Monday, September 30, 2019

Balancing Work and Family

Balancing Work and Family Managing work and family life can become quite a challenge even for the best family managers. Some families are more likely to balance their work and family based on traditional roles. However, some families are more expected to divide their work in term of the modern family type. A lot of families have difficulties to handle and balance both work and family equally while they choose household chores as the first primary choice, so they will observe with less opportunity outside work.Both traditional and modern family types always have different perspectives on how to handle the challenges of balancing work and family life. The most important thing that a first couple in the interview believes is having good preparation, intentionality, and decision-making with high demands to support their children and family. A woman of first couple has traditional roles of taking care of the home and children, she would define her family as two or more people who share th eir kindness, share happy and sad moment together, share values, share their trusts, and share consideration and helpfulness.Based on some of the challenges that she encountered in balancing work and family early on in their relationship, both of them tend to work hard and seek for a stable income and career with high demands for managing the family. The most complex decision-making faced by the couple is when to become parents if this in their plans. When they decide to have children, she also decides to quit her job as her responsible to take care of the children and to complete the household chores while her husband tends to give stable financial and moral support.In contrast, the most significant key to creating and maintaining the right position between work and family for a second couple of the interview is to arrange and share their housework by negotiating equal division of labor in term of the modern family type. Moreover, one problem for her as a workingwoman is the prover bial second shift. She often finds herself working double time to perform other household chores in addition to working full-time outside home.However, her husband often gives some helps and he does not tend to follow the traditional roles. She also believes a family is defined as two or more people who share responsibility for decisions, share values and goals, and have commitment to one another over time. To balance their work and family for the future planning to have children, they would inquire more special considerations helped them arrive at decision with enough income and stable income. Condition of work also does not interfere much with taking care of the child.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Soviet Union and the United States

After WWII The Soviet Union and the United States had many different political ideologies particularly communism and capitalism. Capitalism is a belief that private property should be replaced by community ownership. Communism is opposed private ownership economies of the United States and its allies. Based on Document A, a document was first telegraphed to American officials in Washington on February 22, 1946 and it happened after WWII. In Document A the United States made the idea of containment.Containment is the idea of the Soviet Union and Soviet communism should not be allowed to spread. One idea of containment was the Berlin Airlift and the Berlin Blockade. The Berlin airlift went from June 27th 1948 to May 12th, 1949(Document B). Between these two dates Stalin and The Soviet Union decided to stop any shipments including food coming into West Berlin. What happened to West Berlin was that they were completely surrounded by communism and may have to surrender if it not been for the US and it allies.Then a year after on May 12th,1949 Stalin stopped the blockade ( Document B). This is a good demonstration of containment because it shows that Stalin failed with the blockade because he caused the West Berliners to quit and give up all they and had and turn to Communism. Another idea of containment was the United States answers to the Korean War. The war started on June 25th 1950 and ended on July 27th 1953( Doc C). What happened was the on June 25th, 1950 North Korea first invades South Korea ( Document C).North Korea was supported by Harry Truman and the Soviets and attacked South Korea which was supported by General Douglas MacArthur and help of the United Nations The war had caused 50,000 American death and 2 million of others. China decided to help North Korea because they lacked the logistical support to supply any further pressure to the south ( Document C). The Korean War shows Containment by keeping North Korea contained and communism did not work to s pread. The last demonstration of containment was the Cuban Missile Crisis.On January 1959 the country Cuba becomes communist under a guy named Fidel Castro. Three years after that on May 1962 the soviets secretly begin the shipping of 40,000 troops, 60 missiles and 158 nuclear warheads to Cuba. ( Document D). In response to this the Unites States announced a separation against ships carrying offensive weapons to Cuba. Then in April 1963 in a quiet agreement with the soviets United States removes the missiles from Turkey. This shows containment by the Cubans failing to use the soviets missiles against the US.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Addiction Is a Disease

Many people believe the misconception that an addiction is a moral problem and not a disease. To better understand the reasons why an additicition is in fact a disease; I will identify several types of addictions, and the problems associated with them. I will examine reasons why certain people are more susceptible for developing an addiction. Also, I will determine why many addicts deny their problems and many recovery methods addicts use to fight their illness. Researching these issues, will help aid my claim that addiction is a disease. Addictions can form from using mood altering drugs such as, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and caffeine, or behavioral processes as with gambling, eating, sex or shopping (Schwartz 21). Schwartz defines â€Å"An addiction, as is any process over which people are powerless, which leads them into behavior inconsistent with personal values, and which they are unwilling to give up, often at the expense of work, relationships or family. †(21) Behavioral processes, such as gambling, provide the brain with a sense of gratification, while ignoring the resulting consequences (Henderson 154). Psychologists compared the conditioning effects produced by a slot machine with similar conditioning experiments on animals. A slot machine may dispense a reward at unexpected times but a person will continue to use the machine even though a reward is not guaranteed. Animals that performed certain behaviors were given a reward at unforeseen intervals. Although, they were not always given a reward they continued the behavior in the lure of possibly receiving a reward. This test demonstrates that a specific behavioral response can be instilled into the brain, regardless of the subsequent outcome. Activities like gambling arouse the pleasure center of the brain by releasing dopamine (Friedman 29). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that recognizes feelings of pleasure. The abundance of dopamine results in an over stimulation to the pleasure center of the brain, producing a euphoric effect and reinforces addicts to repeat the behavior. Cocaine, which is a stimulant, has been closely compared to gambling. It also stimulates the pleasure center of the brain. Without that stimulation, the withdrawal symptoms of cocaine are similar to those associated with gambling (Henderson 57). Cocaine and other mood altering drugs can release much more dopamine than natural experiences create (Friedman 169). When your mind indulges in a reward, it is not concerned whether it originates from a substance or an experience. Occasional use of drugs, alcohol and indulgent behaviors does not necessarily lead to addiction. It is important to understand underlying factors that may contribute to addiction. Psychiatric disorders, social factors and agent factors are just a few contributors to developing addictions (Henderson 122). Psychiatric disorders often coincide with addiction, which is often referred to as a â€Å"dual diagnosis†. Individuals with a psychiatric disorder such as depression or anxiety may be more prone to developing addiction problems. A survey referred to as Epidemiological Catchment Area or EPA was conducted to examine psychiatric disorders and how it correlates to addiction problems (Henderson 136). Households from several varying geographical locations participated and the results indicated individuals with psychiatric disorders were more likely to develop an addiction. Many addicts claim their addiction was the result of trying to self-medicate a psychiatric disorder. It is often difficult to determine if the psychiatric symptoms were present before the chemical addiction (Thombs 230). Results from the EPA study also concluded that a person with a substance addiction is at a higher risk of developing a psychiatric disorder (Henderson). Many people use alcohol or substances in social situations. Some individuals believe the use of a substance, such as alcohol, may sometimes improve social bonds (Coombs 232). They feel that being able to share the â€Å"intoxicated feeling† with someone else helps make communication easier. The difference between recreational use and addiction occurs when people need alcohol/drugs in order to socialize (Henderson 24). The addict may associate the substance with positive social experiences, â€Å"I finally felt like I could fit in and socialize. † (24) Another contributor to developing addiction is the agent factors; this is the likelihood that a particular substance will be abused. Some substances are less likely to be abused, and may not be as addictive as others. Agent factors also take into consideration how the substance enters the body (Henderson 19). For example, if a substance is taken orally, the drug is usually less addictive than a drug that is injected into the vein. An inhaled substance can be more addictive than both oral and injected forms. The chosen method of use pertains to how quickly a drug reaches the brain. An inhaled substance can reach the brain in seconds, where as an injected substance will travel around the bloodstream, taking a much longer time to reach the brain. When we look at these three factors, psychiatric, social and agent, we discover that a person’s morality is not the reason individuals are becoming addicted. The underlying factors that lead to addictions are much more complex. â€Å"Denial is a psychological defense mechanism that is found almost universally in people with addiction† (Henderson 2). Many addicts ignore detrimental consequences in order to continue using substances, or remain engaged in addictive behavioral processes. An addict may often not be able to admit they have problems, even to themselves (Berman and Siegel 57). Even when an addict is confronted by others about their addiction, the addict still fails to recognize their problem. Often an addiction may cause a person to blame their problems on someone else in an effort to divert attention away from their addiction. Custer and Milt demonstrate the power of denial by using the example of a smoker’s attitude towards smoking (123). A smoker is aware of the damaging effects of smoking and that it can cause heart disease, lung cancer and other severe health conditions. Research provides a vast amount of conclusive evidence supporting the negative consequences of smoking. A smoker’s addiction can be so strong that they choose to ignore the reality that they are exposing themselves to harmful conditions that could result in illness or death. They decide to ignore the research composed of the undisputable adverse consequences of smoking and tune out all negative information pertaining to smoking. They come up with an array of explanations as to why they should not quit smoking. Since denial is a defense mechanism imbedded in the brain, it is often difficult to admit that there is a problem. Helping addicts acknowledge their addiction is often difficult. There are several recovery methods that can be used to help overcome addiction. A few things that can help in the recovery process are medication, treatment centers, and support groups. Depending on the specific addiction, a variety of medications can be used to help alleviate withdrawal symptoms. After the initial detoxification, anxiety or depression may persist, and an antidepressant may be prescribed to treat these symptoms (Henderson 121). Frequently, non habit forming medications such as Prozac, Tofranil or Perakote may be given to soothe the recovering addict. Medications can be used to prevent relapses, to block opiate/nicotine receptors and can help the recovery process. Treatment centers can be beneficial in several aspects. They can provide medical and psychiatric assistance. Also, they can provide a structured plan for recovery with strict guidelines. Treatment centers can introduce an addict to the twelve step program, aid in preventing relapse, and can act as a gateway to support groups. Although many people may believe addiction is a moral problem the research presented in this paper disputes that argument. Instead it most commonly is a disease that originates from psychiatric disorders, social factors and agent factors. Addiction is a disease like any other disease. Although it is not always possible to predict who the disease will affect, there are shared factors that make certain people more susceptible to the disease.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Family Counseling and Gender Differences Assignment

Family Counseling and Gender Differences - Assignment Example The gender difference is important in the family to be able to have dynamics in the interaction and the roles being played. One experience that exhibited the importance of gender roles and gender differences in the family is having different perspectives in decision making. The mother can offer a different view from the father, thus as an offspring, I can make decisions wisely. II. Homeostasis in the Family Homeostasis means stability within the family, thus, it defines the different processes and actions undertaken by the members of the family to achieve this state. There are different instances when this had occurred in the family. One example is when one of my parents needed to work far from home. The habit of seeing and having my father at home to ask advice from became one of the deprivations when he worked in a place far from home. Adjustments to such situation and achievement of homeostasis can be considered as long and tiring journey (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.84; Wo rden, 2002, p.3) III. Marital Skew, Marital Schism, and Emotional Divorce There are different situations in the life of the family that can affect each member. Examples of these situations can be classified to marital schism, marital skew, and emotional divorce. Marital schism can be defined as the failure of the parent to fulfill his or her role in the family due to preoccupation in his or her own problems, e.g. work, which can ultimately result to the undermining of the role of the other parent in the eyes of the children. This can negatively affect the family relationship and dynamics (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.104). Marital skew is the situation wherein problems and stress are encountered in the family but not enough to threaten the marriage. One of the main examples that define the concept is having one psychotic parent who is continuously dependent and weak. One negative effect of such a situation is the development of denials and distortions in the reality being view ed by the children just to cope with the situation (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.105) Emotional divorce or emotional distance is a stage in the relationship of parents in the family which occurs between the periods of over closeness and over distance. It is similar to the situation within the family experiencing marital skew. This leads to the situation when the distance between the two parents balances out and stabilizes to the point where there is the least amount of anxiety in their relationship and w0ithin the family (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.105-6) IV. Symptomatic Family member A symptomatic behavior of an identified patient includes motives of improving family relationships by expressing that the conflict is caused by other family members. This is expected behavior, thus, the main method of intervention is talking to the whole family and then to each member of the family to fix any conflict. The main target is to let the patient feel at ease first prior to the intervention that can help the symptomatic member of the family (Goldenberg and Goldenderg, 2008, p.20; Worden, 2002, p.3). Thus, when this happens, other members of the family should cooperate and prevent from making negative reactions toward the intervention to be able to help a family member in need.  

