Thursday, October 31, 2019
Leadership Application Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Leadership Application Project - Essay Example Leadership By Example We have read or heard people who have etched their name in history books as a great leader of their time, whether in fame or notoriety. People like Moses in the Bible, Churchill and Hitler during the World War II or Obama and Bin Laden in the 21st century have captured the imagination of the world. They were leaders on their own right, whether chosen by their people or self proclaimed themselves. There are so many types of leadership: charismatic, participative, situational, transactional, transformational, quiet, and servant. What do these people have that they have so many followers? What are their traits? Do they have maxims they earnestly follow? For this project, we will try to look into the style of leadership which an individual can follow which will eventually make him/her a good leader. Firstly, letââ¬â¢s define what leadership is, according to Northouse (2007)ââ¬Å"Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objecti ve and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherentâ⬠(p. 3) in simple term, it is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal or objective. There is a notion that leaders are born rather than made. On the contrary, leaders are made through knowledge and skills which is called ââ¬Å"Process Leadershipâ⬠by Jago, 1982. Jago added that we have traits that can influence our actions which he termed as ââ¬Å"Trait Leadershipâ⬠. When we are task to lead people, we will be confronted on how to strategize them to follow what we have initially planned, in order to achieve our goal. In this case, we choose the leadership by example because study shows this is what the great leaders demonstrated in achieving their objectives. As Mahatma Gandhi once said ââ¬Å"You must be the change you wish to see in the world.â⬠It is not from another person that we rely for an answer to our problem, it should come from us. No matter our position or role maybe we can take the initiative and make the decision to show the way for others. I would like to cite a simple case in a family. The father, usually the breadwinner, who will take care of the basic needs of the family, that is, food, shelter and clothing. If the father remiss his duty-bound responsibilities because of his irresponsible attitude and unsound decisions, he will not gain support worse respect from his children and spouse. The father should be a role model to his children by leading by example. By showing that you care for their well-being and have an open communication, these two traits alone will work effectively in the family. How do we correlate this in an organization or a big corporation? In a setting where a leader plays a vital role to accomplish an organizationââ¬â¢s objectives, he/she should have the traits, skills and knowledge necessary to perform his/her assigned task effectively. A classic example of a perso n balancing family and corporate affairs effectively is psychologist Lily Kelly-Radford, a vice-president of the prominent nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). As quoted by Deborah Smith Bailey, Kelly-Radford says ââ¬Å"if youââ¬â¢re good at what you do, take self-care measures and get creative about integrating your work and family life, you can be a successful leader and fulfill personal obligationsâ⬠(Monitor Staff). She had an extensive experience in teaching and private consulting prior
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Discuss with examples and detail, the responsibilities of the First Term Paper
Discuss with examples and detail, the responsibilities of the First Officer on the scene of a reported crime - Term Paper Example Introduction The primary call to a police officer regarding a crime scene usually comes in different forms: a crime that has already taken place and has just been discovered, a crime in progress, or a crime that just occurred. The way in which the officer responds depends on how he/she receives the call. For instance, he/she can proceed quickly and directly to the scene. When a law-enforcing officer receives a call to respond to a scene of crime, he/she must always follow a logical series of events in order to ascertain everyoneââ¬â¢s safety as well as appropriate investigation of the incident. He or she must treat all responses to crime scenes the same way, with expectations that the case under investigation will proceed to trial and be subjected to the criminal justice systemââ¬â¢s procedures and policies (Buckles, 2007 and Dale & Becker, 2007). Since a first responder acts in response to all sorts of crimes as well as possible crime scenes, he or she should always act under the assumption that the suspects are still in the crime scene or in its surroundings. Is it therefore critical for him/her to make keen observations on the way to the scene of crime ââ¬â should be very alert and should constantly make mental notes. With the assumption that suspects may be fleeing from the crime scene, he/she should take note of suspicious vehicles details such as color, make, model and license plates, as well as pedestriansââ¬â¢ descriptions. Better still, he/she can record all these information on a tape, which can be transcribed later to act as leads for law officers as they follow up on a crime after the initial response (Dale & Becker, 2007). Upon arrival, the officer will make use of tactical measures of safely approaching the scene and looking for suspects, victims, and witnesses. Again, depending on the type of crime, the presupposition is that there is a suspect at the crime scene and that there may be victims requiring emergency care. It is therefore worthy emphasizing that the focus of the first officer on the scene of a reported crime is on his own safety as well as that of other individuals at the crime scene, including the victims, other officers taking care of the victims, and those pursuing/ looking for the suspect. It is also worth noting and emphasizing that how to approach a crime scene and what to do are vital as the first responding officer enters and examines the crime scene. What to examine and note include whether or not there is a suspect at the scene, whether or not there is a victim who is being held hostage or who needs emergency care and what safety issues or environmental conditions need to be dealt with (Buckles, 2007). The initial response to a crime is supposed to be expeditious and systematic. On arriving at a crime scene, the first responding officer/the first officer to arrive on the scene of a crime should perform his first responsibility of assessing the scene. It is important for him/her to approach and enter crime scenes as soon as possible, yet carefully, while at the same time exploring any potential events, evidence, vehicles, individuals as well as any environmental conditions that may be linked to the crime. He should keep a record of information such as the location /address of the crime, the exact date and time, the type of call that he/she received, and anything else that might have a bearing on the crime/the scene of crime. He or
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Efficiency of Window Systems
Efficiency of Window Systems Review of Window Shopping: A Study of Desktop Window Switching. ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Warr, A., Chi, Ed H. , Harris, H., Kuscher, A., Chen, J., Flack, R. and Jitkoff. N. (2016) Window Shopping: A Study of Desktop Window Switching. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 16). ACM, New York, NY, USA. pp 3335-3338. ABSTRACT This is a review of a research article by Warr et al (2016), of Google Inc, Window shopping: A Study of Desktop Window Switching, which is an investigation into the efficiency of window systems. Having multiple windows open is commonplace but users often have problems switching between windows. This report presents an experiment used to evaluate window switching interfaces that are being considered for a new operating system. Its focus is an understanding of the effects of switching on user performances in terms of time to switch and errors in selection. The experiment compares three different styles of window switching interfaces and their effects on user performances. The interfaces chosen were the Cards interface, the Exposà © interface and the Mosaic interface. The results from the experiment suggest that the Mosaic interface allows faster selection than the Cards interface and is less erroneous than the Exposà © interface. SUMMARY OF ARTICLE The report outlines some windows research since the 1980s to the present time. Early research (Bly el al. 1986) showed that even though tiled window systems were faster than overlapping windows, users still preferred overlapping windows. Their conclusion being that it is imperative to create window systems that are both efficient and meet their user preferences. Research by Card and Henderson (1987) argued for designs that reduce the time and cognitive load of switching tasks. Hutchings et als (2004) study showed that users often have 8 or more windows open at any time with a median activation time of 3.8 seconds. Other research looked at arranging and grouping windows. These research works inspired Warr et al to investigate three window switching interfaces. The chosen interfaces were The Cards Interface: These resemble playing cards with small conceptual representation of the window and small amounts of information. They are spread like a stack of cards with the most recent window showing at the front. The Exposà © interface: This arranges the windows in a map, based on their size and original position. The Mosaic Interface: In this interface the windows are paced in order of most recent left to right in a grid form with the windows scaled to size of grid cell. The report details the design and procedures used in the experiment. They used a 3X3 mixed factorial design for the experiment.à This being the three user interface types by three different number of windows open at a time namely 3, 6 and 9 windows. The experiment was carried out to prove two hypothesises about window switching. Hypothesis 1: That the Mosaic interface allows windows to be selected faster than the Cards and Exposà © interfaces Hypothesis 2: The Mosaic interface would have less errors in selection than the Cards and Exposà © interfaces. The experiment was carried out in a lab using 42 participants (27 female and 15 male) ranging in age from 18-60. The participants were volunteers and were selected on the basis that they used laptops as their main computing device, hadnt used any of the selected interfaces previously and on average had more than one window open at any one time. They developed an application which prototyped the interfaces and allowed them to control and gather the data. Trials were carried out using each of the interfaces and selected number of windows. The participant were instructed to switch to predefined windows and the time taken to select the correct window and any errors in selections were recorded. The details of the conditions used are defined. The article displays the results for selection time and errors and shows them in table and graphical format for each interface and number of windows. Using a number of statistical tests the results allowed for partial acceptance of both hypothesis. They suggested that the Mosaic interface allows quicker window selection than the Cards interface that the Mosaic interface has fewer selection errors than the Exposà © interface. In the discussion they imply that the Mosaic interface was faster because the need to scroll in the card selection made it inefficient especially as the number of windows increases. Also in the Exposà © interface as the number of open windows increases the size of the thumbnails in the Exposà © interface decreases making them more difficult to distinguish. There wasnt much difference in number of erroneous selections between the interfaces except the Exposà © interface at the greater number of open windows. They surmise that was due to the fact the thumbnails were small and hard to distinguish. The limitations applied in conducting the experiment makes this a worst case scenario. They conclude that the Mosaic interface enables fast, less error prone window selection. DISCUSSION The article is well laid out. It summarises some similar research previously carried out in window switching although they say that this is the first comparative study of these specific window overview schemes (p 3336). Their reference material is fairly old. The most recent being a study of their own presented at the CHI conference in 2011. The aim of the experiment, investigating the efficiency of three window interfaces, and the reason for it are well defined. It presents the experiment in distinct sections outlining the design of the experiment, how the participants were chosen, the materials used, the procedures, their interpretation of the results and conclusion. They conclude that the Mosaic interface is the faster and the least error prone of the three chosen interfaces. This is internally valid as it was in a controlled environment however how transferable this is in the real world where prior knowledge and familiarity may affect the results is not measured. It also ignores user preferences that Bly et al considered important. There is no measure of the user experience in this experiment. Purposive sampling of participants appears to have been used. They did not include a group with prior knowledge of the interfaces and were careful