Media Violence Not Good for Children Essay

The effects of media violence on children have been studied for over thirty years, with researchers repeatedly finding correlations between aggressive/violent behavior and the viewing of media violence. These education and psychology researchers began asserting years ago that a cause-and-effect relationship existed, i.e., viewing media violence was one of the causative factors in aggressive behavior in children. We often use the phrase that â€Å"children are impressionable.† We mean that children do not see the world through the same filter of experience that adults do. Children see things more literally. They do not yet possess the sophisticated sensibilities to distinguish fiction from reality. It matters a great deal, therefore, how much TV children watch and what they view. Young children often mimic what they see. Parents and caretakers observe this regularly. If children see people punching and kicking, they may act out that same behavior. Older children develop, through years of watching, sub-conscious mental plans of how they will react in conflict situations. For years they have seen conflicts resolved by violence, and they sub-consciously develop the same reaction plan. When confronted with a conflict, the tendency is to react the way they have seen countless others react—in a combative, aggressive or violent manner. Researchers call this developing a â€Å"cognitive script.† Through television, video games, and movies, children and teens view countless acts of violence, brutality, and terror as part of entertainment. They become conditioned to associating violence with entertainment. This is the classical conditioning. First-person shooter video games develop our children’s skills in operating weapons. The games reward marksmanship, and further reinforce the association of killing with entertainment. In the past, the heroes of movie and television shows were usually people who strictly followed the law. Now, heroes are often people who take the law into their own hands, who see an injustice or evil and seek to rectify it personally, sometimes brutally, regardless of the consequences. Such portrayals signal to a child society’s approval of that behavior. Lacking the judgment that comes with age, a child who feels he has been dealt with unfairly may copy that behavior, with disastrous consequences

Causes of Environment

cause of environmental degradation The primary cause of environmental degradation is  human disturbance. The degree of the environmental impact varies with the cause, the habitat, and the plants and animals that inhabit it. ————————————————- Habitat Fragmentation Habitat fragmentation carries long term environmental impacts, some of which can destroy entire ecosystems. An ecosystem is a distinct unit and includes all the living and non-living elements that reside within it. Plants and animals are obvious members, but it will also include other components on which they rely on such as streams, lakes, and soils.Habitats become fragmented when development breaks up solid stretches of land. Examples include roads which may cut through forests or even trails which wind through prairies. While it may not sound all bad on the surface, there are serious consequences. The largest of these consequences are initially felt by specific plant and animal communities, most of which are specialized for their bioregion or require large areas of land to retain a healthy genetic heritage. Area Sensitive Animals Some wildlife species require large stretches of land in order to meet all of their needs for food, habitat, and other resources.These animals are called  area sensitive. When the environment is fragmented, the large patches of habitat no longer exist. It becomes more difficult for the wildlife to get the resources they to survive, possibly becoming threatened or endangered. The environment suffers without the animals that play their role in the food web. Aggressive Plant Life A more critical result of habitat fragmentation is land disturbance. Many weedy plant species, such as garlic mustard and purple loosestrife, are both opportunistic and invasive. A breach in the habitat gives them an opportunity to take hold.These aggressive plants can take over an envir onment, displacing the native flora. The result is habitat with a single dominant plant which doesn't provide adequate food resources for all the wildlife. Entire ecosystems are threatened with extinction, according to the National Resources Defense Council. Effects of Environmental  Degradation One of the greatest challenges facing humanity is environmental degradation, including deforestation, desertification, pollution, and climate change – an issue of increasing concern for the international community.Environmental degradation increases the vulnerability of the societies it affects and contributes to the scarcity of resources. Climate change will lead to an increase in the intensity and frequency of weather extremes, such as heat waves, floods, droughts and tropical cyclones. The people hardest hit by climate change and environmental degradation are those living in the most vulnerable areas, including coastal communities, small island nations, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asi an delta regions. It is the poorest of the poor, who lack the resources to prepare, adapt and rebuild, that are most affected.Environmental degradation can lead to a scarcity of resources, such as water and farmable. Extreme weather events, such as severe flooding, increase the spread of waterborne diseases, such as malaria and diarrhoea. The effects of the major environmental problems on both health and productivity are: a. Water pollution and water scarcity: As per the estimation of UN, more than two million deaths and billions of illnesses a year are attributable to water pollution. Water scarcity compounds these health problems.Productivity is affected by the costs of providing safe water, by constraints on economic activity caused by water shortages, and by the adverse effects of water pollution and shortages on other environmental resources such as, declining fisheries and acquifer depletion leading to irreversible compaction. b. Air pollution: As per the estimation of UN, urb an air pollution is responsible for 300,000—700,000 deaths annually and creates chronic health problems for many more people. Restrictions on vehicles and industrial activity during critical periods affect productivity, as does the effect of acid rain on forests and water bodies. . Solid and hazardous wastes: Diseases are spread by uncollected garbage and blocked drains; the health risks from hazardous wastes are typically more localized, but often acute. Wastes affect productivity through the pollution of groundwater resources. d. Soil degradation: Depleted soils increase the risks of malnutrition for farmers. Productivity losses on tropical soils are estimated to be in the range of 0. 5-1. 5 per cent of GNP, while secondary productivity losses are due to siltation of reservoirs, transportation channels and other hydrologic investments. e.Deforestation: Death and disease can result from the localized flooding caused by deforestation. Loss of sustainable logging potential and of erosion prevention, watershed stability and carbon sequestration provided by forests are among the productivity impacts of deforestation. f. Loss of biodiversity: The extinction of plant and animal species will potentially affect the development of new drugs; it will reduce ecosystem adaptability and lead to the loss of genetic resources. g. Atmospheric changes: Ozone depletion is responsible for perhaps 300,000 additional cases of skin cancer a year and 1. million cases of cataracts. Global warming may lead to increase in the risk of climatic natural disasters. Productivity impacts may include sea-rise damage to coastal investments, regional changes in agricultural productivity and disruption of the marine food chain. Conclusion:  The impact of environmental disasters can be devastating on the social, economic, and environmental systems of a country or region as well as the global ecosystem. Environmental disasters do not recognise man-made borders, and threaten the legacy le ft to future generations of a clean and supportive environment.Because of the interdependency of earth ecosystems international co-operation is paramount to prevent, and when disaster strikes, respond to relieve quickly and effectively the effects of environmental disasters. Thus, Governments, International organizations and communities must work together – at all levels – to lessen the risks associated with environmental degradation and its contributing factors, such as climate change, and ensure that vulnerable people are prepared to survive and adapt. At the same time, companies, organizations and individuals must also ensure that their work is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Similar essay: Disadvantages of Plants Living on Land

Why the consumer should buy BMW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why the consumer should buy BMW - Essay Example Furthermore, the essay will also argue as to why consumers will prefer buying BMW over other luxury cars. BMW’s innovations and performances in the segment of luxury car have acquired the repute of ‘the Ultimate Driving Machine’ from its numerous loyal customers. Automobiles are subjected to make regular and proper maintenance in order to ensure long life of the vehicle. However, maintenance costs of the vehicle are not for free and generally appear with a considerable price. Annually, it may cost approximately US $500 in maintenance for most of the luxury cars in the initial stages. However, at the later stages, a consumer may require to incur huge expenses due to massive changes in the machinery parts of the vehicle (BMW of North America, LLC, â€Å"Owners†). In relation to the operational performances, it has been viewed that BMW offers free maintenance of its vehicles to its customers for a period of four years. In fact, more than US $2,000 can be saved relating to the maintenance costs in contrast with other luxury cars. Furthermore, the company provides much assistance to its customers by offering roadside support without any additional costs for the initial 4 years.

Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Theories - Essay Example 2. Neo-Realists would not buy in to the idea that treaties or other laws could actually do a great deal to control the spread of nuclear weapons. Neo-realism essentially states that there are states that succeed and states that fail based on their behavior, and that a state will do whatever it can to survive, often emulating successful states. As nuclear weapons can be seen as an impregnable defense against invasion, as one could always use it to utterly dismantle an invading country as a last result, countries will obviously seek this course. There is very little incentive to abide by international law, and a great incentive to fail to do so (or simply opt out). 3. Liberals pay much greater attention to the economic side of things than other political theorists, basing a great deal of weight of international relations on what happens economically. A liberal would argue that the best way to assure a lasting peace is twofold: to promote economic development in countries to give them fewer reasons to go to war or have strife, and to create stronger international trade agreements, because countries that are close trading partners both stand to suffer a great deal should they go to war with each other. 4. This article demonstrates that terrorism is largely in the eyes of the beholder. The tactics that he has supposedly undertaken, if allegations are to be believed, would certainly constitute terrorism in almost anyone’s mind: he killed civilians with a tube of toothpaste. Yet, he was also a CIA operative. This makes one think that many of the terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan might be considered freedom fighters if one were to shift one’s perspective slightly. This shows that terrorism can be very subjective in nature. 5. A realist would believe that emerging economies have a chance at creating world peace, because the more stable a country is the less likely it is to engage in

Policy and procedure writing exercise Assignment

Policy and procedure writing exercise - Assignment Example This makes our premises very busy with visitors, making it an easy target for terrorist attacks. Therefore, to help the organization deal with such threats, it has been decided that the backdoor shall henceforth remain closed, and all the visitors to the premises shall be using the front door, both for entry and exit. The back door had been designed to facilitate easy exit of all the visitors to the premises, leaving the front door for entrance only. However, it has been noted that such a strategy has created an opportunity for prospective terrorists to gain unauthorized entry into the premises, through using the back door which is meant for exit. This has necessitated the need for closure of the backdoor, to ensure that all visitors enter and leave the premises through the front door. All the visitors to the premises will be frisked, and their luggage checked for any material or items that could be a security threat to the organization. Frisking will be done at the entrance gate by the security agents placed at the entrance. There shall be an identification procedure for all the visitors to the premises at the entrance gate, where all the visitors will be required to produce their identification documents, such as their passports, Identity Cards or driving licenses. After producing the documents, the visitors will be registered in the visitors’ book by our staff, who will be situated at the gate. The registrations will entail the names of the visitor, the time they enter the gate, their purpose to the premises and the department they will be visiting. After the details of the visitor are registered, they will be required to leave their identification documents at the entrance gate, and instead will be issued with a gate pass and a visitor’s card, which is indicates the visitor’s respective department of interest. After the visitors are through with their businesses in the

Why a College Degree is Important in Achieving Success Essay

Why a College Degree is Important in Achieving Success - Essay Example The job marketplace has changed due to the shift in developed nation towards a knowledge economy. In the social reality of the 21st century, people must seek education in order to get ahead in life.   A person’s level of intelligence does even if is really high, does not make a human exempt from the need of obtaining a college degree. Not having a college diploma closes many doors in the corporate world and limits the job alternatives a person can apply for. A person who has a bachelor’s degree earns an average salary of $51,554, which is much higher than the $28,645 average annual salary a person with a high diploma earns (Kelley, 2006). A college degree is a worthwhile investment in everyone’s future. Sometimes a young person has a tough time choosing a major when considering applying for college; it is worthwhile noting that most people do not end up working in their college field of study (Agoinst, 2008). A college degree does much more than providing a human with a specific skill set that can be applied to particular work field. It is a maturing process in which a student learns interpersonal skills, responsibility, the ability to analyze information, and many other cognitive abilities which increase the value of a person in the entire labor marketplace. In an economic environment such what were are seeing in the United States where there are massive jobs losses and a rising unemployment rate which in November 2008 reached 6.7%, the highest level in over a decade, workers must become more knowledgeable and skilled to compete in the job marketplace (Bls, 2008). A college degree is more important than ever. The new jobs being created in the new economy required knowledge of new technologies and people better prepared to handle vast amounts of information.  

