Comparing and Contrasting Ideas About Education Developed by Al Essay

Comparing and Contrasting Ideas About Education Developed by Al Ghazali and Seneca - Essay Example Al Ghazali learnt and developed his philosophical knowledge in terms of Islamism. At the same time, he was inspired by ancient Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle. He was focused on the spiritual dimension of education. He developed "Manners to Be Observed by Teachers and Students'" and was focused on promotion of purity of mind and knowledge as the final and the only one goal in life, because it leads to spirituality and closeness to God. His ideas may be interpreted in the following way: both teachers and students are the servants of God, only teachers stay on one step closer to God, then their students. Teacher’s role in education plays a function of mediation between the spiritual closeness of students to God and God. It is interesting to note that spiritual dimension is the right way to learning or knowledge gaining. It is impossible to reach nothing without it. A role of a student is described as a passive character, who is allowed only to a small portion of knowledge that is enough for his small mind. There is no need for superfluous knowledge. There is an evident subordinate relation between a student and a teacher. The former should show humility and modesty. Knowledge learning happens as a step-by-step process. There is a need to devote your mind to this process in order to gain the highest knowledge. Teacher is an individual with a pure mind, who is able to select the most appropriate portions of knowledge and teach it to his students. There is a need for him to be sincere with his students and to teach them clear things. At these last two points, we can claim that AI Ghazali ideas are relevant to modern teachers and students only partially. Anyone nowadays consider knowledge as a means to develop our minds. It is a means to get a better job and to gain much money, as a rule. Nevertheless, there is a need to promote tolerant and sincere relations between the students and the teacher, only it is necessary to underline a partnership nature of this kind of relations. It can be argued that philosopher underlines the necessity of life-long learning, because modern professionals have excellent skills in one or two fields. It is impossible to be professionals in many fields. It is better to devote one’s life to only one selected occupation. Unfortunately, the contemporaries do not consider the process of education as a way to enlightenment or a way to God. With respect to Seneca’s ideas about learning, we can claim at once that his approach is more up-to-date and interesting for the modern teachers and students. Seneca follows the principle of stoicism, which underline that good life is based on reason and harmony with nature. Therefore, wisdom and virtue are the final goals of education. Wisdom even not always correlated with education, as the philosopher claims. On the one hand, Seneca underlines that virtue comes from knowledge. We develop our minds in the process of learning and make it opener for new horizo ns. Every person should study and identify his virtue through knowledge. On the other hand, there is no need to learn the integrative elements of any science, such as syllables, curves or diagrams if there is a closed mind. A free man is able to cognize liberal sciences. They are developed for him. It is not

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull Essay Example for Free

Jonathan Livingstone Seagull Essay After reading on Jonathan Livingstone seagull, write down reflective value and believe about the meaning and purpose of life. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is about a very independent bird, who dared to question what was being taught and told to him by the elders. He didnt just want to spend his days searching for food and hanging out doing what was expected of him. He was different, and dared to dream. He spent his days learning to fly faster and better than any other gull in the flock. He learned from all of his searching and trying that he could do anything, if he wanted it badly enough and just went for it, even to the point of becoming an outcast. At one point in time, in so learning and perfecting his craft, he crash landed and died, going onto a higher lever of his awareness, to learn more lessons from his guide, Fletcher. He continues through the story, becoming more and more proficient in his endeavours and in turn becomes a teacher/guide to others, becoming a kind and loving soul along the way. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a bird who wants nothing more than to fly. Raised in a group of gulls that saw flying as only a means to an end, Jonathan challenged their way of life by believing that flying could be about more than transportation or getting food it could be about joy and happiness and freedom. When told he was irresponsible for trying exceed his expectations Jonathan replied: Who is more responsible than a gull who finds and follows a meaning, a higher purpose for life? For a thousand years we have scrabbled after fish heads and now we have a reason to live to learn, to discover, to be free! An outcast from his flock, Jonathan took his exile with a grain of salt, finding joy in his love for flight and his constant desperate desire to grow and to learn. He pushes himself to the breaking point and is never satisfied enough with his knowledge and never tires of the quest to obtain more. Bach gives us a character that stands alone with his ideas and beliefs and is rewarded for his patience and courage. The second half of the book shows Jonathan learning so much that he transcends his earthly form into a higher plane of being. Here, Jonathan is met with other gulls who like him, strive for excellence and do not see flying as a means to an end, but simply love to fly for the sake of loving it. This part begins to reflect a bit of the Buddhist mindset about heaven and a universal knowledge which can seem a bit confusing at first. Jonathan finally returns to his flock on Earth to try for better or worse to show that there is more to life than what they are striving for. This is a fable about the importance of making the most of our lives, even if our goals run contrary to the norms of our flock, tribe or neighbourhood. Through the metaphor of flight, Jonathan’s story shows us that, if we follow our dreams, we too can soar. Amazing inspiring story of seagulls. It tells us nothing is impossible in this world. You just have to have the desire to achieve it.

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare :: Poetry Poem

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare SONNET 18 William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 is one of one hundred fifty four poems of fourteen lines written in Iambic Pentameter. These sonnets exclusively employ the rhyme scheme, which has come to be called the Shakespearean Sonnet. The sonnets are composed of an octet and sestet and typically progress through three quatrains to a concluding couplet. It also contains figurative language and different poetic devices used to create unique effects in his sonnets. Shakespeare's sonnets consist of words constructed in a certain manner or form, thoughts, emotion and poetic devices. One way to interpret the sonnet is to think of "thee" that Shakespeare is referring to as a person. Following that line of thought the sonnet could read that Shakespeare is in love with someone who is consistently beautiful. He tries to compare this person to summer but summer is not as beautiful or constant. This person in Shakespeare's eyes will never grow old and ugly and not even Death can say that his pers on's end is near. In line 1, he starts the poem with a question. He asks if he should compare the person to a summer's day but ends up not doing so realizing that the person is superior. In the following 7 lines of this sonnet, he begins to show the differences between the person and a summer's day. He explains that the person's characteristics is moderate and comfortable and has favorable qualities in line 2. "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May," (line 3) means that the rough winds of the summer can destroy the buds of the flowers and his particular person has no such trait. In the forth line of the sonnet, Shakespeare justifies how summer is too short and how his lover's beauty does not end like this specific season does. In the next two lines, lines 5 and 6, the superb poet interpret the summer's temperature. He explains how the summer can be extremely hot and uncomfortable. He also describes how the sun can be dulled due to the covering of clouds. It can obscure or sha dow the earth, unlike the shining beauty of his lover. Although Sonnet 18 is an extended metaphor, line 7 has a literal meaning that explains itself: "And every fair from fair sometime declines," With fair meaning beautiful, he is saying that everything that is beautiful must come to an end and that all beauty fades except the one of his lover.

Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Essay

1. Determine at least three different internal and external stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal with on a daily basis at the hospital. Stakeholders are individuals who are involved in, have a vested interest in, or a â€Å"stake† in the success of an organization (Merriam-Webster, 2011), such as a hospital. Dr. DoRight is an influential decision maker as the President of the Universal Human Care Hospital and it is important for him to consider how his decisions and actions affect the stakeholders of the hospital. In the course of his daily activities Dr. Do Right will interact and impact many of the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are be committed to an organization’s success. Often internal stakeholders will participate in the strategic development of coordinating resources to fund and sustain an operation. Examples of internal stakeholders which Dr. DoRight might engage daily would be: Director of Public Health, Head of Health Intelligence and Information, Director of Nursing, Public Health Strategists, Vice President of Human Relations or Members of the Board of Trustees (Markwell, 2010). External stakeholders are not directly connected to the organization; however, they are vested in the hospital’s success as clients, business or community partners. These stakeholders have influence over organizational activities by contributing their views and experiences related to issues which are important to them. Medical providers or suppliers, Patient Advocacy Groups, Quality Assessors, the Media, and Heads of Local Community and Special Interest Groups are examples of external stakeholders Dr. DoRight may deal with on a daily basis (Markwell, 2010). 2. Compare and contrast potential conflicts of interest that may exist between the internal and external stakeholders. Conflicts of interest exist between the hospital’s internal and external stakeholders. Medical providers such as, staffed research doctors or pharmaceutical manufactures want to provide the ‘best’ wellness plan by providing cutting-edge tests, treatments and medications which are likely to be more expensive to the payer or patients. Payers, such as insurance providers and private paying patients, would prefer a more cost effective approach to wellness with accurate diagnosis and treatments with fewer visits and tests (Wiseman, 2005). Although internal and external stakeholders may have different priorities, they will share common objectives. All stakeholders will share common ambitions for Universal Human Care Hospital to provide quality medical services to its patients. Additionally, all stakeholders will appreciate the hospitals efforts to improve the quality of life for the community it directly serves. (Markwell, 2010). 3. Discuss whether Dr. DoRight has fulfilled his ethical duty by reporting the illegal procedures. Dr. DoRight has reported the illegal procedures and patents dying due to negligent supervision and oversight to his Regional Director, Compliance Manager, as well as an Executive Committee in January 2009, but he has not fulfilled his ethical duty. As a doctor it is his responsibility to protect all patients from criminal acts including the illegal procedures and negligent supervision which has been reported at Universal Human Care Hospital. As there has been no result from the investigation after two years he has a responsibility to take further action to preserve the lives of patients. His ethical duty should include reporting the illegal procedures, as well as, the negligent supervision and oversight to higher ranking internal authorities. If the appropriate investigation and corrective actions do not occur he has a further ethical obligation to report the incidents to external authorities. As a doctor he is legally bound to take reasonable action. The law recognizes several exceptions the â€Å"no duty to rescue† rule and several apply to Dr. Do Right’s ethical dilemma (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Continued deaths due to negligence and illegal procedures should be reported beyond the Regional Director, Complianc e Manager and the Executive Committee as the failure to do so may result in his dismissal or even criminal prosecution. As a doctor he assumes contractual responsibilities to medically help others, and prevent them from being harmed. Patients in the hospital in which he is President may be lulled into a false sense of security, believing they will be helped, only to be neglected when lifesaving assistance is needed. Doctors and nurses employed in the medial facility which he oversees are endangering their patients and he is currently participating in creating a dangerous situation for several patients. Finally, there is a â€Å"special relationship† between Dr. DoRight’s medical facility and their patients. This relationship has a degree of dependency from the patient to the hospital and those whom govern the medical facility. As the President of Universal Human Care Hospital he is required to reasonably protect all patients from harm including the protection from the illegal procedures performed by the medical staff, and neglect or oversight of the supervising staff (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). 4. Describe the deontology principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case. The deontology principle â€Å"is marked by steadfastness to universal principles †¦[of] respect for life, fairness, telling the truth, keeping promises – no matter what the consequences† (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Immanuel Kant, the most famous deontological thinker, believed humans could rationally develop an absolute set of rules to govern behavior, and these rules should be applied in all situations without consideration of the consequences. For example, Immanuel Kant believed there is a never good time to lie, even if it could produce a favorable outcome, such as lying saving someone’s life (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Under the deontology principle, moral and ethical behavior â€Å"is a matter of holding, without exception, to certain principles† or categorical imperatives (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). The first of these principles is that people should act under the assumption that the same action they chose should be repeated if roles were reversed and they ended up on the receiving end of those actions. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma a deontological approach would require him to make his decisions in the frame of reference of being a patient whose death resulted from the hospital’s negligence or oversight. If Dr. DoRight made decisions in this frame of reference it is doubtful two years would pass without any definitive findings from the internal investigation into patient deaths (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Another categorical imperative of the deontology principle is that it is unethical for people to use others for their own gain. A mutually beneficial relationship should exist where all stakeholders gain something they want. In Dr. DoRight’s ethical dilemma, the relationship could be mutually beneficial if the patient receives suitable medial services and attention in exchange for monetary compensation. Dr. DoRight’s decisions can be considered unethical as the relationship is not mutually beneficial. Patients within his hospital to continue to die as a result of a variety of illegal procedures, while Dr. DoRight continues to win awards for his leadership and meeting his business goals (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Patients have a right to make a fully informed decision when selecting their medical providers. Making fully informed decision for oneself is â€Å"of great ethical value in deontology† (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). In the last two years, Dr. DoRight has told his Regional Director, Compliance Manager and the Executive Committee about the patient deaths due; however, disclosures are not provided to patients. With the insight of increased mortality rates due to the illegal procedures coupled with negligence and oversight it less likely patients will chose his medical facility for their health care needs. It is unethical according to the deontology principles to keep this information from patients. An infringement is being placed on some of the patients most basic rights; the right to life and health. Within the deontology principle this is never acceptable. Dr. DoRight falls short of several deontological principles, and is unethically infringing on the rights of his patients who are dying as a result of his decisions (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). 5. Describe the utilitarianism principle and apply it to the ethical dilemma that Dr. DoRight faces in this case The utilitarianism principle guides individuals, like Dr, DoRight, to ethically â€Å"behave in a given situation †¦ to choose an alternative that is likely to produce the greatest overall outcome.† This principle evaluates the advantages and costs of an individual’s actions not only for the decision maker, but for all stakeholders who will be impacted by the decision. Within the utilitarianism principle the long and short term consequences to the stakeholders are analyzed when evaluating a dilemma, while weighing the size of the group and the effects of the decision upon the stakeholders (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). In Dr. DoRight’s dilemma some consequences may be shared by numerous stakeholders, both internal and external. For example, the media could tarnish the reputation of the hospital and several of its staff by publicizing the deaths as pre ventable. This consequence could result in an increase of livelihood for external stakeholders such as the media, medical malpractice attorneys, or the extended family member of deceased patients. At the same time, it could result in the loss of livelihood amongst internal stakeholders such as; doctors, nurses and other members of as the hospital’s 5,000 employed staff (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). Smaller external stakeholders carry the burden of the greatest negative consequences. Most costly would be the loss of life to patients who died as a result of illegal procedures and negligent supervision. Although this group of stakeholders may be small in comparison to the 20,000 patients treated at the hospital, â€Å"losses of life and health weigh heavily on the scale† when assessing the consequences of a decision within the utilitarianism principle (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). The causes of deaths have not been revealed after two years of internal investigation. If an outside organization investigated the details of the illegal practices and neglect it could negatively impact some internal stakeholders. An external investigation could have a negative impact on hospital finances, the Executive committee, and the livelihood of the Regional Director, Compliance Manager or their direct staff. On the other hand, patients, doctors and other stakeholders could benefit from this same decision in the form of additional staffing, proper training and technology to provide accurate diagnosis. Ultimately, the short-term costs a few internal stakeholders of the hospital would be outweighed by the long-term benefits to several stakeholders if Dr. DoRight made this decision (Halbert & Ingulli, 2012). References Halbert, T. & Ingulli, E. (2012). Law, Ethics, Business. In Law & Ethics in the Business Environment (7th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Markwell, S. (2010). Health knowledge. Retrieved from http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/organisation-management/5b-understanding-ofs/managing-internal-external-stakeholders Merriam-Webster. (2011). Stakeholder. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stakeholder Wiseman, B. (2005). Who are the stakeholders in healthcare?. Retrieved from http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_a/introduction/stakeholders.html

Production Lay-outs

Product layout or assembly line is designed to handle products that are manufactured using specialized machines in an assembly line (Product lay-out).   Each line is designed to address specific requirements of a product line in a sequential manner.   There is a smooth flow of production (i.e. conveyor-supported) from one specialized machine to another which is desirable in mass production where demand is predictable while volumes are high.   This type of layout, therefore, is fitted in producing consumer products for a general market rather than producing for several segments of the market. The advantages of the product layout are its order and efficient processes that can lead to faster customer response and less demand on lead times.   It also promotes cheap labor because skill requirements are low that causes relaxation of high salaries.   Although this layout is efficient and easy to use, it is highly inflexible because a change in one assembly line can lead bottleneck in its production.   Further, in product development, acquiring a whole new set of machines and working area is necessary to address specific requirements of the product.   When demand is low, the assets can be underutilized. As it produces ships and airplanes, fixed position layout is a technique applied to vulnerable, hard-to-move and specialized products (Layout and Flow).   Factors of production (e.g. labor, machine, equipments and tools) are required to meet in a single production location to handle manufacturing tasks there. It is customary to leave machines in the site when not used to prevent breakage or damaged in addition to the costly transportation required for pull-out and getting back to the site. Further, to minimize the high capital in acquiring new machines, most companies are using contractual leases because their use of the machines is under limited time frame.   Its advantages are reduced movement of machines that aids in minimizing risk of damage or lost and continuity of processes because the need for re-planning is reduced as people meet in one place.   However, some of its disadvantages include are higher salaries as workers must have specific skills to finish the project, movement of people/ machines to site can be very costly and idle machines can have low utilization because they remain idle rather use for productive means when the production is at cease. Unlike fixed position, functional or process layout distinguish the work group into different departments that give rise to different and distinct workstations (Facility layout).   As production is intermittent and batched, functional layout is compatible in serving different market segments that have highly differentiated needs.   Compared to product layout, volumes are considerably low while the demand can fluctuate considerably from one period to another.   There is specialization in functional layout such as separation of men, women and children's clothes in a department store. Machines in this layout are for general use while workers are knowledgeable on how to operate machines within their station.   The advantage of this layout is opposite the disadvantage of product layout (i.e. flexibility) while the vice versa is also true (i.e. functional layout is inefficient).   Disadvantages such as backtracking, bottlenecks and delays are common.   Further, the storage rooms for raw materials are huge while inventories of the finished products are low because they are immediately delivered to customers.   The critical issue to consider in this layout is to find the relationship of each station to machine centers to establish a more space-efficient design between them. To address the issue to space-efficiency between stations and machine centers, cellular layout is idealized to combine the advantages of product and functional layouts (i.e. efficiency and flexibility).   Cells represent a workstation that produces similar customer requirements.   A machine that cannot be allocated in space is strategically located between cells that require machine processing to create a point of use.   The usual design is that the assembly line is observed in producing components and parts while process layout take-over the relationship of each component-producing cell. With the use of information systems, locating cells and identifying idle machines can be easily carried out.   Resulting to substantial paperwork to maintain the cellular layout, workers can also operate machines within their departments like functional layout.   Its advantages are reduction in material handing and transit time, minimal set-up time, minimized work-in-progress, efficient use of human capital, control and automation.   On the other hand, it can have backlash such as absence of sufficient number of part stations to create cells, imbalanced cells, more training and strict allocation of workers and increased capital expenditure. Justification of the most appropriate layout Although challenging to establish, the current environment and production needs of Manychip should use cellular layout.   First, its plant and sales channels are located in developed economies where quality and expensive human resources are dwelling.   Second, it operates in a highly volatile demand that can be easily affected by environmental changes that flexibility is required to prevent cost associated with over-forecasting.   Third, it is carrying only six main memory chip products which likely have significant similarities in design and internal parts.   This will enable creation of cells because the number of stations is sufficient. Fourth, its operations in asset-intensive while its depreciation can significantly affect its profitability.   When cellular layout is adopted, assembly lines can efficiently produce component parts for the six product lines which will prevent idle machines.   On the other hand, functional layout are flexible that can be applied when orders are placed and products are ready for final assembly.   Fifth, the production of Manychip requires high lead times which can be minimized when applied with cellular manufacturing as components are ready to undergo assembly once order is in place. On having greater agility, Manychip will not loose quality systems because specific stations are under stand-by mode that can be called if random quality test is necessary.   With the consideration of the three conditions, approval of cellular layout is very necessary.   Different components can create cells, the administrative group can act like a quality group in which case a station can be brought up for them near their respective process interests and shipment in different geographical location can be addressed by timely delivery of products.   However, Manychip must consider that substantial funding is required to establish a hybrid strategy such as cellular manufacturing.   It must also monitor its product development programs to prevent dissolution of important cells. References Product lay-out (unknown). UWM. Available   [Accessed on 6 August 2007] Facility layout (unknown). SNC. Available from ;http://www.snc.edu/socsci/chair/333/bricks/Layout.html; [Accessed on 6 August 2007] Layout and Flow (1997). Pearsoned. Available [Accessed on 6 August 2007] ; ; ;

