Personal Views on Globalization and Cultural Identity Essay

The concept of the world as one community has, in recent years, turned into a growing trend not only in business but in practically all facets of activity. Globalization has, in fact, fast-tracked the integration of cultural minorities or migrants into the mainstream society of so many countries, including the United States of America. For instance, the United States today is on the verge of installing a new breed of leader. This will be made possible by the winning of South African-American candidate Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th President. This means the country has truly gone a long way. While before only â€Å"white† citizens are elected President, the U. S. now has reached a very liberal sense of nationhood. Perhaps, this is a result of decades of continuously allowing Americans to inter-marry with other nationals and its open admission into the country of migrant businessmen, workers and students. These so-called cross-boarder alternatives are attributed to globalization which is a strategy that paved the way for both weak and strong governments to open up their respective countries worldwide. In order to have a level playing field, opening up of economies resulted into privatization of main sectors of the economy such as public services and deregulation of vital businesses. But while globalization has become a norm of life, there is still a conscious effort to preserve the American culture in the same way as what the other countries are doing. Preserving the cultural heritage or identity of a nation should be taken as a continuing process and should not be left obliterated by globalization. Due to globalization, world trade has become more competitive unlike in the past where only a few countries controlled it. Today, even the previously â€Å"closed economy† of China has gained great in-roads into the world market, including the American market for that matter. Nonetheless, as emphasized by the global financial crisis, globalization has apparently just put more limit on the worldwide market and deteriorated the financial surplus. With the U. S. being a melting pot of the various cultures of the world, the impact of globalization appears more beneficial than a threat to the economy and the nation itself. These various cultures brought into the country by migrants have been successfully assimilated into the American way of life. Concrete examples are the various Asian cultures and business activities that truly helped in the growth of U. S. as a showcase for globalization. Professionals from other countries helped Americans in the delivery of modern health care while Japanese investors have awakened local manufacturers into redesigning products to fit into present needs and standards. The entry of a lot of migrants into the country, in fact, enriched American culture. It has developed the once â€Å"purist† nation into a global leader with a greatly tempered concept of supremacy. Whereas before Americans dictate the terms and conditionality in business transactions, today it has accepted and embraced fair trade practices. Maybe because in hundreds of years in dealing with other cultures, the U. S. has accepted the reality that it must co-exist with other nations and cultures. Otherwise, its very own existence could be in serious jeopardy. Its humiliating experience with the invasion of Iraq, for instance, made America learned that despite its modern technology and warfare faculties it can’t easily subdue a developing country without the cooperation of other countries and cultures. This makes globalization a positive option to prevent future tendencies of adventurism by nations like the U. S. With its failure in Iraq and the meltdown of its economy in recent months should make its leaders rethink its foreign policy, view on globalization and the need to respect the cultural identities of other civilizations. Globalization, therefore, should not be taken as an instrument to wipe out cultural identities of nations but rather it can be availed as a common bridge towards better understanding and in the process advance the cause of world peace.

Colonization in Annie John Essay

Martha Lee ENG 92W 4/13/10 In Annie John, the lasting effects of Antigua’s colonization are reflected through Kincaid paralleling her own experiences with those of the West Indian colonies where she has lived. In, Columbus in Chains, the issues of Antiguan colonialism and postcolonial culture are apparent in the text, beginning with Annie’s discussion of the history of slavery in Antigua through Ruth. â€Å"l could see how Ruth felt from looking at her face. Her ancestors had been the masters, while ours had been the salves. She had such a lot to be ashamed of, and by being with us e very day she was always eing reminded† (Kincaid 76). Annie believes that Ruth possesses an innate sense of guilt because black people were once enslaved by white and everyone knew. She pities Ruth knowing that she knows less about the West Indies than them. Through the interaction of these two girls, Kincaid provides an individualized perspective upon the dynamics of life in a colonial state. Annie also briefly comments on the irony of colonization, considering that, â€Å"all of us celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday, but we, the descendants of slaves, knew quite well what had really happened† (Kincaid 76). The Antiguan children still celebrate even when they are aware that the British once enslaved them. Annie continues on the topic of colonization as she contemplates Columbus who returned to Spain imprisoned in chains. â€Å"King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had sent [Columbus] back to Spain fettered in chains attached to the bottom of the ship. How I loved this picture†to see the usually triumphant Columbus, brought so low, seated at the bottom of a boat Just watching things go by’ (Kincaid 78). Annie enjoys seeing Columbus brought so low because he returned to Spain in the way that slaves were sent to the Americas. The phrase, â€Å"the great man can go nowhere† (Kincaid 78) resonates so strongly in her mind that she â€Å"[writes] it out with her fountain pen† (Kincaid 78). This act proves to be a heinous crime, that after the discovery by her teacher, Miss Edwards, â€Å"her whole face was on fire. Her eyes were bulging out of her head† (Kincaid 81). Miss Edwards is a representation of the English social order and has defined herself according to the rules of this order. Annie’s action against the discoverer of Antigua’s honor is against Miss Edwards’s system of belief so she refers to Annie’s action as blasphemous. (Kincaid 82). Because Columbus’s importance is essential to the colonial system, Annie’s act not only criticizes him, but also subverts the whole dominant colonial order. For this reason, Miss Edwards sees to it that Annie must be punished. Kincaid’s experiences clearly parallel the experiences of Antigua and it s colonization by its British protectorate. They are reflective of her own memories and feelings towards Antigua’s colonization, and through Annie John’s Journey, gives insight into how a once controlled culture seeks its independence.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning - Free Samples

