Monday, September 30, 2019
The Explosion Of Hiv/Aids Cases In District Of Columbia
The HIV/AIDS scourge in the District of Columbia posses a key public health challenge. Though momentous strides in the diagnosis, treatment as well as the survival of those who are living with the disease have taken place within the locality and nationally at large, the District still remains one of the cities with the highest number of persons infected with the killer disease in the U.S.The reports contain information about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS within the District of Columbia. Various statistics about different cases of the occurrence of the pandemic have been outlined.The report extensively talks about what needs to be done to put the situation under control. A combined responsibility is required from all the relevant stakeholders are the key to the success against the dreaded illness.HIV/AIDS explosion in the District of Columbia                                                                                                  IntroductionThe Columbian District has the highest number of people affected by the AIDS pandemic in the United States. The rate can be compared to the sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS cases reported in the year 2002 within the District was 162.4 per every 100,000 people compared to just 14.8 per 100,000 for the whole of U.S.In a local study about the cases of AIDS that were reported in 2001, when the District of Columbia was compared with other cities with population which is greater than 500,000, the result was that it recorded the highest rate of 119 cases for every 100,000 people. This was when all the cities were included. The figure represented the highest rate to have been recorded in 2004 (Bureau of Surveillance 2007). Review of the LiteratureBas ing on the Annual Report released by the District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology in October 2007, nearly 70% of all the cases concerning AIDS between 1997 and 2006 progressed form HIV and AIDS within a period of less than 12 months immediately after the diagnosis of the first HIV, mainly because of late testing, in comparison to 39% nationally.The population of African Americans in the whole District is around 57percent but they account for over 81 percent of the recent reports about HIV cases. And though the African-American females are 58% of the population of female in the District, they represent 90% of the current female cases of HIV.The principal mode of transmission is heterosexual contact at 38% of the reported infections. Nationally, men who get engaged in sexual activities with other men lead in the transmission of the deadly disease.According to the study in the American magazine of public Health (2008), within the whole nation, the rate of HIV among the blacks who are non-Hispanic and are between 19 and 24 is twenty times higher than the young U.S. adults.AIDS wave continues to be the principal cause of death especially for the Black women who are aged between 24 and 34; the Black youths represent over 56 percent of the current HIV/AIDS cases amongst youth in America (Silvestre 2008).To add on that, almost 50 percent of the black men who are gay within the United States are likely to have been infected with the disease. And regardless of all the alarming statistics, it was only recently that disease was treated as a solemn crisis in the District of Columbia. Initially, it was long ignored by the politicians, government agencies, the press and the whole community. Given the fact that the treatments have immensely improved in the past decade, people infected with the lethal disease are regularly finding that the disease is manageable. As a result, quite a number of people are not open about their HIV status and do not have strategies to save th eir lives as well as the lives of their loved ones.Nonetheless, the is escalating at a higher rate. The demands in the private and public healthcare systems are bound to continue increasing. It is therefore, the requirement of the government to get more serious about the shortage and forge ways of solving it.The participation of the community is the primary key to improving the response of the District to the AIDS pandemic. The planning bodies such as Avoidance Planning Group, the AIDS Task Force of the Mayor, and the HIV Wellbeing Service Planning Council should try as much as possible to publish their meetings together with minutes on the HAA website so that they are accessed by the majority people.As a result, information will be provided to a large number of persons therefore creating awareness. To add on that, stronger efforts should be applied in the appointment of the community members to the bodies. The community members should not be part of the board members, the emplo yees or the consultants of the group that is provided with funds. The present conflict-of-interest provisions, for instance in the Ryan White Care Act need to be enforced.Challenges at HAAHIV supervision has been changed to names reporting system. However, enhanced protections for privacy are required. The District of Columbia gave up on various Unique Identifiers that were made use of to protect the privacy of the people after their involvement was forced by the federal government.Reauthorization Act of Ryan White currently bases the allocation of funds on HIV and AIDS instances. Nevertheless, the states, the District included, should report both HIV and AIDS occurrences to the CDC using exclusive identifiers.The names-reporting system for reporting the cases of HIV creates a de facto life span registry that requires a stronger protection for privacy compared to the current one. The laws about medical privacy do not allow for the private right of action.There is also no penalty bas ed on individual level for the government employees who goes contrary to the expectations of the law. Any form of penalty is aid by the government of the District of Columbia, and this takes place only if the government decides to sue itself. It is for this reason that the stronger laws are seriously required
B.F. Skinner Theories of Language Development
language development is an important aspect of children's early development as it enhances the sense of belonging, develops confidence, gives them autonomy and independence as they start to grow. Also, it helps them to communicate, interact and associate with others in the society and therefore meet the need of the required cultural customs of the regions they live in. According to B. F Skinner theories, this development is strongly dependent on the environment of the child existence with learning and reinforcement forming the core aspect of this early development (William & Ferguson, 2001).His theories indicate that new skills are attained either through operant or classical conditioning to the child thereby deepening the effects that these conditions have on the immediate environment of the child. Responses that are positively reinforced are easily repeated while those that are punished recur less often in the child language and response development (David & Carl, 2004). Although s kinner's theories are seen to take less consideration of the inherent ability of the child to develop language to itself, they have been effectively applied to many children all over the world.Consequent researches indicate that the immediate environment plays the main role in a child's language development which is the key to future success at all times. Autistic children have difficulties in understanding the language, learning how to interact with others and may be characterized by unusual repetitive movements. Skimmer theories require that stimulation is used on these children for their language development to improve. Autistic children training through positive and negative reinforcement have indicated improved levels of comprehension to their responses and sound development.Early stages operant conditioning As skinner theories suggest, language deficient autistic children requires more attention from their early stages of development compared to others. The family members and the mothers especially must dedicate high attention to them with the aim of assisting their language development (William & Ferguson, 2001). During the crying and cooing stage, it is hard to establish the children that are autisic but keen mothers can be able to tell if their children are deficient.Caregivers therefore, must assess and try to understand the child for early assistance to be availed thereby reducing late language development. The basic communication essence of the baby may be different and the mother must adopt the correct rhythm to understand the child and making it comfortable. David & Carl (2004) notes that, crying changes with age as the child progresses while cooing starts at the age of six months. The voluntary behavior at this stage is therefore highly improved with the child being able to associate with specific aspects and people.Delayed presentation and early generalization should be slowly adopted by the mother and the immediate early caregivers to the chil d (William & Ferguson, 2001). Use of negative and positive reinforcement William & Ferguson (2001) argues that immediately after babbling, the parents and the caregivers should have fully understood the child status and then subject him to specific stimulus related to the most recurrent events like eating, suckling and his immediate people familiar to him.Teachers and caregivers should reduce the number of words and also minimize the rate of introduction of new words to the child. Increased personalized attention must be encouraged for the child to comprehend the new establishment necessary for his language development. Reinforcing stimulus should also be associated with the duration of time the child is taking to understand different aspects of the language (Wilma & Pauline, 2000). Negative reinforcement increases the concentration for the child and reduces his unresponsiveness to different aspects relating to his requirements.The child easily identifies with the environment he is based in and with advanced reinforcement, he may be able to increase his ability to identify more people apart from his mother. Besides, positive reinforcement should also be slowly introduced with care to gauge the child responsiveness to the different stimulus that relate to his immediate surrounding (David & Carl, 2004). Generalization and follow up. Children acquire the linguistic competences when they have access to languages environment either at home, school or playing with other children.The cultural organized activities serve as acquisition support system for the autisic child (Jeanine & Tony, 2007). Community and early childhood supporters must start from the general aspect of the child to the specific understanding where the child can be able to communicate freely with the rest of the people. They act as the mediators to the child language where self regulation based on the observed feedback is used to determine the progress (Wilma & Pauline, 2000).Though the phonology of the child may take longer compared to other children, pronunciation, intonation and rules for combining syllables consequently develop with this assistance. Others may have more difficulty with the semantics especially for combined sentences. As indicated earlier, the efforts should be based on the basis of the immediate environment and more reinforcement emphasized for faster development. The motherese assistance should be extended even after the babies have exceeded the age for intensive care and support from the mother and the caregivers.Training and assessment. According to William & Ferguson (2001), autisic children requires more assistance through training for their language to fully develop and be able to communicate comfortably with others. The child having grown and being attended to by his teachers, the extended mands are important for the child to achieve higher levels of understanding during it's later development. The teachers therefore, must comprehend the child condi tion and increase the personal assistance in the quest for this development.Assessment at this stage assist the caregivers and the trainers to understand the level of the child response in relation to different aspects that surround him. To add to that, reinforcement should be heightened to raise the child response and intrigue it's ability for better comprehension. Turn about strategy should be employed especially for the children with severe autisic conditions. The subjects should be changed for the child to comprehend issues and language commands.Playing mode should be increased to assist the child to easily