The Concept Of Power May Always Be Debatable - 1119 Words

The concept of power may always be debatable. What exactly makes someone or something powerful? French Philosopher, Michel Foucault builds off of Jeremy Bentham’s idea of the panopticon in his writing of Panopticism. He develops the social theory â€Å"Panopticism.† Through Foucault’s fascination with the panopticon, he demonstrates the impact constant surveillance has, not just in prisons, but also in society as a whole. The panopticon is a type of institutional building introduced by Jeremy Bentham. To gain a mental picture of the design of the panopticon, imagine a circular building with a tower in the very center. This tower can be referred to as an inspection house. The purpose of this tower is solely for round-the-clock surveillance of inmates, ensuring they can always be seen. Observers are able to see all individual cells to monitor behavior at all times. The catch is that the prisoners are never able to tell when they are being watched. They are also una ble to communicate with fellow prisoners as the sidewalls cut off that possibility of communication. Bentham came up with the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. â€Å"He is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never the subject in communication† (264). The prisoners are able to see the tower but have no way of knowing from where they are being observed. This well thought-out design of the panopticon maximizes efficiency and ensures control. Foucault explains that seeingShow MoreRelatedThe Pros and Cons of A Market Economy. Essay846 Words   |  4 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;When considering the advantages and disadvantages of command and market economies, you may notice that they are usually straight forward, yet, both advantages and disadvantages may merge at times, resulting in an unclear issue, that could be debatable whether it is for the good of the society, or for the government. Therefore, what I am trying to say, is that no matter how hard you try, it is always impossible to debate on which economic system is better. Both have their good points and theirRead MoreShould Offenders Be Socially Integrated?996 Words   |  4 Pagesretribution focuses on past crimes and that punishment should be equivalent to the offence. This approach has dated back historically to the Hammurabi code one of the earliest writings in history. The concept is better understood as just deserts or an eye for an eye attitude . Although this concept has vanished from most parts of the world the idea is one noting. If a criminal acts in a manner against the law they must return something . Linked with this is the rational choice theory the psychologiesRead MoreIndividualism And Liberty By John Stuart Mill1196 Words   |  5 Pageswould be considered the ones to show the most individualism because they were allowed to have world-changing ideas. So at that time, the definition of individualism comes down to just being in power. If one is in power, they themselves become an individual. Now this definition implies that anyone in powe r can be an individual which is not entirely true. To be more specific, an individual at this time has to be able to create his own ideas as well as persuade the majority with these ideas no matterRead MorePolitics, Realism, Liberalism And Liberty1507 Words   |  7 PagesStudying Politics challenges thoughts on existing theories and helps to develop the understanding of political concepts that are often deemed to be effective or ineffective. This essay will refer to some concepts and theories such as Political Corruption, Realism, Liberalism and Liberty. It will explore the kind of things academics generally try to find out through studying politics to explore these topics and what they should possibly be looking for instead when studying politics. Political CorruptionRead MorePolicy Interview Analysis : Health Care System959 Words   |  4 PagesPolicy Interview Analysis Essay There are many sides to how one may view the current health care system. Patients, Providers, and Government all have their idea as to how things should be taken care of when it comes to the policies and the finances involved. Unfortunately these groups don’t always see eye to eye in the methodology. This essay is about one Chiropractors opinions in regards to Government and health care system, the ACA involvement and Obamacare, and the providers’ role in healthRead MoreManagement Is Important And Essential For Successful Managers1030 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is leadership? What is management? Management can be described as the process of effectively and efficiently employing others while utilizing resources to accomplish organizational goals. The definition of management may change depending upon the individual. According to Don Mosley Jr. and William Gillis, management is defined as, â€Å"The process of effectively and efficiently planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the activities of employees in combination with other resources to achieveRead MoreDeath Sentence Essay998 Words   |  4 PagesCapital Punishment, killing a criminal through a lawful process, is one of the most highly debatable subjects in the world. Execution can be done in any of the following ways, beheading, electric chair, firing squads, guillotines, hanging, lethal injection, poison gas, crucifixion and stoning. The most popular form used in the United States of America is lethal injection. Some may argue that this is the most civil way of killing the criminal, but others would argue that the death penalty is not civilRead MoreMarx s View On Materialism And Religious Self Alienation1573 Words   |  7 PagesThis week’s readings presented Marx’s thought of Feuerbach’s work, whose concepts I am not familiar with, however, I can infer that Feuerbach has discussed materialism and religious self-alienation in length; and explored Marx’ s view on materialism, production of consciousness, communism and much more. The collection of Marx’s theses and his other writings reflected upon many of his doctrines, including materialism, religion, and alienation, but perhaps the most iconic work would be his empathy onRead MoreThe Responsibility And The Sovereignty Of The State1494 Words   |  6 Pagesthe twenty-first century, 2000, p. 34) A sovereign state is a state that has the ultimate power within its borders. According to Thomas G. Weiss and Don Hubert (2001) this supremacy â€Å"includes the choice of political, economic, social, and cultural systems and the formulation of foreign policy†. No other nation has the right to get involved on its dilemmas. The state therefore is Supreme. However, the concept of sovereignty has changed. Nowadays sovereignty itself has restrictions. Human rights areRead MoreWith So Much That Has Transpired Recently Involving Law1212 Words   |  5 Pagesthe roles of policing at times can become difficult in some ways, being an officer of the law because of some things they may see or hear. It may go against the officers own personal beliefs but an officer is charged with putting personal feeling on the back burner. This mean they are only suppose to see things from the aspect of the black and white of the written law. They may have to take a person into custody even though they agree with the person but, they broke the law. He also said that if a

Censorship Research Paper - 4391 Words

War on Censorship After being assigned a school project, a young high school student walks into the library with plans on researching about his topic before starting. It’s a biology project about the mating rituals of animals, which was a topic that struck his interest. So he boots up the computer, signs in, and starts surfing the web and different search engines for his topic. Every site he clicks on, however, has been blocked. Anything having to do with mating and breeding has been censored by the library as inappropriate material. What if this high school student doesn’t have internet at home? Being unable to look up his material at the library is sure to hinder his research. This would be a very common story if web censorship in the†¦show more content†¦Many protested because it violated the freedom of speech of the adults online and it was rejected by the Supreme Court in 1997 since it was a restriction on the First Amendment (Gottfried). And there’ s always the issue of what should be filtered and what shouldn’t. What one considers lewd or hateful material, another might laugh at. The definition of inappropriate varies from person to person, community to community, meaning there’s no national meaning to the word that applies to everyone. Is it fair to block something because a few people find it insulting? In Hillsborough High School, this very issue was brought up only it was over the school newspaper not the internet. The principal of the school pulled an article from the newspaper detailing the school’s achievement gap over the years strictly because it might harm the students’ self-esteem (Stein). Was that material appropriate to block just because a few students would find the information hurtful? Censorship is all based on opinions that not everyone might have so it isn’t fair to block everything for the fear of insulting a few. There are, however, some bad things on the internet that a ren’t only dangerous for minors, but for everyone else as well. With the rise of the internet has come the rise of violent hate crimes. With the web being as vast as it is, it’s no surprise that there are sites depicting hateful messages and calls to action againstShow MoreRelatedMusic Censorship1016 Words   |  5 PagesKevin Ung Professor Vazquez English 101 October 9, 2007 Music Censorship I enjoy and love music very much. I feel that music artists should have the right to freely express their work and I feel that I should argue about the censorship attacks on these artists. I’m tired of listening to a good song on the radio with some of the words censored. It ruins the song and I can’t stand it. Some people think that rap is a bad influence and causes the young to behave badly. But I think all this censoringRead MoreIn this book, the author Brian Cogan discusses the most controversial television shows in history,1400 Words   |  6 Pagesthe world. Holden believes that the South Park movie puts fear into the conservative society because of the vulgar language and explicit content. Holden maintains that South Park is really about mass entertainment, censorship and freedom of speech. I can use this in my research paper because the author discusses the positives of the crude language in South Park. Stephen Holden has been published for related articles in major newspapers and magazines for over forty years. Leonard, Devin. South ParkRead MoreThe Rights Of Free Speech1182 Words   |  5 Pagesdocument by Emily Foster is to use the contents of the article to help support their current position on the act of democratic censorship, but wither it be in a way to promote censorship in order to maintain order, or to remove censorship as a way to promote free speech is unclear to me. In regards to Cohen-Almagor, I find the choice of using Israel as a focus for the research for the document to be questionable. This is a nation that has been at war for the last several decades, and has not been ableRead More Cyberspace Hate Propaganda and Internet Censorship Essay1244 Words   |  5 PagesCyberhate - Hate Propaganda and Internet Censorship The Internet is an ideal medium for hate groups, such as neo-Nazis, because of the mass exposure, inexpensiveness, uncensored nature and ease of publishing offered. The Internet allows hate groups to target a broad audience: impressionable children are the most vulnerable. Attempts at censorship fail because of the international nature of the Internet, and to a lesser extent, free speech contentions. Instead, the freedom of speech exercisedRead MoreFeminism and Pornography: Differing Views1221 Words   |  5 Pagesin feminist thought with regards to pornography. Generally speaking, there are â€Å"pro-sex† feminists who believe that women have the right to do what they wish with their bodies and there are â€Å"pro-censorship† feminists who believe pornography is inherently degrading and violent towards women. In this paper I am going to discuss the views and opinions held by each faction of the pornography debate and I will discuss the pros and cons of each view and d iscuss how every day women (i.e. not scholars/academics)Read MoreCensorship: How It Would Restrict the Average American from Living the Life They Deserve1099 Words   |  4 PagesIn what ways has censorship played a role in changing the conceptions of the American Dream? 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Important cases and lawsuits will be covered as well, enabling the reader to understand why and how certain lawsRead MoreThe Use of Iconoclasm in the Middle East as a Method of Controlling Popular Opinions917 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout human history power imbalances have been prevalent in almost every civilization. One method of controlling people as well as power is to control how much knowledge gets out to the masses. This paper examines how iconoclasm is used in the Middle East as a method of controlling popular opinions and thoughts on race,sex and many other important details of everyday life. Iconoclasm is the systemic destruction of religious or cultural pieces of artwork for political or religious reasons. TheRead MoreCensorship Of Classic Books1325 Words   |  6 PagesTitle: Research Paper Censorship of Classic Novels in Canada and the United States Ashley Sprague 7607211 College Reading and Writing Skills/ COMM1085 Dawn Grimmer Many novelists in today’s society have the growing responsibility of censoring their work, ultimately loosing their freedom of expression. Canada is no different from other countries who have begun the long list of â€Å"banned and challenged classic novels.† Most of the Canadian population can remember studying Harper Lee’s ToRead More Censorship in the United States Essay1275 Words   |  6 PagesCensorship on Television Censorship on television in the United States has been an issue ever since the television was invented. The public holds a variety of stances on the topic, and no matter what law is ever passed regarding censorship, it will never suit the needs of everyone. Some believe that censorship violates individual rights in the law, and others believe that censorship should be available through members in the family, not the government. On the other hand, some people strive

