Reviving the Hemingway in Me

Writing is regarded as one of the fundamental learning skills that every student should learn. When we were in our early years, we are taught of how to write the alphabet. I could still remember the tedious experience of filling the pages of my notebook with the letters. Everyday, different letter is documented in the pages of my notebook. This activity aims to attain the perfection of writing characters adhering on the blue and red lines of my writing notebook. I could also remember when I started practicing the cursive form of writing, involving loops and sloppy curves. At first, my handwriting was illegible, that even I had a hard time reading the papers I wrote. After attaining perfection in recognizing and writing the timeless characters of the alphabet, the time of constructing sentences and simple paragraphs was the next in the line of my learning in my English class. The construction of my sentences includes grammar and syntax. My childhood experience in this aspect includes wrong choice of words and wrong subject-verb agreement, but these things were forgivable as I was a beginner back then. The words I used widen my ever-growing vocabulary and add up to the increasing body of knowledge I hold. As the sadistic education process progresses, the integrated requirements in the curriculum took a notch to the higher level. Subjects became harder and professors require loads of work. Essays have become a common and everyday work in English classes and other subjects. Almost every aspect of school suddenly required writing. My calloused fingers never stops working as I tediously finished all the necessary requirements for my classes. Through this activities that were often unnoticed by the students honed our essential craft in writing. The assignments that our mentors give out serve as practice in developing further what we already know. Determining one’s level of writing has become difficult. Because there are no agreed determinants for the quality of writing. Moreover, writing have different aspects and criteria could never be generalized. Literary writers are very proficient in utilizing adjectives and idiomatic expressions, and have very good writing skills. But they could not be as competent in technical writing or writing research papers and business related texts. In my personal view, my writing skill is average, for there are certain aspects of writing that I ought to learn. I am able to accomplish assigned writing tasks though I am not confident that it would satisfy every person's taste. For writing is subjective or relative, it may be good for one but not to all. I am able to write compositions of different kinds, like literary, formal and technical writing based on the requirements for the text. I can easily adjust my writing style on the needed criteria for the writing assignment. My strong points include the fact that I am well-versed and able to utilize the English language appropriately. I am able to play with words, especially in literary writing which requires the use of adjectives and style. Modesty aside, I could regard myself well in developing a certain topic and including relevant information needed in written work. I am also a wide reader that I think is very essential in writing for reading enables you to include all kinds of relevant information you obtain through research. I am also knowledgeable in the different citation style, like MLA and APA. Though I am not very familiar with the other citation styles, I am very willing to learn this for it will be useful in my study. I am also open to constructive criticisms for the improvement of my writing style. My weaknesses would be on grammar, though this is only minimal errors. But sometimes, I tend to overlook some of my sentences and if I already committed errors in the written work. There are times that my mood affects my writing. Sometimes I tend to manifest my emotion through writing. The way I feel sometimes had an effect on my writing and my desired outcome on my manuscript. Instances like when I suffer melancholic situations, I tend to write about lonely stuffs or even not to write at all. But the positive side of me is I am eager to learn of the things I know nothing or little about. I am very open to criticisms especially when it comes to improving my writing capabilities. I am excited to take on challenges and this includes writing about topics I am not familiar with, for this is regarded as a new experience for me. Taking on subjects on unknown field gives me a wonderful feeling of discovering and learning new things. I am expecting that I will further improve and grow as a writer and I will be able to utilize my talents and skills for great outcomes. I am also expecting to learn new things like techniques that I am able to use in creating wonderful works on my craft. After taking this course, I expected to have that wonderful feeling that I am capable to write like my favorite novelist and develop stories that I could eventually share not only in the class but to others. This is the time that I could proudly say that I finally found the Hemingway in me.

Going to college Essay

Going to college I hope to gain employment in business, hospitality or hotel management. All of my studies are geared towards gaining a Bachelor’s degree in one these majors and continuing on for my masters. Most of the larger full scaled hotel chain requires applicants to have a B. A. in one of these fields for consideration in their management trainee positions and I am presently working towards that degree. Some will consider a liberal arts degree if the applicant has already some experience in the hospitality field. Hotels or businesses that offer fewer services than a full scaled business will fill training positions if individuals have an associate’s degree or possibly a certificate in hotel or any other human resource business and experience is also still required. Experience can be in the form of formal internships and also summer and part-time work experience in the hospitality business which is always an asset. Many universities and colleges offer certificate or degree programs that help individuals attain their associates, bachelors, or graduate degree. Vocational and technical school can offer experience and opportunities for placement in the hospitality field. Instruction in administration, accounting, economics, food service, catering, housekeeping are just a few of the programs needed for a degree in hotel management. In more recent times computer training is also very important to management skills. In hotels, computers are used for anything from reservations and billing all the way to housekeeping. Many universities are helping students by directing their studies to follow this employment trend: Employers prefer new college graduates who have the following qualities: energetic quick learners; computer literate; good writers; confident public speakers; strong leaders and organizers; analytical thinkers and problem-solvers; excellent researchers; team payers aware of diversity and treating all others with respect and dignity; competency in a foreign language; open-minded to the global workplace; flexible and adaptable; willing to begin at an entry level position and work their way into more responsible assignments (Scheetz & Gratz, 1996). These desired traits make an individual a very valuable employee that businesses consider during the hiring process. My desire is to possibly work in a full service hotel in hopes of gaining employment and knowledge as a lodging manager. I believe that this knowledge will in the future help me to own a small hotel or a bed and breakfast (possibly in a tropical or warm climate) of my very own. Lodging managers work for many hotels and motels but can also work with any business that deals with providing room and shelter for people. There is also a possibility of gaining employment in companies that have chains of hotels or contracts for hotel chains. Companies that manage hotels under contract also employ individuals with degrees in lodge management (http://www. bls. gov/oco/ocos015. htm). According to statistics employment for lodging managers from 2006 to 2016 is expected to increase in growth as much as twelve percent. It is expected that there will be steady growth in domestic and foreign tourism that will give reason for this increase in job growth. Most of the new jobs will arise among managers, including food service and lodging manager, financial managers, and marketing, advertising, and public relations managers† (Mittlelhauser, 1998). This kind of trend can be appealing to anyone interested in employment after college. After researching hospitality management I found that as well as being an enjoyable job with so much opportunity it is also a very secure industry with many, many opportunities. I found that the possibility for travel most appealing as well as the pay scale when compared to the required education is very good. Gaining experience in the field is something that appealed to me, for the simple fact that I have worked part-time in the industry while attending college and with this experience along with my degree I feel very confident in finding employment after graduation. In researching this topic I found out just how vast this industry is and was truly amazed. I don’t think that many people really pay attention to how much work goes into the industry to give the public the highest quality in hospitality. Education is the key for success and every step of the way I am working myself towards success in the hospitality business and in particular hospitality management. I’m looking forward to the adventure.

Employee Retention and Competitive Advantage A Critical Investigation Essay - 1

Employee Retention and Competitive Advantage A Critical Investigation of challenges faced and strategies employed in London Hotels - Essay Example The growth of global competition and the regular appearance of London hotels in the local dailies regarding management crisis experienced suggests that it would be quite useful to examine the management and work practices of a selection of these hotels. This is proposed to act as the first stage of a more comprehensive international research study that is deemed to propose creative solutions to the dilemmas faced by London hoteliers. For this reason, it becomes imperative for the researcher to embark on the theoretical framework of the meaning and application of Human Resource Management. In the views of Armstrong (2006), the concept of Human Resource Management emerged in the mid 1980s against the backdrop of the works of famous writers on management who came up with a list of the attributes that characterized successful companies. Accordingly, Budhwar et al (2009) and Dickmann et al (2008) stress that Human Resource Management â€Å"is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets – ‘the people’ working there, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business†. Similarly, Cooper et al (2010) asserts that Human Resource Management â€Å"is the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes of an organization’s workforce, as well as the value, attitudes and beliefs of the individuals involved†. Consequently, research explains that an organization is bound to retain its best employees by adopting the various employee retention strategies open to Human Resource Managers. From this standpoint view, experts have explained that employee retention involves taking measures to encourage employees to remain in the organization for the maximum period of time. The corporate world in recent times has been wrestling with a multiplicity of challenges emanating from employee retention according to the views of Adele and

Distorting the Truth Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Distorting the Truth - Case Study Example According to the research findings, every country has its own set of laws for criminals but the international court of justice which has set some laws which are applicable to the entire world. Some of these cases are reported while others are never heard of. One specific type of crime happens to people belonging to different ethnicities and races. People belonging to a particular race will have distinct features and biological traits which the other group would not have. People tend to treat people of some races differently, for example, the way a person might treat an Asian might not be the same as the way they treat an American. The color of their skins is one through which people discriminate among people belonging to different races etc. Some physical differences are said to be inherited but discrimination is basically based on your social background or even your upbringing. People who discriminate on the basis of color, background or ethnicity are called racists and this can be seen as a crime. These people think that certain people belonging to a particular race are superior and the `lower race` does not deserve to even be at the same place as them. Some groups who have been the victims of these types of crime include Asians, Blacks, Hispanics and white people. Heather Mac Donald`s article â€Å"Distorting The Truth About Crime And Race† appeared in the City Journal and is based on an article which made the front page of the New York Times. Mac Donald believes that the NY times follow a specific procedure of portraying any story related to the New York Police Department (NYPD) on the basis of racial context: to relate the behavior of this police department to `racial crime rates`, rather than revealing the actual crime rates and then relating it.

