Saturday, August 31, 2019

Concert Paper About Blue Man Group

Sarah DeMattio LA 321-801 Concert Paper 2/2/13 Though I had often heard of them growing up, I never really knew who, or what, Blue Man Group was. When my nineteenth birthday came along earlier this past January, my best friend decided that in celebration of my birthday, we would be solving our own age-long mystery about Blue Man Group. We were going to a show to see what exactly it was that these blue men did. My initial reaction was certainly less than satisfied when my best friend told me that she got us tickets to see Blue Man Group for my birthday.I remembered a discussion we had had a few months prior when we spoke avidly about how our parents always made references to something called â€Å"the blue man group† as we were growing up, and that we still to that day had no idea what it was or why it was being referenced in the first place. Though still not completely convinced, I bit my tongue, thanked my friend for the gesture, told her I could not wait to see the show, and calmed myself with the thought that at least finally, my questions of the smurph band would be answered. On January 6th, 2013, my friend Kaya and I made our way downtown.We had tickets to see the 8 p. m. show of Blue Man Group at the Astor Place Theater. Upon arrival to the venue, my reservations about the experience became even more acute; the theater looked like some kind of underground grunge dungeon I’ve heard about and warned of. We entered the theater lobby where I immediately noticed the concession and souvenir stand, because aside from the usual assortments of cookies, popcorns and soft drinks, the top recommended item to buy was a poncho. My suspicions instantly hit their zenith. â€Å"Kaya, what the heck did you bring me to?! Kaya laughed off my remark and once we were seated, elaborated about the ponchos. She told me that contrary to typical shows, where the closer your seat is to the stage in orchestra, the more expensive the seat becomes, Blue Man Group actuall y offers a discounted price for the first 5 rows of Orchestra. The â€Å"splash zone,† if you will. And that of course, explains the need for ponchos. Our seats happened to be the first row behind the last row of the â€Å"splash zone†, so obviously I spent the entire show holding my breath a little in fear that bodily fluids of any kind would make their way to me. They didn’t, thankfully.Blue Man Group consisted of three men that were all bald, blue, wore black clothing, and had extremely large mouth capacities. My favorite moment of the entire 105-minute show is hard to decide, both honestly and to my surprise. One of my top favorite and most impressed moments of the show was each time the men played their large bongo-type, garbage receptacles as drums. Two men played their own drums simultaneously while the third man stood in the middle of the two and squirted different colored liquids onto the drums, thus splashing colorful water everywhere and creating some kind of a rainbow waterfall.It was both visually fantastic and musically pleasing. The Blue Man Group’s abilities varied, but certainly never failed to impress. I cannot really describe what they played, or even did. They seem to have a knack for making instruments out of anything but instruments, and creating art with anything but art supplies. The combination of the sarcastic, poking-fun-at-society nature of the Blue Man Group along with their quirky abilities, talents, and looks, was what made the entire experience such a pleasantly surprising and enjoyable one.I am not a big fan of freaky looking characters that do odd things, spit into the audience, and chew Captain Crunch cereal in harmony, but for Blue Man Group, I made the exception and would again and again in a heartbeat. The show was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It is a different and interesting approach to having fun, and I am determined to make any other doubters in my life see what Blue Man Gro up is all about for themselves.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Economics- Bagel Industry

1. Bagel restaurant is likely to be a constant industry because it is in the perfect competition industry. Bagel restaurant is in the perfect competition industry because there are few entry barriers in this industry. Anyone could enter this industry. In the short-run, existing firms might get profit just as the case of George’s bagel chain. However, in the long-run, the profit attracts new competitors into this industry, causing price competition. Because each firm will produce at the point where P=LRMC, the price competition will force each firm to produce at the lowest point of the LRAC curve.Thus, each firm in the bagel industry faces the same cost which equals to the price of the bagel, meaning that bagel restaurant is in a constant cost industry. To maximize profit, firms have to produce at the point where P=LRMC. Supply curve shows the corresponding quantity at any given price. Thus, LRMC is the long-run supply curve for each firm. For firms in the constant cost industr y, they face a constant LRMC, which implies that the slope of the long-run supply curve is zero. By contrast, increasing cost industry face increasing LRMC curve, which implies that the slope of the long-run supply curve is positive. . Firms that can produce at lower price are those who have lower MC. Lower MC usually implies that these firms hold some superior factors that other firms don’t have. It seems that firms with superior factors can make economic profits. However, other firms will compete for these superior factors in order to also produce at lower cost, which increase the opportunity cost of holding these superior factors. Thus, firms with lower MC can’t make economic profit because the producer surplus from lower MC has been used to acquire the superior factors. 3.It is a good idea for George to enter the cranberry industry. The reasons are as following: 1)The cranberry industry shows steady growth rate. 2)George has the opportunity to acquire the superior asset in this industry – sandy peat bogs. 3)Sandy peat soil is not readily available in supply, which cause the entry barrier in this industry. Thus, although future profits might attract new competitors into this market as the case in the bagel restaurant, the limited supply of peat bogs makes it difficult for competitors to immediately enter this industry.Even the price competition happens in the future, George can still produce at the lower price because he owns the superior asset. Finally, as the case in previous example, although George can produce at lower price, he can make only the normal economic profit. This is because profit will cause competitors to compete for the land, which causes the appreciation of the sandy peat bogs. As a result, the opportunity cost of George’s holding the land will increase, which offset the producer surplus of George.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Nuclear warfare

