The Frightful Abuse of Human Rights

Violence or education as forms of oppression carried out by political groups in Latin America is a reoccurring theme as seen in Argentina and Cuba from earlier essays. Government sponsored â€Å"cloaks of fear† take over the nation and keep the common citizen subdued as seen in Argentina. The process of educating the common person so that he/she would not only understand, but be able to participate in political affairs was a major force in the Cuban revolution. In the 1980's, Central America saw both violence and education used as political devices to promote or prevent political change. The most common and horrific form of oppression in Central America is violence. Violence can be used to eliminate political competition as seen in El. Salvador â€Å"In November 1980 Alvarez and five top associates were killed by government forces, an act hat eliminated an entire cadre of reformist politicians† (Skidmore & Smith: 350). Another example of eliminating a potential threat to the government can be seen in the movie â€Å"Men With Guns†. In this movie a religious leader (Bishop Romero) with some control of people and their political thoughts was considered dangerous by the El. Salvadorian government. Therefore he was assassinated by the military in an attempt to silence his voice and maybe even spread fear throughout the country as others feared what would become of them if they spoke out against the government. This imposement of fear, was another method of using violence to prevent political change. Argentina is the most dominant example of government created ‘fear' as a weapon against the voice of the people. The acting government or Junta, randomly kidnapped citizens and offered no reason for their actions. In many cases the kidnapped (disappeared) were tortured and killed, their bodies and explanations for what happened never found. The actions of the Guatemalan government during its politically unstable period are a clear example of using violence and fear to repress change as seen in Skidmore and Smith (1997: 357) â€Å"One feature of this entire period†¦ was the frightful abuse of human rights. Paramilitary death squads most notoriously Mano Blanca and Ojo por Ojo, carried on a murderous campaign against political dissenters. No fewer then 80,000 people were killed or â€Å"disappeared between the 1960's and 1990†. Because people feared that if they spoke out against the government they would face death/torture, many would-be activists sat quietly as the government did whatever it wanted. The only weapon against this ‘cloak of fear' was to bring in the help of outside nations and expose the atrocities being committed. For example this is what the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo were famous for. They petitioned at a time nobody else would leave their house and they brought the attention of the United Nations and other human rights groups to the current situation in Argentina. However in the case of Guatemala, the government continues their oppression until they see fit to stop it themselves as illustrated by Skidmore & Smith (1997: 357-358): â€Å"The government bore at least indirect responsibility for these killings, but world wide protests did not bring much respite†¦By the mid-1980s the Guatemalan military judged their campaign against the Marxist Guerrillas successful enough to allow the election of a civilian president†¦ Under a patina of electoral democracy, the military force continues to predominate in Guatemala†. Violence does not have to be only used as a form of oppression. Violence is sometimes used as a form of combating represent by groups of revolutionary solders. These groups of indigenous (local) solders combine to fight for their political and social rights are called Guerillas. Guerillas and guerilla tactics are spattered all throughout the history of Central America. They live in the mountains or jungles and rely on the locals for food, recruits, and information. Guerillas typically share the same ethnic background and social class, these are the chains that link them together. They use violence and military strategy to combat the unjustness or oppressing governments. Another form of oppression in Central America is education and lack of it. Much of Central America is poverty-stricken and underdeveloped (Skidmore & Smith: 1997), this leads to a lack of literacy. By not having the ability to read and understand what is going on politically in their country, the common citizen lacks the knowledge necessary to participate in political affairs. Domineering governments do little to educate the common citizen because doing so would/could make them a dangerous adversary as seen in Hammond (1998: 15) â€Å"To acquire knowledge is to acquire power, or at least it is a necessary first step. Popular education fosters specific skills, personal growth, and critical consciousness among the poor and oppressed. Learning empowers poor people because they prove they can do something they were always told was beyond them†. Education can also be used as a weapon against oppression, as discussed in the book Fighting to Learn. Hammond (1998: 61) describes meetings between solders and their leaders where they discussed political issues and current events. Another issue often stressed in these meetings was the need to spread propaganda and knowledge into civilian communities. Educating the common people can produce many effects, all useful in combating an oppressive government regime. Knowledge and education expose people to multiple views of common issues, therefore allowing them to decide for themselves what is right and wrong. This creates a sense of political and social awareness that combined with the desire for change and the willingness to use violence can be an explosive combination in the fight against oppression.

Gothic Cathedrals Essay

Gothic architecture flourished during the Medieval times or Middle Ages. It evolves from the Romanesque style of architecture. The best example of Gothic architecture are the Gothic Cathedrals, specifically the La Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral in France and the Salisbury Cathedral in England. This paper will discuss the main and identifiable features of Gothic Cathedrals and explore the changes and evolution in floor plans and sculptural program of the exterior of the church from a stylistic and conceptual point of view. It will also explain how Christian religion’s needs and preoccupations changed overtime by using the buildings of La Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. II. Identifiable features: pointed arch, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting The three most noticeable characteristic of Gothic Cathedrals are its height (tall), spaciousness and good ventilation (light). This is made possible by the development of new style technology, the pointed arch, flying buttresses and the ribbed vaulting. Prior to the use of pointed arch, the roofs of churches in the olden times were supported with a rounded arch. However, architects discovered that with a pointed arch, they can build taller buildings. With a higher building came a new type of buttress that takes care of the weight of the roof by supporting the walls from the outside by leaning arches called â€Å"flying buttresses† which are usually placed one above the other. As a result walls could be made taller and less massive, enabling a wide expanse of wall space for stained-glass windows. Meanwhile, the idea of ribbed vaulting also becomes popular. Instead of the groin vault of the Romanesque period, the Gothic architects discovered that ribs (diagonal arches) could be built that would support the entire weight of the roof. The space between the ribs could then be filled in with lighter material (Dudley & Faricy, 1973, p. 291-295; Perry, 1988, p. 189). With the adoption of these three technological styles, the Gothic cathedrals as compared to the somber, dark churches that preceded it are much higher, lighter and more spacious making it more inviting for the Christians. On the other hand, the concept of allowing more light inside the church is derived from the concept that God is Light. As much as possible partitions in the floor plans were removed so that a dazzling light will emanate from the choir toward the congregation. Moreover, the concept of building tall churches with tall towers and spires conveys the idea of the supremacy and importance of Christian religion in a person’s life especially that it towers above all other buildings surrounding it. Such are the qualities and impression that La Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral projects. Both two cathedrals still uses the cross floor plans, the Salisbury cathedral, however, though it contained two transepts, is much simpler than the La Sainte-Chapelle which was built upon the order of the fashionable French monarch, Louise IX. La Sainte-Chapelle is elaborately decorated, the elaborate ornamentation conveying the idea of the wealth of the church and hence the prosperity of the Kingdom (Scott, 2003, p. 21-23; Vauchez, 2000, p. 1228). II. Reflection of Christian needs and Preoccupation of the Middle Ages The Gothic cathedrals, although took many years (even centuries) to build, first began to be created during the Middle ages, a time characterized by feudal wars ,famine and epidemics. In spite of these unfavorable conditions, the Christians took the effort to make a big church, as an expression of their Christian devotion. One notable feature of Gothic stained glass windows, as seen in the two cathedrals, are the paintings of Biblical characters. The primary purpose why they paint them all over the walls is so that the illiterate could picture out what was written in the Bible (Perry, 1988, 189). Le Sainte-Chapelle, howvere, housed important Christian relics collected by Louise IX signifying the preoccupations of the rich Christian monarchs with anything regarding Christianity. The facade of Gothic cathedrals are also elaborately decorated using sculptured human figures ( saints ,kings and peasant life) as the main features, illustrating their growing interest in humanism ideas ( human life and accomplishments) as it replace the usual carvings of animals, fruits and other figures. The story of Christ, specifically his incarnation, decorate the entrance of the church, urging whoever will pay homage or pilgrimage to the church not to admire its gold or cost but to focus their attention to Christ ( Dudley, 1974, p. 291; Scott, 2003, pp. 47-48) . II. Conclusion Gothic Cathedrals, like the Salisbury Cathedral and La Sainte-Chapelle, are the best representative of Gothic art. The knowledge of new style of architectural technology by using a pointed arch, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting paved the way for a taller , more spacious and well-lighted or ventilated churches. It erased therefore the somber, gloomy aura of the Romanesque churches, and the new concept of God as Light and Supreme was successfully incorporated into the church structure. In spite of the presence of wars, famines and epidemics, this ambitious project was embarked on, signifying the Christian devotion of the people of the Medieval era. Works Cited Dudley, Louise and Austin Faricy. The Humanities, 5th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Company, 1973. Perry, Marvin. A History of the World. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, Inc, 1988. Scott, Robert A. The Gothic Enterprise: A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Vauchez, Andre, and et al. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. New York: Routledge, 2000.

