Benefits and Costs to U.S. Adoption of IFRS

There are different ways in which researchers can present the findings of their research to readers or users of the research information. It is important to follow all the rules of research presentation in order for the research information to be clear to all the people who rely on it. This paper aims at analyzing the article on the costs and benefits of US adoption to the IFRS system of accounting by David Albrecht.The aim of this paper is to analyze whether the author has followed the necessary steps and format in presenting the findings on his research, in order to evaluate whether it meets the international standards for presenting research papers. Summary. According to Albrecht (2008), the author carries out a cost benefit analysis in order to evaluate whether the decision to change from GAAP standards to IFRS, by US firms is feasible. He uses the incremental analysis model to come to a conclusion on the subject.He finds that the costs outweigh the benefits, considering that the cost of changing the system in monetary terms is over $3 million. These costs arise from the need to train accountants and conversion costs for companies. The benefits amount to $100 billion, from reduced audit fees. He therefore concludes that the accounting system should not be changed. The paper is written for a general audience judging from the absence of corroborated arguments and evidence from secondary and primary sources, required by experts. Organization. The research paper has not been organized into clearly defined parts.It has been written as one long essay which is not structured into different parts, and this may present problems to readers who are keen to analyze various arguments by the author. A basic research paper should include an abstract, an introduction, the background of the problem, literature review, research methodology and findings, analysis of findings and finally a conclusion and recommendation of the issues discussed (Kothari, 2005). However, in analy zing the article, the author gives a very brief introduction in the first line. He says that US corporations face dilemmas in deciding whether to adapt to the IFRS system or not.He further explains in the second paragraph that this decision should be guided by incremental analysis. This means that the benefits of adapting to the IFRS system should outweigh the costs of the same decision. Research. The author supports his research using the incremental analysis framework. He further uses quotes from the US Securities and Exchange commission. However, he does not quote the source of this information, which makes it difficult to determine the authenticity. Since the research does not cite the references, it is difficult to know the documentation style.It also becomes difficult to know whether the author is paraphrasing quotes from other researchers. Style. The author uses the present tense in writing the article throughout the paper. However, he uses the first person and third person w hen writing different parts of the paper. The first person tense is used when he gives his own opinion, for instance, in the last sentence of the article he says that â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ is the reason why I oppose switching from GAAP to IFRS†. He uses contractions in some parts of the paper, for instance in the eleventh paragraph where the last sentence says â€Å"Let's say another trillion†.The overall grammar used in the article is relatively poor, due to the use of slang, contractions, and short forms among other grammatical mistakes. For instance, in the seventh paragraph, he says â€Å"execs' instead of executives Conclusion. The paper lacks some aspects of research work, most of which have been explained. The author does not also have references to sources which have been used for research. The content can also be said to be biased, since the author does not mention the connection between the GAAP standards and collapse of mortgage crisis in firms like L ehman Brothers.GAAP standards and specifically asset valuation was one of the causal factors of its downfall. However, the article is useful as it can serve as a source of doing further research on the subject. In future, the author should ensure that his research confirms to all aspects of research work. References. Albrecht, D. (2008). Benefits and costs of adoption of IFRS. Retrieved on January 26, 2008 from . Kothari, C. R. (2005). Research Methodology: Techniques & Methods. New York: New Age Publishers.

Should All School Pupils Be Made to Learn at Least One Foreign Language

Should all school pupils be made to learn at least one foreign language? Opinions. 1-it's difficult to support the theory all children should learn a foreign language when most appear to be so woefully inadequate in their native tongue. http://www. helium. com/debates/124525-should-all-school-pupils-be-made-to-learn-at-least-one-foreign-language 2-Foreign languages are important for the individual pupil. Employers value people who are able to speak more than one language. Learning a language will therefore help students get good jobs when they are older.It will also increase their understanding of other cultures. ttp://www. idebate. org/debatabase/topic_details. php? topicID=524 3-it is also important for English-speakers to learn foreign languages, since not everyone speaks English. And it is polite to be able to speak some of another person’s language. Governments should try to promote economic growth. Since languages are important for the economy, governments should make al l young people learn them. http://debatepedia. idebate. org/en/index. php/Debate:_Compulsory_foreign_languages_in_school4-Requiring school pupils to learn at least one foreign language makes them more responsible and capable global citizens. (by Merr Chandler) -Foreign languages are important for the individual pupil. Employers value people who are able to speak more than one language. (http://debatepedia. idebate. org/en/index. php/Debate:_Compulsory_foreign_languages_in_school)FACTS, 1-In today’s world, with instant communication, and widespread travel, we humans come into contact with people of other lands, other cultures, and speaking foreign languages, much more frequently than in former times. ( Carolyn Tytler) 2-A foreign language is important to learn for a few reasons. The first reason as to why it is important to learn is because it gives you a highly