Workforce planning is the strategic alignment of the organization’s workforce with that of organizational needs and goals. It is a continual process where the main purpose is to ensure that all organizational, legislative and regulation objectives are achieved through the implementation of the workforce development strategy. The important ponents of workforce planning includes analyzing the strength of current workforce, identifying immediate and future needs of workforce and implementing strategic steps to fulfill unmet needs of employees. The importance and benefits of workforce planning is that the process ensures getting the right number of people with rights skills in the organization. This eventually has an impact on organizational mission, budget planning and strengthening workforce petencies[1].The main purpose of this report is to understand the important ponents of workforce planning and analyze the impact of different internal and external factors on workforce plan. The importance of contingency plan is also discussed to ove e challenges during the workforce development process. Workforce planning consists of staffing and scheduling decisions to determine the number and types of employees to be hired or dismissed in an organization. The process initiates with the development of mission, vision and business objectives of the organization and assessment of the number of workforce and skills needed to fulfill different objectives. This process of forecasting helps organization to achieve balance between supply and demands and find our better strategies for agility and value of business. The human resource professionals plays a crucial role in forecasting the type of talent needed in organization and developing recruitment strategies accordingly[2]. For example, when a new pany is going to start business, they engage in workforce planning by setting different roles required from top to bottom in an organization to a plish business objectives. In addition, already established panies engage in maintaining employment stability. This is necessary because of changes in skills mix due to technological advancement and other issues in business. For example, in the health care industry, the main deployment of health care staffs with requisite skill is critical for efficient service delivery in the area of cost, quality as well as quantity. Failure to deploy enough staffs often leads to shortage of clinical staff or oversupply. Shortage of staffs is associated with many negative ou es such as burnout and medical error, whereas oversupply leads to economic efficiencies in the health care organization[3]. Hence, human resource planning is address pitfalls and promotes efficiency in business. Leaders also play an important role in human resource planning. They are involved in making progression plan for important positions, developing skills of existing employees, mentoring them and assigning employees into different projects. Mentoring role is mainly given to senior employees to maintain and develop the talents and skills of employees. Although young graduates e to business organization with academic knowledge and zeal, they lack the skills understand specific business or corporate dynamic[4]. Hence, mentors support new employees to ove e challenges in job on a daily basis and learn new tactics to ove e certain challenges in the job. Both leadership and workforce development are an important ponent that decides the success of business organization. Training for leaders and workforce development is effective when leaders and employee develop the required petencies to achieve desired business objectives. A strong focus on training and development is also beneficial in plementing talent acquisition strategy. Well trained leaders and employees eventually support the organization to gain a petitive edge[5]. However, there are many challenges in the process of training and development process which may hamper the purpose of training. There is a need to evaluate the impact and success of training to ensure time and investment is done in the right area to get the right results. A research done on impact of training and development of employees on employee performance in the tel sector has revealed that performance of employee’s improved and proper training method also increased the satisfaction level of employees . Barriers in participation in training program is seen when employees are not aware about the benefits of training and development. In such cases, there is a need to raise awareness among workforce regarding the importance and benefits of training[6]. Recruitment and retention activities are the cornerstone of workforce planning and employment. Some of the mon recruitment strategies include conducting job analysis, identifying key petencies for different job position, developing recruitment criteria and systematic process for recruitment. With the advent of technology and the digital revolution, business environment has b e very unpredictable. In such situation, it has b e most important for top business panies to recruit the right talent who can evolve in their role due to changes in business environment. Different organizations prepare their own human resource strategy and recruitment strategy is aligned with them to source diverse human resource into the organization[7]. The main aim of recruitment strategy is to select right recruitment sources and selection of the right websites promotes dissemination of the job vacancies to desired candidates. After the recruitment process, the most tricky and challenging process is the retention of talent in organization. panies introduce bonus scheme and continual professional development initiative to ensure that human resource could be retained and most promising employees follow the path towards more responsible roles[8]. The specific process of recruitment and employee retention in specific industry can also be understood from example of specific industry. Walmart is the leading retail giant of U.S. and the HR management of Walmart manages recruitment needs using different methods suitable to different position in their organization. As it is mainly a retail business chain, certain retail specific criteria is also incorporated in the selection process. In addition, their optimal strategy for employee reten tion includes an evolving pensation program, career development and employee relations management . This ensures that not just the skills, but also the morale and motivation of employees in workplace is improved[9]. Through this strategy, Walmart is capable of maintaining adequate human resource to manage current retail operations and future global expansion. Apart from regular employees, business panies focus on developing contingent workforce to get assistance during short-term or seasonal project. The recruitment strategy for contingent workforce is to get specialized skill set and talent who can serve in the organization for a part-time basis. Although this is a new concept in workforce planning, however there is a rise in the contingent workers in both profit and non-profit sectors to provide more flexibility in the job. There are numerous benefits of a contingent workforce for business organization. Firstly, it leads to cost savings as employer’s pay only for the work and the time given by employees, they do not have to cover holiday pay, health insurance and other allowance into the employee’s salary package. It also promotes productivity in business as only those contingent workers are hired who have the necessary skills to handle specific task and no training arrangement is needed for them[10]. These workers are als o very goal driven and productive within their roles. In the context of high performance work systems, contingent workforce contributes to both numerical flexibility and access to new knowledge[11]. The strategic workforce planning of business organizations are dependent on organization’s strategic plan, external factors affecting workforce changes and demand for workforce maintenance internally. The external factors that influence workforce demographics include: Workforce demographics:   In the business organization, workforce demographics changes after older generation retires and the newer baby boomer generations enter the workforce. As the new generation is highly influence and dependent on internet and digital technology, the human resource management need to make dramatic changes in their workforce strategies. For example, earlier, panies would post job vacancies in newspaper or email to attract new talents, however digital devices and social media site is highly used by HR professionals to recruit new employees into the job. Hence, with changing workforce demographics, the process of hiring as well as types of pensation package has changed[12].   Currently, petitive organizations are creating value with digital HR as the current generation is hooked to tablet or smartphones. Partners and suppliers:   The availability of appropriate partners and suppliers also affects the demand and supply of the pany and eventually the recruiting efforts needed in business panies. The importance of demand and supply data in recruitment strategy is that it provides insights about job seekers and exact number of employees needed considering the availability of suppliers and production level[13]. Political and regulatory environment: The recruitment and retention of talent in panies is challenged by different government regulation. For example, introduction of new workplace standards by the governments creates the pressure to align the work process and workplace design according to the new law. New regulatory changes in workplace standards results in changes in all areas of HR department starting from hiring, training, pensation and employee development initiative[14]. The recruitment drive in any organization requires a lot of time as well as investment. The cost involved in recruitment may vary according to the mode of recruitment, method of advertising job vacancies and the benefits provided to workers. Hence, recruiting budget is fixed on the basis of overall revenue and plete budget in other areas of the business. Organizational structure determines the type of employee and talents needed in organization. Some panies have a divisional structure where different departments in critical for business, whereas some have a functional structure where employees with specialized skills are required. Hence, based on organizational structure and workflow process, the HR department has to change the desired candidate profile and recruitment process. Company culture is defined as the shared assumptions and norms present in work environment that reflect the beliefs of the pany. A positive culture is one where all employees was fortable and have no disagreement regarding any work related behavior. In such culture, employees and leaders share their behavior and work towards mon goal. There is sense of unity in such organizations. However, there are other organizations too in which conflict and resentment in mon due to disagreement between leaders and the employee. Hence, based on the type of culture, methods of workforce planning and employee development strategies change. Culture is mainly linked with recruitment because culture has an impact on employee attraction, selection as well as retention strategies[15]. Example, panies like Qantas have a good brand image and employers are easily attracted in such panies requiring little advertising and recruitment efforts. However, in a pany which is struggling with the work culture, it is a tedious task to attract as well as retain new talents. Considering the high flexibility and unpredictability of business organization, it has b e vital for the HR department to focus on employee retention strategy. This is necessary to retain exception employees who deliver the right performance in plex situations. Recruiting the desired candidate is a time consuming process, hence retention strategy is important to save money as well as time. After an employee leaves, the HR has to start the process of recruiting and training the new joinee again which is a loss to the organization[16]. Hence, petitive organization always put lot of efforts to retain those employees who contribute significantly to the success of the organization. Some of the effective strategies that top organizations have implemented to retain employees and minimize turnover are as follows: Training employees: The process of training reinforces sense of value in employees and their motivation and satisfaction towards work is increased. The focus on training employees to develop their capabilities, skills and knowledge optimizes employee’s potential and improve their work performance. This in turn acts as major source of petitive advantage for business organization. Most business firms incorporate training employees in their long-term workforce planning so that the workforce builds new skills and develop the confidence to cope with uncertain situations in business. Both the organization as well as the employee benefits from the training process. The employee develops the perception that the organization is willing to provide career development opportunities to them and they in turn gives their best effort to achieve key business objectives[17]. Hence, training is an important necessity for the retention of skilful workforce. Rewards and recognition: One study points out that rewards also has a positive impact on job satisfaction and employee retention levels. Different sectors struggle to balance high turnover rate and skill shortage often affects their business. This is mon in the public health sector and employee retention is a challenge because of the petition factors. Most health care organization fails to match the salary with their petitors and end up losing the skilful health care personnel. In such situation, efficient reward strategies act as a good solution for retaining the core employees of the organization. Reward system mainly in the form of salary has a good impact on leaving intention of employees and employees in such organization tend to remain longer in the organization. Rewards have a direct impact on job satisfaction level and this eventually has an impact on employee retention[18]. Hence, during workforce planning, the HR department develop strategic retention plans to retain skille d labors in workplace. Coaching and feedback: The senior employee’s role in providing coaching and feedback to new employees also ensures that they remain aligned to the goals of the pany and do not focus on taking alternative career routes. Leaders support the new employees to adapt to their careers. The coaching and feedback session also provides training and development opportunities to employees which in turn strengthens the retention goal of business firm. The supervisor’s support and formal developmental process minimize voluntary turnover rates, reduces the intention to leave, increase productivity and retain a more mitted and satisfied staffs. Career discussion along with mentoring and coaching also develop career adaptability skills in workforce[19]. Currently, business organization has to deal with many unusual events such as rise in petition, changing demand of consumers and sudden drop in sales. In such situation, it b es extremely important for petitive organizations to recover from unusual events. The need for contingency plan is seen in such situations so that business managers plan in advance to protect their resources and maintain profitability in business[20]. For example, a big retail giant like Walmart also experienced a period of downturn when their sales dropped in 2016. The main reason for this unusual event was that Walmart was facing challenges in pletely transforming their stores to the internet age. In such situation, their contingency plan was to prepare for the plete transformation of their brick and mortar store to online stores[21]. Such strategy was essential to retain back the past dominance in retail sector. In an effort to execute contingency plans too, contingent workforce acts a major source of advanta ge. These workers are hired specially to engage in specialized work. In the context of Walmart, they have engaged several IT staffs to provide online options for sale to their customers. The features of the contingency plan may differ according to different industrial context. The success of contingency planning is dependent on the risk assessment process. In case of the real need for implementing such plans, all employees are made aware about the need for implementing such plans. The time schedule for each activities and the delegation of key roles for each employees is decided to maintain smooth running of the contingency plan. This process is important in the context of workforce planning to build resilience skills. The unusual event at the Medin Corporation, a supplier of the sterilization case and accessory products for medical device markets also gives effective example of the need for contingency planning. Medin business’s was affected after the Superstorm Sandy hit New Jersey and in response to this, the pany developed a crisis contingency plan by making arrangement for grants. This helped to prevent the downtime that resulted in the disasters[22]. Sim ilar type of contingency plan is also made by petitive business organization to main their sales and profitability. In the process of strategic alignment of human resource with business objectives, the industrial relation practices also determine employee performance and engagement in work. Industry relation practices are related to the workplace climate and system of practices enabling effective work performance. Some of the effective industrial relations practices in favor of employees include developing petitive succession plan, training program and performance appraisals system for employees. Employee specific industrial relation is seen when training or safety mittee focus on addressing all grievances of employees. Trade unions and employers pay much attention to skill upgradation of workers to cope with challenges in business due to technological advancement and globalization[23]. The report summarized the importance of human resource planning for achieving business objective and maintains petitive edge in business. This is a systematic process consisting of several ponents all which together helps to get the right employees with right skills sets for the success of business. The discussion on the important aspects of workforce planning has mainly revealed that it starts with the process of assessment of skills and position needed in organization and this identification plements the process of recruitment, selection and retention of employees. Despite the development of clear visions and objectives in business organization, currently panies are struggling to retain their position in specific industrial sector due to changes in external and internal environment of business. The relevant external and internal factors affecting business and employee performance has been discussed and it mainly implies that the challenges for business leader has mainly increased d ue to the introduction of new technology and digital revolution in the world. To ove e unusual events in business, development of accurate contingency plans can provide good advantage to business and HR department should pay special emphasis on retention strategies to motivate employees to stay in the job and contribute to team success. Armstrong M, Taylor S. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers; 2014 Apr 3. De Bruecker P, Van den Bergh J, Belià «n J, Demeulemeester E. Workforce planning incorporating skills: State of the art. European Journal of Operational Research. 2015 May 16;243(1):1-6. Lopes MA, Almeida à S, Almada-Lobo B. Handling healthcare workforce planning with care: where do we stand?. Human resources for health. 2015 May 24;13(1):38. Ladegard G, Gjerde S. Leadership coaching, leader role-efficacy, and trust in subordinates. A mixed methods study assessing leadership coaching as a leadership development tool. The Leadership Quarterly. 2014 Aug 31;25(4):631-46. Wilson JP. International human resource development: Learning, education and training for individuals and organisations. Development and Learning in Organizations. 2014 Jan 28;28(2). Khan AA, Abbasi SO, Waseem RM, Ayaz M, Ijaz M. Impact of training and development of employees on employee performance through job satisfaction: A study of tel sector of Pakistan. Business Management and Strategy. 2016 Apr 21;7(1):29-46. Cloutier O, Felusiak L, Hill C, Pemberton-Jones EJ. The importance of developing strategies for employee retention. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics. 2015 Jun 1;12(2):119. Oladapo V. The impact of talent management on retention. Journal of business studies quarterly. 2014 Mar 1;5(3):19. THOMPSON A. Walmart’s HRM: Recruitment, Selection, Employee Retention [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2 November 2017]. Available from: https://panmore /walmart-human-resource-management-recruitment-selection-employee-retention Horne MS, Williamson Jr TS, Herman A. The Contingent Workforce: Business and Legal Strategies. Law Journal Press; 2017 Feb 28. Stirpe L, Bonache J, Revilla A. Differentiating the workforce: The performance effects of using contingent labor in a context of high-performance work systems. Journal of Business Research. 2014 Jul 31;67(7):1334-41. King DB, O’rourke N, DeLongis A. Social media recruitment and online data collection: A beginner’s guide and best practices for accessing low-prevalence and hard-to-reach populations. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne. 2014 Nov;55(4):240. Armstrong M, Taylor S. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers; 2014 Apr 3. Frynas JG, Mellahi K. Global strategic management. Oxford University Press, USA; 2015. Harper C. Organizations: Structures, processes and ou es. Routledge; 2015 Aug 13. Deery M, Jago L. Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention strategies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 2015 Apr 13;27(3):453-72. Elnaga A, Imran A. The effect of training on employee performance. European Journal of Business and Management. 2013 Feb 28;5(4):137-47. Terera SR, Ngirande H. The impact of rewards on job satisfaction and employee retention. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 2014 Jan 5;5(1):481. Coetzee M, Stoltz E. Employees' satisfaction with retention factors: Exploring the role of career adaptability. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 2015 Aug 31;89:83-91. Sahebjamnia N, Torabi SA, Mansouri SA. Integrated business continuity and disaster recovery planning: Towards organizational resilience. European Journal of Operational Research. 2015 Apr 1;242(1):261-73. Banjo S. The end of an era at Walmart [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2 November 2017]. Available from: https://www.bloomberg /gadfly/articles/2016-03-31/walmart-s-first-ever-sales-drop-marks-new-era Contingency Planning and Workforce Training Builds Resilience [Internet]. NJMEP. 2017 [cited 2 November 2017]. Available from: https://www.njmep.org/blog/success_stories/contingency-planning-and-workforce-training-builds-resilience/ Konings J, Vanormelingen S. The impact of training on productivity and wages: firm-level evidence. Review of Economics and Statistics. 2015 May 1;97(2):485-97.