Regression Analysis Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Regression Analysis - Speech or Presentation Example In essence, it allows for evaluation of the fixed and random effects models in non-linear modeling frameworks and simply assumes parameter and variable non-linearity. Assumption 2: Expected value of error is zero This assumption presumes that the error component will return a zero mean meaning that the observed mean will not be systematically distorted away from the true value by the error (and this contrasts with a systematic bias effect which would distort the observed mean away from its true value) (Good & Hardin, 2009). Assumption 3: Autocorrelation Amongst the assumptions often made in regression analysis is that error terms not dependent on each other or rather non-correlated. This is however not always the case. When this assumption is violated, despite the fact that the regression model is still usable, in prediction value, its usefulness is largely diminished. This study considering the relationship between the variables seeks to assume its presence and hence proof that the model’s usability is largely diminished. The estimated regression parameters, a, b1, b2, . . . ,bk, are left as unbiased estimators of the respective real values, A, B1, B2, . . ,Bk, and hence the model remains appropriate for establishment of point estimates of A, B, and others., and it can be used in prediction of values of Y for X value sets (Good & Hardin, 2009) (Good & Hardin, 2009). Autocorrelation is often a product of errors correlation. It broadens the scope of thinking to look at different observations which result from varying distributions which are non-explanatory. Assumption 4: Heteroskadascity Sphericality assumption often implies that there exists homoskedasticity of errors, and that variance is constant across cases. Violation of this offers heteroskedasticity whereby the predictive model does particularly poor in some set of circumstances. Take for instance in this case where there is a possibility that unemployment or gas prices across countries may be reli able but there is lesser proof to believe in the data relating to the same obtained from other countries. Such a case would give rise to increased random variation, and hence huge mean error variances, in the respective countries. In general, Heteroskedasticity occurs in instances where the homoskedasticity assumption is violated, giving rise to Assumption 5: Multi-collinearity assumption Whenever there exists moderate to high intercorrelation amongst predictor variables, multi-collinearity is believed to arise. Typically, multi-collinearity presents a real research problem when multiple regressions are used. These include its severe limiting of R’s size given that predictors follow a variance as much the same as that of y, creating a difficulty in determination of the worth of a predictor due confounding of the effects as a result of correlation between them, and an increment in regression coefficient variants (Good & Hardin, 2009). In this case’s, a number of variabl es are considered in the model including gas price, excluding food prices, unemployment, and personal expenditure which was removed due to its high correlation to the other variables. However, even with the inclusion of the other variables, it is still believed that the other variables have some slight correlation to each other. For instance, food services are likely to be impacted on by gas prices and the same is true for unemployment rates. Conclusion Understanding relationship

ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ART - Essay Example Three old ladies were depicted in the oil painting among them two looked really dynamic; one painter, a model, and a portrait which being drawn. The model and the painter looked very real whereas, the portrait of the lady indeed had all features of a comparatively beautiful painting. The notable thing was that the emotional vigor reflected on the faces of the model and the lady in the painting was really difficult for me to understand. The picture also contained the essential furniture and fittings of the interior of a house. The painter in the painting seemed calm and contented as if she was reflecting on the beauty of her work. In fact, I did not like any other paintings because I could not comprehend what many of them meant. The Core New art space is a place I would suggest everyone to visit. Numerous pictures are well arranged there with detailed information on each one. We can purchase them at affordable prices and can get corporate or supporting membership to support the progra m of Core. The gallery is an excellent place for a person to learn many things about art. Each picture displayed holds every detail including the painter, materials used, date etc. As mentioned above, I chose this picture for its unusual appeal and the idea presented in it.

Audit of international fashion marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Audit of international fashion marketing - Essay Example Concomitant with the above stated, it is further important to emphasise that South Korea has been recognized for its economic expansion, which was in a shorter period of time than any other country in modem history (Holstein & Nakarmi, 1995). While economic growth was stalled by the onset of the Asian Financial Crisis, S. Korea has since recovered. It reported GDP growth of 8.8 percent in 2000 and 2.7 percent in 2001 (Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, 2002, pp.1-3). Despite Korea's current economic fluctuation, it is still a major Western export market. In 2001, Korea was the eighth largest overall trade partner of the U.S., up from ninth in 1998 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001, p.8). Korea is the sixth largest market for Western exports (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001, p.8) and the U.S. alone provided twenty percent of Korea's imports for the first eight months of 2001 (Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, 2002, pp. 1-3). With increasing trade between the West and Korea, it is import ant for U.S. exporters who are targeting Korean markets, to understand Korean consumers' purchasing behavior. Proceeding from the above stated, it appears that S. Korea may be receptive to Topshop products, both from the economic and the regulatory perspectives. To ensure positive reception, however, it is necessary that the marketing campaign be based on a solid understanding of the country's fashion market and Topshop's potential customers. 2 Fashion Market in South Korea The market for imported casual clothing is especially important because casual clothing for both men and women has taken up almost half of Korea's total imported clothing market. According to Euromonitor (2005), imported clothing for both men and women held 41% of the total clothing market in 2004. At that time, formal clothing for women (26%). formal clothing for men (15%), clothing for babies and children (4), sportswear (11%), and golf wear (9%) accounted for their respective shares in the import market, as indicated in the graph below (Euromonitor, 2005). Regarding casual clothing, the imports were from, in order, the USA (32%). Italy (33%), and Hong Kong (18%), as indicated in the chart below (Euromonitor, 2005), The biggest market share of imported casual clothing reflects the huge growth potential of the casual clothing market for international marketers and the extent of the threat with which domestic marketers are confronted. The graphs and tables in the above communicate two important facts. The first is that the South Korean economy is receptive to foreign imports, as determined through its economic performance and its regulatory environment. The second is that the casual clothing market is a highly lucrative one, with statistics further evidencing the strong market performance of Western fashion. Within the context of the stated, one can tentatively forward the assumption that the South Korean market will positively receive and react to Topshop products. In further reflection upon the information presented in the above, it is clear that some Western markets have a much higher share of the South Korean apparel and fashion market than do others. The UK is hardly represented at all and the United States is disproportionately so. The implication here is that

Probation and Parole Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Probation and Parole - Research Paper Example Community corrections programs offer front and back end alternatives for correctional systems. In reference to front end, alternatives probation has offered a means of limiting further crowding in prisons and jails. On the other hand, parole systems have consistently acted as back end measures that offer release valves on prison populations. The issue of rehabilitative measures for criminal offenders has often elicited much debate in countries such as the United States. To this end, there are several rehabilitation programs that have shown positive results. These, include, Moral Reconation Therapy, probation and parole. Moral Reconation Therapy Moral Reconation Therapy entails a continuous treatment plan that aims at decreasing recidivism among adult and juvenile offenders while at the same time adjusting moral reasoning. To this end, the approach is majorly a cognitive behavior mechanism that combines parameters from various psychological paradigms. These subsequently address positi ve behavior, social, ego and moral growth. Implementation of MRT involves individual and group counseling by use of prescribed homework assignments and structured group exercises. Moreover, there is a workbook that is based on 16 objective units that emphasize on seven basic treatment parameters. These are attitudes, reinforcement of positive habits and behavior; confrontation of beliefs; assessment of current relationships; enhancement of self concept; positive identity formation; development of frustration tolerance and decrease in hedonism; as well as development of higher moral reasoning stages. Probation The application of probation and parole in rehabilitating offenders is guided partly by the philosophies of positivism and classicalism (Carter & Wilkins, 1976). On one hand, positivists imply that offenders are compelled into the choice of committing crime against their own volition and consequently the behavior or conditions that triggered the action need to be rectified. Con versely, classicalists contend that offenders are in control over the choice of their actions and consequently to deter future criminal activities, such offenders need to be punished. To this end, probation is defined as a sanction imposed by court whereby a convicted offender is released back into the community subject to a conditional suspended sentence. Moreover, the probationer is in most situations a non-violent or first time offender who stands the best chance of rehabilitation within the outside community. The suitability and effectiveness of probation is driven by its flexibility in allowing judicial authorities a high extent of discretion when imposing sentences. Consequently, it allows the tailoring of sentences to suit different offenders. Furthermore, its effectiveness is driven by the availability of a supervision that checks on the progress of rehabilitation. The supervision role is provided by probation officers who offer support and guidance to the offender aimed at making him or her law abiding citizen. To this end, probation offers a second chance of reformation to the offender. Evidently, there are several version of probation designed for different types of offenders. This is driven by the need to jails and prisons. These include intensive supervised probation which entails close monitoring of convicts and applies stringent conditions on the release clause. Others include split sentencing

