Compensation Plan Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Compensation Plan Outline - Essay Example In addition to providing its employees with competitive salaries, the company undertakes regular review of the pay thus ensuring that the workers are equally compensated for their hard work. To ensure that the company gives competitive salaries, it benchmarks the pay against similar positions in the competing companies. Another aspect that makes PepsiCo compensation policy appropriate is the annual incentive compensation. By providing performance-related annual incentive compensation to the executives, their performance is enhanced thus increasing the profitability of the company. The 2004 EIC Plan is a policy that is adopted by PepsiCo in its executive compensation. During the compensation, the company considers financial position of the company, the company strategic position and the extent to which the managers motivate and manage other employees. Additionally, the company uses pre-approved earnings per share target to compensate its executives. Pepsi compensation philosophy entai ls long-term incentive compensation. According to the management team, the interest of company shareholders and those of the executive can be effectively aligned by providing stock-based incentives as well as stock ownership awards (Heneman, 2002).   . With a history of linking stock-performance to the employees pay, PepsiCo has benefited from effective compensation policy that is fair. In the same way, the company offers target grant to the executives once they meet their goals. Based on the stiff compensation in the soft drink industry.... Another aspect that makes PepsiCo compensation policy appropriate is the annual incentive compensation. By providing performance-related annual incentive compensation to the executives, their performance is enhanced thus increasing the profitability of the company. The 2004 EIC Plan is a policy that is adopted by PepsiCo in its executive compensation. During the compensation, the company considers financial position of the company, the company strategic position and the extent to which the managers motivate and manage other employees. Additionally, the company uses pre-approved earnings per share target to compensate its executives. Pepsi compensation philosophy entails long-term incentive compensation. According to the management team, the interest of company shareholders and those of the executive can be effectively aligned by providing stock-based incentives as well as stock ownership awards (Heneman, 2002). . With a history of linking stock-performance to the employees pay, Pepsi Co has benefited from effective compensation policy that is fair. In the same way, the company offers target grant to the executives once they meet their goals. Based on the stiff compensation in the soft drink industry, offering a target grant to the executives is an essential policy since it result to the attainment of the corporate goals. In this way, the company is able to effectively compete with Coca-Cola Company despite the latter being a market leader. To ensure that all the employees are motivated, it is imperative for employers to come up with appropriate beneficial ratio in their compensation system. Internally, Pepsi should ensure that employees in all the department earns three quarter of what the departmental mangers are earning. Through the ratio of 3:4,

Hager Shipley in The Stone Angel Essay Example for Free

Hager Shipley in The Stone Angel Essay In Margaret Laurences novel, The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley is the main character. Born the daughter of Jason Currie, she is one who possesses incredible depth in character. Mingling past and present, we observe the very qualities, which sustained her and deprived her of joy such as her lack of emotional expression. As well, inheriting her fathers harsh qualities, she exhibited pride that detested weakness in any form. Despite of her negative attributes she also displayed a positive mannerism through courage. Thus, Hagar is a cold, but strong willed woman. Such qualities give us a portrait of a remarkable character. Hagars most noticeable characteristic was her lack of feeling and emotion. Indeed there where many situations where she could not physically express what she felt in her heart. She did not cry at the death of her son John. That night she was transformed to stone and never wept at all (Laurence 243). During Marvins childhood, she would impatiently dismiss him due to his slowness of speech. Once when an ecstatic Marvin told Hagar that he finished his chores, Hagar bluntly sends him away saying, I can see youve finished. Ive got eyes. Get along now  ¼ (Laurence 112). Even as a child she was lacked emotion when she could not provide comfort to her dying brother, Daniel. Daniel needed the comfort of his mother, but for Hagar, to play at being her it was beyond me (Laurence 25). Indeed, Hagars deficiency in feeling or expressing emotion was a visible characteristic throughout the novel. As a result of her upbringing, Hagar possesses pride that despises weakness in any form. As a young girl she displayed this trait when her dad slapped her hand, I wouldnt let him see me cry, I was so enraged (Laurence 9). As previously mentioned before, Hagar could not portray her mother to comfort her dying brother. She characterized her mother as the woman Dan was said to resemble so much and from whom hed inherited a frailty I could not help but detest (Laurence 25). When Hagar brought upon the subject of marriage with Bram Shipley to her father he made it clear that theres not a decent girl in this town would wed without her familys consent (Laurence 49). Hagar rebelliously responded, It will be done by me (Laurence 49) and eventually marries Bram. Thus, throughout the novel, Hagars attribute of scornful pride is evidently exhibited. In contrast to her negative character, Hagar exhibits a great deal of courage. Following Hagars marriage to Bram, she immediately faced the reality of the life. The next day Hagar cleaned the house inside out. I had never scrubbed a floor in my life, but I worked that day as though Id been driven by a whip (Laurence 52). Hagar also had the courage to leave Bram for the sake of her childrens future. Physically, Hagar did not lack courage. At the age of 90, Hagar was able to painfully endure her journey to Shadow Point. Thus, her courageous character classifies her as a strong willed woman. Theres no question that Hagar, young or old, is a cold yet courageous woman. She was deficient in physically expressing her feelings and emotions. She also possessed an unbending pride, which despised weakness in any form. However, despite of her negative attributes she still exhibits a positive aspect through her courage. Hagars character has such immense depth. She may not be perfect; nevertheless she is unique. Important Note: If youd like to save a copy of the paper on your computer, you can COPY and PASTE it into your word processor. Please, follow these steps to do that in Windows: 1. Select the text of the paper with the mouse and press Ctrl+C. 2. Open your word processor and press Ctrl+V. Companys Liability 123HelpMe.com (the Web Site) is produced by the Company. The contents of this Web Site, such as text, graphics, images, audio, video and all other material (Material), are protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws. The Company makes no representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the Material or about the results to be obtained from using the Material. You expressly agree that any use of the Material is entirely at your own risk. Most of the Material on the Web Site is provided and maintained by third parties. This third party  Material may not be screened by the Company prior to its inclusion on the Web Site. You expressly agree that the Company is not liable or responsible for any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other subscribers or third parties. The Materials are provided on an as-is basis without warranty express or implied. The Company and its suppliers and affiliates disclaim all warranties, including the warranty of non-infringement of proprietary or third party rights, and the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. The Company and its suppliers make no warranties as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the material, services, text, graphics and links. For a complete statement of the Terms of Service, please see our website. By obtaining these materials you agree to abide by the terms herein, by our Terms of Service as posted on the website and any and all alterations, revisions and amendments thereto.

Free Euthanasia Essays: Hospice and Physician-Assisted Suicide :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

Hospice and Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia One Work Cited This essay will present the views of that worldwide organization named Hospice which has seen the quiet, natural death of millions of terminally ill patients - without the use of physician-assisted suicide. It is important that the voice of the largest caregiver for the terminally ill be heard, and listened to attentively. For they have the most experience. The Hemlock Society is nothing (in scope, importance, goals)in comparison to this great Hospice Organization (HO). Hospice professionals and caregivers have given the issue of physician-assisted suicide much thought and consideration in recent years, and adopted an organizational position on the issue as early as February of 1992. Last year, when the debate increased in intensity, the HO not only reaffirmed its earlier position, but strengthened it. The Organization's Resolution clearly states, "That assisted suicide is not a component of hospice care; ..." and "That the Hospice Organization does not support the legalization of voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide in the care of the terminally ill." Hospice workers, likely more than any other group of care providers, deal with the desperation that many individuals feel when they accept the fact that their illness is likely to be the cause of their death. In that process, hospice staff deal not only with the physical pain of the illness, but also the emotional pain of facing leaving one's family, the social pain of enduring what may be considered indignities, and the spiritual pain associated with one's cultural and personal beliefs about life after death. Through an interdisciplinary approach that is unique to hospice care, patients who elect hospice receive treatment for all their concerns. Hospice caregivers have discovered three central reasons a terminally ill person may want to discuss suicide. One is a fear of uncontrolled pain. Another is fear of abandonment, of being left alone to die and feeling there is no one to care. The third is concern over financial pressures that may leave a family devastated by the last illness. Hospice addresses these concerns as quickly in the disease process as is possible, and hospice workers everywhere will tell the public that when these issues are under control, the desire to end one's life becomes a non-issue. Hospice workers dedicate their professional and often their personal lives to successfully resolving those issues. The hospice community is very concerned that the legalization of

The Practical Ways of Spending Money

What is better? To spend money Saving and investing your money for the future is one of the most practical things you can do. This is solid advice, but when you do decide to spend your hard earned money it should be spent on something practical, useful, and meaningful to the wellbeing of your existence. So many people either save their money or blow it on worthless crap. Here are some practical ways to spend your money on something useful: 1.Travel to See the Significant People in Your Life – There may be no better way to spend your money than to use it to nurture and rekindle personal relationships with the most significant people in your life. As time quickly passes, we sometimes forget how essential strong personal relationships are to our mental wellbeing. The older we get the more we need true friends and family to be regular parts of our lives. 2. Hire a Personal Trainer – Your health is your life. Without it, all the success and affluence in the world is meaningl ess.Committing yourself to a regular exercise routine is one of the best ways to maintain the health of your body and mind. Sometimes it’s hard to tackle this endeavor on your own. Spending money on a knowledgeable personal trainer who can set you on the right course creates priceless results. Make sure you stick with the trainer until you are committed to exercising on your own. 3. Fix What Is Broken – Have you been ignoring your screeching brakes? What about the excessively loud hum from your AC compressor?Or the scratching noise coming from your computer system? Sooner or later these small annoyances will wear down the reliability of the product and you will be left with a completely broken product instead of just a halfway broken one. Use your money wisely to fix and maintain your belongings. 4. Educate Yourself – Use your money to purchase educational courses or books pertaining to your career, or to a miscellaneous topic that interests and intrigues you. R emember, knowledge is power and your brain is the container of that knowledge.There are few options for spending money on something more practical than the development and facility of your brain. 5. Add Value to Your Home – Your home should be your sanctuary, the place on this planet where you feel the most comfortable. Adding value to your home , be it personal value or increased monetary value, is always a practical choice for spending your money. If the additions you make increase your level of comfort for years to come, you win. If they increase the value of the home to a third party someday when you sell, you win. If both occur, you win big.

