Reflection Paper Essay

Ever since I can remember people have been asking me this question. A question that is so simple to ask, yet so hard to answer. A question that you may have an answer to at one point, but lose it the next. A question that when really thought about, can spell your future. That question is â€Å"what do you want to be? † This question has always given me a hard time, because honestly I never really wanted to give an answer to it. Maybe it’s because I never wanted to limit myself to an answer or maybe I was just never sure of anything and I’m afraid to give a straightforward answer. This is my attempt on trying to word out my â€Å"vision† of who and what I want to be. Owning a very profitable and stable business has been a dream of mine for a very long time. I had always envisioned myself as someone who owns a business, yet I don’t know what business I want to venture in as of the moment. I want my own business because I want to leave something for my family and leave a legacy behind before I pass away. I also want to own a business because I’m not the type to be a slave to another business owner my whole life. I want to experience leading the way and making a business that will be of great success. A family is also very important in my future. I cannot see myself grow old without a family, especially since I come from a big family. I guess I want to have at least 3 children because what good is it to have money when you don’t even have anyone to share it with or enjoy it with. I’ve been taught my whole life to put my family first above anything else. I of course do not intend to have a family that I cannot provide for financially. I also want a family because I want to be surrounded with people I love especially when I grow old and I have no one else but my children to take care of me. Another thing that I see in my future is that I see myself travelling the world. I don’t want to limit myself to my home country because I see other places as an opportunity to create great memories that I will forever cherish. I envision myself travelling because up to now I haven’t been out of the country, so it has always been in my bucket list to leave the country and explore other countries, try their food, and experience another culture apart from mine. I see myself going to the States, Europe, and other Asian countries. I believe that a life in a world so big when not explored is a life not spent well. I see myself in the future as someone who stays healthy. One of my greatest wants in life is to stay healthy. I’ve always pushed myself to go to the gym and stay fit as much as possible. In the future I see myself continuing this habit of staying in shape and not gaining too much weight, because it is one of my greatest fear is to have a beer belly. I see myself as a man who keeps his priorities in tact while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Wherein I stay fit and have a balanced diet. Love is another issue that is always so hard to predict. Whenever I think of who will my future wife be. I always see a girl who is loyal, a girl that will accept my mistakes, a girl that no matter how hard times get will always be there by my side. I see my future wife as someone that can be there for the good times and even at the worse times of my life. I will get married once I reach 30, and once I become financially secure. Lastly my most important yet the most simple vision that I have for myself is that I’m going to be happy. I’ll be happy even if none of my visions come true. I’ll be happy even if I experience many problems. I’ll be happy even when people around me are not. It is not the fact that I am optimistic, yet it is only because I can only imagine a future for myself that I am happy. I simply cannot concoct a vision of myself being miserable. If there is one vision that I have it is sure that I know I’ll be happy in the future, cause whatever I get, I will accept, and whatever life throws my way, I’ll take it, and whatever problems I may have, I will smile while I’m fixing it.

Slavery In The South

A large proportion of whites in the South supported slavery even though less than a quarter of these whites actually owned slaves. They felt that slavery was a necessary evil and that it was an important southern institution. The slave population in 1800 was just under 900,000 slaves and of that only 36,000 of these slaves were in the northern states. In 1860 this number grew to almost 4 million slaves were in the southern states. Many important statesmen such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington regarded slavery as a necessity even though it was evil.Individuals and groups of people of all sects defended slavery. Eventually anti-slavery views grew steadier, but there were still many people who continued to hold on to their strong anti-slavery beliefs and hesitated to join in on the abolitionist agitation. These people were unwilling to dispute what other citizens held to be their right. Although there were southern whites that didn’t necessarily like slavery, they still supported it because they felt it was the South’s right to have slavery. Thus slavery became an increasingly Southern institution.Eradication of slavery in the North that started in the revolutionary era and was mostly over by the 1830’s. This dispute led to the division of the United States between the North and the South. Slavery came to eventually define the essence of the South, if you were for slavery you were from the south and you were considered pro-southern whereas opposition to slavery was considered anti-southern. Even though most white southern males did not own slaves, slavery continued to set the South farther and farther apart from the country and Nation as a whole.Even though slavery at one time was common in the America’s, by the time the 19th century came around it was only found in a few countries such as Brazil and Cuba and the southern United States. In the 19th century the U. S was known as a country that celebrated liberty and equality and yet here were the southerners who represented everything but these things. Most Northerners joined the abolitionist movement not to help the slaves but to help the appearance of the United States and the bad impression slavery left on the U. S. Even with these movements taking place, slavery was still on the up and up.This of course was due to the sudden increase in cotton cultivation in order to meet the demands of the Northern and European textile manufacturers, so in a sense the Northerners were without knowing supporting slavery in an indirect form. Another reason why the southerners clung to this belief of slavery being a necessity no matter how evil was because southern agrarian communities were in fact centered on slavery. The South did not undergo the same industrial revolution that was starting in the North, in fact the Southerners stayed almost completely rural and lagged in modernization very increasingly.Examples of this include indications such as public education at t he time and railroad construction. Because of all of this the Southerners felt as if slavery was indeed a necessity and their agricultural economy orbited around slavery. Many Southerners feared that the abolition of slavery would eventually result in an economic collapse. The biggest difference between the South and the North was purely ideological. In the North, slavery was abolished and small groups of abolitionists developed. In the South however, white spokesman, from political to ministers and etc.all rallied behind slavery and treated it as the bedrock of southern society. Overall defenders of slavery had developed a range of arguments that they presented in order to defend their cause. They relied strongly on the religious aspect of their arguments on slavery when they defended their belief. They portrayed slavery as a part of God’s plan for civilizing a primitive people. Because of this it made it so that any southerner who defied slavery also defied Southern society and religion itself. The Southerners also based their case on social arguments as well.They compared their supposed orderly religious and harmonious society to the Northerners supposed individualistic and tumultuous environment. This defense clearly represented the exact image of the so-called free labor argument that had become a very popular idealistic theory in the North. This stated that slavery kept the South back from modernization, and it kept them poor and as degraded, pro-slavery advocates that responded that only slavery could save the South from the evils that modernity brought to their land. In the 1840’s the struggle with slavery played a major role and factor in American politics.Northerners who were committed to free soil or the idea that western territories should be reserved for only for free white settlers, whereas southerners insisted that a limitation on slavery’s expansion was unconstitutional and was meddling with the Sothern’s order and t heir honor. The slavery’s issue was no longer about the morality of it, but instead became about how it would affect the U. S politically and economically. This debate became so aggressive that at a later time it would cause a civil war between the country itself.

Case The Coffee Shop Market Starbucks Marketing Essay

Case The Coffee Shop Market Starbucks Marketing Essay Starbucks Corporation is an international coffeehouse chain, founded in 1971 in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks serves a variety of beverages including brewed coffee, tea, hot chocolate, espresso and a selection of bottled drinks. Starbucks also sells whole bean coffee and a variety of ready-to-eat snacks. The first Starbucks location to open outside of North America was in Tokyo in 1996; and from then on Starbucks became an international brand, expanding both nationally and globally. This report will attempt to examine the situation of Starbucks in Japan. It will bring out the marketing strategy to be adopted for a rise in profitability of Starbucks Japan in the next two years. In addition, it will attempt to explain the use of marketing mix to aid the chosen strategy. SWOT ANALYSIS: 1.1 STRENGTHS: 1.1.1 Strong brand image: Starbucks brand name, quality customer service and store ambience are its key strengths. It has maintained its international operations to ensure consumer recogn ition. Starbucks is renowned for its high quality products and has maintained a consistently positive consumer experience that has helped Starbucks build a strong brand image. Starbucks spends less than 1% of revenue on advertising and promotion each year which indicates they rely on an established company image (P. Ghauri, International marketing case study: Starbucks-Going Global Fast). Starbuck’s key competitor in Japan-Doutor coffee, had taken advantage of Starbuck’s brand image and copied its logo, while replicating the experience rendered to customers in its retail outlets. (Ono, 2003). This shows that the Starbucks image is a strength worth mimicking. With a well-established brand image in America, it was sure to expect recognition in the Japanese market, because the consumers there have a fondness for everything western. (http://azjatycka.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/international-marketing-strategy-of-starbucks-in-japan-success-or-a-failure/) 1.1.2 Commitment to c ommunity: Starbucks contributes a considerable amount of its resources to corporate social responsibility programs (Kotabe & Helsen, 2004). According to Butler (2006)-â€Å"CSR programs influence 70% of all consumer purchasing decisions, with many investors and employees also being swayed in their choice of companies†. As a result, Starbucks involvement in the CSR programs helps its competitiveness in the business world. 1.1.3 Widespread Presence in International Markets: Starbucks has ventured into foreign markets with astonishing pace opening its outlets in 40 countries with 2068 stores worldwide. This widespread expansion has allowed its presence to be felt across the globe. 1.1.4 Retail outlets present at convenient and accessible locations: Starbucks has opened a number of coffee shops at convenient locations like shopping malls, libraries, university campuses, office buildings etc. They are typically located in high traffic, high visibility locations.(Starbucks annual r eport, 2008) 1.1.5 Presence of a variety of food items & Beverages in addition to Coffee: Starbucks stores offer a choice of regular and decaffeinated coffee beverages, a broad selection of Italian-style espresso beverages, cold blended beverages, iced shaken refreshment beverages and a selection of premium teas. Starbucks stores also offer a variety of fresh food items, including healthier choice selections focussing on high-quality ingredients, nutritional value and great flavour. 1.1.6 Well Developed Corporate Strategy and Good Marketing skills. Weaknesses: 1.2.1 Lack of internal focus: Starbucks focuses too much on over-expansion, at times tending to ignore the problems arising within–consistent employer dissatisfaction.

