Did the Ancient Greek Gods Exist Essay

The Ancient Greeks regarded their religion and mythology with much respect and loyalty. Although the Ancient Greek Gods are now seen as an explanation created by man, for natural forces and the world around us, there has been much evidence both for and against the debate that these Gods were real. The Greeks believed that the Earth was created with the birth of Gaia, or Mother Earth, from the dark void known as Chaos. It was believed that Gods were all-powerful giants and heroes, who were responsible for our creation. The Olympians were a younger race of Gods led by Zeus, who eventually overthrew the formidable Titans, led by Zeus’ tyrannical father Cronus. Once in power, the Olympians, named after their home Mount Olympus, were each given certain responsibilities and powers over natural forces and aspects of life. Such as the sky, ocean, death and war. Many have debated that the Gods have made their presence clear, through their influencing and intervening with our history and punishments that they have cast upon us. Whereas others argue that they were mere stories told to inspire others, teach morals and explain the unknown. The mythology of the Gods were mainly passed on through stories and supported with archaeological evidence, the main literary account was by Homer and his two epic poems. Although they mainly accounted for the events surrounding the Trojan War, they include much proof on the impact and influence the Gods had on Ancient Greek history. In Homer’s epic poem Illiad, Zeus is shown sending Agamemnon a false dream, thus influencing his military decisions during the Trojan war in an attempt to depopulate the Earth. Although the existence of Agamemnon cannot be proven, the city of Troy can be. The archaeological ruins of the city can be found in what is now known as Turkey and shows signs of being destroyed and rebuilt several times, most likely due to an earthquake and even a war, from which there was evidence of much slaughter. The Ancient Greeks worshipped the Gods, believing they had power over everything around them and perceived them as almighty deities. The Gods were believed to have normally taken on human form, exhibiting the same emotions and traits. They were also known for regularly intervening in human history. Many people have argued that like some Ancient Chinese deities, many Gods were in fact based on actual figures of history and that over time, like the Chinese gods, their true identities were simply forgotten and they were continually perceived as almighty gods. Such as Guan Yu, a Chinese general who was deified as the Taoist God of War, during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) for his contributions to the civil war. He continues to be worshipped by the Chinese and is a figure of Chinese folk religion. Like the Greek Gods, Guan Yu is worshipped with alters, ceremonies, sacrifices and festivals. However after many centuries of being seen as a God, many are unaware that he did in fact exist. The Historical Theory, continues to support the idea that all people mentioned in mythology were once real people, only their story is passed on and changed over time. Comparisons have also been drawn with the similarities between the basis of Ancient Greek mythology and its factual history. The Greeks believed that there were three generations of Gods; Uranus and other creation gods, the Titans and the Olympians. Many believe that this is merely a reflection of the three major Ancient Greek civilisations; Minoan, Mycenaean and Hellenic. Even with the Gods, they portray heavy social struggles between threatening communities. Professor Martin P. Nilsson concluded that the Gods were a mere reflection and dramatization of Ancient Greek civilisation. Although the Gods were worshipped for their allegiance, they were also known for their wrath and harsh punishments such as the Minotaur, a ferocious monster with a thirst for blood and the result of a God’s punishment. It all began as a sentence cast by the God, Poseidon, onto the King of Crete, Minos for not sacrificing a prized white bull. To punish him, fellow goddess Aphrodite made Minos’ wife Pasiphae fall in love with a bull hence resulting in the birth of the Minotaur, the unnatural offspring of man and bull. The Minotaur was infamous for its human body and bull head. Uncovered representational arts such as vases, alters and ruins have proven the high amount of bull worship in Crete and even parts of Spain, possibly due to the existence of the Minotaur. However many argue that it was from the bull sensation that came the origins and inspiration for the tale of the Minotaur. The creature eventually grew for a horrific taste for blood, forcing Minos to imprison it in a twisting labyrinth under his palace, Knossos. Several years ago, Oxford university geographer Nicholas Howarth uncovered an underground cave complex consisting of a dark, twisting network of tunnels on the island of Crete, just miles away from the ruins of Knossos. Locally, it is even known as Labyrinthos Caves. The Minotaur was eventually slain by Theseus, a demi-god, further supporting the argument that the Ancient Greek Gods existed. As mentioned, over time people have come to accept the Ancient Greek gods as something the Greeks created to understand the world around them. The Physical theory reinforces this argument, claiming that all mythology and religion is formed from the basis of the natural elements; air, fire and water. Similarities can be seen with that of the Ancient Greek gods, such as Poseidon who was â€Å"God of the Sea† and was believed to have domain over the ocean. Many argued that the Gods were mere symbolic personifications of the uncontrollable nature around us, from which the Ancient Greeks found hope and security. Sigmund Freud’s symbolic communication and dream interpretation suggested that with the proper psyche and desperation, the Greeks could have used the Gods as a verification of control. Many have continued to attempt to interpret the mythology of different ancient civilisations. One of the most successful would be Herodotus, who uncovered the relationships and connections between Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythologies. He believed that the Ancient Greek Gods were directly inspired by Egyptian mythology. Gods such as Zeus were paired with the Egyptian god Amun. Through historical linguistics, it was believed that these gods actually derived from common archetypes of the Proto-Indo-European religion. Thus concluding that Gods were a mere copy of other cultural religions and myths. Despite the scepticism that many feel towards the argument, the evidence is overwhelming and reinforces the debate that the Gods did exist, whether they were immortal Olympians or simply heroic human beings. As immortal wrathful giants, the gods were able to influence entire battles and punish those they believed evil, whereas if they were only human beings, their story would be able to inspire and teach others heroism and bravery. Although the argument involving the Physical theory and Herodotus is viable, the natural elements are the foundation of life and therefore can be twisted to fit any argument and have similarities found anywhere if one simply looked hard enough. Although we may never learn the truth, the existence of the Ancient Greek gods are more realistic due to the possibilities faced with the idea that they could have been either almighty gods or average human beings.