The Role of the World Bank in a Global Economy Essay

The Role of the World Bank in a Global Economy - Essay Example d its operations on 25 June 1946 and its first loan was approved on 9 May 1947 for the postwar rehabilitation and reconstruction ventures as concerns to France. It was at the time the largest loans to have been issued by the World Bank. The five parts (agencies) of the World Bank comprise of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Development Association (IDA), International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and lastly the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The activities of the World Bank emphasize more on its role towards the developing nations, ones which are doing their best to catch on to the bandwagon of the developed nations. The fields that the World Bank focuses upon in these developed nations include human development which can take into concern the subjects related with education and health. Then there is the field of agriculture and rural areas development emp hasizing more towards the irrigation activities and steps and the rural services. Environmental protection is also a related field coming under the focus discussion of the World Bank. This field takes a look at the areas which discuss the reduction of pollution as well as the manners in which regulations could not only be established but also enforced as a result. Infrastructure is a significant area that is seen courtesy the World Bank whereby the main point of emphasis is on the construction of roads, electricity provision and urban regeneration. Governance is the last pivotal area that World Bank takes into account and this speaks about the anti-corruption laws and measures in place and if the same are missing, then the manner in which these can be had in the first place. Also governance entails of the development of the legal institutions and other relevant corporations coming under this banner. World Bank tries its best to provide loans and other related incentives at preferent ial

To what extent do you agree that puritism in early modern england and Essay - 1

To what extent do you agree that puritism in early modern england and wales was an opposition movement - Essay Example Their beliefs were also adopted in several learning institutions like University of Cambridge among others. The group differed with the traditional clergy system with regard to dress mode among other religious practices. This work tend explain the fact that Puritanism was opposition group not only to the traditional clergy system but also Queen Elizabeth I rule. The group later collaborated with the developing commercial groups as well as the Scottish Presbyterians to oppose the royal class. Some parliamentarians in opposition also strengthened the group. The group later became a strong political force between 1642 and 1946. However, the group was weakened by the English restoration and establishment of Uniformity Act. However, there were other religious groups like the Roman Catholic who opposed the Royal rule. To end this, the queen confirmed the break between English Clergy and the Roman Catholic, and then reaffirmed her role as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England (Bremer, 2009). This was through the Supremacy Act. The Queen later introduced the Uniformity Law that brought churches or denominations under one umbrella, the Church of England. However, the Queen tried to deviate from the traditional English Church norms by introducing the Edwardian prayer book which had different religious images among other variations. The queen did not completely end the puritan movement. She allowed puritan believers to conduct their worship among other religious activities. She also allowed Puritan MPs to air their views in the House of Commons (Walsh, 2002).

The Technological Advance of Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Technological Advance of Religion - Essay Example As people gain more technology they gain also a sense of independent conceit that there is no need to depend on God for provision, or to look to God for answers. The more people discover and learn about the things that surround them the more they take for granted they can control and be in charge of these things. Before the time science saved lives through medicine and people were instilled with a God complex because of such triumphs, there was a time when people had less answers, but more certainty; the type of assurance that came from the heart and not from experiments. The era of life lived with more emphasis placed on spiritual meditation than rational inquisition. Before Christianity came onto the scene, paganism was the primary religion which practiced an earth based worship of all aspects of nature. There was a god of rain, a god of sun, a god of harvest, and many other gods they prayed to for prosperity. Polytheistic religion is a religion that believes in multiple gods as pa gans did. This practice was the result of the human need to explain what could not readily be understood in the absence of science. Phenomena such as weather and fertility were attributed to these different gods and could explain the instability in nature. The separate deities needed to be persuaded to provide for humanity, or pacified into not harming them. Polytheistic religions, therefore, had many customs and rituals intended to accomplish this. Worship practices of all sorts were designed, literally, to manipulate pagan gods into making the world habitable, granting its people success. It was also necessary for everyone to follow those practices, since even just one person apparently snubbing their idol might cause that idol to become angry and lash out or fail to provide some needed gift to all humanity. As religion developed, science did too. Because of the exalted nature of religion, questions regarding its validity, especially in its earliest days of expansion were unwelcom e. As science advanced in its expeditions however, more questions regarding the validity of religion arose. One thing religion and science have in common is that neither has all the answers. In religion that is because faith is the platform it stands on. Science in their criticisms and arguments of religion continuously fails to appreciate this. Religion acknowledges a creator, science strives to recreate and comes up short at times in its endeavors to do so. Like Darwin when he proposed his theory of evolution to describe the origin of our species, how we came to exist! Evolution can be briefly summarized in five stages. 1) Variation- there is variation in every population. 2) Competition- organisms compete for limited resources. 3) Offspring- organisms produce more offspring than can survive. 4) Genetics- organisms pass on genetic traits to offspring. 5) Natural selection- Organisms with the most beneficial traits are more likely to survive and reproduce. In every population a mut ation in the gene pool will cause a mutation in the development of the species resulting in a change of the species itself overtime. Survival of the fittest is a Darwin doctrine stating that the strongest will outperform the weaker for available resources such as food and habitat subjecting the weaker of its species to death. The more offspring you have, the more success for your genes to be passed down and to thrive in the specific environment. The claim Darwin makes from evolution suggests humans share its ancestry with apes. The theory of evoluti

Consumer behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer behavior - Essay Example He feels that reverse engineering of the human brain will take place by 2020 and then the inception of singularity will be in 2045. Technology will give enough power to machines to be able to evolve them and continue evolving. This means by then they will be able to completely imitate the human brain. The need for information is never ending. Information is endless and timeless. Singularity will ensure that human mind will be surpassed by the development of better software consciousness. The transformation, he feels will be more beneficial than of harm to the world at large. I feel that the technology evolution as spoken by Ray Kurzweil would be evolutionary for the organizations and business world at large. It will succeed in automating the business process, in analyzing and taking futuristic decisions on its own.The foremost advantage of singularity for organizations would be that it will save time and will bring down the costs of large corporations. Large firms cannot risk wasting their time in procedural maneuvers and unwanted delays. It will ensure quick processing of information and reduces the burden of paperwork. It is difficult to manage large firms without proper records, and so it will maintain work effectively with minimum chances of error. Such a system would strive for perfection; it keeps track of its order.

Ismg ch18 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ismg ch18 - Essay Example lue of IT within the organization; understanding and designing an effective project management system; selecting the most viable vendors for IT and ably managing this system; delving into infrastructure management; and finally, being able to anticipate emerging technologies which could be appropriately and effectively applied within the organizational setting. As IT was noted to be continuously changing, evolving and transforming, the CIO needs to be able to weigh IT issues and concerns depending on their urgency and those which were deemed critical to keep the organization safe and running. The paramount importance of safety and security of information and system needs to be prioritized to prevent security breaches, work disruption, and an erosion of confidence and image of the corporation. As such, the CIO needs to take risks but be able to manage that risk to ensure that the returns are maximized and that the future of the organization is protected and ensured. Therefore, as much as internal resources need to be effectively assessed and understood; the CIO needs to closely monitor external factors to address unexpected circumstances. From what one read from the Adventures of an IT Leader (Austin, Nolan and ODonnell), Jim Barton personified a successful CIO and the key characteristics and traits that were possessed are as follows: (1) being diligent and committed in understanding what is unknown but exerting efforts to know as much as what could be known; (2) having a firm belief and strong presence of mind to rely on people who could be trusted and who could effectively deliver what is needed in IT; (3) possessing skills of introspection, conflict resolution, problem-solving, resource generation and allocation, as well as decision-making; (4) not being afraid to ask the right people when there is something that needs to be clarified and understood; (5) being transparent and honest about IT concerns and issues, especially with one’s superiors; (6) admitting

