Role of NGOs and Humanitarian Organizations in Peace Building Essay

Role of NGOs and Humanitarian Organizations in Peace Building - Essay Example Usually, NGOs or the development community has struggled to stay away from conflict situations. Concentrating instead on their development and humanitarian operations, aid groups have regarded themselves and their subsidies to be impartial and nonpartisan (Church, 2004, 23-24). Current scholarships on Somalia and Rwanda, though, have seriously challenged this view (Carey & Richmond, 2003,136). For instance, Peter Uvin (1998, 3) has studied the relationship of development assistance with the forces and mechanisms that resulted in the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. â€Å"In countries like Rwanda,† he states in Aiding Violence: The Development Enterprise in Rwanda, â€Å"where development aid provides a large share of the financial and moral resources of government and civil society, development aid cannot help but play a crucial role in shaping the process that leads to violence† (Uvin, 1998, 3). Another author, Michael Marin, has illustrated a much more threatening picture in the case of humanitarian intervention in Somalia all through the 1980s, concluding that development and humanitarian aid is mainly useless and unintentionally detrimental and that it circulates a system of hostility, corruption, and dependency (Cutter, 2001, 210). Hence, if the humanitarian intervention has the capability of inflicting even more suffering on the people and communities already exposed to hostilities, as these authors seem to claim, then should we dispose of development aid and humanitarian intervention altogether? In Mary Anderson’s perceptive and sensible book Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace-or War, she retorts: â€Å"It is a moral fallacy to conclude that because aid can do harm, the decision not to give aid would not do harm† (Anderson, 1999, 23). A collaborative endeavor of international donor agencies, United Nations organizations, NGOs, and other delegates of the international development and humanitarian community Do No Harm examines the experiences of the people struggling to provide development aid and humanitarian assistance in conflict regions in order to enhance intervention (Cutter, 2001, 210).

Caledonia Products Integrative Problem Essay Example for Free

Caledonia Products Integrative Problem Essay The following observation will describe the decisions made by a financial analyst who is working for the capital budget department at Caledonia Products. The organization has asked Team B to evaluate the potential risk involved in an upcoming transaction and identify several options in how to proceed. Because this is the team’s first assignments dealing with risk analyzes the team has been ask to further explain the details. The organization analysis will focus on free cash flows, projection of cash flows, projects initial outlay, cash flow diagram, net present value, internal rate of return, and if the project should be accepted. Why focus on project free cash flows Team B believes that Caledonia should focus on the project’s free cash flows and not the accounting profits. Evidence exists that the accounting profits will be earned by the project because there is a positive cash flow to the shareholders. With any investment there is the expectation that there will be an increase to the firm’s cash flow. Free cash flow is the total cash available to creditors who have invested their monies to finance the project. Accounting profits includes costs such as depreciation, interest, and taxes to run a business therefore it should not affect free cash flows. The project free cash flows range from year zero to year five and illustrate how much Caledonia Products will benefit if they choose to take on this project. Projection of project in years one through five There is annual working capital requirement of $100,000 to initiate the project. The incremental cash flows for the project in years one through five shows increase. For each year, the total investment in net working capital will be equal to 10% of the dollar value of sales for that year. In year one free cash flow is $2,100,000 in year two $3,600,000, which means fist year increase of $1,500,000, and it is about 53% increase. In year two 23% increase and year three to four decreases of 28%, and in year five free cash flow is $1,560,000, which means 43% decrease. Year-1:$2,100,000 Year-2:$3,600,000 Year-3:$4,200,000 Year-4:$2,400,000 Year-5:$1,560,000 Initial outlay This project’s initial outlay includes the necessary capital needed to purchase fixed assets and ensure they are in operating order to start the project. Cost of new plant and equipment: 7,900,000 Shipping and installation cost: 100,000 Initial working capital required to start the production: 100,000 8,100,000 The initial outlay for this project is $8,100,000 Cash flow diagram $3,956,000$8,416,000$10,900,000$8,548,000$5,980,400 ($8,100,000) Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return Unit Price x units sold 1:$21,000 2:$36,000 3:$42,000 4:$24,000 5:$15,600 Therefore, NPV = $94,575.83 NPV Values for Years 1: $18,260.90 2: $27,221.17 3: $27,615.68 4: $13,722.40 5: $7,755.98 The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) = 12.61% Project Conclusion Deciding on whether to follow through with a project is done by evaluating either the internal rate of return or net present value. According to Investopedia, â€Å"All other things being equal, using internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV) measurements to evaluate projects often results in the same findings† (Investopedia, 2013). If comparing one project to another, the one with the higher rate or return would be the more favorable one. In this instance several projects were not compared, and the IRR is below the current discount rate, which makes the project not feasible. The problem with IRR, however, is that it does not take into account changing discount rates. As market conditions and other factors change, so does the IRR. Net Present Value (NPV) on the other hand, takes changing rates into account and is a calculated using very complex formula taking many factors into account for each stage of the project. If the Net Present Value is calculated to be above zero, or positive, it is considered to be feasible, and the project should be accepted. Our calculations show the NPV in each year to be positive and believe that the project in this case should indeed be accepted. References: Investopedia US, A Division of ValueClick, Inc. . (2013). Internal Rate Of Return IRR. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/irr.asp#axzz2HtkRBF6q

Graduation Speech: Dont Let Them Crush Your Dreams :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Twelve years ago we started a journey. Today marks the end of that journey, and the beginning of another. For some, the road getting here was smooth. For others, the road was rough. But today, we leave all of those rough times behind us. We all set a goal, and now we have all achieved it. We have succeeded. Those of us who have made it here tonight have passed an immensely crucial milestone in our lives. From this point on our lives are entirely up to us. We have the power to become whatever we want, and to do anything we want to. Remember that every day, every hour, and every second which passes is what you make of it. From our last four years at Stanwood High, we have learned some sensible lessons. The first of which is that for every action we take, there will be consequences, good and bad. The discipline we encountered from the hands of the administrators was often swift and resolute. Secondly, we have all had friendships which weren't cemented in stone. In the future, don't be fooled by "pretend friends" as they tend to take advantage of you. In the famous words of our high school principal, Mr. Smith, "Don't bring drugs or alcohol to Stanwood High School." Drugs and alcohol will only get you in trouble. In the days ahead, we will encounter obstacles which must be hurdled. Do not succumb to these roadblocks and do not be fooled by detours. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Always remember that if you make a decision by yourself, you are solely responsible for the outcome. And one last word of wisdom, people will always try to stand in the way of your dreams. Whether it's your cruel boss, or a jealous person, you must learn to get past them, or else they will always try to bring you down.

Ethics and Legal Issues

Kent has to deal with some ethical and possibly legal issues in the marketing of his game â€Å"Lucky†. Ethically he has to figure out if it is acceptable to market a game that focuses on nudity, violence, and gambling. As far as legal issues, is it legal to market these things in foreign countries and even online. If they can market this game in other countries they will have to change portions of the game for each of the countries that Brad has looked into targeting. Kent has basically two options. Discontinue the development of the game due to moral and ethical issues. Or he could go along with what Brad has suggested and market foreign countries. The question here seems to be is it worth the trouble it could bring to market nudity, violence, and gambling? Or should they just go in a different direction that would be less of a moral and ethical issue. Sex, violence, and gambling are basically everywhere these days. There are ads on television all the time that use sex to sell anything from beer to cars. Movies these days play off all three of these. Video games for kids these days promote violence all the time. Just look at Las Vegas, they openly market sex on the street as you walk down the road. And clearly it is know for gambling. Casinos are starting to pop up everywhere these days, not to mention that almost every state has a lottery. It is all accepted, but some people find it unacceptable, especially if they have young children. Marketing sex, violence, and gambling in other countries is acceptable if it is a part of their culture. But then again it comes down to a moral issue for the people or company that is involved.

Reinvest in R&D

To what extent is it necessary for companies to reinvest profits in research and development? In the past 20 years, intellectual property has been highly respected in the world. In other words, there has been a majority of companies that paid more and more attention with regard to the performance of department of research and development (R&D), and especially for technologic corporations that own the fast product-life-cycle. Despite the fact that some people will argue whether reinvesting more source in research and development is successful strategy or not, an important issue for management studies would be normally discussed to be to what extent companies have to reinvest in research and development. This essay will seek to discuss some solutions of a number of large technologic companies form different views and also try to find the optimum one. Firstly, there are two solutions will be discussed. Secondly , They will be compared each other. In the end, the essay could summarize that which solution is the best. One way of solving the problem would be to undoubtedly reinvest a significant amount of profits in R&D, even if it may occupy more 15% of the revenue. In fact, John Madden (2010) emphasized that â€Å"Most successful companies reinvest 3-6% of net sales into research and development† and some companies in the specific industries would arrive at 15% of revenue into R&D. In addition, according to Chesbrough, H. W. (2006: xix), â€Å"Internal R&D was viewed as a strategic asset and even barrier to competitive entry in many industries†. In particular, those enormous technologic corporations with considerable capitals and extended schemes of R&D could compete, such APPLE, IBM and HTC. Therefore, it could be said that the solution entirely agree R&D is a vital cycle and asset in developing company. Evidence indicates that most products of technologic corporations be probably own shorter product-life-cycle. As a result, R&D will allow the company to create new products continually. Following that, company makes a majority of profit form these new products. For example, ADES stated that more than 60% of revenue of Xerox earn from the new products that launched in the past two years. Moreover, investing R&D oneself will control the main techniques and put up the higher barriers to control competitor’s entrance. For instance, Apple enterprise continually devotes to discover new technology to take out enormous intellectual patents and then raise their competitiveness. On the other hand, firms need to spend huge time money and manpower to participate in the process of R&D and some companies that want to reinvest in R&D must ante up bigger risk. Unfortunately, this investment may be frequently sunk costs. A number of businesses fail and go bankrupt in the bad condition. On balance, it is not only unsuitable methods for all enterprise, but it is not unique answer. Another way to solving the problem would be to stop any investment of R&D. This is to say, the corporations do not have to reinvest any resource into R&D and also do not need to organize the department of R&D oneself. However, it does not mean that they must not acquire any new techniques and products of next generation. They just utilize some methods or strategies to gain a number of technology what they want, such as technical authorization, technical transfer, outsource R&D, hire consultants and enterprise merger and acquisition. To a certain extent, there are probably noticeable advantages in this solution. Firstly, the firms just spend lower cost to gain new technical knowledge and then finish the mission of R&D. Secondly, this should be able to compress the time of researching new technical knowledge and also shorten in the procedure of developing the coming products. Furthermore, the brilliant product could be successfully launched at the good timing. In contrast, evidence indicates that the strategy of utilizing outsource seem to be marked difficult for how to execute deeply it. There is one instance of enterprise merger and acquisition of exploring the post-acquisition integration risks. According to Chen, C. H. and Shih, H. T. (2008), Whether the mission or vision of the both company is the same or not will be a vital factor. The reason totally affects the success of an acquisition. In addition, how to find out and to purchase the primary techniques is also an obvious problem. Clearly, this method has some strengths and weaknesses, thus below two will be evaluated as follows. Both methods have probably offered most corporations to solve the R&D problem. Similarly, all of them agree that the importance of R&D and utilizing new techniques in the company. Moreover, there are also the similar risks in both ways. Tassey (1997) stated that uncertainty of R&D is â€Å" the inability to estimate the reward and risk. † On the other hand, one of their different points is the speed of exploiting new product. This would seem to be the way of cooperating other R&D institutions. The other one could be whether they can control the key techniques to persistently maintain core competitiveness of the enterprise or not. According to Porter (2004:164), â€Å"Technological change is one of the principal driver of competition. It plays a major role in industry structural. † technological As for that, organizing own R&D might be an appropriate way. Overall, how to keep the main technical knowledge is a very vital around growing energy and supporting stable profit of most firms. Despite the fact that outsourcing can help corporations acquire rapidly knowledge, reinvesting income in R&D by themselves is apparently better. Obviously, every method has different characters to solve the R&D problem. So people should understand the situation of the companies themselves before choosing the solution. All in all, it is difficult to clearly identify what extent is suitable to plow revenue in R&D related to the large technologic companies to and decide the best way to solve this problem. However, Here there are two methods to solve the problem in this essay. The best way seems to be the first one. It could be said that should do their own individual R&D seem to be one of competitive capabilities in a firm, and then it may affect the growth of a company in the future, such as launching latest production and recognizing new marking. Nevertheless, they should estimate the overall risk before deciding that. References: ADES (2008) Invest in R&D, It’s vital for your business’ survival. (school practitioner). ADESBLOG Weblog [online] 5th March. Available from: http://www. adesblog. com/2008/03/05/invest-in-research-and-development/. [Accessed 22/8/11]. CHEN, C. H. and SHIH, H. T. 2008) Mergers and Acquisitions in China: Impacts of WTO Accession. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. CHESBROUGH, H. W. (2006) Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating And Profiting from Technology. United States of America: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. MADDEN, J. (2010) Research and Development- reinvestment in innovation [www] Airborn Electronics. Ava ilable from: http://www. airborn. com. au/spec/econ. html [Accessed 22/08/11]. PORTER, M. E. (2004) Competitive Advantage. New York: Free press. TASSEY, G. (1997) The Economics of R&D Policy. United States of America: Quorum books.