Therapeutic Recreation

Therapeutic Recreation is the purposeful utilization or enhancement of leisure as a way to maximize a person’s overall health, well being, or quality of life. Therapeutic Recreation programs for mental illness may have seasonal classes in many areas that may include exercise, swim, adapted karate and crafts. Therapeutic recreation programs are specifically designed for individuals with disabilities. Groups are usually small and the participant to staff ratio is appropriate to the needs of the group.The activities are planned to meet the interest of the participants and can be individualized. In different communities there are different things for people with mental illness to do. In some community they even have jobs people can do to get them back in the community and working. Lamar Missouri has lots of programs that put people that have mental illness in jobs. I have even talked to the manager for Mc Donald and he has put to work people with mental illness and he said to me t hey are the best dam workers I think I have.Even in Pittsburg Kansas they have programs to put clients into the work place and let them make some money. Some people see working in society are jobs but the clients see it as a way to get out of the house and they enjoy it to an extent I would say it is recreation. Some general recreation programs may be adapted to include a person with a disability using auxiliary aids and services, but the structure of the activity, group size and staff remains the same.Making it a little harder on the staff and the staff are not able to provide one to one assistance or specialized support to an extent. Some places there are programs and activities that can suit all ages, interests, and skill levels. Activities include swimming classes, craft classes, trips, camps, children’s programs, special events, and varied offerings every season. One program I was reading about was dancing. It is for ages 15 and up with mental illness. You dance to a wor ld of rhythm and engage in playful rhythmic movement for fitness and coordination.Includes line dances, circle dances, folk dances. Designed especially for teens, and adults with developmental disabilities, that one was for a person with higher function. There are programs a person with lower functioning can dance to as well. You can take that program and modify a little and make it for any one or any age very easily. The program I was reading made people pay for the programs but with some more modifications and some sponsors it could be all free. Some places they have ides facilitate the individuals with mental illness into programs at their neighborhood recreation centers, assuring that cities and parks and recreation programs are accessible and usable by all citizens. Inclusion aides conduct assessments, develop goals for participation, and provide necessary support, including increased supervision levels, adapting games and activities and training of recreation center staff, to ensure that the needs of the person with disabilities are being met.Volunteers are a very important part of the therapeutic recreation services program. In many areas there are a variety of volunteer opportunities are available for those ages thirteen and up including students needing service hours. I don’t know if the program is in this area yet but there is a program Specialized Recreational Program Parenting with love and logic. This program is for parents, and teachers it is a user friendly and often highly successful program that is heavily wrapped in empathy but soles not shield children from consequences of their actions.It empowers children to solve their problems and help parents change their behaviors to relieve stress and pressure. Of course nothing works all the time, but this anecdotal program and the expertise of your presenter will, in a safe and nonthreatening environment, invite you to change the only person you can change, yourself. I think that program woul d be great for parent that don’t really know how to deal with their children or even the ones that think they do even if it don’t work it still gave them a little more knowledge. It will give them another outlook on how to teach their child. Therapeutic Recreation Therapeutic recreation is a treatment service designed to restore, remediate and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence in life. According to WHO- The world health organisation, health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. Health promotion represents a comprehensive social and political process, it not only embraces actions directed at strengthening the skills and capabilities of individuals but also the action directed towards changing the social, environmental and economic conditions. The Ottawa Charter identifies three basic strategies for health promotion. These advocacy’s for health to create the essential conditions for health indicated above enabling all people to achieve their full potential, and mediating between the different interests in society in the pursuit of health. In order to promote healthy lifestyles in a population or an individual a number of models have been created. For this study both the Leisure Ability Model and the Health Protection/Health Promotion Model are being looked at and compared. The first of these models being looked at is the Health Protection/Health Promotion Model. This model, created by Austin 1991, sees the purpose of therapeutic recreation as facilitating the client to recover following a threat to health such as drug addiction, alcohol addiction, psychiatric disorder etc, also known as health protection, and to achieve optimal health through health promotion. Hence for this reason this models chief aim is â€Å"to use activity, recreation or leisure to help people to deal with problems that serve as barriers to health and assist them to strive for their highest levels of wellness†, (Austin, 1997). There are four major concepts that underlie the Health Protection/ Health Promotion Model (HPHPM). These are the Humanistic Perspective, High-level Wellness, The Stabilisation and Actualisation Tendencies and Health. Humanistic Perspective- Those who embrace the humanistic perspective believe that each of us has the responsibility for his/her own health and the capacity for making self-directed wise choices about our own individual health status. Because an individual is responsible for their own health it is important to encourage individuals to become involved in decision making and to gather maximum knowledge to improve their health. Austin encourages that the population are â€Å"active participants in the world, rather than passive puppets controlled by the environment†. The humanistic perspective focuses on the positive image of what it means to be human. Human nature is viewed as basically good, and humanistic theorists focus on methods that allow fulfilment of an individual’s potential. High-Level Wellness- The term high level wellness was first coined by Dr. Halbert Dunn in his book in 1961, he defined it as â€Å"†¦an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of which the individual is capable†. Dunn’s concept of high level wellness is, like the humanistic perspective is a holistic approach that goes beyond the absence of physical illness to include both psychological and environmental wellness. For this reason Austin surmises that high level wellness goes beyond traditional medicine and toward helping people to achieve as high a level of wellness as they are capable of achieving. Austin further goes on to compare the similarities between high level wellness and therapeutic recreation as both have been heavily influenced by the humanistic perspective. Stabilisation and Actualisation Tendencies- These are two motivational forces which the Health Protection/ Health Promotion Model are based on. Stabilising tendencies helps to maintain a steady state of an individual. It looks at keeping the stress levels of an individual’s life at a maintainable level and not to let the stressors in a person’s life to spiral out of control leading to health risk behaviour (HRB), hence for this reason stabilisation tendencies is the driving force behind Health Protection. The actualisation tendency drives a person towards health promotion which focuses on achieving an individual’s high level of wellness. Health- health is the final underlying concept of The Health Protection/Health Promotion Model. The ultimate goal of this concept is to help a client to strive toward health promotion. Pender’s (1996) definition of health incorporates stabilisation and actualisation tendencies, therefore interlinking health with the previous underlying concept of the model. For this reason healthy people can cope with life’s stressors and encourages clients to optimise their own health rather than improving their health just to recover form illness. Austin (1997) believes that those who enjoy health have the opportunity to pursue the highest levels of personal growth and development. Having looked at the underlying concepts of the model there are three broad areas of a continuum to be understood in order to design a therapeutic recreation program for any client. These are: i. Prescriptive activities: When clients initially encounter illnesses or disorders, often they become self-absorbed. The therapeutic recreation personnel, at this stage of the continuum must provide direction and structure to the client as means of an intervention due to a feeling of helplessness that can ultimately produce severe depression. ii. Recreation: Through recreation, clients begin to regain their equilibrium disrupted by stressors so that they may once again resume their quest for actualization. They take part in intrinsically motivated recreation experiences that produce a sense of mastery and accomplishment within a supportive and nonthreatening atmosphere. Mutual participation on behalf of the client and the TRP occurs and the client begins to have fun and find new ways to interact with others. iii. Leisure: This is a means to self-actualization because it allows people to have self-determined opportunities to expand themselves by successfully using their abilities to meet challenges. This stage is based on The Leisure Ability Model whereby they look at leisure alone as a means of therapeutic recreation. At this stage of the continuum, clients assume primary responsibility for their own health. So from looking this model ultimately it can be said that health and actualization are intimately intertwined. The attainment of high level wellness permits actualization. Those who enjoy peak health are free of barriers to actualization so that they may actively pursue personal growth and development. When clients are initially taking part in a program based on this model they have a learned helplessness and take a lack of responsibility but as they move down the continuum they assume primary responsibility for themselves. The Leisure Ability Model. The second model being discussed is The Leisure Ability Model. The Leisure Ability Model (LAM) which was draw up by Peterson and Gunne in 1984 focuses on leisure as a prevention of illness rather than the use of medication. This model can be used hand in hand with The HPHPM or can be used alone when designing a therapeutic recreation program to demote a health risk behaviour. Peterson and Gunne, when designing this model thought that recreation and leisure are necessary experiences that all people should enjoy and take part in, including those with â€Å"limitations† or disabilities both physical and mental. The purpose of the model is therefore to â€Å"facilitate the development, maintenance and expression of an appropriate leisure lifestyle† for individuals or groups with physical, emotional, mental or social limitations. The LAM offers an alternative to more traditional medical models for those with special needs. The Leisure Ability Model was constructed with the belief that the end product of therapeutic recreation services for clients was improved independent and satisfying leisure functioning, also referred to as a â€Å"leisure lifestyle† (Peterson, 1981, 1989; Peterson & Gunn, 1984). Similar to the HPHPM, the Leisure ability model also has a number of underlying concepts, these include Learned Helplessness, Intrinsic motivation, internal locus of control, and causal attribution, Choice and finally Flow. Learned Helplessness- Many individuals with disabilities and/ or illnesses experience learned helplessness. This could be learned during childhood when others did things â€Å"for† the individual, or through repeated exposure to settings where one learned to become a passive patient upon whom procedures were performed according to a routine. Learned helplessness robs the individual of a sense of mastery and self-determination but is also beyond that individual’s control. After having experienced life so far as helplessness in one leisure activity, a person may firmly believe that he or she is abnormal, inadequate, and lacks basic skills in that activity. As a consequence, the person believes that they are handicapped to participate in this activity and this belief may then generalize to personal performance in other areas of leisure behaviour. Iso-Ahola (1980) reports that there are three consequences of learned helplessness, these are: i. A lack of internal motivation to escape the conditions which lead to the state of helplessness. ii. A lack of cognitive understanding of personal effectiveness, iii. A heightened state of emotionality. Intrinsic motivation, internal locus of control and causal attribution- The three concepts of intrinsic motivation, locus of control and personal attribution are intricately linked, and help to explain the basis for the provision of therapeutic recreation services. All individuals are intrinsically motivated towards behaviour in which they can experience competence and self-determination. This process is continual and through skill acquisition and mastery, produces feelings of satisfaction, competence, and control. An internal locus of control implies that the individual takes responsible for the behaviour and consequences which may occur from the behaviour. The opposite of this is external locus of behaviour i. e. leaving others take the blame for your own mistakes. Personal attribution implies that the individual accepts that they can affect the outcome of a situation, they can make a decision that matters somehow to something. Without a sense of personal causation, the likelihood of the individual developing learned helplessness (the feeling that external others are in control) increases greatly. Choice- The Leisure Ability Model also relies heavily on the concept of choice. Choice implies that the individual has the knowledge, skills and attitudes which facilitate choice and the desire to choose. This suggests freedom, freedom from constraints and freedom to exercise an option to an individual that initially felt restricted. The Leisure Ability Model emphasizes content areas that help clients build skills in a variety of areas which, in turn, should allow them options for future independent leisure functioning. Flow- A fourth, closely related concept is that of â€Å"flow† (Csikszentmihalyi 1990). Flow suggests a state of balance between skill level and activity challenge which leads to a level of concentration and energy expenditure which is absorbing or consummating in form. When skill level is high and activity challenge is low, the individual is quite likely to be bored. When the skill level is low and the activity challenge is high, the individual is most likely to be anxious leading to an uneven flow. A therapeutic recreation personnel must attempt to balance both to keep flow. These areas of understanding are important for the therapeutic recreation personnel to be able to design a series of coherent, organized programs that meet client needs and move the client further toward an independent and satisfactory leisure lifestyle. The Leisure Ability Model contains three major categories of service: treatment or rehabilitation which is directed towards therapy and/or rehabilitation, leisure education revolves around the development of activity skills and social interaction skills as well as issues for leisure counselling, and special recreation which involves the provision of recreation programs for members of special groups such as autism or down syndrome. Each of these three service areas is based on distinct client needs and has specific purposes, expected behaviour of clients, roles of the specialist, and targeted client outcomes. As with The Health Protection/Health Promotion Model these service areas operate along a continuum. The client's role in special recreation programs includes greater decision making and increased self-regulated behaviour. As with the HPHPM the client has increased freedom of choice and his or her motivation is largely intrinsic without the dictatorship of a TRP. In conclusion, from having looked at and critically compared and evaluated both The Health Protection/Health Promotion Models and The Leisure Ability, The Health Protection/Health Promotion Model appears to be an extension of The Leisure Ability Model. The Leisure Ability Models ultimate goal is leisure compared to The Health Protection/Health Promotion Model uses leisure as the final means towards its ultimate goal of optimal health. When designing a therapeutic recreation program, the therapeutic recreation personnel may go back and forth between the models in order for the program to be client specific.