Electronic Dance Music Essay

Electronic dance music (also known as EDM, dance music, club music, or simply dance) is a set of percussive electronic music genres produced primarily for dance-based entertainment environments, such as nightclubs. Dance music is generally produced for use by DJs and is most often presented in the context of a DJ mix.[1] So called â€Å"DJ producers† often perform live sets of their own dance music productions via a live PA.[2][3] In 2010, the acronym â€Å"EDM† was adopted by the American music industry and music press as a buzzword to describe the increasingly commercial US electronic dance music scene.[4][5] Other dance music communities have questioned the idea of EDM as blanket term for all electronic dance music and the term has instead been associated with specific dance sub-genres that became popular in the US, such as electro house and brostep.[6] A notable example of an early form of EDM is the 1977 collaboration between producer Giorgio Moroder and vocalist Donna Summer on the song â€Å"I Feel Love†, a groundbreaking dance/discothà ¨que hit with no traditional instruments.[7] The first era of electronic music comprises the instruments and music created prior to 1945.[8] The new field of information science inspired composers to explore the use of computers to compose and synthesize music, beginning in the 1950s.[9] The development of computer technology historically paralleled the development of the modern electronic music studio and synthesizer, leading to a cross-fertilization of the two fields that greatly benefited electronic music.[10] Birth of club music See also: Hi-NRG, Electronic body music, Euro disco, Synthpop, Italo disco, Electro (music), Garage music (North America), Post-disco and House music Hi-NRG (pronounced â€Å"high energy†)[11] is a style of uptempo disco or electronic dance music that originated in the United States and United Kingdom during the late 1970s. As a music genre, typified by a fast tempo (c. 140 bpm), staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-floor pattern), reverberated â€Å"intense† vocals, â€Å"pulsating† octave basslines, was particularly influential on the electronic dance music scene. Its earliest association was with Italo disco, which incorporated new American electronic sounds of post-disco and hi-NRG. Later, the genre became essential in the evolution of techno, and, to a lesser but important  degree, house music.[11] Artists like Daft Punk, Jus† ice or Calvin Harris represent only a small portion of those artists, coming mostly from a house music and electro-funk background, who gained a renewed interest in hi-NRG.[citation needed] Acid house and Rave See also: Acid house, Techno, Rave and Second Summer of Love Roland TB-303: The bass line synthesizer that was used prominently in acid house. Love Parade 1997 in Berlin. By 1988, house music had exploded in the UK and Germany with acid house becoming increasingly popular.[12] There was also a long-established warehouse party subculture based around the sound system scene. In 1988, the music played at warehouse parties was predominantly house. That same year, the Balearic party vibe associated with Ibiza based DJ Alfredo Fiorito was transported to London, whenDanny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold opened the clubs â€Å"Shoom† and â€Å"Spectrum,† respectively. Both night spots became synonymous with acid house, and it was during this period that the use of MDMA, as a party drug, started to gain prominence. Other important UK clubs at this time included â€Å"Back to Basics† in Leeds, Sheffield’s â€Å"Leadmill† and â€Å"Music Factory,† and in Manchester â€Å"The Haà §ienda,† where Mike Pickering and Graeme Park’s Friday night spot, â€Å"Nude,† was an important testing ground for American u nderground [13] dance music. Acid house party fever escalated in London and Manchester, and it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. MDMA-fueled club goers, faced with 2 A.M. closing hours, sought refuge in the warehouse party scene that ran all night. To escape the attention of the press and the authorities, this after-hours activity quickly went underground. Within a year, however, up to 10,000 people at a time were attending the first commercially organized mass parties, called raves, and a media storm ensued.[14] The success of house and acid house paved the way for Detroit Techno, a style that was initially supported by a handful of house music clubs in Chicago, New York, and Northern England, with Detroit clubs catching up later.[15] According to British DJ Mark Moore it was Derrick May’s†Strings of Life† that eased London  club-goers into acceptance of house, with Moore stating that: â€Å"I was on a mission because most people hated house music and it was all rare groove and hip hop†¦I’d play Strings of Life at the Mud Club and clear the floor. Three weeks later you could see pockets of people come onto the floor, dancing to it and going crazy – and this was without ecstasy.† [16][17] During the 1990s, events such as the Love Parade in Germany attracted large numbers of attendees, but this subsided after the start of the next millennium.[citation needed] One of the popular raves or EDM concert in the United States of America is Electric Daisy Carnival also known as EDC. EDC 2012 rave had over 85,000 people at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[18] EDC at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has 6 stages for the DJ.[19] Not only there have 6 stages, they have amusement rides such as ferris wheel and numerous amounts of roller coasters.[20] Ever since EDC moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, they have been making more ticket sales.[21] EDC sold more than 230,000 tickets.[22] Also, another popular EDM concerts or raves in the United States of America is called Hard Summer.[23] Hard Summer is more an EDM concert that consist hip-hop, reggae, and rock that is infused with EDM style.[23] Los Angeles sold more than 40,000 tickets[23] North American commercialization of EDM Initially, electronic dance music achieved limited popular exposure in America when it was marketed as â€Å"electronica† during the mid to late 1990s.[24] At that time, a wave of electronic music bands from the UK, including The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim and Underworld, had been prematurely associated with an â€Å"American electronica revolution.†[25][26] But, instead of EDM finding wider mainstream success, it was relegated to the margins of the industry.[25] Despite the domestic music media interest in â€Å"electronica† during the latter half of the 1990s, American house and techno producers continued to travel abroad to establish their careers as DJs and producers.[25] By the mid-2000s, a number of factors led to an increased prominence for dance acts in North America that was larger than previously observed. Daft Punk’s performance at the 2006 Coachella Festival—the first in the duo’s Alive 2006/2007 tour, which featured the introduction of a unique pyramid-shaped stage design and lighting rig, influenced what Spindescribed as an â€Å"arms race† for visual  effects in electronic music. Spin also considered the act to be a â€Å"tipping point† for EDM, as the appearance fueled nostalgia of the electronica era, and introduced the duo to a new generation of â€Å"rock kids†.[25] In 2009, French house musician David Guetta began to gain prominence in mainstream pop music after the 2009 release of â€Å"When Love Takes Over† (featuring the vocals of Kelly Rowland), which was internationally popular on both pop and dance music charts. The success of the song led to further collaborations with other pop and hip-hop acts, such asAkon (â€Å"Sexy Bitch†) and The Black Eyed Peas.[27] His collaboration with the latter, â€Å"I Gotta Feelin g†, was a major success for both The Black Eyed Peas and Guetta—in the U.S., the song achieved sales of 249,000 downloads and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number two, behind their previous single â€Å"Boom Boom Pow†.[28] The song eventually reached number 1 on July 30, 2009, and Billboard magazine reported that the song, along with â€Å"Boom Boom Pow,† helped the group maintain a 17-week run at the top of the Hot 100, the longest time period achieved by a single, duo or group.[29] The increased prominence of EDM was also fueled by concerts and festivals, such as Electric Daisy Carnival, that placed an increased emphasis on visual experiences (such as video and lighting effects), fashion (which The Guardian characterized as an evolution from the 1990s â€Å"kandi raver† into â€Å"[a] slick and sexified yet also kitschy-surreal image midway between Venice Beach and Cirque Du Soleil, Alice In Wonderland, Willy Wonka and a Gay Pride parade†), and the DJs themselves, who began to attain celebrity-like statuses. Websites such as YouTube and SoundCloud also helped fuel an increased interest in house and other types of electronic music, such as electro house and dubstep—both of which had also developed a hard rock-influenced sound popularized by producers such as Excision, Knife Party, Rusko and, most prominently, American producer Skrillex.[30][31] In 2011 Spin declared the start of a â€Å"new rave generation,† led by names such as Guetta, Canadian producer Deadmau5, and Skrillex, that was followed by a new wave of mainstream consumers.[25] Elements of EDM also began to emerge in songs by mainstream artists, as collaborations occurred with artists such as Afrojack and Calvin Harris.[25]EDM producers and DJs also began experiencing success playing club shows in U.S. cities such as Las Vegas; at the time, Diplo argued that promoters could generate higher profits from DJs  over other acts, stating that â€Å"a band plays, it’s 45 minutes; DJs can play for four hours. Rock bands—there’s a few headliner dudes that can play 3,000-4,000-capacity venues, but DJs play the same venues, they turn the crowd over two times, people buy drinks all night long at higher prices—it’s a win-win.†[25] Other major acts gaining prominence during this period, such as Avicii and Swedish House Mafia, elected to hold concert tours at major venues such as arenas alongside nightclub appearances; in December 2011, Swedish House Mafia became the first electronic music act to sell out New York City’s Madison Square Garden.[30] In November 2013, Music Trades magazine called EDM the fastest growing genre on the planet.[32] In addition to the growth of EDM through live events and the Internet, radio and television were also credited with helping to increase mainstream attention: analysts noted that sales of Calvin Harris’s â€Å"Feel So Close† and Swedish House Mafia’s â€Å"Don’t You Worry Child† dramatically increased after they began receiving contemporary hit radio airplay.[33] EDM songs and artists have been featured in television commercials and programs, while some artists have produced more pop-oriented songs to make their work more accessible to a mainstream audience.[34] In January 2013, Billboard introduced a new EDM-focused Dance/Electronic Songs chart, tracking the top 50 electronic songs based on sales, radio airplay, club play, and online streaming.[35] Corporate investment in EDM In accordance with the significant growth in mainstream popularity, EDM became increasingly attractive to outside investors, with some comparing it to the dot-com boom of the late-1990s. The beginning of corporate consolidation in the EDM industry began in 2012; especially in terms of live events. In June 2012, media executive Robert F. X. Sillerman (founder of what is now Live Nation) re-launched SFX Entertainment as an EDM-focused conglomerate, and announced his plan to invest US$1 billion for the acquisition of EDM-related properties. His purchases included a number of regional promoters and festivals (including ID&T, organizers of the annual Tomorrowland festival in Belgium), along with two nightclub operators in Miami, U.S., and Beatport, an EDM-oriented online music store.[36][37] The current Live Nation has also made investments into EDM, with its acquisition of Cream Holdings and Hard  Events, and announced a â€Å"creative partnership† with Insomniac Events in 2013;[38] CEO Michael Rapino believed that EDM was the new â€Å"rock ‘n’ roll† of the generation.[39][40][41] Advertisers have also increasingly associated themselves with the EDM industry; for example, alcoholic beverage companies such as Heineken and Anheuser-Busch have maintained marketing relationships with the Ultra Music Festival and SFX, respectively. Heineken also incorporated Dutch producers, such as Armin van Buuren and Tiesto, into their marketing campaigns. Avicii’s manager Ash Pournouri compared the increasingly commercial EDM industry to the transformation and commercialization of hip hop, which occurred in the early 2000s, arguing that the â€Å"corporate world† was beginning to â€Å"catch on† to EDM.[34] iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly Cl ear Channel Communications), the largest commercial U.S. radio conglomerate, launched a dance radio format in Boston on December 20, 2012 under the brand Evolution 101.7. Marketed as the â€Å"first real EDM station† in the United States, the station, which changed its call letters to WEDX, was an extension of the Evolutioninternet radio channel on the company’s iHeartRadio service. The company also hired prominent British DJ and BBC Radio 1 personality Pete Tong to produce content for Evolution.[42] In June 2014, the dance/EDM format of WEDX was dropped in favor of country music; the format, however, was moved to the HD Radio subchannel of a sister station.[43][44][45] The 2014 business report by International Music Summit (IMS), estimates the EDM industry market worth $6.2 billion a year.[46] Criticism of commercial EDM Despite the growing mainstream acceptance of EDM, a number of producers and DJs, including Carl Cox, Steve Lawler, and Markus Schulz, have raised concerns that the perceived over-commercialization of dance music has impacted the â€Å"art† of DJing. Cox sees the â€Å"press-play† approach of a new generation of EDM DJs as not being representative of what he calls the â€Å"DJ ethos†.[30] Writing in Mixmag DJ Tim Sheridan questioned whether or not EDM was responsible for affecting the art of traditional DJing.[47] Sheridan contends that the emergence of â€Å"push-button DJs† who use auto-sync functions and pre-recorded sets featuring â€Å"obvious hits† rather than a diverse selection of music has led to a situation where â€Å"the spectacle, money and the showbiz [had] overtaken all—even notions of honesty.†[47] Some house  producers have openly admitted that â€Å"commercial† EDM required further differentiation and creativity. Avicii (whose 2013 album â€Å"True† featured songs incorporating elements of bluegrass music, such as its lead single â€Å"Wake Me Up†) stated that there was â€Å"no longevity† in the majority of EDM.[48] Deadmau5 has also criticized the homogenizationof EDM, stating that the music he hears â€Å"all sounds the same†Ã¢â‚¬â€he emphasized his diversification into other genres, such as techno and, in 2014, he released a techno song under the moniker â€Å"testpilot† for Richie Hawtin’s label, Plus 8. During the 2014 Ultra Music Festival, Deadmau5 made remarks attacking up and coming EDM artist Martin Garrix, and during his set later in the evening (where he filled in for Avicii, who was unable to attend due to medical issues), he played an edited version of Garrix’s song â€Å"Animals† remixed to the m elody of â€Å"Old McDonald Had a Farm†. Following the performance, Deadmau5 was also criticized on Twitter by fellow electronic musician Tià «sto for â€Å"sarcastically† mixing Avicii’s â€Å"Levels† with his own â€Å"Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff†, asking in response â€Å"How does one play a track sarcastically? â€Å"Am I supposed to sneer while hitting the sync button? Or is that ironic?†[49][50][51][52] In May 2014, the NBC comedy series Saturday Night Live parodied the stereotypes of EDM culture and push-button DJs through a Digital Short entitled â€Å"When Will the Bass Drop?†. The short featured a DJ named Davvincii—who is seen performing a number of unrelated tasks—including playing a computer game, frying eggs, and collecting money rather than actually mixing, and pressing a giant â€Å"BASS† button to cause the heads of attendees to explode.[53][54][55] Terminology The term â€Å"electronic dance music† was used in America as early as 1985,[56] although the term â€Å"dance music† didn’t catch on as a blanket term for the genre(s) until the second half of the 1990s, when it was embraced by the American music industry with their â€Å"Dance† charts (which continue to this day), as well as the consistent use of the term â€Å"dance music† in reference to artists in reviews.[56] In July 1995 Nervous Records and Project X magazine held their first award ceremony titled â€Å"Electronic Dance Music Awards.† [57][58] Writing in The Guardian journalist Simon Reynolds noted that music industry adoption of the term EDM was part of a drive to re-brand â€Å"rave culture† in the USA; an attempt to â€Å"draw line  between today’s EDM and 90s rave†.[59] While â€Å"EDM† has become the common blanket term for dance music genres in the USA, in many parts of Europe and online, in the UK the usage of â€Å"dance music† or â€Å"dance† is more commonly used.[60] What is widely considered to be club music changes over time includes different genres depending on the region and who’s making the reference, and may not always encompass electronic dance music. Similarly, electronic dance music sometimes means different things to different people. Both terms vaguely encompass multiple genres, and sometimes are used as if they were genres themselves. The distinction is that club music is ultimately based on what’s popular, whereas electronic dance music is based on attributes of the music itself.[61] Genres Main article: List of electronic music genres Just as rock, jazz and other musical genres have their own set of sub-genres, so does electronic dance music. Continuing to evolve over the past 30 years dance music has splintered off into numerous sub-genres often defined by their varying tempo (BPM), rhythm, instrumentation used and time period.[62] The broadest categories include house,techno, trance, hardstyle, UK garage, drum & bass, dubstep, progressive, electro, trap and hardcore. Electronic body music (EBM) is a music genre that combines elements of post-industrial music, EDM and synthpunk.[63] It first came to prominence in Belgium and was considered a part of the European New Wave movement.[63] Pure electronic body music is referred to as â€Å"old-school EBM† and should not be confused with aggrotech, dark electro or industrial music.[64] Production Typical tools for EDM production: computer, MIDI keyboard and mixer/sound recorder. In an April 2014 interview with Tony Andrew, the owner and founder of the Funktion-One sound system—considered a foremost model of audio technology and installed in venues such as Berghain, Output and Trouw—Andrew explains the critical importance of bass to dance music: Dance music wouldn’t be so successful without bass. If you think about it, we’ve really only had amplified bass for around 50 years. Big bass is only a couple of generations old. Before the invention of speakers that could project true bass frequencies, humans really only came across bass in hazardous  situations—for example, when thunder struck, or an earthquake shook, or from explosions caused by dynamite or gunpowder. That is probably why it is by far the most adrenaline-inducing frequency that we have. Bass gets humans excited basically. Below 90 or 100 Hz, bass becomes more of a physical thing. It vibrates specific organs. It vibrates our bones. It causes minor molecular rearrangement, and that is what makes it so potent as a force in dance music. The molecular vibration caused by bass is what gives dance music its power. It is what makes dance music so pleasurable to hear through a proper sound system.[65] Andrew also warns that too much bass, as well as too much sound overall, can be harmful and a â€Å"good sound engineer will understand that there is a window between enough sound to give excitement and so much that it is damaging.†[65] Festival goers, celebrate at the AustralianFuture Music Festival (2013) Festivals Electric Zoo Festival 2011 at the Hilltop Arena See also: List of electronic music festivals and List of Electronic dance music festivals Other festivals, including Lollapalooza and Coachella have increased the number of EDM acts represented.[citation needed] Coachella in particular took an adventurous path giving electronic acts a high profile in a time when they were seldom booked alongside rock bands, in the United States at least. Rawley Bornstein, an MTV music and talent programmer, described EDM as â€Å"the new rock and roll,†[66] as has Lollapalooza organizer Perry Ferrell.[67] Ray Waddell, touring editor at Billboard magazine, noted that festival promoters have done an excellent job at branding.[66] Tomorrowland, a popular EDM music festival in Belgium has amassed millions of followers through YouTube and other social media. Tomorrowland broadcast the show live over YouTube and over 16.8 million viewers tuned in. The 20 minute recap video of Tomorrowland in 2012 amassed over 90 million views on YouTube, a testament to the growing popularity of electronic dance music.[68]

