Pompeii: Life and Death Essay

It took only 19 hours, not even a full day. That was all the time it needed on August 24, 70 A. D. to bury Pompeii (Rosella Lorenzi). Mount Vesuvius, south of Pompeii and the cities of Herculaneum and Stabiae (Encarta) erupted, releasing tons of volcanic debris, pumice, ash, and sulfuric gas reaching several miles into the air (Eyewitness to History). The ensuing â€Å"firestorm† of lethal gases and red hot volcanic debris overwhelmed the neighboring communities that suffocated the residents of the cities beside Pompeii, namely Herculaneum and Stabiae (Eyewitness). Tons of debris falling from the skies began to fill the streets (Eyewitness). The eruption of Vesuvius effectively annihilated the town (Mummy Tombs). The volcanic ash and debris rained on the town for 18 or so hours, reaching heights of 8 to 10 feet (Mummy Tombs). After the explosion and the rain of debris, the event was followed by nuee ardente, extremely hot gas that engulfed Pompeii in six deadly waves (Mummy Tombs). What happened to Pompeii and the neighboring towns? History of Pompeii Pompeii was situated in the mouth of the present-day Sarno River (Encarta). Oscans in 600 BC , who were later conqured by the Samnites (Encarta). Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman dictator, made Pompeii into a Roman colony in the year 80 BC (Encarta). Pompeii later developed into a resort town for the enjoyment of wealthy Romans (Encarta). Romans belonging to the upper echelons of the Roman government enjoyed the pleasures of the resort town nestled in their villas surrounding the Bay of Naples (Smatch). At the beginning of the Christian period in history, Pompeii reached a population of about 20,000 people (Encarta). Aside from the wealthy and middle class Romans who enjoyed the worldly pleasures of the city, there was a larger than usual number of slaves and freemen (Smatch). They were the ones who took care of the needs of the vacationing Romans and other travellers, tourists and others who would indulge in the pleasures that the city had to offer (Smatch). Aside from the pleasures that the city rolled out for the travellers and tourists, the city was also an important trade destination and route (Encarta). The region’s natural resources had allowed Campania to develop its trade and raise their living standards (Minnesota State University Mankato). The shoreline surrounding the Gulf of Naples soon became the address of the country residences of members of the aristocracy of the Roman Empire (Minnesota). As the city became more wealthy, they developed their luxury service sector, enhanced their trade with other states, and enhanced their agriculture (Minnesota). It would look as if Pompeii was firmly established in the life of the Roman Empire (Minnesota). Or was it just the window to disaster? Signs of the impending disaster The citizens of Pompeii had no idea that Vesuvius carried with it the death of the town (Professor Andrew Wadrice-Hadrill). The Romans had an extreme interest in the prediction of the future (Wadrice-Hadrill). They prided themselves in being able to tell the times that the gods were going to unleash their wrath on them, and used the signs, such as strange occurences and births, to determine these things (Wadrice- Hadrill). But even with these as references, Vesuvius still gave out no warning signs (Wadrice- Hadrill). Even though Mount Vesuvius had once been active, the volcano remained dormant for the most part of human memory for the residents of Pompeii and the outlying communities (Minnesota). Since there was no recorded incident that the volcano was destructive, the residents didn’t realize the danger that was about to befall the town (Minnesota). The city was rocked by an earthquake on the 5th of February , AD 62 (Minnesota). The quake began as the residents heard what they describes as a prolonged, subdued roar that shook the area; nobody could tell the origin or even identify what it was (Minnesota). Soon after, the buildings began to shake and collapse, and the people ran into the streets (Minnesota). The people ran from the towns thinking that they will be safe from the falling debris (Minnesota). But they fell into the deep cracks that the eruption opened up in the earth (Minnesota). Adding to the chaos was the flooding caused by the bursting of the town’s reservior (Minnesota). Though the quake proved fatal, it did not last long; it was followed by another quake after an hour (Minnesota). The tremors occurred throughout the rest of the day, until the evening hours (Minnesota). Earthquakes by themselves were taken to be omens of things to come (Wadrice- Hadrill). Roman historian Cassius Dio wrote that he observed the presence of giants running on the land on numerous occasions (Wadrice-Hadrill). This observation of Dio carried an ominous sign for the town, because according to the Romans, the volacanoes in the southern part of the Italian peninsula was the burial place of some rebellious giants that were defeated by the gods (Wadrice Hadrill). It was the giant’s movements that bought about these eruptions (Wadrice Hadrill). The destruction of Pompeii After the destruction of Pompeii caused by the earthquake in AD 62, the people spent seventeen years repairing the damage wrought upon their town (Minnesota). It was their intent to make their town even more beautiful than it was before the tremor (Minnesota). As the citizens of the region rebuilt their towns, trade began once again to flourish and they became wealthy again (Minnesota). As the life of those living in Pompeii and the outlying communities unfolded, they did not have any sense of the impending catastrophe waiting to explode on their city. The wrath of the gods The beginning of the end for Pompeii began on the 24th of August of 79AD (Minnesota). There were small upheavals of the ground, but since the tremors were so small and insignificant, hardly anyone gave them a second notice (Minnesota). Springs and other sources of drinking water for the people dried up, an ominous sign that indicated the anger of the gods (Minnesota). Other signs of the impending destruction soon followed the omens. On the 20th of August, cracks had began to appear on the surface of the land, accompanied by rumblings (Minnesota). The calm sea of the Gulf gave way to high waves. Livestock-horses, cattle and even birds- all of them became uneasy and restless, as if they could sense the disaster about to befall the town (Minnesota). In the morning hours of August 24, 79 AD, Vesuvius detonated with such violent force (Minnesota). Mud, smoke and poisonous fumes rumbled down the mountain, sending a deluge of ash and red hot rocks on the countryside (Minnesota). Farms situated on the slopes of the erupting giant were obliterated, as well as some plantations and homes of wealthy Romans (Minnesota). Acrid fumes that came with the volcanic debris further contributed to the chaos that reigned during the eruption (Minnesota). These fumes made the residents of Pompeii to suffer from delusions, then asphyxiated them causing to be suffocated and die (Minnesota). Others chose just to lock themselves in their rooms, while others tried to flee the anarchy with their beasts of burden (Minnesota). Some that chose to stay, thinking that the structures in the towns such as buildings and the like would support the rain of ash and debris, but would eventually be killed by the same structures they had sought refuge (Minnesota). Others would be overcome by the stench from the gases, while others would die getting buried in the falling ash (Minnesota). And the volume of the ash that fell on the town of Pompeii was truly enormous (Smatch). Pompeii, situated about eight kilometers south from the volcano, was entombed in about 3 meters deep of ashfall (Smatch). But thicker pyroclastic deposits would destroy the towns of Herculaneum and Stabiae, buried under 20 meters of volcanic ash and debris (Smatch). Pieces of volcanic debris called tephra flew to around 70 miles of the site, and other debris were found hundreds of miles farther out (Smatch). Even some in Rome claimed to have seen the column of smoke from the eruption, and even heard the rumblings from the volcano (Smatch). Modern day scientists have estimated the volume of the pyroclastic debris that was ejected from Vesuvius to be four cubic kilomters (Smatch). Among the dead in the destruction of Pompeii was Pliny the Elder, author of the book Natural History (Smatch). Pliny the Elder had been given the command of the resort town as a gift (Smatch). He died trying to rescue the people caught in the eruption of the volcano, as the account of his nephew, Pliny the Younger, would bear out (Smatch). Lines of communication to the stricken town had been cut, but there was evidence of some rescue attempts made (Smatch). Imprints of Roman sandals were engraved on the top ashfall layers testifies that there were rescue attempts, theoritically attributed to the Roman garrisons that had survived the eruption (Smatch). The fleet of the Roman Empire stationed at Misenum had been dispatched to Pompeii by Pliny the Elder to assist in the evacuation efforts at Pompeii and the surrounding areas (Awesome Stories). The elder Pliny, who commanded the fleet, sent the ships for the rescue effort while he personally directed efforts at Stabiae (Awesome Stories). This is where he met his death on August 24, falling to a heart attack (Awesome Stories). All in all, the death toll