comprehend interconnections between personality, emotions and other requirements of interaction in the society faster (Jeanine & Tony, 2007). Behavior modification. Advancements are attained with the child's mental development with time and therefore, the caregivers and the society should increase the call for behavior modification in the child response and language progress. Previously, negative reinforcement are employed with punishment being associated to the wrong actions.Modification calls for shift in the application of the reinforcement mode for the children where good actions are encouraged through positive reinforcement that are healthier by providing the child with appropriate behavioral guidelines. This method benefits the child and the parents as well as the society where the impacts related to the children behavior are positive. Autisic children respond faster and positively to the positive behavioral modifications application and may serve to increase their ability to fully develop their language (David & Carl, 2004).People in the immediate surrounding of the child, must however conform to the positive reinforcement method to reduce confusion to the child. Jeanine & Tony (2007) notes that, new ideologies and language aspects are been easy to learn for the child at this stage due to changes in the approach mode and application of the positi ve reinforcement. However, skinner theories do not address clearly how deprivation is related to reinforcement in the child language development especially for the children with language learning disabilities.Identification of these reinforcement have lacked the the accuracy and completeness which establishes the beginning and the exact ending period of the process. Also, reinforcement should include simplistic and widely applicable procedures with the autisic children requiring specific directional and circumstantial application of the theories (Wilma & Pauline, 2000). Conclusion. As supported by the paper, application of the Skinner's theories is highly effective for the autisic children in developing their language for their communication and easier relationship with the society.Through understanding of the process, the immediate caregivers of the child must assist the autisic child to develop the language faster. The child entirely depends on them and the society in the latter y ears for language and other physical development. Assistance to the child must be extended to the immediate teachers who handle the child and the change of negative reenforcement to the positive one (William & Ferguson, 2001). Environment of the child especially the immediate children, caregivers and the society are required to offer maximum support to the child for better and faster development of his language.Finally, Cooperation of the people in the society is ac core part of the language development and their participation is of great importance for these children to develop their language with ease. References. David, P. & Carl, C. (2004). Behavior Analysis and Learning. Washington. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Jeanine, M. & Tony, D. (2007). Models of Teaching: Connecting Student Learning with Standards. New York. Sage. William, T. & Ferguson, K. (2001). The Psychology of B. F. Skinner. New York: Sage. Wilma, V. & Pauline , L. (2000). Handbook on Child Development. New York. Th omson Learning Nelson.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Mirror mirror on the wall-cultures consequences in a value test of its own design Essay
The paper offers a critical reading of Geert Hofstede’s (1980) Culture’s Consequences using an analytical strategy where the book is mirrored against itself and analyzed in terms of its own proposed value dimensions. â€Å"Mirroring†unravels the book’s normative viewpoint and political subtext and exposes discursive interests in its research process. Making all this evident in the canonical book’s own terms, this paper communicates critical concerns across paradigm boundaries. It indicates the need to reconsider concepts and convictions that predominate cross-cultural research and to adopt norms of reflexivity that transcend existing notions of â€Å"cultural relativism.†Globalization, there seems to be a need to further these attempts at reevaluating its foundations. To a great extent, the knowledge produced in this field is still firmly rooted in the orthodoxy of functionalist, â€Å"normal†scienceâ€â€its positivist epistemology and objectivist rhetoric (see Burrell & Morgan, 1979). While there are a few interpretive, emically oriented case studies (e.g., Ahrens, 1996; Brannen, 2004), these generally remain a marginalized pursuit (MarschanPiekkari & Welch, 2004); studies are usually nomothetic and quantitative, with researchers posing themselves as discoverers of universal regularities and systematic causal relationships. Cultural relativism, when admitted, is seen to relate to the scientistâ€â€not to science Itselfâ€â€and is accordingly â€Å"corrected†by rituals of confession, (rare) attempts to create crosscultural research teams, or various â€Å"bias control†techniques. In this vein, international management thought is evolving into quite a large body of thought one that, despite its name, underrepresents many regions of the world in terms of authorship and topics of analysis (Kirkman & Law, 2005). Moreover, like other managerial disciplines that aspire to shape actual workplaces, its influence extends into the world of practice as well.  The book indeed entailed various substantive contributions. Apparently, as globalization progressed into the 1980s, crossing traditional boundaries, national culture could no longer be disregarded. What until then constituted a beast too â€Å"soft†or vague for the positivist epistemology of â€Å"normal†science became a focus of much interest. Hofstede, it can be said, tamed the beast he divided it, counted it, tabled it, and graphed it. â€Å"Culture†was reduced to â€Å"values,†which were reduced to a limited set of questions on an IBM questionnaire. â€Å"National society†was reduced to â€Å"middle class rather than the working class†(1980: 56), which was reduced to IBM personnel from the marketing and service divisions. Answers were quantified, computerized, â€Å"statisticalized.†Things cultural could finally be said in â€Å"scientific†language. October Subsequently, the book promoted sensitivity to cultural diversity at the workplace (and beyond it). In addition, it undermined the widespread assumption that American management knowledge is universal and thus easily transferable across cultures, and challenged psychology’s long-standing refusal to acknowledge the relevance of culture as anything but an external variable (see Joseph, Reddy, & Searle-Chatterjee, 1990: 21; Triandis, 2004). Culture, Hofstede claimed, is a â€Å"mental programming†instilled in people’s mindsâ€â€an internal variable, shaping behavior from the inside out. Thus, for organizational practice, management theory, and psychology, national culture is relevant; it does count. And as far as the scientific community of his time was concerned, he had the right numbers to prove it. There were, however, very serious critiques from the outset (e.g., Baskerville, 2003; Eckhardt, 2002; Harrison & McKinnon, 1999; Kitayama, 2002; Merker, 1982; Robinson, 1983; Schooler, 1983; Singh, 1990). In what appears to be one of the most damning critiques of the book, McSweeney claimed that â€Å"the on-going unquestioning acceptance of Hofstede’s national culture research by his evangelized entourage suggests that in parts of the management disciplines the criteria for acceptable evidence are far too loose†. Hofstede never failed to respond to the ongoing stream of criticism, defended his methodological decisions, and clarified the study’s claims and implications (e.g., 1990, 2001, especially p. 73). The debate that evolved was extensive, but it generally focused on a single question: Does Hofstede â€Å"really†capture â€Å"feminine-in-management†meets â€Å"globalization.†Business Horizons, 36(2): 71– 81. Calas, M. B., & Smircich, L. 1999. Past postmodernism? Re ´ flections and tentative directions. Academy of Management Review, 24: 649 – 671. Chandy, P. R., & Williams, T. G. E. 1994. The impact of journals and authors on international business. Journal of International Business Studies, 25: 715–728. Clegg, S. R., & Hardy, C. 1999. Introduction. In S. R. Clegg & C. Hardy (Eds.), Studying organization: Theory & method: 1–22. London: Sage. Cooper, R. 1989. Modernism, post modernism and organizational analysis 3: The contribution of Jacques Derrida. Organization Studies, 10: 479 –502. Cooper, R., Burrell, G. 1988. Modernism, postmodernism and organizational analysis: An introduction. Organization Studies, 9: 91–112. October Foucault, M. 1972. The archaeology of knowledge. (Translated by A. M. S. Smith.) New York: Pantheon. Foucault, M. 1977. Language, counter-memory, practice: Selected essays and interviews. (Edited by D. F. Bouchard.) Oxford: Blackwell. Foucault, M. 1980. Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972–1977. (Edited by C. Gordon.) New York: Pantheon. Frost, P. 1980. Toward a radical framework for practicing organization science. Academy of Management Review, 5: 501–507. Gioia, D. A., & Pitre, E. 1990. Multiparadigm perspectives on theory building. Academy of Management Review, 5: 584 – 602. Harrison, G. L., & McKinnon, J. L. 1999. Cross-cultural research in management control systems design: A review of the current state. Accounting, Organizations and Society. 24: 483–506. Hart, W. B. 1999. Interdisciplinary influences in the study of intercultural relations: A citation analysis of the International Journal of Intercultural Relations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 23: 575–589. Hofstede, G. 1978. The poverty of management control philosophy. Academy of Management Review, 3: 450 – 461. Hofstede, G. 1980. Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. 1983. The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories. Journal of International Business Studies, 14(2): 75– 89. Hofstede, G. 1990. A reply and comment on Joginder P. Singh: â€Å"Managerial culture and work-related values in India.†Organization Studies, 11: 103–106. Hofstede, G. 1991. Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill. Hofstede, G. 1994. Management scientists are human. Management Science, 40: 4 –13. Hofstede, G. 1996. An American in Paris: The influence of nationality on organization theories. Organization Studies, 17: 525–537. Hofstede, G. (Ed.). 1998a. Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Derrida, J. 1972. Positions. (Translated and annotated by A. Bass.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hofstede, G. 1998b. Masculinity/femininity as a dimension of culture. In G. Hofstede (Ed.), Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures: 3–28. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Eckhardt, G. 2002. Book review of Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (second edition). Australian Journal of Management, 27: 89 –94. Hofstede, G. 1998c. The cultural construction of gender. In G. Hofstede (Ed.), Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures: 77–105. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Escobar, A. 1995. Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the third world. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Hofstede, G. 1998d. Comparative studies of sexual behavior: Sex as achievement or as relationship? In G. Hofstede (Ed.), Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures: 153–178. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ferguson, K. E. 1994. On bringing more theory, more voices and more politics to the study of organizations. Organization, 1: 81–99. Hofstede, G. 1998e. Religion, masculinity, and sex. In G. Hofstede (Ed.), Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures: 192–209. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research: 463– 477. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. 2001. Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Marschan-Piekkari, R., & Welch, C. 2004. Qualitative research methods in international business: The state of the art. In R. Marschan-Piekkari & C. Welch (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research methods for international business: 5–24. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Hofstede, G., & Bond, M. H. 1988. The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth. Organizational Dynamics, 16(4): 4 –21. Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. 2005. Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind (revised & expanded 2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Hofstede, G., & McCrae, R. R. 2004. Personality and culture revisited: Linking traits and dimensions of culture. Cross-Cultural Research, 38: 52– 88. Hoppe, M. H. 2004. An interview with Geert Hofstede. Academy of Management Executive, 18(1): 75–79. Jack, G., & Lorbiecki, A. 2003. Asserting possibilities of resistance in the cross-cultural teaching machine: Reviewing videos of others. In A. Prasad (Ed.), Postcolonial theory and organizational analysis: A critical engagement: 213–232. New York: Palgrave. Martin, J. 1994. The organization of exclusion: Institutionalization of sex inequality, gendered faculty jobs and gendered knowledge in organizational theory and research. Organization, 1: 401– 431. McSweeney, B. 2002. Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faithâ€â€A failure of analysis. Human Relations, 55: 89 – 118. Merker, S. L. 1982. Book review of Geert Hofstede’s Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Behavioral Science, 27: 195–197. Meyerson, D. E. 1998. Feeling stressed and burned out: A feminist reading and re-visioning of stress-based emotions within medicine and organization science. Organization Science, 9: 103–118. Jack, G., & Westwood, R. 2006. Postcolonialism and the politics of qualitative research in international business. Management International Review, 46: 481–501. Morgan, G. 1983. The significance of assumptions. In G. Morgan (Ed.), Beyond method: Strategies for social research: 377–382. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Joseph, G. G., Reddy, V., & Searle-Chatterjee, M. 1990. Ethnocentrism in the social sciences. Race & Class, 31(4): 1–26. Mumby, D. K., & Putnam, L. L. 1992. The politics of emotion: A feminist reading of bounded rationality. Academy of Management Review, 17: 465– 486. Kirkman, B. L., & Law, K. S. K. 2005. From the editors: International management research in AMJ: Our past, present, and future. Academy of Management Journal, 48: 377–386. Kirkman, B. L., Lowe., K. B., Gibson, C. B. 2006. A quarter century of Culture’s consequences: A review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede’s cultural values framework. Journal of International Business Studies, 37: 285–320. Kitayama, S. 2002. Culture and basic psychological processesâ€â€Toward a system view of culture: Comment on Oyserman et al. (2002). Psychological Bulletin, Knights, D., & Morgan, G. 1991. Corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: A critique. Organization Studies, 12: 251–273. Kuhn, T. 1972. The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kunda, Z. 1990. The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 108: 480 – 498. Kwek, D. 2003. Decolonizing and re-presenting Culture’s consequences: A postcolonial critique of cross-cultural studies in management. In A. Prasad (Ed.), Postcolonial theory and organizational analysis: A critical engagement: 121–146. New York: Palgrave. Lyotard, J.-F. 1984. The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Manning, P. K., & Cullum-Swan, B. 1994. Narrative, content, and semiotic analysis. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln Nkomo, S. M. 1992. The emperor has no clothes: Rewriting â€Å"Race in organizations.†Academy of Management Review, 17: 487–513. Oyserman, D., Coon, H., & Kemmelmeier, M. 2002. Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 128: 3–72. Parker, M. 1992. Post-modern organizations or postmodern organization theory. Organization Studies, 13: 1–17. Prasad, A. (Ed.). 2003. Postcolonial theory and organizational analysis: A critical engagement. New York: Palgrave Reed, M. 1992. Introduction. In M. Reed & M. Hughes (Eds.), Rethinking organizations: New directions in organizational theory and analysis: 1–16. London: Sage. Richardson, L. 1994. Writing: A method of inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research: 516 –529. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Robinson, R. V. 1983. Book review of Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Work and Occupations, 10: 110 –115. Said, E. W. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Random House. Schimmack, U., Oishi, S., & Diener, E. 2005. Individualism: A valid and important dimension of cultural differences between nations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9: 17–31. Schooler, C. 1983. Book review of Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Contemporary Sociology, 12: 167. Academy of Management Review Singh, J. P. 1990. Managerial culture and work-related values in India. Organization Studies, 11: 75–101. Sà ¸ndergaard, M. 1994. Research note: Hofstede’s consequences: A study of reviews, citations and replications. Organization Studies, 15: 447– 456. Sorge, A. 1983. Book review of Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28: 625– 629. Spivak, G. C. 1988. Subaltern studies: Deconstructing historiography. In R. Guha & G. C. Spivak (Eds.), Selected subaltern studies: 3–34. New York: Oxford University Press. October Van Deusen, C. 2002. Book review of Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Business & Society, 41: 125–128. Vunderink, M. & Hofstede, G. 1998. Femininity shock: American students in the Netherlands. In G. Hofstede (Ed.), Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures: 139 –152. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Weaver, G. R., & Gioia, D. A. 1994. Paradigms lost: Incommensurability vs structurationist inquiry. Organization Studies, 15: 565–590. Triandis, H. C. 1993. Reviews on cultural phenomena Cultures and organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38: 132–134. Westwood, R. 2004. Towards a postcolonial research paradigm in international business and comparative management. In R. Marschan-Piekkari & C. Welch (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research methods for international business: 56 – 83. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Triandis, H. C. 2004. The many dimensions of culture. Academy of Management Executive, 18(1): 88 –93. Williamson, D. 2002. Forward from a critique of Hofstede’s model of national culture. Human Relations, 55: 1373–1395. Galit Ailon (ailonsg@mail.biu.ac.il) is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-IIan University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Labor Studies at Tel-Aviv University. Her research interests include organizational globalization, organizational culture, organizational theory, and managerial ideologies.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Knowledge, Truth, and Belief Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Knowledge, Truth, and Belief - Case Study Example Hence, assumption of burnt bulb cannot be taken as final but considered along with the issue of fuse. Only when the fuse is also tested, that the reality of bulb being burnt or not can be conclusively defined. Thus, rational approach of problem, where well articulated or logical arguments become basis for problem solution, needs to be adopted. (words: 158) Russell’s approach of looking at things is hugely important because it uses empirical knowledge to interpret the world around from wider perspective of rational approach. He believes that perceived reality is important part of human interaction with the world which is often interpreted in context with the real life situation. While perception is linked with the sensory organs, its interpretation and understanding hugely depends on cognitive processes that relies on manipulation of information as stored in memory. At the same time, Russell also employs skepticism to understand emotional and metaphysical reaction. The expanding knowledge promotes rational approach where skepticism facilitates in coming to the right conclusion. As part of experience, skepticism helps to evolve options that support not only accrued knowledge comprising of scientific and priori knowledge but also the intuitive and inductive knowledge that comes from experience. Hence Russell’s approach lends credibility to the wider empirical knowledge of rationalization process. (words: 151) Out of the variety of considerations that Reid presents in support of his common sense position, I believe the strongest argument is that human intellect is most important factor in social interaction. The human intellect takes into consideration the conscious and unconscious working of mind along with the ability to rationalize events based on construction and deconstruction of object reality. The cognitive theory helps to explain why and how the events take place and subsequent pattern of
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Why did the industrial structure that emerged in mid Essay
Why did the industrial structure that emerged in mid nineteenth-century Scotland endure for as long as it did - Essay Example The present status is that it has established its own parliament in Edinburgh to vote on wide-ranging political issues while remaining part of the United Kingdom. Most Scottish industry and commerce is concentrated in a few large cities on the waterways of the central lowlands. Edinburgh, on the Firth of Forth, is a cultural center, the administrative capital of Scotland, and a center of paper production and publishing. Glasgow, one of the largest cities in Great Britain, lies on the Clyde. It is Scotlands leading seaport and a center of shipbuilding and it supports numerous light industries. Although heavy industry has declined, the high-technology â€Å"Silicon Glen†corridor has developed between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Several changes occurred in structure of industries with the passage of time (Campbell, 1985). The significance of coal, once Scotlands most important mineral resource, has declined. Oil, however, gained prominence in Scotlands economy during the 1970s, with the growth of North Sea oil extraction companies. Natural gas is also abundant in the North Sea fields. Other important industries are textile production (woolens, silks, and linens), distilling, and fishing. Textiles, beer, and whisky, which are among Scotlands chief exports, are produced in many towns. However one should remember that the industrial revolution that occurred in Scotland in 18th century laid foundation for the present prospect of industries (Lee, 1995). Moreover the industrial structure followed by Scotland in mid nineteenth century had several strong advantages which helped Scotland to achieve its present growth. Keeping these points in view, the present study has been conducted with the following objectives. Literature relating to the industrial structure in Scotland in mid nineteenth century was reviewed systematically. Information regarding the problems that existed, inherent strengths and dominant industries present in Scottish society in mid nineteenth
CONTRACTING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Research Paper
CONTRACTING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - Research Paper Example The root beginning of the hybrid contracts was when it was realized that purely generic contracts had their major downsides that led to their inefficiencies. For example the fixed price cost started being too costly owing to the number of uncertainties in the contracts. The birth of hybrid type of contracts was seen when the fixed price contracts were introduced some adjustments. This started with the economic price adjustment where the prices would be varied based on a number of certain contingencies such as the cost of labor. This thus did include some hybridism in the contracts. One of the root causes of the hybrid contract is the dynamic nature of the present day contracts. Most of the current day contracts are not as rigid as the previous days’ contracts. The result, therefore was the need to improve on the various contracts that existed. One of the main advantages is that with hybrid contracts, one is able to enjoy the various advantages gain from different mother type of contract. For example, with the fixed cost, the cost was predetermined in advance even before the contract starts. This means that the contractor takes all the risks associated with the contract. However, when the variable aspect is introduced to the contract, the contractor is shielded of some of those risks. The other advantage of hybrid contracts is with the flexibility associated with the contracts themselves. Most of the hybrid contacts unlike the other specific contracts that are strictly enforced by the law, there is room for flexibility with the hybrid contracts. This flexibility with the hybrid contacts gives it a unique edge over the other static types of contracts where specific specifications must be followed to the letter. Through hybrid contracting, especially with specific governmental contracts also increase the chances of winning a bid. Kate M. Manue l(2010)