(SMHR) - Strategic Management of Human Resources Essay

(SMHR) - Strategic Management of Human Resources - Essay Example Like every strategy, strategic management of human resources is also a strategy for getting some desired result in the organisation. The foundation of strategic human resource management is based on the organisational objectives. Every business organisation has some main objectives and they formulate certain plans and strategies to achieve these organisational objectives. The set organisational objectives lead every firm to the zenith of success. Human resource management and strategic human resource management are two different concepts with some specified relations. They are actually the two sides of the same coin having certain similarities and differences. People usually have the wrong notion that these terms are one and the same. As a result, people tend to use them interchangeably without understanding the real meaning. But there is a clear-cut difference between these two terms in meaning as well as in practice. Strategic human resource management is needed for the high level of competency of any organisation. Human resource management is an inevitable process with in the organisation. The terms strategic human resource management and human resource management can be thoroughly understood from the following analysis. The definitions of these concepts would give an in-depth idea. The term strategic human resource management can be defined as â€Å"the linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in o rder to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that foster innovation, flexibility and competitive advantage† (Sinha 2007). The strategic human resource management is a link in connecting human resources with definite organizational goals and objective for the purpose of enhancing business performance and developing certain culture which suits the requirements of organizations. On the other hand human resource management can be defined as â€Å"the function within an

Risk Management Brochure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Risk Management Brochure - Assignment Example The sum of murders dropped by 19% from forty seven in 2008 (Holmes, 2012). In Colorado Springs, homicide dropped from twenty three in 2008 to nineteen in 2009. In Denver, thirty of the 2009 killings – almost 80% - have been resolved, as stated by Mary Dulacki, the coordinator of records for Denver Police. It is believed that one of the factors that has contributed to the reduction in murders is the improvements in crisis or emergency medical services - doctors and paramedics are nowadays keeping individuals, who were deceasing in the past, alive. An overall view of every reported offence throughout 2014 in Colorado is shown in the above figures. The statistics has been organized to make it simpler to get both the combined total of reported offences plus the total of offences reported for every 100,000 individuals in Colorado, the data is further split into different categories (property crimes and violent crimes) to give more perception to how prevalent offence is in the region (Holmes, 2012). It is clear that the crime rate in Colorado averages 55 percent more than the remainder of Colorado while he crime rate on a nationwide scale is 48 percent more than. Also, it is apparent that the violent crime occurrence in Colorado is 17 percent greater than the average crime rate in the remainder of the country. Similarly, a crime that involves property holds 56 percent greater than the Nationwide’s average. Both figures associate with how secure businesses and residents are while conducting daily activities in Colorado region. Over the years, Colorado has had extreme issues of murder in spite of the actuality that, in several ways, society is getting more secure. The violent crime rates have decreased considerably over the last decade, and the rate of murder in 2004 is far more than that of 2014. Nationally, the murder rate in Colorado is in the center of the pack amongst states of

Multijurisdictional tax final exam (emergency - has limited time) Coursework

Multijurisdictional tax final exam (emergency - has limited time) - Coursework Example Treaty with Country X PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT 1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "permanent establishment" means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on. 2. The term "permanent establishment" includes especially: a) a place of management; b) a branch; c) an office; d) a factory; e) a workshop; and f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry, or any other place of extraction of natural resources. 3. A building site or construction or installation project, or an installation or drilling rig or ship used for the exploration of natural resources, constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts, or the exploration activity continues for more than twelve months. 4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term "permanent establishment" shall be deemed not to include: a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterp rise; b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery; c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise; d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise, or of collecting information, for the enterprise; e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of a preparatory or auxiliary character; f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of the activities mentioned in subparagraphs a) through e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character. MASSACHUSETTS LAW Except as otherwise provided in this section, every business corporation, organized under th e laws of the commonwealth, or exercising its charter or other means of legal authority, or qualified to do business or actually doing business in the commonwealth, or owning or using any part or all of its capital, plant or any other property in the commonwealth, shall pay an income measure tax. A business corporation shall not be subject to the income measure of tax under if it is engaged in the business of selling tangible personal property and taxation of that business corporation under this chapter is precluded by the constitution or laws of the United States, or would be so precluded except for the fact that the business corporation stored tangible personal property in a licensed public storage warehouse, but no portion of any warehouse which is owned or leased by a consignor or consignee of the tangible personal property shall be considered a licensed public warehouse. 1. Does the treaty provision protect Corporation A from taxation by the US? Why or why not? The treaty provi sion protects Corporation A from taxation in the US on multiple fronts. Under regular Massachusetts law, any business that has a de minimis physical presence in the form of any assets, employees, contracted obligations, rented property etc. in Massachusetts is subject to taxation. This clause applies equally well to any foreign corporations doing

Management in the Apple Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management in the Apple Company - Research Paper Example The fanatical loyalty of the Apple brand becomes obvious to an outsider when he/she sees the shoppers sleeping just next to the shop-door in an attempt to be the first one to buy the new Apple item. Apple’s success as a company and the development of liking among the people for the Apple products as well as the whole Apple culture is an outcome of prudent and timely planning. This paper looks into the way management of the Apple Company has dealt with the four management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Management Functions 1. Planning Apple’s successful strategic planning is the most fundamental reason of its success. Apple’s foresightedness is a virtue that helps the Company display excellent and realistic planning. Apple regularly assesses the risks in the planning phase, thinks of a number of ways in which the risk can be mitigated and finally, takes the action that incurs Apple the minimal cost and the offers maximal advantage to t he Company. Challenges that the Apple Company has conventionally planned for include but are not limited to the altering buying attitude of the target customers under effect of the global economy and/or their local economies, and growth in the number of fake and pirated items. Apple has frequently employed branding as a strategy to succeed in the ever-increasing competition. Branding can be defined as a process through which a brand develops association of the consumers with itself so that they would approach the very brand when they need to purchase something. There are few people who decide to purchase an Apple computer, though they surely want to try the less expensive gadgets like iPhone and iPod. Apple provides new users with an opportunity to learn about Apple by selling such gadgets at a significantly lower cost. Hence, Apple plans to use the small gadgets as advertisers to convince the users to buy larger and more expensive Apple products like Apple computers. 2. Organizing In the start, Apple was facing the problem of recognition. The sales staffers have for long been insufficiently informed of the Apple products. In order to tackle this problem, Apple resolved to establish its own stores that would have nothing but all Apple products in them. This enabled Apple not only to give a unique identity to its products amongst the similar computing devices already available in the market, but also make a customer-loyalty move. Consumers are facilitated with the establishment of Apple stores since both the PC and the Mac users can shop together. â€Å"This is a space where Macheads can not only get service but also hang out with others who enjoy Apple products just as much as they do. By creating this space, Apple encourages current and new customers to get excited about what it has to offer† (Inside CRM, 2011). 3. Leading Steve P. Jobs is Apple’s cofounder and the chief executive of the Company. Apple’s success can also be attributed to a significant extent to the exceptional leadership skills of Jobs. Jobs has invested so much energy in taking Apple from the nascent state to the level where it is today that he has taken little care of his own health. Owing to his deteriorating health, Jobs has taken medical leave for the company thrice within a period of ten years. In his absence, Timothy D. Cook used to look after the everyday works in the Apple Company. Most experts are of the view that although Jobs has

