Marx's objectives to individual rights Research Paper - 1

Marx's objectives to individual rights - Research Paper Example However, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are convinced otherwise, affirming that bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few. 1 For them capitalism, which is based on the right to own private property, is beneficial only to the select few capitalists - or the bourgeoisie - who reap their benefits from the exploitation of the wage earners, the proletariat. For Marx and Engels, at least, private property rights protect the freedom of some but not only deny the freedom, but results in the exploitation, of many others. To understand this argument, it is necessary to have a first look at the basis of Marxs theory. Marx strongly believed that capitalist society consisted of two classes, the bourgeoisie, or the ruling class, and the proletariat, who are the exploited class: "To maintain its own existence private property must also maintain the existence of the property - less working class needed to run the factories. The proletariat is compelled, however, to abolish itself on account of its miserable condition. This will require the abolition of private property - both disappear in a new synthesis that will resolve the contradiction." 2 The employers, or the bourgeoisie, build up their wealth through the exploitation of their workers. Under capitalism workers essentially own their own labor which in one respect makes them free. However, although the workers are in charge of their own labor power, in the sense that it is not owned by a master or land owner, they are not free as they are forced to sell it out in order to survive. Instead of owning the product of their own labor, this instead goes to the capitalists who in turn retain a certain amount of the value of the product for themselves and their investment. Thus capital can be defined as accumulated labor.

Developing Promotional Strategies for Horticultural Products Essay Example for Free

Developing Promotional Strategies for Horticultural Products Essay INTRODUCTION. The horticulture sub-sector of agriculture in Kenya has grown in the last decade to become a major foreign exchange earner, employer and contributor to food needs in the country. Currently the horticulture industry is the fastest growing agricultural subsector in the country and is ranked third in terms of foreign exchange earnings from exports after tourism and tea. Fruits, vegetable and cut flower production are the main aspects of horticultural production in Kenya. In this write up, the horticultural products I will focus on are coriander, courgettes, cabbage, kales, spinach, indigenous vegetables like ‘terere’ and ‘managu’, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and onions. These products will be directly sourced from my farm in Kitengela. IDENTIFICATION OF THE INNATE ANS ACQUIRED NEEDS According to Boyd (2010) humans become motivated when a need is aroused that they have a desire to satisfy. These needs can be physiological also known as innate e.g need for food, water, sex and cloths or they could be acquired needs which are learnt in response to an individual’s culture or surroundings e.g need for affection, self esteem or prestige. The above mentioned horticultural products are food products that satisfy needs in the first level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs i.e the physiological needs. Moreover, through the right packaging and promotion of these products, the acquired needs will be satisfied. THE PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES BASED ON THESE NEEDS Organizations use promotion to communicate with customers about products they offer because promotion is one half of the communication process with customers. It works co-operatively with market research in an iterative feedback loop so that the constantly changing requirements of users are met by promotional activities that target or even anticipate these expressed needs. Promotion involves making sure that customers are aware of the products that the organization makes available to them. The objective of my promotional strategy is to provide information about my products, increase demand for these products and to differentiate the product. I will design different advertising messages to be placed in certain magazines like healthy eating magazines as well as Saturday Nation newspaper magazine and television advertisment. Moreover, through the social media i.e twitter and face book I will advertise my products. These adverts will focus on the benefits that clients will get on consump tion of my products. The advert will be designed in such a way that it brings out the different innate and acquired needs that will be met. People have to eat and eat good food that is well presented, I will therefore, do word of mouth advertising and attend networking forums for horticultural products e.g the annual horticultural exhibitions says Wu (2012). As I display my products, I will ensure they are well packaged in clean, labeled packages so that as my purchase my products they are satisfied with the packaging thus meeting both their innate and acquired needs. According to Stern and Adel (1988), word-of-mouth is one of the most credible forms of advertising because people who dont stand to gain personally by promoting something put their reputations on the line every time they make a recommendation. In the utilization of word of mouth advertising, I will incorporate brand advocates in this word of mouth ad. I will use personal selling as well. This will be one to one communication with a potential buyer. In this case the potential buyers I will focus on for personal selling are the restaurants, schools, hospitals and hotels. I will therefore, employ the use of sales men and use experiential marketing in this case. I will hire a tele-marketing researcher who will make follow up calls to clients who purchase my products to get their feedback on areas that I need to improve on as the researcher identifies their unspoken needs as well as their spoken needs. REFERENCES Boyd, J.C (2010). Consumer Psychology. England:Open University Press. Stern .L. W. Adel I. E.(1988) Marketing Channels. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall Inc. Wu, J. M ( 2012) Consumer Perception of quality for horticultural products and related agricultural practices. Ontario:Guelph.

