Memories are life Essay

â€Å"The only real treasure is in your head. Memories are better than diamonds and nobody can steal them from you† by Rodman Philbrick, The Last Book in the Universe. If we think about what life is made up, we can say that memories build life. We save all the important and happy events that occurred in our lives as well as the most sad and worst moments. It is said that the brain is the most powerful part of humans, but as part of the brain, memory is an essential piece of it. As I mentioned before, memories build life, each day we put on practice what we have learned and live. I believe that in life we don’t have anything secure but our memories, once we die we don’t take anything we have right now. When we remember happy moments we have live, it’s like re-living them again and feeling the joy we felt at the moment. I decided to choose the memory as the topic of my Psychology class essay because from a while ago I started to have issues with my memory. At first I thought it was because of the problems that I was going through at the time, and also preparing for college. Time passed and I still was having trouble with remembering stuff, I came to think it was a hereditary health problem because my dad and grandmother never remember something. I feel frustrated because without a memory is like we never have lived, we constantly live through memories. Remembering what we have gone through and manage to take a positive attitude even if the memory brings us negative feelings. In this essay I will cover specific topics about the memory which is â€Å"the retention of information or experience over time as the result of three key processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval†, according to Laura A. King in  Experience Psychology. Throughout the essay I will discuss the basic memory process, also I will talk about the different stages of memory as well as the different types of memory, along with the explanations of when the memory fails (forgetting). In my opinion these three subjects are very essential part to understand how the memory works and find the explanation of why we forget things, which is my case. But also relate these topics to our daily lives. To begin with, I will explain the process of memory so later on I can discuss the different possibilities of why we forget. The first step in the process of memory is called encoding which is the processing information into memory accordingly to a Sparknotes article, Memory. For instance, we might remember where we ate in the morning even if we didn’t try remembering it but in the contrary it is possible that we are going to be able to remember the material in textbooks we covered during elementary school, high school or even more recent in college. It is stated that in the process of memory encoding, we have to pay attention to the information so we can later recall all the information. In the content of Memory, the second step in memory process is storage, the retention of information over time and how this information is represented in memory (King). In this process is often use the Atkinson-Shiffrin theory that is made up of three separate systems: sensory memory- time frames of a fraction of a second to several seconds, short-term memory- time frames up to 30 seconds and long-term memory- time frames up to life time (King). The third and last step of this course is memory retrieval, the process of information getting out of storage. Likewise, I will explain the first stage of memory called sensory memory or immediate memory. As stated in Experience Psychology, the sensory memory holds information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant, not much longer that a brief time. In this stage of memory the â€Å"five† senses are used to hold the information accurately. In Sensory Memory by Luke Mastin, the stimulus that is detected by our senses has two options, it can either be ignored meaning it would go away at the instance or it can be perceived staying in our memory. As I mentioned before, our senses are being used in the sensory memory stage and have their specific name for example when we perceived the information through our vision it is called  iconic memory also referred as visual sensory memory. The iconic memory holds an image only for about  ¼ of a second. Not only but also, we also have the echoic memory which refers to auditory sensory memory, this function is in charge to hold part of what we listen/hear. For instance, when the professor is dictating a subject, we are trying to write fast so we can hold on all the information given at the moment and not forget what the professor said. Another stage of memory is called the short-term memory (STM), according to a web article Short-Term Memory, of Luke Bastin, the short-term memory is responsible for storing information temporarily and determining if it will be dismissed or transferred on to our third stage called long-term memory. Short-term memory sometimes is associated with working memory, which is a newer concept that the British psychologist Alan Baddeley came up with. Although working memory emphasizes in the brain’s manipulation and how it collects information so we can easily make decisions as well solve problems and mostly understand the information. It said that the working memory is not as passive as the short-term memory but both have limited capacity to retained information. Additionally to this stage, we have the fi nding of George Miller which wrote in his book called The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two. In this book Miller talks about two different situations. The first kind of situation is called absolute judgment which states that a person should correctly differentiate between very similar items such as shades of green and high/low-pitched tones. The second situation states that a person must recall items presented in a sequence, meaning that a person must retain certain number of chunks in their short-term memory. King also mentions that to improve short-term memory we consider two ways of doing it, chunking and rehearsal. According to King, chunking involves grouping or packing information that exceeds the 7  ± 2 memory span into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units. For example, when the professor is dictating a list of things like: cold, water, oxygen, air, rain and snow, we are likely able to recall all words or even better all six words instead of having a list like: S IXFL AGSG REATA MERI CA. When we have a list like that it will be harder to remember it because none of the six chunk words make sense, but if we re-chunk the letters we get â€Å"Six Flags Great America†, and that way we have better chance to remember it. The second way to improve our short-term memory is by  rehearsal, ac tually there are two types of rehearsal, maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal. Maintenance rehearsal is the repeating of things over and over; usually we use this type of rehearsal. In the other hand, we have the elaborative rehearsal which is the organizing, thinking about, and linking new material to existing memories. Continuing with the stages of memory, now I will talk about the third stage which is the long-term memory. In the article, What Is Long-Term Memory? by Kendra Cherry, long-term memory (LTM) refers to the continuing storage of information. In difference of the other two stages of memory, LTM memories can last for a couple of days to as long as many years. LTM is divided into types of memory, declarative (explicit) memory and procedural (implicit) memory. Later on I will explain in detail what are these two types of memory. Now that I have gone through the three stages of memory which are sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory, I will discuss the different types of memory. The different types of memory rely on the long-term memory section, the first type of memory that I will talk about is explicit memory also known as declarative memory. This type of memory â€Å"is the conscious recollection of information, such as specific facts and events and, at least in humans, i nformation that can be verbally communicated† (Tulving 1989, 2000). Some examples when we use our explicit memory is when we try to remember our phone number, writing a research paper or recalling what time and date is our appointment with our doctor. It said that this process type of memory is one of the most used in our daily lives, as we constant remember the tasks that we have to do in our day. In another article by Kendra Cherry called Implicit and Explicit Memory, Two Types of Long-Term Memory, informs us about two major subtypes that falls into the explicit memory. One is called episodic memories which are memories of specific episodes of our life such as our high school graduation, our first date, our senior prom and so on. The second subsystem of explicit memory is the semantic memory; this type of memory is in charge to recall specific factual information like names, ideas, seasons, days of the month, dates, etc. I can easily remember my quienceaà ±era party, it was May 24, 2008, at this exact moment I can recall what was the first thing I did when I woke up that and also what I did before sleeping but there are episodes on that day that I’m not able to remember. Moreover, I will discuss the second type of memory which is  implicit memory. Stated by King, implicit memory is the memory which behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of that experience, in other words things we remember and do without thinking about them. Some examples of our implicit memories are driving a car, typing on a keyboard, brushing our teeth, and singing a familiar song. Within the implicit memory we have three subtypes; the first one is the procedural memory that according to King is a type of implicit memory process that involves memory for skills. The procedural memory process basically is the main base of the implicit memory, since all of us unconsciously do many things throughout the day, like I mentioned before driving a car or simply dress ourselves to go to school, work or wherever we have to go. The other substype of implicit memory is the classical conditioning which involves learning a new behavior via the process of association, it is said that two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response. For instance, phobias are a classical conditioning as the Little Albert Experiment result was. I personally I’m more than afraid to spiders, in other words my phobia is called arachnophobia which can be control and learn to overcome the fear and anxiety it gives me every time I see a spider or even think about a spider. The last subsystem of the implicit memory process is the priming, Kings states that priming is the activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster. Priming it is sometimes called recognition memory; an example of priming is when little kids are learning colors, they associate two things such as apple and color red. To learn the red color they will remember the apple and it w ould be easier for them. Furthermore, I will talk about what I think is the most important part of my essay that is forgetting. As I said at beginning of my essay I have experienced difficulties with my memory, I forget simple things. For instance, in daily bases my mom gives me a message to give my dad or sisters or just asks me to do something for her, I say yes I will do it but later on I totally forget. Before taking this class, I believe that the reason I forget things, it is because I’m distracted at the time and didn’t paid attention so that’s why later I’m not able to remember it. Now that I have taken the class and researched the topic I found reasons of why we forget things, one reason is the retrieval failure, that is the failure process of  accessing stored memories. It is what we do when we have exams; we try to remember what we have learned/study and we just don’t remember anything. Within the retrieval failure we have what is called interference theory, it is the theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other informati on gets in the way of what they want to remember (King). There are two kinds of interference that can be a possible reason of forgetting, are is called proactive and retroactive. In the proactive interference occurs when the current information is lost because it is mixed up with previously learned, similar information. This happens to me when I try to study two different subjects right after another, I get confused about both subjects and sometimes I even stop studying because I’m not able to focus and understand the material. The second type of retroactive interference is when the new information interferes with the old information memories, an example of it is when at jobs we learned a new task but forget older tasks. Moving forward, we have another possible cause of forgetting is called decay theory. In another article by Kendra Cherry, Explanations for Forgetting, Reason Why We Forget, decay theory is a memory trace that is created every time a new theory is formed. The only problem is that over time this trace disappears. The failure to store is also a possible reason that causes us to forget, this is because encoding failures sometimes prevent information from entering long-term memory (Cherry). In conclusion, I believe that one of the most essential part of the brain is our memory. We can have billions of dollars and buy anything we want but at the end the only thing we are taking of us is what we have live (memories). We need memories in our life not just to drive from A place to B place or to get the right answer to pass an exam but to remember who we are and what people we have by our side. To revive all the moments we encounter happiness and even sadness, â€Å"memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose† from the television show The Wonder Year.