The Potential for Alternative Fuels in Transport Essay

The Potential for Alternative Fuels in Transport - Essay Example The various regions of the globe and transportation applications may present different challenges requiring different alternative fuels, but the need to preserve the environment and its resources is universal. (Pelkmans, p.1-3) The Associate Director of the Energy Program at Rice University, Amy Myers Jaffe, argues that the situation is more dangerous now than in 1973 or 1979, as the United States is more dependent on the oil from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries of uncertain geopolitical stability. "Of the Saudi oil, two-thirds goes through one processing plant and two terminals. " (qtd. in EBS, pars. 3-4) The electric vehicles touted after the oil crisis have not yet made it past the significant hurdles of economic and technical factors. Battery technology has not progressed as predicted, and remains the major weakness in electric vehicles. In the last few years, hybrid vehicles have become available, compromising the fuel-efficiency and environmental benefits of electric vehicles without their long-charging times or short range. Last year, over 86,000 hybrid vehicles were sold in the United States. (Barnitt and Eudy, p. 15) "It turns out that if, in 2025, every car and light truck were as efficient as today's hybrid cars and sports utility vehicles, that would displace two Gulf's worth of oil or a sixth of all the oil in the country," says Amory Lovins, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute. (qtd. in EBS, pars. 3-4) The use of alternative fuels, operating within assumptions of current fuel use and oil supplies, are inevitable. (Sperling, DeLuchi and Wang, p. 1) The United States owns only three percent of the world's oil reserves, but consumes 25 percent of the world's oil. There is a concensus that drilling our way to energy independence is not a feasible solution. (EBS, par. 4) The transportation fuel market represents about 53% of the world refinery product demand. If upstream (the fuel used in producing the fuel itself) consumption, asphalt and lubricant use are included, the transportation sector is responsible for about 60%. This share of the oil market is projected to increase in the next decades. The remainder of the oil products are used for heating, the production of plastics and other synthetics, and for the production of electricity. No large-scale substitute displays identical characteristics as oil-based fuels (gasoline and diesel,) and higher quality transport fuel requires highe r energy use in the refining process. The demand for transporation fuel will determine the demand the for crude oil on the whole. There are sufficient oil resources in place for the period up to 2030, provided that sufficient investments and developments are made in oil recovery. (Gielen and Unander, p. 7) The World Energy Outlook 2004 predicts a growth from 77 million barrels per day to 121.3 million barrels per day in 2030, and the OPEC Middle East share in world oil production is predicted to grow from 24.7% to 42.7% by this time. (Gielen and Unander, p. 8) "Until we find a substitute for the internal combustion engine to reduce our dependence on gasoline, we're stuck with imported oil," says Robert Ebel, the Chairman of the Energy Program at the Center for Strategic and

Market Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Market Risk - Essay Example The purpose of risk management is to reduce the impact of different risks related to a purpose. It may be caused by risks posed by the environment, technology, organization or politics. But in financial management, risks can be managed using traded financial instruments and therefore there is a need to understand the importance of fundamentals in risk management. Governor Randal S. Kroszner, speaking before the American Bankers Association, Spring Summit Meeting in Washington, D. C. held on March 11, 2008, spelled out the importance of fundamentals in risk management. He stressed that there are fundamental issues that must be addressed by financial institutions in the light of economic disruptions and points out to sound risk management practices. Governor Kroszner cited an example as one of failures of bank’s policy is risk concentration, and cited an example of â€Å"putting all eggs in one basket†, and that by concentration, he said, â€Å"losses could occur at one time.† Gov. Kroszner noted that as concentration of banks to its functions of basic lending, holding of securities, trading of complex instruments, providing liquidity instruments, engaging in off-balance sheet transactions and other financial activities, banks are treading on a new market where there are information and unidentified data which form hidden risks, and manifests its presence only during times of problems. An example, Gov. Krozzner said, is the market- wide demand for liquidity experienced by US recently. (Governor  Randall S. Kroszner, 2008) In governance, information is the key for control and this lies in the hands of senior management who are entrusted to do this function. Gov. Kroszner stated why information is important link taking into consideration recent events in the US.. He said that when information is kept â€Å"in silo† and not distributed â€Å"vertically and horizontally within firms† a segregation prevents managers from

Watching debate video and answer the questions Movie Review

Watching debate video and answer the questions - Movie Review Example In the wake of this, strategy needs to be devised. Be it spying, or preventive measure or any other scheme manifested towards protecting the citizens and the cities makes up for quite a valid point from the debate. The possible misuse of the authority, the too much infiltration of the security agencies into the private lives and activities is a fact and possible fear that makes up for the point of disagreement. Liberty Security, technology and democracy are few of the factors that are stressed for and possibly feared of being violated in the spying process. The overall debate allowed knowing the level of threats faced by the United States of America and the level of work and research invested into the process of spying in order to prevent any mishap and event from happening. The integrated presence and participation of the American top corridors decision makers is another revealing fact with regard to the spying process and grants being granted

Low risk 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Low risk 3 - Essay Example The Emperor was quite just in the fact that it is not, at least, fair, to blame the other in the faultiness of your own deeds. On the contrary, Marcus Aurelius believed that the person who caused the event was the only, and the only one, reason of the event. Furthermore, it was in the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius that a non-educated individual should not suffer from the lack of knowledge. On the contrary, it is the responsibility of the educated ones to either treat the poor in knowledge one sympathetically, or to help him\her in obtaining the knowledge. Marcus Aurelius was always trying to educate and empower his nation, and such tendencies seem to be coming from the philosophical views of the Emperor. The Stoic thoughts he followed helped his rule to be more liberal and humanistic. At the same time, as I believe, Aurelius’ ideas did not let the Emperor execute his power in its full force – blaming one single individual means missing the influential context of the ext ernal environment formed by the society and the Emperor in particular. Blaming on single individual for a single fault, therefore, means transferring responsibility for the fault from the society and the Emperor onto one person.