Japanese Music Essay Example for Free

Japanese Music Essay The Japanese culture was widely affected and highly related to its nearby nations like China and Korea. As such, it is a logical for us to look at the Japanese music as a collaboration of the different music from the other Asian nations. The flourishing of the Japanese music can be seen as they have adapted their personal styles to the influences that surround them. Their music has its origin in poetry and songs, although there have been misleading artifacts about the distinction of the two. The confusion started with the acknowledgement that indeed, the Japanese word â€Å"uta† can both be understood as to mean poetry or songs. The evidence and remains of the ancients’ music of Japan can be reflected on the songs in Kojiki that was recorded as traditional songs in the imperial court. The ancient Japanese music was also preserve in legends, rituals and prose specifically in an ancient story of Genji Monogatari. This story was composed of poetic dialogues about a lover in the imperial court. The presentation of this in a play was interpreted through Gagaku dances, accompanied mostly by flutes and the famous string instrument, â€Å"koto†. The Gagaku dances and music have been very famous in courts. Its music is composed of wind and string instruments that go together with drums and gongs. It also go along with sho,(a harmonica like instrument) and â€Å"nasal hichiriki† which is the reason why it posses a different sound. The Gagaku is further divided in to two categories, the To-gaku and the Rimpa-gaku. These two differs from the culture in which it belongs. In such manner those that came mainly under the influence of China was called To-gaku while those that came from Vietnam were rendered as Rimpa-gaku. Due to the advent of imported music that was a by-product of the trade industry. It is but inevitable for the native people to become awe with the new kind of music that they have been listening and so, they tend to imitate their ways of thinking. Japanese Music in the Face of Modern Influences The reproduction of this music produces an inclination to the instrumental music. However even though there had been an emerging culture of Americanization, still there are many Japanese mode of music that remained the same. Kagura, for instance, or what was commonly known to be â€Å"Mi-Kagura† which was preserved by some of the people in the imperial court. Fuzoku in relation to the folk songs that was numerous in the provinces. Also with Azuma-Asobi, this is also a type of folk song that was predominant on the eastern part of the country. Saibara was also believed to be composed of traces of folk songs as well. Since all of these music where sung in courts, it is incorporated with Gagaku music. A Brief Introduction on Jo-Ha-Kyu tradition According to the Japanese culture, the â€Å"Jo-Ha-kyo† music can be traced to have influences of the Gagaku traditions. The term was generally referred to the way the music and the dances were done in the play, â€Å"Jo† was associated with being slow and more peaceful, it is the primary or the introductory part. â€Å"Ha† was the start of the conflict , it is not slow but more of a moderate version, it is associated with the journey. While lastly, â€Å"Kyu† was regarded as the final or the ultimate. Thus, the form â€Å"Jo-Ha-Kyu is actually a way of presenting ideas and capturing the minds of the readers. Buddhist Chants and Other Influences Another trend of music came to Japan on the time of Nara and Heian periods. This was comprised of Buddhist Chants, which is performed by narrating a certain sutra with the addition of rhythmical melodies. Accordingly, there are three known styles that were used in accordance to the language used by the countries who have participated or who are the founding authors of the Chants. The style which uses the â€Å"Sankrit† language was called â€Å"Bonsan†. Chinese speakers were called â€Å"Kansan† while plain Japanese were called â€Å"Wasan†. During the late Heian period, there had been another popular music trend which is now called as â€Å"Imayo† There is also the development of Heike Biwa or Heikyuko which is according to some, is the narrative music played by the blind priest-thus they were now called as Blind Prince. Another form of dance and music was the Noh, which is a classical Japanese drama that was either a Dengaku Noh or Sarugaku Noh. Dengaku Noh are those which portrays rituals and traditions that is done in the rice-fields. Sarugaku, on the other hand was more focus on acrobatic performances.