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Global Health and Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words
Global Health and Sustainability - Essay Example As the paper stresses the concept of ‘sustainability’ implies enduring the capacity of protecting human health through contributing towards the environment and society. In this regard, the implementation of new sustainable interventions will ensures support to poor economic countries for achieving overall benefits with respect to global healthcare. In addition to this, sustainable healthcare intervention aims at improving knowledge about preserving water, sanitation as well as hygiene by introducing healthcare programs. In the current scenario, adequate initiatives have been taken by the healthcare industries in order to bring the sustainability in operational process for enhancing the global health care domain. As the discussion declares Chlamydia is one of the common ‘sexually transmitted disease (STD)’ in human body. The disease is spread by Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria and affects the health condition of people. The term ‘Chlamydia’ has originated from Greek word, which implies ‘cloak’. Moreover, Chlamydia infection belongs to the bacterial family Chlamydiaceae. The infection caused by Chlamydia can be a vital cause for genital as well as eye disease in human beings. The bacteria Chlamydia can be found inside human body or cells. However, infection caused by Chlamydia often depicts to be symptomless, which goes untreated. In this regard, it can be mentioned that Chlamydia often denotes a silent feature as the patients of this disease are experiencing minimum symptoms
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Challenges of protecting the environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Challenges of protecting the environment - Essay Example This is because, the protection of the environment must come at the expense of normal way of life, considering that the normal way of life for the people, other than the environmentalists, is defined by going about their business, with little regard to how their activities will impact on their environment. Therefore, for example, a farmer goes about his normal business of farming and breeding animals with the aim of ensuring the high productivity of his crops and animals. In this respect, the farmer must use a variety of pesticides and insecticides to protect the crops and animals against the adverse effects of diseases and pests that damages crops and causes illnesses to the animals, eventually lowering productivity. While doing this, the farmer is less conscious of the effects the pesticides and the insecticides are going to have on the environment, until the adverse effects starts appearing inform of the hens brooding but producing no chicks, the inability to raise any pigs because the â€Å"young ones survived only a few days†, as well as lack of pollination and fruits, coupled with â€Å"browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire â€Å"(29). Further, lack of understanding and insight in regards to who is the true owner of the environment and its space is another major challenge to the protection of the environment. Before human enlightenment, the land and other natural resources belonged to the plants and animals, and man only occupied a small space of the entire environment, with plants and animals occupying the rest of the space. However, after the human enlightenment, â€Å"we put houses here and barns there. And then we went nuts, building garden condos with pools and office complexes with parking garages†(Quindlen, 34). The fact that humans have refused to understand it is the plants and animals that rightfully own the whole space, while humans are just meant to occupy a fraction of it as it was in the
Monday, September 23, 2019
COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CHINA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CHINA - Essay Example A large number of new operas on modern and historical themes were created, and previous operas continued to be performed. As a trendy form of art, opera has often been the foremost of the arts to highlight transformations in Chinese policy. For instance, in the middle period of 1950, it was the first to gain from the Hundreds Flowers Campaign. Identically, the November 1965 criticism on Wu Han, the deputy mayor of Beijing and his historical play indicated the start of the Cultural Revolution. In the Cultural Revolution, a large number of opera soldiers were dismissed, scriptwriters and performers were singled out, and all operas apart from the eight model operas endorsed by Jiang Qing and her partners were outlawed. Also, Western-style plays were damned as poisonous weeds and dead drama and were not presented. After the demise of the Gang of four in 1976, Beijing opera was restored and continued to be an extremely admired form of entertainment both on television and in theaters (Chu, 1977). This paper will discuss the role of revolutionary model operas in the 1960s and 70s in the People’s Republic of China. ... Therefore, if people were to comprehend the features of modernity, that is, the life situations developed by the modern societies and institutional elements of modern societies, then they should give a core responsibility to the establishment of communication media and their effect (Thompson, 1995a). In addition, there was a revival of the Western-style Theater following the Cultural Revolution. A large number of works that were created, and banned and revised from abroad and China were restored in the national collection. A large number of the new acts stressed at the perimeters of imaginative freedom and were condemned and commended, on the basis of the political situation. One of the most vocal of the novel class of playwrights was Sha Yexin. He developed a contentious play, The Imposter, in 1979, which dealt unsympathetically with the prerequisites and favoritism given to party associates. In addition, the most widespread entertainment for the Chinese citizens prior to the revolu tionary model operas in the 1960s to 70s entailed public gatherings, art shows, and fireworks displays. Individuals felt tremendous happiness and derived inspiration among the cheering crowds. For instance, Yangge stilt walking and performances became admired shows. The people of People’s Republic of China enjoyed engrossing themselves in carnival groups, in which they felt a rousing spirit of unity. In addition, filmmakers erupted into new eagerness to develop novel performances. Also, this period saw Chinese filmmakers developed a sizeable amount of movies (Clark, 2008). Context in Which the Case Became Significant The people of the People’s Republic of China went through a strenuous period during the 1960s and 1970s. The natural catastrophe during the initial three years
Sunday, September 22, 2019
selecting a toy Essay Example for Free
selecting a toy Essay I have selected 3 toys : 1.HEX BUGS CRAB , 2. STOMP ROCKET JUNIOR ,and 3. SQUIGZ , all of which manufactures have deemed appropriate for children 3 to 5 years old. 1. Why is this toy developmentally appropriate for children this age group ? The Hex Bug Crab is somewhat appropriate to children in this age group , its smaller size is a good fit for smaller hands but not to small where it could become a choking hazard. This toy would encourage small motor practice because of its size , also would encourage gentle play ,and some small amounts of patience to allow the toy to become accustom to the child just like a real animal or pet might be .  The Stomp Rocket is age appropriate because it is a skilled down version of the Stomp Rocket orginal toy for older children , it has a smaller size and a larger stomp pad, easier directions for a younger age group of children. The Squigz toy is age appropriate for children 3 thru 5 , it is a good size for smaller hands , but large enough to not be a choking problem play, encourages open ended play, problem solving and imagination. 2. Why is this toy appealing to a child in this age group? All of the toys are packaged very appealing , bright colors and bold print . The Hex Bug would be appealing to any child who might be wanting a pet , and would encourage quite play , gentleness , and pet ownership practice. The Stomp Rocket would be appealing to a child in this age group , because the toy can be used indoors or outdoors , can be played with alone or with multipule children . The Squigz toy would be fun for a child in this age group because it has very bright colors , easy to put together , has a fun poping sound when they are pulled apart , and have multipule places to be played with. 3. Would a parent select this toy? Why and why not? I believe a parent would buy any of the three toys here, they all have appealing packaging , larger pieces, and all have extended pieces or parts that can be purchased nd added later for more activity and fun with the original toys. All of these toys are unisex, and can be played with either boys or girls ,all can encourage learning , creativity, patience ,small motor as well as gross motor skills. 4. Would you select this toy to use with a child in this age group ? Why or why not ? Yes I would select any of these toys for the children in our classroom of 3 to 5 year olds. They all seem fun , safe , and encourage playing and using small motrot skills aswell as gross motor skills , all seem easily explained and easy to use without a lot of extra directions , they all encourage creativity , very open ended play and does not have a definitive winner , loser so play can go on and on aslong as the children are engaged , they seem to be able to adapt to being played with inside or outside, to being played with multiple children as well as just a single child and will still be fun and functional, all have replacement parts or extra parts so play can go on and on.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Total quality management Literature review
Total quality management Literature review Literature review The world experienced the quality revolution in the early 1990s. From that instance organisations were improving in overall quality of the organisation. The companies around the world competed with their quality of products and services, price and delivery. Organisations believed that by improving the quality, they can achieve lower cost, fewer failures and better marketability. In this period total quality management became popular. TQM is applied in organisations to improve its effectiveness, flexibility and competitiveness, by improving the overall quality of the organisation. It is focused mainly on continuous improvement. TQM is nothing but a philosophy and guide to organisations, which helps them in ways towards continuous improvement. TQM is a combination of system of systems. All the companies have not achieved competitive advantage or benefits using TQM is because of implementation and usage in the organisation. To be successful with TQM the indicators which are to be achieved by an organisation are the leadership, continuous improvements, internal or external co- operation, customer focus, learning, employee fulfilment and process management. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=ArticleFilename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0291030201.html http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=ArticleFilename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/1060120604.html http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=ArticleFilename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0400140507.html http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=ArticleFilename=/published/emeraldfulltextarticle/pdf/1760030104.pdf According to Hansson and Klefsjà ¶ (2003) TQM can be defined as a management system, which consists of three interdependent units, namely core values, techniques and tools. But the definitions for total quality management are vague. The aim of TQM is Zero defect and it mainly emphasis on quality. The core values of TQM which will lead to better quality in the organisation is summarised from the authors (Boulter and Bendell, 2002, Ehresman, 1995, Ghobadian and Gallear 1995, Hansson and Klefsjà ¶ 2003, 2006 ) it is divided into three parts, first the whole organisation has to committed and work towards common goal i.e. continuous improvement. Secondly the customers are to be focused, through better satisfaction in the products and services. The decisions made with regard to customers are to be given the highest priority by top level management. Thirdly the decisions must be taken with trusted facts and figures. http://demo1.