The Crucible By Arthur Miller Essay - 1384 Words

1. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller. 2. The genre of the play is tragedy drama. 3. The play was published in 1952. The play concerns two time periods, one being the 17th century when the witch trials were occurring, the second being Millers life time the 1900’s, specifically during the Red Scare. Miller makes a connection between the witch trials and the Red Scare comparing how people were practically forced to admit to false accusations in order to survive. 4. John Proctor is the main protagonist in the play, he is an ordinary townsmen who got himself into trouble, made mistakes, and confronts Abigail and the other girls about the false accusations they are making. Reverend Hale is another protagonist, he is the expert in witchcraft and later on sees the lies the girls are making. 5. Abigail Williams is the antagonist, she lied extensively well and ruined the lives of many by making false accusations. 6. The play is set in the town Salem, Massachusetts where all of the townspeople are Puritans. Some young girls go into a forest and dance with a slave named Tituba, and get caught. Later on Reverend Parris’ daughter falls asleep and cannot be woken, the townspeople being to think witchcraft. Once she wakes up her and the other girls who were dancing in the forest begin to yell out and accuse people of being witches. This is when the witch trials begin to occur. Abigail is the leader of this conspiracy and orders the girls around, everyday people were accusedShow MoreRelatedThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1269 Words   |  6 PagesAt first glance, the playwright Arthur Miller in The Crucible highlights the historical significance of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but in fact it is an allegorical expression of his perception of McCarthyism. If the reader has some background information on Arthur Miller’s victimization as a communist, it is evident that the play is a dida ctic vessel illustrating the flaws of the court system in the 1950’s. The communist allegations were launched at government employees, entertainers and writersRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1681 Words   |  7 Pagesof their way to the last dying breath to make sure they leave with a good or bad reputation. In one of the recent literature study in class â€Å"The Crucible† by Arthur Miller, Miller uses characterization to illustrate reputation throughout the play. â€Å"The Crucible† takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. It is based upon the Salem witch trails. In â€Å"The Crucible†, we journey through the life of three characters who reputations plays a major role in the play. The three characters are John Proctor, AbigailRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1333 Words   |  6 PagesAs the various characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller interact, the dominant theme of the consequences of women’s nonconformity begins to slide out fr om behind the curtains of the play. Such a theme reveals the gripping fear that inundated the Puritans during the seventeenth century. This fear led to the famous witch-hunts that primarily terrorized women who deviated from the Puritan vision of absolute obedience and orthodoxy. Arthur Miller presents his interpretation of the suffering by subtlyRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller998 Words   |  4 Pagesmotivated by jealousy and spite. The Crucible is a four-act dramatic play production that was first performed on January 22, 1953. Arthur Miller used dialogue within the characters to cover the multiple themes; conflicts and resolutions, plus the few directions for the different actions of the play. The Salem Witch Trials were intended to be performed as the play however, when read, it can be more carefully examined and broken down to analyze the techniques. Miller, the playwright, uses literaryRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1145 Words   |  5 PagesUnbalance Through The Centuries In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the author reflects the persecution of communists in America in the 1950’s through a recount of the Salem witch trials. It is often presumed that Miller based his drama directly off of events that were particularly prevalent in the years surrounding the publication of The Crucible- which was released in the year 1953, towards the conclusion of the Korean War. Although there was not a literal witch hunt occurring during this timeRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1063 Words   |  5 PagesIn the English dictionary, there are three definitions of the word crucible. One is a metal container in which metals are mixed and melted. Another is a severe test. But the third definition, and the one that I think fits the best for this book, is a place or situation in which different elements interact to create something new. In my mind, this fits because all of the characters had their little grudges and dirty secrets. But when all th ose seemingly little things interact, they formed somethingRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1285 Words   |  6 Pages Rationale, Morality, Stereotypes, Pressure, Self-Censorship, Unanimity, and Mindguards. Groupthink has also taken place in our history a a country. The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about a the real-life Salem Witch Trials that happened in 1692 - 1693, in Salem, Massachusetts. Some symptoms of Groupthink found in the Crucible are Rationale, Pressure, and Self-Censorship. The Groupthink symptom, Rationale, is described as when victims of Groupthink ignore warnings: they also collectivelyRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller811 Words   |  4 Pages While The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is only a four act play, it still resembles the format of a five act play. The five-act structure evolved from a three-act structure, which was made famous by Roman Aelius Donatus. Donatus came up with three types of plays: Protasis, Epitasis, and Catastrophe. The five-act structure helped to expand the three act structure, mainly made famous by Shakespeare through his many tragedies. Even though The Crucible contains only four acts, it still has the commonRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1052 Words   |  5 PagesBuddy Al-Aydi Ms.Healy English 9 CP 14th October 2014 The Crucible Essay The Crucible was a novel written by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s. It was written in a format of the play, portraying an allegory of the Salem Witch-Hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. The book is known to have a inexplicable plot. This plot is advanced by multiple characters in the book in order to ensure that the reader maintains interest with the material that is being read. The farmer, John Proctor, would be theRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller841 Words   |  4 PagesThe Crucible is a chaotic play, throughout this American classic Arthur Miller takes the reader through multiple events of terror and insanity. While creating a great on-stage play, Arthur Miller portrays his life through the events, the characters, and plot of The Crucible. Using vivid imagery and comprehensible symbolism, Miller manipulates the real personalities of the characters and events in 1600 Salem, Massachusetts to create a symbolic autobiography. Throughout this play, the reader experie nces

Creon And Antisane In Sophocless Antigone - 871 Words

In the play Antigone, written by Sophocles, king Creon created a law that denied proper burial rites to anyone who invaded or betrayed the city of Thebes. Antigone defied this law by burying her brother, Polynices, after he was harshly accused of being a traitor. Both Creon and Antigone showed an unbending passion toward their perception of justice, unwilling to accept that honoring the law and honoring the individual conscience were both justified in different ways. The stubbornness that they shared lead them both to meet their downfalls, which conveyed the idea that being too proud to accept guidance from others ultimately leads to dire consequences. The moral compasses of Creon and Antigone pointed in opposing directions, which†¦show more content†¦Antigone’s argument with her sister about her plans to defy the king is the scene that opens the play. From the start, she appears certain that burying Polynices will restore justice when she says, â€Å"even if I die in the act, that death will be a glory† (Sophocles 86). She is so sure of the immorality of Creon’s law that she is willing to go to any means necessary to keep him from using her brother as a cautionary tale. In the philosophical statement made by Martin Luther King Jr., he says that, â€Å"An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.† Antigone stood alone in defending her brothers honor, and did not waver from her beliefs at any p oint. She was willing to go to great lengths in order to show the injustice within Creon’s law, and the risk of punishment had no effect on these intentions. Antigone took willful stance on the conflict, which dramatized the story by creating an intense conflict between two characters with strikingly similar characteristics. Creon emanates great pride throughout the play. He believes that since he is the king, whether his laws are unjust or not, Thebans

The Life Story of James McBride Essay Sample free essay sample

In the terminal people have the power to influence and alteration other people’s lives. in The Color of Water by James McBride ; James learns many of import life lessons from the people around him and in his life and how to be a leader non a follower. Possibly the greatest influence on James is the Chicken adult male who teaches James to acquire an instruction. to assist James to happen finding in life. and non to acquire in to a adult male and adult female statement if you’re non in it with them. The poulet adult male teaches James the importance of holding an instruction. traveling to school and being educated in life. while wage off in his life-time. The Chicken adult male tells James that if he drops out of school no 1 will implore him to come back to school and acquire his instruction that he necessitate in life. â€Å"You think if you drop out of school person is traveling to implore you to come back? Hell no! They won’t implore your black buttocks to travel back† ( McBride 150 ) . James is believing that people will care for him to travel back to school but the Chicken adult male told him that he’s merely another black child non making anything with his life. James first occupation was working at the stat mi. pumping gas. alteration tyres. hole flats and it was down the block from the his corner. Before James got fired for Equus caballus playing around in the store. he had a small job with one of his boss’s friends Mr. Herman. James had a fistfight with him because Mr. Herman’s friend was picking on him and doing merriment of him. â€Å"If you want to drop of school and shoot people and bent on this corner all your life. travel in front. It’s your life! † ( McBride 150 ) . But the Chicken adult male told him that if he wanted to stop up in gaol and remain on this corner for the remainder of his life and non making nil with his life and with no instruction so travel for it it’s his life to populate non nobody else’s. In the terminal. the Chicken adult male was a great influence on James’s life and taking him in the right way. non the incorrect way to devastation. The Chicken Man teaches James how to assist James to happen finding in life and non make nil with is life. James wants to hit and kill this cat that he got into a fisticuffs with. merely cause he was doing merriment of him and naming him names. â€Å"Is that how you want to stop up. traveling to imprison for him. because that’s where you’ll stop up. making clip and hanging on this corner when you get out† ( McBride 150 ) . But the Chicken adult male saves James life by stating him how he is traveling to stop up for the remainder of his life. When Chicken adult male negotiations about how smart everyone including himself. but nobody attentions about how smart you. you are on your ain in this universe on larning your instruction and is successful in life. â€Å"And nobody’ll give a darn neither† ( McBride 150 ) . The Chicken adult male explains that anybody can be the smartest adult male in the universe but without the common cognition and instruction you can non acquire anyplace in life. Overall. did non desire to travel to imprison so he listened to the Chicken man’s advice and did non hit the adult male who made merriment of him and called him names. The Chicken adult male teaches James how to non acquire in to a adult male and adult female statements if you are non in it with them. When James saw microphone and mustang combat he wanted to leap in and halt it but the Chicken adult male prevented him from leaping in. â€Å"Leave that entirely. New York! †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ That’s between him and his woman† ( McBride 152 ) . After seeing mustang acquiring slapped hard in the face. James wanted to safe her from acquiring beaten and state microphone to halt hitting her. but the Chicken adult male said no. If you’re non in the battle while it began so it best you stay out of it. When two work forces and adult female are contending and acquire physical neer of all time acquire involved between them. merely sit back. ticker and see what happens. â€Å" Don’t neer get between adult male and his woman† ( McBride 152 ) . This is a life lesson for James to non seek and be a hero and acquire hurt or killed for seeking to assist a adult male and his adult female statement. After seeing microphone and mustang makeup the Chicken adult male says that’s why he does non wish to get down statements with his adult female because after a period of clip you are traveling to experience bad emotional and want to apologise for things you said and did. â€Å" That’s why I don’t have no statements with no adult female. † it don’t make nil but sap you around† ( McBride 152 ) . But non long after. the Chicken adult male and his adult female acquire into an statement and went off to work. But subsequently on his adult female got a gun and shot the Chicken adult male from the dorsum. He laired at that place. coughed a few times so on the floor he died from a gun shooting to the dorsum. In the terminal. James learns that assisting a adult male and adult female contending isnâ€℠¢t worth losing his life over it and it doesn’t solve anything. merely leads to more active so doing up in the terminal. In decision. James’s most influenced friend is the Chicken adult male because he teaches James he to esteem adult female and to be something in life non to be a typical black male child running in the streets of Kentucky non making nil with his life. The Chicken adult male was first-class function theoretical account for taking James on the right way to the key to success and experience of life.