Introduction.John Hersey’s article entitled Hiroshima was an account of six residents in the city of the same name who survived the bombing on August 6, 1945. The six survivors consisted of a physician, a personnel clerk, three small children and their mother, a young surgeon, a pastor and a missionary priest.Compared to other accounts of the Hiroshima bombing, Hersey’s account dryly described the experiences of the survivors, beginning from the time they woke up until the time the bomb went off. While it made considerable noise within and without the publishing world, Hersey’s account was not intentionally written as a call to action, nor did it eventually give rise to a mass action. Rather, it was intended to be a mere impassive report of the impact made by the bomb on the lives of many.Ethical Theories.There are many reasons for the opinion that nuclear warfare is not morally justified, the most familiar and popular of which is the opinion that nuclear warfare involves an intention to use nuclear weapons, where such use would be immoral (McMahan, 1985).  Moral philosophy has several positions on the issue of nuclear warfare. One such position falls within the deontological position (McMahan, 1985). This position consists of three claims, the first of which is that the use of nuclear weapons is not morally justified (McMahan, 1985).  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This first argument is rationalized by the theory that use of nuclear weapons would lead to a violation of at least one criterion of the traditional â€Å"just war† theory (McMahan, 1985).The just war theory refers to justice in war or moral support for war (Moseley, 2006). This theory has two aspects, namely, the theoretical and historical traditions (Moseley, 2006). The former discusses the justifications and reasons for engaging in war; while the latter focuses attention on the body of rules and agreements entered into by international bodies that are supposed to be applied in t imes of war (Moseley, 2006).The just war theory has two criteria, namely, the criterion of proportionality and the criterion of discrimination (McMahan, 1985). The first one mandates that â€Å"the level of force employed must be proportional to the good it is intended to achieve (McMahan, 1985).† On the other hand, the latter criterion provides that â€Å"force should be used in a way which respects the distinction between combatants and noncombatants (McMahan, 1985).Applying the two criteria, one can arrive at an opinion as to whether the dropping of the bomb in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima was justified. The first criterion demands that an act be justified by the good consequences achieved by the act be able to outweigh the negative consequences it may have caused (McMahan, 1985). Moreover, there must be a direct proportion between the degree of force used and the positive consequences produced (McMahan, 1985).Considering that both bomb attacks had caused the loss of numer ous lives, mostly those of innocent citizens, there is no way that they could have been justified by any positive consequences. Whichever motivation led to the decision to set off the attacks, it could never be enough to justify the killing of countless innocent lives. The brutality of the acts involved in both bombings negate any argument that there is a direct proportion between the act committed or the degree of force used and the consequences it produced.The second criterion cannot also be used to justify the bombings, since it forbids the killing of noncombatants in war (McMahan, 1985). A distinction should be made between people who are combatants and not (McMahan, 1985). However, based on numerous accounts on the effects of the bombings, including that written by Hersey, it is apparent that many people who were noncombatants died during the attacks. This is a clear violation of the second criterion of the just war theory (McMahan, 1985).Again applying the deontological tradit ion, any future use of nuclear weapons in war cannot be justified. The use of that kind of weapons is a deliberate choice made by those who lead the war. They know that such use necessarily involves the killing of man innocent people.As argued by one study, deaths occurring in nuclear attacks are neither incidental nor unintentional results of lawful military action (McMahan, 1985). Rather, such deaths are deliberate aims made by those who chose to act using nuclear weapons (McMahan, 1985).Thus, the same argument would negate any justification that would be put forward by a country that intends to retaliate using nuclear weapons. Retaliation can be exercised in various forms and it is recognized under international law to be valid means of protecting a country’s interests and sovereignty. Nevertheless, even through a good reason exists for retaliation, doing the same through nuclear weapon still cannot be justified because of the consequences involved in such action, which wo uld cost thousands, if not millions, of lives. Indeed, nuclear warfare is no room for the ancient adage â€Å"an eye for an eye.† Other means of retaliation, like demanding reparation or using economic measures, should instead be used rather than resorting to nuclear warfare.Conclusion.Nuclear warfare cannot be justified under any circumstance. The deliberate use of nuclear weapons is equivalent to deliberate killing of numerous innocent people. Such an act cannot be considered proportionate to the aim involved; nor would such act discriminate between people who engaged in war or not. These consequences obviously violate criteria of the just war theory, which negates any morality in the acts.ReferencesHersey, J. (1946). Hiroshima. The New Yorker.McMahan, J. (1985). Deterrence and Deontology. Ethics 95(3) Special Issue: Symposium on Ethics and Nuclear Deterrence, 517-536. Moseley, A. (2006). Just War Theory. Retrieved October 31, 2007, fromhttp://www.iep.utm.edu/justwar/ Nuclear warfare Introduction.John Hersey’s article entitled Hiroshima was an account of six residents in the city of the same name who survived the bombing on August 6, 1945. The six survivors consisted of a physician, a personnel clerk, three small children and their mother, a young surgeon, a pastor and a missionary priest.Compared to other accounts of the Hiroshima bombing, Hersey’s account dryly described the experiences of the survivors, beginning from the time they woke up until the time the bomb went off. While it made considerable noise within and without the publishing world, Hersey’s account was not intentionally written as a call to action, nor did it eventually give rise to a mass action. Rather, it was intended to be a mere impassive report of the impact made by the bomb on the lives of many.Ethical Theories.There are many reasons for the opinion that nuclear warfare is not morally justified, the most familiar and popular of which is the opinion that nuclear warfare involves an intention to use nuclear weapons, where such use would be immoral (McMahan, 1985).Moral philosophy has several positions on the issue of nuclear warfare. One such position falls within the deontological position (McMahan, 1985). This position consists of three claims, the first of which is that the use of nuclear weapons is not morally justified (McMahan, 1985). This first argument is rationalized by the theory that use of nuclear weapons would lead to a violation of at least one criterion of the traditional â€Å"just war† theory (McMahan, 1985).The just war theory refers to justice in war or moral support for war (Moseley, 2006). This theory has two aspects, namely, the theoretical and historical traditions (Moseley, 2006). The former discusses the justifications and reasons for engaging in war; while the latter focuses attention on the body of rules and agreements entered into by international bodies that are supposed to be applied in times of war (Moseley, 20 06).The just war theory has two criteria, namely, the criterion of proportionality and the criterion of discrimination (McMahan, 1985). The first one mandates that â€Å"the level of force employed must be proportional to the good it is intended to achieve (McMahan, 1985).† On the other hand, the latter criterion provides that â€Å"force should be used in a way which respects the distinction between combatants and noncombatants (McMahan, 1985).Applying the two criteria, one can arrive at an opinion as to whether the dropping of the bomb in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima was justified. The first criterion demands that an act be justified by the good consequences achieved by the act be able to outweigh the negative consequences it may have caused (McMahan, 1985). Moreover, there must be a direct proportion between the degree of force used and the positive consequences produced (McMahan, 1985).Considering that both bomb attacks had caused the loss of numerous lives, mostly those of innocent citizens, there is no way that they could have been justified by any positive consequences. Whichever motivation led to the decision to set off the attacks, it could never be enough to justify the killing of countless innocent lives. The brutality of the acts involved in both bombings negate any argument that there is a direct proportion between the act committed or the degree of force used and the consequences it produced.The second criterion cannot also be used to justify the bombings, since it forbids the killing of noncombatants in war (McMahan, 1985). A distinction should be made between people who are combatants and not (McMahan, 1985). However, based on numerous accounts on the effects of the bombings, including that written by Hersey, it is apparent that many people who were noncombatants died during the attacks. This is a clear violation of the second criterion of the just war theory (McMahan, 1985).Again applying the deontological tradition, any future use of n uclear weapons in war cannot be justified. The use of that kind of weapons is a deliberate choice made by those who lead the war. They know that such use necessarily involves the killing of man innocent people.As argued by one study, deaths occurring in nuclear attacks are neither incidental nor unintentional results of lawful military action (McMahan, 1985). Rather, such deaths are deliberate aims made by those who chose to act using nuclear weapons (McMahan, 1985).Thus, the same argument would negate any justification that would be put forward by a country that intends to retaliate using nuclear weapons. Retaliation can be exercised in various forms and it is recognized under international law to be valid means of protecting a country’s interests and sovereignty. Nevertheless, even through a good reason exists for retaliation, doing the same through nuclear weapon still cannot be justified because of the consequences involved in such action, which would cost thousands, if n ot millions, of lives. Indeed, nuclear warfare is no room for the ancient adage â€Å"an eye for an eye.† Other means of retaliation, like demanding reparation or using economic measures, should instead be used rather than resorting to nuclear warfare.Conclusion.Nuclear warfare cannot be justified under any circumstance. The deliberate use of nuclear weapons is equivalent to deliberate killing of numerous innocent people. Such an act cannot be considered proportionate to the aim involved; nor would such act discriminate between people who engaged in war or not. These consequences obviously violate criteria of the just war theory, which negates any morality in the acts.ReferencesHersey, J. (1946). Hiroshima. The New Yorker.McMahan, J. (1985). Deterrence and Deontology. Ethics 95(3) Special Issue: Symposium on Ethics and Nuclear Deterrence, 517-536.Moseley, A. (2006).Just War Theory. Retrieved October 31, 2007, fromhttp://www.iep.utm.edu/j/justwar.htm

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Writer's choice - Essay Example To her, the 6-year old protagonist is a symbol of the racially discriminated, belonging to the weaker sex and ultimately representing those who are unable to fight for their basic rights. She is the epitome of the Black race, considered to be survivors because they are rough and tough. Similarly, Henry Giroux uses the same approach to call the attention of his readers to see what the images after Katrina really meant. Racism, feminism and violence may be the thesis of Hook’s argument but Giroux shifts from racism to specifically point out the social issue on class, where the poor are involved. Katrina may be just a story of disaster to many people but to the second writer, it is a calamity that exposed the naked truth about how the poor are disregarded in America. During Katrina, decaying bodies of different colors including Whites, males and females, young and old; were left alone for several days. Giroux mentions that this shows how the poor are not given much attention; they were not the priority of the government. It may not be necessary to mention but perhaps, if only the cadavers will not become threats to the health of people and the political status of officials, they would have been totally

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Blu ray and hd dvd format wars (business strategy case analysis) Essay

Blu ray and hd dvd format wars (business strategy case analysis) - Essay Example Further on, a conclusion is drawn and suggestions are made regarding the steps Sony could have taken to ensure growth and success with the betamax. Sony introduced its first system – Betamax in 1975. This was extremely famous among consumers. Sony had demonstrated Beta – a videotape recording system, to be a single format for all. Sony came up with Betamax, which was developed with the best audio and video quality. They were the first to offer the technology, however they did not give much attention to the requirements of the customers. Sony provided a recording length of less than 60 minutes, which was not enough to record a movie (Format War, 2008). Betamax format focused on quality of recordings not realizing that the consumers’ focus was on recording time and ease information transfer. This was one of the factors that brought the decline of Betamax (Wielage and Woodcock, 1998). Sony was quickly followed by JVC’s Video Home System (VHS), which decided to go with its own format and lead to a format war. Sony faced a lot of competition from many manufacturers like Quasar’s – Great Time Machine, Sanyo’s – V-cord and the biggest competition from JVC’s VHS. The Great time Machine and V- cord eventually faded away, leaving VHS and Betamax battling for years (Moulding, 1996). Sony’s biggest drawback was the fact that they had not done enough research into the markets before they developed the Betamax and they felt that the product would surely sell because it was developed by them. They believed that betamax was strongly backed by their brand name and the quality of the audio and video in the betamax (Sony History, 2008). However, this egoistic approach caused them to loose the format war against JVC’s VHS. This failure due to techno arrogance simply showed Sony’s failure to understand how the technology market really

Monday, August 26, 2019

Obesity in American Children Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Obesity in American Children - Research Paper Example 1140). Available evidence in indicates that statistics of childhood and teenage-hood obesity have more than tripled since 1980 and the prevalence does not appear to be showing any significant downward momentum (Wojcicki and Heyman 1457). Almost a third of 2 year-old children are currently overweight or obese with an increased likelihood exposure to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, of hospitalization and a subsequent diagnosis with a mental, bone and joint disorders than non-obese children (Thompson and Wolf 189). Worse still, the causative effects of obesity not only harms millions of Americans healthwise, but concurrently bulges out annual health care costs with little results—more than one quarter of America’s health care budget is devoted to obesity related health issues (Finkelstein and Fiebelkorn 223). The above notwithstanding, the problem stands with worse consequences for a society regarded as a front-runner in nearly every sphere of influence, technology in clusive; overweight children adolescents graduate to adulthood with all the health complications that accompany obesity. What is this obesity anyway? Are there chances of saving a generation whose lives apparently hangs on the pendulum? This paper investigates the impact that obesity on American Children—a disease now considered of epidemic proportions, with regard to its prevalence rates, the contributing factors, the health complications and the possible routes for preventive measures. Across section of epidemiological studies define obesity based on body mass index (BMI). It thus refers to a chronic, complex condition characterized by an excess amount body fat/adipose tissue relative to lean body mass with a resultant effect of â€Å"caloric imbalance†Ã¢â‚¬â€too little calories used in relation to the amount consumed (Daniels, et al 1999). Noteworthy, the amount of body fat consumed and those for subsequent usage are affected by various genetic makeup, behavioral i nteractions as well as environmental factors. More generally, while the causes of obesity may genetically linked, many of them the causes are behaviorally and environmentally conditioned and are remediable with correct child upbringing. The World Health Organization (W.H.O.), The Centers for Disease Control (CDC, Surgeon General, The National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) among other healthcare monitoring organizations, all now recognizes obesity as a major health issue that is in its prime levels of concern in the United States. Even though statistical increases in obesity have been somewhat similar in the industrialized world, the United States’ levels ranks among the highest the world over. The country has witnessed the estimates steadily increase from 13 percentage points in 1962 towards 19.4, 24.5, 26.6, 33.8 percentage points in 1997, 2004, 2007 and 2008 respectively (National Center for Health Statistics par 11-14). Overall, the prevalence has increased by a whopping 33 percent in the last decade alone with an ever burgeoning research evidence indicative of a direct relation between an increased in the mortality rate and the exacerbative effects of obesity (Fontaine, et al. 190). As insinuated above, the root cause of obesity can be tracked to