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet;jsessionid=5FBEA684473F22B9FAE30638F23D3534?contentType=ArticleFilename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/1060150201.html Boulter, L., Bendell, T. (2002), How can ISO 9000:2000 help companies achieve excellence? What the company think, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 6 No.2, pp.37-41. Ehresman, T. (1995), Small Business Success through TQM, ASQC Quality Press, Milwaukee, WI. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg_imagekey=B6VC4-3VW1BRW-8-2_cdi=5944_user=138221_orig=search_coverDate=02%2F29%2F1996_sk=999759998view=cwchp=dGLbVlz-zSkzkmd5=a2afeab00d66a4e64f8e3a30e84385dfie=/sdarticle.pdf http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg_imagekey=B6VCT-4MHPHMF-C-5_cdi=5963_user=138221_orig=search_coverDate=12%2F01%2F2007_sk=998169997view=cwchp=dGLbVzb-zSkWzmd5=e471fdc0aece7732196abd9705804b37ie=/sdarticle.pdf http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=ArticleFilename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0291080901.html From the definition and study it is stated that the environmental management is a part of quality management. When the organisation is moving towards total improvement in performance, the environmental performance has its presence. Governments and agencies around the world created quality systems to help the organisations to achieve their quality objectives through quality management systems and environmental performance in environmental management systems. The QM and EMS share a common aim and values. QM and EMS are integrated now. According to Wilkinson and Dale, 1998 and Karapetrovic and Willborn, 1998 integration can be carried out in many different ways but, the results differ in terms of applying it and it is also called as system of systems. Wilkinson, G., Dale, B.G. (1998), System integration: the views and activities of certification bodies, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 10 No.4, pp.288-92 Karapetrovic, S., Willborn, W. (1998), Integration of quality and environmental management systems, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 10 No.3, pp.204-13. For example the ISO has developed management systems separately for quality management and environmental management i.e. ISO9000 for quality and ISO14000 for environmental management. Integration was done by the technical committee in 2004 between quality and environment systems. They had explored the common factors between two systems and modified ISO 14000-2004 to enable organisations to use both systems at once. This resulted in superior performance in many organisations. They introduced the PDCA which is common for both systems. Bernardo et al, 2008 http://demo1.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=ArticleFilename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/0510200405.html#idb31 Environmental management and quality management are parallel to each other. They have common factors like zero defects and no wastage and the process of implementation with corrective and preventive actions. But some basic value does not integrate, exactly with each other. QMS mainly concentrates on consumer requirements and on the other had EMS focuses on the environment. According to Chinn a new concept was formed in late 90s which was named as QEMS which means quality and environment management system. It has stated the common elements they worked upon. They are planning, objectives, management responsibility, communication, training, control of records and many others. So when an organisation need to equipped with total quality system, the EMS will also must be in place to monitor the environmental sustainability measures from the organisation. What is Benchmarking? In the present business scenario, quality has become a major criterion in all aspects of the organisation, so the managers have taken up quality improvement tools such as total quality management, quality function development and continuous improvement. The exertion of these tools is to discover the flaws in the organisational process. The next step is to convert these flaws and improving the component. Here the question rises of how to fix these inadequacies? Benchmarking is the way to fix them. As benchmarking is a quality improvement process. It is a systematic process of searching and monitoring the best practices in the sector. Benchmarking has been the concept of imitating the best practices in the industry. Organizations have to achieve cost benefits, better operations and better environment by which it induces the company to learn quickly and cheaply from adopting the best practices and performance standards from other companies in order to get better competitive advantage over its competitors. This can be extended anywhere because the ultimate goal is to be best in class. Benchmarking is commonly used tool in the organisations. This technique can be implemented in all sectors and it is due to increasing competitiveness. Benchmark means to a unit on a scale for measurement. It was a fashionable concept for the large manufacturing companies which predominantly uses quantitative economic parameters, such as inventory turnover, set-up times, lead time, direct labour time or working time, return on sales, return on equity are measured.(Miller et al.,1992). Nowadays benchmarking is used everywhere and it is used to measure any process, activity, procedure in an organisation which may be of products or services. Many authors and literatures have given many different forms of definitions for benchmarking. Definitions from Sarkis, Andersen and pettersen and Marosszeky and Karim are benchmarking means comparing the practices, operations, results of an organisation with the best organisation in the sector and adopt and practice the techniques used in there to improve ones own organisation. And it focuses on continuous improvement, in quality and helps to learn from the competitors. Through which the faults and breakthroughs in the organisation can be easily identified and systematically dealt with. It also helps in improving the overall quality and business environment carried out through learning from each other. It forms a continuous and systematic improvement in an organisations processes, products and services which are being monitored and adopted from the best practices globally or nation wide or in a particular sector. Benchmarking is used to achieve and maintain high level of competitiveness. It monitors the continuous improvement by the process of measuring the products, services and business practices against the best practices in the industry. The organisations strengths and weakness can be easily identified and measured with the best and toughest competitors in the industry. Best practices is finding and using the best ways to achieve the desired objectives in the organisation. It is done by imitating the practices and processes of the organisation who are leaders in the sector and measuring the ways it worked with. Benchmarking can be done in five steps for an organisation. Firstly the required data are collected in a planned manner from the organisation and the data is converted into a report format, which make it easy for analyzing the situation. After creating a report the gaps are to be detected and corrective action has to be implemented to fill the gaps. When the gaps in the organisation are corrected, review has to be done in regular intervals and reported. It is compared with best practice in the industry. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/04/02091848/1 Many organisations are not aware of what needed to be benchmarked. because of the lack of management knowledge. A key issue is that what to benchmark in business or an organisation. It is mainly used to compare and measure of business and product performance and how it is extended to the business processes. Determining the issues to be benchmarked is a critical issue. The following questions can aid to the question of what to benchmark with environment (Cassell et. al.., 2001) To find the critical factors which are of organisations success To find the process causing the trouble in the system To find the process which contribute to maximum customer satisfaction and in which the performance is not to the expectation Examine and define the competitive pressures impacting the organisation What the processes which have the greatest potential for differentiating in the business competitiveness? Environmental benchmarking The environmental benchmarking is derived from benchmarking and it mainly focuses on the natural environment. It helps the organisation to become green and eco efficient by adopting the practices from the leaders in industry. It is also a quality improvement tool and has become very essential to an organisation. They are used to achieve environmental performance in the organisation i.e. it helps the organisation to manipulate on the natural environment. It is adapted in many organisations due to the pressure from stake holders, public and authorises. According to Greeno and Robinson 1992, Demands on companies to measure, document and disclose information about environmental performance will become invasive.and environmental performance will become a critical factor to scrutinize. It is been predicted a decade ago, and the governments has now made it mandatory and bought it to the legislations that organisations must be environmental conscious and friendly. According to Szekely, et. al.., 1996, Makrinou et al 2008 and Mandaraka, et. al 2003 Environmental benchmarking is used by various organisation in their practices, process and in business operation to achieve environmental efficiency and environmental performance. The tool framed to rigorously concentrate on every activity of the organisation and examines and compares the process to achieve its objectives. The process is the elimination and rectification of weak activities and processes in the organisation and the objective is to identify and access the abilities and attributes in business to achieve maximum environmental performance. Most of the weak activities cause heavy pollution and burden to the environment. The weak process and activities are very dangerous to the environment and life. The world in has seen many industrial disasters in last two decades due to unhealthy practices and operations by the environment. The best examples are the Efficient and maximum usage of virgin materials in the organisation, recycling of waste, waste, treatment plant to neutralise end pipe discharge, maximum utilization of assets and machinery and power saving equipments and minimum usage of non renewable resource. Minor modifications in the process of operations in the organisations, will lead to lesser impact on the environment and can avoid these kinds of disasters in future. The improved process, practices and operations can be identified from the best practices. Benchmarking tools helps in finding the best practices in national and international level. Environmental benchmarking is an integral part of environmental management systems. This helps in setting up of goals and targets for an organization towards environmental efficiency. It also helps in monitoring the performance of the targets which are to be achieved towards better environment. It is one of the tools used in management systems like EMS (Bolli and Emtairah 2001). Environmental management system EMS is a management type system which aims in managing the environmental aspects of the organisation in a pro active way, and it directly relates to the organisations overall performance. It relates to the process, practices, products and services and day to day operations. The main objective of Ems is to continually improve the environmental performance of the organisation with overall performance. Ems is a collection of policies, statements, assessments, plan and actions which directly or indirectly affects the organisation and its performance. Organisations achieve environmental performance with Ems in a systematic manner. It is a continuous cycle which plans, implements, reviews and improves the practices and processes of the organisation for continuous improvement towards environmental sustainability. Ems mainly focuses on minimizing the environmental impacts of the organisation on the natural environment. The main objectives of Ems for the SMEs are It induces the organisation to have an environmental management system. It assists the SMEs in understanding the concepts of Ems in their operations, in order to help the management to adopt precisely. This reduces the impacts