligences were born naturally. However, people can be intelligence at the field they don’t have talent at by working hard on it. I’d love to be intelligence and I will keep trying to be intelligence at as much field as I can.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Easy Honey Hair Care Essay Example for Free

Easy Honey Hair Care Essay Let me start at the beginning. This past year, I’ve been on a crazy hippie journey to eliminate toxic products from my life. Now, I’m excited to say that all of my body care items are homemade and non toxic. This includes: toothpaste, deodorant, body moisturizer (a blend of coconut oil, emu oil and essential oils), facial oil, and facial toner. I tried numerous types of DIY shampoos, including the no ‘poo method, but I was never happy. They irritated my scalp or dried out my hair. As a matter of fact, the no ‘poo method (baking soda + vinegar hair care) actually damages hair! Why Wash Hair with Honey Shampoo I’ve been washing my hair with this DIY honey shampoo for the past month and I LOVE the results! First, my embarrassing and persistent dandruff is clearing up. My hair is soft, shiny and it has become even more curly/wavy than usual. Finally, it is significantly less frizzy and I have no need to use an anti-frizz product. My scalp’s oil production has normalized and I can go 4 days between hair washing. The pH of the scalp is between 4 and 7, and the pH of honey is about 4. The slightly acidic nature of the honey balances the scalp and fights dandruff Raw honey is naturally antibacterial and antifungal, so honey washing can help treat a bacterial/fungal issues on the scalp Honey won’t strip the scalp and hair of the protective oils. As a result, hair will be less oily over time because the scalp will stop over-comensating with oil production (which happens when shampoos strip the scalp of all oils) Honey moisturizes the hair, and, since it doesn’t strip the hair of natural oils, hair will be softer with less frizz You will be able to go longer and longer between washings as your scalps oil production normalizes. Now, I only need to wash my hair every 4 days (and I’ve even gone a week between washing)! Honey washing is easy and fast! DIY Honey Shampoo Use only raw honey. Regular honey is processed with damaging levels of heat and is actually cut with corn syrup. I recommend making it on a â€Å"single serving† basis, so just mix up a little bowl of the shampoo before you plan to use it. Here’s the basic ratio, but you can adjust it as desired: 1 Tbs. raw honey and 3 Tbs. filtered water. If necessary, slightly heat the mixture over very low heat to help dissolve the honey. Yes, this is really watery†¦ that is how it is supposed to be. If desired, add a few drops of essential oil. To the mixture above, I add about 2 drops of lavender essential oil, 2 drops of rosemary oil, and 2 drops of carrot seed oil. The essential oils add a light fragrance and also help with any flaky scalp issues. The carrot seed oil, especially, is very nourishing to the hair. Wet hair, then massage a few tablespoons of the honey shampoo on the scalp. Massage well to distribute over the scalp. Don’t worry about getting the mixture on the ends of the hair, just the scalp area. Rinse well. No need to follow with any conditioner. How to store the honey shampoo UPDATE: I had one reader tell me her shampoo grew mold after one week. I have not had this happen to me, but I don’t want anyone else to have this experience. That is why I have updated the post suggesting that you make it as you need it. It’s super quick to mix together right before you wash your hair. Dun dun dun†¦ The Transition Period Nobody likes the term â€Å"transition period† but I have to mention it. When you switch from any type of sudsing shampoo (which is very stripping and drying to hair) to honey washing, your hair will probably be oily and dull after the first couple times of honey washing. It may even take a month or two for your scalp oil production to normalize when you switch from regular shampoo to honey washing. So for the first week, you may need to honey wash every day. Then you will find you can go every other day, then every second day, etc. Updates and FAQs After this post clocked in at the 350 comments mark in early September, I figured it was time for a follow-up. In my Honey Shampoo: Updates and FAQs post, I address some common questions and explain my new hair care routine. I also give a couple of tips to make the transition period easier. Finally, I explain that natural hair care varies greatly from person to person and offer some other non-shampoo options to try if you don’t like Honey Shampoo.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Largest Tea Manufacturing Company In India Marketing Essay