The Roman King Ancus Martius

The Roman King Ancus Martius King Ancus Martius (or Ancus Marcius) is thought to have ruled Rome from 640-617. Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome, was the grandson of the second Roman king, Numa Pompilius. Legend credits him with building a bridge on wooden piles across the Tiber River, the Pons Sublicius, the first bridge across the Tiber. It is often claimed that Ancus Martius founded the port of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber River. Cary and Scullard say this is unlikely, but he probably extended Roman territory and gained control of the salt-pans on the south side of the river by Ostia. Cary and Scullard also doubt the legend that Ancus Martius incorporated the Janiculum Hill into Rome, but do not doubt that he established a bridgehead upon it. Ancus Martius is also thought to have waged war on other Latin cities. Alternate Spellings: Ancus Marcius Examples: T.J. Cornell says Ennius and Lucretius called Ancus Martius Ancus the Good. Sources: Cary and Scullard: A History of Rome T.J. Cornell: The Beginnings of Rome. Ancient Rome Glossary Go to Other Ancient / Classical History Glossary pages beginning with the letter a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v wxyz

The Greek Civilization Essays

The Greek Civilization Essays The Greek Civilization Essay The Greek Civilization Essay The Greek civilization was thefirst European civilization.At this point in time religion is not prevalent or influential.The European religion was borrowed from the Middle East.There are two main contributions from the Greek civilization.They were politics and secular.Polis the Greek word for city state is where politics came from.They had modern politics with thefirst democracy.It was divided into city-states that rule themselves in a democratic fashion.With this they have the majority vote.Secular was the non-religious way of looking at things.It was based on assumptions that human beings can use their own mental power to grasp the world they are living in. Thefirst two Greek civilizations were the Minoan civilization and the Mycenaean civilization.The Minoan civilization was the Island of Crete.This civilization was a very peaceful one surrounded by water.It was advanced in the fields of architecture, art, and indoor plumbing.It had no military fortification, with not too many weapons.No one knows why it disappeared.The Mycenaean civilization arouse on the Greek mainland.The inhabitants of this were not natives of Greece.It was not a unified civilization that was composed of independent city-states.It was an uncultured and illiterate civilization that was always fighting.The priests did not exercise a huge amount of power. The next thing that happened to Greece was the Dark Ages.This is when the Minoans disappeared and the Mycenaeans entered a period of deep decline.No one could write and all achievements are wiped out.Very little is known of this time in history.Then the Renaissance came about which recovered the ability to write.It was a very artistic period.At this time the Classical Greek Ages began and it set standards and styles. Classical Greece was independent and self-governed by a direct democracy.This works because the population is low.The citi

current-traditional rhetoric - definition and examples

current-traditional rhetoric - definition and examples Definition Current-traditional rhetoric is a  disparaging term for the textbook-based methods of composition instruction popular in the U.S. during the first two-thirds of the 20th century. Robert J. Connors (see below) has suggested that a more neutral term, composition-rhetoric, be used instead. Sharon Crowley, professor of rhetoric and composition at Arizona State University,  has observed that current-traditional rhetoric is a direct descendant of the work of the British new rhetoricians. During the greater part of the 19th century, their texts constituted a fundamental part of rhetorical instruction in American colleges (The Methodical Memory: Invention in Current-Traditional Rhetoric, 1990). The expression current-traditional rhetoric was coined by Daniel Fogarty in  Roots for a New Rhetoric  (1959) and popularized by Richard Young in the late 1970s. See Examples and Observations below. Also see: Five-Paragraph EssayModels of CompositionModes of Discourse Composition, Composition-Rhetoric, and Composition Studies New Rhetoric Rhetoric Examples and Observations In The Principles of Rhetoric and Their Application (1878), the first and most popular of his six textbooks, [Adams Sherman] Hill emphasizes features that have come to be identified with current-traditional rhetoric: formal correctness, elegance of style, and the modes of discourse: description, narration, exposition, and argument. Persuasion, for Hill, becomes only a useful adjunct to argument, invention only a system of management in a rhetoric devoted to arrangement and style.(Kimberly Harrison, Contemporary Composition Studies. Greenwood, 1999) Characteristics of Current-Traditional RhetoricCurrent-traditional rhetoric is  characterized by its emphasis on the formal features of the finished product of composing. The current-traditional essay employs a rigorous movement from general to specific. It displays a thesis sentence or paragraph, three or more paragraphs of supporting examples or data, and a paragraph each of introduction and conclusion.(Sharown Crowley, Current-Traditi onal Rhetoric.  Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition: Communication from Ancient Times to the Information Age, ed. by  Theresa Enos. Routledge, 1996) A Non-RhetoricDespite the name given it by historians,  current-traditional rhetoric is  not a rhetoric at all. Current-traditional textbooks display no interest in suiting discourses to the occasions for which they are composed. Rather, they collapse every composing occasion into an ideal in which authors, readers, and messages are alike undistinguished. What matters in current-traditional rhetoric is form. Current-traditional pedagogy forces students to repeatedly display their use of institutionally sanctioned forms. Failure to master the sanctioned forms signals some sort of character flaw such as laziness or inattention. . . .Current-traditional textbooks nearly always began with consideration of the smallest units of discourse: words and sentences. This suggests that their authors, and the teachers for whom they wrote, were anxious to correct two features of students discourse: usage and grammar.(Sharon Crowley, Literature and Composition: Not Separate but Certainly Unequa l.  Composition in the University: Historical and Polemical Essays.  University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998) A Convenient Whipping BoyCurrent-traditional rhetoric became the default term for the tradition of rhetoric that appeared specifically to inform the composition courses of the latter nineteenth century and the twentieth century up through the 1960s. . . . Current-traditional rhetoric as a term seemed to indicate both the outmoded nature and the continuing power of older textbook-based writing pedagogies. . . .Current-traditional rhetoric became a convenient whipping boy, the term of choice after 1985 for describing whatever in nineteenth- and twentieth-century rhetorical or pedagogical history any given author found wanting. Got a contemporary problem? Blame it on current-traditional rhetoric. . . .What we have reified as a unified current-traditional rhetoric is in reality, not a unified or an unchanging reality.(Robert J. Connors, Composition-Rhetoric. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997)

The right to know Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The right to know - Essay Example Ultimately, the right to know is essential for eliminating deception and the consequences that flow from the deceptive nature of erroneous information. This paper will examine the significance of the right to know, why information and portrayal of actuality can be deceptive and the consequences of deception. This examination will be conducted by reference to Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen, M. Butterfly: With an Afterword by the Playwright by David Hwang and The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick. The right to know in the US originates out of repression of information during colonization under English rule and attempts to prohibit public disclosure of the royal government’s action (Forstel 1). The right to know the workings of the government was eventually aligned with natural rights by America’s founding fathers. The right to know was refined to be characterized as freedom of expression which entails, freedom of information. America’s founding fathers considered freedom of expression as a natural and inalienable right (Forstel 1-5). This right was included in America’s Declaration of independence in 1776 (Forstel 4). The struggle for transparency and frank and honest disclosure is significant for understanding the importance of the right to know. Recipients of information typically make decisions on the information imparted. When those imparting information control the information released, they are indirectly manipulating decisions more favorable to them rather than decisions made on the basis of truth. When the right to know is ignored so that information is deceptive, general mistrust is the inevitable result. Essentially what happens is, recipients have one of two choices. They can either ignore the information or

Philosophy of Sleep and Habit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosophy of Sleep and Habit - Essay Example   Individuals are almost rational in our choices. People make decisions. Being irrationally rational is absurd. Even though sometimes people follow the demands of their desires but when the brain is engaged, people can make rational decisions unless they are oblivious of the knowledge or wisdom needed to make a decision.It is true that most of the choices individuals make in life are habitual. Habits follow desires and people usually like activities that are habitual, because if fulfils their satisfaction. However, not all habits are good for health. To control following the habitual demands, one has to be aware of the habit to make informed and sound decisions. Only after being aware of the consequences of the habit can on engage the reasoning mind and make rational decisions.Even though the concept of reward and penalty might sound or might even appear practicable, it is improper to use financial reward or penalty to install a good habit or give up a bad one by strengthening will power. Decisions are made from a sound and conscious mind. It takes acceptance and will to make a rational decision and filter what to accept as a good habit and discard that regarded as a bad one.Personal commitment contract in an Islamic point of view could mean coming into a personal contract, agreement or covenant with one’s self toward fulfilling a specific task or goal. It is like having a diving interaction with one’s self and promising to accomplish a goal – a goal, which you must commit to henceforth.   