Nutritional Requirements of Individuals with Dementia Essay

1.1 Describe how cognitive, functional and emotional changes associated with dementia can affect eating, drinking and nutrition 1.2 Explain how poor nutrition can contribute to an individual’s experience of dementia 1.3 Outline how other health and emotional conditions may affect the nutritional needs of an individual with dementia 1.4 Explain the importance of recognising and meeting an individual’s personal and cultural preferences for food and drink 1.5 Explain why it is important to include a variety of food and drink in the diet of an individual with dementia 2.1 Describe how mealtime cultures and environments can be a barrier to meeting the nutritional needs of an individual with dementia 2.2 Describe how mealtime environments and food presentation can be designed to help an individual to eat and drink 2.3 Describe how a person-centred approach can support an individual, with dementia at different levels of ability to eat and drink Read more:  Essay on Role of Communication With Individuals Who Have Dementia DEM313 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Dementia Care Practice 1.1 Explain why it is important to recognise and respect an individual’s heritage 1.2 Compare the experience of dementia for an individual who has acquired it as an older person with the experience of an individual who has acquired it  as a younger person 1.3a Describe how the experience of dementia may be different for individuals – who have a learning disability 1.3b Describe how the experience of dementia may be different for individuals – who are from different ethnic backgrounds 1.3c Describe how the experience of dementia may be different for individuals – who are at the end of life 1.4 Describe how the experience of an individual’s dementia may impact on carers 2.1 Describe how current legislation, government policy and agreed ways of working support inclusive practice for dementia care and support 2.2 Describe the ways in which an individual with dementia may be subjected to discrimination and oppression 2.3 Explain the potential impact of discrimination on an individual with dementia 2.4 Analyse how diversity, equality and inclusion are addressed in dementia care and support

Canons of Taxation

A good tax system is one which is designed on the basis of an appropriate set of principles (rules). The tax system should strike a balance between the interest of the taxpayer and that of tax authorities. Adam Smith was the first economist to develop a list of Canons of Taxation. These canons are still regarded as characteristics or features of a good tax system. Adam Smith gave following four important canons of taxation. 1. Canon of Equity The principle aims at providing economic and social justice to the people. According to this principle, every person should pay to the government depending upon his ability to pay. The rich class people should pay higher taxes to the government, because without the protection of the government authorities (Police, Defence, etc. ) they could not have earned and enjoyed their income. Adam Smith argued that the taxes should be proportional to income, i. e. , citizens should pay the taxes in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. 2. Canon of Certainty According to Adam Smith, the tax which an individual has to pay should be certain, not arbitrary. The tax payer should know in advance how much tax he has to pay, at what time he has to pay the tax, and in what form the tax is to be paid to the government. In other words, every tax should satisfy the canon of certainty. At the same time a good tax system also ensures that the government is also certain about the amount that will be collected by way of tax. 3. Canon of Convenience The mode and timing of tax payment should be as far as possible, convenient to the tax payers. For example, land revenue is collected at time of harvest income tax is deducted at source. Convenient tax system will encourage people to pay tax and will increase tax revenue. 4. Canon of Economy This principle states that there should be economy in tax administration. The cost of tax collection should be lower than the amount of tax collected. It may not serve any purpose, if the taxes imposed are widespread but are difficult to administer. Therefore, it would make no sense to impose certain taxes, if it is difficult to administer. Additional Canons of Taxation v Activities and functions of the government have increased significantly since Adam Smiths time. Government are expected to maintain economic stability, full employment, reduce income inequality amp; promote growth and development. Tax system should be such that it meets the requirements of growing state activities. Accordingly, modern economists gave following additional canons of taxation. 5. Canon of Productivity It is also known as the canon of fiscal adequacy. According to this principle, the tax system should be able to yield enough revenue for the treasury and the government should have no need to resort to deficit financing. This is a good principle to follow in a developing economy. 6. Canon of Elasticity According to this canon, every tax imposed by the government should be elastic in nature. In other words, the income from tax should be capable of increasing or decreasing according to the requirement of the country. For example, if the government needs more income at time of crisis, the tax should be capable of yielding more income through increase in its rate. . Canon of Flexibility It should be easily possible for the authorities to revise the tax structure both with respect to its coverage and rates, to suit the changing requirements of the economy. With changing time and conditions the tax system needs to be changed without much difficulty. The tax system must be flexible and not rigid. 8. Canon of Simplicity The tax system shoul d not be complicated. That makes it difficult to understand and administer and results in problems of interpretation and disputes. In India, the efforts of the government in recent years have been to make the system simple. 9. Canon of Diversity This principle states that the government should collect taxes from different sources rather than concentrating on a single source of tax. It is not advisable for the government to depend upon a single source of tax, it may result in inequity to the certain section of the society; uncertainty for the government to raise funds. If the tax revenue comes from diversified source, then any reduction in tax revenue on account of any one cause is bound to be small.

Netflix and Direct TV Case Study Research Paper

Netflix and Direct TV Case Study - Research Paper Example These generic strategies include cost leadership, differentiation and cost focus. Netflix has managed to woo customers over the years; for instance, it offers free trial membership to its new customers, which enables customers to try out its services. Differentiation Strategy Netflix has managed to maintain its market share via achieving a competitive advantage. This was the first company to break the norm of driving to a movie store to purchase a movie, therefore attaining a first mover advantage (Noise between stations, 2007). Other companies like Blockbuster required an individual to drive all the way to the stores to purchase or rent a movie, although this company followed in the footsteps of Netflix, shortly after. Therefore, due to technology in this industry, customers can now select from thousands of movies online and choose their favorite. In addition, customers enjoy movie shopping from the comfort of their homes or offices. The growth of online sales has contributed to the success of Netflix; indeed, over the years, the company does not charge its customers for movie return delays, unlike Blockbuster. This differentiation strategy enables Netflix to be unique compared to its rival competitors; customers are attracted to a business that caters for their needs effectively compared to other businesses. Netflix’s Target Customers Netflix targets all levels of customers by implementing a subscription plan, which enables clients to subscribe to their preferred plan. This is an added advantage to the company as all levels of customers are catered for, therefore ensuring that customers receive the best services at affordable prices. Netflix Rivals and Threats Posed In an industry, competition is evident either from existing businesses or from new entries in the market. According to the New York Times (2007), netflix experienced a heavy blow of loses due to the stiff competition from Blockbuster, which had implemented a total access program that enable d customers to swap a rented movie online for an in store movie. This strategy enabled Blockbuster to attract Netflix’s customers. DIRECTV is another rival competitor, which provides direct broadcast satellite, and delivers exemplary video experience at a much cheaper price, hence posing a threat to Netflix (form 10K, 2010, p.2). Fig 1. The competition analysis of Netflix and Blockbuster (2007) Netflix and Direct TV Netflix and Direct TV companies are seeking a competitive advantage in their operating industry; hence, they have different strategies of achieving their success. Direct TV aims at delivering the best services at all times and in any place; the company is emphasizing on quality video experience and targets the entire American population, especially with the popularity of DVRs. They are working towards breaking the norm of watching television only at home, therefore working towards introducing television and video experience any time and anywhere. Movie packages Di rect TV is a threat to Netflix, since it is competing for the same market, therefore, customers can either choose to use either of the two companies’ services, to easily access entertainment. Both companies offer services at a specific monthly fee; Direct TV offers four television packages in English language, with the minimal packager

Sales training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sales training - Essay Example Three different power points will be created for the morning session, after break session and after lunch lecture. The first power point will cover the definition of sales, its goals, roles, direction and the focus of selling. This will be accomplished with a minimum of 25 slides with comprehensive speaker notes at the bottom. A minimum of 5 images must be used to show marketing dialogue, the role of sales and any related topic idea. The second power point will outline and map the sales process and images depicting models of selling will be included. For the last session, the power point presentation will cover, in a minimum of 15 slides a reflection of the video that will be used to induce hands-on experience in selling (Amy 79). All power points will be colorful and animated and questions must be used at each stage to evoke critical thinking from trainees. A laptop, projector and white board will be availed for the purpose of this training session. Video A sales marketing video wil l be obtained from youtube.com and will be availed in the last session. The video will cover field marketing and will present different scenarios that are likely to be experienced during training. Person to person sales and making sales in a conference will be two scenarios that will be captured in the video. The CD will be provided and played through the laptop. Evaluating the Learners After the three lecture sessions, a questionnaire will be handed to the trainees and they will be required to respond to the questions. Questionnaire method is superior in obtaining quick responses from the trainees as all of them respond at the same time. The questionnaire will test on the sales skills that the learner acquired and the possible methods of tackling specific problems in the marketing field. The test will continue a marketing scenario to test the learner abilities to employ effective marketing approaches in different marketing situations. Guidance Session Timing Trainer Guidance Traine e Guidance Lesson 1 1 hour 30 minutes Must emphasize definition, and mechanics of selling. questionss in power points must be asked to student. Remain interesting, use speaker note to explain Take notes, participate, ask questions Lesson 2 1hr 30 minutes Outlining and mapping of sales covered Refer to Ppt speaker notes Use questions at each point Engage learners Trainees get back to their seating positions. Note taking of crucial points Lesson 3 1hr 30 minutes The teacher will play the video twice, and then use the power point to reflect on the video. Interactive questions. Every trainee presents their opinion on the scenarios depicted in the movie Note the various key skills in marketing The timeline of the lesson will be reviewed after the first lesson. It may be wise to reduce the time for the second session and increase that of the last session as the interactive session is expected to take more time. Formative Revisions Formative revisions help to obtain information to help str eamline the instructional methods (Tuttle 122). During the instruction process, a critical observation of the training session will be engaged. The time taken to deliver the whole content designed for each lesson will be assessed. Also, the participation of the trainees will be engaged and

