Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook Essay

Occupational Safety and Health Law Handbook - Essay Example Section 9(a) of OSHA provides that all citations should reasonably be issued promptly. The limitation period for issuing citations is six months. Therefore, no citation can be vacated within the period unless the delay prejudiced the employer1. The employer has the burden of proving that the delay hindered his preparation and presentation of the defense. The second defense available to an employer is that the affected employees were not vulnerable to the condition cited (Schneid & Schumann, 2007). The Act requires that any citation must establish that either the employees were exposed to, or there was a potential for their exposure to the hazard in question. Furthermore, the Act requires that either the employer be in control of the hazard or create it. On this latter requirement, the employer could argue that he was unaware of the condition or could not have known the same despite exercising due diligence2. It could also suffice to argue that no hazardous condition prevails at the workplace. There is the assumption that a hazardous condition exists at the workplace if what is violated is a â€Å"specification† standard (e.g. a guardrail in all working surfaces above four feet). Therefore, OSHA must prove that there existed a hazardous condition to justify the citation (Schneid & Schumann, 2007). The level of risk must be significant, which means that the employer should know of the hazardous condition requiring protective equipment3. Therefore, the employer has to be a reasonable person conversant with the industry and safety requirements. If OSHA does not prove this standard, the citation is bound to

A Short Essay on Beauty Essay Example for Free

A Short Essay on Beauty Essay Beauty is defined as the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc. ), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). However, beauty has been topic of debate in terms of its definition. In order to see what is special about pleasure in beauty, we must shift the focus back to consider what is special about the judgment of taste, which helps determine beauty in an object. For Kant, the judgment of taste claims â€Å"universal validity†, which he describes as follows:†¦ when [a man] puts a thing on a pedestal and calls it beautiful, he demands the same delight from others. He judges not merely for himself, but for all men, and then speaks of beauty as if it were a property of things. Thus he says that the thing is beautiful; and it is not as if he counts on others agreeing with him in his judgment of liking owing to his having found them in such agreement on a number of occasions, but he demands this agreement of them. He blames them if they judge differently, and denies them taste, which he still requires of them as something they ought to have; and to this extent it is not open to men to say: Every one has his own taste. This would be equivalent to saying that there is no such thing as taste, i. e. no aesthetic judgment capable of making a rightful claim upon the assent of all men. (Kant 1790, p. 52; see also pp. 136–139. However, having said that, there is art and architecture around the world which provides universal appeal. For example, the Cathedral of Notre Dame could easily enamor a Hindu family, without them having very little or no knowledge of its cultural or religious significance. The Taj Mahal and the Statue of David could exude great amounts of sublimity to people of every walks of life. What is it in Art and Architecture that arouses such pleasure and popularity? Corbusier once said, â€Å"The Architect, by his arrangements of forms, realizes an order which is a pure creation of his spirit; through forms and shapes he affects our senses to an acute degree and provokes plastic emotions; by the relationships which he creates he creates profound echoes in us, he gives us the measure of an order which we feel to be in accordance with that of our world, he determines the various movements of our heart and of our understanding; it is then we experience the sense of beauty. † The above stated personal opinion could very well be the reason of Art and Architecture being an inherent and quintessential part of the global cultural heritage. Also, Art and Architecture has also regarded as stimulants to generate happiness. As Fredrick M. Padelford mentioned, â€Å"Indeed, I think that we are not at all aware of the immense social asset that uniformly good architecture would be. Fancy a city in which all of the buildings are beautiful, and trace the influence on the lives of the inhabitants. In the first place, it would add greatly to the happiness of people, for, as has been observed, it is the normal function of beauty to make us happy. Unless we have allowed ourselves to become diseased, happiness will attend beauty as naturally as flowers turn to the sun† (Frederick M. Padelford, â€Å"The Civic Control of Architecture,† American Journal of Sociology, July 1908, 45-46). ] This short essay though it does not conclude with a well defined explanation of beauty, it will give one an idea about some the various elements, which forms a very prominent influence on beauty.

Dickens Hard Times as a Critique of the Educational System Essay

Dickens' Hard Times as a Critique of the Educational System  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Industrialization made Victorian England a brave new world.   A world bereft of justice, humanity and emotion.   In Hard Times, Dickens critiques this world in several ways; it's pollution problems, factory accidents, divorce laws, utilitarian ideals, and educational system.   The goal of this essay is to focus strictly on Dickens critique of the educational system which was influenced by Industrialization.   In his novel, Dickens shows us how children were indoctrinated at very early ages that "facts alone are wanted in life" (47).   "The Gradgrind school in Hard Times was modeled on the so-called Birbeck Schools inaugurated by William Ellis in 1848 to teach principles of political economy to poor children. . . " (Thomas 52). The children were taught that they were not to do anything or believe anything which is contrary to fact.   The "Gradgrindian educational project is based on . . . Enlightenment intuitions" (Wainwright 179); wherein,   all knowledge m ust be verified by science.   Teachers even went so far to say that: "Taste, is only another name for Fact" (51).   In Hard Times, Dickens "attacks [this] education built on statistics, figures and facts . . ." (Taine 33). Dickens criticizes the Victorian educational system because it dehumanized the children, killed fancy, and destroyed the importance of emotion.          The Victorian educational system dehumanized the children by treating them like mathematical figures.   It sought to turn them all into little utilitarian robots who were only interested in facts.   As the children enter the class, they are described as "little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of fac... ...       Mutual Friend. Ed. Norman Page. New York: Macmillan Press, 1979.       Thomas, Deborah. Hard Times: A Fable of Fragmentation and Wholeness. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997.       Wainwright, Valerie. "On Goods, Virtues, and Hard Times." Dickens Studies Annual, Vol. 26. Ed. Friedman, Guiliano, and Timko. New York: AMS Press, 1998.       The student may wish to begin the paper with the quote below:    "I am going, next month, to publish in one volume a story now coming out in Household Words, called Hard Times.   I have constructed it patiently, with a view to its publication altogether in a compact cheap form.   It contains what I do devoutly hope will shake some people in a terrible mistake of the days, when so presented" (Guiliano 893).    Charles Dickens in a letter to Thomas Carlyle, July 13, 1854 Dickens' Hard Times as a Critique of the Educational System Essay Dickens' Hard Times as a Critique of the Educational System  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Industrialization made Victorian England a brave new world.   A world bereft of justice, humanity and emotion.   In Hard Times, Dickens critiques this world in several ways; it's pollution problems, factory accidents, divorce laws, utilitarian ideals, and educational system.   The goal of this essay is to focus strictly on Dickens critique of the educational system which was influenced by Industrialization.   In his novel, Dickens shows us how children were indoctrinated at very early ages that "facts alone are wanted in life" (47).   "The Gradgrind school in Hard Times was modeled on the so-called Birbeck Schools inaugurated by William Ellis in 1848 to teach principles of political economy to poor children. . . " (Thomas 52). The children were taught that they were not to do anything or believe anything which is contrary to fact.   The "Gradgrindian educational project is based on . . . Enlightenment intuitions" (Wainwright 179); wherein,   all knowledge m ust be verified by science.   Teachers even went so far to say that: "Taste, is only another name for Fact" (51).   In Hard Times, Dickens "attacks [this] education built on statistics, figures and facts . . ." (Taine 33). Dickens criticizes the Victorian educational system because it dehumanized the children, killed fancy, and destroyed the importance of emotion.          The Victorian educational system dehumanized the children by treating them like mathematical figures.   It sought to turn them all into little utilitarian robots who were only interested in facts.   As the children enter the class, they are described as "little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of fac... ...       Mutual Friend. Ed. Norman Page. New York: Macmillan Press, 1979.       Thomas, Deborah. Hard Times: A Fable of Fragmentation and Wholeness. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997.       Wainwright, Valerie. "On Goods, Virtues, and Hard Times." Dickens Studies Annual, Vol. 26. Ed. Friedman, Guiliano, and Timko. New York: AMS Press, 1998.       The student may wish to begin the paper with the quote below:    "I am going, next month, to publish in one volume a story now coming out in Household Words, called Hard Times.   I have constructed it patiently, with a view to its publication altogether in a compact cheap form.   It contains what I do devoutly hope will shake some people in a terrible mistake of the days, when so presented" (Guiliano 893).    Charles Dickens in a letter to Thomas Carlyle, July 13, 1854

Philosophy- Locke Hume and Kafka Essay

1. Explain how Locke and Hume view personal identity, or the â€Å"Self†. How do you see Kafka’s â€Å"Metamorphosis† as exemplifying these philosophical themes? You may choose Locke or Hume or both, or argue why you see neither of their theories as showing up in Kafka’s work. Locke’s theory of personal identity does not rely on substance to explain personal identity. Locke’s theory is person one at time two is the same person as person two at time one if and only if person one and person two are both persons and person one can remember at time two (his doing) what person two did or felt or what have you at time one. Hume’s theory of the self-held that the self is nothing but a bundle of experiences or perceptions linked by the relations of causation and resemblance; or, more accurately, that the empirically warranted idea of the self is just the idea of such a bundle. In â€Å"Metamorphosis† Kafka takes on Locke’s view of the self. Kafka illustrates that Gregor Samsa is the same person as he was when he was human even though he has changed into a bug. Kafka does this by showing that Gregor still has the same thoughts, memories, and tries to continue the same routine even though he has become a bug. Gregor stills tries to wake up and catch the train for work, he still knows how his sister, parents, and boss will act, and he still has the same feelings and emotions towards his life and the people who are in it. All of these explain go along with Locke’s view of the self verses Hume’s theory.

MOZAMBIQUE essays

MOZAMBIQUE essays Mozambique is a country located on the southeast coast of Africa. It covers 308,642 square miles and has a population of about sixteen million. Maputo is the capitol, largest city, and chief port. Mozambique was governed by Portugal from the early 1500's until 1975 when it became independent after a ten year struggle against Portuguese Mozambique is now controlled by Frelimo (the front for the liberation of Mozambique) the nations only political party. The president of Frelimo is also the nations president. Mozambiques highest governmental power lies with the parties central committee which is made up of fifteen members appointed by Frelimo. This party appoints the two hundred and ten members of the peoples assembly,(Mozambiques legislative body).This group meets twice a year. It's permanent committee handles legislative matters between Most Mozambicans are black Africans. Other groups such as Arabs, Europeans, and Pakistanis make up less than one percent of the population. Most blacks belong to groups that speak one of the Bantu languages. The largest of these groups, the Makua-Lomwe, accounts for forty percent of the population. The countries official language is Portuguese but few blacks can speak it. Some Mozambicans speak English when conducting business Most Mozambicans are farmers with extremely simple techniques although farmers in some areas of the country use modern techniques. Fifty five percent of the people of Mozambique practice traditional African religions. Of this large group, many are animists who believe that everything in nature has a soul. Others worship spirits of their ancestors. About thirty percent of the population is Christian, mostly Roman Catholic. Only about twenty five percent of Mozambiques people fifteen or older ...

Expresso Espresso

Expresso Espresso Expresso Espresso is a coffee shop located in a street along the University of South Alabama. Todd, the owner of the business, opened the shop in March 2006, and was motivated by the idea of providing comfort to his consumers, and the thought of helping his children acquire some life lessons on how to run a business. His plan was to offer a service that will make his customers feel at home, making them want to stay longer.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Expresso Espresso specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even though Todd managed to attract quite a number of customers through his concept, the competition from new shops was posing a threat to the growth of his business. Apart from the stiff competition from new shops, expanding the business in the city’s midtown was a worrying issue that Todd was facing as he was afraid that the new location will negatively impact the sales, and may change the dynamic natur e of the coffee industry in the area. Therefore, his main priority was to market his business so as to ensure that it gains a firm standing in the market place. The location of the coffee shop was evidently an added advantage to the business as most of the customers were students and lecturers. Also, the service offered in the shop was hospitable and as a result, it increased his competitiveness. Designing the shop with a range of comforting colors and comfy furniture also worked in his favor as it helped him gain a competitive niche over other coffee shops. However, the financial status of the business was disappointing. In other words, the profit he made was not huge enough to sustain the survival of the business, given the competition in the market. Given that Todd had tried implementing some marketing strategies that didn’t work so well, it was time to think outside the box. It is for this reason that Todd had to come up with an effective marketing plan in order to expand , and enhance the growth of his business. Focusing on university students, their lecturers, and the faculty was an alternative he needed to focus on, as they were his target market. By this, he would provide products that not only represented his trademark, but also met the needs of consumers.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Even though the economy affected the prices set in the market, lowering the prices of his products, and offering promotional offers was a strategy that would alternatively work in his favor. By lowering the prices and putting up offers, the shop would get more customers as it would increase awareness among college students, lecturers, the faculty, and the community around. Moreover, improving the quality of the service and products was a strategy that would increase his customer base. Changing the brand name of the shop, and re-launching i t during an ongoing semester would also help in creating awareness, and would limit the shop from providing espresso only. Instead, it would allow the incorporation of other products that are preferred by most customers. Conducting a survey, and asking their customer to participate in rating the quality of services offered, and offering recommendation would make them feel more appreciated, and consequently, increase the customer base. Apart from expanding the business in the city’s midtown, the current location would need some expanding so as to accommodate as many customers as possible. By opening a new shop in the city’s midtown, Todd would have to implement an effective action plan that focuses on the specific tasks to be performed, the time horizon, and resource allocation.