6 polite and professional ways to call out a lazy coworker

6 polite and professional ways to call out a lazy coworker It’s not your job to motivate or police your coworkers. If it were, you would be their boss. But if you have a lazy coworker it can be a drag on your department or a team project- and in large and small ways, a coworker’s laziness can grate on you and affect your work life for the worse. Mix in a sense of unfairness about what some coworkers get away with, and you have a recipe for frustration and job dissatisfaction. But you don’t just have to throw up your hands and despair- there are a few ways to make sure someone else’s laziness doesn’t create a dysfunctional work day for you.1. Be directThe worst thing to do would be to engage in passive-aggressive behaviors- jokes, subtle hints, and sarcasm rarely land the way you want them to and your message may not be taken seriously or received at all. Make it easy on yourself: sum up the problem and how it affects you in one sentence and ask to have a short conversation with your coworker. You donâ€℠¢t need to agonize over a carefully worded email. Don’t be too confrontational or accusatory; just keep it simple, like: Could you pay more attention to this? When you don’t, I have more work to do. Sometimes laziness continues precisely because no one points it out. The simple antidote? Be direct.2. Be quickNever call out a coworker when you are truly annoyed, because that will surely lead to unprofessional behavior. On the other hand, it’s best to address an issue soon after it happens, so your coworker is clear on a specific time they were engaging in lazy behavior, and they don’t perceive you as nursing a weird grudge. Waiting too long after the fact can make it seem like you’ve been stewing for days- and rehashing the past can add another toxic element to the mix, causing your coworker to become defensive. Again, be direct, and point out something concrete that will make things better, and help your coworker snap out of their lazy habits.3. As k a favorIf either of the first two options seem too confrontational, you can directly ask your coworker for help on a project. It’s easy for some to ignore a task; it’s much harder to ignore a human being asking for help. This puts the lazy coworker in an awkward position: either they have to take the strong stance of saying â€Å"No,† or simply help. Just something to keep in mind- a lazy person is not necessarily a discourteous person, but the favor will pit their laziness against their sense of decency to their coworkers.4. Set up check-in meetingsA deadline can be a great taskmaster for the go-getter. Why not try this out for the lazy? A check-in meeting where each coworker sums up their progress on a project creates a certain level of accountability. The lazy coworker will be lagging behind, have nothing to report, and it will be obvious to everyone in the room. In essence, the lazy coworker will call themselves out, and the burden won’t be on you.5 . Suggest a better workflow to your supervisorThis doesn’t mean rat someone out or complain about their laziness to a supervisor, because that may not appear professional either. This option acknowledges that it’s not your job to pick up the slack for coworkers, nor is it your job to get them to do their work. If you see a better way to divide and conquer a task and you suggest it, this shows you are taking initiative and can help change the dynamic of how your team or department works together.6. Form a bondSometimes the only real thing you can change about your work situation is how you react and feel about it. If your frustration over your coworker’s laziness has reached the boiling point, take it down a notch. You don’t know what personal life issues your coworker may be facing. Be friendly. Bond with your coworker and try to reach a better understanding of them on a personal level. This can help reduce your frustration and make it easier if you ever do need to call them out on their behavior in the future.