The Drinking Age Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Drinking Age - Essay Example This phenomenon is known as â€Å"binging† when the young adults begin consuming above the average amount of alcohol a body should consume- often they do this action as a sign of rebellion against the institution and the authority. A study conducted by Indiana University showed that 32% of underage drinkers are heavy drinkers as compared to the 24% of legal aged drinkers (Engs). The most underage drinking is observed by college students who while trying to get initiated into fraternities try to impress their peers or simply just because they get the chance to experience drinking. Many of the problems affiliated by drinking such as getting low grades in class, skipping out classes due to overdrinking the previous night, and getting into fights due to drinking are observed to be higher among people falling below the age of 21. The incidents of such acts occurring over the legal age are relatively less. It is recommended that young adults should be given proper awareness of the effects of alcohol and they should be permitted to drink alcohol in a controlled environment where they can be observed and assisted if they face any complications. That may be a reason why more than 100 college presidents signed a petition to lower the drinking age (Roan). One of the arguments in support of the 21 age restriction is that there has been a noted decrease in the number of traffic accidents caused by young adults who were intoxicated. But the decrease could also be attributed to more awareness of the effects of drinking while driving, implementation of designated driver programs, lower speed limits and free taxi services from drinking establishments. So the argument placed that it is solely the implementation of a higher age limit which has reduced the number of car accidents is incorrect. The drinking age should be decreased to 18. If the young adults are considered to be

John Marshall and Judicial Review Research Paper

John Marshall and Judicial Review - Research Paper Example Rather, Britain adheres the principle of parliamentary supremacy which gives the Crown and Parliament [House of Lords and House of Commons after the 1832 Reform Act3] the right to make laws. These laws followed the ultra vires rule and once a given situation fell under the scope of a law enacted by Parliament, it had to be obeyed without question4. Britain remained in this situation until the mid-1900s where the House of Lords was allowed to review cases that contained inherent legal disputes that could not be handled by the courts5. However, one of the landmark changes that the independence of the United States brought was the creation of an independent Judiciary that is headed by a Supreme Court which was meant to act as an independent branch of government with the power to control the two other arms of government6. The landmark ruling that established the precedence of Judicial Review was issued by Justice John Marshall in 1803 when he ruled on the case of Marbury V Madison7. This paper examines the ruling of this landmark case in US legal history and its role in establishing the principle of Judicial Review which subsists to this

Approaches to the 'city' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Approaches to the 'city' - Essay Example In one of the poems, cities are described as man’s tight hold on nature. The attitude of the poets reveals that in the eyes of architectural philosophers such as Constant Nieuwenhuys and Le Corbusier cities are a nuisance. To the above men, architecture has lost its way due to the confusion and the lack of uniformity, which has become the hallmark of modern cities. In Constant Nieuwenhuys and Le Corbusier’s theories, there is a relentless quest for cities to regain their lost glory, which to them can only be achieved by enhancing uniformity. The modern day cities are problematic which may be attributable to the state or architecture. Looking back, architecture has given us beautiful buildings such the Westminster Abbey and the tower of Piazza. In addition, architecture has also created beautiful cities such as Venice, Nancy and old Paris. However, it is vital to consider the contextual challenges that architecture is encountering if at all solutions will be coined for the appalling conditions of the modern cities. To begin with, it is vital to pose certain critical queries, which should provide guidance going forwards. Is it practical or realistic for modern architecture to hold on to the ideals that have guided architects in the past? Are the ideals of past architecture relevant in the present day? And if so, which ideals should we embrace? In the past, the most dominant values were simplicity and uniformity (Le Corbusier 1976, 32). One of the dominant characters of cities is the disparity in the individual cells or ho use units, which form the city. Individualism should take an equal share of the blame for the present state of the cities. According to Le Corbusier, there is need to establish certain standards which will guide construction. The emergence of discipline, astuteness and concord are the only factors, which can help the modern city rediscover uniformity, which exemplified past

Essay one Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

One - Essay Example Education helps the good citizen building process immensely. Under such circumstances, it is logical to argue that the responsibility of giving education to the public is the duty of a nation. If that is true, there is no point in arguing against making education free. It should be noted that India like emerging countries are currently developing rapidly because of their immense educated manpower resources. America like countries is currently struggling because of the shortage of skilled manpower. For example, majority of the nurses working in American hospitals are from overseas countries. Same way, majority of the American IT jobs are currently outsourced to countries like India because of the lack of availability of IT professionals in America. All these examples clearly point towards the necessities of making more educated and skilled people in America. According to Rajesh Gandhi (2009), â€Å"Higher education is fundamental right for a decent livelihood† (Gandhi). Higher education is an expensive act in America now. The recent recession destroyed the financial backbone of many families. I belong to an ordinary family and I know very well how the recent recession caused financial troubles in my family. My parents forced to cut down all unnecessary expenses to escape from the recession. My ambitions for higher studies would also be in danger, had I failed to get some scholarships from the government. There are plenty of youths who failed to go for higher studies because of financial problems. It is difficult for an ordinary American youth to afford the expenses of college education without financial assistance from the government in the form of educational loans or scholarships. All these facts clearly suggest that it is better to make education free in America. Taxpayer’s money can be made use for making the education free since educated people contribute to the society in one way or another. On the other hand, there are plenty of