Contradictions of War in the Things They Carried/Real Life

Alison Schiffner Contradictions of war 10/20/12 To most people war is a way that we settle disputes with other nations, but they don’t fully understand the intricate details that go along with it. Its not just about the guns, gernades and tanks, it brings out different aspects of soldiers personalities and I think should be more focused on the hardships that individual and groups of soldiers endure. The horrific situations that soldiers undergo can cause different types of actions that they would take because war is contradictory.Soldiers experience unimaginable stress that can make them appear weak or strong. Which is the biggest contradiction that war presents; war makes you strong and war makes you weak. There are numerous examples which can easily be found in the book The things they carried by Tim O’brien. Two stories that demonstrate it best are â€Å"the man I killed† and â€Å"speaking of courage. † Looking back through history also farther promote s the idea, like when America created the atomic bomb, and started a draft.Tim O’brian was a soldier in the **** he was young and didn’t want to go to war, but he had to. During his term he killed a young vietnemese soldier, even though that’s what he was sent there to do, his kind heart couldn’t forgive himself for doing something so terrible. His gut mistrict to throw the grenade gave him strength, because throwing something at someone with the intent to kill someone is something that majority of people will not be able to follow through with.This burst of courage gave him the strength to save his life. But after he killed him and the adrenalin thinned out in his veins he became weak. This is displayed by the dialogue, which on his part was entirely absent. Kiowa spent six hours telling him he did the right thing and they needed to move out, but Tim sat there staring at the body unresponsive. It shows that the sight of a dead body alone was too much for him to handle. To his platoon he appeared inadequit.Individual soldiers are exceptional demonstrations of the contradiction, looking back at history and the military power as a whole also establishes the inconsistency just as well. America produced the strongest fire power that the world has ever seen when creating the atomic bomb which its sheer power was enough to wipe out a whole city in one blow. The strength that America obtained from the bomb was not seen until after the use, but even during the production fear of American had been greatly increasing. Though our Amunition was top notch.

buy custom Benefits of Non-Dividend Paying Stock essay

buy custom Benefits of Non-Dividend Paying Stock essay A non-dividend paying stock is the one that do not give interest to people who invest in it. Though this type of investment does not give interest on the capital invested, that does not mean that they are the worst investment ever. A person may decide to start a family business, which does not pay any dividend. However, with time the business can grow and become a major success. One of the reasons that can make a person invest in a non-dividend stock is the need by many people to be their self-bosses. The SP 500 is one of the non-divided stocks whose value has risen rapidly in the recent past (ADVFN. 2012). Primary factors affecting decisions of capital structure Ability of cash flow The business capacity to stabilize, generate cash inflows and promte certainity of such inflows influences the capital selection structure. It is important for a business to have stable cash inflows than average cash inflows. Growth and sales stability Rapidly growing firms need big amount of capital because the cost of floatation associated with debt is smaller than those in common stock. Company size The enterprise size highly influences the availability of funds. The debenture terms are more favorable to large companies. Control Directors who may need to retain control may not want to sell common stock for it may bring new voting investors who may make control hard. Risks of long term and short term loans Long-term loans despite the advantages have risks both to the lender and to the borrower. The lender has the risk of not being paid while borrower has the risk of paying more due to inflation, due to interest and even be tied by the long time payment. Weakness in managing my money I have a big problem in managing my money. Some time I may say that I want to limit unnecessary expenses but that is in vain. I always spend unnecessarily. This is a critical problem in not only my life but other peoples lives because it affects their capacity to save which implies that they live from pocket-to-mouth. The possible way to control this is to set a fixed amount of money to save every month and to stick to a consistent saving pattern whatever the circumstances (Jones Frank, 2007). Buy custom Benefits of Non-Dividend Paying Stock essay

Democracy In the Colonies essays

Democracy In the Colonies essays Democracy existed in the colonies in the New World even at the very beginning. However some colonies were more democratic than others. The major ideas of democracy like freedom of religion, speech, free market and human rights came to the New World with the first colonists, the Puritans. They came to the Americas looking for freedom and they found it. British America however, was much more democratic in all of its aspects than Spanish America. Politically the English form of government in the Americas followed the democratic ideas much better than the Spanish government in its colonies in the New World. First of all the English colonies didn't have an absolute like the Spanish colonies did. The English had an appointed British governor, but most places held town meetings and that's how they solved their issues. Everyone had a vote in the decisions they made.The Spanish government was headed by an abosolute. The church also had a big control over the people, the church and the state were basically one. That defies all democratic ideas. In British America the women had some rights, much more than in other colonies. Unlike the English, in the Spanish colonies women had no rights whatsoever. In fact only one group of people had any rights at all in Spanish America. Those people were the Peninsulares, they were born in Spain. Again there is no place for democracy here, where your origin determines your place in society. In Br itish America the most rights had male landowners and even women had some rights like I meantioned before. As you can see the British pollitical system is much more democratic than the Spanish. The English economical system was also much more democratic than the Spanish. First of all it was based on trade. Trade was free and the colonists even traded with the Natives. Trade was not well regulated and smuggling with France constantly occured. In Spanish the encomienda system was in effec ...

5 Not This . . . But That Parallelism Problems

5 Not This . . . But That Parallelism Problems 5 â€Å"Not This . . . But That† Parallelism Problems 5 â€Å"Not This . . . But That† Parallelism Problems By Mark Nichol Just as â€Å"not only . . . but also† constructions often stymie writers (see this recent post on the topic, and search the Daily Writing Tips site for â€Å"not only . . . but also† to find several others), similar syntactical phrasing can be difficult to form correctly. 1. â€Å"The movie achieves its effects, not by threatening to show you something hideous, but by getting under your skin and into your head.† This sentence constructs the comparative phrases (â€Å"not by [this] but by [that]†) correctly, but the internal punctuation is superfluous: â€Å"The movie achieves its effects not by threatening to show you something hideous but by getting under your skin and into your head.† 2. â€Å"I caution her not to rely so heavily on what she thinks others would do, but on her own intuition.† Because the verb rely applies to both comparative phrases, as achieves does in the first example, both the phrase beginning with not and the one beginning with but should follow the verb; the phrase describing the recommended strategy should also be revised to more thoroughly parallel the description of the person’s original approach: â€Å"I caution her to rely not so heavily on what she thinks others would do but to depend, rather, on her intuition.† 3. â€Å"He films it in a way that doesn’t suggest good taste, but colossal presumption and delusion.† This sentence has the same error of parallelism as the preceding one; the verb suggest should precede both the not phrase (here, its beginning is disguised as doesn’t) and the but phrase: â€Å"He films it in a way that suggests not good taste but colossal presumption and delusion.† 4. â€Å"But the story here is not one of privacy infringement so much as the way real estate is changing because of technology.† The comparative phrasing here is incomplete; a repetition of is within a mirroring verb phrase must be inserted before the concluding phrase: â€Å"But the story here is not one of privacy infringement so much as it is the way real estate is changing because of technology.† 5. â€Å"They accomplished this task both by utilizing the built-in transformation tools and creating their own.† Both is correctly positioned only if by is repeated before the verb in the second part of the compound phrase: â€Å"They accomplished this task both by utilizing the built-in transformation tools and by creating their own.† Otherwise, both should switch places with by: â€Å"They accomplished this task by both utilizing the built-in transformation tools and creating their own.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational WritingThat vs. WhichList of 50 Compliments and Nice Things to Say!