The Largest Tea Manufacturing Company In India Marketing Essay Tata Tea, one of the important group companies of Tata group, is the largest tea manufacturing company in India by volume and currently holds second position as company representing tea operations in global market. The company used the policy of acquisition, joint-venture and sustainability as their key strategies for global growth. During their journey in achieving their milestone in global market, Tata tea faced many political, social, economical and technological issues. For example acquisition of Tetley-UK was the most challenging one as it landed Tata tea into short term debt. But the adoption of firm policies and financial restructuring helped Tata tea to regain their momentum and now it is the second largest company representing tea operations in global tea market. Tata Group, established in 1868 in India, comprises of 7 business sectors namely communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Each enterprise operates independently and has their own board of directors and shareholders. The revenue for Tata group in financial year 2008-09 is $62.5 billion with a profit of $5.4 billion and 64.7 % of revenue coming from foreign market. Tata group employ around 357,000 people worldwide and has established great reputation in India for 140 years by sticking to its strong values and business ethics. They have 27 publicly listed Tata enterprises with combined market capitalisation of $60 billion, and a shareholder base of 3.5 million. Tata group has operations in 85 countries and its products and services are exported to 80 nations. The major companies of Tata Group are Tata Tea, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Steel, Indian Hotels and Ta ta Communications. Tata Tea Limited was formed in 1983 from the formerly Tata Finlay Company, a collaborated company formed in 1964. It is amongst the group company of Tata group that produces 5 major brands of tea and holds the 2nd position in domestic tea business in India. It acquired Tetley Group in year 2000 and became the second largest branded tea producer globally with its goods presence in more than 40 countries. The operations of Tata Tea and its subsidiaries focus on quality product with significant presence in plantation activity in Sri Lanka and India. The global tea business of the Tata Tea group contributes around 86% of the overall business with the remaining 14% coming from coffee, bulk tea and investment income. Tata Tea Limited is headquartered at Kolkata and owns 27 tea estates in eastern and southern India. Importance of Tata tea in Tata group Importance of Tata tea can be determined by analysing the BCG Matrix of Tata Group in Figure1 Figure 1: BCG Matrix Source: (Abhinav-Parakh-Pdf) From the overall Tata group, Tata tea and two more Tata enterprises has been allotted a star status. Star status is given to those enterprises that are the market leader in their own product field. For example Tata Tea brand leads market share in terms of capacity and value in India and has been complemented Super Brand recognition in the country. Moreover all the star industries have growth rate above 12%. And to maintain the growth rate the industries has spend large amount of money in their respective sectors. For example Tata Motors has invested in various projects such as Nano project, etc. Also Tata tea did invested lot of money in preserving its image by investing in jaago re campaign. Furthermore, Tata tea is contributing 9% of overall profit of Tata group. (Abhinav -Parakh-Pdf) Strategies for global growth-Tata tea Tata teas global strategy is to become the market leader in tea production in India, increase its reach in the global market and end up being the global tea market leader where Unilever is currently positioned. For this the company has adopted the approach of forming subsidiaries and entering into alliances in countries that have considerable amount of presence in the tea market both form consumer as well as producer side. History of the acquisitions and joint ventures formed by Tata tea are listed in Table1. (Tata Tea limited-pdf) Table1:-History of acquisitions and joint ventures of Tata tea Limited Entity Year of information Status Role Tata Tea, Inc, USA 1987 100 per cent subsidiary To process and market instant tea from its facility in Florida, based on sourcing of products from facility at Munnar Consolidated Coffee Ltd (Tata Coffee Ltd) 1991 Acquisition of 52.5 per cent stake To diversify into coffee via a company which was Asias largest seller of coffee Estate Management Services (P) Limited, Sri Lanka 1992 Joint venture To manage 22 plantation companies involved in tea, rubber, coconut and palm oil, that were privatised by the Sri Lankan government Tata Tetley, India(merged with Tata Tea with effect from April 1, 2005) 1993 100 per cent subsidiary Kochi-based EOU that services the branded business of specific Tetley and Tata Tea markets outside India Asian Coffee Ltd (later merged with Tata Coffee) 1995 Acquisition of 55 percent stake To get into selling instant coffee globally. Watawala Plantations Limited, Sri Lanka 1996 Acquisition of 49 per cent stake thourgh EMSPL Production and marketing of tea, oil palm and rubber in Sri Lanka Tata Tea (GB) Limited 2000 100 per cent subsidiary Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) established for the acquisition of Tetley, UK Tetley Clover Pvt Ltd., Pakistan 2003 50:50 joint venture of Tetley with Lakson group in Pakistan To import and sell tea in Pakistan as well as build a tea blending factory in Baluchistan Tetley ACI, Bangladesh 2003 50:50 joint venture of Tetley with Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) in Bangladesh To distribute Tetleys products in Bangladesh Good Earth, USA 2005 Acquisition of 100 per cent stake by Tetley Establish Presence in the US and acquisition of strong product portfolio Jemca, Czech Republic 2006 Acquisition of 100 per cent stake by Tetley Market Leadership in Czech republic with a product portfolio which goes across both mainstream and speciality 8 O Clock Coffee, USA 2006 Acquisition of more than 50 percent stake, along with Tata Coffee and Tata Enterprises Overseas To help establish global presence in coffee and facilitate movement up the value chain Glaceau, USA 2006 30 per cent minority stake along with Tata Sons Presence in unfolding crossover space of the beverages market through enhanced water Year of Source: Tata Tea limited-pdf Amongst all that are listed in table1, the acquisition of Tetley, UK was the most beneficial and also challenging for Tata tea. 4.1 Case Study:-Acquisition of Tetley by Tata Tea 4.1.1 Introduction Tata Tea acquired Tetley from the venture capital investors in February 2000. For this Tata Tea competed with Sara Lee to acquire Tetley, completing its own initial public offering. The acquisition was important for Tata tea because its competitor Hindustan Levers Limited, subsidiary of Unilever was gaining market share and overall growth rate of tea market in India had slowed down at that moment. Before the acquisition, some of the important statistics of both the companies are shown in Table 2. Table 2: Comparison of Tata Tea and Tetley before acquisition (31/3/00)-(31/3/01) Tata Tea Tetley Turnover $207 million $417 million Employees 59,740 1,100 Operating profit $36 million $42.6 million Key markets India Britain, Canada, US, Australia Tea estates 54 0 Source: A Partnership Brewing, Far Eastern Economic Review (May 17, 2001)/ Darden Business Publishing, University of Virginia, Tata tea Ltd and Tetley, plc (A) As shown in Table 2, Tata Teas motivation to acquire Tetley was that it provided Tata Tea, to access the market of US, Canada, Europe and Australia. Tata Tea also hoped to earn important marketing and packaging expertise from Tetley. Some of the expected advantages of acquisition were Technology: Tetley would provide Tata tea access to unique products such as flavoured tea, herbal tea and organic tea. This introduction could be a functional addition at the top end of the Indian market. Brands: Tata tea could help launch the Tetley brand in India, Middle East and Russia, traditional bastions of Tata tea. Cost synergies: Both companies could together relocate manufacturing of tea and take advantage of global supply chain approach and shared platform for InfoTech and finance function. While geographical spread of operations can be a constraint of moving people around, but it was expected that virtual teams using information technology, could work together without physically travelling across country boundaries. InfoTech: the acquisition can help Tata Tea to improve InfoTech infrastructure and improve connectivity to distant plantation and adopting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to create a global supply chain based on Tetleys SAP-based ERP solution. 