The Importance Of Animal Research Essays - HIVAIDS, Vaccines

The Importance of Animal Research Research on animals is important in understanding diseases and developing ways to prevent them. The polio vaccine, kidney transplants, and heart surgery techniques have all been developed with the help of animal research. Through increased efforts by the scientific community, effective treatments for diabetes, diphtheria, and other diseases have been developed with animal testing. Animal research has brought a dramatic progress into medicine. With the help of animal research, smallpox has been wiped out worldwide. Micro-surgery to reattach hearts, lungs, and other transplants are all possible because of animal research. Since the turn of the century, animal research has helped increase our life-span by nearly 28 years. And now, animal research is leading to dramatic progress against AIDS and Alzheimer's disease. Working with animals in research is necessary. Scientists need to test medical treatments for effectiveness and test new drugs for safety before beginning human testing. Small animals, usually rats, are used to determine the possible side effects of new drugs. After animal tests have proven the safety of new drugs, patients asked to participate in further studies can be assured that they may fare better, and will not do worse than if they were given standard treatment or no treatment. New surgical techniques first must be carefully developed and tested in living, breathing, whole organ systems with pulmonary and circulatory systems much like ours. The doctors who perform today's delicate cardiac, ear, eye, pulmonary and brain surgeries, as well as doctors in training, must develop the necessary skills before patients' lives are entrusted to their care. Neither computer models, cell cultures, nor artificial substances can simulate flesh, muscle, blood, and organs like the ones in live animals. There is no alternative to animal research. Living systems are complex. The nervous system, blood and brain chemistry, and gland secretions are all interrelated. It is impossible to explore, explain or predict the course of many diseases or the effects of many treatments without observing and testing the entire living system. Cell and tissue cultures, often suggested as "alternatives" to using animals, have been used in medical research for many years. But these are only isolated tests. And isolated tests will yield only isolated results, which may bear little relation to a whole living system. Scientists do not yet know enough about living systems or diseases, nor does the technology exist, to replicate one on a computer. The information required to build a true computer model in the future will be based on data drawn from today's animal studies. Primates represent only about 1/3 of 1 percent of animals in research. But during the last half century, research using primates has led to major medical breakthroughs, most notably in the treatment of polio and Rh disease. Vaccines have reduced the cases of polio in the U.S. from 58,000 to one or two a year at present. Scientists are learning how the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) works by studying its non-human primate counterpart, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) in monkeys. The SIV model is useful in testing drugs for AIDS. In addition, the HIV virus survives in certain kinds of monkeys and although it does not kill the animals, it can be removed from them. This may prove useful in testing an AIDS vaccine. Researchers are studying rhesus macaque monkeys to explore ways to reduce multiple organ failure following hypotensive shock, a loss of blood pressure due to loss of blood. Researchers have hypothesized that damage to the organs occur within the first few minutes after blood flow is reestablished, when a certain kind of white blood cell attaches to walls of blood vessels and releases toxic substances. The researchers reasoned that if, just before blood flow is reestablished, a substance that prevents the white blood cells from attaching to the vessel walls were injected into the blood stream, it might prevent the release of their toxic contents and avoid multiple organ damage. It is expected that this new technique will prove effective in human patients. Researchers are studying obesity in monkeys in hopes of finding a way to control body weight. Scientist are also using monkeys to study Taurine deficiency, which causes vision problems, and zinc deficiency, which causes

buy custom Mark Wallace essay

buy custom Mark Wallace essay Mark Wallace approach ethnography as a qualitative technique that is concerned with the understanding and learning of cultural phenomena, which are shown in knowledge and system that guide the life of a cultural group. Ethnography is centered in the studies of ethnic groups, ethnic genesis, people, composition, settlement, social welfare, and composition. Therefore, it remains crucial in analyzing human societies and cultures. In fact, scholars have argued that ethnography is aimed at describing the nature and characteristics of the people under study. The novel, the Quarry and the Lot, is centered on three friends; Luke, Nick and Amelia. They returned to their homeland to attend a funeral of their childhood friend, Joseph Klein. On the contrary, the deceased took a different life dimension that made him reckless and ruthless, though he was brought up as a decent and humble boy. Joseph took a different culture in life that was different from that of his friends. Evidently, the people who attended his funeral were not sorry about his death (Wallace 94). There were mixed reactions and emotions during the funeral since the deceaseds ways of life could not be compared to his age mates and friends. Joseph grew up in Texas, and it was very difficult to understand what made him choose the most controversial way of life. He was perceived by many people as ruthless, destructive and bully, a subculture he admired. This kind of a subculture was not in conformity with the normal societal values, which advocates for the proper upbringing of chi ldren. The children are expected to grow up respectfully. However, these unaccepted behavior that Joseph adored brought him a lot of happiness. Unfortunately, the bad behavior led to his tragic death at the tender age of thirty two. Perhaps, it is the bad character that does not conform to the societal norms and values that makes him as a character in the novel fades quickly as the novel continues (Wallace 19). In the novel, there are some subcultures that were clearly not accepted in the society. For example, prostitution and homosexuality that eroded the moral principles of the society. Notably, these bad sub-cultural practices emerged and continued to flourish in the society. An important question to ask is the availability of the custodians and moral guidance when immoral acts of prostitution and homosexuality emerged and slowly became acceptable in the society. The fact that the disciplines of religion and sociology were taken for granted for many years, until the nineteenth century shows a lot of contrast between the two groups of people; those who lived before and after the nineteenth century. Studies show that those people who lived before the nineteenth century were perceived as rigid about morality. They advocated for harsh sanctions, heavy punishments and penalty to discourage immoral acts on the society. The heavy punishments and sanctions would help the society maintain its identity that was morally and ethically sound. During this period, it was not easy to get someone who could come out to confess about having been in same gender relationships, and having committed acts of prostitution. However, in some modern societies, acts such as gay marriages and abortion are allowed to take place. Due to the issues of cultural relativism, it is hard to tell precisely the moral acts since the concept moral is relative; depending on place, tim e and the population characteristics. In the novel, the narrators grandfather learnt from the jaguar experience in Mexico that some things were beyond human understanding. He compares the jaguar incidence to mens behavior in Texas, which is after a night of gambling and drinking. These activities made men behave violently without any apparent reason. The situation was different in Mexico, where the jaguar, though hungry and in danger, it did not engage men in violence. Instead, it slipped away in the morning. This made the narrator understand that mystery was a real phenomenon. Just like the narrators grand fathers failure to understand why the jaguar landed on his roof top, the narrator could as well not understand the mystery behind the death of his friend, Joseph (Wallace 68). In the novel, the narrator tries to explain why the men failed to kill the jaguar since it is not culturally accepted to kill animals without proper reasons. However, the situation is different in Texas, where boys like torturing animals owing to their poor and cruel upbringing. This sub-theme clearly shows the disparity and cultural differences of the people of Texas and Mexico. In chapter one of the novel, the author makes a comparison between two cultures. In Texas, the narrator receives a phone call from his son, informing him about the death of Joseph, Klein. At the beginning, it is not clear to the narrator and his wife about who has actually made the call. To them, this incidence is quite different from the Jaguars. In the Jaguars incidence, the grandfather never wanted someone to make a call because he did not wantanybody to know about that scary incidence. In a way, this showed how the grand father was cultured in an environment where the information secrecy was highly valued (Wallace 86). In addition, the arrival of the narrators grandfather in Mexico brings another sharp contrast between the two cultures that is American and Mexican. In America, the narrators grandfather was considered as a small town doctor, in the United States, but the situation was different in Mexico. In Mexico, he was highly respected, amongst the poor and the rich. This shows the culture and identity of the Mexican who are portrayed in the novel as loving and welcoming. Here, the rich do not despise the poor, as evidenced with the grandfathers welcome. Evidently, the narrator portrays the sub-culture that is propagated by the jaguar as outlawed groups, which engaged in careless consumption of alcohol and other drinks. Besides, the group engages in listening terror-themed rap music that promotes acts of hooligans and crime in the society. In fact, such music is not descent t listened to since they are sources of immoral acts and bad behavior among the youth in the society. This kind of outlawed cultures forms the foundation of hostility in the society. For instance, Josephs brother appreciated their humble background and lifestyle. However, Joseph succumbed to an alien sub-culture when he refused to accommodate the laughter and mockery of his fellow students when they were at school. He saw this as an embarrassment since he never wanted to accept that he was from a poor family. From this analysis, it can be deduced that poverty was never welcomed in this sub-culture, and the poor were often looked down upon. This is contrary to what we saw in Mexico, where both the rich and the poor were friendly, loving and lived alongside each other in peace (Wallace 69). Moreover, it is clear, from the analysis of the novel that economic status dictates the culture of the people. For instance, in American sub-culture, the rich did not easily welcome Josephs grandfather, who was seen as small village doctor. But, in Mexico, the situation was different, since the majority is the middle and low income earners; people can easily cope up with one another and live in a peaceful co-existence. Besides, the economic inequality is evidenced in the media houses, which associate crime with music that is produced by psychopathic records, famous among the poor and the middle class. For instance, Joseph and other juggalas who are from the low income families found themselves on the wrong side of the law when they were unfairly persecuted because of their cultural way of dress code, music listened to and their eating habits, which were regarded by the rich as unethical and lack decency. It is interesting to note the way the sub-cultures in the novel are portrayed and how different generations perceive various cultures. For example, fifty years ago, homosexuality was considered as a criminal offense. The homosexuals and lesbians could not come out and openly declare their intentions and marital status. But, currently the culture is accepted in some societies, and there are some cases of gay marriages, even in churches. Arguably, this kind of culture is common in the urban settings (Wallace 19). It is debatable to ask oneself, why the same societies that promote moral degradation and decadence are the ones who pioneer scientific and technological development. A society that is not morally responsible for its action can make its people perish. For example, the use of technological and scientific knowledge to manufacture nuclear weapons and drugs can lead to mass destruction and loss of lives, if the society is not responsible and accountable for its actions. Currently, the lesbians and gays make use of the social network sites to carry out their activities. Before, these activities were considered as cultural taboos and no one could easily declare such status in public. Immoral acts such as pornography were unheard of, and could not be allowed to take place in the traditional society where culture was highly valued. Various questions have been raised on the fate of homosexuality why it started and its effects on peoples lives living during that time, and why there is no much literature on the same. Possibly, the societal culture did not permit such texts to be openly discussed. Could be the male dominance and chauvinism never allowed some issues to be publicly discussed; especially the women were not permitted by their male counterparts to discuss issues about men. In fact, in the past, writings on gay and lesbianism were considered immoral and unlawful since such texts could easily land someone in jail (Wallace 59). The war against homosexual sub-culture started around the eighteenth century. By then, the population that practiced the homosexual sub-culture was smaller than the current one. In fact, there were no polices, which were put in place to promote the practice of the homosexuality. But, still the practice went against all odds and it became paramount in the society, despite the strong oopposition from the government and the society. From the novel, a special police force known as the Mouches was established to eliminate the homosexual culture. This special police force who pretended to be lesbians failed to expel the homosexual sub-culture that had grown into a strong force. According to the analysis from the novel, it is that a subculture though accepted and followed by only a few people can grow into a strong force that is not easy to get rid of in the society. This is evident with the case of the homosexuals, who were just a handful people, but still remained a big threat to the soci ety. This group that formed the subculture was hard to eliminate in the society, even the state machinery, which is the special police force could not contain this group of people. The legislative policies and state ideologies also failed to contain the homosexual subculture. Therefore, one would ask whether there is a possibility of containing that subculture in the society. But, before that it is important to analyze some of the social effects of such subcultures in the society. What would happen if the society members accept and embrace the subculture of homosexual and lesbianism? To some extent, the narrator of the story was trying to say that the society has failed to contain the subcultures, which were considered immoral such as homosexuality and lesbianism. Though, there is still some glimmer of hope since the society and the government is making all the possible attempts to discourage such subculture. Amerilia, a female character in the novel, fell a victim to sexual abuse and harassment from her father and brothers (Wallace 76). This clearly shows that that par1ticular society does not respect womens dignity and personal privacy that infringe their rights. Besides, it is clear from the novel that the society does not respect the institution of marriage. On the other hand, the fathers have failed in their parenting role (Wallace 32). The women do not have a voice to be heard in this society since Amerilas mother does not come out strongly in the novel to condemn the acts of sexual abuse and harassment to her daughter. The society failed to define appropriate punishments for such offenses. In away, it can be deduced that the society is compromising a lot on some behavior, which are eventually accepted as a societal norm. Another worrying subculture that is evident from the readings is abortion, which comes as a result of prostitution. The prostitution is prevalent in the urban areas, where people from different cultures meet and often make casual intimate relationships. Little or no marriages are taking place in these relationships, which result in unwanted pregnancies. From the novel, this is portrayed as lack of respect for life and the unborn. In the past, acts of abortion were highly condemned in the society, and one found committing such acts were either excommunicated or killed to serve as a warning to the others. But, currently the situation is different since laws have been put in place to legalize abortion. Despite the advantages of the abortion, it is evidenced that the societal morals are eroding very fast. Festivals remain one of the pillars of the subculture. Several occasions were set to perform ceremonies, which marked some specific events in the society such as harvesting ceremonies, naming ceremonies, religious ceremonies and others. For example, marriage ceremonies ushered the couples into a permanent union and start of a new life. During such occasions, people gathered as a sign of unity in the society. However, things are different these days. The ceremonies have been commercialized and lost meaning. In fact, the society has become disunited. Often, politicians attend ceremonies and gatherings just to pursue their own personal interests and ambitions to gain power. Notably, these are some of the sub-cultural aspects, which are highlighted in the novel (Wallace 78). Conclusion In sum, from the novels settings, Wallace portrays a community a society that greatly relied on locally produced foods and drinks. For example, the fermented drinks were highly valued at that time. However, after the industrial revolution, peoples tastes and consumption patterns shifted from the locally produced products to the industrial ones. And this was seen in the lifestyle shift of Juggalo and his friends who often consumed cheap soft drinks as discussed earlier. This clearly shows how the society cultures of the past are rapidly changing. Indeed, Wallace is overwhelmed by the American sub-urban cultural setting that supports conventional individualism and selfishness. The main emphasis from the novel is that culture should be a unifying factor in the society. Culture should unite both the rich and the poor in the society so that there is a sense of harmony and belonging. Without unity, it is very hard to promote culture in the society. Consequently, the absence of a very strong culture in the society breeds the elements of sub-cultures, which lack proper moral principles and doctrines that finally led to the societys moral degradation. Buy custom Mark Wallace essay