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 6

Human Resource Management - Essay Example All these efforts are aimed at making organizations more competitive and yet these activities have one profound effect on organizational life: Managers are being asked (told) to do more with fewer people The growing competitive environment results in the paradigm shift in the recruitment strategy. Research indicates that there is a strong case of behavioural recruitment model. The best organizations succeed not because of their people, but because they have the right people. Skill, knowledge, and attitude of the workforce are critical inputs for the success of any organization (Cronin 1996). Hence, there is the strong need for competency-based recruitment and behavioural interview which can provide a desirable option. The traditional methods which focus more on resume, references and past experience fail to capture the complexity of identifying the right candidate. Competency-based recruitment through behavioural interviews focus more on the right fit between the organization and the individual. Behavioural interviewing provides the structure for describing jobs in terms of the values and behaviour of the organization. It also helps in interpreting the candidates behaviour and not j ust their experience. The job of recruiting a new candidate does not end by signing on the dotted line. The real effort actually begins after that. What today is bringing many companies to become aware of this is often ignored and an overlooked fact is the growing realization that the employees quit within first two to three months of their recruitment, which is often termed as the "honeymoon period". The failure of an employee to stick around can damage the company in many ways. More energy is spent on damage control and to motivate the rest of the employees. The HR department should design induction program to help the employees acclimatize and become comfortable with the

Politic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Politic - Essay Example Mao Tse-tung, who was the chairman, concluded that for people to begin fighting, it is a decision that has been made by the people of the country. He also concluded that it is the new technology with the tools and weapons that control a country and decide to begin war. The Chinese government officials use resistance in the fight against Japan. Comrade Mao in the year 1944, decided to change the resistance of the Chinese people where by they believe in the weapons. This has supported the political leadership of the Chinese people because they believe in fights. The country converts the people of the country to be weapons forming the people to be rapid dogs which fight mercilessly tearing others’ fresh. On the contrary, Peru is condemning the use of the mobilization whereby it weakens the revolutionary war. The country denies the use of the homage to weapons whereby they reject the kind of political system that mobilizes the power of the fights which might affect other countries. Instead they encourage the guerrilla which makes the armed bands to wander. Democracy in the political power of the two countries can only be maintained by the support of the political stability of the countries respectively. Funding for the political parties with the election campaigns assist the country to have a good stable group of power and support. The parties in the countries always reflect the needs of the countries creating a good concern to the citizens. The membership and participation of the citizens of the countries dictate the political stability of the country. The modern democracy of the two countries depends on the trust of the political leaders. Choosing of the members of parliament is also a tricky issue with the presidential elections which promotes the leadership and governance of the two countries. The parties of the countries also contribute to the leadership and governance which leads to the defeat of their opponents. In

Internet Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Internet Marketing - Assignment Example Source from website: http://www.toshiba.co.uk/about/index.html Toshiba's strategy has been to support from behind and offer its executives sufficient responsibility in the local offices. It is an enormously focussed and transparent and its commitment to excellence has held it in good stead. Toshiba has products in varied domains. Its primary domain comprises of notebook computer and related equipment and peripherals, mobile phones, home entertainment segment with AV equipment, including digital and flat panel TVs, and portable personal equipment and home appliances. Its major competitors would be Dell, Hp and Compaq in the notebook segments, Sony in home entertainment sector, flat panel TV's and PDA's by Dell. Customers would be retailers and individual consumers. This is a mass marketing segment over the Internet and these target consumers are more probable to end up in a purchase. They are very strong market players in electronic devices & components consisting of semiconductors, electron tubes, opto-electronic devices, LCDs, batteries, printed circuits boards, etc., but it is a more niche marketing segment which may or may not end up doing the purchase over the Internet. Consumers would include high technology operators and business. Another stable sector for Toshiba is the domain that sells industrial apparatus, power generating equipment, transportation equipment, social automation equipment, telecommunication systems, broadcasting systems, elevators & escalators, medical systems, etc. The target segment would be hospitals and medical facilities, municipalities, universities, commercial construction companies. The purchasing power of these consumers need to be very high and often these decisions a thorough product evaluation that may not be possible through the website. The website will be more of a product introduction that may lead to a purchase through an agent after product observation. Evaluation of the site The website is a part of the integrated marketing approach of Toshiba. With the number of Internet users exploding, it is imperative that the website is utilized to generate awareness and business for the company. The website scores on theses counts. It is very well laid out. The look of it is clean and it plays a great part in enhancing the brand and the company, to the professional image they portray. There is consistency in the presentation of information and common standards are maintained in the presentation of the information throughout. The site has a complete list of all the company's products, product information and registration, owner's manuals and service information as well as enabling consumers to purchase accessories and news releases pertaining to the segment. The look and feel of the site is also very simple and seems to encompass all of Toshiba's marketing disciplines. There is sufficient information for the knowledgeable buyer and there were no error messages encountered through the time it was navigated. It is easily navigable and quite user friendly. However, the site seems to have an overload of information and the product categories are all listed together. An individual consumer and the products he wants to buy are very different from a business and

Sociology class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Sociology class - Essay Example A system is defined as a collection of elements and their interrelationships. These relationships make the system distinct from other systems. The chemical bond between the molecules of a chemical compound is quite different from the relationships between organisms of a species. Hence, a Social system is a congregation of individual parts which are interrelated. These relationships are unique to each social system and help us distinguish between different social systems. The fact that social systems can also be a part of a larger social system can help us understand the world as a group of social systems which are closely related. Let us consider the example of political and economic systems. While the fundamental objectives, modus operandi and the structure of hierarchy are somewhat similar, the relationships between the components are different. The politicians of a country are closely connected when compared to the presidents of banks or financial organizations (Nelson). The basic components of a social system are shown below: 1. Status: It is defined as a position in the social system accompanied by a set of rights, duties and expectations. Statuses are unique and hence, identifiable in terms of other statuses. For instance, let us consider what it means to be a 25 year old in a society. In a society where the average life span is 70 or 80 years, 25 is when an individual begins to think in terms of career and personal growth. However, in a society where the average life expectancy is 30 to 35 years, 25 is the beginning of late adulthood. Status comes in two different forms. The term Achieved status refers to the status which can change over time whereas Ascribed status is permanent. For instance, an individual’s position within the family is permanent and hence achieved. However, an individual’s position in an organization may change over time and hence is ascribed. 2. Roles: A role is a unique set of behaviors associated with the normal being of individuals belonging to a particular status. In a family, the role of mother is quite different from that of the grandmother. Similarly, the role of an entry level executive in an organization is different from that of the manager. These roles represent different dimensions of an individual’s existence. However, some roles are not as clearly marked as others. While the role of a mother in the family is clear, the role of an individual within an organization may vary based on several factors. In a society, every individual is linked to several social systems and hence, performs multiple roles such as being a father in the family while working at an automobile company. 3. Social structure: It is a set of patterns which collectively constitute the social system much like the layout of a building. A simple social structure merely describes the statuses and roles in a social system whereas a complex social structure describes them in an elaborate manner along with the interre lationships. The age structure of a country is a simple social structure. For instance, let us compare the percentage of children in Kenya and the U.S. Kenya clearly has a higher percentage of children thanks to the reduced infant mortality rates along with the tradition of living in large families. Such simple structures help us understand social systems using the

Epistemology - Sense Essay Example for Free

Epistemology Sense Essay The issue of knowledge is definitely an essential part in philosophy. It forces us to question whether we are certain of the things we think we know, and whether we can justify the things we know are actually true. This theory or study of knowledge can be referred to as epistemology. All these views on knowledge can vary depending on how we view the world itself. We are able to perceive the world through the application of our senses, however, our senses alone can be very deceiving. We can never really be definite of what we know just by looking at the world the way it is. We are able to make opinions and assumptions about what we see, smell, taste, and hear, but can never really be absolute. In order to claim knowledge, it requires certainty that something is true. If we were to claim knowledge without certainty, we would be disregarding Descartes’ conception of knowledge and certainty. Descartes clarifies doubt as the contrast to certainty. As certainty increases, doubt decreases; conversely, as doubt increases certainty decreases. The world would not be as challenging as it is if we could just accept anything as knowledge. We would be able to simply opinionate, assume, and estimate whatever we would like and claim that all is true. However, as good as it sounds, it is not practical. It is as what it sounds to be like a make believe world. Basically, if we based knowledge off of ideas we are not certain of and just accepted them as true, we would never be able to continue on to the next levels of knowledge. Somewhere along the lines of this uncertain knowledge, we would find that things do not correlate, or make sense. We would find ourselves questioning the reason for things and only finding out that our knowledge is inaccurate. All in all, fictitious knowledge is not beneficial in the long run without certainty.