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Developing a Close-Out Plan in Procurement Management Plan Research Paper

Developing a Close-Out Plan in Procurement Management Plan - Research Paper Example This calls in the legal advice from either the corporate legal counsel or an outside lawyer. This is a matter of withdrawing from the provisions of the outsourced contract. Usually the terms and processes for terminating a contract before time are spelled out in the initial contract. This section of the contract is called the termination clause. This clause is there for the protection of both the buyer and the seller, since termination before time can severely damage the interests of either party. Most procurement contracts usually require that the party who wants to terminate the contract before time must notify the other party within a reasonable amount of time, failure to which can result in severe financial penalties for that party. Another aspect of termination clause is the substitute provider. The party who wants to forfeit being part of the legal contract will have to find an alternative provider for the other party if it wants to get out of the contractual relationship. Such provisions and contingencies depend on the parties to the contract. There is no hard and fast rule to this as both parties make the rules themselves of earlier termination in the initial contract (Beyond the Information Systems Outsourcing Bandwagon, 2005). If a contract has a written provision that any modification or termination by agreement should be in written form, then any termination or modification cannot be made effective otherwise. But as stated earlier, this agreement is made by the parties to the contract and termination or modification can be made possible and legally effective orally, in written form, by an act, by staying silent or by inaction, if the initial contract contains such a provision (Viscassilas, 2006). Categorizing the differences in termination of contracts There are three general scenarios in which one party feel the urge and have legal approval to end the contract; Scenario A: Termination for Cause or Default (Seller’s Gaffe) This is a classic f ault from the seller’s side in which the buyer is not satisfied by the quality of the products or the delivery timings. In brief, the seller doesn’t fulfill his contractual obligations in the way he is bound to fulfill them. ‘Failure without legal excuse’ is the key term here that defines the seller’s breach. Seller fails to complete his critical obligations and the buyer is fully defensible in terminating the contracting immediately. Breach from the seller’s side should be ‘material’, which means that the damage to the buyer must be significant enough to give him the legitimate excuse to lay off the contract. Scenario B: Closure for the Suitability (of the Buying side) This tort is inspired by the Federal Acquisition Law which states that the federal government reserves the right to end the procurement contract for its convenience. Many other governmental agencies have followed this law since and have acquired the same legal pos ition in their procurement contracts. These governmental agencies can end the contract if and when they see fitting. These governmental bodies represent state, county and local and many industries are following this legal trend. If the buyer terminates the contract before it is legally expired, he/she needs to notify the seller at a reasonable time so as to not hurt him financially. After sending the notice, both parties must come to the negotiation table to sort

Ottoman Empire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ottoman Empire - Essay Example The Empire was a strong force in the Middle East and it had extended its territories to all the sides. The Byzantine capital, Constantinople fell in the hands of the Ottoman ruler, Mehmed II thus making an end to the Roman Empire. After the fall of Roman Empire in 1453 the Ottoman Empire witnessed a fast extension to far and wide. In the 15th and 16th century the Empire was extended to Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was during the period of the emperor, Suleiman the Magnificent who ruled during the 16th century witnessed the golden age of the Empire. He had made use the agencies like military and government efficiently and further through magnificent administration of both economy and military he could capture many of the places on all sides of his boundary. The Ottoman Empire’s contribution to the world is immense in the fields of art and architect, military, economic measures and administrative reforms. It can be witnessed that the dominance of the Empire in the golden age tur ned to be a defect in the decline period. So, in the present essay, an attempt is made to analyze the areas as, government and administration, military strength and economic power of the Ottoman Empire in golden age and in decline period. ... The sultans ruled the empire by the help of the imperial council headed by the Prime Minister (New Challenges for Africa and the Islamic World 1450-1750, p.476). But, towards the 17th and 18th centuries political changes caused for the decline of the empire. â€Å"The practice of raising the ruler’s sons as indulged prisoners in the palace to prevent rebellions contributed to a long series of uninformed, inexperienced, and often debauched sultans and shahs† (Africa, Southwest Asia, and India in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, Ch.6 p.189-190). The emperor governed the country through different religious communities but these communities later became powerful and so the emperor’s control over them was weakened (Africa, Southwest Asia, and India in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, p.479). Moreover, the Ottoman state was not centralized and so the control of the imperial was difficult. All these factors of loose administration and changes contribut ed for its decline which came in the 18th century. Military Strength: Military strength was the once the major domain of the Ottoman Empire. Until 1600 the weapons used by the Ottomans were the supreme in Europe. â€Å"The Ottomans adopted gunpowder weapons, especially cannons, which were often built and operated by mercenary Hungarian Christians in Ottoman service† (New Challenges for Africa and the Islamic World 1450-1750, p.476). Until 1600 the weapons used by the Ottomans were the supreme in Europe. The navy of the Ottoman led by the Muslim refugees from Spain was very excellent (New Challenges for Africa and the Islamic World 1450-1750, p.476). The Ottoman military during its golden age was very

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Mobile Computing And Social Network Research Paper

Mobile Computing And Social Network - Research Paper Example Currently, mobile computing technology has profound impact on health care management. Recently, a number of devices have been developed to work with an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad for the purpose of recording patient’s health information including blood pressure, blood glucose levels, oxygen levels, and heart rate. This paper will discuss the impacts of mobile computing technology in the field of health care management. Mobile computing technology Vs traditional practices It is evident that vital signs are central components of patient care and they mainly include body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, respiratory rate, and other measurements. Today, all these vital signs can be recorded and tracked using mobile computing technology. In the recent past, patients were required to consult a physician or go to a clinical laboratory to check for these vital signs. Under this practice, physicians or sometimes nurses record the patient’s vital sig ns manually and document the signs on a piece of paper or store them in a mobile computer. Once the testing process ended, it would take a fairly long time to record the documented data on electronic charts using computers. As clinical practitioners usually point out, it is very difficult to take vital signs in some cases due to multiple reasons (‘Vital signs and measurements’). ... Currently, smart phones and broadband-enabled devices assist patients to monitor their own vital signs frequently and to upload the result to clinical servers of healthcare providers. According to, Fernandes, Afonso, and Simoes (n .d.), chances of errors are relatively less under this method. Using this technology, patients can easily make video conference calls and obtain instant health suggestions from medical providers. Experts suggest that this technology represents an effective approach to disease prevention and health care. Currently, hospitals also use mobile computing to provide patients with quality health care services. Advantages and disadvantages of using mobile computing technology The advantages of using mobile computing technology to monitor patients are countless. Firstly, this technology promotes the concept of preventive healthcare as it is characterized with frequent monitoring of vital signs, enhanced patient-doctor interactions, and enhanced information exchange. Another major advantage is that it makes healthcare accessible to even geographically remote patients who otherwise cannot obtain timely and improved healthcare services (Turisco & Case, 2001). Evidently, mobile computing increases the accuracy of patient records. Convenience of time is considered to be another notable benefit of application of mobile computing in healthcare. Since patients can monitor their vital signs from home using this technology, they need not to travel to hospitals frequently and can save their valuable time. Undoubtedly, this technology assists people to cut down healthcare costs including lab expenses and service charges. The mobile technology is helpful to identify various symptoms at the beginning stages so

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Biometrics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Biometrics - Assignment Example However the success of the method is still skeptical where network authentication is considered. Advantages There has been varied and large number of arguments in favor of adopting the biometric authentication for network access. Among them the most accepted argument is the uniqueness of biometric characteristics. This uniqueness of the biometric characteristic helps to make it an ideal candidate authenticating technology. There is no better way to authenticate an individual’s identity than verifying his inherent and unique attributes; at first his fingerprints. The use of fingerprints as system of identification can be traced back to the 1850s; evidence to this belief is the establishment of Scotland Yards Central Fingerprinting Bureau in 1901. Another view that supports the biometrics is that the principle of network security is least disputed. In this system, the individual cannot forget the password or transfer the password to somebody as it is a unique physical attribute. This may be the most driven argument that supports the biometric authentication technique. Again, the next argument in this phase is also regarding the security. It is not possible to duplicate a biometric feature of an individual during the data uploading stage or in the verification stage. In the traditional method of token system, the user ID and the password may be easily replicated, which is not possible at all in the biometric authenticating technology. These unique characteristics cannot be lost or stolen. Disadvantages In the same way, there are several arguments against the introduction of the particular technological advancement—biometric authentication technology. Though the cost for the implementation of the biometric technology is coming down, still it is too expensive. While implementing the system, it is not enough to acquire the hardware and the software, but they are to be linked with the current networking. The cost return ratio is very low in the technolog y even though it helps to reduce the administration overheads. Although many find biometric authentication systems to be very successful, they ignore the fact that the same authentication data can be misused in multiple applications. When the user inputs his biometric authentication data for his identity in a particular application, the same data can be used to authenticate that person in a different application. It is a threat to the person’s security over his properties. For an example, if a user authenticates himself with his biometric characteristics to get access to airlines, an unwanted person can gain access to the user’s bank account, car, etc with the same authentication data, which can be hacked from the network easily. Scientists say that these problems will be outsourced by the invention of further advanced systems. However, how far the technology goes, till there will be its disadvantages too. Besides, as Vaca (2007) points out, in the biometric authentica tion technology, first of all, the person who captures the raw biometric data must be trust worthy person, as they have the option of keeping the raw data with themselves. Ethical Issues The controversy of the technological advancement has put forward so many social and ethical impacts. The biometrical authentication systems raise many ethical issues regarding the concept of privacy. These issues are not the same

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Final self-seessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final self-seessment - Essay Example (paragraph 1)† The novelty of the four-year colleges have made so many people ignore the two-year colleges. Informed by this reason and bearing in mind that community level colleges are equally producing successful students, I sought to answer the aforementioned question in my essay. The second bit of developing my essay was coming up with an enthymeme. My enthymeme was basically a statement with the claim, issue, and evidences to be discussed. It is more or less like a thesis statement but tailored particularly to expound on the Q@I. Written on the first paragraph of my essay, the enthymeme was â€Å"The community colleges are suitable alternatives to traditional four-year colleges and universities because in addition to being affordable, community colleges give students better opportunities for growth and self-discovery.† This statement helped me keep focus and structure my essay from one paragraph to the other. For example, in the second paragraph of my essay I needed to discuss the issue of affordability of community colleges as stated in my enthymeme. Therefore, my claim here was that community colleges are better than traditional four year colleges because lesser school fees are needed. To add support to my claim, I had to provide evidence. My evide nce was derived from Liz Addison’s article â€Å"Two Year are Better than Four† where she sympathizes with a poor students who fails to realize the opportunities community colleges offer. The decision to quote Liz Addison in my work was important to add on the credibility or rather appeal to the ethos of my readers. Counterargument is the other important part of any piece of persuasive writing. This represents a different point of view which critics my peg on dispute the argument presented in the rest of the paper. There is no doubt that it would be a lie to claim that two-year colleges do not have their own misgivings.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Biological Explanation of Anorexia Essay Example for Free