Kingdom of Bhutan

Kingdom of Bhutan The kingdom of Bhutan, situated in the Himalayan Mountains, bordered by India, Tibet, and China, is a nation of approximately 672,425 people (Anielski 137). In the year 2005, the nation had a gross national product (GDP) per capita of about $US 3,921 and was ranked 117th in the world.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Kingdom of Bhutan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More By conventional economic measures, Bhutan is a relatively poor, developing country with a resource based economy that relies on forestry, animal husbandry, subsistence agriculture, and now increasingly, hydroelectricity, cash crops and tourism. However, the nation is far beyond developed countries as its physical environment is beautiful. It is also closer to being sustainable than nearly any other country in the world. Bhutan fits the idea of Shangri-La in many respects. It only allowed foreigners into the country from the 1970s, and continues t o restrict the entry of tourists. A hereditary monarchy has ruled the country since the start of the twentieth century. The Bhutanese are mainly Buddhists and the nation has a life expectancy of 63 years for men and 64 years for women. Late in the 1990s, television and the Internet were allowed, and King Jigme Singye Wangchuk installed parliamentary democracy in 2008. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Bhutan has adopted an official policy, passed by parliament, of Gross National Happiness (GNH) where by the pursuit of happiness takes precedence over economic prosperity and GDP. Apparently, this isolated Tibetan Buddhist nation, led by King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, is the only country in the world that has made attempts to measure a well-being by GNH instead of Gross National Product or GNP (Anielski 139). Bhutan leaders introduced the idea of GNH in order to strengthen the Buddhist spiritual system of belief. GNH measures and manages what matters most in people’s lives s uch as the quality of life, happiness of people, and good stewardship of the earth. In addition, GNH is intended to encourage debates on how different teachings and ethical beliefs of the Bhutanese people can be factored into the nation’s economy. In essence, GNH focuses policy debate on well-being and the pursuit of happiness rather than the mere acquisition of material things, consumption or production. At its heart, GNH is based on the Buddhist philosophy. In Buddhism, happiness is not determined by what we have and own but rather by the qualities of being. A study by Morrall indicated that Bhutan scores very well in the Happy Index in the Happy Planet Index, which is not surprising given that it has led the way in terms of furnishing a culture of happiness (Morrall 19). Bhutan assesses success through its GNH index instead of the economically driven measurements of GNP and GDP.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can hel p you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The four specific pillars of GNH as defined by King Jigme Thinley, upon which GNH rests, are good governance, cultural preservation, environmental conservation, and economic development. Each of these pillars has qualities that have never been and can never be quantified, but can be analyzed objectively. According to Bansil, the Bhutan 2020 vision document defines GNH’s role as a single unifying concept to identify future directions of policy (28). The King’s argument is that there are many concepts of development other than the GDP and the aim is to maximize happiness, rather than economic growth. Besides economic needs, the Bhutanese government believes that every single individual has many other needs that must be met. Consequently, development should be seen as the sum total of all the needs that are critical to human existence. The truth is that GNH is an almost intuitive idea to the Bhutanese and their King seeking to reconcile the need for development with preserving the essential ethos of Bhutanese spiritual and cultural life. In philosophical terms, the four pillars would come naturally to the Bhutanese people, living in an environment blessed by nature’s bounty, pride in their culture, and consequences of the benefits of good governance. In Bhutan, inner spiritual development is as important as external material development. Enlightening of an individual, not merely in the religious sense, is thus a critical requirement. At the very least, Bhutan’s contribution has served to stir a new debate on what is happiness and limitations of the fashionable paradigms of seeking happiness by possessing more and more goodies. If life expectancy can be taken to be one valid indicator of the success of GNH, then Bhutan has been a roaring success. From 1984 to 1998, life expectancy increased by 19 years. There are other tangible indicators where the country has also done extremely well. In the year 2006, gross national enrolment rate of primary schools reached 72 per cent, and the literacy rate grew from 17 per cent to 47.5 per cent (Bansil 29). Clearly, Bhutan has demonstrated to the whole world that people centric development is a workable economic model. GNH is, therefore, a multi-dimensional measure that should take the place of GDP. Politic Reforms and Modernization According to MCC, Bhutan is a near absolute monarchy that is in transition toward a democratic system (502). In 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk announced that a constitution would be presented to the people for approval in a referendum. The new system was scheduled to come into effect in 2008. The chief of the state of Bhutan is the king, and the throne is hereditary in the male line of the Wangchuk dynasty, which was established in 1907, when a system of joint chiefs of state was replaced.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Kingdom of Bhutan specif ically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In 1968, the king created a council of ministers to assist him handle administrative duties. Originally, six ministries were established with an additional four ministries added in 2003. From 1998, the responsibility of choosing members of government shifted from the king to the National Assembly. However, the king nominates potential ministers to the national assembly, and because the assembly is not independent, ultimate authority rests with the monarch. Since 1988, the position of prime minister is held in turns by the cabinet take. In 2005, the king proposed a two chamber legislature commonly known as the Parliament. The National Assembly would have more than 75 members, elected by universal adult suffrage for five years. Each district would elect between two and seven members, depending on its population. Two political parties would be allowed to operate. The upper house would comprise 25 members, one elected from each district for five years, plus five members chosen by the king. Members of the National Council would not be allowed to be members in any political party. The government would be led by a prime minister, whose party had a majority in the lower house. The prime minister would not serve more than two five year terms. The king would retain the power to appoint the principal officials of state and to approve bills from the Parliament. Succession to the throne would be extended to the princess, and the monarch would be obliged to abdicate at the age of 65. Economy Bhutan is one of the world’s poorest states characterized by remoteness, underdevelopment, and lack of resources. All viable land routes to Bhutan pass through India, which economically dominates its neighbor Bhutan. The kingdom depends on India for financial assistance, and is not financially independent. Bhutan’s currency, the ngultrum, is on a par with the Indian rupee, which also circulates in Bhutan. In general, Bhutan’s terrain hinders the nation’s development (MCC 510). More than 97 per cent of the land area is composed of rugged mountains and steep slopes that have no soil or are too cold to be farmed. In 2003, the Bhutanese GDP was $2.9 billion and this came mainly from agriculture, industry, and services sectors. Bhutan has reserves of timber and deposits of dolomite and limestone, gypsum, calcium carbonate, beryl, copper, coal, graphite, iron ore, and lead. This notwithstanding, most of Bhutan’s resources are too small or too inaccessible to be commercially viable. Arable land and land that is permanently cropped account for only 2.7 per cent of Bhutan.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In spite of this, 93 per cent of the labor force is employed in farming. Industry in Bhutan is small scale and employs only 2 per cent of the labor force. The services sector employs 5 per cent of the labor force but provides 45 per cent of the country’s GDP. Preservation of Cultural Value Preserving and promoting culture is generally regarded as an important factor in the development of the Bhutanese nation. This is mainly driven by the general belief in Bhutan that when a nation loses its cultural heritage, people tend to be dissatisfied. As a result, Bhutan zealously guards its culture and the government sees the preservation of culture as a high priority (Biswas-Diener 77). This is strengthened by the school system which requires Bhutanese values to be taught side by side with science, mathematics, and English language. The Bhutanese national language, Dzongkha, is spoken by around 50 per cent of the population. Bhutanese legendary culture is closely related to the Tibeta n Buddhist literature and is mainly concerned with Buddhist themes. Early works are preserved in fortified monasteries that are found throughout Bhutan. Traditional buildings in Bhutan are constructed from either mud bricks for domestic buildings or stone for major public and religious structures. Both types of buildings have colorfully painted or carved wooden doors, window frames, and roofs. The two most characteristic buildings are the farmhouse and the Dzong, both constructed without using nails (Minahan 27). Traditional dances such as the mask dances performed by monks at festivals frequently had a religious significance. The Bhutanese celebrate many festivals, a large number of which are local. National public holidays include the winter solstice, which is celebrated according to a lunar calendar rather than the Western calendar. However, modern public holidays are celebrated according to the Western calendar. The cuisine of Bhutan reflects the relatively limited range of food items available to the nation’s substance farmers, almost all of whom own cattle. Generally, the cuisine is rice based, and dairy foods, such as cheese and butter, feature prominently in recipes. The Preservation of Environment Given that many Bhutanese people depend on the environment for their daily subsistence, environmental conservation is an important undertaking for the nation. This is particularly true for agricultural populations (Biswas-Diener 78). Environmental preservation is easily acceptable to the Bhutanese people who strongly believe that being reckless only creates an unhappy nation. As a result, all citizens have a major responsibility to ensure that the environment is preserved for future generations. This in turn has limited severe environmental degradation such as seen in neighboring countries like Nepal where the denuding of forests on the slopes of the Himalaya has led to landslides that have destroyed villages and taken lives. Environmental benefits th at have been derived from this pillar of GNH include the listing of Bhutan as a world of biodiversity, increased preservation policies, and constitutional protection of the environment (Wiessala 46). Comparing Bhutan to the US, Bhutan’s environment is not polluted and its people are generally happy. Besides having the highest number species worldwide, Bhutan also has a huge portion of its total land under forest cover. Diplomatic Relations There is need for Bhutan to intensify its diplomatic relations with other nations across the world. With support from the Indian community, the nation has been able to establish a number of diplomatic relations with at least 23 countries. In creating these relationships, the nation started by joining the United Nations. Today, Bhutan is a member of several international bodies which IMF, UNESCO, and SAARC (Peksen 15). Conclusion Clearly, there is so much that the world can learn from the Bhutanese society. Its passion to preserve the enviro nment is especially admirable and can help the world deal with the issues of climate change and global warming which now pose serious threats to human existence. Anielski, Mark. The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth, Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 2007. Print. Bansil, Puran. Poverty Mapping In Rajasthan, Concept Publishing Company, 2006. Print. Biswas-Diener, Robert. Positive Psychology As Social Change, New York: Springer, 2011. Print. Marshall Cavendish Corporation (MCC). World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia, Tarrytown, New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2007. Print. Minahan, James. Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012. Print. Morrall, Peter. The Trouble with Therapy: Sociology and Psychotherapy, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill International, 2008. Print. Peksen, Dursun. Liberal Interventionism and Democracy Promotion, Lanham, MA: Lexington Books, 2012. Print. Wiessala, Georg. The European Uni on and Asian Countries, New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002. Print.