Vision and Mission statement of Mauritius commercial bank

Vision and Mission statement of Mauritius commercial bank Abstract This paper attempts to analyse the vision and mission statement of The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) Ltd. A brief description of the organisation is given, followed by the vision and mission statements, where the statements are analysed thoroughly and critics have been made. Those critics have been identified while reading the Vision and Mission statements respectively, it can also be seen that we have applied the SMART criteria in order to analyse the vision statement and concerning the mission of the group we have analysed it through the various steps that the company is undertaking to achieve its goals and objectives. Keywords: Banking,Vision Statement, Mission statement, MCB Ltd, Introduction The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) Ltd, one among the leading bank that exist in Mauritius and which was incorporated since 1838. At present, MCB ltd has its branches all around the island. The Bank came across serious financial difficulties on many occasions during its first hundred years of existence. In spite of various national and international financial crisis, cut throat competitions over the years from ten other commercial banks, two world wars, and natural calamities, The Mauritius Commercial Bank Limited succeeded in expanding its activities, trebled its capital and in 1920 in Curepipe opened its first Branch. Nowadays, the bank plays a vital role in the economy of the country by expanding its unflinching support to trade, agriculture, the textile industry, tourism and other sectors as well as individual customers, at its head office and also throughout its 42 branches and counters in Mauritius and in Rodrigues. The MCB ltd is said to be a bank with a heart, for this purpo se as every successful business has a vision and mission statement, so do the MCB Ltd. The Vision of MCB ltd is to be the obvious choice for financial services in the region and beyond. The vision statement triggers the desires to launch the MCB ltd as the touchstone position for the provision of financial services in the state and even further, in order to meet the increasing needs of its customers operating in the global economy. For this to be possible the general public must have full confidence on the bank, for example the recent case of MCB/NPF could have been fatal for MCB ltd but that was not the case as the bank managed to reduce and nearly eliminates all the risk associated with. The Mission statement is to pursue the voyage towards excellence. The mission statement gives evidences to the unrelenting loyalty to best practices in the provision of financial services throughout the group against the backdrop of creating shareholder value. The MCB has a tradition of being a leader of getting use to modifications and innovating to suit customer needs, therefore, its vision, mission and corporate values are aligned to maintain this position. They know that their future success will depend on their capacity to deliver a broad variety of services quicker, cheaper and in a more professional manner to their increasingly sophisticated and global customers. To achieve this, the bank is investing massively in technological and as well as human resources. Objective and Purpose of study To analyse and understand the meaning of vision and mission statements of a company. To analyse and understand the vision and mission statements of MCB and its implementation. To suggest improvements that can be brought to the vision and mission statements of MCB. Literature Review Each and every organisation has their own vision and mission statements which are set according to the companys actual performance and objectives that it want to achieve in the future. Vision: Defines the desired or intended future state of an organization or enterprise in terms of its fundamental objective and/or strategic direction. Vision is a long term view, sometimes describing how the organization would like the world in which it operates to be. For example a charity working with the poor might have a vision statement which read A world without poverty (Wikipedia, 2010). Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or an enterprise, succinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its Vision (Wikipedia, 2010). Organizations usually summarize goals and objectives into a mission statement and/or a vision statement. Others begin with a vision and mission and use them to plan for the goals and objectives. While the existence of a shared mission is very useful, many strategy specialists question the requirement for a written mission statement. However, there are a lot of models of strategic planning that begin with mission statements, so it is useful to examine them here (Wikipedia, 2010). Forest (2003) analyses the mission statements and defines them as enduring statements of purpose that distinguish one organization from other similar enterprises. It suggests that a well-crafted mission statement can provide advantages or benefits to a company. Also it states that the mission statements have to be longer than a phrase or sentence, but not a two-page document, and not overly specific with regard to values, percentages, numbers, goals, or strategies. Hence, it concludes that better mission statements will give rewarding payoffs, meaning enhanced personal and business performance Studying how to merge people and resources together in harmony to achieve a common goal remains one of the most difficult tasks facing management today. The importance of developing a corporate mission statement with a glowing vision to enhance and create organisational purpose is addressed and how different organisational cultures affect the employees vitality is examined. From the vision springs a parallel view of all the employees in the organisation towards the companys goal. Contribution from both the companys customers and employees ensures adoption of the purpose and keeps the purpose dynamic and fresh. This leads to innovation, co-operation, and success of the organization (Reyes and Kleiner, 1990). In addition, executives members should try to promote or motivate its employees in order to achieve its vision. As per Eigeles (2003) he has conducted an analysis thats represents the structure method helping organizational facilitators to work efficiently with their clients. Though it is not possible to motivate and encourage top executives team efficiently to willingly generate true vision and mission and implement these in the organization for achieved both improved performance and harmony. Tarnow (1990), introduces a method to enhance existing mission and vision statements. The set-up of the initial statement is changed to (1) suggest an action, (2) identify this action only vaguely, and (3) include a social categorization. He also, discusses some consequences of the Unifying Action Declarations, including examples from experiential group events and from a high tech consulting firm. The resulting Unifying Action Declarations agrees leaders to use group formation forces to help motivate task performance. Nowadays, all developing businesses experience difficulties during organizational transitions (Churchill and Lewis 1983). The evolution from a small entrepreneurial organization to a mature business organization is characterized by a large amount of important internal and external changes (Hambrick and Crozier 1985; Churchill and Lewis 1983). The small business frequently finds that success attracts the attention of others; new small start-ups and/or large competitors may enter the market (Porter 1980). Rises in growth may call for increase into overseas markets. Internal changes comprises of the introduction of professional management to handle the increasingly complex organization; the introduction of outside equity to finance growth (Welsh and White 1981); and the introduction of organizational systems and procedures. Internal changes such as rises in sales volume, in employees, and in organizational formality and complexity require small business operators to change their role within a changing organization (Hambrick and Crozier 1985). The quest of growth usually requires the owner/manager to learn new skills and change from a doer to a manager (Churchill and Lewis 1983). Small businesses often fail to grow because the manager fails to make this transition (Willard, Krueger, and Feeser 1992). Through the growth process, the small business manager becomes increasingly eradicated and distant from employees (Hambrick and Crozier 1985; Churchill and Lewis 1983), and discovers that his or her strong entrepreneurial vision is no longer shared by new staff, new professional managers, and new investors. One of the survival strategies is to introduce financial and strategic planning and control systems into the organization (Gable and Topol 1987; Bracket and Pearson 1985). Vital to these planning and strategic management systems in large organizations is the introduction of a mission statement. In their much orientated work, Pearce and David (1987) argue that the mission statements of higher performing large companies are more comprehensive than those of less successful firms. The idea behind this article is to explore whether high growth small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ireland are characterized by more comprehensive mission statements. However, there is a lack of new evidence for the acclaimed and assumed positive effects of mission statements. A few studies have provide limited empirical support to the idea that mission statements are valuable and contribute to higher profits (Rarick and Vitton 1995; Klemm, Sanderson, and Luffman 1991; Germain and Cooper 1990; Falsey 1989; Pearce and David 1987). These studies totally assume that mission statements are a determinant of success, before addressing the possibility that successful organizations are more likely to adopt formal systems and procedures that involve the writing of a formal mission statement. Another research base on SMEs is that of Analoui and karami (2002), who said that developing a mission statement has been considered a crucial factor in the formulation of business strategy in organisations. The mission statement encourages a sense of shared expectations in employees and, not surprisingly, it has recently been regarded as increasingly important in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the electronic industry. One major motive for this is the growing involvedness and energetic competitive environments in which these enterprises have operated and managed to find them. Mission statements have become a managing instrument most commonly used by chief executive officers (CEOs) over the last decade. One exercise that both academics and practitioners have judged strategically serious to the success of an enterprise is the development of a meaningful mission statement. This article discovers the awareness of CEOs of their mission statement in SMEs. The study, between investigating the existence and content of the mission statements and, as a result, it determines the relationships (if any) between a SMEs development of a meaningful mission statement and selected performance outcomes of the firm. Also, from Mullane (2002) perspective, managers are divided in their allegiance to the firms mission. Some mangers swear by their mission statement while others swear at theirs. Facts from two firms, with existing research indicate that this disagreement originates in the mangers view of mission statement. Mangers that see mission statement as tools that can influence the inner working of the organizations are likely to understand the missions usefulness. Mangers that put their mission statement on display and expect them to magically transform organizational behavior are likely to be frustrated and see them as an exercise in futility. It has been found that insight from two managers who take the first view provides specific steps mangers can utilize to harness the benefits of their mission statements. Wickham (1997), states that a sense of mission can be a powerful force in shaping and guiding an entrepreneurial venture. He has discussed how it focuses the entrepreneurs vision and gives it a real strategic direction. Clear as an official mission statement it can be used to bring together disparate stakeholder groups within the organization. Imagines that it also acts as an aide-mà ©moire for communicating what the scheme has to offer customers, suppliers, and potential employees. He also, states that a clear mission can also help in attracting investment. It catches the attention of possible investors and proposes professionalism in management approach. However, if it is to be successful, the mission must be right for the scheme developed with sympathy to the organization and be communicated effectively. Moreover, another search had been done on how corporations project their corporate philosophy through `Mission Statements. Despite linguistic and textual analysis of such statements drawn from a sizeable quantity, it allows us to typify the texts as constituting a non-routine, organizational genre, and one that has recently become of some significance. This discussion serves as a basis for a contextual and intertextual analysis of Mission Statements from two well-known US companies. By detailing the history, underlying principle and role of these Mission Statements that have been indicated of how the texts are rhetorically designed in order to ensure maximum employee `buy-in. In one case the Mission Statement appears as an authorized historical vision to be protected and nurtured; in the other case, the rewriting of the Mission Statement emerges as a collaborative response to crisis. Hence, they discuss on the implications of such findings for contemporary approaches to discourse and genre analysis within institutional linguistics (Rogers and Swales, 1995). At the same time, Bart (2001) stipulates that mission statements symbolize the cornerstone of most organizational strategies. While much research has been conducted on what the (human intellectual capital) HIC construct might contain, none has attempted to understand the link between mission statements and their impact on the HIC construct. The uncertain results reported in this study begin to fill the invalid one. They illustrate that, mission statements may certainly have a convincing place in the measurement and reporting of an organizations intellectual capital and they demonstrate the need for more research in this regard. Mission statements by themselves are of very little value. Some organisations have good mission statements, but their management teams frequently lack a sense of purpose. In some companies, management teams have a clearness of vision and interest that is remarkable, without having a mission statement. Mission statements are in themselves not important since they create a management team with a sense of mission which is crucial (Campbell, 1993). Company Profile The MCB was incorporated by the Royal Charter in 1838 and Lloyds Bank became the first shareholder of the group. The MCB was the first bank to install ATMs in Mauritius and was the first bank to issue credit cards and till now the MCB has been the most performing listed company with the highest market capitalization on the official list of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. The MCB has been engaged in promoting various key financial products and services including mobile banking, retail banking product, corporate banking, private banking, international banking, internet banking