Criminal justice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Criminal justice - Research Paper Example It necessitates the placement of new cultural values that tend to focus on innovation and empowerment. Though much attention had been paid to the task of identifying the requisite changes, very little effort has been put into thinking as to how to lead these transformations. Thus, transformational leadership is of much relevance in the management of existing public safety environments. Transformational/Pseudo-Transformational Leadership It is important to understand the relevance of transformational leadership in the public safety environment, as the much needed changes can only be brought about by leaders who have a clear sense of direction, and a compelling vision as to what the system expects from the much coveted transformation and change (Rickards, 2005, p. 81). Everybody expects the things to change. Yet, there are only a few leaders who have the ability to convince and convey to the public safety personnel as to how do they stand to gain by extending meaningful contributions ( Rickards, 2005, p. 81). It is a fact supported by commonsensical observation that most of the public safety agencies today are overburdened, resource deficient and to some extent de-motivated. In that context a transformational approach to leadership is one that supports novel approaches centered on innovation and change. People employed in public safety settings do hesitate to embrace change because either they feel that it may not be appreciated by their superiors or are simply oblivious of the steps that usher in change. Thus a leader should not only be one who has a vision, but the one who is also able to translate that vision into pragmatic and realistic strategies that could easily be embraced and followed by others. A transformational leader guides by example (Rickards, 2005, p. 82). A transformational leader takes the initiative to embrace change, to bring change. Public safety settings are marked by serious and real life situations and challenges that can simply not be deal t through hollow lip service. Hence, a transformational leader is one who is not only able to establish the right degree of trust in the organizational framework, but also has the infectious humor and optimism that can generate confidence in the times marked by crisis and problems (Rickards, 2005, 82). Central to transformational leadership in any organizational environment is the ability to formulate, organize and communicate a vision. Yet, the fact that is mostly overlooked in this aspect of transformational leadership is that it is also endowed with the potential and opportunities to resort to unethical behavior and misconduct (Parry & Proctor-Thomson, 2002, p. 78). The problem with the contemporary public safety organizations is not that they lack transformational leadership, but rather the fact that the harbingers of this vision are mostly inflexible and harbor an absolutist approach towards things. The vision of this nature though may be effective in the short run, yet it by i ts very nature lacks consideration and sensitivity for many important things, and is hence less effective at promoting ethical conduct within organizations, thereby negatively impacting the levels of trust (Parry & Proctor-Thomson, 2002, p. 78). If a transformational leader turns egoistic in one’s aspirations, one may direct the organizational resources and efforts towards goals that may be deemed to be

Problems of adolescents Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Problems of adolescents - Research Paper Example Adolescent age usually begins from the age of thirteen and wind up at nineteen. This age bracket is usually referred to as the teenage period. Although this stage is short lived, it sis a period characterized by vigorous maximum physical growth, mental development and emotional maturity. Both the internal and external aspects of development are visible. In fact, nearly all the physiological changes of human growth are completed at this bracket. In common scenario, this group is known for emotional imbalance, naivety and an overwhelming quest for adventure. As their emotions starts to balance, it is impossible not to notice appreciable level of intelligence, reasoning, thinking and appreciating of the environment surrounding them. Their memory seems to be so fresh and intact always perceiving things out of the ordinary, strong concept of creativity, well acquaintance with group associations and generalization. An adolescent is always challenging and questioning every thing a bout exis tence but feels a great sense of pride of achievement and satisfaction should their views be recognized on a discussion forum or any topic. This period is also characterized by so much joy and happiness alongside aspirations and adventures they would never want to miss. One moment this lad is in such lovely mood and the next instance he/she bursts in tears .As their emotions experience development, it is believed this is the reason why most seem to have such imbalances (Clemente, 2009). At any level of social interaction, this group would do anything to outshine her/his peers as their feelings are at maximum. Fro then, there exists a universal internalized way of understanding feelings o others who also belong to the adolescence bracket. This understanding is readily exercise on the opposite sex who they feel so eager to interact with .Consequently, in their endeavor to win the admiration of the opposite sex, they display ego centered interactions however with some checked adjustmen ts in character to cover up their big ego. For an average adolescence, there exists a natural recognition of norms and values determined by the society and knowledge of moral respect of God and belief inexistence of heaven for good people (Adams, 2005). For any household with an adolescence amidst them understands that to this person, there is defined new era in interaction occasionally accompanied by rebellion, mood swings and switched attention from the family members to wards his/her peers. Parents only become very concerned when the new era practices becomes a negative aspect of growth i.e., occurring too frequently than those they observe from children of family friends. Parents constantly feel challenge by such an unbecoming behavior and some even become emotionally affected .It is thus important to establish the general causes of such behaviors by discussing the main problems associated with an adolescence age (Clemente, 2009). To understand these underlying problems then we must dwell on normalcy ands deviation from normalcy. To understand an onset of truancy, you will notice a continuous boredom. To cover up for such boredom, the adolescent may be tempted to engage in risky activities like stealing, driving without license, being involved in drug abuse, indiscriminant sexual exploitation and at the extreme engage in physical fights. However, the above are just symptoms of degeneration thus the paper attempts to dig deep into the root causes of these symptoms

Research proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Research Proposal Example As a perfect approach to discovery and learning, interdisciplinary approach has managed to deliver a lot and promises a greater sustainable surrounding, which is healthier and with more affluent lives. This is aligned with new forms of discoveries together with technology aimed at inspiring the young minds and getting a deeper concept regarding to our position in space, and time (Denning). The importance of using an interdisciplinary approach in tackling the issue of introducing computer programming to high school students is that the approach enables the one to draw strengths and various armory of tools brought about from various disciplines. Also the aspect of focusing on different disciplines enables an individual to broaden his or her literature foundation, hence giving rise to the original theoretical imminent. Additionally, interdisciplinary is thus, reflexive in nature (Tait, & Catherine). Computer Programming holds various disciplines including computer science. Computer science attempts to address issues dealing with natural and artificial information processes but the key effort is focused on the human made practices particularly information systems and machineries. Much knowledge regarding to the computer concerns include the digital computers and the principles that surrounds it includes, programming and computer science designing. Introducing such disciplines at high school level will put students at a better position in the global market. This discipline under computer programming will enable students have convergent cognition (Anold and Mabel). Soft ware engineering is also a discipline in computer programming subject. Hence under this discipline, students should be in apposition to understand that, keeping close the project scope is very significant in developing a product. Hence, this helps

Problems of adolescents Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Problems of adolescents - Research Paper Example Adolescent age usually begins from the age of thirteen and wind up at nineteen. This age bracket is usually referred to as the teenage period. Although this stage is short lived, it sis a period characterized by vigorous maximum physical growth, mental development and emotional maturity. Both the internal and external aspects of development are visible. In fact, nearly all the physiological changes of human growth are completed at this bracket. In common scenario, this group is known for emotional imbalance, naivety and an overwhelming quest for adventure. As their emotions starts to balance, it is impossible not to notice appreciable level of intelligence, reasoning, thinking and appreciating of the environment surrounding them. Their memory seems to be so fresh and intact always perceiving things out of the ordinary, strong concept of creativity, well acquaintance with group associations and generalization. An adolescent is always challenging and questioning every thing a bout exis tence but feels a great sense of pride of achievement and satisfaction should their views be recognized on a discussion forum or any topic. This period is also characterized by so much joy and happiness alongside aspirations and adventures they would never want to miss. One moment this lad is in such lovely mood and the next instance he/she bursts in tears .As their emotions experience development, it is believed this is the reason why most seem to have such imbalances (Clemente, 2009). At any level of social interaction, this group would do anything to outshine her/his peers as their feelings are at maximum. Fro then, there exists a universal internalized way of understanding feelings o others who also belong to the adolescence bracket. This understanding is readily exercise on the opposite sex who they feel so eager to interact with .Consequently, in their endeavor to win the admiration of the opposite sex, they display ego centered interactions however with some checked adjustmen ts in character to cover up their big ego. For an average adolescence, there exists a natural recognition of norms and values determined by the society and knowledge of moral respect of God and belief inexistence of heaven for good people (Adams, 2005). For any household with an adolescence amidst them understands that to this person, there is defined new era in interaction occasionally accompanied by rebellion, mood swings and switched attention from the family members to wards his/her peers. Parents only become very concerned when the new era practices becomes a negative aspect of growth i.e., occurring too frequently than those they observe from children of family friends. Parents constantly feel challenge by such an unbecoming behavior and some even become emotionally affected .It is thus important to establish the general causes of such behaviors by discussing the main problems associated with an adolescence age (Clemente, 2009). To understand these underlying problems then we must dwell on normalcy ands deviation from normalcy. To understand an onset of truancy, you will notice a continuous boredom. To cover up for such boredom, the adolescent may be tempted to engage in risky activities like stealing, driving without license, being involved in drug abuse, indiscriminant sexual exploitation and at the extreme engage in physical fights. However, the above are just symptoms of degeneration thus the paper attempts to dig deep into the root causes of these symptoms

Dorian Gray- the uncanny Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Dorian Gray- the uncanny - Essay Example it is only possible for the cynical modern man, in all his busy activity, to learn from directly experiencing the consequences of acting without thought or presuming too much thought into what should instead be an action. This is spelled out in the essay and then acted out in personified form in the novel. In relating these concepts to the world of art, it is important to remember that Wilde’s concept of art was that it should be something experienced thoughtfully as an object of pure beauty rather than an interpretation of the artist’s values – an artistic instinct fed by spiritual inspiration. â€Å"Emotion for the sake of emotion is the aim of art, and emotion for the sake of action is the aim of life, and of that practical organization of life that we call society† (Gilbert). These ideas regarding the artistic ideal are clearly spelled out through the words of Gilbert in â€Å"The Critic as Artist† and are personified in the characters of Lord H enry Wotton (instinct), Basil Hallward (conscience) and Dorian Gray (object) in The Picture of Dorian Gray. In â€Å"The Artist as Critic,† Gilbert quickly illustrates why consciously imbuing art with symbolism and other purposeful value judgments is not the most desirable action to take; that the only true art must come into existence as the result of a perfect meld between instinct and conscience. He tells Ernest that those with the best intentions may end up being proven to have instead the worst effects while those who have intended to do great harm may similarly have enormously positive results. â€Å"[Men] rage against Materialism, as they call it, forgetting that there has been no material improvement that has not spiritualized the world, and that there have been few, if any, spiritual awakenings that have not wasted the world’s faculties in barren hopes, and fruitless aspirations, and empty of trammeling creeds† (Gilbert). In making this statement, Gilbert indicates that materialism, the lifestyle