Tillie OlsenS free essay sample

Tillie Olsen? S # 8220 ; I Stand Here Ironing # 8221 ; And Alice Walker? S # 8220 ; Everyday Use # 8221 ; Essay, Research Paper Love and Acceptance Tillie Olsen? s I Stand Here Ironing, and Alice Walker? s Everyday Use, both address the issue of a female parent? s guilt over how her kids turn out. Both female parents blamed themselves for their girl? s jobs. While I Stand Here Ironing is evidently about the mousey girl, in Everyday Use this is camouflaged by the fact most of the action and duologue involves the female parent and older sister Dee. Neither does the female parent in Everyday Use say outright that she feels guilty, but we catch a glance of it when Dee is seeking really hard to claim the handmade comforters. The female parent says she did something she had neer done before, # 8220 ; hugged Maggie to me, # 8221 ; so took the comforters from Dee and gave them to Maggie. We will write a custom essay sample on Tillie OlsenS or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In I Stand Here Ironing the female parent tells us she feels guilty for the manner her girl Emily is, for the things she ( the female parent ) did and did non make. The female parent? s neighbor even tells her she should # 8220 ; smiling at Emily more when you look at her. # 8221 ; Again towards the terminal of the narrative Emily? s female parent admits # 8220 ; my wisdom came excessively late. # 8221 ; The female parents unwittingly gave Emily and Maggie 2nd best. Both female parents compare their two girls to each other. In Everyday Use the female parent tells us that # 8220 ; Dee is lighter than Maggie, with nicer hair and a Fuller figure. # 8221 ; She Fahning -2-speaks of the fire that burned and scarred Maggie. She tells us how Maggie is non bright, how she shuffles when she walks. Comparing her with Dee whose pess vwere ever neat-looking, as if God himself had shaped them. # 8221 ; We besides learn of Dee? s # 8220 ; manner # 8221 ; and the manner she awes the other misss at school with it. The female parent in I Stand Here Ironing speaks of Susan, # 8220 ; speedy and articulate and buttocks ured, everything in visual aspect and mode Emily was not.† Emily â€Å"thin and dark and foreign-looking at a clip when every small miss was supposed to look or believe she should look a chubby blonde reproduction of Shirley Temple.† Like Dee, Emily had a physical restriction besides. Hers was asthma. Both Emily and Maggie show resentment towards their sisters. The sisters who God rewarded with good expressions and poise. Emily? s female parent points out the # 8220 ; toxicant feeling # 8221 ; between the sisters, feelings she contributed to by her inability to equilibrate the # 8220 ; injuries and needs # 8221 ; of the two. In Everyday Use we see Maggie # 8220 ; eying her sister with a mixture of enviousness and awe. She thinks her sister has held life ever in the thenar of one manus, that # 8220 ; no # 8221 ; is a word the universe would neer state to her. # 8221 ; Maggie? s female parent seems to hold reinforced this by being unable to state no to Dee besides. This is what makes the point in the narrative when she eventually does state no ( sing the comforters ) such an of import minute in Maggie? s life. The attitude of the female parents towards the polished girls boundary lines on disdain. I believe this is more apparent in Everyday Use, demonstrated by the dream of the Television show. Besides the description of Dee reading to them, # 8220 ; burned us with a batch of cognition we Fahning -3-didn? t needfully necessitate to cognize, # 8221 ; and once more when she shoved # 8220 ; us off # 8230 ; like dimwits. # 8221 ; It? s besides pointed out that Dee and Susan are egoistic and selfish while Maggie and Emily are caring and giving. I think in the terminal both of the female parents realize their girls are okay the manner they are. They come to accept their girls restrictions and care for their quiet gifts. Not everyone can be polished and successful in secular ways. Possibly that? s why Maggie was smiling in the terminal, her female parent eventually accepted her as is.

The Future of Long-Term Care Systems free essay sample

An examination of the problems that future medical care systems will face and possible solutions. This paper looks at the effect that Baby Boomers will have on nursing homes and the future of long-term care. The author investigates the current inefficiencies and inadequacies of medical care services and the problems of adaptation that it may face in the future. Long-term care has been on the governments back-burner since its institutionalization. The Medicare and Medicaid systems have only proven to be inadequate coverage while at the same time costs of services have been increasing. The long-term care system is also very inefficient and cannot effectively coordinate services (Evashwick 2001). The biggest problem with long-term care is the publics unwillingness to take an active role and change the system. There will be major changes take place when the next generation enters the long-term care system. Kobner (2001) had stated it correctly when saying that tomorrows elderly population is going to be our new seniors. We will write a custom essay sample on The Future of Long-Term Care Systems or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hopefully all of these problems will be reversed when the new seniors become 65 years-old. These new seniors are also known as the baby boomers. The baby boomers are charging with a tremendous force toward the long-term care system. Healthcare and the aging population are changing dramatically in the United States and long-term care is going to be required to keep up (Mollica 1998).

Advances in Research on Instruction essays

Advances in Research on Instruction essays After reading this article I decided that I would keep this and refer to it every time I felt that I was not reaching my students. I found it to be very helpful. I think that as we get older, we forget how children learn. We might even forget how we ourselves learn material. Everything comes so natural to us and we forget that we go through many different processes in order to understand new material. I thought back to some of the teachers I have had and I realized that the teachers whom I learned the most from followed the guidelines set forth in the article. With this, I found some very important key components to teaching material to children. They are presenting new information in small steps with cognitive strategies and lots of practice and review, providing help for student processing, and, helping students organize their knowledge, Presenting information in small steps seems so common sense; yet, people forget how crucial it is. All people remember information better when it is split into chunks and practiced before moving one to something else. For example, I feel that one of the reasons that some children dont like math is because they were not given enough time to understand the basic foundations. More than likely, they were taught a lesson, did the homework wrong, handed the homework in and before they even got their homework back, were taught a new lesson. The cycle would start all over again because the student had to understand the last lesson before they could do the next. Teaching in small steps will help the student and the teacher. The students gain a better understanding bigger, more complex information and the teacher can assess each student before moving on. This way the teacher can see exactly what step the child didnt process and re-teach it before its too late and the child is left behind. Helping students process information is just a ...

Frankenstein loneliness essay Essays - Fiction, Creative Works

Frankenstein loneliness essay Essays - Fiction, Creative Works NAME: JACK MELVIN TEACHER: TP UNIT 3 / 4 ENGLISH DATE: 20/4/19 FRANKENSTEIN : It is the thirst for knowledge that leads Frankenstein, the creature and Walton astray. Discuss Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: The modern Prometheus is a gothic novel published in 1818. The novel incorporates the theme of knowledge throughout a range of key ideas and characters , Mary Shelley wrote the novel at a time where the world was experiencing industrialization in full effect, this - as well as increasing findings and discoveries by scientists - may have motivated her to include the ideas of knowledge, and ultimately dangerous knowledge that leads Frankenstein, the creature and Walton astray. The pursuit of knowledge leads to a range of consequences in Frankenstein, Shelley includes the thirst of knowledge and the repercussions of it by incorporating similar writers, through literary allusions including the poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner' telling the story of a man who challenges nature and suffers the consequences for doing so. Shelley's novel is a direct reflection on her opinion that the sudden rush of technological improvements brought on by the desir e to gain more knowledge would result in disaster. The full title of Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein: The modern Prometheus emphasises the idea that Victor reaching beyond what man should be capable of and is playing god. In Greek mythology, Prometheus created man , Prometheus loved his creation of man - unlike Victor's relationship with the monster - and steals fire from the gods in order to bless man with this gift. Prometheus challenged the gods and li mitations set by them and was punished for doing so, he was forced to endure the pain of having his liver eaten by an eagle every day, forever. This is similar to Frankenstein, in the pursuit for human advancement and knowledge, Victor challenges the capabilities of man by forming a creature out of dead parts, bringing the dead back to life - a feat that was thought to be unachievable by man and only by the supernatural. This decision to defy the abilities of mankind results in Victor being punished for the rest of his life as the creature murders those who mean mos t to Victor. Victor's pursuit of the monster and obsessive disgust for his creation ultimately leads him to his death. Victor recognises the consequences of acquiring excessive knowledge and becoming "greater than his nature will allow". His reckless choice to pursue the monster destroys himself, his family, and anyone he loves. Victor, once a knowledgeable scientist progresses to a man fu ll of hatred for his own creation, lead from his home town in Geneva to the North Pole , where he was met with death. Incorporating this transition allows the reader to recognise how Victor's thirst of knowledge led him astray. Shelley suggests that the quest for knowledge is often rationalised by the thought that one's actions will benefit humanity. This rationalisation of impromptu decisions poses as a facade for the obsession for greatness and recognition that comes with discovering new things . Something that Walton desired, recognition. Walton, a narcissistic captain of a ship that aim ed to achieve the further discovery of the Arctic regions of the world , delineates his adventure as "one man's life or death [being] a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which [he] sought". This shows his obsession for knowledge, that he is able to overlook the death of someone in pursuit for recognition. Victor knows that Walton's desire discovery is a dangerous commitment and warns Walton of his potential fate. Walton realises the possible consequences of his actions and decides to end his voyage. This shows that Walton has recognised the dangers of know ledge and took action as not to suffer the potential repercussions furthering his voyage. The monster also participates in a quest for knowledge, not in a scientific and exploration way like Victor and Walton but in a philosophical understanding of its own identity. After the bewildering first encounter with Frankenstein, the monster aims to assimilate itself into modern society only to realise it is different and unaccepted universally. As the monster grew in knowledge it came to think that the DeLacey