Biological Explanation of Anorexia Essay The biological explanation for Anorexia Nervosa focuses on the role of neurotransmitters. It suggests disturbances in the levels of serotonin and dopamines are characteristic of anorexia. Bailer et al compared serotonin activity in women recovering from restricting anorexia with those recovering from purging type anorexia with a healthy control group. They found that the group recovering from purging type anorexia had higher serotonin activity. They also found the highest levels of serotonin in women who showed the most anxiety. They concluded that this suggests that the disruption of serotonin levels might result in increased anxiety which is one of the clinical characteristics of anorexia. However it can be argued that anxiety might be caused by anorexia rather than causing anorexia. Despite the evidence, a problem with the serotonin explanation for anorexia is that SSRIs have been found to be ineffective in treating anorexic patients. However, Kaye et al found SSRIS were effective with those recovering from anorexia because they prevented relapse. The explanation for this is that SSRIs only work once weight returns to normal because the malnutrition resulting from anorexia changed serotonin function. Kaye et al have looked at the role of another neurotransmitter in anorexia. They used a PET scan to compare a control group of healthy women with a group of recovering female anorexics. They found an over activity of dopamine receptors in the basal ganglia of women recovering from anorexia. They concluded that increased dopamine levels in the basal ganglia alters the way people interpret rewards and that anorexics might find it difficult to associate good feelings with food. Further support comes from a study by Wang et al who found that obese individuals had low levels of dopamine. This contrasts with the high levels found in anorexics suggesting dopamine is inversely related to body weight. However it is unclear whether levels of dopamine cause anorexia or the altered levels are a consequence of anorexia. Other theories propose that AN is a result of brain damage at or shortly after birth. Swedish research, for example, has shown that significantly more anorectics than would be expected have experienced some kind of birth trauma. British research using scanning devices has shown that there is reduced blood flow in the anterior temporal lobes of anorectics as compared with non-anorectics. The biological explanation suffers from culture bias and gender bias. Research has mainly been carried out in Western clinical samples and therefore cannot be generalised to all cultures which makes it difficult to explain why anorexia occurs in non-Western cultures. Research also tends to mostly use female participants therefore resulting in gender bias and as a result, it is difficult to explain why men might become anorexic which may also prevent them from being given the appropriate treatment. A criticism of the biological explanation is that it focuses entirely on nature which ignores nurture factors. This might hinder recovery if treatment of anorexia is only based on biological factors and ignores the social and environmental factors. Also, the biological approach is deterministic as it suggests that individuals with anorexia do not have any control over their condition because it is caused by changed in serotonin levels which are not directly controlled by them. This ignores the role of free will and choice.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Discourse of Language in Our Lives

Discourse of Language in Our Lives Discourse of Language in Our Lives Introduction When a human start living in this world, then he adopts set of rules and properties that become his identity and sometimes there are certain traits that will define live and become our identification. The way which we adopt in our lives and the method that we use become the part of our identity and we are then recognized and known on terms of those traits and qualities. Even the simple tasks like walking, talking, reading and writing set us in a certain box and our social status and the role is decided on the basis of it. A number of tools are used to define a discourse in life and among that tools language is the most important one being the social animal, we have to communicate with people and to make relations with them. While living among the group of people, it becomes essential to communicate with them on daily basis and this communication process may change from people to people. Moreover, a single people may communicate with different people differently depending on the socia l status and the role of that person in our lives. Here, use of language as the identity of the person and the role of language in our lives, while we communicate with people. Investigation Being a single person we adopt different roles in our lives and then these roles give us the identification and determine our role in the lives of the others. Our communication and use of language is dependent on the person we are talking to, the gathering in which we are, the current environment or the background of the communication. All these factors affect how we use language and how we interact with people. We adopt different discourses with parents, friends, teachers, siblings, bosses, acquaintances and relatives. We will discuss discourses of parents, friends and teachers. Our first communication and interaction is always with our parents. The relationship that we have with our parents cannot be developed with any other person in the world. Since we are in the habit of watching our parents taking care of them and providing us all we need, so we feel indebted to them, all through our lives. In the type of environment where I grew up, there was never option of calling parents with their first or Last name and it is considered a serious disrespect of the parents. It is even considered disrespect to lie down or sit, when they are standing. In order to address my parents I call them by saying dear mother or dear father. No matter how much friendship we have with our parents, it is obligatory to give respect to them and to use the tone that shows respect for them. When I will need to go out of house, instead of informing them I would ask, may I go out for an outing with my friends or can I go to the birthday part of my friend. If I am hungry I will ask, mom can I have something to eat please? While communicating with parents, it is essential to take care of the fact that they are the ones who guided us throughout our lives and have the right to make decisions for us. Even in opting for a career I did ask that what do you suggest is this decision right for me or should I think about something else. My relationship with friends is completely different than what is with the parents. Usually we have to pay no such attention to the selection of language. We may use slangs and the vernacular speech while talking with the friends. In the environment, where I grew up, the last name of the friends is taken and we call them with their last names only if we feel more association and love towards them. If I have a real close friend by the name of Thomas Butler, then I will call him like Hey Butler, how you doing and usually the first name are is taken for the friends with whom we are not very friendly or in the beginning of our relationship. If I am together with my friends, I would say, hey I am becoming a bear (used instead of hungry as a bear), do you want me to eat you or will you give me something to eat? If one of the friends fall down and hurt himself, them friends first laugh at him and then ask, Hey clumsy, are you alive? Similarly, if someone is I trouble it feel easier and comf orting to say to him look before you shoot than saying that don’t worry this will be over soon. In short, the language that is used with the friends is informal and colloquial. The place from where I came, teachers are considered spiritual parents. We are not supposed to give them nicknames or to even argue with them. I used to talk to my teachers with same respect that I gave to my parents, but the more formal one. But, since we have a professional relationship with the teachers, so, we have to use more formal and professional language. If I have to seek guidance regarding my career, then I would ask, ma’am /sir can you please guide me on the choice I have made and can you mention what difficulties I might feel in this career. We may ask our parents directly to our parents that we need your help in some matter, but, from teacher we used to ask that can you excuse me and spare some time for me, so I can discuss my issue with you. In the current setting in which I am getting education, we are more informal with teachers that I used to be with my previous teachers. When we are formal with the teachers, we address them from their last name and we do mak e an appointment with them, but, now the conversation is more informal and here the teachers treat students are the researchers and also the member of their own community, as the students who will join them after completing their studies. Looking Forward In university the language that we use is more formal than what we have used throughout our lives. In the beginning of university life, the academic writing that we are taught to do are in accordance with the future needs i.e. the writing we should learn, in order to become a successful researcher and the writer. Academic writing is more formal because most of the work that is done in academics is research related and the information that we have to present to the people, needs to be accurate and while presenting that information and the language that we use needs t be the technical one because the use of technical language reduces complications and the length of the writing. Since the people are working at the same level, in university, so we don’t need to add unnecessary details and informal language, to make it understandable for people. When before writing this piece, I went through a series of steps, like how to read the material that is provided to use, before writing the paper and how to present ideas formally and with a pattern that they seem easily understandable, it is also expected that the information that we present is complete and answer all the questions, that might come in the minds of the people. In academic writing, it is expected that the person should use formal language, technical details professional style and the accurate information. This information and style is necessary in academic writing because, the information that is present by one researcher serves as the source of information and detail, for the other, so the information that is presented, should be accurate and presented in a manner that it is easily readable and understandable. Such expectations from academic writing are due to the need that one person. In order to become a good academic writer, it is essential to have the attributes of good writer, but, in addition, it is mended to have the knowledge of the particular field, in which we are working so that our academic writing can become the actual source of knowledge for the others. It is expected for us to present new ideas related to our field and to present them in most accurate and professional manner. It is certainly needed to become a good writer because if we know how to share information in a proper manner then we can become true successful writer and these are the same things that I also expect from me to be the professional academic writer because they can ensure my success and will help me in becoming the writer who can present ideas in most understandable manner. Reflection We may adopt different roles in life and may communicate differently with people on the basis of that role, but, there are certain terms that do not change and never leave our site, no matter, in which environment we are in and these attributes remain with us all the time. while I was young, I was taught that we have different relations with different people, but, the thing that need to be remembered that all relations demand respect and a relation becomes stronger if we give people their space and never be offensive in the use of language. I believe that this lecture of my parents never left my side. Irrespective of the fact that what type of people I am communicating with, parents teachers, friends, siblings, acquaintances, people of other social class or other religion or culture, I never use offensive language or tone. I do not do it intentionally, but it has become the part of my personality and never leaves me. But, we certainly change our selves while being with other people. It can be well explained by Howard Giles Communication Accommodation theory. We generally want to be appreciated by the people and want to be felt as the part of community or group we are talking with and sometimes we want to separate ourselves from the group. In this case we unconsciously adopt different tones and styles of the people with which we are communicating. When we are among the group of people, we do not want to feel that we are left alone and are not part of that group, that why we tend to change our selves and we tend to communicate differently with different types of people and this thing has become the essential art of our personalities and we now keep on doing it, without giving it much thought. After joining the university we are taught thorough to become a successful academic wrier and in order to succeed in this field, we are taught different techniques and styles and these determine and guarantee our success. If we learn to use the essential parts of becoming the successful writer, we can also develop our own special identity. The shifts in our common languages are due to the unconscious reasons, but, in university, we put conscious effort in becoming a good academic writer because it is the part of our learning process and it can benefit all throughout professional lives we may be the good researcher, but, if we are not good academic writers, then we cannot present our research to the people. We can establish our distinct identity by being more informative, readable and effective writers and our choice of words and the style we use can provide us the distinction among the other academic writers. After earning to become a good academic writer, it is completely on the wri ter to present his ideas effectively. Conclusion Use of language, in a proper way is important and it is also essential to use language in accordance with the environment and the surrounding in which we are in. also, when we reach university, research work and academic writing become essential part of our daily lives. It is essential to learn to become successful academic writer and also to become the most effective one by choosing to write in a manner that is understandable for other researchers.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Leadership in The Once and Future King :: Once and Future King Essays

The Once and Future King  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leadership In The Once and Future King T.H. White conveys his personal thoughts on leadership through the help of Merlin, and Wart's transformations. Through each transformation Wart experiences different forms of power, each being a part of a whole idea on how a leader should act.   He must piece together these ideas for the definitive way he should rule as king.   In order to teach Wart,   Merlin transforms him into several different forms, a fish, hawk, ant, goose and a badger.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "‘I wish I was a fish,' said the Wart." (p.45) At that, Wart's first transformation plunged him and Merlin into the castle's moat. They proceeded to meet the largest fish in the moat, who is the ruler. This fish took what he wanted because of his size. In a speech about power, he told Wart "Might is right," and might of the body is greater than might of the mind. Because of the way the fish-king ruled, his subjects obeyed him out of fear for their lives. Wart experienced this firsthand when the fish-king told   him to leave. He had grown bored of Wart, and if Wart didn't leave he would've eaten him. The king used   his size as his claim to power, therefore his subjects followed   him out of fear.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Wart's next transformation into a hawk   he soared into the castle's mews. All the birds in the mews had a military rank. Their leader was an old falcon, who was kept for show. The birds who ranked below the falcon, held her in highest regard because of her age. She applied her power over the other birds with no concern for their lives. In one instance, Wart is ordered to stand next to the cage of a crazy hawk who almost killed him. On the other hand, her age brought   respect.   The falcon was much older than the others because she had   not been released once she outlived her usefulness as a huntress.   Her age and attitude allowed her to maintain a powerful grip over all the birds she ruled through fear and respect.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Next, Wart was transformed into an ant and posted within an ant colony. There was a single leader of the ants, and she was the only thinking individually in the whole nest.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Forgiveness Essay -- essays research papers fc