Law assignment 3 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law assignment 3 - Coursework Example 2. By publishing the description of a man sought for questioning, the mass media could actually create a risk of serious prejudice to an active case. But in this scenario, the case is inactive and the man is merely sought for the purposes of question clarification. Therefore, the media can warn the public about the dangers of dealing with this man. This is so that the public may be warned in case the person sought is armed or violent in some ways. Public safety is of the utmost concern in such situations. However, once a warrant of arrest is issued, the media will no longer be able to use the mans name or description as it would serve a prejudicial purpose in the case. 3. Section 4 (1) is the ruling that protects court reporters from being accused of contempt because it states that â€Å"a person cannot be found guilty of contempt under the Strict Liability Rule† in relation to â€Å"fair and accurate report of legal proceedings held in public published contemporaneously and in good faith.† That is provided that there has been no court order pertaining to the postponement of reports on certain legal matters or bans on the identification of the person and other information. The ruling applies regardless of the judge not issuing or postponing a banning order. This ruling is further supported by Section 4(2) which is the postponement order. This postponement order allows the courts to prevent the media from reporting on a court case or a portion of a court case. This is done in order to â€Å"avoid substantial risk of prejudice† to other facets of the case in the upcoming or later stages. This ruling does not put a permanent ban on media coverage of an issue. There is an expectation that certain reporting rules may eventually relax in relation to prejudice in the case. A challenge may be posed to Section 4(2) if a ban is placed on the publication of certain situations that should not

Feminist Philosophy Reader by Alison Bailey and Chris Cuomo Coursework

Feminist Philosophy Reader by Alison Bailey and Chris Cuomo - Coursework Example The second section of the book mostly deals with issues pertaining to sex and gender. This section includes an essay from the now famous work by Simone de Beauvoir – the Second sex, which provides an insightful analysis into what makes the female different from the male from the emotional and psychological standpoint3. It also includes an essay by Judith Halberstam, which deals with transgender, i.e, the confusion that arises from being one gender trapped in the body of the other gender4. Anne Fausto Sterling’s essay also deals with the issue of transvestites and questions whether there should be such a strict delineation between the two genders5. These two articles differ from Beauvoir’s essay, which is primarily centered on the expression of a female identity, while the other two essays mentioned here deal with the identity crises faced by those women who are trapped in men’s bodies and vice versa. Yet another essay in this section, written by Oyeronke, deals with sex and gender from the African perspective and how Western theories may not always be relevant to African subjects6. 2. Section Five of the Book focuses on the political perspectives and implications associated with feminism and philosophy. It includes six essays by various authors. Spivak has dealt with the postcolonial approach to reason and in general, has rejected mainstream colonial literature in her analysis of feminist questions. She suggests that the values of theorists such as Marx and Kant are more relevant in today’s context.

Recruitment Quiz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Recruitment Quiz - Essay Example Moreover, the scientific recruitment process is usually conducted by different types of experts where time, energy and money are involved. As a result, Google and other organizations use scientific recruitment to select their employees since it has numerous advantages. In specific, Google ensures that the recruitment process goes through a thorough hiring assessment entailing recruiter screen, phone screen, and on site interview. Additionally, the Company has different experts who are used in the recruitment process such as the Hiring Committee that comprises of senior managers and directors, as well as, experienced employees who assist in making hiring decisions, thus avoiding a situation where bad decisions are made. Google also has a compensation committee that is concerned with ensuring that appropriate decisions are made in relation to what should be given to the qualified employees in terms of compensation for the offer. In a general sense, the scientific recruitment at Google has ensured that there is the right job for the right person, and high efficiency and productivity for the organization advantage (Kumar 2 62). 1. Identifying the gap: the HR department begins by identifying the gaps that are present in different department within the Company, which are as a result of employee turnover and/or increased amount of work that requires extra sources of labor. 2. Advertisement: the HR manager then consult the senior manager who is expected to give an approval on the necessity of recruiting more employees, and further give directions to the advertising department in reference placing the job adverts on various platforms that can easily be accessed by potential job seekers. 3. Screening: The recruiter goes through the applications sent in and matches them with the qualifications and experiences that are required by the Company. The rot that has all or most qualifications depending

Renaissance Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Renaissance Comparison - Essay Example Although the very term renascence was brought into currency in the 19th century by the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, the origins of this movement could be traced as earlier as the beginning of the 14th century. Actually the European Renaissance began in Central Italy, namely in Tuscany centering in the cities of Siena and Florence. This movement had further a considerable impact in the city of Venice where the remains of ancient Roman and Greek cultures had been brought together and provided Renaissance humanist scholars with new texts. Consequently the Renaissance had a significant impact on Rome, which was decorated with numerous structures in the new mode of all’antico, later was rebuilt by sixteenth-century humanist popes. The Italian Renaissance reached its peak in the mid-16th century as the country began to be permanently invaded by various foreign armies. Nevertheless, the ideals and ideas of the Italian Renaissance survived these calamities and even spread into th e rest of European countries, initiating the English Renaissance and Northern Renaissance as a whole. To define the Renaissance in the northern part of the continent the term Northern Renaissance is used. Furthermore this term often refers to the Renaissance in the countries of Old World outside Italy.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) - Assignment Example However, these activities also come with much security challenges to the interested organizations. It interferes with the IT community in the group both physically and in ownership of these assets. The real challenge is for these organizations to establish a procedure to accommodate these devices, develop a support mechanism for their works and one that would amicably comply with the security measures put in place. An organization is encountered with similar risks that are posed by BYOD spanning their usage, geographical domain, and the risk profile. BYOD merely magnifies the already existing risks. The landscape risks are categorized into risks relating to the app, management of the environment the mobile is used, and securing the mobile devices. Before the inception of BYOD, it was easier to manage and protect an organizations devices from the now very many risks. It was so because most of these components were acquired from a similar manufacturer who provided a unified management interface platform (Rene Millman, 2012). It was part of an institutionalized security policy control that was consistently and persistently applied. Currently, this is a rather bigger challenge since most of the devices brought by workers in the various organizations are of different types and makes. They are also sourced from different manufacturers and come in various makes and models. They further have been architected to exist on their own and not in an enterprise surrounding with lots of management utilities around. Whereas the case of security risk began long ago even when there were less diverse devices, it has been aggravated by the varied and multiple devices users currently have. They all want to connect a multitude of them to the organizations infrastructure. The latter point does not only scale the number of devices to be secured at any point, it also complicates how this security is deployed since most have varied levels of effectiveness and run on different

Renaissance Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Renaissance Comparison - Essay Example Although the very term renascence was brought into currency in the 19th century by the Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, the origins of this movement could be traced as earlier as the beginning of the 14th century. Actually the European Renaissance began in Central Italy, namely in Tuscany centering in the cities of Siena and Florence. This movement had further a considerable impact in the city of Venice where the remains of ancient Roman and Greek cultures had been brought together and provided Renaissance humanist scholars with new texts. Consequently the Renaissance had a significant impact on Rome, which was decorated with numerous structures in the new mode of all’antico, later was rebuilt by sixteenth-century humanist popes. The Italian Renaissance reached its peak in the mid-16th century as the country began to be permanently invaded by various foreign armies. Nevertheless, the ideals and ideas of the Italian Renaissance survived these calamities and even spread into th e rest of European countries, initiating the English Renaissance and Northern Renaissance as a whole. To define the Renaissance in the northern part of the continent the term Northern Renaissance is used. Furthermore this term often refers to the Renaissance in the countries of Old World outside Italy.

Small group communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Small group communication - Essay Example That first group meeting allowed some frank discussions where we talked about what we wanted to achieve as a group, how we would achieve our goals and objectives, and what things we could put into place to ensure that we remained on track. Also, one thing that we did to loosen the tension in our group was to go on a fun outing so that we could get to know one another in an informal situation. We decided to go out to a bowling alley and get to know each other a little better. We did not even talk about the project that we had to do; the whole focus was on bonding with one another. I would say that the norms developing in my group are a good thing. We have a certain amount of respect for each other yet we can also get on really well too. I think that we are in the norming stage now because everyone is the group knows their role and what they need to do to contribute towards the groups success. My typical role in any group is to act more like a motivator. I am not really a leadership type person so I prefer to take a backseat role and let others dictate the agenda of the group. I will use my friendly personality to encourage others to remain upbeat and do what is required of them for the groups sake. My behavior is very much influenced by others in my group for this class. Because they are focused and driven to succeed, this has also rubbed off on me and know I share the same feelings. I have noticed that my work ethic has picked up as I see my fellow team members working as hard as they can to help the group. My behavior has influenced my group members because I have really tried to help them to relax. When we first started working together I noticed that some of my team members were really stressed. I wanted to get them to relax and be calm because a team can work better if they can laugh once in a while and joke

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development Essay Example for Free

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development Essay The US Department of Housing and Urban Development maintains a website with a section dedicated to the Public Housing Environmental Conservation Clearinghouse. The website defines water conservation as a term that â€Å"refers to reducing use of fresh water, through technological or social methods. † In order to encourage water conservation, the site provides a spreadsheet that allows people to benchmark their water consumption. Based on the spreadsheet, a score of 0 means that water consumption is probably excessive, whereas a score of 100 probably means water is being effectively consumed. The spreadsheet was designed as a method for Public Housing Authorities to determine each project’s water consumption in order to encourage more efficient water consumption and reduce water related utility costs. The site also provides an area for related links to other sites that provide water conservation tips. Unfortunately, the only working link leads to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture). This site describes ways in which people can conserve water use in their backyards. The other links appear to be outdated. There is also an area on the website entitled residents corner, which aims to provide research materials in order for residents and the general public to utilize and become more involved with environmental conservation. Unfortunately, only one of these links seems to work. The link leads the browser to a site sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which provides water conservation tips for residents. Finally, the website provides links that allow the browser to research and review more details about what Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal government agencies are doing to further energy awareness. Although the site provides a useful spreadsheet that enables Public Housing Authorities to determine the effectiveness of water consumption in projects, the site does little to encourage browsers to conserve water. Most of the links are outdated, and there is barely any discussion as to the benefits of water conservation.