Investigating the Relationship between Changes in Weight Loss and Essay

Investigating the Relationship between Changes in Weight Loss and Triglyceride Level - Essay Example The change in weights and triglyceride levels were computed by subtracting the value taken at baseline from the values obtained at week 8. Averages, trimmed means, median, mode, and standard deviation were calculated from the population data. The relationship between weight loss and triglyceride level of each patient were shown using a 2-axis combination graph. Correlation between the two parameters will also be calculated. A linear regression analysis was conducted to predict the association between weight loss and triglycerides. The regression equation was used to determine the decrease in the amount of triglycerides for every kilogram decrease in weight. Thirty-five obese patients participated in the study. At baseline, their weights ranged from 69.4 to 133 kg (Table 1). The same range was observed at Week 8 after the completion of treatments. Triglyceride levels at baseline shows that the range was at 57 – 446 mg/dl; however, the range was very wide after treatment, ranging from 54 – 795 dl/mg. The wide range was due to a very high increase in the triglyceride level of patient 231, who was also the only one to gain weight during the treatment. The data also shows that the median, which is the middle number in the range of values, was not far off from the average or the means. However, the mode, which is the most repeated number in the array, was not close to the average values. Trimmed means (the practice of a chosen percentage of the values) were also close to the average values. These show that the data are clustered close together, hence the similar median, averages and trimmed means for the measured parameters. At eight weeks after treatment, the average loss in weight was estimated to be 3.93 kg with a standard deviation of 2.76 kg. This large deviation can be attributed to the wide range in the weight loss

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Internet and the Issues It Gave Birth to Assignment

Internet and the Issues It Gave Birth to - Assignment Example The present paper has identified that  the internet has a profound impact on culture, both good and bad. A culture can be defined in the simplest possible terms as the sum total of the ideologies, customs, rituals, language, and lifestyle of a people that sets them apart from other people. In fact, the world is filled with diverse cultures which have their roots reaching even the Stone Age. The first impact the internet has in this field is the assimilation of these cultures resulting in the creation of a world uniform culture. To elaborate, the coming of the internet hugely helped the spread of western culture throughout the world. As most Asian and African countries look westward for technology and development, they inadvertently take up the lifestyle of western civilization that is highly liberal in nature. Yet another terrible blow is the disappearance of regional languages and the dominance of English. As English is the language that is mostly used in higher researches and as it is the main language in use on the net, it becomes necessary for other people to adopt English as a means of communication, thus leading to the erosion and gradual demise of their regional languages. As stated in Forbes and Mahan, (Eds.) (135), since the primary language of the internet is English, it would transmit the elements of Western values including an emphasis on material goods, entertainment, sex, and romance. The way the dressing sense of the modern youth has changed is the most effective example of this influence. If one can see young people wearing jeans and t-shirts in all countries and cultures and if they are seen eating pizza and hotdogs forgetting their traditional food items, as everybody knows, it is the internet to be blamed. However, the other side of the argument, though quite feeble, is that the internet does not necessarily eliminate the values of indigenous cultures. As Nakamura (88-89) states, the internet has the potential for challenging western influe nce; and moreover, it can turn to be an effective device for non-western users. The author points out the example of New Media Center Sarai New Delhi which has developed software for indigenous non-literates. According to Lessig (10), people around the world have the opportunity to build and cultivate a culture; perhaps a cyber-culture that would reach beyond the local boundaries. Unfortunately, the internet offers people the opportunity to destruct their cultures too. Ethical issues associated with the use of internet Though the accurate meaning of ethics vary from culture to culture and people to people, there are certain universally accepted norms of ethics that distinguish humans from other animate and inanimate beings. One can undoubtedly say that the security and freedom provided by internet lure many people into forgetting their ethics and morality to enjoy the unlimited chances of enjoyment available on the net. The first one in this row is the adoption of pseudo-identity on the internet to cheat people. As everybody knows, it is possible to hide one's real identity and this provides people immeasurable chances of carnal pleasure, monetary frauds, and other innumerable ways of cheating. To be precise, the availability of porn sites which often impart biased views on sex is responsible for the increasing sexual atrocities or crimes against females throughout the world.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Fallacies in Advertisement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fallacies in Advertisement - Essay Example With the tag line ‘feed your dreams,’ the ad was trying to associate the product with the accomplishments of the three men who were featured. Upon looking at the advertisement, a couple of questions occurred to me: suppose I would take in such product, would that necessarily feed my dreams? And what would ‘feed my dreams’ mean actually? It was so ambiguous that any meaning could be associated with it. Suppose I try to give it some meaning, which was to encourage me and make my dreams come true like those men who were featured, would that make it similar to what Muscle Milk was trying to portray in the ad? And what dreams would the product make come true, only those who dream to be like those ‘rookies’ and top athletes? It seemed to me, with this ad, that Muscle Milk was trying to put some causal link between taking in their product and the successful careers of the three athletes. Would a successful career be a product of taking in a supplement like that? It does not necessarily follow, thus, this ad had committed fallacy of false cause. Like some of the more informed consumers, I always looked for some reason to believe as regards the claim of a company’s product in its advertisement. The one thing that I had noted in this advertisement was the reason to believe provided the wrong authority to back up the claim. I then asked myself, would I believe this advertisement in its claim for the benefits that Muscle Milk would offer if I were to buy some supplements? Should I not consult a dietitian or a nutritionist in order for me to know the effects of taking in such product to my body, had I wanted to reap the benefits that the product claimed? Therefore, if the claim to the benefits should prove to be true, surely, it should be the dietitians and not the athletes who were to be consulted? If the benefits were to be measured in terms of the effects to

Friday, August 23, 2019

Royal Mint Counts Down to London 2012 with Special Coin Essay

Royal Mint Counts Down to London 2012 with Special Coin - Essay Example Royal Mint is a government owned body under the ownership of HM Treasury. The company is located in South Wales and employees more than 900 people (Royal Mint, 2012) The Royal Mint has won the advantage of minting Olympic coins for the Olympic event to be held in London in 2012. For this, Royal Mint has started minting and distributing coins since 2009 and has even changed UK regulations to mint kilo gold coins in limited edition. In this paper, the aim is to develop a suitable marketing strategy, through a sound marketing research, for Royal Mint in order to generate good revenues from the venture (Royal Mint, 2009) Marketing Research Marketing Research has been defined by Philip Kotler as ‘the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific situation facing the company’ (Blankenship, Breen and Dutka, 1998; 7) While market research is only concerned with collecting data on the market and analyzing it, marketing research involves a broader spectrum. It provides information on the market, the customer as well as the community. It provides sound information to the marketing managers to develop a good marketing strategy based on the external environment as well as the internal environment. Marketing research allows decision makers to make the right marketing decision under guidance from the data collected. Marketing research is usually conducted for launching a new product in the market so that managers may make better decisions by understanding the market and the needs of the consumers. The most important aspect of every marketing research is the identification of the problem which is done through a proper knowledge of the background of the situation (Malhotra, et. al, 2002). Background of the Situation With the Olympic Games being held in London for 2012, the Royal Mint has been selected to commemorate the minting, distribution and marketing of the Olympic Coins. Royal Mint, for the designing of the coins, opened up a Royal Mint Public Competition for making the designs of the coins. Out of the 30,000 entries, only 29 designs were chosen for the different sports (BBC, 2010). Furthermore, the UK government changed its legislation to accommodate the new half kilo gold coins for the special occasion. Olympic Coins have been introduced in Olympic Games since the time of the Greeks. The purpose of the Olympic coins was to act as a souvenir for the games so that the ordinary people would relate with the game also. They should also become part of the legacy by buying the coins and eventually promoting Olympic Games (Preuss, 2004). Even though the Royal Mint is a leading coin producer in UK and has expanded into the global arena since a long time, it is the first time that the organization has been selected to mint coins for an occasion as big as the Olympic Games. Therefore in order to effectively launch and market its products, the organization needs to conduct a marketing research. Problem Definition Problem Definition is the most important aspect of the marketing research as it forms the foundation of the marketing research. If the researchers are able to identify the problem correctly, the marketing research is made easier and more effective. In the case of the Royal Mint, the problem is the effective manner of launching Olympic Coins in the public. Royal Mint has little or no experience in this particular field since they have not minted coins for commercial purposes on such a vast level. The question here is not whether to launch

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Analyse the effects of education on the developing countries Essay Example for Free