throughout the experiment to alleviate any learning effects. This may have been for quick and economic reasons even though participants received a gift card. The sample size may be small because of the criteria used to select the participants and there is no explanation as to why there are almost twice as many women. The data collected from this group cant really be used to generalise about the interfaces. The results may be biased towards non experienced users. They could however be used as a control reference for any future research to externally validate these interfaces with other users. The authors of the article are affiliated to Google inc and Warr, Chi and Harris have published many articles in areas relating to computer interface design. Their previous works has been cited many times. This paper was presented to the CHI 16 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. This is a top conference for HCI where the future of how people interact with technology is discussed. It is a conference for top researchers, designers and corporations. This was an ideal place to present this research paper and may prompt further research in this area. A good knowledge of statistics is required to understand the results as presented in the article. The researchers appear to be confident in their methods and choice of statistical tests but without a knowledge of statistics it is difficult to know whether their choice of statistical tests are biased. In their discussion they explore the reasons why the Mosaic interface may have been faster than the Cards interface. The put forward three credible explanations for this. These factors could be explored in any future studies. They acknowledge the fact that the experiment may not reflect real life scenarios. CONCLUSION Warr, Chi, Harris, Kuscher, Chen, Flack, and Jitkoff presented a detailed experiment in window switching interfaces that were being considered for a new operating system. They suggest that the Mosaic interface allows faster selection than the Cards interface and less erroneous than the Exposà © interface from the results they obtained. The results may not transfer to the general population and does not study the ergonomics of the interfaces and ignores user preferences. However they may inspire further research in the area of window switching. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bly, S. A. and Rosenberg, J. K. 1986. A comparison of tiled and overlapping windows. Proc. CHI86, ACM Press, 101-106. Card S. K. and Henderson, A. 1987. A Multiple, Virtual-Workspace Interface to Support User Task Switching. Proc CHI87, ACM Press, 53-59. Hutchings, D. R., Smith, G., Meyers, B., Czerwinski, M., Robertson, G. 2004. Display space usage and window management operation comparisons between single monitor and multiple monitor users. Proc. AVI04, ACM Press, 32-39.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The Influence of Real-Time Technology on E-Voting Technology :: essays research papers
Abstract Many cyberneticists would agree that, had it not been for web browsers, the deployment of link-level acknowledgements might never have occurred. Given the current status of homogeneous models, theorists famously desire the evaluation of online algorithms, which embodies the confirmed principles of separated programming languages. We present a solution for the refinement of Markov models, which we call Drabber. Table of Contents 1) Introduction 2) Drabber Study 3) Implementation 4) Evaluation * 4.1) Hardware and Software Configuration * 4.2) Experimental Results 5) Related Work 6) Conclusion 1 Introduction The emulation of symmetric encryption is a key quagmire. In fact, few experts would disagree with the key unification of the transistor and erasure coding. Despite the fact that prior solutions to this question are useful, none have taken the flexible approach we propose here. The exploration of local-area networks would minimally degrade "fuzzy" modalities. Our focus in this work is not on whether forward-error correction and IPv7 [8] are rarely incompatible, but rather on describing an analysis of erasure coding (Drabber). Nevertheless, "fuzzy" communication might not be the panacea that theorists expected. Existing semantic and Bayesian systems use ambimorphic algorithms to develop stochastic theory. Our system runs in W(n2) time. It should be noted that Drabber turns the modular algorithms sledgehammer into a scalpel. Thusly, we see no reason not to use large-scale archetypes to investigate the exploration of robots. This work presents three advances above existing work. For starters, we construct an analysis of replication (Drabber), validating that Markov models and the partition table can agree to realize this objective. Second, we use interposable methodologies to disprove that I/O automata and IPv4 are largely incompatible. Next, we discover how cache coherence can be applied to the development of the transistor. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Primarily, we motivate the need for the partition table. We prove the construction of information retrieval systems. Ultimately, we conclude. 2 Drabber Study Furthermore, Figure 1 shows our heuristic's read-write simulation [10]. Along these same lines, we consider a heuristic consisting of n hierarchical databases. This seems to hold in most cases. Figure 1 shows an architectural layout diagramming the relationship between Drabber and the investigation of the memory bus. We postulate that the essential unification of object-oriented languages and superpages can store relational information without needing to enable the theoretical unification of vacuum tubes and 802.11 mesh networks. The question is, will Drabber satisfy all of these assumptions? No. dia0.png Figure 1: The flowchart used by our system. Reality aside, we would like to refine a methodology for how Drabber might behave in theory.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Agro Credit Case Study
Creating a Process-Driven Organization at AGCredit Answer 1:-AgCredit was a Midwest Agriculture Credit and Loan company. It was a midsize financial institution focusing on agribusiness. It had grown significantly in the past few years and was holding its own against other, much larger banks because of its extensive customer knowledge. Kate Longair to the CEO of the company explained all the processes and the systems the company used and how they were integrated using a diagrammatic view for the same. The CEO then decided upon the need for change into various departments to bring about a transformation in business.Finney, the CEO wanted to focus on AgCreditââ¬â¢s key strategic drivers which included continuous growth, expanded customer relationships, the ability to spend more time with the customer, the ability to cross-sell between business divisions and the ability to provide a consistent customer experience across all delivery channels. The CEOââ¬â¢s vision for growth was to create a customer-centric organization by using technology to support people and processes. Realizing that systems integration by itself would not produce the desired result, management redesigned the companyââ¬â¢s business processes from beginning to end.Now the challenge was to redesign the IT organization to support the new organization structure. Answer 2:- IT organizations serve two purposes: development (i. e. , which involves the acquisition of new systems and technology and the implementation of these new systems into the workplace); and operations (i. e. , which involves running the data center, production programs and networking infrastructure is decentralized. It leads to facilitation of various business processes across the bank. IT was in a significant state of disarray.Absence of appropriate IT Governance as well as an architecture plan. IT was organized in silos to mirror AgCreditââ¬â¢s divisional structure and each business unit owned and governed its own IT Pr ojects. The company has outsourced chunks of IT functions. The tasks are unevenly and randomly divided amongst the staff irrespective of their expertise. The current structure seems to be more like the enterprise oriented architecture. Due to irregular IT organizational structure many problems arouse with the business processes which led to different choice for the architecture of IT.The structure moreover has a cross-silo flow which creates confusion amongst the business processes as well as data mess. The information appears in various formats, which is difficult to reconcile. Answer 3:- Key Issues: ââ¬â IT was completely broken and lack of systems integration. Everyone was aware of adding value to processes to the company but how the business strategy would fit with everyone elseââ¬â¢s to deliver enterprise value was unknown by others. There exists lack of knowledge of business processes and how they worked together.The key business processes had never been written down be fore and hence they needed to be documented. The front line staff had to access many systems for simple business processes. IT was in a significant state of disarray. A key problem was application centric approach the organization took to its work. Business people would demand new systems from IT for every process whereas IT staff would always train them to make use of the existing systems. This created data mess as there were various systems with loads of information scattered everywhere.Due to this the information appeared in different formats, which were difficult to reconcile. This was a significant challenge when creating accurate reports for banking and other government regulators. IT is negative in business: expense, inability to get work done in a timely fashion, bad information, customer complaints and poorly trained IT staff. AgCredit starts with no formal IT architecture. It is also about the work the business needs to do first in order to create the right environment for IT transformation, i. . , a process focus and a business value focus, not a systems focus. It stresses that optimizing the enterprise is the new source of business value and this means integrated processes across the company and integrated information. To achieve this, IT will need to transform its structure, governance, and approach to systems development. Answer 4:- Proposed IT Organizational Structure Decentralized organizational structures often have several individuals responsible for making business decisions and running the business.Decentralized organizations rely on a team environment at different levels in the business. Individuals at each level in the business may have some autonomy to make business decisions. The challenge for IT will be in the transformation because it will need to have a structure that supports where the organization is going, while still respecting the fact that it is not there yet. IT should be aligned with processes, not individual business functio ns and all new development should be undertaken with the process owners and with the approval of the Enterprise Integration Program.It indicates that all business-facing IT functions should be aligned with the major business processes that have been identified. Internally, therefore IT will need groups dedicated to each of the major systems that currently support the business. These groups will be responsible for all maintenance and any new development needed to keep the organization running smoothly while new service-oriented functionality and common data are put in place. These groups will be needed to make the necessary adjustments to existing systems as this new functionality is put in place.Pros- Redesigning a company towards a process-based organization implies that all activities, which logically belong together in order to create value for the customer, are grouped together. Customerââ¬â¢-processes are defined and taken as the basis for an organizational unit. ââ¬ËDeve lopmentââ¬â¢- and ââ¬Ëplanning and controlââ¬â¢- processes that are necessary for reaching the core objective of the unit are implied. This implies that the organizational structure of a business or a company is based on organizational units which are organized around the core processes.Structuring a business or a company process-wise implies that coordination across process units is kept at a minimum. The following paragraphs illustrate how companies or business units can be structured around processes. Answer 5:- Project Selection Process to ensure alignment with the enterprise business Vision- Effective collaboration between business and IT is essential to the success of both SOA and BPM. A Business Rule Engine can act both as a technology and collaboration enabler; the below points will explain how the organization can improve business processes and move toward SOA by focusing on these strategies. . Streamline business processes by separating business logic from flow lo gic 2. Create processes that are more agile by making it easy to update business logic 3. Align the business goal of more dynamic decision-making with SOA technology 4. Enable effective IT-Business collaboration by giving IT the control it needs and Business Users the tools they need to maintain business logic Some projects will be foundational in nature, i. e. , be prerequisites to other projects; others may be needed to upgrade the IT infrastructure.It will therefore be important that the IT Steering Committee consider a variety of dimensions of project value, in addition to ROI, in determining which projects they would like to undertake. Projects which are functional in nature would therefore not score as highly as those which contribute towards the overall company