A Woman of No Importance/Mrs. Warren’s Profession

Consider the various ways in which Wilde presents the role of women in contemporary society in A Woman of No Importance. Compare and contrast this with Shaw’s presentation of the female characters in Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Ensure that you offer alternative viewpoints in your answer as well as demonstrating aspects of the dramatic and theatrical from both texts. In both A Woman of No Importance (1893) and Mrs.Warren’s Profession (1894) texts, there is evidence of shared and contrasting views regarding the role of women in contemporary society presented through characters’ attitudes, and this is particularly significant, considering that both plays were written near the turn of the century in a majorly patriarchal society, when the onset of equal right’s was finally beginning to be considered and the ‘liberated woman’ had surfaced. How exactly did Wilde and Bernard Shaw present this? There much evidence to ponder.An arguably atypical a nd progressive nature of some of the female characters in both texts is evident within, particularly in that of A Woman of No Importance’s American puritan Hester Worsely, ironically named after adulterous Hester Prynne of the Victorian novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’ (1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne). Hester is very much opposed to the aristocratic nature of the rest of the party and refers to English society as â€Å"shallow, selfish, foolish†, (act II, p33) believing in social and gender equality.This is made clear when she goes on to show her outrage towards unseen infamous Lord Henry Weston, Lady Caroline’s brother, and how they â€Å"are unjust to women in England† and she believes â€Å"If a man and a woman have sinned†¦ †¦let them both be branded†. Her somewhat inappropriately timed speeches suggest her views are regarded as estranged, perhaps due to her bashful naivety, and I believe the perhaps it was Wilde’s intention for Hester to symbolize ‘the New Woman’, and her out of place nature following initial introduction to Victorian society.Hester’s outlook and views on society are not dissimilar to the â€Å"strong, confident, self-possessed,† character of Vivie Warren in ‘Mrs. Warren’s Profession’, who is also a firm believer in the liberation of women and equality of sexes, and whom, after immediate introduction demonstrates uncharacteristically male mannerisms and possessions, â€Å"A lady’s bicycle is propped up against the wall† A Woman of No Importance/Mrs. Warren’s Profession Consider the various ways in which Wilde presents the role of women in contemporary society in A Woman of No Importance. Compare and contrast this with Shaw’s presentation of the female characters in Mrs. Warren’s Profession. Ensure that you offer alternative viewpoints in your answer as well as demonstrating aspects of the dramatic and theatrical from both texts. In both A Woman of No Importance (1893) and Mrs.Warren’s Profession (1894) texts, there is evidence of shared and contrasting views regarding the role of women in contemporary society presented through characters’ attitudes, and this is particularly significant, considering that both plays were written near the turn of the century in a majorly patriarchal society, when the onset of equal right’s was finally beginning to be considered and the ‘liberated woman’ had surfaced. How exactly did Wilde and Bernard Shaw present this? There much evidence to ponder.An arguably atypical a nd progressive nature of some of the female characters in both texts is evident within, particularly in that of A Woman of No Importance’s American puritan Hester Worsely, ironically named after adulterous Hester Prynne of the Victorian novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’ (1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne). Hester is very much opposed to the aristocratic nature of the rest of the party and refers to English society as â€Å"shallow, selfish, foolish†, (act II, p33) believing in social and gender equality.This is made clear when she goes on to show her outrage towards unseen infamous Lord Henry Weston, Lady Caroline’s brother, and how they â€Å"are unjust to women in England† and she believes â€Å"If a man and a woman have sinned†¦ †¦let them both be branded†. Her somewhat inappropriately timed speeches suggest her views are regarded as estranged, perhaps due to her bashful naivety, and I believe the perhaps it was Wilde’s intention for Hester to symbolize ‘the New Woman’, and her out of place nature following initial introduction to Victorian society.Hester’s outlook and views on society are not dissimilar to the â€Å"strong, confident, self-possessed,† character of Vivie Warren in ‘Mrs. Warren’s Profession’, who is also a firm believer in the liberation of women and equality of sexes, and whom, after immediate introduction demonstrates uncharacteristically male mannerisms and possessions, â€Å"A lady’s bicycle is propped up against the wall†

Business Ethics Code of Conduct

Any inappropriate behavior or violation of an organizations code of conduct is a serious allegation to bring against either the company or an individual inside the organization. In the case of this occurring, a reporting structure is essential in dealing with both the situation itself and the employees who are responsible for the issues happening.A mandatory reporting structure is required for many aspects of business, from employee grievances to performance and salary related activities, such as commission or bonus payments for outstanding work. Ethical and moral issues also need to be covered by some kind of reporting scheme.In this case, if a collegial and supportive atmosphere exists in the workplace then an ethical code of conduct is required in order to maintain, and not upset this working environment. A code of conduct is a general statement of intent by an organization to promote ethical and morally sound behavior amongst staff, and usually states the required actions of staf f members in case of any ethical issue, or at least gives staff members a way of reporting any issues of a morally unsound nature or ethically dubious actions taken by staff, or in some cases customers.Designing a system of reporting that does not damage the collegial and supportive structure is a very difficult one, as it needs to be sufficiently secure so that complainants are not singled out for abuse, and also that those being reported on are able to defend their actions without any prejudice. The reporting structure would need to be created in a similar way to the operational structure of reporting, through middle management up to the higher board level, where major issues are resolved.However it is also possible to employ a code of conduct in order to achieve similar aims as a reporting structure. Setting out a standard that everyone has to adhere to, or face the consequences is one way of making this reporting structure work, as middle management become responsible for employ ee actions, as well as their ethical and moral obligations to the company and to the stakeholders. If this code is broken, then the employee would be subject to a similar disciplinary procedure as if they had committed a criminal act, or an act of sexual harassment.Then the supportive structure is not damaged, and the incentive in on the employees to perform ethically and morally. 2. Corporations have a social responsibility to the various groups associated with them. These groups, called stakeholders represent many groups of people, or organizations who deal with the company in every way, such as the shareholders of the business who have invested money in it as well as the local community in which the business operates. These groups should affect the way the organization operates and behaves, hopefully in a responsible way.Organizations cannot have responsibility, as only people can have responsibility, and this leads to a conflict in the discussion of this subject. The context is that each company has responsibilities to each employee of that company, as well as the shareholders who have a monetary investment in the company. Therefore the organization has to be held responsible to these groups, so should by default be responsible for every other group that has some stake in the operation.Some, including Milton Friedman, believe that a corporations’ responsibility lie purely with its shareholders, and that to have social responsibility jeopardizes potential profits and is therefore a bad business decision meaning a business cannot potentially damage itself by having a conscience. All organizations do have a social responsibility to all groups that they interact with because they are offering a product or service that has to be sustainable and yet profitable as well as being conducted ethically.The major responsibilities of an organization lie with protecting the investment of the shareholders and with its employees and the local community. As well as t his, making ethical business decisions with the best interests of the shareholders and the employees is critical in how the business operates. Therefore board consideration is needed to ensure that decisions are made with the best interests of all groups of stakeholders at heart.

The Oxford English Dictionary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

The Oxford English Dictionary - Essay Example However, the Oxford English Dictionary is regarded as the most comprehensive source of English words. (Kite) It contained about 400,000 words by the time it was first published. As a project, it was initially called A New English Dictionary or Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society (Winchester). The development of the OED was a long process. People started working on the material in 1857 (Winchester). However, the first time it was published was in 1884 (Kite), three decades after initial work began. The group who worked on the OED decided it was more efficient to publish the book in fascicles or installments. The first edition of the book had ten installments and was completed in 1928. (Kite) The OED is a result of an idea from an association in Great Britain which studies the language. The Philological Society of London decided to collect and consolidate all the definitions of every English word in existence. (Gray) Some members grew dissatisfied with the existing dictionaries because there were words not included or defined in these reference materials. Richard Chevenix Trench, Herbert Coleridge, and Frederick Furnivall and the committee they formed initially searched for unlisted and undefined words in the dictionaries of the 19th century. (Winchester) Eventually, their task evolved into that of creating a truly all-inclusive dictionary and because the task was too big for a few people volunteers were asked to help out. (Winchester) Another task to complete was that of managing the entire compilation process altogether. Furnivall approached lexicographer James Murry for the editor position and the society tied up with Oxford University for the publication of the new di ctionary. (Gray) The process of creating the content for this new comprehensive dictionary was not an easy job. To be as far-reaching as possible, volunteers were told to note down word usage from books onto slips of paper or â€Å"quotation slips† which were then sent to back to Murray.