4.1.2 Challenges for Tata Tea after acquisition Tata Tea acquired Tetley group for  £271 million and it was clear that Tata Tea paid too much for Tetley as it was  £100 million more than the next highest bid. After acquisition Tata tea hoped to cover the debt created by leveraged buyout, but during that period many factors such as deteriorating financial performance of Tetley ( £29 million in 1999), increasing raw material prices, great demand of substitutes of tea such as coffee, juices and soda and pressure to generate increase cash flow created pressure and conflict internally at Tata tea and between the two organisation. Some of the challenges Tata tea has to come across are: Tata tea was half the size of Tetley in terms of revenue and number of upper management and so it feared a domination of Tetleys corporate culture. Dealing with diverse skill set, working Culture of employee and objectives of both the organisation. Financial constraints such as legal and capital control in India that made the listing of Tetley shares in India unattractive. Problem arising with integration of processes of both the companies to accomplish supply chain. As it is a leveraged acquisition, there is always a problem of bank coming in between and enforcing constraints in operations carried out by both the companies. There is a great deal of concern of how British employees would react to Indian manager as India was a part of former British Colony. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=907952 4.1.3 Tata Tea Market after Acquisition The market of Tata tea suffered a lot after the acquisition as it experienced disaster financial performance. The companys overall sales was dropped by 8.3% and reached Rs 621.58 crore from Rs 677.86 crore. Also operating profit was dropped down by 19.37% and reached Rs 121.43 crore from Rs 150.60 crore. Market share price considerably dropped within a year as shown in Figure2. (THE HINDU group of publications, Sunday, April 15, 2001) Figure2: Share value of Tata tea in 2000-01 crisis after acquisition of Tetley group http://www.hinduonnet.com/businessline/iw/2001/04/15/images/15b053c1.jpg Source: THE HINDU group of publications, Sunday, April 15, 2001 4.1.4 Factors fuelling Tata Teas global initiatives Though the acquisition of Tetley was seen negatively by the market for the next 3 years, Tata tea cautiously chose the approach of integrating the processes and exploring synergies between the two companies with absence of any time pressure, while maintaining operational independence. For this, the overall emphasis was on growth rather than cost reduction. Also a structure that supports joint working in several areas was adopted. A thoughtful process was adopted for integrating the two companies with some of the highlight being: Identification of common belief: An international consulting firm was commissioned to identify the common belief between the two companies and suggest ways to bring them closer. Creation of structure: A strong culture was developed to create a group that includes steering committee, their task forces and managers of both the companies. Refinement of structure: Tata Tea adopted the hierarchical structure and assigned responsibilities to every level from top to bottom as shown in figure2. Figure 2: Refinement of Tata Tea organisational structure after acquisition Source: Tata Tea limited-pdf Implications that both companies has gone through after merging are described in table3. Table3:- Merger implications Merger implication Tata tea- pre acquisition Tetley -pre acquisition Consolidated-post acquisition Global footprint Domestic operations in India UK and USA were the major market Global presence Increased outsourcing Produced 95% of the tea requirements in-house Outsourced entire requirement from 35 countries 70% of the Tata teas requirement are outsourced from 20 countries, thus reducing risk associated with fluctuation in production Value chain positioning 40% turnover came from tea packet/tea bags 100% turnover came from tea packet/tea bags 84%of turnover came from tea packet/tea bags Source: Tata Tea limited-pdf End of case study Apart from all the acquisitions, Tata tea has adopted the policy of Sustainability as their key business strategy, which addresses many socio-economical and environmental issues that have the potential to increase competitive advantages in the business, if addressed effectively. Some of the global values that Tata tea has adopted are: Consumer focused: Consider consumer as their heartbeat Change management: Adapting to changes by going beyond the ways of doing things. Motivation: Encourage employees to innovate in what they do and take up challenges Sustainability: Use of ethical conducts in business implications Playfully professional: Encourage employees to make organisation as a personal space by improving the working condition. (Sustainability Report, 2008-09) 4.2 Financial Analysis In order to support all the acquisitions and joint venture listed in table 1, Tata Tea has actively followed operational and financial restructuring. The effect of this is evident from the combined financial results of the company. That is though the sales between 2003 and 2005 remained flat, the operating margin did improved from 14.1% to 18%. Since the acquisition of Tetley the company have taken initiatives such as strict cost control and quality improvement with the help of its RD centres in order to improve its operational performance. As a result of these initiatives, Tata Tea was successfully able to lower its high cost debt of gearing 2.2 in year 2002 to gearing 1.1 in year 2005. Also there was a significant improvement in Tetley Groups cash flow which helped the company to invest more behind its brand globally, launch new products and merge its market share in key geographies. (Tata Tea limited-pdf) 4.2.1 Financial restructuring done by Tata Tea Tata tea changed their orientation from producing tea company to selling tea company as they realised that the level of profit can be increased by selling high quality branded tea products rather than owning plantation. To execute their restructuring process, Tata tea decreased its total wage payment by 12.5%, provident fund payment by 43% and welfare payment by 40%. Also Tata tea also reduced its employee strength from 58,888 workers to 34,596 workers as shown in Figure 3 Figure3: Tata tea directly employed work-force, 1999-2007 Source: Tata Tea Annual Report (various), IFC Current Positioning of Tata Tea After the financial collapse in the year 2000, Tata Tea is now moving forward toward the growth. Currently share value of Tata tea has moved up to Rs 700 per share as shown in Figure4 Figure 4: Share value of Tata tea (2008-09) http://www.blonnet.com/2009/05/25/images/2009052551110401.jpg Source: Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications, Monday, May 25, 2009 Tata tea exceeded its performance with a volume share of 19.2% as compared to its competitors 18.6% and acquired the leadership position with respect to volume share of packet tea segment in India as shown in Table 4 Source: http://www.tatatea.com/TATA_TEA_TAKES_OVER_THE_NO_1_POSITON_IN_VOLUME_TERMS.doc Tata tea has been ranked as the most trusted beverage brand in India (The Economic Times, 2007) The companys marketing strategy of focusing on continuous innovation in all direction of brand marketing and sales, has helped Tata Tea to achieve excellent growth in recent years (Ms Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director-Marketing, Tata tea Limited). All products of Tata Tea such as Tata tea premium, Tata tea gold, Tata tea Agni, Tetley green tea and Tata tea life are being well received by the consumer and hence experience great success. Future plans As mature markets such as USA, UK and Canada are changing and with the declination of black tea products, Tata tea Limited are now concentrating on sectors that are growing rapidly such as fruit and herbal infusion, green tea and many more. The company has been structuring its business in these high value sectors by supporting key products, responding to changing consumer needs by introducing new products and making acquisition. Recently Tata tea is looking for joint venture with a China based company Zhejiang Tea import and export to manufacture and market green tea extracts, liquid tea concentrates, cold and hot water soluble instant tea and other value added tea beverages (Tata Tea limited-pdf). Also the company entered the Russian market through joint venture with European bank of reconstruction and development to obtain the hydration opportunities in the Russian market (Sustainability Report 2008-09). Conclusion Tata teas overall success was much depended on its strategies in the critical time. Though acquisition of Tetley-UK was analyzed as a negative move at that particular time i.e. in the year 2000, Tata tea overlooked the acquisition as an opportunity to compete in global tea market. Apart from use of some firm strategies, other key factors that played a crucial role in Tata teas global success are Use of right strategy at the right time Use of wait and watch approach during critical time Establishment of understanding between Tata tea and Tetley-UK It is said that use of high risk results in two ways in business. If the risk doesnt work the company can go to ground of debt. But if the risk works, the company can experience success like never before and thats what happened to Tata tea. References Abhinav-Parakh (Pdf file) [online] Available http://www.scribd.com/doc/24386829/Abhinav-Parakh (4/01/2010, 14:40) Darden business publishing-University of Virginia, Tata tea Ltd and Tetley, plc (A) [online] Available http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=907952 (5/01/2010, 21:08) Sustainability Report, 2008-09 (pdf file) [online] Available http://www.tatatea.com/TataTea_Sustainability_Report_2008-09.pdf (12/01/2010, 19:03) Tata tea limited (Pdf file) [online] Available http://www.ibef.org/download/Tata_Tea_Limited.pdf (5/01/2010, 23:08)