Financial Analysis on Nokia from 2008 to 2009 Research Paper

Financial Analysis on Nokia from 2008 to 2009 - Research Paper Example The Working Capital ratios indicate how well the company is able to manage its working capital. "The asset management ratios are also known as working capital ratios or the efficiency ratios. The aim is to measure how effectively the firm is managing its assets." (Netcom, n.d.)The following are some of the working capital ratios which indicate the efficiency of the company in managing its working capital. Liquidity ratio is defined "as a class of financial metrics that are used to determine a company's ability to pay off its short-term debts obligations.Generally, the higher the value of the ratio, the larger is the margin of safety that the company possesses to cover short-term debts." (Investopedia, 2009) The above table indicates that the company has efficiently managed its working capital during the year ending September 2009 as compared to the year 2008. Nokia is maintaining a comfortable current ratio and the current ratio of 1.5 implies that the company has sufficient current assets situation which will enable the company to meet its current liabilities without any problem. However, the company has increased its long-term debts during the year 2009 with the result that there is an increase in this ratio. This implies that the company will incur additional interest costs on borrowed funds. The cash flow to debts situation has therefore moved to an adverse situation in 2009 as co mpared to the earlier year. In 2008 the cash flow position of the company was comfortable enough to settle the short-term and long-term debts in just 7 months. Whereas, with the increase in long-term debts and the cash flow from operations it would take approximately 3.8 years for the company to settle the debts. This is not a good position from the equity shareholders' point of view. However, the purpose for which the long-term funds were mobilized is to be ascertained for a proper justification for the increase in debts. The number of days sales outstanding is another working capital ratio that indicates the efficiency of the working capital management of the company. This ratio has changed from the previous year figure of 70 days to 83 days. This implies that the company has not been able to collect the outstanding accounts receivable as efficiently as it was doing in 2008. However, the increase in credit sales might be another reason for the change in this ratio. When the company has offered more liberal credit terms to its distributors and dealers in order to boost its sales, that situation might have resulted in increased debtors and the consequent increase in the number of days sales outstanding. A weaker sales environment is indicated by the increase in the number of days inventory expressed as a ratio to the cost of goods sold. There is an accumulation of inventory due to lower sales which is indicated by the change in this ratio. Â  

Economies of Scale and International Trade Essay

Economies of Scale and International Trade - Essay Example As the report states that the pricing behavior of a company is generally assumed to be based on the motive to maximize profit. Pricing decisions may not be expected to influence that of other companies in a large economy. The two major factors considered in setting a price that maximizes profit are the ‘elasticity of demand’ and the ‘marginal cost’. A key factor that determines the elasticity of demand as a variable is the output. It therefore becomes necessary to fix a ‘profit-maximizing output’ as well as a ‘profit-maximizing price’. From the research it is clear that the primary assumption deals with the mass production of some goods in a community that shares a common ‘utility’ function. As such the acceptance of these goods is considered to be uniform. It is also assumed that production ‘cost’ is a constant for all these goods, while the labor employed for manufacture is seen as a ‘linear function of output’. One factor that remains variable is the ‘elasticity of demand’ that each producer might have to tackle. While marginal costs are assumed to be stable, average costs are considered to be reducing. Manufacture of unit goods would match the numbers derived from individual consumer needs, which equals the number of individual workers. Yet another assumption is that there is ‘full employment’. An approach to a solution again is suggested in three steps. ... One factor that remains variable is the 'elasticity of demand' that each producer might have to tackle. While marginal costs are assumed to be stable, average costs are considered to be reducing. Manufacture of unit goods would match the numbers derived from individual consumer needs, which equals the number of individual workers. Yet another assumption is that there is 'full employment'. The Problem The problem is simply stated in a symmetrical manner with three variable factors that need to be arrived at: Pricing of each product in relation to corresponding wages Output of each product Total number of products manufactured The Solution An approach to a solution again is suggested in three steps. The first is to assess the 'demand curve' for a given company. The next step involves a study of the relative pricing policies that companies apply, and linking of output with the profitability factor. Thirdly, profitability as well as entry is studied to arrive at the number of companies. The demand curve for a given company is worked out by considering consumer behavior of individuals, based on budget availability and the 'marginal utility of income'. The level of individual consumption in relation to output is read as the total demand for the product of a company. The company's pricing policy can hardly influence the consumer's 'marginal utility of income' where there is mass production of goods. The pricing behavior of a company is generally assumed to be based on the motive to maximize profit. Pricing decisions may not be expected to influence that of other companies in a large economy. The two major factors considered in