strategy. All business leaders should consider all IT projects and make a decision as to which ones to undertake according to their enterprise value. The CIO should also ensure that foundational work is considered and ranked appropriately to enable IT to carry out the business visionAnswer 6:- Manley ââ¬Å"Make the caseâ⬠for Service-oriented architecture (SOA) helps organizations more easily transform their business processes for high performance by simplifying the underlying information systems. Old architectural approaches that once expanded business opportunities now limit growthââ¬âbut existing systems cannot be simply be replaced. Service-oriented architecture gives existing systems the flexibility and agility to respond to a business environment which is changing rapidly.Service-oriented architectures allow businesses and governments to capitalize on opportunity by:-Becoming more agile, driving cost reductions, Boosting ROI Manley has to prove that SOA will work and that IT can deliver on what it promises. He doesnââ¬â¢t necessarily have to deliver a project that will have an ROI, but he has to work with the EIP to identify a small sub-process that will demonstrate that SOA ca n deliver functionality in a new way that will be effective for the organization. If he can automate a small process and show how it integrates with various data and systems in a new way, the business will ââ¬Å"get itâ⬠.Answer 7:- Internal IT Capabilities should include the following to create an IT department that helps build business architecture:- * A full-time staff of programmers, developers, and other IT professionals * The ability to rapidly develop and deploy large, complex data collection and direct marketing solutions in-house using internal resources * Professional consulting services in the areas of marketing, business process improvement, supply chain management, and process optimization for customer satisfaction.IT will need business analysts who can play an intermediary role between business and technology. These analysts will need to deeply understand a particular business process and have the skills to develop collaborative relationships with the business lea ders of the various functions involved in the process and to work with them to document their process requirements. Solutions architects will need to deeply understand the services approach to assembling systems and to be able to pull together the appropriate services, data and knowledge to deliver the required functionality.Data analysts will be needed to deeply understand the companyââ¬â¢s data and to work with the business to create single sources of key business information and to establish data standards. Finally, the company will need excellent IT architects who will build a technology roadmap for data and services and who will manage the processes. Answer 8:- Aspects of IT Governance important for supporting the transformation It is important that everyone in IT understands where IT is going and what their responsibilities and accountabilities are.It is also important that IT staff insulate the business from the technical compromises that will necessarily result from the a ctual transition, which could take several years. Therefore, the business-facing IT governance must be process-centric, while internal IT governance will necessarily be a mix. Business must also clearly understand its responsibilities and accountabilities and these must be enforced. * Define goals and strategies * Define standards, policies, procedures, around financial, Portfolio, Project, service, etc. * Define metrics * Put Governance mechanism in place * Analyze and Improve existing processes Refine and go to the next level Key IT Governance Strategy and aspects for transformation:- * IT Principles * IT Architecture * IT Infrastructure * Business application needs * IT Investment and prioritization * People (human capital) development * IT Governance policies, processes, mechanisms, tools and metrics- decisions on composition and roles of steering groups, advisory councils, technical and architecture working committees, project teams: key performance indicators(KPIââ¬â¢s), ch argeback alternatives, performance reporting, meaningful audit process and the need to have business owner for each project and investment.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Behaviorism after the founding
Behaviorism as the third force in psychology have started out as a theoretical proposition of John B. Watson when he came out with ââ¬Å"Psychology as The Behaviorist Views Itâ⬠and have been known as the behaviorist manifesto (Benjamin, 1997). Watson proposed that psychology is the study of behavior and have put forth four major assumptions that form the tenets of behaviorism as a school of thought. The first assumption is that of evolutionary continuity which means that the laws of behavior are applicable to all living organisms. This assumption has substantiated the behavioristââ¬â¢s use of animals in the study of human behavior.The second assumption is that of reductionism, this refers to the behavioristââ¬â¢s belief that all behaviors have a physiological basis and that behavior is the bodyââ¬â¢s reaction to a stimulus. The third assumption is determinism, behaviorists support the idea that animals respond to external stimuli in specific ways and are inherently pr ogrammed into oneââ¬â¢s brain from birth. The last assumption is empiricism which is one of the cornerstones of behaviorism and that it is the contention that only overt actions or behavior are measurable and observable and lend itself to the scientific method.Thus, to the behaviorist, psychology should be the study of overt behavior. B. F. Skinner was a self-confessed convert to behaviorism after reading Watsonââ¬â¢s monograph; he was also influenced by the experimental studies of Ivan Pavlov (Bjork, 1997). Skinner developed a theory that was based on the classical conditioning paradigm of Pavlov and integrated it with his own definition of behaviorism. Skinnerââ¬â¢s major work is his theory of operant conditioning, wherein he said that behavior can be conditioned through reinforcement and behavior diminishes when it is not reinforced.He borrowed from Pavlov the basic idea of conditioning, but instead of limiting it to a stimulus-response paradigm, he incorporated the impo rtance of rewards and punishment, which means that behavior is not only exhibited as a response to a stimulus but also as a form of association between the reinforcement given after the behavior. Skinnerââ¬â¢s theoretical position made it obvious that he deviated from Watsonââ¬â¢s radical behaviorism, because conditioning a she defined it involves cognition which Watson has strongly eradicated from his propositions.Moreover, the emphasis given to reinforcements and punishments hint at the need to acknowledge mental processes in the study of behavior. Skinnerââ¬â¢s work was well received by the academic community much even that Watsonââ¬â¢s initial paper was and this have spurned the interest of like minded psychologists who did support the methodological implications of behaviorism but was not receptive of the radical arguments of Watson. Skinnerââ¬â¢s ideas made more sense because it did not advocated the idea that men are not thinking beings and were more able to ca pture how man behaves.Skinnerââ¬â¢s kind of behaviorism somehow married the opposing views of mind and behavior and also gave importance to how environmental experiences and influences shape human behavior. Moreover, operant conditioning was applicable in a number of areas most notably education, child rearing and animal training (Skinner, 1966). Skinnerââ¬â¢s behaviorism has also influenced other psychologists to study and conceptualize psychological phenomena using the principles of operant conditioning and indeed was the kind of behaviorism that has flourished for the last century or so in the field of psychology.Contemporary behaviorism have been identified as the study of social learning, wherein a behavior is learned through socialization and socialization is the process by which behavior is rewarded or punished by society (Smith & Woodward, 1996). The evolution of behaviorism from Watson to Skinner and to the present has been made possible by the vast research and theor etical models developed by psychologists who adhere to contemporary behaviorism. One of the hallmarks of behaviorism is the use of animals to study human behavior.Animal research has proven to be useful in understanding how man learns or can be trained to exhibit a certain type of behavior (Benjamin, 1997). Although animal behavior is limited, it nonetheless becomes necessary for behavioral scientists because ethical considerations in using a human subject in risky experiments are not permitted. For example, doing a research on the effect of light illumination to sleep deprivation is probably unethical to do on humans.Although animals are not exactly anatomically similar to humans, animal physiology and anatomy have been well studied and documented that tracing the reactions of mice to light will be easier and scientifically sound. The generalizations made based on this study is however limited but is an acceptable margin of error. Moreover, animals can be easily manipulated and sub jected to experiments than humans because they operate on an instinctual level and do not have to process the information given to them.The knowledge gained in studying animals is numerous but especially have been concentrated on learning and behavior and to some extent how drugs affect the brain or the body. Animal research can help us understand human behavior better because to some degree we share with them basic drives that are necessary for our existence and hence, learning how animals react to stress or hunger can give us the information needed to adequately explain behavior. Animals exhibit simple behaviors which humans share and have grown in complexity over the years but if analyzed is based still on simple behaviors.References Benjamin, L. (1997) A History of Psychology: Original Sources and Contemporary Research 2nd ed. New York: McGraw ââ¬âHill. Bjork, D. (1997) B. F. Skinner: A Life. Washington: American Psychological Association. Skinner, B. F. (1966). The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis. 7th printing. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. Smith, L. & Woodward, W. (1996). B. F Skinner and Behaviorism in American Culture. London: Lehigh University Press
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Group Project AxoGlobal Essay
Group Project AxoGlobal Essay Group Project AxoGlobal Essay Principles Of Finance (B) 26 February 2015 BBA Winter 2015 Group Project Gurpreet Singh Juan Jose Sanchez Kevin Sarreri Phaa Rowe Milos Smiljanic Table of Contents Introduction 2 Structure, Planning and Reason 3 Risk, Assets, Liabilities and Management Issues 4 Investment Strategies: 6 EU Stocks: 6 Gold 7 Oil 8 Renewable energy 9 UK Treasury Bills 10 Portfolio 11 Conclusion 11 Introduction In this day and age, business is the path of our development as the human species, leading innovation in technology and medication, to giving each person the opportunity to not only improve their conditions and lifestyle but to explore even further and create even more. From East to West businesses drive each individual countryââ¬â¢s economy, all interlinking to what we know as the global economy itself. However, each individual economy and its local stocks may excel more than others and not all whom are interested in these investments have the accessibility or the knowledge to play the stocks they wish to bet on. This is where AxoGlobal takes the award. AxoGlobal is an investment and asset management company based in the United States. We have been serving the pensioners and investors of the Americas for over 20 years, breaking the barrier between the West and East. AxoGlobal invests funds from the United States into the United Kingdomââ¬â¢s stock markets, focusing on the best of the best of FTSE 100 ensuring high return without the high risk. Specializing in investment opportunities we have built our portfolio through intensive research to reduce unsystematic risks whilst maintaining high and stable returns. AxoGlobal is a close-ended mutual fund, allowing for security and book-value growth. With the great success AxoGlobal has achieved the company is looking to expand our services to the people of South America, giving potential investors the ability to invest in the UKââ¬â¢s booming economy. South Americaââ¬â¢s pension fund is one of the worldââ¬â¢s rapidly growing, which is why we are making a proposal as AxoGlobal sees a great potential in the continent. We would like to give the people of South America the opportunity to invest abroad, to invest in the stability that the European and British markets offer. Structure, Planning and Reason The United States of America is the most influential, efficient and successful country in terms of raising private funds to invest in equities, government bonds, futures, derivatives and many other markets that are available for investment. Last year on its own the United States raised several trillions of dollars in private fund raisings in order to invest in the world market. Throughout the years the coverage over the American market has grown and with companies having profitability all over the world it is imperative for a business to expand its borders. This means that AxoGlobal as a mutual fund must diversify its investments and gain participation in foreign markets as well. Primarily the most attractive market for our American and rest of the world investors is located in the UK. As the market is way more open than the Asian market and includes far less taxes than the rest of Europe in addition to the fact that it is the second largest stock market in the world. As a mutual f und the markets that the UK offers are very interesting because it offers a safe and strong currency of payment. The British pound has been one of the currencies with the lowest amount of inflation over the years, yet todayââ¬â¢s situation offers an advantageous situation as the American dollar is at its strongest exchange rate towards the pound. The Investors that we are looking for are from South America in special. Last year the United Kingdoms market offered a highly profitable return to its investors. As a matter of fact there was a huge amount of private investments within the United Kingdom as a response to the speculation that the European markets were collapsing as well as the speculation