Precis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Precis - Assignment Example There as well is the need to describe women not in relation to what they are directly contributing to the global economy but also in other noncompetitive facets of social life. There is need to empower not only the women but the marginalized as well as have them participate in political social and economic spheres for sustainable acceleration of social and economic development (Griffin, 102).Exposing women and the poor to opportunities such as affordable funds and having policies that intervenes on their behalf not only liberalizes them but as well offers them a competitive edge and a level entrance in the global market. However gender inequality should not only lean towards the women but toward any gender group that is disadvantaged (Griffin, 99). Socializing and exposing in equal gender either male or female to the competitive economy would give them a better chance in the global political economy. Giving priority to women and less privileged and having strategies of empowering the group by the policy makers would yield tangible and measurable results in the global economy development as they play a great role. For the global economy to grow drastically the issue of gender inequality must be eradicated completely in our

New mythologies for Modern Americans through Movie Theaters Term Paper

New mythologies for Modern Americans through Movie Theaters - Term Paper Example It is also not exact by facts that can be a total lie, partial truth or just an image and not true in its form. It drives the power of beliefs of individual and even groups of people. It is believed but not accurate like the history. Words play the part as approximation tool for the truthfulness behind the myth (Dowden, 1992, p. 2). Myth or mythology is the history or legend of certain phenomena that are not explainable by science and is attributed to the divine intervention. It comes from the Greek words mythos, logos and fable which all pertain to discourse or description. Being familiar with Mythology, people in the modern times would have the ability to learn from the lessons of the past and understand the hidden messages within (Irving, 1822, p. 5). Mythology is a traditional way of addressing and explaining occurrences based upon the tales of gods and goddesses and heroic adventures. Mythologem is the Greek term for the unchangeable famous tales. Mythology is different from myt hologem as it is solid but dynamic and continuously changes without losing its identity (Jung and Kerenyi, 1941, p. 3). Mythology has been linked with literature as it was once presented in verse. Prose was later on adapted to suit the oral culture. Logos is a noun that means speak as its counterpart verb is legein (Dowden, 1992, p. 3). Mythology can be linked to idolatry because of images projected as part of worship. Idolatry comes from two Greek words: eidolon and latreia which both pertain to worship of image or beliefs in beings with superior powers (Hort, 1825, p. 1). Movie theater is popular as proven by history but it experienced its glory and downfall. Films being shown must have a certain degree of mystery that can captivate the attention of people and turn them into audience. In making progress in movies, mistakes are inevitable for it will bring brighter future for the movie theater industry. When the movie created is just for earning purpose, it could not captivate the audience well and target audience would not appreciate. While the point of a great film is now one-of-a-kind achievement, the commercial cinema has settled for a policy-filled, derivative film-making, a combination and repetition of past techniques to assume success like in the past. Cinema was once of the great art produced in the 20th century but the cinephilia or the love and attraction being inflicted to the audience diminish at present. Each art gives progress and development to its fanatics, but the love that cinema inspired was special. It started from the premise that cinema was a unique art: modern, accessible, poetic and mysterious and erotic and moral at the same time. Cinema had followers like religion. Cinema can even be compared to a crusade. For cinephiles, the movies are their life. Cinema was considered as both the book of art and the book of life. About the year 1895, two divisions of films were created: cinema as the reflection of real unstaged life and cinema as invention or creation of the human mind. But this is not a true opposition. The whole point is that, for those first audiences, the very transcription of the most banal reality -- the Lumiere brothers filming "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station" -- was a fantastic experience. Cinema began in wonder, the wonder that reality can be transcribed with such immediacy. All of cinema is an attempt to perpetuate and to reinvent that sense of wonder (Sontag, 1996). Cinema is like a modern church stand and it is

Marketing Module Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Marketing Module - Assignment Example The organisation selected for this report is Vodafone, a UK based Telecommunications Company that is one of the top players in the global telecommunications market. This report details the macro environment factors, analysis of competitors, customers, markets and type of segmentations Vodafone used in the international arena. Further, it critically evaluates the strategies by using Porter’s five forces competitive model over Vodafone. Macro Environment – PEST Analysis PEST analysis is an important tool for every company because it can provide an outline of the external environment where the company’s business is positioned. It can also help in developing the value of the company and form a business strategy. Political Political aspects can affect a company’s business in various ways. Every company must abide by the rules and regulations of the country where it operates. The regulations can be the country’s law and anti–trust law, which is app licable to all actions of a company. Vodafone’s major business operations are situated in EU countries. The EU countries passed the ‘EU Regulatory Framework’ for telecommunications companies in the year 2002. The main objective of this law is to support fair competition in the telecommunications market. Vodafone also has to abide by the ‘EU Regulatory Framework,’ which has had great impact on the business of Vodafone. For example, Vodafone was compelled to decrease the ‘mobile termination rate’ because of the law of EU nations (Saplitsa, 2008). Another key aspect of the political environment was the spectrum regulation. The modernisation of spectrum regulations of EU had affected Vodafone’s business. In 2005, the EU Commission passed a scheme that permits holders to buy and sell spectrum within the telecommunications market and develop coordination among different brands. Due to the new spectrum policy, Vodafone faced risks relate d to the price of spectrum, risk of restitution of existing spectrum and difficulties in licensing (Saplitsa, 2008). Economic Adverse economic changes – i.e. a slowdown or recession – in any country can result in less demand for existing and new business services. Difficult financial conditions often lead customers to delay any purchasing decisions including those related to telecommunications services. Decreasing their optional spending, people tend to make fewer calls and avoid extras such as data or broadband services. Such decisions in a tough economic environment can severely impact company sales. A country's economic condition as well as people’s purchasing power can be measured by the rate of GDP (Vodafone Limited, 2010). In the year 2009, the economic troubles of three major EU nations (Spain, Italy and Greece) resulted in poor performance of Vodafone and also led to reduction of the termination rates. On the other hand, the financial recovery of norther n EU market helped to reduce the revenue loss of Vodafone from -3.8% in the

Human Resource Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example The benefits scheme, recruitment of individuals, motivation, communication, morale boosting, safety of the employees, and recruitment must all revolve around human resource management. In the words of Cornelius (2001), individuals have to be well managed, as well as the culture and environment in which they work. Through HRM, the employees are given an opportunity to be effective and productive in their lines of duty. Accomplishment of the organizational goals is only possible through direction and rules imposed on the employees through HRM. Proper implementation of HRM roles sees the success of the organization, and providing a sense of direction to the employees. Organizations are expected to not only to thrive with HRM, but also accomplish a lot (Swanson & Holton, 2001). This piece shall aim at highlighting various aspects of HRM- recruitment, training, management, compensation, training, selection, affirmative action amongst others, and how they impact on the organizational succe ss and performance. The essay shall also focus on the importance of having all these aspects coordinated and linked in an attempt to see to the success of the organizations. To a great extent, none of these aspects is more important than the other, since all contribute greatly to the ultimate organization’s success. ... Swanson & Holton (2001) indicate that in employee and labor relations, the administration and staff are able to continuously develop the staff by training them and having proper avenues towards solving the employee issues. Compliance with the laws of the organization and that of the state is possible through adherence of the policy of employee and labor relations. These relations are useful, according to Swanson & Holton (2001), for proper investigation of cases and issues that relate to the employees, for instance harassment, discrimination amongst others that are carefully scrutinized and assessed. Discipline among the employees is of high standards since the employers are able to closely monitor discipline of the employees, as well as coach and guide them on the need to uphold proper standards and adhere to the code of conduct of the organization. Employee and labor relations department is also helpful in coordinating and conducting collective bargaining processes for the employee s (Swanson & Holton, 2001). Implementation and interpretation of the employee contracts is well scrutinized by this department; thus, minimal grievances in the organization. Employees are also mobilized to act as a group, all in an endeavor to implement the organizational goals and objectives. In essence, the employee and labor relations department should always offer direction in all employee related issues, in the mission to execute goals and values of the concerned organization. Occupational  Safety and Health  (OSH) The right to safe and healthy working condition has to be exercised by all the employees, in an attempt to attain the organizational goals.