Music of world culture Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Music of world culture - Term Paper Example Moreover, they were sung by neighbors and the communities, when there were major events (Dzuris 331). In explaining folk music, I have not found an accepted definition, but this does not mean that it does not have a definition, but it ranges with the understanding of the subject. Folk music can be described as the music for and of the people, a nation, a community, or a subculture that carries messages with specific meaning regarding the people’s life and experiences (Dunaway and Beer 7-10). Music in the Western World In reference to the North America, folk music has been there before the arrival of the immigrant from Europe and later from Africa. The European immigrant brought with them ballads and other acoustic instruments. Folk music has been practiced for centuries, was, and is still referred to as the music of the masses. In the 17th century, most of the people in Europe were peasants, and folk songs transferred stories of event through oral narration. By this time, fo lk music was rarely performed musically. There composition was of simple form and represented the identity of the poorer in the communities (Dunaway and Beer 7- 17). In the period when Christianity movement started in Europe, folk music was at the centre stage of the expansion of the religion. It was highly associated with heathenism due its singing styles. Thereafter, folk music became more popular in society in sensitizing the masses in the start of the romantic period. People like Haydn, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky identified themselves with folk music. During this time, there were no cities and people lived in villages and urban communities. And with these settings, folk songs were recognized as a treasure and people identified themselves with the different styles of folk music. Each political beliefs, ethnicity, race, and religion had identified itself with specific style of folk song. Therefore, folk music played an important role in passing on the culture and the history of a particular community or country from one generation another. By the end of 19th century, folk songs had become unpopular in Western Europe and later in Eastern Europe and North America, during this time only the older individuals knew and sung folk songs. Still in the century, cities were established and people were moving from the rural areas to urban cities and this resulted to diminishing of the folk traditional music. Nevertheless, urban folklorists stimulated by a person known as Thomas Percy a British, Johann Gottfried, a German and an American by the name Francis James collected and later published volumes where they emphases on the different age of the folk songs and their meaning in the society. However, there work did not save the diminishing trend of folk songs and the music had little attention by this time. In 1899, Cecil Sharp an English scholar toured various communities in Britain collecting folk songs. He later established a society to preserve the songs, dances and other traditions of communities at that time (Dunaway and Beer 17-23). In the late 19th century, the documentation of folk songs started and more of the songs were recorded on a wax cylinder, and folk songs and other traditions were consolidated and shared far and wide as opposed to being confined within the borders of a community. Later in the same period, some new tradition begun to emerge in the urban districts where the

How And Why Childrens Play Has Changed Over the Last 50 Essay

How And Why Childrens Play Has Changed Over the Last 50 - Essay Example According to the research findings, the digital revolution in the world has brought along with it its related technologies such as the smartphone, digital cameras, video game consoles, e-book readers among others that have led to the decline of outdoor play and given rise to what has come to be known as digital play. While children of the 1950s and 60s would spend their play time outdoors in the fields and terraces interacting with nature, children in our modern era are more likely to be found holed up in their cozy homes playing their favorite video games or browsing on their smartphones. Thus, it is evident that the amount of play time outdoors and the rise of digital play are two related developments where the rise of the latter has led to the fall of the former. A third related development has been the reduction of the amount of time available for children’s play. This has been attributed to economic circumstances of parents where parents in the modern economies spend most of their time in the workplace and lesser time with their children at home. A related factor has been the fact that schools have decided to cut down on the time allocated to play in favor of more time for instructional teaching. These two factors have conspired to reduce the number of time children has left to play. The integration of digital media technology into homes, schools, workplace and other areas of life is now ubiquitous. Digital technology, in terms of smartphones, digital cameras, game consoles, et cetera has now transcended into almost every facet of the human life to such an extent that it would be hard to evade it.

Abstract Legal Drinking Age Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Abstract Legal Drinking Age - Essay Example Though the legal drinking age varies from country to country it is stressed by MLDA in the USA that as many as possible under 21 people should be restricted to purchase alcohol openly as 18-year-olds do not happen to be mature enough to make proper decisions amidst situations when things may get wayward due to alcoholic influence. The age 21 law is the reason why fewer car accidents due to alcoholic influence occur in America as compared to the European world. While it is claimed that MLDA should not be set at 18 because such action could greatly aggravate the harmful consequences for the society, the opponents of the age 21 law argue that a higher MLDA is only empty mockery because not only it is not associated with a decreased number of highway care accidents and reckless endangerment incidents involving the youth, but also it encourages the immature youngsters to pursue wrong paths to do exactly what they are stopped from by the law. This essay attempts at reviewing what the liter ature has to say on the issue of lowering MLDA as a way of evaluating if the arguments in favor of lowering it actually happen to be as compelling and credible as those against it. It also aims at contemplating basic history related to MLDA as a way of illuminating exactly when and why this issue started to be taken seriously at the official level.     Ã‚  

The Race Implicit Association Test Essay Example for Free

The Race Implicit Association Test Essay I tried the Race Implicit Association Test (IAT) at www. implicit. harvard. edu . At the beginning I was asked about my attitude towards African Americans and European Americans, I confidently answered that I was neutral. I started the test with a strong conviction that I do not discriminate between African and European Americans. The warm up phase flashed several pictures of African and European Americans, and then I was prompted to press e when I see a black face and ii when I see a white face. That phase was easy but then the part which required to categorize pictures and words together such as a black face and a good word (love, peace.. ) and a white face and a bad word (nasty, evil.. ) and vice versa was difficult. The result showed that I have a moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American. The site revealed that one gets an automatic preference for European American rating if one responded faster when European American faces and Good words were classified with the same key than when African American faces and Good words were classified with the same key . The site revealed that almost seventy percent of people who take test have a slight – strong automatic preference for European Americans compared to African Americans. Meaning, this seventy percent had difficulty associating the good words with the face of African Americans, and obvious manifestation of racial preference. I wonder what this meant for me. At the beginning of the test I was so sure that I have no bias whatsoever, however the result was rather confusing. I gather that that while I have stated values which I use to direct or control my behavior deliberately; my unconscious attitude manifests itself in instances where there is no chance for me to deliberate. The result showed how incompatible my pronounced convictions are to my unconscious behavior. Upon reflection, I realized that my biases are the product of societal stimuli which are institutionalized in our everyday life. For example, print advertisements depict heavenly with a white person clothed in blinding light and depicts evil as dark. These stimuli condition our minds and make us associate certain words to a certain race. We seem to have stored in our brain what certain things should look like. Thus, we find it difficult to associate black with good. We have stereotypes embedded in our subconscious which manifests when we are faced with situations when we need to make split second decisions, when we need to act without deliberation. Say for example when we meet strangers for the first time, we probably would give higher trust to a white person than to a black person because of the bad and wrongs associated with the race. The unconscious part of our brain silently processes all the data available from all the experiences we’ve had, the people we’ve met, the books we’ve read, movies we’ve watched and then it forms an opinion. On a conscious level we would never discriminate, in fact the state has adopted policies which ban discrimination. The Equal protection clause of our constitution guarantees non-discrimination under any circumstance. However, our unconscious is not covered by this prohibition, or it does not recognize this prohibition because it manifests without us being able to deliberate and rationalize our judgment. It is possible for us to discriminate at any given time, without us knowing it. This is manifest in our behavior around people; a person who has a strong inclination towards white person would naturally lean forward a little more towards a white person or turn-away farther from a black person. This situation may happen anytime and anywhere we meet the stimuli which cause us to discriminate.