Marketing and Market Research

Faculty of Academic StudiesSchool of Business and Professional BTEC Level 3 in Business – 90 Credit Diploma (QCF) Unit 3 Introduction to Marketing Assignment 1 Scenario You work for a professional organisation for marketers. One of the activities that the organisation undertakes is to evaluate the marketing activities of different companies and produce a list of ‘A’-classed marketers. You are asked to carry out research into two possible contenders for inclusion on the list. You need to complete the following tasks as part of your research project. Task 1 Describe how marketing techniques such as branding and relationshipmarketing are used to market products in two organisations. You need to choose one product or service from each organisation to undertake the task. (P1) 2Compare, discussing the similarities and differences, the marketing techniques described in Task 1 used for the product or service chosen in each organisation. (M1) 3Evaluate the effectiveness of the use of techniques in marketing products or services in one of your selected organisations. You need to judge the effectiveness by weighing up the pros and cons of the techniques used. D1) 4Describe the constraints and limitations under which marketers operate, making use of examples to explain your points. (P2) Task 2 Choose one of your selected organisations and investigate its use of market research. You need to complete the following tasks as part of the continuation of your research project. 1. Describe how your selected organisation or any other organisation uses market research to contribute to its development plans. (P3) 2. Explain the limitations of the market research used to contribute to the development of your selected organisation’s marketing plans. (M2) 3.Make three justified recommendations for improving the validity of the marketing research used to contribute to the development of your selected organisation’s marketing plans. (D2) 4. The results o f a questionnaire given to 200 customers of a local fresh sandwich bar to find out about the current range of sandwiches on offer and the standard of service included findings that: †¢ 75% want more children’s sandwiches †¢ 82% want the shop to open longer †¢ 65% said that the staff were unfriendly †¢ 50% said that the contents of the sandwiches should be fresher †¢ 80% said they would prefer more wraps.Use the results of this market research to produce part of the marketing plan in terms of objectives to be set. (P4) Task 3 Explain how and why groups of customers are targeted for selected products. Select six different groups for products or services of your choice for example, Saga holidays for the over 50s. At least two of your choices must be from the Business-to-business market; remainder can be from the consumer market. Describe the customer profile for each of the six target groups and then explain how and why these groups are targeted. (P5) Ta sk 4Choose one of your selected organisations and investigate its use of market research. You need to complete the following tasks as part of the continuation of your research project. 1. Develop a coherent marketing mix for a new product or service. (P6) 2. Develop a coherent marketing mix that is targeted at a defined group of potential customers. (M3) Grading tips: Pass Grade P1 – Make sure you understand the various techniques that are listed in the content section of the specification. Try to find out if the companies you choose use any of these techniques.P2 – Try to find examples of where these laws have been contravened (broken to any degree). Useful websites are those belonging to Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority. P3 – Remember that market research covers a wide area and you can include everything the business does to collect information about its marketplace. P4 – You need to demonstrate that you can apply the results of market research to marketing plans. The statistics are telling certain information that could result in objectives being formulated.P5 -Make sure that you understand the main bases for segmentation. The better a business can describe its target market, the better chance there will be of success. P6 – Make sure you understand what the elements are of the marketing mix, and how these can be altered to service the targeted market. Merit Grade M1 – For this task you need to find out the similarities and differences that exist between these techniques and discuss these in relation to the two products. Try to stay focused on answering the question and do not end up writing all you know about the techniques.M2 -You need to understand that the various laws and codes of practice are there predominantly for the protection of the consumer. Try to imagine what it would be like if there were no laws to protect the consumer – this may make it easier for you to answer the tas k. M3 – Look at the marketing mixes of various products. You may like to research this on the Internet and see how some successful products are managed in terms of their marketing mixes. This research should help you in developing a marketing mix for a selected product. Distinction GradeD1 -Evaluation is about considering in detail the advantages and disadvantages of something, and coming to conclusions as a result of this analysis. All the techniques can be criticised concerning their usefulness. Find out what these are and then make judgements about the effectiveness of the techniques used. D2 -You need to know that it is important to try to make your market research as valid as possible. This could mean making the sample of sufficient size or making sure that questionnaire answers are not ambiguous, as that could lead to misleading results.

Expected and Unexpected Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation on IT and Research Paper

Expected and Unexpected Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation on IT and Business - Research Paper Example After the enactment of this legislation, the collapse of major corporations was imminent as a series of restatements began to emerge from major companies. The presence of this legislation has led to a decrease of restatements and securities class actions that have been filed. However, according to SOX, the number is still high. This paper will examine the impact the legislation had on businesses, and what the future holds for companies that do not comply with the regulations the Act has in place. The most crucial aspect of the legislation was section 404, which focuses on the monitoring of internal controls in the organization. Presently, public companies are required to include reports of internal control reports, which are then monitored by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). This board works directly with the SEC to conduct reviews. In light of the above operations, accounting firms are now liable for any, and all their audits. This is what has probably pushed f or some reforms in public companies that are present in most parts of the region. Some of the major impacts that have rocked companies expected to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley legislation include; additional costs, additional liability, and even the purchase of internal control software (Harwood & Simmons, 2012). ... The purchase of internal control software has increased the costs that companies, small and large, incur during their annual reviews (Brodkin, 2007). In order to build a control system that works, companies are required to hire skilled personnel to handle these issues. This, ultimately, comes at a price. The cost of planning, tracking, and reviewing internal controls in no easy task, and the outside assistance requires capital. All these factors contribute to the high prices, but it is tantamount for companies to do this. The labor workforce and human resource that is present in most companies was also a factor to consider with the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation. These groups of individuals were at the forefront in pointing out the shortcomings of corporate governance. The issues were that management in most of the financial and accounting institutions were benefitting at the expense of the labor workforce present in their organizations (U.S. SEC, 2009). To most of the individuals in thi s group, the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation was a means of bringing management to account for all their conducts in their organizations. Some of the aspects of the labor workforce that were expected to be addressed by the SOX legislation included; the protection of whistleblowers, proper procedure of handling and tackling complaints (privately), and even the issue of executive pay and compensation. Unexpected impact of SOX After the implementation of SOX, some fields were first to be hit by the waves of transformation. One of the major fields to be hit was the IT field, which experienced some unexpected turns. The rapid implementation of internal controls saw the use of technologies in almost every company that needed the

The similarities between the higher education in the United States of Essay

The similarities between the higher education in the United States of America and the Western Europe are limited - Essay Example The following essay will compare the differences in the systems of higher education both in the USA and Western European countries. Key words: higher education in the USA, higher education in the Western Europe, Bologna Declaration Though there are limited similarities between higher education in the USA and Western Europe, nevertheless they exist. First of all, the students both in the USA and Europe enter the college or university after finishing school and getting secondary education. In the USA one has to attend 12 years of primary and secondary school, and with the secondary school diploma or certificate one can go on to getting higher education in the university or college. The secondary education in the Western Europe differs slightly from country to country. Generally, the pupils need to attend 11-12 years of primary and secondary school before entering college or university. To enter university students in both Europe and the USA need to provide a proof of completion of high school. Besides, in the USA pupils need to pass the standardized test (SAT, ACT). There is a tuition fee that needs to be paid, but the amount can be different from university to university. There are public and private universities in the USA as well as Western Europe. As far as higher education goes, still, there are more differences than similarities between the USA and the Western European countries. Usually, American students are able to earn their Bachelor's degrees by attending Spring and Fall semesters for four years, if they spend summers at home. It is also possible to study in summer, this way one will earn his Bachelor’s degree in a shorter period of time. â€Å"Most colleges and universities follow either a quarter-based calendar system or a semester-based calendar system. In a quarter system, the academic year is divided into three sessions called quarters. Each quarter lasts about 12 weeks. There is usually an additional quarter in the summer, where registrat ion is optional. In a semester system, the academic year is divided into two sessions called semesters. Each semester lasts 16 weeks.† (The US College Unit System, para.2) Study at a college or university leading to the Bachelor's degree is known as "undergraduate" education. A Bachelor degree is the most traditional degree given by the US colleges and universities. The American system of higher education measures student's progress in credit hours. The student must earn 124 credits to graduate with a Bachelor's degree. Each college course is assigned a certain value in â€Å"credits† or â€Å"units.† The number of units corresponds to the number of hours that a student will attend class for that course. Most colleges require that students complete a minimum number of units in order to graduate, rather than a minimum number of courses. This way, it gives students more flexibility and more freedom of choice as far as what courses to take in order to complete their graduation requirements. If one finds his bachelor’s degree to be insufficient, he/she may proceed to get their Master’s degree and Doctorate (also known as PhD). One may need a PhD degree to teach at the university, for example. In addition, there are some courses that are taught only at the â€Å"postgraduate† level (the next level after the Bachelor’s degree). Among such courses are law, medicine and dentistry. How

Give an example of false imprisonment. How does false imprisonment Essay

Give an example of false imprisonment. How does false imprisonment differ from kidnapping How does it differ from false arrest - Essay Example The detective later learns that the person is innocent, but still go ahead to lock the person up. It could then be said that the detective has falsely imprisoned the individual and this is a clear case of false imprisonment. It should be noted that false imprisonment differs from kidnapping in so many ways. While false imprisonment is usually done by officers of the law, kidnapping is not in any way done by officers of the law. Kidnapping is the criminally act of abducting somebody forcefully against their will and it is usually done for ransom. False imprisonment is usually carried out with the officers that made the false imprisonment giving the impression that they are working according to the statutes of the law, while kidnapping is in every way against the law. Thus, to a certain extent false imprisonment has the support of the law at least up to the extent that it has been established that it is false imprisonment. While kidnapping on the other hand does not have the support of the law in any way (Friedman, 2002). False imprisonment differs from false arrest in the sense that while false imprisonment generally involves the imprisonment of an individual by a detective or an officer of the law, false arrest does not necessarily ends in imprisonment.