Muslim Women: Wearing The Hijab

Muslim Women: Wearing The Hijab Literature on this topic is abundant as research has been conducted globally on the topic of the hijab as to the reasons why women should and should not wear the hijab. The research conducted was made possible through the use of surveys, interviews, questionnaires and observations. Katherine Bullock in particular, a Canadian community activist, author and lecturer did extensive research on the topic of the hijab and published her findings in the form of a book called Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil which challenges Historical and Modern Stereotypes . She has also published articles on Muslim women and the media, and Islam and political theory. Purposes of the research The objectives of the study are to examine if the dominant negative Western perception affects the reasons why the Muslim community is divided on the subject of hijab. This research addresses the concern for a dialogue that could inform westernised societies about the personal reasons why some female Muslim students wear hijab and why others do not. I want my research to be meaningful, relevant to local communities and to open my mind and that of others by being taught through research and personal interviews about the subject. Scope and limitations The pool of participants is limited to the Muslim students at TSiBA Education. The data set is meaningful, but not representative of the vast range of Muslims in different contexts. It will however show a diversity of views within a common theology and faith. Plan of development METHODOLOGY 2.1 Participation The target group for the research is 20 South African Muslim women between the ages of 18 and 40. This age group is the target of this study because they are the current generation of TSiBA students and are experiencing modern South Africa in a time when it seems there is an ever increasing influx of Western culture. The age group is also likely to include married women who might be inclined to think differently about the hijab as their marriage might have changed the way each looks at the hijab. 2.2 Methods of data collection Two sets of data will be employed: 1) open-ended e-mail questionnaires with 20 Muslim students about the hijab 2) Conduct interviews and observations on the candidates if further data is required. The first data collection method I chose was a simple questionnaire. The research draws on qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews with 20 Muslim female students of varying ages within the TSiBA community. After many different drafts of the questionnaire I went to the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) Education to distribute the final version. My questionnaire included the opinions of both young women who wear the hijab and those that do not. I did not ask for names in any section of the survey to ensure the anonymity of all my human subjects. In the end I collected 20 surveys in total. After gathering the questionnaire, I analyzed the results manually. As my second method of data collection, I conducted interviews, each having an approximate duration of between 30 minutes. I used a recording device on all my interviews. LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction Keywords: Islam, Muslim, hijab, veil, female, students, TSIBA Education, reasons, dominiant negative Western perception. The debate regarding the wearing of religious garb in public, specifically coverings worn by Muslim women has increased over the past few years resulting in a lot of controversy among those who agree with the practice and those who do not (iqraonline.net). The French, along with the west expected that the hijab would pass away into history as westernization and secularization took root. However, in the Muslim world, especially among the younger generation, a great wave of returning to hijab was spreading through various countries. This current resurgence is an expression of Islamic revival (Khaula Nakata, A View Through Hijab, 1994, pg 2). Hijab is seen all over the world, especially in places with a high concentration of practicing Muslims. The hijab has been the focus of often fierce media debates and has come to symbolise the clash of cultures supported by links between Islamic extremism and 21st century terrorism. While in several Islamic states such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Iran, the full covering, known as the burqa, has been compulsory. A hostile response against Muslim culture has seen such traditional clothing banned, along with the much more common hijab, in the interests of secularism. In this context, Muslim women are portrayed by the Western media either as veiled victims in need of liberation because of a lack of free choice in foreign lands, or a threat to the Western societies in which they reside because of their choice to adopt the hijab which is a traditional Islamic dress. Muslim women are almost consistently portrayed as oppressed and veiled, a terrorist threat or exotic, sexualised beings. This is in line with Saids theory of Orientalism (Said, 1978), which argues that the Muslim world and its inhabitants are considered backward, barbaric and outsiders to Western society. This portrayal of Muslims is notable in the media in terms of the coverage of Muslim women. Most representations of Muslim women involve them wearing traditional Islamic clothing such as the hijab, and their role in the media is generally limited to commentary on issues such as the veil. Western Influences Dominant negative Western perception The Western media and feminists often portray the hijab as a symbol of oppression and slavery of women. (http://www.al-islam.org). Many feminists, both Western and Islamic argue that the hijab is a symbol of gender oppression and that the Islamic veiling of women is an oppressive practice. Fadel Amara, an Islamic feminist and a Muslim female member of French government says The burqa is a prison, a straightjacket. It is not religious. It is the insignia of a totalitarian Political project for sexual inequality. (King,Islam, Women and Terrorism, 299.) Feminists argue that public presence and visibility is important to Western women. It represents their struggle for economic independence, sexual agency and political participation. In the West, celebrity is the peak of cultural legitimacy. The hijab is a challenge to the view of liberated visibility and freedom of self-expression unfettered by the male gaze.( www.theage.com) After a century of struggle for freedom of expression that included discarding the bra, some Western countries have called for banning the hijab in schools. They have developed, it would seem, a rather limited view of what public visibility might mean to different women. Frances 2004 law, known popularly as the law on the headscarf, reveals the difficulty of respecting conflicting ideas between diverse communities, especially when one community, in this case the Muslims of France, is a minority. According to this law, female students are banned from wearing the hijab as well as all other openly religious symbols in public schools. France bans women from wearing the hijab in public schools because many feminists and lawmakers argue that veiling women serves as an oppressing force, a force that silences women. Alia Al- Saji states in her article The Racialization of Muslim Veils: A Philosophical Analysis many feminists see the headscarf As a symbol of Islamic gender oppression that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦should be banned from public schools, a space where gender equality is presumed (or desired). Supporters of the law believe it fights gender oppression and gives equality to women in the school system. Katherine Bullock sheds light on the differences in judgment over hijab by having identified themes from her research on the women and Islam field. She divides these themes into the descriptions of those who are for and those who are against the hijab. According to Katherine Bullock, critics of the veil rely on secular liberal assumptions about society and human nature and therefore the veil is supposed to be and described as a symbol of oppression because it: Covers up (hides), in the sense of smothering, femininity Is apparently linked to the essentialized male and female difference (which is taken to mean that by nature, male is superior, female is inferior); Is linked to a particular view of womans place (subjugated in the home); Is linked to an oppressive (patriarchal) notion of morality and female purity (because of Islams Emphasis on chastity, marriage, and condemnation of pre- and extra-marital sexual relations); Can be imposed; and Is linked to a package of oppressions women in Islam face, such as seclusion, polygamy, easy male divorce, unequal inheritance rights. 3.2.2 Media attitudes to reporting Islam and hijab While the media cannot be held solely responsible for the construction of national identity nor blamed for societal attitudes towards minority cultures and religions, they play a significant role by providing the lens through which reality is perceived (Bullock Jafri, 2000). While the Western media sees itself as a democratic institution, it is often held accountable for legitimising and spreading racism and bias against religious communities such as Muslims (Bullock Jafri, 2000). The media portrays Muslims as tricky, sleazy, sexual and untrustworthy, as uniformly violent, as oppressors of women, and as members of a global conspiracy (Bullock Jafri, 2000). Macmaster and Lewis identify the shift in the European medias portrayal of veiled women from exotic to a danger to society (Macmaster Lewis, 1998, p. 121). They point out the juxtaposition of representations of Muslim women as concurrently oppressed and threatening, while Kolhatkar highlights the depiction of Muslim women as shapeless blue-clad forms of Afghan women (Kolhatkar, 2002, p. 34). The identification of Muslim women in the media by the use of traditional Islamic dress has been noted by Begum, who argues that images of Islamic dress are increasingly used in the media as a visual shorthand for dangerous extremism, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Muslims all over Europe are suffering from the consequences of such associations (Begum, 2005, p. 1). In France, a breeding ground of media and political debate about the hijab, has had a polarising affect on the Muslim community and a divisive impact on society and feminism. (Begum, 2005, p. 1) The medias portrayal of these women went from sinister symbols of Islamic extremism to brave heroines of the republic overnight (Ezekiel, 2005). But since then, the French media have reported on the suspension of a Muslim meter reader who wore a hijab under her hat, the banning of a fashion show of veiled women, the prevention of hijab-wearing mothers from volunteering in schools; the refusal of service to a student wearing a hijab by a university cafeteria and the banning of a witness to a civil service wedding from signing the documentation because her hijab prevented her from being formally identified According to Ezekiel, sexism and racism intersect in this debate. On one side of the feminist debate about the hijab, there are those who demand veils be banned from French streets as they encourage the harassment of unveiled women. But at the other end of the spectrum, feminists advocating a Muslim womans right to choose to wear or not to wear a hijab have aligned themselves with fundamentalist Islamic leaders, arguing that its a Muslim womans obligation to wear a hijab and demanding the ban be overturned. The authors argue that because of the medias cultural fixation on Muslim womens dress as a symbol of oppression, Muslim women often have to focus on that aspect of their identity as well, even if they would rather discuss something else. They suggest that even responsible journalism about Muslim women tends to demote them to the role of a reactionary source in the hijab debate. In sum, it is clear that Muslim women are predominantly presented to the Canadian public as foreign, exotic, oppressed, or threatening others rather than as ones unexotic, unthreatening next door neighbours. (www.reportingdiversity.org.) Clearly, the hijab story remains newsworthy in Western countries, and Muslim womens identities are inextricably linked to the headscarf as a result. 3.2.2.1 The argument of oppression Although it is true that many women do choose to wear the Hijab, it is not the case for all women. In many Middle Eastern and North African countries women are forced and are persecuted and abused for noncompliance with the hijab. This Hirshmann, Western Feminism, Eastern Veiling, and a Question of Free Agency, was recently demonstrated in Pakistan, where an extremist killed a womens activist and government minister, because she refused to wear the Hijab. King states, From Afghanistan to Algeria to Sudan, Pakistan and Iran- women are systematically brutalized and caught in a deadly crossfire between the secular and fundamentalist forces. Some Islamic feminists argue that although the statement in the Quran about women covering themselves was not meant to oppress women, the interpretation of those verses by Islamic societies does in fact oppress women. Although it can be argued that the hijab is a symbol of the oppression that occurs against women in Islam, many Islamic women dont agree. It is true that under some Islamist rule, specifically in some North African countries, Afghanistan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia women are oppressed and forced to wear the hijab, but in an international context, this is the exception to the rule regarding womens practices of wearing the veil11. Salma Yaqoob, a Muslim woman who chooses to wear the hijab explains the veil is not only an oppressing force in Islamic countries that require the veil, but also in Western countries that ban the veil. Yaqoob adamantly contends that by infringing laws that restricts womens choice on whether or not to wear the veil, they are also being oppressed. I am opposed to the Saudi and Iranian governments imposition of the veil and that of the Taliban previously. But this is also why I oppose the ban on wearing the hijab. In both cases the woman herself is no longer free to make a choice. In both cases her dignity is violated.. Yaqoob explains that more women are currently banned from wearing the hijab, than are required to wear it. The argument of liberation It can be argued that rather than oppressing, the hijab is liberating. The oppressing force behind the veil is when members of the authority, both Islamic and Western, take away a womans right to choose. The veil itself is just a piece of cloth. We interpret the hijab according to our social and religious constructions. Through the Western discussion and banning of the hijab in public schools, the Muslim school girls of France lose their freedom to express their spirituality. This view on the veil serves to continually disable and oppress women by terminating their freedom of spiritual expression. Frances 2004 law on the headscarf disables Islamic females from wearing the veil in places of education. The desired effect of the 2004 law is to fight gender oppression and inequality in the public school system, but as a residual effect, it actually diminishes womens freedoms rather than enhancing them. The law on the headscarf supports the oppressing Western discourses about veiled women and attempts to Westernize French Muslim schoolgirls. Internal debate: Reasons for wearing and not wearing the hijab The opinions of Islamic women vary in their decision whether or not to wear the veil. Some feminists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, defend the veil as a mark of agency, cultural membership, and defiance. Tayyab Bashart, a feminist scholar and Muslim who teaches in France, explains her beliefs, A woman in hijab, who is a functioning member of society, symbolizes an empowered, independent woman, rather than someone who lacks self-determination and is a puppet of society (Tayyab, Basharat.Hijab as an instrument of Taking Women off the Sex Economy.). Muslim women see bans on the veil as creating or perpetuating stereotypes that are becoming harder to fight. Hirshmann states that Western society tends to oversimplify these cultural stereotypes without looking into the women whom they think are being degraded. Reasons for wearing the hijab in Islamic Tradition The most basic debate over the hijab is over the requirement of the hijab. This is an issue that is debated by many Muslim scholars. First in order to understand why there is an issue it is important to understand the power of the Quran. The Quran is the word of God brought by his last messenger the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Islam is the total submission to Allah (God the Father) and obedience to Allah, as the Quran is Gods word then it also means total submission and obedience to Quran. The first issue with the requirement of the hijab comes from whether the hijab is in the Quran or not. There are two sides to this argument; there are those who say that the hijab is a requirement because it is in the Quran and those who say that it is not because it is not part of the Quran. Amr Khaleds lectures have greatly influenced the Muslim youth, especially Muslim female youth on the topic of the hijab. He represents the school of thought that considers the hijab to be directly in the Quran and thus a requirement for Muslim women. In one of his lectures about the hijab he says Some people argue that this hijab is not obligatory and that it was not mentioned in the Quran. These are the Qurans verses that make the Hijab obligatory to Muslim women. O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies. That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And ALLAH is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (33:59) ( Amr Khaled). Here in this verse women are told to cover their bodies so that they should be known as modest women and are not harassed. The hijab, according to many Muslims, has multiple uses and meanings. The hijabs symbolism is one of modesty and morality. According to Islam, the hijab functions as a shield for a woman against the lustful gaze of men. The hijab also serves as a cover to preserve the modesty and piety of the woman, as that is her main role as stated in the Quran. Not only is this her role in her faith, but in society as well. The Quran also states that the woman is the familys main preserver of honour, piety, and modesty. Thus, the hijab is an aid in which the woman can successfully carry out this function as demanded by Allah through the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (Kulenovic 714-715). Amr Khalad, a popular Islamic scholar, layman, and highly influential Muslim speaker, has had a strong influence on Muslim youth in on the issue of the hijab, especially in Jordan (Stratton 98). According to Amr Khalads lecture Al-Hijab, the hijab also serves the purpose of forcing men to not sexually objectify women but to see her as a vessel of intelligence and high moral values. Khalad says that the hijab reinforces the fact that Islamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ made the beauty of women of a higher value in mens eyes by providing protection [in the form of hijab] to that beauty from uncontrolled lusts and desires, and instead ordering men to respect greater the inner beauty of her soul. Thus, the real value of women is associated with the degree of her bashfulness and her abidance by it (Khalad Al-Hijab). This is the tradition Islamic rational for the hijab and why it is important in Islam (Khalad AlHijab). A study about hijab in the West also provides another theory that I believe can also be applied in South Africa because it is a country heavily influenced by the West. The idea of the hijab as a symbol of resistance is explored by Tarik Kulenovic but not necessarily one that is strictly political. Tarik Kulenovics theory suggests that the hijab in the West is a matter of identity, a physical symbol of a womans Muslim identity. This symbol also carries a message of religiosity in a modernizing society which encourages a secular life style and scorns tradition. Kulenovic asserts that the modern identity of Muslim women, which includes the wearing of the veil, is primarily the identity of resistance to the values than individuals find foreign to them and as such imposed on them (Kulenovic, page 717). Thus, in modern society, the hijab can be thought of as a means of retaining a religious life style while assimilating to the demands of the modern world. Another reason women choose to wea r the hijab is that they find that the hijab serves as an empowering factor. Yaqoob states her personal reasons why she wears the veil, For me, the wearing of the hijab denotes that as a woman I expect to be treated as an equal in terms of my intellect and personality and my appearance is relevant only to the degree that I want it to be, when I want it to be. Katherine Bullock addresses dominant western assumptions by proving through her research that the reasons some women wear the hijab are that the hijab: 1. Does not smother femininity; 2. Brings to mind the different-but-equal school of thought, but does not put forward essentalized male-female difference; 3. Is linked to a view that does not limit women to the home, but neither does it consider the role of stay-at-home-mother and homemaker oppressive; 4. Is linked to a view of morality that is oppressive only if one considers the prohibition of sexual relations outside marriage wrong; 5. Is part of Islamic law, though a law that ought to be implemented in a very wise and women-friendly manner, and 6. Can and should be treated separately from other issues of womens rights in Islam. 4.2 Reasons for not wearing the hijab in the Islamic Tradition In the Quranic this verse although it says to draw the cloak all over their bodies, it does not specifically say the hair. In addition, it does not specify in what way, to what extent, and in what manner women should cover themselves. There are many modern alternative views to this idea that the hijab is compulsory because it is in the Quran. For example, Dr.Reza Alsan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions,the founder of AslanMedia.com and also one of the leading scholars in the alternative view, considers the hijab not an obligatory aspect of being a Muslim woman. Reza claims, Although long seen as the most distinctive emblem of Islam, the veil is, surprisingly, not enjoined upon Muslim women anywhere in the Quran (Alsan). Instead he claims that the veil was in Arab culture before the arrival of Islam, through contact with Syria and Iran, where the veil was the sign of the upper class women. According to Lelia Ahmed and those who fall in the second school of thought like Reza, the only places that the hijab is applied to women is when it is addressing the wives of Prophet Muhammad. Thus the veil was only associated with the prophets wives and his daughters not all women of Islam. This school of thought does not deny that modesty was expected of all believers. Women should guard their private parts and drape a cover over their breasts when in the presence of strange men (Surah 24:31-32) (Aslan). Here specific parts of the body are named that women should guard and cover including the private parts and the breast but the hair is not mentioned. Thus those in this school of thought like Leila Ahmed and Reza Alsan do not believe that the hijab is mandatory for Muslim women because it is not mentioned in the Quran. According to Bullock, critics of the veil rely on secular liberal assumptions about society and human nature and therefore the veil is supposed to be and described as a symbol of oppression because it: Covers up (hides), in the sense of smothering, femininity Is apparently linked to essentialized male-female difference (which is taken to mean that by nature, male is superior, female is inferior); Is linked to a particular view of womans place (subjugated in the home); Is linked to an oppressive (patriarchal) notion of morality and female purity (because of Islams Emphasis on chastity, marriage, and condemnation of pre- and extra-marital sexual relations); Can be imposed; and Is linked to a package of oppressions women in Islam face, such as seclusion, polygamy, easy male divorce, unequal inheritance rights, and so on. 4.3 Spirituality Some women have a deep spiritual and religious connection to the veil and firmly disagree with the view of it as a sign of oppression. Many Muslim women feel uncomfortable without wearing it because the hijab is deeply-rooted in their personal values and religious tradition. A main reason women choose to wear the hijab, is as expression of spirituality. Bashart states in his book that Muslim women carry with them their sacred private space into the public space by use of the Hijab. (Basharat, Hijab as an Instrument of Taking Women off the Sex Economy). In this view of the hijab, the veil is not simply an article of clothing; or a symbol of oppression it is a tool of spirituality for women. Fadwa El Guindi, author of The Veil: Modesty, Privacy and Resistance, says veiling patterns and veiling behaviour are. about sacred privacy, sanctity and the rhythmic interweaving of patterns of worldly and sacred life, linking women as the guardians of family sanctuaries and the realm of the sacred in this world Conclusion This research investigates the reasons why the Muslim community is divided on the subject of the veil and if the dominant negative perception of hijab (as the hijab being oppressive) has affected, if at all, the wearing of hijab in TSiBA Education. In the attempt to answer this question, the research has presented two hypotheses. Firstly, the divide on the practice of the hijab exists within the Muslim community because there are different interpretations of the verses of the Quran where Allah commands females to over their hair. Secondly, that the dominant negative Western perception causes some Muslim women to fear wearing the hijab and to abandon it all together as wearing the hijab could result in more oppression to females- as portrayed in Western media. Thirdly, Some Muslim women choose to wear the hijab for spirituality reasons despite constant the pressures of the West.