service and providing American Express services. The MCB was the first Mauritian commercial bank to launch the revolving credit loans on the international market. The MCB group has even set up branches in Seychelles, Mozambique, Madagascar, and France amongst others. Present in eight other countries through its subsidiaries, associated company. The MCB group in Mauritius employs around 2,600 employees and over 18000 local and foreign investors. The MCB group observe the highest degree of standards concerning integrity and ethical conduct towards its dealings to its stakeholders. Furthermore, the MCB group has been diversifying in various sectors of the economy behind the philosophy of risk pooling and also providing the highest level of service quality to its customers. Likewise the MCB group is separated into two main parts, namely the bank itself and local and foreign subsidiaries. The MCB group has a very diligent and highly qualified and devoted board of directors who work toward the satisfaction of different stakeholders and maximising the overall profit of the group. The MCB group has a very high view on corporate governance practices and in regards to this the MCB group has been consequently been conferred the bank of the year and because of extensive corporate governance practices, the bank is able to fulfil effectively its vision. Analysis of the MCB Vision The vision of the MCB group is to be the obvious choice for financial services in the region and beyond, whilst its mission is pursing the voyage towards excellence. The MCB vision is obviously what the company wants to become which is the ideal aim of the group. The MCB has had a tradition of being a leader adapting to changes and innovating to satisfy customer needs, this is basically the corporate philosophy of MCB. The group has clearly set down this vision as they believe in the fact that the future success will depend on the ability a comprehensive range of services quicker, cheaper and in a more efficient manner so that there is an increase in local customers and foreign sophisticated customers. This vision of MCB is to build on the competitive axis for further product differentiation and regional diversification. The vision of the company is to offer a broader range of financial services, shifting from the traditional areas of banking through more complex services including asset financing, leasing, investment financing and brokerage services. That is the goal of the group is to serve as a single window to offer a full fledged set of financial services. The aim of the vision statement is to maximise customer satisfaction and increase customer loyalty. The other arm of this vision is to fully maximise the diversification strategy whereby it involves strengthening and deepening the presence of the group in international markets which offer substantial investment opportunities which basically help in promoting the image of the group in the international market. Basically the gist of the competitive strategy and the aim of this vision statement are to substantially increase the contribution of subsidiaries abroad to the overall profit of the group. Ultimately the group believes that more and more the philosophy behind the vision statement is behind achieved this will lead to a better competitive edge and a successful entrenchment of strategies being adopted which could lead to better customer satisfaction and an increase in service quality. The key of course lies in an appropriate balance between the strategies and the vision philosophy. MCB wants to be a benchmark in the provision of banking services as well as non banking services so that other financial services providers can refer to as MCB as being the Lion in the banking business in the local market as well as in the regional market. The MCB believes in provision of financial services which maximises customer satisfaction and bridging the gap between customer perception and customer expectation, that is ultimately bridging the service quality gap. The cutting force that drives MCB to achieve its vision philosophy is innovation. Innovation is one the values that the MCB adheres to in its strategies. MCB believes in innovation at all managerial levels which ultimately will help the group to achieve its objectives. A deduction can be made from the vision statement whereby there is a close link in regard to the corporate philosophy of the group which is to the leader of financial services locally and regionally. The vision statement of the MCB is all about the following: Partnerships Relationships Innovation Genuiness Attitude to risk Passionate banking. Partnerships whereby without the help of various investors the group will not be able to become a leader and relationships whereby the bank undertakes long run prospects for both partners. Innovation is all about the values of the group to be the leader and genuiness is to offer differentiated financial services. Likewise attitude is the willingness for the group to take risk so that to enjoy new ventures and passionate banking as the group believes in privileged banking relationships which will help to increase business and word of mouth publicity as well as service quality and customer satisfaction. The MCB believes in that it is the leadership job to set the vision, which is where the group wants to go. That is why the bank believes in enhancing human resources especially at the board level also so that the vision is clearly defined and met. The group believes in management skills to be able to clearly define the vision philosophy of the group Vision statement is usually rooted in values that are what drives the organisation to move ahead. The values that are rooted in the vision of the MCB are as follows: Integrity Customer care Team work Innovation Knowledge Excellence These six values are deeply rooted in the vision of the group. As the group wants to become the obvious choice for financial services in the region and beyond, these values would help the company to archive it. Are integrity, customer care, team work, innovation, knowledge and excellence found in the vision of the group? For the group to achieve its vision it is obvious that integrity should be within it and it is a fact for the MCB as for most people is a bank which is known to be of utmost integrity ranging from its staff to senior level management. Hence this value would definitely help the group to satisfy its corporate vision philosophy. Concerning customer care, the bank believes in the assurance of quick, dedicated and unrivalled services to its customers. The bank believes in its level of service quality and customer satisfaction. Hence the bank places a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction. The bank believes in the approach of collective working and a shared vision together so that different synergies from people can combine together which will give a cutting edge to the group. Likewise, this is to help leveraging individual competencies and skills to various people within the group. Innovation had been an in-house tradition for the group at various managerial levels which all ultimately help to the product differentiation of financial products offered by the group. Knowledge philosophy of the group is all about the strong commitment to nurture the human capital through lifelong development and learning towards to achieve the vision of the group. Excellence is what the group believes to be very important in helping to become the leader in the provision of financial services and also, excellence in all about the mission of the group which is pursuing the voyage towards excellence. Criticisms of the vision statement The vision is the corporate aspiration of the group, which describes the long term ambitions and the ideal goal of the group. But, in the vision statement the values are being met but it should satisfy the SMART criteria, that is, Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic and time bound. Specific- the vision stalks about to be the obvious choice for financial services in the region and beyond. It is adequately the clear message as to what needs to be accomplished, but the word beyond is restricted. Does beyond means in the international market or in African region or others. Hence it should be clear. Measurable- The bank will have to develop and assess how the bank is becoming the obvious choice for financial services. Is there any comparative analysis which is done in comparison with other banks? Appropriate- The vision statement is somehow in accordance with mission as only through excellence the group will be able to be the choice for financial services. Realistic- the vision statement of MCB is very challenging and high challenging to provide a boost for management to satisfy the corporate philosophy of the vision. Time bound- in regards to the time frame, no indication has been provided in the vision statement about till when the bank wants to become the obvious choice for financial services. The vision of the group should be able to be quantified as in the case of the MCB group, will the bank quantify it through the market share or market capitalisation. The vision of the group to be able to be effective should be a shared vision, that is the vision should be common at various levels of the group and uniformity must apply so as to allow the group to meet its values and when values are met, ultimately this will help to satisfy the vision of the group as visions are deeply rooted in values. Mission statement analysis of the MCB Pursing the voyage towards excellence The mission statement of the group testifies the fact that there is a willingness to adopt best practices in the provision of financial services so that shareholder value increases as well as helping in satisfying the vision statement. The mission defines the fundamental purpose of the group. It is the philosophy of why the group exists and how it will conduct its affairs to achieve its vision. The mission statement plays an important role for the group as is the basis for motivating the use of resources within the group. It also develops a basis or a standard for allocating organisational resources and generally develops a shared organisational climate working towards the vision of the group. It also attracts employees who share common set of goals and values to work for the purpose of enhancement of the vision. The mission statement can be used as a strategic tool for enhancement of the business process. At the MCB group the mission is deeply rooted to the top executive to the middle management level. The mission of the group is to focus on best practices so that the vision is met. The MCB has been for several years the bank of the year and is one where best practices are highly implemented, that is why the bank is ranked first in corporate governance practices. These best practices help the group to achieve its vision a many people would opt for the MCB in their needs of financial products. Hence it can be seen that there is a link and there are interrelated components between the vision and mission statement of the group because the mission of the group, which is working towards excellence, will help to achieve the vision of the group. However the mission of the group should not be static, that is it should change when conditions in the groups environment change, in which case, the MCB should change its mission. Just focusing on excellence is not enough as there are various intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the group. Hence redefining the mission statement becomes a must as the group is growing at a rapid rate and various competitive factors are in the banking business with the entry of new service providers in the field of financial services and retail banking. The mission statement of the group should include more shared values as they are deeply rooted in the vision of the group. Internal and External analysis should be performed so that the mission is closely aligned to the vision of the group. Criticism of Mission Statement The mission of the MCB for the past few years has been mainly in the quality of its staff so that with a dedicated staff and well trained staff this will lead to customer satisfaction and increasing the level of service quality. This will help to create a better image of the group and helping towards its commitment toward excellence. The MCB believes in the quality of human resources, as it customers are satisfied with the staff and through a dedicated service this will help to make the bank the obvious choice for financial services and help meeting the vision statement. Likewise, MCB has been investing loads on best practices so that excellence is achieved and ultimately leading to the corporate philosophy satisfaction. Hence, with the adoption of international best practices, the bank has been gaining a positive image in the region and hence again the bank is working towards meeting of its vision. Furthermore, the bank invests massively in innovating products which all ultimately help in achieving the vision of the group and even through the partnerships of international partners like American Express amongst others is helping the group to build a more positive image in the regional market and the international market. Recommendation The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) is a successful Financial services provider. It has been able to provide quality financial product and services to its customers and it is today the largest and oldest banking institution of Mauritius and has made a name in the region. But as it is said Nothing is permanent except change and thus for the MCB to continue to be the pioneer in the Financial Services sector of Mauritius, it needs to continue changing and innovate according to what the customer wants and demands. A Mission Statement is a declaration as to why an organization exists and defines the business the organization is currently in. Mission Statements concentrate on the present and are a reflection of an organizations core competencies. The mission statement of MCB is that it wants to move toward excellence. What was excellence years ago is definitely different from what is excellence in the financial sector today. Since the creation of MCB the economic environment around the world has changed. Moreover there have been changes in technologies that have radically changed the way financial products and services are being provided to customers. The working environment itself has changed and so has the behavior of employees and employers. At the same time new legislatives have been introduced in the financial sector and this has resulted in an alteration in the way financial institutions functions and recently due to the financial crisis around the world a lot of financial institutions hav e been encouraged to change the way they carry out their activities. During the last decades Mauritius itself and its society has evolved. Nowadays people view the financial sector differently to what they used to years ago. Consequently the MCB must consider all these changes and accommodate its mission around them so as the MCB can grow alongside with its economical, political, legal, cultural and social environment. A Vision Statement focuses on the future. It states what you want the organization to be. Vision Statements come from the heart as well as the head. A Vision Statement represents a realistic dream for an organization and forces it to take a stand for a preferred future. To be the best choice of everyone is the vision of the MCB. But there may be other things that that can become the aims of the MCB. It can be easily proved with the market share valu