of the eruption of Vesuvius, was a staggering 16,000 people, including 2,000 in Pompeii (Awesome Stories). Uncovering the past Pompeii had lain silent under the debris for at least 1500 years (Encarta). In 1748, efforts were undertaken to discover the anicient community, entombed under 3 meters of ash, frozen in limbo in the acount of Pliny the Younger (Lorenzi). German archaelogist Johann Joachim Winkelmann imparted the importance of the discoveries to the world (Encarta). What was remarkable about the discoveries of the remains of Pompeii was the degree of preservation of artifacts in the ruins (Encarta). The ash fall that engulfed the town basically produced an envelope around the town, sealing the town from the decay of the elements, shielding the artifacts, structures, buildings, temples, shops, baths and houses (Encarta). Some of the discoveries in the town included the remains of the 2000 people believed to be left in the rescue efforts, including Roman gladiators that were left tied to stop them form escaping or killing themselves (Encarta). The ashes, that were mixed with rainfall, had remained on the bodies of the people, forming molds around the remains after the bodies had turned to dust (Encarta). These hollow spaces were filled out and were molded around the bodies of those killed in the eruption (Encarta). These molds were preserved and put on display at the Porta Marina Museum (Encarta). These were formed by the air space left over when the human remains of the victims turned to ash, and the excavators poured in liquid plaster into the air spaces, since the air spaces left an imprint of the body that was encapsulated in the ash (Mummy Tombs). These â€Å"plaster mummies† gave an image of the debacle that befell Pompeii and the surrounding areas (Mummy Tombs). Aside from the remains that framed the tragedy of the people in Pompeii, the ruins gave a striking and vivid insight into the daily life of the Romans in the day (Eyewitness). As many of the residents of Pompeii had escaped the tragedy, they carried with them anything that was readily movable (Encarta). After the eruption, these residents came back and dug tunnels through the ash around the houses and the structures in the town, removing even slabs of marble on the pillars and walls (Encarta). Save for these things, what was left of the town, some of the wall paintings and the frescos left in the city have been taken from the site and housed in the National Museum located in Naples (Encarta). If pieced together, the structures, buildings and what was left of the movable items gave students of history a thorough and complete picture of the daily life in an Italian city in the provinces of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD (Encarta). The structures that remained standing gave historians valuable information on the study of the architectural designs of the Romans (Encarta). These buildings and other standing structures gave a framework of the transition of a Greek style of building to the methods that the Romans used in building their edifices (Encarta). Many people assumed, as discused earlier in the paper, that the people in Pompeii had been killed by suffocation (Lorenzi). But research focusing on the fractures and the position of the bodies of the victims suggest another horrific way of death for them (Lorenzi). Research on the bodies in Pompeii suggest that they may have been killed almost instantly from the â€Å"thermal surges† that roared down the beach area with such velocity that it covered the distance of seven miles all the way to the coast in just about four minutes (Lorenzi). This occurred in the second and possibly third phases of the eruption (Smatch). The first part of the eruption included the primary ejection of the volcano of several meters of what is called â€Å"inflated pumice† on the town (Smatch). Inflated pumice are glass-like fragments expanded by the gases and volcanic steam (Smatch). The second and third waves of the eruption happened either when the vent of the volcano widened or the volatility level of the material had diminshed (Smatch). At this time, the plume of the cloud, 33 kilometers high, imploded and the material it carried rushed down the slopes with newly acquired hot gases and pyroclastic materials (Smatch). Searing surges, some as hot as 500 degrees centigrade, swooped over the towns (Smatch). These surges literally flattened everything surrounding the volcano and its neighboring areas, killing off evertything that ran against its path- humans, livestock and plant life (Smatch). The town of Herculaneum, though to be buried under the layers by lehars or mudflows coming from the volcano after an eruption, was in reality entombed by these pyroclastic flows (Smatch). The primary head of the flow covered the distance from the summit to the town in just under four minutes, a distance of 6 kilometers (Smatch). The third phase of the eruption began the encapsulation of the entire area with a light and finer area of a thick layer of volcanic ash, known as tuff (Smatch). Excavation of the site The fate of Pompeii had lingered around for many centuries, but no serious undertaking had been done to excavate the ruins (Dr. Salvatore Ciro Nappo). But the exploration and discovery of Pompeii began in earnest in an area called â€Å"Civita† in the year 1748 (Ciro Nappo). In the first stage of the of the work, the main goal was the discovery of items of art for the private art trove of Charles III, who reigned from 1759 to 1788 (Ciro Nappo). These artifacts were removed from the site and hauled off to Naples, where they are presently housed in the National Museum (Ciro Nappo). Other paintings and art works from the site were either lost or stripped from their placings on the walls and then framed (Ciro Nappo). Still other items were lost due to irreparability or to damage (Ciro Nappo). After the ransacking of the site, structures such as the Villa de Cicerone and the Villa di Giulia Felice were the next targets, but some scholars, such as the German Winckelmann, strongly countered the move, as they had done against the previous decimation (Ciro Nappo). Because of the pressure they bought to bear against the initiative, the policy was put to a halt in some ways, although the wall paintings were still being stripped (Ciro Nappo). By the turn of the century, twin areas had been unearthed: the Quartiere dei Teatri and the Via delle Tombbe and the Villa di Diomede (Ciro Nappo). Karl Weber and Francisco La Vega were the archaelogists with the most involvement in this part of the excavatioon (Ciro Nappo). They wrote extensive diary notes on the progress of their work and the designs of the structures that they uncovered (Ciro Nappo). Then the territory came under the control of the French (Ciro Nappo). It was during this period in the chronology of the excavation that the methodogy used in the excavation took a new turn (Ciro Nappo). During this time, the excavation became more standardized, and itineraries were made for visits of scholars and other important people to the work site (Ciro Nappo). The French had wanted to make a systematic way for unearthing the site, progressing from the east to the wset of the dig site (Ciro Nappo). At one point of their work on the site, they had in their employ as many as 1500 laborers, resulting in a large scale excavation of the buried town, as the Foro, the Casa di Pansa, Casa di Sallustio and the Casa del Chrirurgo were all unearthed (Ciro Nappo). In 1863, Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the Pompeii excavations from 1863 to 1875 (Ciro Nappo). Fiorelli imposed a new method for the direction of the excavation work. Instead of the current method of unearthing the streets as the first step in the work, Fiorelli directed that the work begin from the top going down to the streets of the town (Ciro Nappo). What he wanted to do was enforce a new system of preserving the artifacts that were discovered as the group worked its way down to the streets of the town (Ciro Nappo). With the information accumulated in the excavation, the data could be utilized in the restoration and rebuilding of the structures as well as their interiors (Ciro Nappo). Fiorelli also devised the plans to make use of the plaster molds to restore the forms of the plant life and the human remains that had been enveloped in the downfall of the volcanic ash (Ciro Nappo). These plaster mummies, as earlier discussed, were formed as the bodies of the victims underwent declension, or turned into dust after centuries of being trapped in the ash (Mummy Tombs). The â€Å" holes†, as they were termed, were filled by plaster, allowing the molds to render the forms of the bodies entombed in the ash (Mummy Tombs). The plaster casts of the bodies were discovered in several areas of the excavation site, among them the Garden of the Fugitives, the Stabian Thermal Baths, the Horrea and the Forum, and the Macellum (Mummy Tombs). At present, at least 44 of the town’s 66 hectares have been uncovered, and the remaining 22 hectares of the town has been determined off limits to excavation (Ciro Nappo). This was decided upon as to preserve this area for the future generations to discover (Ciro Nappo). To date, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is still ranked as among the most lethal volcanic incidents in history (Awesome Stories). Vesuvius is a graphic reminder of how virulent and dangerous volcanoes can be (Christopher Joyce).