Cause Effect Essay - The Causes of Date Rape -- Expository Cause Effec

Cause Effect Essay - The Causes of Date Rape There is no one direct cause of date rape. Although there are usually three key elements involved, socialization, miscommunication, and/or changing sexual mores. In a general sense, traditional male and female roles in society are part of the problem. Men are taught at a very early age to be aggressors; they participate in aggressive team sports, are encouraged to be competitive, not to give up, to keep on trying. They are encouraged to have strong sexual feelings and to experiment with their sexual satisfaction as a part of their masculinity. This environment which encourages men to be competitive and get what they want often leads to a belief in the "right to have sex." Women on the other hand are socialized to be more passive, dependent,...

Archimedes Principle

Applications of Archimedes' Principle 1. Submarine: A submarine has a large ballast tank, which is used to control its position and depth from the surface of the sea. A submarine submerges by letting water into the ballast tank so that its weight becomes greater than the buoyant force (and vice versa). It floats by reducing water in the ballast tank. -thus its weight is less than the buoyant force. 2. Hot-air balloon The atmosphere is filled with air that exerts buoyant force on any object.A hot air balloon rises and floats due to the buoyant force (when the surrounding air is greater than its weight). It descends when the balloon weight is more than the buoyant force. It becomes stationary when the weight = buoyant force. The weight of the Hot-air balloon can be controlled by varying the quantity of hot air in the balloon. 3. Hydrometer A hydrometer is an instrument to measure the relative density of liquids. It consists of a tube with a bulb at one end.Lead shots are placed in the bulb to weigh it down and enable the hydrometer to float vertically in the liquid. In a liquid of lesser density, a greater volume of liquid must be displaced for the buoyant force to equal to the weight of the hydrometer so it sinks lower. Hydrometer floats higher in a liquid of higher density. Density is measured in the unit of g cm-3. 4. SHIP A ship floats on the surface of the sea because the volume of water displaced by the ship is enough to have a weight equal to the weight of the ship.A ship is constucted in a way so that the shape is hollow, to make the overall density of the ship lesser than the sea water. Therefore, the buoyant force acting on the ship is large enough to support its weight. The density of sea water varies with location. The PLIMSOLL LINE marked on the body of the ship acts as a guideline to ensure that the ship is loaded within the safety limit. A ship submerge lower in fresh water as fresh water density is lesser than sea water. Ships will float higher in cold water as cold water has a relatively higher density than warm water.