Economic Factors Affecting UK Non League Football Clubs

Economic Factors Affecting UK Non League Football Clubs An investigation of the economic factors affecting the commercial success and sustainability of UK non league football clubs Introduction Football clubs are traditionally not the strongest or most profitable businesses. This is supported by Deloitte’s (2007) annual report into the state of football finance, which stated that, outside of the Premier League, UK football as an industry recorded a net operating loss. Even in the Premier League, where clubs benefit from higher levels of sponsorship, media exposure and TV revenues, four clubs posted an operating loss in the 2005 / 2006 season. This implies that, the lower the division a club is in, the harder it is for them to survive and become commercially sustainable, let alone successful. Indeed, there is an argument that many football clubs will not survive without some form of outside financial support, such as a rich benefactor or owner. However, with increasing pressure from fans to spend money on securing the best players and challenging for success, whilst not increasing ticket prices to cover any additional expenditure, many wealthy businessmen, and even mu lti millionaires, are finding that bankrolling a football club is beyond their means. This is reflected in the view of Henk Potts, a strategist at Barclays who claims that â€Å"Any business model that revolves around 11 overpaid players kicking a piece of dead cow around on a wet November evening is no place to put your money† (Tomlinson, 2004). Issues such as these are exacerbated at the non league level. Not only must non league clubs put up with similar demands for success, but they often find themselves within the catchment area of a league, or even Premier League, club. In addition, with the rise of cable and satellite television, many people who would have previously watched their local non league teams on a regular basis can now choose to watch a variety of league matches from the comfort of their own home. This has put downward pressure on attendances for a number of non league clubs, making it even harder for them to survive and succeed. Ashford Town is a prime example of such a struggling club. As can be seen from the six years of accounts in the appendix, Ashford Town’s level of debt has increased from less than  £40,000 at the end of 2002 to more than  £90,000 at the end of 2007. In the same period, the club’s losses, and hence net worth, has fallen to - £70,000, with the club posting a net lo ss in every single one of the last six years. Attempting to address issues such as these is something which has been the subject of significant amounts of research and discussion over the past few decades. As such, this dissertation will not attempt to reach a solution to all of the numerous issues affecting the modern UK football industry. Instead, it will attempt to determine the extent to which contemporary management theories and techniques can be used by non league football clubs aiming to improve their sustainability. This aspect has been chosen because, in spite of the significant amount of research carried out into the sustainability of football as a business model, there has been little attention paid to smaller non league clubs. As such, the initial investigation will entail a detailed and structured review of the existing literature, around how the commercialisation of football has developed and what useful lessons this can provide. This will be followed up by a questionnaire survey of ten non league football clubs, i ncluding Ashford Town, to determine the extent to which they have followed contemporary business practices, and the extent to which said practices have aided their commercial sustainability. Finally, the results of these investigations will be used to attempt to put together a business plan for Ashford Town, in an attempt to demonstrate how the club may be able to turn its current, loss making, performance around. Aim and objectives As discussed above, the main aim of this dissertation will be to carry out an investigation of the economic factors which impact on the commercial success and sustainability of non league football clubs in the UK, and how contemporary management theories may be able to assist in boosting said success. In order to achieve this, it will be necessary to examine how football has developed as a commercial enterprise, and how this has impacted on the divisions of revenue and profits within the industry. As part of this, it would be useful to analyse the main revenue streams of football clubs, as well as the main parts of their cost base, and how these can best be managed. One of the main sources of revenue for most clubs will likely be gate receipts, however many clubs will likely make a significant amount of revenue from marketing, commercial activities, and sponsorship, particularly in the upper leagues where commercial opportunities are likely to be larger. However, it is expected that commercial and marketing opportunities will also exist in the lower leagues, and even for non league sides. As such, this piece will also investigate the extent to which non league teams take advantage of these opportunities, as well as the need to control for factors such as on pitch performance and success, with the associated potential prize money and increased takings. The following objectives will be addressed as part of this study: To assess the factors which underlie the commercial success of football clubs, and hence also the factors which could lead to clubs going into administration, and potentially ceasing to exist. To examine some of the most successful football clubs and football business practices in the UK, and identify how these clubs and practices can contribute to maintaining commercial sustainability. To examine the extent to which contemporary models of business organisation and competitive strategy are relevant to football clubs. To identify and analyse the role broader business opportunities can play in increasing the stability of football clubs. To identify areas of financial savings and cost efficiency which can be used by football clubs without adversely affecting their on pitch performance. It is expected that, in answering these objectives through the literature and primary research, sufficient insight will be obtained to allow the formulation of conclusions and recommendations for non league football clubs wishing to boost their income, or control their costs. These conclusions and recommendations will be used to analyse the commercial business potential of Ashford Town, as a key example of a struggling non league football club. As such, part of the final report will include recommendations for inclusion into sustainable business plans detailing how the club can learn from other clubs, and economic and management theories, to ensure future economic stability. Ideally, in addressing the various objectives above, and looking at the ongoing performance of Ashford Town, it should be possible to gain an understanding of the critical factors which can affect the commercial sustainability of the football club. As such, the findings can then be applied to Ashford Town, helpin g to contribute to the recommendations around the formation of a sustainable business plan. Methodology Research is defined as the collection of data in order to answer research questions or address research objectives. As this obviously presents a significant range of potential data to collect, and numerous ways to collect it, there are various defined theoretical approaches, the most important of which will be assessed in this section. These are: action research, surveys, case studies, experimentation, grounded theory and ethnography (Saunders et al, 2007). The first of these, action research, involves researchers actively collaborating and working with practitioners in their chosen field in order to investigate a well defined issue or problem, with the aim of finding practical solutions to said issue. As such, action research is a highly involved research methodology, which enables researchers to examine an issue in significant depth, investigating the root causes and creating detailed cause and effect chains. However, it can cause the researcher to have too narrow a focus when exam ining the problem, leading them to ignore contributing factors from outside their field of study. Indeed, in a study such as this one, where the aim is to determine what the factors affecting football club commercial success are, action research is likely to be unsuitable. Surveys, on the other hand, are more often used for descriptive and exploratory research, as they enable the researcher to cover a wide scope and thus make recommendations for future research and study. In addition, surveys allow researchers to collect significant amounts of both qualitative and quantitative data, thus supporting a broad range of qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. This is because surveys can include questionnaires and various types of interviews. Of course, the counter to this is that the broad reach of surveys makes it hard for researchers to gain much depth to their research, and surveys are unlikely to reveal the root causes of the phenomena they observe. Case studies represent something of a middle ground, combining the best aspects of action research and surveys, and thus allowing for both depth and breadth to be obtained. This is because they carry out research at a distance from an organisation, thus avoiding the researcher becoming too involved with the organisation, and developing a narrow view. However, the attempt to achieve both depth and breadth means that the research will not actually achieve full depth or full breadth, rather it will fall somewhere in between (Saunders et al, 2007). The other three approaches, experimentation, grounded theory and ethnography, do not actually refer to the collection of data, but to the methods used to observe and categorise said data. Of these, experimentation is based on setting up specific scenarios, in order to determine how said scenarios occur, and then compare the results to theoretical predictions. As part of this, certain external factors can be controlled, whilst others are allowed to vary, hence making it easier to observe and categorise certain factors as either causative or non causative, and also to rank the impact of each factor. Unfortunately, such experiments are often difficult to set up, particularly when attempting to observe large and complicated phenomena. In addition, there is an argument that the level of control implied in experimentation creates unrealistic environments, within which individuals do not behave as they do when not being observed or where nothing is controlled (Saunders et al, 2007). In cont rast, grounded theory focuses on observing scenarios naturally, observing what the factors are affecting said scenario, and attempting to use theoretical perspectives to explain what occurs. These theoretical perspectives are then tested against other scenarios, and refined until they describe the behaviour of the phenomenon as well as possible. Finally, ethnography is more inductive, and involves simply observed the phenomenon, looking at the factors which have combined to cause it, and attempting to decide which key factors and behaviours have caused the phenomenon to behave as it did. In contrast to grounded theory, ethnography does not attempt to objectively define the various factors and theoretical models affecting an observed phenomenon. Instead, ethnography focused on the qualitative effects which both the factors and the individuals concerned have on a phenomenon, and also looks at the perceptions the actors have of the key causal factors (Saunders et al, 2007). In this case, because this dissertation is attempting to analyse a more general phenomenon,: the factors affecting the commercial success of football clubs, a broad research perspective should be taken. As such, this piece will use a survey, to help frame and investigate said factors, as well as using a limited case study of Ashford Town, to examine the fact ors which specifically impact on this club. Ethnography will be used as a guiding principle when analysing the results and attempting to determine which factors are most important to non league football clubs. This is because football clubs are not renowned for their use of specific management theory and techniques, and hence any attempt to directly fit their behaviour to the theory would likely harm the relevance of the results to other clubs looking to make use of them. In addition, the nature of football, where success is defined by on pitch results rather than profitability, means that existing theory is unlikely to be an exact fit to the football context. As such, ethnography will be used to help explain the techniques used, and how these could fit to management theory and observations. The surveys themselves will include both a questionnaire and an interview with the club officials, either the club Secretary or Chairman, regarding the commercial realities confronting the club, as well as the existing financial situation including any handouts from wealthy club benefactors, loans, grants, and sponsorship. Unfortunately, details of the income and revenue streams are not available, and thus it is impossible to complete a full and detailed analysis of income streams and expenditure analysis, with the exception of those of Ashford Town. As such, the findings will be used to analyse the revenue and costs of Ashford Town, with the aim being to assist in assessing the clubs overall position; and whether it is under performing, or whether a business and financial saturation point has been reached. Given that only the financial accounts, and not the management accounts, of Ashford Town are available, detailed analysis of the revenue streams and costs will not be possible. As such, and as discussed above, the quality and depth of data is likely to limit the extent to which specific recommendations can be made. In addition, this dissertation will attempt to make use of both qualitative and quantitative data, as both of these types of data can make positive contributions to a study. Qualitative data methods aim to gather data which is difficult to represent in a numerical form. As such, qualitative data gathering tends to focus more on asking people their opinion around certain topics, as well as their perceptions of various factors. As such, qualitative data tends to be richer than its quantitative equivalent, although it is usually not as easy to analyse and represent it in graphical forms or through statistical analysis techniques. This is because qualitative data can help to explain why relationships occur between data, as well as helping to explain relationships that are not as unclear when examined from a quantitative point of view. In contrast, quantitative data collection methods tend to based on simply gathering and analysing quantitative observations and data, or data which can be represented in a numerical form. This is usually achieved through actually observing quantifiable phenomena, such as the profits made by football clubs or the number of clubs going into administration. However, it can also be gathered by asking individuals to assess qualitative factors from a quantitative point of view, such as by asking them to rank factors on a Likert scale, like the importance of their sources of income (Saunders et al, 2007). As a result, whilst this piece will look to use some quantitative data, the primary research and data analysis will be performed via qualitative data, analysis, and interpretation. As a consequence of the above discussion, this dissertation will use one main method of primary data collection, and one secondary method, to address the research questions. This will thus help increase the value of the dissertation, by providing more depth and insight to the analysis, as well as allowing triangulation with the results from the literature review, which will increase the validity of any conclusions and recommendations (Saunders et al, 2007). The main method of primary data collection will be the questionnaire survey of ten non league football clubs. This data will be used to assess the various factors impacting on these clubs, and their relative importance, as well as looking at the key income streams and costs incurred by the various clubs. As such, this data will be both qualitative and quantitative, and will act as the survey part of the methodology. The secondary set of primary data will be obtained from the financial accounts of Ashford Town, which will be provid ed. Whilst these accounts are not likely to be very detailed, they will help add depth to the study, and will demonstrate the actual financial situation the club is in as well as help contextualise the possible additional revenue streams the club is able to generate. As such, this section will represent the case study part of the study, whilst being driven and directed by the results of the survey discussed above. This will enable the provision of additional depth, through an in depth look at the actual accounts of a non league football club. This will help provide the ideal balance of breadth and depth. In addition, the collection of data from two distinct sources, the internal survey of staff and the financial results intended for external use, will help create a more accurate and independent triangulation between the various results, as well as a better analysis of the factors underlying them. This cross sectional data collection and analysis is critical in facilitating the use of both quantitative and qualitative analysis, as discussed above, and will help to further increase the value and the academic impact of this dissertation. However, given that commercial sustainability is not a concept which can be easily described through simple quantitative data, the qualitative part of the report is likely to be more important when attempting to determine the factors which underlie the commercial success and sustainability of non league football clubs. Regarding the sample size, it was necessary to find a balance between the need to have a large sample size, and the need to maintain a manageable quantity of data, as well as to fit all of the data collection and analysis in what is a very short period of time. As such, it was decided to collect data from just ten selected non league football clubs. These clubs are Ashford Town FC, Bromley FC, Burscough FC, Chatham Town FC, Corinthians FC, Croydon Athletic FC, Dartford FC, Ebbsfleet United FC, Whitstable FC and AFC Wim. These clubs have been selected as they were most responsive to initial attempts to contact them, and are also within reasonably close geographic proximity thus making the collection of data somewhat simpler. As such, they also represent teams from a fairly close geographic area, and thus should be affected by similar factors and economic effects. When carrying out questionnaires with the clubs, no club requested complete anonymity, and indeed all expresses an interest in seeing the final results of the study to see if it would be of use to them in determining how to best improve their business performance and sustainability. As each questionnaire is relatively straightforward, it was decided to only use one questionnaire for each club, to keep the data set simple and consistent. In order to analyse the qualitative data which is produced from the surveys, it will be necessary to use a research strategy to interpret and validate the data. Positivism has been selected as the research strategy for this piece because, of the four main research philosophies, or paradigms, which can be used to guide and interpret qualitative research, positivism is the one which is most concerned with the facts, rather than the impressions arising from the research (Saunders et al, 2007). This makes positivism ideal for analysing the subject of health and safety in the oil industry, as this can be an emotive and important issue for many workers in the oil industry, as has been shown in the literature review. As such, it will be necessary to avoid forming impressions when carrying out the research, and particularly when analysing the results of the questionnaires. Positivism can help avoid such subjectivity by ensuring that the researcher takes a scientific approach to the research, and minimises the impact of impressions and judgements. Indeed, positivism is based in the original work of Comte, who argued that knowledge can only even be relative, and hence will always be affected by the method used to gather it (Sellars, 1939). This implies that any attempt to interpret the motivations of a respondent in a research project will be affected by the method of data collection, and thus will be blurred. As such, the researcher should concentrate solely on the observed facts, rather than attempting to contextualise or rationalise their observations. However, the main disadvantage of positivism is that, simply be observing or recording an event, such as someone’s views on health and safety, can tend to influence the motivations of the subject, and hence their responses. As a researcher using a positivist paradigm cannot speculate on any potential changes in motivation, this may mean that the actions observed will not be wholly consistent with the actual behaviour in the absence of observation. For example, if a senior manager at an oil company were asked their opinion about health and safety legislation, they may give a different answer to their true opinion of the subject, as they may feel that their public persona needs to be displayed in a certain way. This can hopefully be avoided, to a certain degree, in the questionnaires by not revealing the overall purpose of the survey; assuring the respondent of neutrality; and ensuring that the questionnaire is as neutral as possible. This is based on the argument that if the su bject is unaware of what their responses will be used for, they will be less likely to change their behaviour accordingly. Caldwell (1980) also argues that the face that positivism is based on observations, and not on the fundamental motivations behind said observations, means that it is incompatible with financial and economic viewpoints. This is because economics is based on the study of people’s motivations and decisions in situations where everyone is seen as either a buyer or supplier, and hence everyone acts according to a motivation. For example, when asked if they would prefer additional health and safety legislation, oil executives would naturally answer no, as the cost of compliance would decrease their profits. This occurs because the oil executive’s salary depends on their financial performance, hence they are motivated to avoid anything which may have a negative effect on said performance. Whilst this incompatibility and bias has not been empirically proven; Caldwell (1980, p. 53) argues that it has â€Å"been sufficiently robust to cause many contemporary analysts to turn to alternative approaches†. This implies that such factors need to be addressed when constructing the questionnaires, and that questions which will have an innate connection to, or dependence or, economic and financial factors should be avoided. This implies that, as discussed above, the financial impacts of the health and safety legislation will need to be studied as a secondary priority. Literature Review The history of professional football and commercialism Wray (1982) argues that the late nineteenth century, when significant riches were brought into the UK by the Industrial Revolution and during the Victorian era, was the start of true commercialisation of sport in the UK. This assessment is based on a study of the economics of the gate receipts taken by the football industry in Scotland between 1890 and 1914. This analysis showed that, not only were some entrepreneurs looking to profit from football by commercialising its, but others were looking to do so with the aim of winning more matches, tournaments and hence glory and status. Indeed, whilst the majority of the companies involving themselves in sports such as cycling and horse racing were simply looking to use the sport to create wealth for themselves and their shareholders, the majority of football clubs in Scotland were converted to business principles purely to enhance sporting success. As such, conventional profit and shareholder utility maximisation goals arguably applied mu ch more to other sports than to football, where supporter utility maximisation took precedence. However, Wray (1982) also claims that there was a significant focus on supporter and team utility in other team sports such as cricket, and this was again due to the motives behind the owners, directors and shareholders in many cricket teams. It appears that the British affinity with sports such as football and cricket meant that they developed with the aim of satisfying the fans, whilst the other sports, with less of a spectator following, developed more with the aim of providing financial returns. In addition, the drive towards commercialisation, and in an attempt to assure competitive success, Wilders (1976) reported that, in 1976, all the 92 clubs in the English League, except for Nottingham Forest, had become limited liability companies. This allowed the owners to spend large amounts of money; with no fear of debtors looking to their personal funds should the club fail to break even. In addition, of those companies, more than half the boards of directors held enough shares to make it virtually impossible for the other shareholders to outvote them on any matter. In particular, in 1967, Wilders (1976) reported that there were 22 clubs where the chairman and board of directors owned more than half of the shares; and a further 55 where the board of directors owned over 25 per cent of the shares. In addition to this, in more than a third of said clubs approval was required by the board of directors if anyone wished to sell their shares. As such, the distribution of shares change d very little as the game commercialised, and the clubs continued to be run for the benefit of the directors and chairman, with ordinary shareholders having very little say in the running of the clubs or the returns they earned on their investment. Sloan (1969) also argues that football’s commercial development was driven largely by the significant non financial advantages and disadvantages of being employed as a professional footballer. The main argument appears to be that playing football is a source of great enjoyment for a significant number of people, as witnessed by the thousands of amateur and non league sides which pay without any financial reward. As such, football tends to give players a degree of satisfaction which few other jobs provide, as well as potentially allowing the best players to become national celebrities, with associated additional income and exposure from activities such as writing books; commenting on other footballers performances; and advertising various products and services. In addition, during the initial development of the sport, clubs tended to provide players with houses let at below market rents, as well as giving them significant freedom outside of training and match days. In addition, the fact that the season only covers around nine months of the year, excluding internationals, means that players tend to have significant amounts of free time during the summer break, and even when training they often have several hours free each day. This is countered by the fact that players require a high degree of fitness, and will often need to be away from home for several nights if their schedule demands it. However, Sloan (1969) concludes that football seems to confer more advantages to players than disadvantages, which has helped to raise the profile of professional and semi professional football, and thus contribute to the number of players, and hence number of clubs, in the modern game (Sloan, 1969). This obviously places pressure on the market, with it being difficult and expensive for supporters to follow more than one club, hence making it difficult for smaller clubs to attract supporters. However, countering this is the fact that, since early on in the evolution of the English Football League, the transfer system acted to restrict the movement of labour, to an extent that is rarely seen in other industries. The rules of the transfer system state that any player who wishes to appear for a league club must be employed by that club, in the case of professional players, and must be registered with the Football League, as well as the English Football Association. As such, the only way a player may move between clubs is if both clubs and both ruling bodies approve the transfer. As such, this procedure requires both clubs, the player, the Football League and the FA to consent, effectively giving clubs monopolies over the services of their players for the duration of their fixed length contracts. This is a situation which would not be accepted in other industries, and has regularly been compared with trading slaves, with players often having very little say in where their clu b makes them move (BBC, 2008). Indeed, the fact that transfers almost always involve the payment of a fee by the club who the player is joining further enhances the slave trade connotations. As such, whereas most businesses would attempt to attract new employees by offering higher wages or better working conditions, football clubs are forced to offer high wages, better working conditions, and pay a large fee to the club from which they source the new player. Given that the fees have risen from  £1,000 in 1905,  £10,000 in 1928,  £100,000 in 1961, and into the tens of millions by the present day, it is clear that the increased demand for the best players is forcing clubs to devote ever more funds to transfer fees and wages, particularly when bidding against other clubs to secure the best players (Sloane, 1969). However, in spite of the multi million pound deals which they have been charged with sourcing and carrying out, Wilders (1976) reported that the majority of managers still tended not to have any form of formal training. Indeed, in Wilders’ (1976) survey of 28 English League managers, 16 managers claimed that they would have benefitted from some sort of business and financial course when carrying out their duties and developing their careers. Wilders (1976) claims that this is not the most surprising aspect, the most surprising aspect is that twelve of the managers surveyed believed that they did not need any formal training, and that their experience as a player would be sufficient to help them discharge their managerial responsibilities. However, this belief that playing experience alone provides sufficient training and skills for the demands of football management is arguably one of the reasons why so many clubs have failed to develop as businesses: the skills of professiona l footballers do not tend to include financial and business dealings, or the need to balance budgets. Indeed, the results of the survey indicated a general belief that the majority of football managers knew about the footballing side of their job, but generally knew very little about the need to manage the financial side of the business. As such, the general belief that the best footballers tend to make the best managers has not necessarily been borne out, with many of the best managers having been mediocre footballers at best. In fact, Wilder (1976) claims that the technical gifts needed to make a footballer can often hinder the effective management of clubs. The rise of commercialisation Whilst commercialisation has been a significant trend in the football industry in the UK for the past few years, its only since the 1980s that football in the UK, and the whole of Europe, has truly developed as a major commercial industry. This is evidenced by the fact that, in 1986 the 22 First Division clubs in England had a combined annual tur