Review of Financial Statements Essay Example for Free

Review of Financial Statements Essay Financial statements are essential accounting tools which include balance sheets, cash flow statements, and income statements that provide information on a companys past and present financial history. Information on financial statements can be used by any number of public and private entities to determine if an organizations financial status is healthy. Burger King and McDonalds are two organizations that use financial statements in conducting business. Further, this paper will discuss the financial statements of each company, the firms which audit each companies financial statements, and define accounting concepts, terminologies, and transactions used in the financial statements. Additional information will provided regarding when McDonalds and Burger King were established and what product and services they provide to the public. Overview of Organizations McDonalds first opened its doors in 1940 introducing the concept of the speedee service system offering french fries, hamburgers, and shakes to satisfy the hungry customer quickly at a low price. Over the next 65 plus years the McDonalds menu has changed from just french fries and hamburgers to salads, wraps, chicken nuggets and many more items which cater to the ever changing tastes of consumers. McDonalds has been criticized over the years as being a major contributor high obesity rates, in part due to the speedee service concept. These criticism have caused McDonalds to rethink menu items and helped the company to enact numerous changes to the menu which now offers nutritional guides for each menu item and healthier choices such as salads, fruit, and milk. McDonalds has changed the oil used to fry foods to make the fries healthier and includes a choice of meal sizes and most recently started a new line of coffee drinks, which offers the desired Starbucks taste for a fraction of the cost. The fast food chain currently has 31,000 restaurants worldwide and operates in 119 countries and serves approximately 47 million customers daily. McDonalds is also highly associated with the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) that has donated money and services to families and communities for over 35 years to approximately 37 million children and families. (McDonalds, 2009). The McDonald Corporation pays for most of  RMHCs global administration cost so that all donations go directly to the community and families. The charity is in such high demand that RMHC plans to expand their programs by 37% by 2010 to better help those in need. Burger King started in 1953 first known as Insta Burger King offering hamburgers to consumers that was cooked on a small cooker called an Insta-Broiler oven; the concept proved to be successful. In 1954 the name changed to Burger King, the broiler oven first used was replaced with the flame broiler and soon became popular for offering their flame broiled hamburgers and what is now known as the Whopper burger. (Burger King, 2009). The next 60 plus years for Burger King began suffering the same criticisms as McDonalds. It seemed all fast food chains were being blamed for the increased obesity rate in the U.S. Burger King followed suit and began making changes to their menus adding chicken, salads, fruit, food nutritional guides, smaller sizes, choice of drinks such as tea, milk, and changing the oil used to fry French fries as well as additional changes. Burger King Corporation is associated with a few charity organizations such as Have It Your Way which works to alleviate hunger, disease, and promotes community education through scholarship programs; the McLamore Foundation provides scholarships and is associated with several charities for When Organizations Were Established Burger King was founded in 1954 in Miami, Florida by James McLamore and David Edgerton. McLamore and Edgerton, both of whom had extensive experience in the restaurant business before starting their joint venture, believed in the simple concept of providing the customer with reasonably priced quality food, served quickly in attractive, clean surroundings. (New York Job Source, 2009), thus, the invention of the Whopper which was an instant success. Today Burger is found in all 50 states and 74 countries and territories throughout the world with more than 11,700 restaurants. In 1967 the Pillsbury Company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota purchased the company and its employees and the company went public in May 2006 at $17 a share. Today the company remains majority-owned by an equity group comprised of Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital Partners and the Goldman Sachs Funds. (New York Job Source, 2009). McDonalds was founded by two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald of San  Bernardino, California. Ray Kroc, a milkshake machine distributor happened on the brothers restaurant as he was curious to discover why such a small establishment would need 10 milkshake machines. Kroc was impressed by the speed with which these two brothers were able to provide service in their busy hamburger stand and he asked the brothers for a briefing on their McDonalds Speedee System and after the briefing he requested and secured the rights to duplicate the system throughout the United States. Ray Kroc opened his first outlet in Chicago in 1955, 50 years later the number of McDonalds locations had expanded to over 31,500. (Albrecht, Stice, Stice, Swain, 2008, pg. 76). Today McDonalds averages over 100 million dollars a day and is located in 121 countries around the world. Both companies had meager beginnings and have grown into fast food superstars. Accounting Organizations Providing Audits Both McDonalds and Burger King offer burgers, fries, and creamy shakes. However, the differences between McDonalds and Burger King are far more than golden arches and golden crowns. McDonalds has both and internal and external audit committees. The internal audit committee is composed of five Directors, each of whom meets the independence and other requirements of the New York Stock Exchange (Santona, 2009). The committee abides by a charter which states all its responsibilities and is reviewed annually. Ernst Young LLP (Ernst Young), the Companys independent auditors, is responsible for performing an audit of the Companys annual consolidated financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and for issuing a report on those statements (Santona, 2009). The Burger King Corporation also has both internal and external audit committees. The internal committees perform quarterly internal audits that are published for investors, but these audits are indicated as unaudited by an external entity. KPMG LLP is the external organization the Burger King Corporation uses for its external audits. Financial Statements Used and Terminology As a publicly traded company within the United States Burger King Corporation (BKC) has taken all the necessary steps required to abide by the regulations set forth the Sarbanes-Oxley Act  of 2002. The annual report for FY2008 includes information such as business information, risk factors, physical assets, legal proceedings, stockholder matters, and finally a comprehensive financial statement. (Burger King Corp, 2009). This section of the annual report begins with management reports on internal controls which are in place regarding financial reporting which explains in detail the understanding of both the CEO and CFO and their obligation to take full responsibility for the content of the annual report. The report of the independent registered public accounting firm (KPMG) is and additional statement of responsibility from the independent accounting firm which states the firm has reviewed the information. Paged within the reportcontain the balance sheet, statement of income, statem ent of stockholders equity, and statement of cash flows for FY2008 compared to 2007, 2006, and 2005. While BKCs annual report was presented in a standard no-frills format, McDonalds Corporations 2008 annual report included graphics and photos as the driver of the information. Along with the financial statements, McDonalds annual report focused on highlights from the menu to the money along with letters of welcome from the Chairman, Andy McKenna and CEO, Jim Skinner. (McDonalds Corporation, 2009). The financial reporting still included the managements report on internal controls, the report of independent registered public accounting firm (Ernst Young, LLP), the balance sheet, statement of income, statement of stockholders equity, and the statement of cash flows. In both instances a dedicated effort was made to satisfy the requirements regulated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Basic Accounting ConceptsIn 2008, McDonalds financial report shows annual total revenue at 23,522.4 million dollars compared to Burger Kings 2,455.0 million dollars; a difference of 21,067.4 million dollars; McDonalds clearly having earned more revenue (MSN Money, 2009). However, prior to 2003, the difference between McDonalds profits and Burger Kings were even greater. From 2001 through 2003 Burger King was losing money, but has made a steady annual gross profit since. (CNN Money, 2006). Transactions In 2008, Burger Kings annual profit was 1,452.0 million dollars and in 2007 the profit was 1,317.0 million dollars, a growth of 135 million dollars. McDonalds has also encountered gross profit over the past two years, however, at a much greater scale. In 2008 the gross profit recorded was 8,639.2 million dollars and in 2007 a gross profit was recorded of 7,905.2, an increase in profit of 734 million dollars. Accounts Affected by Transactions While the two fast food restaurant chains are no where near comparable in revenue, both chains are increasing revenue year after year. Since 2006, when Burger King became a publicly traded company; like McDonalds, they both worked to maintain a profitable growth for share holders which has increased the amount of profit each year (MSN Money, 2009). Both companies have cash assets as well as land and property, rental fees, food, supplies, salary responsibilities, and advertising. Financial Statements Affected by TransactionsEach of the transactions listed for Burger King and McDonalds are provided in detail on a number of the financial statements. Specifically, the profit can be followed on the balance sheet, the statement of income, and the statement of cash flows located in each annual report. In addition these figures are compared to the previous years numbers on each of these statements. Conclusion McDonalds and Burger King have been in business for decades and each company has established its respective company in the hearts of the American people and consumers across the globe when they expanded into global market. Both companies use reputable accounting firms and the same types of financial statements in order to assess the health of their financial status. This paper has shown how important understanding the concepts, terms, and transactions listed on financial statements are in order to better gauge how a company is faring financially on a year to year basis. References Albrecht, W.S., Stice, E.K., Stice, J.D. Swain, M.R. (2008). Accounting: Concepts and applications, (10 ed). Cengage Learning Center, Mason, Ohio. Burger King Corp. (2009). Company Info. Retrieved June 20, 2009 http://www.bk.com/Companyinfo/corporation/fact.aspxCNN Money. (2006). The King Meets his Public. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/03/06/8370602/index.htmMcDonalds. (2009). Our company. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.aboutmcdonalds. Com/mcd/our_company.htmlMcDonalds Corporation (2009). 2008 annual report. Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://www1.mcdonalds.com/annualreport/index.htmlMSN Money. (2009). McDonalds Corporation: Financial Statement. Retrieved June 18, 2009,from http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statement.aspx?Symbol=MCD1stStatement=IncomestmntView=AnnMSN Money. (2009). Burger King Holdings Inc.: Financial Statement Retrieved June 18, 2009, from http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statement.aspx?Symbol =BKC1stStatement=IncomestmntView=AnnNew York Job Source. (2009). Burger King: Worlds second largest food chain. Retrieved June 19, 2009 from http://www.nyjobsource.com/burgerking.htmlSantona, G. (2009). McDonalds: 2009 Annual Shareholders Meeting and Proxy Statement. Retrieved June 20, 2009, from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/etc/medialib/aboutMcDonaldsinvestor_relations.Par.58.686.File.tmp/2009%20Annual%Shareholders%20Meeting%20Proxy%20Statement.pdf