Evidenced Based Medicine and the EMR Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evidenced Based Medicine and the EMR - Article Example Clancy (2013) points to the pharmaceutical drug approval process used in the West as one of the best examples of EBM utilized successfully. Although she makes a valid point of saying that increased direct healthcare spending makes very little impact, the monies spent on research and innovations such as Information Technology. With the average of over ten thousand medical studies at any one time in the US alone, the â€Å"evidence† part of EBM is growing sufficiently enough to make a difference. Even though it could be argued the US Government has a somewhat prejudiced attitude toward Health Information Technology (HIT), the NIH (2013) gives a refreshingly critical work on EBM. Of course, it highlights the strides the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in combining EBM and HIT. Yet the article states that HIT could be more successful if the VA had kept better clinical statistics concerning those research criteria such as smoking, cancer and patient obesity. Therefore, the answer concerning facilitation is that HIT and EBM should go hand in hand, especially considering the new technology available. The case of the forty five year old man with the prostate condition gives a very good scenario as to just how confusing the information technology and EHR system can actually be. The person himself would only visit three separate areas of the massive hospital complex (assumed to be admissions, the surgery suite, his room, and discharge and financials area). Yet his records would travel to an astonishing four different places, not including the test results, which travel to still another three places. The IT system seems to be efficient enough but one can quickly see how EHR is a big improvement over paper patient records, which have the chance of being misplaced in each of the different stops along the way. For instance, the

Case Study Proposal Format Ford Motor Company Recalls on Ford Vehicles Essay

Case Study Proposal Format Ford Motor Company Recalls on Ford Vehicles - Essay Example As the sales increased, the recall issue arose and juggling the two between the limited dealers capacity, brought the sales for Lincoln MKZ down (Miller, 2014). The ford cars have been marred with a number of recalls over the recent tines for a number of problems. Ford recalled it 2013-14 c-max engine cars and escape due to software malfunctions that may delay the activation of the airbags. The company recalled 2013 Ford C-max energi in order to rectify the potential problem in a defective child lock installation in the rear door of the car. Ford also recalled 2013 Ford focus Electric and C-max vehicles because of the inability for the door chime to work when the driver’s door was open. Ford recalled 2013 C-Max hybrids because the lack of panoramic roofs did not make it compliant to the federal laws for protecting against vehicle head injuries. Ford also recalled 2012-13, Ford Edge due to the fire hazards that may result from the potential leaks from its 2.0 liter engines (Edmunds.com, 2014). These are just some of the recent recalls. Ford has a strong history of recalls for problems that range from assembly issues, defective components to non-compliance with state laws. The Ford escape is one major example that has been recalled 10 times for different reasons. This portrays the company’s inability to show consistency in offering perfect vehicles. The recurring nature of these recalls depict the fact that ford needs a strategic organizational overhaul to strengthen its key production department functions like quality control, product testing, compliance, assembly supervision actions etc. Alan Mulally, former CEO of Ford spoke at the automotive news world congress to voice his company’s challenges of increasing production, introducing innovative vehicles and delivering these launches on time (NAUGHTON, 2010). However the current Mark Fields faces is keeping the company’s image up, revamping its production line to rectify

Flag Burning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Flag Burning - Essay Example Indeed, the symbolism of the flag is so deeply embedded in national consciousness that Bourne (qtd in Schatz and Lavine, 2007: 329) was prompted to declare that "We reverence not our country but the flag. We may criticize ever so severely our country, but we are disrespectful to the flag at our peril." The difference lies in that the flag is a symbolic representation of all that which the nation is; the flag represents the past, present and future and is not associated with particular policies and governments, as may be the nation at any given time. It is within the context of that which the flag stands for that intolerance towards flag burning should be understood. Americans are intolerant of flag burning because it expresses disregard for those who lost their lives battling under the flag, disrespect for the institutions of the nation and, a symbolic attempt to deny national memories. The 1960s were the heyday of flag burning in the United States and even though many Americans sympathized with the politics which incited the said act, few were tolerant of it. As Boime (1990) notes, countless Americans opposed the Vietnam War and supported the Civil Rights but were enraged by the expression of the aforementioned through flag-burning.

The Education of Professionals Research Proposal

The Education of Professionals - Research Proposal Example According to Hall [(1968) as cited by Fertig (2003)], professionalism can be associated with the performance of the professional in his or her most individual capacity. Hall (1968) identified the role of the professional academic as embodying a belief in serving the public and a sense of autonomy and commitment towards his or her respective profession. This view is also shared by Engel (1970) who regarded professionalism amongst academics as focussing on individuality in the actions and the decision-making process. Exworthy & Halford (1999) have stressed the impact of tighter accountability control within Higher Education particularly for the professionals within the HE sector in order to achieve efficiency [as cited by Fertig (2003)]. In this vein, this paper explores how this has affected the concept of professionalism in Higher Education. The Changing Meaning of Professionals and Professionalism It is true to a large extent that the modern notions of professionals and professionalism have changed considerably due to the changing notions of these concepts over time. As stated in Fertig (2003), Robson (1998) and Harper (2000) share the view that there is a pronounced trend of professional management within the Higher Education sector in England where a distinction can be drawn with and the 'professional' paradigms There is also a pronounced trend of specialization within the professions which is reflected in the way the modern courses and teaching are structured.. This is demonstrated by Koehn (1994:150) for whom professional ethics are â€Å"an institutionalized expression of prevailing public morality†. Abbott (1988) has argued that professionalism and higher professional education share a deep bond. Ethics and Professionalism The problem of ethics within the education of the professions comes in where there is a problem of â€Å"specialization† providing the ability to ask for high fees and higher rewards which some academics have sought to pacify as necessary for the public interest (Abbott, 1988).

What does it take to become a successful leader in today's business Research Paper

What does it take to become a successful leader in today's business world - Research Paper Example An essential requirement for the business leader of today is to clearly understand major societal and environmental forces that shape business. Central in creation of value is knowing where and how to respond to societal demands in terms of the daily running of business. This calls for s strong sense of vision and emotional intelligence. The core of leadership in business still remains; leaders should be able to motivate employees, inspire and foster the spirit of teamwork among the people they lead so as to achieve common business goals. But the business environment has undergone tremendous changes in the past few decades presenting new management challenges to the business of today. They have to work in an environment with more challenges and expectations while leading teams in accomplishing the set business objectives. The implication of all these is that the modern business requires more than managers; people who can lead by vision and create the working environment in which the common vision is shared by everyone one involved. With the evolving purpose of the business leadership role, modern leaders must approach their work with a different perspective, lead change across & beyond the boundaries of business and effectively work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in achieving the missions (Gitsham and W ackrill, 2012). A leader in the modern business world must keep up with developments in technology. Technological trends especially in business are evolving at the speed of lightning and this renders even a management tool that rocked the business world just in the past few years completely obsolete. Some leaders may face great challenges but keeping the pace would mean taking advantage of technological tools to the competitive benefit of the firm. The leader should be capable of utilizing tools such as social media and at the same time an environment in the firm where technology

Leadership and Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Leadership and Performance Management - Essay Example In addition to that, recession also added to their demise. Heavy operating costs allowed other competitors with lower costs to capture North American market which was GM’s territory earlier. While assessing some of the decisions taken by GM’s leadership, it was found that closure of GM’s hybrid cars unit along with layoffs and prior faulty acquisitions added to GM’s expense list which had no means to be satisfied. 1.1 Key Findings GM has faced problems due to its highly bureaucratic culture and sluggish approach towards development and innovation. Its slow performance in the recent years has its roots in its earlier catastrophic decisions that were taken in 1970s and 80s but had a long-term impact on the organizational performance which ultimately leads to a government bailout in 2009. GM has made several bad investments in the vehicle models that were not answering consumer’s requirements and also were competitive to each other which further result ed in slow growth of the company. GM had various brands at its portfolio which required major expenses in terms of research and development for proper brand management. Failure to keep up with consumers’ demands ultimately lead to slow sales of these brands which affected cash inflow in turn (Maynard, 2009). Instead of ensuring that consumers’ demands for compact and energy-efficient cars is met, GM under the leadership of Wagoner, shut down EV1 electric cars program. With lower vehicle sales, the operating expenses and manufacturing costs increased greatly as a result of which GM was forced to increase its prices. The burden was passed onto the consumer which act as a deterrent for GM’s sales. As a result of this program’s shutdown, billions were lost in terms of research and development. Furthermore, there was a major recall from the roads which made GM compensate the lessees for the losses incurred. The already manufactured models were crushed which no t only failed to recover original manufacturing costs but also added to it due to extra expenses incurred in terms of amortization. Failure to capture the niche market on timely basis allowed Japanese cars to capture a major North market share which was the territory of GM earlier (Hartung, 2009). Shutting down hybrid cars program had a major impact on GM’s profitability. But most importantly, it affected the brand image greatly. It strengthen GM’s persona of being a giant and slow enterprise incapable of understanding consumer’s requirement and respond to it accordingly. Due to global recession and GM’s series of bad decisions especially poor brand management, faulty investments and shut down of hybrid cars, GM filed a loss of over $ 30 million dollars. These losses include major amounts in terms of lowered share prices and also exceptional operational expenses. After filing these losses, GM filed for bankruptcy and was later bailed out by US government. 1.2 Evidences One of the major evidences that indicated GM’s catastrophic decision making failures was GM’s financial statements and other reports published on the subject matter. According to Hargreaves (2008), â€Å"General Motors reported a huge second-quarter net loss Friday of $15.5 billion, after restructuring and other charges, as the automaker's run of troubles continued. The automaker lost $27.33 per share in the quarter, compared to a