Race & television Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Race & television - Essay Example Racism is tagged as humor to make it sound acceptable to the audience. Racial concepts are inculcated in our minds as a secondary outcome while the prime focus remains upon the comedy. On the other hand, real life racial interactions are much more hostile and obviously offensive in nature. Real life racial interactions include frequent use of abusive language and bullying, that is either physical or verbal or both. The fictional views projected on TV assume great tendency to influence our personal interactions. â€Å"Just as people can develop their views about others through dialogue and interaction with others in society, the same types of outcomes can emerge based simply on watching television† (Mastro, Behm-Morawitz, and Kopacz, 2008). In my childhood, I tried to maintain distance from my blonde class fellows because they were stereotyped as fools in certain cartoon series. Nevertheless, over the time, I have become more critical in my analysis of the validity of information provided about specific ethnicities and races on TV, which is why, I am not as influenced now as I used to be

Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans presented at Essay

Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans presented at the Constitutional Convention - Essay Example equitable ratio of white and other free citizens of every age, sex and condition and 3/5th of rest of the persons except Indians who do not pay taxes in each state. However New Jersey plan is more specific about confederation and states about diminishing or increasing number of states as well. According to Virginia Plan, the national legislature may have the power of legislation by confederation in all cases where individual states are incompetent or harmony of the country may be at stake. It may have the right to negate all laws that are passed by states found contravening to articles of Union. New Jersey Plan offers the same power in addition to the authority to promote commerce, impose levy and raise revenues in the states. According to both plans, executive may negate any legislation that may not be passed by 2/3rd of national legislature. Executive may have powers to execute national laws to appoint to offices or impeach for certain reasons. New Jersey Plan states the same powers for executive in addition to directing military operations without taking any command over troops. Comparing both the plans, it is specifically found that New Jersey plan offers more power to the new federal government because it focuses to revisit and enlarge articles of confederation and gives executive authority to direct military operations as

Academic degree Essay Example for Free

Academic degree Essay A person is educated if they constantly strive to attain knowledge while simultaneously recognizing that they know very little about the world around you. As a result, I am currently educating myself now, because it is my desire to pursue knowledge and understanding of life. Determining a person’s education is vital to understanding the nature of education. First of all, education is the pursuit of knowledge, not a goal that can be reached after a set number of years of doctoral study. Consequently, a person, no matter how much they know, can never stop learning because they have already attained education. Instead, people are educated when they wholeheartedly devote their lives to understanding what they do not comprehend. As a result, I, a person with a strong will to understand, am more educated than those who work within the same profession regardless of the number of degrees they may posses. People truly become educated when they truly dedicate themselves to the pursuit of knowledge. Clearly, education is a constant pursuit, and the educated person devotes his entire life to this quest for knowledge. Thus, I know that I am educated as long as I never give up attempting to understand the world around me. However, inseparable from this definition of an educated person, is the realization that no people, at least during my lifetime, can claim that they possess all knowledge and that their knowledge is irrefutable. Thus, the educated person is committed to the pursuit of knowledge, has a mind open to new theory, and never subordinates the truth to an authoritys dictate. Personally, I know I am educated as long as I remain determined to understanding the world and to maintaining an open mind. Of course, this goal of remaining educated will lead me to new heights in the future as I continue my education throughout my doctoral program. I must remain committed to learning my entire life and to making new discoveries. Education cannot be measured by the number of degrees a person has earned. Instead, education is a mind set that must last a person’s entire life.

Safeguarding the Welfare and Innocence of a Child

Safeguarding the Welfare and Innocence of a Child Childhood experiences differ from person to person in many ways. One’s personal experience of childhood is likely to affect their understanding of childhood and their ideal vision of childhood. When I reminisce about childhood, the ideal vision of children frolicking around the park, having fun and carefree days comes to mind. As described by Rousseau, childhood is a brief period of sanctuary before encountering the perils and hardships of adulthood. This line by Rousseau: Why fill with bitterness the fleeting early days of childhood, days which will no more return for them than for you? encapsulates my ideal vision of childhood, a time of pure innocence that will never be recaptured and should be the best time of our lives (Hutchison Charlesworth 2000; Wood 2003). Brought up in Singapore as the youngest child in a family of four, my childhood experience was built upon an â€Å"Asian construction of childhood† with beliefs and ideas of Asian cultural influence. However , being the youngest child made me the perpetual â€Å"baby† of the family, with constant protection and showering of care. Coupled with the media’s constant representation of the innocent child through various movies and images, my view of childhood is inevitably skewed towards this image. The image of innocence recognizes a child’s vulnerability and immaturity, reflecting the need to provide care and protection in order to preserve the physical and spiritual purity of the child. James Prout (1990) recognized that while childhood innocence is a socially constructed phenomenon, biological immaturity is a fact of childhood. Therefore in this image, childhood is viewed separately from adulthood, with the responsibility of the young and innocent firmly in the hands of adults. It is further supported by the code of ethics in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), where adults are in a position of power, with the expectation of making decisions in the best interests of the child due to their innocence and perceived incapability of making the right decisions. In my experience of childhood, my brother and I were kept on constant adult supervision without the need or option to make any decisions. Everything was taken care of by Linda, our domestic worker fr om the Philippines and she was tasked to follow instructions and daily routines set out for us by my parents. Rousseau noted that children are born into an original natural state of essential goodness. However, their closeness with nature and natural goodness is being threatened or degraded by culture. In my infant years, protecting us from the ‘corruption’ of society was exactly what my parents wanted by limiting our exposure to sources of corruption such as violence in music, television and games. Postman (1983) highlighted a shift away from child innocence due to the myriad of media universally available to children. In recent years, the proliferation of technology and wider exposure to the Internet further deepened my view of the need to protect a child’s innocence. With more children playing games on internet-ready devices like the iPads, the ‘corruption’ of society slowly creeping into a child’s environment even without stepping out of h ome. While the image of innocence seem ideal at the infant stage to protect their innocence, upon further consideration, critics highlighted that continual treatment of a child in this view may hamper their development. . This is where I feel the limiting of experience and of opportunity may be critical and damaging for the child. As highlighted by Woodrow (1999), maintaining this focus as a child matures will deny them agency and inhibits the potential development of skills required to handle challenges in the future. With adults perceived as having power and responsibility over and for children, this raises another debatable point of whether they are always acting in the best interest of the child. In this construct of childhood innocence, Hutchison and Charlesworth (2000) argue that childhood becomes sentimentalized, while Docket (1998) feels that this nostalgic view stops us taking children seriously. Upon reflecting on my initial understanding and experience of the image of innocence, perhaps childhood consists of transitional phases consisting of multiple definitional perspectives. A transition into the frame of child development is a solution to progressively give a child more agency and Piaget’s view on childhood encapsulates it. Piaget noted the conception of childhood as certain transition stages of their lives at about 18 months, 7 years and 11 or 12 years, where a child will develop from immaturity to rationality, increasing their ability to understand their surroundings and have new capabilities to undertake certain tasks. The child is now viewed in the image of an embryo adult, seen as ‘human becomings’ rather than ‘human beings’ in preparation for the future (Hutchison Charlesworth 2000). At the early stages, as the child is positioned as less knowing, it is the responsibility of parents to use their own knowledge or resources to groom and nurture the abilities of their children at home. Upon attending school, the child is subjected to a politically influenced curriculum designed by teachers, which pushes them to achieve results and judged on standardized tests (Woodrow 1999). In relating my childhood experience in this perspective, grooming a child to undertake certain tasks is a challenge and very much depends on whether the agentic child is willing to accept it. At the age of 7, I was enrolled for swimming lessons but strongly refused to do so due to my immaturity and lack of understanding about it. However, after carefully explaining to me the importance of swimming as a life skill 2 years later, the increase in rationality and readiness led me to acquire new capabilities. In other instances, I was coerced to accompany my older brother in attending other courses beyond my will, and such scenarios depict images of a tyrannical adult as opposed to loving guides. Therefore, the adult must take special considerat ion when faced with such situations, as it may result in the poor emotional connection between children and adults as noted by Hoffman (2000) within this construct of childhood. In addition to this, the adult will have to constantly ensure a child’s needs for emotional stability, security, confidence, self-esteem are met. These images are never stable or unitary and their meanings are contestable. It is easy to over-simplify and homogenize the idea of childhood, and the children who go through that phase of life, ignoring cultural influence that children experience which differentially produce conceptions of childhood (Woodrow 1999). Everyone’s childhood is a unique phase of life. The only commonality is how one’s childhood is a determining factor of how their life shapes out to be, and the way it will influence childhood for their kids. To a child, what matters most is parents, as they will learn everything from them. The underlying idea of childhood is complex, and the role that adults play is rather confusing. The UN CRC states that all children have a right to speak freely and to be listened to by adults over decisions that affect them. While we recognize that a child has the right to be heard, and that they should have a say in their plans for the future, just to how much extent should they be given that freedom? By putting power and responsibility in the hands of children, does this confuse the role of adults and their responsibilities of shaping childhood? How will this affect an adult’s role in making decisions in the best interest of the child? On the topic of best interest of a child, an adult should act in the best interest of the child, but what’s best for the child may not exactly be in the same view in the eyes of the child. Also, an adult may not always act in the best interest of the child but rather, the most convenient option. How then are we going to police what’s right and what’s wrong. There can be guidelines in place but whether it’s enforced in the compounds of a home is something beyond our control. At the end of the day, there’s no single correct way of raising a child, as there are way too many variables to consider. Each child is different, each parents has their own views on how to raise a child. We are unclear who is in charge of childhood: teachers, parents, politicians, or children themselves? Alongside listening to children, the real question we need to be asking, as parents, educators, employers and politicians, is: have we created a society that has destroyed the childhood we want for our children?