External and Internal Impacts on a Hotel

External and Internal Impacts on a Hotel Price is the sum of the values consumers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service and is the only marketing element that produce revenue. Therefore managers must have an understanding of price in order to formulate their pricing strategies. Pricing strategy integrates marketing and finance in an attempt to create mutual satisfaction to both buyer and seller. The product or service attributes must be combined with price to provide enough value to satisfy customers while enabling the firm to cover costs and make an adequate profit. There are several factors that the hotel must consider when setting the prices. These factors are categorized in two groups: internal and external factors. Internal factors: Marketing objectives: the hotel must select a product strategy before establishing the price. The strategic decisions on market positioning have a major influence on price thats why the hotel should be clear about its objectives in order to set the prices easier. These objectives are: Survival is used when the economy slumps or a recession is going on. The hotel in this case can cut the rates to create the best cash flow. Current profit maximization: many companies want to set a price that will produce the maximum current profit, cash flow and seeking for financial outcomes rather than long-run performance. Market-share leadership: when companies believe that a company with the largest market share will eventually enjoy low costs and high long-run profit, they set low opening rates and strive to be the market-share leader. Product-quality leadership: hotels like Grecotel chain charge a high price for their high-cost products to capture the luxury market. Other objectives are: stabilize market, create excitement for new product and draw more attention. Marketing mix strategy refers to the coordination of price with product design, distribution and promotion decisions in order to form an effective marketing program. A hotel should consider all marketing mix decisions together when developing a marketing program. Costs: all companies set their prices in order to cover their costs and to make profit. The hotel needs to charge a price that covers its costs for producing, distributing and promoting the product. Costs take two forms, fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs are costs that remain the same no matter of the sales level of a hotel, such as depreciation, insurance, interest, rent, salaries, and wages. Variable costs are costs that change with the level of production, such as raw material, distribution costs, energy usage and labor. Organizational considerations: management should decide who within the hotel should set the prices. Usually in small hotels the top management is the one who will take the decisions about the prices. On the other hand, large hotels have a revenue management department and its responsibility is to set the prices and to coordinate with the departments that influence price. External factors: Nature of the market and demand: costs set the lower limits of prices and the market and demand set the upper limit. Consumers and buyers use to balance the products price against the benefits it provides and this is the reason why the marketers before setting the prices must understand the relationship between price and demand for a product. Marketers before setting the prices should consider also the following elements that are related with market and the demand: The hotel can use cross-selling, which is the encouragement of a customer who buys a product to buy a related or complementary product. Up-selling is another technique that the hotel can use and in order to do that the hotel must train the sales and reservation employees to offer continuously a higher-priced product that will better meet the customer needs, rather than setting for the lowest price. Consumer perception of price and value: it is the consumer who decides whether a products price is right. When setting prices, the hotel must consider how customers perceive price and the ways that these perceptions affect customers buying decisions, that means that the price must be buyer oriented. The price decision requires a creative awareness of the target market and recognition of the differences between the buyers. Analyzing the price-demand relationship: the higher the price for a product or service is, the lower the demand for this product. Price elasticity of demand: the hotel must understand how responsive demand will be to a change in price. If demand hardly varies with a small change in price, the demand is inelastic, if demand changes greatly, the demand is elastic. Buyers are also less price-sensitive when the product is unique or when it is high in quality. Consumers are also less price-sensitive when substitute products are hard to find. In case that the demand is elastic the sellers tend to lower the prices in order to produce more revenue. There are several factors that affect price sensitivity: Unique value effect: creating the perception that your offering is different from those of your competitors avoids price competition. Substitute awareness effect: lack of the awareness of the existence of alternatives reduces price sensitivity. Business expenditure effect: when someone else pays the bill, the customer is less price-sensitive. End-benefit effect: when the price of the product accounts for a large share of the total cost of the end benefit, the consumers are more price-sensitive. Total expenditure effect: the more you pay for a product, the more sensitive you are for the products price. Sunk cost effect: purchasers who have an investment in products that they are currently using are less likely to change for price reasons. Price quality effect: consumers usually equate the price with the quality of a product, especially in case that the buy the product for first time. Competition: the hotel should consider the prices and offers that the competitors have before deciding its own pricing. The hotel should make a research and collect information for the existing hotels and other hospitality establishments in the area, as concern their prices and the products that they offer. Other environmental factors: economic factors such as inflation, boom or recession and interest rates affect pricing decisions. Meeting new government regulations can cause costs to increase or governments can streamline processes, reducing costs. Companies set prices by selecting a general pricing approach that includes the following: Cost Based Prices Competition Based Pricing Prestige Pricing Market-Skimming Pricing Market Penetration Pricing Product Bundle Pricing Volume Discounts Discounts Based on Time of Purchase Discriminatory Pricing Explain briefly the different strategies with examples from the hospitality industry. Cost based pricing is a method in which a fixed sum or a percentage of the total cost is added to the cost of the product to arrive at its selling price. For example, in hotels the F B manager use this method in order to decide the selling price for wines. They usually multiply the cost of the wine by 3 to make its selling price. A wine that is cost 20à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬*3=60à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ is the price that the hotel is going to sell the wine. Competition based pricing is a price set by a company for a product to compete other companies pricing, with less attention paid to own costs or the customer demand. The hotel may charge the same, more or less than its competitors. An example here is same category hotels which offer similar products and services, compete each other by offering better prices in order to attract more guests. Prestige pricing is a pricing strategy in which prices are set at a high level, recognizing that lower prices will slow down the sales but on the other hand consumers will associate a high price for the product with higher quality. High quality hotels and restaurants use this method of pricing in order to support their position as luxurious and elegant and these establishments usually targeted in a higher level market which interested in superior services. In case that the establishment lowers its prices, there is a great possibility to lose its customers. Market skimming pricing is a pricing approach which is setting a high price when the market is price-sensitive to attract buyers with a strong desire for the product and the resources to buy it. This pricing method is used more in industries with high research and development costs such as computer firms. An example in hospitality industry is the hotels in Araxova during the winter season. In that period, hotels are setting higher prices because the demand for snow activities is higher, knowing that the strong desire for these activities will lead the consumers to pay. Market penetration pricing is a method which is setting lower initial price to penetrate the market quickly and deeply, attracting many buyers and winning a large market share. For example a new hotel can open with lower prices than its competitors in order to attract more guests. Product bundle pricing is a strategy in which various products sold to a customer together and are offered in a price less than the sum of the prices of the products sold individually. An example here is when a hotel sells weekend packages in special prices which include room and meals. Volume discounts is a method used most from the hotels in which hotels have special rates to attract customers who are likely to purchase a large quantity of hotel rooms, either for a single period or throughout a year. For example, hotels usually offer special prices to corporate meeting planners. In such cases hotels can give the rooms with lower rates or make a deal with the meeting planner in every 20 rooms booked one is free. A discount based on the time of purchase is a price reduction to buyers who purchase goods when the demand is lower. For example a hotel offers seasonal discounts in periods where the demand is lower in order to keep demand steady during the year. Discriminatory pricing often involves discrimination on the bases of race, religion, age or gender. Segmentation of the market and pricing differences based on price elasticity characteristics of the segments. In discriminatory pricing the company sells a product at two or more prices, although the difference in price is not based in cost. It maximizes the amount that each customer pays. For example a hotel can sell the same room in different prices depend on several facts: if a guest is a repeater usually the hotel offer a lower price for the room, if a guest book a room for first time may the hotel charge the room in a higher price, if a guest book two or more rooms the hotel usually gives better prices for the room. In the hospitality industry we have numerous examples of price discrimination.

The River Of Freedom Essay -- essays research papers

In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, the Mississippi River plays many roles and holds a prominent theme throughout much of the story. Huck and Jim are without a doubt the happiest and most at peace when floating down the river on their raft. The river has a deeper meaning than just water and mud, almost to the extent of having it's own ideal personality. It provides the two characters a means of escape from everything and everyone, and puts them at ease. Although quite constrained in it's capacity to provide freedom of movement, the raft offers the two a certain amount of freedom in actions, words, and emotions. Huck senses this truth when he mentions how; 'other places feel so cramped and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft.'; (Twain, 113) However, the freedom that is experienced on the raft can be deceiving. This freedom is only temporary and will not last forever. Huck and Jim cannot live on a raft traveling down the Mississippi forever and must focus on the main situation at hand, getting Jim his true freedom A freedom that stretches beyond the limiting reaches of a raft.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huckleberry resents the objectives and beliefs of the so-called 'civilized'; people of the society around him. Huck likes to be free from the restrictions of others and just be himself, living by his own rules. He disbelieves the societal beliefs that have been embedded in his mind since birth, which is shown by his brother-lik...

College Admissions Essay: Life is Beautiful :: College Admissions Essays

Life is Beautiful A friend of mine recently sent me an email with an aphorism that read, "Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to." I shuddered at its implications. According to this, the best things come to you; you do not elicit them. Trying hard, it seems, is irrelevant to what becomes of our life. I would rephrase it: "Try so hard that it becomes easy, and accept the best things as the best person to receive them." For it is only hard because you do not know that it is easy. The complete work is easy and lovely--easy as sweat and blood is easy, for the alternative of holding back, of reserving your power, of giving half your heart to what you seek, this, this, is hard. Only habit makes it easy. If you are not wise enough to know the good and true way, then it is your one goal, your singular objective to become wise. And once you are wise, you find what is good and true, and you give your all to it. Bend not your knee to distraction. Allow me to repeat: giving all is only hard because you do not realize that it is easy. If I told you that I am called to be a writer, then it should be assumed the gentle task I have before me: study my homework for four hours a day, edit my book three hours a day, write letters and journal entries at every spare moment, read literature of all sorts--and only high literature, the best every written, nothing secondary or weak. All this must be done without a tinge of complaint, without any holding back, without any fear of failure, without any sense that I am sacrificing, without a feeling of duty. To complain is to reveal an inner contradiction.   If I do complain, I must figure out why, and solve that problem. College Admissions Essay: Life is Beautiful :: College Admissions Essays Life is Beautiful A friend of mine recently sent me an email with an aphorism that read, "Don't try so hard, the best things come when you least expect them to." I shuddered at its implications. According to this, the best things come to you; you do not elicit them. Trying hard, it seems, is irrelevant to what becomes of our life. I would rephrase it: "Try so hard that it becomes easy, and accept the best things as the best person to receive them." For it is only hard because you do not know that it is easy. The complete work is easy and lovely--easy as sweat and blood is easy, for the alternative of holding back, of reserving your power, of giving half your heart to what you seek, this, this, is hard. Only habit makes it easy. If you are not wise enough to know the good and true way, then it is your one goal, your singular objective to become wise. And once you are wise, you find what is good and true, and you give your all to it. Bend not your knee to distraction. Allow me to repeat: giving all is only hard because you do not realize that it is easy. If I told you that I am called to be a writer, then it should be assumed the gentle task I have before me: study my homework for four hours a day, edit my book three hours a day, write letters and journal entries at every spare moment, read literature of all sorts--and only high literature, the best every written, nothing secondary or weak. All this must be done without a tinge of complaint, without any holding back, without any fear of failure, without any sense that I am sacrificing, without a feeling of duty. To complain is to reveal an inner contradiction.   If I do complain, I must figure out why, and solve that problem.