on natural environment and it is easy to comply with the regulation. This helps in cost savings and increased productivity. The third objective is developing a awareness with the SMEs entrepreneurs, regarding the importance of environment and the organisations impact on them. It helps the SMEs in creating a strong foundation to implement the international standards like ISO and EMAS in organisations. According to British standards institute, Ems is defined as the organisational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for determining and implementing environmental policy. According to BSI is nothing but an environmental policy which outlines the organisations commitment to the environmental performance. Many organisation in different countries follow and adopt the environmental management system such as BS8555, ISO 14000 series, EMAS, Green dragon. But in common it works on the Deming Cycle. Plan, what you are going to do, do what you planned to do, check to ensure that you did what you planned to do and act to make improvements. SMEs adopt EMS EMS is an unobserved quality. It can be examined only by the drivers, practices. The organisations are motivated to use EMS and its environmental strategies to increase their efficiency and legitimacy. It is very controversial because from the study of states those SMEs are not only motivated by the rewards and befits such as environmental performance, organisational/business performance and export orientation but they are pressurized to adopt EMS by their stake holders and institutional pressures. According to Khanna and Anton 2002 EMS becomes complete when they are more environmental practices is undertaken in the organisation. The environmental practices are the environmental policy, evaluation, training for employees, regular audits of internal and external in nature, environmental performance and benchmarking with the best practices, goals and targets and public report. Motivation and EMS Motivation is the driving force behind for an organisation to implement a management techniques or tool or system in their operations and business process. The factors and statistics which can be used to motivate the organisations to implement EMS in their organisation and in the same time become environmentally sustainable and reduce the impact on natural environment. The factors are the organisation can achieve compliance with the regulations of the government, it creates an eco friendly image to the stake holders and better marketability options and it also reduces cost with greater organisational performance. Export orientation In the globalised world export and import has taken the centre stage. Export orientation becomes imperative when organisation operates within or depends on the foreign markets. When the goods are carried out of national borders EMS becomes essential to meet the demands of the importing country and the needs of diverse customers. Buyers gain trust of exporters by looking into the operations and eco friendly procedures and facilities implemented in the organisation. EMS and organisational Performance A management system is framed and practiced in the business is to gain from the management practices. The gain or benefit can be in the form of monetary benefit or non monetary benefit. EMS and environmental performance EMS and pressure on SMEs SMEs are exposed to stakeholders pressure to adopt environmental management system. The stakeholders are person, group, organisation or the government which has a direct or indirect stake in the organisation and can or would be affected by the organisations policy, decision and operations. The stake holders for an SME are Regulatory pressure The regulatory pressure is created from the regulators, governments, insurers on the organisation to curb their pollution levels and employ eco friendly operations and which doesnt impact the natural environment. If the organisations fail, it is imposed with fines, penalties, strategic actions or even closure of firms. The regulatory pressure creates an opportunity for the organisation to become more competitive and capitalize of the situation. But when the regulation becomes stricter, the SMEs are compelled to implement costly pollution control technologies. Better pollution control leads to lesser insurance premiums and better credit options from the bank and financial agencies. Market pressure In this competitive world the organisations are concerned about the market share. Customers have become concerned about the natural environment and they have started to use the products and services of the organisations which are eco efficient and sustainable towards the environment. When organisation adopts EMS it increases organisations reputation. The market pressures drive the managers to adopt EMS to survive in the business and to stay competitive. Social pressure An organisation must have a better public image to survive and competitive in the market. To gain the image the organisation need to become environmental friendly and work towards continual improvement. The word social include the environmental organisation, community groups, labour unions and association which regards to trade. There is been a increase in awareness towards the natural environment in recent times because of industrial accident like Bhopal disaster and Exxon oil spill which shock the world. When an organisation does not implement EMS in their organisation the worst scenario of boycott of goods and it may damage the image in the business environment. Ownership pressure This pressure is imposed on the organisation by their share holders. In SMEs the share holders are in the form of partnership within the company. The pressure is on the organisation to adopt EMS with wide-range of tools and techniques to create an environmental friendly organisation. Organisation is prone to financial liabilities when it has a poor reputation in terms of environment and performance. Internal and external barriers to SMEs in adopting EMS Internal barriers are of resources, understanding and perception, implementation and attitudes and company culture. SMEs are lack of time from the management and staff, to concentrate on EMS implementation and maintenance. Staffs in SMEs lack managerial skill and it is not possible for SMEs to give training due to the constraint of limited resources. When there is an inexperienced or unskilled staff force it becomes difficult to implement EMS, because lack of understanding of the procedures, policies and legal compliances. Implementation of EMS is very cumbersome. Minor breaches in the implementation would cause a heavy loss of resources to the organisation and possible deregistration from the standards. SMEs have to concentrate on continual improvement and it is very difficult to adopt in every stage on the process. The external barriers are the obstacles and hindrances which arise from the external environment of the organisation. High costs of recruiting a consultant and verification/ certification is a major barrier to the SMEs. They are limited number of verifiers in each country and it becomes more expensive to hire. SMEs are not beneficial with EMS because of change in economic climate and Uncertainty which prevails within the market for the value of EMS standard. Benefits and disbenefits of SMEs adopting EMS Small and medium scale enterprises around the world share common characteristics. According to - SMEs around the world contribute 70 percent of pollution ie the SMEs cause great impact to the natural environment. So the EMS model was adapted to SMEs from large scales enterprises. SMEs adapting EMS face disbenefits or non materialization benefits from EMS in their organisation. They are being classified into three (i) resources (ii) surprises (iii) lack of rewards. SMEs characteristics are it lacks professionalism, lack of knowledge, is has started with a minimum capital, lack of skills and time. They also have the barrier of specialized staff and skills to co ordinate the EMS activities in the organisation. The SME has to rely completely on consultants for the certification and adaption on EMS. It is evident that, some may misguide and it results in negative results and wastage of resources for the organisation. SMEs have to incur cost of certification and implementation which is of high capital expenditure to the organisation. which is beyond reach for many organisations. The EMS surprises the SMEs with resources and time spent to implement system which are complex in nature. The other surprises are it is difficult to meet the expectations of all stake holders, it difficult to synchronise with other management
Friday, September 20, 2019
Principles of Fairness in Taxation
Principles of Fairness in Taxation Is it true to say that some forms of taxation are fairer than others? How might the present taxation system in the UK be improved to make it fairer? Ideas about the fairness of systems of taxation will always be subjective. Whilst wanting to enjoy the protection of the state and other benefits that taxation can provide, few citizens will be as keen to pay their taxes. There is little argument against the principle that taxes should be paid – the more difficult question is what constitutes a fair tax system? Adam Smith was one of the first economists to try and address the issue. He devised four principles for a fair tax system: that citizens ought to make a financial contribution to the state according to their own income and ability to do so; that taxes should be certain rather than arbitrary; that the collection of taxes should be done at a time and in a manner that is convenient for the taxpayer and; that taxes should be kept as low as possible and involve as little time and expense to the taxpayer as is possible. In a more modern setting, Smith’s principles can be summarised as equity, certainty, convenience and efficiency.[1] Equity of taxes is perhaps the most important of the principles. The Poll tax protests of the early 90s show what public reaction can be like if a tax is widely believed to be unfair and the Council Tax in place today continues to court controversy. The tax forces people on low incomes to pay out up to thousands of pounds a year in tax, with rates often dictated by central government. It is also unfair as the levels of council tax can vary greatly according to the efficiency of their local council. People on the same income living in different areas of the country can have vastly different council tax bills, with no great difference in the quality of their local services. Again, it appears to be the poorest that suffer – the poorest in the UJ pay four times as much as the rich as a proportion of income.[2] A contrary argument in respect of council tax however is that taxation should be agreed more at a local level when possible. 96% of taxes in the UK are levied centrally [3] More flexibility for local councils and the involvement of local people into taxation and spending decisions could help ensure that local needs are better met. Central Government cannot always make the correct local decisions and communities need to have the capacity to respond to local issues. There is certainly evidence that the UK tax system as whole is unfair and weighted so that the poor have a proportionately larger tax burden than the rich. Looking at all taxes paid, the poorest 20% of the UK population pay 42% of their income in taxes as opposed to 34% paid by the richest 20%.[4] The administration of a tax system should also be fair and efficient. Whilst self-assessment in the UK has helped improve this to some extent, a large part of the administrative tax burden in the UK is still with the taxpayer and this is unfair. Also, with a complex tax system, administration becomes even more expensive with small businesses in particular having to find funds for tax experts to conduct their tax affairs. Fair taxation also entails that citizens have a good understanding of the taxes that they have to pay and that the legislation for taxation is clearly defined. Poorly written legislation will always be open to misinterpretation and accusations of unfairness. Some taxes in the UK, such as corporation tax or VAT are often misinterpreted and this can again be seen as unfair on those who pay more simply because they do not have their own tax expert to make the most of the legislation for them. The confusion amongst UK taxpayers as to how and when they pay their taxes is clearly a weakness in the system. A summary of the principle taxes collected in the UK is required in assessing the fairness of the UK’s system. There are three types of tax base within the UK system; income which includes income tax and corporation tax; wealth capital which includes capital gains, inheritance tax and stamp duty and; expenditure which includes value added tax and excise duties. The income tax base that includes personal income tax and corporation tax is the tax that provides the most revenue. Total tax receipts for 2005/06 were an estimated  £483 billion and income tax provided 28.1% of this income.