The Concept of Transcendence in Heidegger :: God Religion Theology Essays

The Concept of Transcendence in Heidegger ABSTRACT: The history of Heideggerian commentaries confront us with a string of parallel concepts: metaphysics and theology, onto-theology and Christian theology, thought and faith, Being and God, and so on. It should also be noted that these different dual concepts have served, in various ways, several strategies for the interpretation of Heidegger. These various strategies are summarized as follows: the relation between philosophy and theology in the thought of Heidegger is threefold and should be read to the rhythm of his thinking according to the themes of facticity and transcendence. History of heideggerian commentaries confronts us with a series of parallel notions : "Metaphysics and Theology", "Onto-Theology and Christian Theology", "Theology and Faith" and finally "Being and God". I should also point out that these different dual concepts organise several strategies to interpret Heidegger. These strategies can be gathered under four grand points. First of all, a diagnosis in terms of "secularised Theology" coupled with an exitentialisation of the fundamental concepts presiding over the duality of the Dasein. According to this diagnosis, Heidegger's work is seen, in the best case, as a veiled revival of christian Theology. In this perspective it is appropriate to recapture the existential analysis and to open it up towards the theological language, since he has never really been far from it. A second way of reading the relation between Philosophy and Theology in Heidegger's work consist in organising a "theological deconstruction" within christian Theology. A third strategy prefers to read the link between Philosophy and Theology in terms of territorial delimitation, a sort of epistemological "Yalta" between two speculative exercises. Finally, I should mention a fourth type of strategy which finds its origin in the "ontological difference" and wants to renew the terms of proximity to the divine. The recent publication of some of Heidegger's unpublished works pleads for a renewed reading and gives credit to the hypothesis which I summarise as follows : the relation between Philosophy and Theology in Heidegger's thought is threefold and coextensive with Heidegger's thinking itself, according to the two themes of "facticity" and "transcendence". (1) I. THREE TOPICS The different meanings of the concept of Philosophy and Theology point to three topics concerning the relation of Philosophy and Theology as such. These topics should be formulated as follows : first of all as the relation between "Philosophy and Scriptural Theology". Ontology, as a science, while distanciating itself from whatever "Weltanschauung", happens in rigorous fidelity to the philosophical adventure.

All Countries Must Work Together to Conserve Water :: Argumentative, Persuasive, Conservation

Water is vital for almost everything from washing our valuable and pricey car to maintaining the shape of eyes as aqueous and vitreous humors yet water is depleting at a very alarming rate. However, what if we all give it just a lukewarm response. So, our country has to act as soon as possible without delaying it. As the old saying goes, ‘procrastination is the thief of time†. Luckily, some other countries have already begun to practice their own ways to conserve water which is essential for all human beings. First of all, one of our neighboring countries, Singapore, has come out with couple of ideas to conserve water. Firstly, Singapore has started a new water treatment program called â€Å"NEWater†. Used water will be flown to the water treatment plant to be treated. The process uses dual-membrane which consists of micro filtering and reverse osmosis to get the best quality of water treatment. The outcome is that the treated water is so good as it is safe enough to be used as drinking water. Other than that, Water Watch Society (WWS) of Singapore has organized River Monster Educational Program. This program aims to cultivate good practices among citizens of this short-water island republic. This program targets mainly lower primary school students as they are easier to change their behaviors compared to adults that have set mindsets. Japan on the other hand as one of the most outstanding countries in the world also figured some ways to conserve water. Similarly, as Singapore, used water is treated and the project is called â€Å" Reclaimed Water Use Project†. The water treatment plant is situated in the city of Fukuoka and it is been there since 1979. However, the treated water is just used for watering plant and used in factories. Besides that, the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly in Japan passed on an ordinance to impose an additional residence tax to be used exclusively for promoting water-source protection projects. The aim of this tax system is to conserve and restoring forests and rivers. This tax system will continue for a five year period. Next is Australia, the smallest continent has also came out with some brilliant ways to save water. Some of the water saving measures taken is installing a trigger nozzles on hoses used. All hand-held hose are fitted with a trigger nozzle before using it. Moreover ,watering systems in houses especially automated ones are set to turn on and off automatically.

College Has Exceeded My Expectations :: Personal Narratives Flagstaff College Essays

College Has Exceeded My Expectations A new place to live, new friends, a new diverse campus, new classes, and even a newfound freedom: that was what I found waiting from me the first day I moved up to Northern Arizona University. These were the things I was in search for when I was looking through all of the different colleges that I could possibly go to. NAU had them all but most importantly, NAU had a wonderful communications program, which just made everything a little better. Having lived in the same cozy house in Tucson for all my life, I wanted a change of scenery and from the hot climate. So as I started my search for the perfect college I would look to see if I could live on campus, or anywhere out of Tucson. Coming up here to NAU I am given a chance to live in a new place, McConnell Hall, and have pride in the place that I live. It is wonderful being able to say that I live here and it is my own room. I know it is not a house or an apartment, but it is still fantastic for a first move. I would not choose to live anywhere else at this moment in my life than to live on campus. You get to meet so many different people and there’s usually something going on, most of the time it just random things though. What is great about living on campus is how random people just show up in your room. Knocking is not something that is known to people who live in my hall. It is not uncommon for people to just walk in to talk, or if they do knock, they knock once while they are walking in. It is great way to meet people, mostly friends. People come into your room to steal ideas of how they should put things in their room, to borrow things such as a screwdriver or just a can opener, or to even just hang out. What was cool was that I meet a friend of mine in the bathroom when she got her hand stuck in a vase she was washing. In the dorms you meet people in irregular ways, but it makes for great conversations later on.