Industrial society and native culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Industrial society and native culture - Essay Example With most of the industrial world following capitalist means of running their economies, the exploitation of natural resources in an unsustainable manner is the norm. However, an almost intuitive understanding of the manner in which nature functions enables native cultures to utilize natural resources in sustainable ways. The Brazilian Amazonian tribes follow methods of living that enable one to infer their respect for the environment. At first glance, the method of agriculture that they follow, slash and burn agriculture is done in a manner that the ecological balance of the area is not upset. Moreover, different plants are planted at different points of time, which not only ensures a constant supply of food but also efficient use of the soil’s fertility. This also provides the land an opportunity to replenish itself. The Yanomami is a tribe that follows these methods of farming to great effect. Initially, when the Europeans came to the Amazon, they were surprised at how the area was able to support the number of people that it did. This is possible because of the manner in which the Yanomami and other tribes in this area understand the ecology of the area and attempt to live in harmony with it (Hutchison 159-63, 2007). The needs of the present day Brazilian industrial society, is however, different. With a much greater population and corresponding needs, the Brazilian industrial society usually requires a greater yield than what slash and burn agriculture is able to provide. As a result, it has to follow scientific methods of agriculture that suit the needs of the urban populations of Brazil. A concerted effort in the past thirty years has enabled the Brazilian state to increase its agricultural production and achieve a food surplus (The Miracle, 2010). It has managed to surpass the problems that have plagued the management of environmental issues

Issues in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issues in Education - Essay Example However, there are a number of cracks in the ladder which need to be looked at in detail. As Laurence J. Peter puts it, â€Å"Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.† People learn how to read and write and become literate, but are far from being educated. This is so because of the mechanical setup of learning which exists in every school and college today, where rote learning and high scores are given preference over innovation and brainstorming. Practical projects are eliminated to make way for innumerous assignments and teachers are only concerned with work completion, being least bothered about whether their students are actually learning something. ‘Good education is not to follow the pages of a workbook. It’s following the workbook that’s within the child!’ (Christoph Schiebold). This thoughtful quote beautifully sums up all the major issues surrounding the education of children all around the globe. Educating a child is not merely about teaching him/her the alphabets or the number system. It’s about developing children’s minds to bring out the best in them, to help them identify and nurture their talents, to prepare them to face the world by arming them with the flawless knowledge about the right and the wrong, the good and the bad. Unfortunately, education has just been reduced to a lame system of mugging up some facts and representing them flawlessly in the examinations to score handsome marks. ‘One of the biggest fallouts of this system of education is that it completely annihilates any imagination that the child may possess.’ (Meenakshi Narang) Education is not limited to the classroom or the school premises. It is a never ending and an all encompassing process. As Oscar Wilde put it, â€Å"You can never be overdressed or overeducated.† Thus, the teachers and professors who are given the responsibility to educate a child should consider themselves priv ileged and not burdened. They are like the forbearers of the flames of our future, and how bright these flames may shine is completely dependent on them. However, this is easier said than done. Those days are long gone when education was considered akin to prayer and teachers were worshipped like Gods. Today, education is nothing more than a booming business and the teachers are mere employees of this large enterprise for whom all that matters is their paycheck at the end of each month. Neither are they any divine people nor do they worship their work. Needless to say, they aren’t concerned whether a future Picasso or Einstein is under their care; all they are concerned about is their job and how to complete it as fast as they can. Good teachers are like gems in a bag full of pebbles; extremely rare and tiresome to discover! However, they are indispensable for providing a befitting education to our children. ‘What really makes a difference, what matters more than the cl ass size or the textbook, the teaching method or the technology, or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher’(Newsweek). If the person who is teaching the children does not have the qualities of patience, open mindedness and understanding, then even the best schools and the fattest paychecks cannot guarantee the successful education of a child. A teacher, who understands his pupils, inspires them and makes them open up their minds and hearts to the world outside is the one who really educates them. As they say, if the roots are strong, the plant grows into a healthy tree. Similarly, if a teacher has what it takes to truly educate a child, he/she can build a gentleman out of a farm boy, no matter what tools he/she has at his/her disposal. Opponents of this theory claim that these issues are minor and baseless and are

Profitability & Social Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Profitability & Social Entrepreneurship - Essay Example The advent of the French Revolution brought about a trend whereby the masses sought to get equal opportunities and also use the principles of science that came with the Enlightenment in Europe to create the best possible economic system (Martinson, 2006: 137). Say's definition of 'entrepreneurship' is described by Drucker as 'shifting economic resources out of an area of lower productivity into an area of higher productivity and greater yield (Drucker, 2007: 19) This suggests that innovation has to do with efficient and effective use of resources for both the producer and for the consumer. For the producer, there is the need to find the best methods of providing the best products for consumers. Consumers also seek to get the best of products on the market. Innovation is therefore a very important element for the establishment and survival of businesses. Funding Innovation However, innovation is not easy in organisations. Innovation involves a lot of capital to fund research in a stru ctured system (Neff, 2003: 76). Neff (2003: 78) does an analysis of two businesses that produce the same product. There is a constant pressure on both of them to offer their clients the best products and this means they will have to find ways and means of producing goods and services. The issue here is that research and innovation is based on a high degree of uncertainty. However, these two businesses will have to find ways of going through these uncertainties to deliver better quality products to remain ahead of the other. They will therefore need to find ways of funding their research and development system otherwise, they will have to settle for serious risks relating to their survival. Businesses go... Profitability & Social Entrepreneurship Historically, innovation is thought of as the basis of business. Bessant & Tidd classify the process of innovation into two main categories. The first category is invention and the second is improvement. When something is invented that solves a genuine problem in the society, it is presented to the public to help them solve their needs. However, the normal mode through which this is done, is to get people to part with some consideration in order to use newly invented things to solve their problems. This therefore calls for the formation of a legally recognized business to act as an entity to monitor and manage the process of presenting the invented material to the public. This is done through the commercialization of the idea which involves exchange of economic consideration. As time goes on and a business gets competitors and new trends come up, there is the need for the creation of new products and processes to prevent the death of an organization. Bessant & Tidd therefore recommen d that a business needs a blend of structured and emergent systems to manage innovation. Innovation is central to all businesses around the globe. Invention gives the impetus for business in the commercial sense. Innovation is what keeps the business going. Both invention and innovation are based on research which demands a lot of funding. Thus a business has a primary objective of remaining innovative to survive and this means finding money to pay for research and operational costs.

Mound Builders of Central America Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mound Builders of Central America - Term Paper Example The mounds are usually shaped square or rectangular, although some hexagonal and octagonal mounds were also found (Gissing 13-14). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate mound builders of Central America, examine their history, what the mounds represented, whether the mound builders were religious, and the culture and mound building of the Cahokia. Between 2000 B.C. and A.D.1600, the Indians in the ancient Midwest and South thrived for several millennia. Their settlements transformed the untamed wilderness into an advanced network of complex political and economic features. The network was often linked by waterways such as the Missippi River. The first important urban centers were created in North America by the mound builders, from Cahokia in southern Illinois to Poverty Point in northeastern Louisiana (USA Today 12). â€Å"The greatest concentration of mounds lay in the heart of the continent: Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri† (Silverberg 3). There were subsidiary mound areas in western Tennessee and Kentucky. Nearly every major waterway of the Midwest was surrounded by clusters of mounds. The mounds built in Central America and Mexico were constructed for the same purpose as those in other parts of the continent. Most of the lower mounds would have been constructed â€Å"as foundations for the more important edifices of the mound building people (Gissing 15). Many of the great buildings erected on such pyramidal foundations at Palenque, Uxmal and other places in the region did not vanish over the centuries because they were built of hewn stone laid in mortar. On the other hand, the mound builders beginning their construction works in the lower Mississippi used wood or some other perishable material; therefore there is not even a trace of those mounds to be found today. The higher mounds with broad, flat summits, reached by stairways on the outside, appear like the Mexican

Math in Basketball Essay Example for Free

Math in Basketball Essay When I am upset, all I crave is bacon. It seems to bring out the good in everything. The sky is brighter when I eat bacon; the grass is greener; the glass is half full. Bacon just makes everything seem alright. I feel reenergized. Alert. Happy. Bacon is my substance of choice for mood-enhancement, as it optimally raises my dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine levels with no negative effects besides a little weight gain that is easily avoided by the addition of exercise. From an evolutionary stand point, bacon is the ideal food. Back in the day, before there were nutritionists and people ate to survive, cravings were responsible for encouraging the right balance of carbs to fats to proteins as well as the consumption of all necessary vitamins and minerals. Protein, which is found primarily in meat, proved to be one of the hardest nutrients for the ancient human being to find, since they would have to hunt animals in order to obtain it. Because of its importance to the humans diet and its difficulty to obtain, the reward system for proteins tends to be much stronger than that for any other nutrient. Carbs may result in an increased level of serotonin, but proteins release tyrosine into the blood stream which causes the release of massive amounts of dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitter. Bacon also has a great fat to protein ratio. Fats are another crucial nutrient because they are effectively concentrated, stored carbs which can be converted into ATP for energy on a cellular level. Containing nine Calories of energy per gram, one gram of fat is enough to sustain an average person in an inactive, waking state for ten minutes, though it may only last me a few seconds when I am riding my horse, Kaptain. This means that the average slice of bacon can sustain the average person for about one whole hour. Maybe twenty-four slices of bacon a day is not the most healthy diet, due to its lack of carbs, vitamins, and minerals, but on a sad, dreary, rainy day, that is pretty close to what I would eat. I would probably add some eggs, pastries, orange juice, and multi-vitamins to the mix in order to have a more balanced diet, but I would definitely feel pretty comforted and happy. Just thinking about a warm, crunchy, greasy, delicious plate of bacon with a side of steaming chocolate chip pancakes is triggering my lateral hypothalamus. My pituitary gland is already telling my mouth to water, my stomach to growl and prepare digestive enzymes, and releasing the hunger hormone ghrelin. Today may not be a sad, dreary, or rainy day, but I am still craving bacons crunchy goodness. Luckily, I can somewhat control my bacon cravings and I have a fast metabolism, or else Im sure my horse would be suffering from intense back problems.