Study On Professional Development For Strategic Managers Education Essay

Study On Professional Development For Strategic Managers Education Essay There are some certain management and leadership skills which are necessary for the growth of any business organization. Both personal and professional skills should remain healthy for the healthy organization like problem solving, decision making and planning etc. in today business environment a leader or a manager must be have some certain qualities which are helpful in order to perform his role. As behavioural theories assume that leader can be made rather than born. So there are the certain skills which differentiate a leader from the others. A successful organization is the one which look after their employees and does something for their carrier development because this is the way through an organization achieve its goals. Personal skills evaluation: Everyone has ability to do something all it need to do is to identify what we have and how we can utilize it in positive sense , these are some common personal skills which are going to be discussed. . 1.1.1 TIME MANAGEMNET: This is the important personal skill through which it is able to do the things efficiently here it need to identify that at what time what we should do or what we should not .for example During the last week my target was to manage my college and my job together which I hardly able to manage it. Yes it is true that I was able to manage my time as for as job is concern and I went to college in time but other target was not achieved which was about the working on assignment thats all about the time management to use the time wisely , managing queries and analyzing the time properly , assessing the day that how much time you giving for your tasks and how can you safe your time by doing the things in time and we can also log the things as well. Find the answers of your questions and try to get the end result by solving these problems. Analyzing time spent to improve productivity This is the skill which we need to be focused to analyze the time where you actually going to spend and how we are dividing the tasks according to the time and to achieve our goal just analyze that are we giving the right time on right thing? and if this is the right thing which we are focusing is it possible that if we spend some more time on right issue, we can increase the productivity for example in Tesco when I work in my section pickles, oil and spices I always start work from oil because more heavy stuff is in that section and comparatively much easier to finish and spices take more time and cower a small section so I quickly do the other job which is more important and much easier to do. 1.1.2 Setting smart objectives: Smart objective are those which are specific, particular on certain task Set the realistic objective which are achievable, on right time make the measureable decision. Objectives are the plan for which you have to fight to achieve a certain goal we might have a many objective like my goal is to get MBA degree its my goal but to achieve a goal I have to set smart objectives which should be realistic, achievable and measureable like what is the thing which I am going to do? Specific: specific means the concern of any selected topic and when we talk about specific always questions coming in our mind that why, how and for who I am going to do this. Realistic: It is not necessary that realistic must be achievable but realistic is something that at least you have the resources to do that task for example its realistic to get the MBA degree foe me but in case I dont have the sources than I am not able to get degree like money is the main source. Measureable: its important for us to measure the task because if we cant measure it we cant do it. Measurement is the tool which we use for comparison. 1.1.3 Prioritising work task: prioritising is the process in which u priorities the tasks according to your mind so simply its a skill which u learn from yourself assess your priorities and then work on them for exp my priority at the time is to get MBA degree not to focus on job because through job I just pay the rent of my flat all I need to do just focus on my study because that is the priority for me right now but with the passage of time priorities change as time to time for exp if I got married at that time or I am having a baby than my priorities will be to feed my family instead of the study. So its so important to analyze and prioritize your work. This is human nature that once you start some new work it looks tough but as long as u keeps going with it you will find it quite easy. So try to find out the priority in the work and keep focus on that to get the desired result. For example I am doing to many tasks in the day I use internet after college, face book, I use to talk to my friends and I play football as well now I have to think that how much time I am going to spend on these tasks and what is my priority and how much time I am giving to my priority work and what changes I need to bring out in order to prioritise my work. 1.1.4 Problem solving and decision making: A problem is an unacceptable condition which is unusual. If you cant find the problem you cant sort the problem. So this is clear that to sort out the problem always we need to know that what the actual problem is and in response to find out the problem we need to develop the skill to make the right decision at right time. We should have the ability to find out the problem and then check what should be the solution and after that take the decision. Decision making is not easy because you always have a fear to make decision you can only make the decision when you know that what the actual problem is. We should able to developed skills of calculated risk in problem solving. 1.2 Professional skills: Personal skills are interrelated to the personal skills because through personal skills a person is able to develop his professional skill for example effective communication and good listening is a personal skill by using these skills in any organization you are able to polish your skills like if you have a good communication skill you are able to let the people understand what you are saying and if you are a good listener than you can easily understand what your bosses are expecting from you. Now we it will be discussed about some professional skills and analyze how these skills are linked to the personal skills. 1.2.1 Coaching skills: This is the skill which a person develops through experience and courses and it is widely used in the organizations to get the required task up to the mark. Coaches are introduced to make the employees skilful for example a area supervisor in the Carlisle security is working as a coach who is always there to train the security staff and guide them what they should do and what they are not suppose to do and in which conditions what steps they need to take and how to tackle with the difficult situations. According to Elizabeth Morgan It is vital for every business and professional organization to increase the knowledge and skills of their employees. They should strive to enhance the quality of performance, to ensure an improvement on the personal and professional front. (Elizabeth Morgan 2008) Now the question is how a person is been able to develop his coaching skills here it need to be understand the need of the personal skills as the good coach has definitely having a good communicational skill and he will be a good time manger and he should must have a stress management skill. It is not necessary that a person who has great coaching skills must be good in practical situation because this is a skill which he has for example in sports an boxing coach might not be a boxing champion but he is able to make the other person a champion. 1.2.2 Leadership skills: Leadership, a critical management skill, is the ability to motivate a group of people toward a common goal. There are some characteristics which make a person a successful leader. A leader is the one who can work in an environment which he can manage himself and others in a stress environment. Now again we see the personal skills stress management and using the time effectively .obviously a leader should have the skill of communication though he can communicate his team in an effective way and should be able to solve the problems when it occurs. There is the example of Tesco where we see what the role of team leader is and why he is the team leader. The reason behind it that he is the team leader because he use to work in every department in Tesco and he is able to motivate the other guys to do the right things at right time and if some time a sales assistant doesnt not know where he had to put the stuff in shelf he will be there and able to guide in seconds that this thing should go to that place so again its been seen that leadership requires a good personal skills. 1.2.3 Multitasking skills: Multitasking means, doing more than one task at the same time. This is the skill which is interrelated to the time management as if someone doing more tasks at same time it means he is going to save his time by that way. Normally the term multitasking is used in computer language because computer is able to process many programs at same time. this is the skill which a person develop with the experience for example if someone doing a office job and he is taking prints from the computer which takes time than in that time he is able to utilize it as he may can check his emails during that time and by checking his mails he is able to use the telephone to make important calls. Here we took a example of the concierge officer in Bryant court which is the reception of the residential flats. The officer is doing the multitasking by keeping eye on CCTV cameras operating phones and communicating with the residents at the same time. 1.2.4 Presentation skills: Presentations skills are achieved through the knowledge, confidence, communication and good learning skills. Presentation means to express your or the company views in front of the people without having any fear. Presentation skill is necessary to present but practise makes it perfect and when you do the practise it mean you are working on your personal skill to achieve professional skill. In Tesco section manger and senior night manager use to give presentation on every Monday to keep the staff up to date and telling them the company target and the role of staff. Now its been analyzed that professional skills are achieved through the practise of good personal skills. Presentation training is useful to develop presentation skills but nothing replaces practice. Effective presentations have targeted, simple, clear and repeated messages. (Roger lever 2009) Conclusion: Through this assignment its been seen that how personal skills are important to develop professional skills so both of these skills are interrelated to each other and a person uses both these skills to get the organization goal. TASK TWO: Personal development To assess my skills, I carried out a survey by giving evaluation forms to my class mates. We made a group of five members and each person rated my skills. With the help of their views I put these ratings in a suitable form. The assessment given by them is presented in the Appendices table and the final rating based on their feedback and my personal assessment is presented below. Rating of Management and Leadership Skills SKILLS RATING Very good 1 Satisfactory 2 Need to improve 3 Bad 4 Learning styles: It is been realised that we learn in different ways and learning styles. Honey and Mumford identified four different characters with quite different learning styles