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Grapes Of Wrath In Times Of De :: essays research papers

“The Grapes of Wrath: In Times of Despair';   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If one was to examine the three characters, Tom, Ma, and Pa Joad from John Steinback’s The Grapes of Wrath. How would we figure out what astrological signs they were born under, as taken from their actions and attitudes in the novel? What certain qualities do they possess, that make them fit there Zodiac sign?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tom Joad, a hard stubborn man, who has served time in prison for murder. He has come back home to find his family falling apart. At the head there is Pa Joad, who has been trying to keep the family stable. He is failing fast. There seems to be no answer to the drought which has killed the land they farm. So they take to the road. Hoping there will be a new life and work in the west. The whole faimly packs their belongings, and leaves the place they have called home, behind them. Along the way to the west, they have many misfortunes. They still had more to come. Just one of the many families, caught in times of despair. They are held together by, Tom the Lion, Ma the bull, andPa who holds the scales of balance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I chose Leo, the lion for Tom. The lion is an icon of strength. I think his character represents the strength and knowledge. Shown through his psyichal fights and hard crop work in the novel. Also because he had the strength to push on for his family. To keep goin through the hardest times, and overcome his obstacles. He also represents knowledge from his experiences with fixing the truck, and keeping things under control at the government camps. Another example of personal and mental strength, as well as knowledge is the courage it took to leave his family behind at the boxcar farm. He knew he had to leave his family behind for the better of the whole group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ma Joad represents Taurus, the bull. The bull symbolizes stability. As shown through Ma’s actions and involvment in the novel. There comes a time when, Pa Joad falls into the hopelessness of the whole situtation. At that time Ma steps into the breach and takes over. She must assume the posistion of head, and keep her family going. Keep it together. She takes on the responsibility of running the family, feeding the family, working in the fields for money, and keeping it stable.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Genius Loves Company: Ray Charles :: essays research papers fc

Genus Loves Company: The Life of Ray Charles   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Musician Ray Charles is generally considered a musical genius, and is so in many fields. He has enormous success in jazz, blues, soul music, country and western, and cross over pop. Acknowledged as an expert vocalist, pianist, saxophonist, and all around-entertainer, Charles first burst into popular attention in the 1950s as the virtual inventor of soul music. Ray Charles once defined soul music, â€Å"[soul music] is when you are able to convey the meaning of a song and make people feel it, make them think, Oh, Ray, you must have had that experience because there’s no way you could have sung that song unless it happened to you.† (Jet Magazine)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles was born Ray Charles Robinson in Albany, Georgia, on September 23, 1930. His father, Bailey Robinson, was a mechanic and a handyman, and his mother, Aretha, stacked boards in a sawmill. His family moved to Greenville, Florida, when Charles was an infant. A neighbor gave Charles piano lessons after Charles taught himself to play at the age of three. This neighbor owned a small store that served as a juke joint as well. Charles not only took piano lessons in the juke joint, he also absorbed the blues, jazz, and gospel music in the juke joint. At the age of five, Charles saw his brother drown in the tub his mother used to do laundry, while his family struggled through the height of the Great Depression. Two years later, at the age of seven, Charles lost his sight to glaucoma. He stated his mother never allowed his to feel pity for himself. In an interview with Jet Magazine, his mother told him: â€Å"Ok, you’re blind. Now that just means there are at least two ways to do everything. You just have to find the second way†¦ Whatever happens to you is up to you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His mother also told him: â€Å"You’re blind, you ain’t dumb. You lost your sight, not your mind.† Studying at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and Blind, he studied for nine years, learning composition and a number of instruments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Upon leaving the school he worked in a number of settings with many different groups in the Florida area. (Salamone) â€Å"Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory,† Charles said. â€Å"I can sit at my desk and write a whole arrangement in my head and never touch a piano†¦ There’s no reason for it to come out any different that the way it sounds in my head.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Contingency Theory