Forgiveness Christ Jesus some two thousand years ago came into this world to bring redemption for our sins. He did this through his death and resurrection, or what we refer to as the pascal mystery. We still encounter the saving presence of the Lord in the sacraments and in the Word. In each and every sacrament we come face to face with "the grace of God our Savior" (Titus 2:11). It is this redemption of sins aspect of the sacraments that I will be examine. In the past couple of century we have focused are attention primarily on the Sacrament of Penance as the means to obtain forgiveness of sins after Baptism. We have come to focus on it so much that it has come to be, for most Catholics, understood as the only sacrament though which forgiveness of sins is obtained. This belief as we will see is an incorrect understanding because we encounter the saving presence of the Lord in other sacraments and ways not only in the Sacrament of Penance. However the Sacrament of Penance is always to be understood as the primary sacrament for forgiveness of mortal sins after Baptism. To better understand how this can be let us first look at the general background of the development of the Sacrament of Penance. The Sacrament of Penance has it's roots even as far back as the day of resurrection when Christ breathed out the spirit on the disciples and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained.' (John 20:22-23). In Paul's second letter to the Corinthians we see Paul developing this teaching of Christ, when he says 'All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you...be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God( 2 Cor. 5:18-21). These two passages would seem to be part of the sacrament's biblical foundation. The sacrament itself would seem to have come about as a result of the early Church's struggle to recognize that Baptism may forgive sin but it didn't end the str... ... a form of reconciliation that reconciles the sinner with the whole Body of Christ, the Church. It would seem to me sense the early Church did not see all sins as needing the Sacrament of Penance there is no reason not to belief that venial sins are forgiven in other sacraments and rituals. We even have proof that saints such as St. Benedict and St. Augustine held that we could find forgiveness in other ways then just that of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Bibliography Dudley, Martin: Confession and Absolution: 1990, The Liturgical Press (243.4, D848). Hamelin, Leonce: Reconciliation in the Church: 1980, The Liturgical Press (243.4, H213). Jeep, Elizabeth: The Rite of Penance: Commentaries Volume Two, Implementing the Rite: 1976, The Liturgical Conference (243.4, L782r v.2). Keifer, Ralph: The Rite of Penance: Commentaries Volume One, Understanding the Document: 1975, The Liturgical Conference (243.4, L782r v.1). Longley, Alfred: Healing and Forgiveness, A New Penitential: 1976, World Library Publications Inc. (243.4, L856) Mitchell, Nathan, OSB: The Rite of Penance: Commentaries Volume Three, Background and Directions: 1978, The Liturgical Conference (243.4, L782r v.3).

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Utopia in Gulliver Travels and Paradise Lost Essay -- comparison compa

The Inconceivable Utopia in Gulliver Travels and Paradise Lost  Ã‚      In Jonathon Swift's Gulliver Travels and in John Milton's Paradise Lost, the reader is presented with two lands representing utopias. For Swift this land is an island inhabited by horse like creatures called Houyhnhnms who rule over man like beasts called Yahoos. For Milton, the Garden of Eden before the Fall of man represents Paradise. In it, Adam and Eve are pure and innocent, untested and faithful to God. The American Heritage Dictionary defines utopia as "an ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects." And while Houyhnhnm Land and the Garden of Eden may seem like ideally perfect places, they are not. Indeed, they contradict our ideas of utopia.    Our fascination with utopias stems from our attraction to and pursuit of progress within our own society. We study utopias with the hope that our society will someday evolve into one. But what often goes unnoticed is that if our society improves enough to become utopian, it won't be able to improve any longer. Hence, it will be rigid and unchanging, the complete opposite of what it was as it evolved to its elevated state. This is an awful truth for us because we place value and virtue in the ideas of desire and progress. Our reason tells us: once in an ideal land, desire cannot simply cease to be, because desire is part of our human nature. And our reason is right. An ideal society should accentuate our human nature, not suppress it. As we desire a perfect society we know that a perfect could not exist without our desire. And as long as we desire, we hope for progress. The idea that an utopia wouldn't allow such progress to occur is enough to make us stop believing in utop... ...ames Holly. "Milton and the Art of War." John Milton, Poet and Humanist: essays by James Holly Hanford. Cleveland: Press of Western Reserve U, 1966. 185-223. Lock, F. P. The Politics of Gulliver's Travels. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 1980. Milton, John. Paradise Lost. Ed. Roy Flannagan. New York: Macmillan, 1993. Patrides, C.A. Milton and The Christian Tradition. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966) Revard, Stella Purce. The War in Heaven. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1980. Rodino, Richard H. "The Study of Gulliver's Travels, Past and Present." Critical Approaches to Teaching Swift. New York: AMS Press, 1992. Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels. Mahwah, NJ: Watermill Press, 1983. Tuveson, Ernest. (Ed.) Paradise Lost: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964.

Power of social norms

In our day of age, technology has influenced many aspects of our everyday lives. There is not a day where we cannot go without our phones, computers or television sets. If all of that were to be taken from us, most likely we would be in an uproar. Being exposed to such technological devices, we have become consumed with social media. Social media has definitely shaped the way we communicate, get Information and the way we Interpret things. For example, Just recently Mile Cyrus released a music video called Wrecking Ball. Mile Cyrus is known for her innocent Disney role,Hannah Montana, a young teen who is trying to live a normal life as she Juggles being a high school teen and her secret blonde wigged pop star career as Hannah Montana. However, when the music video Wrecking Ball came out, Mile traded her innocent, parent-friendly Image for a pixie-cut, red lipped and cropped attire. The video consisted of a naked Mile riding a steel giant ball destroying cement walls and licking a sle dge hammer. When the video was released, many were shocked to see this coming from the former Disney starlet. Some were disgusted by the nudity.Others loved the singer's video and thought It was a great Interpretation of the song. Either way, the video shattered the Vivo record for most watched music video and caused many to correctly. Mile Cyrus did something that many here In America are not so exposed to, she broke a personal appearance norm. In America, we are not exposed to such nudity; and if so, the content is usually censored. But we also, have to include the gender roles. If a male is nude, it mostly likely considered as funny, but if a female is nude, it is most likely considered taboo and gets labeled a slut.Once, Mile appeared fully due riding a giant steel ball; many labeled it as inappropriate and calling her names, such as slut. However, if you were to show this to people in Europe, they would not be bothered by it. In Europe, they are exposed to nudity; many would co nsider It as an art form. So why are people concerned with the imagery of the video rather than the meaning behind the song? It all has to with our culture and environment we are exposed to. Culture consists of language, the behavior and any aspects that surround you In that moment.It Influences the way you see and accept at things in society. Every culture has a norms and sanctions that are considered acceptable. Norms are appropriate behaviors based on specific values and sanctions are prizes or punishment you receive when you go against the norm (Carl 54). Once you go against the norm, you are deviant and going against the social order. â€Å"Winners are the good and the normal; Losers are the sick, the crazy, the evil†¦ † (Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance) Social Norms cover almost every aspect of the way we live.However, with standards and guidelines of behavior, it does lead to some pressure to conform (Social Norms, Sociology Norms, Basic Concepts of Soci ology Guide). We see people conform every day because they fear society will shun them. Conformity and social norms In society all have to do with past generations culturally transmitting their values to us and the social Institutions teaching us hidden curriculum (Carl 50, 94) For Instance, In school whenever we see the American flag, we Immediately put our right hand over our heart and say the pledge of allegiance.If we don't do it, the America. By not placing our right hand over our heart, we would be considered deviant towards America. (Introduction to the Sociology of Deviance) Growing up, cheers and parents teach us to be proud of your culture and nation. As you can see, both the nature and nurture aspects come into play when we react towards a norm either being â€Å"broken† or â€Å"obeyed†. To get a better understanding of breaking a norm, I had to experience what it was like to break a norm.My task was simple; I am to only speak Toga, a native Filipino langua ge. But the problem was who, where and when am I going to break my norm. Luckily, my friend Alyssa, who I have known for three years, wanted to meet with me for a day of catching up as we shop at varies malls, local boutiques and stores in the San Diego area. I only speak English to Alyssa. So I thought this would be the perfect time for me to break my norm. However, to really comprehend the power of norms in society, I decided to perform the task on strangers too.Now with my mission already planned out, all I had to do was put into action; I had to only speak in Toga to my friend, Alyssa and strangers I encounter during my one-day visit to San Diego. My experience in my norm breaking experiment, I realized the norm of speaking a language other than English, people react and look at you as if you were an alien. To be honest, I did expect people to react in this manner. However, I was blind sighted by the incident in the Anthropologist store. For me, growing up in a different country and traveling exposed me to the norms of different cultures.I find myself learning something new; that does not mean I conform to the behavior or lifestyle. But I accept norms that I am not familiar with and have an open mind. But not everyone is accepting of different cultures or lifestyles, they are not familiar with. A huge percent of people in any society would feel uncomfortable and try to steer clear to those that are different from what they are used to. Society tends to Judge and criticize things because it's to something they are used to or exposed to.We have all experienced or witnessed something that was different from the way we live or behave, so we feel uncomfortable in the situation. We can change that, every society should look with culturally relativistic perspective. We don't have to accept their behavior, but that does not mean, we should Judge the way someone acts or behaves in life. We have to be open-minded and make an effort, rather than be in an ethnocentric perspective (Carl 54). This world consist of diverse cultures and lifestyles, we all could learn from one another. Man has the ability to expand his knowledge.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Comparing Public and Private Sector Accounting

INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC SECTOR ACCOUNTING Public Sector Accounting is related to government and different from private sector accounting. Accounting and financial reporting for public sector are based on distinctive concepts, standards, and procedure designed to accommodate their environment. This also based on the needs of their accounting information users. Derbyshire (1987) defined a public sector as a device for regulating human activities so that men and women can live together in reasonable harmony. The public sector is providing basic government services whether federal, state or local/municipal.It encompasses universal and critical services such as a national defense, healthcare, public roads and primary education. The public sector is part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government. A stakeholder is a party who has an interest in the organization’s activities, project or program. This is including wh ose affects, or can be affected by, the organization’s actions and decisions. More institutional stakeholders are lying under the public sector compared to private sector.For examples the parliament, the Auditor General and the Cabinet. They are mainly from individuals who are directly or indirectly involved in the company’s action such as the shareholders and suppliers. The public sector operates within a framework of public authorization and control. One common feature of all public sectors bodies is Parliament will derived the specific power ultimately. However, the formal and informal networks such as the ministers, local councils, and pressure groups impacted on the way of how the public organizations operate. The public sector also has a plurality of objectives.Political, economic, social, regulatory, technical and performance of services often occur on the basis of perceived need rather than in response to strict market-related demand. For example, in Malaysia, plurality of objectives of the government is clearly observed. The observation is through the setting up of different ministries with a variety of portfolios. In addition, public sector organization has no direct financial interest or benefits to the contributors of resources. Any direct or proportionate share of those organization’s goods and services will not been received by the contributors of resources.For instance, an individual who is a tax payer in Malaysia will not receive direct benefits from the Inland Revenue Board. Instead, they enjoy indirect benefits from the provision of education at all levels, provision of health services, continuous clean water supply and any other benefits. The public sector is varying accounting principles and practices. In general, fund accounting where separate accounts are maintained for each fund so that limitations and restriction placed on use of the resources allocated can be properly monitored and accountability is ensured.The pri vate sector is generally using the entity accounting which a term used to identify the organization. The accounting service is to be provided and whose accounting or other information is to be analyzed, accumulated and reported. Lastly, the public sector is more to political rather than financial control which concerned about delivering social responsibilities to the public at large. Hence, the priority on resources allocation is generally governed by the priority set by the government. The national agenda sets the priority, not by any investment appraisal and profitability criteria.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Outline and Evaluate Cross-Cultural Studies of Gender Role Essay