The Democratization of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Democratization of China - Essay Example in 2011 sparked public outrage as the government was criticized sharply through blog sites in China with around 200 million followers (Ahlquist and Erik 449). The examples shows how democracy in China is being fought for at a price and they show that the country is soon to experience the independency of the civil societies thus illustrating that the countrys political regime is now facing the challenge of making China a democratic state (Liu and Dingding 41). Also, over the last few decades, academicians especially from the western countries have always used some typical terms to refer to the political situation in China where terms like authoritarian resilience, rightful resistance, and illiberal adaptation have been used to describe the countrys democratic future (Liu and Dingding 43). However, the situation is fast changing where China is now moving closer to modernization that states that economic development is the basis for democratization. Therefore, there is hope for democracy in China as this essay outlines the country’s struggle to become a pure democratic state and also the challenges that may confront the Chinese in their question to become democratic. One of the major problems with the Chinese economic geography is that resources are more concentrated on the urban areas where most of the affluent population lives (Wang 409). However, there is the imminent marginalization of the poor population who lives in the rural areas. In effect, there is an unequal distribution of resources, and this forcing the Chinese to pile pressure on the government for economic democratization (Liu and Dingding 41). The implication is that the unequal distribution of resources brings with it some political consequences where more visible inequality makes the population be disconnted with the political situation. On the other hand, inequality has become a significant political issue in China as more rural dwellers are moving to cities to access apartment buildings,

Investment Banking in 2008 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investment Banking in 2008 - Essay Example This paper demonstrates the result of deregulatory measures initiated by the authorities of the United States in the decade of 1990s.The reason for such hype of the deregulatory measures has been primarily the universal bank model. The deregulatory measures allowed the investment banks to participate in the depository functions. The supporters of the deregulations believed that modern day clients preferred to do all of their business ranging from life insurance to commercial lending, from mergers and acquisition advisory to retirement planning, under one roof. And only a deregulated market could allow this to happen. Therefore, replacement of Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (which prevented depository and brokerage functions) by the Gramm-Leach Bliley in 1999 opened a whole lot of opportunities for the bankers. With the approval to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999, investment banks, insurance companies and commercial banks were equally placed in respect to the products and the markets. This led to the concentration of financial power in fewer hands and soon the investment banks were being absorbed by the commercial banks. The deviation led to the rise in pressure on investment banks to create return on equity compared to the universal banks like Duetsche Bank and as a result investment banks laid more emphasis on the traditional services like M&A, underwriting, sales and trading. Also, the intense competitive pressure led to the withdrawal of Net Capital rule. and SEC allowed unlimited and unregulated leverage (in way of debts) to their brokerage units which proved to be fatal in the long run. Remaining Competitive Against the Trend From the analysis of the case, it appears that Goldman Sachs (and also Morgan Stanley, if not others) could have surely remained competitive without increasing its leverage to boost its return on investment. In fact, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were honest enough at the outset and had written down the losses in residential mortgages and leveraged loans and tried to avoid the excessive exposure to the mortgage industry. But as Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley faced increasing pressure from the investors as their profits eroded and return on equity subsided. Consequently, they decided to be the bank holding companies (under FED regulations) and initiate the depository functions which would allow them to play as commercial banks and have diversified banking operations apart from invest banking functions, which in turn would help them to stay competitive. Collapse of Lehman Brothers but Bear Stearns Saved For the purpose of bail out of Bear Sterns , Federal Reserve lent JP Morgan Chase $ 30 Billion out of which JP Morgan Chase agreed to assume responsibility for $ 1 Billion leaving the charge of other $ 29 Billion to the U.S. tax payers. But when the Lehman Brothers, which had almost 75% higher valuation of the assets (compared to Bear Sterns as on 30/11/2007) approached Federal Reserve they did not get the nod. The prime reason of such a decision by Fed is believed to be the political dominos. The decision makers hesitated to take another bail-out measure

Nutrition and Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nutrition and Stress - Essay Example According to the report findings the majority of foods consumed in such situations are but ‘convenience foods’ considered a quick fix to nullify the condition, at least in part. The ‘quick fix’ theory is, however, false, as the resultant flaw that result in the eating habits in times of stress inflict even more stress on the body, compounding other problems that combine to pose a further threat to the physical and mental health. To be more certain, most of the unhealthy food intake consumed in times of stress consist of consists of fast foods that more often than not replaces healthy meals.As the discussion stresses  poor eating habits has its consequences,   for   they encourages growth hormones that result in weight increases; a problematic condition that inhibits the body system from working effectively to control sugar levels in the blood, thus, creating a harmful imbalance. Accordingly, it is recommended that foods containing B vitamins, proteins and minerals be taken in a well-balanced diet to help the body to cope with stress. Proteins are, in fact, a necessary part in any food diet, for it assists in the growth and repairs of worn out tissues in the body. Foods rich in vitamin A and C, on other hand, help in rectifying poor vision and strengthening the immune system respectively. Minerals such as magnesium are necessary ingredients for muscle relaxations, which also combats stress; such foods include fish, eggs, meat, seeds, cheese, oil, milk, fruits, apple, green leaved vegetables among other cereals.