Sompetition play in people’s daily life Essay

What part does competition play in people’s daily life? Do we put too much emphasis on competition? Are we more affected by its positive models or its less-desirable attributes? Does our economic system rely too heavily on winners and losers, or does the competitive marketplace spur new ideas and efficiencies? Now, I have a challenge for you. Think of one aspect of life that does not include competition. Do you find it hard to complete this task? If yes, why? This is because each day, in any number of ways, we are engaged in competition. Competition exists when there is a scarcity of a desired outcome. Thus, you may wonder, what part does competition play in our daily’s life? Competition makes people to improve themselves every day. Without competition, a lot of people will consider themselves the best in their majors. Though such feeling of confidence is important, it inevitably limits their intentions to develop the knowledge and technique. The appearance of another s pecialist will challenge the importance of the colleague in the same group and encourage him to learn more and do more. A good example is in an orchestra, if there is only one person who is good at playing violin, he may think himself the best and seldom consider improving his skill. Now a new player who is more talented and had achieved higher grade in violin comes into the same orchestra. The former player must face the fact that he is not the best there and needs to learn more and work more to keep up with new skill while the later one will keep practising so that he will always be better than the first musician. This in turn, motivates other players and thus higher the standard of the orchestra. Besides that, competition helps people to learn. It makes us strive for better. When there is a competition, we tend to give our best in urge to win. Even if we lose, we have learnt something.  We learnt from our failure and mistakes For example, in school, students work hard to overcome other people to be the top scholar in the school. If they did not do well in their tests, they will know what are their weaknesses and thus learn more so that they cam improve that. Without competition, students would be lazy and become incompetent. This is because competition is a motivational factor for a person to excel in any field. If there is no competition, students may not study to score good marks since there is no ranking. Moreover, competition builds teamwork. By working as a group to achieve something, we need to work effectively with other people. This in turn, improves our communication skills, socialising  skills and all round ability to work with other people. Therefore, competition makes us learn new things constantly. Furthermore, competition makes the manufactures invent better products which benefit the country and people. With the development of communication and transportation, merchandize can be easily tr ansported from one country to another country, as well as new technique can be easily learned from one region to another region. International competitions in a lot of fields appear. With a lot of brands of the same kind of commodity, customers always prefer the brand with better quality and cheap price. Therefore international competition makes the manufactures develop this kind of merchandize with the good quality and appropriate price using the better technique. As a result, the newest product with better quality and reasonable price improves the quality of people’s daily life and increase the popularity of the country as many people will know the newest product which can improve the quality of their lives is made by this country. If the country has high popularity, the people living in that country will have a better life. This is because more tourists will know and want to visit that country and thus generates income of the country. The country will then develop infrastr uctures which benefit its people. In conclusion, competition makes people to learn and improve and improve their standard of lives.

Several Grinding Mill Phenomenons of Ball Mills Essays

Several Grinding Mill Phenomenons of Ball Mills Essays Several Grinding Mill Phenomenons of Ball Mills Essay Several Grinding Mill Phenomenons of Ball Mills Essay Wet ball mill is grinding equipment production, one of the rolling mill is a cylinder with a special support structure in accordance with the new concept design of a new mill. Let solves the system under harsh environmental conditions and prolonged sealing problems arising from the work cylinder traverse problem. Now, come to you to talk about the wet ball mill installation process sequence, base unit installation, we hope that this knowledge a help: Understanding the detection of ball mill load is significant. Grinding Jobs appear package ball, the grinding of the material and the gas temperature is high, end mill sieve take water vapor, the product has a thin sheet materials, while the large tile mill outlet temperature is high, the grinding of cement tacky. So pack the ball mill produces grinding phenomenon with full, what does? L . Into the grinding material is too dry, too little water, fine powders prone to static electricity and adhere to the surface grinding. 2. Duct blockage, poor ventilation, the eat can not be discharged in the mill, the mill will lead to overheating and package materials ball. . Into the grinding material temperature is too high, or if the material is too long residence time in the mill, or poor ventilation, the temperature Inside the mill is too high, generating static electricity, so fine powders adsorbed on the surface of the grinding balls causes packet. Most customers in the production process for the mill appeared packages balls and full grinding phenomena do not know, a problem I o not know in what way the rescue, resulting In ball mill not normal production operations.

Aarron Beck essays

Aarron Beck essays Dr. Aaron T. Beck MD, a psychotherapist, is considered one the most influential people in modern cognitive psychology and is known as the Father of Cognitive Therapy. Cognitive psychology is the study of peoples mental processes between a stimulus and a response. Cognitive psychologists investigate a person is capability to perceive, work out, and solve problems through insight and the use of their memory. Similar to the operations of a computer, a human is able to gain information, process and store it, and then be able to retrieve the information for future use. Becks interest in cognitive psychology can be traced back to when he was eight years old when he encountered a life-threatening staff infection that indefinitely altered his personality. Beck was brought up as a typical middle-class young boy, born the youngest of three sons into a Russian Jewish immigrant family on July 18, 1921 in Providence, Rhode Island. His father was a printer who took pride in his socialist ideals; while his mother was extremely overbearing and known for her shameful mood swings. His two older brothers had died before he was born. Before Beck became ill, he was involved in athletics and the boy scouts. However, after he became a much more introverted person who preferred reading to playing sports and developed a fear of blood, hospitals, and doctors. This fear left him feeling ill just thinking about any of these things and this troubled young Beck. He knew at an early age that this was an unhealthy way to live. He decided to change this about him and gradually broke himself of this phobia through rational thinking. Every time he would come upon a situation that would make him feel uncomfortable, he would keep himself busy and would use rational reasoning why he should not feel threatened. He gradually helped himself overcome his fear through his process of using rational thoughts to overcome his fears instead of ...

ASIA PACIFIC BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

ASIA PACIFIC BUSINESS - Essay Example Looking at the economic growth and development of Asia Pacific, clearly, such developments were due to state policy recommendations (Kraemer, Gurbaxani and King, 1992). For instance, in China and South Korea it emerges that the competitiveness of the economies was sharpened by an active role played by the state in both cases. In the realization of economic development in Asia Pacific region, the state is active in pursuing trade and industrial policies, fostering of human resource development, and in managing the financial sector. As such, the transition of most economies in this region from import-substituting to export-led growth strategies was a strategy to move from interventionist economy to market free economy. The countries affected included Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Although this was a measure put in place, no doubt the state intervention continued to arbitrate in the pursuit of trade and industrial policies especially in the period of 1960s through 1970s. The refore, the involvement has continued to manifest through the protection of import-competing sectors in the Asia Pacific region. The region in the 1980s had higher real tariff rates for imports in order to spur their growth rate and protect their industries. The real tariff rates in China and Taiwan, for instance, was 7.60 in 1983 as compared to that of US, which was at 3.24 while Singapore was at 1.83. This was an indication that Taiwan among other countries of Asia Pacific region was ready to protect their locally produced goods. During the transition period to export growth in the region, the states supported numerous mechanisms, which included the creation of uniform and almost equilibrium exchange rates. These exchange rates would then replace the multiple rate structures that were in operation at the time. The support of the state was evident during the time they waited for share of permissible imports to increase then they

Impact of Nationalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Impact of Nationalism - Essay Example The most important feature of nationalism is the nationalistic behavior. It defines the ability and willingness of a nation to make sacrifices to construct national instruments such military, diplomacy, intelligence, economic etc that are necessary for the survival and integrity of any nation to keep them safe from external threats. This ability to make sacrifices for the country is the most important aspect of any countries foreign policy. The same is true for all aspects of national life. This willingness of the people to make sacrifices and nationalism makes any country more powerful. An empirical study of different cases of the world reveals that this nationalism can be mobilized to identify opportunities and achieving national goals and it can also be channelized to deal with threats to the nation as is the case of USA. Emergence of Nationalism was also observed in Russia and China after the cold war. However in the case of Russia with the disintegration of Soviet Union, the pow er, prestige, authority and economic independence was lost but Russians gain their identity and could express their love and affection for their nation. This nationalism helped them come out as triumphant from the economic and political turmoil caused by disintegration. The impact of nationalism is so strong that just ten years after the disintegration of Soviet Union, all the countries that emerged from it are very different from each other.

Managing Physical and Mental Health Challenges Essay

Managing Physical and Mental Health Challenges - Essay Example According to the report  cognitive disabilities basically affect one’s intellectual capacity and     affects performance in education. Mental health in simple terms is absence of a mental disorder and physical health is the general wellbeing of the body. Cognitive disability is detected by intellectual capacity, academic ability and adaptive conduct. To measure the intellectual capacity, an intelligence test is run. An intelligence test is any of a number of tests designed to measure a person’s mental skills Academic performance can be measured by communication skills and academic readiness of the person.From this study it is clear that mental health and physical wellbeing can be affected by cognitive disability. When one is confirmed to have cognitive disability, then they end up having a difficult time interacting socially which in turn affects them psychologically. Psychological effects end up causing anxiety and depression which in turn makes people to seek di fferent ways to cope. Stacey deals with her problems by self mutilation which causes physical problems. If Stacey is confirmed to have cognitive disability, then the choice on the way forward is left to the parents but if she doesn’t have any cognitive disability, then she can make sober decisions on her own .This is according to the Nursing and Midwifery code of conduct.  Stacey needs to go through a series of counseling and psychiatric treatment to make her learn how to open up and also to stop her from inflicting injury on herself.