Surviving in the Wilderness Essay Example for Free

Surviving in the Wilderness Essay The risk taken when adventuring in the wilderness can be a fatal one if one is unprepared and lacking some basic tools and knowledge. There are three basic points when dealing with wilderness survival. The first being food then shelter then warmth. This paper is going to give details and insight into each of the three points. Food, as anyone would know, is vital to survival. Whenever planning to take an adventure, always pack enough food and water to avoid the stress and inconvenience of looking for sustenance. If one is caught in a situation where food is not readily available here are plenty of sources in the wilderness. Fish is a great food for a balanced diet and is available anywhere in the world, and a good thing to know is that all birds are able to be eaten. Sap from a poplar is sweet and can be eaten raw. If one is at an oceanic wilderness, all seaweed is edible. If one is stranded in the arctic, all vegetation is edible with the exception of mushrooms. Deer is probably the best meat to have in the, wilder- ness though it may be hard to hunt without the proper equipment. When hunting and eating remember fat is a very important part of survival. Blood gives one the nutrition ne need and it can be added into sups and other foods, and is easy to find on most evergreens. A good source of heat and energy is Spruce tea. Spruce tea is easy to make, all one need is spruce needles and hot water. When eating plants, it is 1 2 important to know what plants one are eating to avoid further discomfort. There are certain plants that can kill you within hours. Water is very important especially when in tropical or dry places. Be sure to bring plenty of containers to gather water in. A normal human can only go a few days without water in a dry or tropical place where sweating can lead to dehydration. When looking for drinking water, look for signs of animals (McNab 58). The tracks of animals means the water is relatively safe to drink. A good way to gather water during rain without the proper supplies is to tie a rag or shirt around a branch and let it absorb the water then drink from the shirt (McNab 62). If at sea it is important to remember that salt water does more bad than good so do not drink it. If in an arctic environment, do not eat snow it lowers ones body temperature and costs ones in the long run. Our intake of water should much exceed our output of water. This is important to remember to avoid ehydration. To keep healthy and avoid parasites, always boil water first, if possible. There are a few easy ways to catch animals to eat. A death pit is a large hole in the ground with large or small spears at the bottom. Covered with sticks and brush, it is a hard fall for any animal who crosses over. A great way to catch fish is to find a stream with fish and put rocks or a net in the stream so when the fish swim with the current they are trapped on one side by the rocks or net and the other side by the current. Fish hooks and spears are also easy to make and make fishing a lot easier. Theses are a few hints and pointers so finding and hunting food and water will not be as hard as one would think thought. Warmth is more vital in some places than others. Even though in tropical climates the nights can be very cold and any little thing can help survive. There are a few little 3 things that people can know and use when supplies are running low. Making fire is easy if you have the right supplies if not there are ways to do it. This is the most common way of making a fire with nothing but a knife and what one can find in the woods. First find a stick about a foot high and another stick a little longer. Use a shoe-lace or any thin vine to attach to the longer stick to make it look like a bow. Then try to find a small rock with a notch in the middle. Next find a flat piece of dry wood for the board. Carve a hole in the middle of the board using the knife, but not all the way through. Make the hole big enough to fit the end of the shorter stick into. Have a tray and a bundle of tinder ready to light and a pile of wood for the fire. First loop the string around the center of the first bow and place the shorter bow in the socket of the board. Put the rock on top of the stick and begin to turn the stick with the bow. Add pressure to the socket and speed ones bowing until one has begin to see smoke and ash. Stop and knock the embers into the tray. Then transfer ember into ones nest of kindling and hold the nest tightly and begin to blow until fire. Then place into pile of bigger tinder and continue adding fuel. There is a lot of fuel for fire in the woods. Obviously dry wood is plentiful in the woods most of the time. If in the arctic moss, roots and lichen are also sources of fuel. A general rule of thumb is when gathering wood for a fire gather what one think is enough then triple that. If in an oceanic environment, driftwood makes great fuel. When carrying frail tinder, use a bottle or wallet to keep it dry and safe. Unless one is building a fire to be seen don’t build it too big and waste fuel. Remember to build a fire on a log or rock and not just on plain earth. Patience is important when lighting a fire one may not get it on the first try. Do not waste energy and body heat making a fire in cold weather unless it is absolutely necessary. There are ways to keep warm using things other than fire. Feathers can be used to 4 insulate. Fur and skin can also act as isolation. Oil can be gathered from animal fat to be used as water repellant. When in a cold environment watch for frostnip it is the first sign of frostbite. Be sure to control you sweating because it leads to hypothermia. If these steps are taken you just may survive. The last thing to consider is a shelter. Many think a shelter is hard to make because of the lake of supplies one would have available if stranded in the wilderness. The truth is there are some very easy and effective ones that can be made with little or no supplies at all. When one stranded, first make a shelter because when it is dark it is too late. The easiest is a lean-to. It consists of one diagonal stick five to six feet ong resting on two smaller sticks maybe two and a half forming an A-frame. On this can be laid on palm branches or any kind of covering that can be found n that specific environment. Remember when choosing a spot for a shelter choose one clear of debris and as conspicuous as possible. Also be sure to not choose a place that in the event of a flood will fill with water. A tree shelter is ideal incase of swamp or wetlands. Avoid place where there could be falling rocks or snow. Evergreen boughs can be fashioned to make a mattress. Caves are ideal when trying to escape rain and wind (Angier 128). Make sure ou make a shelter close to where you can get food and water. The mail objective when finding a place to sleep is not comfort but survival. (Angier 135). When choosing a site try to stay away form bushes that will contain troublesome insects. Take advantage of natural made shelter to save precious time and energy. After a long hike or in the morning are not ideal time to make a shelter because fatigue clouds ones judgment. In a emergency keep in a car or boat to avoid the elements. Smaller shelters keep you warmer and take less time to build. If in a arctic environment don’t build snow houses or igloos 5 hey are too complicated architecturally . If in a area with sufficiently deep snow dig a hole to use as a shelter. Be sure to build the snow shelter at the right angle to avoid snow being blown in by the wind. These are some easy ways to build and get the best out of your shelter. If you remember some of the tips and instructions you will do a better job of not just surviving, but thriving in the wilderness. This is to prove that surviving in the wilderness is a lot easier than one might think. It is easier than you think. if you have some simple knowledge and most importantly the will to survive you just might survive the wilderness.

A Reflective Paper On The Importance On Teamwork Nursing Essay

A Reflective Paper On The Importance On Teamwork Nursing Essay What is a team work? Team work can be defined as when actions of individuals are brought together for the purpose of a common goal. Each person in a team puts his efforts to achieve the objectives of large group. Teams make efforts to achieve the success but not necessarily the success is achieved every time. Within a team every member plays a role to achieve the teams objectives. These roles add new and important dimensions to interactions of team members. Bruce Tuckmans team development theory provides a way to tackle the tasks of making a team through the completion of the project. On the part of the team every member played an important role to achieve the success at the end of semester. Our planning (or worrying about) whats happening next gives us little opportunity or inclination to examine what has just passed (Wallace, 2005). Writing from the angle of teacher student and team member relationships, it was appropriate to look then above quote. I believe that many students in a team hesitate to step further for their next action during the proceeding of project. I need to be reflective in my action for the future performance in a team. Groups of employees who have at least some collective tasks and where the team members are authorised to regulate mutually the execution of these collective tasks (Delarue, 2003). Group work is defined by a common task requiring interdependent work and successive or integrative action (Hacker, 1998). Belbin (1981) developed a model on team roles which was extended in Belbins (1993) publication. On the basis of the Belbins model the team performance can be observed when a winning or losing task is set for the team. Each member with assigned role balances the team role in a group and strong representation of all roles is predicted with high performance. I have experienced the same the role of every member in my team. Belbin makes a difference between two terms team role and functional role. It is necessary for a team to keep the optimum balance both in functional roles and team roles. On the other hands the Tuckmans theory describes the four stages of small group development as forming, storming, norming and performing. However a fifth stage of adjourning was added which involves the completion of tasks, termination of roles and dissolution of groups. Belbins theory is helpful to identify the different types of the teams; the characteristics define the work of the four categories. This model explains that during the team developments conflicts and interpersonal issues are found there and team development is dependent on the quality communication and relationship maturity with better performance. In traditional setting this model is useful for many practitioners and team leaders. According to this model all members work at the same place and are engaged in predefined work. This model works at the micro level of teams when new tasks are introduced and people involved have worked together not for long time. Belbin (1981) saying that not a single individual may have all the qualities to accomplish the total corporate role is totally right. An individual in a team is assigned his role of his choice and is avoided to perform the roles which are not in his abilities. Belbin also formulated the concept of roles in a team and their contribution of characteristic personalities and abilities in a team. The success of a team is the result of combination of team roles in it. The roles identified by the Belbin are lesser or greater extent shape the individual roles in a team. I am agreed with these nine roles explained by Belbin; all the nine roles are not necessary to achieve the success. I think that five roles are sufficient to achieve the success as some roles are doubled up for example a specialist role can be performed by a Plants role included in nine roles of Belbin. A project in beginning needs the ideas, concept and contacts so the roles of Plants and Resource are more valued at that oc casion. When the project is completed the roles of implementers and completer have their own place in a team. The Belbin theory allows every role to play a secondary role in a team. The secondary role possesses the second higher skills in results. In this way a role can perform more than one function to become a secondary role player in a team. In this work I want to reflect the situation taken place during the last semester to develop and utilize my personal skills needed to maintain the relationships with other team members. Gibbs (1988) Reflective cycle is used to reflect in an effective way. I am using this model because it is a recognized framework for my reflection. Gibbs (1988) contains six stages to complete the cycle which improves my personal skills continuously and learning for the best practices in future. As Gibbs cycle moves forward the first stage describes the situation where the team members work together, next stage looks the feelings of members about the work and third stage involves the analysis of the feelings of team members. The fourth stage is the analysis to make the sense of experience, 5th stage includes the outcome of team work and the final stage involves the action plan for the situation if it arose again. This kind of reflection generated the practice knowledge which assisted me to work with m y team members and adapt the new situation during the work. The team work generated a sense of satisfaction and developed professional practices. My team work encouraged me to learn from the mistakes and behavior and looked at the perspectives of other members in team. It was important for me to build the team member relationship with other team fellows. I established a mutual understanding and trust with other team members. Bound (1996) has stated that reflection is prompted by its positive states. He gives examples of a completion of a task which was thought impossible previously. I think that I have showed this sort of reflection during my last semester. Team work faces many challenges as the Watson (1995) says that teamwork is not a smooth path individualistic behavior, competitive, personality imbalances and cultural, philosophical, gender differences are all risks. I have seen these negative aspects of teamwork provided me learning opportunities when I was asked to do a differ ently next time. There existed the cultural and language differences among the team members. Therefore many learning activities were organized as a group but the challenges of language and cultural differences resisted producing the expected results. Students in a group varied due to academic levels and many of them were unable to embrace the other cultures. Language differences also impacted our teamwork due to language handling conflicts. The positive points of teamwork are enormous as being a team member I have shared the resources, success glory and burden failure. We have talked on various topics relevant to our project during the last session. I have respected my team members, their ideas and feelings. At the start of the project,t team members agreed upon the team objectives and enabled us to make consensus on the aims, and minimized distraction from other issues. An agenda was prepared before every meeting and circulated to every member of the team during the session. It inc luded the venue, time and duration of the meeting and discussed the supporting materials at the meeting. It was impossible to solve the problems lonely. I inter-acted my team members which was vital for the team success. Our team leader addressed the team dynamics and created a culture of the creativity. I was a big part of my team to remove the barriers to generate the new ideas and encouraged all members and also supported them. Conclusions In this reflective paper the pros and cons of a team member are discussed with perspectives of Belbin and Gibbs theories. One very positive spin-off from this reflective essay is that now I am able to get further insights into processes and deliberations of each team. Overall it has been very learning experience for me and I have welcomed every my team members with different cultures and languages. A comparison of Belbins theory and Tuckmans theory is part of this paper. Belbins model is based upon the team roles while Tuckmans model tells us about team development process. Gibbs Reflective cycle is a role model to work within team and is described with its stages to improve my personal skills for the future work in a team. To keep the team more effective I must provide more opportunities and challenges and help my team members to plan their careers based on the projected organizational needs. By creating an organizational environment, openness and energies I can expect to attract th e vital team members which are major part of the keys to my future. Teamwork allows me to be involved and participate in equal ways, sharing equal ideas. This helps to broaden my thinking to achieve the best outcomes.(Griffith Graduate, 2003).