Is there 'one best way' to manage an organisation Essay

Is there 'one best way' to manage an organisation - Essay Example Organizational management is not one but a set of practices aimed at managing the business or an organization,its employees and other stakeholders.The set of practices for organizational management intends to bring the people of the organization into a common platform and instill common objectives in order to achieve the organizational goals.Managing an organization or a business includes an underlying plan of optimal allocation of resources in the business process and then establishing systems to control the performance of the organization in line with the set standards (White, 1926). Managing an organization effectively indicates good management of the employees and getting them aligned with the mission and vision of the organization. The roles and responsibilities of the manpower resources are allocated and expectations from the people of the organization are explained in the process of organizational management. Managing an organization The organization is a place where people fr om diverse background and having varying educational levels come to work in a common platform with their individual vested interests. It is obvious that the people in the organizational workforce would have different culture, habits, beliefs and ideologies. This would create differences between the manpower resources as well as alignment between manpower resources of same ideology. The result is the formation of several groups among similar people in the organization (Singla, 2013). ... The ways of managing an organization involve a set of practices which include planning, organizing, staffing, leading, control, management of time and motivating people to meet the organizational goals. Planning is the foremost step of managing an organization. In order to achieve the goals in line with the objectives of the organization, a proper plan should be prepared for implementation that takes into account the opportunities, limitations and risks associated with the process (Hatten, 2011). The planning not only includes the ways to manage the people and the workforce for carrying out the activities but also considers finances required and the available assets to carry out the business functions. The plan involves the budgeted expenses and the sources of finance in order to meet the expenses. Both the financial and the non-financial aspects are planned in order to effectively manage the organization. The next step is the organization of the resources as per the plan in order to fulfill the required usage. The resources that have planned for usage are allocated in the appropriate paces according to the fulfillment of the suitability criteria (Keith and  Gubellini, 1958). The organization of the resources including land, labor, capital and enterprises leads to the outcome of optimum results in the business process. The productivity levels of the organization are enhanced with proper organization and marshalling of resources. The tasks of the business process are completed in due time and this result in the increase in the business turnover. The profitability of the business could be maximized and this results in the generation of the desired cash flows. The

Eassy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eassy - Essay Example According to Bardhan and Dwight, several factors can endear a company to outsource its business operations. Off shore labor laws, wage laws and tax laws favor the idea of outsourcing as there is almost a certainty of maximizing profits through low cost labor. Workers abroad are often willing to work longer hours for less pay than those in the United States where there could also be a lack of expertise in certain areas of business process. In addition to this, the company is offered a great diversity of skill and kept abreast with emerging technology from various ends of the globe that go a long way in improving service delivery and quality of service. Further still, the company that off shores acquires global status and recognition in the world market which is a huge plus in its operations. This in addition to the fact that off shoring some business operations actually enables a company to shift focus to other crucial areas of the business is of unparallel value to the company growth and development (Bardhan and Dwight, 22). However endearing these advantages of outsourcing may be, several negative implications and concerns also lie in wait, both to the company and the United States economy. The good that may result from the endeavors of outsourcing almost always serves the interest of the top brass of the company only. Little or nothing at all of the entire benefits actually trickles down to the middle level workers or the public in general. Quality concerns arise as a result of outsourcing. As long as the outsourcing contracts are honored, the outsourcing company may tend to be motivated by profit to decrease expenses and condone shoddy work. The employees of the company may not also have the loyalty to the business, a trait that is often priceless in ensuring success of the operations. Workers may change jobs or move to greener pastures whenever they please or sense danger leaving the company in turmoil and incurring further costs as such with hiring and rec ruitment as cited by Cromie (54). There are also numerous hidden costs that arise from off shoring business functions. For instance, the process requires the hiring of a lawyer(s) and signing of contracts. Major budgetary loopholes appear for exploitation to the detriment of the company and anything not covered in the contract will be basis for the company to pay the additional charges. Other regulations regarding this exploit also seem to secretly add to costs of operations. Failure to pay wages strictly as stipulated can result in several implications like fines, back pay awards or even disqualification from filing any further H1B1 visa petitions for future workers. There is the risk of a company exposing some of its important and confidential operation information to third parties as a result of off shoring. This may render the company weak in the face of any arising or already established competition. The company also loses management control of outsourced business functions lea ving several critical decision makings out of their hands. Some of these outside decisions may at times lead to bankruptcy. Language barrier and other cultural issues often come to play a negative role during outsourcing, majorly resulting in breakdowns in communication and even rejection of certain company products and services on cultural and religious grounds. Other problems include inappropriate categorization of responsibilities causing mayhem and a complete eyesore (Bergsten,

Maxims and Sayings, Herakleitos Essay Example for Free

Maxims and Sayings, Herakleitos Essay The â€Å"Unity of Opposites† is a very interesting piece. The concept of opposites and the balance that lies within all is the main idea. By placing these values and definitions as one in the same Herakleitos goes a step further. Although he only discusses a limited number of things and their opposites, this theory can go beyond and be forever limitless in the categorizing of opposites. It sheds light to the idea of balance and good and bad, heaven and hell, life and death. All things in this universe have an opposite and that which is living is also death and here within lies the harmony of absolute knowledge. In a way I believe Herekleitos is seeking wisdom by defining mans belief in religion and themselves. As so stated in his final verse â€Å"I inquired of myself†. One excerpt from the maxim stating, â€Å" War is father of all and king of all; and some he made gods and some men, some slaves and some free.†, shows a strong belief in warfare and accurately depicts the Mycenaean culture of the warrior class. This culture took great pride in their belief of war and strength in pillaging. They lived by the idea that to survive one must attack before being attacked. Just as in the saying by Herakleitos, â€Å"The name of the bow is life, but its work is death.†, a belief for warfare and weaponry is shown. By giving life itself to the object of the bow, the Mycenaean culture can be defined as a war mongering culture. This theory is clearly defined as well in the art piece known as â€Å"The Warrior Vase†. By depicting ancient warriors on this vase, the Mycenaean culture shows that even on a home based piece of pottery, one is reminded of the true value of warfare and strength. The men portrayed on this vase also show a high level of weaponry and defense for an ancient culture with minimal contact with Egyptians and well before roman times.