Analyse the effects of education on the developing countries Essay Analyse the effects of education on the developing countries Development is one of the themes of modern society and there are a variety of elements influencing the development. Many countries experience declares that education gradually play a more and more vital role in development. Education policies which depend on the specific national conditions can lead to a different result. Overall, primary education may be a key to promote the influence including population, health and economic growth. Secondary education not only provides some skilled workers to society, but also is the foundation of higher education. When the country tries to develop the high-tech economy and to transform the social structure, the tertiary education will make a necessary and positive effect on its development. In the education system, basic education is the foundation of secondary and tertiary education. But primary education is not only a part of the education system. It is a very important element which impact on the level of mass culture, Social stability, economic development, population growth and public health. These parts and primary education are interrelated and interact on each other. It is an efficient way to develop these together and lead to a steady and rapid development of society by improving basic education. To make it clear we can put it into a chart(see appendix 1). There are 800 million illiterate adults who are very hard to find a high-income job in the earth, although the world develops rapidly. To solve this problem, universal basic education is a prime way. For example through popularize basic education farmers are able to read the instruction of fertilizer and some agriculture machine, which has an obvious effect in increase of agricultural productivity (Brown, 2008). The situation in industry is similar because of the higher efficiency. There is no doubt that mass culture level and economic growth would also get ahead because of this. In this respect, both Bangladesh and Iran can serve as models which have successful adult literacy programs (Brown, 2008). Widening gap between rich and poor is a source of instability of society (Brown, 2008), while primary education is an important way to narrow it. In most instances, especially for those countries whose rich-poor gap is it is enormous, it is a key to improve the living standard of the poor by universal basic education. Education could also decrease the crime rate (Stephen, Linda, 2003). Therefore, the narrower Rich-poor gap can provide a steady social surrounding in order to a better foundation for economic growth. Economic growth also has feedback in education. When government has enough money to invest to the education, the better education surrounding and higher teacher level would surely improve education, and finally reach a benign circulation. It is justification for public spending on education, because it is based on the high social rate of return. The study shows that investment of primary education can bring the highest social rate of return, followed by secondary and tertiary education (Gupta et al,2004) For developing countries, overpopulation is usually regarded as a basic and important problem. The increase of population would Significant bring the decrease of per capita resource, which also brings huge stress on environment and government. To solve this problem, it is a basic way to spread basic education especially for women. If girls accept more education, they would marry later, and have fewer children, which is a win-win-win situation (Plan 2008). Furthermore, they will have a higher expect and more requirements on their children. Meanwhile, they would focus more on their children’s quality instead of quantity. No doubt that this situation has a positive effect on Population quality Education also has a great effect on public health. First point, Use female education as an example, data shows that there is obvious relationship between educational attainment of mothers and mortality rates of under-5 children (Unicef, 2005). They are also more likely to have healthier children (World Bank, 2008). For the adult, once they receive more medical knowledge, the chances of infection by various diseases get significantly lower. For example, the best way to cure disease like AIDS is teach people how to prevent it. Health also has effect on education. In this aspect, Health and poverty usually work together. In poor areas, children usually hungry or ill, so it is hard for them to have a good state to study. Secondary education, linking primary and tertiary, is the easiest to be undervalued. Occasionally people purely regard lower-secondary as the continuance of basic education and upper-secondary as the preparation of higher education, and the effect of secondary education itself is ignored. However, data given by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of Austrian Academy of Sciences shows that secondary education provides a big boost to economic growth in low-income countries. The annual GDP growth  rates in a country with half population in secondary and universal primary (13%) is twice as much as that in one with merely universal primary (6. 5%) (Lutz et al, 2008). Another research suggests the return of secondary education is 18. 2% for men and 17. 0% for woman (Goh Gopinathan, 2008). Education begins to differentiate at secondary level, upper-secondary especially. Usually secondary education is classified into academic secondary and vocational secondary. Academic secondary education is mainly pre-tertiary education and sometimes pre-vocational education. Graduates from academic secondary school are easier to find a ‘white-collar’ job, which is believed to be safe, comfortable and well-paid in Asia (Goh Gopinathan, 2008; Holsinger Cowell, 2000). Students in Asian are fond of academic secondary schooling due to the preference for ‘white-collar’ jobs, but all students are not suitable for academic secondary education. Vocational secondary schooling, which is specifically aimed at job skills, may be more beneficial to other students. Despite of low matriculate quality, many Asian countries seems still successful in vocational secondary education, Singapore for example. Since 1964, Singapore offered vocational secondary education to students who fail in entering academic secondary school. Because of vocational schooling, many of them master some basic skills, become skilled workers and find a job. When Singapore developed labor-intensive industries and were in huge demand for labor in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, vocational secondary schooling provided large quantities of workers for nation. Simultaneously, as the low mark students are matriculated in schools instead of coming into society too early, they are protected from unhealthy practices in society (Holsinger Cowell, 2000). As vocational secondary education help people to find a work, it also decreases unemployment rate. In Africa, a good illustration of success in training programs is Zambia. Most training graduates can be employed in half a year. Unfortunately, in most of Africa where vocational training remains in low quality, graduates from training school still have difficulty in obtaining employment. Namibian for example, five years after graduation, the unemployment rate of graduates is as high as one fourth. That means vocational secondary education is ineffective when it is in poor quality (Kingombe, 2008). Like academic secondary education, vocational secondary education can also be provision for post-secondary education. In Singapore, after four years of vocational secondary education in the Normal Technical (NT) streams, most NT students enter the Institute of Technical Education to receive ‘high-tech’ education since 1992 (Goh Gopinathan, 2008). secondary education provides high return at low cost. Academic secondary education sometimes seems still expensive and indirect to occupation, while vocational secondary education significantly increases the quality of workforce and the employment rate. Many poor countries with a scarcity of educational resource cannot afford to invest higher education. Therefore, secondary education may be the most cost-effective choice (Lutz et al, 2008; Goh Gopinathan, 2008; Holsinger Cowell, 2000). Tertiary education can play a vital role in the country’s development. However, only the appropriate policy of tertiary education can make great positive effect on the development. South Korea is a good case in point. The very important prerequisites whether the policy of the tertiary education is efficient and suitable is basis: average education level; economic level and so on. Before the Korea War (1950-1953), Korea’s industrialism had just started? (Sacad and Shaw, 1990). The military force not only interrupted the industrialism, but also damaged national economic seriously, remaining the fact that Korea’s per capita gross national product (GNP) was even less than that of the poorest countries, such as Sudan. At this circumstance, South Korean government decided to encourage the massive industries and to recover the nation economic (Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2008). To achieve the goal, in the early 1960s, South Korea needed a large number of generally skilled labour? to take part in the industrialism reforming, which was the main reason why the government focused on the development of primary and secondary education in this period of time, which are talked clearly in the last paragraph. Without a solid economic and education foundation, tertiary education can never make an obvious effect on the development. Almost meanwhile, the tertiary education started to grow although the enrolment was far less than that of primary and secondary education. There two reasons why the government didn’t pay too much attention to the tertiary education. First one was the nation’s GDP per was still too low to invest the tertiary education. Second one is that people at that time didn’t receive the universal basic education. Later in the early 1970s the export which focused on light manufacturing and electronic goods accelerated (Kim, 2005), which needed the certain skilled labour. However, the labour who had general education couldn’t match the reality, leading to the result that the government turned to emphasise on the vocational education (Kim, 2005). Developing the tertiary education to produce the adapted labour was urgent. However, because the production didn’t refer to much high-tech, the development of university remained slow while the vocational education greatly expanded. The labour who had received the vocational education helped relieve the talents shortage to support Economic sustainable development effectively. During 1960s-1970s, the nation economic grew rapidly. In mid-1970s-1980s, Korea’s major industry had become heavy and chemical industry and its main export had transformed kinds of like iron industry, shipyard, precision manufacture and so on (Kim, 2005). In this case, the problem of lacking of high-tech talents to support economic was becoming more serious, especially in the engineering and scientific areas. At this circumstance, when the vocational education can not meet the practical needs, the boom of university was inevitable. Hence, the government’s attention and investment in university education increased in the next decade. In addition, the private investment on university education also increased. With the encouraged policy, the universities developed rapidly during 1980s. A study shows, ‘ in the mid-1970s, there were more than 7% of high school graduate who enrolled into the university. Compared to other developed countied, Japan gained the goal in the 1950s, Taiwan in mid-1960s, and the U. S. in the 1930s ‘(Phelps et. Al, 2003; Hayhoe, 1995). It shows that developing the university education is the necessary way for every country which is determined to develop high-tech economic. Some studies point out the technology change which can improve the productivity will make obvious progress or facilitate some new product when the long-term growth is keeping more than 50%. With rapid development of information technology, the economic and social structure is changing day by day. Trade made a active effect in South Koreas export-oriented economy and during 20th century it occurred many problems such as the freedom of the market. When the government noticed the various problems, they realized Korea should become a knowledge-based society and its economic should be the knowledge-based economic. Therefore, university concentrated on the informational technology, such as semiconductor, Information and communication technology, which made a huge progress during this period of time (Kim, 2005). Moreover, computer, cellular phone and memory chip were the major export product, which also showed the transformation of the economic segments. University education plays a more and more important role in the social transformation. The case of South Korea claims that when the general education is already comprehensively done, the appropriate investment and policy on tertiary education will show the effects on the development in an obvious way. The case of South Korea claims that when the general education is already comprehensively done, the appropriate investment and policy on tertiary education will show the effects on the development in an obvious way. In conclusion, primary education fully promotes economy and society in the poorest countries. In slight wealthier countries, secondary education leads to a leap of economy, and paves the way to further promotion. On a solid foundation of primary and secondary education, the developing countries will achieve considerable development with the help of tertiary education. When education is adapted to national conditions, it helps maximum of economic and social development. List of reference Brown, L. (2008) Plan B 3. 0: Mobilizing to save civilization. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Earth policy institute Steurer, Stephen J; Smith, Linda G (2003) Education reduces crime: Three-state Recidivism Study Plan (2008) Playing the Price[online], Available from:http://www. plan. org. au/mediacentre/publications/research/paying_the_price[07 Dec. 2010] Gupta, s. , Verhoeven,M. , Tiongson, E. R. (2004) Helping countries Develop: The role of Fiscal Policy Unicef (2005) Investing in the Children in the Islamic World http://www. unicef. org/pulications/files/Investing_Children_Islamic_World_full_e. pdf [07 Dec. 2010] Lutz, W.and Goujon, A. and KC, S. (2008) Education: the Key to Development. p. 12-15. [oline]. Available from: [9 October 2010] Goh, C. H. Gopinathan, S. (2008) ‘The Development of Education in Singapore Since 1965’. In Lee, S. K, Goh, C. B, Fredrikson, and Birger (ed) Toward a Better Future: Education and Training for Economic Development in Singapore since 1965. The World Bank: 2008. p. 12-38 Holsinger, D. B. Cowell, R. N. (2000) Positioning Secondary School Education in Developing Countries. Paris: December 2000. [Online] Available from: [22 October 2010] Kingombe, C. (2008) ‘Evaluating the Effects of Vocational Training in Africa’. OECD Development Centre Policy Insights. Paris: April 2008. P. 1-3 Encyclopedia of the Nations (2008) Balance of payments Korea, Republic of (ROK) export, growth, power [online]. Available from [8 Dec 2010] S, Kim and Ju-Ho Lee (2004) Changing Facets of Korean Higher Education: Market Competition and the Role of the State* [online] March 2004 Available from : [8 Dec 2010] Bloom, D. Canning, D. Chan, K. (2006) Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa. Washington D. C. Harvard University.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Tax Return Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Tax Return Worksheet Essay 1. Even though Gloria is single, her filing status is Head of Household. Why is Gloria able to file as head of household? Gloria is able to file head of house hold in this case because, she has a qualifying dependent. A qualifying dependent would be a closely related relative dependent that you have provided for maintaining a home for yourself and your dependent or dependents. 2. How does Gloria benefit from filing as head of household, rather than single? She benefits more from filing head of household because she will get better tax benefits like higher standard deductions and lower tax rates. 3. What is Gloria’s adjusted gross income? In which line in the tax form did you find her total income? Line-21 Adjusted gross income 22,275. 4. Even though Gloria is filing the short form (1040A), she is still able to get two credits. What are the two credits Gloria receives? List the line you found the answers on as well. 1,000 Additional child Tax credit line 41, and 728 for child care tax credit lines 29-33. 5. How much of a refund is Gloria going to receive? 2,500 6. What are the four steps listed in the filing checklist? Step 1: Sign and date the return. Step 2: Assemble the return. Step 3: Mail the return Step: Keep a copy. 7. On the Wage and Tax statement, list how much Gloria paid in her Federal Tax Withholding? 1,500 8. How much did she pay in Social Security and Medicare? 1,721 in total. 9. If she had owed money but was not able to pay it, what options would she have? She can apply for additional time to pay through an online application where she might get granted extra time to pay based on her situation. Also she can setup an installment agreement; she could do this by applying on a Web-based Online Payment Agreement application on IRS.gov. There she might be allowed as a taxpayer who owes $25,000 or less in combined tax, penalties and interest to self-qualify, apply for, and receive immediate notification of approval of this option. She can also request an installment agreement that under circumstances may allow her to create a convenient way to establish an installment agreement this takes away the need for personal interaction with IRS and reduces paper processing. She can also do this by completing and submitting a Form 9465 in writing, or call 1-800-829-1040 to make your request. Balances over $25,000, are due to complete a financial statement to determine the monthly payment amount for an installment plan. 10. If you have questions about filing your tax return, where would you go for help? Did any of Gloria’s tax conditions teach you about your own situation? IRS service center, and Gloria’s situation is different than mine but I did learn that there is a child care credit available, which I will take advantage next year when filing my taxes.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Safety Passport Scheme For Power Generation Sector Construction Essay