Alternative Sources Of Energy

Alternative Sources Of Energy Bio-fuels are formed from biomass, normally plants seeds, and liquid bio fuels can be use for transportation. We are one of the worlds leading distributors of bio fuels and we are developing enhanced bio fuels that could see CO2 reductions and a sustainable alternative fuel source. The two main forms of bio fuel today are ethanol and FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters), which have largely relied on food crops such as wheat or sugar cane as their source. We are working to find a source material that does not compete with food crops, to develop a conversion process that will produce low CO2, and to produce efficient fuels. Our bio fuels research includes finding alternative feedstocks. We are looking into finding tough new enzymes to break down the cellulose in plants such as straw. Algae have potential as a sustainable source of vegetable oil that could be used for the production of bio fuel for diesel engines. It is early days but algae hold promise, as they grow rapidly and can be cultivated in ponds of seawater and minimise the use of fertile land and fresh water. Alternative Energy The world has plenty of potential renewable energy sources, but each has its own technical challenges. Scientists are working to develop alternative energy sources that are sustainable, clean and convenient. Fossil fuels are expected to remain the worlds main source of energy for decades to come but sustainable, clean and convenient energy sources will also be needed in the mix. Todays most widespread biofuel, ethanol, is commonly made from starchy or sugary plants. Hydrogen is seen by many as the fuel of the future, but it still has a long way to go. It is an energy carrier, in the same way as electricity, and so must be produced from another substance. Most commonly, hydrogen is produced using steam that reacts with methane and converts it into hydrogen and carbon. It can also be produced from water through electrolysis. The hydrogen can then be stored and converted to energy via hydrogen fuel cells, now available for cars. In hydrogen fuel cell vehicles a chemical reaction inside the fuel cell usually between hydrogen and oxygen creates electricity for the motor and the only resulting exhaust pipe emission is water vapour. We are learning as much as possible about hydrogen refuelling and how to meet future customer needs. We are involved in research and demonstration projects and have already opened a cluster of commercial hydrogen filling stations. biomass Biomass is any plant derived organic matter available on a renewable basis, including dedicated energy crops and trees, agricultural food and feed crops, agricultural crop wastes and residues, wood wastes and residues, aquatic plants etc. The energy in biomass can be harnessed in waste-to-energy plants or cogeneration plants. Waste-to-Energy Plants All incinerable waste not recovered, reused or recycled is sent for incineration at the waste-to-energy plants operated by the National Environment Agency. The combustion of municipal waste including renewables in the waste produce heat, which is recovered to generate electricity. The electricity generated is fed into the electricity grid. The biomass in Singapores municipal waste are mainly wood waste, horticultural waste, food waste and waste paper. Waste-To-Energy Plants Turbine Capacity (MW) Ulu Pandan Incineration Plant 16 Tuas Incineration Plant 46 Senoko Incineration Plant 56 Tuas South Incineration Plant 80 Biomass Cogeneration Plants Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and heat, both of which are used. Through the utilisation of the heat, the efficiency of cogeneration plant can reach 80% or more. Cogeneration therefore offers energy savings ranging between 15-40% when compared to the supply of electricity and heat from conventional power stations and boilers. Cogeneration plants that use biomass fuel are carbon-neutral compared to those using fossil fuels. Two companies, M/s ECO-IEE Pte Ltd and M/s Bee Joo Industries Pte Ltd have biomass cogeneration plants. The ECO cogeneration plant has a turbine capacity of 0.53 MW and uses wood waste as fuel. The Bee Joo cogeneration plant has turbine capacity of 1.0 MW and uses wood waste and horticulture waste as fuel. Alkaline fuel cells (AFC) Alkaline fuel cells use compressed hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. They normally operate at 70-90 °C, with 300-5000 W of power at about 25-30% system efficiency. The Apollo astronauts used alkaline fuel cells to provide both electricity and drinking water. However, pure hydrogen fuel was used. More information on AFCs may be found here. TOP Phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC) Phosphoric acid fuel cells use phosphoric acid as the electrolyte to produce electricity. Types of fuel that PAFCs can use include anaerobic digester gas, natural gas, gasoline, etc. They operate at 190-215 °C, generating up to 200 kW of power at about 35-40% efficiency. The internal parts of the fuel cell must be able to withstand the corrosive acid. More information on PAFCs may be found here. TOP Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (also known as polymer electrolyte fuel cells) use a polymer-based electrolyte, typically in a thin, permeable sheet. This membrane must not leak or crack, while a platinum catalyst must also be coated on both sides of the membrane. The operating temperature is about 70-90 °C, with outputs of between 1W and 20 http://www.nccc.gov.sg/renewables/fct.shtm (1 of 2) [17/7/2010 2:07:03 AM] Fuel Cell Technologies kW of power. System efficiency is about 30-35%. The low temperature makes PEMFCs suitable for use in homes and cars. The fuel (typically hydrogen) must also be highly purified. Natural gas can also be reformed to produce hydrogen for fuel cells. More information on PEMFCs may be found here. TOP Molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) Molten carbonate fuel cells use high-temperature carbonates (of sodium or magnesium) as the electrolyte for generating electricity. Hence, the normal operating temperature is around 600-650 °C, producing 250 kW 2 MW of power at about 45-50% efficiency. Waste heat produced by the reaction can be utilized to maximize system efficiency. This also means that MCFCs would be too hot for home applications. More information on MCFCs may be found here. TOP Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) Solid oxide fuel cells use a hard, ceramic compound of metallic oxides (of calcium or zirconium) as the electrolyte. They normally operate at about 700-1,000 °C, producing up to 100 kW of power. System efficiency is around 50-55%. At such temperatures, reformers are not necessary for producing hydrogen from fuels, eg natural gas. Waste heat from SOFCs can also be recovered for use in other applications, eg making more electricity. However, SOFCs are large in size, hence limiting its applications. More information on SOFCs may be found here. Introduction The tide moves a huge amount of water twice each day, and harnessing it could provide a great deal of energy around 20% of Britains needs. Although the energy supply is reliable and plentiful, converting it into useful electrical power is not easy. There are eight main sites around Britain where tidal power stations could usefully be built, including the Severn, Dee, Solway and Humber estuaries. Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations. A few years ago, tidal powermeant tidal barrage. But these days there are other options as well. How it works: Tidal Barrages These work rather like a hydro-electricscheme, except that the dam is muchbigger. A huge dam (called a barrage) is built across a river estuary. When the tide goes in and out, the water flows through tunnels in the dam. The ebb and flow of the tides can be used to turn a turbine, or it can be used to push air through a pipe, which then turns a turbine. Large lock gates, like the ones used on canals, allow ships to pass. If one was built across the Severn Estuary, the tides at Weston-super-Mare would not go out nearly as far thered be water to play in for most of the time. But the Severn Estuary carries sewage and other wastes from many places (e.g. Bristol Gloucester) out to sea. A tidal barrage would mean that this stuff would hang around Weston-super-Mare an awful lot longer! Also, if youre one of the 80,000+ birds that feeds on the exposed mud flats when the tide goes out, then you have a problem, because the tide wont be going out properly any more. Advantages Once youve built it, tidal power is free. It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste. It needs no fuel. It produces electricity reliably. Not expensive to maintain. Tides are totally predictable. Offshore turbines and vertical-axis turbines are not ruinously expensive to build and do not have a large environmental impact. Disadvantages A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to build, and affects a very wide area the environment is changed for many miles upstream and downstream. Many birds rely on the tide uncovering the mud flats so that they can feed. Fish cant migrate, unless fish ladders are installed. Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out. There are few suitable sites for tidal barrages Is it renewable? Tidal energy is renewable. The tides will continue to ebb and flow, and the energy is there for the taking. Can tidal energy work in Singapore? Windmill under the sea The New Paper 11 Nov 08; This week, Singapore hosted the International Energy Week where policy makers from all over the world met academics and industry players to talk about energy options and strategies for the future. CHNG CHOON HIONG looks at tidal energy as it is used in the UK while TEH JEN LEE asks whether it could work here. PICTURE a 37m-tall, 1,000-tonne windmill that is submerged under the sea and you get a good idea of what the SeaGen Tidal Energy generator is. 11 November 2008 PICTURE a 37m-tall, 1,000-tonne windmill that is submerged under the sea and you get a good idea of what the SeaGen Tidal Energy generator is. Situated in Strangford Narrows, off the coast of Northen Ireland, the SeaGen is the worlds first commercial-scale tidal energy turbine, harnessing the virtually inexhaustible energy carried by tidal currents. Tidal currents are caused by the gravitational interaction between the earth and the moon arising from their relative motion. As such, the tidal cycle is perfectly predictable, an advantage over power generated by wind and sunlight. There are, however, some drawbacks in harnessing tidal power. It has some prerequisites which limit its use to just a few regions in the world. There are also worries such as the possible disruption of marine life and the ecosystem. However, the concerns about damaging the ecosystem are yet to be firmly established. Costing more than  £8.5 million ($20 million) in development, the SeaGen is commissioned for operation till 2013. During this time, it will generate 1,200kW of clean renewable power, enough to provide for the electrical needs of 1,000 UK households. Can this work in Singapore? USING current technology, Singapore cannot harness tidal energy because our mean tidal range of about 1.7m is too low. The New Paper 11 Nov 08 USING current technology, Singapore cannot harness tidal energy because our mean tidal range of about 1.7m is too low. Mean tidal range is the difference in height between mean low water and mean high water levels during spring tides, which occur during new moon and full moon, when there is greatest variation in tides. The tidal range is low all around South-east Asia because of the configuration of the land fairly straight coastlines which are surrounded by seas. In contrast, there are beaches in some countries elsewhere with a tidal range of more than 10m. For example, in the Bay of Fundy on the Atlantic coast of North America, home to the worlds highest tides, the tidal range has been measured in excess of 15m. These high tides produce swift-flowing currents when the tide is coming in and going out. In Singapore, because of the low tidal range, the tidal currents are not strong enough to generate electricity. It would be like trying to get power from water flowing through a monsoon drain. Professor Teh Tiong Sa, visiting senior fellow at the Tropical Marine Science Institute, said: To have viable energy from tides, the higher the tidal range the better. For Singapore, its too low to even think about it now, unless technology changes and things become more efficient. Singapore, August 12 Somewhere off the coast of Invergordon in Scotland on Thursday, the worlds largest tidal turbine will be unveiled, marking a turning point in the global renewable tidal energy industry. This turbine, which can generate consistent electricity to power 1,000 British homes, may be located thousands of miles from Singapore but it represents a key moment for the city-states growing clean technology or cleantech industry. This is because the AK1000 turbine, as it is called, was tested in Singapore waters and designed on Singapores shores during key periods of its 10-year research history. Chief executive Timothy Cornelius of Atlantis Resources Corporation the firm behind the turbine said the unveiling and installation of the one megawatt turbine was the culmination of 10 years of hard work and belief from all partners and staff. It is an important milestone not only for Atlantis, which has invested S$100 million of private investors funds into developing the turbine to date, but for the global marine power industry, he said. This is when ocean power generation goes from being in the research space to the commercial space. The company, which originated in Australia before moving its headquarters to Singapore five years ago, is now looking at possible locations to build a manufacturing plant that will mass produce its turbines for commercial application. Dwindling fossil fuel resources and growing concern on its negative impact on global climate change has resulted in a global race for clean energy in recent years. Tidal energy has potential to be a key energy source for a world grappling with rapid urbanisation. Apart from Scotland, countries such as Japan and India have vast untapped tidal energy resources that could be converted into renewable energy, thus reducing the countrys reliance on fossil fuels, said Mr Cornelius. If all goes well, the firm will begin looking to list on an Asian bourse possibly in Singapore next year, he added. He credited the companys success to its move to Singapore, where the firm had access to a highly-skilled labour workforce and research collaborations with institutions such as Nanyang Technological University. It now has a local staff of 15. Singapore has strong intellectual property laws too, which was a key pull factor for us, he said. The turbine was also tested in the southern waters of Singapore near the Raffles lighthouse in 2008 to collect key data. Its waters are however too busy due to shipping routes for tidal energy to be tapped, added Mr Cornelius. When installed, the AK1000 turbine weighing 150 tonnes and at a height of 22.5 metres, will sit at a dedicated berth at the European Marine Energy Centre, located in Scotlands Orkney. It costs about US$3 million for one turbine and the payback period is five to 10 years depending on the flow rate of the waves, he added. Cleantech director Goh Chee Kiong of the Economic Development Board said yesterday that Atlantiss presence in Singapore will increase the vibrancy of the fast-growing cleantech industry here. This project affirms Singapores attractiveness as a global home for cleantech businesses, said Mr Goh, who also highlighted that Atlantis benefitted from Singapores strengths in existing industry clusters such as precision engineering, offshore and marine. Atlantis said it is now actively pursuing projects in the Asia Pacific region, especially to power hungry markets. We are confident of developing tidal power as a credible new renewable asset class in Asia, said Mr Cornelius. Source: The Straits Times