History of Womens Football in England Essay Example for Free

History of Womens Football in England Essay I have chosen to do my essay about the history of women’s football in England. I’ve chosen to write about this because it is a topic which I am interested in as I play for a girl’s football team inside school and out. Also I would like to find out more about women’s football and where and when it all started. In this essay you will find out about the basic history of women’s football heading all the way back from 1895 to present day. I will also write a comparison between men’s football and women’s and share my opinion about 1895-1920 On the 6th April 1895 the first ever women’s football game took place at Preston Park, Brighton. The event was organised to raise funds for local medical charities. In the match North beat South 7-1. Up to 1920 no more women’s matches took place until the first women’s international game when Dick Kerr’s English ladies took on the French Ladies. The result was a 2-0 victory to England; this game had a huge audience of 25,000 people. On Boxing Day 1920 a match took place between Preston and St Helens, Preston winning 4-0. It was the biggest crowd to date for a women’s match with 53,000 spectators. 1921 In 1921 another big match was supposed to take place between London and Paris. This match never went ahead due to the FA. The FA issued a ban against womens football. They stated ‘the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged’. This meant any women caught playing football on the grounds of an affiliated club would be punished for breaking the law. Many women were disgusted by the decision and thought it was very unfair to do this. If I was around in this time I would also be very aggravated by the decision and I would be offended that they still allow men to play. 1969-1971 After 48 years of womens football being banned women wanted to change this. They started to become very annoyed a started campaigning. After a few campaigns 44 women got together to form The Womens Football Association (WFA). They were hoping that they would slowly gain back the right to play womens football. Two years later in 1971 the FA council lifted the ban against women which allowed women to play football once again. It had been fifty years since they had been allowed to play so they knew that the game would be no longer as popular as it was and it would take a while to get it back to the way it was. Not long after the ban was lifted women were advertising for football teams all around the country. 1991-1994 Since 1971 womens football slowly grew bigger and bigger with many small local leagues playing all around the country. In 1991 the WFA launched a national league. It started off with 24 clubs from all around the country it was pretty similar to the womens league we have today. Two years later they found that the league had been very successful so the WFA decided to host a cup competition. In 1993 the WFA held a national cup competition with 137 teams entering from across the nation. Womens football was slowly becoming bigger and gaining popularity. In 1994 the FA took on the administration of the Womens Nation League and the League Cup competition. The league then became The FA Womens Premier League (FAWPL). 1997-1998 In 1997 the FA decided that they were going to develop womens football from the grassroots to the elite level. This meant that more young girls could get involved to gain popularity. In 1998 the first 20 Centres of Excellence were established for young girls. Sponsors were gained for the league and the cup competitions; this raised the profile of the women’s game. Also in 1998 Hope Powell was appointed as the first full-time coach for the England’s Women’s international side. This was a very big thing for the nation. I think this helped the game increase its popularity because it got more people involved in the game from an early age which meant in the future decade’s womens football should be a very popular game. 1999-2002 In 1999 England entered their first Fifa World Cup. The competition was held in the USA and which saw tickets sold out for most matches and over 90,000 at the Final. There had been a competition called the Womens World Championship. This was just like a world cup and it was held in 1991 but England didn’t participate. In 2002 researchers found that football had become the top participated sport for girls and women of England. The FA had not planned for this to happen for another 3 years, so they were well ahead of schedule. 2005-Present In 2005 the UEFA Womens Championship was held in England. The opening matches attracted around 29,000 spectators per game, with around 2.9 million people watching the games live on BBC Two. The tournament was attended by over 115,000 fans within 15 matches. England went out in the group stages, but got a lot of recognition across the nation. Since then womens football has gradually become more popular and has reached the level it is at today. I think it has done well to regain its popularity after the fifty year ban, but I don’t think it will ever get back to the popular state which it was in before the game got banned. FA’s Plan for the Future of Women’s Football The FA has many plans to increase the growth of womens football. They are introducing it to younger people across the country by holding taster days and trials for many football clubs. Also the FA is trying to expand the womens football league into two different leagues just like the men’s. Here is an extract from the article the FA released ‘The Football Association is considering introducing a two-tier Womens Super League (WSL) in 2014. The eight teams that took part in the inaugural WSL season, which ended in August with Arsenal winning the title, have been offered new licences. Sixteen teams had initially applied for membership in 2010, with Sunderland and Nottingham Forest missing out. An FA statement said: Plans being discussed include exploring the introduction of a second tier in 2014.’ I think this is a good idea because it will make the game become more popular across the country. Also with more leagues being introduced this means more spectators which will mean more money is being funded into the association. What I think of the Future of Women’s Football I think womens football has done very well to get back to where it is today due to the ban for fifty years. However, I don’t think that womens football will ever get to the stage like men’s because men’s football has had a lot more time to reach this popularity. Also there is a huge amount of money in the association and it would be practically impossible for women to get to that amount. I do think that womens football will grow bigger and younger girls will start to get involved. The only problem with this is it will take quite some time but they have to make up the time from the ban. Comparison When it comes to football men and women play the exact same game but one seems to be a lot more popular, the men’s. Men’s football was first found in 1314 which is nearly 700 years ago and womens football was first found in 1895 which is not even 120 years ago. Therefore there was 581 years between men and womens football. Somehow this has managed to affect the popularity in the game as it is very rare to find womens football on television when it is averaged that there is one male football match per week shown on television. If you wanted to be a professional footballer whatever sex you are you would get paid, but there is a significant amount of money difference between the genders. The average male Manchester City player would receive around  £86,280 per week plus bonuses and the average female Arsenal player would receive around  £3,000 per week that means that there is  £83280 different in the wages they receive each week. Opinion I think that womens football is different today than men’s because the FA banned it. I think if women were able to play football all the way through the 20th Century I think womens and men’s football would be similar in popularity and the wages. I also think that is very silly that the games are treated differently because they both play the same game, 90 minutes each week and the male are treated much better and receive the better pay when they both do the same job.

George Babbitt of Sinclair Lewis Babbitt Essay -- Lewis Babbitt Essay

George Babbitt: Image of a Presbyterian         Ã‚  Ã‚  In Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis portrays religion as a corrupt business.   In fact, he emphasizes this by focusing on his main character George Babbitt.   George Babbitt is characterized as a businessman in Zenith.   He is a man preoccupied about his reputation and his image before the main leaders of the town he lives in.   Lewis creates a hypocritical figure for Babbitt through his reasons for being a Presbyterian.   He says that if you were to question Babbitt about his religion he would say,   "My religion is to serve my fellow men, to honor my brother as myself, and to do my bit to make life happier for one and for all"   (199).   Of course, if you heard this from Babbitt you would have the idea that Babbitt was a true Presbyterian.   Lewis says that if you were to persist with the same question Babbitt would then reply,   "I'm a member of the Presbyterian Church, and naturally, I accept its doctrines"   (199).   This would make B abbitt look even better.   Being from the Presbyterian Church, the richest church in Zenith, he would be a man well set with good morals.   However, Lewis points at G. Babbitt's true reasons for being in the Presbyterian Church.   He was really a Presbyterian for his reputation.   By participating in the services of the Presbyterian Church, Babbitt was able to hide his human flaws and give himself an image of a respectable man (Lewis 199).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   George Babbitt was asked by Dr. Drew to help improve the Sunday School at Zenith.   Lewis shows that Babbitt's acceptance to carry out this task was done to form a business relationship with Mr. Eathorne, the president of the First State Bank of Zenith.   "Nothing gave Babbitt more purifica... ...nd money      Works Cited    Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. New York: Signet, 1922. Miller, Park Hays. Why I am a Presbyterian. New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1956. "PCUSA clergy, laity, differ on gambling." Christian Century 13 Sept. 2000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1058/25_117/65702740/print.jhtml>. "The Presbyterian General Assembly." The Christian Century 17 June 1926: 784-789.   Scanlon, Leslie. "Council will be asked to cut $2.5 million from budget; Reducing frequency of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assemblies endorsed." Outlook 29 Jan. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://vivisimo.com/search?query=%22Presbyterian+Church+U.S.A%22+%2B+expenditur-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   es&v%3Asources=Fast%2COD%2CMSN%2Clooksmart%2Cnetscape>. Smith, Elwyn A. The Presbyterian Ministry in American Culture. Philadelphia: Westminister     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Press, 1962.    George Babbitt of Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt Essay -- Lewis Babbitt Essay George Babbitt: Image of a Presbyterian         Ã‚  Ã‚  In Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis portrays religion as a corrupt business.   In fact, he emphasizes this by focusing on his main character George Babbitt.   George Babbitt is characterized as a businessman in Zenith.   He is a man preoccupied about his reputation and his image before the main leaders of the town he lives in.   Lewis creates a hypocritical figure for Babbitt through his reasons for being a Presbyterian.   He says that if you were to question Babbitt about his religion he would say,   "My religion is to serve my fellow men, to honor my brother as myself, and to do my bit to make life happier for one and for all"   (199).   Of course, if you heard this from Babbitt you would have the idea that Babbitt was a true Presbyterian.   Lewis says that if you were to persist with the same question Babbitt would then reply,   "I'm a member of the Presbyterian Church, and naturally, I accept its doctrines"   (199).   This would make B abbitt look even better.   Being from the Presbyterian Church, the richest church in Zenith, he would be a man well set with good morals.   However, Lewis points at G. Babbitt's true reasons for being in the Presbyterian Church.   He was really a Presbyterian for his reputation.   By participating in the services of the Presbyterian Church, Babbitt was able to hide his human flaws and give himself an image of a respectable man (Lewis 199).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   George Babbitt was asked by Dr. Drew to help improve the Sunday School at Zenith.   Lewis shows that Babbitt's acceptance to carry out this task was done to form a business relationship with Mr. Eathorne, the president of the First State Bank of Zenith.   "Nothing gave Babbitt more purifica... ...nd money      Works Cited    Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. New York: Signet, 1922. Miller, Park Hays. Why I am a Presbyterian. New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1956. "PCUSA clergy, laity, differ on gambling." Christian Century 13 Sept. 2000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m1058/25_117/65702740/print.jhtml>. "The Presbyterian General Assembly." The Christian Century 17 June 1926: 784-789.   Scanlon, Leslie. "Council will be asked to cut $2.5 million from budget; Reducing frequency of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assemblies endorsed." Outlook 29 Jan. 2002   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <http://vivisimo.com/search?query=%22Presbyterian+Church+U.S.A%22+%2B+expenditur-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   es&v%3Asources=Fast%2COD%2CMSN%2Clooksmart%2Cnetscape>. Smith, Elwyn A. The Presbyterian Ministry in American Culture. Philadelphia: Westminister     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Press, 1962.   