Transition Highschool to College

Sandra kindete A Transition from High school to College Education is a general form of learning and gaining knowledge from different people and places. In United States high school and college are the main educational grounds that help people to achieve their goal and enhance their knowledge. From my personal experience, transition from high school to college was not only an exciting experience but also a challenging one because it was a struggle for me to adjust and cope into new environment and rules. There are many differences; however, there are some similarities between high school and college.High school is a free educational ground. First of all, work load in high school is much easier which enables students to get enough time to relax. Students spend more than 6 hours in week with their teacher and they are mostly guided and directed through everything. Their workloads tend to neither be complicated nor hard; thus, they get most of their homework assignments done in class whi ch provides them time to relax. For example, In my math class (pre calculus), my teacher spend one and half class period teaching and leave the rest of the 30 minutes for us to catch with assignments.Since I am never behind with completing my assignments ;Instead of me sitting and relaxing ,I use the 30 minutes to complete my homework assignment, so that I wouldn’t have any homework assignment. In addition, responsibilities and duties in high school tend to be much easier and not complicated. High school teachers frequently remind their students to do their homework and to turn it in on the due date; nevertheless, if you haven’t completed your assignment on the due date, you can still turn it in any other day and lose some points.For instance, at the beginning of my senior year, I was slacking off; I wasn’t turning in my homework assignment and even though, I turned it in: it was late. As the days, went by my GPA was starting to drop because of various reasons b ut mainly was not turning in my homework assignments on the due date or not turning them in at all. Later on that day, I decided to go and talk to my teacher to see if she will give me a chance for turning them in and receiving a late credit for them. Luckily, since it was high school, my teacher was more relaxed and flexible, so she gave me late credit for them.Furthermore; in high school, your time is organized by either your parents or counselor. Throughout my high school years, my schedule was arranged by my counselor. Also I could always count on my parents and teachers to guide and remind me on completing my duties. For instance; In morning, my parents always wake me up for school, so that I didn’t miss my bus and when I am home they ask me or remind me to complete my homework assignment. In addition, students have limited resources and materials in school for studying. College, on other hand, is an expensive educational ground of learning and experiencing new materials and cultures.College students are older and matured, so they are expected to be responsible and their work load is more intense and difficulty. College students spend less time with their professors. During my first year of college, I had an essay paper assignment that was due 11:59 am the exact day . Since, we spend less time with our professor in class, I barely had time to brainstorm some ideas or pre write my essay in class. As the result, I did most of my assignments and studying outside of class. Moreover, in my first year of college, at the beginning of the semester, my professor gave us an assignment that was due 11:59p. the same day. But since, it was my first year of college and I was learning how cope with the intense work load and manage my time. It was difficult for me to catch up with my homework assignment on time because I had a lot of assignment and not only I couldn’t organize my studying time but also I spend majority of the time hanging out with friends; as a consequence, I didn’t turn in some of my homework’s on time; therefore, I ended up getting a zero on my assignments. As a college student, you are excepted to responsible for managing of your own time and turning in assignments on the due date.Lastly, when you in college, you are considered as an adult. You set up your own schedule with the help of an advisor. You get to manage your own time and determine what time you want to study and what time you want to hang out with your friends. In addition, colleges always have endless resources of studying in the school. Overall, college students have control on their lives; you make your own decisions and choices. In conclusion; a transition from high school to college can be a difficulty and a challenging experience ecause in high school, most of your time is either managed by your parents or teachers, so students barely have control on their lives and they more relaxed; however it’s a mainly free educational gro und where students first get to learn and enhance their knowledge. College, on other hand, is an expensive and diverse educational ground. College students are considered as adult, so you are responsible for your own choices and actions. In college, not only you get to have control on your life but also you also get to meet different people and share, experience and learn different cultures.

Ancient Chinese Dynasties Essay

There were many Chinese dynasties that rose and fell throughout China’s history. The history of China, in a way, is a history of battles and wars. These wars were so important that they changed the structure of Chinese culture both then and now. Three dynasties that rose and fell during ancient China were the Han, the Tang, and the Song. The rise and fall of these great dynasties form a link that runs through Chinese history. The Han period was one of the golden ages of Chinese civilization. The Han dynasty lasted from 206 B. C. to A. D. 220. It began when the prince of Han, Liu Bang, took the title Gao Zu and began to restore order and justice to his new empire. He lowered taxes and reduced the Qin emperor’s harsh Legalist policies. These policies created a strong basis for the Han dynasty. The most famous emperor, Wudi took China to a new level. During his reign from 141 BC to 87 BC, he strengthened both the government and economy. Economic expansion, strengthening the palace at the expense of the civil service, weakening the states hold on the peasantry and the rise of the rich and the gentry were all factors that led to the adoption of Confucian ideals. Han emperors made Confucianism the official belief system of the state. Under Wudi, China conquered many lands, expanding their power and influence. The Han Dynasty now controlled northern Vietnam and the Korean Peninsula. Wudi sent explorers toward Central Asia, eventually opening up the famous trade route known as the Silk Road. However, signs of decay began to appear throughout the dynasty which put an enormous burden on the economy. Weak emperors allowed canals and roads to fall into disrepair. Burdened by heavy taxes, and crushing debt, many peasants revolted. Thousands of rebellious peasants abandoned their villages and fled to the mountains. In AD 220 warlords overthrew the last Han emperor. After four hundred years of unity, China broke up into several kingdoms. The Han dynasty was over. After the Han dynasty collapsed, China remained divided for nearly four hundred years. It was not until the development of the Tang dynasty, in 618 that China was restored to its earlier glory. The tang was an imperial dynasty of China. Its territory was acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers and was greater than that of the Han period. Tang rulers carried empire building to new depths. Chinese armies forced the neighboring lands of Vietnam, Tibet, and Korea to become tributary states. It is estimated that the population had grown by the 9th century to about eighty million people. The Tang Dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability. They rebuilt the bureaucracy and enlarged the civil service system to recruit talented officials trained in Confucian technology. Chinese culture flourished and further developed during the Tang era. It is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Tang emperors began to lose territories in Central Asia to the Arabs. Corruption, high taxes, drought and famine all contributed to the downfall of the Tang Dynasty. In 1907, a rebel general over through the last Tang emperor, which brought the dynasty to an end. The Song Dynasty lasted for more than three hundred years. It began in 960, when a educated general reunited most of China. The Song controlled less territory than the Tang dynasty did. The dynasty was constantly threatened by invaders in the north. Despite military obstacles, the culture brought rise to a new religion. Education expanded the growth of literature and the arts. Foreign trade flourished and Chinese cities prospered as centers of trade. Positions in government were no longer held by aristocrats and were instead given to people with experience and degrees. This made the government stronger and formed new concepts. Chinese wealth and culture lead East Asia even when its militaries did not. Most problems in this dynasty were due to military power. A combination of corrupt officials and weak emperors contributed to its downfall. China has a long and mysterious history of almost five thousand years. China can trace her culture back to a blend of small original tribes which have expanded until they became the great country we have today. Each rise and fall of a dynasty created new leaders, new laws, new rules, and usually new expansion. Chinese history is that of alternating periods of political unity and disunity. The rise and fall of many dynasties created a rocky path in Chinas history.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Labour Process Theory Essay - 1

Strengths and Weaknesses of Labour Process Theory - Essay Example This paper illustrates that Labour Process Theory (LPT) plays a fundamental role in management. It effectively controls the environment and supports the capital accumulation. Through this theory, it is going to analyze that what managers, owners are seeking for to maximize the profit and minimize the capital losses that extract the maximum labor or employees efforts.This LPT theory is introduced by the Marxist and criticized by different scientific management authors. The labor process theory is concerned with shifting the relationship between the organization and technology with the arguments that technologically develop new accounting system. In the ideal enterprises, the technology needs resources and deploys it for capital accumulation. Although, technology is a capital weapon that is used in labors domination. The organizations today are looking forward to the crystallized outcomes of this ongoing battle. According to the Lixin Han, Labour Process is the dynamics of social and o rganizational change. Marx defined labor process in which nature and man both practices are noticed. The man on his own settlement usually starts changeable, controlling and consider the material reaction. It is the theory between the man himself and the nature of the human himself opposes the nature through one of its own forces like settings of arms, legs, hand, and head. In order to produce appropriate natural process, it is required to adopt own wants. The major factor of labor process is the purposeful personal man’s activity and the understanding of work subject to the instruments handling. The labor process theory is about the controlling the power of labor that is the human ability to perform work. There are three dimensions of technological change like a transformation of work, its changes and controlling. The replacement of human-machine combination requires many dimensions over time. In order to improve the technology transformation, the innovative factors are focu sed on the point of a production process that is based on limited factors. Like textile industry involves spinning and weaving process is simplified through technological evaluation.