Planet Star 61 Virginis and The Origin of Life Assignment

Planet Star 61 Virginis and The Origin of Life - Assignment Example In fact, more studies are pursued nowadays by scientists aiming toâ€Å" create fully self-replicating artificial organisms in the laboratory† ( p.54). Indeed studying about how life evolved is exciting; however, a question remains: Is there life on another planet? The planet I am referring to is Star 61 Virginis, one of the extra solar planets added to the solar system a few years ago ( Laughlin, 2009). Having made further research about the planet revealed very interesting facts, namely: 1. It is visible to the naked eye on a clear summer sky – appears as yellow orange star; 2. It is too far from our solar system – 27.8 light years away; 3. It lies on a planetary system made up of ice like bodies yet it is very hot; The planet had only been discovered lately which presents a lot of speculations from people, especially college students. Although science facts are valid, this does not mean that they are unchanging. Take the case of Pluto which was taught as a pla net but later discredited much to the surprise of many people. The planet Star 61 Virginis has different characteristics including high temperatures that could not sustain life forms (de Mello et al., 308). However, this argument goes challenged because the origin of life tells us that in even extreme conditions, life was created. This topic got me so interested that I prepared a questionnaire to survey the opinion of some college students about possible life in star 61 virginis. First, I created a poster that invited students to participate in the survey. To attract participants, I gave an incentive – free movie tickets so the students would seriously answer my survey. There is also a special prize for a student who can answer the question: What kind of life forms can exist in this planet? The survey contained only ten questions because too many questions can be tiring for some students. Here are the questions that I created: 1. Do you think aliens exist? 2. Would you like t o communicate with aliens? 3. What part of their existence would you want to know? 4. Do aliens scare you ? Why? 5. Do you think aliens could live in a very hot environment? 6. If aliens are allowed to co-exist with us, are you in favor of that idea? 7. Do you suspect someone as an alien? 8. Do you think aliens existed in our planet a long time ago? 9. Can alien life be created? 10. How are aliens created? There were fifty respondents to the survey which is amazing because I never thought students would take aliens seriously. There were funny answers stating that their parents or teachers are real aliens. However, the most important result of the study showed that eighty-percent of respondents believed that aliens existed a long time ago. They think that the origin of life theory is not only applicable to terrestrial matters but to aliens as well. Around ninety-percent of the students also supported the idea that aliens can exist in very hot environment. In fact, there were so many speculations presented by the answers like: 1. Aliens can live in hot environments because they are not humans, their bodies can be made up of special matter; 2. Aliens were formed similar to the concept of primordial soup , as their planets evolved, they began to form; 3. Aliens can adapt to their environment thus they exist; I really find these answers interesting so maybe I can have group discussions about these topics and have the other students

Putting Global Warming on Ice Essay Example for Free

Putting Global Warming on Ice Essay What makes the earths temperature rise and fall? Do greenhouse gases block solar heat from leaving the earth, or is it only a product of solar activity? Many people have theorized on what causes temperatures to change. A catch phrase named Global Warming came to popularity. Environmentalists from all walks of life joined the global warming fight. According to Thomas OConnell the global warming debate wasnt accepted in the 60s and 70s when he studied it. It only became popular recently in the 90s. Everyone believed that humans were causing a catastrophe by punching a whole into an ozone layer in the sky, letting harmful rays of sun in. People fought to shutdown plants in order to stop the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Everyone believed the global warming claims coming from senators and environmentalists. Today in the 21st century, science has stepped up to disprove the common myths of global warming. Many of the theories and claims of global warming are easily disproved with science. Science is the only tool that can be used to tell whether theories are fact or fiction. The first issue of global warming is the recent Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to cut greenhouse emissions from successful countries. The international Kyoto protocol has been in debate for many years. The Kyoto protocol is an international treaty to reduce developed countrys greenhouse emissions, specifically carbon dioxide, to 7% below their 1990 levels. As President Bush came to office he refused the U.S.s involvement in the treaty. President Bush wasnt even the man that killed the idea for the U.S. (National Center 2). A bill, stating that the U.S. wouldnt ratify any climate treaty that would harm the United States economically and would have no consequences for developing or 3rd World countries, was passed with a unanimous 95-0 vote by the senate before President Bush was elected (National Center 2). The treaty isnt about global warming. It was designed in order to transfer success from developed nations like the U.S. to developing or struggling countries (Tuccille 2). Research declares that China, India, and Brazil who are not affected by the Kyoto Protocol will increase their CO2 emissions by 16% more than the United States even without  the Protocol in effect (National Center 3). Proponents of the protocol confessed that the treaty would not have the beneficial environmental impacts advertised and that the costs of implementation would be much higher than the public had been told (National Center 1). U.S. economy would suffer if we agreed to partake in the Kyoto scheme. Gasoline prices would increase by as much as 66 cents per gallon, electrical costs would also increase up to 80%, energy intensive products such as chemicals, steel, paper, and cars would rise in price by as much as 15%. (National Center 2). The economy of the USA would be devastated, states Thomas OConnell. The minority income would be lowered by about 10%, 864,000 African Americans as well as 511,000 Hispanics would be unemployed (National Center 2). Oil and fuel used for farming would be taxed or restricted causing in a higher cost of producing and lower profits of products including corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, hogs, and milk (Heartland Institute 2 and 3). Businesses taxed by the government for their emissions would result in raising costs for their consumers (Heartland Institute 3). New regulations would be implemented for automobiles making carpooling mandatory and would penalize owners of trucks and sports cars. The average household income would even drop by about $2,700 (Heartland Institute 2). Even the unbiased and credible Time magazine quoted, the campaign against global warming seemed to be over before it even started referring to the Kyoto Protocol (Tuccille 1). Are we prepared to disappear from the map in order to prevent 1 degree Celsius of warming for the next Century? One of the hot issues on global warming is that humankind has had something to do with the temperature. Man-made emissions such as carbon dioxide have been claimed to cause global temperatures to increase over the years. Ever since the industrial revolution in the 1940s man has continued to emit gases such as CO2 into the air. Many people claim that CO2 is what blocks heat from escaping the atmosphere. They also claim that mankind has poked a hole in something called the ozone layer, a protective layer above the atmosphere that keeps harmful UV radiation out, which lets more solar rays in. How convenient. The fact is that 98% of these greenhouse gases are natural to the earth. Man has not emitted them and they are not pollutants. They are mostly water vapors and clouds (Zipperer 2). Does that sound dangerous to you? The earth  has even cut down on the rate of carbon dioxide emissions from the years 1973-1990 (Lindzen 1 and 2). Even if we did have a lot of CO2 in the air evidently the effects wouldnt be catastrophic. In the past the atmosphere has had much more amounts of CO2 in it before without significant increases in temperature (Lindzen 4). Richard Lindzen, a professor of meteorology at MIT, claims that a doubling of CO2 in the earths atmosphere would only result in a 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperature (National Center 3). Another greenhouse gas is methane. Methane is more harmful than CO2 but will not increase significantly for another 100 years if it continues at its current rate (Michaels 1). Many credible experts in the field of science have agreed that man is not responsible. Over 17,000 scientists from all over the world have signed a petition declaring that there is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the earths atmosphere and disruption of the earths climate (Heartland Institute 5). Even if there were significant cases of warming global temperatures the effects wouldnt be as tragic as everyone thinks. There are many benefits to the warming of the earth, as there are consequences. Warming on a global scale would have dramatic effects on life and climates. Some effects may be harmful but many of them are beneficial. Some ideas about global warming consequences are myths that are unlikely. Many people say that global warming is linked with the uprising in tropical storms. Storms such as hurricanes coming from the southeast into Florida coasts have been getting stronger for many years, but in 1991 there was a drought of storms that ranged to 1995. The amount and intensity fell way below the average, which suggests that these storms were not affected by the warming of the earth (Bible Believers 3 and 4). Others claim that sea levels have risen all over the world because the polar ice caps are slowly melting due to the warming. Tests have proven that temperatures at the poles are actually getting colder and that sea levels have been rising for centuries before we had any affect on the c limate (Bible Believers 3). Former Vice President Al Gore spoke of diseases migrating due to climate warming. He spoke of diseases like the Black Plague and Cholera, which he believed were  spread because of weather patterns. Rats, who spread the Black Plague, lived in both warm and cold climates so they had no reason to migrate. His second example Cholera has been a problem in both warm and cold climates and can be easily treated by purifying the water we drink (Heartland Institute 9). Many people have never heard possible benefits of global warming before. Having a warmer climate is very beneficial. Historically, very warm periods in time resulted in flourishing life such as plants, animals, and fish (Bible Believers 4). Even large amounts of CO2 can be beneficial. More CO2 in the atmosphere fuels plants, which makes more food for all walks of life. Vikings were once able to farm what is now a cold and icy Greenland (Zipperer 3). A warming of the earth would result in longer growing seasons and would deplete world hunger and crop failure (Robinson 3). Global warming wouldnt be all that bad, but we do not have a way to tell if there is or will be any warming because of the difficulty to predict the weather. In order to make predictions about weather, people have designed computer models that estimate changes in weather patterns. The models are designed from past weather data and possible factors effecting the weather. What modelers do not know is that global weather is very hard to predict, maybe even impossible without the right understanding and tools for the job (Robinson 2). Factors such as clouds, precipitation, oceans, and the sun are misunderstood and often underestimated (Zipperer 2). Modelers also leave out possible advances in the future such as nuclear energy and the positive effect it would have on the environment (Lindzen 2). Our current technology isnt even close to being advanced enough. Errors in the data are equivalent to 50% (Lindzen 3). These computer models could not even predict weather from the past. While global temperatures have raised by .3 to .6 C over the past 100 years models have over predicted the increase to be from .7 to 1.4 C by the year 1990 (Heartland Institute 7). Climate modelers have even inputted their own bias into the data, shifting variables to what they want them to be. Climate modelers have been cheating for so long its almost become respectable, says Richard A. Kerr, a writer for Science magazine. Further research on the topic is necessary in order to accurately determine whether we have a problem or not. Many people of profession have studied global warming and what may affect the outcome of their results. When measuring from the surface global temperatures have increased by about .6 degrees Celsius with a .2-degree error, but parts of the United States including the southeast have cooled slightly since the late 19th century (NOAA 2). For those 100 years of slight warming, 70% of it occurred before the industrial revolution in 1940 in which man began to emit gases into the air (Zipperer 2). The surface on and around the equator has remained plus or minus 1 degree Celsius of its current temperature for billions of years (Lindzen 4). Research has also been done to determine the affect on rising and falling temperatures. Scientists have found very close relations with solar activity from the sun and the current temperature patterns, which suggests that fluctuations in temperatures are out of our hands (NOAA 5). Satellites are the best way to determine global temperatures. They are unbiased and have only a 0.001-degree Celsius of error (Heartland Institute 6). These satellites have confirmed that there is no evidence of global warming. If anything there is a slight cooling in the atmosphere (National Center 3). Very reliable agencies have done their own research on global warming. Many scientists have tested the greenhouse theory carefully and have found that greenhouse warming isnt even occurring and that rising temperatures are do to different stages of solar activity (Robinson 1). In 1995 the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, did not prove that humans were affecting global temperatures (Heartland Institute 8). Their report, Climate Change, includes a statement, The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on the global climate (Heartland Institute 8). Dr. Roy Spencer, a meteorologist and team leader of the NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, quotes, The temperatures we measure from space are actually on a very slight downward trend since 1979 the trend is about 0.05C per decade cooling (Heartland Institute 7). In a recent poll only 17% of the meteorological society and the American Geophysical Society believe that global warming is a product of man (Bible Believers 2). Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency are threatening to withdraw their support from a global warming study done by the government. They have said that the report has an extreme/alarmist tone and that it does not appear to fairly reflect the scientific literature and the historical record  (Torres 1). The representatives claimed that the report also had scientifically inaccurate statements about the potential implications of climate change for air pollution and human (Torres 1 and 2). Usually, in scientific law, if a hypothesis fails through experimentation it should be discarded, but the theory of global warming and greenhouse gases as a result of man is still considered substantial hypothesis even though it has been proven to be unlikely (Robinson 2). The debate of global warming may continue on for many years to come. Mankind may never see any rising in global temperatures, but nevertheless it will be speculated. Thomas OConnell At this moment in time there has not been any reliable and convincing evidence that the globe is dangerously warming. Global temperature is a product of natural variables that affect the earth. Man has little if any influence on this temperature. Many of the greenhouse claims have been poorly researched and have yet to be proven credible. Hopefully in the future science will prevail and provide the real answer. Until then, people interested in global warming should do research of their own in order to formulate their own opinion. Life on earth has adapted or evolved to the environment. The earth will never adapt or change due to a single species; the earth is far too powerful. As this paper comes to a close a quote sums up the main idea. Thomas OConnell once said, As the rhetoric of the proponents gives w ay to real problem or is this phenomena more closely related to political agendas. Ill wait for the science.