The Factors That Influence Organizational Change Commerce Essay

The Factors That Influence Organizational Change Commerce Essay There are different factors which influence organizations change. These factors can be external (technology, Government policies, social pressure, cost of raw material etc) or internal (change leadership, decline in profit, union action etc).in this era of globalization the most commonly seen organizational changes are implementation of new technologies, mergers and downsizing. To survive in the market with the increased competition it is very tough for the employees of the organization to accept the change. In this kind of situation the management should ensure the acceptance of change at every level. Change Management is defined as organizations ability to implement and maintain change for the survival. For the survival of the organization change management is the best option. Figure : Phases of change If organization is not in a constant phase of change management and continually assessing and adjusting then business may be at best average within its industry. For some organizations this means they may be going backwards and eventually bankrupt. Only those companies can survive which can adapt to changes. This change management model follows all other change management models and theories. Every organization can be summed up to be a combination of these three elements which includes the structure, the people and the strategy. Any change in any area of an organization will affect at least one or all of these elements. Figure : Three elements for change The structure of the system is the process that provides the strategic objectives of organization with physical resources. Change management specialists will review management operating system (MOS) with complete and proper structure. The people involved in this process are stakeholders, resourced people, and management team. All people involved in this process should be well informed and should pay attention to the right things. They should communicate with each other. Figure : people involve in change management To achieve the target for the continued existence of the organization strategy is the best method. Change management provides the guidelines for the growth of the firm. The Skill of Change Management Managing change in the workplace while ensuring the operations strategy is on the right path. This can be achieved by the support of people and structure elements towards achieving the organizations corporate strategy. Phases of Change Organizational change involves the fear of loss inherent in this process, and this loss is mostly felt by employees. The Kubler Ross Grief Model addresses the emotional issues associated with change. The four emotional states experienced throughout the change process may be expressed by employees in behaviors that are obstacles to the process of change. This model consists of four stages given below: Denial The first emotional state during change is denial. This is the stage in which employees dont believe this is happening to them. They have certain fears and these fears should be addressed during this phase. This fear can be reduced by taking them in confidence. Fear and mistrust need to be replaced by acceptance. Resistances to change The second emotional state is resistance to the change process. Resistance is natural reaction to change. Eric B. Dent and Susan Galloway Goldberg (1999) gave the idea that managers and leaders of the organization must reduce the resistance to compete with other organizations. Kurt Lewin, the social psychologist, introduced the term resistance to change as a systems. As we know that people of any organization are generally resistant to change. According to Scott Jaffe resistance is a stage that ends as individuals begin to separate from the past become more confident of their capability. They play their role by their participation to reduce resistance to change. For example, competition might force a business to organize work around processes to improve operating efficiencies. Functional departments involved in these processes would be combined. Employees might not see a need for this change. The reasons for change must be fully explained so that employees understand why it is nece ssary to embrace the change. Chew (1990) studied the case of Machinists Mutiny. In his study he revealed that due to poor planning and implementation the change is stopped due to employee resistance. This article also includes expert opinions that organization should adopt so they have better implementation of change For the implementation and maintain change satisfaction of the people is very important. The response to resistance is very important. Forcing compliance may increase resistance. Those affected by the change probably know a lot about what is required to implement something new, and their input is important to the change process. The degree to which employees will support your new initiatives depends on how many of their recommendations are used. Explorations The third emotional state encountered is exploration. employees will search new roles if they are incapable to stop the changes. In this stage both individual role as well as the group role are defined. it is important that unresolved issues that continue to surface be addressed during this stage. One should be ready for the negative reaction of the employee. Those individuals should be warned at the first sign of falling back to old behaviors. This negative reaction can be changed to the positive if trust can be created among groups. Commitments The final emotional state is commitment to the change initiative. Mutual commitment is established for the change effort. Obstacles have been removed and the focus is on successful implementation of the changes. Models of the change process After years of failed change efforts, researchers are saying that knowledge of the change process is critical. To thrive we need to know successful change during and before the change process. There are five most popular models of the change process(Lewins three-step change model, Kotters eight-step plan, Harriss five-phase model, Fullans change themes set, and Greiners six-phase process).But in this report we will discuss only two of them. Lewins Three-Step Change Model Change involves a sequence of organizational processes that occurs over time. Lewin (1951) suggests this three step process. These steps mostly involve reducing the forces acting to keep the organization in its current condition. Figure : Three step model Unfreezing: This is the first step which is accomplished by introducing new information that points out failure in the current state. Crises often arouse unfreezing. This crisis can be due to increase in employee, demographic shifts, and an unexpected strike. This is not necessary that during unfreezing crisis always occur. For determining problem creating zones in organizations financial data, climate analysis and enrollment projections can be used. Moving: Once the organization is unfrozen, it can be changed by moving. This step generally involves the change in structure, development of new standards, attitudes, and behaviors. Some changes may be minor and involve a few members. Refreezing The final step is refreezing which involves stabilizing the change. In this step mostly the changes in organizations policy, organizational culture, or modification in organizational structure often accomplishes. (Fred C. Lunenburg, 2010) Kotters Eight-Step Model John Kotter (1996) of Harvard University developed a more detailed model for managing change which was based on Lewins three-step change model. The steps involved in this model are given below. Establish a sense of urgency: Unfreeze the organization by creating a convincing reason for change. Create the guiding coalition: Create a cross-functional, cross-level group of people with enough power to lead the change. Develop a vision and strategy: Create a idea and strategic plan which leads to the change process. Communicate the change vision: Produce and implement a communication strategy with the employees about the new ideas and strategic plan. Empower broad-based action: Eliminate barriers to change, and use target elements of change to transform the organization. Encourage risk taking and creative problem solving. Generate short-term wins: Plan for and create short-term wins or improvements. Recognize and reward people who contribute to the wins. Consolidate gains and produce: The guiding coalition uses credibility from short-term wins to create more change. Additional people are brought into the change process as change cascades throughout the organization. Attempts are made to reinvigorate the change process. Anchor new approaches in the culture: Reinforce the changes by highlighting connections between new behaviors and processes and organizational success. Develop methods to ensure leadership development and succession. Types of Change Change can be categorized into four categories, structural change, cost change, process change, and cultural change. As the organizational structure of the company changes the structural change takes place. This change in structure is due to the merger of the company. The improvement in the organization can be achieved by changing its long established structure into more flexible form. This can be done by small teams. In order to improve performance and efficiency by reducing cost, cost changes are the best option. This can be done by reducing budget, reducing unnecessary activities and by shifting employees according to the need. Process changes are applied in the organization to improve the efficiency. This change takes place in production department where these products are formed, packed and shipped. Cultural changes are the least substantial of all the types of change. If an organization tries to adopt a more participative style this requires a shift in many organizational activities. Mainly the relation of employees and mangers suffer with the change in culture IMPLEMENTING CHANGE The proper implementation is based on number of steps. The first step in implementing change involves people of higher management and executives. For instance, an organization wants to install new system of computers in its areas. Then they major personal are not only top management but managers with lower ranked will supervise the employees for the use of the new technology. In cost cutting change different personals are involved. If a company wants to reduce its budget in a particular department then the managers of that department should be involved in cutting the cost. As the important personnel have been identified, the second step involved is implementing change properly. For the implementation of the change the successful change in plan is required. This plan defines the responsibilities of the key personals. The third step in implementing change. This change supports the plan. Implementation involves the management. This key step involves facilitating employees to accept the change. The organization should provide the basic support to the employees like training, reward system etc. if organization does not provide this kind of support there are chance for the failure of the plan Change process is the final step of booming change implementation. Communicating with the employee about the change and its importance will be very helpful through out the process. As we know that change can create fear in employees and to relax them increased communication can help a lot. Managers should carefully listen to all their question and their advises to overcome their fear. Creating opportunities for employee like giving them positive feedback or holding meetings may facilitate change more successfully. (Wendy H. Mason ,2003) Abrahamson (2000) gave the view of Change without Pain. The main theme in this article was change must take place, but change does not always have to be disturbing to the organization. The author calls this tinkering and kludging. By placing small changes between large changes, companies can manage change through active stability. The goal of dynamic stability is to create a change which can be sustained long term, not just in the short term. To achieve dynamic stability the big and small changes must be done at the right time, at the right pace and the organization must tinker and kludge. Tinkering is taking a current process and making small changes to it. This is done at a low cost to the company and the results are often very quick. Kludging, on the other hand, is tinkering but on a larger scale. Kludging looks at outside resources for improved parts or processes and looks at the unused resources within the company. Many companies do not realize they have resources not being used because the processes using the resources are to slow to fully utilize the capacity of the resource. CASE STUDY This case study was based on a company called Trail Manufacturing which produces cable crane components. This study was done by Chew(1990).The company was a mid-sized company set up to run high volume jobs on manual equipment. But with todays economy and competition, Trail determined the best money was in low volume jobs. The President of Trail decided to bring in new technology to replace the old machines. He researched the new machines and decided to bring in eight flexible manufacturing cells which would replace twenty-eight old six-spindle screw machines. Since this was new technology and training would be needed a plan was laid out to set up teams, one for each cell, and the company would phase in the new machines. Each team would be trained and then they would construct and run their own cell. Once one cell was on-line a new cell team would start up until all eight cells were on-line. The first five teams went through the process fine, but at team six the company had a problem. Team six consisted of men who had been at the company many years. The team went to the president and told him they refused to switch over to the new machines. They felt the old machines were running fine and the new machines did not show the expected improvements, so they wanted to continue working on three six-spindle screw machines. At this point the president had to determine if he wanted to keep going with the project or alter it to keep some of the old machines. Some management personnel felt that if the new cells were going to work, a clean break had to be made from the old machines. Others felt that since the productivity gains were not being seen yet by the new cells, the possibility of keeping the old machines for a short time might be a good idea. The case ends without a decision being made by the company. Four experts in operations management give their opinions on the situation. Only one out of the four said the company should continue on with the original plan and if t he members of team six leave the company then it is the price to be paid for progress. The other three are quick to point out the president made a wrong assumption in the planning. He assumed that by bringing in new technology productivity would improve. This is a wrong assumption because technology is only as good as the company and how the company works. One of the experts points out truly understanding how the whole system plays together, and not just implementing the latest technique, means bridging the gap between the emotional and the technical. The president did not see that by bringing in new technology it would change the culture of the shop floor. Men who had years of experience on the old machines and were in seniority would be at the same level or lower than the younger more computer literate employees. This would be a big culture change for the employees. Most of the experts suggested slowing down the remainder of the cell startups and specifically addressing the concer ns of the men on team six. If team sixs concerns are not addressed there could be more problems with the rest of the teams. This article showed a good picture of how a company has to go about major changes, especially ones affecting the culture of the company. The expert opinions enhanced the article and I would highly recommend this article because it is an example of a case that is played out in companies all over. CONCLUSION Today change is the necessary for carrying business and survival of the organization. Organization or firms should under go change with the passage of time otherwise will survive. This change along its success also brings fear of employees. This leads to resistance to change. In this situation top management and leadership can play a vital role. The success of the organization depends on management team that how efficiently they resolve the issue. They can take help by reviewing past model of change and replacing them with new ideas. The good communication process is very important for the smooth process of change. RECOMMENDATIONS Following are some recommendations. Managers should improve their interpersonal and communication skills so that they could help their staff overcome the pains associated with change. Tell people the truth and give as much information as you can. Keep giving information as soon as possible. Give them time to digest the news. Give them time to vent there might be anger because this is normal reaction. Listen to staff and their concerns dont interrupt them so they can reduce their fear. REFRENCES Abrahamson, E. (2000). Change Without Pain. Harvard Business Review, 75-79. Chew, W. (1990). The Case of the Machinists Mutiny. Harvard Business Review, 4-8.) Dent, Eric B., and Susan Galloway Goldberg. Challenging Resistance to Change.' Journal of Applied Behavioral Science (March 1999): 25. Fred C. Lunenburg. (2010). Approaches to Managing Organizational Change. international journal of scholarly academic intellectual diversity volume 12 Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press Lewin, K. (1951). Field theory in social science. New York, NY: Harper Row. Oliver Recklies Managing Change Definition und Phases in Change Processes www.themanager.org/strategy/HYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/strategy/change_phases.htmchangeHYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/strategy/change_phases.htm_HYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/strategy/change_phases.htmphasesHYPERLINK http://www.themanager.org/strategy/change_phases.htm.htm. (accessed on 12 of November) Supreet Ahluwalia and Vivek Joshi (2008)managing Change in an Organization. http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC707/fc707.html (accessed on 13 of November) Wendy H. Mason (2003) ManagingChangewww.referenceforbusiness.com (accessed on 12 of November) http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-cm-basics-who-mod2.htm (Accessed on 13 of November)