Microfinance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Microfinance - Essay Example regular banks, in most cases because they are unable to offer sufficient collateral.† (Gert van Maanen, 2) There are two schools of thought regarding the entire industry of Microfinance: the first advocates non-profit lending, while the other takes the opposite view- that for-profit. In this regard, this essay is written to present arguments that profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) are better off by pursuing profits making them more sustainable than non-profit MFIs. This paper will argue that by microfinance institutions (MFIs) pursuing their own interest (profits) this is the only way to be sustainable & will lead to more outreach & more the greater good for all impoverished people despite the fact MFIs are for-profit. Years of research indicate that for-profit MFIs are more sustainable than non-profit microfinance institutions because they have higher growth rates, access to a larger pool of funding and are much more profitable. According to Global Microfinance Forum (1), â€Å"profit-maximizing MFIs run just as normal businesses do, making enough profit to fund themselves and benefit owners and investors.† For-profit MFI’s pursue profits because they are market driven. They could rely on donor funds in their initial stages, but unlike non-profit MFI’s, they specifically stipulate that their goal is to be financially self-sufficient—the ability to rely on themselves financially from within the institution. Hence, by gaining profits they want to grow, expand the number of institutions; lower all possible costs and ultimately reach the most amounts of people possible. By relying on themselves, for-profit MFIs are sustainable. The opportunities for profit MFIs are greater in terms of availability and accessibility for investor capital. In addition, with their own sources of funds, potentials for expanding their target market are vast. Supporters for nonprofit MFIs stipulate that these institutions solicit funds from donors, grants, government

OH&S-Your organisation's OH&S system Case Study

OH&S-Your organisation's OH&S system - Case Study Example In this system the employees are expected to do as they are told. In this system the pattern of decision-making is centralized. All the employees are supposed to follow the same standards especially at the manufacturing stage. The organization uses a very formalized approach as far as safety of its employees are concerned. The management does not tolerate any deviation from the set norms. For e.g. no matter how old or new an employee is, he is given no special consideration if he does not follow the safety rules set by the company. Even the oldest staffs are not allowed to use their own techniques based on the on-the-job experience they have gained in so many years. Due to the low risk factor of the 'machine bureaucracy system', the organization completely believes in it. Until and unless health and safety initiatives are implemented as a part of the whole management program, the desired results cannot be achieved. Therefore OH&S management system has been successfully integrated with other business system like financial management system, environmental management system, quality management system and human resource management system for maximum benefits. In addition to all these my organization has employee wellness program in order to enhance the employees' health status and prevent stress and burnout. Thus periodical medical examinations, cardiopulmonary resuscitation training, hypertension detection and control, improved dietary practices, stop-smoking programs, exercise and fitness, weight control, stress management, immunizations, and accident-risk reduction training programs have been organized. All this was not possible without integrating the OH&S system with the financial system of the organization. All this has been done for the employees - the most important asset of the organization. Hence the above measures taken by the organization have fulfilled the safety needs of the employees, which have resulted in a fruitful integration of the human resource system with the core management systems of the organization. Safety and Quality are synonymous. Since there is excellent OH&S system prevalent in the organization, the quality system is bound to be satisfactory. By taking proper care of the OH&S system the management of my organization, successfully integrated the quality systems too. The environment in which one is working, immensely affects an employee's welfare. Just as OH&S is considered an integral part of the core management system, of late, environmental management systems are being considered an integral part of the OH&S system. This trend is prevalent in most of the modern and progressive organizations. My organization also believes in what the majority thinks. Hence OH&S has been integrated with the environment of the workplace to such an extent that these two systems, instead of separated identity, have started being addressed as - OHS&E. Since Environment

Effectiveness and Extent of the Convergence between Public and Private Research Paper

Effectiveness and Extent of the Convergence between Public and Private Security over the Next Decade - Research Paper Example es helping private firms and individuals to identify crime and other insecurity problems and report them to the government officials for law enforcement. Private security officers offer private risk management consultancies, implement security approaches to protect private property against theft and fire, and also investigate frauds in private companies. There are various private security companies which carry out those security functions mentioned above. The public and private securities have recently been seen to converge as they help each other to combat insecurity issues in the society. The success of community security can be achieved through partnership building between the private and public security. Convergence of private and public security enhances identification of opportunities for collaboration in the security sector in order to encourage innovation in problem-solving and decision making; hence making it easier for security personnel to deal with security issues and meet the needs of the society in terms of security. Collaboration between private and public security opens doors for effective problem-solving through technology and innovation. This convergence between the public and private security also enhances advanced community policing and achievement of mutual goals in the private and public sector. Therefore, the convergence between the public and private security is expected to expand and become effective over the next decade due to its benefits to the society. The convergence between private and public and private security is a contemporary issue in security studies which has become common in many countries worldwide. The convergence between private and public security refers to the collaboration and partnership building between the public and private security personnel. It involves bringing together the activities of private and public security personnel in order to encourage innovation and technological advancement in the security sector.

Pier scour in Coarse bed and cohesive materials Research Paper

Pier scour in Coarse bed and cohesive materials - Research Paper Example This is the overall mission of the United States Department of the interior and the United States Geological Survey. The two mentioned departments are responsible for bridges and scours which this paper seeks to discuss. Studies have evidently determined that streambed scours are the leading cause of bridge failure in the United States. This results to approximately 60 percent of all bridge failures. The societal repercussions that are associated with failures and the costs that are linked to repair are amplified in Alaska, alternate routes of ground transportation between several cities are not in existence. Bridge culvert damages cost a lot to the economy, for example, in 2002 the damage in Kenai Peninsula was estimated at about 19 million dollars. This led to bridge site examination for scour. Purpose This paper therefore seeks to discuss pier scour in coarse bed and cohesive materials. The purpose of this paper is very open: to know how scour works and why bridges fall down. This is an issue that everyone could be interested in. Several bridges have been witnessed fall down and it has taken my attention to study how the whole process takes place. Bridges are normally built by technical experts and are expected to stay for maximum periods as prescribed by the civil engineers and architectures; however, scour has remained a disappointment to such expectations. Justas the aim of the paper: to discuss pier scour in coarse bed and cohesive materials, I am interested in understanding every single detail about the entire process of scour, types of scour, and its fundamental equations. Background on Scour Scour may refer to as remove by washing hard and rubbing and/ or rub hard with a cleansing rough material. Basically it accounts for a hole that remains behind when sand and rocks, sediments are washed away from the river bottom. Even though scour often occur at any particular time, the scour action is strong especially during flood season. This is because swiftly flowing water has much energy than slowly flowing calm water to lift and wash away sediments from the river bottom. Scour is of a great concern to bridges. This is because if rocks or sediment on which bridge is supported or rest is scoured by the river, it is most probably that the bridge could be very unsafe for travel purposes. For example, in 1987 when the Interstate Highway bridge over Schoharie Creek in the state of New York collapsed following a flood, the Federal Highway Administration demanded that each state to specify bridges on the highway over water that are likely to experience problems of scour and to have the bridges with severe scour identified. This knowledge of bridge sites in which there are potential scour problems will enable the States to improve and monitor the bridge conditions ahead of time before they pose danger to travelers. Types of scour There are three main types of scour that affect bridges. The following are the major types of scour that may pose d anger to highway bridges over water: Local scour: this occurs when sediments are swept away from around bridge piers and/ or abutments: the pillars that support bridges and those that support the end of the bridge. Flowing water past abutment or pier may scoop holes out in the sediment resulting into an

Importance of Software Quality and methods for assessment Essay

Importance of Software Quality and methods for assessment - Essay Example The above stated definitions are preliminary and important from different perspectives; even if they share the related essence. The clear understanding of customer needs by software products by means of operating requirements. No doubt, the software quality directly affects the operation as well as maintenance of software; however the question of how to impartially and scientifically assess software quality is turning out be a hot spot in field of software engineering. Software quality evaluation requires a lot of dedicated tasks which are really essential to be performed during software life cycle and it also provides a standard for evaluating software quality that is generally applied and maintained throughout software development procedures and practices. During the entire process of software quality assurances to get the utmost quality and performance we have to persistently found software quality throughout techniques and measures of software development. In the present situatio n, we are required to disclose current status of the software, provide effective and best possible means for buyer, developer and evaluator and thereafter foresee follow-up development trend of software quality (Bawane & Srikrishna, 2008; Aimin & Wenxiang, 2009; Mohanty, 1979).In this section I will highlight some of the main views of the software quality assurance from the perspectives of different industries. So in this analysis we will be determining some of the main characteristics of software quality assurance from the viewpoint of several stakeholders.