Change Management Plan

Change Management Plan Free Online Research Papers Achieving organizational change is one of the greatest challenges for any business leaders. Maintaining a successful organization takes time, effort, and determination. Once an organization achieves success, sustaining the success becomes a moving force. Crys Tel telecommunications, the company used in the Simulation needs to create a change management plan to keep up with the constant changes to compete with other telecommunication industry. This paper will attempt to cover the major implications of the change at Crys Tel, including any human behavior involvement; select a suitable change model for Crys Tel telecommunications. Components of the plan will tackle human characteristics and possible resistances to change to include contingency approaches for dealing with any resistance. Next, implement the right leadership style will be successful at Crys Tel telecommunications. Implement an administration and leadership practice that will add to the continuing accomplishment of the change and propose measures to monitor the progress of the change at Crys Tel. Last, evaluate three future leadership challenges that Crys Tel may face in the next five to ten years. According to the employee satisfaction and climate survey, the marketing department at Crys Tel telecommunication is facing employee and senior communication issues; does not provide mentoring activities to train less experienced employees who were affecting the company performance. The Sales and Delivery department does not follow a participative leadership style; does not have a history of taking risks, and does not proactively resolve conflicts. To influence change and improve performance, senior executive must find activities that will help these departments transform their weaknesses into strengths (University of Phoenix, 2010). A successful organization requires management dedication, and implementation plan, and buy-in from all employees (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003). These changes include encouraging team members to make decisions, assign mentors, encouraging ongoing communication and develop a conflict resolution system to address team dynamics. Understanding the potential implications of change within an organization is essential to managing any change proposal. While bringing about important changes in any organization entail a diligent effort on all the liable parties involved. The greatest barrier to change is resistant to change; dealing with and managing this resistance is the key to successfully implementing the change proposal. Anytime a change is encourage within a company and employees are reassign, promoted, or reassigned, cultural, and group dynamics alter are thrown into disequilibrium (Krietner Kinicki, 2003). Unintended cultural shifts within the organization should be used to strengthen the individual commitment to change. The most significant approach for Crys Tel to implement in managing resistance to change is to diminish and remove any forces of change. Communicating change entails promoting the benefits of the proposal to the employees within the organization. In an article titled â€Å"Managing resistance to change,† Philip Atkinson addressed handling objections through persuasive communication: Selecting a model for change Crys Tel Communication had the task of implementing change within the company to enhance contribution, encourage innovation, and improve communication within and between their departments. CrysTel telecommunication understands to remain competitive; the company must understand and be ready to respond to forces of change. â€Å"Organizations come across many diverse forces of change and these forces come from outside sources the organization and from inside sources† (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003, p. 673). Change is an ongoing factor for all companies. With rapid and frequent advances in the telecommunications industry, Crys Tel is likely to face technological changes regularly (University of Phoenix, 2010). â€Å"Forces of change can come from either internal sources such as human resource problems or managerial behavior and decisions or external sources such as demographic characteristics, technology advancements, market changes and social and political pressures† (Kretiner Kinicki, 2003, p. 674-675). Crys Tel has to deal with internal and external forces. Crys Tel telecommunication is preparing to launch a combination of emerging telecommunications technologies to increase its products contributions to keep up with the changing demands of the market. Technological progress is made quickly in the telecommunications industry and Crys Tel has to stay focus on the forces of changes but also look at the target elements of change. â€Å"Target elements of change represent components of an organization that may be changed; change can be directed at realigning arrangements, social factors, methods, goals, and people† (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003, p. 680). CrysTel telecommunication is in the course of restructuring their departments so they will be in a better position to support their company so they will be able to increase company’s current spot in the telecommunication industry. Recent employee satisfaction and climate surveys were used to identify target elements of change. The sales and delivery and marketing department face logistical and internal challenges that could have a negative outcome on the organization. These surveys revealed that Crys Tel has a large risk of resistance to change in the Sales and Marketing departments and several target of elements of change were also identified. The behavior parameter that was identifying in the survey showed what areas the departments were strong in and what areas need improvement. This information will be used to change the weaknesses into strengths in the Marketing and Sales and Delivery departments. Crys Tel is a telecommunication company that must keep up with the newest technological advances if they want to stay competitive and be able to make changes quickly. This means each department must be able to execute its function well individually and collectively as one organization. Crys Tel telecommunications should have a business philosophy that states that each department should be working together to work toward a common goal that will offer support for the individual departments and that each department has the necessary tools and information it needs to be successful. An appropriate change model for Crys Tel telecommunications would be the Lewin’s Change Model. The Lewin’s Change model consists of a three-stage plan to initiate, manage, and stabilize the change process. The stages used in this model are unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003, p. 677). The primary emphasis of the first stage is to create motivation to change by encouraging the individual to change old behaviors and mind-set with those preferred by management (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003, p. 678). Benchmarking lets the company compare itself to other companies and study what techniques have worked best for them. Benchmarking is a technique that Crys Tel can used to accomplish this change. The employee and climate survey identified specific weaknesses in the sales and delivery and marketing departments was management, but the technology departments and human resources showed areas of major strengths. Crys Tel could benchmark the leadership practices of the stronger departments and use related techniques within the weaker departments to increase th e needed changes. The next stage in the model changing that involves learning, employees learn from new information given in a new way of looking at something. Using the benchmarking from stage one, would allow the employees to see directly how successful leaders operate within their own company and receive advice on a regular basis from their peers. This outlook will encourage the sales and delivery and marketing department’s leaders to learn the required concepts to maintain the change process, even when the team experiences resistance. The last stage of the Lewin’ Change Model is Refreezing. The change behavior and attitudes are incorporate during this stage and employees have the chance to exhibit the change behavior and attitudes that follow by positive reinforcement. Additional coaching and modeling can be used to reinforce the desire change (Kreitner-Kinicki, 2003, p. 679). The Lewin’s Change Model is an outline of organizational development that the Crys Tel leadership has used to implement change. One of the techniques used was employee surveys. Another technique used was to initiate activities that would help the Marketing and Sales and Delivery departments change their weakness into strengths. â€Å"Organizational development constitutes a set of procedures or interventions used to implement organizational change† (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003, 682). The plan should address human variables and possible resistance to change. Change is an issue for companies in all industries. Crys Tel telecommunications must accept change and develop contingency plans to handle resistance to change. In an organization a number of changes with the leader and sometimes hurried by shareholders, clients or the needs and personality of the person in charge. Effective and ineffective methods to implementing change, depends on the organizational culture, leaders, and client base (Singel, 2005). Prior to managing resistance to change, Crys Tel telecommunications leadership must first identify why employees resist change. This information will give them a better understanding of why employees act the way they do and will help the leadership to work with individuals employees. A number of reasons people resist change is fear of the unknown or that something may go wrong. Employees fear not being able to implement the change or take part in the change after implementation. Some employees do not see the need to change or may be comfortable and do not want to change. Employees who resist change do not see how they will benefit from the change until it is put into practice. The approach used to manage resistance to change should be based on the organizational structure, culture, power structures, and politics found at Crys Tel telecommunications. Leaders can use different approaches to implement change; one is let the employees know how the change will work for them. Leadership should inform all employees the reason for the changes are being made. A thorough plan that explains to the employees is another strategy that can be used by Crys Tel telecommunication. Crys Tel telecommunication can also set up training to help the employees to learn and understand what is needed to implement the change and be able to ask questions concerning the change. Leadership should be open to suggestions and be available to assist the employees through the change process. Involvement by Crys Tel leadership could help motivate the employees to help with the chan ge process instead of resisting. Successfully selecting the appropriate leadership style that will have the greatest outcome on Crys Tel organizations, the appropriate leadership style will be conventional to a situation or event that can also entail the employment of more than one leadership style at the same time. Three styles of leadership include transformational, charismatic, and transactional. â€Å"Transactional leadership assist companies to accomplish the current goals more proficiently, like connecting job performance to valued rewards and making sure that employees have the resources needed to get the job done† (McShane Von Glinow, 2004, p. 428). Charismatic leadership uses a person’s personality to influence employees. Leaders who possess this style usually are friendly and inspiring. â€Å"Transformational leadership is a leadership perception that clarify how leaders change teams or organizations by developing, corresponding, and planning a vision for the organization or work unit, a nd encouraging employees to strive for that vision† (McShane Von Glinow, 2004, p. 428). Crys Tel must decide which of the three leadership styles to use in the event that the organization decides to implement a major change. Although it would be good to have a combination of all three styles, but the only style that would be most effective in ensuring the success of the change is transformational leadership style. This style would be more beneficial because it gives the employees something to work toward. This style helps give direction to each of the departments. Transactional leadership would not have as much of an affect because the work procedures of the company are not current issues. Charismatic leadership can win employees over but it takes more than personality to the job. The Sales and Delivery and Marketing Departments at Crys Tel have experienced high employee turnover and job dissatisfaction. Crys Tel should think about establishing a program that will encourage employees to set goals, both personal and professional, and set up a reward system for the reaching the goals. Crys Tel telecommunications need to develop an approach to handle the different departments in the organization. Leadership should encourage and encourage all employees to help increase team viability. â€Å"Team viability is defined as the team member satisfaction and continued willingness to contribute† (Kreitner Kinicki, 2003, 451). Every leader has at least one follower. The present leadership industry is develop on the intention that leaders matter a great deal and followers hardly at all (Kellerman, 2007). Emotional labor should be used with each strategy, emotional labor is the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions d uring interpersonal transactions (McShane Von Glinow, 2004, p. 126). Measures to Monitor Change Some measures that can be apply to monitor change at Crys Tel telecommunication; feedback is one measure that can be used to monitor progress at Crys Tel telecommunications. Feedback should come from every employee particularly those impacted by the change. These are the employees who should be capable of telling the leadership if the changes are working and what other areas need improvement. Follow-up is another measure than can be used to monitor the progress of the change. Follow-up would permit management at Crys Tel to see if the change model is working. A third measure that can be use is surveys. Surveys are a good way to receive feedback because employee surveys are employee’s insight and suggestions for improvement and provide the organization with valuable information that can be very helpful to increase satisfaction in the workplace and it also let you know how well the change is working. Future leadership challenges that Crys Tel may face in the next five to ten years deal with change. Changes in leadership are a potential challenge that can happen at any level along with administrative changes. This includes changes in the mission and values and the culture at Crys Tel telecommunications. Another challenge that leaders will face is trying to inspire and motivate their peers and subordinates. A third challenge Crys Tel will face understands culture differences in society and the impact on their employees. This diversity range from gender to race to age to nationality and language; the changing nature of the workforce include people from such diverse backgrounds will require and understanding of cultural differences to better understand and motivate both subordinates and peers. The last challenge Crys Tel will face is keeping a cohesive environment in which everyone is working toward the same goals and objectives. To create a cohesive environment, you must cre ate a buy-in; get the individuals to buy-in; create ownership by asking them suggestions on projects. A cohesive environment increases productivity; improve the organizations bottom-line and improves employee’s morale. Conflict happens in all companies. Conflict creates a challenge in which Crys Tel must take a hands-on approach toward resolving probable issues through conflict management. â€Å"Conflict management is the interventions that change the level, and form of conflict in a way that make the most of its benefits and minimize its dysfunctional consequences† (McShane Von Glinow, 2004, p. 390). The first step would be for the leadership to determine in which conflict started. The six sources of conflict are communication problems, incompatible goals, different values and beliefs, task interdependence, scare resources and ambiguous rules (McShane Von Glinow, 2004, p. 391). With this data, the leadership at Crys Tel can use this information to develop conflict management techniques. Some conflict management techniques can be used to improve performance at Crys Tel telecommunication. The method for Crys Tel to use when faced with conflict is to attempt for a win-win situation wit h employees. â€Å"Win-win orientation is the belief that the parties will find mutually beneficial solution to their disagreement† (McShane Von Glinow, 2004, 394). This method generally causes a boost in employee morale that in turn improves performance. Additional methods to manage conflict include negotiation, avoiding, forcing, yielding, and compromising (McShane and Von Glinow, 2004, p. 396). The method that is used should be based on the type of conflict and the employees involved. The most possible resolution to conflict management would be problem solving. Using a successful current-oriented problem solving and solution development approach allow a leader to identify the right problem, decide upon a wise solution, and avoid many of the derailers of leadership. This approach incorporates objective and intuitive factors (University of Phoenix, 2007). Risk management and follow-up are also need as a part of this process. Conclusion Crys Tel must be ready to implement changes quickly to remain competitive. Major implications of the change at Crys Tel including human behavior implications were identified. Lewin’s Change Model was the appropriate change model selected for Crys Tel communications. The Lewin’s Change Model explains how to initiate, manage, and stabilize the change process (Kreitner Kinicki, 2004, p. 677). A plan that concentrates on human variables and possible resistance to change that was developed to include contingency approaches for manage any resistance. Transformational leadership was the suitable leadership style for effectively implementing the change at Crys Tel telecommunications. Some management and leadership practices that will help add to the accomplishment of the changes recommended included empowering employees, goal-setting and establishing a reward system. Measures to monitor the improvement of the change at Crys Tel telecommunications were feedback, surveys, and follow-up. Three future leadership challenges that Crys Tel telecommunications may face in the next five to ten years were analyzed included leadership, culture, mission, values, and conflict. Crys Tel telecommunications has a great deal to gain by implementing a successful change model. Reference Kellerman, B. (2007). What Every Leader Needs to Know About Followers. Retrieved January 26, 2010 from EBSCOhost database Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. (2004). Organizational Behavior: Group Social Process. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies. McShane, S., Von Glinow, M. (2004). Organizational Behavior. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies. Singel, J. (2005). Changing is inevitable. Retrieved January 26, 2010 from EBSCOhost database University of Phoenix. (2004). Building a Culture for Sustaining Change [Simulation]. Retrieved January 26, 2010 from University of Phoenix, rEsource, MMPBL520-Transformational Leadership Website. University of Phoenix. (2009). Problem Solving Based Scenarios: An Approach to Identify Opportunities to Create Value for the Business. Retrieved January 26, 2010, from https://www.mycampus.phoenix.edu Research Papers on Change Management PlanThe Project Managment Office SystemAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalResearch Process Part OneOpen Architechture a white paperPETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married Males