Journal Article Critique (Recognizing Heart Failure (ACEIs) )

Journal Critique (Recognizing Heart Failure (ACEIs) ) - Article Example Each stage has relevant information that can be relayed to the patient with the goal in mind of making the patient responsible for the maintenance of his own heart especially in the early stages. Also, the article emphasizes the value of sticking to a medication regimen, consuming a healthy food, as well as exercising as means of preventing heart failure. Heart failure is a disease that afflicts no less than half a million Americans each year according to the article. This makes the disease top the list of diseases that cause mortality. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute heart failure is commonly caused by diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension , and diabetes. Nevertheless, the article argues that heart failure can be linked to any of these dysfunction: systolic or diastolic. The aforementioned causes cited by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute are usually diastolic dysfunction. On order to get a complete evaluation of patients suspected with heart failure, they undergo chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram( ECG) and Echo cardiogram. The initial workup for a patient with suspected heart failure includes lab tests, a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram (ECG), and an echocardiogram. In addition to this, the Mayo Clinic website cited other tests that may prove helpful such as : stress test, coronary cat hetherization ( angiogram ), MRI or cardiac CT. Each test has a corresponding purpose that may reveal a symptom. For example, angiogram helps in determining the presence or even extent of coronary artery disease. The article extensively discussed the stages outlined in the AHA/ACC guidelines. The first stage which is known as Stage A, is a stage that aims to control the condition of the patient by suggesting interventions such as controlling hypertension. Controlling high blood pressure is crucial in preventing heart failure

Henri Matisse's The Dessert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Henri Matisse's The Dessert - Essay Example The essay "Henri Matisse's The Dessert" discovers the artwork of Henri Matisse. His style also called for the use of flatter shapes to emphasize the use of the canvas, rather than creating three dimensions and offering a window into the scene. To further develop this flat and expressionist theme, he used organic and floral symbols, such as those seen on the table cloth. The chair, at bottom left, has a flatness to it as well—all of this showing that Matisse hoped to achieve independence from realism and his own expression in this painting. Matisse also had some indecision about the color—the painting was first green, then later he changed it and repainted things blue. Finally, before the piece was sent off to a Russian art collector, Matisse painted over the blue to make the painting red. Thus, it is apparent that colors were very important to the artist, and the emotions that colors inspired influenced him in deciding which color was appropriate. Overall, Matisse's ins piration for the painting was a desire to show what was within his own head, rather than to depict reality—he therefore used his own preference in color, light, and shape, and also avoided creating a focal point in the painting. Instead, he made a sort of scene with multiple subjects in it, and left nowhere for the eye to be drawn to as a center—a sort of protest against older styles that tried to be as precise in color, detail, shape, and scale as photographs may be while trying to draw the eye to a center point using proportions. and invisible lines. What I like most about this piece is that it makes a point of using non-traditional methods of expression and illustration. The Impressionist approach to painting creates a painting that offers a look into the artist's mind, and hence we see a far more unique scene or subject than would be possible if the artist was trying to depict the scene realistically. I also like how the scene uses a dominant color. The use of red as a sort of template color allows the addition of other colors to be more magnified, and thus the contrast against red becomes sharper and more impressive. The way the paint is mixed, the colors also appear very soft and simple, without any sort of gradient or overwhelming vividness. The painting also uses shape in a way that pleases my eye. The organic shapes on the table cloth are the obvious ones. If red is the defining color in the painting, then the curves of the vegetation are the defining shape. I also like how the patterns in blue are echoed in the shapes of the fruit, flowers, and also in the plants on the painting on the wall—the shapes all seem to be juxtaposed with little forcing, yet fit together harmoniously. This makes the painting very easy to look at, rather than a harsh clashing of hard, competing lines. The painting on the wall is another element that I like, as it creates a sort of surreal feeling in the paint—the irony of a painting within a paint ing. The painting is enclosed within a gold frame, and it thus has an obvious separation from the main scene, yet it still relates to the main scene both directly and indirectly. The indirect relation to the main scene is that the painting on the wall offers a pleasing contrast in color, in a way that really complements the entire color scheme. On the other hand, it also seems to be part of a larger set of colors across the whole painting that includes some of the fruits as a residual part of the concentration of green in the wall painting, while the red house and blue sky in the wall painting have the same relation to the larger scene. The final part about the painting that I

Case Study Plaskor Inc.Accounting Information Systems Internal

Plaskor Inc.Accounting Information Systems Internal Controls and Risks in IT Systems - Case Study Example Thus, Plaskor Inc. has underscored implementation of this strategy in carrying out manufacturing of automotive parts since it needs to trade with other partners. a) This section of the paper seeks to describe the extra IT system risks that Plaskor should consider as it evaluates whether to buy or develop an Internet EDI system. According to Segev, Porrar, and Roldan (n.d.), the main risk that can be faced by Plaskor is related to the aspect of security. Whether to buy or develop the system, there are certain risks that are likely to be faced. For instance, the system can be intruded by hackers who are bent on stealing business information belonging to other organizations. The security risk is more threatening to the viability of business since this can impact its operations. The system is also likely to be infiltrated by spyware which can affect the operations of the company. The company can lose vital information as a result of spyware that can be picked from the Internet. Therefore, there is a need to build strong firewalls in order to protect data from being stolen by other unscrupulous people. Plaskor can choose to develop the EDI system, which implies that it should also develop translators which can code the data so that it can be exchanged smoothly between two different companies. However, the risk likely to be encountered is that the translators may not be compatible with transmission and security systems and back end systems that ultimately process EDI instructions (Segev, Porrar, & Roldan, n.d.). This may affect the seamless flow of information, hence the need to put concerted efforts in order to ensure that the translators are compatible with the internal systems of the company. Failure to do so may impact the smooth flow of information between linked computers. b) This section of the paper seeks to describe IT internal controls that should be incorporated into an Internet EDI system. Systematic scheduling has to be put in

Journal Article Critique (Recognizing Heart Failure (ACEIs) )

Journal Critique (Recognizing Heart Failure (ACEIs) ) - Article Example Each stage has relevant information that can be relayed to the patient with the goal in mind of making the patient responsible for the maintenance of his own heart especially in the early stages. Also, the article emphasizes the value of sticking to a medication regimen, consuming a healthy food, as well as exercising as means of preventing heart failure. Heart failure is a disease that afflicts no less than half a million Americans each year according to the article. This makes the disease top the list of diseases that cause mortality. According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute heart failure is commonly caused by diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension , and diabetes. Nevertheless, the article argues that heart failure can be linked to any of these dysfunction: systolic or diastolic. The aforementioned causes cited by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute are usually diastolic dysfunction. On order to get a complete evaluation of patients suspected with heart failure, they undergo chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram( ECG) and Echo cardiogram. The initial workup for a patient with suspected heart failure includes lab tests, a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram (ECG), and an echocardiogram. In addition to this, the Mayo Clinic website cited other tests that may prove helpful such as : stress test, coronary cat hetherization ( angiogram ), MRI or cardiac CT. Each test has a corresponding purpose that may reveal a symptom. For example, angiogram helps in determining the presence or even extent of coronary artery disease. The article extensively discussed the stages outlined in the AHA/ACC guidelines. The first stage which is known as Stage A, is a stage that aims to control the condition of the patient by suggesting interventions such as controlling hypertension. Controlling high blood pressure is crucial in preventing heart failure

Case Study Plaskor Inc.Accounting Information Systems Internal

Plaskor Inc.Accounting Information Systems Internal Controls and Risks in IT Systems - Case Study Example Thus, Plaskor Inc. has underscored implementation of this strategy in carrying out manufacturing of automotive parts since it needs to trade with other partners. a) This section of the paper seeks to describe the extra IT system risks that Plaskor should consider as it evaluates whether to buy or develop an Internet EDI system. According to Segev, Porrar, and Roldan (n.d.), the main risk that can be faced by Plaskor is related to the aspect of security. Whether to buy or develop the system, there are certain risks that are likely to be faced. For instance, the system can be intruded by hackers who are bent on stealing business information belonging to other organizations. The security risk is more threatening to the viability of business since this can impact its operations. The system is also likely to be infiltrated by spyware which can affect the operations of the company. The company can lose vital information as a result of spyware that can be picked from the Internet. Therefore, there is a need to build strong firewalls in order to protect data from being stolen by other unscrupulous people. Plaskor can choose to develop the EDI system, which implies that it should also develop translators which can code the data so that it can be exchanged smoothly between two different companies. However, the risk likely to be encountered is that the translators may not be compatible with transmission and security systems and back end systems that ultimately process EDI instructions (Segev, Porrar, & Roldan, n.d.). This may affect the seamless flow of information, hence the need to put concerted efforts in order to ensure that the translators are compatible with the internal systems of the company. Failure to do so may impact the smooth flow of information between linked computers. b) This section of the paper seeks to describe IT internal controls that should be incorporated into an Internet EDI system. Systematic scheduling has to be put in