Personalised Induction Will Always Be More Effective

Michaela Lawes SOUTH1A 11 Jacqui Godfrey Hypnotherapy & Counselling Skills – Module 21850 words â€Å"A personalised induction will always be more effective†. Discuss. Base your answer on theoretical concepts and techniques presented in class. If it is true that we all see the same thing but interpret it as different, if we respond to stimuli in a unique way, then a personalised induction would prove more effective. Would an anxious client respond to a linguistically passive approach? Would a direct and logically structured induction gain their trust and make them feel at ease?The Hypnotherapist will seek to understand their client, interpreting both verbal and non-verbal signals. They will also have to contend with the way our brain interprets external information. Once the individual’s personality is understood, there are a number of verbal techniques that the Hypnotherapist can utilise in order to get the best results from the induction process. It would a ppear that the personalised induction is effective but this perhaps depends on whether the Hypnotherapist has ascertained the true nature of their client.One area where the Hypnotherapist can start to understand the type of person they are seeking to induce would be to ascertain the dominant modality within their client. Modalities are a classification of sensory perception. These are listed as visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory and gustatory. When a person is assimilating external information they will seek to disseminate that information using a dominant modality. There are many ways in which they will reveal this through language, speech, gestures and even eye movements.NLP gurus Bandler and Grinder aptly call this the language of our minds. A person with a dominant visual modality will tend to use phrases that are littered with visual terms such as â€Å"I see†¦ † or â€Å"The sky looks turquoise†¦ † If this person’s eyes are looking up the right as they are explaining something to you they are creating a visual representation in their heads. Robert Dilts in his article Eye Movements and NLP states: ‘The most common application of eye positions in NLP is to determine the representational strategies a person is using in order to think or make a decision.Since many aspects of people's thinking processes are unconscious to them, spontaneous eye movements can be an extremely important part of eliciting and modeling a person's inner strategies for decision making, learning, motivation, memory, etc. ’ The eyes maybe a poetical window to the soul but they are also an infallible insight into an individual’s dominant modality. Using these linguistic and visual clues the Hypnotherapist can begin to relate to their client on his or her intellectual level. They can gain the trust of the client by appealing to their dominant modality.If the client had a dominant kinaesthetic modality they would have a more tacti le and emotionally attuned personality, they would speak in a soft lower tone of voice than the fast talking, higher toned visual personality. Would there be conflict if the hypnotherapist used a quick thinking, highly imaginative visual approach to the tactile and feeling kinaesthetic? Perhaps yes, when one is trying to ‘access’ the brain at an unconscious level, surely it would be more productive to be in harmony with your client in order to get the best therapeutic results.Josie Hadley and Carol Staudacher agree ‘By using similar language and reinforcing the induction with certain kinds of images, you are making sure the subject can relate to the induction and feel an affinity for it’ Whilst using the dominant modality to gain an affinity with the client, the best results will come from gradually introducing language into an induction that will appeal to all of the senses. This technique is called compounding, and is a crucial tool in engendering a deep trance.The client is being invited to experience a linked chain of events during their induction that will encourage them to lose themselves in the scenarios being suggested by appealing to all of the senses. So whilst the client may, through their language, both verbal and non verbal, have the olfactory as their main modality, if they are subjected via the induction to visualize or imagine a taste then this will engage all of their senses for a more effective induction.This supposes that hypnotherapist has initially ascertained the dominant modality in order to gain the trust of their client and then proceeded to introduce a multi sensory screed that opposes the idea of a fully personalised induction. It is recognized that there are two types of hypnotic induction, namely, permissive and authoritarian. It is said that traditional hypnosis is generally authoritarian. The induction is concise and uses direct language and less creative imagery. This is a favourite style of the stage h ypnotist as it lends itself favourably to the quick and direct nature of induction.A proponent of this technique was Dave Elman, whose authoritarian technique was used by doctors and dentists to calm their patients. It was quick and to the point. When thinking of the authoritarian style as a use for today’s hypnotic induction, it would be suited to use with a nervous or anxious person. Perhaps the controlled style reassures the nervous client that the therapist is in control, they know what they are doing and therefore it will follow that they will be more inclined to follow the suggestions made by the therapist.Instead of ‘you may start to feel your eyelids are becoming heavy’ the authoritarian approach will read as ‘your eyelids are heavy’ The logical and concise nature of the language used in this type of induction is also a useful when presented with a skeptic of the science behind hypnosis, the style does away with too vivid imagery and curtails the use of metaphor, allowing a sense of logicality to the ‘unconvinced’.This direct style also lends itself well to addiction therapy as ascertaining their modality can be difficult due to the personality and cerebral damage created by the addiction, for example, alcohol abuse. The repetitive and authoritarian style of induction Karle and Boys suggest the mere act or suggestion of an attempt to give up, say, smoking will work whether personalised or not as they ‘will respond well to any form of treatment, because any ritual will perform the functions they seek’ Again it would seem that a personalised induction is not so important in this type of case.The permissive approach is much more widely used in therapeutic hypnotherapy as it can ‘play’ with linguistic metaphor and imagery based on the client’s personality and dominant modality thus creating a much more personalised hypnotic experience. Michael Caroll in his essay ‘The Stru cture of Permissive Hypnotherapy’ states: ‘Rapport is an important aspect of permissive hypnotherapy because the hypnotherapist is going to lead the client to trance rather than just direct the client’s experience.To lead the client to trance the hypnotherapist mirrors the clients imaginative preferences through verbal communication allowing the hypnotherapist access to the physiology and state associated with trance, so when the client unconsciously follows the hypnotherapist’s lead he/she will be accessing a trance like state’ The leading hypnotherapist in this type of therapy was Milton H Erickson, he could be said to be the inventor of the personalised hypnotic experience. Rapport building underpins this type of approach and this is what Erickson sought to gain in his sessions.The permissive style will use an indirect approach in order to gain the trust of their clients without appearing too authoritarian. Hypnotic suggestion is wrapped up in me taphor and creative language coupled with varying vocal tonality. It was Erickson’s theory that ‘people must participate in their therapy’. The true meaning of a personalised induction! His screed would incorporate linguistic techniques in order to gain a rapport. There are several examples of this. Using the client’s dominant modality (which are discussed earlier in this essay).Convincers which are used in such a way as to make the client think they are in control of their induction when in fact they are being indirectly guided into a trance. A convincer may read as this: ‘I can see that your eyes are beginning to close and you are relaxed’. ‘Anchoring’ a key-word that will bring a repeated response, for example, the client could be asked to feel the summer sun on their skin throughout the induction so as to induce feelings of warmth and contentment. This could change according to the dominant modality of the client, whether visu al, kinaesthetic, olfactory and so on. Presuppositons and double binds’ are a clever way of allowing the client to feel in control of their destiny through contradictory linguistic signals. A client seeking to give up a bad habit may be told ‘you may wish to give up x tomorrow, next week or next month†¦ when this happens is entirely up to you’. This type of therapy works well as it allows the client to participate in their own induction. It allows for the uniqueness of the individual as to how they are induced which would surely be more effective.It would be too simplistic to argue that a personalised approach would be wholly effective as compared to a generic induction, but, in the main, it can offer a wide ranging approach for the therapist. In general, we use only a very small amount of verbal communication, much is achieved through body language and non verbal signals. In hypnotherapy the hypnotist does not have these non verbal tools to hand in an induc tion and therefore has to rely on linguistic techniques such as modality, metpahor or tone of voice in order to get the most effective results for their client.The different techniques found within the personalised approach, such as the use of modalities and indirect/direct language allows the client a proactive approach to his or her own induction. Michael Heap writes: ‘Regarding the legitimate therapeutic uses of hypnotherapy it is important†¦that the therapist’s actions and communications be in keeping with context and should contribute to the creation of the appropriate expectations, thus maximizing the patient’s receptivity to suggestion’.For example the therapist would have to take in consideration the mannerisms of the client, even they way they are dressed and what they do for work and pleasure. They also have to consider that the client may not be behaving as they normally would due to nerves or the differences between their public and privat e persona. They may be acting or behaving differently than is normal. However the hypnotherapist will surely learn to gauge their approach as they gain more experience.There is a place for the generic and direct approach as discussed in the essay, but the effectiveness of getting the client themselves to participate in their own induction is surely a more interesting and varied approach which lends itself to a more effective induction. References Hadley & Staudbacher – Hypnosis for Change -1996, New Harbinger Publications, USA Heap & Dryden – Hypnotherapy: A Handbook – 1991, Oxford University Press, UK Karle & Boys Hypnotherapy: A Practical Handbook – 1987 Free Association Books, UK

Learning Knowledge for Effective Performance Essay

It instills organizations with new ideas and information which is a essential component of learning organization. Peter Senge’s 5 disciplines are essential for a learning organization. Systems Thinking is the crucial discipline which brings all the other factors together into a balanced theory and practice. Figure 1: The 5 Basic disciplines of a learning Figure 2: â€Å"The Fifth Discipline† by Peter organization Senge It allows organizations to see the big picture and differentiate learning patterns within the organization. Using this principles, organizations can work with a system to create solutions to challenging problems in every field as Senge believes that current problems are results of solutions that were applied in the past. Systems thinking involve learning to distinguish general behaviours and create new ones to familiarize with special terms and tools that aid decision making and also allow employees to participate in decision making. It also helps managers to detect repetitive patterns such as common ways of solving problems, present goals and policies that restricts the growth of the organization. It is similar to single-loop learning. Although it takes time to be implemented, it promises a wide range of benefits to companies and improve overall achievement (Delio, 1998). Toyota For example, TPS (Toyota Production System) is an approach created by the founder of Toyota, his son and his engineer that manages logistics, manufacturing and interactions between customer and supplier. TPS was created to bring consistency to the system and enable an effective production process, which eliminates waste. As a result, TPS worked well and has increased production and improved quality of cars. The system has made what Toyota is today: a leader in the automotive manufacturing and production industry.   Personal mastery is the discipline that describes personal growth and learning. Individuals who have a high degree of personal mastery are continuously seeking learning opportunities because they â€Å"are acutely aware of their ignorance, their incompetence and their growth areas† (Senge, 1990). Their self-improvement and self-discovery abilities motivate a learning organization as they are self confident and have great commitment and responsibility towards work. Personal mastery allows one to distinguish what is important and picture the real world more clearly. Therefore, managers must help to create the environment to change by creating an atmosphere that promotes personal mastery within organization where employees should feel comfortable to create personal visions. Managers who are serious in delivering personal growth will send a powerful message to his or her employees. Disney At Disney, successful films are not made only from the ideas of managers. In fact, the top management attends an event called ‘Gong Show’ three times a year where an employee at any level is encouraged to throw ideas and story lines. Employees at Disney feel comfortable to create their personal vision. Managers then respond immediately and reward the employee. The results would be an extraordinary concept of animated film.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Mental models are deeply held internal images of how the world works, images that limit us to familiar ways of thinking and acting† (Senge, 1990). Mental models are the way how one sees things, learn and react to situations on a daily basis. Generally, people do not do what they say but they behave according to their mental models. Mental models are very important in an organization because it is relates to consequences that occur. It is rather difficult to develop systems thinking if mental model is fixed in past experiences. For example, a manager will find it difficult to handle with interpersonal problem in the organization if he or she has a different perception on an employee. Many organizational learning fail when managers ignore the power of mental models. When managers in an organization develop the ability to work with mental models, it will be necessary for employees to learn new skills and orientations. Both systems thinking and mental models fit together as systems thinking concentrates on how to modify assumptions in order to show causes of problems and mental models look at revealing our hidden assumptions (Taggart. J, 2009). Therefore, it is worthless for managers to engage in systems thinking until their mental models change. Apple Japan Apple introduced the concept of learning organization into their workplace. Apple was advised to embark upon the Five Disciplines which are important to a learning organization. Each employee had a mental model of the way the organization operates. The learning process was more efficient when each employee’s mental model was brought in-line with the rest. Managers at Apple also encouraged Personal Mastery to staffs to place reasonable goals. The essential discipline was Systems Thinking, where it facilitated each employee to make decisions, taking the whole system into account, instead of analyzing specifically on their own problems. All the 5 disciplines were implemented through a program of education and it marked improvement in sales and growth. (Adapted from: Case Studies of the Learning Organization, n. d. ) SHARED VISION Senge’s (1990) shared vision is not an idea but a deeply embedded belief shared by many that provides focus and is a vital part of generative learning. Shared vision is derived from personal vision. Therefore, managers should encourage employees to develop personal vision so that organization’s vision succeeds as both vision are engaged. It provides the focus and energy for learning making it an important component of a learning organization. Shared visions encourage new ideas and concepts within organization while encouraging experimentation. Senge claims that managers should understand that their high position in an organization does not mean that their personal vision is also the organization’s vision. Although visions are mostly visualized by top management, it is not consider a shared vision until others in the organization connect it with their personal vision. General Motors In General Motors (GM), a group of executives decided to implement a new approach in automobile manufacturing as well as a new friendly working environment. Pfeffer and Sutton (2000), discuss creating an organizational learning environment with a shared vision in a case study based on Saturn. The Saturn employees were labeled as risk takers. Later, these staffs sought and embraced a systemic change in Total Quality Management . As a result, Saturn developed into a successful car company due to its shared vision among employees. TEAM LEARNING Team learning is where a group of people work together to create results that they truly desire. Team learning is built on the discipline of personal mastery and shared visions but these alone are not enough to act wholly. Team learning involves two primary ways of communication among members which are dialogue and conflict. These are essential ingredient for learning. Dialogue among members in a team creates a language that helps deal with difficult situations and focus on structural issues. It helps members to learn how to recognize the patterns of interaction which provides an opportunity for members to interact with one another and discover possibilities. Conflicts is a norm in team and teams must know how to deal with disagreements well. A well handled conflict is important in a team as t often leads to effective brainstorming and problem solving matters. According to Senge, 1990 â€Å"the difference between great teams and mediocre teams lies in how they face conflict and deal with the defensiveness that invariably surrounds conflict. † General Electrics An example here is Jack Welch, CEO of General Electrics ( GE) came up with a solution call the Work-Out program to ‘clean upâ€℠¢ GE and improve productivity. It got every employee to get involved in challenges and problems. It has adapted a learning culture among employees which make GE a learning organization. As a result, GE increased its market share from $13 billion in 1981 to $500 billion in 2000. Figure 3: The Work-Out program implemented in 1981 increased Market capitalization by $487 billion.   Figure 4: Kolb’s Cycle of Experiential LearningDEFINITION Concrete experienceConcerned with something that has happened to you or that you have done. Concerned with adopting your new ideas into practice. Reflective ObservationConcerned with reviewing the event or experience in your mind or exploring what you did and how you, and others feel about it. Abstract ConceptualizationConcerned with developing an understanding of what happened by seeking more information and forming new ideas about ways of doing things in future. Active ExperimentationConcerned with trying out the new ideas as a result of the learning from earlier experience. Table1: Brief definitions of Kolb’s cycle of Experiential Learning. Figure 4 and Table 1 adapted from ‘Reflection on and in the workplace by L Allin and C Turnock, 2007. One may begin at any stage, but must follow each other in the sequence: †¢concrete experience (or â€Å"DO†) †¢reflective observation (or â€Å"OBSERVE†) †¢abstract conceptualization (or â€Å"THINK†) active experimentation (or â€Å"PLAN†) Kolb, an American educational theorist explains how experience is translated through reflection into concepts, which is then used as a guide for current and new experimentation. This can be applied in the several forms of informal and formal learning in the organization where learning becomes more effective as employees gets hands on experience on the knowledge they have gained. It also improves performance at workplace and influences the behavior of the learner and as such employees can enhance their performance as they are able to understand and learn better. Learning increases ability to contribute to the organization’s success. It also contributes to a better understanding, increases communication, improves quality of decision making within organization. Organizational learning is essential for innovation ( Laundry, 1992). Innovation is vital for organizations to survive in the competitive world today. Organizations are required to think out of the box and practice continuous learning to remain top in the market. Organizational learning has affected performance of individuals as well as organization as a whole in a positive way. Most firms these days are categorized as learning systems. Organizations such as Fiat, Toyota, Motorola and a few others have improved tremendously after learning took place. They had both formal and informal ways of knowledge acquisition, sharing and implementation of knowledge and skills. Motorolo today is a well developed organization because of its learning processes and culture where employees are fully committed to total quality management. Organizational learning fosters a great opportunity for meeting goals, visions and values. Here, a manager plays a huge role not only as a charismatic leader but also as a motivator that guides employees towards change, shapes the design and structures of the organization and overall creates a positive impact on the organization. The factors that add to effective performance through organizational learning are the skills developed by employees, resources that are available in helping them learn, reward system given by employers, environment and culture. Competitive advantage is a strength a company has over their rival firms. It is an bility to operate at minimum cost, produce quality goods, and invest in Research and Development. Through organizational learning, a firm can develop the necessary knowledge that is vital for effective performance. Intrinsic knowledge can also be applied in organizational learning. Intrinsic knowledge is the knowledge which resides within the organization in terms of work relationships, attitudes and behavior. They are difficult to transfer f rom one to another. Employees in a company which has developed strong intrinsic knowledge will be able to use them in the operations and gain productive performance. It will help them to show a higher proactive personality together with commitment. It becomes a competitive advantage to the firm as it will be hard for competitors to follow. Federal Express’s efforts and approach of investing heavily on team learning among employees has enhanced quality and gained success. It is the ability of the firm to practice continuous learning that made it what it has become today. Although learning is a slow process, once initiated, it feeds on itself and will continue to grow and improve efficiency of employees. Today, more organizations are realizing the importance of learning to be successful in their respective markets. Knowledge within learning organizations must be discovered and shared among employees so they can work in a team to enhance problem solving, decision making and response to challenges. Therefore, managers in organizations should take the necessary steps to shift from organizational learning to a learning organization. Organizations such as Totoya, GE, Disney and others are clear examples of how learning efforts have helped these firms to achieve high performance and compete against competitors in the 21st century.