There have been various studies that have observed elements of gender roles in other countries, one such study was conducted by Williams and Best, the study explored gender stereotypes in 30 different nations involving 2800 university students as participants. They were given a 300 item adjective checklist and asked to decide whether an item was most associated with men or women. What they found out was that there was a broad consensus across countries with men being seen as more dominant and aggressive and women being seen as nurturing and defendant. This supports the common stereotype of both genders, that males are â€Å"dominant and aggressive† and that females are â€Å"nurturing and defendant†. The findings from this study do have strengths, due to the sample used. The studies sample firstly was large and also very diverse in terms of culture, religion and ethnicity (expected of universities) and because of this the population validity of the findings increases and makes the results more generalizable and representative of the wider population, this means the conclusion of gender roles being consistent throughout cultures is applicable to the general population. However there is a flaw within the study, you could say that although the sample was drawn from a large geographical pool, which should indicate representativeness, they were all students who share common attributes and viewpoints and so they may not being necessarily representative of the population of their country and all social groups within. Also the construction of the checklist did not include an equal category alongside the male and female category, so this means that the division between the male and female categories may be exaggerated, thus prompting the students to believe that there is a gap between men and women and thus making them draw upon their inner stereotypical views. Also there are methodological flaws, the checklist comes into account again as it is developed by Western psychologists, because of this the westernised perspective behaviours considered in one culture to be feminine may not be considered feminine in another, so therefore the findings may be of little use to those in other cultures. This study suggests that there are universal stereotypes about male-female characteristics therefore indicating that gender roles are influenced more y our biology and evolution rather than socially constructed. However its arguable that the findings lack validity and that empirical evidence of cross-cultural studies on gender roles is less useful than initially believed. Another study is one conducted by Margaret Mead, she studied social groups in Papua New Guinea. Initially, she argued that the â€Å"Arapesh† men and women were gentle, the â€Å"Mundugumor† men and women were violent and the â€Å"Tchambuli†exhibited gender role differences with women being more dominant and men dependable. She concluded that this date demonstrated cultural determinism and that gender differences are determined by social factors. However Mead later changed her view to one of culture relativism. When she re-analysed her data she realised that although both sexes of the Arapesh were non-aggressive and both sexes of the Mundugamor were aggressive, in all three societies the men were more aggressive than the women. This suggests that some behaviours are innate and universal, but the degree to which these behaviours are expressed is relative to the particular culture. The study was a natural experiment, so Mead was observing the groups in their usual enviroment, it could be argued that she was noting their true behaviour, however it could be argued that the natives were simply providing Mead with the information she wanted to hear and therefore the study may not be as valid as it seems. Also there are methodological issues with the research conducted by Mead, as she used ethnographic field research and the data would have been gathered through participant observation, interviews and questionnaires, all methods whereby the results are easily subject to observer bias. Mead would have had to speculate on what the data potentially meant and acknowledge that her own cultural biases will have affected the interpretation. Due to the fact results may not be objective and the fact that non-scientific methods were used to collect data (both key features of psychology as a science), the validity of the findings seems to decrease and due to this reduced validity we cannot accurately conclude that gender roles do vary depending on culture to the studies methodological flaws. However, there is further evidence to support the assumption that gender roles are not consistent worldwide, Antonia Young carried out a study on the unusual gender roles in Albania. She found a group called the Albania virgins who were born into families which lacked a male presence and thus adopted the male role, committed to being a virgin and dressed and acted as men. The society accepted them as male and they were admitted to all male clubs and social groups. This suggests that societies create gender roles based on the needs of their society/culture and therefore shows that genders do vary across cultures. In conclusion, cross cultural studies help us to establish whether nature or nurture has the greater influence over gender roles. Both Mead and Young’s studies imply that nurture and social influences have a greater influence on gender roles, however evidence from William and Best lies on the nature side of the debate by indicating that our biology is more dominant.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Management Case Studies

Ans 1:- Rollerblade, the popular skate manufacturer based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Rollerblade has been one of the leading firms in the fast growing high performance roller skate marketplace. Rollerblade was in a bind. The product literally could not be shipped out the door. The managers found that workers were not able to ship products because, as a result of poor storage structures, they could not find the products. Once they were found, overcrowded aisles, in addition to other space constraints, still prevented efficient shipping because the workers could barely manage to get the products out the door. We were out of control because we didn’t know how to use space and didn’t have enough of it,† said Ian Ellis, director for facilities and safety. â€Å"Basically, there was no more useable space left in the warehouse, a severe backlog of customer orders, and picking errors were clearly in the unacceptable range,† added Ram Krishnan, Principal of NRM Syste ms, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. With retailers as their primary customers, the customer competitive imperatives that are being affected by Rollerblade’s inventory problems are mainly of services i. . delay in deliveries, as stated above they were facing problems in making deliveries on time, no shipment was reaching on time. These delays will effect a lot on their customers as the retailers want to sell them and if the products were delayed the retailers will also have to suffer in loosing their customers which will in deed result in backing off from the Rollerblade’s only. Rollerblades were lacking behind in technology so as to meet their customer demands they need to improve their technology. Ans 2:- JIT, or just in time, inventory is a inventory management strategy that is aimed at monitoring the inventory process in such a manner as to minimize the costs associated with inventory control and maintenance. To a great degree, a just-in-time inventory process relies on the efficient monitoring of the usage of materials in the production of goods and ordering replacement goods that arrive shortly before they are needed. This simple strategy helps to prevent incurring the costs associated with carrying large inventories of raw materials at any given point in time. For a product like Roller skates, a just in time inventory system might not be that useful as the problem with roller skates isn’t associated with production means whereas it is with the time of delivery. The problem arises after the product is manufactured and is dispatched for the delivery. The main problem with them was for the storage and then reallocating it as there was no systematic way of storage and finding it and sending it for the delivery on time. To solve this problem technology was required rather than just in time inventory system. Ans 3:-

Friday, September 13, 2019

Aesthetics Methodology Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aesthetics Methodology - Term Paper Example Next to him is an eroded stone figure that closely resembles him but is perceived differently as a hand holding an egg from which the Daffodil (Narcissus) flower is seen growing. The artist Salvador Dali was a surrealist painter who used a number of styles such as symbolism and imagery to express himself in his paintings According to (Etherington (56), Surrealist was a 20th century visual art and literature movement that expresses the imaginations of the subconscious using juxtaposition, imagery and symbolic figures of the subject matter. After end of World War I, the movement quickly spread and increasingly became popular in the visual arts industry. At the time of the painting in 1937, Surrealism was a popular visual art movement in Europe and Salvador Dali was an important member of the movement. In the â€Å"Metamorphosis of a Narcissus† painting, the artist has used a number of styles and techniques to improve in his artwork. For example a hand painted color photography consisting of different warm colors have been used depict the hallucinatory effects of transformation of Narcissus into a flower. On the other hand, symbolism has also been widely used in the painting with the eggs being used as a symbol of sexuality while the flower is used as a symbol of remembrance, hope and beauty. Similarly, the sight of a dog and ants in the background may have been used to symbolize death and decay that has just taken place after Narcissus pined away. Lastly, the repeated images are a symbol of the relationship between illusion and reality. One of the major sources of the aesthetics of Salvador Dali’s artwork is the effective use of warm color tones to depict the expression and feelings involved during the transformation of Narcissus. For example, the left part of the painting is slightly warmer and the color dies down towards the right side of the painting. Additionally, the chess board helps put a great tough to the artwork particularly because it

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Sequence Diagram Flight Reservation System Assignment

Sequence Diagram Flight Reservation System - Assignment Example The sequence diagram is a critical part utilized in procedures of analysis and design documentation of user requirements. The sequence diagram is a tool of Unified Modelling Language (UML) that represents the interaction of different actors with the system in order to get a result/response (Bell, 2004). The Sequence diagram is one of the most usable and useful diagrams to represent the interaction of one or more objects’ interactions with one or more systems. It is pertinent to mention here that we have to develop / draw a Sequence diagram for each and every Use Case. The Sequence diagrams are used to model the usage scenario of the system, the logic of the methods and logic of the service. The sequence diagrams are used to describe the complicated operations, methods or functions in graphical or pictorial mode. Moreover, it also represents the services provided by the system to their clients, for example, the web services i-e online flight reservation system. The Use Case dia gram enables modelling of a business view of the scenario, the Sequence diagram contains implementation details of the scenario, including the objects and classes that are used to implement the scenario, and messages passed between the objects (Ambler, 2012). As per the sequence diagram (given below) of the online Flight Reservation System and the definition of the sequence diagram, the actors that were identified in Use Case Diagram (customer, website) has been utilized in the Sequence Diagram. The first actor is the 'Customer' that would interact with the 'Website' (system). As shown in the following figure, the customer does all the interaction with the system from searching flight till the provision of the PIN code. Initially, the customer opens the website of the service provider (airline or agent of the flight reservation) and clicks the search flight tab of the website. The website would open the flight search form and the customer has to enter the required information includ es: the departure and arrival airport, one way or round trip, the date of departure and return (if round trip) and the number seats / tickets. The customer submits the form and after processing, the website shows the search results. At this point the customer can go back to the search page and re-enter all the information, otherwise, the customer can select and book the flight. The website provides the review page along with payment information. The customer has to fill the form with required information include: full name, passport number and payment method (credit card information). The website provides the confirmation page and the customer confirms the booking. The system processes the customer’s request and presents a personal identification code (PIN) for the future reference (Popkin Software, 1998). Sequence Diagram Reference List Janssen, C., 2010. Sequence Diagram. [online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2012] Ambler, S. W., 2012. UML 2 Sequence Diagrams. [onlin e] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2012] Bell, D., 2004. UML basics: The sequence diagram. [online] Available at: [Accessed 02 December 2012] Popkin Software., 1998. Modelling System with UML. [online] Available at: [Accessed 02 Dec