Tranformational Leadership And Mahatma Ghandi

Tranformational Leadership And Mahatma Ghandi According to Yukl (2010), leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives. To put it simply leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. The leader is the inspiration. He/she is the person in the group that possesses the combination of personality and skills that make others want to follow his/her direction. Gandhi tells us a tale of how a person can make a difference. The movie describes how he changes the perspective of people and creates a revolutionary change. He was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He led the non-violence resistance movement against the British colonial rule in India during the first half of the twentieth century. He pioneered Satyagraha which is defined as the resistance to oppression through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total non-violence. This concept not only helped India gain independence but also inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Known as Mahatma (great soul), Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule, and is widely considered as the father of the nation. His doctrine of non-violent protests, through his weapons of truth and love to achieve political and social progress has been largely influential to leaders across the world. (BBC on Gandhi) The following section deals with several leadership theories that can be used to explain Gandhis leadership style as portrayed in the movie (Gandhi, 1982). TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY According to Bass (1985, 1996), the leader transforms and motivates followers by making them more aware of the importance of task outcomes, inducing them to transcend their own self interest for the sake of the organization or team, and activating their higher order needs. (Yukl, 2010) Transformational leadership increases follower motivation and performance. The extent, to which a leader is transformational, is measured in terms of his influence on the followers. The followers of such a leader feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect for the leader and because of these qualities of the transformational leader are willing to work harder than originally expected. These outcomes occur because the transformational leader offers followers something more than just working for self gain; they provide followers with an inspiring mission and vision, and provide them an identity. The leader creates positive change in the followers and induces people to be aware of what they feel to feel their true needs so strongly, to define their values so meaningfully, that they can be moved to purposeful action. In this leadership style, the leader also enhances the motivation, performance and morale of his follower group. Gandhi demonstrated transformational leadership. His followers were influenced by his drastic method of nonviolent protests and he instilled trust, loyalty, admiration and respect amongst his followers. He also transformed his followers in a literal sense changed them in mind and heart, enlarged vision and clarified purposes to make behaviour congruent with his beliefs, principles and values. Bass (1996) further described four types of transformational leadership behaviour Idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration and inspirational motivation. Types of transformational leadership behaviour in context to the movie Transformational Style Meaning Relation to the movie Idealized influence Arouse strong follower emotions and identification with the leader. Setting an example of courage and dedication, and making self sacrifices to benefit the followers. Gandhi talked about truth and love and preached the same through his non-violence resistance movements such as satyagraha and non-cooperation. Sacrifices like time away from family and long fasting periods for social protest. Intellectual stimulation Behaviour that increases follower awareness of problems and influences followers to view problems from a new perspective. Gandhi held several meetings to talk about the issues faced by people and the importance of following his values to fight for the countrys independence. He also ensured that his beliefs were followed in the manner as he preached. Individualized consideration Involves communicating personal respect to followers by providing support, encouragement and coaching. Gandhi was interactive, spoke to everyone and knew what was happening in their lives. Got involved with everyone and made them feel important by providing support whenever possible. Inspirational motivation Inspiring and empowering followers to enthusiastically accept and pursue challenging goals and missions. Gandhi inspired his followers through his principles and protests for which he was also sent to prison on various occasions. He was determined that his beliefs would finally attain swaraj (independence). Two key effects that transformational leaders achieve are to evoke strong emotions and cause identification of the followers with the leader. Mahatma Gandhi is a great example of a transformational leader because of his contribution not just to his country but to social thinking around the world that inspired many other different world leaders. Gandhi is considered as one of the few individuals who embodied the ideals of a transformational leader. SERVANT LEADERSHIP THEORY Servant leadership is primarily about helping people and fostering a relationship of trust and cooperation. Servant leaders must listen to followers; learn about their needs and aspirations, stand for what is good and right, oppose social injustice and inequality, must respect and appreciate the weak and marginal members of society and also empower followers instead of using power to dominate them. Greenleaf (1977) proposed that service to followers is the primary responsibility of leaders. The servant leader is a servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Another important quality of a servant leader is the ability to accept his people unconditionally. It is creative as it stems from a genuine concern for the people rather than external motivations such as the need for power. It also leads to larger issues as it ultimately leads to a desire to serve the society at large. A servant leader is motivated, not by a desire to control others, but by a desire to help them realize their dignity and power. Gandhi preached non-violence and dedicated his life to the achievement of a better life for the downtrodden. He served as a catalyst and example, providing vision and inspiring hope. He empowered the masses to march to the sea to make salt. In doing so they demonstrated their capacity for self governance and impressed upon history a very powerful image. One of the key qualities of the true servant leader is that he is chosen by the people. When Gandhi was returning to India after the conclusion of the case for which he had gone to South Africa, he was given a farewell party. Over there, he expressed his concerns for the bill that was then before the House of Legislature that sought to deprive Indians of their franchise. Before he quite knew it, he had been elected by the people to stay on and fight for their rights. This was the beginning of his mission to serve humanity Servant leaders transform people and bring out what they themselves dont suspect is in them. Gandhi did the same with the Indian masses during their struggle for independence. Gandhi also stated that service to the poor has been my hearts desire and it has always thrown me amongst the poor and enabled me to identify myself with them. Hence we can say that Gandhi was the quintessential servant leader. Key values of a servant leader with examples from the movie- Integrity Gandhi always communicated in an open and honest way. He only preached what he practiced himself and which were consistent with his values. He admitted and accepted responsibility for mistakes and never attempted to manipulate or deceive people. For example Gandhi swore to speak the truth and advocated others to do the same. Altruism Gandhi was willing to make sacrifices to protect and benefit others and always put the needs of others ahead of his own needs. For instance his hunger strike for activities which he believed were wrong such as riots between Hindus and Muslims, his march to the sea to make salt as he believed the British Empires monopoly of salt was wrong. Humility Gandhi always treated others with respect, avoided status symbols and special privileges and was always modest about his achievements. For illustration he respected his colleagues as well as people from all castes and creed. Despite being proclaimed a leader by the masses he always emphasized that he was not a leader and lived in modesty in a village in India with only the basic essentials required by a human being. He also spun the cloth that he wore which was the khadi. Empathy and healing Gandhi helped others cope with emotional distress, encouraged forgiveness and reconciliation after a conflict and acted as a peacemaker. For example upon his return to India he travelled various regions of the country and met with a lot of villagers who were suppressed by the landlords, given measly compensation and lived in extreme poverty. He heard their stories and provided them courage to protest against the landlords for which he was sent to prison also. Also to act as a peacemaker for the religious tensions within the country he stated that I am a Muslim and a Hindu and a Christian and a Jew and so are all of you. Fairness and justice Gandhi encouraged and supported the fair treatment of people, spoke against unjust and unfair policies and opposed violations of civil rights. For instance when he realized that the laws in South Africa were biased against the Indians, he decided to start a non-violent protest campaign to obtain basic rights for all Indians. He quoted that The function of a civil resistance is to provoke response and we will continue to provoke until they respond or change the law. They are not in control; we are. The government finally relented by recognizing rights for Indians. DEVELOPMENT OF A LEADER Leadership can be learnt unlike the trait theory which states that leaders are born with certain characteristics that make them a leader. The development of Gandhi as a leader explains how people or environments affect the actions of leaders. Gandhi was not a leader by birth, he developed the skills required to be an effective leader. In the movie it is very explicitly clear that Gandhi learnt and developed his leadership skills in South Africa and honed them in India. He had a feeling for his followers, but he developed tools and methods to become an effective leader over time. He had rock solid values from which his activities stemmed, and he had a totally interdependent relation with his followers.

The Character Kevin in Freak the Mighty :: Rodman Philbrick

Many people struggle to be accepted in our world because of disabilities. Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick, is a dramatic and inspiring novel about how two boys, who are â€Å"different†, become friends and unite towards a common cause. Kevin, an eighth grader who lives with his mother Gwen, is one of the two protagonists in this extraordinary novel. Kevin is a very knowledgeable young boy who doesn't let his disability limit his abilities. Kevin uses his imagination to minimize his disability in his every day life. In Preschool Kevin would march around the school with his leg braces and use his imagination to pretend that he was a robot. The fact that he uses his imagination to see his leg braces as â€Å"astounding† is a great example of Kevin using his imagination to minimize his disability. Kevin displays great determination in this novel. Near the beginning of this narrative, Kevin is playing with a mechanical bird and flies it up into a tree. He repeatedly tries to free it from the tree, even though he seems to be getting nowhere. He had his mind set on it, so he wouldn't stop until it was in his hands. This section of the story shows that if Kevin sets a goal for himself, he’ll do almost anything to achieve it. Another example is that when Kevin helps the cops look for Max when he’s reported missing Kevin never gives up looking for Max, even when the cops want to give up. This example is yet another form of great determination. All of these points help indicate that Kevin displays great determination through the novel by Rodman Philbrick. Kevin doesn’t let his disease put a negative effect on his learning.