Automated Monitoring Attendance System Essay

1.1 The problem and its scope In this paper we propose a system that automates the whole process of taking attendance and maintaining its records in an academic institute. Managing people is a difficult task for most of the organizations, and maintaining the attendance record is an important factor in people management. When considering academic institutes, taking the attendance of students on daily basis and maintain the records is a major task. Manually taking the attendance and maintaining it for a long time adds to the difficulty of this task as well as waste a lot of time. For this reason an efficient system is designed. This system takes attendance electronically with the help of a fingerprint sensor and all the records are saved on a computer server. Fingerprint sensors and LCD screens are placed at the entrance of each room. In order to mark the attendance, student has to place his/her thumb on the fingerprint sensor. On identification student’s attendance record is updated in the database and he/she is notified through LCD screen. No need of all the stationary material and special personal for keeping the records. Furthermore an automated system replaces the manual system. 1.2 Introduction Nowadays, industry is experiencing many technological advancement and changes in methods of learning. With the rise of globalization, it is becoming essential to find an easier and more effective system to help an organization or company. In spite of this matter, there are still business establishments and schools that use the old-fashioned way. In a certain way, one thing that is still in manual process is the recording of attendance. After having these issues in mind we develop an Automated Monitoring Attendance System, which automates the whole process of taking attendance and maintaining it, plus it holds an accurate records. Biometric systems have been widely used for the purpose of recognition. These recognition methods refer to automatic recognition of people based on the some specific physiological or behavioral features [1]. There are many biometrics that can be utilized for some specific systems but the key structure of a biometric system is always same [2]. Biometric systems are basically used for one of the two objectives identification [3] or verification [4]. Identification means to find a match between the query biometric sample and the one that is already been stored in database [5]. For example to pass through a restricted area you may have to scan your finger through a biometric device. A new template will be generated that will be then compared with the previously stored templates in database. If match found, then the person will be allowed to pass through that area. On the other hand verification means the process of checking whether a query biometric sample belongs to the claimed identity or not [6]. Some of the most commonly used biometric systems are (i) Iris recognition, (ii) Facial recognition,(iii)Fingerprint identification, (iv) Voice identification, (v) DNA identification, (vi) Hand geometry recognition and (viii)Signature Verification [5].Previously the biometrics techniques were used in many areas such as building security, ATM, credit cards, criminal investigations and passport control [4]. The proposed system uses fingerprint recognition technique [1] for obtaining student’s attendance. Human beings have been using fingerprints for recognition purposes for a very long time [7], because of the simplicity and accuracy of fingerprints. Finger print identification is based on two factors: (i) Persistence: the basic characteristics and features do not change with the time. (ii) Individuality: fingerprint of every person in this world is unique [8]. Modern fingerprint matching techniques were initiated in the late 16th century [9] and have added most in 20th century. Fingerprints are considered one of the most mature biometric technologies and have been widely used in forensic laboratories and identification units [10]. Our proposed system uses fingerprint verification technique to automate the attendance system. It has been proved over the years that fingerprints of each every person are unique [8]. So it helps to uniquely identify the students. 1.3 Theoretical Background For over 100 years, fingerprint has been used to identify people. As one of the biometric identification, fingerprint is the quite the most popular one. Besides getting the print for fingerprint is easy, it doesn’t need a special sophisticated hardware and software to do the identification. In the old times and even until now, fingerprints are usually taken using merely inks and papers (could be one print, ten prints, or latent print). Finger print is unique. There is no case where two fingerprints are found to be exactly identical. During the fingerprint matching process, the ridges of the two fingerprints will be compared. Besides using ridges, some of the identification techniques also use minutiae. In brief, minutiae can be described as point of interest in fingerprints. Many types of minutiae have been defined, such as pore, delta, island, ridge ending, bifurcation, spurs, bridges, crossover, etc, but commonly only two minutiae are used for their stability and robustness (4), which are ridge ending and bifurcation. To help in fingerprint identification, fingerprint classification method is implemented. There are some classification theories applicable in the real world such as The NCIC System (National Crime Information Center) Still used even until now, the NCIC system classifies fingers according to the combination of patterns, ridge counts, whorl tracing. NCIC determines .Fingerprint Classification (FPC) field codes to represent the fingerprint characteristics. The following are the field codes tables: Using NCIC system FPC Field Codes eliminates the need of the fingerprint image and, thus, is very helpful for the need of fingerprint identification for those who do not have access to an AFIS. Instead of relying to the image, NCIC relies more on the finger image information. The Henry and American Classification Systems Henry and American classification systems, although has a lot in common, are actually two different systems developed by two different people. The Henry Classification System (5) was developed by Sir Edward Henry in 1800s; used to record criminals’ fingerprints during Civil War. Henry System used all ten fingerprints with the right thumb denoted number 1, right little left finger denoted number 5, left thumb denoted number 6, and lastly the left little finger denoted number 10. According to Henry System, there were two classifications; the primary and the secondary. In the primary classification, it was a whorl that gives the finger a value. While even numbered fingers were treated as the nominator, odd numbered fingers were treated as denominator. Each finger’s value was equal to the value of the whorl plus one. In the secondary classification, each hand’s index finger would be assigned a special capital letter taken from the pattern types (radial loop (R), tented loop (T), ulnar loop (U), and arch (A)). For other fingers except those two index fingers, they were all assigned with small letter which was also known as small letter group. Furthermore, a sub secondary classification existed; it was the grouping of loops and whorls, which coded the ridge of the loops and ridge tracings of whorls in the index, middle, and ring fingers. The following is the table of Henry System. The American Classification System was developed by Captain James Parke. The difference lies in assigning the primary values, the paper used to file the fingerprint, and the primary values calculation. Filing Systems In this system, all of the fingerprints are stored in cabinets. Each cabinet contains one different classification and, thus, the fingerprint cards are stored accordingly. The existence of AFIS system greatly helps the classification process. There is no need to even store the physical fingerprint cards. AFIS does not need to count the primary values of all those fingers and does not have to be as complicated as NCIC System. With the power of image recognition and classification algorithm, fingerprint identification can be done automatically by comparing the source digital image to the target database containing all saved digital images. Another important issue to know is the fingerprint classification patterns. These patterns are growing with each generation of AFIS and differ from one too to another, searching time and reduced computational complexity. The first known study of fingerprint classification was proposed by in 1823 by Purkinje, which resulted in fingerprint classification down into 9 categories: transverse curve, central longitudinal strain, oblique stripe, oblique loop, almond whorl, spiral whorl, ellipse, circle, and double whorl. Later on, more in depth study was conducted by Francis Galton in 1892, resulted in fingerprint classification down into 3 major classes: arch, loop, and whorl. Ten years later, Edward Henry refined Galton’s experiment, which was later used by many law enforcement agencies worldwide. Many variations of Henry Galton’s classification schemes exists, however there are 5 most common patterns: arch, tented arch, left loop, right loop, and whorl. The following are types of fingerprint classification patterns: Since IDAFIS is another extended form of AFIS, we do not need to implement all other classification systems. What we need to do is to see what kind of classification pattern the algorithm can distinguish. Fingerprint Matching In general, fingerprint matching can be categorized down into three categories: ï‚ · Correlation-based matching: the matching process begins by superimposing (lying over) two fingerprints, and calculating the correlation between both by taking displacement (e.g. translation, rotation) into account. ï‚ · Minutiae – based matching: Minutiae are first extracted from each fingerprint, aligned, and then calculated for their match. ï‚ · Ridge feature – based matching: Ridge patterns are extracted from each fingerprint and compared one with another. The difference with minutiae – based is that instead of extracting minutiae (which is very difficult to do to low – quality fingerprint image); ridge pattern such as local orientation and frequency, ridge shape, and texture information is used. Chapter Two Most of the attendance systems use paper based methods for taking and calculating attendance and this manual method requires paper sheets and a lot of stationery material. Previously a very few work has been done relating to the academic attendance monitoring problem. Some software’s have been designed previously to keep track of attendance [11].But they require manual entry of data by the staff workers. So the problem remains unsolved. Furthermore idea of attendance tracking systems using facial recognition techniques have also been proposed but it requires expensive apparatus still not getting the required accuracy [12]. Automated Monitoring Attendance System is divided into three parts: Hardware/Software Design, Rules for marking attendance and Online Attendance Report. Each of these is explained below. 2 System Description 2 .1 Hardware Required hardware used should be easy to maintain, implement and easily available. Proposed hardware consists following parts: (1) Fingerprint Scanner (2) LCD Screen (3) Computer Fingerprint scanner will be used to input fingerprint of teachers/students into the computer software. LCD display will be displaying rolls of those whose attendance is marked. Computer Software will be interfacing fingerprint scanner and LCD and will be connected to the network. It will input fingerprint, will process it and extract features for matching. After matching, it will update the database attendance records of the students. A fingerprint sensor device along with an LCD screen is placed at the entrance of each classroom. The fingerprint sensor is used to capture the fingerprints of students while LCD screen notifies the student that his/her attendance has been marked. 2 .2 Rules for marking attendance This part explains how students and teacher will use this attendance management system. Following points will make sure that attendance is marked correctly, without any problem: (1) All the hardware will be outside of the classroom. (2) When teacher enters the classroom, the attendance marking will start. Computer software will start the process after inputting fingerprint of the teacher. It will find the Subject ID and current semester using the ID of the teacher or could be set manually on the software. If the teacher doesn’t enter the classroom, attendance marking will not start. (3) After some time, say 15 minutes of this process. The student who login after this time span will be marked as late on the attendance. This time period can be increased or decreased per requirements. 2 .3 Online Attendance Report Database for attendance would be a table having following fields as a combination for primary field: (1) Day, (2) Roll, (3) Subject and following non-primary fields: (1) Attendance, (2) Semester. Using this table, all the attendance can be managed for a student. For online report, a simple website will be made for it. Which will access this table for showing attendance of students .The sq queries will be used for report generation? Following query will give total numbers of classes held in a certain subject. Now the attendance percent can easily be calculated: 2.4 Using wireless network instead of LAN We are using LAN for communication among servers and hard wares in the classroom. We can instead use wireless LAN with portable devices. Portable device will have an embedded fingerprint scanner, wireless connection, a microprocessor loaded with software, memory and a display terminal. Source/References: [1] D. Maltoni, D. Maio, A. K. Jain, S. Prabhaker, â€Å"Handbook of Fingerprint Recognition†, Springer, New York, 2003. [2] A.C. Weaver, â€Å"Biometric authentication†, Computer, 39(2), pp 96 – 97 (2006). [3] J. Ortega – Garcia, J. Bigun, D. Reynolds and J.Gonzalez – Rodriguez, â€Å"Authentication gets personal with biometrics†, Signal Processing Magazine, IEEE, 21(2), pp 50 – 62 (2004). [4] Anil K. Jain, Arun Ross and Salil Prabhakar,† An introduction to biometric recognition† , Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, IEEE Transactions on Volume 14, Issue 1, Jan. 2004 Page(s):4 – 20. [5] Fakhreddine Karray, Jamil Abou Saleh, Mo Nours Arab and Milad Alemzadeh, Multi Modal Biometric Systems: A State of the Art Survey † , Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence Laboratory, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. [6] Abdulmotaleb El Saddik, Mauricio Orozco, Yednek Asfaw, Shervin Shirmohammadi and Andy Adler â€Å"A Novel Biometric System for Identification and Verification of Haptic Users † , Multimedia Communications Research Laboratory (MCRLab) School of Information Technology and Engineering University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada . [7] H. C. Lee and R. E. Gaensslen, â€Å" Advances in Fingerprint Technology † , Elsevier, New York . [8] Sharath Pankanti, Salil Prabhakar, Anil K. Jain, â€Å" On the Individuality of Fingerprints † , IEEE transaction on pattern analysis and machine intelligence, vol.24, no.8, August 2002. [9] Federal Bureau of Investigation, â€Å" The Science of Fingerprints: Classification and Uses † , U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1984. [10] H. C. Lee and R. E. Gaensslen (eds.), â€Å" Advances in Fingerprint Technology † , Second Edition, CRC Press, New York, 2001. [11] K.G.M.S.K. Jayawardana, T.N. Kadurugamuwa, R .G. Rage and S. Radhakrishnan † , Timesheet: An Attendance Tracking System †, Proceedings of the Peradeniya University Research Sessions, Sri Lanka, Vol.13, Part II, 18th December 2008 . [12] Yohei KAWAGUCHI, Tetsuo SHOJI , Weijane LIN ,Koh KAKUSHO , Michihiko MINOH ,â€Å" Face Recognition – based Lecture Attendance System† , Department of Intelligence Science and Technology, Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University. Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University. [13] Digital Persona, Inc. t720 Bay road Redwood City, CA 94063 USA 5, http://www.digitalpersona.com Table of Contents Chapter One 1.1 The problem and its scope 1.2 Introduction 1.3 Theoretical Background Chapter Two 2.1 Hardware and Software 2.2 Rule for marking attendance 2.3 Online Attendance Report 2.4 Using Wireless network instead of LAN Chapter Three †¦. †¦ Chapter Four 4.1 Summary 4.2 Conclusion and Recommendation 4.3 Bibliography Source/References:

Lord of the Flies Essay

Throughout literature we have seen different characters struggling with their inner evil. That inner evil can be brought out by a trigger incident or environment which drastically affects a character’s nature. In the Lord of the Flies, being marooned on the island brings out the evil and savage side in the children. It is shown through their disregard for social norms, merciless killings, and lastly turning on each other. In Lord of the Flies, the boys let out their inner beasts by showing no regard for social norms, remorseless killings and turning on each other. At the beginning of the novel they did not lose sight of social norms. As they find that they are alone on the island, no adults anywhere, they realize the importance of democracy and order in a place where there are no rules. â€Å"I agree with Ralph. We’ve got to have rules and obey them after all, we’re not savages†¦ † (Golding, 47) This statement is said by Jack, who is addressing the crowd of boys during an assembly. This statement shows that in the beginning before any talk of a â€Å"beastie†, they understood that they needed some order, some form of government that would provide them with safety and tools for survival. Jack’s words later prove ironic because he is the one to disobey Ralph and turn his back on the rules. By ignoring the rules and their government, he leaves the civilized tribe to form a tribe with the demented rules of the wild. As the story unfolds, they slowly move away from their government. â€Å"You see Ralph your conch doesn’t work on this side of the island† (Golding, 195). The symbol of their democracy is the â€Å"talisman, the fragile, shining beauty of the shell. † (Golding, 200) It was used to call together the boys to hold an assembly to discuss the troubling issues being made clear by Jack’s hunters. When Jack says this, he proved that the hold of democracy is fading away as they became more savage. Toward the end of the novel, the democracy is destroyed and nonexistent, and the conch is shattered. â€Å"The conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist† (Golding, 200). This moment is very symbolic because it represents the downfall of any sort of order among the children. Without any form of government the laws that had once applied in their homeland, England, have no power on the island, and in turn lead to the boys encountering their inner evils by ignoring those laws. During the book we see that they develop a fascination and desire with blood and hunting which later lead to shameless killings. First, there is an attempt of killing a pig which drives Jack to hunt again â€Å"You cut a pig’s throat to let the blood out,† said Jack, â€Å"otherwise you can’t eat the meat. † â€Å"Why didn’t you ­? † They knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood. â€Å"I was going to,† said Jack. He was ahead of them and they could not see his face. I was choosing a place. Next time ­! †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Next time there would be no mercy. † (Golding, 33-34) After this encounter with the pig, Jack was obsessed with hunting and killing this pig. When Jack and the group of hunters find a sow with her piglets, they are thrilled. This time it was for more than just food, their killing of this sow was brutish and vicious. It is described â€Å"†¦ the sow staggered her way ahead of them, bleeding and mad, and the hunters followed, wedded to her in lust, excited by the long chase and the dropped blood. â€Å"The sow collapsed under them and they were heavy and fulfilled upon her. † (Golding, 149) This sow was a symbol of an innocent being killed, she was a mother. She had children to look after, and the hunters deprived the piglets of their mother. The killing of Simon was done out of fear of the beast and in the darkness of the night. â€Å"At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws. (Golding, 168) The imagery used in this chapter is that of an animal, by using teeth and claws to describe how cruel this killing was, showing that they have truly becoming animal like and savage. Through this event it seems as they grow more savage they become a little more afraid and desperate. The murder of Piggy is not as violent as that of the sow and Simon. â€Å"Piggy fell forty feet and landed on his back across hat square, red rock in the sea. His head opened and stuff came out and turned red. Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it was killed. (Golding, 200) Piggy was killed by Roger, who was throwing rocks, which knocked him off the cliff. The savage tribe ignored what Piggy had said about choosing sides, â€Å"Which is better – to be a pack of painted [Indians] like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is†¦. Which is better – to have laws and agree, or to hunt and kill? † (Golding, 199) By Piggy saying this, it got Roger upset, because he had critized his chief and their tribe. When Roger was a part of the civilized tribe, he conditioned his arm to shoot and miss â€Å"Yet there was a space round Henry, perhaps six yards in diameter, into which he [Roger] dare not throw. Here, invisible yet strong, was the taboo of the old life†¦ Roger’s arm was conditioned by a civilization that knew nothing of him and was in ruins. † (Golding, 67) As he became more savage, he had lost the conditioning and the restraint he once had to hurting someone, which is shown through his actions. They were fearful, ignorant, and desperate and with that comes violence, they felt no remorse for their actions only pride and hatred. This also proved that through killing they let out their inner beast. In the beginning, they are not physically turning on each other, they used verbal abuse to belittle those who are younger or had no power. There are three groups of people who are frequently abused, the â€Å"littluns†, Piggy and Simon. Piggy was the major victim, Jack and the rest of the children would frequently name call him, tease him and laugh at him. â€Å"Oh, shut up! † â€Å"I got the conch,† said Piggy, in a hurt voice. â€Å"I got the right to speak† (Golding, 49) they found him amusing, for they felt he spoke of nonsense. Jack, as chief, decided to tie up Wilfred and beat him. â€Å"He’s going to beat Wilfred. † â€Å"What for? † â€Å"†¦ I don’t know. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been†-he giggled excitedly-â€Å"he’s been tied for hours, waiting-. † For no apparent reason, Jack wanted to torture Wilfred, maybe to reassert himself as chief and gain more followers. The last example of turning on each other in Lord of the Flies is the burning of the jungle to trap and kill Ralph. â€Å"He swerved as a spear flew past and then was silent, running. All at once the lights flickering ahead of him merged together, the roar of the forest rose to thunder and a tall bush directly in his path burst into a fan-shaped flame. † (Golding, 220)In order to capture Ralph, Jack set the jungle alight to draw him out, and kill him. This is also an example of their want to hunt and kill, and in order to be rid of order and civilization Jack had to kill Ralph, but he had not succeed. In order to have peace among the children, they all needed to be supportive and understanding, but they were cruel and hurtful to each other. This proves that thought their consequential actions, that were both cruel and unusual, turning on one another allowed the children act savage and unleash their inner evil. In the novel Lord of the Flies the children discover their inner evil by forgetting social norms, senseless and remorseless killings and lastly by turning on each other. Thought a series of events the children show these qualities that prove once and for all that all people, young and old have the ability to be savage and evil. In this particular novel, these boys encounter their inner evil by the influence of fear, ignorance, and desperation.