Bent Pyramid Insight In Egyptian Architectural History

Bent Pyramid Insight In Egyptian Architectural History The Bent Pyramid in Dahshur, Egypt is unique among pyramids: instead of being a perfect pyramid shape, the slope changes about 2/3 of the way to the top. It is also one of five Old Kingdom Pyramids that retain their original form, 4,500 years after their construction. All of them- the Bent and Red Pyramids at Dahshur and the three Pyramids at Giza- were built within a single century. Out of all five, the Bent Pyramid is the best opportunity we have for understanding how architectural techniques of ancient Egypt were developed. Statistics The Bent Pyramid is located near Saqqara, and it was built during the reign of the Old Kingdom Egyptian pharaoh Snefru, sometimes transliterated from the hieroglyphs as Snofru or Sneferu. Snefru ruled Upper and Lower Egypt between 2680-2565 BCE or 2575-2551 BCE, depending on which chronology you use. The Bent Pyramid is 189 meters (620 feet) square at its base and 105 m (345 ft) tall. It has two distinct interior apartments designed and built independently and connected only by a narrow passageway. Entrances to these rooms are located on the north and west faces of the pyramid. It is unknown who was buried inside of the Bent Pyramid- their mummies were stolen in ancient times. Why is it Bent? The pyramid is called bent because of that steep change in slope. To be precise, the lower part of the pyramids outline is angled inward at 54 degrees, 31 minutes, and then at 49 m (165 ft) above the base, the slope abruptly flattens out to 43 degrees, 21 minutes, leaving a distinctively odd shape. Several theories about why the pyramid was made this way were prevalent in Egyptology until recently. They included the premature death of the pharaoh, requiring the speedy completion of the pyramid; or that noises coming from the interior clued the builders into the fact that the angle was not sustainable. To Bend or Not to Bend Archaeoastronomer Juan Antonio Belmonte and engineer Giulio Magli have argued that the Bent Pyramid was built at the same time as the Red Pyramid, a pair of monuments built to celebrate Snefru as the double-king: pharaoh of the Red Crown of the north and the White Crown of the South. Magli, in particular, has argued that the bend was an intentional element of the Bent Pyramids architecture, meant to establish an astronomical alignment appropriate to Snefrus sun cult. The most commonly held theory today is that a comparably sloped pyramid- Meidum, also thought to have been built by Snefru- collapsed while the Bent Pyramid was still under construction, and the architects adjusted their building techniques to make sure the Bent Pyramid would not do the same. A Technological Breakthrough Intentional or not, the Bent Pyramids odd appearance provides insight into the technical and architectural breakthrough it represents in Old Kingdom monument building. The dimensions and weight of the stone blocks are much greater than its predecessors, and the construction technique of the outer casings is quite different. Earlier pyramids were constructed with a central core with no functional distinctions between casing and external layer: the experimenting architects of the Bent Pyramid tried something different. Like the earlier Step Pyramid, the Bent pyramid has a central core with progressively smaller horizontal courses stacked on top of one another. To fill in the external steps and make a smooth-faced triangle, the architects needed to add casing blocks. The Meidum pyramids outer casings were formed by cutting sloped edges on horizontally placed blocks: but that pyramid failed, spectacularly, its outer casings falling off it in a catastrophic landslide as it neared completion. The Bent Pyramids casings were cut as rectangular blocks, but they were laid sloping inward at 17 degrees against the horizontal. That is technically more difficult, but it gives strength and solidity to the building, taking advantage of gravity pulling the mass inward and downward. This technology was invented during the construction: in the 1970s, Kurt Mendelssohn suggested that when Meidum collapsed, the core of the Bent Pyramid was already built to a height of about 50 m (165 ft), so instead of starting from scratch, the builders changed the way the outer casings were constructed. By the time Cheops pyramid at Giza was constructed a few decades later, those architects used improved, better-fitting and better-shaped limestone blocks as casings, permitting that steep and lovely 54-degree angle to survive. A Complex of Buildings In the 1950s, archaeologist  Ahmed Fakhry  discovered that the Bent Pyramid was surrounded by a complex of temples, residential structures and causeways, hidden beneath the shifting sands of the Dahshur plateau. Causeways and orthogonal roads connect the structures: some were built or added on to during the Middle Kingdom, but much of the complex is attributed to the reign of Snefru or his 5th dynasty successors. All later pyramids are also part of complexes, but the Bent Pyramids is one of the earliest examples. The Bent Pyramid complex includes a small upper temple or chapel to the east of the pyramid, a causeway and a valley temple. The Valley Temple is a rectangular 47.5x27.5 m (155.8x90 ft) stone building with an open courtyard and a gallery that probably held six statues of Snefru. Its stone walls are about 2 m (6.5 ft) thick. Residential and Administrative An extensive (34x25 m or 112x82 ft) mud brick structure with much thinner walls (.3-.4 m or 1-1.3 ft) was adjacent to the valley temple, and it was accompanied by round silos and square storage buildings. A garden with some palm trees stood nearby, and a mud-brick enclosure wall surrounded all of it. Based on archaeological remains, this set of buildings served a range of purposes, from domestic and residential to administrative and storage. A total of 42 clay sealing fragments naming fifth dynasty rulers was found in a midden east of the valley temple. South of the Bent pyramid is a smaller pyramid, 30 m (100 ft) high with an overall slope of about 44.5 degrees. The small inner chamber may have held another statue of Snefru, this one to hold the Ka, the symbolic vital spirit of the king. Arguably, the Red Pyramid could be part of the intended Bent Pyramid complex. Built roughly at the same time, the Red Pyramid is the same height, but faced with reddish limestone- scholars surmise that this is the pyramid where Snefru himself was buried, but of course, his mummy was looted long ago. Other features of the complex include a necropolis with Old Kingdom tombs and Middle Kingdom burials, located east of the Red Pyramid. Archaeology and History The primary archaeologist associated with excavations in the 19th century was William Henry Flinders Petrie; and in the 20th century, it was Ahmed Fakhry. Ongoing excavations are being conducted at Dahshur by the German Archaeological Institute at Cairo and the Free University of Berlin. Sources Aboulfotouh, Hossam M. K. Astronomical Algorithms of Egyptian Pyramids Slopes Adn Their Modules Divider. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 15.3 (2015): 225–35. Print.Alexanian, Nicole, and Felix Arnold. The Necropolis of Dahshur: Eleventh Excavation Report Spring 2014. Berlin: German Archaeological Institute and Free University of Berlin, 2014. Print.Alexanian, Nicole, et al. The Necropolis of Dahshur: Fifth Excavation Report Spring 2008. Berlin: German Archaeological Institute and Free University of Berlin, 2008. Print.Belmonte, Juan Antonio, and Giulio Magli. Astronomy, Architecture, and Symbolism: The Global Project of Sneferu at Dahshur. Journal for the History of Astronomy 46.2 (2015): 173–205. Print.MacKenzie, Kenneth J. D., et al. Were the Casing Stones of Senefrus Bent Pyramid in Dahshour Cast or Carved?: Multinuclear Nmr Evidence. Materials Letters 65.2 (2011): 350–52. Print.Magli, Giulio. The Giza ‘Written’ Landscape and the Double Project of King Khufu. Time and Mind 9.1 (2016): 57-74. Print. Mendelssohn, K. A Building Disaster at the Meidum Pyramid. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 59 (1973): 60–71. Print.Moeller, Nadine. The Archaeology of Urbanism in Ancient Egypt from the Predynastic Period to the End of the Middle Kingdom. New York: Camridge University Press, 2016. Print.Mà ¼ller-Rà ¶mer, Frank. A New Consideration of the Construction Methods of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 44 (2008): 113–40. Print.Reader, Colin. On Pyramid Causeways. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 90 (2004): 63–71. Print.Rossi, Corinna. Note on the Pyramidion Found at Dahshur. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 85 (1999): 219–22. Print.

Consumer socialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumer socialization - Essay Example For children, a "gift" is anything they get beyond the basics of food, shelter and tools necessary to perform their studies. They soon recognize specific occasions for receiving gifts, such as their birthday and holidays like Christmas, Easter, and Hanukkah, among others, but continue to seek and receive gifts for other reasons such as good behavior or success in school. Often a gift for good grades is given at the end of the school term. This is all considered "dependent" consumption, as children do not yet have access to their own money to make purchases. Bjurstrom also refers to it as the "gift economy". It is not exclusive to children, of course. Adults use gifts for many reasons, primarily relationship-building and maintenance throughout their lives. (Bjurstrom, 2003.) "Independent" consumption, defined as supporting oneself from one's own income, is a large factor in the transition from childhood to adulthood today. Gender socialization does have an influence on the transition from dependent to independent consumption, while this is diminishing in many countries. Many women, even in developed countries, never fully evolve in their consumer socialization beyond the "gift economy." Their ideal husband is strong and loving, and buys what is needed and wanted without asking questions. The sooner young people of both genders are taught and encouraged to integrate dependent and independent consumption, the more effective consumers they will be. Young people should learn to use money from their allowances, and earnings from household chores, to buy birthday gifts for friends and family members as soon as possible, even if the gifts are small in size and value. This will help them learn to select and purchase, use money wisely, and understand the emotional and relationship impacts of receiving and giving gifts. While the age of young people who are able to practice fully independent consumption is getting later and later in the developed nations, due to the prolonged time they spend in post-secondary education, they are beginning to practice some forms of independent consumption at earlier ages in the 21st century than in the 20th. This is due to factors such as family income, as in many families around the world, both parents now work outside the home and earn income. (Bjurstrom, 2003.) Family income is a critically important factor in a study of consumer socialization in south Asia, based on surveys analyzed by M.F. Sabri, J. Masud, and L. Paim, of the University Putra Malaysia. The survey respondents were college students. The replies were given by 68% female respondents and 32% male. They lived in both rural and urban areas, and came from families with an average of 5 children. Most often they were middle children, rather than the oldest or youngest. This research also demonstrates the consumer socialization influences on these young respondents, aged 17 to 21. These young people were able to be relatively independent consumers due to their family income. Their parents could afford to send them to university and provide them with a generous allowance to use for living expenses. Most of the students lived away from

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 22

Marketing - Essay Example Without a doubt, the theme matches the environment. The audience in this advertisement is athletes, young students, and the adult population who take place in leisure activities. In addition, it also appealed to the â€Å"Sunday warriors,† who are engrossed in sports discussions and love to watch motivational TV advertisements to propagate about their sports. Nike does an excellent job of associating the personality with the product. Nike portrays this value of leadership, hard work, dedication, confidence, will power, and strength. In essence, Nike products are known for their quality and providing the best customer satisfaction. The â€Å"personality† of product is dynamic and possesses a very unique personality. As an athlete, the advertisement at once appeals and catches the sensory images of the audience. The advertisement starts out with an â€Å"image† of a fetus, which at once catches the attention. Then, it slowly transitions to a life cycle of both athletes. The advertisement focused more on the training part of both athletes. One of the best clip is when Troy Polamalu is running through the bleachers in snow. In essence, that portrays his determination to train even in the harshest conditions. Yes, as a matter of fact I tend to use Nike products for various reasons. First, Nike itself is a brand name that is unique in its own aspects. I wear the Nike Underarmour shirts during my workout sessions since they are fitted and give me this illusion of being bigger than I am. Moreover, Nike products are high quality and tend to absorb sweat in such a manner that the odor is not too prevalent. Nike products in my opinion are a top brand and allow individuals to express their personality and style with the variety of selection of products. Undoubtedly, Nike advertisements portray the culture and attitude that Nike embraces and displays to its customer