The Role of Minor Characters in Shakespeares Hamlet :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

The Role of Minor Characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet Minor characters play a very crucial role in Shakespear's Hamlet. They serve as narrators for events that occurred outside the immediate play: the Dane's ghost. Distinct contrasts are created through the usage of the play's minor characters. The reader gains new perspective on Hamlet's character when he is compared with Laertes. The presence of these minor characters can also have a direct effect on the action of the play. The actors in the play within the play are used to expose the guilt of Claudius; Hamlet then has proof of the King's crimes. The expertise use of these characters - either to exemplify good and purity, or to spread the vile corruption which permeates Elsinore - is one of the main reasons for Hamlet's success as one of the greatest plays ever written. Some events in Hamlet must be narrated to the reader, and to the major characters, through minor characters which have a direct link to the events. Shakespear builds the entire play around information which was narrated to Hamlet by his father's ghost. The ghost tells Hamlet of events which the reader would otherwise never know about: the murder of the former Dane by Claudius. When Horatio reads the letter that he has received from Hamlet the reader is informed of how Hamlet has evaded Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Also, the events occurring in Norway reach the court by means of an emissary, Voltimand, sent to check on Fortinbras. These events have a strong and direct relevancy to the plot and movement of the play. Shakespear uses contrast to highlight the qualities of the characters in Hamlet; this contrast shows up in the minor characters. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, false friends of Hamlet who succumb to Claudius' corruptness, serve as a distinct contrast to the loyal friendship that Horatio shares with Hamlet. Voltimand is used to contrast Polonius' often comic verbosity. While Polonius dresses up all his speeches with the language of the court, Voltimand is able to give his entire report on Fortinbras in a matter of seconds. The most powerful foil in the play is between Laertes and Hamlet. Upon hearing of the death of his father, Laertes becomes enraged, and seeks immediate vengeance; he does not delay, and acts instantaneously. When the ghost tells Hamlet of Claudius' crimes, Hamlet is unable to act. He procrastinates, missing many opportunities to avenge his father, and acts when it is already too late.

Autonomous Cars Essay

Imagine a world where you can get in your car without the worry of driving alongside drunks and teenagers. The once fictional dream of riding a driverless car is now becoming a reality, with many large companies including Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, BMW, Audi, and Google, currently investing in the development of this contraption. What is a driverless (or autonomous) car? It is an automobile run by an autopilot that allows passengers to travel safely and quickly to their destination with minimal to no human control. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) predicts that by the year 2040, our roads will be populated with autonomous vehicles, with up to 75% of all cars being driverless (Newcomb, 2012). As human civilization advances technologically on a daily basis, we are becoming less dependent on people and more dependent on robots, which many view as positive. Self-driving cars are a step in the right direction for society, and ought to become available to the public as soon as possible for a more efficient and secure driving experience. The primary concern with transportation is safety; hence the most obvious and largest benefit to the replacement of regular cars with self-driving cars is the decrease in traffic collisions. â€Å"Ninety percent of our road accidents are related to bad driving behavior; driving recklessly and speeding under the influence of alcohol, changing lanes without signaling, driving on the hard shoulder and passing through red lights.† -Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Commander in chief of the Dubai Police (Olarte, 2011). The majority of car crashes are caused by human errors, and if this proposition is implemented, the number of fatalities due to car accidents per year will dramatically plummet. In 2012, a Google driverless car had driven over 300,000 miles, with only two accidents being reported, both of which had been a human’s fault (Ermson, 2012). Autonomous cars will have quicker reflexes than humans, make more reliable judgments and will not commit silly mistakes such as texting whil st driving. As a collateral for reducing accidents, this innovation could theoretically also save the government trillions of dollars each year. A major issue for drivers today is congestion. Picture Sheikh Zayed road at 6 AM on a weekday. When a car brakes, the driver behind takes a couple of seconds to react and stop. Now  this goes on and on, causing heavy traffic and wasting everyone’s irreplaceable time. Autonomous cars are expected to have a completely revamped traffic system, one lacking traffic lights and stop signs. Vehicles will be capable of communicating with each other by transferring crucial information via sensors, allowing them to predict their expected positions, minimizing the spaces between them. With the small distances between cars and the non-stop flow of traffic, a substantial amount of time will be saved during trips and congestion will be considerably alleviated. Another burden to be lifted off of society’s shoulders is the expense of owning a car. A new public transport system that operates entirely on driverless cars could be put into service. Hence possessing your own personal autonomous vehicle will be unnecessary and costly because the time wasted in a parking spot could be utilized to transport other individuals, and a subscription to a public transport system is a much cheaper alternative. Autonomous vehicles will also save owners insurance money because as the rate of incidents drops, vehicle insurance will be viewed as optional rather than obligatory. In addition, this innovation will save the costumer fuel money by reducing the frequency of braking and acceleration, which has an adverse effect on fuel consumption. As expected with a very technologically advanced piece of machinery, when autonomous cars first hit the market they will not be affordable for everyone. But given enough time, the prices will go down and self-driving cars will slowly but surely replace regular cars. A while after the integration of this technology into our daily lives, there will be an inevitable loss of driving related jobs. But as the s aying goes, when one door closes another opens, and these robots aren’t going to build themselves. The immediate effect will undoubtedly lead to a loss of jobs, but with the success of the production, in the long term new jobs will appear and consequently completely fresh industries as well. With this huge development in electronics, admittedly garage mechanics and taxi drivers might struggle with income, but software engineers and programmers are going to be in demand more than ever, and thus economic balance is restored. Now I know what you’re thinking, isn’t that unjust to those who are unable of attaining academic degrees? At first, maybe. But I believe that given enough time, the criteria required for intelligence and information based jobs will become less constricted. This is because the advances in software  programming and other similar areas of expertise will make related jobs uncomplicated. There are countless examples of such occurrences in history, a notable one being the industrial revolution. Just like today, people back then were also worried about losing their occupations to machinery. But the introduction of steam engines and the replacement of physical labor with machine work pushed farmers towards other professions that were themselves created by the new technology, and thus there was an unprecedented blossoming in the economy. All the benefits I have mentioned, the unparalleled road safety, the smooth and quick ride, the low expenses and many more outweigh the very scarce negatives. Self-driving cars will revolutionize the auto-industry and will be a turning point in our lives. Soon enough driver licenses will cease to exist, and elderly people, children, and handicapped persons will no longer struggle with land transportation. The Earth Institute of Columbia University predicts a cutback in the number of cars on the road in the US by a factor of 10 (Burns, Jordan & Scarborough, 2013). Four states in the US have already authorized the use of autonomous vehicles (Kelly, 2012), and for the good of all, I believe the rest of the world should follow suit. â€Å"What can we do to create shared prosperity? The answer is not to try to slow down technology. Instead of racing against the machine, we need to learn to race with the machine † (Brynjolfsson, 2013). References Brynjolfsson, E. (Performer) (2013). Eric brynjolfsson: The key to growth? race with the machines [Theater]. Available from http://www.ted.com/talks/erik_brynjolfsson_the_key_to_growth_race_em_with_em_the_ machines?quote=2137 Burns, L. D., Jordan, W. C., & Scarborough, B. A. (2013). Transforming personal mobility. Manuscript submitted for publication, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, Retrieved from http://sustainablemobility.ei.columbia.edu/files/2012/12/Transforming-Personal- Mobility-Jan-27-20132.pdf Ermson, C. (2012, August 7). Retrieved from http://googleblog.blogspot.ae/2012/08/the-self- driving-car-logs-more-miles-on.html Kelly , H. (2012, October 30). Self-driving cars now legal in California. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/25/tech/innovation/self-driving-car-california/index.html Olarte, O. (2011, April). Human error accounts for 90% of road accidents. Alertdriving, Retrieved from http://www.alertdriving.com/home/fleet-alert-magazine/international/human-error-accounts-90-road-accidents Newcomb, D. (2012, September 18). You won’t need a driver’s license by 2040. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/18/tech/innovation/ieee-2040-cars/

Developing yourself as an effective HR practitioner Essay

What are the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to be effective in your HRM/D role? The HR Profession map was designed and created in 2009 by leading HR specialists and generalists around the world. The map is used by many organisations and is universally acknowledged as the guidelines for the structure of the HR profession. The map is built up of ten professional areas, eight behaviours and four bands. The professional areas are different skills and specialisms that are within HR, employee relations and resourcing talent would be two examples. The eight behaviours are characteristics you need to have to be able to succeed as an HR practitioner, these include being a decisive thinker and being a role model. The bands show the level of competency and knowledge you are required to have at each stage of your career. The map can be used for an individual, a team or even the whole organisation. The map covers all aspects of the profession whether it be large or small. The core of the map shows two professional areas which are strategies, insights and solutions and leading HR. These are at the core because regardless what level you are at in your career you must be able to demonstrate the skills required in these two areas to be in any HR role. They are fundamental to any organisation. Insights, Strategy and solutions: This area focuses on the understanding of the organisation you work in and the development of that. This could include collating ideas and observations from colleagues and trying to influence policies and put forward ideas in band one to assessing the social and economic environment to create change in an organisation which would demonstrate skills from band four. Of all the behaviours there are some that are required more in certain professions. Being able to demonstrate yourself as a skilled influencer would be very beneficial in this area as you could be required to influence  the stakeholders or senior management to go ahead with your proposed changes or the need to influence the organisation with new policies. Being curious would be another behaviour required for this as you would want to seek ways to develop the organisation and add value, to do this you would need to actively develop understanding of the sector you are in and all that encompasses that to make effective decisions. Collaborative is another behaviour and this would link well with the curious behaviour as this one shows respect and empathy to all cultures and beliefs within band one and going up the bands you are able to effectively work with a range of people inside your organisation and outside. You are able to bring people together to make positive decisions for the organisation. Leading HR: This core professional area is about maximising the contribution you, the whole HR function or the specialist function make on the organisation. You should always be aware of any issues or threats to the organisation and prioritise the needs of the business. Within band one you are able to provide sound advice and understanding based in the organisations policies and within band four you are able to lead and develop whole functions or organisations. The development of being a role model is required in this profession as all the competency levels require you to lead by example and encourage positive change. You are able to set the standards required for the organisation which will then be conveyed to the rest of the business. The courage to challenge is going to always be a requirement for an HR practitioner and is an important behaviour. Within this professional area you would need to stand by your decisions and be ready to face difficult questions and provide substantial evidence to prove the need for your proposals. Driven to deliver is the underpinning of being a good HR practitioner as you need to show consistency and determination to deliver the best HR you can.  Showing ways to work efficiently and effectively are strong characteristics required for this behaviour and within the professional area of leading HR. Employee Relations: This professional area is necessary to be able to keep good working relations between employers and employees. The HR act as the go between to ensure the employers are acting appropriately and the employees are managed correctly. This is all done by having clear frameworks within the organisation and by abiding the relevant employment law. To be able to do this you need to be personally credible and able to develop your own skills and performance to convey the right message to others. Within higher bands your skills would be efficient to mentor and coach others across the organisation and to highly impact key decisions within the business. Within employee relations many situations could arise including uncomfortable and highly sensitive ones so being a decisive thinker is very important. You are able to identify the most appropriate solution which will resolve any employee issue but will also be supporting the organisation. Leading negotiations with unions and so forth would require decisive thinking and to not become complacent as this could damage the organisation. My current role is an HR Administrator for a manufacturing company that operate worldwide. I would place myself in band one at present but in some areas I show skills and behaviours from band two. My main professional area currently would be service delivery and information and this is where I have developed many of the band two competencies. I Maintain and develop the HR database, I also consolidate and send out information required by the business. My goal is to now develop myself and work towards achieving the skills within band two in the other professional areas to progress and move to an HR advisory role as a generalist in the not too distant future. Bibliography CIPD. (2014). CIPD. Available: http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-hr-profession/profession-map/profession-map-download.aspx. Last accessed 26th October 2014. Malcolm Martin and Fiona Whiting (2013). Human Resource Practice. London: CIPD. p289-p313. CIPD. (2014). Profession Map. Available: http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-hr-profession/profession-map/. Last accessed 26th October 2014.