Place Value Lesson Plan 403 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Place Value Lesson Plan 403 4 - Essay Example This is very important as far as understanding this number system is concerned, if not re-enforced with the help of some visible and tangible objects it will appear difficult to the learners. To help students comprehend this concept the first and foremost teaching aid would be a number chart "hundreds/tens/ones". Once the student is taught to place numbers in this manner the concept becomes simple and students remember it life-long. At this stage the teacher needs to remember that the class room has students with different needs and capabilities therefore a good lesson should be rendered with the average student in mind .Teacher may use worksheets with number chart on it and ask students to place given numbers in various combinations. They can be written on the worksheet and also read out in class. This method will re-enforce student learning further. Sometimes number blocks help specially students who need special attention, because actually holding a number block in hand helps in concretizing the concept.

Journal Entry See Below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Journal Entry See Below - Essay Example The group’s origin dates back in 1999-2003 during the Iraq war, and a time when Sadam was under scrutiny by the US Government. The group was formed to promote the existing war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shiites, where Shiites were supposed to die because it was heretic. In addition, the group wanted to expand its control over Iraq and Syria. It emerged from Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which was a major character in Sunni insurgency. The group was then under the leadership of Musab al-Zarqawi then. However, after his death, the group merged with other extremist groups to form the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). However, in 2007, things lost balance in the group after many Iraq Sunni groups differed with ISI because of boundary disagreements. In 2011, the group emerged after foreign troops withdrew from Iraq and when Abu bakr al-Baghdadi was appointed the group’s new leader, who chose former Ba’athist military and intelligence officials as his personal assistants. However, in 2012, it adopted a new Moniker and branded itself the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The group has 7,000 members, 3,000 of whom are foreigners mainly from Britain and Belgium. According to reports published on CBS News website, ISIL (S) uses social media to recruit most of its members, especially from the west. In addition, it has a multilingual media group called Al Hayat, which specializes in printing and distributing glossy magazines and videos that aim at influencing people into being part of the group. Its main sources of finance are smuggling, extortion, and outlawed crimes. It is estimated that the group can make up to $8 million per month. The group’s organizational structure is composed of a supreme leader, who currently is Al-Baghdadi, who is has two deputies, one in charge of Syria, and the other in charge of Iraq. The leader has cabinet ministers, who offer advice, and have independent roles including being in charge of salaries, transport,

Analysis of Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Analysis of Violence - Essay Example We have characters that are considered as the models who defied the violence as a means to achieve their objectives. Probably the paramount example is of Jesus Christ. Records suggest that Jesus was a pacifist and the dictionary definition of Pacifist suggest someone as opposed to the violence. There is a very famous saying associated with Jesus that if someone slaps on your right cheek, give him the left too. His teachings and methods were greatly opposed to the violence as a means to achieve the objectives. Though the political situation at that time was extremely volatile and violence would have been the most natural reaction however the same was not the case. Though evidence suggests that followers of Jesus were violent in their response to Jesus cruxification, however, Jesus himself as a prophet, as a leader and political activist. (Rational Chrastinity, 2008). The second personality which we are going to discuss is the personality of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi oversaw one of the brightest freedom struggles in the World. The liberation of India from the British rule was one of the longest and bloodiest freedom struggles, however, Gandhi, by adopting the principles of HANSA, refused to adopt violence as the mean to achieve his objectives. His Sataygra or Non-Violence Movement is considered as one of the most organized political efforts of non-violence where the whole India was united in their peaceful protest against the British Occupation. (BBC, 2000). The political history of also further suggests that Gandhi, who was killed by a Hindu, stood for the rights of divided India when India was separated into two states of Pakistan and India. It was because of these reasons that he was awarded the prestigious MAN OF THE CENTURY nomination at the turn of the new century. The similarity between these two personalities is the fact they both adapted peace as the mean of achieving their objectives though at the cost of their own lives.

Contingency plan for sailing yachts charter Essay - 1

Contingency plan for sailing yachts charter - Essay Example In preparing in advance, we can also build a safety network, plans of action & response, and gather the equipment required to implement our communication needs for rescue. In risk management, we need to prepare for all contingencies, and as a company we have to insure our staff, customers, and organization against any accidents that may occur during operations and liabilities that may arise from operations. For the purpose of this document, â€Å"Contingency† refers to our preparation in advance for safety responses that may arise in course of operations, â€Å"Plan† means the actions we will organize before, during, and after to address the safety problems, and â€Å"Emergency Situation† is any which puts our customers, staff, or others in the water in danger of physical safety, health, or injury. â€Å"Rescue operations† refer to any situation where company staff or third party organizations are required to travel to a site to assist during a safety problem. â€Å"Communications† refers to not only the content but also the means in which we will transmit messages between offices, people, and other groups during an emergency situation. For purposes of contingency, we recognize responsibilities to emergencies and safety problems arising from: air, water, fire, mechanical problems, weather, interpersonal, health, geographical, and geopolitical risks primarily to operations. In each instance of risk, we plan to have prior tactics and responses prepared in advance to address each contingency with the tools, personnel, and social assistance to manage. Because of the nature of maritime events, and the various contingencies that require multiple forms of backup communication, we have decided to develop a three-tiered communication network for emergency management that provides for all contingencies, even when one device may be broken, out of communication, or in possession by a member injured in an accident. For this we identify three types

Evolution of Jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evolution of Jazz - Essay Example Many of the Jazz musicians relieved themselves from racial, social and cultural tensions in their hometown and spread Jazz music as ambassadors of their new found freedom. Hence, between the First and Second World Wars (1914 – 1940) Paris adopted Jazz music as its own. In this way, there was a huge transformation of Jazz music from an African- American genre to becoming an iconic phenomenon of international repute. Jazz music, that began with small marching bands, big bands, or by piano and banjo solos soon disintegrated as the focus centered on smaller ensembles. The Jazz musician I have chosen to write about is Louis Armstrong, (1901 – 1971) who is considered to be one among the best of Jazz musicians. Born in New Orleans on 4th August, 1901, Louis overcame his poverty-stricken background and rose to become one of the greatest solo improvisers in the field of Jazz music. Louis played the trumpet in a very innovative and interesting way and his style relied on improvis ation during his playing the trumpet. He also pioneered a new style of singing called ‘scat’ which is improvising during singing without real lyrics but in perfect tempo and melody. Armstrong had a sort of gravelly voice and besides his virtuosity in his trumpet playing abilities, he was quite famous for his ‘scat’ singing. In fact, he holds the record of being the oldest Jazz artist to have cut a No. 1 record at 63 years old, which is called ‘Hello Dolly’. What is most spectacular about this record is that it toppled the Beatles by reaching number 1 on the charts in 1964. ‘Hello Dolly’ (1964) was the chart-buster title song for the award winning musical ‘Hello Dolly’. This wonderful song also won a Grammy for the best vocal performance by Louis Armstrong which enthralled his audiences all over the world. It was later made into a movie where Armstrong appeared and dueted with Barbara Streisand. Composed by Jerry Herman , ‘Hello Dolly’ is a very vibrant and catchy number rendered with equal enthusiasm and energy by the famed Louis Armstrong. The song begins with a rhythmic syncopated style using instruments. After the instrumental introduction, Armstrong begins singing in his own inimitable ‘scat’ singing style. He has a deep voice that is highly expressive of the lyrics ‘Hello Dolly’. The band comprising of saxophone, drums and trumpet played by Armstrong himself lends complete support in between the vocals. The interlude of ‘Hello Dolly’ is quite a lengthy one, with the trumpet as the main instrument and the other instruments filling in to add a different flavor. His flair for innovation is a major plus point for this singer as he uses a lot of improvisation both in his trumpet playing as well as in his singing. Some of the rhythmic beats used are long while others are staccato in presentation. Armstrong’s voice is throaty and guttural b ut even so very captivating. The pace of the entire song is medium paced while the tone is highly energetic with snatches of highs and lows that give it its own uniqueness and beauty. The final bar of the instrumental part has Armstrong improvising into a crescendo and this is duly answered by the supporting saxophone. Immediately after the interlude, Armstrong takes over and concludes the piece by singing using both lyrics as well as syncopated sounds that makes it so unique and attractive. Armstrong is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz musicians of all time who has