Safety Passport Scheme For Power Generation Sector Construction Essay Since the evolution of humans, people have been injured, maimed and killed during the course of their work right from carrying their work as hunters, to the modern day nuclear power plants. Implementation of health and safety practices dates back to the Hammurabi era (1780 BC), where death sentences were imposed to the builders who do not build it safer for the residents. As years passed, health and safety practices had good responses. It had many accidents, disasters and transformations to achieve a status of what health and safety practices mean to every industry now. Importance and awareness of health and safety practices among the workers are essential and also it is their right to have the information on health and safety practices. Before doing any work, one should know about the health and safety hazards in the work he does, to safeguard himself and those who work with him, he needs to be informed with the potential health and safety hazards in the environment. Health and safe ty practices became business and among many business models of health and safety practices, the model for informing and training an individual about the health and safety practices in the industry he/she works is Safety Passport Scheme. It is not just a business or a way for income, it became a business for the values it spread to the individuals who undergoes it. Health and safety at work is an area of management activity which, no matter how an organization perceives it, cannot be disregarded. Only professionals in health and safety can deliver the values to them. Health and safety became a subject of research where now we have even courses provided my many universities on health and safety practices. Safety Passport scheme generally is a passport for the individuals who hold it to enter the site they work for. A safety passport holder will have all the basic knowledge of the health and safety hazards around him and his colleagues and practices to follow in order to avoid them. A responsible manager on working site considers the safety passport as a way to have and ensure a safe environment in and around the site. Initially, safety passport schemes were developed generally which will apply to almost all industries. But as the technologies and methodologies changed drastically, specialisation and update was needed for the health and safety practices. In any sector, now only specialists are valued much. Gone are the days where people were looking for generic interests. In any field, only specialists are welcomed and recruited, specialists will have the deepest knowledge of that particular field they are involved with and they will excel in it. Though power generation sector falls under construction industry, it varies drastically from it. Technology, engineering, method of construction and erection of equipment, panels, testing and also hazards compared to the general construction industry, it has many potential hazards. In the research, I have done a market r esearch for a Safety Passport Scheme which is specially designed for the power generation sector by the health and safety specialists for the industry. The market research is conducted for United Kingdom. Report Background United Kingdom produces a total of 78,293MW of energy. As a single entity, British Energy is the market leader by producing 10,723MW of energy. Table below shows the market share of key players of power generation industry in UK. Major Players MW British Energy 10723 RWE Npower 10115 E.ON 9988.27 Scottish and southern energy 9176.4 Scottish power 6404 International power 4984 EDF 4928.4 Drax power 3945 Centrica 3530 Magnox 1622 Premier power 1156 Others 11720.93 Total 78293 The organizations have their own portfolio within their power production. Portfolios of power generation are decided by the fuel type they use for the production of electricity. Each fuel type has its own engineering process and construction, out of them few has similar engineering processes and construction only with minor changes, but they are regarded as same. So according to them, the categories I have decided are 1. Nuclear, 2. Hydro, 3. Combined Cycle Gas Turbine, 4. Coal/Oil/Gas, 5. Wind, 6. Others such as mine gas, poultry waste. According to the categories, the market share by fuel type is given in the table below. Fuel Type MW Coal/Gas/Oil 39298.3 CCGT 22091 Nuclear 10137 Hydro 4245.4 Wind 2297.6 Others 223.7 Total 78293 Out of the above categories, Nuclear does not support safety passport schemes and the safety passport scheme on which I am conducting the market research is not applicable to hydro power generation. I have identified the major players in other fuel categories for my research. In INDG381 the HSE (2003b) indicate that a safety passport training course should cover areas such as the hazards and risks that workers may face and how to identify them; having identified them what to do to either eliminate the hazard or control the risk; how to take steps to control the risks to themselves and others; where to find health and safety related information in connection with their job and how to follow a safe system of work. It is with this guidance in mind that the following reviews have been carried out. Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) CSCS was set up by the construction industry with the aims (amongst others) raising standards of health and safety to reduce risks and accidents throughout the industry (CSCS, 2007). The members of CSCS comprise employers trade bodies and Trade Unions including Construction Confederation; Federation of Master Builders; National Specialist Contractor Council; GMB Trade Union; Transport and General Workers Union; Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians, Construction Industry Council. The holder of a CSCS card is in theory able to prove his training and by implication competence in the role he is undertaking. There are several categories of CSCS card visitor (to a construction site) trainee, construction site operative, experienced worker, skilled worker, supervisor, experienced manager, senior manager and professionally qualified person. The structure of the card system is, for the worker and supervisor section of the workforce, largely hierarchical. For example a construction site operative would be expected to, either through practical experience, induction or other training and under supervision carry out basic activities such as using relevant hand tools, using PPE, organising work, reporting of accidents and handling material and components using accepted and safe methods and procedures. To receive a skilled worker card, in addition to the requirements above, the applicant must be in possession of a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) or Scottish Nation al Vocational Qualification (SNVQ); or have completed a a recognised trade or employer sponsored apprenticeship and completed a City and Guilds of London Institute Craft Certificate. The other standard requirement is that applicants for all cards must successfully pass a health and safety test. The basic test is of 30 minutes duration and, in addition to English is currently available in German, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian and Welsh. There is no requirement for any pre-test training course. The basic core test contains à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦either 2 or 3 questions from each of the 15 Core sections with 40 questions in total (CITB, 2000).The core sections include accident prevention and reporting; health and welfare; manual handling; working at height; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); emergency procedures and first aid; safe use of hazardous substances and are heavily biased towards traditional construction of the building site type. The publication CITB ( 2000) also covers some specialist areas these include supervisory and management; demolition; plumbing or gas; highway works; specialist working at height and lifts and escalators. Summary CSCS is heavily biased towards traditional construction and covers the hazards and risks involved with traditional construction work at a basic level. Only two of the specialist areas (supervisory and management and working at height) have any real relevance to power station outage work. There is little emphasis on behavioural aspects of safety Engineering Services Skillcard The Engineering Services Skillcard, created by the Heating and Ventilation Contractors Association (HVCA), is similar in concept and affiliated to the CSCS scheme it has the aim of registering à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the skills and competence of people working throughout the mechanical services sector of the building services engineering industry (HVCA, 2009). Accreditation in health and safety is achieved by undertaking the CSCS affiliated health and safety test. Other similar schemes affiliated to CSCS include Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS0; Construction Industry Scaffolder Record Scheme (CISRS); Northern Ireland Construction Skills Register ((NI)CSR); Certificate of Competence of Demolition Operatives (CCDO); Joint Industry Board Electrotechnical Certification Scheme (ECS); Plumbing Mechanical Engineering Services scheme (PMES) and Joint Industry Board for Plumbing in Scotland and NI (SNI JIB Plumbing) Summary Skillcard is an extension of CSCS above with exactly the same health and safety content and requirements. The CISRS and ECS affiliated schemes may have some relevance to outage work in certain circumstances. Client Contractor National Safety Group (CCNSG) The aim of the CCNSG Safety Passport Scheme is to ensure a basic knowledge of health and safety for all site personnel to enable them, after appropriate site induction, to work on site more safely with lower risk to themselves and others (CCNSG, 2009). Membership of the CCNSG includes the Construction Industry Association (CIA), the Trades Unions and the Training Providers. The Group is chaired by a member elected from the Client Group. The CCNSG Secretary is provided by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the organisation who now manages the scheme. The CCNSG safety passport is differentiated from the CSCS (and other similar card schemes) in two main areas. It is a specific accredited two day training course followed by an end test and it is claimed that it is designed for the Engineering Construction Industry rather than the Construction Industry. However it is the clients on individual sites who specify which card or cards is or are acceptable as a demons tration of competency on their sites. The CCNSG National Course includes a wide spectrum of directly safety related training including Safe Behaviour at Work; Safe Place of Work; Confined Space Entry; Excavations; Permit to Work Systems Safe Use of Access Equipment Working at Heights; Site Transport; Protecting the Environment; Safe Lifting and Manual Handling; Safe Systems of Work; Asbestos; Hazardous Substances; The Lifting Equipment and Lifting Operations Regulations( LOLER); The provision and Use of Workplace Equipment Regulations (PUWER); Electricity; Isolation; Hand-Arm Vibration; Noise. Summary Training for the CCNSG passport is carried out by accredited (by the ECITB) independent organisations and its quality is open to being variable. The hazards and risks covered in the training are mainly focussed on construction but more aspects of the syllabus appear to apply to power station outage work and some aspects of behavioural safety are covered Assuring Competence in Engineering Construction (ACE) Closely allied to the CCNSG and also supported by the ECITB is the Assuring Competence in Engineering Construction (ACE) scheme. ACE is an industry initiative supported by all areas of engineering construction in the UK including, in addition to the ECITB, Contractors the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA), the National Joint Council (NJCECI), the ECITB and the Trade Unions. The ECITB (2009) say that the aim of ACE is to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ensure that the competence of workers in the UK engineering construction industry is validated against National Occupational Standards in a flexible and cost effective way, with minimum disruption to ongoing productivity. Furthermore since June 2008 ACE has become affiliated to CSCS and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a joint Assurance in Competence in Engineering Construction (ACE) and CSCS card will be available to individuals who meet the competence and health and safety awareness requirements relevant to NVQ Level 3. (ECITB, 2009b).This involves reaching a competency level in standard health and safety modules involves having a working knowledge of health and safety legislation, hazards, safety reporting, first aid procedures and procedures for reporting. Working knowledge is described as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the minimum level of knowledge and understanding sufficient to perform your role in a manner that would normally be associated with the minimum acceptable performance of a competent person undertaking your role (ECITB, 2009c). Information from ACE (2009) indicates that the driver for the ACE scheme is that of technical competence validated by ECITB NVQ or SNVQ and this is currently available in a restricted number of engineering trade roles (e.g. welding and plating; [steel] erecting; mechanical fitting (including maintenance); pipefitting (including Instrument); electricians and rigging) Summary Although the main thrust of the ACE card is raising the skill levels in engineering construction in, currently a limited number of craft areas, the health and safety modules appear to have a closer synergy with outage work than other schemes. Behavioural aspects of safety are dealt with in the relevant health and safety modules. Basic Electrical Safety Competence (BESC) The BESC registration scheme is intended for anyone who carries out work either directly or indirectly on or near operational plant and equipment associated with the transmission and distribution of electricity. The scheme was developed by a task force of the Electricity Association Management Co-ordinating Committee (Distribution Transmission) with the assistance of the Electricity Company Training Managers and of the Electrical Training Association. The managers of the BESC scheme, Energy Utility Skills (EU Skills), label it as a workplace competency assessment and registration process, dealing with entering, moving around and exiting three specific work areas namely, substations, overhead lines; and underground cables. The basic safety requirements of the scheme are those relating to safe entry and exit, equipment identification, use of the correct PPE and carrying out of tasks in a safe manner. They are based on standards taken from the City Guilds N/SVQ awards and in particul ar specific relevant modules from the Electricity System Technology Engineering Support and Electricity System Technology Engineering awards. Summary BESC is specific specialist training and qualification directed towards electricity distribution companies and National Grid with specific reference to the hazards from working adjacent to live high voltage electricity equipment and so has limited relevance to power station outage work. The Safety Pass Alliance (SPA) Renewable Energy Sreenivasan et al (2003) portray the SPA as a UK organisation whose objective is to design and implement Safety Passport Training Schemes, delivered