The Process Of Sending And Receiving Messages

The Process Of Sending And Receiving Messages Business Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages. Effective communication, however, occurs when individuals achieve a shared understanding, stimulate others to take actions, and encourage people to think in new ways. Communication occurs in many forms. You can pick up the phone and have a conversation with your supervisor or leave her a voice-mail message if she is unavailable. You can choose, instead, to write her a memo and send it by e-mail. Beside, she can respond to your message in the form of her choice. Communication can be formal or informal, spoken or written, and internal or external. In every part of business organization, communication provides the vital link between people and information. The ways we communicate is a learned style. As children we learn from watching our parents and other adults communicate. The communication Process consists of a message being sent and received. The message may be verbal or non-verbal. The same basic principles apply whether humans, animals, other forms of life, or combinations of these are involved. Your challenge, as an instructor, is to not merely communication with your students but to communication effectively. Whether you are speaking or writing, listening or reading, communication is more than a single act. The sender has an idea, Senders are individuals who react to situations from a unique vantage point, interpreting ideas and filtering experiences through their own perception. Unique to individual senders, and integral to all the communication they engage in, is a background of accumulated attitudes, experiences, skills, cultural conditioning and individual differences that influences how they communicate. The sender encodes an idea or feeling in words or signs that the receiver will recognize and transmits this message to the receiver. The sender transforms the idea into a message, when you put your idea into a message that your receiver will understand, you are encoding, deciding on the messages form (word, facial expression, gesture), length, organization, tone, and style- all of which depend on your idea, your audience, and your personal style or mood. The sender transmits the message, to transmits your message to your receiver, you select a communication channel such as the telephone, a letter, a memo, an e-mail- even a facial gesture. The receiver decodes or interprets the message to achieve understanding. In doing this, the receiver is also acting as an individual from a unique vantage point, interpreting the idea according to a particular personal perception of the message. The channel and medium you choose depend on your message, the location of your audience, your need for speed, and the formality of the situation. This perception is the result of the receiver unique background of experiences, beliefs, concerns and many other factors. The receiver gets the message, You have no guarantee that your message will actually get through. The receiver may not hear you, for communication to occur, your receiver must first get the message. If you send a letter, your receiver has to read it before understanding it. If youre giving a speech, the people in your audience have to be able to hear you, and they have to be paying attention. The receiver interprets the message, Your receiver must cooperate by decoding your message, absorbing and understanding it. Then the decoded message has to be stored in the receivers mind. If all goes well, the message is interpreted correctly; that is, the receiver assigns the same basic meaning to the words as the sender intended and responds in the desired way. The receiver reacts and sends feedback to the sender, Feedback is your receivers response, the final link in the communication chain. After getting the messages, your receiver responds in some way and signals that response to you. Feedback is the key element in the communication process because it enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your messages. If your audience does not understand what you mean, you can tell by the response and refine your message. Explain the communication process. How does one ensure that the intended audience has received the right message? As the product manager of a soon-to-be-launched product, explain the methods, the mediums, and the vehicles that you would use the communication with your target audience to persuade them to buy your product. Produce one (1) advertisement for your product. *Student may decide on whatever product that they wish. Formulating a message: Communication is a dynamic process. Your idea cannot be communicated if you ignore, fail, or skip any step in that process. Unfortunately, the process can be interrupted before it really begins-while you are trying to put your idea into words. Several things can go wrong when you are formulating a message, including indecision about the content of your message, lack of familiarity with the situation or the receiver, and difficulty in expressing ideas. Learn about your Audience: You want to create a bridge of words that leads audience members from their rent position to your point. Before you can do so, you have to know something about your audiences current position. What do they know? What do they need to know? If youre addressing strangers, try to find out more about them; if thats impossible, try to protect yourself into their position by using common sense and imagination. Knowing as much as you can about your audience puts you in touch with the needs youll want to satisfy. Different in perception: The world constantly bombards us with information: sights, sounds, scents, and so on. Our minds organize this stream of sensation into a mental map that represents our perception of reality. In no case is the map in a persons mind the same as the world itself, and no two maps are exactly alike. As you view the world, your mind absorbs your experiences in a unique and personal way. For example, if you go out for pizza with friend, each of you will notice different things. As you enter the restaurant, one of you may notice the coolness of the air-conditioning; the other may notice the aroma pizza. Overcoming perceptual barriers can be difficult. Try to predict how your message will be received, anticipate your receivers reactions, and shape the message accordingly-constantly adjusting to correct any misunderstanding. Try not to apply the same solution to every problem, but look for solutions to fit specific problems. Frame your messages in terms that have meaning for your audience, and try to find something useful in every message you receive. Language Problems: When you choose the words for your message, you signal that you are a member of a particular culture or subculture and that you know the code. The nature of your code-your language and vocabulary-imposes its own barriers on your message. For example, the language of lawyer differs from that of an accountant or a doctor, and the difference in their vocabularies affects their ability to recognize and express ideas. To overcome language barriers, use the most specific and accurate words possible. Always try to use words your audience will understand. Increase the accuracy of your messages by using language that describes rather than evaluates and presenting observable facts, events, and circumstances. Keep your Audience focused: You can also help your audience by eliminating any information that doesnt directly contribute to your purpose. Many business messages contain too much material. The sender, in hopes of being thorough, tries to explain everything there is to know about a subject, but most audiences dont need everything. All they need are a few pertinent facts, enough information to answer their question or facilitate their decisions. By keeping your messages as brief and as clean as possible, you make them easier to absorb. Show your Audience how new information relates to existing ideas: The mind absorbs information by categorizing it into mental files. If you want your audiences to understand and remember new ideas, you have to indicate how those ideas are related to the files that already exist in their minds. When the connection with familiar concepts is lacking, the new material tends to get lost, to become mentally misplaced, because it doesnt fit into your audiences filling cabinet. By showing the audience how new ideas relate to familiar ones, you increase the likelihood that your message will be understand correctly. Therefore, connecting new ideas to existing ones also helps make the new concepts acceptable. Minimize Noise: Even the most carefully constructed message will fail to achieve results if it does not reach your audience. As far as possible, try eliminate potential sources of interference. Then make sure your choice of communication channel and medium does not interfere with your message. Choose the method that will be most likely to attract your audiences attention and enable them to concentrate on the message. If a written document seems the best choice, try to make it physically appealing and easy to comprehend. Use attractive, convenient format, and pay attention to such details as the choice of paper and the quality of type. If possible, deliver the document when you know the reader will have time to study it. If the message calls for an oral delivery channel, try to eliminate physical barriers. The location should be comfortable and quiet, with adequate lighting, good acoustics, and few visual distractions. In addition, think about how your own appearance will affect the audience. An outfit that screams for attention creates as much noise as a squeaky air-conditioning system. Another way to reduce interference, particularly in oral communication, is to deliver your message directly to intended audience. The more people who filter your message, the greater the potential for message distortion. Facilitate Feedback: In addition to minimizing noise, giving your audience a chance to provide feedback is crucial. But one thing that makes business communication difficult is the complexity of the feedback loop. If you are talking face-to-face with another person, feedback is immediate and clear. However, if you are writing a letter, memo, or report that will be read by several people, feedback will be delayed and mixed. Some of the readers will be enthusiastic or respond promptly; others will be critical or reluctant to respond, and revising your message to take into account their feedback will be difficult. When you plan a message, think about the amount of feedback you want to encourage. Although feedback is generally useful, it reduces your control over the communication situation. You need to know whether your message is being understood and accepted, but you may not want to respond to comments until you have completed your argument. If you are communicating with a group, you may not have the time to react to every impression or question. Answer for question 2: As a Product Manager of my product which is going to be launch soon, my product is a smart mobile phone IPhone 5.This product can used by different age only for teenagers. This product can communicate with others country by using Face Time. This product is invisible because it is made by class. The product is using Os 5 software that created by me. To promote my product I will use methods, mediums, and vehicles. I will ask the producer to make some cloth banner or PVC banner or leaflet (with really a big font and a logo about my product, my contact number and name) and displaying it at strategic locations. I also will obtain the license from the city council before posting the advertisement. Thus, through this method, I will make sure them to buy my product. The mediums or channels that Im going to use to promote my product are internal communication, external communication and also individuals contact. The Methods that use to promote my product: The first method that use to promote my product is by Flyers. Nowadays, people will use flyers to introduce your business and to announce new offers or promotions. Flyers and leaflets are great way to promote businesses of all sizes. Flyer printing can be a great promotional tool for telling people about the products and services you offer. A flyer or a leaflet is a tangible sales promotion tool that will help your business to stick in the mind of the consumer. The second method that use to promote my product is online advertising. Nowadays internet are famous among teenagers because teenagers is a very fast learner. Online advertising is a very good method because everyone will know what you post such as, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, MSN and others. The third method that use to promote my product is by Radio. Did you what is radio? Radio is a common thing that human will use it for everyday because radio will give us a lot of information about general knowledge. Through radio I can advertise my product to world wide. The fourth method that use to promote my product is Hot air balloon. Hot air balloons catch attention because their huge and they fly. The cost of a hot air balloon is quite cheap. I will promote hot air balloon before my product is launch. The fifth method that use to promote my product is Exhibition. Exhibition will get or got in anywhere in the world wide. Exhibition is the place for business man to promote he or her products at there. Flyers : Flyers dont cost as much as other advertising methods but can effectively get your message across to your target audience. By using flyers the clients will recall you about the product and promote awareness. Flyer printing can be a great promotional tool for telling people about the products and services you offer. A flyer or a leaflet is a tangible sales promotion tool that will help your business to stick in the mind of the consumer. There are many different size for flyers. There are many printers that produce flyers in different sizes with the most popular sizes being A4, A5, A6 and DL. Online Advertising: Online advertising will need internet to transfer the advertisement into a post and send it to everyone in world wide. Online advertising is a very good method because everyone will know what you post such as, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, MSN and others. The customer or client can order my product or ask / get information about my product, it can help me to attract customer. I also will use online advertising to promote my product through world wide and let everyone know about my product. Radio: Radio is a type of communication to human. Radio can let human by getting some daily news, general knowledge and others information. If the customer is interested in the radio advertisement, he or she will wrote down or listen the information carefully. Lastly, through radio I can advertise my product to world wide and others know about my product. Hot air balloon: Hot air balloon is an object that being release in the sky and it will be floating anywhere in the sky. Hot air balloons catch attention because their huge and they fly. Anything that is visible to the eye and flying is always a novelty but for it to be considered more than just a novelty lies in how the things look like. There are many different shapes for a hot air balloon, such as love shapes, round shapes and others shapes. These types of advertising balloons are becoming increasingly popular as they never fail to catch the eye of any spectator young or old from the road. One advantage of following an advertising balloon campaign is that it can be easily managed. All you will need is having your own balloon with your logo or brand made or rented all you are all good to go. All these make such balloons a very valuable advertising tool that businesses just cannot lay by the wayside. Exhibition: Exhibition is the place that the business man or a producer will promote he/her product at there. you can use your event to hire your product more effectively than many businesses will do at a trade show. Think about the different display options that you can hire to show your products to potential customers at the trade show. Conclusion: In my opinion, Iphone 5 is very cool and have a lot of function which is interest by the youth and teenagers. For the moment, the interest of the youth towards the Iphone 5 is tremendous and they cannot wait for it. Lastly, I hope so my Iphone 5 can satisfied the user and the sales of the Iphone 5 can hit the target sales when it is being launched.

Sassouma Berete and Sogolon Kedjou in The Epic of Sundiata Essay

Mothers play a very influential role in a young mans life. Even though Sogolon Kedjou and Sassouma Bà ©rà ©tà © both had an impact on there son's life, their character traits were at different ends of the maternal spectrum. Despite minuscule similarities Sogolon Kedjou and Sassouma Bà ©rà ©tà © were depicted in direct contrast in the epic Sundiata. When comparing the two Sogolon Kedjou and Sassouma Berete both did what they thought would help to get their son's to become king. Sogolon knew everything that Sassouma was capable of doing to hurt her family, so she came up with the idea to leave the kingdom. Soglon said, "Lets us leave my son" (113). She thought this would be the best thing to do for all her children so she could keep them alive. "Despairing of ever injuring you, Sassouma will aim her blows at your brother or sister"(115). Although it was Sundiata's destiny to become king there was no set time placed on when this would occur. Therefore traveling to different kingdoms gave them time, and allowed for the fulfillment of not only Sundiata's destiny, but the destiny of his sibling too. Sassouma on the other hand wanted her son Dankaran to reign as the king of Mali after his father passed away. Sassouma knew her late husband would not pass the throne to her son, so she decided to banish Sogolon and her family to the backyard. Sassouma thought this would help her son's path to becoming the next king of Mali. She thought Sundiata was competition and a distraction to her son, so she wanted him dead. "I want to kill Sundiata. His destiny runs counter to my son's and he must be killed while there is still time" (115). Although Sogolon and Sassouma Berete were both wives and mothers, Sogolon was portrayed as a good mother... ... to mine" (111). From this quote, it clearly shows how much arrogance and vanity the queen really had. In contrast to this, and despite the intense humiliation that she went through, Sogolon humbly left Sassouma's home "with a lump in her throat."(111) She never talked back to Sassouma, and she would never let Sassouma see her cry. Since Sogolon and Sundiata let his fait play out, they ended up on top. Sundiata takes his rightful place and becomes the king of Mail which he was born to lead. In conclusion, despite minuscule similarities Sogolon Kendjou and Sassouma Berete were depicted in direct contrast in the epic Sundiata. It is obvious that, despite the fact that both queens wanted the best for their sons, their characters and methods were different. Since they were so different it influenced not only Sundiata and Dankaran but all of the king's children.