Immortality and Myth in The Age of Innocence Essay -- essays papers

Immortality and Myth in The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton’s books are considered, by some, merely popular fiction of her time. But we must be careful not to equate popularity with the value of the fiction; i.e., we must not assume that if her books are popular, they are also primitive. Compared to the works of her contemporary and friend, Henry James, whose books may seem complex and sometimes bewildering; Wharton’s The Age of Innocence appears to be a simplistic, gossipy commentary of New York society during the last decade of the 19th century*. Instead, it is one man’s struggle with the questions of mortality and immortality. Wharton’s characters, settings and the minutiae of social rituals, manners, speech habits, dress and even flowers help her expose the mortal and immortal. But her adroit contrasts and comparisons with mythology elevate her fiction to the heights of sophistication. It is Newland Archer who is caught in the struggle man feels between living an ordinary and mortal life; or what his society consider an extraordinary and immortal life. It is he who is tested, who is tried and convicted by his society. It is he who gives in to the immortal manipulations of his wife, family and friends. It is he who gives up his chance for freedom, for love, and to be mortal. Wharton’s skill raises her characters to the level of myth for they, like the Greeks, are unforgettable and hence immortal. Looking at the book as a whole, Edith Wharton’s New York society of the late 19th century can be weighed against the society of Greek (and Roman) mythology. They are both mortal and immortal. She utilizes mythology to present us with a sophisticated comparison of New York society and the pantheon of t... ...nd his own mortality. Yet as the anti-hero, he is a coward; he denies his mortality and accepts immortality. He lives within the pantheon of the gods yet by rejecting their societal rules, he is a thinking human mortal being. But as a mortal being he lacks the strength to change and recreate the New York pantheon. He is forever trapped within the walls of its mausoleum. *One story about Wharton and James goes like this: Wharton drove up to James’ house one day in a brand new, beautifully large car. She got out and said that she had purchased the car with the proceeds of her last book. James pointed to a wheelbarrow and replied that that was what he purchased with the proceeds of his last book and with the sale of his next book, he would paint it. I think this is an appropriate story about popularity and fiction and the perceived value of that fiction.

At Cooloola Essay -- English Literature Essays

At Cooloola At Cooloola is a lyrical poem written by a well recognized Australian poet, Judith Wright. This poem creatively describes a beautiful scene of nature. The poet uses highly descriptive language and a diverse range of poetic devices to engage the reader into imagining a picture of how peaceful and serene this exquisite the scenery is down by Lake Cooloola. Underlying the subject matter is the implied theme that the lake is under threat from â€Å"conquering people† who will not protect its â€Å"white shores of sand, plumreed and paperbark†. This poem reflects Judith Wright’s concern for our special and unique flora and fauna, how fortunate we are to have stunning scenery, how easily mankind can destroy it, and our need to appreciate it. This poem portrays the unfortunate incident that occurred at Lake Cooloola due to white settlement. This tragic poem captures the essence of the peaceful partnership the wildlife shares with the land. â€Å"Walking on clean sand among prints of bird and animal† This illustrates the tranquil scene before the massacre of the Aboriginal people took place. â€Å"The invader’s feet will tangle in nets there and his blood be thinned by fears† This quote from the poem found in stanza three describes how after many years of the invasion, white people started to feel sorry and remorseful for the impact which white settlement had on Aborigines. This relates to Judith Wright’s concern for the Aboriginal people and the land which human settl...

Plan of Champ de Mars, Paris 1889 Essay examples -- Architecture Histo

Plan of Champ de Mars, Paris 1889 This is a twenty-six by forty-eight centimeter plan of the Champ de Mars during the Exposition Universelle of 1889, used by visitors at the time of the fair, a bold political statement on the part of France, as well as an overwhelming success. The Third Republic was established in Paris in 1870, and by 1884, when preliminary studies for the the Exposition Universelle were launched, many political issues were still largely unresolved. In 1870 Napoleon III surrendered at the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War. Two days after the defeat Republicans proclaimed the advent of the Third Republic. The Franco-Prussian war ended with Paris's capitulation in 1871. A group of Parisians found Prussia's terms humiliating and wanted to keep fighting. Later dubbed the Communards, they established a dictatorship in Paris known as the Central Committee of the National Guard, later renamed La Commune. However, before La Commune could put its principles into effect, The National Assembly sen t troops into Paris to eradicate the uprising. Even with the elimination of La Commune, there was great dissention within the government. There were conflicts between and within the Left and Right movements. An economic depression began in France in 1873 and worsened into the 1880s, affecting agriculture, industry, and small-scale trade. Citizen unrest was clearly evident in the popularity of General Georges Boulanger, who promised a reform, if not revolution, of the existing government.. In 1888, when Boulanger was at the height of his political esteem, the threat of governmental crisis was very palpable. It was under these circumstances that the Paris exposition of 1889, to commemorate the centennial anniversar... ...pride, it secured France's rank in the eyes of Europe. Bibliography Corporate Author, United States Commissioner to the Paris Exposition Washington: Government Printing Office, 1891 Findling, John E., Historical Dictionary of World's Fairs and Expositions, 1851-1988 New York: Greenwood Press, 1990 Jourdain, Frantz, Exposition Universelle de 1889 Paris: Librarie Centrale des Beaux-arts, 1892 Levin, Miriam, When the Eiffel Tower was New: French Visions of Progress at the Centennial of the Revolution South Hadley, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989 Silverman, Deborah L., "The Crisis of Bourgeois Individualism", Oppositions 1977, vol. 8, p.70-91 Walton, William, Chefs-d'oeuvre de l'Exposition Universelle de Paris 1889 Philadelphia: Barrie Fr res, 1889 Watson, William,Paris Universal Exposition Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892