The statesman :: essays research papers

Final Paper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The concept of written laws and their place in government is one of the key points of discussion in the Platonic dialog the Statesman. In this philosophical work, a dialog on the nature of the statesmanship is discussed in order to determine what it is that defines the true statesman from all of those who may lay claim to this title. This dialog employs different methods of dialectic as Plato begins to depart from the Socratic method of argumentation. In this dialog Socrates is replaced as the leader of the discussion by the stranger who engages the young Socrates in a discussion about the statesman. Among the different argumentative methods that are used by Plato in this dialog division and myth play a central role in the development of the arguments put forth by the stranger as he leads the young Socrates along the dialectic path toward the nature of the statesman. The statesman is compared to a shepherd or caretaker of the human â€Å"flock.† The conclus ion that comes from division says that the statesman is one who: Issues commands (with a science) of his own intellect over the human race. This is the first conclusion that the dialog arrives at via the method of division. The dialog, however, does not end here as the stranger suggests that their definition is still wanting of clarity because there are still some (physicians, farmers, merchants, etc†¦) who would lay claim to the title of shepherds of humanity. For this reason a new approach to the argument must be undertaken: â€Å"then we must begin by a new starting-point and travel by a different road† (Statesman 268 D.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This new approach that is taken in their search for a definition of the statesman leads the stranger to use myth in order to show young Socrates what it is that the shepherd of the human flock does. It is in the development of this myth that it is shown why the statesman can be separated from many of those who would lay claim to his title. The myth that is used by Plato in this dialog revolves around the idea of the world as being a living creature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the myth that is introduced the existence of the world is divided into two epochs, the Age of Kronos and the Age of Zeus. As the myth goes the world is endowed with motion, but alone it cannot move eternally.