Exercise Your College Reading Skills

Exercise Your College Reading Skills Your college career depends largely on your ability to read well. However, its a fact that some of the most brilliant minds, including Albert Einstein, were not great readers. You may be frustrated if you understand advanced material but have trouble getting it from the page into your brain. Here are some tips on how to improve your reading skills and your grades. Indulge in Pleasure Reading Daily Sure, you spend most of your day reading textbooks and other course-related content. It is hoped that you enjoy at least some of what youre reading. However, set aside some time before bed to read something you truly enjoy. Choose a magazine, chick lit, a classic novel, or the hottest creative nonfiction. When youre engaged in what youre reading, youll be more attentive and naturally improve your reading skills. Allow Enough Time Scheduling regular study times throughout the week is a good idea anyway, but particularly if you find reading challenging. Leaving all of your reading assignments for the last minute makes you feel pressured to fly through the material, which is never good for deep understanding or long-term memorization. Read While You Listen Listening to an audiobook as you follow along with a print version can be an enjoyable experience. While it may sound like overkill, this double-input method is a great way to improve weaker reading skills. Hearing the words pronounced aloud as you read them will improve your retention of vocabulary and your comprehension. Just be sure that your audiobook is an unabridged version; otherwise, you may have a hard time skipping ahead to the right spot in your book. Read to Yourself You may not have access to a recorded version of your school texts. If your roommate is gone frequently or tends to wear headphones a lot, try reading aloud as you study. Hearing the words may increase your comprehension and retention of the material. Use a Reading App It may contradict what weve said above, but if youre an average reader, pronouncing words in your head as you read may slow you down. After all, you have the capacity to read words far faster than you can speak them. Therefore, while some people have reading difficulties that respond best to vocalization, others do better to quiet the voice in their head. An app like Syllable can actually teach you how to become a speed-reader. Eliminate Distractions Online Who can read when there are ads, links, pictures of cats, and other distractions on the margins of a webpage? Install a browser add-on or plugin that allows you to read a clean version of the primary content. Youll read faster and remember more of what you read. Use a Dictionary or Thesaurus If you understand every word that you read in college textbooks, youre probably a professor by now. Dont just skip over unfamiliar words. That one definition may clarify an entire paragraph. Make sure you have a dictionary or thesaurus site or app nearby whenever youre reading. Take Care of Your Eyes Even though youre young, youre staring at screens and pages for hours a day. Human eyes simply werent designed for so much effort. If you struggle even the slightest bit with reading, be sure to get an eye exam. Glasses or contacts might make a huge difference in your reading ability. Furthermore, dry eyes are a common affliction today, so always have a bottle of artificial tears on hand. You blink less when you stare at a computer screen, so youll need to replenish that lost moisture regularly. The more comfortable your eyes are, the better youll be at reading. Some people are natural-born readers, but that doesnt mean that you cant improve your skills significantly. Get into good reading habits and make use of the tools that are available to you. When you can read well, you can accomplish anything.

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product Research Paper

Three Privai Products and Three Ingredients Per Product - Research Paper Example According to Mayo Clinic, tea may also work against viruses that cause genital warts. Tea also contains polyphenols, potent antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cancer, according to TeaBenefits.com. It may also lower both cholesterol and triglyceride levels while it prevents blood clots effectively as aspirin to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Grapeseed oil is pressed and extracted from the seeds of various varieties of Vitis vinifera  grapes, an abundant  by-product  of  winemaking. Primary uses of grapeseed oil include culinary and cosmetics. It is a significant to antioxidant products because it helps in moisturizing the skin. According to wisegeek.com, it is often combined with other oils to make  massage  oil because of its quality to glide well on the skin and its moisturizing properties. It also appears to assist with skin repair because of its mild astringent  and antiseptic qualities. It is also used as a  lubricant  for  face  shaving. Pomegranate seed oil is an extract from pomegranate (Punica granatum), fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing to between five and eight metres tall. Pomegranate is native to China, India, Egypt and regions of the Middle East. It is rich and nutritious. Its phytochemical content such as ellagic acid makes it useful to antioxidant products. According to the mountainroseherbs.com, it’s because of these properties that make it commonly used in cosmetics products. It helps to revitalize dull or mature skin, assist with wrinkles, and to soothe minor skin irritations. Pomegranate seed oil adds moisture, improves skin elasticity, and protects the skin. It can also provide relief from minor skin irritations and inflammation such as dry skin, eczema, psoriasis and sunburned skin. In one study conducted by the University of Michigan Medical School (published in the February 2006 Journal of Ethnopharmacology), it have shown that pomegranate

Is the Media in the UK Sexist and Racist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Is the Media in the UK Sexist and Racist - Essay Example The X rating imposed by the BBFC was as a result of explicit sexual and violent content, according to Stuart McDougal (2003: 3) in his book, Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Today, the censorship that resulted in an X rating for A Clockwork Orange, and prevented the film from being made available to the British public country-wide, is noticeably absent in the British media; as is the moral judgment and assertion of political interest that once prevailed in the UK’s media. The discernable sexism and racism that once defined the UK’s media were by design, according to David Buckingham, in a journal article published in the Journal of Communication (1998: 33). In his journal essay, Buckingham describes, â€Å". . . the history of media education in the UK, tracing its evolution Leavisite (Leavis and Twerepson 1933) origins, through the advent of cultural studies to the more explicitly political approaches developed in the 1970s. These approaches reflect a gradual democratization of the curriculum, as well as a form of cultural or political protectionism (1998: 33).† There has been, writes Buckingham, a noticeable and discernable move away from the aforementioned protectionism, resulting in a more open, less sexist, less racially discriminatory British media (1998: 33). The teaching of media in the UK, utilizing the Leavis and Thompson (1933) methods, was, according to Buckingham, focused on â€Å". . . salvation of the (British) culture – preserving the literary heritage, language, values, and health of the nation it was seen to embody and represent (1998: 34).† In their book, British Cultural Identities, authors Peter Childs and Mike Storry write, â€Å"The British are famed for both their prurience and their sexual reserve, a stereotype which, though exploited with many British cultural forms (Merchant/Ivory â€Å"heritage† cinema, for example), probably derives less from contemporary cultural attitudes than from England’s former role in the global imposition of repressive middle-class norms and values (2002: 128)†.

Schopenhaeur Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Schopenhaeur - Term Paper Example Many people have tried to explain this and there are many different religions which have been formulated on this basis. Many religions have different viewpoints on death however; Buddhism is one of the best in describing life after death. This paper will focus on the perspective utilized by Schopenheur. My friend life is something which we are given unknowingly and there is no knowledge from where we come from hence making us existence in the absence of our knowledge and will. This makes us mere existing objects who are unaware of our origins before birth and where would go after death. Since every person came onto the world without any worry of the future he or she has no reason or substantial basis to worry about the afterlife. Therefore my friend, as you age you can only enjoy and reminisce on the moments which you have lived as these are the ones which have had control over and were able to witness and acknowledge. These are the moments which were yours and you had control as well as the desire to make. There is no reason for you to think what will happen as you move to the next stage of life because you have already experience the most fulfilling part. There are many things which we do not know and if they are not in our hands then there is no reason which we should stress over them. If there is another phase of life after we die, then there are many ways which we can attempt to understand this phase. Yes my friend, curiosity is perhaps something that is existent in all of us; however, this is not to say you should be worried. In the past, many people, particularly religions have attempted to explain the afterlife and this makes it a very interesting subject. What you choose to believe of course entirely up to you. For example, Christianity has attempted to explain the afterlife from the viewpoint of eternal life. This is one aspect which is very controversial as there is a

Fredric Edwin Church, 1826-1900, United States of America, Aurora Essay

Fredric Edwin Church, 1826-1900, United States of America, Aurora Borealis-1865 - Essay Example Later on, after returning from the expedition he embarked on the painting, carefully finishing one of the supreme paintings, the Aurora Borealis. The Aurora Borealis painting is a pictorial representation of the northern lights of America. Currently, the famous painting is located in â€Å"Smithsonian American Art Museum, in Washington DC† (Avery). In the mid-nineteenth century, and on return of Church with his friend Hayes, they found America in the middle of a Civil war. Hayes being part of the Union swore in a loud voice that he would carry the flag of America without any star erasing, to the extreme northern limits of the earth. He was referring to the northern lights, well depicted on canvas by Fredric Edwin Church (Avery). Because of Hayes’ vow, people viewed Church’s painting as the Union’s symbol of its cause, hence giving the painting its unique importance and fame. Primarily, the piece, Aurora Borealis-1865, provides ordinary people with an opportunity to witness a rather rare natural phenomenon probably they would have never seen. Church made the painting on a canvas basing it on a landscape that he had viewed; hence, it is an ideal way of providing people with a site like never before. The Aurora Borealis, 1865, has always made a monumental impact on people who view it. First, it is a way of appreciating nature, as Church was keen to note how beautiful the wilderness landscape was, hence putting it on canvas. Moreover as per now nature is a paramount concern of the world as people aim at salvaging the remaining part of it. Hence, the oil on canvas painting of Aurora Borealis, 1865, acts as an inspiration for people to achieve this goal (Avery). From an artist view of the piece, it posses stupendous  features, which give the painting an impressive look to the viewer. Within the painting, he added details such as giving the water a reflective effect, subsequently forming a burnished surface. As a way of giving it more visual impression,

Surviving A Nuclear Attack Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Surviving A Nuclear Attack - Essay Example The very first assumption to take is that the individuals concerned are at least five miles away from the point of attack or explosion. This is because there is just no possible survival possible for anyone who is closer than the above mentioned distance. The second assumption is that the people are aware of the political scenario of the world including the current affairs. This is because, if the people are not updated regarding their surroundings, chances are that they will not following most of the steps shown below. The second assumption will be catered to afterwards. However unlikely this may sound, but people must make some prior arrangements for a nuclear attack (Bruno, 2010). This rational may not sound logical without the above mentioned assumption. This step is only possible if the government takes strong initiatives when the international environment is viable for a nuclear attack (Evans, 1980).The government must educate the people about the effects of the nuclear reactions and the radioactivity, thus ensuring that the people are planning ahead about a possible attack. The logic is that when the people will be warned and informed about the danger and the level of threat, then only the people can and will think about planning for their survival. Once it is clear that the people are planning for the survival techniques then the next step originates, which is, what are the measures? The answer to this question will give the details about the primary topic. The first part of the planning requires the people to make some basic changes to the structure of their houses. It should be clear that the surviving techniques apply only to those who have survived the initial explosion as mentioned earlier. The best advice for anyone is to stay in his or her house because an open space is the last place to be in a nuclear attack (Roberts). Now, when it is clear that people do need to make changes to their buildings, the

Issue 9&10 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Issue 9 - Assignment Example The article further argues for an alternative point of view, which is not seeing the concept of effective leadership as gender-oriented instead of competency-oriented (Rao, 2012). HRM experts in companies who have set up opportunities for both men and women to debate serious leadership qualities have assisted them to grow into successful leaders. The representation of women as business leaders in numerous patriarchal cultures is skewed unequally. Issue 9 also includes a response from Ann Pomeroy, who essentially argues that yes, women make better business leaders than men. According to Pomeroy, organizations such as Safeway are making substantial progress in ensuring gender diversity in leading positions (Rao, 2012). Safeway’s diversity approach entails efficient communication, initiatives that concentrate on growing leadership skills, mentoring, and matching work and personal lives. A negative response by Herminia Ibarra and Otilia Obodaru is included in Issue 9, which contends that the assumption that women are underrepresented in leadership roles within organizations is wrong statistically. Ibarra and Obodaru used all-round evaluations for data gathered for five years and discovered that women in fact outdid men in many leadership degrees measured, despite them scoring lower than men did on â€Å"envisioning† (Rao, 2012). Issue 10 questions the existence of the glass ceiling in United States businesses (Rao, 2012). While also using report statistics to support this argument, this article compares their deductions. For instance, Issue 10 suggests that statistics are misleading because women still deal with invisible limits to grow into leaders in their respective professions. Reasons women face these invisible constraints include family responsibilities, career disruptions, inadequate socialization at work through old boys’ network, inability to relocate for career reasons, and an organization’s lack of stable

Surviving A Nuclear Attack Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Surviving A Nuclear Attack - Essay Example The very first assumption to take is that the individuals concerned are at least five miles away from the point of attack or explosion. This is because there is just no possible survival possible for anyone who is closer than the above mentioned distance. The second assumption is that the people are aware of the political scenario of the world including the current affairs. This is because, if the people are not updated regarding their surroundings, chances are that they will not following most of the steps shown below. The second assumption will be catered to afterwards. However unlikely this may sound, but people must make some prior arrangements for a nuclear attack (Bruno, 2010). This rational may not sound logical without the above mentioned assumption. This step is only possible if the government takes strong initiatives when the international environment is viable for a nuclear attack (Evans, 1980).The government must educate the people about the effects of the nuclear reactions and the radioactivity, thus ensuring that the people are planning ahead about a possible attack. The logic is that when the people will be warned and informed about the danger and the level of threat, then only the people can and will think about planning for their survival. Once it is clear that the people are planning for the survival techniques then the next step originates, which is, what are the measures? The answer to this question will give the details about the primary topic. The first part of the planning requires the people to make some basic changes to the structure of their houses. It should be clear that the surviving techniques apply only to those who have survived the initial explosion as mentioned earlier. The best advice for anyone is to stay in his or her house because an open space is the last place to be in a nuclear attack (Roberts). Now, when it is clear that people do need to make changes to their buildings, the