The role of the community worker is fraught with tensions and dilemmas

In Britain in the 21st century, community workers are often linked with economic regeneration and consultation, empowerment and capacity building. This is in total contrast with the 1970's when community work was very closely associated with social work. (Twelvetrees, 2003.) Twelvetrees suggests that at its simplest community work is the ‘process of assisting people to improve their communities by undertaking collective action.' (Twelvetrees, 2003.) Community work though is not just carried out by community workers, community leaders, support workers and many others may choose to call themselves community workers. The majority of community work is carried out by paid workers and they undertake a wide range of functions. Community workers are classically seen as a guide or catalyst, enabler or maybe a facilitator. Community workers ‘go' to the place of the group and can advise its members on how they can do what they want to do. They can also cover roles such as secretary or chair, broker or advocate, but most important being clear about the fact that they must be clear about the role which they are playing at a certain particular time. Twelvetrees, (2003) suggests that community workers should be a ‘Jack of all trades' who can take on different roles and approaches and are willing to bring them into play in different situations. Community work therefore has a wide skill base with a great emphasis placed on the ability to make judgements and build relationships with others. Community workers must be able to adapt to each new situation and be able to listen, understand and act in an appropriate way to the situation that they are involved with. Butcher, (in Butcher et al, 1993) suggests that on the most basic principles community stands for the idea that community is a network of people who share a common interest. For many, community is where they can both have a sociological and psychological link to others. Sociologically they can ‘be part' of the community and can ‘identify with' it psychologically. These two factors greatly strengthens the idea that community workers work with groups of people who have a common interest and reason for being together. Summarising the above Community work can therefore be best described as both a set of values and as a set of techniques, skills and approaches which are linked to these values. Twelvetrees (2003) suggests that these values are to do with justices, democracy, love and empowering, and ‘getting a better deal' for those who are in some way disadvantaged. Primarily community workers must be able to establish relationships with others see the world through the community's eyes and find ways to assist them to help themselves. The theory behind most community work is basically about helping people to get a better deal, primarily by making this happen themselves, by being a facilitator and empowering the community groups in which one is working. Derrricourt and Dale, (in Jacobs et al, 1994) suggests that no one can work in community work long before realising that even ‘the simplest thing is difficult'. Community work it's self is a task of working with groups of people who may have different ideas but empowering them to come to a mutual agreement and find common ground in order to make the ‘project' work. In any real life situation within community and youth work there will be pressures and constraints on a worker to operate in some ways rather than others. Whatever the ideology, the worker must select actions which seem most likely to help the members of the particular community to get a better deal for themselves and become more confident and skilled. Twelvetrees (2003) suggests that while the values of community workers will quite legitimately influence their priorities, they also have to be pragmatic about choosing which approach is likely to work best. One of the major sources of tension within community work is that some workers can sometimes go into a new project with the agenda already clear in their head, with no room for changing it. By having this approach community workers produce a great deal of tension simply because they are meant to be helping the community it's self get a better deal through empowerment but by coming in with a fixed agenda it suggests that they have it all worked out. This leaves no room for any sort of consultation or community group meetings and can take away nearly all the interest by the residents. By not using community consultation the residents can very easily loose interest and involvement in a project if they are suspicious of the fact that it is not what they want to see happening. Community workers must be careful to go into a project with an open agenda and the ability to mould the agenda to what the residents want or face tension and the possibility of the lack of support of the community that they are working in. This happened in my local community. A substantial grant was won to improve the town. The council decided to create a community centre that would house a cyber-cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and open access hall for a variety of activities. It seemed like a good idea to the council yet the local community just wanted the money to be spent on tidying up the council estate, a new set of playground equipment and a new layer of paint in the church hall that the community had always used. Unfortunately the community worker and the council did not listen to what the residents wanted, and 5 years down the line the community centre is un-used except by a mothers and toddler group, with the rest of the community groups preferring to use their old hall. This project has tarred the council with a stereotype that they do not listen anyway so the local community has lost any belief in the fact that they are in it for their interests, even 5 years later this still is a lasting view. Community work often involves inter-agency working. Inter-agency work brings together a range of individuals, organisations and interest groups. By working with these agencies it can bring about tensions between the different managers, and can bring about competition and misunderstandings. Working with different agencies can seem like a good idea but there are many issues that can be raised and these can have a big effect on the overall ‘community; formed by the worker. Because each agency comes with its own agenda then their will be differences in the organisational systems. Banks et al (2003) states that different agencies have different systems for allocating work and recording and sharing information, this can cause many internal issues surrounding the smooth running of the project. When trying to work as a community worker to bring about change these issues must be carefully addressed. The tension will always be there because of the different agencies involved with their own interests but the role of the community worker here is to make sure that the project does not suffer and that the issues are dealt with in a open arena. Take for example a youth action project may include the police, youth workers and nurses. All these come with different agendas, youth workers looking at informal education and welfare, nurses on health and police officers on law enforcement and crime prevention. (Banks et all 2003) All of these different agenda have to be carefully managed in order for the project to be successful. Each agency must understand the importance of the project as a whole and be able to communicate any issues that it has with the other agencies. This is where the community worker can get stuck in the middle, between the different agencies and stuck in with inter-agency politics instead of being out in the community. Dilemmas also form part of the daily planning for community workers. Take for example the planning of a new project, does the worker go for a big and high profile project that will involve the whole community but may not be very effective due to the fact that it may never reach its goals. Or does the worker settle for the small project that will enable him/her to achieve the desired outcome and be able to address a certain issue that the community has raises like youth ‘hanging about on the streets'. This causes the community worker to face the fact that he either has to work with all the community, which he is likely to get more funding and support for, or just to focus on an achievable project like talking the youth ‘boredom' that is happening. Dilemmas surrounding confidentiality is always a difficult to decide the ‘right' course of action. Although community workers are not seen as a counselling service, many see workers as a trusted person in the community to talk to. In this situation confidentiality becomes important, but also the rules of breaking confidentiality have to be addressed as well. Confidentiality has its limitations to be enforced and this can cause the dilemma to the worker as to what is ethically right. Should the worker pass the information on or keep the confidentiality that he promised. (Roche, 2004) This issue was brought up when I was working as a youth worker in the local youth club setting. A young woman approached me saying that she needed to talk. Due to the fact that I had time to spare and she seemed distressed I let her talk and told her everything that she said would be confidential. She then told me that she was getting beaten up at home but did not want to it get out as she did to want her and her siblings to be spilt up. I spent a whole supervisory session talking to my supervisor about confidentiality. In the end I had to break it as a way of helping that young person to escape the endless circle but it was not a light hearted decision. My trust had been broken and since then the young girl has not come back to the youth club, but I know that she is now safe and living with a foster family and her siblings. One dilemma that community workers often face is the fact of accountability and who are they actually accountable to. Many workers would suggest that they are accountable to the community groups as they are working for what they need but others may suggest that they are accountable to the state and their employer. Community workers are employed by a wide range of bodies, including local authorities, primary care trusts, regeneration partnerships, charities, housing committees, the list is endless. All of these bodies have their own organisational and departmental aims for the community worker's role, and the worker is accountable to in a legal/employment sense to their employer. (Henderson and Thomas, 1992) In any community work there is the potential for a complex layering system of accountability, as managers may be employed by some agency to mange work funded by their agency. (Banks, 2003) this is where community workers can find them selves pulled in different directions and must always be careful about what they do. In some cases they may have to balance contradictory and compelling demands and attempt to make sense and achieve them in order to carry out the desired aim. This may be where they community project has been given a set of money from the Church of England for a youth project, this project has then started to deal with people from all religions coming to the project. In order to retain the centres success the worker does not want to ban the youth from the centre due to the fact that they are benefiting from it. Yet the worker is going against the aims of the funding application. In this case the worker has to be accountable to both the Church of England and the youth who are attending the project. In order to attempt to solve this situation then the worker must talk to the Church and attempt to re-structure the funding application so that it can be used across the project and not just on the youth of the Church. (Adapted from Brierley, 2002.) Bryants, (1982, cited in Jacobs et al) suggests that a community worker acts as a catalyst and has nine skills: 1. relational 2. communication 3. organisational 4. mediating 5. bargaining 6. entrepreneur 7. researcher 8. political 9. tactical. In order to be all these then at some point there will always be conflicting ideas and dilemmas to be addressed. One can not attempt to fill all theses roles of a community worker and still be able to work on a level ground with others. Although all of these are very important the fact that a community worker can relate to others within the community is essential and the skill of being able to accept differences and be able to address these is a skill which is learnt and will always be important in our world of work. There will always be tensions and dilemmas to address but these must not get us down. We must learn to take everything in our stride and learn from our mistakes, being able to see where we went wrong and be able to apply these lessons learnt to our future practise. Our strategy must be based on a clear awareness of what we as workers are aiming to achieve by our intervention and use negotiation and communication to overcome any difficulties that we encounter.