Monday, October 21, 2019
The Traditional Modes of Discourse in Composition
The Traditional Modes of Discourse in Composition In composition studies, the term modes of discourse refers to the four traditional categories of written texts: narration, description, exposition, and argument. Also known as theà rhetorical modes and forms of discourse. In 1975, James Britton and his associates at the University of London questioned the usefulness of the modes of discourse as a way of teaching students how to write. The tradition is profoundly prescriptive, they observed, and shows little inclination to observe the writing process: its concern is with how people should write rather than how they do (The Development of Writing Abilities [11-18]). Also see: Current-Traditional RhetoricDiscourseExpository WritingModels of CompositionTheme Writing Examples and Observations Beginning with Samuel Newmans Practical Systems of Rhetoric of 1827, American rhetoric textbooks . . . were supplementing Whatelian argumentative rhetoric with other modes. Teachers were coming to prefer books that offered concrete treatment of the different sorts of communication aims obviously served by writing. As writing displaced oral rhetoric, the older insistence on a single argumentative purpose did not serve, and in 1866 the desire for a multimodal rhetorical system was met by Alexander Bain, whose English Composition and Rhetoric proposed the multimodal system that has remained to this day, the forms or modes of discourse: narration, description, exposition, and argument.(Robert Connors, Composition-Rhetoric. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997)Writing in Multiple Modes- A mode is . . . considered as one dimension of a subject, a way of viewing the subject as static or dynamic, abstract or concrete. A typical discourse, then, may make use of all the modes. For instance, to write about a monarch butterfly we may narrate about the butterfly (e.g., trace its migration north in the spring or its life cycle), describe the butterfly (orange and black, about three inches wide), classify it (species, Danaus Plexippus, belonging to the family Danaidae, the milkweed butterflies, order Lepidoptera); and evaluate it (one of the most beautiful and best known of butterflies). However, even though the discourse may include all of the modes, it is common to use one of the modes to organize the discourse, as is suggested by the title of one of [James L.] Kinneavys textbooks: Writing: Basic Modes of Organization, by Kinneavy, Cope, and Campbell.(Mary Lynch Kennedy, ed. Theorizing Composition: A Critical Sourcebook of Theory And Scholarship in Contemporary Composition Studies. IAP, 1998)|- No theory of modes of discourse ever pretends that the modes do not overlap. In actuality, it is impossible to have pure narration, etc. However in a given discourse there will often be . . . [a] dominant mode. . . .These fourà modes of discourse [narration, classification, description, and evaluation]à areà not an application of the communication triangle. They actually are grounded in certain philosophic concepts of the nature of reality considered as being or becoming.(James Kinneavy, A Theory of Discourse. Prentice Hall, 1972) Problems With the Modes of DiscourseThe modes are faulted for relying on faculty and associationist psychology. Faculty psychology assumes the mind is governed by the faculties of understanding, imagination, passion, or will. Associationist psychology contends that we know the world through the grouping, or association, of ideas, which follows basic laws and order. Thus early proponents of the modes of discourse assumed that one should choose a form of discourse according to the faculty to be influenced and based on laws of association. . . .In light of current composition theory, problems with the modes of discourse as a guiding principle of composition pedagogy are numerous. For example, Sharon Crowley (1984) faults the modes for focusing only on text and writer, ignoring the audience, and thus being arhetorical.(Kimberly Harrison, Contemporary Composition Studies. Greenwood, 1999)Adams Sherman Hill on the Kinds of Composition (1895)The four kinds of composition that seem to requir e separate treatment are: Description, which deals with persons or things; Narration, which deals with acts or events; Exposition, which deals with whatever admits of analysis or requires explanation; Argument, which deals with any material that may be used to convince the understanding or to affect the will. The purpose of description is to bring before the mind of the reader persons or things as they appear to the writer. The purpose of narration is to tell a story. The purpose of exposition is to make the matter in hand more definite. The purpose of argument is to influence opinion or action, or both.In theory these kinds of composition are distinct, but in practice two or more of them are usually combined. Description readily runs into narration, and narration into description: a paragraph may be descriptive in form and narrative in purpose, or narrative in form and descriptive in purpose. Exposition has much in common with one kind of description; and it may be of service to an y kind of description, to narration, or to argument.(Adams Sherman Hill, The Principles of Rhetoric, rev. edition. American Book Company, 1895)
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Essay about Insanity
Essay about Insanity Essay about Insanity The literally works by Sylvia (The Bell Jar) and by Ken Kesey (One flew over the cuckooââ¬â¢s nest) made significant impact on the field of literature. The work that was done in the 1960s marked a major milestone in development and advancement of literally work. The two books were able to advance the theme of insanity and are still relevant event to date. The main characters in the books make the reader of the books to understand the true meaning of insanity in a society. Insanity which sometimes may also be referred to as craziness is behavioral spectrum that is characterized by some specific abnormal mental or behavioral tendencies. The two books have been able to advance the theme through the conduct of the main characters in the books. The fundamental meaning of the literally work by the two authors The literally work by Sylvia (The Bell Jar) is more than just a confessional novel. It depicts a comic but painful sentiment of what happens to a ladyââ¬â¢s aspirations in a society that does not take them seriously. The setting of the book represent a society expects electroshock to remedy the despair of a sensitive, inquisitive young artist whose search for self identity degenerate to terrifying descent nearing to madness (Bloom, Harold 33). Itââ¬â¢s a piece of work that highlights the life of a young who is vulnerable wins a dream assignment on a big-time New York magazine and finds that she is plunged into a nightmare. Sylviaââ¬â¢s work is basically a fine novel as bitter and remorseless as her previous poem. Its most significant quality is an astonishing closeness, like a series of snapshots taken at high mid-day. The work can also be described as special poignancy that is a special force and shows the vulnerability of persons of hope and goodwill. The other book by Ken Kesey (One flew over the cuckooââ¬â¢s nest) is also an interesting piece of literally work. His work is arguably one of the most fantastic novels of an individual pitted against the depersonalization of an industrial society (Bloom, Harold 63). His work has been able to demonstrate the challenges that are faced by people in modern civilization. The author is able to convey some of his ideas through some rich imagery, for instance the line the inclusion of the sentence that indicates the truth, even if it never happened, sets the reader of book up from the initial stages for an interesting story where the reader perceives the situation more accurately as it reflects the truth more than the outward appearance of things. The reader would be interested to find out what the truth was and what happened instead. That notwithstanding, the story can however be a bit confusing at some points since the narrator is a paranoid schizophrenic and this poses some challenges as it is hard to differentiate between reality and hallucinations of the narrator. The book is a unique literal work as it is told from the point of view of a paranoid schizophrenic and resonates very well in analysis of the theme of insanity. Literary devices used by the authors in the two books The two books have employed distinct literary devices. Sylviaââ¬â¢s books have some quite interesting characters. Esther Greenwood is the protagonist in the story who became mentally unstable. She became tormented after the death of her father coupled with the feelings that she does not fit into culturally acceptable task of womanhood and subsequently attempt to commit suicide (Bryfonski, Dedria 45). Doreen is the other conspicuous character in the story and she portrays a rebellious young lady. Esther the main protagonist finds Doreenââ¬â¢s confident personality very enticing albeit troublesome. The theme of insanity in the story is demonstrated more in by the character named Joan who apparently is an old friend of Esther. She joined Esther in the asylum but eventually commit suicide. There are two doctors that Esther encounters while at the asylum. Doctor Nolan is a beautiful and caring lady. Because of her societally-praised femininity and her professional capability facilit ated her to perform a therapy on Esther that yielded positive results. Doctor Gordon is the very first doctor Esther encounter in the asylum. The story depicts him as self-obsessed and somehow patronizing. His treatment services to her are complete contrast of the one offered by Doctor Nolan since he administered shock treatment that finally leave her haunted. Ken Kesey in his book One flew over the cuckooââ¬â¢s nest also has some interesting characters. One of the main characters is Chief Bromden who is the narrator who has been with the mental hospital since the conclusion of World War II. This character pretend to be deaf and mute and it is through this guise that he has been able to become privy to some to the dirtiest secrets in the ward. A series of events that included humiliation of his father by the US government as well as his white wife led him to descend to schizophrenia (Bloom, Harold 73). He believes that, a large mechanized system control the society. He calls this system ââ¬â the combined. It shows how member of society suffering from insanity perceive the world and the predicament they go through. Randle McMurphy is a rebellious convict who is sent from normal prison. He has been found guilty of battery as well as gambling. Although he has never been of statutory rape, he has been charged often. The highlight of th is character is that, he is transferred from prison work farm to the hospital and although he thought is was an easy way of serving his term, he end up turning violent with the nurse thereby costing him his freedom, health and also his life. Nurse Ratched represents the face of staffs of the hospital. She is the tyrannical head nurse of the institution and her exercise total control over those under her care. One of the most significant aspects that represent how male in society is demonstrated when McMrphy failed to lift a heavy shower room control that he had claimed he can lift and due to embarrassment remarked that, at least he tried. This shows how men get incentive to stand up for themselves in certain situations. The imageries used by Sylvia in the book at the initial stages set raises the interest of the reader. The sentiments use of words such as queer, sultry summer creates a mental picture that arouses the readerââ¬â¢s interest to study the book (Bloom, Harold 33). Analysis on Comparison of the two books and how they contrast each other The two books have advanced the theme of insanity very well. The characters in the two books have advanced the theme. The setting of under which the books are established is in a hospital which help the reader to fathom the theme of the stories. The books however differ in some aspect of the characters. Ken Kesey story uses a pretentious character that pretends to be damp and as he interacts with other people in the hospital, he becomes privy to some of the secrets in the ward. Sylviaââ¬â¢s story does not adopt this style. Sylviaââ¬â¢s story advances the theme from a womanââ¬â¢ perspective while Kenââ¬â¢s story advances the theme from a manââ¬â¢s point of view. If you need a professional essay writer to get your essay paper written from scratch, just contact our professional custom writing company .