Report on Organizational Structure and finance of British Airways

Report on Organizational Structure and finance of British Airways This report aims to give an analysis of the organisation of the British Airways Airline. It will discuss the organisational structure of British Airways and its sources of finance; that is where it gets its money from, how it is used and whether a profit or a loss is being made. The market the organisation operates in and its management type will also be discussed. The quality of the good or service provided will also be highlighted and an analysis of the supply chain that is showing the forms of distribution will be given. In conclusion, the report will summarise the information on the organisation and a view of its trading in the last five years followed by recommendations on how I feel the business may proceed in the current economic climate. The report was compiled by drawing literature from the British Airways website, lecture notes and relevant Business Organisation books. History: The British Airways, an organisation that operates in the Travel Market is the largest operating airline in the United Kingdom. It has its base at Heathrow Airport in London. Although the airline has been operational since 1919, developments over the years saw the merging of the British Airways Corp. (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) in 1974 leading to the establishment of the current British Airways,(Corke, 1986). The organisation operates both domestic and international flights to about 600 destinations around the world. This is the reason why it is one of the worlds leading airlines. The British Airline is a Public Limited Company (PLC). It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1987. Following its privatisation, the airline expanded its operations and managed to take over some competitors such as British Caledonian within the same year and Dan-Air in 1992. During the late 1990s, British Airlines established the One World alliance as it became more competitive to win more customers and had themselves high profit margins during the millennium labelling the airline a major full-service carrier, (Corke 1986). Organisational Structure: Mintzeberg et al, (1979) defines a business as an organisational entity that is legally set up to provide goods and services to customers in a country. He further states that an organisation consists of a large number of people bringing together ideas to achieve common goals using a variety of tactics to come up with short-term and long-term strategies for a businesss future success. Since British Airways is a public limited company (PLC), its type of business organisation is the private sector. Being a Public Limited Company, British Airways is owned by shareholders who buy shares from the stock exchange market and have separate legal identity from the business. If the business goes into debt each shareholder will only lose the amount of share capital they invested and not their personal possessions. Due to the airline being a private limited company, the government is not involved in its running. Its aims and objectives are to maximise profit in the long-term by focusing on improvi ng and maintaining outstanding customer service and becoming the worlds leading premium airline. An organisational structure is important because it determines how the organisation will be run in order to meet its aims and objectives, (Cunnee, 2008). He defines an organisational structure as the number of ways used in a business to set up division and specialization of labour focusing on maintaining co-ordination to achieve the same targets. British Airways has a flat structure meaning it has a small number of management levels but a wide span of control. The airline has adopted a divisional structure mainly because of the nature of its business which is customer focused. The advantages of this method are that it gives clear identification of job roles, less time consumed in decision making and easy supervision for managers between departments. This increases efficiency as different people are given the opportunities to effectively utilise their different skills, but it can also be in efficient because the managers have a large number of subordinates reporting to them therefore increasing their workload. On the other hand, employees may not feel secure about their jobs as they are being strictly watched over and may be de-motivated to work effectively. Another shortfall of this method is that each department may focus on its own objectives which may conflict with other departments, (Martin, 2010). Sources of Finance: British Airways is financed by issuing shares to the general public on the stock exchange market and from convertible bond issues. The bonds which have low interest rates could be used as a long-term fund which can be changed into share capital of the company during times of bankruptcy, (Rutterford, 2007). In 2009, the Market Watch reported that British Airways got a boost of  £600 million through the issuance of convertible bond and an agreement with its pension fund to release bank guarantees back to the airline. Of this amount  £300 million worth of convertible bonds due to mature in 2014 and will be convertible into 15% to 20% of its share capital. The other  £300 million which will only be accessible in the case of bankruptcy will allow British Airways access to bank funding of  £3330 million up June 2012, (Market Watch, 2009). Like most public companies, British Airways aims and objectives are to maximise profit. In 2008, British Airways made a profit of  £726m while its 2009 Income Statement shows a loss of  £358m. Part of the loss is due to the effects of the recession that affected a large number of United Kingdoms businesses and the whole world. Because of the recession, there was a high increase in fuel prices due to limited resources. This left British Airways with no choice but to buy the fuel regardless of the price as it is important for its business. Fewer consumers were able to afford travelling expenses due to high costs. The wage bill of the company also had a great impact during such hard times. The employees demanded high wages for them to be able to afford their own personal needs as well. The differences between the airlines management and the employees led to strikes that also contributed to the loss of profits by the company. The strikes led to a destruction of many consumers travel plans that has also led to bad public image causing a negative influence on the airlines market. The conflict of objectives between the airlines management and its employees still remains unresolved. In 2009, most of the expenditure expenses were made up of fuel and oil costs and employee costs of  £2969(m) and  £2139 (m) respectively. The loss made in 2009 was carried forward through to 2010 of which a loss of  £425(m) was made. Marketing Management Marketing is the identification and provision of customers needs at the same time ensuring that the organisation makes a profit. Marketing management is essential for a business such as British Airways as it allows for flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of the market. In this strategy, the organisation is always assessing the needs of its customers in order to design products of better value. There are many different strategies a business could adopt for better marketing management and this could be done through the marketing mix. Marketing mix is the identification of the 4/7Ps. In this report I am only going to talk about the four main Ps. The 4Ps are the product being made, the place it is going to be provided, promotional strategies put in place and the price to be paid by consumers, (Kotler et al, 2009). The nature of the business of British Airways is to provide flight services to consumers across various places around the world. The airlines product strategy includes f light services that are offered in various packages for example, the differentiation between the business, first and economic classes. This is done to satisfy each consumer as the airline has considered and provided for different classes of the economy. Promotion is the extra cost of a business to differentiate itself from competitors and try to win consumers attention by persuading them to choose them over their competitors. British Airways has branded itself as an airline that provides a luxury, safety, reliable and convenient service that transfers people to different destinations which is why one would want to go out and travel with them. Price is the value placed on the exchange of goods or services during the marketing process. Customers pay up money in return to satisfy their needs, (Smith, 2007). The price should be based on the quality of the product, taking into account customers expectations. However, charging a low price to a product worth more may not be beneficial to the company as that would lead to a loss in potential profit (Kotler et al 2009) while on the other hand; charging a high price for a product not worth it will cause a reduction in demand and bad public image. British Airways pricing policy entitles one to get what they paid for with the freedom of choice in the payment package for the type of flight service they would like. The airlines pricing strategy is based on three class seats provided by the airline. These are premium, medium-value and economy strategies. With the premium strategy, business and executive consumers are given a high quality service being charged a high price for it. British Airways competitors in this service are other giant airlines such as Virgin and American Airlines. The medium-value strategy consists of a standard charge with quality less than the premium strategy but more than of the economy strategy. The economy strategy provides just the basic services with extra benefits like entertainment and free food and drinks adding to the quality and advantage of British Airways brand image, (Kotler et al, 2007). However, the airline has revised its pricing policy to competitive based pricing meaning it charges fares at the same level as competitors or lower. The airline wants to compete with rival low-cost airlines on short-haul European flights. Free food will still be offered alth ough a fuel surcharge of  £8 per single journey ( £16 return) has to be paid by customers on top of their regular payments, (British Airways,). Another advantage of British Airways pricing strategy is that low-cost airline ticket prices a cheap when you book them well in advance but as it gets towards travelling dates they become very expensive, even much more expensive than British Airways. With British Airways the price will relatively still be the same until the week one travels. Quality Quality is a word which is defined differently by different people. From the different meanings, quality is the sum of all the features of a product or service that ensure that the customers needs are met appropriately. The products or services should be at least worth the price charged on them likewise, the quality of employees could be based on their performance with regards to the given tasks, (Mauch, 2010). British Airways adopted a high quality service approach although it eventually came to conflict with cost-cutting measurements that had to be put in place due to increased competition. The service provided by British Airways is flights from one destination to another and its brand core is Quality flights for all people meaning it tries to satisfy and accommodate all different kinds of consumers. As a consumer you get the feel of being a business man and executive traveller and the airline has the glamour any traveller would dream of. Being a fast mode of transport, less time i s consumed for people in a hurry, you are assured of being at your destination at the estimated time shown when purchasing you ticket. Most people who fly with British Airways are the business man as suggested by its brand, although all different cultures are welcome on board. Marketing wise, the airline offers luxury travel with safety and comfort whilst flying. Despite increased competition and cost-cutting, the airline still remains one of the best airlines because low-cost airlines such as Easy-Jet and Raynair do not offer extras or as much comfort and security like British Airways. This is for example, Low-cost airlines only provide cheaper fares but they do not offer luxury comfort like TV entertainment or free food and drinks on flights and business seats compared to British Airways. Supply Chain A supply chain consists of a link between different channels of distribution that is, from the raw materials to the final customer. Supply Chain Management includes five key areas that are transportation, suppliers, warehousing, meeting orders and retailers; (Chopra et al, 2010). British Airways operates in the final product that is providing the service to customers. This makes the supply chain shorter and more effective due to the provision of direct services and saves time on any occurring problems as they can be dealt with quickly. The airline operates from many different locations with its major base at Londons Heathrow Airport. The customers have the strength of buying that can be divided into two main parts that are price sensitivity and relative bargaining power. The price sensitive buyers will look at an alternative option and compare prices charged to similar products and choose the one which is more beneficial. Therefore holiday packages have been introduced to overcome bi g volume products and for the airline to gain control over its supply chain and strengthen its brand. British Airways tries to satisfy all its customers with various needs from the different classes it provides for. Value is added in its supply chain process by providing different lounges and on board food and wine menus for the first class seats. Also the regular customers of the business class seats get blue, silver or gold cards and executive lounge at all main airports. Overall, the airline provides a good service for all fliers that is giving them free food and drinks, different types of entertainment including two in flight magazines, movie collections, radio channels and TV programs, British Airways target market is both domestic and global. Although the airline welcomes customers from all walks of life, it has made a lot of effort in maintaining its business and first class sections where it maximises its profits and increases its competitiveness at the same time customers who use these two sections get real value for their money. Conclusion Due to increasing competition in the flying industry, consumers expect a reduction in the prices charged which would cause the companies to reduce the quality service provided. Although Easy-Jet and Raynair seem to have succeeded, they have had to compromise the quality of the service by making it basic with nothing much to offer apart from the reduced fare. Because of its outstanding service the British Airways has remained competitive in the current economic climate. In the three of the last five years that are 2006, 2007 and 2008 British Airways made profits of  £451(m),  £304(m) and  £726(m) respectively, however in the other two years, 2009 and 2010 it made losses of  £358(m) and  £425(m). This is mainly due to the effects of the recession that started towards the end of 2008. The airline has managed to survive the recession despite having made profit losses. I believe it has the potential to recover from its financial crisis and maintain its position as one of the leading airlines worldwide. The management and employee issues need to be addressed sooner than later in order to avoid strikes that will further increase the financial crisis of the company and also negatively affect its image in the market.