The Ka and Molar Mass of a Monoprotic Weak Acid

The Ka and Molar Mass of a Monoprotic Weak Acid Chemistry Lab 152 Professor: James Giles November 7, 2012 Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the pKa, Ka, and molar mass of an unknown acid (#14). The pKa was found to be 3. 88, the Ka was found to be 1. 318 x 10 -4, and the molar mass was found to be 171. 9 g/mol. Introduction Acids differ considerable as to their strength. The difference between weak and strong acids can be as much as 10 orders of magnitude.Strong acids dissociate more completely than weak acids, meaning they produce higher concentrations of the conjugate base anion (A-) and the hydronium cation (H30+) in solution. HA(aq) + H20 (( A- + H3O+ With the following formula the degree to which an acid dissociates (Ka) can be calculated and given a numerical value. Ka = [A-][H3O+] / [HA] Ka is the conventional way of measuring an acid’s strength. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the Ka of an unknown acid, along with its pKa and mol ar mass. Experimental The unknown acid for this experiment was #14.The experiment began with the preparation and standardization of NaOH solution. It was calculated that 2. 00 grams of NaOH pellets were needed to prepare 0. 5 L of 0. 1 M NaOH solution. The solution was then standardized by conducting three titration trials. It was calculated that 0. 7148 grams of KHP were necessary to neutralize 35 mL of the 0. 1 M NaOH. Three samples of KHP were weighed approximating this number (Table 1). Each sample was mixed with 40 mL of deionized water and 2 drops of phenolphthalein in 3 Erlenmeyer flasks. Each flask was then titrated with the NaOH to a light pink endpoint.The volumes of NaOH were recorded, averaged, and the standardized. The molarity of the NaOH was found to be 0. 0981. Assuming a molar mass of 100 g/mol, it was calculated that 0. 3930 g of acid was needed to neutralize 40 mL of the standardized NaOH solution. This amount was weighed out on an electronic balance to full preci sion and added to a clean 250 mL beaker. The acid was first diluted with 10 mL of isopropanol and then 90 mL of water. A pH meter was immersed in the acid solution and an initial pH reading of 2. 61 was recorded.A buret filled with the NaOH solution was incrementally added to the acid solution and the changing pH values were recorded (Table 2). As the pH meter approached the equivalence point the amount of NaOH added each time was reduced. As the Table 2 shows, the pH rose significantly with the addition of little NaOH over this interval. This information was plotted using Graphical Analysis producing a titration curve graph of pH vs. NaOH (Graph 1). Additional calculations and graphs were produced to help identify the equivalence point: ? pH/? V vs. NaOH (Graph 2) and Vtotal x 10-ph vs. NaOH (Graph 3) Tables and CalculationsPreparation of 500 mL of 0. 1 M NaOH M = moles / volume 0. 1 M NaOH = moles NaOH / 0. 5 L H20 = 0. 05 moles NaOH 0. 05 moles NaOH x 39. 986 g/mol NaOH = 1. 99 g NaOH Preparation of KHP 0. 1 M NaOH = moles NaOH / 0. 035 mL NaOH = . 0035 moles NaOH 0. 0035 moles KHP x 204. 233 g/mole KHP = 0. 7148 g KHP Table 1: NaOH Titration Trials |Trial |KHP |NaOH (to titrate to endpoint) | | |(grams) |(mL) | |1 |0. 7159 |35. 75 | |2 |0. 7147 |35. 65 | |3 |0. 7149 |35. | | | | Avg. 35. 66 | Standardization of NaOH 0. 0035 moles NaOH / . 03566 mL NaOH = 0. 0981 M NaOH Table 2: pH vs. NaOH Values |NaOH |pH |NaOH |pH |NaOH |pH |NaOH |pH | |(mL) | |(mL) | |(mL) | |(mL) | | |0 |2. 61 |19. 2 |4. 54 |22. 15 |6. 56 |25. 4 |9. 74 | |2 |2. 94 |19. 4 |4. 58 |22. 2 |6. 2 |25. 9 |9. 82 | |4 |3. 18 |19. 6 |4. 61 |22. 25 |6. 87 |26. 4 |9. 96 | |5 |3. 3 |19. 8 |4. 65 |22. 3 |6. 98 |26. 9 |10. 02 | |6 |3. 4 |20 |4. 68 |22. 35 |7. 06 |27. 4 |10. 11 | |7 |3. 49 |20. 2 |4. 72 |22. 4 |7. 14 |28. 4 |10. 21 | |8 |3. 58 |20. 4 |4. 77 |22. 5 |7. 24 |29. 4 |10. 1 | |9 |3. 66 |20. 6 |4. 84 |22. 6 |7. 44 |31. 4 |10. 46 | |10 |3. 73 |20. 8 |4. 88 |22. 7 |7. 58 |33. 4 |10. 58 | |11 | 3. 88 |21 |4. 94 |22. 8 |7. 73 |35. 4 |10. 67 | |12 |3. 91 |21. 2 |5. 02 |22. 9 |7. 89 |36. 4 |10. 75 | |13 |3. 97 |21. 4 |5. 11 |23 |8. 03 |39. 4 |10. 87 | |14 |4. 04 |21. |5. 25 |23. 1 |8. 17 |42. 4 |10. 96 | |15 |4. 11 |21. 7 |5. 32 |23. 2 |8. 38 |44. 4 |11. 02 | |16 |4. 19 |21. 8 |5. 45 |23. 3 |8. 51 | | | |16. 5 |4. 24 |21. 85 |5. 52 |23. 4 |8. 65 | | | |17 |4. 29 |21. 9 |5. 62 |23. 6 |8. 92 | | | |17. 5 |4. 34 |21. 95 |5. 71 |23. 8 |9. 9 | | | |18 |4. 4 |22 |5. 86 |24. 1 |9. 27 | | | |18. 5 |4. 45 |22. 05 |6. 1 |24. 4 |9. 39 | | | |19 |4. 52 |22. 1 |6. 4 |24. 9 |9. 62 | | | Graph 1: pH vs. NaOH Titration Curve [pic] Estimated volume of NaOH at equivalence point based on titration curve: 22. 30 mL NaOH. Table 3: ? pH/? V vs. NaOH Values |NaOH |? pH/? V |NaOH |? pH/? V |NaOH |? pH/?V |NaOH |? pH/? V | |(mL) | |(mL) | |(mL) | |(mL) | | |2 |0. 12 |19. 2 |0. 2 |22. 1 |3. 2 |24. 4 |0. 46 | |4 |0. 12 |19. 4 |0. 15 |22. 15 |3. 2 |24. 9 |0. 24 | |5 |0. 1 |19. 6 |0. 2 |22. 2 |3 |25. 4 | 0. 16 | |6 |0. 09 |19. 8 |0. 15 |22. 25 |2. 2 |25. 9 |0. 28 | |7 |0. 9 |20 |0. 2 |22. 3 |1. 6 |26. 4 |0. 12 | |8 |0. 08 |20. 2 |0. 2 |22. 35 |1. 6 |26. 9 |0. 18 | |9 |0. 07 |20. 4 |0. 35 |22. 4 |1 |27. 4 |0. 1 | |10 |0. 15 |20. 6 |0. 2 |22. 5 |2 |28. 4 |0. 1 | |11 |0. 03 |20. 8 |0. 3 |22. 6 |1. 4 |29. 4 |0. 075 | |12 |0. 06 |21 |0. |22. 7 |1. 5 |31. 4 |0. 06 | |13 |0. 07 |21. 2 |0. 45 |22. 8 |1. 6 |33. 4 |0. 045 | |14 |0. 07 |21. 4 |0. 7 |22. 9 |0. 1 |35. 4 |0. 08 | |15 |0. 08 |21. 6 |0. 7 |23 |1. 4 |36. 4 |0. 04 | |16 |0. 1 |21. 7 |1. 3 |23. 1 |2. 1 |39. 4 |0. 03 | |16. 5 |0. 1 |21. 8 |1. 4 |23. 2 |1. |42. 4 |0. 03 | |17 |0. 1 |21. 85 |2 |23. 3 |1. 4 | | | |17. 5 |0. 12 |21. 9 |1. 8 |23. 4 |1. 35 | | | |18 |0. 1 |21. 95 |3 |23. 6 |0. 85 | | | |18. 5 |0. 14 |22 |4. 8 |23. 8 |0. 3 | | | |19 |0. 1 |22. 05 |6 |24. 1 |0. 4 | | |Graph 2: ? pH/? V vs. NaOH [pic] Estimated volume of NaOH at equivalence point based on ? pH/? V vs. NaOH graph: 22. 30 mL NaOH. Table 4: Vtotal x 10-ph vs. NaOH Values |NaOH |Vtotal x 10-ph |NaOH |Vtotal x 10-ph | |(mL) | |(mL) | | |19. 8 |0. 000443 |21. 6 |0. 000121 | |20 |0. 000417 |21. 7 |0. 000104 | |20. 2 |0. 000385 |21. 8 |7. 70E-05 | |20. 4 |0. 000346 |21. 85 |6. 60E-05 | |20. 6 |0. 000298 |21. 9 |5. 0E-05 | |20. 8 |0. 000274 |21. 95 |4. 30E-05 | |21 |0. 000241 |22 |3. 00E-05 | |21. 2 |0. 000202 |22. 05 |1. 80E-05 | |21. 4 |0. 000166 | | | Graph 3: Vtotal x 10-ph vs. NaOH [pic] Estimated volume NaOH at equivalence point based on Vtotal x 10-ph vs. NaOH graph: 22. 20 mL NaOH Calculating Ka of Unknown Acid pH at ? equivalence point volume: 3. 88 Ka = 10 -3. 88 = 1. 318 x 10 -4 Ka = 1. 318 x 10-4 Calculating the Molar Mass of the Unknown Acid 0. 0981 M NaOH = moles acid / . 02330 L NaOH = 0. 023 moles acid 0. 3930 g acid / 0. 0023 moles acid = 171. 9 g/mol Analysis of Error There is a high degree of agreement among the 3 graphs and therefore a low degree of error in this experiment. According to the Graphical Analysis program, Graphs 1 and 2 indicated that the total volume of NaOH at the equivalence point was 22. 30 mL. Graph 3 indicated a volume of 22. 20 mL, a difference of 0. 1 mL. Discussion Based upon the range of possible values for Ka, anywhere from 3. 2 x 109 for Hydroiodic acid (one of the strongest) to 5. 8 x 10-10 for Boric acid (one of the weakest), this experiment’s unknown acid solution (Ka = 1. 18 x 10-4) falls roughly in the lower quarter of strength. This estimate fits its titration curve. In general, strong acids quickly go from a very low pH to a very high pH, e. g. , 2 to 12, while weak acids quickly go from a lower pH to a higher pH, e. g. , 6 to 10. The unknown solution for this experiment jump from 5 to 10 pH, which is consistent with a Ka of 1. 318 x 10-4 and a weaker acid. References Darrell D. Ebbing and Steven D Gammon, General Chemistry, 9th ed. Cengage Learning: Ohio, 2009. Department of Physical Science—Chemistry, Mesa Community College. The Ka and Molar Mass of a Monop rotic Weak Acid (handout).