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Contemporary Urban Planning Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Contemporary Urban Planning - Article Example This paper seeks to reflect on various issues that concern urban planning as far as packing spaces are concerned. Regulating parking prices The increased need to diversify investment portfolio has resulted to opening of more businesses in cities as well as establishment of taxi industry especially by young investors. This implies that it is essential for city authorities to adopt right parking prices. It is worth to note that high prices may result to empty curb spaces thus leading to various negativities not only to the business but also to the environment. For example, businesses that are located near parking areas will lose customers, leading to low sales and reduced profits. Due to reduced business operations large number of employees loses jobs resulting to high poverty level especially in the urban areas. In the same way, low packing prices will increase the demand for packing spaces. In their efforts to search for packing spaces, motorists highly contribute to environmental pollution through the emission of carbon. Similarly, traffic jams are experienced and the level of fuel wastage is high. One of the key measures that city authorities should advocate for is setting up proper pricing mechanisms that will ensure availability of at least two parking spaces in every building (Donald 36). Through adoption of performance pricing, parking spaces will not only be appropriately used but also they will be available. In addition, the level of environmental pollution caused by carbon that is emitted during traffic congestion will greatly b e reduced. It is also vital to note that one of major causes of economic backwardness of third world countries are the many hours that employees take while in traffic jams. This means that through performance pricing, the time taken by drivers in traffic congestion will be highly reduced. A notable city that has effectively utilized performance parking is San Francisco. Through the SFpark, the city has put in place meter that does not only report the availability of parking spaces but also they charge variable prices (Donald 12). Implication of right prices on business performance Installation of parking meters has attracted criticism from some drivers. For instance, some motorists in San Francisco argue that the use of meter especially during the evening will demotivate them from going to the restaurants located at the downtown. However, appropriate location of meters will result to proper management of parking spaces that will ensure one or two spaces are available for the custome rs who are willing to pay the fees. One of the major benefits of adopting performance parking in the contemporary urban planning is that motorist who are willing to pay the fees are also in a position to carry customers who are loyal to the businesses located near parking areas. This will ultimately result to more sales for such business thus creating more job opportunities. In the same way, carpooling is enhanced thus resulting to the reduction of packing costs incurred by individual drivers. One of the merits that make performance prices reliable is that they are sensitive to demand. For example, during recession the parking prices are deemed to fall thus resulting to continuous flow of customers. This will not only increase the sales of businesses but also employment opportunities will be generated in the urban areas. Role of parking fees on the expansion of public utilities To
Friday, October 18, 2019
General Gordon of Khartoum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
General Gordon of Khartoum - Essay Example The Arab and African merchants handled the inland trade of commodities and slaves. After the abolition of the slave trade by the British in 1807, they started patrolling the coasts, seizing other countriesââ¬â¢ slave ships. Within the last twenty years of the 19th century, rivalries and conflicts in Europe started affecting individuals in Africa directly. Over the last years of the 19th century (1880ââ¬â¢s), the European powers shared African territories among themselves without the consent or will of the people living there. They had partial understanding of the land they had acquired (BBC 2013, p1). Political rivalry, commercial greed, and territorial ambition all instigated the European scramble for Africa. This climaxed in the Africaââ¬â¢s partition during the 1884-5 Berlin Conference. The whole process that is the partitioning of Africa became famously identified as the scramble for Africa. In the last half of the 19th century, the disjointed patchwork of trading coloni es, understandings, protectorates, and alliances yielded to sweeping transformations enforced by the Europeans. The French and the British were determined to make things right and institute a clear administrative hierarchy composed of the Europeans (at the top) and Africans (at the bottom) (BBC 2013, p1). On the other hand, a number of the oldest trading countries in Europe left Africa and the other set of players emerged. The Danes and the Dutch abandoned the continent while Belgium, Italy, and Germany moved into the continent. Elsewhere the mineral riches of Africa dazzled and fixated European adventures. However, casual commercial connections were replaced by methodical control and exploitation. At the beginning of the 19th century, the European hold of the African geography was restricted mainly to the coastal regions. However, before the end of the century, Europeans were spanning the continent with roads and railways. Now it was easy to take control of the continent both comme rcially and politically (BBC 2013, p1). The Scramble for Africa ââ¬Å"had the effect of defusing and displacing tensions between the European powers in Europe, but eventually the tradeoffs and alliances could not disguise the fact that Imperial Germany was on a collision course with Britain and Franceâ⬠(BBC 2013, p1). For the first time, the African people found themselves pulled into conflicts, which had its sources in London and Berlin war rooms. The moral bravado of the European powers, purportedly representing reconciliation and order, civilization, and wisdom, soon broke into the destruction, death, and chaos of World War I (BBC 2013, p1). It is important to note that, in Africa, the Europeans were strangers but by aggression, settlement, and trade they became by different levels part of the inside (Connah 2004, p175). General Charles George Gordonââ¬â¢s Experience in Khartoum Sudan In the year 1882, Mohamed Ahmed (also referred to himself as Messiah or Mahdi) invited all the true believers to join in the holy war against Christians. Most people especially wild tribesman heeded to his call, and in the following, he conquered an army of close to eleven thousand Egyptians and English that had tried to subdue the revolt. England was forced to leave the province. However, thousands of Europeans who had sought asylum in Khartoum and other towns had to be rescued from their
Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Case Study Example This implies that older employees are of more importance to the organization. The firing of such employees must identify those resistant to change or those considered ineffective and offer them an effective retirement package. The plan for the changes thus begins with the study of the market. An extensive market research reveals new mechanisms of doing business and the changing trends in service delivery. This enables the management strategize and effective come back plan that will inform the subsequent decisions. After an effective audit of the market, the second step in implementing the change is a study of the organizational structure. This includes a study of the nature of service delivery and product design and distribution. A reconciliation of the two research reports reveal the discord thereby informing the necessary changes. Changes are often bold and begin by review the employee status in the firm thereby resulting in the firing of ineffective employees and hiring new ones. It also includes the installment of newer better technologies to aid the management process. This subsequently result in either the expansion or contraction of the organization. Either of which, presents a number of both challenges and opportunities. Question 2 One of the most important operational components is diversification. The original company failed to realize profits because of the resultant miscommunication between the companyââ¬â¢s productions and the requirements of the market. While the market kept changing, the company stuck to previous means of doing business thereby resulting in the subsequent failure. The changes in the market should often dictate the changes in operations of an organization, one way of ensuring such is through diversification. By diversifying the products and services, the organization targets a wider market. Furthermore, the wide market provides an effective market research through monitoring sales. This way, the management observes the most pre ferred products and therefore strategies the production in accordance to the patterns in the sales of the specific products. Diversification often demand changes in the means of doing business. The organization must have a constant consultative nature of relationship with the market. This implores the need for constant market research in order to effect the necessary changes to meet the demands of the market. The new management of the organization carries out an audit of the companyââ¬â¢s operations and the results show major discrepancies even in the new dispensation. The fact lack of grooming in the employeesââ¬â¢ of the firm stifle the sales despite the extensive research. This implies that while the new management has carried out effective market research, it fails to carry out an audit of its internal structures in order to determine the best ways of conducting business in the new market in order to realize the profitability (Thomas & Michael, 2001). Question 3 Interperso nal skills refer to the human management skills. Managers plan, control, organize and motivate numerous employees depending on the size of the organization the managers must therefore have relational skills to enable them work effectively with their employees, such skills help determine the factors affecting their employeesââ¬â¢ productivity thereby crafting the necessary cha
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Local Revision Worksheet Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Local Revision Worksheet - Coursework Example The first and third paragraphs of the essay are long. Consider revising them to the right length. Practice perfecting paragraph lengths throughout the essay. Consider reorganizing the entire essay to achieve uniformity in the paragraphs. Every paragraph should address a single concept (Driscoll and Brizee 1). Concept analysis in the paper is excellent as well as the provided supporting evidence. Limit the length of each quotation because lengthy quotations completely demean the main idea. The third and sixth paragraphs of the essay have lengthy quotations that require revision. Paraphrase some of the quotes to enhance the good flow of ideas within a paragraph. Moreover, distribution of the ideas should be uniform, to avoid chances of having multiple ideas in one paragraph. A range of one to two ideas is sufficient for each paragraph. Paragraph Transitions Although a paragraph addresses a single concept, it is fundamental to attain transition from one idea to another (Driscoll and Brizee 1). There are a few paragraph transition words and phrases used throughout the paper. Paragraph transition enhances flow in any scholarly academic writing. Apply specific words and phrases develop transitions using proper word choice. Transitional words are mostly conjunctive adverbs and include different words: accordingly, meanwhile, also and finally that are fundamental to enhance proper transition. Other examples of transitional phrases: in addition, of course, and for instance, are applicable to achieve paragraph transition.