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

A Description of Human Geography Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Description of Human Geography - Assignment Example Some of these include the birth rate, death rate, fertility rate, natural increase rate and zero population growth. All the rates are ratios and their functions are that these aspects are used to check on the population change. The aspects of ratios and rates form the population dynamics, which are treated with critical and spatial information that helps in evaluating the interaction between physical geography and human geography. b) The concept of population cohorts theory is also referred to as population pyramid theory. It is a graphical representation of the five-year age groups called the cohorts. The information in the population pyramid is used in various government sectors, for example, the economic demand notion for teenagers with the sociological concept. This helps the government in responding accurately to various matters such dependency ratios. b) On the other hand, Muslim refers to a person who follows the religion of Islam. Muslim refer to an individual who submits himself or herself to God. They consider Quran as a book containing the word of God and that word revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. b) The Islamic religion has five pillars of faith and they are five observable features that distinguish Islam from other religion like Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism religions of the world. The first pillar of faith is that no God worthy of worship but Allah. In this pillar, the profession of faith require Muslims to bear witness to the oneness of God and Muhammad is his messenger. The second pillar is prayer. The inherent pillar relies on assumption that every individual have a direct relationship with God and therefore individuals should pray five times a day. The third pillar is giving charity where social responsibilities are considered part one's service to God. Payment of a specific possession to the welfare of the community is an act of purification and growth.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Porche Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Porche - Essay Example Ferdinand had the right mixture of the brains required to successfully run a car company and the passion required to drive the growth of Porsche. In the Prince Henry trials in 1910, the innovatively designed car model which was driven by Ferdinand himself won the most prestigious award in the sports category (Boatcallie, Chase, Salehi, Skrisovsky and Volio 2). In 1931, Ferdinand opened up his own company under the name of Porsche in Stuttgart, Germany for performing the activities of engineering and consultation. The company soon received contracts from the car manufacturers like the Wanderer, Auto Union and NSU for supply and design of cars. Porsche had the vision to anticipate the demands of the present and link it to the changing trends in future. With innovative designs and influencing the partners to manufacture car model that would accepted worldwide, Porsche delivered the model of the Beetle which was taken up by the VW Group. The Beetle designed by Porsche underwent mass prod uction and had not lost its popularity for the next 75 years. Ferdinand who was the founder of Porsche was a race-driver by passion and actively participated in the racing events. Ferdinand was also an engineer by profession. The founder of the company was able to mix his passion with the entrepreneurial activities as an engineer and applied his ideas and innovations in the field of manufacturing newly designed and creative car models. After the death of the founder, his son took over the charge of Porsche and started to expand the trading activities through sustenance of efficiently manufactured innovative car models. Porsche became famous for its racing cars and emerged victorious in the various rallies that it participated. The 911 model was one of the famous racing models built by Porsche (Porsche1 1). The 911 model was traded in the 70s, 80s and the 90s. In 1996, the

Monday, September 9, 2019

Structures Impacted by Tsunami Bores Research Paper

Structures Impacted by Tsunami Bores - Research Paper Example The study seeks to offer understanding into the ways by which the coastal areas can be able to prepare themselves to withstand dangerous hydrodynamic forces associated with large tsunami waves that are progressing to the mainland.The conduct of this study is based on the recent occurrences of tsunamis that have majorly hit parts of the world such as Japan, Philippines, and Chile. As a result, many human lives have been endangered out of the tsunami waves that have extended into the mainland, hence causing severe destruction of buildings. The economic loss attributed to these tsunami attacks are also enormous with the 2011 attack costing US$319 billion worth of damages. The current study aimed at showing that the design of buildings needs to be done in consideration of the hydrodynamic forces, especially in the tsunami prone areas. By developing new guidelines and recommendations, it is aimed that the same will be applied in hydrodynamic constructions. In testing for the interaction b etween the bore and the structure, it is determined that a zero level of water momentum results in an impulsive force being exerted in the upstream. Consequently, the study established that for narrow channel conditions, the run-up power can strongly be affected by the channels. These channels can be built through SPH method as shown in the figure 2 below. Therefore, the study recommends taking special care in interpreting the hydrodynamic forces following initial impacts from the bore.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Researched Essay Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Researched Essay Assignment - Research Paper Example Through his wide knowledge and royal connections, he was able to design clothes for popular individuals, which made his designed become increasing famous and create a class in his works (Carroll 150). During this period, the dresses, which were worn by individuals, and the materials utilised in making the accessories which they wore, defined a social class which an individual belonged to. The queen of France developed elaborate gowns that she used to create her persona during the 19th century. The aspects of creating a persona through dressing and accessories resulted in individuals wishing to connect to the queen by adopting similar dressing codes. These gowns became the cultural norm for the women of higher social class in France during the early 19th century. Through the fashion, the queen was able to articulate herself and set precedence for other monarchs, which were relatively common during that period. It became increasingly popular for monarchs to have an official dress code, which mainly resulted from common fashions. Paris has been highly associated with fashion because of the early development in fashion within the city. Fashion magazines from different countries commonly sent editors to fashion shows in Paris and the fashion stores in order to gather materials, for writing about fashion. Many people commonly seem to copy the well, developed designs that have been established and Paris offered exquisite designs of many products ranging from clothing, shoes and even ornaments. The spread of French fashion was enhanced through these magazines, which individuals in other parts of the world relied on to make decisions regarding fashion products. As the popularity of fashion magazines increased, many of them began including photographs which became influential on the future designs adopted in different regions of the world. The magazines were greatly sought after and had a noteworthy consequence on

Summary and Critical Analysis Marketing and Business Development Essay

Summary and Critical Analysis Marketing and Business Development - Essay Example Process: The author described the process as a two way communication between the buyer and seller, which if remain successful and satisfying to the buyer leads to agreement between the parties for rendering services. The author also described Negotiation and provide suggestion for reaching to a win-win solution. The author further subdivided this process in the following divisions: The Buyer Decision making Process: After presentation and other presales activities grant the buyer necessary time for decision making as they have to think about the alternatives and make price benefit analysis. Do not stress the buyers by making numerous and do never let them think that you are begging for the sale of your services. Buyer Demographic: The author also provided guidance about the buyers by categorizing them in Four generations, the mature, the baby boomers, generation X and generation Y describing their characteristics for their understanding. Features and Benefits: As sample of services cannot be provided to the clients for inspection. The tool that is available to interior designers is to describe the features of their services and the benefits that can be obtained from rendering of their services tactfully for obtaining successful sale agreements. Critical Analysis of the Chapter: The author provided suggestions and explanations but limited them to interior design service only. Some suggestions provided are not cost effective and targeted (cold calling) and some could be considered illegal (e-mails). The suggestions provided are somehow for ideal conditions. The ideas given in the chapter lack sequencing. There basis for buyer demographic is vague. In previous chapter total sales process were discussed and suggestion were provided on each item in the process. The most important part in that process was presentation to the potential client which itself is another process and a decisive factor for the both the buyer and seller of services. Therefore the author

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Nutrition and Fit Essay Example for Free

Nutrition and Fit Essay In my composition, I am going to describe some advantages why, we should keep fit. In my opinion is that be fit has not got disadvantages. I am also going to describe what we should do when we want to keep fit and also what we should not do when we want to keep fit. To be fit has a many advantages. When you are fit you have better mood and we do not feel sleepily on the contrary we feel full of energy. You have not got many health problems like arteriosclerosis, heart attack, obesity, anemia etc. When we want to keep fit, like first we should change our eating habits. We should not eat many junk food, candy, sweetened beverages for example Sprite, Coca-Cola, Fanta etc. We have to try to eat a lot of vegetables, fruits and a lot of healthy food because this food comprises from lots of antioxidants, protein and vitamins. We also should try to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and also for snack and afternoon snack. When somebody wants to keep fit he/she should aim do a lot of exercises. I think we should try to run every morning and evening. Sometimes we should visit some gym and swimming pool. When we want to keep fit we should not smoke and drink a lot of alcohol. We should not eat a lot. We also must not laze. In my opinion is that be fit is better than be lazy person. I hope that my composition will can help someone to keep fit.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Identify the cohort group Essay Example for Free

Identify the cohort group Essay I belong to the Cohort group called the Boomers. I am a loving mother of two kids, who wants to see and wishes my children to graduate from college. I am not just a full time student, but also a full time employee for a school system. I am a real diligent student who wants to finish school in the next three years, even if working hard as an employee only earns me a little more money, just barely enough for my family’s living. I do value health very much and wishes to have a peace of mind. When it comes to working, I never waste a minute and I see to it that I am always on time. Greeting my team members is a must for me and having a personal interest in their welfare is also important for me. This probably has something to do with my instinct or feelings as a mother. My family strengthens me to work harder and gives me the enthusiasm when it comes to understanding and helping others. I am a hard-worker that I always have the strength to do my tasks as an employee and as a student, even if I just finished doing all the household chores. My good and strong educational background reinforces me to be dependable. You can always count on me whenever you have problems or worries, whether it may be about work, family, education or other personal issues. I am honest and trustworthy when it comes to issues and relationships that a lot of my co-workers and fellow students confide in me with ease. I wish to be successful not only as a mother, a student or a worker but an individual as a whole. I expect my work values to incorporate more balance when it comes to my work and personal life, though giving priority to my family more would also be possible and acceptable for me in the future. I also expect my work values to be flexible and be enhanced further to work out any obstacle that I might encounter in the next five or ten years. Reference: Miller, G. (1998). Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration. New York, USA: Marcel Dekker Incorporated.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Problems Faced By Easyjet