Difficult Hate Terms Defined Conclusively Criminology Essay

Difficult Hate Terms Defined Conclusively Criminology Essay Why is Hate Crime Such a Difficult Term to Define Conclusively? Hate crime is a relatively new concept which originated during the 1980s in the US after a series of incidents directed towards Jews, Asians and Blacks (Green, McFalls and Smith, 2001). The term was brought to Europe and the UK in the 1990s, and hate crime became a prominent issue after the 1999 McPherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager in London (Bowling and Phillips, 2003). It is a concept which is often used by politicians, the media, the Criminal Justice System and the public; although they often do not fully understand what the term means (Hall, 2005). This essay will explore the term hate crime and try to understand why there is no definitive definition of it, and the reasons for the many conflicting definitions. The first section will explore academic definitions and how they have developed, looking at the flaws of the early definitions and moving on to the most used and most comprehen sive definitions of recent times. After this the essay will explore the official definitions used by a variety of government bodies including the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the Criminal Justice Systems definitions. This essay will then compare how recordings of hate crime differ around the world, and how different definitions of hate crime can lead to dramatically different levels in the number of hate crimes recorded (Giannasi, 2011). The next section will explore in more depth some of the topics covered already, in particularly how different definitions and different countries and states include different factors of hate crimes, such as sexual orientation and gender, as well as exploring the level of prejudice that is required for a crime to become a hate crime. The penultimate section explores the new and borderline hate crimes and whether these groups should be protected under hate crime laws, comparing them to Perrys definition of a hate crime. Finally this essay will explore incitement of hatred laws, and how these laws are seen as controversial and are argued to prevent freedom of speech (Gerstenfeld, 2011), as well as exploring the controversial nature of hate crime, looking at how hate crime laws are seen by some as punishing thought instead of actions. In order to understand why hate crime is such a difficult term to define we first need to look at the different definitions that have been suggested, so that we can see how they differ. There have been many different definitions suggested by a variety of academics and policy makers, each trying to define what a hate crime entails (Jacobs and Potter, 1997). The most basic definition of a hate crime is a crime motivated by hate, but this is contested by most, if not all, academics due to its simplicity and the fact that not all hate crimes have hate as a contributing factor (Hall, 2005), as we shall see later the term prejudice is often preferred. Many early definitions suggested by academics, as well as more recent ones, often fail to fully describe what a hate crime is, leaving many gaps in there definition. Petrosinos (2003) definition of a hate crime only refers to victimisation of ethnic minority groups, whilst Wolfe and Copelands (1994, as cited in Jenness and Broad, 2009) defini tion states that there needs to be violence towards the victim, although most definitions argue that it does not just have to be violence (Green et al, 2001). The definition that is often referred to as the best is Perrys 2001 definition (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009; Hall, 2005); Hate crime involves acts of violence and intimidation, usually directed towards already stigmatised and marginalised groups. As such, it is a mechanism of power and oppression, intended to reaffirm the precarious hierarchies that characterise a given social order. It attempts to re-create simultaneously the threatened (real or imagined) hegemony of the perpetrators group and the appropriate subordinate identity of the victims group. (Perry, 2001: 10). Her definition begins by identifying that acts of intimidation and violence can amount to a hate crime, but does not specify that it is violence towards a person and therefore it can include violence towards a persons property, which is also a form of intimidation. By including all acts of violence and intimidation Perry is including the low-level forms of hate crime, such as simple assault, harassment, threats, and vandalism (Bell, 2004: 185), as these are the most common hate crimes. Her definition follows Sheffields 1995 definition, which identifies the significance of reaffirming hierarchies and the social order within society (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). Perrys definition also identifies that the victims group are already stigmatised in society and are historically marginalised groups, such as race, religion and gender (Craig, 2002). This does cause problems when we consider the new borderline groups, such as Goths, as these groups do not fit this definition, as they have no t been historically marginalised, but crimes against these groups are still seen as hate crimes; this issue will be discussed later in the essay. Her definition then states that the perpetrator is not just attacking the victim but the whole of the victims group. This is echoed by the work of Hall (2005) as they both describe a hate crime as a type of message crime, which is directed towards the minority group to show that they are the minority and are lower in society than the perpetrator, not just an attack on the individual. In fact the individual victims of serious violent hate crimes is often not know to the victim and are attacked just because of their perceived identity (Aurdley, 2005). Official definitions of hate crime can also vary dramatically between different countries and different states, as well as between different agencies within the same country (Jacobs and Potter, 1997). An example of this is the differences in the definitions used by the police and the courts, which often results in a different number of recorded hate crimes when compared to the number of convictions for hate crimes (Iganski, 2002). The guidelines used by the police to define a hate crime are that of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Their most recent set of guidelines were set out in their hate crime manual, Hate Crime: Delivering a Quality Service Good Practice and Tactical Guidance (2005), which expanded on their previous 2000 definition, and split a hate crime in two sections, as hate incidents and hate crimes. They define a hate incident as any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person, as bei ng motivated by prejudice or hate (ACPO, 2005: 9), and a hate crime as any hate incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate (ACPO, 2005: 9). As mentioned this definition defines both a hate crime and a hate incident, and is different to the single hate crime definition from their 2000 hate crime manual, as this did not include hate incidents (Gerstenfeld, 2011). This is the first problem when defining hate crime, as it is not just crimes that are included but incidents of hate as well, meaning that there is a high number of hate crimes recorded by the Police when compared to different agencies. Another point is that it is not just police officers who can classify a crime as a hate crime but the victim and any other person as well. As mentioned earlier the term prejudice is often preferred to the term hate, as hate is a strong word and often it is prejudice rather than hate that is a factor (Hall , 2005). The problem with the term prejudice in this definition is that it does not define what level of prejudice is required or the types of prejudices which are included, as prejudice against other football teams is still prejudice, but are not classed as hate crimes. These problems with ACPOs definition are not exclusive problems, as most definitions have similar problems, and they will be discussed in greater detail later. What this definition has done though is it has made it easier for crimes to be defined as hate crimes by the victim, as the victim often has a better perception of the crime than the police officer who records it. Hate crime laws in England and Wales give certain groups and identities specific laws to protect them, and to enhance the penalties given to offenders, such as the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which give penalty enhancements for racial and religiously motivated crime respectively (Goodey, 2005). The other legislation for penalty enhancement is the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which offers penalty enhancement for sexual orientation or disablist crimes. Other legislation for hate crimes is incitement of hatred laws, which make it a criminal offence to incite hatred of certain groups, either written or verbally. The Public Order Act 1986, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 and the Criminal Justice Act 2008 all have provisions for incitement of hatred, but they only cover certain groups, such as race, religion and sexual orientation and not other groups such as the disabled and new youth subcultures (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). T he burden of proof for all of these crimes lies with the prosecution and often the burden of proof, especially for incitement of hatred, is subjective, having to demonstrate that the offender meant to cause harm by what they said. The Criminal Justice Act 2003, which set the penalty enhancement laws for disablist and religious hate crimes, states that for a penalty enhancement the defence needs to prove that at the time of committing the offence or immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrated towards the victim of the offence hostility (Criminal Justice Act 2003: section 146). This means that for an offence to be a hate crime the perpetrator has to show hostility towards the victim at the time of the attack, and therefore the perpetrators affiliation with far right groups or prior hatred cannot be a factor when defining a crime as a hate crime (Hall, 2005). The number of hate crimes recorded in different countries around the world and in different states within America differ dramatically, because of the different measures used to define what a hate crime is, as hate crime is a socially constructed concept (Perry, 2001). Also the different methods used to record hate crimes give different figures of recorded hate crime, because as mentioned previously anybody can class a crime as a hate crime in England when reporting it, and in other countries, such as America, it is just the police who can record it as a hate crime (Bowling and Phillips, 2003). The UK recorded 52,102 hate crimes in 2009, which is 44,302 more than USA recorded in 2008 (Giannasi, 2011), which has a population which is five times the size of the UKs. This does not mean that the UK has a greater hate crime problem than the USA, but that the recording of it is different, as they define a hate crime differently. In Greece there were two recorded hate crimes in 2008 and 142 in Italy (Giannasi, 2011). All of this shows that the recording of hate crime differs dramatically around the world, because of the different requirements of a hate crime, and the different definitions and understandings of it. As mentioned previously the word prejudice is used more frequently then the term hate, because hate is not always present, as the crimes are often more about reaffirming hierarchies and the social order than because of hatred towards an specific identity (Hall, 2005). Most definitions state that the offence needs to be motivated by prejudice towards the victim and there group identity. The problem with this is they do not state how much prejudice needs to be present to make it a hate crime. In ACPOs definition of a hate crime it states that a hate crime should be motivated by prejudice or hate (ACPO, 2005: 9), but this leaves questions about how much it needs to be motivated by prejudice or hate. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 states that this prejudice needs to be present at the time of the offence, shortly before or shortly after (Hall, 2005). The level of prejudice is hard to define as hate crime is a socially constructed concept and therefore it is often down an individual to dete rmine if the prejudice was sufficient (Jacobs and Potter, 1998). Because of the difficulties in defining the amount of prejudice required it is difficult to define a hate crime, as there is differences in interpretations of the levels of prejudice required because it is an individual decision, and therefore there is no specific measure of when a crime becomes a crime of prejudice towards the victims identity and therefore a hate crime, or what is acceptable or unacceptable prejudice (Hall, 2005). As we have seen the definitions of hate crime vary geographically between different countries and different states (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). Hate crime has been an issue for discussion in the USA for much longer than in the UK, but they do not have a universal definition for a hate crime. One of the most notable conflicts in definitions between different states in the USA is the different victim groups that hate crime laws cover. There are some federal hate crime laws which are enforced over all states and jurisdictions in America, such as laws to give enhanced penalties for crimes against certain groups, such race and religious crimes (Green et al, 2001). But it is mainly down to individual states to define what a hate crime is and as a result the groups covered by these laws vary between different states, and they also vary between different countries. Some states classify gender and sexual orientation as hate crime victims, while other states do not (Gerstenfeld, 2011). Thi s is a problem when it comes to conclusively defining hate crime, as there is no consensus on who can be victims of a hate crime. In England and Wales there are five main strands of hate crime as set out by ACPO (2009), these are race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender and disability. All of these groups fit with Perrys definition of who hate crime victims are, as they are all historically marginalised minority groups. Although these are the main groups there are many other minority groups which can be victims of hate crimes. One group which has caused many discussions as to whether or not they should be classified as a hate crime victims are victims of domestic violence (Gerstenfeld, 2011). One of the arguments for domestic violence being a hate crime is that it matches the definition suggested Perry (2001) as women are a historically marginalised minority group, and domestic violence is to reinforce the hierarchies of society, with men being dominant (Batsleer, Burman, Chantler, Pantling, McIntosh, Smailes and Warner, 2002). The opposing argument is that it should not be a hate crime because women are not being attacked because of their group identity; instead they are being targeted because they are close to the perpetrator and an easy target for them, and therefore it is not a message crime to the wider female population (Dutton, 2006). ACPO (2008) does not identify age as one of its main strands, but does recognise it as a form of hate crime (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). Although the ACPO (2009) and the Home Office (2008) identify ageism as a form of hate crime only about one third of police forces record it as such (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). Ageism is similar to disablist hate crime in that it is often committed by a person of trust (Cuddy and Fiske, 2004) and behind closed doors. There are some arguments that ageism should not be classified as a hate crime because often the victim is not attacked because of their age, or to reinforce the social order of society but instead it is because they are an easy target, as a result of their age (Wolhunter, Olley and Denham, 2009). Another argument against classifying ageism as a hate crime is that the elderly are a heterogeneous group and include people from a variety of backgrounds (Lister and Wall, 2006). The arguments for ageism being classified as a hate crim e is that older people often develop disabilities and therefore crimes towards a victim because of their age is often seen as disablist hate crimes, although they differ from people who are born with a disability (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). The main differences between those who are victims of a hate crime because of their age when compared to other disabilities is that everyone is likely to become old and therefore everybody has a chance of becoming potential victims of ageism. Goths, Punks and other new youth subcultures are also borderline hate crime victims (Garland, 2010). Hate crimes against these groups was highlighted by the murder of Sophie Lancaster in 2007. She was murdered because of her Gothic identity and at court the judge commented that this was a hate crime and imposed an enhanced punishment because so (BBC News, 2008). The reason for crimes like this being a classed as a hate crime is that the victims are often targeted because of their identity and their appearance (Gifford, 2010), and often it is a message crime towards all members of the subculture, which is meant to reinforce the hierarchies of the majority (Garland, 2010). These crimes against new youth subcultures do not fit the definition suggested by Perry of a hate crime. This is because they are not an historically marginalised minority, as they are a relatively new group, but the harm and impacts these crimes have on the wider community is the same as other forms of hate crime (G arland, 2010). There are many other borderline expressions of hate that do not fit the existing definitions of a hate crime, but are still crimes of hate or prejudice. Another example is sectarianism hate crimes, which are crimes committed by members of the Protestants, Unionist or Loyalist communities towards members of the Catholic, Nationalist or Republican communities and vice versa (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). These are crimes of prejudice against the opposite community because of their identity, but unlike other crimes they do not have to be committed by the majority towards the minority, and instead can be committed by either side (Jarman, 2005). There is much debate as to whether sectarianism crimes should be classified as hate crimes or not, as they do not conform to the general definitions of what a hate crime is. All of these borderline crimes further show how difficult it is to define a hate crime, as crimes that do not fit the conventional definitions are often seen as a hate crime. As previously mentioned there are hate crime laws for incitement of hatred, as well as penalty enhancement laws. Incitement of hatred is a greater issue in the UK than it is in the US, as the first amendment of the US constitution states that there cannot be laws which prevent their freedom of speech (Levin, 1999). The UK has several laws which govern incitement of hatred, making speeches and articles which contain threatening, abusive or hatred behaviour towards a minority group illegal. These laws have been very controversial in the UK, as they restrict freedom of speech, which is a human right (Gerstenfeld, 2011). The 2004 Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill aimed to make incitement of religious hatred illegal, as had already been done for incitement of racial hatred by the Public Order Act 1986. But there was much opposition towards this new bill, much of which came for comedians and was led by Rowan Atkinson, claiming that the freedom to criticise ideas is one of the fundame ntal freedoms of society (Atkinson, 2004 as cited in BBC News, 2004). There have also been discussions and arguments over what hate crime laws are punishing, as laws such as the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Criminal Justice Act 2003 give an increased punishment for perpetrators of hate crime. The reason for this is that hate crimes cause more harm to the victim and their wider community than ordinary crimes, as they are being targeted because of who they are, rather than something they have done, and therefore they feel more at risk of repeat victimisation (Craig, 2002). This has led to arguments over whether punishing a hate crime is just in fact punishing peoples thoughts rather than their actions (Iganski, 2002). A crime usually has two factors that determine its severity and the reasons for it; these being the intent and the motive (Hall, 2005). The intent of the perpetrator is how much hurt or damage they meant to cause to the victim and the motive is why they did it. Hate crime focuses on the motive and unlike punishment for most offences, whe re the amount of damage or hurt determines the perpetrators punishment, it is also the reasons for their actions which determine their punishment (Hall, 2005). Therefore many see it is punishing peoples thoughts and the way they think rather than their actions (Jacobs and Potter, 1997). This essay has aimed to explore why the term hate crime is so difficult to define conclusively. It has done this by exploring the academics definitions of what a hate crime is and the problems with some of the many definitions suggested by a variety of academics. It identified Perrys definition as the most definitive, although there are flaws with her definition, as with all definitions (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009). The reason for identifying this definition is that it is the most often used definition by other academics, as it is the most comprehensive (Chakraborti and Garland, 2009; Hall, 2005). The essay then went on to explore the official definitions used in the UK, such as those used by ACPO and the Criminal Justice System. It explored how these definitions contradict each other as the police record hate incidents, which are not crimes and therefore the courts cannot punish offenders for them. The levels of recorded hate crimes around the world vary dramatically with the UK recording nearly seven times the number of hate crimes compared to the USA (Giannasi, 2011); despite the USA having a population that is five times that of the UK. This shows how definitions of hate crime vary dramatically around the world, especially as Greece only recorded two hate crimes in 2008 (Giannasi, 2011). The next section expanded on some of the issues mention previously when discussing the different definitions of hate crime. It explored how different definitions, countries and states have different victim groups and how some include gender and sexual orientation, while others do not. The essay then went on to discuss different victim groups who are classified as borderline hate crime groups. This includes ageism, Goths and other new youth subcultures as well as sectarianism; although these groups do not fit Perrys definition of what a hate crime is, they are recognised as a hate crime by many people, due to the effects that crimes on these groups can have. The final sec tion of this essay explored incitement of hated, and how laws to prevent this have caused much debate over the protection of human rights to comment and criticise ideas (BBC News, 2004). This section discussed how hate crime laws can be seen as being a way of punishing peoples thoughts, rather than their actions as these laws can increase sentences for perpetrators based on the reasons for their actions rather than the actions themselves. Overall this essay has identified the reasons why hate crime is so difficult to define conclusively, due to the different victims, crimes and levels of prejudice, and how this has led to difficulties in creating definitions and comparing hate crime geographically.