I Don’t Know What I Want to Do, but I Know that it has Nothing to Do wi

I Don’t Know What I Want to Do, but I Know that it has Nothing to Do with Medical School Ihave had three majors since I have been in college. Chemistry was my entering major, which I kept all of one semester. The one I kept the longest is math, which I had for three semesters. Now I am an anthropology major. This is my first semester with this major. In fact, I haven’t officially changed the major yet. In order to understand where I am in my life now, you must realize where I have been. In high school I was in the National Honors Society, I took AP classes, and was completely controlled by my family. They had put the idea in my head that money made people happy. I had to make a lot of it. I was pushed to decide what I wanted to do with my life early. To my family the obvious choice was for me to be a doctor. I went with it. All I wanted was for them to approve of me. My senior year I was taking AP physics and a chemistry course. I decided I liked chemistry, there was my major. It really didn’t matter what it was, I was pre-med., any science would do. Science? What was I thinking? I got to college and realized chemistry was not for me. I hated lab, the professors, for the most part, were mean, and I just didn’t want to be a doctor anymore. The slight separation that I had from my family made me realize I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew that it was not medical school. Then came the freak out. What am I going to do with myself? Professional student sounded good to me. All I needed was something I could get good grades in without trying. Obviously math, since I never had to study for a math class in my life. I wasn’t just good at math, I WAS math. So I changed my major, thinking it was the best move ever. It... ...es, I want to travel, and I hate the nine to five lifestyle. My plan is to get my Ph.D. in archaeology and then become a college professor. I will dig in the summer and maybe teach a few field schools later on. Being a teacher is something I would like to do too. Now that I am in college I realize the best teachers are the ones that are a little bit crazy. I think that is so fitting for me. One of my professors now, Elise Brenner, is my idol. She is an archaeologist and a college professor. I learn so much in her class because she doesn’t do a straight lecture format, and she makes class enjoyable and memorable. I want to be to someone what she is to me, a role model. I may not have everything figured out yet, but I am on my way. I might not be rich a famous, but I will be happy. Someday you can visit me in my apartment in the city. That is, if I’m not in Africa. I Don’t Know What I Want to Do, but I Know that it has Nothing to Do wi I Don’t Know What I Want to Do, but I Know that it has Nothing to Do with Medical School Ihave had three majors since I have been in college. Chemistry was my entering major, which I kept all of one semester. The one I kept the longest is math, which I had for three semesters. Now I am an anthropology major. This is my first semester with this major. In fact, I haven’t officially changed the major yet. In order to understand where I am in my life now, you must realize where I have been. In high school I was in the National Honors Society, I took AP classes, and was completely controlled by my family. They had put the idea in my head that money made people happy. I had to make a lot of it. I was pushed to decide what I wanted to do with my life early. To my family the obvious choice was for me to be a doctor. I went with it. All I wanted was for them to approve of me. My senior year I was taking AP physics and a chemistry course. I decided I liked chemistry, there was my major. It really didn’t matter what it was, I was pre-med., any science would do. Science? What was I thinking? I got to college and realized chemistry was not for me. I hated lab, the professors, for the most part, were mean, and I just didn’t want to be a doctor anymore. The slight separation that I had from my family made me realize I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew that it was not medical school. Then came the freak out. What am I going to do with myself? Professional student sounded good to me. All I needed was something I could get good grades in without trying. Obviously math, since I never had to study for a math class in my life. I wasn’t just good at math, I WAS math. So I changed my major, thinking it was the best move ever. It... ...es, I want to travel, and I hate the nine to five lifestyle. My plan is to get my Ph.D. in archaeology and then become a college professor. I will dig in the summer and maybe teach a few field schools later on. Being a teacher is something I would like to do too. Now that I am in college I realize the best teachers are the ones that are a little bit crazy. I think that is so fitting for me. One of my professors now, Elise Brenner, is my idol. She is an archaeologist and a college professor. I learn so much in her class because she doesn’t do a straight lecture format, and she makes class enjoyable and memorable. I want to be to someone what she is to me, a role model. I may not have everything figured out yet, but I am on my way. I might not be rich a famous, but I will be happy. Someday you can visit me in my apartment in the city. That is, if I’m not in Africa.

Female Struggles Essay -- Journalism Journalistic Papers

Patriarchal cultures are the universal reality of modern society. People who believe in equal rights for women try to expose the pitfalls of patriarchy. A role of the feminists is to fight patriarchy. In Salt Lake City, Utah where there are a number of people who belong to the Church of Latter Day Saints, also known as Mormons, patriarchy also exists. Terry Tempest Williams discusses patriarchy and women’s connection to the land in Refuge. Over time women’s status in society has become better, however in Mormon culture women’s rights have decreased. In Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams as an ecofeminist defies the traditional Mormon woman’s role. In Refuge the gender roles are not as clear as in society. Williams chooses to display the gender roles more subtly. We learn that women are very close to other women. We see men doing manual labor. You see the mother as the nurturer and the father as the provider. Terry Tempest Williams gives readers insight on the culture but not explicit ideas about how gender in constructed in Mormon culture. Outside of Refuge, women have really lost rights in the last few years. In recent years women have lost the right to have priesthood and give blessings though polygamy has ceased (Stack 2003). These struggles are specific to Mormons but there are many struggles that women face all over the country. The struggles that women face internationally are extensive. The female Mormons in Utah are not exempt from this struggle, in fact their struggles compare to women in the third world. In some Islamic states, the women have to cover their bodies so men can not see their bodies at all. Though Mormonism is not exactly the same, the status of women in the church has become progressively worse, making wo... ... a family, and if finances allow, be a stay at home mom. While women are supposed to be prepared for a career – in case they don’t get married, spouse dies, etc., the first priority is supposed to be raising a family, and often career plans are â€Å"just in case† (4/13/05). With the things that women know and do not quite know they make their opinions as all do. Even with the descent of women in Mormonism, through a thoughtful process, Sheena James herself chooses to be a stay at home mom in the future. There is no problem with this choice nor is it a problem for all women to make this choice; as long as there is a choice. Williams’ choice was not to perpetuate gender roles in her life. She still loves and appreciates her cultural practices though sexism exists in the culture. Being an eco feminist defies the traditional role of the woman as Williams does in Refuge.

Issuing Public Offering Essay

Financial Markets the world over are classified into two types of markets; the primary and secondary markets. The primary market is a market for new securities issued by the corporations to raise capital, on the other hand secondary markets deal in trade of securities previously issued by corporations, transactions in the secondary market typically do not involve the corporations whose financial assets are traded between two investors. The most popular method of going public is the IPO or the Initial Public Offering method. The IPO involves a financial intermediary such as an investment bank, which underwrites the new securities i. . buys the securities form the corporation and then resells it to investors. The investment bank assumes the risk of distributing the securities. However this process is only viable for large organization with strong liquidity position because it is extremely expensive, time consuming and risky (Underwriters can back out at the last moment). Alternately the corporation could use the Direct Public Offering (DPO) process, this is similar to the IPO process except that the corporation itself acts as the underwriter. The corporation registers its securities with the regulating body itself and sells it to investors directly. The process is considerably less costly however it is quite labor intensive. Other less conventional routes to the public securities market include utilizing the Exchange Act Registration of 1934. The organization can sell its shares privately to investors and register under the act, thereby listing the securities on the NASDAQ Over the Counter Bulletin Board (OTC-BB). The OTC-BB is not a stock exchange but allows brokers and investors to quote and trade the stock. The company (private) could also acquire major shares of a public company and become publicly listed. Ideally the public company has no assets, liabilities or operations, such firms are referred as public shells. Once the merger is consummated, the merged entity could change its name and management at the discretion of the private company. Another method o get publicly listed is through a registered spin off. Under this method the private corporation issues its common stocks to a publicly traded company, the stock sale is registered with the Securities Exchange Commission and these are distributed to the existing shareholders of the publicly traded corporation. This result in two companies with pubic shareholders, the spin off company can later list itself independently. Once the company goes public i. e. its securities are listed on the Securities Exchange Markets like the NYSE or NASDAQ, any future transaction of these securities becomes a secondary market transaction and prices are determined by the market dynamics. Equity or Debt Securities Before we decide on how to acquire the funds we must understand the effects of the anticipated recession on the financial market. A recession would be characterized by low level of economic activity. During a recession the demand for money will fall in the face of increased interest rates, which imply higher cost of money. The Federal Reserve on the other hand will try to stimulate the economy by loosening the money supply and driving interest rates down. Therefore there is a tendency for interest rates to decline especially in the short term. If I were the financial manager of the company, I would issue short-term callable bonds to finance the project. Once the economy goes into recession the interest rates would tend to decrease; this will make the bond trade in the secondary market for a premium value. Since the bonds are callable the company can call them at the quoted price. The decrease in interest rates will make the stock market more lucrative for investors as they could get higher returns on their investment in the stock market. Since the investors will pull the money out of the bond market and inject it in the stock market, it will lead to an increase in demand for stocks, pushing the prices of stocks upwards. As the prices of stocks would increase the company could sell its stock for higher par value in the market and generate additional funds.