What is appealing and not appealing about law enforcement and what is Personal Statement

What is appealing and not appealing about law enforcement and what is the philosophy of law enforcemnt - Personal Statement Example I will become a part of a special breed of people whom the public places their infinite trust in when it comes to matters of security. I will be able to repay the country that has given me food and shelter all of my life by insuring its safety against domestic and international threats. However, there is something that tends to make this career the least appealing to me as well. That is the fact that each time I put myself out there as a law enforcement officer, there is a real danger that I could get killed by the same security threats I am protecting the public against. However, each day that I survive, those who know me will consider me a hero because I put other peoples safety and security ahead of my own safety. The Philosophy of Law Enforcement is something that cannot be clearly defined by one person as it is a term that must constantly evolve with the local and national security needs of our times. My opinion is that the philosophy is based upon the need to maintain peace and order within our communities. This is done by insuring that law enforcers work with the community to resolve threats to the safety and security of the community. After all, insuring the laws are enforced and respected is a community responsibility shares by the law enforcers with those living within their

Does Modern Technology Help Students Essay Example for Free

Does Modern Technology Help Students Essay Sample Essay 2 Question: Does modern technology help students learn more information and learn it more quickly? Answer: Marvelous as it looks at first sight, modern technology does not help students learn information at greater speed and with higher efficiency in most cases. On the contrary, it works towards the opposite direction which led students to lose their initiative to learn and explore. First of all, one property of modern technology is latently harmful to any learning mind it distracts. One thing we feel about when we are searching for information online is that the internet, as an outstanding example of modern technology, provides us with not only relevant results to make use of, but also external links to click. More than once I turned on my computer to check school library for resources, but ended up watching Youtube videos. In this case, computer as a representative of modern technology plays a negative role in learning information. We do acquire more information with the convenient tool, yet most of them are irrelevant and in the end procrastinating would lower our learning. Also, students would easily become disoriented in the huge sea of information. Although modern technology could equip us with easy access to information, the huge amount of resources would actually leave us confused. Therefore, it is only we obtain information more quickly rather than we learn it more quickly. A telling example is my experience with a digital library which stores almost all the books I need. At first I enjoyed downloading them from the database, however, one month later I ended up with hundreds of books stored in my laptop yet none of them finished or ever clicked. Furthermore, modern technology gives students an illusion that information and real knowledge is easy to learn just by clicking mouse or watching videos. But in fact this is only the first step towards useful information and effective learning, as learning of any kind requires full concentration and interactive thinking, which are almost absent in the process of popular e-learning experience. To summarize, modern technology does not help students learn more information and learn it more quickly, though it does make access to information and resources much more easily. The popular e-learning still lacks the concentration, depth, and interaction that are the hallmark of traditional ways of education and learning.

Cyber Terrorism Essay -- essays research papers

For my term paper, I researched on Cyber Terrorism. I believe that Cyber Terrorism is a big problem in our society and may even be a worldwide problem for all humanity today. I want to do my term paper on Cyber Terrorism because I had some personal experience with this sort of terrorism. About a two years ago, I encountered a Hacker on America Online. I opened an unknown message in my mailbox that was titled â€Å"Free Nude Teens†. Then about a couple weeks later, we received all sorts of bills that had to be paid. My father received bills for many different things such as electronics, clothes, and other items that had been purchased under our account on the Internet. My father was so pissed off because he thought that my brothers or I had purchased all those items. So we called the Company and found that our computer had been hacked into. And the so called hacker purchased items on our account number. And we found that the hacker gained entry by a message that I had opened . So we ended up paying only a thousand dollars out of almost six-thousand dollars worth of goods purchased on America Online. I want to do my research paper on Cyber Terrorism because I want to stress to people that this is a big problem and will become worse in the future since everything is being done in Cyber Space these days.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this research paper, I will prove that hackers gain power and publicity with crimes they commit through cyber space. And it is easy for even amateur hackers to gain information and money from powerful organization without any detection or suspicion. Hacking is also a costly and destructive force for people in Cyber Space. Cyber Terrorism is such a destructive force that our country lost millions of dollars to hacking terrorists from other countries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I know that Cyber Terrorism is becoming problem as a fact because I found that ninety-six percent of all illegally hacked computers are not detected. Just that one sentence says a lot about how unstoppable the force of Cyber Terrorism is.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hacking has become such a problem in today’s computer dependent society that stronger measures must be implemented to stop hackers, and if hackers are still successful, they should be severely punished. Hackers are a problem because with the amount of businesses and corporations we depend on ... ...) Audit systems and check logs to help in detecting and tracing an intruder. 5) If you are ever unsure about the safety of a site, or receive suspicious email from an unknown address, don’t access it. But there is a new method of prevention, which is constantly being improved upon is the â€Å"dongle.† It was devised and developed by Bell Labs. The â€Å"dongle† is a calculator-sized machine, which gives a new password to the user every time he or she logs onto the Internet. This device would protect your personal computer from any outside intruder who wouldn’t want to spend their time breaking down your information. Though, eventually hackers would want to be able to break those codes. It still is an important stride in the fight against hackers. An annoying, and time-consuming idea is encrypting all transmissions from computer to computer. One thing is for sure, all these devices will not keep a determined hacker out of a system, and these defenses w on’t be cheap to buy. Hackers need to be stopped because of the severe problems they can cause. Hopefully, people will soon realize the consequences of computer hacking and will stop. With all the problems it causes, something has to be done.

All Quiet on the Western Front :: essays research papers fc

Compare ‘Gallipoli’ and ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in terms of the:  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Boys’ attitude to war  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reasons for enlistment  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Experiences on the front How do these change their attitude to war? What does this tell you about the similarities and differences the Australian’s and German’s experiences? Analysis of Major Characters Paul Bà ¤umer As the novel’s narrator and protagonist, Paul is the central figure in All Quiet on the Western Front and serves as the mouthpiece for Remarque’s meditations about war. Throughout the novel, Paul’s inner personality is contrasted with the way the war forces him to act and feel. His memories of the time before the war show that he was once a very different man from the despairing soldier who now narrates the novel. Paul is a compassionate and sensitive young man; before the war, he loved his family and wrote poetry. Because of the horror of the war and the anxiety it induces, Paul, like other soldiers, learns to disconnect his mind from his feelings, keeping his emotions at bay in order to preserve his sanity and survive. As a result, the compassionate young man becomes unable to mourn his dead comrades, unable to feel at home among his family, unable to express his feelings about the war or even talk about his experiences, unable to remember the past fully, and unable to conceive of a future without war. He also becomes a â€Å"human animal,† capable of relying on animal instinct to kill and survive in battle. But because Paul is extremely sensitive, he is somewhat less able than many of the other soldiers to detach himself completely from his feelings, and there are several moments in the book (Kemmerich’s death, Kat’s death, the time that he spends with his ill mother) when he feels himself pulled down by emotion. These surging feelings indicate the extent to which war has programmed Paul to cut himself off from feeling, as when he says, with devastating understatement, â€Å"Parting from my friend Albert Kropp was very hard. But a man gets used to that sort of thing in the ar my.† Paul’s experience is intended to represent the experience of a whole generation of men, the so-called lost generation—men who went straight from childhood to fighting in World War I, often as adolescents. Paul frequently considers the past and the future from the perspective of his entire generation, noting that, when the war ends, he and his friends will not know what to do, as they have learned to be adults only while fighting the war.

Imagery Tone and Word of Choice

â€Å"Imagery, Tone and Word Choice† An author can establish the mood of the story by either using figurative language or through using word of choice. Figurative language means the language that utilizes expressions or words with a meaning which is totally different from the literal interpretation. It can also mean different words but that have the same meaning. Word of choice is when you choose to use words that are descriptive and specific that tell your readers what you are trying to say. For example: instead of using a word like sad or unhappy the author decides to use instead a word like sorrowful or morbid.Or instead of using a word like happy the author uses a word like overjoyed or pleasant to be specific to the readers. In the readings Beowulf and Grendel translated by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf translated by Francis B. Gummere, Beowulf translated by Benjamin Slade, and Beowulf translated by David Breeden the translators used word of choice imagery, and tone both similar and differently to be precise about what they wanted to tell the readers. There is a difference in complexity of the writing when it comes to word choice. In the reading Beowulf and Grendel translated by Seamus Heaney the translator chose to begin the story with: So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns. † (249). While in the reading Beowulf translated by Francis B. Gummere the translator started the story with: â€Å"LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won! † (1). Both readings Beowulf translated by Benjamin Slade and Beowulf translated by David Breeden started somehow the same.Beowulf translated by Benjamin Slade started by: â€Å"Listen! We—of the Spear-Danes in the days of yore, of those clan-kings—heard of their glory. how these nobles performed courageou s deeds. † (1). The translator David Breeden began his translation with: â€Å"Listen: You have heard of the Danish Kings in the old days and how they were great warriors. Shield, the son of Sheaf, took many an enemy’s chair, terrified many a warrior, after he was found an orphan. (1). The translation by David Breeden and Benjamin Slade started with â€Å"Listen† but they both used a different expression towards the word. Benjamin Slade used the word like in a more aggressive and possessive manner while David Breeden used the word in a more calmly and peaceful manner. Seamus Heaney and Francis B. Gummere started their translations differently from David Breeden’s and Benjamin Slade’s translations but both of their translations were written like in more of a poetry format than the other two translations.Imagery was also used by the translators to create visual descriptive images in the readers minds. David Breeden used imagery to create a visual ima ge of when one of the characters died and his people carried him to the sea and his body was laid in a ship which was conducted by the sea with no destination. This part of the translations gives a briefly description of what occurred: â€Å"Shield died at his fated hour, went to God still strong. His people carried him to the sea, which was his last request.In the harbor stood a well-built ship, icy but ready for the sea. They laid Shield there, propped him against the mast surrounded by gold and treasure from distant lands. † (1-2). Francis B. Gummere used imagery to give us an image of Beowulf’s life in the sea and adventures with evil monsters and other creatures. The translator used: â€Å"ME thus often the evil monsters thronging threatened.With trust of my sword, the darling, I dealt them due return! Nowise had they bliss from their booty then to devour their victim, vengeful creatures, seated to banquet at bottom of sea; but at break of day, by my brand sore h urt, on the edge of the ocean up they lay, put to sleep by the sword. † (66). David Breeden gave us an image of Shield’s last death wish. He used some words like for example: sea, ship, treasure and gold. Francis.B Gummere gave us an image of Beowulf’s adventures with monsters and how they laid at the edge of the sea after he defeated them. Gummere used some words that point imagery like for example: evil monsters, sword, vengeful creatures, and sea. Slade’s translation used imagery to make us imagine or picture the hardships and journeys on the sea. How Beowulf’s and the other warriors lives were risked and the battles they had with monsters. He translated: â€Å" ‘Listen, you a great deal—Unferth, my friend Breca, told of his journey.Truth I claim that I sea-strength greater had, hardship on the waves, than any other man; we had it agreed, being lads, and vowed— being both then still in the years of youth—that we out o n the ocean our lives would risk, and thus we did. We had naked swords when we rowed on the ocean-sound. † (12). Benjamin Slade used words like for example: journey, hardship, waves, youth, risk, and naked swords to give imagery.Tone was used differently by some of the translators then the others. Some used more positive tones in their translations. While other of the translators used more negative tones. Francis B. Gummere used a negative tone in the translation. This part of the translation has a tone of negative attitude: â€Å"With envy and anger and evil spirit endured the dole in his dark adobe, that he heard each day the din of revel high in the hall: there harps rang out, clear song of the singer†¦.. riumphant, sun and moon for a light to lighten the land-dwellers, and braided bright the breast of earth with limbs and leaves, made life for all of mortal beings that breathe and move. † (3). Some words that point out a negative tone are: envy, anger, triumph ant and mortal. Benjamin Slade also used a negative tone in this part of the translation: â€Å"That was great misery for the Friend of the Scyldings, a breaking of his spirit.Many often sat the mighty at counsel; pondered a plan†¦.. against the sudden horror, to do; sometimes they pledged at holy temples sacred honouring, in words bid that them the demon-slayer would offer succor from the plight of the people. † (4). Benjamin used different words that point out a negative tone, some are: misery, horror, demon-slayer and spirit.David Breeden used a positive tone in this part of his translation: â€Å"The words of the poet, the sounds of the harp, the joy of people echoed. The poet told how the world came to be, how God made the earth and the water surrounding, how he set the sun and the moon as lights for people and adorned the earth with limbs and leaves for everyone.Hrothgar’s people lived in joy, happy until that wanderer of the wasteland, Grendel the demo n, possessor of the moors, began his crime. † (3). Some of the clue words that he used a positive tone are: harp, joy, sun, moon, earth and happy. Which makes it some sort of like a peaceful tone. Seamus Heaney translation used a positive tone in the following part of his translation: â€Å"Beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and begin to pay tribute.That was one good king. Afterwards a boy-child was born to Shield, a cub in the yard, a comfort sent by God to that nation†¦. Shield had fathered a famous son: Beow’s name was known through the north†¦. behaviour that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere. † (427. ) Some clue words that Heaney used that points out tone are: tribute, famous, power, and admired .In conclusion the translators used word of choice, imagery, and tone both similar and differently to be precise about what they wanted to tell the readers. It is like a comparing and contrasting on what in the translation s was common and what was different. Primary Source: Heaney, Seamus. â€Å"Beowulf’. Norton. Kindle Edition. (2001-02-17). Kindle Location 434. Secondary Sources: Breeden, David. â€Å"Beowulf’. The adventures of Beowulf an Adaption from the Old English. 1-4. Print. Gummere, B. Francis. â€Å"Beowulf†. Beowulf, 8th century. 1-66. Print. Slade, Benjamin. Beowulf. (2002-12). 1-65. Print