Contingency Theory Contingency Theory is a class of behavioral theory that claims that there is no best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to make decisions. An organizational / leadership / decision making style that is effective in some  situations, may be not successful in other situations. In other words: The optimal organization / leadership / decision-making style  depends  upon various  internal and external constraints  (factors). Contingency Theory factors Some examples of such constraints (factors) include: †¢ The size of the organization. †¢ How the firm adapts itself to its environment. Differences among resources and operations activities. †¢ Assumptions of managers about employees. †¢ Strategies. †¢ Technologies being used. Contingency Theory on the organization 1. There is no universal way or one best way to manage an organization. 2. The design of an organization and its subsystems must ‘fit' with the environm ent. 3. Effective organizations not only have a proper ‘fit' with the environment, but also between its subsystems. Contingency Theory of leadership In the Contingency Theory of leadership, the success of the leader is a function of various factors in the form of subordinate, task, and/or group variables. The effectiveness of a given pattern of leader behavior is contingent upon the demands imposed by the situation. These theories stress using different styles of leadership appropriate to the needs created by different organizational situations. Some of these theories are: †¢ Contingency Theory (Fiedler): Fiedler's theory is the earliest and most extensively researched. Fiedler's approach departs from trait and behavioral models by asserting that group performance is contingent on the leader's psychological orientation and on three contextual variables: group atmosphere, task structure, and leader's power position. This theory explains that group performance is a result of interaction of two factors. These factors are known as leadership style and situational favorableness. In Fiedler's model, leadership effectiveness is the result of interaction between the style of the leader and the characteristics of the environment in which the leader works. †¢ Situational Theory  (Hersey & Blanchard). This theory is an extension of Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid Model, and Reddin's 3-D management style theory. This model expanded the notion of relationship and task dimensions to leadership, and a readiness dimension was added. Leadership Pipeline  (Drotter) Contingency Theory for dicision making Vroom and Yetton's  Decision Participation Contingency Theory  or the  Normative Decision Theory: According to this model, the effectiveness of a decision procedure depends upon a number of aspects of the situation: †¢ The importance of the decision quality and acceptance. †¢ The amoun t of relevant information possessed by the leader and subordinates. †¢ The likelihood that subordinates will accept an autocratic decision, or the likelihood that subordinates will cooperate to make a good decision if they may participate. The amount of disagreement among subordinates with respect to their alternatives. Contingency Theory& situational theory Contingency Theory is similar to situational theory in that there is an assumption of no simple way that is always right. The main difference is that situational theory focuses more on the behaviors which the leader should use. Given situational factors (often about follower behavior). Whereas Contingency Theory takes a broader view, which includes contingent factors about leader capability, but also includes other variables within the situation Contingency Theory Contingency Theory Contingency Theory is a class of behavioral theory that claims that there is no best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to make decisions. An organizational / leadership / decision making style that is effective in some  situations, may be not successful in other situations. In other words: The optimal organization / leadership / decision-making style  depends  upon various  internal and external constraints  (factors). Contingency Theory factors Some examples of such constraints (factors) include: †¢ The size of the organization. †¢ How the firm adapts itself to its environment. Differences among resources and operations activities. †¢ Assumptions of managers about employees. †¢ Strategies. †¢ Technologies being used. Contingency Theory on the organization 1. There is no universal way or one best way to manage an organization. 2. The design of an organization and its subsystems must ‘fit' with the environm ent. 3. Effective organizations not only have a proper ‘fit' with the environment, but also between its subsystems. Contingency Theory of leadership In the Contingency Theory of leadership, the success of the leader is a function of various factors in the form of subordinate, task, and/or group variables. The effectiveness of a given pattern of leader behavior is contingent upon the demands imposed by the situation. These theories stress using different styles of leadership appropriate to the needs created by different organizational situations. Some of these theories are: †¢ Contingency Theory (Fiedler): Fiedler's theory is the earliest and most extensively researched. Fiedler's approach departs from trait and behavioral models by asserting that group performance is contingent on the leader's psychological orientation and on three contextual variables: group atmosphere, task structure, and leader's power position. This theory explains that group performance is a result of interaction of two factors. These factors are known as leadership style and situational favorableness. In Fiedler's model, leadership effectiveness is the result of interaction between the style of the leader and the characteristics of the environment in which the leader works. †¢ Situational Theory  (Hersey & Blanchard). This theory is an extension of Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid Model, and Reddin's 3-D management style theory. This model expanded the notion of relationship and task dimensions to leadership, and a readiness dimension was added. Leadership Pipeline  (Drotter) Contingency Theory for dicision making Vroom and Yetton's  Decision Participation Contingency Theory  or the  Normative Decision Theory: According to this model, the effectiveness of a decision procedure depends upon a number of aspects of the situation: †¢ The importance of the decision quality and acceptance. †¢ The amoun t of relevant information possessed by the leader and subordinates. †¢ The likelihood that subordinates will accept an autocratic decision, or the likelihood that subordinates will cooperate to make a good decision if they may participate. The amount of disagreement among subordinates with respect to their alternatives. Contingency Theory& situational theory Contingency Theory is similar to situational theory in that there is an assumption of no simple way that is always right. The main difference is that situational theory focuses more on the behaviors which the leader should use. Given situational factors (often about follower behavior). Whereas Contingency Theory takes a broader view, which includes contingent factors about leader capability, but also includes other variables within the situation

Monday, September 16, 2019

Satan as Hero in Paradise Lost

The name of Satan has been permanently tarnished and cursed throughout English literature. His heinous strategies have crafted an abominable reputation for him, the enemy of the Lord. However, in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan acquires a role depicted with characteristics associated with the epic heroes and heroines. The first two books of Paradise Lost describe Satan, one-third of Heaven’s fallen angels, and their experiences after their eviction.In a state of anguish, Satan’s followers are still confident in their ambitious leader. With futures murkier than Hell’s obsidian darkness, Satan feels pressured to somehow compensate his demons for their humiliating downfall. When nobody volunteered to explore the rumored world of Paradise, Satan, as the commander, took it upon himself. Due to his unfaltering pride, Satan was somewhat courageous, a quality of an epic hero. Unfortunately, his main goal was to perpetually conquer all good things and to destroy anything representing God.Boiling with animosity, Satan travels throughout Hell on a journey to find Paradise. By traveling through a few realms, his actions became noticeable to his enemies. God and Jesus Christ discussed the intentions of Satan against mankind and began planning on how they would defeat him. Satan had already become legendary in Heaven and he was about to promote that title with Paradise’s defeat. In the books, Satan seemed to be misunderstood and at certain instances, desiring to repent.However, his eternal resentment towards God regenerated his hatred. He knew that he could not return to his previous state of innocence and his pursuit to forget his past seemingly characterizes him as a tragic hero. The reader feels sympathetic for him because his emotions mirror human emotions. Milton shows both sides of the enemy of God and in doing so, it is hard to place a solid analysis on one of the main characters in Paradise Lost.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Killing Without Emotions Essay