Experinces of Working in an International Team

Experinces of Working in an International Team This paper tries to bring out the personal views of the author in terms of his experience of working with an international group. Being an Indian and coming down to UK to study, it is a different experience in itself. But the level of interactions with people across borders and cultures has given the author a chance to explore and understand people with diverse backgrounds. Doing a post graduate program here in UK not only gives the author access to the best education but also immense opportunity to network with people across nations. It is a different experience indeed. With time and increase in interaction, there is change in perception and a complete washout of the pre conceived notions regarding cultures and people. And surprisingly, not only people behave and act in different manners across the geography, they also think very differently. This paper tries to look at the benefits of such diverse thinking. With all the benefits also come some problems and hindrances. As mentioned above, preconceived notions regarding cultures and people is a big issue addressed in the paper. The paper also looks at the argument as to how much diversified can the group be, and the possibilities of not been able to reach consensus easily while working in a group and also handling conflicts and differences in opinions. The paper also looks at the possibilities of discrimination on the basis of race, gender and culture. The author also tries to give some suggestions to overcome these problems. He talks how these problems can be overcome and how the cultural mix and diversity can actually act as a advantage. The structure of the paper involves the introduction about the topic and then detailed insights and some experiences. Then about the advantages and disadvantages of working in such groups. The author then tries to bring in the concept of cultural intelligence and how it could solve issues related to problems arising among co workers of diverse backgrounds. So the reports concludes with some suggestive ideas. Introduction With the advent of globalization and vanishing of boundaries between the countries, it is very common to see people from various geographies, cultures coming down and working or studying. It is a common scenario even at a work place or a college where we can spot people from various countries interacting with each other, doing businesses, studying or being part of each others life in a big way. Before going ahead and describing about my experiences lets try defining cultural and its importance at workplace. Culture could be defined anything related to art, culture, lifestyle, music, etc relating to a particular community or a group of people living together or having and following the same set of beliefs. Now looking at the importance of culture in the workplace, it plays a very vital role. Cultural defines the values, the beliefs of the individuals or a community, even their day to day behavior is influenced by it. So it has a direct impact on their working style and relationships with people at workplace, their behavior at workplace, etc. Now when we talk about this, we should also consider the organization culture and its impact on the individual. Of course, the organization or the institution plays a significant role in shaping the behavior and the culture of the individual at work place, now how does he fit into this is important. Generally people opt for such organiza tions or institutions where they fit in on or where similar values and culture exists. Now let us look how things are today with the advent of organizations which consists of diverse teams. But before that let me share some of my experiences One thing I was really looking to when I decided to come to UK was to meet and interact with various people. But at the same time I was very nervous. I had all sorts of doubts in my mind also. Would I be accepted? Would I fit into the culture? Being lived in India throughout my life and not interacting with anyone from outside India, I had all notions in my head. Even I had apprehensions regarding the lifestyles and the behavior of the people. But after I landed in UK my perception changed a lot. I was not the only guy who had left his country and had come down here. There were thousands like me. And even the people were very receptive. Though I mingled with my community and country folks in the beginning, it was only after I came into college and started working and meeting other students I realized that it was not bad actually. All my perceptions and fears were a complete false. My first interaction was indeed during one of those assignments. My group had perceived me as a geek and someone who would be good at mathematics so would have by birth analytical skills being an Indian. But I really had to tell them that though we have quite a good number of the population who was good at these things back home, but I was a terrible lot at mathematics. This was when we all realized how we had pre-conceived notions about people based upon their cultural and geographical backgrounds. Like I thought, Pakistanis were a closed lot who would be tough to interact but they were as a matter of fact just like me. Of course, people always find comfort in people with similar interests or similar community and background. Like for example, I was only with my Indian friends for almost a month after I came to UK. I was just too shy and scared to interact or make friends with any one else. And I had so many Indians that I didnt find the need to also. But soon I realized that by doing so I am stopping myself from expanding my horizons in knowledge also. I got to know about a lot of things through my series of interactions with various people. Benefits of Cross-Culture Teams With the team being more and more diverse, the thinking will be different and it will result in really different perspectives and ideas flowing in. The team would not just reach consensus but really think of many solutions or different answers. This would encourage creativity and innovativeness. It makes the group brainstorm effective. Mutual benefits The whole team being diverse would fulfill the short comings of each other to some extent. And also it is a learning experience. Getting to know about other cultures, languages, and people is always interesting. Enhancement of interpersonal skills. Working with such a team, broadens your thinking and you come across new avenues and perspectives. Makes you more adaptable to any environment and people. Continuous improvement groups with such diversity always questions, thus making it more and more challenging and striving to get the best out of the group. Sometimes people in homogenous groups do not participate much thinking everyone thinks the same. But in such cases comparatively the participation levels of the group is high. Because everyone bring in a different thinking and perspective before the group. If I have to talk about my experiences, well I must say I have gained immensely. At first I used to be silent and non-participative. But now I feel I can pour in very important points because I think very differently from the rest of the group, so I bring in a different set of thinking. This actually benefits our discussions. I have really developed great interpersonal skills also. Now I feel free to talk to anyone and from anywhere. I am not shy or scared anymore. Even being in a diverse group, we use each of our individual strengths and combine them to form the strengths of the group. For example, one of my team members is good at identifying and collecting the data, I am good at analyzing it, some one else is good at presenting it and the other at identifying errors. So all these strengths are combined together so that we finally present the masterpiece. Problems faced with cross-culture teams Language: This is one of the major issues. Though English has emerged as the common International language but there is a lot of difference in British English and American and of course Indian. Even the pronunciation and the spoken language differ a lot. This can sometimes cause miscommunication. Language barriers can also lead to non-participation or inability to express ideas freely. Apart from verbal and written communication, a major part of communication happens through Non-verbal communication. Now across various cultures we have different communication styles and also different meanings to certain things. Now it is extremely important to better know before we communicate anything as others might get offended if we do not understand properly. Cultural clashes Sometimes, there can be a total clash in the cultures and their beliefs. Such things should be handled properly and not just ignored. Time this is a very important factor while working in groups. The attitude of the team members towards time is very important. Sometimes few of them group members emphasize on time a lot but others do not consider it that important or neglect it because of their old beliefs and practices. This could lead to a conflict of interest. Pre-conceptions and stereotypes: People have a lot of preconceived notions in their minds regarding people from some cultures and places. Now that could be totally wrong. The person might be totally different. So it is not good to judge anyone just because they belong to a culture or a location. Difference in execution of work. False Consensus effect: Sometimes people think that others also think exactly like them or they feel that everyone would have the same set of beliefs. Ways to overcome difficulties faced when working in an international team Effective communication: This is one of the most important aspects. The members should check if their points are properly understood. And check for any miscommunication. Adhere to certain rules, which can be framed accordingly, so that everyone sticks to it. For example, we talked about the importance of time. Now its better if the group decided that time has a lot of importance and no one is late for the meetings, etc. Having a global mindset always helps rather than carrying those old beliefs to the group. Every member of the group should workout on their strengths and weakness so that we can work out of the overall strengths and weakness. Avoiding preconceptions and stereotypes The whole energy of diversity is good if used positively and for the betterment of the group. But we have to be careful and avoid any negativity or conflicts. Now let me come to my personal experiences. I have already mentioned about the benefits I had got working with such a group. But I too faced many problems. Like for example, in the beginning I was not so good at understanding the language. Though I had learnt English throughout my education in India, but sometimes the level of vocabulary and the pronunciation was very difficult to grasp in the beginning and I used to sound funny with my Indian accent. Those were my tough times when I sometimes kept shut so that I dont embarrass myself or even I didnt understood anything I would not repeat it. But then of course during the course of time, things settle down. There was a similar experience with time. Being a lazy Indian, I was not used to the punctuality in my school or college. Back home it was a sort of a relaxed environment. But here every second counts, hence I had to really change myself to adapt to the current values and beliefs of the group. One of the effective ways of overcoming such problems is by increasing the Cultural Intelligence of the team members. Now what is this Cultural Intelligence? It is trying to understand others behavior and trying to understand his values and beliefs so that to interact with him in a way he is comfortable. People can be classified into 6 categories of Cultural Intelligence : The Provincial: Such person is effective only when working with people from a similar culture and background of his own. Lacks the ability to work with others. The Analyst: He is the person, who would analyze the culture of his fellow mate and try to get the strengths and frame strategies accordingly. The Natural: Relies entirely on intuition and is not interested in analyzing or learning new beliefs and about new cultures. The Ambassador: He is nice and friendly. Though he is not aware much about the people or individuals from other cultures and backgrounds, but he is confident he can handle them. The Mimic: He gels in very well and has tremendous confidence and he knows he will fit into the role. The Chameleon: Changes his colors accordingly. He is sometimes even confused about his origin. He fits into very perfectly. Now the work would be classifying all the members into the above category and work out how to handle them. Conclusion We have seen through this paper and through the insights and experiences of the author about the cross-culture teams and their benefits and challenges. But these days, with the advent of globalization such teams are unavoidable. Hence, we should work to overcome the challenges and use the strengths of the individuals to build up the strengths of the team. It is important to really understand individuals and their cultures and work accordingly so that there is no miscommunication or conflict.