Activist, The Pragmatist, The Reflection the Theorist. Based on a questionnaire survey carried in the classroom, I learned that my predominant learning style is Pragmatist. I realise that pragmatist learning style has better impact in my learning activities. As I carried out a self-confidence survey and the result is presented below Self Confidence Analysis Situations Reasons Ways to Improve Worries of future makes me upset Because I think too much that what will happen to me. To overcome this I should set a proper plan about my future and then have to focus on that plan. I do not learn from my mistakes. Because I always ignore what happened and why was it happened. I should make a note about the failures in a personal diary in order to do avoid in future. I always upset if I cannot get success Because I am getting disheartened from my failures. I should have the courage to face the reality. Some time communication effect my confidence Because my native language is not English. I should develop my language skills I feel myself nerviest when I cannot present what I want. Because when I select a wrong topic of presentation. I should focus on what I want to do Improper dressing makes me feel lack of confidence. Because due to this I cant concentrate on my work. To overcome this always should dress up properly AT the start of presentation I feel lack of confidence Because I always ignore the preparation of introduction. To overcome this makes a proper intro of any presentation in order to reduce the lack of confidence in the start. Assertiveness Analysis This survey is based on questionnaire and I identified that my behavioral style is assertive as I raised my voice if someone do not listen to me but I also listened to them properly and try to make my point clear Weaknesses Ways to Improve If someone does not get my point I might lose my temper. I try to convince other with the solid points In case I am unable to understand a problem. I try my best to think before I speak Sometime when I disagree to someone I do not give them response. I am trying to improve my convincing skills Presentation Analysis Weaknesses Ways to Improve Because of preparation I use to take less sleep before last night of presentation. I should have enough sleep after preparation I have less confidence weather I could make it I should not be worried about it and speak without any pressure In some situations I forget some points during the presentations. I should note down on a piece of paper I feel hesitation while walking in front of people during presentation To overcome this one thing I have to make sure in my mind that I am perfectly all right from all aspects. In some cases I do not have enough material To overcome this always selects a right topic of presentation. At the start of presentation I feel lack of confidence. To overcome this makes a proper intro of any presentation in order to reduce the lack of confidence in the start. I believe under these circumstances, I can learn best in the following ways: I learn better from proven good practice, using the examples and the expertise of others. I like to face the problem with different approaches. I dislike situations where there is nothing to learn Pragmatist situation quite helpful for me. I always work when I have been forced to do job in time The short discussions or less detailed tasks make me unhappy. So I cant get benefit easily. I am expecting to make practical decisions. By presenting myself as practical person because I like to solve problems. I enjoy experimenting to improve techniques. I like frequently come up with the answer to a problem. I have only interest in theories is to see if the work in practice. Swot analysis helps us to analyze our strength and weakness and how we can create the opportunities for us and realizing the threat which are we facing at that time. In reference to the strengths the skills that I am good at are the following. This style shows that how a person utilize his personal skills and get benefit from these skills. Time management skill Supervision Customer service Adaptable skill Decision making ability Conflict Management skill. Coaching skill Weaknesses For an Effective leader I need to polish my skills. I feel some weaknesses to achieve my set targets of the business as a leader of the team. In following areas I think, I must have to improve in order to become an effective manager. Presentation Communication Self confidence Group discussion Planning Motivating Stress management Opportunities: By working on the skills which I already have it is possible that opportunities can be created and after solving out my problem making issue I will be able to make effective decision for myself and my team, it will decrease the failure rate and increase the confidence. After engaging in these activities a person is able to develop his future and carrier. Threats: There is always a aspect of threat which can never be denied ,being a leader a person should have the ability to realize that which threats are there which make a person worry and uncomfortable. The common threats which a leader faces are there. De motivation by top management policy Recession period Lack of knowledge Lack of qualification Self respect Misuse of power Personal Development Plan: Through the skill audit its been realised that which are the skills I need to improve and through which skills I am able to achieve my goal. In the following table I have developed a plan for myself and analyse that what should I do to improve my skills and how can I achieve my targets. Learning and Development needs Aims to learn and achieving goal Which actions need to be taken including resources need to achieve goals Date for achievement/review Presentation skill By developing these skills, I can present myself effectively in front of my senior management and other members of team which can increase the companys efficiency and productivity. It will help me in almost every field of life to achieve what I want to tell others. I should attend seminars, workshops and events Participating team meetings and group discussions. Concentrate on learning resources like tapes, videos and others. Whenever there is opportunity to speak I should go for that. Practising . 25-03-2011 Communicatin skill (English) English is an international language which is recognized all over the world and a person feel more confident and comfortable when he uses to speak foreigners and communicate in an effective way. This can support the personal objective and help to get company objective as well By convincing the people And introducing the business strategy. More Conversation and discussions in English By joining language classes and speaking freely to my mates can develop my skill I should go to the seminars I should watch English movies and other programs on TV. I should read English novels, poetry and other books to increase my vocabulary. I should prepare presentations in English to build my confidence to learn English quickly. 30-03-2011 Coaching Counselling Coaching and counselling is a leadership style which is used to make the employee productive for the organization and polish the skills. By counselling my subordinates I will be much closer to them and can sort the issues related to work which are really affecting their performance. Practical work Career and development training Learning from the teachers and senior management on work More discussion with colleagues and managers. Analyzing what to do and when it need to do Minimizing the work load and need to develop more human interaction. 15-04-2011 Planning Planning is the major key of the success weather a person or for the organization. Through proper planning person can achieve his targets which can help a lot in his progress. I need to identify the major objectives of my life and need to focus on these targets. Finding solution to achieve the targets I should analyze that my objective should be time based and realistic Proper planning to achieve my targets and should start work from today rather than tomorrow. As for as business point of view I should make a proper plan by arranging meetings with the seniors and stakeholders. I should attend conferences and read the survey reports. 20-04-2011 Outcomes of Personal Development Plan against personal objective: Through the skill audit it is been identified that which are things which I need to work on and improve and which are the strength that I am having. Secondly a plan is developed to overcome the efficiencies and to improve my skills. This is my personal objective to improve my capability in language skills but it cannot be achieved until it is not been planned to learn it. It needs to develop a plan that how this objective can be achieved and which are the resources I have, what are my strength and using my strength how I can overcome my efficiency. It can be put the time limits which indicates that within the specific period this goal must be achieved for example my target is to learn the communication skill before I leave this country. Personal objectives are so important in life because there is the purpose to spend the life. Without any purpose of life it becomes useless to live. Every one plans according to its ability to think and work on it but it really does matter how do you think and what you are going to do. Personal development plan is a suitable written form of the person thinking that what does a person want in life and how does he plan to achieve the target. It gives you the time to think and analyze the multiple solutions of the problem and work on them according to the plan like my objective in next three month is to learn presentation skills and it is analyzed that which are the ways through it can be achieved and how to deal with the time wasting and more focus to get the objective. Impact of own learning against the achievement of strategic goals: This is the more effective way to achieve the goal to write down the plan and then focus on your target. All we need to do to identify the objective and realize which is important for us and which is not. It helps us in learning by focus on the working document. Thing which it need to keep in mind is that the objective should be realistic and achievable and it should be clear that what are the strength of a person to achieve his goal and which are the area he need to work on . It does work in a great way as I set a goal for myself that till next three months I will improve my communication skills and I start work on this target by reading newspaper and books, communicating with my friends and colleagues. I have started to watch English movies on TV which did not do before. After a week it is realized that it does work as I feel much comfortable than before. Till the review date I feel most of the job will be done and there will be the difference. I personally learn that there are many things in life which we do not give the importance but a little thing can make the difference as I plan to achieve my goal I realize that it does not take too much time and efforts to achieve the targets. I will definitely implement it in my life by setting objectives in my life and there I will set the time limit to achieve it in time. Once I will get the objective of learning skills I will set more objectives. Appendix No. Skill Person A Person B Person C Person D Result Mode 1 Communication 2 3 2 2 2,3 2 planning 3 2 2 3 2,3 3 coaching 2 4 3 4 2,3,4 4 Presentation 3 2 2 3 2,3,2 5 Motivation 2 2 1 3 1,2,3 6 Time Management 1 2 2 2 1,2 7 Group discussion 2 2 3 3 2,3 8 Decision Making 4 3 4 3 3,4 9 Self Confidence 3 2 2 3 2,3 10 Technical Ability 2 3 3 2 2,3 11 Stress Management 2 4 3 4 2,3,4 12 Conflict Management 3 3 2 3 2,3