Portrayal of the Gods Essay

Gilgamesh was an historical king of Uruk in Babylonia, on the River Euphrates in modern Iraq. It revolves around the relationship between Gilgamesh, who has become distracted and disheartened by his rule, and a friend, Enkidu, who is half-wild and who undertakes dangerous quests with him. In the epic of Gilgamesh and in the lives of the Mesopotamian the gods where portrayed as self-serving arrogant beings. These beings created the human race as slaves for the gods and so a human in the view of an early Mesopotamian had better do what the gods said if they wanted to live a happy life. We see gods that that do not really care about the lives of the Mesopotamian. The Mesopotamian could not depend on the safety of a strong government. The lack of a strong government was caused by many different factors and one of the main factors that brought about a weak government in the land of the Mesopotamia, was the lack of a reliable food source. The unreliable food source was due to the lack of a reliable source of farmland. Moreover, this lack of farmland was due mostly to the ever-changing rivers that surrounded the early civilizations that believed in these harsh gods. These peoples could not depend on a predictable flood pattern from the Tigris or the Euphrates. This fact above all, is the reason that the view of mean uncaring gods came about for the lives of these early people. One year a village could be right next to the Tigris but in the next year, they’ll be a mile away from the river thus destroying the type of economy that the village had in the previous year. Living with this, the people of the early civilizations blamed this hardship on the gods. These people did not think that the gods were all bad though, but just thought that they did not care about human existence because, as they believed, humans were created by many gods and for the sole service of these gods that created them. We conclude that these gods are always out to get the humans in whatever endeavor they may take up. Gilgamesh and Enkidu learn all too well that the gods are dangerous for mortals. Gods live by their own laws and frequently behave as emotionally and irrationally as children. Piety is important to the gods, and they expect obedience and flattery whenever possible. They can often be helpful, but angering them is sheer madness, and a character’s reverence for the gods is no guarantee of safety. He is rich in religious symbolism. Religious rituals in Mesopotamia involved sacrifices, festivals, sex, dream interpretation, and shamanic magic. The walls of Uruk symbolize the great accomplishments of which mortals are capable. The epic of Gilgamesh differs markedly from that of the Judeo-Christian tradition, in which God is both a partner in a covenant and a stern but loving parent to his people. The covenant promises that people will receive an earthly or heavenly inheritance if they behave well. The Judeo-Christian God represents not just what is most powerful but what is morally best, humans should aspire to imitate him. These differences are noteworthy because Gilgamesh also shares certain common elements with the Judeo-Christian Bible. The bible and Gilgamesh are written in both languages. In Oedipus Tyrannus, it talks about the Ancient Greece where a lot was not understood; science was merely an infant and everything that happened was explained as an act of the gods or fate. Gods were the pinnacle of power; existing since the dawn of time. They were immortal, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Different gods had different personalities. In this sense, the gods were anthropomorphic. Having such mastery of the world would enable them to control man’s behavior. Fate is the idea that people’s lives are predetermined and that no matter what is done, fate cannot be changed. With the gods it was used to explore events that seemed unexplainable. It is clear that a betrayal of the god’s dominance resulted in Laius and Jocasta’s education. Oedipus is the victim of both fate and circumstance. Apollo is the God behind the nebulous conspiration involving Oedipus. Oracular god hides what he reveals through his oracles. Here is evidence of the Greek theories, which contempt for the gods leads to pain and suffering. As a result he is punished in a way that is more severe than even death. There is also the fact of knowing that his mother is suffering terrible pain. In the embattle of Oedipus, fighting for his own life, the god is present as an old prediction, inescapable for sure, but acting as background for the development of facts, or better, for the discovery of what had already happened. Oedipus experiences great grief when he looks back and realizes how much he has fallen from his former perch of power. This end is not only ironic but also cruel. Arachne was so apt at weaving that she challenged the god Athene to a contest. Oedipus certainly is not one without flaws. His pride, ignorance, insolence and disbelief in the gods, and unrelenting quest for the truth ultimately contributed to his destruction. The tragedy brought this evolution in the way of analyzing the relationship between the Greek gods and man, giving the latter more freedom of action. When Oedipus was told that he was responsible for the murder of Laius, he became enraged and calls the old oracle a liar. He ran away from his home, Corinth, in hopes of outsmarting the gods divine will. Like his father, he also sought ways to escape the horrible destiny told by the oracle of Apollo. The chorus warns us of man’s need to have reverence for the gods, and the dangers of too much pride. â€Å"If a man walks with haughtiness of hand or word and gives no heed to Justice and the shrines of Gods despises, may an evil doom smite him for his ill, starred pride of heart. If he reaps gains without justice and will not hold from impiety and his fingers itch for untouchable things. When such things are done, what man shall contrive to shield his soul from the shafts of the God? †(pp. 452). Finally, the Greeks are warned that the only way to happiness is through humility and respect towards the gods. In the book â€Å"Monkey† by Wu Cheng, Sun Wukong, realized that despite his power over the monkeys, he was just like them, and was not beyond mortality. His determination to find immortality made him to travel on a raft to civilized lands where he was made the disciple of a Buddhist. Through his travels, he was able to acquire human speech and manners. He established himself as one of the most powerful and influential demons in the world and traveled into the ocean where he got the weapons that suited him. Hoping that a promotion and a rank amongst the gods would make him more manageable, the Jade emperor invited Wukong to Heaven, where the monkey believed he would receive an honorable place as one of the gods. Instead, he was made the head of heavenly stables to watch over horses. He went against the gods when he discovered what he was doing, and proclaimed himself as the great sage, and teamed up with the most powerful demons on earth. Although the heavens recognized the title of the monkey, their attempt to subdue the monkey king was unsuccessful. Wukong’s indignation turned into open defiance when he realized that he was excluded from a royal meeting that included that god and the goddess. After stealing the empress Xi Wangmu’s peaches of immortality and the Jade Emperor’s royal wine, he escaped back to his kingdom in preparation for his rebellion. Finally he proved himself equal to the best of Heaven’s generals when he defeated the army of heavens. Conclusion In the three books, it’s evident that the gods were caring and if one goes against their will, there was a repercussion for that. The gods are the pinnacle of power who takes control of all the things in the world. Different gods have different personalities and deeds. Gilgamesh learns that the gods are dangerous for mortals. Gods live by their own laws and frequently behave as emotionally and irrationally as children. Piety is important to the gods, and they expect obedience and flattery whenever possible.