This human nature of ours makes us think or stops us in order to kill without emotions. When humans are hardwired to be empathetic and compassionate not to kill, it is hard to understand why there is so much killing in the world? How, with empathy and compassion, can people kill? They must override their emotions with stronger emotions of hate and notions of purpose based on their beliefs. In the following paragraphs will present few examples that will indicate why and how some people override their emotions with stronger emotions based on their purpose. A common example of this is of a suicide bomber. So how these suicide bombers are formed or what is the psychology involved behind suicide bombing. . Often the suicide bombers arrested in Pakistan are usually teenagers and are from a poor background. They are usually kidnapped on their way to school or madraassa (religious school) and then brainwashed. Research and Today’s media reveals that suicide bombers using their religion as a shield justifies what they are doing are right. During brainwashing they are kept isolated and given misleading information on the name of the religion. They are told by the corrupt religious leaders that killing of the non Muslims are justified according to their religion. In addition to this they are also told that dying in the name of their religion will earn them the rank of a martyred. They are also brainwashed that they will earn a high rank in the heavens and rivers of milk and honey and beautiful virgins await. (Yusufzai and Jamal). They are offered high price to get the job done. They are assured that their family will live wealthy life after their job is done. Almost 90% of the suicide bombers are normal humans but, after knowing the position they can earn by dying in the name of their religion, change their emotions to kill hundreds of innocent humans. From this above example it can be concluded that they simple overcome their emotions with stronger emotions of earning high rank in Heavens by dying in the name of the religion, securing the lives of their family and obeying the orders of God. Another type of the people who override their emotions to kill are the soldiers. Soldiers override their emotions for certain reasons that they learn during the training. During the training there are told that they are the protectors of the land. The lives of their families and their countrymen depend on them. Moreover, they are trained with the fact that what they are doing is right and justified and God is with them. The training for the soldiers keeps on the changing with time to time. The soldiers are given complete training/ practicing area. The soldiers are desensitized by making them shoot at human shaped paper targets, drill and then to moving targets and pop up targets look kind of human shape making their response automatic and focused†. (Dwyer). The training areas includes all kinds of difficult pathways, underground tunnels and sudden appearance of the human shaped targets which they have shoot at and take them down. They are also congratulated on their first kill which increases their confidence to override their emotions more easily â€Å"In addition to this there are addressed directly making them believe that they actually have to kill. (Robinson). â€Å"Often a times the present the enemies in way that does not even feel like a human; for instance they will call their enemies by those names that even don’t look familiar. Names like â€Å"gook† who knows what is gook? It does not sound like a human or a person. Half of the desensitizing and dehumanizing is made easier in presenting a person that does not even to our class or kind. In addition, saying that God is with us, we are fighting for the sake of our country and the people and God is proud of us. A lot of killing is made easier in this for the soldiers presenting these as a reason. † (Pomerantz) So, with this kind of training and lessons of patriotism being given to the soldiers makes it easier to override to their emotions. In the conclusion I would restate again that killing without emotions is really hard unless you have you don’t overcome your emotions. It takes a lot of nerve and heart to kill without emotions. Works cited Dwyer, Gwynne. â€Å"Soldiers trained to kill and post-traumatic psycho-babble. Thuppahi’s blog, 29 April 2011. Web. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. Yusufzai, Asfaq, and Amna Nasir Jamal. â€Å"Teenagers recruited, trained as suicide bombers. †Ã‚  Central online Asia. N. p. , 11 04 2011. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Robinson, Steve. â€Å"The impact of killing and how to prepare the soldiers . †Ã‚  Frontline. Frontline, 01 Mar 2001. Web. 18 Feb 2013. Pomerantz, Andrew. â€Å"The impact of killing and how to prepare the soldiers . †Ã‚  Frontline. Frontline, 01 Mar 2001. Web. 18 Feb 2013.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Blown to Bits Essay

Technology has rapidly advanced, affecting standards on privacy, telecommunications, and criminal law. Every day, we encounter unexpected consequences of data flows that could not have happened a few years ago. Due to the bits explosion, the world changed very suddenly. Almost everything is stored in a computer somewhere. Court records, grocery purchases, precious family photos, radio programs†¦ It is all being reduced to zeroes and ones – â€Å"bits.† The bits are stashed on disks of home computers and in the data centers of big corporations and government agencies. The disks can hold so many bits that there is no need to pick and choose what gets remembered. So much disk storage is being produced every year that it could be used to record a page of information, every minute or two, about you and every other human being on earth. Once something is on a computer, it can replicate and move around the world in a heartbeat. Making a million perfect copies takes but an instant – copy of things we want everyone in the world to see, and also copies of things that weren’t meant to be copied at all. Due to instantaneous transfers, some data leak. Credit card records are supposed to stay locked up in a data warehouse, but escape into the hands of identity thieves. And we sometimes give information away just because we get something back for doing so. A company will give you free phone calls to anywhere in the world—if you don’t mind watching ads for the products its computers hear you talking about. The book presents 7 ‘koans’ or principles regarding the bits and the effect of it on humanity. Koan 1: Even though your computer seems to present pictures, texts, songs, and videos, they are all composed of bits. Everything that’s digital are ruled by bits. Even as we speak, bits are flying through the airwaves by our phones. Koan 2: Every copy made by a computer is perfect. The era of books  being handwritten oftentimes resulting to mistakes, has now been closed by digital explosion. And even though these machines do fail as long as the bits have been communicated, the probability of error of the bits is so slim. Koan 3: Vast as world-wide data storage is today, five years from now it will be ten times as large. Yet the information explosion means, paradoxically, the loss of information that is not online. Outdated software and information not stored in the computer are usually assumed as inexistent. Koan 4: The speed of a computer is usually measured by the number of basic operations, such as additions, that can be performed in one second. The fastest computers available in the early 1940s could perform about five operations per second. The fastest today can perform about a trillion. Koan 5: Exponential growth is actually smooth and steady; it just takes very little time to pass from unnoticeable change to highly visible. In the rapidly changing world of bits, it pays to notice even small changes, and to do something about them. Koan 6: Data stored will all be kept forever, unless there are policies to get rid of it. The Internet consists of millions of interconnected computers; once data gets out, there is no getting it back. Victims of identity theft experience daily the distress of having to remove misinformation from the record. It seems never to go away. Koan 7: In the bits world, in which messages flow instantaneously, it sometimes seems that distance doesn’t matter at all. The instantaneous communication of massive amounts of information has created the misimpression that there is a place called â€Å"Cyberspace,† a land without frontiers where all the world’s people can be interconnected as though they were residents of the same small town. The book introduces two basic morals. The first is that information technology is inherently neither good nor bad—it can be used for good or ill, to free us or to shackle us. Second, new technology brings social change, and change comes with both risks and opportunities. Any technology can be used for good or ill. Nuclear reactions create electric power and weapons of mass destruction. The same encryption technology that makes it possible for you to email your friends with confidence that no eavesdropper will be able to decipher your message also makes it possible for terrorists to plan their attacks undiscovered. The key to managing the ethical and moral consequences of technology while nourishing economic growth is to regulate the use of technology without  banning or restricting its creation.

Benefit Of Mormon Solution To The Mind-Body Problem Over The Concept Of Dualism, Epiphenomenology, Behaviorism, And Identity