National and International Oil Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
National and International Oil Companies - Essay Example The formation of joint ventures to explore oil has always defied all odds because the partnerships are formed across boundaries despite the parties coming from a different geo-political background. For instance, it was quite astonishing that BP formed a joint venture with the Rosneft, a Kremlin based Oil Company (Chzan, 2013). The joint venture was formed to explore the complex oil reserves of Russia thus there was a chance for BP to renew its investments in Russia despite the Sanctions that Moscow had been facing from the West. The joint venture was formed despite the sanctions against the annexation of Crimea but the CEO of BP, Bod Dudley, maintained that the sanctions could not affect investments (BBC NEWS, 2011). Therefore, the two oil giants teamed up to explore resource in central Russia. According to the provisions of the terms of the joint venture, BP was supposed to own 49% of the joint venture while Rosneft was to own 51%. In this case, there was a 4.9 billion share between the two companies (Chzan, 2013). The joint venture is a collaboration between an international private oil company and a national oil company (Brinded, 2010). BP stands in the history as a major oil explorer worldwide whose ownership was privatised or acquired from the government and since then, it has seen tremendous growth in different areas in the world. On the contrary, Rosneft is a Russian National Oil Company and has also been a major player in oil exploration. There are increasing concerns over the fast depleting oil reserves.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Intellectual Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3
Intellectual Property - Essay Example The United Kingdom has had matters to do with intellectual property as well as rights for the same. This paper looks into some of the implications on the same with reference to technical protection measures as well as anti-circumvention provisions as captured in certain sections of UKââ¬â¢s legislation on property rights. Copyright monopoly refers to the private ownership of a product by the producer. The government protects the right of the ownership through written acts to safeguard the production of counterfeits by unauthorized owners. In order to obtain the copyright monopoly, the government requires the producer to do an original registration of the full details of the product. The produces must have a license for the product for him or her to have the property right. The effect is that whenever a counterfeit to the same product appears in the market, the producer has the right to complain and even sue the counterfeit producers. Upon primary and secondary infringement of copy right 16-21, the perpetrator is liable for a legal suit in the UK intellectual property law. The same infringement attracts termination of the product from the market. Infringement of the laws applies to the licensed products, whose owners had been conferred with the full ownership license and rights. Murungi, Michale. Report from the law via internet conference. Vol,6 No.3. 2013, November, pp. 12-113. Cyber Law Issues concerning law and jurisdiction are currently taking a new course that employs the current technological advancements. Nowadays, internet has turned out to be part of the largest communication network that is becoming increasingly indispensable for every one across the globe to take part in social, cultural, and political discourse. In addition, internet has recently been deduced to be the linchpin of the democratic society as well as the social media platforms, which are being necessitated, in participatory democracy. Legal actions can, off late, comfortably be handl ed using the online services. Most online databases and data mining techniques can be used to harvest data from different sources. The counsel pursuant may end up carrying the burden due to the added costs of every part of the processes, which begins from the study and the case of support to planned giving. In such a case, it is usual for the personal jurisdiction to be improper in terms of the venue. The imagelineââ¬â¢s complaint should completely be dismissed leaving the pursuant to carry the double cost. However, this can be quite different if the personal jurisdiction as well as the venue is found to be proper. The conveniences of the witnesses and parties will work in line with the concerns of efficiency. Simma, Bruno.Universality of International Law from the Perspective of a Practitioner. 2013, October. Legal perspective Similarly, the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to uncover the undertakings brings in a legal aspect whereby factors such as fraud are i nvestigated and initiators prosecuted. Similarly, one gets exonerated on the basis that he corporate with the investigating authorities to nail the stork brokers fraud schemers. However, for instance, his father is not prosecuted for the role he played in concealing his illegal business a factor not blending well with effective legal systems. This emanates from the constitutional directive that protecting anyone who breaks the law is practicing crime as well. Nate, Raymond U.S. judge weighs penalties after Bank of America fraud verdict. 2013, December Frauds Despite being a vital invention in the modern world, the business technology and its users have in the recent past been a target
National and International Oil Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
National and International Oil Companies - Essay Example The formation of joint ventures to explore oil has always defied all odds because the partnerships are formed across boundaries despite the parties coming from a different geo-political background. For instance, it was quite astonishing that BP formed a joint venture with the Rosneft, a Kremlin based Oil Company (Chzan, 2013). The joint venture was formed to explore the complex oil reserves of Russia thus there was a chance for BP to renew its investments in Russia despite the Sanctions that Moscow had been facing from the West. The joint venture was formed despite the sanctions against the annexation of Crimea but the CEO of BP, Bod Dudley, maintained that the sanctions could not affect investments (BBC NEWS, 2011). Therefore, the two oil giants teamed up to explore resource in central Russia. According to the provisions of the terms of the joint venture, BP was supposed to own 49% of the joint venture while Rosneft was to own 51%. In this case, there was a 4.9 billion share between the two companies (Chzan, 2013). The joint venture is a collaboration between an international private oil company and a national oil company (Brinded, 2010). BP stands in the history as a major oil explorer worldwide whose ownership was privatised or acquired from the government and since then, it has seen tremendous growth in different areas in the world. On the contrary, Rosneft is a Russian National Oil Company and has also been a major player in oil exploration. There are increasing concerns over the fast depleting oil reserves.
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Raphaels Portrait Leo X with Cardinals Guilio de Medici Essay Example for Free
Raphaels Portrait Leo X with Cardinals Guilio de Medici Essay In Nelson Minnichs religious interpretation of Raphaels famous portrait of Pope Leo X, Minnich first begins with the very basics of the portrait; what is contained within its canvas and why it is there. From small clues such as these, he is able to lay the foundation for which theories and conclusions can be based. He first points out the location of the figures in the painting. Minnich believes that they are in a large room, seated before a green cloth on the wall, or cloth of honor. There is some speculation, however, as to exactly where this room is located. Several theorists, as well as he, believe that the location is a room in the Vatican, perhaps the library. He points out that there is reflection of a window in several objects in the portrait, allowing more narrowing down the location even further and debunking the library idea. With the location not quite known, Minnich moves on to the color scheme. He points out that the painting is known for its use of red on the robes of the pope and cardinals, the furniture, and the table coverings. Red was considered a papal color, so this is not unusual in a papal portrait. What is unusual however, is the other two men accompanying the pope in the portrait who were painted in later. Minnich identifies these cardinals as Luigi deRossi, Leos first cousin, and Guilio deMedici, another of Leos cousins. Leo was extremely close with Luigi and this is shown by Luigis hands on Leos chair. Guilio was considered Leos right hand man, and is depicted as so in the portrait by being almost a part of Leos right arm. Minnich also points out that it is ironic that Guilio is depicted as a cardinal because his clerical status wasnt determined at the time. From here we move on to another important item in the portrait, the bell. This specific bell was made for Leo after his election and is a hand bell used for praying. Minnich explains that its presence is most likely to represent Christ in the portrait. Next to the bell is a magnifying glass which Minnich says is merely there to represent the popes nearsightedness. Leo would have needed the glass to read the next item on the table, his bible. The bible is obviously not an unlikely item, being that it is a portrait of a pope, but it is where the bible is opened to that is of importance; St. Johns Gospel. Minnich tells us that Leos first baptismal name was Giovanni, a name that came from this gospel. After inspecting the painting for obvious clues and symbols, Minnich is ready to discuss the possible reasons for the paintings existence. The first being the obvious, that it is merely a papal state portrait. He points out several reasons that this could be a wrong assumption. The painting was kept in Florence and not in Rome, like most papal portraits. It was much smaller than an average state portrait. And the most obvious objection was that there were three people present in the painting, which is highly unusual for a portrait. Minnich then suggests the possibility that Raphael was merely painting a family portrait. But then he quickly points out that no other of Leos relatives was involved. He also points out that the items involved, a bell, the bible, are not usually in state portraits. With the state portrait theory clearly discredited, Minnich tells readers of the theory that the painting is simply an occasional piece, saying that it was painted just to be displayed at the wedding of the Medici and Valois houses in lieu of the pope and his two relatives not being able to make the festivities. Minnich states that the clothing in the portrait clearly leads one to believe that the painting was done months before the wedding. The pope and his relatives would have to have known far in advance that they could not make the occasion and Luigi deRossi was actually recognized as being present the day of the wedding. He says that occasional pieces are not usually so planned out, but does however, mention that a lot would be explained had Raphael begun painting a portrait and then suddenly attempted to switch it into a wedding gift and add the two cardinals. Not fully committed to a purpose, Minnich takes a quick look at the eligious meaning behind the portrait. He mentions that Josephine Jungie has the most persuasive theory on the painting. She believes that the bible represents the stage of the Holy spirit, the bell represents the new age, and that Leo looking to the left represents his looking to the arrival of the new age, and thinking about his own appointment as an Angelican Pastor who will lead the Church in the final age. Minnich points out that this is persuasive because Leo was attempting to take on the roles that an Angelican leader would, yet points out the Jungie failed to find reason for the two cardinals in the portrait. He closes with admitting to readers that no one will ever really know Raphaels true intentions behind this famous painting. All we have is historical facts, symbols, ideas, and of course opinions to make up the reason for Pope Leo Xs portrait with Cardinals Luigi deRossi and Guilio deMedici.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Country Comparison of Ageing and Disability Policies
Country Comparison of Ageing and Disability Policies Similarities: All policies address fairness and equality without discrimination, harassment and victimization. All of them cover education, employment and public service. Both China and NZ address a specific act or law aim at disability, they cover and clarify more aspects such as welfare, culture, rehabilitation and environment. Differences: The Equality Act 2010 of UK replaces the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 addresses discrimination against age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy, maternity. Services must provide fair and appropriate accommodations to comply with the law. Disability is one of the act, and the act focus on equality, mainly against the discrimination. The act specially mentions accessibility for disabled pupils and assistance dogs. The UK values the education condition of minor disabled persons, protects the right of using assistance dogs. The law in China does not use ââ¬Å"long termâ⬠to define ââ¬Å"Disabled personsâ⬠. We can find many ââ¬Å"specialâ⬠in the law, that shows the society still treat disability as a special group, the government and social organization show their sympathy to disability, offer assistance to them, state the equal rights. However, based on the institution, normal disabled persons are fostered by their legal fosterers whom usually are their parents, special assuranceà ¯Ã ¼Ã