Problems Faced By Easyjet A comment on problems being faced by EasyJet and evaluation of strategies adopted by EasyJet Introduction EasyJet, a British airline company which has been fund in 1995 by Stelios Haji-Ioannou with 2 Boeing airplanes and 2 routs, has now expand to European market with 189 airplanes and more then 400 routes (Suit 101, 2009). Nowadays, EasyJet along with its well known low cost strategy is consisting on capturing larger market share. However, there has generated two main conflicts inside the firm. First, Stelios as the biggest shareholder against managers future growth plan of purchasing more aircrafts. Second, Stelios insist that shareholder of EasyJet should be paid by dividend. In order to examine the current issues of EasyJet, this report will analysis issues relate to EasyJet in aspect of economics and finance. In the economics section, this report will first discuss business objectives of EasyJet while focus on growth as its main objective. After that, the report will look into the separation theory of ownership and control issues and apply it into the discussion of current problems exist between shareholders and managers. Thirdly, this report will describe the market structure of British airline industry and discuss whether the low cost strategy could fit the market. In the finance section, this report will first examine the reflection of strategy adopted by EasyJet on the accounts using ratio analysis and trend inspecting. Then it will move on to a comparison among EasyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair, and explore the investment risk of EasyJet. Finally, this report will make a conclusion as well as recommendations that may probably solve the problems exist in Ea syJet. Part A. Economics A.1 Business Objectives According to Neild and Carysforth (2004, p.47), Business objectives are targets which must be achieved for an aim to be met. Strategies or plans adopted by firms are often based on targets such as profit, sales and growth. A.1.1 Growth Growth as the major objective of EasyJet, it is relatively easy to achieve during recession as well as recovery period. Growth of a company is regarded as expand size and enlarge sales. It is based on the scarification of short-term profit in favor of long-term profit. For example, EasyJet use retained earnings to push fleet growth. As a result, shareholders are not satisfied without dividends. In order to balance interests of both sides, managers have to increase the short profit through enlarge sales. Moreover, as managers are controllers of the company, they are free to choose growth as objective to fulfill their interests such as bonuses and share options based on acquiring a large volume of business (Stokes, 2010, p.477). A.1.1.1 Growth Strategy EasyJet adopts several strategies such as advertising and diversification to stimulate growth and enlarge market. Based on EasyJets dramatic investment programmes such as increase fleet size, EasyJet experienced a high rate growth of revenue even during the recession periods from  £264 million to  £2667 million. It increased nearly 10 times respectively and from 2000 to 2009 (EasyJet, 2009). However, certain growth strategies may result in rising expenditure and reducing price. Increase promotional expenditure While EasyJet already has a total number of 189 airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft in 2010, it is respected to acquire another 59 planes in the next 4 years in favor of adapting increasing number of passengers and various destinations (Flightglobal, 2010). However, in order to get good revenue performance,  £86 million is spent on fuel costs in 2009 which partly lead to a reduction in profit margin (EasyJet, 2009). Decrease price In order to share larger market and promote growth, EasyJet carries out a strategy to make their travel fees as well as cost base lower than other established carriers. Since 1999, EasyJet has been voted as the Best Low Cost Airline by Business traveler Magazine and recognized as the first European carrier that won the award for Best Low Cost Carrier at OAG Airline Industry Awards in 2008 (EasyJet). A.1.2 Other Business Objectives Sales Revenue Maximising Sales revenue maximizing is achieved by increasing products and reducing price. Higher sales could efficiently help to expand and compete for the market. In addition, aim to maximize sale revenue could also benefit managers by enhancing their credibility as well as wages (Jain Khanna, 2009, p.22). EasyJet purchase more airplanes, provide various domestic and international flights and adopts low cost strategy to attract more passengers. According to EasyJet (2009), total revenue per seat has increased 10.9% with total revenue increased 12% from 2008 to 2009. Profit Maximizing Profit is considered as the strongest motivation of the company. Maximizing profit sometimes means maximizing the value of shareholders wealth when net cash flows back to the company in the long run. However, fixed cost may increase in a short term to promote output (Dransfield, 2004, p. 215). In future development, the objective that EasyJet might follow is profit maximizing. Nowadays profit margins are spend on aircraft purchase to meet the needs of passenger and capture larger market share, these will return to positive cash generation beyond the period of higher than normal capital expenditure (EasyJet, 2009). Managerial Utility Maximizing It is known that managerial utility could maximize when there is a higher level of output. The case indicates that EasyJet has ordered more airplanes to serve more passengers and explore new market. By increasing sales and profit, managers could provide enough money to make shareholders happy. Meanwhile, extra money could be used to promote salary, bonuses and many other perks as well as develop discretionary projects (Stoke, 2010, p.470). A.2 Ownership and Control Issues A.2.1 Ownership of EasyJet EasyJet is owned by shareholders who invest money for future dividends and for the potential increased value of their shares. Shareholders have been seen as the monitor of the operation and management of a company. Due to their interests on investment returns, they may indirectly influence company to increase share value or maximize profit (Turner, n.d.). On the other hand, shareholders could sale their stocks to express their dissatisfaction on the operation of the company. However, this conduct may lead to a reduction on share price and increase the risk of take-over bid by raider (Stokes, 2010, p. 478). Stelios Hajiloannous owns 38% stocks of the company, followed by Standard Life, who is the second large shareholder, owns 9.45% stocks (London Night Standard, 2010). Due to the family of Sir Stelios is the biggest shareholder, he could possible exercise an effective influence on the company, and directs the decisions made by directors and managers correspond to shareholders interests. A.2.2 Ownership Issues The biggest shareholder as well as Non-Executive Director, Stelios has been strongly opposed to EasyJets rapid expansion strategy and management strategy. Shareholders are more concern profit maximizing rather than sale revenue maximizing. Stelios claims that the capital cost and profit is no longer balanced and the expenditure for new airlines are from the expense of profit margins. Stelios insists that approximately 190 aircrafts is enough to operation and other excess ones should be sold to conserve cash (Flightglobal, 2010). The fleet growth strategy is not suitable for recession period as there are poor economic returns and market changes. Sometimes non executive director has insufficient influence on the Board. As a result, Stelios tries to persuade other shareholders to reject the growth strategy. However, Stelios failed to gain enough support to exert power on managers. Standard Life, who is the second large shareholder, expressed his satisfaction with management team (London Night Standard, 2010). Shareholders have the right to benefit from the company. According to the case (2010), Stelios argues that the firm is a mature company that the share price do not has the capacity to increase. Thus Stelios claims that shareholders should receive reward from dividend payments instead of the share price of the stocks they hold. Huge capital expenditure should be limited while cash should be conserved. Stelios quitted the Board to against growth strategy. There generates another disputation about the brand license. The Easy brand belongs to Stelios Easy Group and was licensed to EasyJet. However, he now is concerns to reclaim the brand and license to another airline (Daily Mail, 2010). A.2.3 Control by Managers EasyJet is controlled by managers. Although shareholders own the company, they left the operation and governance power to the Boards and management. There are two kinds of executive in the board: non-executive director who purely give advice and executive director who really exert power to make decision. The decision made by executive director and managers should be based on the interests of stakeholders to a certain degree. Thus, managers can be viewed as the agents of shareholders (Stocks, 2010, p. 477). On the other hand, managers have their responsibilities be loyal to the company while exercise judgment to operate the company. Managers should be informed the business environment to make decision that benefits the company. Rewards such as bonus are the motivations of managers. However, it may also be the stimulation of risky policy making (Bevans, 2007, p. 220). It is known that appropriate corporate governance is the guidance to achieve success operation of the company. It requires greater administration managers. However, it is difficult to balance different interests between shareholders and managers, thus lead to several problems (Rees Sheikh, 1995, p.145). A.2.4 Control Issues With the aim of growth, EasyJet sets the goal to maintain a growth of 7.5% and increase its European market share from about 7% to 10%. EasyJet believes that its growth plan on fleet size could contribute to occupy larger short-haul European market (Flightglobal, 2010). EasyJet indicates that they earned a profit of  £ 4 million and performed well in the recession period, the expansion plan is under control instead of taking huge risky (London Evening Standard, 2010). Andy Harrisons chief executive position was taken place by McCall due to the disagreement with Sir Stelios (New Statesman, 2010). Although there is a 5% drop of share price due to the long battle between shareholders and managers, EasyJet claims that overall there was a 34% rise of the share price in 10 years which shown a remarkable potential among European airline carriers as well as a sufficient reward to shareholders (Independent, 2010). A.3 Market Structure A.3.1 Market Structure of British Airline Industry According to Moschandreas (2000, p.10), market structure is the characteristics of the market that could have impact on the mode of competition. Those characteristics include product diversification, barriers of entry the market, number of suppliers and the level of price control. The market structure of British airline industry is oligopoly. Oligopoly is an imperfect market with standardized or differentiated products and a high degree of interdependence which dominated by a few companies (Chauhan, 2009, p.65). A.3.1.1 The Characteristics of Oligopoly Few Sellers: The market is dominated by few companies. Figure 1 shows the market share in the UK main airport London Heathrow. British Airways, BMI and Virgin Atlantic have relative higher market shares than others. Figure 1. Top Airlines market share at London Heathrow. AnnaAero. (2008). [One line] Available from: http://www.anna.aero/2008/12/05/flybe-heading-for-no-1-in-uk-domestic-market/ [Accessed 05th December 2008] Product diversification Many companies in oligopoly market established brands and offer various products (Jain Khanna, 2009, p.115). For example, British Airways with the slogan The worlds Best Airline serves more than 300 destinations by 238 aircrafts (British Airways, 2009); BMI with the slogan Better for Business serves various destinations by 43 aircrafts (BMI, 2010). Entry Barriers There are several barriers that protect incumbents from new firms. First, due to diversification of the products, established companies could consolidate market by branding and promotion. As a result, new firms have to spend more money on advertising and branding to conquer customer loyalty to incumbent companies and attract passengers. Second, financial requirements or vital resource also restrict new entrants, such as difficulty in accessing available landing airports and huge cost of purchasing aircraft (Tucker, 2008, p.178) A.3.1.2 Common Strategies of Oligopoly There are several price strategies or non-price strategies which could be used in oligopoly market. A.3.1.2.1 Price Strategy (Stokes, 2010, p.148) Prestige pricing. If one firm increases the price of the product, it may still attractive to customers. This may because of the promotion of quality and service or conspicuous consumption behavior. Price discrimination. Charging different price in different market could help to increase revenue. There are three degree of price discrimination (Dwivedi, 2008, p.328): First degree discrimination exits when sellers charge the highest price of the product that customer willing to buy. For example, BA offer free drinks and snacks, they could charge a higher price compare to EasyJet, who do not offer free airline catering. Second degree price discrimination exits when sellers charge different prices for the different quantities of purchase or different category of consumers (p.328). Such as first-class and economy class charge differently in airline industry as economy class is frequent required by passengers. Third degree price discrimination occurs when different price are charged refer to different submarket. For example, airline companies may offer discounts according to the time that customers book ticket in advance. Limit pricing. Limit pricing occurs when firms pricing products lower but still can get profit. Such strategy could help to deter competitors or new entrants. Price elasticity of demand. When demand is inelastic, increase price could result in revenue increase. On the other hand, when demand is elastic, decrease price could also result in revenue increase. A.3.1.2.2 Non-Price Strategy Non-Price Strategies in oligopolistic markets could help to increase demand and develop loyalty among consumers (Riley, 2005, p.83) Expanding into new markets Develop new markets could help to enlarge network and strengthen market power as well as increase sales. For example, recently EasyJet has lunched new route from Edinburgh to Dortmund, which is expected to carry more than 55000 passengers during the first year (EasyJet, 2010). Diversification of the product A company could be benefit from the diversity of its product against rivals. The more distinct products they sale, the smaller their rivals could occupy the market (Mukherjee, p.460). For example, EasyJet offer 422 flight routes among 27 countries and 114 airports (EasyJet, 2009). Advertising and Branding Advertising and Branding are essential especially for the new entrant. Advertising could establish brand images to customers. For example, EasyJet use orange as its main colors and permitted ITV operating a reality show named Airline that present EasyJet plane in the air to increasing its popularity (Fastcompany, 2002). EasyJet used to advertise its low price flight and claims that