Did Our Ancestors Live in Harmony with the Environment? :: Environment Environmental Pollution Preservation

Did Our Ancestors Live in Harmony with the Environment? It appears that humans are entering a stage in their collective lives in which we are beginning to see that we can quite easily alter our environments very drastically. Some are still divided about how they feel about this, feeling that things cannot possibly be as bad as the many doomsday-scenarios painted by both scientific and religious authorities. And there are others who are extremely worried about our collective affect on the environment, and fear that it may already be too late for humans, and the world will soon change sufficiently enough to make continued human survival on this planet very difficult. From both types of people, the question arises, "Was there ever a time when humans lived in a way that was more or less in harmony with the environment?" A key element in this discussion is the use of technology, loosely defined as anything outside of natural biological functions that is manipulated and used to obtain an objective. To search for a time when our ancestors might have lived more environmentally consciously, one needs evidence, and in this case, it is generally thought that the only real evidence to be found is through fossils of things created and used by these people of so long ago. But how far back in time are we talking about? And is there any other kind of evidence that might shed a bit of light on how people lived in those times? It is generally acknowledged that starting with our ancestor Homo erectus, humans began to use their hands to make tools (Ponting, 18). This knowledge is based on dating techniques of archaeological findings such as skeletons and early tools, and the rough estimate of the appearance of this tool-using human is around 2 million years ago. In case it is not obvious, that is a very long time. Even in the last 4000 years, the amount of change that human culture and society has undergone is enormous, and at least that much is historically documented by at least some cultures in varying intervals. But to jump all the way back to 2 million years involves a very far leap indeed. There is not much evidence that tells us anything about societies so far back in time. There are some bones and stones, but nothing that really breaks down all those thousands of years into any real understanding of the societies of that era.

Languages of Love

Love is something that you give away and it comes right back to you. Good evening everyone! Old or young, rich or poor, we all have a God-given yearning to love and be loved. However, due to the fallen world we live in, a lot of people nowadays would have a hard time at expressing their love to others. As a result, poor relationships are developed. But thankfully, all Is not lost! Have you heard of the â€Å"Five Languages of Love†? They are the means through which we can express or receive love.A proper understanding of these will greatly enhance our relationships. Today, allow me to share the top three love languages in my life. These are Gift-giving, Words of affirmation and Quality time. The first love language I learned, Gift-giving, was introduced by my parents while I was growing up. This, however, does not merely focus on the material value of the gift, but rather, on Its sentimental value to the giver. As much as I enjoy the tangible language of love, I also desire th e intangible ones: Words of affirmation and Quality mime.Some people may say that actions speak louder than words. But I for one believe that words do matter too. That Is the reason why Words of affirmation speaks to my heart as well. As I was brought up In a positive linguistic environment, It's easy for me to speak kind and encouraging words to others. Lastly, my most cherished of all the love languages is Quality time. This involves giving each other an undivided attention while performing any activity, or by simply Ewing at each other's side.What I love most about it is that, it provides a vessel for the memories of love in the years to come. To sum It up, understanding what kind of love language one speaks, Is the key to developing meaningful relationships. Be it with your family, friends, or special someone. Take note that aside from these three, the other two are Acts of service and Physical touch. Now that I know what my primary love languages are, don't you think it's about time you discovered yours?

Existentialism †God Essay

What is the meaning of life. The meaning of our lives, the purpose, and the dreams both dashed and realized, and the expectations forced upon us by others. In other words how do you â€Å"translate† what life is? â€Å"Translation† means to explain in simple terms. What is it supposed to be about? There are different answers for different people at different times in their lives. A person’s lifetime is filled with self-examination. Why am I here? What am I doing? Is this as good as it gets? You have a beginning. You’re in the middle, and your story hasn’t ended yet. If one would recognize the greatest things we have in life, they would not be asking this question. These great things are faith, hope, and love. Faith is the one that can keep one from asking questions. If God wanted us to know something, then we would know it. In most religions, Christian ones in particular, the question of meaning in life is inextricably wrapped up in a relationship with God. Living in, for, with, and through him. Therefore, how one answers the meaning of life question bears directly the existence of God. Soren Kierkegaard said to be the â€Å"father† of existentialism maintains that there are three basic answers to the question of the meaning of life. He called these â€Å"stages† of life, because he believed that people â€Å"progressed† from one stage to the next. Whether or not that is true, there do seem to be at least three fundamental outlooks on life. One is a life devoted to pleasure. This value perspective can be shown by a person whose only concern is for what they are doing now. They would rather gain from pleasures in life without any regards to how they might affect their future. Another stage is those choosing ethical and moral paths. People who are honest and loyal demonstrate this in their everyday lives. Finally, there is a live religiously. This has been the popular way of life for many of us. It is going to church and practicing your faith Stace argues, the present age has begun to weaken faith in God. The concept of a supernatural person has begun to seem unlikely to many people. The Bible no longer seems as respected for many Catholics. While many people say they believe in God they are beginning question whether faith and God are the answer to the meaning of life. Most of us whether we choose to admit it or not show that material things are what we base our lives around. These ideas are at the heart of existentialism, which is a view of life that says that human beings are the creators of their own sense of meaning or purpose. The most famous existentialist, John Paul Sartre in his books and novels developed several themes that portray existentialism. The first is the notion that â€Å"existence precedes essence. † A legacy of traditional philosophy has been that we have a fixed human nature. Sartre challenged that we have no such set purpose or meaning. Our real meaning or who we are is a result of our decisions. We are what we decide. The second associated concept is the importance of human freedom. Sartre believed that every human being has the freedom to live life as we choose to. He believed that we are often terrified by our freedom, and in fact frequently do not want to take responsibility for our own actions. This attitude Sartre called â€Å"bad faith. † Bad faith is an act of self-deception in which we rationalize our actions as being caused by circumstances instead of being self-caused. Basically blaming others for our own deceptions and mistakes. The third major concept of existentialism is the idea of the Absurd. The philosopher Albert Camus popularized this concept. The concept of the absurd is promoted by atheistic existentialist, such as Sartre and Camus. The similarity between Christian and atheistic existentialist is the significance of human freedom and the belief that we are the makers of our own lives One of the most significant pieces of the decline of religious faith is the continuing awareness that there may not be any purpose in life. Both Albert Camus, and Stace, write from this perspective. They believed that traditional Christians have found security in the belief that their lives are invisibly directed or orchestrated by God. That we have assumed that God has a plan for our life, that things happen for a purpose. But as we experience, if we do, the decline of faith or the reality of God in our lives, we come to realize that perhaps we are more responsible than God is for what happens to us. We begin to realize or suspect that it is we, not God, who is the creator of our lives. We are responsible for who we become. Of course, there are always going to be those people who doubt everything God stands for. For them, the body dies and eternity is darkness, I suppose. The fight is going to be, perhaps even as it has been a battle between those who reject God and the, and those who know that God is real. The soul is one’s conscience. Without the acknowledgement of that soul, there is no inner voice that helps guide him in the decisions that he makes. Yet, the soulless atheists still seek to discover the meaning of life, and this is where the battle is fought. They are simply stating that there is no meaning to their lives they have no soul, there can be no meaning. Theists realize life isn’t fair. People aren’t created equal. Atheists believe that until all people actually are equal, life is meaningless, and this is the connection we have to make for them. People are not equal, people will never be equal, and if this equality is the requirement for accepting the meaning of life, then life will always be meaningless. If ambition brings about advantage, those advantages must be neutralized. This is the goal of the atheist. If there is nothing but darkness after life, the goal must be to create heaven on earth. Everyone has questioned their purpose in life for example in his article, â€Å"My Confession†, Leo Tolstoy has gone through his life without ever really questioning the meaning. Then he periodically questioned it until one day he eventually could not picture himself living anymore until he came up with an answer to his questionings. All the things he was thought to be living by no longer made any sense or had any meaning at all to him. He tried to answer his question many different ways, but whichever way he went he kept coming up with a dead end. He first thought the answer must be his family. Although he loved them very much, as humans they are confronted with the same questions he is. They are living this lie right along with him pretending that they have all the answers, or just simply ignoring the questions. He next thought the answer to be in his work. Eventually, coming to the realization that with all of his success in art and poetry he had become distracted. He was using art as a decoy. Without knowing his answers to the meaning of life, it was wrong and useless to depict these lies to others. He soon felt as if life had stopped, and was even contemplating suicide when he came to the realization that faith is present in each one of us and is what makes our lives meaningful. Everyone must believe they have a purpose here, for if they didn’t they would not be living at all. For life to have true meaning, that meaning must come external to the individual and be somehow consistent with life as a whole. Christians would argue that only God could grant this. It is the helping hand, which guides us through life with an honest and loving heart. Jesus is the only man to lead a true, meaningful life. His life is really the only life of meaning and it is only through him that we have the opportunity to live meaningful lives. Without accepting this answer, one will have only difficulty for the rest of their lives, especially in answering the question of the meaning of life. If you accept this answer, however life is much simpler, because your search is over. Jesus said, â€Å"I am the way, the truth, and the life? † John 14:6. The way the truth and the meaning of life itself. There are scriptural accounts of people claiming to see God, and while a witness is more â€Å"proof† than no witness is, there is no way to scientifically verify these statements. They must be accepted purely on faith. Some say that the existence of humans or planetary balance is proof that God exists. These do not prove He exists. Christians believe God is in control of everything in the universe, and created the same. God created all beings, and every atom in this universe. We know God exists because He says He does. The bible is His word, left for us to read. Psychologist Viktor Frankl wrote in â€Å"Mans search for Meaning† that we should not ask what we expect from life, but what life expects from us. He was making the point that people must deal with what daily tasks are put in front of them. Instead of arguing and complaining, we have to take action. Our strength is shown through the soul survival of the hardships we face. Which brings us to the problem philosopher John Hick was facing. In his article, â€Å"The Problem of Evil† he asks the question, â€Å"if God is perfectly loving, he must wish to abolish evil. But evil exists; therefore God cannot be both omnipotent and perfectly loving. â€Å"The very fact that there is such suffering gives good cause to doubt not only the value of the whole human race, but also the existence of God. A God that can be said to care in the slightest for what’s been created, any God who has power over all things, who is anything other than a horrible monster who finds cruel unusual joy in squeezing every last drop of suffering out of them. It would rule out anything even vaguely resembling the God that Christians speak of. A God who deserves our utter hatred not our worship. However, Hick found that although harsh and painful, evil did have purpose in the world. He stated in his article, † the finest characteristics of personal life must have a good deal in common with our present world. It must operate according to general and dependable laws: and it must involve real dangers, difficulties, problems, obstacles, and possibilities of pain, failure, sorrow, frustration, and defeat. † Without these sufferings, we would not be able to know what happiness and love really was. Evil provides us with the possibility of soul making, and according to free will, we must choose our fate. The Laws of nature must be abided by without them the world could not exist. God may be creating the lesser of the evils. There must be suffering in order for God to give inner strength that compensates for loss, and gives the sufferer inspiration to live faithfully and effectively. What God provides are the resources so we can face the suffering and make something positive come from it. He gives the direction and power to make these resources work. He gives hope and wisdom to find the way past the suffering, and to learn from it. John Paul II gave us an outline of what is believed to be the salvific meaning of suffering. Suffering as he wrote in the Apostolic Letter Salvifici Doloris, â€Å"cannot be transformed and changed by a grace form outside, but from within? † This question of human suffering is not answered directly by God. As man begins to share in the sufferings of Christ, the answer is discovered within in him. Suffering changes and can either increase or decrease, and in those moments Christians become aware of Gods closeness. We are given inner peace and spiritual joy when we suffer generously. When we are suffering we are never alone we are with Christ. With Christ everything has meaning whether its moments of happiness and peace or of pain and suffering. Nothing in life can be fully explained without God. . Look to the bible and Jesus gives us the answer. Love God with your whole heart, mind, body and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you do this, you are following all the commandments. Humble yourself and give the praise and glory to our creator. God the Father our creator is love and he loves you very much. God created us to worship him and he deserves all the praise because he is the first and the last. He has no beginning and no end. Just look around and take in all the beauty he has created. Everyone is special and made in the image of God. We are nothing without our creator. Sin will keep us from God for he is pure and perfect. It is hard to let go of pleasure and putting ones self first. However, the key to peace and happiness is to surrender your freewill to God, the author of life, and he will give you complete, happiness, peace, contentment and purity you are looking for. That is what we were created for. God is made evident every day when the sun comes up, and there is still air to breathe, and you made it through the night. One cannot believe that everything we know was created by accident. Things are just too perfect to have happened by chance. Man is too corrupt a creature to have invented the beautiful things in the world, as in faith, hope and love. He allows evil in this world because He wants us to have the opportunity to choose either Him or evil, thereby proving our love for Him. If His were the only game in town, then there would not be a free will conscious choice for Him. It is evident that the meaning of life has to far to complex for any one to fully understand or agree on the same answer. All these ideas of these different philosophers are not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. All pieces to a puzzle that one has no way of fully figuring out. No one has seemed to accomplish this yet in life. There are so many obstacles that we face as we try to achieve a higher good. Many of these are based in the fact that we are human beings, and because of that are flawed by the ways of our culture. Things such as self-doubt, worry, ignorance, and the values put into our heads since the day we were born all are roadblocks on our way to a higher level. Also being human beings makes vulnerable to the ways of the world around us, so it is not easy to block these things out of our lives. This life is a stage in which we are to develop our minds, bodies, and souls to their highest potential in preparation for the afterlife. Only God could ever really show anyone true meaning.