Assignment Week 6: Sleep Deprivation, Disorders, and Drugs

Any of us if not more than some have experienced some difficulty sleeping. This can happen because of a number of things: We worry about some sort of troubling thing to come or one that has passed, or there is the all too famous insomnia, which gets the best of us from time to time. There are many times in my life that I have had trouble sleeping, whether it was from one of my three children being sick, my husband being sick, me being sick, or my mind just running from here to there which happens quite frequently.The last time I recall that I had not gotten enough sleep would have been when my middle child had to have oral surgery. I don’t really know if it was because she was going under and she hadn’t been before, if it was the fact that my little girl was going to have surgery for the first time. I tried for several hours to fall asleep, but my mind would not stay still. I finally decided to get up and try to doze off to the television, after that did not work I made some coffee and worked on my assignment. When it was time to get up my husband and my little girl I was exhausted, as if I was at work all day.I drove us to where we needed to go with no problem, but as we sat in the waiting room I dozed off for a few hours. As I woke it felt as if I had not slept as all, I was still exhausted. After the surgery was over and the care plan for her was set we left for home. I had got a huge cup of coffee from a convenience store, as I drank it I felt more tired. I slept for about 30 minutes on the way home, and when I got there I felt so awake. However, as I went in and settled down for a little bit, I felt more tired than I ever had.Unfortunately though I needed to take care of my other two children, which was a very hard task at hand, even with the help of their father. I was finally able to get to sleep that night however it was a rough start to the next day. When I am unable to get to sleep I tend to sleep more than normal, and as I wake I am dra gging all day and feel as I need more sleep. As I read chapter 14 Sleep, Dreaming, and Circadian Rhythms, I am better understanding of why my body reacts the way it does if I get too much sleep or not enough sleep.When reading about the recuperation theories of sleep it made a lot of sense to me. I believe it is reasonable that we need to sleep in order for our bodies to revitalize its self, and that at some point if we were to develop a total sleep deprivation it could result in one’s death. We do know that we are in need of some sleep, however, we are still uncertain about how much sleep we much have. It is also know that many years ago people slept much more and today a person usually sleeps anywhere from seven to nine hours of sleep.According to the circadian theories of sleep, we possess an internal timing mechanism, called a circadian clock. I fully support the belief that we are programmed or have developed a habit of sleeping at night. I believe that we choose to rest and relax not only for our health, but also because we like it so much. I believe that we experience Microsleep from time to time as well. Mucrosleeps are short periods of sleep when we shut our eyes for a few seconds either while sitting or standing. I remember while I was working I had stayed up all night, when I went to work I was completely exhausted.I had to get something out of the walk in cooler, since it was a hot day out I sat on a crate and I dozed off for just a second, and ended up jerking awake. We do not know exactly how much sleep a human should sleep and exactly why it is necessary to need sleep. There are many types of sleep disorders, one in particular would be insomnia. There is insomnia that involves disorders of getting to sleep and staying asleep and hypersomnia, which includes disorders of sleeping too much. Causes that can influence insomnia are, for example, if a person is experiencing physical pain.This could influence a person when falling asleep or stayi ng asleep. There are drugs (hypnotics) that can help a person to fall and stay asleep but they have negative effects. Prescribing benzodiazepines, like valium, have side effects as a person can develop a tolerance and might have to increase the dose of that specific drug. In addition, they are also addictive. Another insomnia disorder is called sleep apnea. A person with this disorder stops breathing during sleep, which makes him or her wake up and then go right away to sleep. This disorder is very common in older or overweight people.There is also nocturnal myoclonus (a body twitches and keeps a person awake) and restless legs syndrome. In hypersomnia, narcolepsy is the most well-known disorder. A person with this disorder complains about daytime sleepiness and falls asleep almost anywhere. Another symptom of narcolepsy is cataplexy, in which a person can lose muscle tone while being awake. This can make a person sit down suddenly or in the extreme, cause a person to drop down to t he ground. Then there is sleep paralysis (unable to move when going to sleep or awakening) and hypnagogic hallucinations (dreaming while being awake).There are drugs such as stimulants and tricyclic antidepressants that might help; however, they are very addictive and can have side effects like not wanting to eat. There is also the hormone melatonin, a natural hormone produced in the brain, which is also manufactured commercially and is associated with sleeping, but the studies are still inconsistent and debatable. (Pinel, 2011) As we know we need some sort of sleep to function normally or on a normal basis, without it we could face some pretty severe consequences. If there are problems they make medication that can help with those problems, which will allow us to sleep.