Why maths are rejected? by M. Moran

What is mathematics? Mathematics is a science, artistic expression of thought, a standard academic studying various concepts such as: space, structure, and change the amount; are a set of knowledge In progress, their objects of study are abstract and theoretical development is achieved through intuition, manipulating objects, and all forms of logical thought. What are we math? We used to be able to solve practical problems and daily life, understand the science, studying economics and an essential thing Is that it is very supportive and helps to develop the mind.In recent years, several teachers and educators have tried to fold an explanation to why mathematics has become one of the materials with the lowest averages in current societies. But not only are they concerned this problem, parents and guardians also Curious about this rejection and fear that children from an early age to show the numbers. Lately, parents have come to regard mathematics the main cause of school problems wit h their children, and have referred to them with the worst qualifying. Thus mathematics acquired a bad reputation for the home and children and grow with hat paradigm.One reason for the rejection of mathematics and the most important is the limited ability of some teachers to teach the subject; their teaching methodology Is not the best or correct; there are teachers who are not sufficiently trained to teach, especially In the primary which Is where the foundations of the art form; is how students they find it harder to understand a problem or solve a problem and qualify as â€Å"hard† or â€Å"boring†. Moreover, as the mathematical learning is cumulative, changing mathematics teachers each year during school or college stage an also be a problem, since the methodology of teaching is not the same in all teachers.Many people do not consider the Importance of this matter, as they fall to see or acknowledge you in all your daily activities make use of them, either conscio usly or unconsciously; that is why teachers should teach their students from the beginning the applications of mathematics in everyday life and for them to get to see them differently and achieve curiosity and interest in it. They can use them to note that in such simple activities Like starting a pizza or an Ice cream.Another major cause of this problem is that mathematics is a discipline that requires effort, concentration, dedication and patience; qualities that not everyone enjoys. So growing rejection, fear and hatred of math, because not all people are so disciplined in the art to be persevering in efforts to achieve and difficulty finding the desired result. Other causes of rejection are also stereotypes of teachers, and confuse or personality associated with the art teacher, If the teacher Is not to their liking them or saying that is difficult and even boring.A clear example of this problem the 10th world power with respect to mathematics, being the contributor 5% of articl es in scientific Journals in the world, but this has changed with the passing of the years living in Spain because certain mismatches have occurred over the years that have made new students from small will have little apathy to mathematics, among the highlights are: Training of teachers regarding the problem and motivation in the classroom. In this regard President SEEM (Spanish Society for Research in Mathematics Education) Bernard Gomez said that mathematics not only generate antipathy, but can provoke anxiety. Many teachers of the subject shows his annoyance about the academic to the decayed over the years but despite this level as Bernard Gomez, â€Å"There are great Spanish mathematicians. † But where is the problem? It is public knowledge that mathematics is considered one of the hardest if not the hardest materials, this causes very little enthusiasm in young people. The determinants of the lack of enthusiasm are lack of motivation, the teaching methodology of the stu dy program, the attitude that put the dents in learning and ‘climate' social adverse presenting this subject from parents towards their children.An example of this social problem is in the â€Å"avoid something I do not understand ask for fear of looking like a fool in front of my peers. † Besides this internal factor lies in what is itself the subject that is the complexity when reason and not Just read and try it once, deserves a longer effort because it should read several times to achieve a successful argument, as if they need a math problem on the proposed extended understanding and a little reflection, Just so you an achieve a successful resolution to exercise.We could see that there thinking skills that influence this paradigm aforementioned such as cognitive, affective and intentional skills are what create a negative atmosphere in most cases about the difficulty that can have mathematics through of their lives, this is due to a misconception that the person has in childhood as very young is not given good references to the child what is mathematics really like: â€Å"it's all about the math† . In this way we can help you make a concept car which is mathematics and the importance they will have in the future.It would help to eradicate this problem, you teach from small to having love, affection and respect to mathematics and its content is infinite but is one of the most beautiful and important sciences of the world. In my opinion, mathematics is rejected because since childhood listening to adults talk that mathematics is difficult, which is the subject to which you have to put more effort because of its difficulty; and somehow this leads to a mental block for some children and only a hard work of a master or willingly takes discard this paradigm hat many of the people who reject mathematics have been left out.

Computer Memory Hacking Essay

Hacking of memory or hacking of RAM describes when a person or person(s) gains unauthorized access to the RAM (random access memory) of a computer system. There a couple of reasons that one might participate in hacking the memory of a computer system. One reason that a person may attempt to gain unauthorized access to a computer is simply to demonstrate   that they are capable of doing so. By demonstrating this skill, the hacker (the person gaining unauthorized access) has shown that the security of the computer system can be penetrated. This is often useful when the owner of the computer system wants to ensure its security is optimal. Another reason a person or person(s) would want to access a computer systems RAM without the owners permission would be to gain information from that computer system. That information may or may not include personal data such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, credit card information, account numbers, and other pertinent information that thieves could use to gain financially. Hackers use many tools and techniques to penetrate the security of the computer system that they choose to attack. Some techniques can include dns spoofing, packet sniffers, social engineering, and trojan horses. DNS spoofing occurs when the hacker changes the DNS entry on a server and redirects the browser to an alternate site. This method is often used to steal usernames, passwords, or other personal information. Packet sniffers were originally designed for administrators to debug their systems. They are devices that intercept and interpret packets of information crossing a network. Social engineering is the method of obtaining personal information and network information through deception or manipulation. For example, pretending to be an employee who forgot their username/password. Trojan horse programs are often referred to as the â€Å"back door† to computer systems.

Compare and contrast Everyman and Christian in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Essay

The Dreamer is the narrator of this religious allegory. It is based on the injunction in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) to seek first the kingdom of God. Christian‘s family don’t understand him, even think him mad perhaps. He leaves home carrying the book that inspired him, one of a number of pilgrims we encounter in the story, and he travels along the King’s highway. He meets many characters and encounters many of the problems we all face in our lives. He travels alone, almost isolated from all that is going on around him. As he travels he resists temptations of various kinds that would distract him from his journey and eventually he reaches the celestial city. Pilgrim reflects Protestant thinking of the time. Pilgrim travels in hope of heaven, rather than in fear of death as ‘Everyman does. Inspired by her husband his wife Christiana eventually makes a similar journey. Pilgrim , though an ‘everyman ‘ is based on Bunyan’s own experience, rather than a more general one. He had lain in the dungeons of Doubting Castle and had overcome Despair. His advisor, the Evangelist, is a positive figure rather than the negative one of Death in ‘Everyman’, even though Death is sent by God. The story is told in a very serious way. ‘ Everyman’ is an earlier work, a medieval morality play from the 15th century. It is much more light hearted despite its serious message. The morality plays used allegory just as Bunyan did to show the difficulties that Christians face in life. The character is told by Death that he is about to die. Everyman is deserted by his false friends, rather than isolating his self from them as Pilgrim does. Even his family desert him. He would not have carried a bible as they were not available to people in general. In the end it is only his good deeds that he can rely on while Pilgrim relies on Faith. Everyman reminds us right from the start that he represents every creature called to give account of themselves, but Christian is much more of an individual, one among many different people making their way to the Celestial city by various ways. One other difference is that the story of Christian was in book form – available only to the literate. ‘Everyman’ is a play that anyone who speaks the language can follow and learn from. Reference http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/242/1883/frameset.html

EU Rights to citizenship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

EU Rights to citizenship - Essay Example Karl and Gabrielle are the two visitors from Kazakhstan while Sylvia belongs to Hungary. Charles, Bill and Muriel play an intricate role in the lives of all three foreign individuals. The first character Gabrielle has a work permit which qualifies up to three months. Article 6(1) provides that EU citizens shall have the right of residence in another Member State for a period of up to three months without any restrictions or formalities other than the obligation to hold a valid identity card or passport. Also, according to Article 4 and 5 all EU citizens have the right to leave or enter another Member State by having a valid identity card or valid passport. According to Art 7(1) Gabrielle can exceed the three months period if (a) she is engaged in an economic activity in the host Member State such as UK on an employment or self-employed basis, (b) if she has health insurance and (c) if she is following a course of study in the host Member State. Article (8 a) does not provide every citizen of the Union with an open-ended right to reside freely within every Member State. Gabrielle may have obtained the right of permanent residence in UK after a five years period of continuous legal residence according to Art 16 (1). This is as long as the eviction decision has not been enforced against her by virtue of Art 21. Therefore, she is allowed the right to permanent residence without needing to oblige any conditions.

Semco Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Semco Company - Essay Example What would be the likely consequences of the changes in the short and medium term? It may help your answer if you consider key differences between your chosen case and Semco. One of the most important characteristics of the firm’s human resources management is the freedom related with the participation of employees in the organizational projects. Employees can choose the type of work that suits better to their needs and their time – referring to the time available on a daily basis for work, an issue particularly important for women with children. Furthermore, the firm’s top management is not accurately informed on the personal details of employees – a fact that could be criticized negatively by theorists and practitioners in the HR management sector. In accordance with the comments of the firm’s owner, R. Semler, ‘we could decide to find out which is which and who is who, but for two good reasons we never bother; first, the employment and contractual relationships are so complex that describing them all would take too much time and trouble; second, we think it’s all useless information’ (case study, p.64). The structure of the firm’s HR management can be compared to the open-source software – everyone can enter the firm and participate in its profits – the performance of each employee is depended on his/ her own ambitions and targets. Rather than trying to monitor employees in all their activities within the organization managers in Semco try to communicate with them quite often and give them the chance to participate actively in the firm’s key strategic decisions. The structure of the firm’s HR framework is not similar with others in the market. In fact, people with limited time or those that were working for the firm in the past have equal chances to participate in the development of the firm’s projects. The firm supports the development of industrial democracy giving the chance to

Investing in Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Investing in Energy - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that one reason for the oil foreign policy being different from the conventional Prisoner’s Dilemma game is that we are dealing with exchanges in the world’s political economy. One of the most common and fundamental interests of a multi-national corporation is the land rights on which oil can be produced and manufactured. Most of the oil consumed in the world today has moved from one country to another. It is, by far, the largest single commodity in international trade. This is why it is important. The Red Line Agreement of July 31, 1928, is an example in the history of oil co-operation, in which the United States did not get what it wanted in negotiations. Negotiations for the agreement began with the US and Great Britain squaring off for access to oil in the region that is now Iraq. At the end of World War I, the San Remo agreement awarded Britain mandate over Iraq, but the Americans opposed this. They claimed that since the war was won by the Allies collectively, oil exploration rights in the Iraq region should be shared. However, the British refused. Facing this impasse, the seven American oil companies decided to pursue their oil interests by official means through the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC, later known as the Petroleum Company). Thus, negotiations with the TPC began in 1922, with the Americans actively pursuing the open-door policy. Essentially, it was in their interest to be assured that they had access to the oil regardless of the new developments that took place in oil production, in the Mesopotamian region. This was a critical time for the Germans and French since the US was making the transition from being one of the major providers of oil to one of the largest importers. One of the biggest problems for the American group and their pursuit of the open door policy is what is referred to as the â€Å"self-denying clause.† In the Foreign Office Agreement of 1914, the â€Å"self-d enying clause† prohibits owners of TPC from handling the production or manufacturing of crude oil other than through the TPC.