Human Resource Management and Organizational Change

Human Resource Management and Organizational Change Introduction The human resource management is responsible for managing the human resources of an organization. The HRM aims at improving the performance of an organization through effective management of human resource. It is involved in job description in an organization, planning and recruitment of employees.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resource Management and Organizational Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Risher (23), strategic human resource management involves merging the corporate strategy and the HRM strategy. The policies of HRM should be well defined for intended outcome to be realized. This study aims at examining the importance of human resource management with regard to change in organizations. The study will focus on change process and would highlight a case of successful change process that involved human resource management in Ford Motors Corporation. Human Resource Manag ement Employees are the most valued asset of an organization. According to Greer (21), human resource management is â€Å"a strategic and coherent approach to the management of the most valued asset of an organization.† Not all the management staffs of an organization are concerned with the firm. The HRM is concerned with managing the workforce in the organization. The strategy involves policies laid down by the organization with a philosophical and ideological underpinning. HRM is mainly made of four component that include beliefs, information on people management, involvement of line managers and shaping of the employment relationships through set levers. A HRM system comprises of HR philosophies, strategies, policies, processes, practices and programmes. According to Becker and Gerhart (792), the components can be categorized into three groups that are the HR system architecture, policies and processes (practices). HRM emphasizes that firm workers are important in achievin g the mandate of the organization through sustainable competitive advantage. There is need for integration of HRM strategy with the corporate strategy of the organization. HRM helps the organization attain the necessary integration. Managing employees is not different from managing other resources of the organization. However, the differences arise in the nature of the resources being managed, i.e. people. Since the behaviour and the performance of the human resource depends on factors such as motivation, ability, perception of roles and situational contingencies, HRM is concerned with ensuring the resources are productive by providing necessary support (Zheng Yand and McLean 33). The human resource of an organization is involved in various activities such as staffing of employees and enhancing their training. This involves recruitment of new company employees by selecting knowledgeable and skilled individuals with experience to fill up vacant positions in the firm. The success of a recruitment exercise depends on planning, analysis of the job, recruitment and selection of the required staff (Risher 26).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Other duties of the HRM is offering rewards to motivate employees, developing employees through education and training, maintain employees in the organization through proper administration and enhancing employee management relations. Under employee relations, HRM is responsible for spearheading participation of employees in trade unions through negotiations. In spite of all these roles, the activities that the human resource management is involved in vary from one organization to another. Moreover, HRM emphasizes on high employee commitment, workplace learning and enlightened leadership in an organization. There are several HRM models. The Fombrun, Tichy and Devana model give emphasis to interrelatedness and co herence of GRM activities. In this model, HRM is made of four components that are employee selection, appraisal, development and their rewards. The four components aim at increasing the performance of an organization. The Harvard HRM model has six components that include evaluation of situational factors, taking into account the interests of the stakeholder, HRM policies, and the outcomes of HR activities, long-term consequences and utilization of the feedback by the firm. Similar to the Harvard HRM model, The Warwick model has five components that include the analysis of the organization’s environment internally and externally, business strategy and HRM content. All those internal or external factors that affect effectiveness of the human resources are usually considered under this model (Risher 27). International Human Resource Management As explained above, globalization has is a common of the modern business environment as businesses are able to conduct business globally. Countries have opened up their borders for international trade and companies are able to operate in different markets other than their domestic markets. Many organizations have ventured into other global markets by establishing subsidiaries across the globe in different regions. Apart from the ability of firms to operate globally, globalization has enabled mobility of factors of production including labour. Employees could move from one country or region to work and operate in another. Due to mobility of labour, firms must adjust their human resource policies from the local or country of origin policies to international HRM that incorporates international regulations concerning employee relations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resource Management and Organizational Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the international HRM, multinational organizations manage their employees in different countries of o peration based on the country or region’s employee relations. The international human resource management incorporates all aspects of managing human resources at the global level including use of employee databases that are managed using information systems. An organization utilizing IHRM usually ensures to comply with HRM and legal regulations applied in the country of operation. Therefore, IHRM could be said to be applied by multinational corporations operating at a local level while observing international regulations governing HRM. Strategy and International HRM The word strategy was added to HRM to indicate the need to establish a relationship between the external strategy of an organization and the internal Human resource strategy. According to Armstrong (121), the HRM policies and practices must fit into the company’s strategy as applied in the external business environment. The immediate business condition faced by the organization in the external environment m ust be taken into consideration in order to attain the necessary competitive advantage. Bratton and Gold (93) adds that strategic planning as applied in the normal HRM only considers quantitative aspects of finance, marketing and productivity in the organization with less attention being given to the qualitative dimension such organizational culture, the value system of the firm and power depicted by company management. In addition, unless the human resource section of the firm is involved in the strategic planning of the organization, it is difficult to achieve the strategic plans. Strategic HRM involves cohesiveness of HR policies and practices, internalization of the role played by HR in the firm and employee integration. Cohesiveness is concerned with ensuring that HRM practices complement the company’s practices and policies. The integration of workers ensures that there is identity of interest for the firm and its human resources. The matching model is used to describe the nature of any element of integration and the strategic planning and HRM link (Armstrong 123). The Matching Model Under this model, it is assumed that countries that experience high wages for employees are able to gain a competitive advantage through utilization of Porter’s generic strategies of cost effectiveness and differentiation of products. However, each of Porter’s strategy requires a unique set of responses from employees in order to reinforce the behaviour pattern. HRM is responsible for matching the reciprocal employee behaviour to the application of generic strategies of Porter to organizations.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To achieve this, HRM begins by matching the philosophy, policies, programs its practices and the five P’s so that the outcome stimulates and motivates the behaviour of employees towards each individual competitive strategy. Rynes et al. (382) postulates that the HRM practices and policies of an organization should be configured and managed in a manner that is congruent to the particular strategy of Porter. Thus, the HRM practices should match the strategies of an organization in order to gain a competitive advantage and performance. In summary, the basic of the matching model is the fit between the external strategies of the firm and the internal strategies that include HRM strategies. In spite of the benefits of the matching HRM model, Bratton and Gold (99) argues that the matching model is based on a rational view of strategic decision making that is also based on predispositions and planning actions. Moreover, it is argued that the strategic decisions (both the firmâ€℠¢s and for HRM) are affected by organizational politics hence lack of clarity in terms of environmental influences. Resource based Model of International HRM This model calls the attention of the strategic nature of employees of an organization and the importance of learning at the work place. Organizations possess unique competencies in their employees that enable them gain a competitive advantage over their competitors in an industry. The competitiveness of employees is depicted by their knowledge and skills that ensure an organization lead in innovative products. The resourcefulness of employees can be increased through work place learning and education. According to Bratton and Gold (102), it is not possible to achieve the competitive advantage of an organization by analyzing the external environment alone, but by including the analysis of the company’s skills and capabilities carefully. Therefore, in terms of a SWOT analysis, the matching model emphasized on the opportun ities and threats facing the firm from the external environment while resource approach emphasizes the examination of internal strengths and weaknesses of a firm to form a competitive advantage. Strategy in IHRM and Organizational Performance According to Armstrong (127), most HRM models make an assumption that an alignment between the strategies of the organization and HRM strategies could improve the competitiveness of the organization hence improved performance. The resource-based model indicates that there exists a causal chain of policies of team empowerment, education and learning at work, commitment of employees, synergy and improved performance of an organization. The cycle is called involvement – commitment cycle. According to Sims (376), it is important that employees be committed to the organization because through commitment, they will share the goal and objectives of the organization. The employees will then be loyal hence improving the performance of the firm. T hrough commitment, workers can show dignity, self worth and psychological involvement n the activities of the organization (Rynes et al 374). According to Rogers and Wright (1998), HRM assumes that employees are an important resource to an organization and the performance of the firm depends on them. The positive impact of HRM on the performance of the firm depends on formulation of appropriate policies and processes and their effective implementation. In a study conducted by Farnham (56) to find out the existing relationship between HRM and organizational performance, it was established that it is not easy to measure the impact of HRM practices on the performance of an organization. Doubts have been made concerning the validity of some studies. According to Armstrong (159), surveys that only ask about the number of the extent of HR practices are not sufficient to understand the existing link between HRM and performance of a company. Change Management The improvement of business pro cesses in an organization has not been smooth for most firms. As the management of an organization introduces change in the company, there is always resistance to change with most employees opting to remain with the current processes of the firm. Change Management Process In order to apply the required change, an organization needs to identify the problem it is facing in order to find and develop the best solution to the problems. According to Brown and Kusiak (77), lack of proper diagnosis of the problem could lead to implementation of the wrong process in the organization. The outcome could worsen performance rather than improve the performance of the organization. The problem identification process involves various steps as outlined below. Problem Identification Organizations face many issues some of which are complex while others are simple. The identification of problems of the firm needs to be followed by prioritizing the issues so that the company can make decision on which issues to be solved first. Symptoms: the establishing of the issues affecting the organization needs to be followed by diagnosing the features or symptoms of the problem. The symptoms of the problems of the firm should be distinguished from the causes of the problem. According to Brown and Kusiak (82), business analysts usually hear many issues affecting, the firm and they give many solutions. It is important that the firm does not ignore any solution given. However, the solution provided should be argued out with the management of an organization in order to establish its effectiveness (Boeker 155). Alternatives: after serious analysis of a given situation in an organization and hearing possible solutions from a business analyst, it is important that the organization develop alternatives for its problems. The approaches that could solve the problem of an organization could come with different consequences and costs that make it necessary for the management to discuss each alternat ive exclusively. After discussion of each alternative, it is important that the management make a decision regarding the best solution to fix its issues. The decision should be based on the best approach that solves the problem affecting the firm while leaving it with the least negative effects. The decision made should be followed by implementation and follow up of the effectiveness of the approach. According to Brown and Kusiak (83), follow up is important for organization to ensure that the approach follows the set guidelines and that it has no side effects. In the process of solving an issue that affects an organization and effects change in the firm, firms do use various methods. Some approaches include cause effect approach and business process reengineering. Reengineering According to Hammer and Champy (2), process improvement in organization requires reengineering, which is defined as the ability of an organization to disregards all its assumptions and traditional way of doi ng business and instead developing and adopting a new process centred business organization. The adopted new process should help an organization improve its performance. In order to achieve the required process reengineering for an organization, an organization needs to adopt a fresh perspective and approach. In order to acquire change through process reengineering, it is necessary that an organization rethink and establish radical redesigning of its processes in order to generate the required dramatic improvements. The process could be well illustrated in the figure below. As indicated in the above diagram, Hammer and Champy (3) notes that reengineering requires starting over for an organization. In order for an organization to succeed in the modern environment, there is need for its processes to be fast, of high quality, flexible and of low cost. The initial phases of organizational change began long time ago with Adam Smith who proposed labour specialization, followed by establi shment of infrastructure, the assembly line and hierarchical structure of the firm. In spite of the importance of these principles, their application in the modern business environment could result in delays, rigidity and high overhead costs in the production process. The first step of reengineering begins with the focus on the fundamentals of the company. The fundamentals of an organization relate to the main activities of the firm, why they are done the way they are and the tacit rules and assumptions of present activities. According to Hammer and Champy (4), reengineering concentrates on what ought to be or should be done and ignores what is done. The radical redesign phase is concerned with the reinvention of the organization. This does not involve making of superficial changes or marginal enhancements to the firm but changes and designs that enhance new features of the organization. The potential dramatic result is the phase that the firm realizes the outcome of reengineering. According to Piderit (202), reengineering leads to quantum leaps in the performance of an organization rather than incremental improvements. Business process orientation involves evolving of the firm around its business processes. The processes undertake inputs in order to generate valuable outputs to the customer. In order for a business process to work, it must produce added value rather than internal activity. Successful Reengineering Process: Ford Motor Corporation Ford Motor Corporation applied the process analysis and problem solving in the 1980s by examining its employee accounts of about 500 employees. After a careful examination of the accounts payables, it was revealed that the company took much of the time in the department to track down discrepancies between orders that were purchased, shipping receipts and invoices. The realization of the problem led to a rethink of possible solutions and reengineering was the only viable solution (Ford Ford and D’amelo 372). The company took various steps as explained below. The management began by establishing an online database mainly for the purchase orders whereby all orders issued by buyers were recorded in the database. Goods were received at the dock while there was an individual to check in the database. The match of the shipment and what is in the database led to the reception of the goods and vice versa. This eliminated possibilities of any discrepancies between orders that were made and received. Once the shipment is received, the database is updated immediately to reflect the change. In addition, a check was generated automatically and issued to the vendor in time. The process improvement applied by Ford Motor Corporation was a success. This is because the head count people in the purchasing department reduced drastically from 500 to 125 employees with efficiency in time management being improved dramatically. According to Piderit (785), the reengineering process as applied at Ford Motor Corp oration is a lesson to be emulated by many firms wishing to reengineer their processes. The changes that the company implemented could not have been achieved without the aid of the modern information technology. The process reengineering reflects old processes that have undergone new wrinkles. Conclusion The modern business environment is dynamic and full of many challenges that organizations needs to develop different mechanisms of solving their issues. The process of solving a problem involves first identifying the issue affecting the corporation and determining possible ways of solving the issues. Out of the many alternatives, the management could choose one. Process improvement and reengineering is one of the many methods of solving issues affecting the firm. The reengineering process is vital since it helps an organization develop new processes and frameworks of the firm. Ford Motors in the 1980s in which it introduced new process of recording purchases thereby ending up cuttin g down its costs dramatically conducted one of the successful reengineering. Reengineering process could be accompanied by knowledge and innovation. Armstrong, Michael. 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