Education-Benchmark Assessment Essay

Several theories explain the concept of Early Childhood Education (ECE). Deiner (2013) describes that all of them share the same opinion that an early childhood educator is extremely essential in the development of a child’s intellectual and educational abilities. It is also commonly agreeable among the theories that the early childhood education can have a great impact in the life of an individual since education is progressive, and each stage leads to a higher one. However, there are some contradictions in the theories, which regard to some aspects of ECE. For instance, some studies feel that the intellectual development depends on the genes of the child as acquired from the parents. Other studies hold a different opinion, that the environment plays a great role in ECE. Some assert that both the environment and the biological play a great role in early childhood development. This study is based on the fact that the educator is part of the environment in which the child is subjected to, and all children can learn. The educator has several roles that make them have a great impact on a child. An early childhood educator has the responsibility to ensure that a child gains as much knowledge as possible depending on the level of the child, where the level is to a large extent determined by the age of the child. A child spends most of the waking time with the educator. There are differences presented by the various personalities of children. As a result, each child should be treated differently from the other by the educator. As a result, the educator needs to have sufficient knowledge on how to  understand each child, so that each child gains maximally. The educator defines the environment in which a child lives in school. It is agreeable that children have some common interests. For instance, most studies point out that using objects in educating children in grade three or lower can have on enhancing their knowledge by having them relate to things they frequently use. This means that the environment needs to have various objects and pictorial presentations for more effective learning. There are other considerations that the educator needs to be aware of, such as ensuring that the relationship among students themselves and between the educator and children is supportive to the education to be acquired. An early childhood educator deals with children who might not be much exposed, and they are open to what they are learn. It is clear from this essential role of educators that they should be having some personal characteristics. Grotewell & Burton (2008) explains that one of them is that the educator should be role model to the children. In addition, the educator should maintain a healthy lifestyle since children are much vulnerable to communicable illnesses. The use of clear communication is also relevant, not only to convey information to the children, but also because it can affect the children’s communication skills as well. Moreover, the educator needs to work closely with the children, their parents and the fellow educators so that they can learn more about each child. This means that sometimes they are involved in settling conflicts between the children and families. The role as the professional in the teaching and learning of children is achieved through several ways. One of them is by the educators developing and implementing programs that are designed to meet the children’s physical, intellectual, social, emotional, developmental and cultural needs and interests. The programs are basically considerate on a play environment. The programs also consider the age of the children. The educator can improvise some of the equipment that can be needed by the children. Secondly, the role can be attained by building the children’s interpersonal and social skills. Positive self-concept can also be achieved by having the educator  establishing positive guidelines that let the children to feel comfortable, safe and secure. Third, as aforementioned, constant communication with the other stakeholders in ECE, mostly the parents, should be considered. Forth, activities that actively involve the children ensure that the children gain maximally. Such activities could include outdoor play, various play experiences, snacks and meals as well as field trips (Deiner, 2013). The child educator also plays a role as an advocate on behalf of children. The educator is expected to understand children in general. Sometimes, children can be presented by challenges that they cannot easily express verbally to the relevant authorities. This means that they can suffer silently over issues such as domestic violence, bullying and lack of basic commodities. The educator has sufficient knowledge to realize a child who is having some pressing issues. Some children can gain the confidence and trust to open up to the educator, virtues that the educator should possess. The educator could as a result gain information that could not be realized by the parents and other people close to the children. Bhavya (2007) feels that children might not be sure on how to approach these issues. Some may be living in fear of exposing how they feel. However, the educator is in a better position to assist. For instance, the educator can ensure that the bullies in the educational institution are warned against it in the best way possible. The educator can be aware on how they can assist when cases of violence where a child is a direct or indirect victim are presented, such as involving lawful measures as well as talking with the parents and guardians of the children. Children whose parents cannot sufficiently offer basic needs can have their needs sought from other sources. Therefore, the educator represents the children in cases where the child might be unable to express themselves. Educators should work with the mentality that all children can learn. Learning involves various aspects of gaining knowledge, and not exclusive to study of books. It involves interpersonal and communication skills. Children are also expected to learn values that are generally acceptable in the society. Each child consequently needs to learn. In addition, each child has  the capability to learn. Although there can be variances in the capabilities, children are able to continually gain knowledge on the aspects noted. The educator should understand how much each child can contain. Moreover, it is relevant to know exactly what a child needs in order to learn. For instance, some children could require frequent reminders and assignments so that they can understand some concepts (Grotewell & Burton, 2008). As the different aspects of learning are concerned, there needs to be various assessments to test the success of each. Apart from the writing and reading skills, tests such as etiquette, posture and arts can be conducted regularly. Although the tests might not be recordable, an educator who clearly understands each of the students can clearly tell whether there is progress in the development of a child. The assessment practices should ensure that the children gain from the basics to the complex contents so that all children can learn (Bhavya, 2007). Technology currently plays a role in the education to young children. Educators are increasingly using technology due to the several benefits it has in enhancing gaining of knowledge among them. There are equipments that have been developed with an aim to create fun as children learn. For instance, counting machines are attractive to the children, and they can enjoy using it. The technologically developed equipments are also safe and easy to use. This means that the children can learn some things on their own after being guided by the educator. Some technology can be used in displaying information that could not be better displayed in any other means. Photos that are presented in screens can be relevant in showing children objects that can help them to learn. Technology also reduces costs in teaching children. For instance, a trip to view some objects in far places can be avoided by having the objects displayed. Therefore, technology is significant in teaching children (Morgan, 2011). The environment is crucial in the teaching and learning among children  between birth and grade three. It affects the emotional, intellectual, psychological and physical aspects of a child. The environment concerns several things, but most importantly the people who interact with the children. The environment should support learning, and it could contain learning inhibiting factors, or can contain motivating ones. If the environment does not support learning, the child cannot concentrate. Children are much likely to put more focus on issues that constantly happen to them. For instance, if they are being physically or emotionally abused, they cannot gain much in the learning process (Morgan, 2011). Children are much motivated by some aspects in the environment. One of them is the availability of ample playing space. Since the children gain a lot when playing, space and equipment provided by the environment can enhance their learning greatly. The environment can also be motivating by just being safe for the children. Therefore, the environment is crucial in the learning of children. References Bhavya, M. S. (2007). _Early childhood education_. Delhi [India: Kalpaz Publications. Deiner, P. L. (2013). _Inclusive early childhood education: Development, resources, practice_. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Grotewell, P. G., & Burton, Y. R. (2008). _Early childhood education: Issues and developments_. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Morgan, H. (2011). _Early childhood education: History, theory, and practice_. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.

Team Building 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Team Building 5 - Essay Example The teams should have the ability to decide the drawbacks of each member and the place that they are going wrong thereby leading to faulty production. After the identification of the faults a list of recommendations should be drawn up in order to address the same. The recommendations thus recorded should be discussed with the entire team. Brainstorming ideas help develop those further and identify the drawbacks, if any. The team members can also be interchanged to form new groups such that the working relationship between them can be developed and a better coordination can be achieved. The results of the newly formed group are compared with the previous ones so as to tabulate the results and draw comparison between the two. Such comparisons help in the development of the teams in the long run. The drawbacks thus identified will help both the teams in future to coordinate the work and achieve better results (West, 2012). 2. Design E is a mixed task force that has members from both the teams working together to develop solutions to interface problem. It is done such that a mutually beneficial end could be reached. It is a traditional method of team building and is used so that the problems in the production process can be solved by the teams without much difficulty (Dyer, Dyer & Dyer, 2007).This method facilitates least involvement of all the team members yet achieves to solve the inter-team problems and allows easy implementation of solutions. Projects in which the competition between the teams are so high that it destroys the competitive environment of the workplace, then such a method of team building is the most effective way. However Design E allows the team members to list the areas of concern one has against a fellow worker. The list is then discussed so that each member knows the areas that he should work on. This method thus increases

Compare and Contrast the traditional music of India with the Research Paper

Compare and Contrast the traditional music of India with the traditional music of Korea - Research Paper Example In 12th century, influences from the Middle East made Indian music split in to two main paths. Carnatic music was not altered by Arabian culture unlike Hindustani music, which embraced evident Persian and Arab influences from the ruling Muslim kings in the Northern states of India (â€Å"Carnatic music†). In 13th century Carnatic music localized in the Southern part of India and developed there a significant music culture (Randel, ed.). Carnatic music was quite diverse, but it utilized the main elements of Indian music which were sruti, swara, tala and raga. Out of these elements, sruti was defined as a musical pitch, and swara was the repetition of the same note; raga was a specific interchange of ascending and descending parts of the melody, and tala was a fixed rhythmic scale (Randel, ed.). Carnatic music was usually composed; though, improvisation was possible as well. Instrumentation of Carnatic music included the main performer (vocalist), melodic and rhythm accompanimen t and a drone (Randel, ed.). Usually, the vocalists sat in the middle of the stage because they were main figures in the performance, other musicians circled them behind. Goryeo dynasty, which ruled in 938-1392, contributed a lot to the development of Korean traditional music. Goryeo dynasty music was represented by aak, court ceremonial music (So). Aak was derived from Chinese model and it was translated as elegant music; it was presented to Goreyo dynasty in Korea by Song Dynasty in China. However, Koreans retuned Chinese music gifted to them and developed unique tone and style, which was radically different from Chinese music. All instruments for aak were shipped from China; they were divided into two orchestras – tungga (veranda orchestra) and hon’ga (ground orchestra) (So). According to Randel ed., akk orchestras included extremely diverse instruments grouped as idiophones (wooden and stone chimes, boxes, scrappers and clappers), aerophones (octarina, various flutes,