The Haunted Palace

â€Å"The Haunted Palace† Everyone has seen a once beautiful estate fallen into disrepair: expensive satin curtains, ripped and stained; high support columns, broken and crumbling; moss covering the once brightly painted exterior. People look at it, sigh with disappointment at what was and no longer is, and then move on. The cause of ruin is rarely known, but the effects are clear. This is the scene portrayed in Edgar Allen Poe’s â€Å"The Haunted Palace. † Poe paints a picture of an elegant manor with spectacular features that comes under the influence of evil and thus falls to pieces.Upon closer inspection, though, the reader begins to see that the meaning of the poem delves much deeper than the destruction of a house: it is the destruction of the human mind that truly concerns Poe. The double meaning is central to the poem and once the pattern of symbolism is established, the other details fall nicely into place. Poe uses diction to establish the brilliance th at pervades the house and symbolism within the poem equating the house to a human mind to demonstrate its susceptibility to corruption.Poe’s diction emphasizes the initial majesty of the house. At first, the house is â€Å"radiant† (4), â€Å"glorious† (9), â€Å"happy† (17), â€Å"fair† (26), â€Å"sparkling† (28), and â€Å"beaut[iful]† (31). Poe goes as far as saying that â€Å"good angels tenanted† the house (2) and the home is softer and kinder than angels’ clothing (7). Then, in the fifth stanza, the scene changes drastically: the palace is no longer majestic and stately, it is inhabited by evil and is in disarray. It is now permeated by â€Å"sorrow† (33) and is â€Å"desolate† (35).The sudden shift from uplifting words to mournful ones alerts the reader to the dire change that has taken place in the house. After a second reading, the audience begins to notice a pattern of symbolism. Poe equates the â€Å"Thought’s dominion† (5), â€Å"banners,† (9), â€Å"windows† (18), â€Å"door† (26), and â€Å"Echoes† (29) to a human’s head, hair, eyes, mouth, and voice. The hair is flowing and beautiful, the eyes are understanding and see everything transparently, the mouth has ruby gums and pearly teeth, and the voice carries in it the wit and wisdom of the mind it speaks for.It is clear that this mind has brilliant ideas (â€Å"spirits†) (19) constantly formulating and expanding within it. The reader is, presumably, familiar with the sight of a mansion that is clearly luxurious. The reader may not, however, be able to picture a clearly brilliant mind. Poe’s use of symbolism enables the reader to visualize the brilliance and wealth of the â€Å"monarch’s† mind prior to its destruction. Symbolism is still essential to the poem in the final stanzas, even though the scene has changed.The once magnificent mansion ha s been invaded by evil. The windows are now â€Å"red-litten† (42), meaning the eyes are red and evil. The spirits still move through the house (the ideas still move in the mind), but now in a distorted way. Instead of Echoes (a voice) full of wisdom, a â€Å"hideous throng† (47) rushes out of the door (the mouth), that will â€Å"laugh – but smile no more† (48). The eerie mad laughter escaping the mouth of the â€Å"king† is the most horrifying aspect of change.Where the â€Å"king’s† mind was once strong and productive, constantly growing, it is now perverted and ruined. The reader can see the house: paint chipped, windows broken, a manifestation of evil. This comparison allows the reader to picture the broken mind of the once great â€Å"king. † The mansion looked impenetrable, invulnerable. But it was nevertheless the victim of evil. The mind was corrupted in the same manner and Poe’s symbolism allows for a more tang ible representation of the process.Poe’s use of symbolism and diction provide a concrete description of the mind’s destruction when compared to the destruction of a great estate. The drastic change in diction from words of elegance and reverence to words of sorrow and despair demonstrate the magnitude of the change occurring in the house and mind. The symbolism allows the reader to more accurately envision the process and effects of the mind’s devastation as it can envision a house falling to pieces. Poe’s techniques allow the reader to solidify an abstraction in order to comprehend it.

Modern Mythology: Influence on the Society

Modern mythology is characterized as that by which are considered to be beings far from those who inhabit the earthly component of what seemed to be typical in the view of humankind.   The influence of myths in the standpoints and views of individuals had been one of the initial bases of our ancestors’ beliefs which are in a way creating a whole new dimension of their respective approaches in daily living (Bell, 1997).The broad landscape of myths had been sought to be traditionally passed on until the contemporary society of today, and as to how recent studies have stressed, the level of influence triggering the rationality of the masses had already been declining in some sort.   Such argument raised on why myths, which used to be the towering implication of human rationality had increasingly changed and depleted had been answered in the arena of sociological innovative as well as with the transformational changes in human beings sagacity of liberalism.Catastrophic EventHo wever, on the contrary of the proposition, one myth which I found to have been helpful, although factual data seem to mesmerize my stand is the Myth of the Gift of the Goddess, which caters an array of goddess-lined embodiment and correlating the goddess of fertility as that which conveys the essentiality of humanistic needs such as ‘sex’ and all the other forms of intimate relationships (Te Paske, 1982).Suppressing the realm of mythical, religious and cultural arena has been established to be that which serves as a symbol of the skills and capabilities of woman in performing its duties coherent with certain models, or what traditionalism presumed to be the representations of the kind of person any woman in the contemporary society incorporates.Freudian DoctrinesIn further illustration of the matter, shifting the scenario to Freudian doctrines, related with one of the mythical goddesses is Artemis, who is defined as the goddess who enjoys the gift of life and fertility or childbirth.   She is also known as the goddess of wilderness, thus given with such fact, it may be taken to assumption that women are capable of extracting and involving in ‘intimate’ relationships and thus have beliefs which are taken consideration initially before they are to dwell upon it (Te Paske, 1982).Sexual SolipcismFreud’s belief in the art of ‘sexual solipcism’ which never fails to mystify the society of today, is a proof that the level of rationality of human beings today, compared to that of the past decades had evolved in a rather more open echelon on ‘openness’ (Bell, 1997).   Freud established this so-called numerological fantasy connected to menstrual cycle of the female species by which on the hard line feminist critique of psychoanalysis is conceived as the predictable reaction to numerous psychologically based primacy of the internal organ of the male (Bell, 1997) and in the larger and rather explicit scale of s uch portrays the fact that all men are rapists and oppressors and women are the victims pious in their innocence (Te Paske, 1982).   The issue is deliberatively raised on the worst and animus shadow of the whole gist of what seemed to be a fact among the perception on men, thus creating a dim image of the men’s purity in mind and deed (Te Paske, 1982).Life Changing EventPerceivably, the only problem established by myths is its capability to change gradually the behavior and the personality of an individual who was able to acquire it.   21st  Century analogy and basis blatantly argues that myths create a negative impact on the society and thus must be given focus on to by behavioral analysts so as to fully eradicate the perception that myths are effectual ‘guiding stars’ (Wolin, 1995) and must be followed and given consideration on to by an individual.Numerous interpretations in the arena of mythological succession had been crucially studied and determined b y socio-political analysts.   With the objective to save the victims of false beliefs, they emerged in a form of research which indulges in transcendence and immanence to take a claim of the juxtaposition of modern and traditional conviction.Power of MythThe power of myth, according to mythologist Joseph Campbell and world renowned journalist Bill Moyers, myth is a sociological and at the same time a behavioral dynamic of individuality whereas enthusiasm of such somehow serve as a steer in decision making.   However, in his documentary show, he also stressed the negative effects of myths which denotes that the fallacious beliefs, taken from the word ‘fallacy’ itself is in a ratio of 10:90 adequate in helping people know and understand their inner self (Nicholson, 1999).Abandoning Mythological SkepticismMoreover, the argument on myths had been prudently expounded the EM Risse, in his article, Shape the Future.   In his article, he contended that the problem of the society on why development is dawdling in motion is because of the citizen’s counterfeit confidence on traditional notions.   Advising the community to jump out of the skin of life’s conventionalities and start exploring the rather challenging schemes of the highly regarded components of human settlement patterns (Bell, 1997).RelicWhat I have cited as an instance where the myth had been believed to be true to fact, is the dispute of a suspect in a rape case, wherein the bark of defenses of the offender laid a table of mythological explanations, which of course, had not been accepted by the court.   A perfect representation and actuality that modern world justice system and form of regulation on justifications of individuals are well studied and are not in point of fact based on that which is falling on the stream of false beliefs and other traditional saga eaten by criminals to escape from the bars of justice.The mere fact that there were still individuals who beli eve in the power of myth, it had been cited that the aforementioned kind take the risk of following the potent nature of myths and thus believe that their salvation or their scheme in life is already written in a book and thus cannot be changed (Nicholson, 1999).Reality versus IdealismFurthermore, I would barely like to support the argument on such statement.   Basing the idea on ‘reality’ versus ‘idealism’ will unfold the life living in myths as well as the twists and turns one may divulge in it (Wolin, 1995).Perhaps it may not be as sufficient as that if the scientific explanations rendered by critical research and studies, but for people who were not able to experience the privilege of knowledge and of literacy do not have any other outlet and sense of support to dwell on. Rather, what myths tend to offer already gives air to their living and thus making the people able to perform what is expected by the community or the culture that they inhabit, rega rdless the quintessence of universality or societal acceptance.ConclusionIn the light, what used to be the ‘bible’ of the medieval individuals’ daily basis has transformed in a rather conceptual and modernized state that such myths instilled by our forefathers had been locked in the jar of the times of yore.   The advent of mythological representations was noted to be either that of which is invented, or which had freely flown into place due to gossip (Bell, 1997; Wolin, 1995).   For the reason that humans are prone to interacting with the like is quite inevitable to take to assumption that the sufficiency and factuality of myths are deliberately hanging thoughts or perspectives.Every person has a certain point of enthusiasm in mythology in them (Wolin, 1995).   It may not be as obvious as one may seem to show the society or the people he or she is involved to, but the inevitability of the ‘vain thoughts’ within oneself is already a subconsciou s mythical ocean (Bell, 1997).   If one tends to believe that death will take him tomorrow, or that one will see his ‘loved one’ after an hour because a red Volkswagen passed by, those are already proofs that the existence of myth and its influence to people has not yet abandoned the modern limelight.   In conclusion, the never ending debates on how true or how sufficient myths are in explaining the phenomena occurring in this earthly place shall always be a part of every human’s query in life.   How people think and act today, may be a manifestation of what one has been before; and how they are today may affect the myth of their future (Nicholson, 1999).ReferencesBell, M. (1997). Literature, Modernism and Myth: Belief and Responsibility in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, Great Britain: New York Cambridge University Press.Nicholson, P. Y. (1999). Who Do We Think We Are?: Race and Nation in the Modern World. Armonk: N.Y. ME Sharpe, Inc.Te Paske, B. A. (198 2). Rape and Ritual: A Psychological Study. Toronto: Canada Inner City BooksWolin, R. (1995). Labyrinths: Explorations in the Critical History of Ideas. Amherst: Mass. University of Massachusetts Press.

Summar of the Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summar of the - Essay Example Bi-directional case studies were conducted to assess the impact at back end and at the clients end. This paper does not limit its research to one area, rather it is based on the study of the content assessment, the technology incorporated and the algorithm used towards the data collection techniques. The categorized usage of blogs has seen implementation from the main leads of the industry. One similar example of its categorized usage came about from Microsoft when they implemented MSDN. The core function of this blog was to provide the technical platform of the users and the players associated. This was one of the broad line major approaches undertaken in recent years towards overall expansion of the blogging field. Apart from this other major efforts and seminars conducted towards further expansion of this field came about in 2008, 2009 in the form of TREC conference. The purpose of this entire activity is to bring uniformity and more effective outlook to the usage of blogs. The broad sectoring would allow for a more active and interactive outlook of the blogging entity making it useful towards different clients. Organizing the blogs can help the companies in many ways. This in turn would allow the companies working according to the needs of the clients. Through the desired segmentation and organization of the data and information of the blog websites that are spread all over, the companies and their targeting approach will allow for promoting their ideas at the right place. In other words, it would enable them reaching to the right kind of clients at the right time and in the right manner. This is the core idea proposed by the research paper at hand. Critical decisions can be made with regard to the areas of investment and the areas of clients requirements fulfillment. Undertaking this task would bring along number of

Factors influencing consumers buying behaviour of Thai people in Essay - 2

Factors influencing consumers buying behaviour of Thai people in choosing luxury brands - Essay Example This paper presents the strategy to be used during the research. This paper will begin with the positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is a scientific approach whose methods are organized and measurable basing on the behaviors of the communities.   The positivism principles rely on quantifiable facts that help the researcher make a statistical analysis. Since the researcher seeks to identify human experience on luxury products, positivism design will help the researcher find their consumption patterns and their interests. Since this research aims at determining purchasing patterns of luxury products among the women, social status is a paramount consideration for the consumption of luxury products. Therefore, this approach is essential for this study. On the other hand, interpretive approach inclines towards the qualitative collection of data. Whereas positivism design seeks to identify the causes of buying behavior patterns, the interpretivist methodology is more qualitative and seeks for commonness in consumption patterns. For the purpose of this study, the research inclines mainly to quantitative and not qualitative data collection. The researcher will base researcher understanding on â€Å"positive† verification of visible experience as opposed to intuition or introspection. This makes this approach applicable to the study. There are two main methods that researcher often uses to collect the data which are a quantitative and qualitative method.