International Business Environment Assignment Essay

International Business Environment Assignment - Essay Example Outsourcing is viewed by some countries as labour exploitation but a closer look at the impact this practice have to the host country, it is beneficial to the host country in many ways. To start with, there is creation of employment to the host country's population who could otherwise be unemployed if the firm did not relocate to host country. This in turn means there is improved standard of living to the employed individuals as they can now afford a decent life and meet their basic and other needs such as education, health and food. Through employment, people can afford to support themselves and pay taxes to the government through income tax which would be used for social welfare and development purposes. This is the case with American textiles firms in China where they have been able to provide employment to thousands of unemployed Chinese in their factories thus, a source of livelihood. The same case applies to Bangladeshis in Korea who are happy to have found job in American textiles firms in Korea which they save and send some to their family back home. The firm's investment to the host country requires business registration, and meeting other legal requirements which are source of revenue to the host country's government. ... Other countries where firms have been outsourcing labour confirm the positive contributions of these multinational firms to government revenue collection. Multinationals have a tendency of contracting local firms to do for them a number of businesses such as supply of vital locally produced raw materials, transportation, insurance and other services. This in turn has increased the volume of trade in host nations which translate to increase GDP. Shell Oil Company in Nigeria apart from having its own trucks now and then it hires the services of local transporters for critical supplies. This way the firm saves on insurance cost and transport logistics which are the responsibility of the contracted transporters. This is just an oil drop in the sea, there is much more business partnering with local firms where foreign firms are located across the globe. In addition, outsourcing earns the host country foreign exchange through exports of products produced by these companies. The realisation of this venture is of great importance to the host country in improving its balance of trade than when these companies are out of the country. Countries like china, Korea among others, will tell of increased earnings from foreign exchange through exportation of foreign firms products to their home countries markets or elsewhere since most of the products are not meant for local markets. Furthermore, the multinational firms may direct some of their product to the local market thus providing the local consumers with a wider consumer basket to choose from. Variety of goods in the market is a positive business environment and the country may diversify in its consumption thus real socio-economic development. It is a clear phenomenon when we see

Two short essay questions Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two short questions - Essay Example Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) and Mido (Hye-jeong Kang) of Old Boy are both hypnotized to forget who they are and to fall for each other. Hypnotism removes their free will in controlling their actions. As a result, Dae-Su suffers a fate worse than death, an incestuous relationship with his own daughter because of the vengeance of Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu) against Dae-Su. Dae-Su almost wants to die because of his sin, which underscore the meaninglessness of life because of the absence of morality. Cheol-su (Woo-sung Jung) loves Su-jin (Ye-jin Son) so much but her mental illness is a great barrier to their happy ending. Hallyu is famous for its tragic endings that underscore realism and humanism in film that made it unique in Hollywood setting (Choi 68). Melodramatic plots feature characters that show the frailty of human life and morality. Hallyu films underscore that families continue to be the lasting source of happiness and identity in modern life that is full of violence and uncertainties. Old Boy and Moment to Remember may have tragic endings but they underscore the importance of families for the protagonists. Their family relationships are crucial to finding meaning in modern life in general and individual identities in specific. Old Boy and Moment to Remember show the significance of family relationships to survival and happiness. Oh Dae-su only wants to be reunited with his family, but his past became the greatest hindrance to his ultimate goal in life- to have a happy family. The melodramatic structure of the film underscores the role of family life to individual happiness (Choi 68). Furthermore, Dae su finds his identity through his love for his family. He wants revenge because his imprisonment took his family away from him, when before, his family is the center of his world. Without his family, his tortured soul experiences

Why go to College Essay Example for Free

Why go to College Essay I believe that one of the best ways for me to be successful in life is by going to college. In today’s world, getting through life happily seems hard to do with only a high school diploma. Hopefully going to college will give me the education I need to have a happy, successful life. Even though college is very costly and time consuming, I hope it will eventually get me a higher degree, so I can live life in a way that makes me happy. College should help me improve myself in many ways and also help me achieve my goals in life. The things I hope to do in college are; enhance my knowledge, obtain new experiences, and prepare myself for a career I enjoy. Many people know that knowledge is the key to success. It is very hard for people without further education to support their families. My father chose to work with my grandfather straight out of high school. They are still in the flooring business to this day. My dad pushed me to go to college because he doesn’t want me to go through what he has to go through every day. The intense, physical labor, and the long hours at work make him regret what he chose as his career. He now knows that if he would have went to college, it could have changed his life. Even though I don’t know what kind of degree I want to get out of college, I thought that going to college would be the best thing for me to do straight out of high school. Trying to live with the job I have right now would almost be impossible to support myself, let alone a whole family. It is proven that almost every person with further learning, makes more money than a person with just a high school diploma. Even though my parents are able to support my family, my dad only having a high school diploma, it is very hard for them to do. Something that is very important to me, is finding a career that I actually enjoy. If I did find a job where I made a lot of money, but didn’t enjoy it, I don’t know if would be worth it. I need to find something that I am happy with, so I will be more willing to go to work every day. I know that I will be spending the next few years of my life in college, and I will also be spending more money than I have. The reason I want to put  myself through all of the schooling, is because I know it will give me a better future.