Literature research paper Ancient India the Vedic Period Essay

The study of the literature provides a peek into the timeframe during the period 1500BC to 500 BC. This period in the Ancient Indian history has been regarded as Vedic period which is the time when Vedic Sanskrit texts were composed in India. The society and civilization which evolved during that time has been known as Vedic civilization which flourished on the Indo-Gangetic plains of the Indian subcontinent. Vedic literature is of paramount importance in the understanding of the social, economic and religious flavors of India. Among all modern Indian philosophic systems the Vedic tradition is the foremost. It has been recognized as the sound platform on which the pillars of Hinduism has evolved. Vedic literature has an infallible reputation for the evolution of Hindu orthodoxy, and is composed of three classes: the collection of hymns, incantations and sacrificial formulas. These are the first tentative Indian philosophy. (Navone, 1956). The Vedic Literature can be classified as the basis for the Hindu Vedic civilization. They are classified into several chronological branches. Rig Veda is considered the oldest of the text and consists of many elements which have common thread with the Indo-Iranian texts both in language and content. Such similarity does not exist in reference to any other text. (Vedic Age)This is followed by the â€Å"Brahamanas† or theological prose testimonials; the â€Å"Aranyakas,† containing the meditations of the woodland hermits and the â€Å"Upanishads† the secret doctrines. (Navone, 1956). These are the first tentative Indian philosophy which has been the foundation for later development of the values and the beliefs of Hinduism through ages. The depth of context and content provided by the Vedic literature has attracted great explorers and later missionaries to rediscover the essence of India during the Vedic period. The true scientific knowledge of India became available when the study of Sanskrit and other ancient languages was first undertaken. Rigveda forms the backbone of the Hinduism and the compositions of this time has great impact on the society and the culture of the time. The political units were divided into three segments and the heads were appointed for each segment. The three segments were ruled by Rashtra and the head of the state was considered Rajan or the King. It was a democratic system where the King ruled with the consent and the approval. The King was in charge of the protection and justice of the citizens. The society and economy evolved where agriculture flourished and the cows and bulls held important sacrificial significance. The caste system evolved and marriage rules became strict and families evolved as patriarchal where the birth of the son was considered significant. Religion evolved with great emphasis on worship. Rishi’s , composers of hymns were considered divine. Yoga and Vedanta became the basic elements of religion. People worshiped the elements of nature Sun, Moon , Wind, Rain, Dawn and Earth. The greatest exponent of Vedanta was Shankracharya, he referred to a definite system and defined doctrines differentiating from the other similar systems. The most radical divergence of Vedanta was its teaching that the world originated from a single principle. (Navone, 1956). Bibliography Navone, J. J. , S. J.. Sankara and the Vedic Tradition . 1956.Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 248-255 Published by: International Phenomenological Society. Jstor. http://www. jstor. org/stable/2104222? &Search=yes&term=Period&term=Ancient&term=Vedic&term=India&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DAncient%2BIndia%2BVedic%2BPeriod%26wc%3Don%26dc%3DAll%2BDisciplines&item=19&ttl=3025&returnArticleService=showArticle. Accessed on 24-2-2009. Vedic Age, Cultural India, Cultural India . net; Accessed on 24-2-2009, http://www. culturalindia. net/indian-history/ancient-india/vedic-civilization. html

Comparing Two Perspectives of Management Essay

Management is the attainment of organisational goals in an effective and efficient manner through planning, organising, leading and controlling organisational resources (Samson & Daft, 2009, p. 12). In essence, the final outcome of management is to achieve organisation goals and managers in various levels should achieve goals effectively and efficiently by intelligently utilizing financial, human and other resources in hand. The four skills which may assist managers to achieve these organisational goals are planning, organising, leading and controlling. Traditional vs. Modern Perspectives The practice of management can go back as far as 3000 BC. It developed over thousands of years from Traditional style of management to Modern today. Traditional Perspectives Traditional Perspectives includes (Samson & Daft, 2009): 1.Classical Perspectives – concentrates on making the organisations an efficient operating machine. 2.Humanistic Perspectives – emphases understanding human behaviour, needs and attitudes in the workplace. It has taken more consideration of behaviors, needs and attitudes as well as social interactions and group processes. *For the purpose of the report, I will not elaborate on each item mentioned above. Use Human Resources Perspective as an example. It suggests that Jobs should be designed to meet higher-level needs by allowing workers to use their full potential (Samson & Daft, 2009). This theory was initially supported by a ‘dairy farm’ view and further illustrated by the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and McGregor Theory X & Theory Y. It is my understanding that the theory suggests people generally perform better if they are given full rein to their imagination and creativity. This, in details, means: 1.People are given freedom to fulfill their desired physiological, safety, love/belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization (Maslow’s Hierarchy) needs and wants. They may not be satisfied with all five of them, but fulfillment in any of the above may somewhat increase productivity; 2.Management assumes that employees enjoy working and will seek responsibilities under working/learning process and does not believe in punishment to keep the employees in line. Instead, it believes that employees will exercise self-control if they’re committed (McGregor’s Theory Y). Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the world leading automobile producers and its philosophy is the famous ‘Toyota Way’. The two pillars are ‘Wisdom and Kaizen (improvement)’ and ‘respect for human nature’ (Saruta 2006). Without going into the full description of ‘Toyota Way’ philosophy, we will mainly discuss one component as an example: Improvement. The company motivates employees through a series of incentives, such as wage, on-job education, and progressive promotion. Hence it presents work as something interesting and worthwhile for worker’s self-motivation. In the Japanese operation, this philosophy helped the company achieved long working hours and concentrated labour. Unfortunately it hasn’t been working as successful in other countries. Does this mean the employees in other countries haven’t fulfilled any of their interests? Managers must understand that employees will be motivated by unmet needs; and that once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a motivator (Fisher 2009). There may be environmental factors the management did not consider. Cultural difference for instance may affect the effectiveness of this philosophy. Being in a country with a generous welfare system like Australia, people’s desire for a balanced work/social life style is much stronger than financial achievement. In this instance, Toyota management in other counties should realise the differences in worker’s needs and present other incentives accordingly. Modern Perspectives Modern Management Trend is developed to collaborate with the more complicated technologies, organisational environment and unforeseeable uncertainties in today’s world. Modern Management Theories are focused on how individuals contribute to organisation and corporate performance while the performance of the chief executive is dictated by the organisation’s financial returns and shareholders’ expectations (Weymes 2004). The three major contemporary extensions of the perspectives (Samson & Daft, 2009): 1.System Theory; 2.Contingency View; 3.Total Quality Management. *For the purpose of the report, I will not elaborate on each item mentioned above. Use Contingency View as an example. This theory is an extension of the humanistic perspective in which the successful resolution of organisational problems is thought to depend on management’s identification of key variables in the situation at hand (Samson & Daft, 2009). It believes there is no universal approach that works consistently in every situation. Management should always consider aspects within and outside the organisation and utilise various concepts and techniques appropriately. Looking at this theory from a horizontal angle, Knootz (1981) has simplified it into ordinary words, ‘there is science and there is art, there is knowledge and there is practice. One does not need much experience to understand that a corner grocery store could hardly be organised like General Motors, or that the technical realities of petroleum exploration, production, and refining make impracticable autonomously organised product divisions for gasoline, jet fuel, or lubricating oils’. Different organisations have different variables which determine the size of the company, the management hierarchy, the service procedure and so forth. Looking at it from a vertical angle, an organisation may have diversified subsystems and external affiliates. Today’s managers cannot afford to ignore the uncertainties evolved around these elements. Grandori (1984) noted a decision maker needs to classify the state of uncertainty that characterises a decision situation, eliminate the strategies that are not feasible in that situation, and select a feasible strategy. To realise the contingency approach its potential as an effective construct for maintaining and improving managerial effectiveness in a hyper dynamic environment, its development must proceed in a systematic unified and directed manner (Luthans & Stewart, 1977). IKEA, as an example, is the world’s most successful mass-market retailer, reaching 33 countries and hosting 410 million shoppers a year; the furniture is made by about 1,500 suppliers in more than 50 countries. Its signature feature is the flat packed product that customers assemble at home. To target the dramatic technology development in 21st century, the company introduced online shopping to address convenience and traceability. The company designs its own, and also broadens the product mix into food and general living supplies (â€Å"IKEA Company Profile†, n.d.). Investment risks can be sufficiently minimised, and it is best described by the old adage â€Å"never put all your eggs in one basket†. Traditionally, a showroom with a team of salesmen and delivery truck drivers is the focal point of a typical furniture retailer. Globalisation and widely spread use of internet will eventually force them out of the market. IKEA tackled these issues from supply-chain, customer satisfaction and diversification of investment risks. It further demonstrates the contingency approach is used to sustain IKEA’s completive edge in all time. Although these strategies may not be suitable in 10 years time, contingency view will always exert management to evaluation situation at hand and make decision accordingly to sustain performance. Conclusion Generally speaking, the traditional perspectives of management tend to standardise a managerial approach across the board by analysing one particular scenario with a number of assumptions. However, the modern perspectives recognise the uncertainties in reality and take many aspects into consideration of their decision making process. Contingency view is not a brand new theory that is completely different from the traditional perspectives. Whilst we are not suggesting the traditional perspectives are untrue, managers should be selective according to the situation at hand and use a combination of approaches to tackle from all angles. Management in the modern world is no longer a unitary practice; it is an art. Continuous education and professional development can only offer the mandatory knowledge. Real life experience and rational conduct at time is the key to successful management.