Marketing in Practice Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing in Practice - Case Study Example Global scenario of Confectionary industry: The confectionary market consists of chocolates, gum, cereal bars and sugar confectionary. The global confectionary market grew by 3% in 2006 to reach a value of 100.9 billion dollars. Chocolate sales dominate, accounting for 54.4% of the global confectionery markets value. Out of total confectionary market worldwide, Europe generates 46.6% of the total global confectionary markets value. It has been projected that in 2011, the global confectionary market will become to the value of 116 billion dollars, an increase of 14.9% since 2006. By the year 2011, the global confectionary market is forecast to have a volume of 15.1 billion kg, an increase of 9.9% since 2006. (All the data has been extracted from the Data Monitor report on global confectionary, Feb 2008). The confectionary market in regions such as Western Europe and North America has become mature and nearing to saturation. Consumption level in these areas reached to nearly static posi tion. Confectionary market is growing mostly in Central and Eastern Europe, India and China. It has been forecasted that global confectionary market between 2006 and 2010, grow @16% in value terms reaching more than 145 billion dollars. Volume sales have been expected to over 17.8 million tones by 2010. So it has been obvious that globally, confectionery market is expected to grow and Cadbury being the largest company after merger with Hershey it has strengthen their respective positions in the higher-growth markets for healthier forms of confectionery. Confectionary market worldwide is very competitive and it could be very well understood by the fact that the global confectionery market remains relatively fragmented, with the top six manufacturers accounting for less than half (45%) of value sales. Significance for Cadbury: The Company, Cadbury Schweppes is one of the largest confectionary companies based in UK and operates in almost 30 countries. UK has a well grown confectionery industry as a sub-sector of the British food industry. Within the European confectionery industry, the UK confectionery industry leads the field and the UK is unlikely to lose its place as the leading consumer of confectionery products. It has been estimated that in the last ten years consumer expenditure on food has increased to double but the expenditure on confectionary has tripled. It has been contributing considerably to British economy. This situation clearly shows that if Cadbury has to expand its business, it has to move in the areas like India, China, and East Europe etc. Market of confectionery is growing but in the developed country where market growth has stagnated, companies are trying various strategies like expanding its business in the areas which ultimately providing them proper oppor tunities to grow. Cadbury have 8 major competitors but one of the major competitors has merged with it and provided strategic mileage to the company. This market research has shown the direction of change as well as the direction of progress for Cadbury. It should know its competitors, which are mainly Mass Inc, Hearshey Food Corporation, Nestle SA, Ferrere etc. Most of the companies have similar types of distribution channel and developing new product range. Looking at the market situation it has been very obvious that confectionary market has the potential to grow and at the same time companies also have motivation and zeal to move ahead. 2.

The Silent Language Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Silent Language - Assignment Example In his book ‘, Edward T. Hall notes down the importance of mastering these skills for an American, who aspires to conduct successful business abroad (Cardon, 2008). This paper will, therefore, evaluate the important things that an American businessman needs to familiarize with while in a foreign land as addressed in The Silent Language in Overseas Business (Hall, 1960). Some things are acceptable in one culture, but may also be offensive in another culture. For instance, as Hall notes, an American will realize that a Latin American time might be quite spontaneous with their time, but when doing business with an Arab, he will realize that Arabs will tolerate interruptions in between. However, that will not lessen the seriousness of the business being conducted. With this in mind, an American should seek to understand the various cultural practices in a foreign state by acquainting himself or herself with the social, ethnic and economic dissimilarities of the people in that state. As Hall has stated, an understanding of various cultural differences will go a long way to make business transactions quite easier to conduct (Cardon, 2008). This includes an understanding of the communication in terms of time, space, material possessions, friendship patterns, and agreements. Hall makes it clear that people’s actions can act as a perfect means of conv ersing in one culture, while in others; it is words that do most of the expression (Hall, 1960). A person’s behavior communicates a lot and so are the attitudes and material possessions. Cultural interactions, according to Hall, can be explained in three levels; formal, informal, and technical. Formal forms include those instances when one does something inappropriately but is corrected and shown the right way. Informal involves learning the ways of a certain people by imitating them. Technical forms of learning, on their other hand, are similar to the experience of a teacher to a student (Hall, 19560).  

Comparing the marketing of Tescos and Audi Essay Example for Free

Comparing the marketing of Tescos and Audi Essay For this task we have been asked to look at the ways two different businesses market their products and services the two businesses we have been asked to look at are Tesco Audi. The first Tesco was opened in 1919 by a man called; Jack Cohen from that 1 store Tesco has grown in the market and now has 923 stores worldwide, Tesco is a supermarket that sells all kinds of household items such as food, clothes range, technology range, phone range furniture, toys and many more, Tesco has many different stores which make a lot of money every year. Tesco uses its brand to obtain new customers and also retain old customers because they are a reliable business that is well known by many of their customers. They are known for their cheap products and suitable prices which attract customers to come back and buy again, They obtain new customers by doing things like advertising and promoting their products and business on things like flyers, T.V, Internet, Comparison sites and a lot of other places, they also do things like club cards which allow customers to get some products for lower prices or free, this makes the customer want to come back and shop again because they like the way of service. We have been asked to pick one product from each business and discuss the marketing techniques between them, from Tesco I have chosen to do a Mobile phone, the target markets of this product is everyone, but almost everyone needs a mobile phone, the branding of the mobile phone will be different because if the phones are made from different companies their brands will be on them, Tesco will use adverts to promote the phone and get people interested so they will buy it, Tesco uses relationship marketing with phone brands such as Nokia, Samsung ECT as they sell their products in side their stores, The mobile phone has a large number of rival products as there are lots of different phone models to choose from and this particular phone might not get bought. An Ansoff matrix is a business strategy that businesses use to increase sales and improve their market, Tesco is developing new products in existing markets because they already have a market and they just need new products to sell in their market, for example if Tesco created a new product their brand phone they would sell it under their name in their stores. Tesco constantly uses the Ansoff matrix as they are always releasing new products, and selling them, sometimes Tesco would work on improving a market and sometimes they create completely new products, If Tesco release a new mobile phone they would be releasing a new product into a existing market which would be using the Ansoff matrix. Audi AG (Xetra: NSU) is a German manufacturer of a range of automobiles, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand. The company is headquartered in Ingolstadt, Germany, and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG since 1966, following a phased purchase of its predecessor, Auto Union, from its former owner, Daimler-Benz. Volkswagen re-launched the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series. The company name is based on the surname of the founder August Horch, meaning listen — which, when translated into Latin, becomes Audi. Audi uses its brand to sell their products, Audi is a well known and trusted brand and people can buy from them with trust unlike smaller companies, customers know that they can trust Audi, because they have reliable cars that they sell and the public know these facts about the business so they trust the company and buy the car. We have been asked to pick one product to describe the marketing techniques they use, I have chosen to do the Audi RS4, the target of this car would be anyone who can drive and people who have money, The branding of this car would have the Audi Logo on it, Audi will use things like adverts to promote their product, advertising increases sales, Audi can use Relationship marketing with Car dealerships/shops which sell their cars, Audi has a lot of rivals due to there being many other car companies that are selling cars like them such as Mercedes, Bmw, ECT, so Audi will have to be better that the other companies and prove that they are the best car dealer on the market. An Ansoff matrix is a business strategy that businesses use to increase sales and improve their market; Audi is constantly creating new products in their existing markets, and sometimes creating new products for new markets, for example Audi would not start a new company to sell new products under, they would just make new products which would be cars and sell them under their current name which would be Audi. Audi constantly uses the Ansoff matrix as they are always making new cars and selling them, sometimes Audi would work on improving a market and sometimes they create completely new products, for example If Audi created a new car they would sell it under their brand name and this is using the Ansoff Matrix.

Why is it important for managers to know about motivation theories?