Intolerance in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn :: essays papers

Intolerance in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The entire plot of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is rooted on intolerance between different social groups. Without prejudice and intolerance The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would not have any of the antagonism or intercourse that makes the recital interesting. The prejudice and intolerance found in the book are the characteristics that make The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a great American Classic. The author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Samuel Langhorn, who is more commonly known by his pen name, Mark Twain. He was born in 1835 with the passing of Haley's comet, and died in 1910 with the passing of Haley's comet. Twain often used prejudice as a building block for the plots of his stories. Twain even said, "The very ink in which history is written is merely fluid prejudice." There are many other instances in which Twain uses prejudice as a foundation for the entertainment of his writings. Even in the opening paragraph of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain states, "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." There were many groups that Twain contrasted in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The interaction of these different social groups is what makes up the main plot of the novel. For the objective of discussion they have been broken down into five main sets of antithetic parties: people with high levels of melanin and people with low levels of melanin, rednecks and scholarly, children and adults, men and women, and finally, the Sheperdson's and the Grangerford's. Whites and African Americans are the main two groups contrasted in the novel. Throughout the novel Twain portrays Caucasians as a more educated group that is higher in society compared to the African Americans portrayed in the novel. The cardinal way that Twain portrays African Americans as obsequious is through the colloquy that he assigns them. Their dialogue is composed of nothing but broken English. One example in the novel is this excerpt from the conversation between Jim the fugitive slave, and Huckleberry about why Jim ran away, where Jim declares, "Well you see, it 'uz dis way. Ole missus-dat's Miss Watson-she pecks on me all de time, en treats me pooty rough, but she awluz said she woudn' sell me down to Orleans." Although this is the phonetic spelling of how some African Americans from the boondocks used to talk, Twain only applied the argot to Blacks

Online Reservation

Introduction of online reservation system Hotel Reservation System is an easy-to-use reservation management software that can manage your hotel or motel, Ideal for reservations, Hotels and guest houses, Affordable – no cost per booking charges, Easy To Use, Track Customers and avoid Double Bookings, Analyze Reservation Patterns,Automatic Calculations, Reporting System, Multi-users and rights managements, RoomTypes Rooms managements and RatePlan managements. Hotel reservation software with a difference. The ideal alternative to manually tracking customers. No longer is there a need to keep mounds of paper or lose customer details. Hotel Reservation is a reservation software system designed to simplify the booking process and allow you to get on with running your business. Enter the computer age and reap the benefits of automating the reservation process. Track customers and more importantly help keep the repeat customers. You can analyze reservation trends and work towards your future needs. Rearrange reservations and allocate rooms without an eraser in sight! Managing repeat customers and recording customer preferences helps you to retain your customers. Make your customers feel unique and special by recording personal notes. Welcome them with their nickname at the door! Following the long term trends is important in your hotel. Hotel Reservation makes this easy with our reporting system. With just one click you can analyze trends. Monitor the performance of your promotions and advertising quickly and easily. Each time you make a reservation, the room status is updated and the customer details are added to your hotel database. Conceptual Framework of the Study Figure1, shows the paradigm of the study that online reservation is must for the INN to gain higher-level of competitiveness among its competutor Input Process Output Provide faster, more Accessible & to lessen failures in room reservation. Gain higher level Competitiveness. INN Service Query Customer Information Inn Reservation Online Reservation System Figure 1. paradigm of the study RBC INN Provide faster, more Accessible & less effort in INN room reservation. http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Online-Reservation-System/632909 http://www. fileguru. com/Hotel-Reservation-System/info http://www. scribd. com/doc/19244137/Online-Hotel-Management-Syst em Online Reservation Introduction of online reservation system Hotel Reservation System is an easy-to-use reservation management software that can manage your hotel or motel, Ideal for reservations, Hotels and guest houses, Affordable – no cost per booking charges, Easy To Use, Track Customers and avoid Double Bookings, Analyze Reservation Patterns,Automatic Calculations, Reporting System, Multi-users and rights managements, RoomTypes Rooms managements and RatePlan managements. Hotel reservation software with a difference. The ideal alternative to manually tracking customers. No longer is there a need to keep mounds of paper or lose customer details. Hotel Reservation is a reservation software system designed to simplify the booking process and allow you to get on with running your business. Enter the computer age and reap the benefits of automating the reservation process. Track customers and more importantly help keep the repeat customers. You can analyze reservation trends and work towards your future needs. Rearrange reservations and allocate rooms without an eraser in sight! Managing repeat customers and recording customer preferences helps you to retain your customers. Make your customers feel unique and special by recording personal notes. Welcome them with their nickname at the door! Following the long term trends is important in your hotel. Hotel Reservation makes this easy with our reporting system. With just one click you can analyze trends. Monitor the performance of your promotions and advertising quickly and easily. Each time you make a reservation, the room status is updated and the customer details are added to your hotel database. Conceptual Framework of the Study Figure1, shows the paradigm of the study that online reservation is must for the INN to gain higher-level of competitiveness among its competutor Input Process Output Provide faster, more Accessible & to lessen failures in room reservation. Gain higher level Competitiveness. INN Service Query Customer Information Inn Reservation Online Reservation System Figure 1. paradigm of the study RBC INN Provide faster, more Accessible & less effort in INN room reservation. http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Online-Reservation-System/632909 http://www. fileguru. com/Hotel-Reservation-System/info http://www. scribd. com/doc/19244137/Online-Hotel-Management-Syst em

Analyses of ‘Thank You M’am’ Essay

‘Thank You M’am’ is a short story which is written by Langston Hughes. The story takes place in the USA, in the street and in the woman house, where we meet Mrs Luella and Roger. In this article I am going to analyse this short story. At first I will summarise its plot, then I will discuss the main theme on it, and comment on the main characters and some literary devices. ‘Thank You M’am’ is about a boy called Roger and a large woman Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones. At eleven o’clock at night, the boy tries to snatch the woman’s pocketbook. But as he grabs the purse behind, the strap brakes, he loses his balance and fall son his back on the sidewalk. Mrs Luella simply turns and kicks him, while he lies down. She shakes roger and commands him to pick up her purse. After having a little talk with him, she decides to take him home to her house by dragging him. She gets him washed and fed. Then he admits that he wants to steal money , so he could by a pair of blue suede shoes. Afterwards they have a conversation about her job. Right before Roger leaves, Mrs Luella gives him ten dollars. Roger wants to say something other than Thank you madam, while he tries to find the right words, she shut the door. The story stretches over a few hours, and it is set in a big city in America, most likely New York according picture’s information on p. 163 and the currency dollars are mention too. I will also say that it is probably in the late 1950s or in the beginning of the 1960s, because this story is from a book which was published in 1963, the suede shoes indicate that it was at that period, since they were very popular then. In my view, the main them of the story is life lessons and mentors. The message is treat others the way you want to be treated. In this story Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones is a mentor; she wants to teach and provides advice in a kind manner that he can learn from his mistakes. She takes the role as his mother ‘you aught o be my s on. I will teach you right from wrong’. They had something in common, she understands him and she actually admits to a stranger that she also did things when she was young, and she is not proud of ‘I have done things, too, which I would never tell you, son-neither tell God, if he did not already know’. The main characters, as we see, are Roger and Mrs Luella Bates Washington. On the first paragraph we get to know Roger, he is obviously not a very large or a strong man, nor very skilled in the art of stealing purses. This depicts his size and inexperience as a criminal. He lives along as we know, when he replays Mrs Luella that he gets nobody home. A dirty boy dressed in blue jeans and tennis shoes. An honest person he answers â€Å"Yes†, when Mrs Luella asks him if he is going to run, and that he needs money to buy a pair of blue suede shoes. He wants to be trusted, when he sits away from the purse (p. 165 the second paragraph). Mrs Luella Bates Washington Jones, we get closer her in the beginning of the story, especially in the first paragraph, when the author gives a description which makes her seems strong, confident and unafraid of the night, not only a large woman. She lives in a flat with other roomers, but we do not know about her family. She works late in a hotel’s beauty shop. Mrs Luella shows the compassion for the boy, she does not take him to the police, even though he attempts her purse. She is presented as an active and dominant character. The story is told by the third person, a person who observes and describes all things happen in the story. We know just what the protagonists say to each other, no one’s thoughts are declared. The author uses non-standard English in the story to get it more living and more reliable. It is a kind of slang that Americans use especially African American. In my point of view, the climax is in the end of the text, when Mrs Luella Bates gives Roger ten dollars. He simply shocks and gets other thoughts about her. He feels guilty for trying to steal her pocketbook, he apologizes ‘Lady, I am sorry’. She cares and feels sorry about him, although she does not know him. She leads him down the hall and opens the door for him, then she says ’God night, behave yourself, boy.’ In the end, I will simply say that this story is relevant nowadays, because some countries still have this problem. Some people steal to satisfy their needs only. So therefore this story is a good example to these people. It teaches how they can fulfil their wishes without stealing.