A380 Globalisation Essay

Describe how the A380 is both the product of and a contributor to globalization. An Airbus is the name of an Airline Company. This company makes a particular plane called the A380. The A380 is a is a four-engined, double-decked airplane made by Airbus. It is the world’s biggest passenger airplane, bigger than a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. But, it is not the biggest airplane in the world because the Antonov An-225 is the biggest in the world.The Airbus A380 can carry up to 850 passengers (but it usually carries about 525), and weighs over 550 tonnes. It has four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines or four Engine Alliance GP7000 engines. The companies General Electric and Pratt & Whitney make alliance engines. The A380 is a product of globalization because engineers have produced different parts of the aircraft in different parts of the world. Lots of the Aircrafts parts have been made in so many different countries and shipped back to the place where it was to be fully made. France, German y, Spain and the United Kingdom all helped making these planes with the materials and parts they send. This makes it a product of globalization because it has been and affected different parts of the world. As of July there are 138 Airbus A380 planes. The A380 is a contributor to globalization because it helps carry people across the globe to a huge amount of different countries. The A380 is very special, mainly because of its size. It is a double decker plane, and it is the world’s biggest passenger airplane. The A380 mainly uses these airlines: Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Lufthansa. These airlines can basically get you around the world. I think that the A380 is good for globalisation because it connects lots lf different countries together as a transport and helps people get to their destination. The A380 is a major contributor to globalisation and helps people to travel, it is a big thing in globalisation and I think that its a great way to travel.

Key Characteristics of Effective Leadership in Practice Essay

Key Characteristics of Effective Leadership in Practice - Essay Example A leader is an individual with the major influence in a group, whose role is to get others to achieve organizational goals. But 'leadership' like many other key concepts in management, tends to be viewed differently; depending on whether the orientation is behavioral, economic, or managerial. Ordway Tead has defined leadership as "the activity of influencing people to co-operate towards some goal which they come to find desirable" (Anon., 1999). According to George R. Terry, "leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives". Robert Tannenbaum defines the leadership as "interpersonal influence exercised in a situation and directed, through the communication process, toward the attainment of a specialized goal or goals" and Koontz and O'Donnell state that "leadership is influencing people to follow in the achievement of a specialized goal" (Harold Koontz, 1959). A review of these and other writers reveals that most management writers agree that leadership is the process of providing direction in group activities and influencing others to achieve group objectives in a given situation. From this definition of leadership, it follows that the leadership process is a function of the leader, the follower, and other situational variables i.e. L= f (i,f,s) (Hersey, 2010) Although influencing others for attaining group goals is the essential function of a leader, some of the important elements which can make the process of leading effectively is that firstly, one who leads is a part of the group, and yet he must maintain his separate identity if he is to continue to lead. Secondly, leadership contemplates interpersonal influence and close man-to-man relationship. It is rooted in feelings and attitudes that have grown out of reactions of individual personalities to each other. Thirdly, it is a dynamic and ever-evolving process; a manager must lead continuously. Finally, it involves directing, guiding and influencing the behavior of individuals and groups so that future actions and behavior are modified in the right direction. These four elements lie at the heart of a strategic leadership process where a manager is a leader directs, guides and influences the behavior of the employees keeping in mind the present and future business strategies of the organization and modifying and directing the employee behavior/performance in the right direction through the right means. This assumption would imply that for an effective leadership process it is crucial that a leader must be in a position to understand and evaluate the strategic intent of the firm and a leader must have the personality and attitudinal qualities in order to lead. As stated earlier that for an effective leadership process a leader must be knowledgeable so that he can evaluate the business strategy and direct the performance of the employees, it becomes the central reason to understand why managers can make good leaders (Senge, 1990).  