through accredited training providers and committed to providing a nationally recognised standard of health and safety training. SPA passports comprise a core section along with an industry sector specific section. To obtain acceptance into any additional sectors the holder of a current passport would need to attend the appropriate sector specific training session to upgrade it. Sectors with specific modules include industrial utilities, building maintenance food and drink, renewable energy, ports and shipping, quarries and pharmaceutical. The core health and safety training covers the following areas Organising for safety (health and safety law, responsibilities and risk assessment); the workplace (Including safe behaviour, welfare, and access and egress); plant and machinery (including tools, electricity and workplace transport); heal th (including PPE, COSHH, musculoskeletal problems); procedures (fire and first aid) and the environment. One of additional industry specific modules is the Renewable energy which focuses on those issues of particular concern for those who work within the renewable energy. This course comprises of nine modules: Workplace risk, Licenses permits and passes, Plant and equipment, Explosive atmospheres, Environment, Electricity, Working at height, Occupational health, Personal Safety (Safety Pass Alliance, 2010). Summary assuming that the relevant Renewable energy module is undertaken this offers the prospect of a close match of relevance to outage work but it is little used within Generation currently. The only client for this is ATKINS and Atkins was involved in designing this course. Some aspects of behavioural safety are addressed in the core health and safety training module. The European Dimension There have been an increasing number of non UK nationals working in the UK, figures from the Statistics Commission (2009) indicate that there were 2 million foreign nationals of working age in the UK in 2007out of a total working age population of 27.2 million. Generation has seen increased incidences of foreign workers on sites during outages and because of this the landscape of competence assessment schemes is infinitely more complex. In addition to foreign language versions of the CCNSG safety passport, currently offered in the UK in Polish and Portuguese amongst others there are several similar passport schemes existing in other EU member states including Health and Environment Checklist Contractors (SCC) in the Netherlands, FAS Safe Pass Health and Safety Awareness in Eire and the Occupational Safety Card in Finland. Both the latter are the national equivalents of CSCS. In the review of safety passport schemes Sreenivasan et al (2003) explains that although originally intended f or the petro-chemical and pharmaceutical associated industries in the Netherlands, SCC covers a range of other industries involved in hazardous work including construction and civil works. The scheme is now widespread across Belgium, France, Germany, and Austria and can be used without restrictions in Belgium and the Netherlands. The SCC qualification has the basic elements that broadly cover the contents of the CCNSG syllabus. The SCC has recognised, however, that there is a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦wide variation and an (excessively) wide bandwidth in the exams set by the various examination bodiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [possibly due]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to the excessively vague definition of the attainment targets (SCC, 2003). Included in this is a reference to Romiszowskis taxonomy that discriminates between knowledge (knowing something) and skills (being able to do something). Included within the attainment targets are the requirements to cover both these aspects of competence. Summary The SCC process does recognise that competence in health and safety does include more than the successful completion of a training package and although one of the target industry sectors petro-chemical has similarities with the Generation business, there is little evidence of the particular qualification having been used to any great extent within the UK. Advantages and Disadvantages of Safety Accreditation Schemes There are advantages and disadvantages to all accreditation/passport schemes discussed by Sreenivasan et al (2003). Advantages include the possession of a safety passport gives readily available evidence that the contractor has some form of basic health and safety training. A passport shows that a worker has up-to-date basic health and safety or health, safety and environment awareness training (HSE, 2003b) what they crucially do not do is demonstrate a way of knowing or identifying that a worker is competent (HSE, 2003b).Furthermore they are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ generally not designed to correct the major faults in competence or diligence that usually result in the major accidents à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Sreenivasan et al, 2003). A recognised widespread scheme with a standard syllabus and acceptable attainment standards does however give some modicum of standardisation across an industry or an industry sector. The possession of a passport takes the form of a credit card-sized plastic card, usu ally with the employees name, photograph and identification number. If this is accompanied by a centrally held database directly accessible by subscribers it is a straightforward way of ensuring a passports validity. Finally passports do provide the contract company with a demonstration and audit trail that they are providing some of the suitable and sufficient training required by health and safety legislation. One of the main disadvantages of all accreditation and passport schemes is their financial implications in terms of training cost and lost productive time. These may well be able to be absorbed by a large company as part of its training budget but may well become a burden for both SMEs and individuals who act as freelance contractors. For businesses some of the costs may be able to be off set by grants (for example from the CITB Construction Skills levy) and a demonstration that most of a companys staff are in possession of a recognised safety accreditation may result in inc reased business. Additionally, although there is no empirical evidence to substantiate this, there is the possibility that there is a financial pressure on the accredited training provider to provide evidence of his worth and doing this by ensuring that he has an acceptable success rate in the assessment from his candidates. Aims and Objectives The report analyses the market for safety passport scheme for the power generation sector. The main aims of this market research are To provide evidence based approach for the acceptance of Safety Passport Scheme designed for power sector in UK. To capture the perceptions, opinions and aspirations of the potential target consumer market in relation to the safety passport scheme for the power sector in UK. Objectives were to identify Current schemes available and accepted. Which ones are most popular and why. Report on size of potential market in UK for a power generation specific safety passport scheme. Research into whether a sector specific passport would be accepted by Power Generators and associated contractors; specifically aimed at benefits and possible demerits. Confirm that an Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) scheme will have widespread acceptance. Research current pricing and if new scheme were developed what price should be set to achieve the Return on Investment. Review on how to roll this project out sustainably, assuming that new scheme is acceptable own resources, licensing to other providers to propose alternatives. Definitions Senior Executives The group consists of Directors of power generation organizations, managing directors of power generation organizations, and Senior Health and Safety professionals with massive experience in Health and Safety practices. Plant Managers The group consists of Health and Safety professionals responsible for power plants, and directors of power plants. Contractors The group consists of Managers of the construction contractors firms, Health and Safety directors of the firm, and Health and Safety managers. For current Schemes and their popularity Interviewed people from IOSH, ECITB, CCNSG, SPA, UKCG, CIC, and questionnaires distributed among contractors and plant managers. Potential Market in UK The market for safety passport scheme for power sector is the workers of the contractors who work for power generation industry. Data obtained from Office of National Statistics (ONS), UK. Acceptance of sector specific passport scheme with IOSHs accreditation For Power Sector Questionnaire distributed among senior executives, plant managers and contractors. Study of the environment by looking through variables like Regulation, News from power generators, Interview with health and safety professionals who had massive experience in the field, Political views, News from national skills academy of power. Economic patterns on Health and Safety spending Current Pricing Schemes Interviewed people from SPA, CCNSG/ECITB, CSCS, etc., including training providers Review on how to roll this project sustainably References from services marketing cases Market research for the Safety Passport Scheme was conducted during the period when the halted constructions of new power plants due to the recession for the past two years resumed their work. Spending was stopped during the recession on construction projects. The construction industry was overcoming the recession where the contribution of construction industry towards GDP of the country was increasing again. After a series of job cuts and cost cutting processes, the employment rate of construction industry had a significant increase during the period. Economic Trends Cost-cutting programmes, internationalization, commercial principles, shareholder value and sustainability, In all high value bids, safety is given more importance than bids of low value (Amec takes central role in  £20bn nuclear programme., 2009). Market Size Market for Safety Passport Scheme for power generation sector is the construction workers who work for the power generation industry. More than one million people are employed for the construction industry (Construction workers, 2008). Industry Structure Spending on health and safety Contractors fear that after years of improvements in health and safety standards, it could be undone if power generation organizations exploit the recession to drive down the construction costs. If power generation organizations force below-cost bidding, contractors could go backwards in health and safety standards. Power generation organizations could get really cheap prices but something has to give, they cannot expect contractors to come up with rock-bottom prices and then expect fantastic safety standards (Cheap deals could hit safety, warn contractors., 2009). Safety director of EDF said that contractors chosen to deliver EDFs new build schemes are expected to be productive, modern site committed to safety. The statement proves that power generation organizations are committed to Health and Safety practices. The construction director at EDF also announced that he is willing to help the suppliers to improve its safety competence (Power station sites face tight surveillance., 2009). In a statement released by UK Contractors group, they have agreed that Safety Passports cut risks in contract work (Safety passport cuts risks in contract work., 2009). Market Position Key Trends Speaking to media on EDFs  £20bn new build nuclear programme in UK, chief executive Vincent de Rivaz told that EDF is committed to safety. And it will maximise the opportunities for the UK supply chain. When issuing the civil packages to Laing ORourke, Costain and Carillion, De Rivaz confirmed them that EDFs commitment to safety and quality assurance is absolute. And he wanted to work with the partners who too are committed to safety. He also mentioned that the suppliers too will be expected to meet tough productivity and skills training targets (Safety first for EDFs nuclear contractors, 2009). Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has claimed that nearly one out of every 10 UK businesses has slashed its health and safety budget because of recession. IOSH also found out that for most companies, health and safety is not the first budget on the chopping block. Contradicting the above stated facts, IOSH found out that emphasis on the need of health and safety practices among employers and staff work more closely together to minimise risks with business leaders in particular needing to ensure that corners are not cut out during economic times (Paton, UK reduces budgets for health and safety, 2009). Key Associations DRETS Analysis Demographic factors Population growth growth of number of employees, increase in the number of households, better education, Regulatory factors Political and legal factors learnings of the government in power, shift of regulatory power IOSH said that falling foul of tough new safety regulations could spell the end for firms already struggling with the economic downturn. It also warned that companies that play at health and safety practices, or firms that fail to provide a safe environment for staff, could face the prospect of incurring increased financial penalties. As per the new law which is effective from 16 January, maximum fine for minor breaches are from  £5,000 to  £20,000 and also pave the way for prison sentences of up to two years for individuals found guilty of health and safety breaches (Pitcher, 2009). Economic factors Contribution to Gross national product of the industry, changes in consumers income, changing expenditure patterns, countrys change of economic development, inflation, Looking for balance, confident and living well, at ease, overwhelmed. Technological factors Integration of technology with the service, impact of e-business and m-business Social factors Prevailing values, traditions, trends in society these tendencies are influenced by the above four factors. Individualism and rising customer expectation, the need of the groups, interest in health, time usage and energy expenditure, Competitive Structure The Marketplace Market Leaders Marketing Activity SWOT Analysis Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats The Future Influence In 2002 when contractors are asked to increase company reporting on health and safety performance in the annual reports, just 103 of the countrys top 350 contractors have accepted the challenge. Out of them only the following five are top-10 contractors, Balfour Beatty, AMEC, Carillion, Skanska and Mowlem. HSC had asked the companies to put health and safety at the top of the agenda, but thats not the case in reality. It also found that, unless the decision makers know of the advantages to the bottom line of their organization, there will be no changes. HSC chairman Bill Callaghan also mentioned that the industry has a role to play and it is through shared experience and a change of culture that the sharing will happen (Pearman, No business case for safety stats, 2002). Forecasts Sector Trends Civil contractors are gearing up to bid for multi-million pound frameworks as part of the  £50bn nuclear power plant decommissioning programme now being rolled out across the UK. Last week, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) took control of the countrys 20 nuclear power plan