Two Examples of Environmental Impact Assessments Essay Example for Free

Two Examples of Environmental Impact Assessments Essay The cities of Baku, Azerbaijan and Kingston, Ontario Canada are worlds apart, both geographically and culturally. They share at least one characteristic: the need for water. Like every other city on earth, they have built systems to accommodate their needs for water, electricity, and all the other necessities of modern life. Each city also has environmental problems that go hand in hand with urban habitation. The two Environmental Impact Assessments are examples of the challenges engineers and city planners face everyday to minimize the adverse effects on the ecosystem. Both cities, like all modern cities, are locked in a perpetual struggle to find a balance between the needs of the environment and the needs of the city. Wastewater Treatment In Baku, Azerbaijan Azerbaijan is a small country in central Asia on the Caspian Sea. Russia lies to the north. Georgia is to the northwest, Armenia is to the west, and Iran is on its southern border. The capitol of Azerbaijan is Baku and is also its largest city. Located on the Absheron peninsula, it is home to nearly 2 million people. The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on the planet and Baku is its largest port . Azerbaijan is rich in petroleum products and oil drilling has polluted Baku and the Caspian Sea. The Hovsan Wastewater Treatment Plant is another source of pollution to Baku and the Caspian Sea. The treatment plant handles almost half of the capitols wastewater. The wastewater is only partially treated and then dumped into the Caspian Sea via pipeline. The result has made most of the beaches around Baku unusable. The area surrounding the treatment plant inland is also unpleasant because of the odor. In the past, recreation along the sea shore was the most popular recreation for the public and tourists. Today, many are surprised to hear this fact because the bay is so polluted from sewage(Gischler, 2000, p. 41). There is a project proposed to alleviate the shoreline pollution. The plan is to extend the length of the pipeline farther out into the Caspian so the currents will disperse and diffuse the effluent material into the sea and away from the beaches. The current system is so inadequate because of years of neglect that it can only hope to just catch up to its current needs in a few years time. The construction of the longer pipeline will cause some negative effects, but they pale in comparison to the present state of the littoral around Baku. Table 1 outlines the environmental impact projected from the construction of the pipeline. The construction of the outfall is still in the planning stages, but it is expected to start in 2011. Water Treatment In Kingston, Ontario The expansion of the Point Pleasant Treatment Plant in Kingston, Ontario is the focus of this half of the paper. Kingston shares with Baku the distinction of being on the shore of one of the largest inland bodies of water, Lake Ontario. Kingston is located in the province of Ontario in Eastern Canada. To the west is Manitoba, east is Quebec, north is Hudson Bay, and Lake Ontario is to the south.. The Point Pleasant Treatment Plant is a direct filtration facility that supplies the 118,000 people of Kingston with drinking water. The water is drawn from Lake Ontario and goes through a series of filters and chemical treatments before being piped into the main water supply. The Point Pleasant project proposes to double the water pumped in and treated from 40 MLD (mega litres per day) to 80 MLD. The increase is needed for the projected increase in population and expected changes in regulatory standards for drinking water purity. The EIA for the plants upgrade identifies the surrounding vegetation and trees as being vulnerable to harm from construction activities during the plants renovation. The Butternut tree is specified in the report as a major concern because it is already an endangered species. Other issues are the pollution of the ground water and soil erosion. Table 2 outlines the environmental impact from the upgrade of the facility. Kingstons treatment plants upgrade is one that shows the existing system is sound because it is for projected future use and not just getting the current system up to par. The many years of investments and planning regarding the water infrastructure have paid off so they do not have to â€Å"catch up† just to make the system function nominally. A strong infrastructure can mean less damage to the environment. Conclusion Environmental impact from city living is inevitable, but it can be minimized. It requires a firm commitment to good planning and major investments in clean technologies. Comparing the upgrade of the water treatment plant in Kingston and the plant in Baku illustrate the differences in the conditions of each citys water systems. Laws protecting the environment vary from country to country and it is evident that Azerbaijan had few such laws. Canada has much more stringent environmental protection laws than Azerbaijan. Although Kingston has a much smaller population, the larger cities of Canada have done fairly well protecting the environment. Unfortunately, a countrys wealth dictates the priority that can be given to environmental protection. Lower standards for the construction and maintainence of urban infrastructure increases the chances of environmental degradation. References Azerbaijan. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online Library Edition: http://www. library. eb. com/eb/article-44298 Baku. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online Library Edition: http://www. library. eb. com/eb/article-9011883 Gischler, Maarten A (2000, summer) â€Å"Beautifying the Bay† Azerbaijan International, 8(2), 40-42 Kingston. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online Library Edition: http://www. library. eb. com/eb/article-9045553 Townsend, Mike. (2002, July). BETWEEN TWO SEAS: Progress on the BTC Pipeline Project. Azerbaijan International, 10(3), 90. http://ezproxy. spl. org:2048/loginurl=http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb

Rolex Company Analysis

Rolex Company Analysis This report is about the research on a premium product brand on the market. The premium product out team agrees to choose is the Rolex Company product. Rolex Company was the companies that manufactures a high quality hand watch and sells the product to an upper high value to the consumer, Rolex Company also provide technical repair service especially for its product user at different places or facilities due to its different region and its global market or business operations. The objective of Rolex Company is to provide the high and luxury hand watch with innovative technology and design which also promote its brand to a kind of collection item which symbolize as prestige, luxury and high quality. The Vision and mission of Rolex Company was to always put the customer at the first place and make sure that their customer are satisfied with their product and services. Objective Provide the high and luxury hand watch with innovative technology and design and promote its brand to a kind of collection item which symbolize as prestige, luxury and high quality. Vision Mission Statement Always put the customer at the first place. Ensure that their customers are satisfied with their product and services. 2.0.0 Company Summary Rolex is the worlds well known brand in luxury watches. In addition to that, Rolex was included in the luxury watch list of the worlds top brands. It is only brand that able to produce 2000 watches per day and able to earn 3 billion per day. lts brand name , exclusiveness and unique style attract people from all strata of society. 2.1 Background Hans Wilsdorf and his brother-in-law Alfred Davis founded Wilsdorf Davis and signed as WD in the year of 1905 in London, England. Later the name Rolex trademark was registered in 1908 and opened a office in La-Chaux_de-Fond, Switzerland, which was the worlds center for most high quality watch making. The name Rolex in phrase of French were horlogerie exquise which mean exquisite horology. In 1919, the companys headquarters was moved to Geneva, Switzerland, because taxes and export duties in the United Kingdom were driving up costs. The company was first established in Geneva as the Rolex Watch Company. Later, the name changes toÂÂ  Montez Rolex, SAÂÂ  and finally just Rolex, SA. To add on, Rolex was the first company to produce fully waterproof watch (1926), auto-winding watch (1932). 