[5] There are however arguments that current levels of personal taxation are unfair. The Tax Reform Commission for example suggests that the basic rate of income tax should be set at 20%, that the personal allowance should be increased to  £7185 and that the 10% rate should be abolished altogether, something that would see 2.5 million of the lowest paid people stop paying income tax altogether. [6] Some personal allowances within the income tax system do already help in terms of equity – for example those over 65 have a personal allowance of  £7090 before tax compared to a £4895 allowance for those under 65. What is clear however is that the current levels of personal taxation against the lowest paid in the UK seem inappropriately high and should be reconsidered. National Insurance is a further example of this. Like income tax it is a direct tax on earnings yet different in that that it is linked to certain social security benefits. In practice however there is little relation between National Insurance payments made and benefits received for many individual contributors. There are a number of failures in the UK’s personal taxation in terms of fairness and it is the least well off that suffer Including income tax, NI contributions and loss of tax credits, somebody working 30 hours a week on the minimum wage can pay a marginal tax rate of up to 70%, plus the likelihood of further penalties through the loss of means tested benefits.[7] The marginal tax rate is much noticeably lower for those with a higher income,. There are certainly reforms that could improve and make fairer the current personal tax system. Reduced personal taxation, increased personal allowances and a reduction of the basic rate to 20% would help with this. The abolition of tax-free employee benefits and allowances would also simplify the system and a merging of income tax and National Insurance should be considered. Capital gains tax is the primary tax collected within the wealth tax base. It is a tax levied on gains made from the disposal of assets by individuals. The timing of this tax allows planning by the taxpayer who can prevent the accruing of excess liabilities – in this respect the tax meets the requirements of certainty. It had generally been seen as one of the fairer taxes from when indexation allowance was introduced in 1965 yet this can be questioned in more recent years since the indexation allowance was abolished and taper relief. Introduced. The timing of capital gains tax is also relatively fair in that it allows taxpayers to plan their returns to prevent excess liabilities being accrued. Inheritance tax is the other principle capital tax. This is seen as an unfair tax by many of the middle classes who see it as an unjust tax on properties and savings that their parents have left for them. Inheritance tax brings in substantial funds for HM Treasury with an estimated yield of  £3.3 billion[8] , yet a fairer system suggested by the Tax Reform Commission would be a shorter term capital gains tax on death excluding the family home – for many citizens liable for inheritance tax, the inclusion of property in this tax is seen as the most unfair aspect. Finally, there is scope for making business taxes in the UK fairer and more appealing to investors. The current tax rate of 19% for small companies is fairly low in comparison to international standards, yet in other areas such as relief on capital expenditure, rules on inward investment and taxation of overseas profits, UK taxes are less attractive to overseas investment. Changes to aspects of business taxes would help small businesses in particular and seem fairer to those who pay them. The complexity of business tax is also seen as unfair by many small businesses. It increases the cost of running a business the administrative burden of tax regulation on UJ businesses currently runs at  £5.1 billion, equating to 0.5% of GDP. [9] The fairness of taxation systems is a contentious issue. Some systems of taxation will always appear fairer than others, yet this will largely depend on who is paying them and the financial position of the individual. In the UK today, the burden on the lowest paid initially seems unfair, yet the richest in society will argue that a higher tax on their wealth is a disincentive to enterprise. The middle classes will see something like inheritance tax as unfair, whilst the poorest will see it as perfectly reasonable. A lower overall tax burden for UK citizens is desirable and lower tax margins for the poorest would undoubtedly make the system fairer. More radical proposals such as the introduction of a much more simplified flat tax have been mooted, yet it is improbable that such a system could meet the demand for public expenditure in the UK today. The basic principles of Adam Smith should still apply to the system of taxation in the UK today. Taxes should be fair, certain, convenient and efficient and whilst the UK system does not fully meet those criteria at present, tax reform should continue to work towards this standard. References Adam S Browne J, A Survey of the UK Tax System, Institute for Fiscal Studies Briefing Note, BN09, March 2006 Lymer A, Oats L Hancock D, Taxation Policy and Practice, Accounting Education Ltd, Birmingham, 2003. May J King M, The British Tax System, Oxford University Press, New York 1990 Tax Reform Commission, Tax Matters – Reforming the Tax System, institute for Fiscal Studies Publication 2006 http://www.libdems.org.uk/community/issues/counciltax.html 1 Footnotes [1] p2 Ch 2, Lymer, Oats Hancock, Taxation Policy and Practice, Accounting Education Ltd, Birmingham, 2003 [2] www.libdems.org.uk [3] (Stoker Gary, Councils need more taxation freedoms, p22 The Guardian July 3 2001). [4] www.libdems.org.uk [5] p3 Adam Browne, A Survey of the UK Tax System, Institute for Fiscal Studies Briefing Note, BN09, March 2006) [6] p7 Tax Matters 2006 [7] p57 Tax Matters 2006 [8] p17 Adam and Browne 2006 [9] p21 Tax Matters 2006.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
A Visit to the Hostess City of the South :: Personal Narrative Writing
A Visit to the Hostess City of the South In 1994 John Berendt whispered a tale of murder and scandal in a quaint Southern town that took the nation by storm. Berendt’s novel, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil spent more time on the New York Times Bestseller List than any other piece of fiction or nonfiction. This tale of a murder and other oddities which Savannah tucks away in it’s proverbial â€Å"closet†takes place during the 1980‘s and 1990‘s. Upon reading this novel I became obsessed with the idea of visiting Savannah, and in 2002 I was able to make this obsession a reality. With a much needed Spring Break in sight, my boyfriend and I decided to take a weekend jaunt to the â€Å"Hostess City of the South†. After our classes were over and our bags were packed, we finally headed out of Tallahassee on the afternoon of March 8th. We traveled east on I-10 and drove the mind-numbing 166 mile stretch to Jacksonville. The sad thing about interstates is that they are generally bland with only an occasional view of different scenery. We breezed past the generic fields and even more generic patches of forest that characterize I-10 along the Florida Panhandle. Shortly after merging with I-95 north of Jacksonville the area surrounding the interstate morphed into swampland as we crossed the Nassau, and later St. Mary‘s Rivers. We whizzed by an abundance of saw grass and swamp cypress, which was a nice change from the pine forests of Florida. Another change that we noticed around Brunswick, Georgia was the gas prices†¦only $0.99/gallon! Of course, we stopped to fill up and then proceeded to drive the ninety-five miles to our hotel in Hardeeville, South Carolina. Hardeeville was only fifteen miles from Savannah and we had a free hotel room there courtesy of a Ramada rewards program. The lax South Carolina laws on fireworks sales have made it a very lucrative business judging from all of the highway signs.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
videogame violence :: essays research papers fc
With the upcoming release of the ultra-violent video game 25 to Life, game developers are once again under fire by politicians and activist to rethink the content of their games. 25 to Life is an action shooting game that pits law enforcement against gang members in battle. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has taken the developer Edios to task for the questionable content of the game. The senator wants this â€Å"cop killer†game boycotted by retailers and has even went so far as to appeal to Microsoft and Sony to end their licensing agreement with the game maker (www.afterdawn.com). This is just the latest of games that have come under fire by law makers for the subject material they contain. This has become a fairly hot topic in society today with the rise in violence and popularity of video games such as the Grand Theft Auto, Doom, and Halo series. Many activists feel that these games in the hands of children can lead to insensitivity to violence amongst other things. This lead s to the question: are game manufacturers acting unethically by producing ultra-violent or realistic games? Discussion      I suppose the first thing I should say is: I feel it is in no way the moral responsibility of the game manufacturers to curb the content they put into games. That being said, a few of the reasons they are trying to ban violent video games as according to psychologists is: Children may become more aggressive and develop favorable attitudes about the use of violence to resolve conflicts. Children may become desensitized to violence in the real world around them, less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, and more willing to tolerate ever-increasing levels of violence. Children may begin to believe that the real world is as mean and dangerous in real life as it appears on the media and in video games (www.salsa.net). To this I ask: what about me? What about people like me? Responsible, moderately well rounded, educated adults? Should I not get to play the games that were intended for me? And the truth is, the games that everyone is up in arms over are made f or me, an adult. That’s why the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was implemented. Not unlike movie ratings the ESRB provide information about video and computer game content before u make a purchase. ESRB ratings have two parts: the rating symbols which suggest age appropriateness for the game, and the content descriptors which indicate elements in a game that may have led to the rating symbol or may inform you of questionable content (www.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
New Social Movements Essay
To what extent do new social movements represent a challenge to established ways of conducting liberal democratic policies? In order to understand the extent of the challenge posed by new social movements to liberal democratic policy and the ways in which they are conducted one must first understand what these policies entail. These policies or principles are listed by Goodwin as: 1. Supremacy of the people. 2. Consent of the governed as the basis of legitimacy. 3. The rule of law: peaceful methods of conflict resolution. 4. The existence of the common good or public interest, 5. The value of the individual as a rational moral active citizen. 6. Equal rights for all individuals.1 The modern day concept of a liberal democracy is based on the liberalist movement of the philosophers of the eighteenth century. However the advent of past social has resulted in challenges to the ways in which liberal democracy has been and is conducted over the intervening years since that time; the suffrage movement and the American civil rights movement against segregation are two such examples. These movements were successful because those in power allowed them to succeed (admittedly with some reluctance). More recently, that is over the past twenty to thirty years new social movements have grown up. These movements are campaigning on various issues including: * Anti globalisation; the backlash against the increase in power of large corporations and the perceived lack of legislation restricting their actions. * Extremist religious groups. * Environmental change; the movement and groups pushing for greater respect for the planet in a global community. There are also many other groups which have grown up as a result of the mass movement of peoples. These groups campaign for greater minority rights, and more freedom to express cultural heritage. Heywood states additionally that these groups are a result of the post-modernist era: â€Å"If the major political ideologies were in their various ways, products of modernisation [i.e. the labour movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries], the transition from a modern to a post modern society cannot but have profound significance for their [the new movements] roles and character [†¦] post modernity [†¦] has both thrown