Concept of Figuration: An Analysis

Concept of Figuration: An Analysis Figurational Sociology The concept of figuration grew out of Norbert Eliass best-known work, The Civilizing Process (Elias, 1939/1994). This work provided an analysis of how the European nation state emerged. It analysed social behaviour in modernity, and particularly social interactions. Split into two parts, the work first focussed on an analysis of manners to provide a description and understanding of the way in which modern norms underlying social interactions had developed. The second part of the book looked at how the nation-state had been built in the twentieth century. What Elias was most interested in, the central thesis of the book, was that it was possible for forms of social discipline manners and social norms to be translated into aspects of individual self-discipline (Olofsson, 2000). For Elias, then, there is a clear connection between a tendency towards state centralisation and the development of modern social manners. This is what he called the civilizing process. This essay, therefore, examines the concept of figuration, its theoretical roots in the study of court society, its modern form and the criticisms that have been levelled against it. As will be seen, the argument over the usefulness of the concept of figuration has been highly contested and strongly polarised (Featherstone, 1987). At the heart of Elias work are a number of concepts figuration is best understood within these. The concepts are interdependence, functional differentiation, self-control and power differences. Social change for Elias mostly results from the effects of functional differentiation. This is an idea shared with writers like Marx who placed the division of labour at the centre of his theory. For Elias, though, this functional differentiation leads to increasing levels of interdependence (Olofsson, 2000). Elias argued that the coercive power of societies emerges out of increasing interdependence. This brings the discussion to the concept of figurations. In order to explain these, Elias uses the example of court society (Olofsson, 2000). He argues that in court society calculation is an important process which individuals must engage in to negotiate with each other as the king communicates with his aristocracy. Because of changes in economic factors, many courts in Europe saw a shift of power from the aristocracy to the king. The power each member of the aristocracy had, therefore, depended on their relationship with the king. In order to survive, aristocrats had to play by certain rational rules that developed. These were based on the complex interdependency between the individuals and the fact that they were playing long-term power games with each other. An important component in playing these long-term power games was being able to control impulses. Because of the number of people in the court, the chains of interdependence were long and complicated. This required planning, attempting to predict the future and saving. Elias called this complex relationship between the king and the court a figuration. A figuration is characterised by asymmetrical power relations amongst a network of individuals. The court situation can, therefore, only be understood in terms of how the individuals relate to one another. Four critical propositions about the figurational approach are extracted from Elias work by Goudsblom (1977). These are firstly that human beings inevitably exist in relationships of interdependence with each other. As a result of this interdependence, complex dynamics emerge which shape many aspects of development and change the ways in which peoples lives develop. The second proposition is that these figurations are constantly changing and being transformed. The third is that these social figurations are not essentially planned but emerge from the interdependencies. Fourth, figurations provide an important cause of the development of human knowledge. In order to better understand the idea of figurations, Elias used various metaphors from games (Olofsson, 2000). Games are useful to analyse because the interactions between the players are not just a result of the absolute strength of each player, but of the relationship between the strengths of the two players. One example is two chess players pitted against each other. If one of them is significantly stronger than the other, then she will be able to control the manner of the victory as well as the actual victory itself. If, however, the levels of skill are much closer then the manner of victory will be much more uncertain and emerge from the interaction between the individuals. What this metaphor shows is that the power differences between two individuals have an important effect on the relationship. Chess only normally involves the relation between two players, but society obviously involves the relations between many more players, all with varying levels of power. Shifts of power differences in society can be seen in the way the upper and lower classes interact. The lower classes have, for example, increased their level of organisation in order to increase their level of power in negotiating with the upper classes (Olofsson, 2000). One of the questions Elias wanted to address was how people continue to interact in generally peaceful ways when there is so much animosity in, for example, power relations (Loyal Quilley, 2004). Models used to answer this question should have a number of characteristics. These are firstly that social processes cannot be analysed in terms of aggregations of components. Secondly the models work to both mould and constrain the behaviour and habitus of individuals. The strength of the idea of figuration for Elias was that it was able to access ideas of what society was about more effectively than other methods in sociology (Krieken, 1998). Specifically it tends not to emphasise the dichotomy often present in sociological literature between the individual and society. Instead it places the emphasis on how human beings are interdependent. Society was not most usefully thought of as a totality or a whole system of individuals. Society for Elias was the way in which people interweaved with each other (Krieken, 1998). The advantage of this view was that it didnt downplay the agency of the individual at the expense of societys control and helped to show how peoples individuality melded together to form networks of interdependence. One important theoretical aspect of figurations that Krieken (1998) points out is that they can continue without the existence of the same individuals but they completely cease to exist if there are no individuals at all. Krieken (1998) argues that Elias concept of figuration has been extremely important for sociology. One of its major strengths is the avoidance of the dichotomy between structure and agency. Although the distinction has been questioned many times in sociology, it is often still treated by sociologists as though it were real. Krieken (1998) points out that some have argued Elias concept of figuration should be placed alongside of the idea of structure. Mouzelis (1993) argues for avoiding abolishing this distinction. He argues for designating relations between actors in terms of figurations, relations between institutions as institutional structure and plain structure when analysing the interaction between institution and individual. Krieken (1998) does not, however, agree with this three-way distinction. Krieken (1998) argues instead that Elias used the concept of figuration to subsume all these categories of analysis. This means that figuration includes the analysis of what is traditi onally called the structure of society. Habitus is also an important concept in Elias theory of figuration. Habitus refers to the idea that each individual has their own set of personal preferences, attitudes, beliefs, expectations and rules. Habitus comes from a persons community and family experience and through their own experience of life as they grow up. For Elias, though, this habitus develops in an essentially shared manner (Krieken, 1998). Individuals grow up in society and their personal characteristics are, to a certain extent, moulded by those around them. Through this collective moulding of individuals, the nature of collective behaviour is formed. The ideas of habitus and figuration lead to a further important concept in Elias theory. That is that the way in which a persons habitus is formed is called psychogenesis. This, then, can only be properly understood when it is considered in relation to social relations or sociogenesis. Theoretically and methodologically, therefore, Elias was arguing against the separ ation of sociology from psychology. Each has important complementary effects on the other, so it is hard to get a clear picture of the full human being if both are not considered together. Elias ideas have vital implications for the way in which sociologists carry out their research. Krieken (1998) identifies two particular characteristics of Elias theory that are a challenge to some types of sociology. First is the focus of figuration on social relations which points to the fact that an individual cannot be analysed in isolation. Individuals can only be understood, even in isolation, argued Elias, in terms of how they relate to other people, as that is how people are formed. Thinking about humans without the relational element has a huge array of possible associated mistakes. For Elias, the analysis of power especially fell foul of the tendency to see power as a thing in itself rather than as arising from social relations (Krieken, 1998). This led, he thought, to all sort of misunderstandings. To be understood effectively, power should be seen in reciprocal terms. Elias argued that power was often analysed as though it only flowed down from above. A figurational analy sis, however, also points to the reciprocal effects flowing up from below. The second major characteristic of Elias theory is that it focuses on processes (Krieken, 1998). Figuration, therefore, cannot be seen as a static phenomenon, but as something that evolves and emerges over time. What had happened in sociology, however, argued Elias, was that there had been a reduction of social phenomena to particular states. Communities, families, individuals, all should be analysed as though in a state of flow, rather than statically. The use of figurations could be used to analyse these flows as long as there was not a reduction to a simple argument of causality. For example, Elias argued that a particular figuration made other, later figurations possible although it did not guarantee they would happen. Analysing society using a series of static conceptual categories, therefore, was precisely what Elias did not agree with (Rojek, 1986). Instead a process theory of sociology encourages analysis in terms of movement. This type of approach has a character quite oppos ed to many in sociology. Figurational sociology can be seen as extremely useful as a reaction to six dominant paradigms in sociology (Arnason, 1987). First Marxs work is limited by its concentration on the economic areas of life, whereas Elias figurational sociology is applicable to all areas. Against Durkheims idea of norms, Elias argued these do not represent fundamental units but rather the question should be asked in terms of power relations. For Elias, these questions should be addressed using a long-term analysis. Examining the functionalist approach, Elias found that trying to explain social structures in terms of the needs of the system was ineffective. The functionalist account is lacking because it finds it difficult to account for the fact that systems are interlinked at all levels. As has already been seen, Elias argued against a structuralist approach. The reductionist approach also had problems for Elias as society, he believed, could not be understood at this level. Finally, Elias took issue w ith individualism, the idea that it is possible to analyse society in terms of individual behaviour (Arnason, 1987). This is replaced by Elias with a focus on power relations and the analysis of figurations. A number of methodological injunctions develop naturally from Elias theory of figurations; these are examined by Loyal and Quilley (2004). The first is that sociologists should not think about either individuals or society as in any way static or fixed. An effective analysis emerges which sidesteps arguments over macro- or micro- level explanations. A further dichotomy which Loyal and Quilley (2004) present as being avoided by Elias work is that of mind-body duality which has crept into sociological work. The idea of figuration draws attention to habits of language in which processes are often reduced to states. The focus of figuration, however, is on using language that has the meaning of motion and flow built into it. The danger for sociologists of automatically adopting the available language of states is a misunderstanding of the processes occurring in society. This view was influenced by the work of Whorf (1956) who argued that language fundamentally affects the perceptions of t he members of the society that speak it. Finally, Elias believed that some measure of distance was required from society in order to be able to analyse figurations effectively. A Critique of Figurational Sociology While much of the commentary on Elias figurational approach discussed so far has been complimentary, his work has a number of critics. Layder (1986) argues that many of Elias claims about the benefits of his approach to sociology are vastly exaggerated. As a result, argues Layder, Elias tends to focus on trying to solve problems that dont actually exist. Layder (1986) starts by considering Elias focus on the static categories used in language as well as the idea that positivistic notions of causation are inadequate. The concept of figuration is used to challenge these ideas by Elias. In addition, underlying Elias concept of figuration is the idea that it transcends long-running arguments in the philosophy of the social sciences such as that between induction and deduction and rationalism and empiricism. Layders (1986) first criticism is that Eliass figurational approach does not transcend previous approaches. One reason for this is that Elias uses only the worst examples from disciplines so that he can easily demolish their explanatory power. Elias critique of social psychology and psychiatry assumes that all its approaches are atomistic. It doesnt, for example, take into account the wide variety of approaches such as those which do, indeed, focus on the effects of society on the individual and are not so atomistic. Symbolic interactionists, for example, highlight the way in which the ordinary, everyday processes of social interaction build to create what is called society. Mead (1934), an important theorist in this approach, emphasised the importance of socialisation and social interaction. For Layder (1986), then, the concept of figuration does not provide any additional explanatory power. Layder also argues that Elias does not demonstrate exactly how the idea of figurations provi des a better explanation of society. In criticising the concept of figurations, Layder (1986) argues that Elias makes a number of philosophical mistakes, some ontological and some epistemological. Layder describes figurations as generalised depictions of the social ties between individuals that Elias argues cannot be analysed outside of individuals. Figurations, though, must have some meaning outside of the interactions of individuals; otherwise it would not be possible to talk about them in an abstract sense. This is not, of course, to suggest that figurations only have meaning outside of actual interactions. For Layder, then Eliass mistake is to argue that a figuration does not have both a manifestation as a social practice as well as existing as an idea about that particular social practice. If the ideas did not exist it would be impossible to talk about the things themselves in an abstract sense. For Layder, then, the very discussion of social practices as figurations proves that they exist outside of the actions th emselves. What Layder allows Elias concept of figuration is that it does provide a useful descriptive tool. Although it doesnt transcend alternative explanations advanced by those working within structuralist and functionalist models, it can provide a useful way of examining interrelations between people. These analyses would, however, in Layders view, be useful in addition to those insights from structuralist or interactionist perspectives, they wouldnt supplant them. The weakness of using the concept of figuration is that it tends to ignore actual people, in deference to their networks of social relations compared to, for example, the analysis provided by interactionism which is very much focussed on social actors themselves. In this sense, it is again difficult to argue that figuration provides an approach transcending interactionism and other schools of thought. The second major criticism that Layder (1986) makes of Eliass concept of figurations relates to their rejection of objectivist structures. As discussed, figurational sociology sees social processes as fundamentally fluid and avoids reductionism Elias claims that this is an insight that helps the figurational analysis transcends other approaches. Against this idea, Layder (1986) argues that many phenomenological and interactionist schools of thought are based on the idea of social relations as a process. But, Elias does not compare his theory to these approaches, preferring to pretend they dont exist. Instead, figuration is compared with the theory of Talcott Parsons as an example of an objectivist theory. Elias takes Parsons idea that society is essentially in an unchanging equilibrium and states that this is the way society is seen from an objectivist viewpoint as a static system. In this analysis one of the mistakes Layder (1986) thinks Elias has made is to create a false dichoto my between static and fluid analysis as though there is no intermediary point. In doing this Elias claims that theories such as Parsons cannot explain processes, which, argues Layder, they can. Indeed, in concentrating on long-term processes, Elias does not allow an effective analysis of short-term processes. The third major criticism which Layder (1986) levels at Elias is that the concept of figuration lacks explanatory power. Rather than helping to explain what lies behind social changes, Layder argues that it merely provides a description of what is happening. When looking for the causes of figurations, Elias presents more figurations. Criticism of the concept of figuration has also come from Rojek (1986). In particular Rojek (1986) examines the way in which Elias talks about the accumulation of scientific knowledge. As briefly noted earlier, Elias argued that the quest for knowledge was not immune to the power of figurations. Indeed he thought it was a mistake that philosophers of the social sciences tended to make that assumed there was one model of the way science should be conducted. One particular claim that has been made for the usefulness of figurational sociology is that it provides a link between micro and macro approaches (Mennell, 1980). Layder (2006) argues, however, that using figurations as the linking between the macro and micro approaches just serves to blur the differences between the two. The character of social relations is quite different depending on its manner for example a face-to-face encounter is different from sending and receiving an email. Within Elias approach each of these would be considered aspects of figurations. Layder (2006), however, argues that each of these creates different levels of reflexivity and therefore requires a different analysis. For Layder (2006), Eliass figurational approach deflects attention away from a number of important factors. Institutions, for example, have important effects on the behaviour of people but this is difficult to analyse by thinking in terms of networks of connections between people. Further, when analysing social organisation in the form of groups, a figurational approach can deflect attention away from the nature of the ties between people, preferring instead to focus on their actual existence and their particular form. A false criticism that Elias makes of sociology generally by way of his figurational approach is that not enough emphasis has been given to the interaction between society and the individual Layder (2006) argues that this interaction is practically the founding idea of sociology. The challenge for sociology is in working out where to split the society from the individual. A problem which Elias work shares with sociology more generally is that a socially constructed model makes it difficult to understand the uniqueness of an individual. A complete lack of barriers between individuals leads to the conclusion that people have no individuality themselves. While it is not helpful to focus too much on the individual, it is also problematic for a complete understanding to give too little focus to the individual. Layder (2006) argues that, like extreme social constructionists, Elias theory of figuration is in danger of completely eradicating the individual as a legitimate object of study. Figurational Sociology and Sport In order to further assess the usefulness of the concept of figuration and see the benefits and criticisms in action, it is instructive to examine an example of its practical application. The principles of figurational sociology have been applied in a number of different areas, but one particularly popular area is that of sport. Figurational sociology has been used to try and understand football hooliganism, the growth of professional sport, the globalisation of sport and finally initial process of sportization (Murphy, Sheard Waddington, 2002). To take one example in this line of analysis, Dunning and Sheard (1979) examine the development of rugby. They explain the increased professionalism of the sport in terms of a societal move towards functional democratisation. This process leads to greater levels of competition, so that rugby players can no longer play just for fun. Instead, it is necessary to be highly committed to the sport in order to be recognised as successful. Because of the increased interconnectedness of individuals, it is no longer possible for athletes to play for themselves; instead they have to play for their countries (Dunning Sheard, 1979). This analysis helps to explain professionalism in rugby and the advantages of a figurational approach can be seen. Societal changes are examined here in terms of figurations and this provides a useful analysis and explanation of changes. In contrast, Murphy et al. (2002) point out that one of the criticisms of the figurational approach to sport is that it has ignored gender issues. Hargreaves (1992) argues that the figurational obsession with detachment has meant the analysis of sport has readily accepted a notion of sport as dominated by men. Even while Murphy et al. (2002) argue that this absence of the analysis of gender in figurational sociology is not a result of its theoretical limitations, from the criticisms already described the opposite can be argued. Particularly, as Layder (2006) points out, the figurational approach is weak on the analysis of the individual. Conclusion Elias made many claims for his concept of figuration. He claimed that it transcended previous approaches to sociology, rose above false dichotomies and helped sociologists focus on human beings as fundamentally involved in a network of interrelated relationships. Methodological injunctions also flowed naturally from Elias theory: e.g. focussing on processes rather than categories or states and establishing a distance between the researcher and the subject. Considering the criticism levelled at Elias work by Layder, however, it is difficult to see that these claims for a transcendent sociology are justified. Elias frequently misrepresented or ignored the work of sociologists he was apparently transcending as well as making serious epistemological and ontological errors. While both the advantages and disadvantages of the figurational approach can be seen in the area of sport sociology, it is hard to argue that Elias work stands up to Layders criticism. Perhaps the strongest criticism i s that figuration is merely a descriptive rather than an explanatory approach. For that reason, the usefulness of Elias concept of figuration is limited. References Arnason, J. (1987). Figurational Sociology as a Counter-Paradigm. Theory, Culture Society, 4(2), 429-456. Elias, N. (1939/1994). The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners and State Formation and Civilization. Blackwell. Dunning, E., Sheard, K. (1979). Barbarians, gentlemen and players: a sociological study of the development of rugby football. London: Martin Robertson. Featherstone, M. (1987). 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