International management and change Essay Example for Free

International management and change Essay When Pascal made this statement, globalization had yet to take place. People lived in different societies remaining cut-off from each other. Each society had its own perception of truth and reality. Then came along the advancement in technology bringing along inventions such as computer, internet and telecommunications making the world a global village. Perceptions started changing as information flow across the globe happened at the speed of light. People from all across the globe started sharing their experiences with each other thus reducing the differences in various cultures. However, the act of globalization has yet to reach its peak. Cultural differences still exist within different societies and the level of information and technology is still heterogeneous around the globe. I would now highlight some distinguishing features of the management styles of various regions. We observe that the beliefs and values of people vary across various cultures. The Japanese work as a group and organizational system is based on community work. The reward system is based on the level of seniority and is also group based. The organizational structure is cooperation based whereas American organizations often are based on competitive style where individuals are rewarded based on their performance levels. Similarly the management style of French is also very different from that of US. French follow a more creative thinking pattern and do not like to adhere to strict rules and regulations. The European management style has some key points that distinguish it from the American management style. The European management style even differs within the European countries and two countries deserve a special focus France and Germany because, among other reasons, the bureaucrats in those countries have long been regarded as mandarins by the field of public administration (Dogan 1976). European management style can be classified into different clusters based upon Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s cultural variables (Goliath, 2004) according to which European management style can be sub-divided into: Anglo-Saxon culture (Ireland, UK, and USA), Nordic culture (Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland), Germanic culture (Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland), Frankophile culture (France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain) and Italian culture. These cultures also differ greatly from the US and Japanese styles of management thus requiring different management practices. The pay for performance system can work with the European management style as employees in Europe are mostly achievement oriented and perform good work for better rewards. The cultural beliefs and values of Europeans are pretty much different from the people of US and hence the marketing techniques used in Europe should be different from those applied in US. For example, Europeans are very much reluctant to providing personal information as compared to US customers; also the credit card usage in Europe is considerably lower than in US (Heilbrunn, 1998). The introduction of new logo and implementation of matrix structure allowing a flatter organizational structure can work relatively better in the European business environment The company operations in South America demand a completely different approach as Latin American culture significantly differs from US culture in terms of communication process. The US culture emphasizes on completion of task and sentences are interpreted in their direct meaning. However Latin American society focuses on relationships and context of the communication may involve more than just the spoken words (Wederspahn, 2001). So the marketing and sales efforts in South American cannot be standardized with the US practices since the Latin American customers tend to perceive communication messages in a very different way from their US counterparts. The new logo can be introduced, however introduction of a flatter organization with matrix structure may not be feasible in South America as the type of culture prevalent in this society is not conducive to the working of non-hierarchical organizations. If we study the culture of Middle Eastern countries, it is found that the business practices again differ significantly from those of US. The business is mostly chaotic and based upon word of mouth rather than written agreements, the cultural values are mostly Islamic and respect for relationships is held supreme; also the marketing regulations in Middle Eastern countries are very strict as compared to US or rest of the world (Kwintessential Ltd). The middle eastern management style is mostly authoritarian and based upon Douglas McGregor’s Theory X motivational leadership style (Daniel Workman , 2008). Thus employees have little or no motivation to work on their own and will perform only when directed by the superiors. Thus bright managers from US and other Western states often try to avoid working in Middle East and so they must first be provided proper cultural training in authoritative styles thus enabling them to adapt to the management practices of the Middle East. The Australian business is more similar to that of US as compared to the rest of regions as described above. The language and dress code is pretty much similar. However, Australian society is strictly based upon egalitarian principle where nobody like being bossed around. People don’t like to consider others as superiors and there is almost no hierarchical system (Slideshare, 2009). So authoritarian style of management will not be welcomed in the Australian business. The meeting and negotiation styles as well as the general beliefs of the Australian society are pretty close to the American beliefs. However according to a study on behavior of 35,000 managers from Australia and New Zealand, the Australian managers consistently try to avoid responsibilities and do not take initiatives (Gettler, 2002). Thus FES should provide cultural and leadership training to Australian manager before implementing any kind of central strategy. Discrimination issues also prevail in Australia that can make life for foreign managers very difficult. However, recently steps have been taken to strongly implement anti-discrimination laws. The roles of front line managers are also changing in Australia as they are provided more and more freedom and responsibility (James Saville, Mark Higgins, 1994). The sales and marketing strategy in Australia can be aligned with the US strategies relatively easily because of the similarity in both societies. So the dilemma of FES is choosing between centralized and decentralized approach. Centralization can be defined as, the degree to which decision-making authority is kept at top levels of management. while Decentralization can be defined as, the degree to which decision making authority is pushed down to lower levels of the firm (Schilling 2008). Both approaches have their own pros and cons. FES has seen tremendous growth over the years and has been expanding into new regions at a very quick rate. Thus the organization requires a large amount of flexibility in its decision making that can be provided by a decentralized approach. However, due to rapid expansion, the organization requires tighter control of finances and close monitoring of all its operations to reduce costs and maintain quality. These measures can be achieved through a more centralized approach. So what approach suits FES bests can be determined by a cost benefit analysis where each advantage and disadvantage of delegation authority has to be carefully analyzed in light of the company objectives. Thus aligning the decision making process with the vision of the organization. A centralized approach can benefit the organization by significantly reducing the administrative cost related to employee management. Infrastructure handling will also be more efficient and it will be easier for the headquarter to align organizational goals with the functional and departmental goals ( Dezaree Seeds, Alan S. Khade , 2008). Centralized approach will also make reporting procedure simple resulting in standardized organizational policies. Thus in this way it will further help the organizational objective of flattening the organizational structure and in creation of a matrix organizational setup. A decentralized approach on the other hand can benefit the organization by providing flexibility and empowering employees at the divisional and functional level. As explained above, different regions in which FES is operating have different working environments and the condition of energy industry in Europe, Australia, Middle East, US and South East Asian regions are very different from each other. Thus decentralization of HR and marketing policies will allow the organization to cater to the customer needs in the ways most suited to specific regions. It will also allow greater local control and the ability to act quickly to gain local resources ( Dezaree Seeds, Alan S. Khade , 2008). Decentralization will also allow the organization to better deal with the cultural diversity and provide training to the employees as and when the need arises. One thing that business, institutions, governments and key individuals will have to realize is spiders and starfish may look alike, but starfish have a miraculous quality to them. Cut off the leg of a spider, and you have a seven-legged creature on your hands; cut off its head and you have a dead spider. But cut off the arm of a starfish and it will grow a new one. Not only that, but the severed arm can grow an entirely new body. Starfish can achieve this feat because, unlike spiders, they are decentralized; every major organ is replicated across each arm (Beckstrom and Brafman 2008). The type of approach taken by FES depends upon the nature and present condition of the global energy industry. The energy industry around the world is in a continuous state of flux. As more and more energy companies around the world become private and become free from the control of state, the nature of competition is changing (ExxonMobil, 2004). Demand for power is increasing at an exponential rate and the competition from private as well as government owned companies is fierce. In the power generation sector, each country has established different laws and tariff rates for multinational organizations. Thus on a whole it seems wiser to maintain a decentralized organizational setup which is flexible enough to quickly respond to the changing conditions of the industry. FES should maintain its present functional structure by keeping the finance, production and HR departments centralized. However using the same marketing and sales techniques all across the globe has a lot of negative implications. Thus allowing the regional marketing departments to work according to their specific environment is the best possible option. So in order to maintain decentralization in the marketing and sales department, the top management has to establish strong ties with all of its regional departments. A strong organizational culture based upon a clear vision and mission of the company should be communicated to all of its employees. Perhaps FES can create a hybrid model which allows centralization of decision making with respect to financial and important managerial decisions and at the same time, the marketing campaign is allowed flexibility according to the specific needs of the region. A key concern for FES is to harmonize its rapid global growth. Power and gas generation has to be taken in new countries and new plants need to be setup. The international operations have expanded a lot and efforts must be made to consolidate the existing business while growing in new regions of the world. As part of the consolidation effort FES must conduct extensive employee training program instilling in each employee the vision and objective of the organization. The company should consolidate its major decision making power in the Headquarter thereby allowing Headquarter to maintain a close monitory system on all of its subsidiaries. By centralizing its finance and management activities, the company can also approve marketing budgets for different regions from its Headquarter, thus building coherence in the finance and marketing goals. However the marketing and sales strategies for each region should be decentralized thus instilling greater flexibility and freedom among marketing departments to cater to their local markets. The pay for performance system can work smoothly in few of the regions but as explained earlier, some regions such as Middle East and some parts of South East Asian cultures demonstrate a more hierarchical structure and it will be extremely difficult to introduce pay for performance system in these regions. Also the parameters should be clearly defined before introducing the pay for performance system in different regions. Because same results usually do not show same amount of performance in different regions. What kind of performance and what kind of pay should be decided and communicated to all regional offices. The parameters for monitoring performance should be based upon different standards for different regions. Similarly some of the major HR policies should be centralized but mostly HR of each region should be independent in choosing the who, what, when and where about its employees. For example, Middle Eastern region is very warm in summers as compared to the European region and the work habits and optimum level of work during different seasons is different for both these regions. Thus separate working policies should be established for each of the region. The RD department should remain centralized at the American Head Office. As a centralized RD approach is more beneficial for a company like FES which has not expanded business into a variety of categories (AB, 2001). However taking technological inputs from all across the globe may help the RD department in improving its efficiency and effectiveness. Thus technological integration should be built where all global units of FES are directly integrated with its Head Office and the information flow between Head Office and different regions should be quick and efficient. The production department should carry out its role from the center, managing the manufacturing process across the globe from the Head Office. So it can be seen that different aspects of FES operations require different level of centralization and decentralization. Also different regions require different level of authority delegation based upon their internal environment and national cultures. It is relatively easier to introduce standard policies in Europe and Australia as both of these cultures are very similar to that of US. However, standardizing procedures across Middle East and South America is not a feasible option. The regional business units should remain decentralized as there should be some form of flexibility to make the decision making process quicker. The regional heads should be sent directly from the Head Office, however if some regions in Middle East are not being managed effectively by American managers, then leadership services of local managers should be availed after providing them extensive cultural training programs at the Head Office. The regional units should be linked to the Head Office through the fastest technology available so that there is no or little information gap between the center and regional units. Thus in light of the cultural differences prevailing in various regions of the world, the best suited approach should be to take a hybrid approach while showing some restrain in application of a centralized approach and making some variations in the standards for implementation in different regions. The integration of overall business can be achieved by proper use of technology and defining proper hierarchical system for flow of information between Head Office and various regional units.