Express Trust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Express Trust - Essay Example This may also be associated with duty which by the ethical and moral norms of society you must perform. This is even characterized as a higher form of justice and so important to modern human relations that it has been transformed from a purely ethical concept with limited application to a moral norm of society. Every member of society is bound to uphold it and even becomes embodied in laws. Express trusts are "built around concepts of loyalty and good faith" (Hudson 2008). In an express trust there exist a relationship where a person entrusts his or her property to another to keep, preserve and latter to give the same property to another person who is meant to benefit from that property. Moreover "The trustee is one example of a more general concept of English law: the fiduciary. Thus, it is often said that trustees bear 'fiduciary duties'. For our purposes the terms 'trustee' and 'fiduciary' can be read as being synonymous. The fiduciary principle in express trusts is the idea that such trusts have a nature that it is a matter of confidence, good faith, loyalty and legal obligation to the purpose of such trusts. An example of this is when a grandfather entrusts a piece of land to his son which his son will give to the grandson on his 18th birthday. The father, son of the grandfather, has the duty to his father, the grandfather to keep, preserve and maintain the piece of land and later give the land to his son, the grandson. Duties & Powers Question: What are the powers and duties of the settlor What are the powers and duties of a trustee What are the powers and duties of the beneficiary Answer: The settlor is duty bound to make certain that the property that will be put into an express trust is truly owned by him because "the settlor must have had all of the rights in that property, or 'absolute title', before the declaration of the trust". Clearly, one cannot deal with property in which one has no rights: therefore, the settlor must hold all of the rights to be settled on trust before that trust can be declared" (Hudson 2008). The settlor is the original owner of the property involved in the trust. Thus absolute title means that the right to do with the property as he or she pleases regardless of the concern of others or free of implications to other individuals. This includes sell, lease, destroy and even donate. The settlor has absolute power over the property up to when the trust is constituted. Once it begins his direct power over the property is set aside and he is duty bound to give possession of the property to the trustee. "Once the trust is created, the trustee acquires 'legal title' in the trust fund and the beneficiaries acquire the 'equitable interest' (or, sometimes, 'beneficial interest') in the trust fund in accordance with the terms of the trus

Staying on Course to Your Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staying on Course to Your Success - Essay Example As an adopter of ‘on course’ principles, I wish to elaborate the ‘on course’ elements and how they can be incorporated to bring positive results, and thus, success in daily activities and thoughts. For success in one’s education, he or she must be willing to perform the creation role, as opposed to the victimization role. What does this mean? Being a creator implies that one acknowledges and takes responsibility for their course of actions or thoughts. In other words, a person adopts self-responsibility as aforementioned. As an elaboration, ‘on course’s’ self responsibility as an element requires one to perceive the primary causes of their experiences and outcomes as self. This, as opposed to seeing oneself as a victim, helps in guiding the person to focus on ways of changing their course of actions to make their situations better than they currently are. Contrary to victims, creators (the self-responsible ones) do not blame extern al factors like luck, fate, or other powerful individuals as the cause of their predicaments. Applied in education, creators are able to own their dissatisfying academic results, with an optimism of revising more and discussing with their classmates in an attempt to improve their grades. Such students also identify where they could have gone wrong previously to warrant such wanting results, maybe they missed classes, or failed to consult their instructors. The outcome of such self-analysis and meditation results in creators outlining their success activities. Victims, on the other hand, will fault family problems, errors in marking and ex cetera for their diminished performances. It is ones mandate to choose whether they prefer being a creator to being a victim. My advice for those who aspire to be successful is to opt for creator roles. Many successful stories have been linked to positive self-image. This implies that for one to succeed, they must believe in themselves and posses h igh levels of self-esteem. How can this lead to a success story? Positive self-image implies that one perceive themselves worthy as individuals. This has a great impact on their attitude towards life and its challenges thus they are capable of transforming negative situations into positive ones. Often, self-esteem and mastery of self-management go hand in hand. As such, individuals with high self-esteem also know how to plan for their activities geared towards achievement of their dreams and goals. In contrast, people with low self-esteem do not consider themselves worthy individuals; instead, they doubt their personal worth as well as their competence. Such people will always doubt their ability to make their outcomes and experiences desirable, and appear frustrated and depressed. In addition, those with low self-esteem show tendencies of failing to plan effectively for their actions. Consider the cliche that ‘no man is an island’ However outdated it seems, this phrase holds true if success is to be achieved. One must develop interdependence in order to achieve their goals. This is helpful because through sharing, one learns new things, as well as teaches others what they know. As such, interdependence brings mutual benefits that are crucial in the steps towards success. In addition, forming supportive relationships brings with it the satisfaction of helping others with one‘s knowledge. That in itself helps in enhancing self-esteem, in that one will view him or herself capable of creating a positive impact in life.

Exploring the international Business environment Essay

Exploring the international Business environment - Essay Example Scenario planning was first implemented in military intelligence and military strategy studies. Scenario planning involves identifying trends and analyzing their predicted ramifications. Scenario planning helps organizations in implementing strategic investment, regulating hiring strategies and conducting capital planning. Organizations are able to execute scenario-based approaches to planning thereby developing credible solutions to potential challenges (Friedman, 2014). Scenario planning also helps firms to assess potential outcomes before implementation. Scenario planning is also beneficial in categorizing plans according to their short-term or long term feasibility. The paper will examine the demographic and religious forecast of Tajikistan until the year 2030 and the implications on Asian Development Bank’s strategic plan for Central and West Asian developing member countries. The Republic of Tajikistan is an autonomous country located in Central Asia. The country’s administrative, legislative and financial capital is Dushanbe. The country is bordered by Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and China. Up until September 1991 when the country gained independence, Tajikistan was part of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. At 143,100 square kilometres, the country is the smallest nation in Central Asia (CIA, 2015). Tajikistan is landlocked and very mountainous. The country is divided into four provinces: one capital province, one autonomous province and two other provinces. The head of state is the president while the government is led by a prime minister. The Tajikistani legislature comprises of a national assembly and an assembly of representatives. The judiciary implements a civil law system (CIA, 2015). Tajikistan is classified as the poorest country in Central Asia and among former Soviet states. The country’s slow economic growth is attributed to the high levels of corruption, poor governance, political unrest, economic

GNC Corp1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

GNC Corp1 - Essay Example Let us consider the first option that is to hire native Chinese worker into the company. In order to successfully run the operation GNC Corporation will face the issue of cultural differences that exist between America and China. In One survey it has been recognized that cultural differences is the biggest barrier which any company faces while doing business. The management practices of America and China is different. So they need to take into consideration the cultural differences between them to be successful. There is a great difference between China and US with respect to political system, economic system, laws and social values despite the fact that major changes have occurred in China in recent years. China works in a centralized way while US is relatively decentralized. China follows collectivism principle. But in US they follow the principle of individualism. US enterprises have short-term orientation as compared to China’s long-term orientation (Baines 45). . These di fferences in culture greatly affect human behavior and the thinking process, and GNC must provide a platform where people from both the countries can interact on the basis of shared values. These cultural differences will impact the management practices in terms of cooperative strategies, decision making, conflict management, motivation systems and work group characteristics. American managers use open forms when faced with conflicts which are new to Chinese workers as they use assistance from third party. Also Chinese people pay more attention in building social and interpersonal relations. Also for motivating the employees the Chinese follows equity principle which is ignored by the American companies (Ambler 78). But hiring Chinese workers can do a lot of good also for GNC Company. Chinese workers will bring diversity in the business which is required for them to operate in China. They know the local people, what they need and which product will be able to sell most. Also rules a nd regulations that GNC has to follow in Chinese market can be easily followed if there is a presence of Chinese advisors in the company. With such Chinese workers they can reach out to the people in a far effective way. They will direct the strategies which the company needs to take so that their profitability increases. Another strategy that they will employ is to sell their product online, so that they can reach wider consumer base. In China the internet penetration is increasing and it has the second highest internet user base in the world. This opens up avenues of e-commerce base business style. Also the consumer can use the mobile phone as the strategy to reach to new consumers. GNC has to capture Chinese market by reaching out to the Chinese people through the use of their smart phones and digital devices. The rules and regulation of the Chinese government is strict as compared to the US market. They sometimes ban use of social media if they feel like it is a threat to the na tional security. Hence GNC must be careful to implement the online marketing which they will use. They can use Face book, twitter and their local social media sites in China to reach out to wider consumer base. Also telephone marketing is also a way of marketing through which they can use it as a medium to convey about the new products which they are offering to the consumer. Since today

Exploring the international Business environment Essay

Exploring the international Business environment - Essay Example Scenario planning was first implemented in military intelligence and military strategy studies. Scenario planning involves identifying trends and analyzing their predicted ramifications. Scenario planning helps organizations in implementing strategic investment, regulating hiring strategies and conducting capital planning. Organizations are able to execute scenario-based approaches to planning thereby developing credible solutions to potential challenges (Friedman, 2014). Scenario planning also helps firms to assess potential outcomes before implementation. Scenario planning is also beneficial in categorizing plans according to their short-term or long term feasibility. The paper will examine the demographic and religious forecast of Tajikistan until the year 2030 and the implications on Asian Development Bank’s strategic plan for Central and West Asian developing member countries. The Republic of Tajikistan is an autonomous country located in Central Asia. The country’s administrative, legislative and financial capital is Dushanbe. The country is bordered by Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and China. Up until September 1991 when the country gained independence, Tajikistan was part of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. At 143,100 square kilometres, the country is the smallest nation in Central Asia (CIA, 2015). Tajikistan is landlocked and very mountainous. The country is divided into four provinces: one capital province, one autonomous province and two other provinces. The head of state is the president while the government is led by a prime minister. The Tajikistani legislature comprises of a national assembly and an assembly of representatives. The judiciary implements a civil law system (CIA, 2015). Tajikistan is classified as the poorest country in Central Asia and among former Soviet states. The country’s slow economic growth is attributed to the high levels of corruption, poor governance, political unrest, economic

Chronic Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chronic Risk - Essay Example Patterns of gene expressions were then determined using DNA microarrays (Moore, 2003). In all cases there were common responses and different responses. Chromium, nickel and cadmium were found to induce oxidative stress that had unique and similar pathways and genes that responded to the stress. All of them were found to be genotoxic. However, DNA damage was found to occur in chromium responses only. It was found that Nickel resulted to hypoxic response induction and chromatin structure gene induction. It did this by replacing the iron in key proteins (Allan, 2007). On the other hand, Cadmium resulted to genes that were perturbed distinctly. These genes related to stress from the endoplasmic reticulum. It also invoked unfolded protein response and led to apoptosis. It is evident that the only biological process that was perturbed to all these metals is the oxidative stress (Gurjar, 2010). This is an effect that is well of these metals. However, the difference that is very notable is the gene modulation involved in anti-oxidant protein glutathione production. This is as a response to nickel. It is also as a result of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress that is ROS-induced in response to cadmium (Moore, 2003). Moore, C. E. (2003).  The spectra of chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, gallium, germanium, arsenic, selenium, bromine, krypton, rubidium, strontium, yttrium, zirconium, and