Gender Segregation in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gender Segregation in Education - Essay Example Studies have shown teachers spend more time with the boys in the classroom than with the girls. (MacNaughton, 2004, 82)This may be due to disruptions by the boys, although the teacher is often unaware of the amount of time spent with boys over girls. In the personality domain, there are various notable traits with gender differences. These include aggression, conformity, emotional adjustment, values and life goals and achievement orientation. Numerous studies have shown that whilst adolescent boys are more aggressive than girls in terms of both physical and verbal aggression, during adolescence the differences between males and females are negligible at primary school level (Vialle et al, 2000, p.154). This is not saying that girls become physically aggressive but perhaps resort to verbal aggression or the use of covert forms of aggression such as social alienation (malicious gossip and rumors, exclusion) (Vialle et al, 2000, p.154). Statistically, girls are more conformant than boys and are more likely to seek help from adults than are boys. (Grieshaber, 2004, 22) This difference is attributed to the observation ...that girls tend to participate in adult-structured activities on the other side boys are more likely to participate in activities with little adult involvement in school. (Vialle et al, 2000, p.154). Emotional behavior by boys is expressed differently, depending on gender. While females are more likely to freely display their emotions, males are more likely to suppress their feelings, with the exception of anger. (Walkerdine, 1999, 172) Most researchers attribute these differences to societal expectations rather than biological differences. This can be supported by studies of boys under five years of age. (Vialle et al, 2000, p.154).

Discuss the maintenance of altruism in the social amoeba Dictyostelium Essay

Discuss the maintenance of altruism in the social amoeba Dictyostelium doscoideum - Essay Example The separation of cheaters reduces the occurrence of cheating by the high genetic relatedness selection of cheaters according to the Kin-selection theory. In the social amoeba Dictyostelium Doscoideum which occurs in soil samples, the relatedness in natural groups is high enough to prevent the spread of destructive social cheaters. High relatedness can control a mutant that would otherwise at low relatedness destroy cooperation. The importance of relatedness is however challenged by the life cycle of social amoeba in the selection to prevent cheating. The altruism of amoeba is featured in the death of some amoeba to ensure the survival of the majority. When the bacterial source of food of amoeba that are naturally solitary organisms is depleted, they aggregate themselves to form a multicellular fruiting body where 25% of the cells die to form a stem that raises the remaining cells high enough for dispersal (Gilbert et al, 2007). The mixture of different clones creates the opportunity for cheaters and co-operators to form the group where they can cheat each other, for example in avoiding creating the stalk. Gilbert et al (2007) used mechanisms such as the estimation of relatedness in nature, searching for cheater mutants in nature and the examination of the cheating advantage of the fbxA . The relatedness is high in the co-operative groups of Dictyostelium Doscoideum since the organism forms fruiting bodies more often with organisms of the same kin. Fruiting bodies that were observed 92% were found to be of one clone (Gilbert et al, 2007). The high level of relatedness reduced the opportunity of cheaters gaining by avoiding forming the stalk which would be costly to the survival of the cells. The socially disruptive cheating mutant fbxA which cheats in chimeras was found to produce little or no spores on its own and hence it would be disastrous if allowed to spread. It would spread at low relatedness to reduce co-operation in the normal fruiting of cells and red uce the formation of spores which could result in extinction. Similarly, the mutant dimAÂ ­? is a social defector that fails to react to the signals to become part of the sterile stalk. The pleiotropic effect due to high relatedness of cells which occurs late during their development discourages cheating hence the dimAÂ ­? is usually unsuccessful. According to Khare et al (2009), some of the mechanisms that can be used to restrain cheating behaviour in nature include lowering the fitness of the cheater by intrinsic selection, pleiotropy of the cheater gene, the high genetic relatedness in natural populations, discrimination on the basis of kin as well as the evolution of the resistance to cheating. This is applied by a population of mutations that are able to resist cheating but this evolution is disadvantageous since it could result in new cheating strategies that could result in the demise of co-operation in these populations. In the research to find out whether it was possible to yield mutants that could resist cheating and still remain co-operative, Khare et al (2009) mixed different mutated cells and allowed them to develop into fruiting bodies and spores. They found that in a natural population of Dictyostelium Doscoideum the wild type allele was replaced during the development of the cells by a mutation that were predicted to be resistant to cheating. They also mixed wild type cells and mutant cells with cheater cells in a ratio 1:1 to

Industrially Significant Elements and Compounds of Steel Term Paper

Industrially Significant Elements and Compounds of Steel - Term Paper Example Carbon is found in large quantities from wood and coal (Hall, 1997). According to Hall (1997), Iron is mixed with carbon to form either steel or cast iron. Iron ore immediately extracted from the ground is rich in iron content or is concentrated. The concentration is then reduced in a blast furnace by the use of coke and limestone flux. The resulting product from the furnace is called pig iron. Pig iron is strong enough to be molded into various c shapes. Cast iron and its different types are produced at the foundry industries. The different types of cast iron produced at foundry industries include ductile iron, gray iron, and malleable iron. However, a larger percentage of cast iron is further refined to produce steel. Steel is the major metal consumed in large quantities around the world. Industrially Significant Elements and Compounds Steel is classified into three categories known as carbon steel, stainless steel, and alloy steel. However, all steels are seen as being alloys. Ste els are categorized as alloys because they contain other metals apart from manganese, silicon and phosphorous. These compounds are introduced as deliberate additions to the iron and carbon mixture (Hall, 1997). According to Hall (1997), Carbon steel varies on the ability of strength, how easily they can be welded and how easily they can be formed as well as their ability to be used in the formation of machines. Carbon steels are produced according to the range of quality. This is due to the level of certain element concentration. However, all carbon steel can rust if exposed to air, salts, and acids. Further, when carbon steel is bound to be exposed to some corrosive materials, they can be coated with paint or epoxy. Other metals can also be used to coat carbon to prevent any effects caused by corrosive materials. Currently, the readily available metal coatings of steal include zinc and another compound of zinc or aluminum. These steel metal coatings are used in the food and beverag e industries for safety measures. Another important element of steel to be considered is stainless steel.  

Interview with a Record Store Owner Essay Example for Free

Interview with a Record Store Owner Essay On a less then pleasant day the weather was cold and rainy so before I left the safety of my car I turned my collar up to face the cold and made a bee line to the store so fast it would put Usain Bolt to shame. When I walked in the store I was greeted by the smell of coffee and sound of The Rolling Stones song Monkey Man playing over the store speakers with the owner of the store john singing along to the song and throwing his arms up like a monkey. As soon as you walk into the store your face to face with a giant rack of used DVDs ranging from Driving Miss Daisy to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre the store itself is not very big on the left side of the store is a shelf contain records from Abba to Rob Zombie on the right side is a shelf holding the cds. I was immediately welcomed by john who sitting down in behind his cash register with a sign on it that read â€Å"No Personal Check† behind him was a giant poster of Frank Zappa which seemed like one of his most prized positions john had. John had on a tie dyed rolling stones shirt john had looked tried and he seemed to be discomfort later I found out he looked that way due to having MS. Before john and I stared talking I asked if we could take a walk around the store john told me that he is not able to â€Å"move very well because I have Multiple sclerosis† so he called for his employee Jack to walk with me and directed Jack to answer questions I have. Jack was tall and in his early 20s ,jack and I walked around the store looking at vinyl they had they had seemed to have every record you could ask for and if they didn’t have it they could order it for you . I asked jack to explain the process of how they value the used records that come in the shop jack pulled a random of the shelf and proceeded to go over the check list â€Å"first we look at the condition of the album sleeve any bends or damage to it second we look for the labeling mono, monophonic, monaural, stereo or stereophonic on the sleeve and record label, which identifies the recording process and helps us determine the value and finally we Evaluate the condition of the record by looking for any obvious damage to the vinyl. Jack holds the record up to the light on a slight tilt Look for scratches, record edge nicks or damage to the paper label† we have music here for everyone’s price range after that I thanked jack and retuned to talk to john. When I came back to talk to john he had offered me a cup of coffee I accepted and went on to ask john how long has the store been open john told me that â€Å"I am the fifth owner of Rainbow Records; it first started out in Park Ridge in the mid-1970s. Then the store was moved to Palatine in 1993 by the fourth owner, who offered me the opportunity to buy the store from him in 1997 I then eventually moved the store to here†. I asked john what was the first record he had ever purchased john though for a minute and said â€Å"Surfin Safari by The Beach Boys when I was 9-years-old† I ask john why do you think vinyl sales are going up while CD sales are falling â€Å"There is nothing like vinyl It has a totally different sound than CDs or that MP3 stuff. I’m sorry, but you don’t listen to music on a phone and really get to appreciate it.† I said to john it looks like your store buys all types of records and CDs is there any type of music you won’t buy? â€Å"Classical no one asks for it so I don’t want it besides this is a rock and roll store† John what do you think about kids that have never heard a record on vinyl? They are really missing out Vinyl has a great in-depth sound to it,† he says. â€Å"There is an art to what I call albums and what everybody called albums back in the day. From the cover, which is a piece of art in itself, to listening to, and appreciating the way songs are arranged from side to side, you don’t get that with any other music format.† Looking around the store and seeing I was the only person in there besides jack maybe because of the weather but maybe because the store isn’t doing so well I asked john what got him into the record business â€Å"If you think about how much money you’re going to make, that’s a mistake. You’re not going to get rich doing this. What you’re doing is sharing your love of music with other people,† after john told me that a smile came across both of are faces. Before I had left the shop I walked around the store and picked up three records I think john would approve of the first one I got was The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed, Second album I grabbed was Surfin Safari by The Beach Boys and the third one was Frank Zappa Over-Nite Sensation. When I went up to john for the last time he could not help but to laugh as he rang them up as he handed me the bright yellow bag he said â€Å"enjoy† when I had made it home the first thing I did was put on my new rolling stones record put the needle on Monkey Man and turned my record player up to eleven.