Why is it important for managers to know about motivation theories? Introduction The key function of managers is getting things done through employees. The following assignment looks at the role of motivation and why it is essential for managers to be aware of the various motivational theories and how the motivational theories could be implemented in a professional context to achieve organisations goals and objectives. Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve (Bedeian, 1993). Organisations exist to achieve corporate objectives and employees working in those organisations aide in achieving those objectives by working towards their individual goals and targets. In an ideal world, if every individual was providing his best performance then organisational goals would be met sooner too; however in the real world it is often not the case. Organisations lag behind and more often than not the reason is a demotivated staff. An understanding of the basic human nature is important for effective employee motivation in the workplace and also for effective management and leadership. In todays business world with rapid changes happening all around, it has become even more important for managers to motivate their staff and help their staff in optimising their performance. Besides, research and observation proves that motivated employees are more creative and productive in the work place. Several theories of motivation have been presented amongst which Maslows theory states the purpose of human existence is Self-actualisation and the only way that state can be attained is when the basic human needs are met. Thus according to Maslow, human needs can be represented in the form of a pyramid. According to Maslow, the basic human needs are: Physiological needs Safety needs Love needs Esteem needs Self-actualisation. Whilst Herzberg theory states that in a work environment context there are mainly two factors which determine the motivation levels of employees. The first set of factors which he termed as the hygiene factors do not lead to positive motivation, however a lack of those hygiene factors could lead to de-motivation. Herzbergs theory is particularly useful as it discussed the importance of providing a good working environment and to a certain degree highlighted the importance of a good working environment in achieving a better performance from employees. Herzberg’s work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygienes (Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction. McGregors theory stated that staff would contribute more to the organisation if they were treated as responsible and valued employees. Likert (1967) suggested that for an organisation to perform better, managers must adopt a participative-group system, whereby, leadership is by the superiors who have complete confidence in their employees and motivation takes the form of economic rewards which is further based on goals set by participation. Various other theories presented by Vroom, equity theory etc all discuss how employees can be motivated and should be motivated to enhance performance. As stated above individual performance taken collectively determines organisational performance and when organisational performance is not up to the required level, the organisation would not be able to sustain itself and might loose out in competition. Motivation theories provide an insight into what makes an employee perform better. It provides managers with a tool to motivate employees and helps them in understanding how the staff can be managed better. It is therefore no surprise that the area of human resource management and organisational behaviour is looking into how important it has become for organisations to focus on retaining employees. Recent literature has emphasised the importance of knowledge management. It is a known fact that high labour turnover, costs the company which results in lowering the level of profits. Profit maximisation is the ultimate corporate objective, it would be fair to say that is the sole reason why companies exist to maximise profit, generate revenue and anything that can result in increasing profit levels will be looked upon favourably. Lack of knowledge about motivation theories might lead the managers to believe that monetary incentives are the only way of motivating staff, however, the theories has helped the managers in understanding that individuals have different needs. It might be that employee A prefers to have more responsibility as compared to employee B. Hence increasing As responsibility and appreciating A motivates him more than B who would be satisfied with getting a monetary incentive. Similarly, employee C might be a single mother who would prefer to have more flexibility in the job and would be able to perform better if the work that she is doing enables her to look after her child and work. The above examples prove that in a professional environment for a manager it has become even more important to understand the needs of his internal customers. A concept which can be borrowed from marketing is if the customers needs are met the organisations objectives can be achieved. The argument can be extended in this context as well where it can be said that when internal customers are kept happy, external customers will automatically be happy. The above is an example to explain Vrooms theory, according to which rewards and incentives should be based on what the employee perceives to be important rather than what the managers perceives to be important. Thus he aimed to explain employee motivation by explaining the link between how individual goals influence individual performance. Thus the knowledge of motivational theories provides a deeper insight into the psychology of employees and staff. The importance of organisational performance cannot be highlighted enough. Research and surveys are being conducted to understand what can improve the organisational performance and the obvious link is individual performance. Performance more generally is defined as a function of ability and motivation. However, in order to motivate staff it is important to have an effective performance management system. In order to provide rewards to the staff it is imperative to have appropriate benchmarks to measure the performance. Literature in this area has highlighted the importance of having formal appraisal systems which can either be in the form of self-evaluation or 360 degree appraisal, top-down, bottom up etc. The above mechanism enables managers to scientifically assess and then provide appropriate rewards and incentives to the staff, whether monetary or non-monetary in nature. In addition to the performance levels, retaining staff by continuously striving to motivate them helps managers to retain knowledge which the employees have acquired over the period, it helps the employees to complete tasks faster as they are already aware of how things are done around here and more importantly it helps the systems to be developed so that work can be done quickly. It helps in achieving specialisation and employees acquiring key skills. Thus the main tools a manager must have to motivate his/her staff are: Approval, praise and recognition Trust, respect and high expectations Loyalty Removing organisational barriers which might stand in the way individual performance Job enrichment Providing Financial incentives Good communication. Even though there is not a perfect formula for motivation in the workplace however, an understanding of how the human nature works can help managers to perform better and keeping the end goal (corporate objective) in mind the challenge for every leader and manager to reach a balance where organisational and individual performance can be maximised to reach the same goal. Conclusion From the preceding paragraphs it can be concluded that it is imperative for managers to have a thorough understanding of the motivation theories. However, it is easier said than done. There is no simple answer of how to motivate people, though an understanding of the theories does help. It enables the managers in enhancing not only the individual but also the organisational performance. The primary objective of organisations is to survive, sustain and grow and the objective can be met when the employees and staff are happy. This can be achieved by understanding the motivation theories and implementing them effectively to achieve optimal results for the organisation. Thus it can be said that effective implementation of the motivation theories can help the organisations to have a competitive edge and it can serve to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage which would ensure its growth, survival and maximised revenue generation in the long run. Thus, it can be concluded for managers to perform efficiently it is imperative for them to have knowledge of the motivation theories. Bibliography Armstrong, M., A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, (2003), Kogan Page. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, (2003), Palgrave Macmillan Hall, L., Torrington, D. and Taylor, S., Human Resource Management, (2004), FT Prentice Hall Hook, C. and Foot, M., Introducing Human Resource Management (Modular Text for Business and Economics), (2005), FT Prentice Hall Marchington, M and Armstrong, A., Human Resource Management at Work, (2005), Chartered Institute of Personnel Development Mullins, L.J., Management and Organisational Behaviour, (2004), FT Prentice Hall Purcell, J and Boxall, P., Strategy and Human Resource Management (Management, Work and Organisatons), (2002), Palgrave Macmillan Schwarz, R.M., The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches, (2002), John Bass and Wiley.