Benefit Of Mormon Solution To The Mind-Body Problem Over The Concept Of Dualism, Epiphenomenology, Behaviorism, And Identity Mormonism: Offering a Solution to the Mind-Body Problem Human beings have physical bodies that can be observed, studied, and predicted. The same cannot be said about the human mind. It is such an intricate, complex thing, and it personally affects every individual on the planet. For centuries, philosophers have been puzzled by its nature. Questions as to whether or not there is a soul, what its relationship is to the body, and how the brain contributes to the mind have perplexed us for millennia. These seemingly unsolvable puzzles are collectively referred to as the mind-body problem. Many of the theories asserted by philosophers fall short in solving this problem. The most pragmatic solution to the mind-body problem comes not from these philosophers, but from a religious philosophy offered by Mormonism. One of the first philosophers to attempt to solve the mind-body problem was Rene Descartes. He sought to understand fully the nature of his own mind, what it was exactly that allowed him to reason and think. After much contemplation, he came to the conclusion that man was a dualistic being—comprised of a material body and an immaterial soul. This theory, referred to as dualism, holds that the soul occupies no space, is not composed of matter, and is an immortal entity. The soul is compared to a ghost residing in and operating the body, a complex machine. He holds that the soul is not â€Å"lodged in the human body exactly like a pilot in a ship, †¦ but that it is necessary for it to be joined and united more closely to the body, in order to have sensations and appetites similar to ours, and this constitute a real man† (Descartes 278). He also claims that â€Å"the soul is of a nature wholly independent of the body, and that consequently it is not liable to die wit h the latter† (Descartes 278). Descartes’ theory implies a life after mortal death; a soul that is immaterial cannot be harmed or destroyed once it is separate from its physical casing. This suggestion is appealing to persons of faith. However, this dualistic theory presents a problem. If the soul is immaterial, it cannot occupy time or space. Yet individual minds seem to exist only within the bodies to which they are connected, and the mind and body function in direct cooperation with one another. An immaterial mind cannot occupy time or space, yet our minds exist within our bodies and our timelines. Descartes’ theory also states that the body and soul interact, but he does not say how; he claims that it takes place in the pineal gland of the brain, but exactly how this interaction takes place there is simply a mystery to be solved. Dualism does not appear to adequately answer the questions of the mind-body problem. After realizing that Descartes’ dualism failed to solve the mind-body problem, philosophers began investigating another theory: phenomenology, or materialism. The basis of materialism is that human beings do not have immaterial minds or souls, but rather experience thought as a result of physical processes. One branch of phenomenology, called Epiphenomenology, takes this to an extreme. David Chalmers hypothesized the possibility that material substance is the only â€Å"mind,† human beings having no consciousness or higher-order cognition. He explains that people could function as computers, only giving pre-programmed responses to external stimuli. Essentially, he theorized that there is no such thing as mind; human beings are merely machinery that has been programmed to give appropriate responses to environmental factors. However, there is one aspect of the human mind that Epiphenomenology fails to explain: altered states of mind. A person can be lost in thought, think ing only of memories or imaginary situations of things to come, and then suddenly become acutely aware of himself and his surroundings. If epiphenomenalism were to hold true, no such thing could possibly occur; epiphenomenological beings have no higher-order cognition and can therefore experience no self-awareness. Individual experience and a distinct sense of self effectively discount the truthfulness of this theory. Another branch of materialism, called behaviorism, ties the meaning of the mind to human behaviors, which are testable and observable. Jerome Shaffer points out that this behaviorist theory is inadequate because â€Å"behavior and behavioral dispositions do not furnish an exhaustive analysis of †¦ mentalistic terms† (Shaffer 285). It is clear that human beings do not actively display every thought that enters their minds; behavior and mind are not one in the same thing. Shaffer presents identity theory as an alternative. Rather than tying mind to behavior, it ties mind to matter. He says that â€Å"thoughts, feelings, wishes, and the rest of so-called mental phenomena are identical with, one and the same thing as, states and processes of the body† (Shaffer 285). Essentially, it claims that thoughts are not only caused by firing synapses inside the brain, but that they are the synaptic firings themselves. This solves the problem of a mysterious, unobservable soul being the root of the mind, as synaptic activity is something that can be studied and monitored with medical technology. Identity theory has problems of its own, however. Paul Churchland says, â€Å"We do not know enough about the intricate functionings of the brain actually to state the relevant identities† (Churchland 317). Identity theorists hold that the mind is physical events occurring in the brain, but no one knows enough of brain function to pinpoint exactly what those events are and what thoughts they cause. Triggering synaptic firing at a particular location in the brain of one might cause one to recall a certain memory, but triggering activity in the same spot on another person’s brain will not bring up the same memory. This inconsistency is not adequately explained by identity theory. Another major issue with identity theory is the fact that thoughts and neural functions are observed as two very different things. A person experiences his own thoughts as memories, wishes, desires, regrets, and emotions. One does not think to oneself, â€Å"Several synapses just fired in my prefrontal cortex.† Rather, one might think, â€Å"That was a lovely trip to the beach. How I would love to go back.† The person experiences â€Å"a domain of thoughts, sensations, and emotions, not a domain of electrochemical impulses in a neural network† (Churchland 319). Perhaps the biggest issue with identity theory is the fact that synaptic firing and thought do not occur simultaneously; there is a gap in between the time when a synapse fires and the time when a person experiences thought. If identity theory were to be true, a synaptic firing and a thought would be one and the same thing, meaning they would have to occur at exactly the same time (Cook). Identity theory was an attempt to solve the mind-body problem in a way that would negate the problems set forth by dualism and behaviorism. Shaffer does not hold identity theory as more than a reasonable explanation for a set of observations; he admits that dualism is still entirely in the realm of the possible. In the end, Shaffer was not entirely satisfied even with this theory, admitting that â€Å"there are grave difficulties in attempts to defend such an identification† (Shaffer 291). Perhaps there is another approach to addressing the mind-body problem. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers an explanation of the nature of the soul that appears to address the questions left unanswered by the other theories. This â€Å"Mormon phenomenology† combines dualism and phenomenology by stating that there is, in fact, a soul, and it is, in fact, comprised of a material substance. Churchland came closer to this idea than most non-Mormon philosophers with his concept of substance dualism: â€Å"†¦the ghost [in the machine] is a spiritual substance, unlike physical matter in its internal constitution, but fully possessed of spatial properties† (Churchland 307). He continues to speculate the possibility that â€Å"†¦interaction [between brain and mind] can perhaps be understood in terms of their exchanging energy in a form that our science has not yet recognized or understood† (Churchland 308). Mormon theology teaches that humans are tripartite beings, composed of body, intelligence, and spirit. Both intelligence and spirit are composed of matter. What philosophers refer to as the phenomena of mind—self-awareness, thoughts, memories, feelings, wishes, and sensations—are attributed to intelligence and spirit by Mormon phenomenology. Essentially, mind is a greater physical entity composed of a material intelligence and a material spirit or soul. The Mormon prophet Joseph Smith received revelation that is recorded in Doctrine Covenants 131:7-8, stating, â€Å"There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned with purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.† These verses of Mormon scripture align with Churchland’s speculations regarding substance dualism. Spirit is made of a pure, refined matter that cannot be seen or studie d using today’s scientific technology. The fact that we are not yet able to see this spiritual matter does not negate the possibility of its existence; we cannot see the particle that causes the force of gravity, and yet evidence leads us to believe in its reality. The same is true of the spirit; compelling evidence is persuasive enough to inductively argue for its existence. The Mormon notion of the soul includes the idea that it is eternal, not unlike Descartes’ notion of an immortal soul. â€Å"Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence †¦ was not created or made, neither can be† (DC 93:29). Our intelligences and spirits have always existed. If intelligence cannot be created, it is reasonable to assert that, like matter, it cannot be destroyed. Mormon phenomenology holds that spirits are eternal and will therefore continue to live after the death of physical bodies. â€Å"For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy† (DC 93:33). During this life, the spirit and the body are inseparably connected. The spirit and the body are intertwined and make up a single physical entity with a distinct identity. This notion solves the problem of Descartes’ mysterious, independent soul and the â€Å"ghost in the machine† explanation. The mind-body problem â€Å"is answered by the material nature of spirit† (Riddle 1079). Descartes’ dualist theory suggests that body and spirit are two separate parts of a single being, but this raises the question of how an immaterial soul could possibly occupy time and space. He gives no adequate explanation for how the soul would be tied to the body or how the two would interact. Mormon phenomenology asserts that the body and soul are indeed two different parts of a person, but that both are material and occupy the same physical entity. A physical spirit could very logically be connected to and reside within a material body. Shaffer’s theory fails to address the discrepancies between neural activity and states of mind; Mormon phenomenology takes into account a spirit as another governing entity of the human mind. The notion of a physical spirit also offers an explanation as to why there is a gap between neural impulses and mental activity. The electric charge that passes through the synapse must also go through the spiritual matter that potentially resides somewhere within the brain before it is expressed as a thought, feeling, or sensation. That space of time allows for the spirit to process the thought. This explanation, while logical and pragmatic, is not perfect. As previously mentioned, human beings have not the means nor the ability to observe this highly refined spiritual matter. Given this limitation on our knowledge, we cannot know exactly how the spirit interacts with the body and brain to produce thought, consciousness, and higher-order cognition. There is no deductive proof of the existence of a material spirit, although in this case, inductive reasoning (and lack of other explanations) gives convincing evidence in favor of Mormon phenomenology. As previously mentioned, we have not yet found the graviton, the particle responsible for the force of gravity (Smolin 92). In fact, only 4% of matter in the universe is visible to us (Primack 114). To claim that something cannot exist simply because we cannot see it would be absurd. This Mormon phenomenology implies that there will be an afterlife. If intelligence cannot be created or destroyed, it must live on even after elemental bodies are gone. This notion resonates well with proponents of Descartes’ dualistic theory, as well as with persons of faith. This suggests that there is another place or dimension in which the spirits of the deceased reside, which opens up the possibility of both life in other areas of the universe and different dimensions of reality on planet Earth. This theory also implies that human beings are free moral agents. If a spirit is part of the complex mind, neural impulses are not the sole determinant of thoughts and behaviors. The assertion of a soul leaves room for free will. According to Mormon philosopher Blake Ostler, morally accountable free agents must be able to be a cause of action without being caused to be that, and the only thing that could be such an agent is an eternal intelligence. Nothing causes it to be; it just is, and it always has been. This theory implies that we are not puppets in a deterministic universe, but free moral agents with the ability to choose and control our own behaviors (Ostler). Dualism, Epiphenomenology, behaviorism, and identity theory all appear to fall short in one or more aspects of their explanations; none of these adequately answer the mind-body problem. Mormon phenomenology, with its ideas of a material intelligence and spirit, offers a logical and pragmatic solution to the mind-body problem. Mormonism offers explanations that other theories cannot. In this day and age, this theory not only makes sense, but it appears to be necessary to explain the phenomena of mind.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Sprite (Marketing strategy, budgets, and controls) Essay