people could fly to Scotland for the price of a pair of jeans (Fastcompany, 2002) A.3.2 Low Cost Carriers Strategy of EasyJet EasyJet adopts a low-cost model to attract passengers and seize larger market share (Dunmore Gleave, 2003) Offer cheap fares: EasyJet sale tickets through internet or phone in order to avoid commissions. By the end of 2005, 98% of tickets were sold online (EasyJet, 2005). Customers could book in advance for cheap seats and transform flight for different time schedule without extra charge. Do not offer airline catering. Uniform airplane types: Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. Have higher aircraft utilisation: EasyJet aircrafts operate 11 hours a day which more than 3 hours than BA. Use high seating density airplane and increase load factors to reduce cost base: By the end of June 2010, the load factor has increased to 87.2%, thus reduces per seat costs by 16% compared to BMI (EasyJet, 2010) Use smaller airports to reduce charges: Such as London Luton and Liverpool A.3.3 Low Cost Strategy in Oligopoly Market In the UK oligopolistic market, as oligopolists are interdependent among others, firms are sensitive to competitors actions. A rational company may try to speculate reactions of competitors using game theory before they adopt various strategies such as price changes. However, even one company reduce its price, it is unlikely lead to a price war or significant profit changes. According to the theory, when companies change prices, their competitors will adjust strategies such as advertising to avoid loss (Stokes, 2010, p.152-156). As a result, low cost strategy which aims to enlarge market by reducing price is not typical in oligopoly market. However, due to the conception of price elasticity of demand, reduce price may lead to the increase of demand. Lower price strategy combined with higher frequencies could attract more business passengers who account for a remarkable proportion of passengers for EasyJet. Although such strategy could make overall cost considerably lower, it still enjoys an average growth of 4.4% while 10.5% in some major routs when fist became a low cost carrier. Apparently the successful low cost airlines are more profitable than established carriers, thus easy to survive in the market (EasyJet, 2009). In the first part, this report has discussed the features of growth strategy and low cost strategy adopted by EasyJet. The next part of the report will examine these features by analysing the financial accounts of EasyJet. Part B. Finance B.1 Strategies reflect on EasyJets Accounts B.1.1 Growth B.1.1.1 A Growth Company From Figure B1, it can be seen that sales revenue has shown a consistently upward trend and nearly doubled from  £1341.4 million to  £2666.8 million during the 5 years. Hence, according to product life cycle, EasyJet still being in the period of introduce to the market instead of maturity. Figure B1* Figure B2 shows a significant increase in trade creditors and debtors. However, it can be seen in Figure B2 that EasyJet could pay suppliers more slowly while receive debtor quicker than before. As a result, working capital as well as financial environment may probably get better, which could benefit for its growth strategies. It can be seen from Figure B3 that the market value per share has increased from 2005 to 2007 before it reduce sharply in 2008. However, it has recovering in 2009 after the recession period. The overall trend shows a growth in shareholders wealth as well as the company itself. P: E ratio is the indicator of investors wishes for long term profit. It reduced from 2005 to 2007 followed by an increase since 2008. The upward trend could reveal a huge potential growth in the future. B 1.1.2 Growth Strategies Increase promotional expenditure Figure B5 illustrates a growth of current assets and current liabilities. Current ratio of EasyJet reflects that the growth rate of current assets is slowly than current liabilities, which could reflect EasyJets fast growth of borrowings for increase promotional expenditure, as current ratio shows a downward trend. Nevertheless, the ratio is fluctuating above 1, which means that current assets always more than current liabilities and EasyJet has the ability to pay future bills. However, the more the ratio near 1, the less cash or cash assets could be contributed to short term debt. A large amount of cash of EasyJet is used to pay for aircraft order for future long term profit. Interest cover ratio could reveal whether EasyJet pay interest borrowings by generating enough profits. However, from Figure B5, EasyJet experienced a dramatic decline on interest cover ratio and lower than 1.5 in 2009. Due to the sacrifice on short term profit and large amount of borrowing for airline purchase, EasyJet may burdened by interest of debt. Gearing ratio could be used to describe the proportion of long term liabilities in capital employed. The higher a gearing ratio is, the more debt a company loaned and the more risk a company may take. From Figure B6 one could know that overall the gearing ratio has increased with a peak in 2007. Due to the huge cost of aircrafts, EasyJet is now in serious financial problem. Decrease in short term profit Gross profit and net profit margin ratio is helpful to know the percentage of profit generated from total revenue. Profit margin of EasyJet has shown an upward trend until 2007, both gross profit and net profit margin ratio decreased about 10% by the end of 2009. Such reduction indicates a increase in cost of sales and may not be satisfied by shareholders. However, despite of the rising in tax rate, this trend could reflect EasyJets strategies to explore new market, increase net work as well as route length which lead to a rise of fuel costs, airport charging and advertising costs. Capital employed includes shareholders funds and long term liabilities. Figure B8 indicates that EasyJets capital is rising, which indicates an expansion of EasyJets size. Although the investment of EasyJet has been increasing, profit has been used for further expansion. Hence, large short term profit may not be generated from capital. The situation is reflected on the reduction on ROCE. It also can be seen from Figure B8, return on equity has shown the same trend as that of profit. They both have increased till 2007 and then decreased sharply. Although the reduction of return on equity may due to the tax policy released in 2009 and increasing costs, which lead to a reduction on earnings after tax, it also partly result in the expansion of shareholders funds (EasyJet, 2009). However, overall it shows a lack of ability to return profit for owners investment. Figure B9 shows that after 2005, assets turnover decreased and has been fluctuating around 1, which reflects a poor utilization of assets and less profit return on assets. However, this primarily because of the large bulk of airplane purchase plan during the next few years. As a result, the long term benefits may not be reflected in more than one year. B.1.2 Low Cost strategy Figure B10 shows increase both in sales revenue and number of employee, which indicates the expansion of companys size and growth of finance performance. This may probably base on the low cost strategy. According to low cost strategy, EasyJet offer more frequencies on flight and larger capacities than other companies, thus lead to an increase in passenger flown as well as efficiency in airplane utilities. Aiming to enlarge its market, EasyJet has lunched more airports and increase its route length to various European destinations which result in a raise in cost, especially fuel cost. As a result, it can be seen from Figure B11 that a sharp rise of cost per passenger has increased since 2007. B.2 Compare EasyJet with Jet2 and Ryanair In order to discuss investment risky of EasyJet, this part of the report will compare EasyJet with Jet2 and Ryanair, both of which also adopt low cost strategy as EasyJet. B.2.1 Differences and Similarities in Balance Sheets Apparently from Appendix 1, Appendix 2 ad Appendix 3, EasyJet shows a significant higher increase rate of total assets, liabilities and capital employed, which indicate a rapid expansion of companys size. Ryanair also shows a slightly development of the company. By contrast, although Jet2 experienced an increase in total assets, the total liabilities has reduced, mainly due to the decline of non-current assets. Although the current assets of Jet2 raised sharply from 2008 to 2009, according to Figure 15, unlike Ryanair and EasyJet, the current assets of Jet2 is much lower than current liabilities. Thus Jet2 may not have the ability to pay bills or have enough cash to develop business. By comparing the proportion of total liabilities and shareholders fund in total assets, it can be seen that all three companies liabilities is higher than shareholders funds. Thus, EasyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair are mainly financed by debt. As Ryanair has the largest number of assets while Jet2 has the lowest, one may presume that Ryanair has the largest size of company while Jet2 has the relatively smallest. While the major liabilities of both EasyJet and Ryanair is long term borrowings, Jet2 takes trade payable as major total liabilities and deferred tax as major non-current liabilities. This situation may probably indicate that the working capital of Jet2 could be influenced negatively due to a poor ability of paying debt. B.2.2 Investment B.2.2.1 Comparison among EasyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair By comparing current ratio in Figure 12, it can be see that Jet2 current liabilities is more than current assets, thus Jet2 may have difficulty to pay bills immediately. On the other hand, Ryanairs current ratio has increased to 1.84 in 2009, as current assets in much higher than current liabilities. The figure may indicate a poor utilization of resource. Compared to Jet2 and Ryanair, EasyJet has a better management on assets and liabilities. It can be seen that EasyJet has the highest rate of gearing ratio, as the operation of company is largely depend on borrowings. Meanwhile, according to Figure 12, EasyJet has the relative lower interest cover ratio, which indicates that EasyJet may have more difficulty to pay interest expense than other company. As a result, an investment in EasyJet is more risky than invest in Ryanair and Jet2. Earning per share has been widely used as measurement for the growth of a firm as well as the indicator of the amount of profit could return to each share. Although the EPS of Jet2 rose remarkably, the PE ratio also declined dramatically. On the other hand, it can be seen that the PE ratio of EasyJet as well as Ryanair has increased sharply. It indicates potential capabilities of future growth of the two companies which could give confidence to investors. From Figure B16, it can be seen that Jet2 has the longest time to pay creditors, thus has a longer time to utilities liabilities. However, it also needs the longest time to collect receivables. On the other hand, although Ryanair has to pay creditors quicker compared to the time in 2008, the period is still longer than EasyJet. Moreover, Ryanair could receive debt much quicker than EasyJet. Thus Ryanair may have the best efficiency cash flows which could contribute to company operating. Obviously from Figure B13, Ryanair has much higher figure of return on capital employed, which means that Ryanair could profitably operation the company by using investment. As a result, investor could receive more interests in the short run from Ryanair rather than EasyJet, which has the lowest ROCE ratio among others. B.2.2.2 Brief Evaluation Based on the ratio discussed above, it can be seen that overall Ryanair is the best choice for investors compared to EasyJet and Jet2 despite its lower efficiency on the utilization of assets. It has the highest PE ratio and return on capital employed rate. Moreover, the working capital of cash flows is also considered as the best one among others. Investment on Ryanair could have less risky than EasyJet. Jet2 relatively has a poor condition of capital. It seems that Jet2 may easier fall into the dilemma of debt difficulty. Although EasyJet has a large amount of borrowings, and the lowest return on capital, a more flexible cash flow as well as a proper utilization of capital could be compensations. In addition, higher PE ratio implies a potential power of growth. Thus, investment on EasyJet could have less risky than Jet2 and may probably get better profit in the future. Conclusion To sum up, EasyJet as a growth company has adopt several strategies to compete in oligopoly market. EasyJet utilise low cost strategy to increase it efficiency in business operation will use growth strategy to seize larger market share and expand the size of the company. However, scarification of short term profit may leads to unsatisfactions of shareholders. Moreover, by looking at the accounts of EasyJet, it can be seen that its growth plan of aircraft purchasing lead to a heavy burden on debt. EasyJet has potential risky due to the large proportion of liabilities. In recommendation, EasyJet could reduce its growth plan while pay dividend to shareholder in order to alleviate the conflicts. As a result, the reputation of EasyJet could be maintained and attract more funds invest in the capital. Hence, EasyJet may not need to largely depend on liabilities and the risk of investment could reduce. References AnnaAero. (2008). Flybe Heading for #1 in UK Domestic Market; Overall Demand Down Around 4% in 2008. [One line] Available from: http://www.anna.aero/2008/12/05/flybe-heading-for-no-1-in-uk-domestic-market/ [Accessed 05th December 2008] Bevans, N. R. (2007). Business Organizations and Corporate Law. New York: Thomson Delmar Learning. Chauhan, S. P. S. (2009). Microeconomics: Theory and Applications. New Delhi: Learning Private Limited. Daily Mail. (2010). Stelios Warns He May Reclaim EasyJet Name. [On line] Available from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1287205/Stelios-warns-reclaim-easyJet-name.html [Accessed 16th June 2010] Dransfield, R. (2004). Business for Foundation Degrees and Higher Awards. Oxford: Heinemann Dwivedi, D. N. (2008). Microeconomics: Theory and Applications. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley Ltd. EasyJet. (2009). Annual Report and Accounts 2009. [On line] Available from: http://2009annualreport.easyjet.com/files/pdf/easyJet_AR09.pdf EasyJet. (2010). EasyJet to Launch Two NEW Routes: Edinburgh to Dortmund and Dortmund to Thessaloniki. [On line] Available from: http://www.easyjet.com/en/news/new_routes_dortmund_edinburgh_thessaloniki.html EasyJet. (n. d.) EasyJet Awards and Tributes. [On line] Available from: http://www.easyjet.com/EN/About/Information/infopack_awards.html Fast Company. (2002). Stelios Makes Growth Look Easy. [On line] Available from: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/64/ioannou.html [Accessed 31st October 2002] Flight Global. (2010). Haji-loannou Bids to Overturn EasyJet Expansion Strategy. [On line] Available from: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/05/14/342001/haji-ioannou-bids-to-overturn-easyjet-expansion-strategy.html [Accessed 14th May 2010] Jet2. (2009). Annual Report 2009. [On line] Available from: http://www.dartgroup.co.uk/pdf/DartReport09.pdf Kothari, J. E, Barone. (2006). Financial Accounting. An International Approach. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. London Evening Standard. (2010). Standard Life Backs EasyJet after Stelios Quits. [On li