â treatment and pension will be provided to those disabled persons while on duty or for protecting the interests of the State and people. China has the National Day of Assisting Disabled Persons to show the value of disabled persons. The New Zealand Disability Strategy addresses that what individuals have are impairments, disability is a social problem that one group of people create barriers by designing living ways. The strategy does not only prevent discrimination and offering assistance, but also encourage and support the disabled persons and their families, promoting participation. Similarities: All of the policies address positive aging without discrimination, harassment and victimization. All of them cover participation, pension, housing and public transport. Both China and NZ address a specific act or law aim at aging, they cover and clarify more aspects such as health, rural and opportunities. Both of them address the elderly is very important for the society and they can make huge contribution. Differences: The Equality Act 2010 of UK addresses discrimination against age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy, maternity. Services must provide fair and appropriate accommodations to comply with the law. Age is one of the act, and the act focus on equality, mainly against the discrimination. The act specially mentions pension, it more focuses on funding while others quality of life in the community. The law in China defines the age group which is above the age of 60. The governments use the community publicity and education to establish the social values of respecting the elderly. The governments award who have scored outstanding achievements in respecting the elderly. The governments mainly rely the elderlyââ¬â¢s family to provide for the elderly. China has done well on enriching the elderlyââ¬â¢s cultural life by encouraging non-governmental organization organizes cultural, sports and recreational activities of a mass character. Free or discount of public transport is not a compulsive requirement in this law, it is in light of local condition to supply. The New Zealand Positive Ageing Strategy promote supporting older people to age in place and have a good quality of life in the community. Guide government agencies to provide services for older people. It involves a wide range of individuals, groups and organisations, and the strategy is keep on developing. The governments modify and improve the strategy frequently to suit new circumstance. The strategy covers the most wide field of all the three acts or laws. Similarities: All service delivery policies address fairness and equality without discrimination, removing or minimizing disadvantages, fostering good relations and promoting understanding. All service delivery policies involve central governments, local governments and educational bodies. Both UK and NZ address the advance of opportunity, their service delivery policies also involve private agencies, hospitals and health services. Differences: UK involves armed forces and police in the service delivery. China does not involve the private agencies in the service delivery because of the institution. China only plans to establish medical rehabilitation departments in hospitals to help disabled persons to rehabilitate. Chinese governments, departments and CDPF rarely supply practical help, their assistance stay at very low levels such as contacts, representing and consultation. Most key services should be paid by the disabled persons. NZââ¬â¢ services provided by district health boards, GPs and other agencies. And the authority of decision-making is wide span. territorial authorities and non-departmental public bodies are involved to make service delivery policies, it helps to improve the service delivery polices. The New Zealand Disability Strategy will be full reviewed after five and ten years to develop. Similarities: All service delivery policies address fairness and equality without discrimination, removing or minimizing disadvantages, all of them include voluntary service and pension schemes. All service delivery policies involve central governments, local governments, educational bodies, public hospitals and private facilities. Both China and NZ emphasize to increase opportunities of the elderly for their community participation and growth. Both of them value the cultural and spiritual life of the elderly and mainly rely non-governmental organization to achieve. Both UK and NZ have complete public medical security, funds government and community agencies to provide services for older people. Differences: Based on the condition, China only provides basic public medical security. The main pressure of the elderlyââ¬â¢s health security is put on their family. The governments encourage that non-governmental organization provides variety of activities, and NGOs did, but mainly concentrates in urban areas, the service delivery in rural parts is poor. Most of services only consider the elderlyââ¬â¢s demand, ignore young generationââ¬â¢s feeling, it begins to cause conflicts between some older persons and some young persons. The quality of elderly healthcare is irregular in China, there is no uniform standard and lack of monitor. The law always address in light of local condition. The governmental organization in China protecting the elderlyââ¬â¢s rights is neighbourhood committees in city, villagers committees in rural areas NZââ¬â¢ government funds community agencies to provide services for older people, the service delivery policy has clear key actions and standards, has strict third-party supervision to ensure the service delivery quality. There are specialized organizations such as age concern and Elder Abuse and Neglect Prevention Services to help older persons. The strategy is reviewed frequently and is developed as well. Thatââ¬â¢s why the elderly and young generation can participate activities at the same time and get along so well. Zhen Chen
Sunday, October 13, 2019
King Oedipus Essay -- essays research papers
King Oedipus by Sophocles Blindness is the downfall of the hero Oedipus in the play ââ¬Å"King Oedipusâ⬠by Sophocles. Not only does the blindness appear physically, but also egotistically as he refuses to acknowledge the possibility of him actually being the murderer of Laius, the former King of Thebes. Coincidentally, he is also Oedipusââ¬â¢s biological father. The use of light and dark in the play is strategically applied in order to better understand the emotion that lies within the characters. As blame is placed upon Oedipus for the murder of Laius, he blinds himself from the possible reality that he may be the killer. The people of Thebes are informed that there is an impending curse upon them as a result of the murder mystery of their previous king, Laius. In order to quicken the cure, Oedipus calls on Teiresias, the blind prophet to aide them. Excessive pride fuels his inability to believe the prophecy of Teiresias stating Oedipus is the killer, and that he has married his mother. ââ¬Å"Until I came ââ¬â I, ignorant Oedipus, came ââ¬â and stopped the riddlerââ¬â¢s mouth, guessing the truth by mother-wit, not bird-love.â⬠Because he continually boasts about how he has saved Thebes from the Sphinx, he believes that no one could know more than he, especially if he is the one to be accused of a crime he ââ¬Å"knowsâ⬠he didnââ¬â¢t commit. In response Teiresias argues, ââ¬Å"You are please to mock my blindness. Have you eyes, and do not see your own damnation? Eyes and cannot see what company you keep.â⬠This is...
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Mastering the Art of Losing in Elizabeth Bishopââ¬â¢s Poem, One Art :: Elizabeth Bishopââ¬â¢s One Art
Mastering the Art of Losing in Elizabeth Bishopââ¬â¢s Poem, One Art In the poem ââ¬Å" One Artâ⬠by Elizabeth Bishop, the act of losing is raised to the level of an art form. Losing is, according to Bishop, something not to be mastered or dreaded. However, the irony is that Bishop struggles to believe her own hypothesis-- that losing ââ¬Å"... isnââ¬â¢t hard to master...â⬠yet ââ¬Å"... is no disaster...â⬠( lines 1-3). Naming the poem ââ¬Å" One Artâ⬠was done to show that the art of losing is one of many and loss is not to be taken as disaster or failure. Bishop maintains that most physical things, such as keys and watches, possess the inherent the desire to be lost. She knows that society is familiar with everyday loss, such as keys. Mastering this practice seems uniform and Bishop tries to convince that it is not disaster. However in line 10, the diction switches from the third person to being the first person narrator. Now, the loss is personal- that of a person or relationship. She is not only convincing everyone else that loss is no importance but trying and hoping to convince herself as well. The contrast here is, that both physical things and mental desires can be lost, but they should be taken emotionally the same, as suggested. Bishop writes with humor and makes tragedy into a parody. Exclamation marks and a clever rhyming scheme helps to create a silly sing- song poem, justifying that losing things mentally and physically has no shame. In this villanelle the rhyme scheme employed is A-B-A, with continual repetition of the words ââ¬Å"masterâ⬠and ââ¬Å" disaster", reinforcing the universal point that: The art of losing isnââ¬â¢t hard to master so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. ( lines 1-3) Stating ââ¬Å"Write Itâ⬠( line 19) , ââ¬Å" And Look!â⬠( line 10) are climactic points in which the speaker wishes to believe herself, that losing really is no disaster, so she must see it, and write it. In the beginning, the poem seems bubbly and unremorseful but as it develops, the speaker shows her real passion for something lost, ââ¬Å".
Friday, October 11, 2019
Ethics and ââ¬ÅA Few Good Menââ¬Â Essay
The movie is about two marines indicted for the murder of a fellow marine in their platoon. Private First Class (PFC) William Santiago died because of lactic acidosis triggered by the assault inflicted by Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Lowden Downey. This assault was the result of a direct order by the platoon commander Lieutenant Kendrick. The order was to train Santiago to respect the Code of the Marines and the chain of command. Private Santiago had broken this chain and written directly to the NIS asking for a transfer, in exchange for offering information about an illegal fence-line shooting. When Colonel Nathan Jessep, commander of the marines stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, learned of this letter, he ordered the ââ¬Å"trainingâ⬠of Private Santiago. In Guantanamo Bay, this ââ¬Å"trainingâ⬠was referred to as ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠, which was defined as the discipline of marines within the unit, by the unit, without involving the proper authorities ââ¬â navy Jag Corp. When the navy learned of Private Santiago?s death, Dawson and Downey were placed under arrest, and moved to Washington DC to be court-martialed. After a thorough litigation by defense attorney, Lt. Danial Kaffee, the court found Colonel Jessep and Lt. Kendrik guilty of the murder of PFC Santiago because they ordered the ?Code Red?. Dawson and Downey were cleared of charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but were found guilty of conduct unbecoming a marine, and were discharged from the Marine Corp. 6. Normative Ethical Question: Did Dawson and Downey do the right thing by following the order? Dawson and Downeyââ¬â¢s actions were in strict accordance with the orders given to them by their platoon commander, and were thus justified. The Marines believe, ââ¬Å"You follow orders or people die.â⬠This was primarily applicable during wartime when questioning an order can cause the lives of the marine and his fellow soldiers. Although reserved for wartime, the marines in their day-to-day military life practice this belief. So when time comes for the marines to go to war, the thought of questioning an order never crosses their mind regardless of the severity of the order. Followingà orders given by a superior officer is a part of the marine discipline, and breaking this discipline is not tolerated in armed forces. The order given to Dawson and Downey was to ââ¬Å"trainâ⬠PFC Santiago. Santiagoââ¬â¢s aggravated heart condition was the primary reason of his death, and Dawson and Downey having followed their order were unfortunate to find Santiago dead in the ââ¬Ëtrainingââ¬â¢ process. Had Santiago been physically fit, he would have in all likelihood, survived the ââ¬Ëtraining.