Pure Culture Methods and Gram Staining

Pure Culture Methods and Gram Staining Individual and well separated colonies are crucial when working with bacterial cultures. Pure culture method involves the step of taking a small and well isolated colony and transferring it to a sterile growth medium in a suitable culture vessel (Ryan Ray, 2010). There are three types of commonly used methods to produce pure cultures. They are the streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. All these methods require the use of aseptic technique. Streak plate is suitable for the direct plating of media that contains a large number of cells. To prepare a streak plate, a colony or a loopful of bacteria culture will be taken using a sterile inoculating loop and then the sample will be streaked several times over the surface of the solid growth media. Single cells are obtained along the streak as each streak represents a dilution process. The bacteria will grow into a separate colony and to be used for pure culture after being incubated at optimum condition (Carter Wise, 2004). Another alternative to obtain pure culture is the spread plate method where a small volume of suspension is spread evenly over the surface of an agar plate. The bacteria colonies will be evenly distributed over the surface of the agar plate after incubation. Larger colonies are the colonies that are well isolated. Pure culture can also be done by using the pour plate method. The diluted sample is suspended in agar growth at about 50 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °c. The mixture is then poured into a suitable vessel and incubated. The bacteria colonies will grow throughout the agar plate. The colonies within the agar will be very tiny and difficult to see and count as compared to those which grow on the surface of the agar. Objectives: The purpose of conducting this experiment was to understand the principles and aim of obtaining pure cultures, to compare the separation of bacterial colonies using streak plate, pour plate and spread plate techniques and to observe and compare the colonial features of isolated bacterial colonies on solid nutrient media as well as the morphological cellular features of isolated bacterial colonies using the gram stain method. In addition, the experiment explained about the principles of gram stain method and allowed the interpretation of each of the steps in gram staining. Method: Refer to lab manual page 32-36. Results: In this experiment, mixture of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was used to prepare pure culture using the three methods which are the streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. The plates were incubated and the colony morphology of the plates was observed. The cellular morphology of the bacteria was determined using the gram stain method. The results were recorded and tabulated in a table. Table 1: colony morphology and cellular morphology of different organisms. Organism Colony morphology Cellular morphology Gram stain Shape Arrangement Bacillus cereus Irregular, opaque and cream in colour, flat Positive (purple colour) Rod Chain Escherichia coli Circular, center, smooth, translucent, white (small), raised (Cham Tan, Group 1). Negative (pink colour) Rod Cluster Staphylococcus aureus Circular, smooth, some yellow, some white, convex. Positive (purple colour) Cocci Cluster Discussion: 1) Bacillus cereus was obtained from the big bacteria colony. When observed from the agar plate, it appeared to be irregular in shape, flat, opaque and cream in colour. It is a gram positive bacteria. So when gram stain was performed, the bacteria appeared purple in colour under the microscope. Bacillus cereus is of rod shape and the arrangement is in the form of chain. It has ÃŽÂ ²- capsule and is non motile. For Escherichia coli, it was obtained from the medium colony. When observed from the agar plate, it appeared to be circular in shape and mostly was located at the center of the agar. The bacteria colony appeared to be smooth, translucent, and some were white in colour (Cham Tan, Group 1). Escherichia coli is a gram negative bacteria. Therefore, it was pink in colour under the microscope. It has rod shape and its arrangement is in cluster form. It is motile and is a type of non spore forming bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus was from the small bacteria colony. It is circular, smooth, convex and some are yellow in colour while some are white in colour. It is a gram positive bacteria where it showed purple colour when under the microscope. The shape for Staphylococcus aureus is cocci and it is in cluster form. It is a non spore forming bacteria and is non motile. The cells seen in the original mixture matched with those obtained in the pure culture. Streak plate method is suitable for the direct plating of media that contains a large number of cells and as for spread plate method, a small volume of suspension is spread evenly over the surface of an agar plate. On the other hand, bacteria are suspended and grow throughout the agar plate for pour plate method. 2) Spread plate will be more suitable to produce well isolated single colonies from a broth culture that contains a mixture of organisms as the bacteria will be on the surface or the agar and not suspended. This way, the isolated colony can be counted and also be obtained easily compared to streak plate and pour plate method. When the bacteria is taken from a mixed broth culture, the colonies will grow and overlapping each other after being incubated. When the bacteria is incubated using pour plate method, the bacteria grown will be smaller and it will be harder to obtain a well isolated colony as they grow throughout the media. Agar has a higher melting temperature than gelatin. Gelatin will melt and becomes soft when bacteria is being incubated on gelatin media at their optimum temperature which is 37 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °c. 3) Agar is used in preference to gelatin for making solid media as agar will remain solid at the optimum temperature for the growth of most bacteria. Therefore, the property of agar makes it to be more effective than gelatin as a solidifying agent (Muir Ritchie, 1953). 4) Bacteria that are well separated grow as isolated colonies without affecting the growth process as these bacteria cell do not merge or overlap with other bacteria cells in compete for sources. The growth of isolated bacteria will not be limited by the depletion of the nutrients (Cruickshank, 2005) 5) Individual colony does not always consist of one type of bacterium as the bacteria could be from a mixed culture of different organisms. Therefore, an individual colony does not always originate from a single parent cell. Before staining process, bacteria culture has to be dried and fixed. Heat fixation is convenient and it retains the cell wall structure. 6) Smear preparation has to be heat fixed through the Bunsen burner flame to kill the bacteria and make them adhere to the slide. Besides, it will also allow the cells to stain better during the staining process. A good smear preparation will allow a better microscopic view of the bacteria cellular features. Correct techniques in preparation of smear are important. 7) If the whole colony is used to make the smear, the smear will be too thick. Thick smear will cause the difficulties in distinguishing individual cell. In addition, the stain might not be completely washed out. If the bacteria used is gram negative, the cells will appear purple in colour giving gram positive results which is wrong. If the bacteria is gram positive, the intensity of purple colour will be so high that it will not be easy to differentiate the cellular features of the cell. 8) Cell wall determines the shape of a cell. Cells that lose their cell wall will change its shape. However, changing the shape of the cells will not affect the reaction to gram stain. Hence, there will be no association between cell shape and reaction to gram stain The cell wall structure of gram positive bacteria is different from the cell wall structure of gram negative bacteria. The cell wall of gram positive bacteria has a thick peptidoglycan layer while the peptidoglycan layer in the cell wall of gram negative bacteria is thinner. The thick peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall of gram positive bacteria retain the crystal violet dye and stain purple even after decolourisation but for gram negative bacteria, it is decolourised by the decolourising agent. Gram negative bacteria retain the second dye and stain pink. 9) The cell wall structure of a bacterial cell is important to determine its gram reaction. 10) The third step which is the decolourisation step of the gram staining procedure is important to determine the outcome of the result. The time taken should not be too long or too short as over-decolourising will cause the cell not able to retain the crystal violet dye and appear colourless. If the decolourising time is too short, the gram negative cells will remain purple giving a gram positive result. Conclusion: In conclusion, pure culture can be obtained by using several methods which are the streak plate method, spread plate method and pour plate method. Using the pure culture, the separation of bacterial colonies, the colonial features and cellular features can be compared. Aseptic technique should be followed all the time to prevent introducing new contaminants to the environment.

Essay --

4.0 Market analysis 4.1 Market segmentation and target market selection Our company segment market in demographic features, geographical distribution and behavioural descriptors. By doing so, our company will have a better understanding of our target preference in the industry. This is an important step in order to succeed. First, we segment demographic characteristics in age and income. Our company segments consumers who are teenagers and working adults with middle or high income. This is because teenagers are newly trend people who keep in touch with technology very often. Besides, they are catching up with technology which is in high-tech, innovative and special. Therefore, VeeEye Sdn Bhd will have the opportunity to get into the market. On the other hand, we segment working adults with middle and high income as they have financial ability to purchase our product. Adult workers who are highly educated will get well paid job with middle or high income. Therefore, they are more willing to spend for our product compare to lower income workers as they might not afford to purchase our product. Next, we also segment our consumer in geographical distribution. Geographical area such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang Island in Malaysia will be our target market. This is because both of the states have many industries with big company. Therefore, workers there will be getting higher paid compare to other state worker. With higher salary, they have more ability to purchase our product compare to others. Besides, they will be busy and under stress during their working hours. So, they might travel more frequently during weekend or holiday. Therefore they might need a good camera all the time with them. So, we choose Kuala Lumpur and Penang instea... ...ke us easily approach to our target market’s spending behaviour and lifestyle. We have our own office for sell and repairing service. We believe that to get higher reputation from customers; we got to provide a good quality product which customers willing to pay for it and provide a good service such as customer able get free repairing service within 2 years warranted, give the full information and detail to customers and customers could get some discounts base on their order. In order to attract more customers, we have an idea launch our product on the online purchasing website such as Taobao, eBay, Zalora. Even customers from other country have a chance to make an order, we do delivery to them within the period, if more than that period, and the customer only paid us half prices of their order. This is one type of service provided by our company. Essay -- 4.0 Market analysis 4.1 Market segmentation and target market selection Our company segment market in demographic features, geographical distribution and behavioural descriptors. By doing so, our company will have a better understanding of our target preference in the industry. This is an important step in order to succeed. First, we segment demographic characteristics in age and income. Our company segments consumers who are teenagers and working adults with middle or high income. This is because teenagers are newly trend people who keep in touch with technology very often. Besides, they are catching up with technology which is in high-tech, innovative and special. Therefore, VeeEye Sdn Bhd will have the opportunity to get into the market. On the other hand, we segment working adults with middle and high income as they have financial ability to purchase our product. Adult workers who are highly educated will get well paid job with middle or high income. Therefore, they are more willing to spend for our product compare to lower income workers as they might not afford to purchase our product. Next, we also segment our consumer in geographical distribution. Geographical area such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang Island in Malaysia will be our target market. This is because both of the states have many industries with big company. Therefore, workers there will be getting higher paid compare to other state worker. With higher salary, they have more ability to purchase our product compare to others. Besides, they will be busy and under stress during their working hours. So, they might travel more frequently during weekend or holiday. Therefore they might need a good camera all the time with them. So, we choose Kuala Lumpur and Penang instea... ...ke us easily approach to our target market’s spending behaviour and lifestyle. We have our own office for sell and repairing service. We believe that to get higher reputation from customers; we got to provide a good quality product which customers willing to pay for it and provide a good service such as customer able get free repairing service within 2 years warranted, give the full information and detail to customers and customers could get some discounts base on their order. In order to attract more customers, we have an idea launch our product on the online purchasing website such as Taobao, eBay, Zalora. Even customers from other country have a chance to make an order, we do delivery to them within the period, if more than that period, and the customer only paid us half prices of their order. This is one type of service provided by our company.

Web Page :: Free Essay Writer

Web Page The development and design of a basic web page can be a fun yet tricky task. Whether it’s a large commercial web page for business purposes, or a small personal web page about your hobby or family; the process of development is the same. The three major steps leading to the development and design of a basic web page include: information gathering, site layout and design, and HTML (hyper text markup language) conversion. The most important task of developing and designing a web page is the gathering of information. You first need to brainstorm about what you would like the web page to consist of. Collect everything that you want to become part of the web page, from editorials and graphics to company information and history. It may be a good idea to get your hands on as much data as possible, and then decide what is to be used in the web page. Whatever material that you do not used may be discarded later. All information previously gathered is categorized in a hierarchy form from the most important to the least important. Next, you have to develop the layout of the web page. You should draw some simple sketches to display the basic â€Å"look and feel† of the web page. The use of a specific theme or template should be used to maintain the same basic look throughout the web site. Keep the reader of the web site in mind when designing the web site. Most readers will not usually wait on large graphic files to load, especially on the home page. Readers also dislike small and hard to read text. Remember that some older monitors and systems may not be able to view higher resolutions; furthermore, some web browsers may be unable to view certain types of newer text. The last step in building a web page is the conversion from plane text and graphics to HTML code. All elements that make up the web pages are then to be combined graphics, plain text, even tables. The combined elements are then converted from plane text into HTML code. The easiest way to accomplish this daunting task if you have no prior experience of HTML programming is by using a computer program that is designed for the purpose of converting text, graphics, and other objects into HTML, such as Cute HTML, Trelix Web, or Netscape Composer.