2.2 Company Location Rolex Company split its product and services into two different sections one was the normal direct selling and the other was the service facilities. Until now, The Rolex main headquarter is on Geneva of Switzerland by Rue Francois-Dussaud. In Malaysia are only on Kelantan, Perak, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, and Selangor which the center for direct selling. But there was only one Rolex service center at Malaysia which in Jalan Sultan Ismail at Menara Dion 3.0 Product and services People satisfy their wants and needs with products and services. A product can be provided to a market to satisfy a need or want. Besides that, product include services, which are benefits or activities provided for sale that virtually intangible. Examples include insurance, airline, banking, home repair services and so on. 3.1 Product Description A product is anything that is capable of satisfying customer needs. (David Jobbs) The product was a physical product and took the form of a hand watch. The previous Special edition hand watch manufacture by Rolex Company hand watch model Submarine have evoke a feeling to the customer like a sea because of its blue design on the watch. Rolex Company took the symbol of a crown and places it on its company name to be its brand or logo (figure 1.1) 3.2 Competitive Comparison The Swiss luxury watch making industry is a profitable market. However, new entrants find it difficult to enter the market due to the numerous barriers. In addition to that, there were still many top brands of luxury watches in the market to come up with different styles of watches. Here are some of the top brands and competitors of luxury watches which are famous. Cartier Cartier is a company of the first worldwide luxury watchmaking group and Richemont Compagnie Financiere Group. Cartier enjoys the fame for selling only the first rate quality of jewellery and accessories. Tag Heuer Tag Heuer name has its distinct reputation and status in the world of luxury watches. Furthermore, many Hollywood stars also like to wear Tag Heuer watches. Blancpain Blancpain was founded in 1735 by Jehan Blancpain and is one of the luxury watches in the market. Famous businessmen and celebrities prefer Blancpain watches because Blancopain watches show the exclusiveness and individuality of their personality. 3.3 Supply Demand Details Due to concentrated on its quality and its image, Rolex company supply cannot exceed demand because using the certificate high quality material and qualified craftsmanship to produce each watch will very time taking and some model even required some special technology to produce the model. Refer to the market, this product was considered as inelastic product because increase in price lead to fewer customer to purchase the product. 3.4 Technology needs Rolex has a few series of its watches. There are Automatic Movement, Classic watches, Quartz Movements, Water resistant cases, Collection, Certified Chronometers and Ceramic bezels. Ceramic bezels-The bezel of a watch will exacerbate when exposed to sunlight. Regarding to this issue, Rolex have been motivated to create a unique bezel with a Cerachrom disc. It is essentially scratch-proof and its colour remains unaffected by ultraviolet ray. They are available on the Daytona models, Sea Dweller-Deepsea, Submariner and GMT Master ll. Water-resistant cases- The watch can be survived withstand pressure to a depth of 100m. Classic watches- The classic watches assembled with scrupulous attention to detail and crafted from the first-rate raw materials. 4.0 Market Analysis Market analysis is to understand its evolving threats and opportunities and determine the attractiveness of a market. 4.1 Target Market Segment Strategy Rolex Company using the differentiated Segment by dividing the target market to three group that is normal model, female model, and the special model. These targets also targeting upper high or high social class population because are affordable compare to the lower class. 4.1.1 Industrial Participants / Key Player 1.Rolex 2.Cartier 3.Breitling 4.IWC 5.FranckMuller 6.Blancpain 7.Corum 8.GIRARD-PERREGAUX 9. Audemars Piguet 10. Hublot 4.2 SWOT Analysis Rolex: Strength Brand awareness involves the ability of consumers to remember to the brand name or recognition brand. In the purchase decision, it can play a vital role because people usually like to buy familiar brands. Brand awareness has been calculated by a variety of brands and is available at Annex lV: Brand Awareness. This result shows that Rolex has 97% for awareness. The Rolex brand value is quite high and the name is known around the world. Weakness The strategy has been defined so well but it is hard for the company to change its strategy even how innovative the strategy are. The weakness is that could remain some segments that hard to be achieved on the market. For instance, if the fashion goes to GPS watches, Rolex is hard to changes the strategy because Even they try to change their product to GPS watches, people assume that Rolex to be classic watches. In this case, Rolex would be hard to get a market share of GPS watches Opportunity Rolex brand name is very valuable. It seems that I can be diversified in related fields. Rolex should take the opportunity to open jewelry line over the world. Rolex has the ability to produce jewelry with its technical. Threats The threat of Rolex is youth does not recognize the name of Rolex. Normally, the most mid age people recognize the name of Rolex because most of the segments were set only for mid age people or middle upper social people. Market Need Now days Customers are very concern and picky about on quality on a product especially luxury or premium product or services. To this situation, Rolex Company is very caution on its every product so that will not disappoint the customer and remain the good name of its Company. Other than that, Rolex Company also cautious on its design for every product example what meaning or message want to tell the wearer, or how attractiveness on the customer and probably create a new function technology. 5.0 implementation and strategies 5.1 Marketing strategy The marketing goals of the company are increase awareness of your products and services and increase sales by 150% for next few months. Besides that, the company could use the 5Ps of marketing to achieve its goal. There are product, price, promotion, place and people. After that, the company will test ideas by doing research. The company could done its research through personal interview, survey, e-mail and telephone. 5.2 Pricing Strategy In a nutshell, the Rolex Company could work on value-based pricing structure. Rolex Company will determine the price or value that their consumers willing to buy it. 5.3 Promotion Strategy There are a few ways to promote the company and its products such as advertising, sales promotion and public relation. Those ways able to present information make it clearly to consumers. Furthermore, those ways also able to increase demand and differentiate the products. The company could use advertising as their main components of promotion. Advertising able to spread and present information to people from all strata. The company uses the informative advertising to introducing the new product. Moreover, its objective are telling the market about the new product and building company image. 5.4 Distribution Patterns The company initial focus will be in the China Guang Dong market. There are huge populations and demand strong in China. Such a case, the interest for particular brands is stronger than others in some areas. Omega and Longines got the top two positions in most Chinese provinces. Besides that, the people who live in Guang Dong have preference for Rolex. 5.5 Marketing Program The company could hold the program that retain existing customers and customer retention program. So that, this program able to encourage consumers loyalty and build a strong connection with consumers. This program will uses those social networking to communicate with existing customer and keep updating the information to consumers. 6.0 Web Plan Summary Nowadays, Internet has played an important role in the business. Websites became a dynamic marketing tool for sales. Websites have the ability to build the connection with customers, connection with market partner and connection with the world around us. 6.1 Website Marketing Strategy The use of E-business in Rolex Company. There are intranet, extranets and internet in E-business. Rolex Company creates intranets to help employees able to communicate and to access the information found in the company computers. Furthermore, company should set up the extranet with their supplier to enable information exchange, payments, transactions and orders. The E-commerce able to provide buyers access to comparative information, competitors, products and information about company. Besides that, company could create a marketspaces to offer buyers their products and services online. By using E-marketing, company can communicate about, sell product and services and promote their product over the internet. Company could create or design an attractive website to attract consumer. Creating a website is one thing; getting people to visit the site is another (Marketing an Introduction sixth edition 2003 p99). The important key is to create a good and enough value to get consumers to come to the site , stick around the site and come back again.