Conservation of Biodiversity in Cambodia Essay -- Biodiversity Cambodi

Assessment of Conservation of Biodiversity in Cambodia 1. Introduction Conservation of Biodiversity in Cambodia has been gathering momentum in the past few years in response to international conservation efforts and increased land degradation and loss (Conservation International 2004). International monetary institutions such as the World Bank and transnational NGOs such as Conservation International have been influential in changing forestry legislation in Cambodia (Reuters 2002). However, the implementation of these laws and practices are not always as successfully carried out or adhered to on a local level (Reuters 2002). The flaws in implementation may eventually lead to the degradation of the biodiversity in question. The corrupt nature of the Cambodian government and the dependency of growing populations on the resource extraction of these areas to supplement their incomes work together to prevent sustainable conservation efforts. The Central Cardamom Mountain region is the major focus of current conservation efforts and provides a portrait of contemporary environmental policy and practice in Cambodia. The Cardamom region is part of the Indo-Burma hot spot (Environment News Service 2002). The Cardamom region and the two wildlife refuges that border it collectively make up one million hectares of contiguous forest (Conservation International 2004). The area was previously protected by the Khmer Rouge who used it as a refuge until the end of their civil war in the early 1990's (McCarthy 2002). They used devices such as landmines and boobytraps to exclude others from entering (McCarthy 2002). After the civil war ended, an onslaught of hunters, fishers and loggers forced the government along with international agencies ... ...xp/CIWEB/regions/asia_pacific/cambodia/cambodia.xml. Updated May, 2004 [accessed 4/15/04]. Downie, S. 1997. Reversing the tides. UNESCO sources. Issue 93. Le Billon, P. 2002. Logging in muddy waters- the politics of forest exploitation in Cambodia. Critical Asian Studies 34:563-586. McCarthy, T. 2002. Let them run wild. Time Europe 160. Pleumarom, A. 2002. Destruction in disguise: international tourism projects in the Mekong River Basin are a model of unsustainable development. Alternatives J 28:32. Thyl De Lopez, T. 2003. Economics and stakeholders of Ream National Park, Cambodia. Ecological Economics 46:269-282. Update on the World Bank's Involvement in Forestry in Cambodia. Online. World Bank.Available:http://siteresources.worldbank.org /INTCAMBODIA /News%20and%20Events/20193833/Forestry+Update.pdf. Updated December 18, 2003 [accessed 4/15/04].

The Euthanasia Debate Essay -- Medical Ethics

A long, ongoing battle in the institutional review boards, ethics committee and in the United states federal court is Physician assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia. PAS refers to â€Å"a third part action informed by the intended objective (at the very least) to furnish a potential suicide with the lethal means necessary to end his or her bodily life† (Parteson 11). There are victims suffering in silence because of this issue and it calls for immediate action with a federal regulated law. The victims are cancer patients who want to end suffering from their illness and impending death, patients that are brain dead or on life support, and patients that have diseases that cause excruciating pain that ultimately deteriorate the quality of life until it is gone. The other victims are the families that watch their loved ones suffer, or care for the ones on life support for years without being able to aid them in their wish to die. There are also those potential victims that have a chance to fight and live, though in certain cases this fight has been taken away. There is a concern for innocent deaths such as the Jack Kevorkian case, â€Å"out of Kevorkian’s first 93 victims, only 27 were determined by autopsy to be terminal, that is, to have less than six months to live† (Olevich 21), that is why strict regulations is critical. The United States Supreme Court has left the decision to legalize and regulate assisted suicide to the states. Washington and Oregon are among the first to take the lead. Although they have taken the initiative, they are lacking fine detail and have left a few holes in the law that could create potential unnecessary deaths. Science is rapidly advancing pushing the boundaries past the national ethics committee, it is time ... ...something people often do not have â€Å"Functionally independent persons were unlikely to have a living will (5.5%)† (Hanson, Rodgman) Works Cited Fraser, Sharon I. and Walters, James W. â€Å"Death: Whose Decision? Euthanasia and the Terminally Ill.† Journal of Medical Ethics 26.2 Apr. (2000):121-125 Web. 1 May 2012 Hanson, LC and Rodgman E. â€Å"The use of living wills at the end of life. A national study.† Archive of Internal Medicine 156.9 May (1996): 1018-22. Web. 6 May 2012 Hudson, Janice. Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse. Firefly Books. New York. 2001, 2010. Print Olevitch, Barbara A. Protecting Psychiatric Patients from the Assisted-Suicide Movement : Insights and Strategies. Greenwood Press. August 2002. Print. Paterson, Craig. Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia : A Natural Law Ethics Approach. Ashgate Publishing Group. May 2008. Print.

The In-Between World of Vikram Lall Essay -- essays research papers

Divided in four parts – â€Å"The Year of Our Loves and Friendships†, â€Å"The Year of Her Passion†, â€Å"The Years of Betrayal†, and â€Å"Homecoming- The In-Between World of Vikram Lall is a bold attempt at telling the epic of Asian people in Africa. It is a novel concerning themes of love, passion, commitment and more importantly, identity. The narrator, Vikram Lall, is a Kenyan born Indian who grows up in an era where rebellion, confusion, and disruption were all prevalent. In this journal, you will learn about the characters, themes, and settings in the first half of this book. Part One: The Year of Our Loves and Friendships In the first section we are introduced to the Lall family, who are residents of Kenya. At once the reader is introduced to the idea of cross-racial and cross-cultural love. Vikram and his younger sister Deepa have befriended the son of their gardener, Njoroge. It is immediately apparent that Deepa and Njoroge have romantic feelings for one another. What makes this unusual is the fact that Njoroge is black. B y doing this it is apparent that Vassanji is illustrating that even in a time where inter-racial love was not socially acceptable, it still existed. He further emphasized this through the portrayal of Vic’s romantic relationship with Annie, a British girl whose brother was friends with Vikram. This alludes to the â€Å"in-between† portion of the title, for intertwining of several different races can be viewed as â€Å"in-between†. The fact Vassanji consistently refers to a time where racism was predominant it forces the reader to think back to the time where East Africa was very â€Å"confused†. Both of my parents are from East Africa and lived in here the precise time that Vassanji is referring to. They witnessed first hand the lack of identity that existed at that time. Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya were ruled by the British, run by the Indians and populated by the Africans. Because everyone played a different role they all felt like visitors on a foreign land. The Africans, whose land it was initially, were very angered by these circumstances and tribes like the Mau Mau went to great lengths to get back their land. Bloodshed was not an uncommon tactic for they resorted to it quite often. In fact, in the novel, Annie and Billy’s family are murdered by the Mau Mau for they were of British decent. Annie’s Death marked the moment where Vikram lost his love. He ... ...s eyes with a bayonet or something.† The idea of walking out of the street and witnessing such cruelty opens the readers’ eyes to a harsh reality. Style/Technique Vassanji adequately uses diction to enhance the story as well as using rhetoric questions. These rhetorical questions are very important to the story for they signal the readers response when necessary. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it took me a while to actually get into the book, as soon as I got in I found it really hard to put down. There is so much conflict both internal and external that upon reading the reader becomes fully submerged. The idea of co-racial relationships was at first hard to believe. I am not exactly sure what will happen in the last two parts of â€Å"The In-Between World of Vikram Lall†, but I think that something absolutely shocking will occur, such as Deepa and Dilip will not marry each other, even if their parents want them to. I think that this will cause a lot of anger and betrayal among the families. The more I read through this book, the more I wanted to read. I hope the ending is as good as the start, but I will have to wait until I have finished reading it to find out.