The Teaching of Saint Gregory Essay -- Christology, God, Creation

A. â€Å"The Teaching of Saint Gregory† contains many theologically concepts as God and Creation, Christology, human Sin and salvation, eschatology and resurrection. Owing to the limited space, I will only explore some key elements which I think are worthy to be discussed. First, Gregory depicts the God’s attributes – it begins with the faith of Trinity- God created the world and humankind, the Son saved humankind and the Spirit sustained the world (259, 263, 362). There is no one before God and there is no creator (259). God is incomprehensible and almighty (259, 366). God created two kinds of creatures: visible (the creatures in the world) and invisible (angels, include the evil â€Å"Follower behind†) (262, 278). Second, man was created in God’s image–which gave man rational mind and independent will so that man will be aware of God. (273), praise God (261) and live in a good life with God. (Enoch’s life 294). Third, in Christology, Gregory emphasizes the incarnation of the Son is not a sudden idea, not a phantom (402) but an eternal redemption plan of God. All the prophecies was foreshadowing Christ (342) and concerning Christ (377). Gregory skims the life and teaching of Jesus but emphasizes much in Christ’s death and resurrection. Jesus humbled Himself to the indignity of death (385, 587-595), came to bridge the separated, to build up what was destroyed (591). In Gregory’s view, the cross of Christ is the anti-type of the tower of Babel. The tower stands for scattering, represents God’s wrath of human’s sin; the cross stands for gathering that Jesus redirects people back to God (584, 585). With the promise of God’s spirit dwelling in the believers, Gregory further insists the Martyrs live and intercede for men (596-597) which ... ...however, find a light to solve the problem of illiteracy. Armenians is the only nation who maintains Christianity as the national religion to recent decades. Reasons for success are many, like a distinct geography, recurred prosecutions, and the martyrs linked with national pride could be the dominant factors; but also, the book of Teaching of St. Gregory is definitely a significant reason to keep the Armenians’ faith in the long history. Its â€Å"non-difficult,† comprehensive, systematic way explaining God’s demand, human’s sin & responsibility, God’s protection with whom in prosecution; provide reason, strength and faith for Armenians to live their lives faithfully. Another important thing the church can do is to adopt new technology, A-V computerized aids to polish the traditions of Christian faith and provide a fresh expression of Christianity to our neighbours.

Christmas and Women Essay

â€Å"It was not the hard work which he hated, nor the punishment and injustice. He was used to that before he ever saw either of them. He expected no less, and so he was neither outraged nor surprised. It was the woman: that soft kindness which he believed himself doomed to be forever victim of and which he hated worse than he did the hard and ruthless justice of men. † (Faulkner 158) In William Faulkner’s Light in August, Joe Christmas’s misogynistic view towards women has reason behind it, based on his negative past with significant female characters. The above quote emphasizes his feelings towards women, describing how Joe is able to handle the harshness of a man, but cannot stand the weak and nurturing nature of a woman. Moreover, he believes women are only out to make him cry, as we see with his attitude towards the dietitian and Mrs. McEachern. Over the course of his life, beginning with the absence of a mother, Joe has been impacted by several female influences, from a brief stint with an orphan girl, Alice, up to his lack of a relationship with his mother, Millie. These women have led to Joe’s distrust and pure hate of femininity. Alice, a twelve year-old girl from the orphanage, is his first encounter with a maternal figure. Joe relies on Alice as a supportive comfort, as he does not have a mother or any adult figure to turn to, for that matter. â€Å"He had liked her, enough to let her mother him a little; perhaps because of it. And so to him she was as mature, almost as large in size, as the adult women who ordered his eating and washing and sleeping, with the difference she was not and never would be his enemy. One night she waked him. She was telling him goodbye but he did not know it. He was sleepy and a little annoyed, never full awake, suffering her because she had always tried to be good to him. He didn’t know that she was crying because he did not know that grown people cried, and by the time he learned that, memory had forgotten her. He went back into sleep while still suffering her, and the next morning she was gone. Vanished, no trace of her left, not even a garment, the very bed in which she had slept already occupied by a new boy. He never did know where she went to. † (Faulkner 127-8) When Alice leaves, Joe is confused and feels lost. He then has no one to rely on, learn from, or be close to, in such a setting. With this experience, he feels as if women are unpredictable and will leave at any given point. There is not consistency in relationships with them and, therefore, they cannot be trusted. â€Å"The incident speaks volumes of what the child at the orphanage had lacked, the lack that was to warp him away from womankind† (Brooks xxiii). It is understandable that this â€Å"abandonment† could have such an impression on a young mind with no real stability in his life. The Freudian theory applies here, with the idea that childhood experiences mold an individual most significantly and they determine the attitudes and perceptions of said individuals in their futures. (Hamblin and Peek 303) Also at the orphanage is the dietitian, who is another female influence, contributing to Christmas’s misogynistic attitude. After Joe has been caught consuming pink toothpaste, he expects punishment. However, she does not reprimand him immediately and he agonizes over the anticipation. â€Å"It never occurred to her that he believed that he was the one who had been taken in sin and was being tortured with punishment deferred and that he was putting himself in her way in order to get it over with, get his whipping and strike the balance and write it off† (Faulkner 115). This is when he first gets the idea that women are only out to make him cry. He believes that the dietitian is intentionally torturing him by not immediately carrying through with a punishment for his wrongdoings. The action which â€Å"adds salt to the wound† is when the dietitian, believing that the boy will convey his knowledge of her amorous actions to an orphanage authority, tries to bribe him with money. Therefore, Joe becomes confused and unsure of what to do. This only emphasizes the notion that women are unpredictable and hard to read, and that they possibly represent temptation. When Joe leaves the orphanage, he moves into the country with Mr. and Mrs. McEachern. It is possible that he would have responded positively to Mrs.  McEachern’s nurturing manner had he not dealt with those negative incidents with female figures at the orphanage. However, whenever Mrs. McEachern tries to show kindness towards Joe, he retaliates with acts of cruelty, such as when she offers him food and he dumps it on the floor angrily. Later, Joe says to himself: â€Å"‘She is trying to make me cry,’ he thought, lying cold and rigid in his bed, his hands beneath his head and the moonlight falling across his body, hearing the steady murmur of the man’s voice as it mounted the stairway on its first heavenward stage; ‘She was trying to make me cry. Then she thinks that they would have had me’† (Faulkner 158). By relying on her, Joe thinks that he would show weakness. He can handle McEachern’s harsh ways, but the weakness of Mrs. McEachern disgusts him. He fears displaying weakness, perhaps because he is weak in not knowing his past and not understanding who he is through his adolescence. Because he does not know his parentage, he struggles not only with his racial identity, but his personal identity as well. And, â€Å"the more Mrs. McEachern attempts to mother Christmas, the further her pushes her away† (Schisler 2008). Throughout Joe’s young adult years, he has relationships with several women, namely prostitutes (or â€Å"waitresses†). He routinely tells them of his racial status, either to shock or disgust them or to test their feelings toward him. With these reactions, he travels from woman to woman to find his identity. However, his first real love is with the waitress, Bobbie Allen. Joe’s initial attraction is to her manly features, such as her masculine hands. He tells her that he is part Negro to test her love for him. He sincerely opens up to her often, but when she ultimately rejects him, he is crushed. She could have been the one to â€Å"save† him from his hatred of women and his hateful past. A contribution to their relationship is Joe’s distance from nature. He is far from nature, the natural representation of femininity (Brooks xvii), and he does not accept the natural processes of life. Thus, he gets frightened and frustrated and runs away. â€Å"In the notseeing and hardknowing as though in a cave he seemed to see a diminishing row of suavely shaped urns in moonlight, blanched. And not one was perfect. Each one was cracked and from each crack there issued some liquid, death-colored, and foul. He touched a tree, leaning his propped arms against it, seeing the ranked and moonlight urns. He vomited† (Faulkner 208-9). These urns are a metaphor for women and femininity, in relation to Greek literature and the Bible (Bleikasten 286). Their cracked state and oozing liquid represents that Bobbie is no longer alluring and it shows Joe’s perception of women and how he expects them to be perfect, when he subconsciously knows that they are not. The feminine atmosphere has caused him to vomit, as he is disgusted by Bobbie and the natural processes of life. Furthermore, there is probably the most influential female role in the novel, Miss Joanna Burden. Miss Burden is Joe’s strongest lover emotionally. Again, he is attracted to her masculine qualities, not only physically, but personality-wise. During her first encounter with Joe, she takes her rape â€Å"like a man† and does not struggle or put emotion into it. She is predictable and follows a routine, much like a man, which Joe admires. Burden’s struggling betrays â€Å"no feminine vacillation, no coyness of obvious desire and intention to succumb at last. It was as if he struggled physically with another man for an object of no actual value to either, and for which they struggled on principle alone. † Also, she is a social outcast and is a pariah from the community, sharing a man’s alienation, much like Joe Christmas (Brooks xvi). In Burden, Joe could have stability to support his shaky lifestyle and troublesome past. However, their relationship is ruined because they both believe the only way it can end is in murder. Hence, Joe must kill Joanna in self-defense, fear, and love. This is the end of Joe’s amorous relationships for the rest of his life. Furthermore, Joe has been impacted by a woman who was not even there throughout the course of his life. His mother, Millie, influenced his heritage by having relations with his father. This determines his entire struggle for identity and the issues with his race in the novel and his complete lifetime. In addition, her absence as he grows up gives him no maternal love or comfort as a young child. Perhaps if she had shown him that he could have healthy relationships with women, he could see that many females can be beautiful and trustworthy people. Overall, Joe’s misogynistic attitude has been shaped by years of emotional abuse and love lost. His absence of a maternal figure when he was young and the abandonment of Alice, the only person he ever truly trusted and went to for comfort, taught him that women were unpredictable. His amorous relationships with Bobbie and Joanna taught him that, while a woman may appear attractive with masculine and predictable qualities, she is ultimately still a woman, and, therefore, untrustworthy and weak. All of these elements combine Joe and who he is, his outlooks of life, and the course his life takes.