Making Ethical Bids in a Competitive Market :: Engineer Engineering Job Papers

Making Ethical Bids in a Competitive Market As the United States economy struggles through a sluggish time with the stock market dropping and unemployment rising, being competitive in the job market has become extremely important among professionals. Engineers are no exception. For most engineering firms, being competitive and successful requires obtaining design projects offered by companies in other fields. These projects can range from designing heating and ventilation systems for office buildings to water systems for cities to computer networks for businesses—the list of possibilities and disciplines is extensive. To get these jobs, engineers must make a bid proposal for the project. Bidding involves estimating the entire cost of the project, including the designing and building processes, as well as the materials and labor. Usually, the company with the lowest bid and the best plan gets the job. The ethical issue in this process is determining the cheapest building materials and construction procedures possible wit hout compromising public safety. The enormous responsibility that an engineer has when designing a project is often overlooked. His or her job is not only to create a design that will work under ideal conditions, but that will meet the regulations of environmental and building codes and will also survive the unpredictable forces of nature that structures are sometimes subjected to. An article in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, "Structures are Held up by Both Skill and Luck,"1 describes many risks involved in the designing process and the failures that can occur when small details are overlooked. In light of a recent surge of failures in the Northwest, the article says: "While the Northwest has experienced some unusual weather conditions this year, the effects of these weather conditions were not all unpredictable. Many tragic failures in the Pacific Northwest (and in other parts of the country) can be traced to poor land-use planning decisions. Despite the availability of hazard mitigation information and qualified technical consultants, the information is often ignored and the consultants bypassed as development continues in the flood plains and on unstable hillsides. Often, unwise site selection and ill-conceived site development results in unnecessary exposure to severe natural hazards." Although the initial reason for not hiring a technical consultant in these cases of poor land choice is most likely an attempt to lower design and construction costs, in retrospect it seems obvious that the money spent on the expertise of a geotechnical engineer would have been significantly less than the "millions of dollars of direct losses and litigation costs.

Dances with Wolves :: essays research papers

Dances with Wolves   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movie Dances with Wolves was a real good movie and I enjoyed watching it. It showed how life was back in the time of the Civil War. The movie also showed how Indians lived and how they respect everything except the white men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I think you should keep on showing this movie to your other classes. When you showed this movie, all the kids in class paid attention to it and actually learned something from it because it caught there attention unlike other movies we have seen. If you show this to other classes it will have the same result and will help you in teaching the class. Also, the movie helped us understand how life was like in the West. It showed us that the soldiers were really ruthless and that they would just kill the buffalo for the hide and tongue, leaving the rest of the animal there to rot. While the Indians would take everything from the animal and use it to there advantage and there would be nothing to waste.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Out of a scale of 5(as being the best), I would give it a 4 and a half. The movie had a real good plot. It showed an American soldier leave his post and communicates with the Indians, which was very shunned upon. The American got very friendly with the Indians and also had a liking towards one of the females. While there relationship goit stronger they got married and when he went back to his post to get some things, he was caught by his troops, which thought he was an Indian. When they found out he was a soldier who became an Indian, they were going to try him of treason. While he was on his way back home, the Indians came and saved him from the white men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is such a good conflict, which made the movie more interesting to watch and you always waited to see what the Indians were going to do next.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The characters were real good too.

The Grapes Of Wrath: Description Al Joad And The Setting :: essays research papers

The Grapes of Wrath: Description Al Joad and the Setting Al Joad is a fairly skinny guy of medium built who starts out being a cocky, self-conceited character. His only justifiable reason for acting cocky is that his brother, Tom, killed a man and went to jail. Al respects his brother and thinks of him as a man for having killed another man. The fact of the matter is that Tom was only acting in self defense. After a man came after Tom with a knife, Tom hit him over the head with a shovel, and killing him in the process. Al would receive complements all over town from people who recognize him and being the brother of a man that was a killer. As soon as Tom Joad comes home from prison, Al is a changed person. He is no longer cocky and he almost resents his brother coming home so soon. As the Joad family is forced to leave their home land and travel to California, Al takes on a great responsibility. His job is to drive the family and take complete care of the truck that they are driving. Al takes his job very seriously and gets upset when anything happens to the car. Emotionally, I would say Al has become very strong throughout the novel. He starts out pretty depend on the "glory" of his brother, but he takes his responsibilities seriously. I see Al as being a crucial character later in the novel. He is the kind of person that needs motivation from the start, but once he gets going, he won't stop. Setting Description Oklahoma could best be described as one large dustbowl. All rain has ceased to fall. The dry wind wisps through the air and gathers dirt. If you listen closely enough, it sounds as though there are people moaning whenever wind is present. The heat is so humid that any source of water is dried up, and the plants wither away. All of the corn crops are gone as well as all other crops. The dirt is like sand; it has no moisture or fertilization.

Diabetes mellitus Essay

An ethical dilemma exists when the right thing to do is not clear or when members of the health care team cannot agree on the right thing to do (Potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall, 2011). S. Z. is a 65-year-old Hispanic man who was admitted to the hospital for the third time in 6 months, for hyperglycemia. He is now scheduled to be discharged but his daughter pleads with the nurse that she does not want her father discharged because he is non-complaint with his medications and diet at home. She says she has small children at home and can’t be responsible for him, too. She is worried sick that he is doing this on purpose because he has been so depressed since her mother, who did everything for him, passed away. She says that her father has been seeing a curanderos, who treats him with traditional methods and that he refuses to take his medicine and only follows what the curanderos tells him to do. She does not agree with this and confides that she hopes to find a way to prevent her father from seeing this person and wants to know if the nurse can have her father’s discharge canceled and to ask the doctor to admit him to a nursing home where they can ensure he eats right and takes his medicine and not the herbs he has been using. Then she pleads, â€Å"Please just tell the doctor he won’t take his medicine. † Many years ago he was diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus Type II and has been on insulin for two years. His blood sugar on admission was 589. He is retired and was widowed one year ago. He’s active in his church, gardens, and likes to work on small projects around the house. His medical history includes Diabetes Mellitus Type II, insulin dependent, Hyperlipidemia, and Osteoarthritis. The three possible scenarios I came up with are 1) to discharge S. Z. from the hospital and go home, 2) to discharge S. Z. to a nursing home, and 3) to delay the discharge and have an in-depth meeting with S.Z. , his daughter, his doctor, his nurse, and a social worker in order to come up with the best solution following his discharge from the hospital, When it comes to a situation that pertains to a patient’s safety, personal lifestyle, habits, and their health post-discharge, it’s best to bring the patient, his family members, his doctor and nurse, and a social worker together to discuss the best possible solutions for post-discharge care. With the 1st scenario of discharging S. Z.to go home; his daughter may feel responsible for him after he is discharged and may end up resenting him if she is unable to meet his medical care needs due to her own family issues and daily responsibilities. S. Z. may feel like his daughter doesn’t want or need him around which may cause a lot of anxiety. With the 2nd scenario of discharging him to a nursing home; this may make S. Z. feel more depressed due to a loss of independence. He may even start to feel isolated because he will unable to attend his church, tend to his gardens, or work on small projects around his house. All these things help to keep him in touch with the world as well as keeping his body, especially his hands, nimble. With the 3rd scenario of holding off on the discharge and calling to order a meeting of the minds to further discuss S. Z. s discharge outcomes. There are 5 signs an older person shouldn’t be living alone. The first sign is that the older person is healthy, but cannot safely live alone. Even the healthiest people are prone to slips, trips, and falls, especially when taking certain medications. Older people have a much higher risk of bone fractures due to progressive loss of bone mass (Scheve, 2013). The second sign is the early signs of Alzheimer’s. This disease commonly presents itself in those who are retirement age and older. The third stage deals with physical impairment or a disease that the family members are unable to provide care for (Scheve, 2013). Some diseases require care that family and friends just aren’t capable of providing for. The fourth stage is a change in personality or lack of proper hygiene. Difficulties in daily life such as incontinence, changing their own clothes, and fixing their meals can be very daunting and frustrating (Scheve, 2013). The final sign an older person shouldn’t be living alone is when he/she gets to be too great of a burden on the family (Scheve, 2013). The average family is juggling their daily activities and aging parents require demands that outweigh the logistical and financial resources available. With the 1st solution, the doctor feels confident enough to go ahead and discharge S. Z.to go home and go about his regular routine of going to church every Sunday, tending to his gardens, working on small projects around his house, and even conferring with a curanderos. However, since S. Z. s daughter is adamant about this discharge procedure, we must move on to another discharge solution. The 2nd solution I had for S. Z. is to be discharged to a nursing home. Having to move into a nursing home can be one of the most difficult times in a person’s life (Harker, 1997). It can be extremely difficult for the patient because they may feel that they are being â€Å"put away† which can be very difficult for the family as well. There’s the worry that their loved one may not be get the loving care they feel they should have. S. Z. may end up feeling isolated because he will no longer be involved in his daily activities of going to his church, seeing his friends, gardening in his gardens, etc. I chose the 3rd solution to delay discharging S. Z. from the hospital and to set up a meeting with S. Z. , his daughter, doctor, nurse, and a social worker so they can put their heads together to come up with a solution for S. Z. following his discharge. This way, everyone will have the chance to speak their peace while getting pertinent feedback from the rest of the key players. Since S. Z. is capable of understanding his own medical needs and issues, then he should be involved with the decision making process of moving into a nursing home or going back to his home. The Code of Ethics for Nurses helps to answer scenarios like this one. It identifies four primary obligations you must meet to fulfill the contract between nursing and the public (Lachman, 2013). The four primary obligations are respecting the patient’s privacy and protecting confidentiality, communicating honestly all aspects of the patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, conducting an ethically valid process of informed consent, and advocating for the patient’s interests (Lachman, 2013). The best way to decide what’s in the best interest for S. Z. is by taking all these aspects into consideration during the discussion with S. Z. , his family, his doctor and nurse, and the social worker. Conclusion The Code of Ethics serves as an excellent baseline to use for collaborating patient information, needs, and desires, the family’s needs and desires, their medical information as coming from the doctor and nurse, and information the social worker can bring to the table. The nurses and other healthcare professionals rely on the code of ethics to assist them when conflicts arise. I believe that having a well thought-out discussion with all those involved and coming up with a solution before discharging S. Z. is in his and his daughter’s best interest. References Harker, J. (1997). Help me: Coping with the nursing home decision. Retrieved form: http://www. alharris. com/harker/helpme. htm Lachman, V. (2013). Making Ethical Choices: Weighing Obligations and Virtues. Retrieved from http://www. nursingcenter. com/pdf. asp? AID=817321 Potter, P. , Perry, A. , Stockert, P. , & Hall, A. (2011). Basic Nursing (7th Ed. ). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier. Scheve, T. (2013). 5 Signs an Elderly Person Shouldn’t be Living Alone. Retrieved from: http://health. howstuffworks. com/wellness/aging/elder-care/5-signs-elderly-living-alone. htm.