Labeled behavior Essay

After his release from Wiltwyck, Butch lived with his dad in a run-down tenement in the Bronx. Butch admired his father for his criminal exploits and his time imprison. Butch’s dad got drunk a lot and beat on Butch. Life degenerated into a nightmare and a series of tragedies for Butch. Rather than continue to live being beaten, Butch robbed a taxi driver at knife point and turned himself in to the police. The robbery was also part of his dream to become a real criminal. It was as if going to prison was the only future he could envision. Butch imploded from all the terrible forces within him, including his shattered home life and the terror of living by the code of the street. He became violently angry without provocation and acted as if he were mentally retarded. He claimed to hear voices and tried to choke another boy. Butch was sent to Bellevue Hospital for evaluation. The psychiatrist evaluating him found him seething with anger and ready to explode at any moment. Butch was also lonely and needed someone to love. Nevertheless, he was capable of explosive, homicidal behavior. He was labeled as having childhood schizophrenia, which psychiatrists at the time assigned to anyone hallucinating or claiming to hear voices. At age 14, Butch was sent to Rockland State Hospital. Butch became calmer there when he was removed from his parents’ troubles. A social worker discovered that his mother Marie was a prostitute and his father James, an alcoholic, was in the advanced stages of syphilis. The author speculates that congenital syphilis may have contributed to the family’s troubles. The psychiatrists at Rockland State Hospital diagnosed Butch as having childhood antisocial behavior marked by irritability, inattentiveness, and impulsivity. In adults, the syndrome is known as psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder. Discussion: (1) Heredity Study — For the first time a family history of congenital syphilis is noticed. The disease attacks the brain. Personality changes are another symptom. There is no way to know whether or not Butch was suffering from congenital or contracted syphilis and its effects without blood tests on him and the other family members. From the family history, this is a distinct possibility even back to slavery days. (2) Differential Opportunity Theory — People deprived of their basic needs such as food, water, shelter, safety, love, and self esteem will seek them any way they can get them. They may give up on their educational goals or not know about them. They fight because they know no other means of resolving conflict. After being beaten by his alcoholic father, Butch turned to crime to return to prison, a place where he would be safe, because he did not know how to escape legally. This theory fails to explain why other people in the same situation escape to live with other family members or turn to friends or some other source of safety other than commit a crime in order to return to prison. (3) Crime and Labeling Theory – Butch’s grandmother Frances has repeatedly told him he has the devil in him, like his father did. She really believed this. He is labeled at the Children’s Center when he begins to hear voices and hallucinate. He is sent to Wiltwyck, which is a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed boys, and he is given that label. He is labeled as paranoid, aggressive, and prone to violence. Once these labels are attached by professional diagnosticians, it is difficult to remove them. The labels themselves cannot explain Butch’s actions or why he hears voices and hallucinates. The labels describe what Butch says is happening. Example of Behavior #3: Butch tries to sell 150 pornographic pictures and their negatives to Dave Hurwitz in his pawnshop, called â€Å"Dave’s Tailor Shop†, in Milwaukee. Butch stole the pictures from his employer, the Evans Color Lab, which saw no reason to report the crime. Hurwitz told Butch to come back tomorrow, and he would pay him $50 for the pictures. The next morning, Butch confronts Dave, who denies all knowledge of the pictures. Butch sees his photos behind the case register and reaches around to reclaim them. Hurwitz starts pushing him out of the shop. Everything in Butch’s life comes together. Here is a man calling him a liar, trying to hustle HIM, and insulting him. Since he was a boy, he had learned that disrespect was the worst thing a man could do to you. He had been taught to use physical violence to meat that threat. The thought running through Butch’s mind was, â€Å"He is disrespecting me. † Butch goes wild with rage and grabs the long hunting knife from the sheath on his back. He stabs Hurwitz six times and a customer, William Locke, six times before he leaves, almost running over a witness at the door. Butch turns himself in, confesses to the police, never requests a lawyer, and receives life in prison, returning to the only safe place he knows. Discussion: (1) Heredity Study – We do not know if Butch’s genetics predisposed him to crime. There are no blood studies confirming the hereditary syphilis. There are many people with genetic abnormalities who do not become criminal. It is obvious that Butch has now learned he is safe in prison, and that the security there fits his needs. If genetics were involved, Butch’s male ancestors should exhibit the same behavior. The theory is not testable here. There is no way to ask Butch why he feels this way. It also does not explain his uncontrollable rage when the pawnbroker tries to avoid paying him. (2) Differential Opportunity Theory – Butch has access both to a job and to illegal means of making a living. He stole from his employer and continued his life of crime despite the better example and the trade he learned. Not all people with a trade and a job take advantage of their employers, even if their family male role models are criminals. (3) Crime and Labeling Theory – By now, Butch has been labeled by professionals as a young sociopath. This describes behavior but cannot stop it or predict it. This is a circular path. A person who is labeled as a sociopath will behave as one and the label will be confirmed. Sometimes no other reasons are sought for criminal behavior. The adult Butch has received no therapy or other treatment for any of his labeled behavior.

A New Work Ethic Essay

The following questions are to help us analyze and maybe even understand where business in America is heading, especially with a capitalist society. 1. Describe how typical the attitudes that Sheehy reports appear to be in work environments you have experienced. The attitude described by James Sheehy unfortunately is not uncommon among young employees on these days, therefore is very likely that all of us at some point have come across an employee that has poor work ethics. I have worked in a call center environment for several years and have experienced how my younger coworkers, some of them still attending college, think of their job as a transitional one; they feel they don’t have to excel in their tasks even though they have the ability to do a better performance, because they work in customer service. The problem with younger generations I believe it starts at home and school; parents usually want to give their children what they didn’t have growing up but they’re failing in teaching them appreciation and value f the things they receive, and that sends a message that they deserve something, instead of having to earn something; and at school they learn they can pass their classes by pulling enough extra credit even if they did poor in their tests and assignments, contributing to that get-away-with-it mentality that Sheehy talks about. 2. Explain the implications of the work ethics Sheehy describes for the future of American busi ness. Elizabeth Vallance (1995) reflects that business ethics â€Å"involves articulating a coherent set of values for a business and trying to set decision making within the context of these values† (p. ), but the values described by Sheehy are not the ideal ones that would lead a business to success, subsequently, there must be a change in those values, or a change in the way Americans do business, acknowledging that there is a new business ethics, understanding and adapting to the new generations, but never ignoring the moral values that characterize our society and that have built the business system which is the core of the capital system now. Shaw (2010) advices that as long as these new generations have the â€Å"freedom to influence the nature of their jobs and pursue their lifestyles,† they would be willing to work hard (p. 156), so ignoring the attitude that Sheehy’s co-workers have is not the solution to the problem, instead, delegating responsibility, getting the employees more involved in the decision making process, and accepting positive feedbacks are excellent ways to avoid business failure in the future. Unquestionably there are several factors that contribute to a business failure other than attitude, but definitely this aspect of business will keep our capital society afloat. 3. Explain whether it is more reasonable to expect workers, especially in a capitalist society, to be more devoted to their jobs, more concerned with quality and customer service, than Sheehy’s coworkers were. Adam Smith’s concept of the Invisible Hand explains that human beings are acquisitive creatures and self-motivated, in an economic sense, to gain personal advantage; if we believe this concept is the core of capitalism, we should think it is reasonable to expect workers to be devoted to their jobs. However our reality shows a decline in the commitment people have towards their jobs for many reasons, the one I believe is the most important is the focus on the Short Term, explained by Shaw (2010, p. 54), which tends to make workers â€Å"unimaginative, inflexible, and ultimately uncompetitive,† thinking of ways on how to make big amounts of money in short time without much effort, by investing, by inventing, by becoming an artist, a sport star, etc. unrealistically thinking they can succeed without much effort. Customer service as we know it, might be changing in a near future, we are getting more used to a self-service mentality and that’s why many young people do n’t think is a priority to show devotion on that area. 4. Explain the reasoning behind employee theft. Employee theft is explained by a mix of circumstances that employees experience within our capitalist society. People have profit motive, some employees believe they enjoy certain advantages of working for a specific company, let’s say an employee thinks he or she is entitled to take home office supplies that cost the company a lot of money, only because he knows is within the company’s budget and they feel they aren’t compensated well enough so they can supplement their salaries by stealing. Also most employees that steal do it because they believe they can get away with it, or they have seen other employees doing it without having any consequences, therefore it’s a spread feeling among co-workers that it’s ok to take things from the company when it certainly isn’t. Some other employees that steal do it because they are experiencing truly economic problems and they are not responsible enough to solve them in another way, but stealing from the company to make up for their losses. Whichever the case, is very important to pay attention to this growing tendency, because businesses do lose considerable amount of money from employee theft, and this can affect the future of American business. 5. Explain ways the culture of our capitalists society encourages attitudes like those Sheehy describes . Capitalism have encouraged a lot of people to better themselves by acquiring a good education; is it necessary to have a better education today in order to have a customer service job than the one required many years ago for the same type of position. Consequently it takes more effort and more money invested in education for these young people to find better jobs; this can create the feeling that all the efforts are not worth unless you have a nice, big paying job, without having to start from scratch. Also younger generations have grown up with a lot technological help, compared to older generations, they have the Internet, computers, cell phones, entertaining gadgets, etc. that make tasks easier and the use of those is strongly encouraged by our capitalist society. As a result there is a pressure to have this technology in order to succeed, a pressure of affording the lifestyle that is â€Å"accepted† by their circle. United States is one of the very few countries were people can become rich in a very short timeframe, whether is by an business, artistic, or sports skill; some have invested at the right time and have become successful, and this mentality has stuck on the young people’s head, to the point that anyone could become rich overnight, if they only know how to play the right cards, not necessarily having to work a lifetime to build their capital.

Bowen and Ostroffs HRM System Strength Model Essay

Bowen and Ostroffs HRM System Strength Model - Essay Example According to the research findings, nowadays the landscape of the HRM Practices has been changed quite significantly In existing highly competitive and dynamic business environment no business organization can be succeeded without the intensive support of its employees. In this regard, business organizations have started to be more concentrated on the making its Human Resource Management system more effective and strong. For this purpose, different theories and frameworks have been articulated towards making the HRM systems of a business organization more effective strong. The paper explains some crucial aspects of this HRM system strength model. Moreover, the essay also discusses some positive as well as negative aspects of the model so that an effective critical evaluation of the system can be presented in the most effective manner. For the purpose of explaining the disposition of HRM in the existing period of time, there are a number of different theoretical perspective. Among suc h HR related theories, HRM system strength model articulated by Bowen and Ostroff can be considered quite crucial and effective model. This model is based on the attribution theory of Kelley, which states that the degree of distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus are prime factors associated with the situation, which directs people to change their attribute. The Bowen and Ostroff’s HRM system strength model can be considered as an extension of attribute theory. The scholars further classified the attributes, i.e. distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus, as illustrated in the Attribute theory of Kelley.