BUSINESS LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

BUSINESS LAW - Essay Example In our case, Colin’s Computer (CC) is a computer garage offering repair services for computers belonging to other organizations, in return for a monthly payment. Colin’s Computers advertises its services through their website and through a local daily, which reaches the intended organizations that have the need for Computer repair, among them, Geoff’s Gym (GG). After receiving the information regarding CC’s services and the discount offer they are giving to their new customers, GG decides to go for the services and fulfill the necessary conditions that were attached by CC, so that it could benefit from the offering. However, as it turned out, GG never received the repair services for its computers from CC, which in essence did not receive the letter that was to be sent either through mail, text or post; to confirm the offer. The occurrences that follows after GG finds the services of CC and opts to purchase them are the subject of this discussion, with a f ocus on whether a contract occurred, who is liable for the breach of the contract, and whether the contract is enforceable through a court of law, if at all it occurred. ... reat, it invited the organizations in need of computer repair services to make an offer, which would in turn be accepted by CC, based on the fulfillment of certain conditions. The conditions attached for an offer to become complete were; that the organization in need of the services would contact CC either through mail, post or text before 8th June and inform them of the definitive date the organization would like the services to commence. On its side, GG posted a letter on 3rd June and followed the letter up, with a call to confirm to CC that the letter of offer had been posted. However, it turned out that the letter was not receive by CC, that is why CC did not go to offer the repair services to GG’s computers. The facts of this case prove that an offer was made, but the corresponding requirement of acceptance did not occur (Simpson, 1987). According to the ruling of the case in Partridge Vs Crittenden (1968), the display of goods by the seller does not amount to an offer, b ut rather an invitation to treat. The same applies to an advertisement made by the seller. Therefore, even when GG would want to enforce the contract based on the fact that they had accepted the terms made by CC, by posting a letter before the stated date, and even went ahead to follow it up with a phone call, just to confirm that they had posted the letter, they are not in a position to do this, because the advertisement made by CC on its websites and a local daily, regarding its offer of computer repair services, did not amount to an offer, but a mere invitation to treat (Koffman & Macdonald, 2007). Therefore, contrary to the belief by GG that they had met the requirement of the contract and thus CC was liable to compensate them for the breach of the contract, the reality is different. GG

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example The contribution of the organisations towards corporate social responsibilities includes certain monetary assistance to the society which would facilitate various social developments. Furthermore, the concept of corporate social responsibility can be related to the activities of an organisation which would facilitate in conserving the natural flora and fauna and as well as the socio economic culture (Reset, n.d.). There is no perfect definition for corporate social responsibilities, in simple terms; it can be referred to consideration of the ethical values while performing the business activities by the organisations. Corporate social responsibility also includes transparent or clear business activities e.g. the organisations should consider the legal requirements in their operations. Earlier, it was considered that the chief objective of a business organisation is to make profit, although, the scenario has changed a lot during the past decades and the organisations in the present day context are also expected to provide equal importance to the corporate social responsibility as well. During the recent years, it has been noticed that the organisations are increasingly being pressurised by the various stakeholders involved in the business to take measurable steps towards the corporate social responsibilities (Baird & et. al., 2002). ... The concept of corporate social responsibility can be considered to have significant importance in the global business scenario. It has been found through various researches that the growing importance of CSR has been significantly affecting the relationship between the organisations and the various stakeholders (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005). Corporate social responsibility is quite important for the organisations to sustain in the long run. It has been recognised that the organisations which are only concerned about the profit margins and ignore the stakeholders’ interest about CSR are likely to show lack of sustainability in the long run (Waldman & et. al., 2012). It is because of this reason that corporate social responsibility facilitates in gaining the trust of the stakeholders because CSR provides transparency to the business activities. Moreover, CSR is also quite important for the development of the society for the reason that business organisations form the back ground of the economy and a proportionate investment by them in the social activities would result in social development. In addition, CSR facilitates in maintaining a good business-to-business relationship which is also quite important for the business organisations to sustain in the long run. During the recent years, the perception of corporate social responsibility has developed into a major strategy for the business organisations to endure the aggressively emanating competitive market environment. The present market scenario can be characterised by increasing competition and unpredictable consumer behaviour, so implementing the concept of CSR has

The CAPM is a valid pricing model and can be trusted to explain the Essay

The CAPM is a valid pricing model and can be trusted to explain the expected return on a security. Discuss - Essay Example The followed discussion will be on in-depth explanation of the ÃŽ ² factor in the equation of the model. The purpose of the paper will hopefully be fulfilled by discussion on these related issues to the model. CAPM was developed during the mid 1960s with several assumptions about the market and the behaviour of investors, giving certain equilibrium conditions which allow an investor to calculate the return of an asset for a given level of systematic risk. CAPM makes use of a measurement of systematic risk which can be used to make a comparison of other assets in the market. In order to arrive at the equilibrium condition of CAPM, certain assumptions have to be defined: CAPM is a model by which the relationship between the risk and expected return on an asset can be determined and this is widely used in pricing of risky securities. The equilibrium condition of the CAPM is as follows: The concept of CAPM starts with a risk-free rate (may be yield on a 10 year government bond). With this concept, a premium is added which is equity investor’s demand for compensation on holding an extra risk. This premium is also known as the equity market premium which is calculated as expected return from the market less the return on risk-free asset. This premium is then multiplied by a coefficient called ‘beta’ (McClure, 2010). In the above figure, the efficient frontier is the line which consists of optimal portfolios and is created from the risk-return graph. The Capital Market Line (CML) is a tangent drawn from the intercept point on efficient frontier to the point where the risk-free rate of return is equal to the expected return. The CML is better than the efficient frontier because it considers risk-free asset in the portfolio (Investopedia, 2010). The SML is a line that shows the systematic risk and whole market return at a certain point of time and this line shows the entire risky assets. The SML is very useful in evaluating the expected return on an asset

Revenues and Fair Values Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Revenues and Fair Values - Assignment Example Question 1, Part I: Outline the key requirements of IAS 18 Revenues IAS 18 prescribes the accounting treatment for revenue arising from certain types of transactions and events. It defines revenue as the gross inflow of economic benefits, such as cash, receivables, and other assets, arising from the ordinary operating activities of an enterprise, such as sales of goods or services, interest, royalties, and dividends (IAS 18 Â §7). Revenues are different from gains, a type of income which also represent increases in economic benefits but may not arise in the course of the ordinary activities of an enterprise. The key requirements of IAS 18 are reliability, recognition, and measurement of revenue. Revenue should be measured at the fair value of the consideration receivable (IAS 18 Â §9). An exchange for goods or services of a similar nature and value is not regarded as a transaction that generates revenue, which only applies to exchanges of dissimilar items (IAS 18 Â §12). IAS 18 has the following basic principles to guide accountants on the timing of revenue recognition: ï‚ § Significant risks and/or rewards of ownership are transferred to the buyer; ï‚ § No continuing involvement nor control associated with ownership; ï‚ § Amount of revenue can be measured reliably;

Analyse the way Beatrice and Benedick Essay Example for Free

Analyse the way Beatrice and Benedick Essay The characters Beatrice and Benedick in the William Shakespeare play â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing† can be described as sparring lovers. At the start of the play, it is difficult for them to converse without becoming involved in a â€Å"merry war† or a â€Å"skirmish of wit†. This attitude gradually changes as the play progresses. I shall analyse the way in which this attitude changes as Beatrice and Benedick engage in parlance. From Act One, Scene One, Beatrice demonstrates hypocrisy when to Benedick she says â€Å"I wonder that you will still be talking, Signor Benedick, nobody marks you†. The ironic part of this is that she is actually listening to him. Therefore, as much as she may like to deny it, she is giving the man she â€Å"detests† her undivided attention, and is noticing him. Benedick, in a quick flash of wit answers back â€Å"What, my dear Lady Disdain! Are you yet living? † As Benedick asks Beatrice if she is living, it presents the witty assumption that Benedick has not been aware of Beatrice’s presence. A very well-put reply to this from Beatrice is that â€Å"Disdain† can’t die whilst Benedick is there â€Å"feeding† it to carry on. This battle of wit which occurs between the both of them illustrates the deep loathing that they appear to have for one another. As we shall discover further on in the play, this seems only to be a guise for the immense passion they have for each other. There is, here, however, a suggestion from Beatrice that both of them have had a relationship before: â€Å"You always end with a jade’s trick. I know you of old†. The aforementioned evidence of a possible relationship provides a reason for the skirmish of wit, and also implies there may still be romantic feelings between the two. In Act Two, Scene One, Beatrice is dancing and having a conversation with a masked Benedick. It is not clear, and remains the decision of the reader whether Beatrice truly knows that she is speaking with Benedick. She goes on to describe him as â€Å"the prince’s jester, a very dull fool†. As there is a sense of possession â€Å"the prince’s jester†, it creates the impression that Beatrice sees Benedick as nothing more than a puppet. When speaking with Claudio, Benedick makes it clear he was shocked by this: â€Å"Lady Beatrice should know me, and not know me: the prince’s fool! Hah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  †¦ â€Å"Every word stabs†. Here, Shakespeare has used a dramatic device, ie: the masqued ball, and the inherent identity confusion to make Benedick believe that Beatrice had all along intended to speak ill of him. It is for this reason that I believe that Beatrice knew full well that she was indeed speaking to Benedick. In Act Two, Scene Three, Benedick is successful tricked into thinking that Beatrice is in love with him. However, this trick has not yet been carried out on Beatrice. In the garden, Beatrice approaches Benedick and announces â€Å"I do spy some marks of love in her†. This is ironic because there are none. The passion she shows is one of hate for what she is about to say: â€Å"Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner†. When asked by Benedick if she â€Å"takes pleasure in the message†, she says â€Å"Yea, just so much as you may take upon a knife’s point† (ie: not at all). Benedick has got completely the wrong end of the stick in his soliloquy: â€Å"there’s a double meaning in that†, and thinks that she does not want him to come in, but instead to stay out in the garden with her. Hence, his going inside would not be a pleasurable message for her. However, this is an example of dramatic irony as we know this is not the case at all. Shakespeare points out the truth beneath the characters surface, as well as using language as his tool to juxtapose these feelings, in effect, switching the meaning around so that the connotations are what illuminate the truth. He is also able to use a technique to capture the truth beneath the surface of the characters. Everything that is spoken by the characters seems to have a deeper or double meaning under the words. In Act Four, Scene One, Benedick declares his love for Beatrice. He does this so she will call upon him to right Hero from the terrible injustice that recently occurred at the wedding scene. He asks her if it seems strange that he loves her. This is again an example of dramatic irony, because the audience knows that it’s not strange – she knows already that he loves her. Beatrice, usually extremely able to articulate herself is strangely not able to here. The use of commas and colons break up the following speech, as she is overcome by fierce emotions. She is therefore not able to articulate anything but the fact that she feels sorry for her poor cousin who has been wronged. â€Å"It were as possible for me to say, I loved nothing so well as you, but believe me not, and yet I lie not, I confess nothing, nor I deny nothing. † Beatrice, therefore equivocates here being deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information, ie: her love for Benedick. This is particularly emphasised by the long sentence length. Benedick’s immediate rejection at the idea of killing Claudio â€Å"Not for the wide world! † elicits anger, and impatience in Beatrice who doesn’t wish to converse with Benedick any longer. After much deliberation, knowing it will please Beatrice, Benedick agrees to â€Å"use† his hand â€Å"in some other way than swearing by it†. In other words, he has agreed to engage Claudio in a duel. Beatrice’s reason for wanting him killed is that â€Å"he is now as valiant as Hercules†. This allusion to Hercules implies that Claudio has become too boastful, too big for his boots. In conclusion, it’s clear to see how the attitude between the two changes, and the relationship progresses. Shakespeare employs the use of juxtaposition to mask true feelings. The best illustration of this juxtaposition masking is of the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. Their incessant banter and wit-battles mask the true feelings each has for the other.