Flexibility-security Nexus: the Concept of Flexicurity

Flexibility-security Nexus: the Concept of Flexicurity Meenakshi Shree Gautam Introduction Workers, companies, sectors of industry, national governments have usually been found facing a twofold expectation. On one side, there is a strong demand to bring more flexibility to labor markets, employment and work organization, while at same time an equally strong demand for providing security to employees, especially the vulnerable groups. Flexicurity suggests that the flexibility and security can co-exist at the same time. But increasing flexibility in the labor market can be seen with decreasing security in the labor market, because it might reflect a relaxation in the regulation of hiring and firing and in flexible forms of employment. The concept of flexicurity has been addressed at a various EU summits. In the mission of the European Union, enhancing of both flexibility and security has been considered with an aim to ensure sustainable economic growth with greater jobs and increased social cohesion. In India, when examined under the purview of the flexicurity, schemes like the MNREGA, and Unemployment Insurance Scheme on the planned extension of social security turn out to be the elements of an emerging domestically developing form of flexicurity. The analysis of the Indian labor markets in the context of flexicurity have been found to exist in the organized sector, but that too requires a clear-cut analysis of real rigidities and of security issues. Peter Auer, in his short paper on â€Å"Security in labor markets: Combining flexibility with security for decent work†, has discussed the concept and analyzed the topic of flexicurity, its importance, employment stability, country differences and convergence/ divergence in the European Union and the issues of what looms beyond flexicurity. Flexicurity: The concept and the shift from job to employment security Flexicurity is not merely a certain ‘species’ of the labor market policy/strategy but it also concerns a certain state or condition of the labor market. In the case concerning the flexicurity as a condition of the labor market, flexicurity has to be defined both as a typical form of security and as a typical form of flexibility. Flexicurity refers to the job, employment, income and ‘combination’ security that encourages and allows for enduring and high quality labor market participation and social inclusion, and at the same time provides a degree of numerical, functional and wage flexibility that allows for timely and adequate adjustment of labor markets and companies to changing conditions to ensure and enhance competitiveness and productivity. In the former generation of labor economists and the industrial relations school (for example the internal labor market â€Å"school† – Doeringer et Piore, 1971) job and employment security, were considered as related to one another in the following manner: job security was taken to be analogous to the task security. The job classification, under this system, proved to be inflexible in regards to new needs of polyvalence and multi-skilling with new types of goods and service production. And therefore, the job security rule was often replaced by employment security that guaranteed employment with the firm, but not on any particular job. This shift in the concept was seen with a shift from qualification to competence, more polyvalence and new forms of work organization creating space for more internal flexibility than before. There seems to be a trade-off between job and employment security comprising of employment and job changes. The shift from job to employment security was a shift from an internally rigid system towards a more internally flexible system that maintained employment security and long-term jobs with one company. The transition from job to employment security has been described as: Internal and external adjustments Internal adjustments are important for flexicurity because they can compensate for the missing external forms of adjustment. To illustrate this point, author has quoted the example of Germany where internal forms of adjustment are preferred to external ones. The author mentioned about the research conducted by an institute which confirmed the author’s proposition that internal adjustments are indeed used to compensate for the external forms of adjustments. Wage flexibility, important for providing cost flexibility, has been excluded from the concept of flexicurity. Internal flexibility is used both as an emergency measure at the time when job cuts come into view and as a preventive approach for eliciting more efficiency and upholding the occupation affiliation. An important question raised in the paper is whether one can balance the flexibility needs of individuals arising out of their choices and the needs of the employers. Both tend to be determining the steadiness of flexibility and security. It has been seen that in flexicurity countries, both the above mentioned aspects of the flexibility are complementary, while in the rest of the countries, there seems to be a trade-off between the two. The author has also highlighted, based on the empirical evidence that the flexible countries with moderate employment protection but bounteous protection by labor market policies do better in terms of decent jobs. This observation suggests that a certain degree of mobility, when â€Å"protected† is desirable for worker’s security and delivers better results than either â€Å"unprotected† mobility or too much employment stability. Therefore, labor market reforms that account for the need of stability, flexibility and security result in optimal outcomes. Neglecting any one of these elements, along with the social dialogue, tends to produce suboptimal results either for productivity, employment performance or workers’ security. Conclusion The author concludes by suggesting that one cannot imagine an absence of stable jobs and a total shift of security towards public unemployment and employment schemes. The author also highlights the fact that more research is needed to establish a strong link between objective and subjective data as for now, one can only conclude that maximizing of employment protection needs more than tenure in order to match objective and subjective employment security. Following common elements have been outlined by the author to achieve â€Å"in-employment flexicurity† combined with â€Å"out-of-employment flexicurity†: Employment protection through innovative employment contracts High degree of social protection by active Labor Market Policies Access to social rights since they link possibilities for temporary exit from the labor market (flexibility) with return options (security).) Complementarity between the individual and employer oriented flexibility High degree of internal flexibility in high performance work systems Effective social dialogue Developing, sustaining and improving such a system has to be complemented by a functioning social dialogue which would allow the industry and the government to bargain over possible trade-offs, accountabilities and expenses of the system. References Auer, P. (2012). â€Å"Security in labor markets: combining flexibility with security for decent work†, Economic and labor market analysis papers, ILO (International Labor Office), Geneva. Auer, P., Jha Praveen (2009). â€Å"labor market reforms in India: Barking up the wrong tree?†, The Indian Journal of Labor economics, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 71-81. Lerche, J. (2012). â€Å"Labor Regulations and Labor Standards in India: Decent Work?†, Global Labor Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 16-27.

The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht Essay -- Theatre Practitioner Dra

The Life and Works of Bertolt Brecht In this essay I will consider the life and works of Bertolt Brecht, the famous theatre practitioner who has had such a dramatic impact on our understanding of the theatre and acting. First of all I will give a biography of Brecht because it is important to know the background of his life in order to understand the motives he had for writing and producing plays in the way he did. We will see a direct correlation between events in his life and the plays and techniques that he propagated. I will then move to explore the methods and techniques that Brecht developed, looking at how they came about and who influenced his work. I will look at Brecht’s theory of Epic theatre, tracing the beginnings of this style and looking at the influences that may have helped to form it. To get a clear view of what Epic theatre is like I will compare it to dramatic theatre, which Brecht did himself, in regard to how the audience reacts to it. I will examine Brecht’s theory of using Montage and the effect that he intended to have on the audience. I will consider the origination of Verfremdungseffekt and how this was not an original idea of Brecht’s but something that he identified with because it supported his ideas. Geste was the technique that Brecht wanted actors to use when portraying a character, I will examine what geste is and what may have influenced Brecht to use it. Music for Brecht was a vital part of theatre and I will look at what interested him about using music and the role of music in his Epic theatre. I will consider Brecht’s ideas of what stage design should be like and how he viewed it as something separate to the text and the music. Brecht was a political writer and after reading the works of Karl Marx he wrote and produced didactic plays that reflected the philosophy of communism. Brecht wanted to involve the audience in the debates that he presented in the text and in this way the audience would learn about the arguments and be able to come to an informed conclusion of what they thought. The plays that did this are called ‘The Lehrstuck’ or ‘Learning Plays’ and I will consider how they were presented in order to involve the audience and get them to respond. Brecht was born in 1898 to a middle class family in the south of Germany. In his teenage years the First World War broke out and ... ... was so against. In the writings of Karl Marx he found a philosophy that mirrored his and he began to write more vigorously to inspire political change. His belief was that the oppressed poor people had to be inspired to fight for political change and thereby relieve their suffering. These plays were written for a music festival and they took place on a very open stage, which allowed more audience involvement. Behind the stage there was a projection screen which displayed the text and invited the audience to join in by singing along. Sometimes there would be actors in the audience to lead the audience response. In this way Brecht hoped to involve the audience in the political debates within the text. Throughout his life Brecht collaborated with other writers, musicians, directors and designers. His work was always an amalgamation of efforts and yet he managed to claim it as his own. By the end of his life he was a leading figure in theatre his productions had changed the way people viewed theatre because of their innovative ideas and detailed acting and design. Through exploring Brecht’s work I have learnt more about the theatre, its origins and its potential.