Intercultural Communications: Japan Essay

Cultural diversity is what people seek to embrace in an effort to get on well with people of different backgrounds. Tolerance is expected while in foreign countries though at times culture shocks are inevitable. Japan is a rich country in terms of culture and technology and it is important to fully comprehend their way of life to be able to mingle with them. What is acceptable in one country maybe considered disrespectful in others and it is therefore important to learn about the customs, practices and the general lifestyle of the Japanese people. This case study seeks to highlight the lifestyle of the Japanese people in terms of social interactions, etiquette, and style of doing business, customer preferences as well as sensitive matters that must be approached with caution. Japanese etiquette According to Mishima (2010), the Japanese are very respectful people and one custom they observe is bowing their heads down. This bowing culture is known as Ojigi and it applies as a form of greeting and also as a sign of respect. It has taken root in Japanese greetings, something which almost replaces the handshake. Foreigners are however pardoned for this and they will receive a rather weak handshake as Japanese stay away from close body contact. While in Japan, it will be considered impolite if people do not return the bow and it is therefore epitome to learn how to do so as it may cost business. Another important fact to note about the Japanese people is that they do not like physical contact with others since it seems to make them uncomfortable. With changing times however and them playing host to many visitors, the Japanese people may shake hands with foreigners. Bowing is taken seriously in Japan and the Japanese people view it as respectful, as a way of showing gratitude as well as a way to apologise. When dealing with older people, the bow is normally deeper and longer and this shows total respect. Casual greetings take a shorter bow while a business bow is done at an angle of 30 degrees. To show gratitude or give a formal apology, the bow angle changes to 45 degrees and this may also be used to express respect to senior people. When executing the bow, men must have their hands on their sides while women are supposed to place their hands on their thighs. What to avoid while in Japan  According to Williams (2010), the Japanese people are very direct when it comes to foreigners and people must pardon them if they ask personal questions such as how much money they make or how big their houses are. The Japanese people expect loyalty in business relationships and failure to this may mean no business at all. They love people who are good dressers and so if people are to make a point over that business meeting they must dress to impress. The Japanese business scene requires businessmen to dress up in conservative suits in a dark shade. Dressing casually to a business meeting is not welcome and this may cost people a contract. Removing shoes is second nature in many Japanese settings and it is therefore advisable to wear those that are easy to remove. Businesswomen must wear minimal accessories and dress conservatively. Women must never wear trousers to a business meeting as the Japanese men will take offence. The Japanese people also believe that women must wear low shoes as they do not like the idea of being towered over. When it comes to wearing the kimono, the left must always be over the right since wearing it otherwise signifies death and it is forms a basis of being misunderstood. The Japanese are conservative and the use of large gestures by the hands considered. People must steer clear from funny facial expressions or any move that attracts unnecessary attention (Williams, 2010). During a business meeting, it is important to stay away from the â€Å"ok† sign since the Japanese always translate it to mean money, according to Williams (2010). Pointing at people as well as blowing the nose publicly is not acceptable in a Japanese territory. Business cards are very important to the Japanese in business and they are given and received with both hands. It is important to print it in Japanese on one side and in your home language on the other. When presenting it, the part printed in Japanese must always face up. After receiving this card, people must not write on it or slip it into their wallets. The Japanese consider all these actions disrespectful and they would be pleased if the person took time to read the card and examine it carefully. This phase is so important that no business transactions will take place until business cards have been exchanged. The Japanese refrain from using the word ‘no’ and in many circumstances may give a â€Å"yes† answer to mean â€Å"no†. It is therefore of essence to understand this since failure to do so may lead to several disagreements during business negotiations (Williams, 2010). Social interactions According to the U. S. Library Congress (2010), the Japanese are harmonious people who have great value for self development and order. Among the values they hold close to their hearts is living peacefully with others be they spiritual or human beings. They believe strongly in everyone fulfilling the social obligations set for them by the society. The Japanese believe in gods and they extend the belief to what befalls people. The gods are believed to have a huge influence in the Japanese lives and they are believed to have the power to control human emotions. The Japanese believe that they are rewarded by the gods if they do good things to others and that is why they highly condemn antisocial behaviour. The Japanese are highly social animals and this culture is developed from an early age. Interdependence is the core of the Japanese people survival and it is encouraged right from the home to the community. The Japanese disregard open competition and in the same breath do not work well with competition. They practice high self-control but at the same time work hard in cooperation with others in an effort to meet their personal obligations. Decision-making is not a one person thing and this brings them together to chart the way forward and they value group work and association with others. They value strong business relationships and work hard to maintain them though hierarchy occurs naturally. In business meetings, the Japanese are keen to exchange business cards as they value it as a tool for interaction. The Japanese style of doing business According to Lafayette (2003), the Japanese often view other people as dishonest especially those from the western countries. The major reason behind this assumption is a disparity in the understanding of what is right and what is wrong. Their perceptions are varied and this makes other people look bad before them. As evidenced by Lafayette, the Japanese are very wary of their business interactions with other people and in their speeches always urge them to be sincere in the transactions. By emphasizing on sincerity, the Japanese have harmony in mind which will include each person contributing fully to meet his or her obligations to make the dealing successful. They also emphasize on the correct choice of words to avoid confrontations and unwanted excitement which may lead to loss of business. It is typical of the Japanese people to be more concerned with the manner and form in which the business is being transacted. On the other hand, westerners are more result-oriented and this could cause friction between both parties. Japanese people in business tend to care more about personal relationships and these calls for a deeper understanding which prompts deep discussions of every minute detail (Lafayette, 2003). Root binding must be done in an effort to nurture the business ties formed since over the years, distance may grow between the two parties as each side tends to interpret the agreement differently. According to Lafayette (2003), this is caused by differences in perception rather than deviousness. The Japanese business people also belief that naturally the business ties will change just as circumstances change over a period of time. The trick here is therefore being flexible enough to adjust as the business relationship may prompt if business ties with any Japanese are to be maintained. Japanese customer preferences According to Cordell (2010), foreign products are subject to intense customer evaluations and they better be good. Other than the resources used in production of the commodity as well as the cost benefits, a foreign product must gain an edge in the market if it is to compete with other local products. The common notion is that products from industrialised nations of the world are valued higher than those from developing countries. The product will therefore be perceived either positively or negatively depending on the country of origin. A brand name is what sells and in most cases, Japanese consumers will go for a product that comes from a reputable company. Marketing of a new product in a foreign land therefore needs be strategic if it is to sell and the company has to aim at maximising its profits. This therefore calls for intensive knowledge of the product as well as assuring the consumers of high quality judging from the fact that Japan is very advanced in industrial and technological matters. Conclusion Japan ranks second in the world’s superpowers’ list and being able to penetrate her territories for a business venture is the best that could happen to any business. It is therefore important to understand their cultural value as it is a step towards understanding how business flows on the other end. Being a foreigner in Japan can be a great experience while at other times it can be stressful. This will happen if people do not take time to study the lifestyle of the Japanese and this may lead to collisions with them. When it comes to the product, it must be well researched and well packaged if it is to survive the stiff competition that Japan offers. It must have an edge on the products already in the market and the marketing-process must also be well researched to address the market needs. The product must be well presented by its marketers in an attractive and practical package and it must have the potential of competing fully with its predecessors in the market. However, a blissful business relationship is bound to develop if people respect their lifestyle and make adjustments to suit in their midst.