Why Did the Founding Fathers Create a Constitution Based

Why did the founding fathers create a constitution based on the ideas of separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism and the bill of rights? The founding fathers wanted to create a constitution because many believed that the national government had to be stronger than what it had been with the use of the Articles of Confederation. But at the same time they were fearful of human nature and how often it could be seen in the history of other countries such as Britain, for people in the position of power to infringe on the rights of others, by becoming hungry with power.Taking this into account, they wanted to create a government with another power to keep order and to govern. But also make sure there were sufficient checks put in place so that the government could never exercise power that threatens individual liberties. The constitution created a government with a written set of rules to follow which it could not infringe upon. This in itself was one way to create a limited g overnment, which is a main factor in why the founding fathers created a constitution.The Founding fathers also wanted to divide power in different ways, in another attempt to prevent its future abuse. The three main concepts within the constitution are separation of powers, cheques and balances, and federalism. The founding fathers originally debated where power should ultimately lie; Alexander Hamilton suggested that a unitary system would be the best. This is where the power lies with the central authority; many knew that this would never work, as the country is far too big and diverse. There were even hints at a monarchy but George Washington quickly made his feelings on the idea open. It is an idea I must view with adherence and reprimand with severity’ George mason on the other hand was in support of a confederate system, this is where the states would be split up , and then all have to agree on individual issues. There are very few examples of a confederate system worki ng, and it is clear to see why it would not work in in America, as it would be very difficult to get all the states to agree on individual issues, due to the diversity of the country.The solution to this problem was suggested by James Madison, which was quite simply a mixture of the two systems unitary and confederate. This is where power is divided between central and state government. National or delegated powers are powers only exercised by the national government, examples of this today would be the right to print money, and the right to declare war. Some examples of concurrent or shared powers are the right to borrow money, and make and enforce law. An example of a state or reserved power is the right to regulate intrastate commerce or create corporation laws.This was done for two main reasons, the first being to limit centralised power, and presidential power, and secondly so that states would agree to the constitution. The states also agreed for two other reasons , one being the Connecticut compromise, and the other being the Bill of rights , which most American historians just count as part of the original constitution, but it wasn’t actually added till 4 years later, Madison claimed it was important as ‘You must specify your liberties’. The Connecticut compromise was created to keep the small states happy, so that they would agree to the constitution.The geographically small states wanted representation based on population, not on size of state, when the biggest states with the smallest population wanted it to be based on the flat rate. So the political compromise was that in the House of Representatives, representation was based on population, and in the senate it was based on the geographical size of a state. The bill of rights is a document that American historians claim is part of the original constitution, although it was sent off to the individual states 4 years later.It was there to clearly show the rights of the people, so that they could never be taken away. The 1st amendment included freedoms such as freedom of assembly and free speech or the 2nd amendment which is the right for everyone to bear arms. It is often shouted out by gun associations when the government tries to put restrictions on the ownership of guns. The founding fathers put this in place so that it would outline in more the detail the precise freedoms of the people, which also helped to convince the smaller states.The constitution splits the power given to national government into three branches, which are separate from each other: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The separation of powers was based on the ideas of Montesquieu, with him ‘L’esprit de lois’ which means the spirit of the law. The executive plays the role of administrating law. The president does this in many ways , for example he; executes federal laws and programs, conducts foreign policy , commands the armed forces, negotiates trea ties and other such roles.Checks and balances another main factor of the constitution comes in here, as the people get to keep a check on the president every 4 years with the presidential election, which stops any tyranny of powers. This can also be seen in another branch of government. The legislature passes law, this is done through congress. Congress is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its roles include; regulating interstate and foreign commerce , creating and maintaining the armed forces , printing money, declaring war , and other such roles.The power here is limited in two ways, which is exactly what the founding fathers wanted; it’s done through a 6 year change of the senate, which rotates 1/3 of its members for election every 2 years. This is also done in the House of Representatives, as they have to run for re-election every 2 years, this means that representatives have to get things the public want done, or they can just be kicked out. This ke eps power in the hands of the many, which is also how they wanted to constitution to work. The last branch is the Judiciary, its role is to interpret and enforce the law.It is able to stay separate from the other branches, as it operates heavily outside the government, but also because ‘nothing maintains the independence of the judiciary more than its permanency in office’. It is also tied to the other two branches, as if the president wants to pass a law, it must get through congress and through the Supreme Court, as they can rule it unconstitutional, so the founding fathers created a system so that every branch was a check on each other, this also creates a system, where politics becomes the art of compromise.This system of checks and balances means that all the branches have to work together, and have to compromise. Congress holds its check on the president in different ways, such as; Congress is able to impeach and remove a president, although impeachment does requi re a 2/3 majority of house, and removal 2/3 of the senate. Congress can also override a presidential veto, this also requires a 2/3 majority in both houses, but this system means that no one branch can hold far more power than another which is another example of why the founding fathers chose such a system.It also holds other powers such as rejecting treaties which limits presidential foreign policy. Congress also holds checks over the judiciary. It can do this by proposing constitutional amendments, and impeaching and removing judges with the 2/3 majority in the senate. This also shows us that the judiciary can never hold too much power over the president or congress, which is another example of how the founding fathers wanted the constitution to work. There are also powers given to the other two branches of government, which help to keeps checks, so that they can all counter each other with enough majority.But a problem with this is that it can lead to political gridlock, and this means very little can get done, which is not what the founding fathers intended. To conclude, the founding fathers created a constitution that meant that power could never be held within the hands of the few, but with the many. It also created checks on power in every branch of government, not just from the people, but from the branches themselves acting as checks against each other.They had wanted to create a system that worked this way, because of the tyranny that could be seen in other countries. This is why George Washington destroyed any idea of a monarchy, he wanted the United States of America to be founded on principles the promoted compromise, and freedom, and equality. It was also meant to act as a block on any future tyranny, or corruption of power, but it also creates problems in itself, as it can lead to political gridlock, but no political system is perfect.

IT-based management: Challenges and solutions. NTT DoCoMo Essay

NTT DoCoMo Introduction            NTT DoCoMo is one of the largest mobile communications companies in japan that has thrived for a long period. Despite of this factor, the company faces several challenges in terms of market saturation, competition from rival companies and rivalry in the mobile phone industry. NTT DoCoMo was found in the year 1992, a period when it was spun off by NNT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone). Looking back at NTT’s history, it is noted that the company was privatized in 1986, but still the government of japan still held some shares of 46% and part of its equities in the year 2004. As a result of this, NTT owned 58% of DoCoMo’s equities.            Though DoCoMo poses great potential in terms of innovation, the company also faces competition, especially in the technology sector. Felica (part of DoCoMo) has over the years competed with Type A and Type B contactless IC technologies, where type A technology was mostly used in Europe, and Type being utilized in Japan extensively. With this type of competition, the company was able to form alliances with other stakeholders to come up with a technology (a chip tech) that would be utilized by credit card users.            DoCoMo’s strategy to pursue the wireless internet was achieved with the launch of i-mode. This is in consideration of the fact that i-mode technology enabled users to receive an incoming call while surfing the internet. The technology mostly targeted young consumers rather than business persons, in spite of the fact that business individuals would most probable use premium services of the product. Through this aspect, the various competitive advantages of the product are realized with its market limitations on the other hand. This concept introduces porter’s generic strategy into use, where one can increase profits through the reduction of costs while at the same time charging industry’s average price. Porter’s strategy (cost reduction strategy) also facilitates the increase in market shares through the lowering of prices, while at the same time making reasonable profits from the sale of each share. In consideration of the cost reduction strategy, DoCoMo Company was able to set up small transaction fees for its chip technology to its users. These transaction fees were on an average of about 2% to 3% for EDY services. Such a strategy poses a competition to credit card companies whose transaction fee run on an average of about 3% to 5%.            Porter’s generic strategy also incorporates the focus strategy, where a company concentrates on a particular market. This is usually through the understanding of the dynamics that exist in a particular market (understanding of the customer’s needs is one of the crucial factors to consider in this strategy). The main advantage of this strategy is that, customer loyalty is usually established especially when unique services are provided in a new market. Despite the DoCoMo’s extensive marketing strategies, the company was not able to utilize the focus strategy. Though DoCoMo’s success in Japan in the initial launch of i-mode, the company did not lay a strategic focus on the Japan market. Its foreign ventures especially in the USA and other countries also faced various challenges that were not considered prior to the venture. From the study, it is evident that DoCoMo’s partners also did not adopt i-mode technology, something that cont ributed to its disadvantages overseas.            In porters five model, four factors are perceived to have the capability of causing market rivalry. These factors are supplier power, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and the buyer’s power (Hill & Jones,  2010). Through the analysis of DoCoMo’s market, it is realized that the company faces a high supplier’s power in its market, a factor that has made it loose its influence over the Japanese market. Government policies have also affected DoCoMo’s entrant to new markets, an element that has reduced the extent of expansion of the company.            Prior to taking any risk, companies and others organizations ought to come up with a model that will enable them to project the probable risk that is prone to affect their venture hence making it unsuccessful. DoCoMo is a company that has great ideas and innovations but the only issue affecting the company’s performance was the lack of well centered risk projection pattern or model. In a risk projection model, one has to identify the risk, analyze the risk qualitatively, assess the issues at hand quantitatively and finally come up with a risk response planning. With this model, DoCoMo Company would be able to come up with a solution to its market problem especially in the Japanese market. The model would also enable the company to choose selectively, the most appropriate countries to partner with (Grey,  2004). .            Competition is one of the problems that DoCoMo is facing. This problem can be addressed effectively through the implementation of a proper differentiation strategy. Product differentiation entails making once product different and more attractive than the competitors’ products. The extent of differentiation in this case will depend on the nature of technological products being produced by other companies in the market. In consideration of this concept, DoCoMo will be obliged to produce products that have more functionality, features and durability than the competitor’s products. I relation to this; i-mode (DoCoMo’s product) would have a higher competitive edge over its rival products (Joia,  2003).            Though DoCoMo tried to diversity its market extensively, the company was unable to come up with an effective focus strategy. By having a proper focus strategy, DoCoMo would be able to dominate in its market where the product supply would remain constant. In this case a proper focus can be achieved through the development of a uniquely low-cost and well-specified product market. Such a strategy would enable the company to create dominance over its market, hence establishing customer loyalty (Joia,  2003). Cost focus differentiation would also be an important strategy for the company to implement especially when attracting new customers. In consideration of all these factors that DoCoMo should consider in coming up with a solution to its problems. The management of the company is also expected to carry out a SWOT analysis of the company in order to solve its problems. A clear and well-set SWOT analysis would enable the company come-up with a measure to manage the s uppliers’ power and also the capability to reduce the buyer’s power. This would in-turn enable the company dominate its market and thrive in all its market ventures (Joia,  2003). Recommendation            From the study, it is realized that DoCoMo is a company that has been extensively to produce products that are of high innovation due to its mergers with other stakeholders. The company also faces problems in terms of competitors. As a result of all this, it would be recommendable for the company to set-up a proper management program. A program, that will be able to overlook all the necessary strategies that can enable the company thrive in both domestic and foreign markets. Implementation of both SWOT and porters five model would enable the DoCoMo thrive well in providing e-money services (Joia,  2003). References Grey,  S. (2004). Practical risk assessment for project management. Chichester: Wiley. Hill,  C.  W., & Jones,  G.  R. (2010). Strategic management theory: An integrated approach. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Joia,  L.  A. (2003). IT-based management: Challenges and solutions. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Pub. Source document