Monday, September 16, 2019
About Bangalore Essay
Bangalore is India’s third most populous city and fifth-most populous urban agglomeration. Today, as a large and growing metropolis, Bangalore is home to some of the most well-recognized colleges and research institutions in India. Numerous public sectors, heavy industries, software companies, aerospace, telecommunications, and defence organisations are located in the city. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley of India because of its pre-eminent position as the nation’s leading IT employer and exporter. A demographically diverse city, Bangalore is a major economic hub and the fastest growing major metropolis in India. see more:essay on bangalore The city with an eclectic spirit, Bangalore has always attracted talents from all over India and across the world. It is a city with cosmopolitan culture. Just when one steps into the city he can feel its pulse. It is a city vibrant with its jazz festivals, fashion trends and the old age craft. The city accommodates one and all, so that everyone can happily co-exist. If you are very new to this city and it is education, which primarily brought you to this place, then there are a lot many things for you to seek, to learn to imbibe. To get your minds refreshed and to start learning with a new zest, with renewed energies it is important that you visit certain places, learn about its culture and be a part of Bangalore. Not just the places, the food of Bangalore also form a key area of interest for many. South Indian food is one of the healthiest as it is mostly non-greasy, roasted and steamed. A large selection of popular food is vegetarian. Rice is cultivated extensively and it forms an integral part of people’s diet. You can have your fill at any popular restaurant or eating joints in Bangalore. If you feel homesick and are on the look out for some home food, this city would not disappoint you. It makes you feel at home, providing you with all the facilities that you might require during your stay as a student. Most importantly, the climate of the place is very conducive for your stay.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Captain Ahab portrayed as monomaniacal in Moby Dick Essay
Monomania, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is the pathological obsession with one subject or idea. In Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick, an obsession causes monomania in its main character. Through his actions, words, thoughts, and what others think about him, Captain Ahab is truly monomaniacal. Ahab is monomaniacal through his words and thoughts. â€Å"Talk not to me of blasphemy,man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me.†This shows Ahab’s madness because only he would have the nerve to say that no matter who it is, great or small, he would stand up to them; this includes Moby Dick. Ahab often smokes a pipe, but he realizes something and says â€Å"What business have I with this pipe? This thing that is meant for sereneness, to send up mild white vapors among mild white hairs, not among torn iron-grey locks like mine. I’ll smoke no more.†He admits that he is not a peaceful man, which is quite monomaniacal. Another event that shows Ahab’s monomania is when he talks directly to a dead whale’s head, saying â€Å" Speak, thou vast and venerable head, mighty head and tell us the secret thing that is in thee†¦O head! thou hast seen enough to split the planets and make an infidel of Abraham, and not one syllable is thine!†His obsession leads him to even say that he will pay someone to kill Moby Dick just for the sake of revenge. â€Å"Whosoever of ye raises me that same white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my boys!†When Ahab finally meets Moby Dick, his monomania hits its high point as his last words before his death are â€Å"Sink all coffins and hearses to one common pool! And since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!†Captain Ahab is not only monomaniacal through his words, but through his actions, also. In one incident, Ahab holds Starbuck at gunpoint just because he asked if he could have a crew of men fix a leak. Is that not an action of a madman? Ahab also breaks the ship’s compass at one point in the story so that the crew learns how the ship moves. He also refuses to recognize the warnings that are presented during gams; he dismisses them without any thought or hesitation because his obsession makes him blind to the reality and stupidity of the search for Moby Dick. Ahab also has no respect for his fellow sailors, as he has manipulated them quite often. Everyone on the Pequod, especially Ishmael, thought that they were going on a normal whaling voyage, not a suicidal chase for a deadly white whale. If someone is to be called monomaniacal, not only one point of view can confirm that. The thoughts of fellows crew members on the Pequod often comment on how they feel about Ahab. Ishmael describes Ahab as being â€Å"A grand, ungodly, god-like man, Captain Ahab; doesn’t speak much;Ahab’s been in colleges, as well as among the cannibals; been used to deeper wonders than the waves; fixed his fiery lance in mightier, stranger foes than whales.†Queeqeug gives his two cents worth when he says â€Å" More than once did he put forth the faint blossom of a look, which, in any other man, would have soon flowered out in a smile.†Obviously, Ahab did not like to smile, which is something that happy people do. Finally, Stubb comments that â€Å"The sea had jeeringly kept his finite body up, but drowned the infinite of his soul.†He says that Ahab has wasted his soul in pursuit of Moby Dick, and that if it was not for the sea and the white whale, Ahab would not be monomaniacal. Ahab is monomaniacal through what he says, what he does, and what other think of him. He not only manipulates his fellow sailors, he also acts like a madman because of his obsession with the pursuit of Moby Dick. Captain Ahab is seemingly monomaniacal despite what he thinks of himself.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Research Project: Margaret Bourke-White Essay
Margaret Bourke – White, an American journalist photographer, was born in New York City on June 14, 1904. She was raised in a strict household. During her time in high school she became the yearbook editor and that is when she started showing her writing talent. Raised in a strict household, Bourke-White attended local public schools in Bound Brook, New Jersey, after her family moved there. In high school Bourke-White served as the yearbook editor and showed promise in her writing talents. After High school she kept on moving back and forth from the East to the Midwest, that was the reason why she attended several different universities. After tried out several different fields of studies, she discovered photography and decided to continue her education in this field. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1927. After her graduation she opened a studio in Cleveland, Ohio. At first she specialized in architectural photography, that was when she started taking pictures of the Otis Steel factory. Her work resulted to be some of the best steel factory pictures of that era, and these earned her national attention, by the publisher Henry Luce in Time magazine. Bourke-White became the associate editor and staff photographer of Fortune magazine, from 1929 till 1935. During that time she became the first western photographer who was allowed to document the Soviet Industry through photographs. That was a trigger to make her think about her work, from taking photographs for advertising, which was very profitable. She changed her perception on photography; she discovered how it is more of a powerful tool used to inform and influence the people, than an artistic medium. In 1937 she started working on a photo essay with Erskine Caldwell, whom she later on married in 1936, on revealing the social conditions in South America. Together they published a book, ‘You Have Seen Their Faces’ with their work from the photo essay, which became her best-known book. Never the less, this photo essay was one of the reasons why she was hired in Life magazine. During her time in Life magazine she composed her most famous single photograph, while covering the Louisville flood. Being a photographer doesn’t only mean taking photographs, but it’s to live and experience what you as a photographer are trying to show the world. It could be very dangerous and you will face a lot of obstacles. Bourke-White had no fear, all she cared about is to document and show the world what was happening. She was the first female photographer to document what was happening during the World War 2, and who was allowed to work in the combat zones. She went was in Russia during the time Germany boomed Moscow for the first time, and that was when she decided to become a war correspondent. Of course this made her see horrors, which she could have never dreamt of seeing. At first she kept on going back and forth between the US Army Forces on the front lines of North Africa and Italy. During that time She experienced a torpedo attack on a ship she was taking to North Africa. This did not make her change her mind on covering the war, even after the fire she repeatedly came under in Italy in areas of fierce fighting. Her photos showed emotions and revealed the horrors to the war. There we two photographs she took during the war that had a great effect on the American population. The first one was a photo she took in Buchenwald camp, which was published in TIME magazine in 1945. Buchenwald camp was a concentration camp, where thousands of Jews were taken hostage and killed. Margaret was able to take a picture of the Jewish corpses that were piled on top of each other. It was a shocking picture that showed the suffering of the Jews and the cruelty of Nazi German. The second picture showed a Nazi mother who is covering both of her children with a white cloth. The story behind this picture is more shocking that what we saw. This mother killed her children after her husband was killed during the war, and then she ended up committing suicide. After the war was over Bourke White went back to documenting about humanitarian issues, which lead her to India. Two years after the Second World War, partition problems occurred between India and Pakistan that ended to be very violent. She was very keen to record all these horror to show to the world. She took photographs of dead victims with open eyes, streets filled with corpses and refugees with vacant eyes. These pictures touched a lot of people, some of them were displayed at â€Å"the posh shopping center Khan Market†in Delhi, India, and sixty-six of them were added in 2006 in a republished book called, ‘Train to Pakistan’. During her time in India, Bourke White took this chance to go photograph and interview Mohandas K. Gandhi. A lot of people regard her as being very lucky to have taken this interview, because a couple of hours after she left him he was assassinated. Her next destination was South Africa; she spent five month there documenting the unfair social and political treatment of black people and the cruelty of apartheid. After that she decided to fly to South Korea to document the war that was going on during that time. Unfortunately that was her last trip, she discovered that she had the Parkinson’s disease, in 1956. She didn’t give up and fought back. She started working on her autobiography, Portrait of Myself that was published in 1963. She then died in 1971, due to her illness. Margaret was a strong and determined woman. She didn’t only play a big role in changing the people’s perspectives on the sufferings and problems that were around the world and the reality of things, but also how a woman can do a mans job. This wasn’t something common at that time. She has proved to the world that women can do everything, no matter how hard it is and her work reflected that. She crossed all barriers to make history and became well known around the world.
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