Harun Al-Rashid Abbasid Caliph Profile

Harun Al-Rashid Abbasid Caliph Profile Harun Al-Rashid Was Also Known As Haroun ar-Rashid, Harun al-Raschid or Haroon al Rasheed Harun Al-Rashid Was Known For Creating a fabulous court at Baghdad that would be immortalized in The Thousand and One Nights. Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid caliph. Occupations Caliph Places of Residence and Influence Asia: Arabia Important Dates Became caliph: Sept. 14, 786 Died: March 24, 809 About Harun al-Rashid Born to the caliph al-Mahdi and the former slave-girl al-Khayzuran, Harun was raised at court and received the bulk of his education from Yahya the Barmakid, who was a loyal supporter of Haruns mother. Before he was out of his teens, Harun was made the nominal leader of several expeditions against the Eastern Roman Empire; his success (or, more accurately, the success of his generals) resulted in his earning the title al-Rashid, which means the one following the right path or upright or just. He was also appointed governor of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia, which Yahya administered for him, and named second in line to the throne (after his older brother, al-Hadi). Al-Mahdi died in 785 and al-Hadi died mysteriously in 786 (it was rumored that al-Khayzuran arranged his death), and Harun became caliph in September of that year. He appointed as his vizier Yahya, who installed a cadre of Barmakids as administrators. Al-Khayzuran had considerable influence over her son until her death in 803, and the Barmakids effectively ran the empire for Harun. Regional dynasties were given semi-autonomous status in return for considerable annual payments, which enriched Harun financially but weakened the power of the caliphs. He also divided his empire between his sons al-Amin and al-Mamun, who would go to war after Haruns death. Harun was a great patron of art and learning, and is best known for the unsurpassed splendor of his court and lifestyle. Some of the stories, perhaps the earliest, of The Thousand and One Nights were inspired by the glittering Baghdad court, and King Shahryar (whose wife, Scheherazade, tells the tales) may have been based on Harun himself. More Harun al-Rashid Resources Iraq: Historical Setting Encyclopedia article on Abbasids Harun al-Rashid on the Web Harun al-RashidInformative collection of data at NNDB. Harun al-Rashid (786-809)Brief overview of Haruns life at the Jewish Virtual Library. Harun ar-RashidConcise bio at Infoplease. Harun al-Rashid in Print The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the books page at one of the online merchants. Harun Al-Rashid and the World of a Thousand and One Nightsby Andre Clot Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the Abbasid Caliphate(Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)by Tayeb El-Hibri

What are the Romance Subgenres (And How to Pick One)

What are the Romance Subgenres (And How to Pick One) What are the Romance Subgenres? (And How to Pick One) You might think you know how a romance story goes. Boy meets girl. Boys fails girl. Boy gets girl. Seems simple enough, right?Not so fast. The landscape of romance is extremely rich and diverse, with many branches of subgenres and subcategories. And, though that elusive Happily Ever After is a staple in romance, how the couple gets there is a fascinatingly different story in each subgenre.This post will break all of the romance subgenres down for you - and give you some extra tips on how to find the one that’s the perfect match for you as a writer. So if you’re ready to see all of the various ways that the course of true love doesn’t run smoothly, let’s begin. Everything you wanted to know about romance subgenres - and more! Then all that’s left is to put pen to paper and get started creating your Happily Ever Afters! Good luck, and remember: love will make the world (and the genre) go round and round.Do you have a favorite subgenre of romance - and if so, what is it? Tell us in the comments below!

The Role of the Mother Tongue in Second Language Learning Essay

The Role of the Mother Tongue in Second Language Learning - Essay Example The impact of the first language on the second language can bring problems especially in intercultural communication where the speakers use a lingua franca such as English or another language, hence causing misunderstandings and problems in communication. This research argues that contemporary linguistic theory demonstrates that primary language interference necessitates that second language instructor increasingly explore bilingual instructional strategies for teaching second language acquisition. The second language is any language that a person learns in addition to his/her first language. The term can also be used to refer to learning a third, fourth and subsequent languages. Second language acquisition is, therefore, the process by which people or learners study that language. The majority of linguists agree that errors made by second language learners originate from the speech of their first language. This occurs as a result of the influence of language transfer from the first language. The errors are mostly lexical or phonological. Still, the traditional approach to second language instruction has rigidly kept first and second languages rigidly separate. While instruction methods may be appropriate to keep a separate area for each language, linguistic theory demonstrates that bilingual instruction strategies are necessary. Rather than language learning existing in a vacuum, the learners’ mother tongue influences the way the second language vocabulary is learned and recalled for use. Learners at their disposal compensate their lack of knowledge by constructing difficult lexical items that are characterized by errors emanating from their first language. How the mother tongue helps or hinders learning is dependent on language distance, that is, the learners’ knowledge of the second language. Of course, there are also external aspects to language acquisition. Breen (135) and Prabhu (158) note that language is a social phenomenon. Most people seek to learn a language  to dialogue with the target language speakers and participate in their institutions.

Ocean Life and the Impact Of Humans. An overview of the Gulf of Mexico Research Paper

Ocean Life and the Impact Of Humans. An overview of the Gulf of Mexico - Research Paper Example However, due to the crucial economic importance of aquatic resources, there has been an upsurge of human activities including tourism, mining, fishing and other industries in these habitats. These human activities have regrettably diminished ocean life through unsustainable practices such as overexploitation of the resources and introduction of pollutants. This paper explores ocean life in the Gulf of Mexico, with special focus on the effects of human activities on the diversity and conservation measures in the region. An overview of the Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most important oceanic habitats in Northern America and has one of the richest aquatic diversity in the world. In addition, it has rich reserves of petroleum deposits making it one of the biggest oil producing regions in the world. The rich ecological diversity offers numerous social and economic opportunities, including tourism, navigation, recreation and mining of petroleum and gas that contribute sig nificantly to the gross domestic product of the United States and Mexico. The entire Mexican gulf covers an area of about 600,000 squares miles, extending from the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico to Florida Keys in the United States (Weber, Townsend and Bierce, 1992). A recent biological survey of the biodiversity in the Gulf of Mexico undertaken by GMP (2010) recorded 15,419 species that belong to 40 phyla. The marine life ranges from single cellular organisms to plants, seaweeds and fungi, in addition to a wide variety of vertebrate and invertebrates animals. The rich biodiversity is distributed across three major habitats, including the shoreline or the coast, the shallow sea and the open or deep ocean. The coastal region consists of important habitats, including beaches, sand dunes, estuaries, mangrove swamps, salt marshes and tidal flats. The gulf of Mexico coastline offers a wide range of aquatic plants including the mangrove, diverse varieties of plants and algae including turtle , manatee, shoal and widgeon grasses in addition to sargassum sea weeds. The coastline forms an important habitat for aquatic near shore animals, including corals, sea turtles, dolphins and various species of whales, fish and sharks (GMP, 2010). NOAA (2006) classifies species of animals found in the Gulf of Mexico according to the water depths that they mostly occur. From this classification, there are near shore and offshore animals. The habitat of near shore animals ranges from the estuarine waters to the edge of continental shelf and it covers a distance of less than 200 meters from the shelf edge. Offshore animals occupy deep waters that lie beyond 200 meters from the continental shelf. However, this animal distribution varies depending on the seasons because of migration between these areas for various reasons including reproduction and depending on food availability, water temperatures and strength of ocean currents (NOAA, 2006). The aquatic plants and animals in the Gulf of M exico have established important biological relationships in the ecosystem. Aquatic plants and algae are the primary food producers in the marine ecosystem providing sustenance for a wide variety of marine animals (Allan and David 2007). For instance, turtle grass in the Gulf of Mexico is common source of food to sea turtles. Through photosynthesis, the aquatic plants and algae produces oxygen that dissolves in water. The dissolved oxygen is used for respiration by the wide diversity aquatic animals in the gulf. In addition, anaerobic bacteria use the dissolved oxygen in the decomposition of organic matter in the water bodies. Similarly, aquatic animals provide the plants with carbon dioxide as a by-product of respiration

Discussion board Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Discussion board - Assignment Example By so doing, most employees will work towards ensuring that the organization achieves their goals, and they get paid adequately because there will be job satisfaction as the payment plans are equal among all employees. The fair distribution of merit pay and other incentives makes the employees feel appreciated in the organization because the employer does not allow bias when it comes to compensating employees. In addition, the employer may come up with a payment plan where they can invest in the strong workers, to ensure that the poor workers work towards getting to where the strong workers are or have achieved. Additionally, it is a means of cultivating the stronger skills in the country to ensure that this workers stay in the organization and use their skills adequately in the organization. It is important for the organization to come up with a way to gather data to ensure that pay-for –performance is equitable and does not amount to favoring one group. The kind of data that is required include the objectives of every employee in the organization. This is because the employee’s objectives indicate whether the employee has similar goals as those of the organization. Secondly, the organization requires establishing the performance of the employees by conducting performance appraisals to establish, which employees are using their skills for the benefit of the organization. This is because having another perspective from other employees gives the employer an idea of the strengths and weakness of the employee (Heneman, 2002). The other form of data that can be used by the organization to establish pay for performance is to view the employee’s files and establish their commitment to the organization. By so doing, the employee sees the progress of the emp loyees and establishes areas where they should invest in relation to talent. Linking pay to objective criteria would