Analysis of Mending Wall by Robert Frost :: essays research papers

Mending Wall written by Robert Frost, describes the relationship between two neighbors and idea of maintaining barriers. Where one of them feels that there is no need of this wall, 'There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard.' On the other hand his neighbor remains unconvinced and follows inherited wisdom passed down to him by his father, 'Good fences make good neighbors.' They even kept the wall while mending it, this reflect that they never interact with each other, ?We keep the wall between us as we go?. Robert Frost has maintained this literal meaning of physical barriers but it does contain metaphor as representation of these physical barriers separating the neighbors and also their friendship. It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people make physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where neighbor with pine tree, believes that this separation is needed as it is essential for their privacy and personal life. The poem explores a paradox in human nature. The first few lines reflect demolition of the wall, ?Something there is that doesn?t reflect love a wall? this reflects that nature itself does not like separation. The "something" referring to the intangible sense of social interaction. Furthermore "that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it" refers to Frost or to the author. Although the narrator does not want the wall, ironically, the mending of the wall brings the neighbors together and literally builds their friendship. An additional irony of the poem is that the only time these two neighbors sees each other is when they both mend the wall. The narrator s ees the stubbornness in his neighbor, and uses the simile 'like an old-stone savage' to compare him to a stone-age man who 'moves in darkness', that is, set in his ways, and who is unlikely to change his views.

Hinduism: Monotheistic or Polytheistic

Is Hinduism monotheistic, or polytheistic? Polytheism is the belief in, and worship of more than one god. In monotheism, there is belief in and worship of only one god that is a separate entity. I have come to the conclusion that Hinduism is neither, but monistic. On a lower level of truth, there are many different gods and goddesses that are distinct in Hinduism. However, on a higher level of truth, Hindu’s believe â€Å"you and I and God [are] all one-and-the-same in the end† (Course Reader, p. 17). Therefore, in the highest level of truth, Hinduism is monistic—believing that All is One. Over time, Hinduism has evolved from a polytheistic religion to one that is widely monistic. Jews and Muslims would surely say that Hinduism is polytheistic—for them, worship of anything that is not the Supreme Being is a sin. They believe that God cannot manifest into physical form, and certainly cannot be personified. For a Christian, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is not a form or force of God, but is God. Hindus, they argue, commenced to personify the various forces of nature (e. g. , the stars, moon, sun, water, fire, etc. ) and worship them. In the Bible, Paul says â€Å"They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator† (New International Version, Gen. 3. 15), clearly condemning the worship of his creation. It may appear that Hindus worship many separate gods and entities, but it is more complicated than this. They believe that All is One, and therefore worship of anything is ultimately worship of God. In the Rig Veda, every force of nature was personified and worshipped as separate entities—clearly indicative of polytheism (Course Reader 1, p. 25). There is no concept of a Supreme Being, only separate Gods that have separate roles. There is no god that is greater than another. In the Rig Veda, it states that â€Å"Not one of you, gods, is small, not one a little child; all of you are truly great. Therefore you are worthy of praise and sacrifice† (Course Reader 1, p. 26). This demonstrates that the devas are separate and equal entities. The warrior god Indra is eventually elevated to King of the Gods in the Vedic tradition. He is not identified as the Supreme Being however—he still requires sacrifice, and is therefore not omnipotent. Later in the Rig Veda, questions arise concerning creation and death. There are no definitive answers supplied, and no one god is credited with creation (Course Reader 1, p. 33). During this time, Hinduism was unapologetically polytheistic. With the revelation of the Upanishads, Hinduism began to evolve into a monistic tradition. It was revealed that there is one force in the universe, called Brahman, and that our Atman (spiritual self) is a part of this force (Course Reader 1, p. 52). We are not separate from Brahman; our Atman is Brahman. It is revealed that all things come from The One Source, known as Brahman. The One Source becomes an infinite number of things taking on numerous forms, but ultimately there is and always shall be only One (Course Reader 1, p. 59). There is no difference between the contents of the Universe, and the cause of the Universe. Recognition of Brahman is so important that it is the only way to escape samsara, and become spiritually liberated. Acquiring the sacred knowledge of Brahman is the way to salvation (Course Reader 1, p. 60). If we perceive the countless Hindu gods as separate and independent, we are not enlightened. In the early Upanishads, Brahman is neuter. It is the totality of everything, and is completely abstract and without qualities (Course Reader 1, p. 64). This soon changes, with the introduction of Vishnu and Shiva. Vishnu and Shiva eventually become the most prominent gods in the Hindu tradition. They are both widely recognized as the Supreme Beings, but there are disagreements as to which is the most supreme (Course Reader 1, p. 3). The Vedic gods are still worshipped, but are nowhere near as powerful. It is now obvious to me that Hinduism will never me a monotheistic religion, there is far too much variation between its followers, and too many gods that are worshipped. Brahman is still the ultimate force of the universe, and Vishnu is a manifestation of Brahman, as are all of the gods. Brahman is the force that permeates all creation, including our Atman. Therefore, we are Brahman and the gods are Brahman. In this sense we are not separate from the gods, but the same. According to Hinduism, Brahman is the eternal and unchanging force that transcends time and space. The nature of Brahman is described as non-dual and both personal and impersonal. In the Puranas, this force is personified as the Creator God Brahma—while Vishnu and Shiva are being called Brahman simultaneously (Course Reader 1, p. 111). Since the force Brahman is considered to be anyone, whether it be Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma or even Jesus, Hinduism is monistic.

Regular education classrooms Essay

All students participate in regular education classrooms except students with the most severe disabilities who would be in normalized and age-appropriate classroom on the same campus. Few students are excluded. Level IV – Despite the degree of disability, all students are fully included in general education classrooms. Specialists and teaching assistants provide support for students with the most severe disabilities within the classroom. The regular education teacher is responsible for structuring social interactions with typical peers. The least inclusive proposal places most students with mild disabilities in regular classes, but excludes those with moderate through severe disabilities, placing them in separate rooms within the regular school building (Lilly, 1986). This proposal is closest to the traditional manner of service delivery and is the easiest to implement in terms of using available special educators as support personnel and providing training in methods for regular education teachers to include these children. More inclusive is the proposal to place students with mild or moderate disabilities in regular education classes (Reynolds & Wang, 1983; Wang, Reynolds & Walburg, 1987). The essence and meaning of inclusion evolved from the historical concepts in early childhood special education, that is, mainstreaming and integration. Bricker (1995) discusses the evolution of these terms, noting that mainstreaming refers to the â€Å"reentry of children with mild disabilities be served totally in these settings eliminating the need for pull-out programs. While students with organically-based learning disabilities or moderately demonstrated behavioral disorders would not have been included in regular education rooms in the Level I proposal, they would be included here. Yet, proponents of both levels agree that there will be students with severe and/or multiple disabilities whose needs will not be served optimally in a mainstream environment. They feel that these students will need to participate full-time in separate settings. Level III includes a more extensive involvement of severely impaired students in regular education. All students are included except those who are unable to be involved in academic or social interactions (Gartner & Lipsky, 1987). However, even these students would participate in nearby classrooms which would be as normalized and age-appropriate as possible. The most extreme view is that of full inclusionists, who propose that all students should participate in general education classes. Claiming that to do otherwise would be to support a â€Å"dual-system† for the most disabled, Level IV proponents propose the integration of even profoundly-impaired students into totally normalized classes (Stainback & Stainback, 1984). This position has prompted the strongest reaction of implausibility from those opposed to the Regular Education Initiative. Yet parents and professionals supporting Level IV inclusion do acknowledge that there are situations in which these students cannot be grouped with other s because of instructional differences. Thus, the Regular Education Initiative gives a sense of inclusion for students. Yet, a number of researchers and educators have opposed the Regular Education Initiative strongly. They cite the historical inability and lack of desire of regular education to meet students’ needs. That is the reason why the IDEA cropped up. They worry about the loss of funding and parental right. They also note that most regular educators are not trained to have students with disabilities in their classes. They say that teachers cannot meet societal demands for excellence if they are expected to have vastly different levels of student academic and behavioral performance in their classes. Supporters of inclusion differ in the extent of disability integrated into regular education classes. Some support placement only of students with mild disabilities in regular education, with students demonstrating more severe impairments participating on the regular education campus, but in separate impairments participating on the regular education campus, but in separate classes. The continuum expands to include students with more severe impairments in regular classrooms on a part-time basis, to the full exclusionists, who would have all students participate full-time despite the degree of disability. The problem is how to incorporate students into classes where teachers and nondisabled peers are welcoming as well as competent in dealing with difference. Thus, the debate continues. This paper looks into these inclusionary practices and explores how these are helpful for all concerned. Enormous amount of research has been made to explore the factors associated with caring for a disabled children and the deleterious effects these factors have on parents’ well-being. Research evidences points out that the family attitude greatly contributes to the prognosis. Risk factors such as lack of services and negative attitudes can have an adverse influence on the prognosis of the mentally-handicapped child. Obtainable studies show that most often parents have a negative attitude towards their child with mental disabilities. Parents are weighed down with feelings of pessimism, hostility, and shame. Denial, grief, withdrawal, rejection, projection of blame and finally, acceptance are the usual parental reactions. (Drew CJ, Logan DR, Hardman ML. )