Sprite (Marketing strategy, budgets, and controls) - Essay Example In the recent past, government agencies and health professional have been awareness on some potential health problems such as obesity among the consumers. Being a food product, sprite faces many challenges, as obesity is now a big health issue (Turner, 2000). Commitment is important for the Sprite to ensure that its broad product include another option of beverage whose health value deal with the obesity and problem. This is possible by including an option that is lemon flavored, but does not include a lot of sugar. Sprite is committed to adhering to the set policies in schools and marketplace. They aim at meeting customer need through provision of product’s varieties such Sprite Zero and other varieties that meet every consumer needs. Furthermore, sprite in corporation with different government agencies, consumers, and schools to bring a solution based on underlying science. Water quality and quantity is also another challenge facing Sprite marketing strategies. Water quantity and quality are increasingly demanding a lot of attention and collaboration with other non-alcoholic beverages produces, governmental agencies, and communities. Water is a key Sprite’s ingredient among the beverages produce and due to climatic changes; it has become a scarce resource. In order to curb the problem, the company is partnering with communities and government organization in introducing initiative for water preservation, water treatment, and recycling (Turner, 2000). Globalization is also introducing new challenges to sprite products. Globalization is making human lifestyle and market places dynamic. The consumers’ needs is increasing becoming complex. For this reason, Sprite product is forced to concentrate in the evolving consumer’s product and consumers are looking for more and more ideal choices. There is now a number shift in

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Contemporary Risk Management - Climate Change Essay

Contemporary Risk Management - Climate Change - Essay Example Many of these issues have direct implications for the risk management and insurance industry. Global warming refers to the gradual warming of the earth’s atmosphere that has been documented over the last 150 years. Global warming can result from natural fluctuations in climate or can be induced by human causes. There had been considerable debate as to whether human activity in producing increased emissions and concentrations of greenhouse gases has been associated with the global warming trend. Greenhouse gases effectively trap the heat in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, principally CO2, but also ozone, methane, and nitrous oxide, are produced by burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. Energy producers, automobile users, manufacturers, and households all burn fossil fuels and produce greenhouse gas emissions. The rising concentrations of CO2 that are causing global warming principally come from energy production, factories, homes, automobiles, and deforestation. Rising CO2 concentrations are a symptom of expanding economies, jobs, and standards of living. Indeed these economic benefits form the most frequently sited argument for resisting the Kyoto Treaty and other control techniques. For instance, President Bush stated in rejecting the Kyoto Treaty that it would â€Å"have a negative economic impact, with layoffs of workers and price increases for consumers† (Sanger, 2005, 24). Some studies have indicated that agriculture and forestry will actually improve from global warming. For instance, the NAST report finds that U.S. crop productivity is very likely to increase over the next few decades because of global warming. While benefiting consumers, falling crop prices and competitive pressures are likely to stress some farmers. The NAST report also found that forest productivity is likely to increase over the next