The Lord of the Rings Essay Example for Free

The Lord of the Rings Essay The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings follows the story of Frodo as he and a group of friends set off on a quest to destroy the One Ring before its evil creator, the Dark Lord Savron, can get it and use it to obliterate Middle Earth. This film has a huge following of fans, which is probably something to do with how well such a wide variation of themes and genres are included in the storyline of the film. Although it is obviously a fantasy film this is clear from the opening sequence in which the different races of Middle Earth are each given a set of rings it has elements of other genres featured as well. The huge battle scene towards the beginning of the film hints towards an action/adventure aspect whilst the friendship between Frodo and Gandolf shows that the importance of trust and companionship will play a key part in how the plot evolves. The film begins with a womans voice telling the story of how the rings began life and goes onto explain who got the rings. Whilst she is talking, we see the action on screen mirroring her words as well as an ancient map, which points out where in Middle Earth the different races of life live. We are then taken to a panning shot of a huge battle scene in which the keeper of the last remaining ring is defeated. From then on filming follows this one ring as its new owner is ambushed in the forest and the ring drops to the riverbed, then as a creature known as Gollum finds it. This sequence of filming ends when Bilbo Baggins finds the ring. The next shot is in the Shire, sixty years later, and here we watch as Frodo meets up with Gandolf and the two friends take a trip through the village Frodo lives in. The locals are preparing for a party and for a while we are oblivious to who or why they are celebrating. This is until banner reading Happy Birthday Bilbo Baggins is raised between the trees. It is exceptionally important in this film that the setting is explained to the audience. This is because the entire world that the story is played out in is completely fictional. To gain such needed explanation of setting, extreme long shots and panning shots were used during the battle scene, which meant the audience could understand the enormous scale of the battle. During the opening voice over section, a map was shown on screen pointing out where each of the races live, this gave the film more authenticity and almost made the audience feel this was a real place, and these creatures were real creatures, which was essential if the film wanted to capture the audiences imagination.

The Portrayal of Women in the Media Essay -- Advertisements Advertisin

The Portrayal of Women in the Media Redbook magazine are devoted to selling products ranging from shoes to shampoo. The entire magazine only has only 210 pages. Approximately 6-8 min of every half hour television show is produced by ad agencies. Americans are bombarded with advertisements. We see them everyday in many different forms and through different mediums. Advertisers study America’s population through a systematic breakdown and analysis of our likes and dislikes in relation to our differences. These differences include gender, sexual orientation, economic status, location, race, ethnicity, and more. Advertisers have substantial knowledge of what appeals to each of these demographics and how these demographics will respond to different stimuli (i.e. visual audio, ect.) as well as where the advertising will be most effective. In other words, advertisers find it more beneficial to target specific audiences (Furnham; Mak, 1999). One of the central audiences that advertisers focus their attention on is women. Being such a large part of society, American women are targeted along with every other group. Ads placed where women are most likely to see them are custom tailored for women. Studies give ad agencies an accurate idea of what it is that they need to show women in order to get them to buy their product and their brand. If these ads can improve a woman’s mood her increased euphoria will subliminally be linked with the stimulus (the ad). This will, in turn, have a positive effect on their attitudes toward the product and brand (Simpson; Horton, 1996). There are several strategies that are popular in both television and magazines, many of which involve images of men. Advertisers use images of men by themselves or in a variety of positions and settings to appeal to women. By far, the most common image of men in advertising is of that of the â€Å"young, white, able-bodied, and staunchly heterosex ual† man (Jackson, 1994). The vast amount companies spend to advertise is proof in itself; these ads sell products. It should be noted that all television commercials analyzed in this paper come from the Lifetime network between 1pm and 3pm. The slogan of this network is â€Å"Lifetime: Television for Women†. Basic Gender Differences Studies involving both normal and brain damaged individuals have shown associations between gender and neuralgic activity... ...Dennis A.; Cornish, Ian M. â€Å"Conservatism and Gender in the Perception of Sex-Roles in Television Advertisements†. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1993, Vol. 77, p642. Melvin, Thomas E.; Treiber, Linda A. â€Å"Race, Gender, and Status: A Content Analysis of Print Advertisements in Four Popular Magazines†. Sociological Spectrum. Jul-Sep 2000, Vol. 20, Issue 3, p357. Meyers-Levy, Joan. â€Å"Gender Differences in Cortical Organization: Social and Biochemical Antecedents and Advertising Consequences†. Ed. Eddie M. Clark et al. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994. Prakash, Ved. â€Å"Sex Roles and Advertising Preferences†. Journal of Advertising Research. May/Jun 1992, Vol. 32, Issue 3, p43. Simpson, Penny M.; Horton, Steve. â€Å"Male Nudity in Advertisements: A modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product Effects†. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Summer 1996, Vol. 24, Issue 3, p257. Stern, Barbara B.; Holbrook, Morris B. â€Å"Gender and Genre in the Interpretation of Advertising Text†. Gender Issues and Consumer Behavior. Ed. Janeen Arnold Costa. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1994. Sutherland, Max. Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer. St. Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1993. The Portrayal of Women in the Media Essay -- Advertisements Advertisin The Portrayal of Women in the Media Redbook magazine are devoted to selling products ranging from shoes to shampoo. The entire magazine only has only 210 pages. Approximately 6-8 min of every half hour television show is produced by ad agencies. Americans are bombarded with advertisements. We see them everyday in many different forms and through different mediums. Advertisers study America’s population through a systematic breakdown and analysis of our likes and dislikes in relation to our differences. These differences include gender, sexual orientation, economic status, location, race, ethnicity, and more. Advertisers have substantial knowledge of what appeals to each of these demographics and how these demographics will respond to different stimuli (i.e. visual audio, ect.) as well as where the advertising will be most effective. In other words, advertisers find it more beneficial to target specific audiences (Furnham; Mak, 1999). One of the central audiences that advertisers focus their attention on is women. Being such a large part of society, American women are targeted along with every other group. Ads placed where women are most likely to see them are custom tailored for women. Studies give ad agencies an accurate idea of what it is that they need to show women in order to get them to buy their product and their brand. If these ads can improve a woman’s mood her increased euphoria will subliminally be linked with the stimulus (the ad). This will, in turn, have a positive effect on their attitudes toward the product and brand (Simpson; Horton, 1996). There are several strategies that are popular in both television and magazines, many of which involve images of men. Advertisers use images of men by themselves or in a variety of positions and settings to appeal to women. By far, the most common image of men in advertising is of that of the â€Å"young, white, able-bodied, and staunchly heterosex ual† man (Jackson, 1994). The vast amount companies spend to advertise is proof in itself; these ads sell products. It should be noted that all television commercials analyzed in this paper come from the Lifetime network between 1pm and 3pm. The slogan of this network is â€Å"Lifetime: Television for Women†. Basic Gender Differences Studies involving both normal and brain damaged individuals have shown associations between gender and neuralgic activity... ...Dennis A.; Cornish, Ian M. â€Å"Conservatism and Gender in the Perception of Sex-Roles in Television Advertisements†. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1993, Vol. 77, p642. Melvin, Thomas E.; Treiber, Linda A. â€Å"Race, Gender, and Status: A Content Analysis of Print Advertisements in Four Popular Magazines†. Sociological Spectrum. Jul-Sep 2000, Vol. 20, Issue 3, p357. Meyers-Levy, Joan. â€Å"Gender Differences in Cortical Organization: Social and Biochemical Antecedents and Advertising Consequences†. Ed. Eddie M. Clark et al. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994. Prakash, Ved. â€Å"Sex Roles and Advertising Preferences†. Journal of Advertising Research. May/Jun 1992, Vol. 32, Issue 3, p43. Simpson, Penny M.; Horton, Steve. â€Å"Male Nudity in Advertisements: A modified Replication and Extension of Gender and Product Effects†. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Summer 1996, Vol. 24, Issue 3, p257. Stern, Barbara B.; Holbrook, Morris B. â€Å"Gender and Genre in the Interpretation of Advertising Text†. Gender Issues and Consumer Behavior. Ed. Janeen Arnold Costa. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1994. Sutherland, Max. Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer. St. Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1993.

On Liberty Essay examples -- essays research papers

Analysis & Critique of J.S. Mill's On Liberty The perception of liberty has been an issue that has bewildered the human race for a long time. It seems with every aspiring leader comes a new definition of liberty, some more realistic than others. We have seen, though, that some tend to have a grasp of what true liberty is. One of these scholars was the English philosopher and economist J.S. Mill. Mill's On Liberty provided a great example of what, in his opinion, liberty is and how it is to be protected. In this essay we will examine Mill's ideals concerning liberty and point out a few things he may not have been realistic about. For Mill, liberty is defined by, "the nature and limits of the power of which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual." Mill's stance is that society can step in only when the action of the individual causes harm to others. Interference for any other reason is unwarranted and only hinders the development of society as a whole. When these liberties are preserved the end result is freedom, and true freedom, according to Mill, is pursuing one's own good in which ever way they deem fit, so long as it doesn't bring harm to others. And here in lies the problem, It is human nature to believe that you are right and the other is wrong. This concept, which seems to be hard wired into all of us, leads to the disapproval, which leads to anger, which in turn leads to suppression. This is the one thing that must be avoided. Across history there are examples of government, or society, stifling the voice of opposition. Though we may think we are right, that doesn 't give us the right to keep others from expressing their own opinions and ideas. To take away an individual's ability to think and feel for itself is to rob them of the greatest part of being alive. Along with that you are robbing yourself of the knowledge that they posses, which is retarding your growth as a person. According to Mill, we dare not quiet the voice of opposition for there is a good chance that that voice is correct. The truths of life are an ever evolving concept. Things that were thought to be true have falling time and time again, and if we are honestly trying to find out these truths we must listen and argue every ... ...t would be structured like, with the three branches and currency. Mill has more of an ideal that he would like to project onto a society. Both believe a government's priority is to protect the freedom of its citizens, and if it does not accomplish this then it is the populations duty to relieve it of its power. I myself agree with a lot of what Mill says. We do need to let people express themselves even when what they say and do angers us. For what we say and do my anger them just the same, and no one would like to be silenced. Tolerance is a virtue that we all need in our everyday lives. But the problem is implementing this into a society that preaches free speech, but doesn't always back it up. People here don't want to hear those who oppose. Though we don't directly stifle their voice, we don't take the time to hear what they have to say. Now isn't that in the same ballpark as suppressing someone's ideas, not taking the time to hear the ideas and to form educated opinions of them. "If a tree fall in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Wouldn't that same thing apply to someone talking and nobody listening?