Self reference Criterion and importance for International marketing

Self reference Criterion and importance for International marketing Self-reference Criterion and its importance for International marketing If you take a look around yourself you will find how many goods and services are solely produced in your own country around you? Your clothes might be produced in Pakistan, your cell phone from China, your computer in Singapore; your Coffee might be from Latin America. Whatever we talk about music, clothes, movies or our soft drinks for everything there are good chances that most of these products are produced in somewhere else in the globe. This is the global market place where good price and quality is welcomed by consumers irrespective of the region of its origination. In this scenario the need is to adopt the marketing practices that are effective beyond the borders so the importance of international marketing cannot be denied. International marketing is not an easy task. The international marketer has to face many obstacles in the way to achieve his goals. One of the primary obstacles is whenever we face a problem; we react abruptly and take decisions on the basis of values, meanings, behaviors and symbols that we have taken from our own culture. This type of decisions usually do not proved to be correct, as values, meanings and all other elements of culture usually differ from country to country. This is called self-reference criterion. According to Cateora at al (2007), the self-reference criterion is when decisions are taken on the basis of experiences, values and knowledge of ones own culture. The understanding of self-reference criterion is very much important for the marketing firm that plans to enter in international markets. In local markets on the basis of self-reference criterion; the marketer can predict the future responses of customers to a particular product but in the markets of some other country or culture the responses of customers will be based on their unique cultural environment. Even when the marketing strategy for international market is developed very carefully, chances of misunderstandings cannot be entirely vanished due to many un-avoidable factors. The intervention of self-reference criterion in international marketing practices can be easily understood with the help of following examples. In an advertisement created by Nestle corporation for their Kit Kat, a voice cover of local language was used for both countries UK and Italy. In that advertisement the quack, universal language of ducks, and duck callers were used by duck hunter to attract the ducks. Meanwhile in the commercial they became frustrated and to have a cheerful break they need a Kit Kat. That advertisement could not be succeeded because of the cultural differences between the consumers culture and marketers culture. In Italy the hunting is considered as a negative act and Italian also took Kit Kat as a luxury and product. From this example we can clearly say that the success of a marketing strategy is critically based on customer understandings and its important is raised more when we talk about international marketing. In 1996 McDonalds opened seven restaurants in India. The 40% population of India is vegetarian and they do not eat meat or animal proteins. The fish, frozen meat and spicy foods were also not frequently used by remaining meat eaters. So in order to be successful in new market the McDonalds had make many changes to its prime products and needed to use separate tools and kitchens to make burgers and other products according to the needs of Indian markets. This all created many problems for the company and company had also incurred many extra costs. This example shows that how companies have to face self-referencing criterion when expanding their business in new international markets. When Unilever started its operations in Brazil and wanted to introduce detergents, the biggest issues that company faced ware that people in Brazil dont have washing machines, in rural areas people used to wash their clothes at the river and most of the population of Brazil was poor and they were very much conscious about the products. So to avoid self-reference criterion the Unilever first developed a formula of soap, they made the plastic packing of soaps to conveniently use while washing clothes on rivers and they made small packing of detergents in order to low their prices and made them affordable for maximum number of population that have low incomes. This was the most successful tool used by the company to avoid the effects of self-reference criterion and recognized the existence of this influence in our behaviors. It is argued that one can never understand deeply each and every aspect of the culture but awareness about major aspects can be obtained, and he should ask bout that he does not know and should be open enough to accept the differences. The global awareness can be used as most effective tool to control the effects of self-reference criterion and ensure the success of an international marketing campaign. The global awareness is described by the Cateora et al as to be: Objective to understand the opportunities in correct manners make correct assessments of organizations potential and design responses to the expected problems. Mostly the western companies attracted towards India due to its huge market of more than one billion population and take it as a good opportunity and market with a lot of potential but they ignore the purchasing power and low income factors of the economy of India, the inefficient media, poor distribution, poor and low standard of infrastructures and many other factors that cause the reduction in potential of this huge markets for many kind of products. Tolerant towards the differences prevail among cultures. It is referred to the understanding of differences prevail among cultures and acceptance of these differences when working in a common working place with those who belongs to different cultural group. As in Romania when some Arab businessmen came to visit the country for opportunities and a local student was attached to them as translator. She spent two week with them to visit the different Romanian cities but she could not adjust herself with their eating habits and showed the behavior of lack of tolerance for other cultures. Knowledgeable of history, cultures, general trends and real potentials of markets. The awareness of culture is very much important if one wants to know the behaviors of some particular market place. The basic element of the environment in which the company is going to start its business is culture of that place and consumer behaviors are very much influenced by this. The history of that place is very much important to understand the behaviors of consumers as past events always have great effects on the way people behave in a particular case. By analyzing the history we can understand why British were not in favor of the channel tunnel between France and Britain and why Turkish products are not liked in Greek. The understanding of market potential is important because they are varying very fast. If we see now we will find many regions of the world that showing increasing potential, many markets have emerging trends and most of the European markets have been saturated. In next twenty y ears the emerging markets from Asia will show huge potentials for future businesses. The understandings of general trends like global political, economical and social trends are very much important because growth process of the market is depend upon these trends. A good marketer will identify the market opportunities before anyone else could know them. Now it is very much clear that the success of marketing firm is very much dependant on its ability to understand the customers and even more like a life blood for firms that are operating at international level. Following are some more examples given by Housden and Lewis to develop more understanding of the concept. In China green color is used to represent the people who sells vegetables so British racing green has no chances to be successful in China. In Brunei the Yellow color is considered as royal color and its public use is not appreciated. In order to show the sorrow of death purple color is used in Mexico. In china number 8 is taken as lucky number and considered as premium number to take as number of cars but number 4 is considered vice versa. The firms operating at international level must be very much conscious about the translations of their slogans, tag lines or brand names etc in local language of that place. If they dont take it seriously it can be very harmful for their marketing campaigns. Hundred of examples can be presented about the improper selection of Brand names and designs that caused failures because of self-referencing criterion. Superpiss that is a Scandinavian dicer it cannot be translated into English properly. Pschitt is lemonade from France and cannot be advertized in Germany as its proper translation is not possible in German. Bimbo bread and Bum Crisps are brands from Spain and their advertisement is not possible in United States as their names are not acceptable there. The slogan of Pepsi Cola Come Alive with Pepsi is not acceptable in china as in Chinese it means Pepsi raises relatives from the dead. In 1966 James Lee accepted the importance of self-reference criterion for marketing firms and provided an approach of four stages in order to mitigate the biases raised by this self-referencing criterion especially in international marketing. In first step the problem is defined on the basis of culture of home country. In second step the problem should be defined again on the basis of culture of the country in which company wants to start operations without involving value judgments. Control the effects of self-referencing criterion on problem definition and analyze the problem. Then problem is redefined without the self-referencing criterion. The importance to understand the effects of self-reference criterion cannot be overlooked by the marketing firm that wants to operate at international level. It can act as life blood for the success of the marketing campaigns designed by the company and their effectiveness is based on the understanding of the campaigns developers about the culture of the host country. Knowledge of sub-cultural groups and Market segmentation The segmentation of the market involves the dividing of entire market into small customers groups who have different type of responses for different marketing strategies for particular service or product. In this way the organization can design the marketing policies according to the particular needs and requirements of each segment in order to have more profitability by more generating favorable responses than by simply applying a single marketing policy for whole market. The market segmentation is mostly done at the level of customers. But in case of international marketing sometimes markets are also segmented on the basis of whole countries by considering the aspects that are common among countries. This type of segmentation is not proved that much successful as countries have great variation in them and it is difficult to take meaningful averages. The most suitable basis that is used to segment the markets is customers and their unique response behaviors or purchasing decisions. Many factors affect the purchasing decisions of customers that are uncontrollable by them but they have indirect or direct influences on the lifestyle of customers. Culture is one of these factors that affect the consumer behaviors. It represents the shared beliefs, behaviors and meanings among the members of a society. Whatever we do is based upon these shared behaviors that are transferred in a society from one member to another. It is a wide concept and has not as much importance for marketers as the groups within the culture or sub-cultures. The subculture is consisting of members who have their own values, beliefs and customs within the society that distinguish them from others in same society. Moreover they also obey the major values, beliefs and behaviors of dominant culture of the whole society. Subculture can be defined as a separate cultural group that prevails in a society as recognizable segment. There can be different types of subcultures prevail in a society like religious subcultures, ethnic subcultures, age subcultures and disabilities subcultures. So the knowledge of subcultures is very much important for marketers while segmenting their markets in smaller groups. Because the goal of all the efforts of marketers are to convince the customers to buy their brands and a very effective tool that is usually used by them to achieve this goal is cultural representations. By using this tool it is believed that when products relates to the cultural values the customers feel more comfortable. The marketers put a lot of efforts to understand the differences and similarities prevail in these sub cultural groups. They design their marketing policies for these cultural groups and try to attract them towards the product by aligning the product with the values and beliefs of their subculture. Although it is difficult to develop effective marketing policy for different subcultures, they must put their efforts to get sufficient knowledge about the similarities and differences among these groups in order to capitalize them. The importance of knowledge of subcultures for marketers while segmenting the markets can be very well understand by discussing the example of a Cigarette manufacturer who wants design the marketing policy for the subcultures groups of United States. The whole market of United States is divided in three sub-cultural groups of African American, Hispanics and Asians. The one big common factor in Hispanics, African Americans and Asians is that they are minorities in the United States. The first ever minority that migrated to United States is African Americans and after great struggle now they are considered as an important sub-cultural group of America because of their strong influence on politics and culture. The Hispanics is the largest minority of United Stated although they could not gain that much influence on American politics and culture as African Americans. This subculture has many similarities like language, food, political views and religion but this is a highly divided subculture. Just like Hispanics, Asians is also a subculture group that is highly divided but they dont have as much similarities as Hispanics has. A big challenge for the companys marketers is to design the marketing policies that best align with the norms and values of these subcultures by indentifying the differences and similarities of these sub-cultural groups. Differences Among subcultures African Americans: African American is most organized and strong sub-cultural group of United States. However they belong to different cultures of Africa but they lived many years under ethnic discrimination and efforts of many years have united them now. Today the presence of African Americans can be seen in Music, Sports and even in Politics with great influence. Now they are considered a strong group of America and they are showing their success not only politically but also by material possessions in the form of jewelry, luxury vehicles and recognition in public. Hispanics: This is a subculture group of United States with high diversities but according to CBS News, 2003 they also have a largest population of minority in United States. They belong to more than 20 different countries and cultures. They are more concerned with religion and families and most of them belong to Catholic thoughts. The number of Hispanics is increasing due to more immigrants every year and they want acceptance in the society as a strong influential group. Asians: The challenges faced by Asian are not different from Hispanics; Asian is even more diversified subculture group because they differ in religion, language, food and even in facial features. The members of this group belongs to the countries of China, Japan, India and Thailand and these all countries differ in languages, eating habits and even in facial features. One common thing that all Asians have who immigrate to United States is that want to achieve a better lifestyle so their more intentions are towards the achievement of success and they are mostly involved in entrepreneurial activities. Marketing Strategies to Target Subcultures The knowledge of sub-cultural groups for marketers has great significance while designing marketing strategies to target these groups. As the African Americans have goals to be most successful individuals the need of the cigarette marketers is to design the strategy that focuses on assigning a sense of uniqueness, class and sophistication for all those customers who will be smoking that cigarette. So the association of the brand with any public and highly successful African American will give a very much positive response for the brand. On other hand the Hispanics more concerned with belongingness and family so the strategy that more focuses on an image of traditions and trust factors will have more positive results. The thing that needs more attentions of marketers is that this group is highly diversified group and differs in status as well. The use of language will also be very much critical towards the success of campaign for this group. In case of Asians this subculture is consid ered as low profile group and strategy that will best suit for this group will be focused on respect of individual identity and traditions. The languages used for this group will more suitable if native language will be used. The success of an effective segmentation and a good marketing strategy is highly based on the knowledge of the marketer about the subcultures prevail in the society. People belongs to different subcultures differ from each others in many terms. They differ in their languages, their ages, their eating habits, beliefs, and even in facial features. So to design a well aligned marketing strategy the marketer should have sufficient knowledge of the sub cultural groups of the society.