Coca Cola: PEST Analysis and Strategy Plans

Coca Cola: PEST Analysis and Strategy Plans Introduction The battle of the chief soft drink manufacturer has been intense and the coca cola company with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia has had the largest market share globally. The company has withstood the test of domination globally from its greatest competitor Pepsi Company. Coca Cola has had a large share of the market capitalization but at times the rival company has emerged strong beating it in market share in other financial periods. Its brands have however remained renowned throughout the world and for them to continue dominating they must focus on the customer needs and preference that is the reason they are in business (Milliken, 2007). The company boasts of key success factors in its operations which include; capacity to introduce competitive prices, global extensive distribution, effective customer awareness, a wide range of product choices for customers, effective and timely distribution channels and bottlers, and a global system of operation. The Coca Cola Company has been forced to operate under tight competition in the US domestic markets from Pepsi, Cadbury Schweppes, Cott, and AmBev, but in other markets especially in the developing countries it has established zones of duopoly where it remains the dominant company. Its efforts to penetrate the Middle East and China have been risky since the Pepsi Company continues to dominate the markets there (Milliken, 2007). PEST Analysis of Coca Cola Politics and legal environment In many developing countries there has been ease of entry but the countries face a lot of political unrests e.g. coups and violence which may affect the penetration of market or losses for the already established companies. Other companies have legal barriers that must be addressed before the company establishes itself. The legal showdown of Pepsi and coca cola in India gives a clear view of this fact and especially in the Middle East and Asian markets where Coca Cola seeks new markets. Economic The Company sells consumer products which are sensitive to buyer disposable revenue. The consumers have viewed the drinks as inexpensive and hence its unlikely to forego. Also the disposable income continues to raise hence more purchase to such things as soft drinks. The world currently is going through many financial crises such as the global financial crunch and increasing inflation and companies especially Coca Cola has continued to put in measures such as price adjustments to be able to impact the markets. The strategy of adjusting prices helps Coca Cola to counter the effects of raising costs and hence thus generate enough cash flow that ensures the company productive capability is maintained (Fredrix Skidmore, 2009). Social/demographic Soft drink consumption is inversely related to the age of the consumer i.e. most people take more drinks when they are young as opposed to when they mature. In the current generation average age increases and most of the population is made up of the young this gives an advantage of the increase in the market base of the company. This means that the company has a more potential market to sell the products to and thus a strategic plan should be worked to own the markets. Technological The world is turning to a global village and the age of effective communication gives the perfect atmosphere for business. The world today is easy and convenient to travel, secure and different tastes and preference have emerged (Hannagan, 2002). The powerful brand name of the company becomes a selling point in the franchise of other companies that need to be affiliated to the prestigious brand. Effective communication has also ensured that advertisements and promotions by the company are known world over hence better growth. Rivalry The major rival domestically is Pepsi in the United States. The soft drinks industry has continued to be very competitive and major competitors turn to rivals. The promotion of the brands such as Sprite, Coke, and Fanta in many countries has grown at the expense of the many beverages in the markets (Mark, 2000). The company must implement an effective strategy that ensures advertising, sales, innovations, increased efficiency, brands development, promotional program trade mark development are done efficiently to outsmart the rivals. Suppliers The Company will always need supplies of raw materials such as fructose corn syrup, and sucrose. The availability of this major raw material at numerous sources has made the company dominate the suppliers, however aspartame has not been available in numerous sites and this can lead to problems if production ceases (May, 1998). Buyers The main buyers are individuals who consume the product. The company however deals with local franchised bottlers who deal with the local markets. After effective bottling of the products the consumer/buyer must get the products through chain supermarkets, vending, and fountain sales. The buyers must have the knowledge of the product and be enticed to consume so that he/she can make the purchase (Mark, 2000). Threats of substitutes Many products have emerge to substitute soft drinks e.g. fruit juices and beverages. The company must have attractive offers to ensure that the substitutes introduced in the market dont interfere with the market share of the company. Threats of entrants New companies keep on coming up to compete for a share of the market. The soft drink markets have been mainly dominated by Coca Cola and Pepsi and new entrants find it very hard to penetrate the markets. Internal Environment Operations Coca cola has continued to globally dominate the market and the regional operational strategy that is centralized production system ensure reduced costs. Sales and marketing The area of supermarkets and brand loyalty has played an essential part in the growth of Coca Cola this has ensured profitability and large market share. Distribution The efficient distribution channels i.e. bottling companies has ensured that customers get the product at the right time and conveniently. Automated channel of distribution like the Coca Cola Enterprise that has sales agents and merchandisers in major outlets complement other distribution strategies. Procurement For efficient operations the company has a strategy to own the bottlers operations so that they do it more efficiently to be able to distribute the product properly. The procurement of acquiring a franchise chain is done procedurally to ensure qualified people own the process. Human resources Many people have been employed by the company and they have remained loyal. The company has given attractive remunerations and compensations in order to make them perform effectively and efficiently. Core Resources and competence The factors that favor the companys growth and development plans include; markets, costs, governments, and competition. In the markets they are characterized by homogenous customer needs, global channels and global customer needs, transferable and easy to manipulate market approaches. Cost are favored by learning and experience, large scale and scope economies, high resource and development costs, conducive logistics, and efficiencies in sourcing (Mark, 2000). On the side of the government they are responsible for putting in place inductive trade policies, technology standards that are common and manufacture and marketing regulations that are common and do not favor any party but put a level competing ground for all players. In terms of competition globalization has been favored through presence of interdependent countries that allow competition, and the liberalization of trade in many countries. With the markets giving many incentives to the company to grow then good management policies is all needed to grow and became successful and coca cola has done just that (Kottler, Amstrong, 2006). It has endeavored in its mission to refresh a thirsty world and creating value to shareholders. The company brands have continued to be advertised and image enhanced, where the company has also acquired more franchise networks globally. The systems of the company that are based on organizational structure and timely decisions have continued to make the company succeed. The objectives of the company include; customer satisfaction and creation of a loyal system of customers, community development, effective partnership, and valuable shareholding in the company. The long term goals include increasing cash flow through increased sales, optimizing of profit margins, and global investments expansion in hot spots (Kottler, Amstrong, 2006). The guiding principle is to have an established production, distribution, and marketing system that can support long term growth of cash flow and shareowner value of Coca Cola. The Strategic Choices Available for Coca Cola Product Filling Strategy Ohmae (1990) states that the product line of a firm is lengthened by the addition of more products within the current range; The implications behind this line filling includes; the reach for profit incremental, satisfying the complaining dealers on sales due to the absence of some items in the line, utilizing the capacity that is excess, to try to be the full time company that is leading the market and lastly, to try to plug the holes hence keeping out the competitors. Kogut (1985) starts by explaining that, Coca Cola uses this form of strategy of filling the line of production from time to time; during different seasons as it launches its new products. For example to Zerocoke was launched by Coca Cola at the time James Bond released the movie Quantum of Solace forms part of product filling marketing. The product is presented as if it new. Distribution strategy Coca Cola is globally famous for its distribution channels. In India the Coca Cola distribution channel is a bout 6.5lakh outlets by the year 2000 as compared to its competitor Peps Cos which was 6lakh. The firm has a development of different strategies of distribution strategies for the rural and the urban sectors. The channel of distribution in the Urban adopts the model similar to the direct store distribution, warehouse distribution brokers and vending food services programs according to Ohmae (1990). This methods ensures savings of margins and encourages quick availability of the item to the retailer While in the rural, the Hub and Spoke model distribution channel is applied. Where there is a division of different distributors categories depending on the area they are covering. This model is utilized by to reach the rural market as the program allows the bigger loads to travel long distances while the smaller ones shorter distances as a result the costs are cut down, as stated by Bate and Johnston (2003). Khan (2005) explain the point that through there use of modern technology in the present times Coca Cola is able to improve its distribution and management operations logistics reasonably. There are the options of Chilled DSD System that deals relatively with the methods of distributions that are small. Particularly, it deals with juicy fruits products that can easily go bad. The second option is the Hybrid System, where there is collaboration between the firm and the firm of complimentary good so that its channels of distribution can be used for the selling of the product. In this, the example is collaboration Coca Cola and McDonald. This system is actually benefited by the creation of the synergy by the two collaborating firms. The Social corporate strategy This is where the firm provides the volunteer services in the community. This strategy with the social work assists in position the firms brand name in the minds of the users for the longer time as the brand that is both ethical and social, hence providing the opportunity for the period of growth that is long term. The recent example is the case of Coca Cola social work in India where it has been awarded a golden peacock a ward. Coca Cola has concentrated on water conservation, clean drinking water access and water conservation awareness and other related issues as the firms strategy on the stewardship of water. The Coca Cola Corporate strategy The achievements made by Coca Cola in China are a very strong indicator that patience pays. The firms strategy and management planned vigorously for the success. The market leadership that it enjoys is rooted on strong capability of reacting in time and accurately to the changing market dynamics. Heller Bono, (2006) argued that the firm dominates the market not because it came early in the market but because of brilliant short time moves like the concentration on fanta and sprite. Also success comes because of joint ventures. Early on when the investment in beverage industry was restricted it formed partnership with government bodies but no equal share. Latter, it joined with other ventures with equal control hence gained majority equity. The strategic partnership that the Coca Cola firm was being involved was the strategy of positioning itself for the future. The Coca Cola partner serves the number of firm critical goal. They do share the investment risks in the plant of bottling and it can leverage the political effects its partners to acquire government approvals for the new plants of bottling. The most significant of these new partners allows the Coca Cola management control via the major equal ownership of joint ventures. Pricing Strategy This drastically affects sales in a number of ways. The case from Kogut (1985) of Pepsi provides an example of how pricing strategy can affect the market and sales. The firm gained popularity in 1936 by introducing 12-ounce bottle. The earlier price of 10 cents resulted to slow sales. After slashing the price to 5 cents there was a substantial increase in sales. This was due to the Pepsi ability to encourage the price-watching users to switch the Coca Cola 6-ounces standard bottle for the price of 5cents instead of 12-ounces. Pepsi sold at a similar price. The sales in 1939 a lone was 5 million bottles as the profit doubled as the consumption went higher. The Communication Strategy Dana and Oldfield (1999) say that after looking at the environment that is changing, Coca Cola calibrated its communication strategy in a way that is very innovative. The works of imagery for the carbonated soft drinks, while the work of functionality for the rest of the categories. The example that entrenches imagery is the brand for refreshing; the firm introduces the issue of comfort ability. Brand Development Strategy The strategy that I believe Coca Cola Company should peruse is the brand development strategy. According to Dana and Oldfield (1999) this strategy has far reached and managed to remain in the limelight ever since it started to be good with these that do not take alcohol. The loyalty of the brand is a significant factor to maintain the number one position. Collins (1991) states that Coca Cola Company enjoys the status of being of the biggest non alcoholic beverage firm worldwide its distribution system is unique from other non alcoholic companies. Over years the company has passed many brand enhancement tests and a point is made for the products under the banner of Coca Cola as it invades the minds of the users continually. Hamel and Prhalad (1985)explains that the brand development strategy of Coca Cola should involve the redesigning of its brand development policies and the techniques of keeping up with the set minds of its users that is ever changing. In the beginning this brand believed in affordability, being available and being acceptable. However this Coca Colas brand development should be changed to include the value of price, preference and pervasive penetration. Boutzikas (2000) explains that the issue of building brand of the firm is based on the fact that it wants its users accessibility, which is to be within the reach of desire of the arm. In the efforts of building the brand identity of the firm, many brand attributes for example 20 are to be tested in every month which may involve as much as 4000 users. The strategy of brand development of Coca Cola is very effective as it has been having the capability of constructing, managing as well as maintaining its brand image since many years ago. Another reason as to why this strategy should be used is that the brand has unanimously gained the acceptance all round the world because of the fact that it has shown the capability of relating very well with its users. This signifies the brand loyalty. The loyalty of the brand has been very vital in maintaining the brand picture of Coca Cola. It has believed in shelling out the best as a result the users by default are retained as explained by Boutzikas (2000). The enhancement of the frequency of purchase is one of the techniques of building brand. The firm has also made investments in many campaigns of advertisements always involving the services of theses who are the celebrities around the world. On top of the users, there is another category of users, who usually increases the user foundation and they comprises of the brand collectors. They most of the time indulges in the collection of the old and the logos that are upcoming of the Coca Cola bottles and they literary matter. Collins (1991) says regarding to the development of the brand of Coca Cola zero the firm came out with an advertisement that was some what different from the most common ones. In the concern of this the no calorie beverage, it has given raise to three forms of products that include; the Coca Cola Classic, the Diet Coke, and the Coca Cola Zero. Boutzikas (2000) continues that there are a number of experts who have a believe that these times when Coca Cola the tag of line that states, the real thing, it was really meaning that, however, with the invention of different kinds of categories of coke, the statement the real thing got changed to the statement that reads many things, and the flavor that was there originally is at most times lost. As the result, the building of the brand strategy has to be in such a manner that it will not lead to the peoples confusion and have the capability of retaining users despite the fact that many new manufactures of non alcoholic beverage being on the anvil. Theories And Practice Of Leadership: Nissan Theories And Practice Of Leadership: Nissan When making major changes in a business, efficiency, adaption and human relations need to be considered and the trade-offs between these that might be affected. Efficiency was improved by closing 5 of the factories in Japan and eliminating 21,000 jobs to maximize production and reduce wastage. To simplify the production process Ghosn reduced the number of car platforms by 50% and the number of power trains by 33%. Human relations is always a trade-off when job cuts are made, this was counter acted by Ghosn. He used natural attrition whilst selling subsidiaries or offering early retirement or part-time work at other company facilities all of which would help the morale of the employees that left and the ones that remained so they did not feel so guilty and suffer from survivor syndrome (Daniels, 2006). Reducing purchasing costs by 20% was another way that Nissan improved efficiency; this was achieved by reducing the number of suppliers and making bigger orders. A negative trade off from this was the reduced relationship status with suppliers which is a highly