Characteristics of a Good Leader Essay -- Leadership

A good leader needs to have many particular characteristics. Some of these are obvious, such as that they care about what you are doing and always puts you before themselves. Also another trait of a good leader is that they always keep promises they make. Some of the subtle attributes of a good leader are that they do not hide behind bad news. Moreover, they are easy people to talk to and they have a good if not excellent sense of humor. In my opinion, the best leader would be one that enjoys being the leader, is anyways there when I need him or her, sets tangible milestones, always believes that I can do everything, is optimistic, gets everyone involved, wants everyone to be successful, and lastly is courageous and brave. All these characteristics describe the best leader in the world...

Celta – Focus on the Learner

This case study is based on Patricia, a Spanish national in her twenties who is in her last year studying an Economics degree course. She is also a student on the Elementary course at the British Language Centre. Patricia’s started learning English at the bi-lingual school she attended. She learnt English for 3 years but did not take any official examinations, but sees this as a possibility for the future. At school she learnt English because it was obligatory. The only other language she speaks is Spanish. She started attending the British Language Centre (which she still attends) to help her find a job in an international company and to prepare her for her visit to Eastbourne, East Sussex (UK) in July. She will be staying with a house family for one month and hopes to improve her English and use all of the language she has been learning to date. Her reasons for learning English are a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic ones. The main reason she is motivated to learn English is because she believes it will help her find a good job and earn loads of money, she also reads a lot about English culture and customs and watches films in English with subtitles for her own enjoyment. This can also be related to her learning styles. The results of her â€Å"multiple intelligences† questionnaire indicates that her learning style preferences are linguistic, spatial and interpersonal. Her conversations in English refer to things that she has read or heard, she enjoys solving mazes and other visual puzzles and considers herself to be a leader. Problems and Possible solutions with Grammar The student enjoys English grammar, and generally finds it much easier than Spanish grammar. An example of this is the verb formations. She normally uses the correct tense when speaking in English but sometimes uses the infinitive form instead of the progressive. â€Å"I read† instead of â€Å"I’m reading†. Spanish often use an infinitive where English would use a progressive; this can be attributed to language interference. To resolve this problem more tasks relating to real situations could be set along with reading and listening exercises that incorporate and contrast the infinitive nd progressive forms. When asked about the aspect of English she finds most difficult, she said ‘phrasal verbs’. Her problems include understanding the meaning of phrasal verbs, especially when the meaning can vary according to context, and choosing the correct particle to accompany the verb. For example â€Å"to break up† I broke up with my girlfriend last night, the main cause is likely to be comprehension issues as a result of conflict with meanings she already knows. Solutions to such problems would be dictionary analysis and sentencing restructuring exercises. Another problem she has is with the structuring of sentences. A classic example of this would be using the adjective after the noun â€Å"shoes big† instead of â€Å"big shoes†. This can also be attributed to language interference. Solutions to this problem would include drills (oral and written); practice would include guided dialogues, language games, parallel writing, dictations etc. 3 Problems and Possible Solutions with Vocabulary A common problem can be irregular plurals. (Refer to Appendix – example 1). In Spanish irregular plurals are not formed the same as in English. The common rule is that a â€Å"s† is added to the singular i. e. hombre = hombres. A solution to this problem is getting the student to record a list of all irregular verbs as they come up (recycling the vocabulary in future classes) and correct their mistakes in reading and writing exercises. Another problem is that many words are used in different contexts but with a connection to their original meaning. (Refer to Appendix – example 2). This forms a problem for Spanish speakers as the word flood â€Å"inundar† is only used in 1 context. Solutions and practice can be given through activities where the student has to use the word in different contexts and apply the alternatives. There are several different expressions where â€Å"bother† can be used. (Refer to Appendix – example 3). The meaning changes slightly from expression to expression. In Spanish this word is not used in the same way. A solution and practice to this would be to present all of the words to the student within a real context, through a reading or writing exercise. 2 Problems and Possible Solutions with Pronunciation. Morphemes that have more than one pronunciation present a problem relating to the sound of words. (Refer to Appendix – example 4). Both problems relate to rhythm when speaking, Spanish rhythm is syllable timed, whereas, English rhythm is stressed timed. (Spanish also has a narrower pitch range than English). Both problems can be directly related to language interference. Solutions include instant and planned remedial. The best procedure in addressing these problems is to draw attention to the problematic sound or pattern. Get them to pronounce it in isolation and explain how the pattern or sound is formed, and drill the student ensuring they have a record. The learner skills strengths and weaknesses: Speaking: The student is very comfortable speaking on a one to one basis and has no qualms about making mistakes. She articulates and forms her sentences well. Her main problem in fluency speaking is hesitation, something that she is fully aware of. She takes time to work things out in her mind before speaking, and this pause is evident in class, for example, when a teacher asks her a question. The more complicated the question or response, the longer the pause. She has very few opportunities to speak English outside the classroom, and this lack of practice contributes to her hesitation. Reading: The student seems to get the general gist of reading as long as she has some guidance and visuals. She is not afraid to ask questions if necessary and hardly ever uses her dictionary in class. Areas she could improve on are her vocabulary range to help her understand texts better and additional reading outside of the class. Listening: The student understands most of the instructions given out in lass and regularly helps her peers when they do not understand something. Her main weaknesses include not being able to follow a native person’s conversation; she has already established learning habits in the classroom that will not be effective when speaking to a native person. She also has poor vocabulary, which will limit her understanding relating to words she does not know. Wri ting: Reader – When I left university I wanted to do exactly the same things as you: find a job working for an international company which would allow me to travel around the world and buy a house. Writing teacher – Overall you did a very good job, things you need to consider next time are using shorter sentences to give more impact and tenses. Language expert: A good attempt at the set task, you need to think more about the structure of sentences and using the right vocabulary. Also review definite/indefinite articles and propositions. In order to improve your language skills and learn a new language many different sub skills are required. It is a good idea to learn techniques such as skimming and scanning to abstract relevant information more quickly. Distinguishing sounds of the different vowels in English is also very important along with determining the stress and intonations in sentences. Listening and reading stimuli or input is very important in producing more effective language, and it is a good idea to put yourself in situations where you are only able to converse in English, as this will force you to use the language more and help increase your confidence levels.

Angela’s Ashes Comparative Commentary Essay

Although these two passages taken from the memoirs; Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Sallinger, are similar to each other in some aspects, such as mood, perceptions and attitudes towards death etc., their society, culture, and their ages make the contrast between their styles. In the passage from Catcher in the Rye, we see the 17-years-old Holden going to his brother Allie’s grave. From his comments about his brother’s death, we start to interpret his immature and irreverent character. â€Å"I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery, and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap†¦Ã¢â‚¬  On the other hand, just like Frank McCourt’s, Holden’s anger, sadness and resentment is seen by his mood and tone. The 5-years-old little Frankie is already witness to his sister Margaret’s death, and now he losts his little brother Oliver. In this scene, where Oliver is buried in the graveyard, Frankie tries to understand the things around him with his childish curiosity and responses. â€Å"I did not want to leave Oliver with them. I threw a rock at a jackdaw that waddled over toward Oliver’s grave.† Nevertheless, although his age, Holden’s inability to come to terms with his brother’s death makes him angry and resentful. â€Å"All the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner – everybody except Allie. I couldn’t stand it.† There are some hints in the passages which suggest about the culture, societies and time the two memoirs took place. Holden says â€Å"the visitors could get in their cars and turn on their radios and all and then go someplace nice for dinner†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , whereas Frankie says â€Å"we rode to the hospital in a carriage with a horse† and â€Å"My mother and Aunt Aggie cried, Grandma looked angry, Dad, Uncle Pa Keating, and Uncle Pat Sheehan looked sad but did not cry and I thought that if you’re a mean you can cry only when you have the black stuff that is called the pint.† The â€Å"carriage with a horse† and the people â€Å"running like hell over to their cars† â€Å"and turn on their radios† show us that the scene from Angela’s Ashes took place many years before Catcher in the Rye. Moreover, with Frankie’s childish comment about his family, the men in his family appear as drinkers; this suggests about the Irish culture which all men are drinkers. The same comment also clearly shows us the difference between women and men in their culture. We also see that the two characters’ families and societies are Christian, and believe in the life after death. Holden says â€Å"I know it’s only his body and all that’s in the cemetery, and his soul’s in Heaven and all that crap, but I couldn’t stand it anyway.† On the other hand Frankie explains, â€Å"Dad said I shouldn’t throw rocks at jackdaws, they might be somebody’s soul. I didn’t know what a soul was but I didn’t ask him because I didn’t care.† Their perception towards religion is the same; they both believe in what is taught to them, but in both cases the characters’ sadness and anger are much greater then their religion now, when they lost their brothers whom they love and were connected so much. â€Å"I wish he wasn’t there. You didn’t know him. If you’d known him, you’d know what I mean.† â€Å"Oliver was dead and I hated jackdaws.† Both Frankie and Holden are alone with their thoughts and feelings; they cannot share them with anyone. Holden is too immature and powerless to face his brother’s death and Frankie’s parents wouldn’t answer his question marks about death. The two narrative characters cannot talk about or express their sorrow, they have to keep it inside and divert it into anger and hate of other things or people around them. â€Å"I’d be a man someday and I’d come with a bag of rocks and I’d leave the graveyard littered with dead jackdaws.† â€Å"All the visitors in the cemetery started running like hell over to their cars. That’s what nearly drove me crazy.† Hence the two characters need to heal theirselves by something else; writing.