ââ¬â¢ However on the charge of becoming a united states marine they were found guilty as charged. The reasoning for this is as follows: Dawson and Downey should have ignored the ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠ordered by Colonel Jessup, and should have reported him to the proper authorities at the navy Jag Corp. The ââ¬Å"trainingâ⬠also known as the ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠was known to have harmful consequences. There were two examples of the severity of the ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠shown in the movie: The first example was that of Private Bell, a soldier, getting nothing but water for a period of one week to keep him alive. The second example involved a soldier been given a ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠for dropping a gun during a training exercise. His punishment was to put glue on his hands, and have his arm punched for about twenty minutes. Evidently, a ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠in military parlance meant punishment in its higher degree. PFC Santiago was known to be a weak person. Dawson and Downey ignoring the fact that PFC Santiagoââ¬â¢s condition was deteriorating still followed Col. Jessupââ¬â¢s order for ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠on Santiago. They should have been aware of the fact that ââ¬Å"Code Redâ⬠would cause irreparable damage to PFC Santiagoââ¬â¢s health; on humanitarian grounds, Dawson and Downey should have contacted the proper authorities at the navy Jag Corp for a fair assessment of the order. Looking at it from a different perspective, Dawson and Downey would have been morally right to have neglected the order given to them by their superior. However, they were bound to their duty; overriding their commanding officerââ¬â¢s orders would have placed their career at stake. This case involves an ethical dilemma for the following reasons: 1. A murder has been committed. It is not acceptable to take a human life merely because this individual doesnââ¬â¢t get along with the rest of the company. 2. The investigation of the murder is hindered. It is not acceptable to lie about the cause of death in an effort to preserve public relations or personal esteem. 3. Cadets and officers lie under oath in court. It is unacceptable to lie in court. The military has determined that it is essential this case be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. A sub-group in the military canââ¬â¢t make its own rules of military morality. PFC Santiago is treated as a means rather than being treated as an end. The murder was immoral in every sense and those causing the murder should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. We further stipulate that it is unacceptable for a coverup of the murder. Colonel Nathan Jessup defends the practice of lying under an area of lying covered by Plato. Plato gave support for some lies when he said: ââ¬Å"It is the business of the rulers of the city, if it is anybodyââ¬â¢s, to tell lies, deceiving both its enemies and its own citizens for the benefit of the city; and no one else must touch this privilege.â⬠(1) If using the Plato type justification for the coverup, Jessup and those around him have a deluded sense of their place in national security. Their actions are not for the preservation of military. Their actions and lies are for preservation of their own positionsâ⬠¦ The responsibility of the commander to make sure his marines are prepared for any sort of danger from the enemy. Colonel Nathan Jessup claims that codeà red as a method of training for soldiers was the American way. He defends the practice as that which is indispensable to defend the country. This reminds me of Plato?s conception of warriors where there is no place for the weak or sick people. The only difference between these two cases is that Plato would have not hesitated to propose euthanasia for such unproductive warriors. Colonel Jessup on the other hand proposed to train them by using force if necessary. . However, he uses intense form of punishment for the tiniest mistakes and flaws. So he cannot be justify such a punishment in the name of national security. But in today?s world such practices are detested and are against humanitarian grounds and any form of justification for their practice is barbaric. Nathan Jessup (Jack Nicholson) is a military officer who has covered up a murder. When he is in court on the witness stand, Nicholson, yells, ââ¬Å"You want to know the truth? You want to know the truth? Well, you canââ¬â¢t handle the truth.â⬠Nicholsonââ¬â¢s testimony is that some military crimes must be covert for national security purposes. He implies that it is acceptable to murder one cadet who isnââ¬â¢t going along with the rest of the company. He states it is acceptable for him to lie about the incident under oath to protect the company involved as well as the military overall. Kant declares: ââ¬Å"A lie is a lieâ⬠¦whether it be told with good or bad intentâ⬠¦But if a lie does no harm to anyone and no oneââ¬â¢s interests are affected by it, is it a lie? Certainly.â⬠(2) Kant believes truthfulness is a duty, an ââ¬Å"unconditional duty which holds in all circumstances.â⬠(3) According to the categorical imperative, if there is even one case in which it is acceptable to lie and honesty can be overridden, then the perfectâ⬠status of the duty not to lie is compromised. Kant is most strident in not allowing for even a seemingly innocent lie, which could save a life instead of causing harm. He merely asserts that if something terrible happens it is not your fault. The terrible act is something wholly unjustified in the first place.(4) Duty is often represented by Kant and his deontological views on lying. Kant tells us that it is never acceptable to lie, and places this on the level ofà a moral law, or a ââ¬Å"categorical imperative.â⬠He contends that lies always harm othersââ¬âthe individual or society. ââ¬Å"To be truthful (honest) in all declarations, therefore, is a sacred and absolutely commanding decree of reason, limited by no expediency.â⬠(5) Utilitarian Jeremy Bentham also would not allow for the Jessup defense of the coverup. Bentham delivered a frothy lecture to Englandââ¬â¢s judges who were using their power and lying to the people. Bentham sees nothing more abhorrent than using lies and power to further oneââ¬â¢s positionâ⬠¦.(6) The justification for the behaviors is weak, with hundreds of years of morality, ethics, and laws written in opposition to Jessupââ¬â¢s rationale. In the particular case of PFC Santiago, Colonel jessup seems to be aggravated by his appeal to the NIS and his breach of confidentiality of his unit. This brings us to the another moral debate. Was Santiago right in his decision to give false information of an illegal fence line shooting? We can make two speculations here. Either Santiago lied about the fence line shooting in a desperate attempt to get noticed by the authorities which could get him transferred for the information or he was mistaken about the shooting. This is to say that he did not realized that the mirror had engaged to fire first and Dawsen just retaliated in defence. Santiago can easily be forgiven for the latter. However, in the former case, normatively he should not have done what he did. But that was the only practical thing he could do. Even though we can easily blame Santiago for lying, we should praise his attempt to break away from the blind acceptance of the principles which ruled the lives of other marines. Even though Santtiago was physically weaker than the rest of the Platoon he had the mental capacity to fight against the odds of the absurd life in which he was trying to survive. This reminds me of the mahabharatta where Lord Krishna taught the Pandavas that it is good to lie got the fight for the Good. (I know that Kant would not agree with me) In A Few Good Men the debate is one of to whom is the ultimate duty owed andà where does ââ¬Ëthe lawââ¬â¢ fit into the equation? The soldiers facing court martial display their ultimate affiliation firmly?first and foremost their duty is to their marine corps; god and country are secondary to the bond between their comrades and this is the fulcrum of the film: are orders to be obeyed at all costs and where does the buck stop? Professor Alfonso Gomez-Lobo quotes ââ¬Å"Neither can military ethics properly exist without the concept of ordering. By ordering, I do not mean telling subordinates what to do. I refer, instead, to moral structuring and ethical priorities.â⬠In the movie ââ¬Å"A Few Good Menâ⬠, a Marine lance corporal tells his lawyers that the ââ¬Å"codeâ⬠is based upon ââ¬Å"unit, corps, God, country.â⬠He has it, of course, all wrong. In fact, many illegal activities or stupid mistakes in the military services are the result of leadersââ¬â¢ failures to order wisely and well. The duty of a marine to follow the orders of a superior officer. The word duty here needs to be explained. It is the duty of the marine to fallow the orders of his superior officer if they are justified or legal. In Cuba however, disobeying an order implies to commit a crime. But since Code red is a practice discouraged by law, it is the duty of the marine to disobey such an order. An officer is always human and to equate him to be the ultimate legal authority is to make him invincible. It is this act of deception and blind faith that lets the powerful exploit. When an institution demands complete faith in its principles, the individuals within the institution are dependent on it, strive to maintain it and become incapable of independent thinking. At times like these the ethical question crops us: which is more important? guiding principles of life or humans, code of honour or PFC Santiago. As for the Platoons annoyance on Santiagoââ¬â¢s betrayal for the unit and selfishness, I donââ¬â¢t think it is valid. It would have been a different case had there been some compassion for Santiago within his Unit. His friends beat him up as a part of following orders, to keep up their jobs. From this perspective, they too are selfish. The only difference is that Santiago isà towards the receiving end of brutalities, and it is convenient for the rest of the Platoon who were comparably stronger to talk about the loyalty within the unit. Interestingly, Lieutenant Kendrick too believe in the ââ¬Ëproper authority of God or his commanding officer Colonel Nathan R Jessupââ¬â¢ Here we see that blind faith is associated with both God and the Colonel Moreover, the Colonel starts associating himself with God who protects and punishes others and expects the respect of all. He thinks that he is the personification of certain unquestionable principles. That the colonel lives by the rules and notions of the Marine Corps and doesnââ¬â¢t fully comprehend the world outside. Both Dawson and Kaffee are good at what they do. That?s all they have in common. The contrast between the disciplined Dawson and the flippant Kaffee can be traced to their system of beliefs and their environment. Dawson mentions that he joined the navy so that he could live by a code. He believes that he did his duty and did it well and was even ready to face its consequences, but not plead guilty. Here we see the romanticized version of the code of honor. He failed to realize that the real strength of character lies in his discretion to protect the weak and not train him to protect himself. He lives in the misconceptions where certain principles appear Dawson is like a person who wants to be religious and associates himself with religious practices {no matter what they are} which gives him a sense of satisfaction. Kaffee on the other hand has no delusions about the law. His only criterion is to solve his case as soon as possible with the best interest of his client at heart. He believes that a case is not won by the law but the lawyer. He seems to have lost his faith in all legal ethics due to the wayà law is practiced around him and he seems to be a part of the system too. Or in the least he has least to live with it. Daniel Kaffee is a smart, flippant, good-looking young Navy lawyer. in his late 20ââ¬â¢s, 15 months out of Harvard Law School, and a brilliant legal mind waiting for a courageous spirit to drive it. He is, at this point in his life, passionate about nothing â⬠¦ except maybe softball. His father was a renowned jurist, and Dan feels the burden of his fatherââ¬â¢s reputation. Indeed, his casual, tongue-in-cheek attitude to the law is his way of avoiding comparison with his father. You canââ¬â¢t fail if you donââ¬â¢t even try. However, he lived in the shadows of his father having no misconceptions regarding different facets of law. He does not believe in a romanticized version of his profession. He did not believe his case to be a winner and first attempts to find an easy way out. Even though he sympathized with the state of his clients who were forced to carry out their orders, were blinded by the belief in false practices like ?Code Red?, he understood the politics associated with the case. His frustration is revealed when he emphasizes that ââ¬ËI think you will loseââ¬â¢ and ââ¬Ë it does not matter what I believe, it only matters what I can prove..ââ¬â¢ Despite these flaws he proves to be an excellent lawyer. This is because unlike the marines. He has learnt to question authority. He has not been conditioned by blind principles. the lawyer defending the two marines in A Few Good Men has to consider whether he should go beyond the legal and ethical codes under which he is bound and accuse a witness on the stand of committing a crime for which the two marines are accused. He of course does and justice is done. In conclusion, it is evident that Dawson and Downey performed their duty as was expected of them. On ethical grounds, they would have been better off notifying the appropriate authorities of the nature of the order and the circumstances in which the order was to be executed. However, as fellowà marines under a commanding officer, they were compelled to follow orders without looking into the ethical or moral aspects of their actions. A marine?s discipline is taken very seriously by his commanding officers; however, this does not imply that discipline takes priority over the mental and physical health of a marine. Santiago?s heart condition was no secret. Despite this fact, he was given the ââ¬ËCode Redââ¬â¢ knowing fully well that he may not be able to take the pressure ? definitely, an unethical decision on the part of the authorities concerned.
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