Government and Media in Cuba Essay Example for Free

Government and Media in Cuba Essay In between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean lies the island of Cuba. It is a small island with a total land area of 110,860 square km, yet it is so powerful enough to catch the attention of United States and to strengthen its security measures. The country was first ruled by the Spanish government and its history was marked by revolutions and uprising. Finally, in 1902, through the intervention of the US government, Cuba achieved its independence from the Spanish rule. However, the proclamation of independence did not end the uprising and rebellious activities because the country was not freed from leadership of corruption and military-rule. The real independence, as recognized and celebrated by Cubans, was achieved when Fidel Castro took office. Fidel Castro was the leader of rebel army that has been fighting the corrupt government and established a communist form of government. At present, Cuba is under the rule of Castro and the state remains to be a communist government having three branches namely; the chief of state, legislative and judiciary. General Raul Castro currently holds the chief of state which is comprised of Council of State and Council of Ministers (â€Å"The World Factbook†). On the economic aspect, the embargo that has been imposed upon the country has not yet been lifted. Currently, Venezuela is the main partner of the country and the main source of its petroleum needs. The living standard also remained low as a result of the embargo and discontinuance of foreign aids from several countries (â€Å"The World Factbook†). However, it has agricultural, trading, industrial and manufacturing enterprises where it sources out its economic and financial needs. As of July of the present year, the country is occupied by an estimate of 11,451,652 people having different racial descent including Africans, Spanish, Westerns and Asians (â€Å"The World Factbook†). Despite changes that have been introduced in the country, there are still issues that have been bothering the nation and even its citizens. Through its communist form of government, many activities were hardly exercised by the citizens because of government suppression. The most suppressed and monitored activity is the expression of ones thoughts and ideas. The right to express ones self is being curtailed by the government especially when it contains ideas that are against the government. The role of media is to protect the government as it is founded only to voice out words that the government desires to hear. In contrary to the role played by media in many countries, the Cuban media does not serve as the voice and protector of the people from the government but as an ally of the state. The treatment of the media people is also despicable in the eyes of the international community and of the journalists themselves. Hence, this paper will present the relationship of the media and government as well as the role it plays in the country. Concomitant to that is the life of journalists under the communist government of Cuba. Role of Media Media has been recognized as indispensable tool in communication. Mass media, as defined, is â€Å"the technological means of sending information, ideas, opinion, etc. through the mass communication device to a diverse audience† (â€Å"Impact of Media on Culture†). Various means used by mass media in transmitting information effectively and swiftly includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and internet. Notably, internet has been the most preferred and ideal means of mass media because of its ability of reaching a wider audience and is laxly monitored. In addition, internet is most preferred because it does not require profession to enable any individual to express his or her ideas. Among other nations, mass media is recognized as the fourth department of the government because of the role it plays in the political and social aspect. The mass media usually fills in the gap between the government and the people. It voices out the sentiments or thoughts of the people to the government while it also brings to the people the sentiments and plans of the government for the country. In some instances, mass media becomes a watchdog against government abuses and activities that are definitely out of reason. Furthermore, mass media has continually become the source of information about things, persons, places, and events, among others. Due to the indispensable role of mass media in the society, it need to be free and not controlled by any person or agency nor can be regulated by the government. Instead, it should be free in order to properly carry out its objective. Apart from that, it should not be controlled to ensure its impartiality and neutral role. Historical Background of Media in Cuba The epoch of mass media in Cuba can be traced back during the Spanish regime. The history also of the country’s press has undergone five periods (Browning). The Colonial period which stated from 1723 to 1868 is recognized as the first period. During that period, the first newspaper entitled Gazeta de la Habana was released in 1782 and become the nation’s publication (Browning). In 1790, the newspaper was followed by the very first magazine entitled Papel Periodico de la Habana (Browning). Both were regulated by the Spanish government but enjoyed less restriction because of the French Revolution affecting the government power of Spain over Cuba. The second period began in 1869 when Independence was first craved for and ended in 1902. The period is also called the Independence Revolution (Browning). During that period, press was given full freedom purposely to win the support of the reformists. Eventually periodicals containing ideas about reform began to evolve which includes El Cubano Libre, Estrella Solitaria, El Mambi, and El Boletin de la Guerra (Browning). Notably, during the second period, more revolutionaries were inspired to fight for their independence through the influence of Jose Marti who writes in several newspapers such as Patria, La Nacion, and New York Sun (Browning). The second period was marked by independent exercise of expression through publications that is direct, immediate and constant (Browning). The third period started when called the Republican period which started from 1902 and ended in 1930. The third period was ruled under the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado (Browning). During his era, freedom of expression was enjoyed by journalists. Newspapers, publications and other dailies thrived in the city of Cuba, Havana. This period was also marked by prosperity because political parties sponsored lots of publications and added to the benefit of the country’s economy. However, the exercise of the freedom was shaken by the plan of Machado to assimilate and provide government subsidies in exchange for support in 1928 (Browning). The following years was marked by economic downturn and political unrest that further led to the end of freedom enjoyed by the Cuban journalists. The fourth period started after Machado was overthrown in 1930 until 1959 (Browning). For 29 years, Batista ruled the nation. During the reign of Batista, the freedom of expression was experiencing threat of extinction. Though, technological innovations in journalism were introduced in the country. Among these includes increased commercial sophistication and steam-powered printing presses (Browning). However, at the latter part of Batista’s reign, the freedom of expression has finally faded because the government took control of the press. The fifth period started when Batista was overthrown by the communist group led by Castro in 1959 and continues at the present era (Browning). Since the beginning of Castro era, the freedom of expression was already curtailed. Eventually, the press and media were finally controlled by the government and journalists were not given freedom to voice out their thoughts against the government. The government’s strict control over media started in 1930. No independent journalists were freed to release publications which have the effect of criticizing the government. During that period, journalists tried to oppose the move of the government but to no avail. Finally, in 1990’s through the introduction of Internet, independent journalists have found new medium to castigate the government’s control of information (Browning). However, the media, private and public, are still under the control of the government. Information dissemination is still suffering strict regulation. Independent journalists also continue to struggle and risk their lives for an independent journalism. It can be observed that since the evolution of media, the government already held control of it. The changes in phases under several governments have made media limited and restricted. Some of the actions that the government had done in curtailing free press and flow of information were censorship and closure of newspapers (Browning). Until now, the freedom of information remains evasive and independence of journalists is still obscure to be enjoyed. Current Status of Media in Cuba In Art. 53 of the 1976 Cuban constitution, freedom of press and expression have been explicitly stated. However, such freedom is subjected to limitations as contained in Art. 62 Art. 5, further, contains that all communication should be controlled by the Communist Party for the benefit of the country (Browning). As an effect, information was regulated and controlled by the government. Journalists were also restrained from publicizing without the knowledge of the state. Apart from that, journalists were arbitrarily imprisoned for exercising their freedom of expression. Mass media in Cuba is definitely not free. In the field of print media, the nation maintains three newspapers which are fully regulated by the government. These nation’s newspapers are Granma, Juventud Rebelde and Trabajadores (Browning). Granma is the official publication of the Communist Party which was founded in 1965 (Browning). Juventud Rebelde usually contains the same youth-oriented stories covered in Granma but in simplified and summarized manner. The Trabajadores, on the other hand, is more politically inclined publication as it contains Marxist principles (Browning). Notably, Granma’s circulation has widened in some other parts of the world through the power of internet. The website is called Digital Granma Internacional (Browning). It is also noteworthy that during the recognition of the press, the Union de Periodistas de Cuba (Union of Cuban Journalists) was founded in July 15, 1963 (Browning). It is a nongovernment organization which engages the membership of professional journalists in order to work in distinguished media in the country. However, such organization has already been controlled by the government and its constitution also dictates that editorial line of journalists must follow that of government. On this era of technological innovations, independent journalists found internet as a means of voicing out their cries and redress against the Cuban government. However, the control of the government in curtailing unwanted information has also reached the World Wide Web and several independent journalists have been imprisoned for such exercise of expression. It is noteworthy that 21 journalists have been recorded to have been imprisoned after a closed-door trial (â€Å"Attacks on the Press in 2008†). Among the journalists that suffered the harshness of the state is Yoani Sanchez, 33-year old blogger (â€Å"Attacks on the Press in 2008†). Sanchez, at first, found freedom through her blog called Generation Y which contained observations about hurricane devastation, politically motivated arrest, and food shortages (â€Å"Attacks on the Press in 2008†). Her blog has been read abroad but has also been made known by the government. Thereafter, her passport was confiscated and was not allowed to leave the country. Today, state authorities has started to regulate internet cafes to track down individuals with the purpose of publishing dissent against the government through internet. Another independent journalist that has experienced the government’s cruelty is Victor Rolando Arroyo (â€Å"Cuban Journalist in Second Week of Hunger Strike†). Arroyo, who writes in Union de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba, was arrested during the fight for independence press in March 2003 (â€Å"Cuban Journalist in Second Week of Hunger Strike†). He caught the world’s attention when he took hunger strike for almost two weeks because of the maltreatment and indecent treatment of prisoners like him.