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 17

Economics - Essay Example The company adopted the policy of its founder which desired a typically Swedish touch in the product, the company ‘emphasized its Swedish roots in its international advertising, even going as far to insist on a Swedish blue and while color scheme for its stores’ (IKEA Website). The company launched and expanded its operation without surveying the requirements and reaction of the public. Before 1994, the IKEA has less than 10 outlets, and only one of the outlet was located outside Scandinavia, the expansion of the company internationally, was responsible for the magnificent rose in its annul reserves. In 1994, the annual reserves of the company stood at $210 million, and had 125 outlets in 26 different countries; the company reported sales of $5 billion. According to the 1994 statistics, only 11% of its sales were generated in Sweden, 29.6% came from Germany, 42.5% from the rest of Western Europe, and 14.2% from North America. The inauguration was attributed with the launch of IKEA concept and its development, the organization expanded its operation and services in United States in 1987, and the organization is operating more than 13 outlets in the United Kingdom. In 2004 the IKEA reported total sales worth 12.8 billion euros, the United Kingdom had the second highest sales with 12% of worldwide turnover, equating to over  £1 billion sterling (IKEA Website). The organization considers its catalogue of significance, the catalogue is our most important marketing channel (IKEA Website). According to the market survey, the IKEA catalogue is considered to be the major share leader of the retail direct marketing door-to-door distribution activity inside United Kingdom, the organization delivered more than 13 million catalogues. The company understands that, the catalogue is a vital brand builder for IKEA and the key driver for attracting customers to the stores (IKEA Website). The organization planned to increase and improve its

What is culture Using examples, explain what socioligists mean when Essay

What is culture Using examples, explain what socioligists mean when they use the concept culture - Essay Example Hegel thought that the story of human history was the realization of certain ideals (freedom, the State, etc.) which had become universal to the human condition. It is that latter term which holds the greatest significance for any discussion of the meaning of culture: universal. Croce rightly saw the concept of ‘culture’ as being but the striving for the universal in the life of man. An individual’s culture is then the complete and absolute expression of all that is universal in his/her life. Croce also opined that ‘each true history is a contemporaneous one’ (Croce 1989, p. 14), the maxim for which he is famous. The implication here is that any perspective is greatly beholden to the epoch and place in which it is formulated. To apply his approach to historiography to his concept of culture requires no great leap of logic. Though culture strives for universality, it is still dependent on the individual in question: his/her language, faith, physical an d political milieu, and/or socialization. From Croce’s framing of culture, one can obtain an idea of its use in the general field of sociology. Though the meaning of ‘culture’ has altered over time from its Romanticist origins, it is surely one which, depending on the given sociologist, concerns the universal and uniform in the life of the individual, of which society is but a collection. Durkheim studied human culture through the nexus of what he referred to as the ‘collective conscience’. He conceptualised society and culture as being a sort of ‘collective psychology’ predicated upon understanding how and why values and beliefs were transmitted on a society-wide basis among individuals, regions, and generations. [Culture] is the ensemble of links which attach one individual to another and to society and which make of the mass of individuals a coherent aggregate. It is this [which] is the source of solidarity and which forces man to count himself among others, to base his

Recent Political Changes in the Middle East Coursework

Recent Political Changes in the Middle East - Coursework Example Arab Spring when translated means Arab Revolution is a wave of revolution in the Arab World, the aim of this Arab Spring is to protest against the regime which is being followed in several Arab countries. People have also effectively used social networking websites to take their protest to another level; websites like Facebook and Twitter have been used to raise awareness and to bring down the regime which is being followed in several of these Arab countries. 18 December 2010 was the exact date when the Arab awakening picked up the pace, it was in Tunisia that the people first started protesting against the ill-treatment and the corrupt policemen. This wave of unrest picked a pace and spread to other Arab countries triggering war-like circumstances in several Arab countries.The general elections in Lebanon which took place in 2009 hogged the limelight, the minimum age to vote was 21 that time, the age was to be changed from 21 to 18 but this required a constitutional bill to be passe d which did not happen and things remained as they were, completely unchanged. After much ado, the government was formed in Lebanon in the year 2009 but the government could not survive for too long, the same government fell in the year 2011 when 11 ministers who formed an integral part of the government withdrew their support. A lot of other significant developments also took place during 2009 and 2011. In February 2009Â   Lebanon fired two rockets which were aimed towards northern Israel, the two countries have not had the best of relationships in the past and this development made their relationship even worse, they were at loggerheads once again. This event was not the first of its kind, the two countries have been exchanging rocket strikes for quite some time now, this was the third of its kind during 2009. Hezbollah group has been actively involved in such strikes but on that occasion, they clearly came forward and denied any such wrongdoing, Palestinian militant groups are a lso very active in Lebanon and it was believed that they were behind this rocket strike which deteriorated the relationship of Lebanon and Israel even further. This was just the tip of the iceberg, the country faced several other major issues in the year 2009, and its relationship with other Arab countries remained the highlight throughout the year.

Managing Information Systems Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Managing Information Systems Assignment - Essay Example In this scenario this report will analyze some of the main aspects such as responsibilities of IT and MIS at the business level and overall implementation issues for setting up an online business at D&D International Enterprises. OVERVIEW Currently every business utilizes information systems along with other new technology based objects at all the stages of business processes to gather, perform operations, and store business data. Additionally, this corporate data is collected as well as distributed in the type of effective business information required to perform diverse tasks of the company. In this scenario, every staff member of the company makes use of these information systems to perform assigned tasks. For instance, a car selling business that could utilize a computer database to manage products sell best, and a retail store could utilize a computer-based information technology artifacts as well as information system to sell products over the Internet. ... Normally, organizations use management information systems to facilitate their staff members to use and change information. However, in many cases, the management information systems work behind the scenes, and the users of the information system are not often engaged or even aware of the operations that are managed or controlled by the system. In addition, the management and improvement of information technology systems and tools supports management as well as other staff members in carrying out several operations associated to the management of business information. Moreover, the management information systems and other business systems are particularly valuable in the collection of company data as well as the creation of corporate information to be employed like tools intended for decision making (BPC, 2010; Schauland, 2011; Lari, 2002). MIS AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO BUSINESS Management information system is a wide-ranging phrase intended for the computer structures in a business th at offers information regarding its business processes. It is as well employed to submit to the people who handle and supervise these systems. Normally, in a huge business, â€Å"management information system" or the â€Å"Management information system department" refers to a centrally-harmonized or fundamental arrangement of computer administration and proficiency, frequently comprising mainframe systems however in addition comprising the company’s whole network of computer system resources. In the start, they were developed to perform some specific functions of the business such as calculating the payroll as well as managing accounts receivable and payable. As applications evolved and improved those offered executives with

Blending homemade juice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Blending homemade juice - Essay Example During peeling, hold the knife carefully and peel the fruit slowly ensuring that one does not peel off large chunks of the flesh besides avoiding injury to self. After peeling, cut the fruits into sizable pieces that will blend easily. The process is equally important since cutting expedites the blending process thus reducing the amount of power required to blend the fruits in the machine blender. Depending on the flavor that one strives to achieve, mixing different fruits is essential since it increases the nutrient contents of the juice. Mixing of the fruits in the blender is indiscriminate and depends on the creativity of an individual. Fill the blender to the brim before switching the machine on. Blending such large capacities of juice is economical since the blender runs once as opposed to blending small quantities at different times that would consume more power. Run the blending machine and wait for the blending process to complete. Most machines hum differently and even slow to a stop to signify the completion of the blending process. However, observe the blending jar to observe the chances as the fruits turn into fluid juices. Turn off the machine and sieve the juice into a clean jug. Sieving helps eliminate fibers. However, health practitioners encourage the consumption of the fibers since they enhance digestion. After sieving, the fruit juice is ready consumption. The above process is exciting and engaging. However, just as any other process people must exercise caution in handling such sharp objects as knives and the electric equipment in order to minimize the risk of electrocution. Additionally, blending is a process that results in the creation of food products. This implies that people must maintain high standards of cleanliness in order to prevent the contamination of juices. Wash both the blender and he fruits before the blending process.  

Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz - Essay Example Beginning with Jean-Pierre Oudarts article "La suture," (Oudart 1969, 35-47) the writers associated with Cahiers du Cinema first introduced suture into film theory. In the mid-70s, the concept began to play a major role in the theoretical discussions in Britain and North America, with the result that psychoanalytical studies of the viewing subject have proliferated. In my reading of Wings of Desire, I borrow from several theoreticians of suture, including some who have been at odds with each other concerning the scope and consequence of this concept. Although my reading of Wings of Desire certainly owes much to the French scholars, claims I make concerning Wenders film run counter to the original polemical thrust of their work. For them, suture denotes the operation by which cinema encloses the subject in ideology. Their analysis bears primarily on dominant Hollywood cinema, and they restrict the scope of the suture to the ideological effacement of the cinematic code. They are reduct ive as well with respect to the semiotic system of suturing, posting at times the shot/reverse-shot system or point-of-view cutting as the fundamental cinematic articulation of suture. Other French film theoreticians who complement a general semiotics of cinema with Lacanian notions of the subject and signification, such as Christian Metz and Jean-Louis Baudry, have avoided such a rigid application of suture to the cinematic apparatus and, nevertheless, have arrived at the even more pessimistic conclusion that cinema itself functions as a support and instrument of ideology. (Metz 1974, 39-47) Anglo-American film scholars have expanded on these psychoanalytical theories of cinema without sharing their negative assessment of the basic cinematic apparatus. (MacCabe 1977, 48-76)