Relationship interaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Relationship interaction - Essay Example & Mrs. Smith. In the film Brad and Angeline play a married couple who both work as highly paid assassins. However, neither one in the beginning realizes that the other kills for a living. The couple, in the introduction of the film, was having marital problems but closer to the climax and the new found awareness that they were both in the same line of work, their romance rekindled. This marital problem which seemed to manifest upon the discovery of each other’s line but instead rekindled their lost romance can be gleaned on the following dialogue where there seems to be a disconnect in their COMMUNICATION CODES: The audience might have the initial impression that the couple is in conflict and their marriage is about to breakdown. What happened in fact was the opposite because the couple just needs a little adventure and â€Å"fire† in their relationship and this seeming conflict rekindled that romance again albeit this method is quite unusual. This just shows that Brad and Angelina had a majestic chemistry that transcended on film and generated a unique essence to the movie. It was obvious to notice the true attraction the actors had for each other despite the acted conflict. In addition to the theories observed between the couple’s roles during the movie, the nature of their off camera intimate relationship correlate with the INDEPENDENT COUPLES theory; THIS CONCEPT DESCRIBES MARRIED PARTNERS WHO EXHIBIT SHARING AND COMPANIONSHIP AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY INTERDEPENDENT BUT ALLOW EACH OTHER INDIVIDUAL SPACE. After shooting the movie Mr. Mrs. Smith, Angelina was quoted saying. † We both have been married before, so its not marriage that necessarily keeps some people together.† Brad and Angelina have been in a lasting relationship for over five years but have not married. However, they are committed to raising their children together and continued to allow the other to pursue their movie careers. Pitt and Jolies relationship became one of

The Impact of Woodland Management Practices on Biodiversity Essay

The Impact of Woodland Management Practices on Biodiversity - Essay Example For humans, woodlands provide a valuable resource in terms of the wood from cutting down trees, and in some cases the use of cleared land for farmland. Both of these uses of woodland significant disrupt the species living within it, often displacing them or causing local extinction. The purpose of this essay is to examining practices of woodland management and to consider what impact these have on biodiversity and what the long-term outcomes of these approaches are likely to be. In addition, alternative approaches to current woodland management practices will be considered, as well as the underlying drivers that influence what woodland management practices are prevalent. It is argued that current woodland management practices place the biodiversity within the woodland environment at significant risk, and in the long-term will result in an unrecoverable loss of species, ultimately decreasing the usefulness of woodland as a resource. Importance of Biodiversity Biodiversity has become a buzzword of the modern political environment, and is a prominent topic among many different people and areas, including universities, politicians, schools and broadcasters. The current age is often referred to as having a biodiversity crisis, or that there are many threats to biodiversity which must be properly handled in order to conserve biodiversity. The term has become highly popular and politically centred in recent years, and humankind attempts to find ways of preserving biodiversity without compromising growth and human life. However, biodiversity itself is difficult to define, as the term is used by a wide range of people, many of whom do not define what they mean by the phrase. Throughout literature there are more than 80 different definitions of the term, which vary slightly or significantly from one another (Spicer, 2009). The definition of biodiversity that is arguably the most correct is that which was derived as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which wa s signed by 150 nations in 1992. This definition considers biodiversity to be variability among living organisms from all areas of the world, including diversity that occurs within ecosystems, between species and within species. Defining the term however, is only one aspect. To effectively address the problems surrounding biodiversity, there needs to be an effective method of measuring it. Finding consensus approaches to measuring biodiversity is an important approach to solving problems of biodiversity; however, this is not an easy task. For example, a forest ecosystem has a large amount of different species including the easily visible plants, animals and birds, the smaller organisms such as insects, and then microorganisms, which cannot be seen with the naked eye. Counting all of these species would be a large task, and does not take into account another important aspect of biodiversity, specifically , how many of each species are present (Spicer, 2009). Because of these problems , different researchers make use of different approaches to attempt to provide an indication of the measure of biodiversity within an area, such as the number of species that are present or their abundance. Often, a specific type of species may be focused on, such as studies that examine the biodiversity of birds within forest communities (Aleixo, 1999). Other indicators

How to Get a Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

How to Get a Job - Essay Example The essay "How to Get a Job" analyzes how a fresh graduate can get the right job in a competitive job market environment. First of all, the applicant should write a resume. The graduate should first have the kind of job they want and then design headings that are in line with this job. An example lies with someone seeking an accountancy job. This graduate in accounting should develop headings for their work that is in line with the accounting profession for example to have words like Record Keeping, Computer Skills and much more. The main aim of upholding clarity and relevance with headings is to ensure that they are eye catching and give overview information of the applicant. In an actual sense, a resume is supposed to give overview information within five seconds as the consideration here is that many resumes are under scrutiny and at this point it is the appeal that is important to the one selecting. After this, the resume should now be written in details. Of importance to note in this area is the inclusion of any relevant experience that one has. If there are areas where one was involved in teamwork or demanding tasks it is important to include them clearly with the dates of each accomplishment or task. Therefore, the main idea here is to be coherent and that the events that have happened in one's life to be chronologically inserted for clarity and easy follow-up of information. In the case of a cover letter, it is important to consider a number of issues that can make the whole process a success or failure.

A breakthrough drug Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A breakthrough drug - Essay Example A group of scientist under the supervision of NH Director Francis S. Collins reported that the drug Everolimus have the capacity to clear out the protein Progerin from theses children’s body. Everybody’s body produces progerin a mutated form of protein lamin A, which is important for the organizing of the genome contained in the cells of the body. There is number of research which shows that progerin in the body of people accumulates as they age. The studies have also reported that, the drug Everolimus also cut back the protein progerin from the body of healthy man and also prolonged their cell life. On study with mice, Everolimus which is a derivative of immunosuppressant rapamycin, has shown to extend the life span. With a control on cycling process of protein progerin, the drug Everolimus helps in controlling the aging process. The recycling of the progerin is possible because of the ability of this drug to clear toxins from the cells of the body. The FDA approved Everolimus on May of 2011 as a drug to fight the aging process of cell progerin . According to (Rockfeller)â€Å"The Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, also known as Progeria, is a genetic disease that affects small children and toddlers causing them to age prematurely†. Eventhough this drug treat the patients from outside the underlying disease which is genetic remains. However, the drug Everolimus treats the patients and reduces 50% of chances of getting the disease again. This medicine treats 50% of the cell but still there is underlying chance of getting the disease again. Progeria is a rare disease which affects the children, and even children and adults with brain tumor and other carcinogens can be cured with Everolimus. The diseased child has an increased amount of protein A and thus causes disruption in the working o f the cells in the body. The everolimus has got a trade name which is â€Å"

Implementing Policy the Protects the Rights of Homosexual Students Essay

Implementing Policy the Protects the Rights of Homosexual Students - Essay Example The GSA Network has devoted significant monetary and staffing resources to addressing the problems of discrimination, harassment, and homophobia in VUSD schools through its Fresno office. The GSA Network primarily fights homophobia and intolerance in schools by empowering gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual members in high schools to form and maintain local, school-based, student-run clubs called "GSAs". The GSA Network also encourages members to form community-based GSAs made up of students and supportive community members. See id. One-hundred fifty (150) GSA clubs in Northern California and the Central Valley are presently registered with the GSA Network. The GSA Network connects these school- and community-based GSAs to each other and to community resources in order to: foster safe environments for student members; educate student members and the school community about homophobia, gender identity, and sexual orientation issues; and fight intolerance, discriminatio n, harassment, and violence in schools. It is alleged that openly gay students are subject to severe verbal and physical harassment and suffer physical and emotional damage from Defendants' allegedly hostile environment. Heterosexual students are deprived of an environment that is free from hostility directed toward students who are gay or lesbian or who are perceived to be gay or lesbian. Harassment and discrimination is alleged to be a fact of life for gay or lesbian students, or those perceived as gay or lesbian, attending schools within the VUSD, including Golden West High School.. These students have been repeatedly called "faggot", "queer", and other anti-gay epithets on campus and in the classrooms, sometimes in the presence of teachers. One gay student allegedly confronted his teacher after class about students making loud, derogatory, anti-gay comments in class.. The teacher told the student that he did not hear the comments and refused to do anything about them. Gay or lesbian students, or those perceived as gay or lesbian, have been spit upon by other students on the campus of Golden West. Former Golden West students, perceived to be gay, have had food, pencils, erasers, and textbooks and other objects thrown at them. One gay student was almost hit by a car driven by another student who was actively trying to run him down. See id. One student directed a death threat to a gay student at Golden West.. Golden West students have also allegedly spray-painted the word "Fag" on a pickup truck of another student. One gay student at Golden West was attacked on campus by students yelling "fag", "queer" and other derogatory terms. When the student fought back, Golden West administrators broke up the fight and led the gay student away in handcuffs. That student did not return to Golden West. Students are allegedly afraid to associate themselves with any openly gay students on campus for fear of being verbally and physically assaulted. Students who are gay or lesbian experience chronic psychological injury from the harassment at school each day. One gay student suffers from insomnia and lies awake each night reviewing the harassment he suffered during the day and worrying about what