regarded aspect of business in Japan. Engineers were also to blame for making overly specific orders which increased costs unnecessarily as they produced cars to solely improve performance, the trade off was that cars began to be made with customer needs in mind, not performance improvement. Weak distribution was also to blame for the downfall of Nissan; Ghosn reduced dealerships by 10%. Brand loyalty is high in Japan and determined by good customer relations which was a trade off for the reduction in dealerships; this was handled by improving the management in the remaining dealerships so that they become more entrepreneurial than social roles in the business. Design was instigated by engineers and not by the designers; this is why only 4 of the 43 cars in production were profitable. Twelve new cars were to be produced by the designers, to meet customer needs. A trade off of this was poor self-esteem for the engineers but equally designers were given freedom to be innovative and feel more valued by the company. Adaption was improved by correctly identifying the major changes, whilst not dictating them to employees. These plans were all released at once with the explanations behind their needs as to stave of criticism and prejudgments. The trade off for this was in the use of cross functional teams to improve human relations via interaction across departments for them to identify the major changes themselves, therefore then not feeling like they are being dictated to by senior executives. Human relations were improved (for the company, not the employee) by not giving lifetime job guarantees and not adhering to the seniority system that was in place for pay and promotions which lead to the replacing of weak middle management with competent replacements. The trade offs for implementing this was for poor employee relations to occur but this was managed by a merit pay plan, for performance related pay increases and promotions, with employees capable of earning up to an additional 33% of their wage based on performance and gaining stock options. To conclude Ghosn tried to weigh up and counter act the trade offs between efficiency, adaption and human relations well with the use of merit plans, extra innovation and better management. However there was not any strong counter action in relation to reducing purchasing costs, this was evident for the engineers in particular, where as it was obvious how the designers benefited from the changes made. Effective change is essential to the success and survival of a business as 62% of new businesses fail within 5 years and only 2% survive over 50 years (Nystrom Starbuck, 1984). With this in mind effective change management is critical to Nissan and Ghosns success. Ghosn used planned change which has both driving forces and restraining forces that affect the organisations state of equilibrium during implementation (Thomas, 2010). Features of planned change include; Assumption of a stable/predictable environment which Nissan do have. Required change must be identifiable, Ghosn meet this by introducing cross functional teams to identify the problems and changes needed. To move from one fixed change to another, this was done with the permanent closing of 5 factories and the loss of 21,000 jobs. Organisational members must be willing to change; Ghosn increased the willingness to change by creating a vision for the company, empowering employees such as the designers and cross functional team to identify the changes needed which meant they would then be more willing to follow the changes through than have them dictated to them. To have the appropriate tools and techniques available, Ghosn had all the tools available, in most instances it was a case o f reducing them in terms of factories, workers and suppliers. Where he did not have the correct tools he brought them in such as designer Shiro Nakamura. Restraining forces of planned change include (Katz Kahn, 1978) structural inertia, work group inertia, politics and previously unsuccessful efforts. Ghosn changed structural inertia by implementing the cross functional teams to identify and suggest changes for the problems and allowing them to be more adaptive and innovative than ever before. Work group inertia was changed from the design being engineer led to being designer led and customer focused and not performance focused. Politics was addressed by giving more power to the employees via cross functional teams and via the merit pay system were people earned their promotions and pay rises/bonuses. Ghosn managed to implement these changes using Lewins (Lewin, 1947) three step model of change (see appendix 1). In the unfreezing stage of the model, Ghosn had to make sure that employees were ready for change and understood the need for it. This was achieved by using cross functional teams, as the employees would identify the issues and solutions of the company which would lead to higher acceptance for change as the changes were realized and not dictated. Ghosn also offered to step down from his post if the targets were not meet which installs confidence, commitment and belief in the employees that the changes are necessary, realistic and achievable. The change stage of the cycle was used to implement the required changes that Ghosn and the cross functional teams had identified such as the reduction in suppliers, better distribution channels and management, customer focused designs and reduction in production costs. The refreezing stage of the cycle is Ghosns weakest part in terms of delivery. Nothing had been outlined specifically to make sure those attitudes, processes and cultures do not return to how they were before or that similar patterns do not appear again. The incorporation of a vision and plan for the firm can be seen as a retention strategy for changes made, however this area is significantly weaker than previous two stages. In my opinion Ghosn was right not refreeze the changes, the opening statement points to the need for constant change and transformation for a company to keep up with the changing environments that they work within. This therefore would count as criticism of the theory; as Lewin talks about the tactics for change but does not recognize that change should be constant and never ending, which is not the impression you get in his theory with the refreezing of culture which would represent an end to the change. Ghosn was very focused on the planned changes that he had in mind for Nissan, which could be seen as reasonable due to the short term nature of the plan. However with every planned change, the external environment can not be predicted with complete assurances. All companies have to deal with strategic drift (Johnson G, Scholes K Whittington R, 2005) which is when strategies fail to address the strategic position of the organisation, relative to the changing environment. Ghosn had not considered this at all in his plans and therefore had failed to acknowledge the potential importance of emergent change. This could have been critical had there been severe and critical changes to the external environment. For example if the banking crisis that has hit us now had happened ten years ago during implementation, did Ghosn have an alternative plan. Ghosn managed to implement effective change management techniques through the use of planned change and used Lewins three step model of change to rectify problems encountered by the restraining forces. Ghosn managed to minimize the resistance to change through the use of cross functional teams, the merit pay system, empowering employees, offering alternatives types of work for some of the people unfortunate enough to lose their jobs and showing his commitment to the challenge by stating he would resign if the goals were not achieved on time. A trait refers (Yukl, 2002) to a variety of individual attributes, including personality, temperament, needs, motives and values. Skills refer to (Yukl, 2002) the ability to do things in an effective manner and are determined by learning and heredity. The use of good traits and skills will have been used by Ghosn to successfully lead Nissan out of its crisis to meet the goals that he set for the company. Strategic leadership requires a managerial ability to (Thomas, 2010), anticipate and envision change whilst maintaining flexibility and empowering others to manage strategic change if necessary. Effective strategic leaders (Thomas, 2010) tend to be able to manage operations effectively, sustain a high performance, make better decisions than their competitors, and make courageous and pragmatic decisions. They must also understand how their decisions affect the internal systems and respect the feedback from peers and employees about their decisions and visions. The three factor taxonomy of skills shows (Yukl, 1994) that it can be broken down into these sections: Technical Skills, Interpersonal Skills and Conceptual skills. Ghosn shows his technical skills in reducing the amount of power train combinations and car platforms due to his knowledge of the processes required. This shows his strategic leadership in managing operations effectively and sustaining higher performance Interpersonal skills were shown when dedicating cross functional teams to identifying and eradicating the problems in the business. Changing to the merit pay system from the seniority system also showed his good interpersonal skills as by taking one away but replacing the lose with something better and more productive. This was a courageous decision as these strategies have never been contemplated before in Japanese businesses prior to Ghosns arrival. His conceptual skills were proved in his ability to reduce the production costs by as much as 20%, by cutting down on factories, employees, suppliers and dealers and managing to keep a positive spin on these cost cutting initiatives. This showed his ability to make better decisions than his Japanese competitors and therefore be a successful strategic leader. Ghosns personality proved to be charismatic as he holds traits of charisma (Conger Kanungo, 1988) such as being self confident and enthusiastic and willing to take personal risks, such as putting his job and reputation on the line. He challenged the status quo with things such as reducing dealerships and suppliers and introducing cross-functional teams. Ghosn was also innovative and unconventional in relation to how the Japanese operate normally, by instructing designers to produce 12 new cars for construction and changing the whole pay and promotion system in the company. Ghosn has shown a range of skills and traits that are needed to be a successful strategic leader, such as the interpersonal skills to convince people of a new vision and get them committed to the goals through his own strong beliefs and dedication to them. Empowering people was used to enable them to become more innovative and creative and to be able to identify and solve problems themselves. Ghosn managed to improve production efficiency with his conceptualization skills whilst showing the charisma to be able to challenge the status quos in a culture that has a naturally high level of uncertainty avoidance. A transformational leader is (Bass, 1985) someone who identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the followers. An empowering leader is (McLagan, Patricia Nel, Christo, 1995) someone who gives a clear vision, strategy and enabling tool kit. A change-orientated leader is (Tichy Devanna, 1990) someone who recognizes the need for change, creates a new vision and then institutionalizes the change. Ghosn was a transformational leader as he incorporated all of the 4 Is (see appendix 2) into his leadership style (Northouse, 2001). Ghosn managed to gain idealized influence through making a huge commitment to the goals that he set by putting his job on the line. This is a charismatic and confident thing to do that would have firmly set the belief that he was superiorly knowledgeable and capable. Inspirational motivation was clearly set out by Ghosn as he made his targets clear and bold as he released them all at once, whilst managing to avoid leakage to minimize criticism without understanding. The merit pay scheme would have also been motivational to employees as they would now know they could get recognition and promotion for other reasons than besides seniority. Ghosn managed to install intellectual stimulation to his employees through the use of cross functional teams that allowed them to be creative and innovative in their approach compared to their previous roles. He equally gave designers the same freedom to become innovative. Ghosn did also challenge organisation processes with the reduction in suppliers, distributors and the use of power trains and car platforms. Individualized consideration was also covered by the use of the merit pay system and each employee now has the potential to earn an additional 33% of their salary through bonuses. They can also now gain promotion when it was maybe not possible before under the old system. However he could have done more for the engineers as they gained criticism for overly detailed specifications on orders and having too much influence on designers, nothing was outlined on how they would be picked up after these knockdowns. A mentoring or coaching scheme could have been incorporated to help employees reach their personal goals more effectively to improve on this point this further. Ghosn was also a change-orientated leader as he did identify and implement changes but it was already obvious that change was needed, which is why Ghosn was brought to Nissan in the first place. Ghosn was equally an empowering leader as he gave his employees responsibility and roles they had not experienced before but he done so much more for Nissan than just empower employees as he made radical changes himself. These two leadership styles in my opinion are present for Ghosn but are only small parts of his repertoire and the overall picture, which is that they are aspects which feed into being a good transformational leader. Ghosn incorporates all three of the leadership styles but uses change and empowering leadership as tools to direct his transformational leadership style more effectively and to help achieve intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. With Ghosn making so many changes to Nissan, it was inevitable that some of these changes would affect the culture of the company and the issues that are aligned with them. One of the big cross cultural issues that had to be addressed by Nissan first was the action of reducing the number of suppliers to the company, which was seen as unprecedented in the past. This was because supplier relationships were deemed sacrosanct. Part of the problem was that Nissan was at the time part of the Keiretsu culture in Japan, this is where a large group of companies work with each other to the perceived benefit of one enough. It was seen as a safety net upon which they all owned shares in each other and kept each other safe. If Nissan were to get out of their current crisis bold moves had to be made in comparison to competitors, so moving away from this culture was essential. An equally important cross cultural issue that was changed at Nissan was the belief of having a job for life and promotion and pay based on seniority. When the merit pay system was brought in, this was to motivate employees to push for their promotions instead of simply waiting for them to happen. With the new procedures of accountability measured against the goals of the company introduced this showed the weak middle/upper management that needed replacing. This would have been a shock to the Japanese as their culture has always been to respect your elders; this was no longer the case with the new system in place. In Japanese culture there is a high level of uncertainty avoidance, this is when (Yukl, 2002) people fear ambiguous situations and seek security and stability. Ghosn challenged this culture by immediately putting people into cross functional teams to identify the problems with Nissan. Employees will have felt uncomfortable with this new style that had not been experienced before but will have quickly learned the benefits of working with other department managers and understanding the problems they face on a daily basis. This can be a attributed reason as to why the engineers were aloud to dominate the decision making on supply specifications and design for so long, as confrontation was not part of their culture and therefore no would have questioned their workings. Another cross cultural issue faced is the performance orientation (Yukl, 2002). Prior to Ghosn and his introduction of performance that could be measured against specific goals, the Japanese were very focused on maintaining relationships as they believed it was brand loyalty that would ensure repeat purchase. This can be linked to the sacrosanct relationships which they had with suppliers and distributors as well as their involvement in the Keiretsu culture that created this behaviour. Ghosn changed this philosophy of relying on brand loyalty and brought in the need to meet customer requirements which has made them incredibly more goal focused. The important cultural issues that needed to be changed at Nissan, was the movement away from the reliance of other companies and the relationships built with them to ensure the maximum working efficiency and productivity for themselves. It was equally as vital that employees realized they would not have an easy ride with a guaranteed job and promotion but that they had to work for these things and prove themselves worthy of such rewards; this will have improved efficiency and motivation for the workforce. It was also important for Nissan to move away for a high level of uncertainty avoidance and towards performance orientation, to allow the team to work more effectively and understand each others needs to make a more successful and dynamic team. References: Daniels, K. (2006) Employee Relations In An Organisational context. London. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. New York: Free Press. Conger, J.A., Kanungo, R. (1988), Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive in Organizational Settings, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA Johnson G, Scholes K Whittington R (2005), Exploring Corporate Strategy 8th Edition, Harlow: Prentice Hall. Katz, D., Kahn, R. L. (1978). The social psychology of organisations, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley. LEWIN, K. (1947).Frontiers in group dynamics: concept, method, and reality in social science in Human Relations, Vol. 1(1), pp.5-42. McLagan, P. Nel, C. (1995). The Age of Participation, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco. Northouse, P. G. (2001). Leadership Theory and Practice, second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Nystrom, P. C., Starbuck, W. H. (1984). To avoid organisational crises, unlearn. Organisational Dynamics, Spring, 53-65. THOMAS, G. (2010). Week 18: Leadership at the Executive Level. Birmingham. Aston University: Geoff Thomas. THOMAS, G. (2010). Week 19: Leading Change in Organisations. Birmingham. Aston University: Geoff Thomas. Tichy, N.M., Devanna, M.A. (1990), The Transformational Leader, John Wiley, New York Yukl, G., Gordon, A., Taber, T. (2002), A hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behavior: integrating a half century of behavior research, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Vol. 9 pp.15-32 Yukl, G. (1994). Leadership in Organisations. 