The concept of Work-Life Balance

The concept of Work-Life Balance Introduction The concept of Work Life Balance has always existed, it just wasn’t until recently that experts put a name to it. Employment has been traditionally thought of the means to which you support your personal life, with Work Life Balance principles employers can now gain competitive advantage from creating a more symbiotic relationship with a persons home and work. This allows for lower stress in the work place and greater enjoyment in the home. The results of this are increased performance in the work place and great repertoire for marketing to new employers. As this is difficult to establish in any industry and this is very true with recruitment agencies. The following is breakdown of the Work Life Balance principles along with a company analysis of the Irish Recruitment company CPL. Work Life Balance The major concept of Work Life Balance in employment is that the employer gives the employee the ability to handle their responsibilities in and out of work while generating self worth. This can be done by a multitude of ways: Flexibility Although hard in many industries the company’s structure should enable an employee to work flexible times so that they can satisfy their out of work obligations. This can include anything from leaving early to pick up their children from school to being allowed to work via the Internet when the employee is required to handle home problems like construction work. The requirement of this is simple as the balance of work and life is not something that you can attach an actual number to. Certain weeks your personal life will require more time and other weeks your professional life will need a greater investment, with flexibility in the work place and home you can ensure neither will be neglected.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Achievement As this is a balance between life and work an employee must have the ability to succeed in their profession. The employee needs to be able to succeed in and out of work to achieve this. The structure of the person’s professional life needs to allow for progression in accordance to performance. Through this the person can truly shape their own destiny generating self worth and in conjunction with other work life balance concepts they will be able achieve in home life as well. Enjoyment There are many employees who can be happy in any situation as long as they view it accordingly. Enjoying life is something that everyone can do and is integral to the work life balance. A person must be able to work in a setting that they can not only achieve but also enjoy their success. Tied in with the concept of flexibility a person needs to understand that in order to do well in work you need to be enjoying work and life. A happy person will be able to perform better through increased energy and drive which helps the organization maintain their competitive advantage. â€Å"Conceptually the idea of Work Life Balance seems relatively simple. If you can maintain flexibility, achieve well and enjoy life you can add value to your life† (Holden and Renshaw, 2004, pg 91). This system gets complicated as employers try to help everyone who has similar responsibilities outside of work which creates a strain on the whole performance. The balance itself is there to support the employees so that they support the firm, symbiotic relationships like this are always fragile from their codependence and true balance is near impossible to maintain in certain industries. Recruitment is one of those hard industries. Advantages The main advantage occurring from Work Life Balance policies in an organization is the improved performance from your employees. It has been proven that an employee who has the flexibility in their job to handle their personal lives will produce the following: 1. Higher quality work 2. Less missed time 3. More employer loyalty 4. An overall more enjoyable workplace as all employees are achieving and enjoying 5. More innovative ideas as employees care about their job 6. Strong recruitment marketing for future employees which increase the talent pool This all results in a greater competitive advantage for the firm which will enable them to reach their own goals (Holden and Renshaw, 2004). Irish Recruitment Industry Ireland’s economy is booming but is also in close proximity to the powerful pound of the UK. This has resulted in a very cutthroat recruitment industry where people vie for coveted positions. The result of this has been a large hindrance for employees ability to manage their Work Life balance. Several forces are the result of this trend. Company example- CPL Background Information CPL was founded in 1989 to capitalize on the strengthening information technology industry in Ireland. The founded, Anne Heraty worked as a self employed recruiter until she managed to gain enough clients to hire more and expand. The company went public in 1999 for added investor support to promote their current expansion trends. From there the company has grown to employing over 2,750 temporary staff at any one point and being the largest recruitment company in Ireland. Current actions to promote work life balance Educational Policy Promoting greater opportunities within the work place, CPL has used a very flexible educational policy to promote a work life balance. Within their scheme they are willing to pay for an employees education as long as it is something that will benefit the firm. On top of this any employee currently studying receives five extra days of holiday on top of their regular annual leave to further encourage self improvement.   Being an employee with them means that you are entitled to any number of their educational schemes including: 1. Conflict Management- where they learn about how to deal with problems with other employees, clients or suppliers 2. 5 minute manager- learn general management skills 3. Business strategy- learn basic competitive strategy principles 4. Any education- any external education can be funded by CPL and given the extra holiday time. Leave Policies CPL strives to ensure that large leave requirements are handled as fairly as possible. They are ranked in the top 25 companies in Ireland to work for and one of their main strengths is the benefits they give their employees for certain personal life requirements. This includes paid leave for pregnancy, marriage, family tragedy, illness. Along with this they also give guaranteed job placement after these leaves should the employees return as added incentive. Problems Personal Performance Recruiters work under a single company name but the main bulk of their wages is dependent on personal performance. A recruiter normally is required to establish new clients for the firm and they are paid in accordance to the amount of employees they place. Within this the recruiters all have their own team of temporary employees in which they find work for from the client field. Being paid in accordance to these principles makes it very difficult for employees to operate within a Work Life Balance as they are required to work longer hours to earn more money as well as constantly recruit new talent to further their goals. Flexible hours in this situation are near impossible to do as CPL expects their recruiters to perform for the client as well as any time taken off directly affects your wages. This is slightly different for the placed temporary employees but they still are required to perform exceptionally well in each job they take to ensure that they will be given another. The jobs they take are normally to cover someone who needed leave for personal responsibilities or to handle increased work load, either one the employers expect the worker to fill in the gaps and take little to no time off for themselves. Personal performance standards do not just hurt the required working hours for the employee but also takes away from the job enjoyment. Trying to find new clients can sometimes place the recruiters into direct competition with each other that increases the overall stress in the work place. This leaves room for professional achievement but little for personal enjoyment which is detrimental to the balance. Client Orientated hours- Not work load orientated The recruiters and temporary workers both are required to adhere to the volume of jobs available instead of a standard work load. CPL employees do not know when the demand for their services will increase or decrease and neither does CPL management, what this ends in is you are required to work around your client’s needs. Working around the needs of your client disables your ability to take flexible hours for your self as if CPL cannot handle the clients needs when they need it then they will just go to the next recruiter. Not having a standard amount of work to complete in the course of the day automatically hinders the employees Work Life Balance. Having low volume of work does not mean that the employee can take time off for personal reasons as that may not be required at the time. For a person to establish work life balance they need to have both flexible. Cutthroat industry standards The recruitment industry is extremely competitive as they all strive for the same competitive advantages. The cost of the temp employees is dictate by the job not by the standard at which the temp agency operates. That means all recruiters are trying to operate on the highest quality to ensure they maintain high volume performance. Having an entire industry based around this means everyone needs to be fighting for their own positions or they will lose contractors and clients. Recruiters are expected to work those extra hours in order to produce results and increase client relationships for future work. CPL is an industry leader in Ireland for these reasons which once again gives strong opportunities for employees to achieve and enjoy their professional life but difficult for the flexibility requirement in their personal life. Volume orientated performance A recruiter is paid based on the amount of employees they place in jobs. The nature of this payment means right away that in order to succeed the recruiter will be required to sacrifice more time. Work Life Balance in this situation cannot exist as for the employee to achieve and enjoy one, they must sacrifice the other. End Result Work Life Balance in the recruitment industry is near impossible to maintain. Employees are required to work around the requirements of the clients instead of what is set forth by the company. On top of this employees also are paid in accordance to the volume of service they provide with a requirement to continue to produce high quality. This results in a system which requires the employees to achieve only within the company and is forced to constantly be on call for client requirements. This makes it very difficult for employees to establish a solid Work Life Balance as all their professional achievement is based on catering to the job first. Recommendations Remote Working As recruiters are basically operating as small businesses on their own within CPL, they should have the option of working from home if required. Company calling cards and remote internet access will allow the recruiter to stay in touch with clients and employees at all times to handle any problems should they arise. Although this should not be the norm, it will allow for employees to establish a more balance life outside of work so that they can lower stress and perform better within the job. Client Contacts As the normal case for recruitment agencies is that each recruiter has their own contractor squad and own set of repeat clients it would be very effective to the Work Life Balance for recruiters to stop working on a personal performance standard and focused more on their ability to perform as a team. By having key contacts for a client but not necessarily only one contact can enable for some flexibility in the work place along with a more diverse employee pool to satisfy the client needs. This also helps with increasing the enjoyment and achievement within the organization as employees are now working towards a great good together instead of being in competition with each other. Cross Training CPL had it right by offering educational programs for their employees. Educating the employees allows for them to not only be happier in the job but also gives them opportunities to stretch out into new fields which can be very fulfilling. Within this they should try and institute cross training practices to create an internal structure in the organization that can support many stresses. Having employees who can cover for each other will create a sense of unity along with enabling people who have other responsibilities to handle those as well. These concepts are key to the Work Life Balance. Employee Services CPL is a large enough organization that they should look into having services which can help support employees personal lives. Several example services to support the employees Work Life Balance are as follows: 1. Day care center 2. Dog walking service 3. Activity days for employees 4. Career counseling 5. Benefit packages Implementation Plan Remote working is something that can be started right away as it only requires minimal IT servicing to set up a remote portal. Calling cards or company mobiles can also be purchased and given out with little work. The cross training program can fall under the current policies that they have for education but will require an analysis of current operations to see what training will be required. Employee services will require a longer implementation period as the needs and plausibility of each service will need to be accessed then the resources will need to be found in order to create the required packages. Conclusion Work Life Balance is hard to be developed in industry which is highly competitive and based on personal performance. An employee cannot establish a balance as there is a teeter totter effect occurring with work performance. For an employee to succeed within a recruitment agency, they need skill but they also need to invest time. Recruiters them selves see a direct comparison to the amount of time they spend in a job and how much they earn while the contractors need to commit large amounts of time to a job where they cannot satisfy any other personal responsibilities as the client is paying for stability. As a company within recruitment CPL is trying to help establish this balance but their current situation makes it hard for them to be a front runner on these ideals. CPL can institute policies which will help alleviate the strain on an employees balance but it will always be difficult to establish equilibrium as per the industry standards. Bibliography Holden, Robert and Renshaw, Ben. Balancing Life and Work Dorling Kindersley, 2004. â€Å"CPL homepage† http://www.cpl.ie   update March 2005. Accessed April 16th 2005. â€Å"CIPD- The human resources development website† http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/wrkgtime/leave updated August 17 2004. Accessed 16th April 2005.

EMMA,(Jane Austen) Miss Bates character analysis Essay -- essays resea

In the novel Emma, the author, Jane Austen, uses many different techniques to characterize Miss Bates as a woman with no intellect, but a very kind heart. Miss Bates in a humorous character who is loved and loving.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Austen’s diction is one such technique used to characterize Miss Bates. Miss Bates is a â€Å"contented† old woman with certain â€Å"cheerfulness† to her nature. Miss Bates always has good intentions and is always a happy, joyful woman. Her good will towards others makes her such a popular woman even though she has no husband and no physical beauty. Miss Bates had a splendid â€Å"simplicity† about her, and everyone in the town of Highbury enjoyed her â€Å"grateful† spirit. Miss Bates appreciates the small things in life, and never receives any satisfaction from fancy, frilly things. She likes to keep life simple and she is appreciative of every simple gesture bestowed upon her. Miss Bates very much enjoys the companionship of her friends and neighbours more than anything in the world. Miss Bates seems to most people in the town to be a â€Å"silly† old woman who was quite â€Å"poor†, but has many blessings in he r life. Not only does Miss Bates have her friends, she also has her mother and a wonderful home that wants for nothing. Miss Bates has a amiable personality that has helped her to become a popular woman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jane Austen’s detail allows the reader to see another apparent character trait in Miss Bates, her lack of intelligence. ...

Our Explotation of Technology :: Sociology Essays Research Papers

Our Explotation of Technology Human technology is developed to serve a purpose and this reason often is dependent on what needs a particular society has. In the case of war and in other aspects of culture, technology is developed for a particular reason, such as to defeat the declared enemy. This connection serves to influence the type of inventions developed. Ehrlich notes that in World War II during the battle at Midway Island in 1942, there was a difference in capabilities between the Americans and the Japanese. While it would be apparent that there was a direct correlation between the readiness of resources and success in battle this connection turned out not to be true. In reality, planning, expertise, and chance were more of a determinant (Ehrlich, 2000). This result shows that technical knowledge is not sufficient to be successful but usage of available resources is necessary to ensure gains. This combination underscores the need for culture to move technology forward. A new invention without cultural demand would not serve much benefit since it would not be used to improve society. However, a cultural need can lead to the development of an invention since the demand moves the technology to an outcome. Trade provides a primary method of connecting technology to the world. Initially trade was exchanged as items of barter. Cattle, shells, crops, salt, and other items served as a means of providing a fair exchange of goods between parties. The invention of currency has much to do with the needs of trade. It is impractical to ferry a heard a cattle to a place of sale in order to buy the good. However money is more portable than livestock and many other items of barter and helped ease the trade process (Ehrlich, 2000). The importance of trade to culture led to a streamlined process with the invention of currency. While items of barter have value that is tangible, such as food produced by crops, modern currency is only valued by the culture since a government body guarantees it. As a result of the governmental backing, currency can be used a meaningful method of exchanging value. Money that does not contain precious metals is simply a symbolic way of representing value. A culture recogni zes the currency as representing value and can be used as an effective accounting system for trade. Additionally, the influence from the cultural value of trade translates into placing less significance on the intrinsic value of the currency itself and instead considers what convenience the technology can provide to improve trade.