Frankenstein and Terror Essay

A classic gothic novel emphasises fear and terror. It has the presence of the supernatural, the placements of events within a distant time and an unfamiliar and mysterious setting. Romantic writer Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein conforms to these conventional ‘classic’ Gothic traits as well as to the modern conceptions of what is considered as Gothic. Shelley’s Frankenstein is host to a range of significant gothic elements, evident through Victor’s creation of the gigantic creature, the dark setting of the novel, set in places of gloom and horror, and the disempowered portrayal of females, in which women are threatened by the tyranny of males and are often in distress. Omens and visions are also evident in the novel, further enhancing the Gothicism found in the novel. Frankenstein is defined as a Gothic novel through the many Gothic aspects it features. The connections, and relevance it has to today’s modern society and the lessons that can be learned from it, is what classifies it as being classic. Shelley uses the supernatural elements of raising the dead to frighten her readers. Through the eyes of Victor the monster is repulsive and altogether unnatural, shocking the reader out of reality, â€Å"I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing toward me with superhuman speed.† At a time of great scientific advancement this would have been a topical story that pushed the boundaries, presenting readers with a truly shocking idea removed from reality, but remotely possible. Not only is this topic unknown and mysterious, it is presented in such a frightening way that terror consumes the reader. Victor’s decision to stop making a female monster is driven by fear that â€Å"a race of devils would be propagated upon the earth who might make the very existence of the species of man a condition precarious and full of terror† and this is the very feeling that has already been sparked in the reader during the creation of the first monster. It could be argued that the â€Å"gothic novel is primarily concerned with producing a physiological reaction, a story that chills the spine and curdles the blood†. Victor himself experiences this bodily reaction induced by fear – â€Å"Sometimes my pulse beat so quickly and hardly that I felt the palpitation of every artery.† In this respect, Shelley’s novel clearly meets the criteria of the gothic traditions. These traditions are enhanced by the feeling of suspense that runs through Frankenstein, particularly from the moment the monster threatens Victor with the words, â€Å"I will be with you on your wedding-night,† a phrase that remains with the reader through the novel from the moment it is spoken. Furthermore, nature in the gothic novel is presented as sublime. This is evident in Victor’s journey to the mountains to revive his spirits and the monster’s joy when spring arrives. Nature is often used combined with darkness to construct a feeling of foreboding or evil. This is the case as Victor creates the monster, an attempt that forces him to avoid daylight and lead a solitary life, â€Å"the moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places.† As the novel progresses we would not expect life to be â€Å"injected† into the monster on any other night but a â€Å"dreary night in November.† Evidently, through multiple narratives, Shelley forces us to question our sympathy. We are told the story of Frankenstein through Walton, who in turn tells the story of the monster. However, it is not until halfway through the novel that we are subject to the monster’s narrative and by this time we have already been influenced by Victor’s biased account of events. Consequently, we become aware of the complex nature of truth and the power of our own subjectivity. The supernatural becomes closer to natural than we may have first imagined. Although we are terrorised in true gothic manner, we are simultaneously forced to question the source of this terror. However a realist understanding of supernatural events can be identified in the reaction of the magistrate as Victor explains his story to, â€Å"He had heard my story with that half kind of belief that is given to a tale of spirits and supernatural events.† Fundamentally, in the case of Justine and Elizabeth, both women conform to the Gothic aspects of women being in distress. As the result of Justine being wrongly accused of the murder of William, her existence is threatened as she faces death if found guilty. Justine is eventually executed ultimately because of Victor’s selfishness. He created the creature, left it to do what it did and couldn’t come in Justine’s defence when she was on trial. The trial not only caused distress to Justine, but to Elizabeth also. Both women experienced emotional distress, with Elizabeth also pleading in tears to the judges. The act of creating the creature and Victor’s inability to realise the vulnerability of others around him from the creature’s attack also resulted in the violent death of Elizabeth on her wedding night. Nonetheless the act of creating the creature and the ideas behind it is in itself Gothic. In the pursuit of creating life, Victor was â€Å"animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm† to observe the â€Å"corruption of the human body† and examining the nature of death. He worked with objects that are viewed as revolting and spent days and nights in churchyards, charnel houses and vaults, collecting remains of dead bodies, in places of dark and ghostly atmosphere, emphasising the fear and terror held within society of the time, ultimately labelling Shelley’s text as a Gothic novel.

Romeo and Juliet Persuasive Letter

Dear My Love Juliet, Oh my Sweat, what a treacherous, remorseful event that has occurred. I am very sorry. I have slain your cousin Tybalt. I did not mean to be the force that killed your cousin, it was from mere impetuous thoughts belonging to me that lead to his slaying. You must be shocked and I don’t blame you as I am too in utter disbelief. I would have never done this in a million lifetimes. Yet this death did have a purpose. Your cousin Tybalt killed  my friend Mercutio, kinsman of the Prince. As I saw the lifeless body of my friend, anger swept through my bones.My body got hot and my mind went elsewhere. As a result of this, I did the unspeakable. Prince Escalus ordered making my fate the twin of Tybalt's, but somehow was persuaded to reduce it to exile. But no, this is still not to my satisfaction, but rather contributes to my woe. I cannot stand being without you, for that is worse than a man throwing one thousand knives at my chest one by one. Verona is no longer my home though, so you must understand my predicament. Also, just hope that I can come back soon.I wish to be pardoned by the Prince so I will not be exiled anymore, but I do not ask anything of you. I have hurt you enough, and I do not know how to make any of my atrocious actions up to you. And as I said before, I only want your understanding, not your pity, my dear. I could not know, but yet I do not regret marrying you. That was the most wonderful thing I have ever done. I will ward off any kind of hardships that will try to break us apart. I am looking forward to our next greeting, my love. Love Your Dearest, Romeo Montague

Environmental Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Environmental Law - Essay Example Concerning the marine environment, in recent years, several projects and political actions at national and international level have been advanced in order to reduce the effects of water pollution. Preserving and improving the marine environment requires the achievement of a good ecological status of waters, without which the aquatic ecosystem and the human activities of marine coastal zones could be strongly at risk. This is the proposal of EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) which represents a major advance in European policy with the concepts of classes of water quality and water management. Irrespective of this it is found that European water is still polluted. This paper aims at assessing the effectiveness of EC law on water quality and pollution. The UK’s membership of the EC has had important consequences for the UK with regard to improvements in water quality and the regulation of water pollution. The European Commission has been very active in drawing up a series of water-related directives which, when passed by the European Parliament, must then be transposed into national law. ... actual or intended use of the relevant waters (quality objective of receiving waters) The EC has had, and continues to have, a major impact on water quality and waterpollution control in the UK. Over the last three decades, EC has passed a range ofdirectives designed to prevent discharges of pollutants into the aquatic environment and also to establish quality standards for waters which are used for drinking, bathingand fishing. Often, the EC adopts a 'framework directive' to set up a specific controlregime and then, over time, supplements this with 'daughter directives' which setlimits for the presence of chemical substances in different types of waters (that is,drinking, bathing and fishing). Member States are given a set period of time totranspose the relevant EC directive into national law and achieve actual compliancewith the specific provisions of the directive. EC legislation on water pollution The legislation on water pollution is probably the most highly developed branch ofEC environmental law and most certainly has the longest history. Approximately 30directives concern water. The directives adopt two main approaches to pollutioncontrol: (1) the imposition of limits or restrictions upon the emission or discharge ofparticular pollutants into the water media; and (2) the establishment of quality standards for particular designated types of water.The outcome of this dual approach has been a somewhat peacemeal body of law. The directives on water pollution share several common features: The use of dual lists described as 'I' and 'G'3 which require member states to setwater standards which do not fall below 'I' limit and which should aim to achieve'G' standards.A

Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Death Penalty - Research Paper Example However, in mid 18th Century, social critics in Europe began to highlight the value of the human being and to condemn Government practices they deemed unjust, including Capital Punishment. Capital Punishment has been used as castigation for many crimes since ancient times. The Bible recommends death for many heinous crimes such as witchcraft, kidnapping and murder. But in 1500, only some major criminal acts were sentenced to death in England. These offenses included larceny, rape, burglary, murder, arson, and treason. In 1723, the Waltham Black Acts was passed in the Parliament in which many new crimes were ratified and this augmented the number of people given the death penalty every year. Following the 100 years from then, which is 1740 to 1839 a total number of Eight thousand Seven hundred and Fifty three people were put to death in Wales and England. The highest number of people that were put to death was Three hundred and seven in 1785 because they weren’t able to run away because of the ongoing American War of Independence. Due to this high number of death hangings, in 1800 the population reduced to only 9 million. In 1750s the reforms for death penalty begin to integrate in Europe and were under the governance of Cesare Beccaria (an Italian jurist), Voltaire (a French Philospher) and law reformers from England such as Samuel Romilly and Jeremy Bentham. These opponents of Capital punishment stood by the argument that death penalty was atrocious, terrible, appalling and usually given wrongly. They started their campaign with Quaker leaders and other law reformers and believed that life imprisonment was a more sensible option. By 1850s, these reform movements began to take physical existence. In 1853 Venezuela was the very first nation to condemn death sentence and then in 1867, Portugal followed the lead. In 1847, Michigan was the first state of United States to abolish death penalty for murder. In today’s society, Capital Punishment is abolished in most of the Latin America and Western Europe. However, United States, along with Japan, china and many Middle Eastern and Asian countries giv e death penalty for certain offenses and oblige it at various frequencies. Challengers of Capital Punishment compete that it is dreadful and horrifying. Those who oppose the death penalty see it as a human rights issue involving the true limits of governmental power. These people argue that life is a gift bestowed to us by God and no one has the right to take away other person’s life for acts such as robbery or burglary. But should death penalty be given for murder and shocking crimes still remains a question. Further Capital Punishment can be a wrong decision for most individuals because there is always a probability of error. It might happen that a person who is given death penalty is innocent and some other person was responsible for that dreadful deed. The actual administration of our society can be corrupted as well. Capital Punishment is imposed mostly on the indignant and the minorities. There is also a possibility of weakness of argument from the side of preclusion; t he argument that the threat of Capital Punishment lessens violent crime is open to doubts and is difficult to prove as well; and is also morally suspected. Another dispute over Capital Punishment is that we are too unskilled to carry it out. Sometimes a person keeps waiting for months or even years to be finally put to death. The delays, appeals, technicalities and retrials that keep a person destined to death waiting for implementation of the law enacted keep him or her bored and tired of life. According to World News, dated

Decision Making Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Decision Making Analysis - Essay Example This scenario creates a paradox that demanded quite holistic considerations before the decision could be made. This paper shall explore such considerations made by Pepsi and evaluate the ultimate decision made by the CEO. Pepsi is one of the leading Food and Beverage companies worldwide. The head quarter of this company is based in the United State of America. From the USA, Pepsi reaches out to over two hundred other countries of the world and has employed almost three hundred thousand workers in these various countries. This company specializes on the production of soft drinks of different brands. The company however diversifies its production to other related products such as bottled water, savory and even the whole-grain snacks. This diversification has tremendously increased the sale and consequently, the gross profit of the company across the globe (Pepsi, 2010). Moving to Africa was not a soft nut for the management of the company. There were several factors that posed threats to the operations in Africa. On the other hand, the optimistic CEO could discern abundant opportunities for making huge profit in the fallow land of Africa. For that matter, the pros and cons had to be weighed on the same beam balance. Infrastructure is always the key consideration made by any multinational companies before opening corporate businesses in foreign countries. In this case, the target location had poor infrastructure. Bad roads may deter the product distribution and sales especially in the remote areas. The company might have to spend more on vehicle repair and maintenance. Electricity distribution in some parts of Africa is unevenly. The electricity energy is needed to preserve and cool the soft drinks would be lacking in such locations, giving the products a bad taste thereby lowering the demand. Another big challenge to Pepsi Company would be its competitors, and in this case, the Coca cola company which has deeply established its roots in the

Problem Statement Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Problem Statement Wal-Mart - Essay Example Customers of the company benefit from the low prices and variety of products which can be purchased in various branches nationwide (Terpstra, et al.138). However local communities suffer from a deterioration of the environment in areas where Wal-Mart stores are located, due to an increase of the vehicular flow. In addition, local communities suffer from the overall decline of local business activities in areas where Wal-Mart stores are located because smaller businesses cannot compete with one of the largest retailers in the history of US also the world. Suppliers cooperate effectively with the company but they have to always match its low-cost strategy. Otherwise, Wal-Mart would choose other suppliers. Moreover, Wal-Mart tends to shift to large corporations as its major suppliers because they offer minimal prices of products and are capable of delivering homogeneous products nationwide. Hence competitors cannot outpace Wal-Mart as one of the largest retailers in the US. All these fa ctors constitute the unique management of Wal-Mart as it has remained competitive and is gaining popularity across the world despite criticism. At the international level, Wal-Mart has a less significant impact compared to the US market. Nevertheless, the company has kept on growing and today Wal-Mart is one of the leading retailers not just in the US but also in the world. Moreover, if the company continues its aggressive international market expansion, Wal-Mart may become the world's leader, overpowering its major rivals, like Target or Carrefour. While entering international markets, such as China, Wal-Mart attempts to introduce its standards and organizational culture abroad to its overseas outlets to make them similar to those in the US and hence this will...

European Union Enlargment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

European Union Enlargment - Essay Example It will also discuss that the process of regulatory management has become more difficult, which entails greater emphasis on the principle of mutual recognition as the main tool for ensuring freedom of movement of goods and services. However, mutual recognition has its limits and is likely to be less effective the more diverse the countries involved. The challenge facing the Union with the start of the eastern enlargement, the first wave of which was decided at the end of 2002 and implemented during 2004-2006, cannot be underestimated. A region of about 100 million inhabitants was integrated into the EU. Populations deeply rooted in European history had become part of the continental polis, yet these same populations emerged from almost half a century of Soviet domination and planned economy only just over ten years ago. A complex net of similarities and differences make the eastern enlargement something quite different compared to previous episodes of EU expansion. The first point relates to the relative level of economic development in the Eastern European countries. The second point is a reflection of the particular historical circumstances of these countries. The second, third and fourth features are very much linked to the necessary conditions for successful re building of the EU and the steps that have been taken to meet those requirements. The previous two enlar... The second point is a reflection of the particular historical circumstances of these countries. The second, third and fourth features are very much linked to the necessary conditions for successful re building of the EU and the steps that have been taken to meet those requirements. Enlargement and the Level of Income in the Applicant Countries The previous two enlargements were, first, to the South, and then, to the North. The accession of Greece, Portugal and Spain in the 1980s brought relatively low-income partners in the Union, and this changed the economic geography and the budgetary structure of the EU. However, both the population dimension and the average income gap of the countries then involved in the southern enlargement were about half those relating to the newest members. The Northern Enlargement of the 1990s actually raised the average per capita income of the EU, and the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden brought a net positive contribution to the Union's budget. This time the picture is completely different. The incoming members of the EU are, and will be for quite a few years, significantly poorer than the existing members. Their average wages are lower than in the incumbents; hence there could be an incentive for workers to move westward, and for capital to go eastward. Their core inflation rates will be higher due to structural transformation and their net contribution to the EU budget will be persistently negative. Of course, all this will impact on a number of EU policies and institutions, in the fields of migration and border flows, financial and budgetary provisions, monetary policy and the working of the ECB and trade and investment flows.

How media influences people about disease---ALS and its ice bucket Research Paper

How media influences people about disease---ALS and its ice bucket challenge - Research Paper Example People who use Facebook and Twitter are for all practical purposes running little media houses, and face the problem of their much larger brethren, where will the next story come from? Originality is too time-consuming: emulation is inevitable. Fads ensue. What gets emulated? Anything that can contribute to social capital. The content must be easy to create but not as easy as photographing ones morning cappuccino. For example, someone in Toronto snapped a selfie with the controversial mayor Rob Ford. Overnight, hunting Rob Ford became a Toronto sport, and your face next to his became social currency across Canada. Its easy to write off these fads as simple stunts of digital narcissism, but they matter to marketing because they carry incidental meaning. It was not lost on Fords reelection team that media coverage on Facebook was as good as, perhaps better than, press coverage. Selfies with Ford carried the incidental meaning that he was one of the people, a fun-loving regular guy. He began to make himself selfie-friendly. Brands, too, ask how they can become incidental props in these viral stunts. The challenge that brands encounter, however, is that their involvement could come off as merely jumping on the bandwagon because spreadable stunts tend to carry no meaning beyond the stunt itself. Take "planking" for example. An early Facebook fad, planking is the act of lying face-down in an incongruous place. It is the epitome of digital narcissism and any hint of motive other than "look at me" just clouds the picture. By contrast, the ALS ice bucket challenge offers an example of a brand harnessing the energy of a narcissistic fad on social networks in service to the brand itself. The usual elements are there: an act that is incongruous, not easy to do, and screams "look at me." Yet here, the incidental meaning is not at all dissociated from the personal meaning. Im