The Rural Way of Life in The River Warren :: warren

The Rural Way of Life in The River Warren Anyone who has taken a trip across the midwestern states has seen a different way of life. The River Warren gave the readers a sense of this rural way of life around the Two-Speed semi crash. Corn, wheat, and other agricultural products can be seen for miles and miles in all directions. As you drive through, you can see farmers hard at work, combines, tractors, and bailers all working at full speed, sun up to sun down. It doesn't take long too see how much these farms must work in order to survive. Why must these farmers devote so much of their lives to the profession? The answer to this question can become very complicated. When one sells any product, economics is the dominant factor with regards to price and the quantity of one's particular product. Many external factors play a huge role in the supply and demand of farm products. The focus of this paper is to explore some of the factors that make farming such a hard, volatile business. In the book, the Gruber family is a good example of a small farming family. Leo is the head of the household and, therefore, spends all or most of his time working on the farm. Jeff Gruber, Leo's son, speaks of his father's work in one passage. Leo stated his father's "capacity for work grated on him (76)." This family was always forced to work. At night, the tractor-trailer would come to load cattle. Jeff stated the days were full of "plowing, discing, harrowing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, and feeding the cattle (76)." Growing up in this setting meant work at a young age for the children. Jeff and his younger brother, Chris, are not exceptions. In the story, Chris is killed in a farming accident. Chris's youth and his inexperience with farm equipment were outweighed by the needs of the farm. Unfortunately, this kind of tragedy happens in real life as well. The book describes this way of life in many sections but never answered why life was like this. Why this muc h work was need was never answered. Now we will explore this question. First thing we need to look at are some of the external factors that apply to the family farm.

Report to the Management of Wilson, Tan & Associates

Introduction This report provides an evaluation of the performance of the performance of two U.K companies that operate in the fashion industry with the objective of identifying a suitable takeover target for Wilson & Tan Associates. The report covers the financial performance of the two companies based interpreted in the context of the business environment in which they operate. The two companies included in the report include Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Plc. The analysis is based on the group statement of financial position as at 2011 and 2010 and the group income statement for the years ending 2010 and 2011. The rest of the report is organised as follows: section 2 focuses on analysing the financial performance of both companies in relation to their industry and economic environment; and section 3 provides conclusions and recommendations on which company to take over. Analysis of the Performance of Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Plc Appendix 1 contains the ratios of both companies over the period 2010 and 2011. The ratios cover a variety of areas including profitability, liquidity, management efficiency and long-term solvency.ProfitabilityThe ability of a company to generate a return on invested capital is a critical factor in determining the value of the company. Profitability serves as a measure of the competitive position of a company as well as the quality of the management (Penman, 2007; Robinson et al., 2009). It can be observed from appendix 1 that overall profitability of Mulberry Plc is better than that of Supergroup Plc. Supergroup Plc realised a gross profit margin of 55.82% in 2011 up by 6% from its 2010 figure of 52.58%. Despite this high ratio, that of Mulberry Plc was high. The company realised a gross profit margin of 65.4% in 2011 up 11% from its 2010 figure of 59.0%. The operating profit margin of Supergroup Plc was higher than that of Mulberry Plc for both 2011 and 201. However, Mulberry Plc r ealised a greater improvement in the operating profit margin from 2010 to 2011. If the company continues with this spirit it will soon outperform Supergroup Plc. In terms of the net profit margin, return on assets, and return on equity, Mulberry Plc outperformed Supergroup Plc. In addition, Mulberry Plc witnessed a significant improvement in these ratios from 2010 to 2011 while Supergroup Plc witnessed a significant decline in these ratios over the same period. With respect to profitability, both companies appear to be profitable. However, the performance of Mulberry Plc surpasses that of Supergroup Plc. The high profitability observed for these two companies can be attributed to positive developments in the fashion industry. Despite the poor economic climate, the U.K fashion industry is experiencing a growth in revenue. The U.K remains a major manufacturer of clothing and high quality fabrics. The combined textile and clothing industry in the U.K is valued at ?8.5billion worth of goods. Retail sales in the fashion industry in 2009 were approximately ?285billion. Export sales amounted to approximately ?7.3billion at manufacturer’s prices with the U.S.A, Japan, Russia, France, Italy the Middle East, Hong Kong and China being major export destinations (Fashion United, 2011). Rising trends in both export and domestic sales explain why companies in the industry are experiencing increasing profit margins and return on investment as indicated by the ratios of Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Group Plc.LiquidityLiquidity measures a firm’s ability to meet its current financial oblig ations. It is a measure of how well the firm can pay its short-term creditors with its current assets without having to liquidate its non-current assets. In order words, liquidity measures how quickly the company converts assets into cash (Myers and Brealey, 2002; Penman, 2007). Appendix 1 also presents liquidity ratios for Supergroup Plc and Mulberry Plc. It can be observed that Supergroup Plc has a better liquidity position than Mulberry Plc. Supergroup Plc had a current ratio of 2.81 in 2011 up 1% from 2.79 in 2010. On the contrary, Mulberry Plc had a current ratio of 1.62 in 2011 down 24% from 2010. The quick ratio of Supergroup Plc was 1.59 in 2011 down 17% from 1.91 in 2010 compared to a quick ratio of 0.97 for Mulberry plc in 2011 down 34% from 1.48 in 2010. Considering only the current and quick ratios, it can be observed that Supergroup plc can meet its current liabilities with its current assets better than Mulberry plc can do. The cash ratio for both companies in 2011 was less than 1.0 suggesting that cash and cash equivalents are not enough to meet current liabilities. This means that if both companies suffer a write-down in the value of inventory or an increase in bad debts, they would be unable to meet their current liabilities with their current base of cash and cash equivalents. Overall, the liquidity position for both companies is declining although Supergroup Plc appears to be doing better than Mulberry Plc. The deteriorating liquidity for both companies can be attributed to the current economic climate. Bank lending has declined significantly as a result of the global financial crisis. Arranging an overdraft facility has become more difficult compared to what use to be the case before the global financial crisis. Declining liquidity too can be as a result of the constant change in the fashion industry. Clothing inventory becomes obsolete too quickly. This suggests slow moving inventory can result to liquidity constraints for companies that operate in the fashion industry.Management EfficiencyEfficiency ratios are aimed at understanding how well a company manages its activities especially how it efficiently manages its assets. Appendix 1 illustrates a number of efficiency ratios for Supergoup Plc and Mulberry Plc. The inventory turnover of Supergroup plc declined from by 36% from 3.13times in 2010 to 2.01times in 2011. Supergroup is able to turnover more inventory than Mulberry plc who s aw a decline in inventory turnover by 42% from 3.25times in 2010 to 1.88 times in 2011. The decline in the number of times that inventory is turned over led to an increase in the number of days that inventory is outstanding by 56% from 117 days in 2010 to 182days in 2011 for Supergroup Plc and by 73 % from 112 days in 2010 to 194 days in 2011 for Mulberry Plc. This decline in inventory turnover for both companies helps to explain why the liquidity ratios declined. Both companies have increased the number of days that inventory is held thus increasing the probability that inventory may become obsolete and thus result to a deterioration in its value. As far as inventory turnover is concerned, the management of Supergroup Plc is more efficient. The receivables turnover of Mulberry Plc however, is better than that of Supergroup Plc. Mulberry Plc is able to collect its outstanding receivables faster than Supergroup Plc can do. This is reflected in the lower number of days that its receiv ables remain outstanding compared to Mulberry Plc. The purchases turnover of Supergroup Plc is higher than that of Mulberry Plc. In addition, the number of days of payables of Supergroup Plc is higher than that of Mulberry Plc. This suggests that Mulberry Plc is either defaulting on its payments or has a higher bargaining power over its suppliers. The results for Supergroup Plc suggest that it either has a lower bargaining power or does not default on its short term debts. In terms of Payables turnover and receivables turnover, Mulberry Plc outperformed Supergroup plc indicating that the management of Mulberry plc is more efficient in managing its assets than Supergroup plc. Looking at the working capital, fixed asset, and total asset turnover, it can be observed that the performance of Mulberry Plc was better than that of Supergroup plc.Long-term SolvencyThe solvency ratios indicate that Mulberry Plc is in a better solvency position than Supergroup Plc. The company has no long-term debt which makes its debt-to-equity and debt-to-capital ratios equal to zero. Conclusions and Recommendations One can conclude from the above analysis that Mulberry Plc performed better than Supergroup plc over the 2 year period under investigation. While Supergroup plc appears to have a better liquidity position than Mulberry plc, Mulberry plc is more profitable, has a better management and is in a better solvency position than Supergroup Plc. Given its more efficient management, it can work on its liquidity position and improve in subsequent years. In the light of these findings, this report considers Mulberry Plc a better takeover target and thus recommends that the management of Wilson, Tan & Associates should consider placing a takeover bid for it. References Fashion United (2011) Facts and Figures in the UK fashion industry, available online at: http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/facts-and-figures-in-the-uk-fashion-industry, [accessed: 1st February 2012]. Myers, S. C. Brealey, R. A. (2002). Principles of Corporate Finance. 7th Edition McGraw-Hill. Penman, S. (2007) Financial Statements Analysis and Securities Valuation.3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill. Robinson, T. R., Greuning, J. H., Henry, E., Broihahn, M. A. (2009), â€Å"Financial Analysis Techniques† in Financial Reporting and Analysis, CFA Program Curriculum, vol. 3, Pearson Custom Publishing.