Write a paper on the concept of nature as it appears in an artwork of Term

Write a on the concept of nature as it appears in an artwork of Henri Rousseau - Term Paper Example The works of Rousseau were often criticized. Throughout his works it is impossible not to recognize the hand of the master. Let us focus on his painting The Hungry Lion Throws itself on the Antelope (1905). We can see wilderness of the nature and cruelty of lion. His vision of the wild nature is rather intriguing. It looks like events developing on the background of nature are correlated with the picturesque background. In this painting it seems like trees are leaning to antelope and want to preserve it from external harm. In another painting The Dream (1910) the artist depicts a naked woman on the background of the jungles. It is interesting to see that both paintings considered, represent nature as something huge and great, which prevails over human and animals†¦In such a way, the artist conceptualized nature as something sacred. Nature for him was an integrative part of human lives and the lives of animals. Pablo Picasso felt a great respect to creative heritage of Henri Rousseau (Caldwell, 2002). He was sure that this young man was able to shock the audience. He only needed a careful and attentive attitude for his paintings. Many critics claimed that Henri Rousseau had a â€Å"touching desire to imitate nature but whose bureaucratic pursuit of detail barred the way to an  overall  impression† (Symbolism in France). His paintings were accused of absurd, but maybe those critics just did not want to see the real intention of the painter?.. Rousseau depicted a human being as an object, which could be easily transformed and weird shapes and sizes of people reflected by the author are interesting and impressive.  He was a unique artist and he managed to transfer the uniqueness of nature in his paintings. There is no doubt that in his creative mind Rousseau had many interesting ideas. Critics told that Rousseau was an â€Å"unconscious artist†. Another impressive painting is To fete Baby!  This painting has often been considered as an

Self Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Self Evaluation Essay I believe that self evaluation is a very important factor that can show you or to the English mediator the level o performance of a medical student in the first or 2nd year ,and this can have advantages and disadvantages because each and every student has a potential in writing reading or listening to English. First of all, for example in the first semester we did a lot of communication during the English classes debating the Dax Cowart case and other interactional classes, but not all the students participated at a constant level each class. Many of them didn’t reached their potential at this oral debates because they are shy or they didn’t want to attract attention from the students, But in opposition with American classes were all the students are free to express their ideas and concerns. Second of all I find it very interesting the way our English classes managed to attract our attention in a very good way even though not all of us were fully within the lessons but we tried our best scoring a lot of yellow cards for bonus and encouraging ideas. This system is very appreciated in England and has a lot of success now in Europe. In this way you can evaluate the creativity the ideas and how well are them structured and explained in a way to impress the mediator. From my point of view I think that a very good way to evaluate a person is to make him show the potential that he has In order to open the Pandora’s box. Every method must be tried and I think that your methods were very good indeed and you are doing a perfect job in each and every aspect of your job. Those exercises with the pictures showed in front of the class were very good and imaginative, or placing in the right order the small sized fragments of the text ,or even when we had to write our thoughts in the dreams wall. These were very interesting and in the same time very useful for us. In conclusion self evaluation is very important for the English  mediator and the students because you can reach the top by being evaluated correctly including all the aspects on knowing medical English. Here at our English class I believe that our knowledge was fully recognized and marked with very good grades in the first semester being appreciated for our efforts. The atmosphere was great we all participated in a high number in all the classes making English class a way to relax to express your feelings and to make a family along the students. We relaxed from our anatomy and biochemistry classes and we were concentrated to more active and interesting debates from English.

Nascot and Park Essay Example for Free

Nascot and Park Essay How do the land use, housing and environmental quality in Tudor, Callowland, Nascot and Park wards of Watford affect the relative desirability of the wards? I will now discuss primary data regarding the four wards, and not to include any secondary data, including census data or researched data from the Internet. A colour coded map will provide an easy visual report of the distribution and separation of various housing types, as well a where forests and parks are laid out, and link that to the environmental quality of each of the four wards. I will discus each ward separately and then conclude it in a final paragraph at the end of this section. The concluding paragraph will contain graphs and charts to help enhance the comparisons. Of course when discussing the desirability of somewhere, you have to take into account who it is for. For example, a student would not live in a 5 bedroom detached house. PARK WARD This was the first ward visited and due to the fact that this was the first time I had visited these wards, this ward has left an indentation in my mind of my first impression of Watford. We commenced north up Hempstead road and took a left into Stratford way, where our fieldwork began. Small detached housing covered this area. The field sketch below shows you how close the houses boundaries are, as well as the style and age of the houses. When we were at the junction of Stratford Way and Parkside Drive, the first environmental quality survey was taken. The results have been tabulated within the comparison and concluding paragraph at the end of this section. We then took a right, and headed up Parkside Drive, taking into account that we were on the boundary of detached housing and the Cassiobury Park. As we continued up Parkside Drive, we were confronted with semi-detached housing immediately after Richmond Drive on the right hand side. Semi-Detached housing could now be seen on either side of the road. We were due to take the next turning on the right which led us into Langley Way. On the junction of Langley Way and Parkside Drive, the second environmental quality survey was taken. As we turned up into Langley Way, we noticed semi-detached housing on either side of the road until Richmond road on the right, and until Bellmount Wood Avenue on the left. The stream of detached housing continued from there onwards. We carried on up Langley Way, until we met a roundabout which split Langley Way and Cassiobury Drive. Our first sighting of local shops were seen on the opposite side of the roundabout, this is coloured in RED on the colour-coded map. Besides these few shops and a pub on the left hand side, detached housing was all around us. We contined up Langley Way until Devereux Drive was seen at a 90 angle to Langley Way. We proceeded left and were still surrounded by detached housing. At the top of Devereux Drive, we could see that the further up we went, the more trees and greenery were to be seen behind the houses, and at the top of the road, we took a footpath left which led us into Rough Wood. We followed the footpath round until we came into Glen Way, which was where we came across our first sightings of terraced houses. The third and final environmental quality survey for this ward was taken here. We followed Glen Way round to the right and hit the main road called Hempstead Road where we crossed onto the other side and took a left until we came across Rosecroft Drive on the right hand side. Where we left Glen Way and entered Hempstead Road, was the border between the two wards, Park and Nascot. So in summary, Park ward contains small detached houses in a calm atmosphere and well kept away from the busy Hempstead Road. Even though Cassiobury Drive, Parkside Drive and Woodland Drive are the three main roads of Park ward, they do not encounter problems of traffic which leaves Park ward as a calm and family-friendly area. The large park within the ward will indefinitely contribute to the property prices as property prices are strongly based on location, location, location, and due to the fact that they are detached, this leaves a good image in my mind of my first impression of Watford. Nascot Ward As we commenced our journey down Hempstead Road and into Rosecroft Drive, we noticed that although Hempstead Road is very busy, the houses within Rosecroft Drive and the surrounding road were fairly large detached houses. At the junction of The Ridgeway, and Rosecroft Drive, the first environmental quality survey of this ward was taken, which received high marks when taking into account its location next to an extremely busy road. We then took a right down The Ridgeway, and noticed how the houses were in good keep and fairly big. The road we were in (The Ridgeway) was fairly quiet and in good condition due to the fact that off road/private parking was available. The field sketch below, shows a typical house within Nascot ward.