Its Science vs. Politics in Stem Cell Research :: Persuasive Argumentative Essay Examples

The Patients' Coalition for Urgent Research (CURe), a consortium of three dozen national nonprofit patient organizations, reports that over 100 million Americans suffer from illnesses, some of them terminal, which may be treated by medical advancements in the area of stem cell research (1). The list of ailments includes cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, severe burns, spinal cord injuries, and birth defects. While scientists continue to look for treatments and cures for these diseases through new medicine, innovative surgical techniques, and gene therapy, perhaps the most promising research is being encountered on the frontier of human embryonic stem cell research. From the beginning of this research in animals in the early 1980's, stem cells have been celebrated for their nearly infinite potential in application towards the alleviation, and ultimately the eradication, of many branches of human illne ss and disease. Animal stem cell research and preliminary human stem cell research indicates stem cells as a source of self-renewing, undifferentiated cells that have the ability to differentiate into organs, nerves, blood cells, skin, eyes, hair - basically, any tissue or cell found in an adult mammal. So far, scientists have isolated and indefinitely grown stem cells and, to some degree, demonstrated the cell's ability to differentiate into numerous tissues and cell types. From this groundwork, the scientific community envisions that research using stem cells will lead us to the ability to grow entire organs for transplant to patients suffering from kidney, liver, and heart failure; neurons for patients afflicted with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease; tissue replacement for patients with damaged organs or severe burns; functioning islet cells that will produce insulin for patients diagnosed with diabetes; and the list continues. Because stem cells have the ability to differentiate into every ki nd of cell contained in the human body, their possible therapeutic effects have the potential to help hundreds of millions of people worldwide. However, where there is the most promise, there is also the most controversy, and the bridge between life and death relies largely on the compromise between science and politics. The case against human embryonic stem cell research rests upon the core argument that embryonic stem cells are derived from human embryos and, as such, are protected by ethical principles against human experimentation (2). Whether or not stem cells represent a viable source of human life recapitulates the same debate as the abortion controversy: the argument about when human life begins.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility by Andrea D