7th Ed. New Jersey. Pearsons. Are Security Threats Real or Imagined? Are Security Threats Real or Imagined? Giulia Valeri Introduction As far as the discipline of International Relations is concerned, security and threat are highly-contested concepts (Baldwin 1997: 10). Far more often than not, their inner nature has been deeply influenced by the historical context in which the two notions were first moulded. Security threats, whether they be real and objective or imagined and subjective, is still a matter to be put into trial by the academics. In turn, if the issue was to be analysed from a non-scholastic point of view, people would refer to those feelings of insecurity that perturb them and influence their daily action. The spread of the belief that todays world is a dangerous universe, where it is best to play safe and to take all the precautions necessary to avoid the risk of being exposed to threatening situations, is rising consistently. But are there any real threats that can eventually put individuals in a position of danger or is this feeling of self-doubt a mere product of policy-makers cunning moves to ac hieve goals, such as gaining wealth and accumulating their power, while letting the individuals sink in growing uncertainties? In other words, are security threats real and objectively calculated, or are they socially constructed and subjectively perceived? The latter interrogative leads us in another direction. One could, in fact, argue that an answer to this controversial issue can only be formulated in the light of the analytical fragmentation and the subsequent interpretation of two dominant approaches in the field of IR, Realism and Social Constructivism. Being aware of such opposing approaches is not only plausible and reasonable from a logical point of view, but it is fundamental in order to solidly ground our understanding of the issue. In this essay, I will first attempt to give a clear explanation of what is meant by security according to the so-called traditional and critical views. Secondly, I will make a distinction between what counts as a referent object for realist a nd constructivists security policies. Thirdly, I will examine the process that an issue has to undergo in order to be prioritized over the others and to become an existential threat worthy of security measures. I will conclude by using a significant case study to analyse and explain why, in the international system, threats to security cannot be tied to a single approach, traditional or modern, but instead need to be reconsidered as a compromise made up of multiple layers. The ontological conceptualisation of security and the shift in the focus of inquiry. Throughout the centuries, the attempt to define security has been a task of major importance for several IR scholars. However clashing theoretical approaches might be, they all shared a common need, i.e. the conceptualisation of security as an ontological basis for any further argumentation. Notwithstanding this premise, not much attention has been devoted to clarifying this notion, therefore there is a persisting disagreement on what security means exactly and on whether it is desirable to give a definition in the first place. The reason why such disagreement has arisen has proved to be related to the various historical periods in which different approaches have developed. More specifically the Cold War, besides being materialised in terms of an Iron Curtain that demarcated the European boundaries between Capitalism and Communism, also acted as an ideological turning point between Realism and Constructivism. Realists point out that security is about safeguarding acquired values. Arnold Wolfers rephrased Walter Lippmans definition, arguing that security is the absence of threats to acquired values (Wolfers 1952: 485). David Baldwin later portrayed security as the low probability of damage to acquired values (Baldwin 1997: 13), arguing that there is way too much optimism in Wolfers absence of threat (Wolfers 1952: 485). These acquired values are nothing more than national independence and territorial integrity (Wolfers 1952: 489), and thus they objectively correspond to the nation-states selfish interests. In turn, constructivists emphasize that the notion of security is a social construct and, as such, should not be bound to a specific referent object. In his People, States Fear Barry Buzan asserts that the search for a referent object of security has to proceed hand-in-hand with that for its necessary conditions (Buzan 1991: 26). As the reader might have noticed, Security is usually discussed in terms of enumeration of new threats and the identification of capabilities needed to counter them, but there is little examination of the meaning of security as such (Wibben, Human Security: Toward an Opening: ) The clashing tension between the realist theorization and the constructivist approach comes to blows when trying to establish what the referent object of security studies should be. Should it always be the state or should it rather be relative to the questioned sector? This problematic derives from the significant shift in focus that has taken place, alongside a massive change in the balance of history as a result of the end of the Cold War. A realistic perspective: security threats are real and objectively analysed. A traditional approach to security threats has to be considered in the light of an objective assessment of the world out there or as it is. Realists act as an elite of scientists with very fixed conceptions of the surrounding environment. As such, they feel the need to adopt a scientific approach to knowledge (Browning, 2013: 13), meaning that they look at reality in an objective way and they hold a static state-centric vision. Instead of bolstering substantial changes, they pessimistically dictate how to best cope with the world as it is (Browning, 2013: 13). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the referent object of security studies is the state, and threats to security are all those directly posed to the state, all those menacing the survival of its core values. The nation-state is presented as the guarantor of security and, as such, it has the duty to act in a way that assures the safety of its boundaries. This entails every action to be inextricably tied to the states assump tions. Realists are convinced that the term security is the equivalent of national security interest (Wolfers, 1952: 481). As the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger put it, how realistically we perceive our national interests is a core security concern (Kissinger, 1976: 182). Exempli gratia, in the international system -which is anarchic- where egoistic and self-interested individuals proliferate, absolute security is irredeemable, and thus states believe that the only way to secure themselves from external military threats is to increase their military forces. Yet by doing so, other states might be led to think that policies of armament are objective synonyms of imminent attacks and, consequently, of real and tangible menaces. In the field of International Relations, this ironic cycle of unintended provocations (Kanji, 2003: 2) is often referred to as the security dilemma, i.e. the belief that increasing ones security means rising insecurity for others as each interprets its own measures as defensive and measures of others as potentially threatening (Herz, 1951: 7). At this point, one could legitimately ask: If everybody claims to perceive real threats, how is one supposed to identify real menaces, if present, with objectivity? Put in another way: Are all military affairs to be considered as real threats or are they real threats only in conditions of international anarchy? As the constructivist Wendt argued anarchy is what states make of it (Wendt 1992: 395), claiming that what is presented as a real threat in international anarchy is not necessarily a real threat in this world. Therefore, can one assume that threats are objectively the same regardless of their political allocation? The constructivist approach: security threats are socially constructed. How the community moulds the concept of securitization. In Wendtianian terms, a security threat is what actors make of it and, thus, by no means can they be objectively assessed. Unlike realists, constructivists act as analysts in charge of presenting how the general public and their leaders mutually construct dangers (Dannreuther 2007: 42), thereby framing our experience of the world. In their Security: a new framework of analysis Buzan, Weaver and De Wilde -prominent members of the Copenhagen School[1] argue that Security is when an issue is presented as posing an existential threat to a designed referent object. The special nature of security threats justifies the use of extraordinary measures to handle them. (Buzan, Waever, De Wilde 1998: 21) Before discussing how an issue, being prioritized over other issues, is presented as an existential threat, it is of essential importance to define what we mean by existential threat in the first place. An existential threat is whatever threatens the safety of somebody or something. As opposed to realists, who unceasingly commit themselves to a scientific state-centric vision, constructivists point out the need for each and every threat to be analysed in relation to the referent object of the sector in question, while sectors have been categorised as military, political, economic, societal and environmental. As for the military sector, the state is the entity that can possibly be in danger. For this reason, however much traditional security studies would try to pass off peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions as menacing in their nature, both might not be regarded as an existential threat to the nation-state. In the political sector, it is sovereignty that is the principle that c an be existentially threatened, so that Brexit, for instance, is the most prominent deterrent to the European Union. In the economic sector, the referent objects are firms, and the threat of bankruptcy may act as an ultimatum for their existence, while collective identities and individual species are respectively referent objects of the societal and environmental sector. One might rightly wonder: What, who and how is an issue transformed into a matter of security or shown to be existentially threatened? Buzan et al. asserts that the answer lies in a key-term, i.e. securitization. Securitization is the process by which a general issue is recognised as an existential threat. Yet this process is built up through consequential steps in which two actors play a key-role, the securitizing actor and the audience. The securitizing actor, alias a political leader, is someone who performs the securitizing move, rhetorically identified as the speech act[2]. The task consists in declaring a state of emergency by recurring to apocalyptic statements, such as If we do not tackle this problem, everything else will be irrelevant (because we will not be here or will not be free to deal with it in our own way). (Buzan, Waever, De Wilde 1998: 21) If and only if the securitizing move raises consensus and it is generally accepted by the audience, the issue is successfully securitized and it becomes an existential threat. Donald Trumps securitizing move, i.e. the Muslim ban, cannot be considered as being successfully securitized because the general public hasnt legitimated the speech act. Contrariwise, war is an empirical example of a successful securitization that, being so recurrent, ends up being institutionalized. Once an issue is securitized, it moves out of the realm of normal politics into the realm of emergency politics, where it can be dealt with swiftly and without the normal (democratic) rules and regulations of policy-making (Taureck 2006: 54; Buzan et al. 1998: 24). The securitizing actor and the audience democratically negotiate and establish what existential threats are under which circumstances. As Buzan et al. underline, security is a self-referential practice, because it is in this practice that the issue becom es a security issue -not because a real threat exists (Buzan et al. 1998: 24). From a constructivist point of view, the realists presumption of assessing threats objectively goes beyond humans means. Threats are in fact inter-subjectively constructed rather than being natural or inevitable (Newmann 2001: 247) since what constitutes a threat for one is not necessarily the referent object for the other (Buzan et al. 1998: 30). How social constructivism has challenged the traditional realistic view. Case study: nuclear weapons are real or imagined threats? almost anything can be a threat CATASTROPHIC, TOO pessimistic and deterministic (timeless and irrevocable)nature of the threats, analysis of the world in itself! assumption: It is out of humans domain to establish which threats are really threatening survival, they are inevitable and there is nothing to do except for facing the crude reality. It is not possible to consider a nuclear weapon in every case a threat. What if the missil tank is a peacekeeping force? At the same time, it is illogical to affirm that a nuvlear bomb of a powerful state is threating whereas a bomb of allies doesnt pose any threat. SELFISH construction of threats: with the excuse of needing to shiftthe focus of enwuiry of the individuals, impact of ideas and values (newmnn, 247). eventually defyning the concept of human security, they ended up prioritizing issues according to the selfish interests of the securitizing actor. For constructivists try to push the notion of human security forward, they somehow end up shadowing the selfish construction of security threats. Both bigo and wibben when experts push for particular forms in which security of humans ought to be prioritized. Bigo showed how the securitizing actor together with the general public has securitized immigration. Issues are prioritized according to selfish interest.   Wibben makes an important point that our conceptions of security come from specific political visions, underpinned by certain ontological and epistemological assumptions. For instance, when experts call for elevating human security as a security concern, they are pushing for particular forms in which the security of humans ought to be prioritised. I Politicians have used the policy of securitization to satisfy their own interests, being legitimated to do whatever through the speech act. Murray Edelman has explained how the social construct of the politicalspectacle works.He has demonstrated how the construction of situations as problems is useful for politicians: the politicians can manage them in order to justify their own authority. It enablesthem, for example, to negate other problems or to transform struc-tural difficulties into easy targets. (Bigo 2002: 68-69) the presupposition that it is possible to control the flow of individuals at the borders of thestate (bigo 1992:69) Murray Edelman, Pià ¨ces et rà ¨gles du jeu politique (Paris: Seuil, 1991),a translation of his Constructing the Political Spectacle (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), with a specific and important foreword7 Chandler (Security Dialogue, 2008): human security has reinforced rather than challenged existing policy frameworks and is too easily co-opted by political elites. Security is a social construct with the meaning ofsoceurity depending of what is done with it. taureck THESIS Threats are real in the sense that there is sth threating the survival of the individuals, yet this cannot be objectively assessed and it is not deterministically given They are imagined in the minds of the politicians andthen presented as threatening, yet it would be irrational to claim that the speech act has no correspondence to the external reality. . they are mediated by the meaning we ourselves give to nuclear weapons rather than to reality e.g. Constructivist assumption: a nuclear weapon doesnt pose a threat by itself (ARGUABLY YES) Why the US view North Koreas nuclear weapons as a threat and not Britains? UK Prime Minister Tony Blairs securitisation of Saddam Husseins WMD programme for the British public in the lead up to the 2003 invasion is a useful case study here. Depending on our reading of the Copenhagen School, the securitisation of Saddam and his WMD programme may have occurred exclusively through public representations depicting the regime and its WMD programme as imminently threatening, through the vote in Parliament legitimising http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1232/1/WRAP_McDonald_0671572-pais-270709-mcdonald_securitisation_and_construction_of_security_ejir_forthcoming_2008.pdf 23 Blairs deployment of troops, or even at the point of invasion itself. While the latter might seem the least likely reading, The system is not deterministically given Brhaviors are socially constructed and can therefore change. (newmann, 247). Threats are socially constructed rather than being natural or inevitable: identity and interest derive from the social processes of interaction leading to expectations of costs and benefits attached with different types of behaviour within a system (newmann, 248) Constructivists: Finally, three important constituents of a speech act are: its internal features (the security form, grammar of security, enunciation of an existential threat and so on); social conditions regarding the position of authority of the securitizing actor (how easily would the audience accept the claims of the securitizing actor); and features of the alleged threat (a tank is more threat-like than a comb, for instance; or to use our example above, a North Korea bomb is more threat-like than a British bomb for America because of the institutionalisation of the North Korean threat). Realists: whoever the nuclear weapon belongs to, it is a threat. A foreign tank crossing the border. Conclusion? Threats to security are real and tangible. One cannot deny that whoever is the owner of a nuclear weapon the presence of a nuclear weapon is menacing the international security commission. However, saying that threats are real is misleading and too generic. what each state perceives as a threat is a variable. allocation Rather, it is a blurred misrepresentation of the world out there. This is to highlight the fact that what is regarded as a real threat in anarchy, being what states make of it, is not an objective reflection of the real threats. It is simply a reflection of the dangers out there. , provided that actions are unavoidably bounded to mere states assumptions Is not insecurity of any kind an evil from which any rational policy maker would want to rescue his country? (Wolfers, National Security: 494) The world is not a universe of all against all From a real basis, security threats are developed and constructed according to the will and mis)perceptions of policy-makers. 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[1] The Copenhagen School is a school of security studies, which was established in 1983 by Barry Buzan with his first publication of People, States Fear. [2] The term speech act is rooted in the linguistic philosophy of J. L. Austin and John Saerle and it emblematically represents the rhetorical structure of securitization.