Politics and government

Politics and government ‘Politics is synonymous with government and government alone. Discuss. Political analysts have long since been obsessed with the analysis of government in order to understand politics and even that government is politics. Hay admits, â€Å"political science is the rigorous and dispassionate science of government.† (Hay, 2005) I believe that although there is obviously a strong connection between politics and government they have been pushed far too close together in their understanding, to the extent that some declare them as one and the same, or synonymous. As Leftwich and Held put it, â€Å"By focusing on governmental institutions, the discipline of Politics marginalizes and provides little basis for understanding the very stuff of politics, that is, those deep-rooted problems that actually face us all daily as citizens.† (Leftwich and Held, 1984) There are an enormous number of definitions and variations on those definitions for the terms ‘politics and ‘government. Depending on which are taken there can be arguments for and against politics being synonymous with government. For example Leftwich says that politics can be seen as, â€Å"the process of governing† (Leftwich, 2004) and Heywood says, â€Å"It is possible to have governance without government.† (Heywood, 2000) In light of this I feel it is necessary to start the discussion by pinning down a relevant definition for both terms and investigating how these terms interact with each other. Following with a look at how politics can exist in the public and private spheres as well as within civil society whereas government is confined to the public sphere and banished from civil society. I shall then turn my attention to the claim that politics is synonymous with government ‘alone. I will explore the idea that a government can exist without po litics, that politics can exist outside the reach of a government and even that politics is the seed from which government grows. From here I will move on to analyse the use of the word ‘synonymous in the given statement. I will argue that to pronounce politics as synonymous with government, which is to say it is interchangeable or even one and the same as government, is to use the wrong terminology. I will use the global issue of the environment to support why the word synonymous is inappropriate and suggest more appropriate language to describe the relationship between the two concepts. In order to analyse the connection between politics and government it is first vital to have an agreed definition of both concepts. Starting with the concept of government Crick offers us a broad definition, â€Å"Government The organization of a group of men in a given community for survival.† (Crick, 2005) We find a more explicit definition from Heywood, â€Å"Government is commonly understood to refer to the formal and institutional processes which operate at the national level to maintain order and facilitate collective action. The core functions of government are thus to make law (legislation), implement law (execution) and interpret law (adjudication).† (Heywood, 2000) From this we can take that there are some central elements that a government requires such as, a governing body; some source of income (taxation); a currency, i.e. a treasury and banking system; courts and a legal system to see that the laws are applied; a method of enforcing laws (police); and a m ilitary force to defend the interests of the government. If we apply these fundamental criteria of ‘government to ‘politics we can see that none of them are crucial for the existence of politics, therefore ‘politics cannot be synonymous with, or one and the same as, ‘government. Following on from this the question arises, if politics doesnt need these criteria to exist then what does it encompass? In its broadest sense Heywood describes politics as, â€Å"The activity through which people make, preserve and amend the general rules under which they live.† (Heywood, 2005) Hay (2005) gives a list, albeit non-exhaustive by his own admission, of twelve different ‘senses of the term politics. He notes that some of these define politics as narrow and some as broad; he also draws a distinction between politics as a function, process or arena. I will look at four of these definitions and apply them to the relationship between government and politics. In the first sense politics is seen as â€Å"Any and all social interaction occurring within the sphere of government.† (Hay, 2005) This is a very narrow definition and defines politics independently of content and only as the arena in which it occurs; in this sense politics and government are indeed synonymous. This has been a popular way of defining politics as it had, â€Å"the appeal of identifying unambiguously a set of political issues and a set of non-political issues.† (Hay, 2005) It also helped in defining political science as a, â€Å"field of scientific inquiry† (Hay, 2005) However ‘arena definitions of politics have become unpopular as they fail to acknowledge political issues that have yet to register on legislative agendas, Hay gives the example of, â€Å"the feminist concern with the patriarchal character of the nuclear family.† Hay, 2005) The fourth sense is, â€Å"Politics as the noble art of preserving a community of citizens (the ‘republic) through the construction, pursuit and defence of the common or public interest.† (Hay, 2005) and is an example of politics as a function in which it specifically ensures, â€Å"The common or collective interest of the community.† (Hay, 2005) It could also be said for this definition of politics that it is also narrow but again provides a close synonymity with government. The third sense provides us with a view of politics as a process, â€Å"Politics as a public and formal set of processes and rituals through which the citizens of a state may participate, often at arms lengt h, in the process of government.† (Hay, 2005) Yet again this is a narrow explanation of politics and once more runs, more or less, parallel with the idea of government. It is towards the broader end of Hays list where we finally find sufficiently broad in context, but narrow in content, definitions of politics which allow a presentation of the disparity between politics and government. â€Å"The ‘Political as an adjective to describe the motivations of participants and non-participants in a range of both formal and informal, public and private, processes where such motivations are political to the extent to which they reflect or express a view as to the legitimacy of the process.† (Hay, 2007) This brings to light how politics can exist in both the public and private spheres whereas government can only be located in the public sphere. Mnookin differentiates between what encompasses each sphere, â€Å"Activities that are presumptively outside the legitimate bounds of government coercion and regulation (the private sphere) and those where government has a legitimate role (the public sphere).† (Mnookin, 1982) And then as Hay and Marsh note when defining politics as a process, â€Å"‘The political may occur in any institutional and social environment, however mundane, however parochial.† (Hay and Marsh, 1999) This then touches on another area in which politics exists and government does not, civil society. Civil society is made up of civic and social organizations and institutions, Grugel cites Walzer as defining civil society as referring, â€Å"to the space between the individual and the state.† (Grugel, 2002) and furthers this by adding, â€Å"Civil society is crucial for democracy because it is the space between the public and private spheres where civic action takes place.† (Grugel, 2002) The main role of civil society is to hold the state, or government, accountable and to promote individual interest which may be seen as apolitical, pre-political or just totally overlooked by the state. Here we find our first indication that although intrinsically linked politics and government are also very much separate. Perhaps it can be said that if not synonymous with government politics could be synonymous with something else. The most likely candidate may well be that of power, which can be broadly defined as, â€Å"The ability to achieve a desired outcome.† (Heywood, 2000) This, it could be said, is the end goal of politics, as Leftwich and Held say, â€Å"politics is about power; about the forces which influence and reflect its distribution and use; and about the effect of this on resource use and distribution; it is about the ‘transformative capacity of social agents, agencies and institutions: it is not about Government or government alone.† (Leftwich and Held, 1984) If we look now at how politics can exist exclusively of government we first turn to Heywoods fourth notion of politics in which â€Å"politics is about power: the ability to achieve a desired outcome, through whatever means.† (Heywood, 2005) From this we can identify that there are certain activities in the world that can lend themselves to the debate on the relationship between government and politics. On the contemporary world stage, especially since the terror attacks in 2001 and 2005 in the U.S, and U.K. respectively, there has been a great focus on terrorism and its related activities. Terrorism can be identified as a political tactic and in recent times has become a tool used by political groups all over the world. Many acts of terrorism have a political purpose, for example the attacks on the World Trade Centre in both 1993 and 2001 were political attacks on the part of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda. This has particular relevance to the relationship between politi cs and government as al-Qaeda openly have a political agenda yet crucially are not connected to any government. This would indicate that politics and political activity can, and do, exist outside of government. Consequently if politics exists separately outside of government then logically it cannot be synonymous with government. There can also be evidence for the existence of government without politics. As Crick writes, Aristotle believes that when a polis, which can be defined in modern terms as a community, becomes unified it ceases to be a political community. Crick supports this by stating, â€Å"Politics arises from accepting the fact of the simultaneous existence of different groups, hence different interests and different traditions.† (Crick, 2005) If we scan for a ‘unified community that has a ‘government we can find examples in dictatorships; a dictator makes the decisions and everyone else ‘agrees or is made to ‘agree. As U.S. General George Patton once said, â€Å"When everyone agrees, someone is not thinking.† So in a dictatorship there is no politics, as there is no need for conciliation between groups, but a government does exist. This adds more evidence to the case that politics is not synonymous with government otherwise politics would have to exist with in a dictatorship where it simply does not. So if it cannot be said that politics is totally synonymous with government yet there is clearly a high degree of interconnectedness between them, what is the best way to conceptualise their relationship? I suggest that the connection they share is that of ‘logical progression. We have seen, with the example of terrorism, how politics can exist without government, we have also seen how government can exist without politics using dictatorships as an example and we can take it as read that they can exist together given the numerous examples worldwide such as the U.K. or U.S. It is this cohabitation though that I will use to show that the term synonymous is an inaccurate way to describe the relationship between politics and government. In most, if not all, cases of politics and government existing in the same state or community, it seems that politics came first and laid the seeds for government to follow and not vice versa . I will take the issues of the environment to look close r at this claim. The heavily amplified focus on all things environmental e.g. carbon footprints and global warming, over the past few years has been clear for everyone to see. One of the interesting things this has thrown into the political arena is global communities lobbying around political issues and the resulting effects on governance around the world. Some, including Clark et al (1998), say that a global civil society is slowly emerging through the increasing size, diversity and networking of international non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) â€Å"We do find evidence that the construction of a global society is under way but is far from complete.† (Clark et al (1998). The most recent boom of environmental lobbying, it can be said, has come about due to the effects of globalization, as Eigen states, â€Å"Thinking in historic dimensions, civil society is a fairly new force on the global landscape.† (Eigen, 1998) Issues that were previously thought of as local are becoming far more easily identifiable as spanning regions, countries and even the globe. The size, cause and effect of these environmental issues is also far more transparent than ever before, this has come through the increase in technologies, not least the internet, and their power to shrink the world. More people can interact with a larger number of people and have more access to a greater amount of information than ever before. Now that small groups of people can be members of political communities or NGOs that span countries, continents and the globe, there became a requirement for some sort of increased governance above the state in reaction to the pressure of the lobbyists. O ne of the main organizations to deal with international governance is the United Nations (U.N.) and so it is them who have been at much of the forefront of interaction with, and the progression of, international NGOs. Along with governmental changes at the international level, such as, â€Å"New rules facilitating NGO access and participation [at U.N. conferences]† (Clark et al 1998) international NGOs have affected changes at a domestic level also. In October 2008 the U.K. government created a new department entitled ‘The Department of Energy and Climate Change in order to address the energy and environmental issues being raised by the global community. One of their three overall objectives is to, â€Å"achieve an international agreement on climate change at Copenhagen in December 2009.† This refers to the U.N. Copenhagen Climate Conference at which world leaders will gather to discuss and, hopefully, come to some decisions on the actions that can realistically be taken to combat global climate change. This shows that international NGOs and international communities have caused a rise in the level of governance and government activity on the domestic and world stage. Thus an increase in ‘politics has led to the growing and even emergence of ‘government activity. This supports the theory that politics comes before, or at least progresses, government when they co-exist in a community. Government is the logical progression of politics. As I have tried to show it can be claimed that politics is synonymous with government, but only if particular definitions are used, definitions that many would argue to be out of date and largely unattached to the contemporary way of thinking about real world politics. After this I very briefly touched on the concept of power and how it is possibly a more suitable candidate to be described as synonymous with politics. I have also demonstrated how politics can exist separately to government using the example of terrorism and specifically the terrorist group al-Qaeda. Along side this I explained how, in certain situations such as dictatorships, government can be present without politics by its side. This was followed closely by a look at how the term synonymous fails to wholly capture the type of relationship that exists between the concepts of government and politics. There was then a suggestion of an alternative term, ‘logical progression, which attempts to unravel the complica ted links between politics and government. I think it would be detrimental to politics to couple it so closely with government that they become all but interchangeable terms. This is not a slight on all things governmental but rather recognition that the disillusioned public can only become more disenchanted and cynical towards politics if a clear distinction is not made between it and the seemingly ever more ‘untrustworthy and ‘elite world of ‘The Government. Bibliography Clark, A.M. et al (1998) The Sovereign Limits of Global Civil Society: A Comparison of NGO Participation in UN World Conferences on the Environment, Human Rights, and Women, World Politics, Vol. 51, No. 1, 1-35. Crick, B. (2005) In Defence of Politics (Fifth Edition), Continuum. Department of Energy and Climate Change (2008) About Us [online] Available: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/about.aspx [accessed 14 November 2009] Eigen, P. (1998) The Role of Civil Society, in UNDP, Corruption and Integrity Improvement Initiatives in Developing Countries, 83-89. Gamble, A. (1990) Theories of British Politics, Political Studies, Vol. 38, 404-420. Gibbs, J. (1989) Conceptualization of Terrorism, American Sociological Review, Vol. 54, No. 3, 329-340. Grugel, J. (2002) Democratization: A Critical Introduction, Palgrave Macmillan. Hay, C. (2002) Political analysis: A Critical Introduction, Palgrave. Hay, C. (2007) Politics, Participation and Politicization, Why We Hate Politics, 61-85, 165-166, Polity Press. Hay, C. and Marsh, D. (1999) Introduction: Towards a new (international) political economy? New Political Economy, Vol. 4, No. 1, 5 22. Heywood, A. (2000) Key Concepts in Politics, Palgrave Macmillan. Leftwich, A (2004) Thinking Politically: On the Politics of Politics, What is politics? : The activity and its study, 1-22, Polity Press. Leftwich, A. and Held, D. (1984) A discipline of politics? What is Politics?: the Activity and its Study, 139-159, W. Heffer Sons. Mnookin, R. (1982) The Public/Private Dichotomy: Political Disagreement and Academic Repudiation, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Vol. 130, No. 6, 1429-1440. 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