Vaclav Havel: Into the Heart of a Passionate Writer

Writers are a  very passionate group of people. Their identities are shaped and formed through their written words. Their pens, combined with wit, conceive literary works that brighten the stage, screen, book or any other reading material, and influence a great audience. Inspiration is taken from different sources, and choices are varied. Sometimes, too, their tool is used to create literary bombs that are more explosive than physical weapons combined.Vaclav Havel, â€Å"a playwright, human rights activist and former Czech President†, is one influential example of this group. To his countrymen and admirers, he is a notable hero as he was able to shake his nation – former Czechoslovakia [and present Czech Republic] –  to rise up and take action against the evils of society.  He belonged to a wealthy family, who was forced to give up their belongings during Communist rule. This didn't stop him, however, in furthering his studies though he was deprived of his supposed privileges – even banned from pursuing formal university education. This turning point gave him the opportunity to discover the world of literature and enhance his artistry using his country's situation as theme in most of his works.Various adjectives may be used to describe him: radical, nonconformist, leftist. But more so, he can be regarded as a very passionate man in his field. As Matt Welch would describe him, â€Å"He's a fiction writer whose engagement with the world led him to master the nonfiction political essay.† This, he would later prove useful as when chaos threatened to ruin his country. The collection of his writings displays his unmatched creativity at targeting his country's enemies and defending the rights of his fellowmen.History, Arts & PoliticsFormer Czechoslovakia has a rich history to be told, like similar countries that experienced invasion, war and political crisis. That is why politics and the Arts are deeply rooted in the lives and history of Czechs.  During the transition periods from Communism to Social Reformation to Soviet Rule to Reformation, the Arts played a vital role in metaphorically criticizing the system when freedom of expression and direct address were restricted. Czech writers used their skill to relay their country's grievances to a gathered crowd and even to a few small, silent groups.Havel, having mastered the art of writing as a playwright, extended his talent to writing essays and delivering speeches to address the growing plight of his fellowmen during those times. Examples of his most famous works like â€Å"The Garden Party, Temptation, and The Increased Difficulty of Concentration were long banned in his homeland†. He spent years  in and out of prison because of his open criticisms against dictatorship and fighting for what he believed in. Even for battling personal wars and physical health conditions that nearly killed him, he never failed at implementing his cause.He would often emphasize through his writings and speeches the need to use common sense in governing, emphasizing his total dislike of the â€Å"totalitarian system† and â€Å"fake ideologies†. He wowed the silent and fearful crowd by his straightforwardness and determination in delivering the message across. The contemporary world became his refuge while deeply focusing on the growing need for change, and attacking the system and its allies.  His open letter to â€Å"Gustav Husak, former Czechoslovakia dictator† – denouncing his way of governance and the effect against the Czech people- is one admirable feat. It stirred the uprising that eventually freed his country, thereby eradicating the injustice that Communism brought and successfully owning their long-deprived freedoms at last.The â€Å"Velvet Revolution† started. When the rock group â€Å"The Plastic People of the Universe† were banned and arrested for doing underground performances, Havel co-founded â€Å"Charter 77†, a human rights organization defending those violated which was subsequently supported by the formation of other human rights organizations.Musicians, writers and filmmakers created a light mood out of the dreary situation by organizing theater performances. It resulted to the â€Å"Prague Spring†, which opened opportunities for artists to inform and involve the world of their situation to which the world responded accordingly. This, in turn, led to the stoppage of further performances and exile of those gifted individuals. But due to their boldness and the strong support of the Czech people, a series of groundbreaking events happened that eventually weakened the government.Havel's written and verbal denunciations were always noticed and observed – reason that he had to pay for by serving prison terms and torture. It still remains a wonder, though, why he wasn't executed when some of the other reformists were â€Å"purged† by the government. He is just lucky indeed to be alive and continue his mission.His entry to politics was also bittersweet. He had critics, mostly from those exiled during the â€Å"Stalinist-style† governance who were his former counterparts. He immediately shared his platforms, which focused on interaction and involvement, upon assuming the presidential seat. He coined the term â€Å"nonpolitical politics† to highlight his philosophy of leadership with heart and soul, rather than plain implementation of rules. His rule led to gradual and drastic reforms combined. These actions, though, led to some of his former friends calling him a traitor and masked social ally; but, he remained steadfast in his beliefs. Reflections of these events in his life were written in his â€Å"Summer Meditations†. It was his passage to discuss his own conflicts with the world, while helping build a better society.Much was said for and against him, but even for the many negative comment s, his positive actions outshone. His independent attitude led to a very colorful and exciting life that he was proud of – and which, also colored his country and fellow men's once hopeless lives.Modern Czech Theatre and Present Czech RepublicThe Czech Theatre as well as the Czech Republic will not be what it is now had it not been for the efforts of Havel and a few others. We can say that Czechs, who haven't experienced the bitter past of their country but have heard about it, can say nothing but praise to the people who led them to democracy.  Freedoms are not deprived anymore, thanks to the â€Å"dramatic political changes† that shaped their country. Now, Czechs can sit back and relax while listening to music or watching shows that depict a freer expression of the artists involved – without fear of prosecution or unjust torture.The Arts have graced the stage throughout their history, but the sweetest result is the present situation where everyone can join a nd express their thoughts without fear. Many talented individuals have sprung up following Havel and his counterparts' footsteps. The international scene is now one of their channels in showcasing their gifts. The remaining group of the past, that were once commanded to stop, is proud of the fruits of their labor.  Nobody can't help observe their situation and lifestyle today without involving politics and the arts, which formed their identity as a nation. Their nation and culture was built on firm foundation strengthened throughout the years that it was under colonial rule.Havel may just be one trigger that sparked the gradual evolution of literature and politics. He could have chosen to stay mum and be a puppet to the system, but his desire to have a free Czechoslovakia and to be a free man prevailed, despite fear of being prosecuted and sentenced.  For most, he may be legendary. To some, downright crazy. But overall, he is one big influence who helped give breathing space for his fellow Czechs while allowing some for himself. Today, he continues to inspire, through his life story and works,   a number of people who look up to him in awe, wondering how he was able to put his act together and do something quite impossible and fearful at first thought, but possible if one is really determined at achieving it.And as a passionate writer with compassion to his homeland, he was able to use his talent to give the greatest gift his country long deserved – freedom – which is made sweeter by the long journey it has undergone before actually owning it.Works Citedâ€Å"Czech Republic Today†. The World Book Encyclopedia of People and Places. 2000.â€Å"Havel, Vaclav†. Academic American Encyclopedia. 15th ed. 1994.Welch, Matt. â€Å"Velvet President: Why Vaclav Havel is Our George Orwell and More?† Mar 2003.Reason Online: Free Minds and Free Markets.12 January 2008. .

Free Will Philosophy Essay

I strongly accept that W. T. Stace is correct while arguing for the visual modality of soft determinism, also known as compatibilism. Stace believes in compatibilism, which states that determinism is true, but shrive impart still does exist. He puts both berths unitedly by studying the definition of large-minded leave behind. Stace asks, How can any cardinal be punished or rewarded for his or her actions if they have no book over their actions? That statement seemed extremely convincing to me because both dHolbach and Chisholm supported one side of the argument.dHolbach and Chisholm argued that we are any strictly determined by the laws of personality and physics or that we are non determined, rather being we have the origin to do as we choose. Stace on the opposite hand, put both positions together and make them work together. He explained that the laws of nature and physics do have an impact on our choices, but we do have the dexterity to choose what we want to c hoose when making a decision.Outside forces may turn on on our decision, but we are the ones accountable for choosing what we want to choose. He persuasively defends his view of soft determinism by explaining the definition of cede will. He states, In order for one to define free will, one essential look into how the phrase is commonly used. The substance a philosopher interprets free will is antithetical than the way a common person will do so.Stace defines free acts as acts that are directly caused by a persons internal thoughts or desires coming directly from the person. Not free acts are those that have push throughside forces force a person to do something a certain way such as a threat or harm. This was actually different from what other philosophers have express in the past. By providing examples of free will, Stace points out that free will clearly does exist. It wouldnt make sense for free will not to exist since it is compatible with determinism.

Driving force in the lives of many people Essay

Nowadays philistinism is a driving constrict in the lives of more than quite a little, motivating them to their givements as many raft argue. Although, it is considered that humans argon controlled by their own avarice, I believe that people are simply move to carry through by psycheal satisfaction. As misanthropical as I am, I do not think that m iodiney and fame are a stimulus to people. Rather they fulfil their goals for own(prenominal) and emotion gain, not physical. When late learning the topic of motivation in my Psychology class, we discussed what the main driving force is for a person. Though there are many theories arguing the issue, a person can be mostly capacitance when fulfilling a goal for their own personal satisfaction, not for a physical return.When this subject, I also learned that ones happiness and self-esteem are one of the major aspects of being a well-adjusted person. Maslows hierarchy of needs includes mental and emotional needs as the high est priority. With this I can conclude that those who sieve to achieve goals do it for their own bliss. Money and fame whitethorn seem worry the a inspiration come true , still like it is always said, gold cant buy you happiness. There are countless numbers of wealthy people and celebrities who live lavish lives that anyone else would die to have, but they are as miserable and nonsocial as one can be. I find it beautiful that in immediatelys society people strive to pursue their own interests without having the end solving of cash leading their decisions.There is a countless number of underprivileged, even lamentable artists, journalists, musicians, writers, etc. that enjoy their life fully, light up every day to go to a job they simply love. Thus, money and fame can never be a satisfying reward without happiness. All in all, in my opinion, people are motivated to achieve by personal satisfaction rather than a physical reward such as money or fame. I consider that content ment is more important than anything to a human being, because fulfilling something for money or fame can lead to disappointment, thereof straining ones emotional needs. We ask ourselves what motivates us, to originate up every morning, to go to school, to study, to get around what we wear, to act how we act? We do it essentially to satisfy our needs, no to reward us with a prize, but because it is what we want, what makes us happy, and what pleases us emotionally.