Information system theory Essay

Information system theory describes about the theoretical knowledge of computer sciences. It is system that process the knowledge related to a particular study. The information system theories effectively contribute in creating, building, compiling, organizing and transferring data into the information to make better results from the research. There are several IT theories that can be used to get good outcomes such as agency theory, game theory, organizational information processing theory and knowledge-based theory of the firm (Lerner, 2004). The data, information and knowledge are quite similar words that are used in the firm. All these words have different meaning due to their use in the IT theories (Nickerson & Zenger, 2004). Data refers to the records that are used to refer the statistical observation and collection of components. Thus, data is the collection of evidence that is used to record for the purpose of firm. On the other hand, information is the process that is used in different forms. Generally, information is considered as the meaningful data that are appropriately converted and managed by the organizational managers with the use of conversion process. It is perceived as potentially signifying something and a process of informing that is used to develop sustainable resources. †¨At the same time, knowledge describes about what someone knows, what they believe etc. Knowledge is the relationship between data and its elements that are collected from the information. Thus, knowledge is proper collection of information that is useful for the organizational purpose to attain competitive advantage and superior performance. In a real world situation, it can be described that when anyone memorizes any information, then it combines the knowledge (Liew, 2007). Knowledge also has useful meaning for the information that is settled in the mind of a human. In computer phrasing, all the application contains stored knowledge that is exercised by applicants. From the list of IT theories, knowledge-based theory of the firm is selected as an IT theory. This theory contains the  most important strategic resource of the firm that is information. Information is the processed data that is converted into the data to use in a firm. The supporter of this theory argued that it is a quite difficult and socially complex theory to sustain competitive advantages and superi or corporate performance from the market (Leonard & Swap, 2005). This theory is based on the heterogeneous knowledge and information of the firm. In this theory, the firm to take strategic actions effectively uses knowledge. Information is gathered by the organization from the organizational people. The data is quite applicable in the knowledge-based theory of firm, because data is the important part of the organizational processes. These data are used by the organization to make identity, policies, routines, documents, systems for the organization and its employees. The data is recorded and reported by the organizational people (Leonard & Swap, 2005). The subordinates provide this data to its superior that is maintained by the top managers. For example, all the firms use the financial and accounting data to take further data. Strategic management is another way that develops and expands the resource-based view of the firm (Levinson, 2007). Thus, it requires the data as well as information to improve the knowledge based on the resources. All three terms are different from each other due to use in the knowledge based management theory. It is because knowledge can be memorized, but data cannot be memorized since it is not properly managed by anyone. The knowledge provides the effe ctive results by applying knowledge-based theory of firm. At the same time, organization uses the information by converting organizational data into information form (Liew, 2007). References 1. Leonard, D. & Swap, W. (2005). The Knowledge Coach. HBS Working Knowledge. Retrieved March 6, 2012 from: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4562.html. 2. Lerner, V.S. (2004). Introduction to information systems theory: concepts, formalism and applications. International Journal of Systems Science archive, 35 (7), 1-10. 3. Levinson, M. (2007). Knowledge Management Definition and Solutions. Retrieved March 6, 2012 from http://www.cio.com/article/print/40343. 4. Liew, A. (2007). Understanding Data, Information, Knowledge And Their Inter-Relationships. Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, 8 (2), 1-8. 5. Nickerson, J.A. & Zenger, T.R. (2004) A Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm: The Problem Solving Perspective. Organization Science 00 (0), 1-16.

Areas of Strategic Plan: Huffman Trucking Essay

Introduction The business continuity plan outlines the processes required to ensure the continuance of business during and after a disaster. The idea is not just to be able to continue business uninterrupted. But to also reestablish the full functions of the business as quickly as possible. Huffman Trucking Strategic Outline Huffman Stakeholders: Everyone affected by the activities of its business. Main Stakeholders: shareholders, management, employee’s, customers, auto parts suppliers, major manufacturers of plastic goods, banks, government, and trade unions, Other Stakeholders: pressure groups, highway drivers, and communities in which Huffman travels and operates their terminals. Mission Statement: â€Å"Since 1936 Huffman’s professional drivers have been delivering more than just on-time freight. Huffman delivers top quality service, safely and efficiently every mile of the way, to the community of the United States of America.† Vision Statement: â€Å"Huffman envisions being the first choice of company’s of America when they look for transportation of freight. In three years Huffman will be the number one freight carrier of the United States government. Proving longevity and efficiency will always be in high demand.† Outline A. Financial 1. Financial Assumptions: Revenue and Expenses a. Operation cost b. Updating hardware and software c. Find a cost saving method to duplicate records for fleet maintenance and enterprise transportation systems. B. Managerial 1. Develop a business plan to define and meet organizations goals. Create a contingency plan that can be taken in case of emergency or disaster (Myers, 2005). 2. Plan for cost savings for contingency plan (Myers, 2005). C. Economic `1. â€Å"Analyze the potential costs and value the anticipated benefits of a proposed programmer, policy or regulatory initiative, and reflect trade-offs inherent in alternatives† (Health & Environment, 2011, par. 1). D. Marketing 1. Advertisement of business products and services 2. Make sure data is accurate and notify customers about plan 3. Make agreement and arrangement for customers to receive deliveries on time. 4. Work to build and maintain effective communication with employees and customers. E. Technological 1. Information technology-based 2. Research and development 3. Emerge technology 4. Internet F. Competition 1. Globalization a. Canada b. Mexico 2. Research and development a. Data collection G. Political/Legal 1. Government. Political variables include policies regarding competition and taxation (FitzRoy & Hulbert, 2005). a. Employment law b. government spending c. regulation of financial markets H. Ethics 1. Huffman should follow widely accepted ethical practices regarding the acquisition of competitor intelligence (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2009). a. Gathering publicly available information 1. court records 2. advertisements 3. annual reports (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2009). 4. trade fairs and shows a. competitor brochures b. listen to competitor discussions I. Crisis management 1. Backup plan. a. computer fallback plan b. prevention program c. incident recovery plan Conclusion With all of the natural disasters, power outages, and terror attacks and a hundred other types of disasters, businesses have to plan for continuance of their business. The Business continuity plan is usually drafted considering the worst case scenario. For example the IT department may maintain all the electronic data at various locations, so in the event of a company shutdown, the critical functions can still be performed. Business continuity has become a growing concern in business. References Allen, S. (2011). How to Do Business with the U.S. Government. Retrieved December 15, 2011 From http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/marketing/ht/government_biz.htm FitzRoy P., & Hulbert, J. (2005). Strategic Management: Creating Value in Turbulent Times. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Health & Environment Linkages Initiative. (2011). Economic Assessment. Retrieved December 18, 2011, from http://www.who.int/heli/economics/en/ Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2009). Strategic Management: Competitiveness And Globalization, Concepts and Cases (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Myers, K. N., (2006). Business Continuity Strategies: Protecting Against Unplanned Disasters (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment Essay

This is a critique of an article published in Chronicle of Higher Education, (v53 n30 pB6 Mar. 30, 2007) on â€Å"Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: a Lesson in the Power of Situation† by Philip G. Zimbardo. This article discusses issues related to how good people can turn bad. SUMMARY In this article, Zimbardo looks at his previous social experiment on physical abuse in prison and discusses the issues related to the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard, the social power of groups, and how people would behave if they were brought into direct confrontation; whether it would turn good people bad. The author discusses his past social experiment on physical abuse in prison that was conducted in the basement of the Stanford Psychology department. PROBLEM SPECIFIED IN THE ARTICLE One of many of studies in psychology, the Stanford Prison Experiment reveals from its usual set point, the extent to which human behavior can be transformed and are readily accepting a dehumanized conception of others. â€Å"Even to readily accepting a dehumanized conception of others, as ‘animals,’ and to accepting spurious rationales for why pain will be good for them,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 4). The Stanford Prison Experiment is compared to the Abu Ghraib situation, and also discussed are the implications of this research to the criminal justice system. The problems specified in the article addresses the social power of groups and as to whether a person  could be influenced to exert power over someone else. The experiment called for twenty-four student participants to act as either a prisoner or a guard in the â€Å"prison† basement,† (Zimbardo, 2007, para 5). After the first day, the guards exercised their powers with increasing authority, forcing the prisoners to do things like making them say abusive things to each other and forcing them to participate in sexual perversion. The experiment was getting out of hand; Zimbardo himself was engrossed in his role. The problem with this experiment was that Zimbardo should have appointed someone with oversight over the whole project, in which could be terminated immediately if things were to go bad. This did not happen. Zimbardo was not only over the experiment, but he played the role of prison superintendent, but nobody to watch over him. STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT COMPARED TO THE ABU GHRAIB SITUATION In the Abu Ghraib situation, U.S. soldiers abused Iraqi prisoners, in which were stripped, and forced to wear bags over their heads, and were sexually humiliated. The guards would laugh and mock the prisoners while taking pictures of them in degrading positions. This abuse is similar to what took place in the Stanford Prison Experiment but in Stanford, the experiment was ended when it became known that the student guards were starting to do this to the student prisoners, unlike that of Abu Ghraib. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA The experiment was to last fourteen days but it was an outsider that made Zimbardo realize that he had gone too far. â€Å"That powerful jolt of reality snapped back into my senses. I agreed that we had gone too far, that whatever was to be learned about situational power was already indelibly etched on our videos, data logs, and minds,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 3). A colleague and fellow psychologist, Christina Maslach came to visit the mock prison and became very upset at what she witnessed. She seen the emotional breakdown of the prisoners, who were â€Å"lined up with bags over their heads, their legs chained, and guards shouting abuses at them while herding them to the toilet, † (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 3). Christina became very upset, and  yelled, â€Å"It is terrible what YOU are doing to those boys,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 4). Zimbardo realized what he had become in his newfound role and put an end to the experiment early on day 6. The criminal-justice system largely ignores situational forces and focuses primarily on individual defendants and their state of mind. Other factors should be considered by the criminal-justice system, such as what made them want to apply physical, psychological, and emotional abuse to the prisoners. AUTHOR’S CONCLUSIONS The author claims that people alone are incapable of criminal culpability. After reviewing the videotapes, Zimbardo argues â€Å"like the horrible behavior brought out by my experiment in good, normal young men, the situation and the system creating it also must share in the responsibility for illegal and immoral behavior,† (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 4). I am in agreement with the author in that the situation and the system creating it must also share in responsibility for illegal and immoral behavior because of the pressures of groupthink. CONCLUSION The Stanford Prison Experiment came about because at that time, social-science research did not have any studies with the direct confrontation of good versus evil against the forces inherent in bad situations. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo wanted to create a situation in a controlled experimental setting with â€Å"a host of variables, such as role-playing, coercive rules, power differentials, anonymity, group dynamics, and dehumanization, (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 1). The author wanted to know who would win if brought into direct confrontation; good people or an evil situation. References Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: a Lesson in the Power of Situation. _The Chronicle of Higher Education_, 53(30). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA161992127&v=2.1&u=oran95108&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w.