Ebonics and Education Essay

A Persuasive Research Paper on the Why Education Should Pave Way for Ebonics All a person needs to do is turn on the television or browse the Internet to see the proof that there are very important changes in the society. Among those changes is how the use of language increased and how its forms have greatly grown. With much slang, dialects and language transformation and combinations, the number of languages all over the world and not just in the United States, have significantly grown larger and bigger. However, the question of whether this continuous dynamic change in languages is for the better remains to be seen. This is because, though languages have changed and grown, problems caused by miscommunication and misunderstandings are still rampant and present. Although language and all its combinations with other languages aimed to bridge the gap between nations and cultures, different people with different origins and speech are still unable to bridge that gap. There are still many issues concerning the cropping up and usage of new languages. Most common among those is the problem that languages which are combined or which undergo a linguistic blend tends to be disruptive of formal, correct and grammatical language. A simple example would be those music videos which feature artists that combine and contract structure of words to make the song more likeable or even more attuned to the rhythm of the song. However, this has a negative effect as people, most especially young adults and children, become familiar with such language usage to the point that they begin to emulate them. Such debate has long been the topic in educational boards and institutions of whether they should correct and put stop to such language usage or encourage such exchange of words since clearly, the young are affected. In fact, Ebonics or Black English or African American English has become such a heated topic when it was quite obvious that there is a problem among the academics of African American students because they have such low grades and low performance levels that could be attributed to the usage of Ebonics. Many people sided against and for the encouragement of Ebonics. Study after study ensued to prove that Ebonics was an important and integral part of the many pupils and students since that is the language they actually use while others also discouraged its usage. Through this paper, it can be argued that Ebonics is not a mere slang which African American students can do without and that it is not something which should be corrected just because it is seen as ungrammatical. Instead, what the educational boards and institutions should do is cater to their learners and use Ebonics to implement knowledge transfer among their pupils and students and eventually make them learn and use Standard English. Ebonics is formally known as African American English or AAE according to the Center for Applied Linguistics (n. p. ). It is a kind of sociolect or social dialect where it is often used by people who are of African American origins in particular surroundings or situations. The difference of Ebonics with American English is its structure wherein African dialects and sounds are combined, blended, mixed with American English. American English is also sometimes contracted with African dialects or sounds to be inserted within the contractions. Such example is presented by John R. Rickford in his discussion of Ebonics as presented in the Website of the Stanford University. In the example, Rickford uses a simple sentence which is grammatically correct: â€Å"I asked Alvin if he could go† (n. p. ). He then conveys the example to a student known to use Ebonics and the student gives his own version of the sentence: â€Å"I as’ Alvin could he–could he go† (Rickford, n. p. ). Ebonics is not the mere transformation of structure of words to ungrammatically correct versions. In fact, though not completely grammatically acceptable, Ebonics is still considered a structured and coherent dialect. As what the Center for Applied Linguistics or CAL states, â€Å"AAE (or Ebonics) is a regular, systematic language variety that contrasts with other dialects in terms of its grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary† (n. p. ). Thus, Ebonics is not wrong or incorrect, it is merely different and a contradiction with other languages, in this case, the language of American English or Standard English. The origin of Ebonics is unclear but the origins of why it became a topic of heated arguments and debate is quite known. Because nations cater to other nations, and migration and immigration (and even simple leisure travel) are inevitable, it is also natural that the language which people of different cultures use would also be transferred and assimilated by other people with other languages. According to Ladonna Lewis Rush’s argumentative paper on the Ebonics debate titled The Ebonics Debate, the origins of Ebonics can be explained by Smitherman who wrote in Talking and Testifyin: Black English and the Black Experience that: Black English contains elements of Standard English, elements of West African languages, and elements unique to African-Americans. The structure of speech in Ebonics can be analyzed and related to African language structures as well as to the black experience in America. (as cited by Rush, n. p. ) Thus, Ebonic came about because the African Americans needed the language which they could adapt to and use while in America who used American English for their communication. Like what the CAL stated, Smitherman and Rush also believe that Ebonics is not mere slang which is featured and used by African American music artists but it is considered as a distinct dialect all on its own. The concept of Ebonics must have been unknown to most people before the year 1996 but because of a certain state in America, Ebonics and everything related to the dialect and term suddenly exploded to the point that it became a topic of debate. According to Tracey L. Weldon in her write up titled Reflections on the Ebonics Controversy which appeared in American Speech, the Oakland Unified School District in California passed a resolution on the month of December year 2006 that â€Å"recognized the legitimacy of Ebonics† and it called â€Å"for teachers in the district to be better educated about the rules governing the variety (Ebonics)† with the aim that the teachers would be able to improve â€Å"the teaching of standard English to Ebonics speakers† (275). The issue sparked up debate after debate because linguists approved the resolution stating it was correct and adequate while Ebonics speakers and family members of African American origins complained that it was an obvious tactic of discrimination and identification of who were the students that does not have the ability to speak the â€Å"proper English† (Weldon 276). Ebonics and the usage of the dialect is quite obvious in the society as it can be heard from people in most social gatherings, informal meetings and even in the media. According to Rickford, many terms and structures in Ebonics are used by common people because of what they have learned from â€Å"rap, hip hop† and other means of â€Å"popular Black culture† (n. p. ). As what Rickford uses to describe this massive usage of Ebonics in popular Black culture, it becomes â€Å"an icon of youth culture itself† wherein young African Americans are immediately identified as being users of Ebonics. Since Ebonics is a mere means of communication among African Americans, then it should not be a great deal of a problem. However, unfortunately, the usage of the sociolect has become increasingly an issue most especially in educational institutions wherein grammatically correct and linguistically sound structure and vocabulary should be used and encouraged. Rush points out the case why Ebonics has become a problem among pupils and students in schools and this is because they manage to have poor academic standing and it was revealed that because of this dialect that the students have such appalling results. Rush writes in her paper that â€Å"language skills are directly related to success in academics† (n. p. ). This is obviously true since language is used to communicate and interact with other people. Poor language skills or inability to produce and understand the language would make it for one’s self and for other people to have a clear conversation and communication. It is also Rush who pointed out that African American students have a high rate of being suspended (around 80%) and that the students are â€Å"lagging behind in measures of academic success† (n. p. ). There was also an article which appeared on NEA Today that interviewed Lisa Delpit who is a professor an author that focused on Ebonics. In the interview, Delpit mentioned the reason why Ebonics is important and why the resolution passed by the school district was commendable: Most of the African-American children in Oakland were performing miserably. But one school, the Prescott School, consistently performed near the top of the district. Its students were all low-income African-American children. And it adopted a program called the Standard English Proficiency, which uses the children’s home language and culture to teach them Standard English. (17). If Ebonics will be used to relate to the students and slowly pave their learning for Standard English, then there is a high possibility that African Americans’ percentage of academically challenged students would significantly decrease. The question then is how does one go on solving such problem to ensure a fool proof way of solving the issue? This of course lies with the educational board and teachers. Teachers in formal schools teach Standard English because it something which society and the rest of the English speakers use. There is no problem with using Ebonics if it is outside professional and academic grounds; it is after all part of the African American culture. However, Standard English should be the language that is encouraged by the teachers to be used by their students because it would help them in the long run. Based on different discussions on the resolution passed by the school district of Oakland, the debate on whether Ebonics should be studied by the district’s teachers and used to pave the way to teach Standard English should not even be a topic of debate. This is because the debate started because of a mere misunderstanding about the resolution, another proof that language does not only bridge gaps it also creates them, when people saw Standard English as the only form of English that linguists identified as â€Å"proper English†. Linguistically speaking, there is indeed a Standard English as what Weldon has stated but the term â€Å"proper English† is incorrect since there is no wrong or right English. If it can be remembered, Ebonics is even identified as being a dialect that is structured thus, it is very much acceptable. In conclusion, the issue that Ebonics be used to gap and slowly push the learners toward Standard English (as aimed by the resolution) is created by the definition and need of the Standard English. Standard English is not the only English nor is it the only form of the language which is encouraged to be used; instead, Standard English is something which is needed to make all forms of English languages coherent and uniform in the sense that there would be no linguistically and communicatively wrongly structured words. It is the same case of having a one school uniform designated to students of a school to identify who are the members of that school or the generally approved legal age for drinking or voting or driving. There is a common factor which envelopes the entities of a school, a state or a nation. Standard English therefore is needed by the Ebonics speakers if they are desirous of being successful in society which is also the language used by the many. Ebonics is not slang, wrong nor should it be discouraged. However, the Ebonics speakers should be able to understand that learning the Standard English is important since it would make them socially adept at communicating with other people. With all the turmoil and misunderstandings that society is currently under, it needs all the unity and harmony it can get—even if it just comes from having a language they can all understand and speak. Works Cited â€Å"A New Take on Ebonics and Teaching. † NEA Today 17. 2 (1998): 17. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 26 July 2010. Center for Applied Linguistics. 2010. â€Å"Dialects – African American English†. Cal. org. Web. 26 July 2010. Rickford, John R. 1996. â€Å"Ebonics Notes and Discussion†. Stanford. edu. Web. 26 July 2010. Rush, Ladonna Lewis. â€Å"The Ebonics Debate†. Princeton. edu. College of Wooster. 1997. Web. 26 July 2010. Weldon, Tracey L. â€Å"Reflections on the Ebonics Controversy†. American Speech 75. 3 ( 2000): 275-277. Project MUSE. Web. 26 July 2010.