Traditionally, mothers have been assigned to stay in the house to take care of children and perform daily household activities. However in recent years, men are becoming more involved in the house. Men are sharing more of the same responsibilities with women in terms of housekeeping and childrearing. Several fathers are choosing to stay in the house to take care of their children rather than working outside; either because of employment interruption or their wives are earning a higher salary than them. In a modern study, an increased number of working mothers as well as an increase in stay- at- home fathers were observed in Canada (Sutherland 2008). This is where the need to analyze if fathers are competent of rendering nurture and care as well as mothers arises. In her book entitled Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care, and Domestic Responsibility, Doucet seeks the life of fathering by means of illustrating if fathers are essentially performing a mother’s role or mothering when caring for their children (Doucet 2006). Andrea Doucet, currently on sabbatical, is a Professor of Sociology at Carleton University located in Ottawa, Canada. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from York University and completed her Masters in International Development at Carleton University. Doucet furthered her studies at Cambridge University where she attained her PhD (Carleton University 2011). Besides book chapters, most of her works for the past sixteen years have been scholarly articles which made sense of and clarified, theoretical and experiential understanding of subjects related with care and work, gender issues and lives within the society. A significant number of her works discuss several issues such as responsibility, auto... ...selves as fathers (Doucet 2006: 217). By the use of several theoretical perceptions, the book provides a breakdown on the division of household responsibilities and manliness (Doucet 2006). Furthermore, it also renders literature on parenting as a result of analyzing the role of the fathers by the maternal points of view. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility explores the concerns of men who choose to stay as full time fathers in order to meet the needs of their children rather than to work outside their home (Doucet 2006). The book is tremendously impactful in terms of being able to make readers realize the difference between the roles of the mother, as well as the responsibilities of the fathers while the common objective of providing adequate care and love for their children is shared between both sexes. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility by Andrea D Traditionally, mothers have been assigned to stay in the house to take care of children and perform daily household activities. However in recent years, men are becoming more involved in the house. Men are sharing more of the same responsibilities with women in terms of housekeeping and childrearing. Several fathers are choosing to stay in the house to take care of their children rather than working outside; either because of employment interruption or their wives are earning a higher salary than them. In a modern study, an increased number of working mothers as well as an increase in stay- at- home fathers were observed in Canada (Sutherland 2008). This is where the need to analyze if fathers are competent of rendering nurture and care as well as mothers arises. In her book entitled Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care, and Domestic Responsibility, Doucet seeks the life of fathering by means of illustrating if fathers are essentially performing a mother’s role or mothering when caring for their children (Doucet 2006). Andrea Doucet, currently on sabbatical, is a Professor of Sociology at Carleton University located in Ottawa, Canada. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from York University and completed her Masters in International Development at Carleton University. Doucet furthered her studies at Cambridge University where she attained her PhD (Carleton University 2011). Besides book chapters, most of her works for the past sixteen years have been scholarly articles which made sense of and clarified, theoretical and experiential understanding of subjects related with care and work, gender issues and lives within the society. A significant number of her works discuss several issues such as responsibility, auto... ...selves as fathers (Doucet 2006: 217). By the use of several theoretical perceptions, the book provides a breakdown on the division of household responsibilities and manliness (Doucet 2006). Furthermore, it also renders literature on parenting as a result of analyzing the role of the fathers by the maternal points of view. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care and Domestic Responsibility explores the concerns of men who choose to stay as full time fathers in order to meet the needs of their children rather than to work outside their home (Doucet 2006). The book is tremendously impactful in terms of being able to make readers realize the difference between the roles of the mother, as well as the responsibilities of the fathers while the common objective of providing adequate care and love for their children is shared between both sexes.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Women from The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain Essay

The Women from The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Until recently, the role of women in literature has seemed to reflect the way they were treated in society. Women were seen as secondary to men, and their sole purpose in life was to please a man’s every desire. This is not the case in three specific literary works. The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight use the actions of its women characters to greatly enhance important thematic elements. The women in each of these works use feminine psyche to persuade men to do things that men of the time would not usually do. The use of women in these literary works is very contrary to the prevailing ideals of the female and her responsibilities at the time each was written. In each case, the woman possesses an almost supernatural power to influence others to do as she requests. Though it is somewhat premature to assume that the authors of these pieces started a feminist revolution, they most definitely allowed women to be seen with a respect that the female had never enjoyed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Odyssey contains many female characters that influence the entire climax. Athena is an obvious example, because as a goddess and fan of Odysseus, she is able to create supernatural occurrences to help Odysseus to survive. But to include her as a woman is not feasible, because she is an immortal god. The true female heroine of The Odyssey is Penelope, the loving and devoted wife of Odysseus. She fits the perfect mold of an excellent mother and faithful wife. Although Odysseus is believed to be dead, she does not marry again and does everything in her power to prevent this from happening. She is able to use trickery and deceit to avoid the suitors without allowing them to find out what she is doing. She has informed her men-in-waiting that she will marry when she finishes weaving her shroud. She works all day on it and secretly undoes her work at night while they are sleeping. In this case, Penelope is seen as smart and cunning, and she is being faithful to her husband and at the same time, she does not have to blatantly disrespect the suitors. At the time this was written, it was almost impossible for a woman of her stature to avoid remarrying immediately. Another way that Penelope is seen as loyal and exceptional as a woman is the test that she gives Odysseus when he returns home in disgui... ...in literary works has often reflected the way that women were viewed at the time of each work’s creation. For three works, The Odyssey, The Wife of Bath, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, each author chose to oppose the prevailing view. The characters that these women play are crucial to the hero’s success or failure. Each woman is able to overcome adversity and oppression to prevail over the male sex. By doing so, they can be viewed as being a role model to all the women who read these works. Even though, there may not have been noticeable changes in the way women were treated in each work’s respective time period, they serve as a divergence away from traditional values and set a framework for further success in equality. Works Cited Anonymous. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology. Ed. Sarah   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lawall. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. 1458-1511. Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale. The Norton Anthology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ed. Sarah Lawall. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1549-1572. Homer. The Odyssey. The Norton Anthology. Ed. Sarah Lawall. 7th ed. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. 209-513.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Implementation Plan Essay

How ethical are you? Do you consider cheating on your taxes ethical? Are your ethics situational? Are you demonstrating ethics by deciding to do the right or the thing that will make you acceptable to the group or your subordinates? Unethical behavior is thriving well in our country. There are business executives with their perceptions of ethical leadership and its development researched by Catherine Marsh, in our work place there are leaders who are attempting to eliminate bullying through the examination of The Role of Ethical Leadership and its Effects on the Work Environment. The authors who researched information on bullying in the work environment were, Stouten, J. Baillien, E, Van den Broeck, A, Camps, J. De Witte, H. and Euwema, M. in 2011. Thirdly, we have authors; Michele K. Kacmar, Daniel G. Bachrach, Kenneth J. Harris, and Suzanne Zivnuska through their research tested the relationship between ethical leaders in regards to gender in the article Fostering good citizenship through ethical leadership: Exploring the moderating role of gender and organizational politics. Comparatively, the three articles similarity is the examination of ethics within the roles of leadership. Their examinations are inclusive of ethics in the work environment, business executives and their perception of ethical leadership and fostering good citizenship among the genders and organizational politics. Article one is qualitative researched based, article two is qualitative in regard to the workload and quantitative in regards to poor working conditions and article three, mixed-method of research. Research Question(s) The questions posed by the authors were for those that consider themselves ethical leaders what aspects did the value, how does one experiences determine how ethical a leader they are/ Are there significant strategies that ethical leaders could use to eliminate and /discourage bullying? How does the role of gender foster good citizenship through ethical leadership? (Marsh, 2013) The limitations of the studies were similar in their restrictive sampling of data. The participant in article was selected based on recommendations. The author stated that business leaders in which was believed to be ethical were contacted. This study gave the business executives an opportunity to share their personal stories and come to a clear understanding of their ethical leadership skills. Authors’ findings provided evidence that leaders can be an example to followers and model ethical behavior so that workers will be less inclined to be a target of bullying. An understanding was gained by the sample used of supervisors and employees working together daily. In conclusion the three articles examined leadership ethics using different variables. Article one was a qualitative study that examined the perception of how ethical leaders perceived themselves. Each executive shared personal stories from the personal experiences that designed the ethical framework. Article two examined bullying and the impact of ethical leadership and the ability of ethical leaders to curtail or eliminate bullying in the workplace. Article three examined the gender and political organization and how good citizenship could be fostered through ethical leadership.