Why do I really need knowledge?

Why do I really need knowledge? Knowledge is defined as â€Å"justified true belief†[1]. This means that knowledge is any justified belief that can be proven to be true. The question ‘The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning purpose in our personal lives.’ will be the basis for my essay. This statement claims that as we gain knowledge, we gain meaning and purpose that affect our personal lives, which is to say, we find the answers we were looking for and also a thirst to know more. However, I do not believe that, when we gain knowledge, it affects everyone around us. My mother is a banker, the knowledge she has gained, not only helps her, but mainly impacts on others around her, because with that knowledge she has started her own bank. Whenever we gain knowledge, we also gain answers and more questions. In the Oscar Pistorius case, police investigators wanted to establish why he killed his girlfriend (meaning) and whether it was even him that killed his girlfriend (purpose).[2] I n this case, meaning is linked to intent, because there needs to be a reason for it and purpose is linked to opportunity, because there needs to be a way. When we gain new knowledge we feel better aware and more curious about our surroundings. That is to say, we learn to give ourselves meaning and purpose and in turn affect others, there are many cases where this is proven. Isaac Newton can be an example, when he first wondered about gravity he was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head. It was then that he wondered what force made things fall. He sought to find meaning to why the objects always fell back to earth, so he began experimenting on different objects, using reason, he used the resulting knowledge he got from his observation to determine that anything that goes up must fall down to the ground[3]. These discover he made were later called the laws of gravity and since they have many uses. It has become common sense since people now know to be cautious when deali ng with high places. When I was little, I picked up my baby sister from her crib while she was sleeping, when my mother found me with my sister dangling by a foot, she screamed. This is because she knows the fundamentals about gravity and that if my sister fell, she would’ve been hurt. Isaac Newton also developed the laws of motion, which states that an object in motion will continue to stay in motion until and external force is acted on it[4]. The laws of motion are used in different fields like car manufacturing, car testing, aeronautics, These laws also have provided a basis for many creations, for example, parachutes, trampolines, diving boards, etc. When a person is driving and suddenly sees someone or something on the road in front of them, they immediately hit the brakes, as they know that if they kept going, they would collide with the person/thing in front of them, causing damage to the person/thing, or to themselves/their car. Also, when they hit the brakes, an opposing force is acted on the cars forward motion, which in turn stops the car from moving. Two summers ago, I was riding a bike in my cousin’s house really fast. I wanted to slow down so I could get off the bike, but I mistakenly pressed the brakes, the bike stop abruptly and I was thrown out of the seat, I flipped over the handlebars and landed on my head. This is how the laws of motion would apply, because I hit the brakes, the bike stopped, but I didn’t stop, so that was why I flew off. When Isaac Newton discovered these laws, it was not for any higher reason than just to learn the answers for the why’s and the what’s of knowledge, in this, he had gained the meaning, but he still had no intention of gaining a purpose for his life from this, it was later, that other people found the meaning and purpose in the knowledge that he had discovered. Medical professionals (doctors, dentists, veterinaries, etc.) who have learnt medicine, anatomy, biology, etc. they used the knowledge they learnt to achieve a meaning of understanding how animal and plant bodied work, and the purpose of using that knowledge to help examine, treat or cure any injuries or illnesses within the body. My sister told me that she wants to become a pediatrician; she can only gain this knowledge for the purpose of helping children. Whenever there is a terrorist attack, whether Boko Haram, ISIS, Al Qaeda, investigators always researches everything, not only the terrorists attacking, but the victims being attacked, this is so that they can stop more attacks from happening. This is because if they can understand why a place was attacked (meaning), then it would be easier to stop other attacks in other locations (purpose). In economics, perfect competition is described as a situation where firms in an industry are relatively small in stature, have perfect knowledge of each other and are price takers[5]. This is mainly theoretically though as it cannot be practically implemented due to a wide range of unknown and inconstant variables. Although it is proven that this situation cannot exist, economists use the theory of perfect competition to determine the effect on the economy if it were to be practiced. This example is different because there is no real life scenario to go with it, but it still boosters the main point as the economists that theorized this scenario used whatever experimentation they had to come to the conclusion that it cannot exist, that is to say that the economists gained meaning from this experiment and the purpose of proving or disproving other economic scenarios. A monopoly is a situation where by a single firm has control over an entire industry, so they enjoy economies of scale and have price setting abilities[6]. In Nigeria, there are four main telecommunications companies; MTN, Airtel, Glo Etisalat, these four are individually owned by private firm. In Ethiopia, there is only one telecommunications company that is government owned. The Nigerian companies not only offer variety, but they also have an unrestricted service plan, meaning there are no limitations or restrictions to the use of the service, this is because their main aim of these firms is to make profit. The consumer can simply switch from one service provider to another if that customer is unsatisfied with their current service plan provider. The Ethiopian company is the only provider, so there is no need for any variety of services, they do not need to offer special plans or promotions or discounts because there is no competition for the company, there will also be heavily mo nitored and restricted use of the services because the main aim of the company is not to make profit, but to promote citizen optimization as they see fit, meaning that they will not allow any misuse of the service plan. There is also the fact that even if the customers are not satisfied with the service, there is nothing that they can do because they cannot change their service plan there is only one telecommunication company in the country. Here I have given two economic scenarios, the one in Nigeria is monopolistic competition, and the other in Ethiopia is a monopoly. In the first scenario, we can tell that there will be excess consumer satisfaction by the choice of four different service plans and the unrestricted access. However, in the second scenario, there would be excess dissatisfaction by the inability of choice, and the heavily restricted access. From my perception of these two scenarios, I can reason that the Nigerian telecommunication system is better because if offers t he right of choice and other benefits as opposed to the Ethiopian telecommunication system which would only offer on choice with no special benefits and at whatever price the government sets. Here is an example of how we can gain meaning but not purpose, because if someone can gain the knowledge of the monopoly of the Ethiopian telecommunications company, they can now understand why people would want to move from Ethiopia to Nigeria, but they will have nothing to do with this knowledge. The only reason for acquiring any form of knowledge would be to gain both meaning and purpose in our lives because once we have the knowledge, we understand how it involves up, meaning, and what we set out to accomplish with it. References: google. theory+of+knowledge. n.d. website. 22 November 2014. ib-theory-of-knowledge-website. n.d. Webpage. 22 January 2015. theoryofknowledgestudents.com. n.d. webpage. 2 December 2014. Blink, Jocelyn and Ian Dorton. Economics Course Companion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 1 [1] The philosopher Plato’s definition of knowledge [2] Oscar Pistorius murder investigation [3] Newton’s first law of gravity [4] Isaac Newton’s first law of motion [5] Theory of perfect competition [6] Theory of monopoly