Stress Types Essay -- Papers Exploratory Stressing Problems Essays

Stress Types There are three types of stress that will be explained. At various times in our lives, one or more of these stresses may overcome us. The first of these is ?Type A? stress, which is both foreseeable and avoidable. For example, going on a roller coaster is both foreseeable and avoidable, thus, it is considered a ?Type A? stress. A ?Type B? stress is defined as something that is neither foreseeable nor avoidable. A good example of this is being hit by a baseball while watching the game. The last type of these stresses is called ?Type C? stress, and is defined as stress that is foreseeable, but not avoidable. A good example of this would be a teenager staying out too late and knowing that when she comes home, she will get into trouble with her parents. At certain times in our life, such as marriage, we may be confronted with ?Type A? stress (foreseeable and avoidable). We know, of course, that when we get married, we will have to endure this added stress. It is foreseeable because we know whether or not we will ask someone to marry us. It is avoidable because you ...

to have and have not :: essays research papers

My book is "To have and have not" by Ernest Hemingway. He is by far my favorite author, he is a bit racist though. He tells the story of Harry Morgan in this book. It is a dramatic peice of fiction that deals with trhe issue of a mans choice bettween killing or letting his family starve. He does everything in his to feed his family. He begins rum-running bettween Cuba and Key West. That is the reason that his boat gets seized by the Coast Guard. He has this ship mate who he calls a certian word over and over. It is sad that life is so hard for him. In part one Harry Morgan is running a fishing charter operation. He is in the bar waiting for the charter to arrive. He is approached by 3 cubans who speak good english. They talk and they ask him to take them some where I think Cuba. They offer him a thousand a peice he tells them he cant take them. The big one starts to get angry with him. He threatens to slit Harry's throat and then he calms down. Harry tells them no and finially they head twoard the door. As they walked out the door a closed car drove up and had a shoot out with them they all were killed. Harry went down to the docks to wait at his boat for the charter but they were already on board. The charterer was a guy named Johnson and he brought a rummy along with him. Harry takes them fishing and they lose his equipment. When the next mourning comes Johnson is nowhere to be seen he skips oput on paying Morgan for the equipment or the bill. This is where the plot complicates you see he now has no fishing buisness so he has to find another way to feed his family. So he does odd jobs here and there. He meets up with a man called Mr. Sing. He was a chink. He wanted Harry to transport something for him. He also wants harry to carry some men for him. Harry agrees and takes the two hundred dollars.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

i) What causes PID and what happens to the body when someone gets it? Pelvic In?ammatory Disease (PID) occurs when an infection of the cervix, or to a lesser extent the vagina progresses into the upper genital tract, PRODIGY (2005). Warell (2003) de?nes an infection as an invasion of the body by harmful organisms (or pathogens) such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa or viruses. In the case of PID the two most common causes of the initial infection are the bacterium Chlamydia Trachomatis or Neisseria Gonnorhoeae.These two bacteria are most commonly referred to as the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) chlamydia and gonnorhea and are commonly passed through unprotected vaginal intercourse. Both infections present similarly, as in?ammations of the cervix and urethra with the associated symptoms of pain on urination and vaginal discharge. Some infected women however experience no symptoms (Caroline, 2008). Prodigy (2005) discusses how cervical mucus provides a relative barrier to the spre ad of the pathogens and the associated infections, but virulent microbes can traverse cervical mucus, which in any case, is lost during menses.Other factors that may in?uence the spread of bacteria up the genital tract are, pregnancy terminations and the complications arising from dilatation and currettage. Wyatt (2003), discusses, in reference to PID, how once an infection spreads beyond the cervix it can present in various regions of the genital tract: uterus (endometritis), fallopian tubes (salpingitis), ovaries (oophoritis), peritoneum (peritonitis). The assocaited infections/in?ammations can cause various symptoms: Pelvic or lower abdominal pain.Dyspareunia (pain during or after intercourse) Turbo-ovarian abscesses Abnormal vaginal discharge Pelvic peritonitis Perihepatitis (in?ammation of the peritoneum attached to the liver) The severity ranges from chronic low grade infection (with relatively mild symptoms) to acute infection (with severe symptoms) which may result in absces s formation. Salpingitis, or infection of the Fallopian tubes, is a particularly signi?cant feature of PID because of the long term effects after PID including infertility, ectopic pregnancy and pelvic pain.0% of women develop tubal infertility after a single episode, 20% after a second and 40% after three episodes (Prodigy, 2005). In summary PID is a collective term that encompasses a variety of infections of the upper female genital tract. ii) what investigations are considered at hospital and what medications might be prescribed? Warrell (2003), states that there is no symptom, clinical sign, or labratory result that is is pathognomonic (exclusive/unique) in the testing and subsequent diagnosis of PID.The hospital will therefore use a variety of investigations to rule out the likelihood of other diagnosis and allow the most appropriate treatment for cases of suspected PID. Wyatt (2003), advises Accident and Emergency (A&E) staff to ?rst consider whether a patient is presenting wi th any signs/symptoms of shock. If the infection has progressed and there are indications of sceptic or hypovalaemic shock such as tachycardia, pyrexia and assocaited blood pressure abnormalities then the initial treatment is to raise the patient’s legs, resuscitate with IV ?uids and immediately begin IV broad spectrum antibiotics.Sanders (2006) advises other routine tests to help with the differential dianosis for PID which include; appendicitis, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, ectopic pregnancy, other STIs, HIV, urinary tract infection. These tests include: Urinalysis which can to help diagnose and/or rule out the presence of a UTI. A vaginal swab picks up a sample of cells from the vagina which are usually sent to a laboratory for testing. A full blood count (FBC) tests the levels of red cells, white cells and platelets.Abnormalities in these readings can help differentiate between the presence of bacterial or viral infections and/or parasitic/fungal infections. Blood tests are limited in that they do not distinguish what has gone before from what is happening now however they can pick up HIV, hepatitis B and C, herpes virus and chlamydia. Wyatt (2003) also advises that a pregnancy test is needed and if positive, an ectopic pregnancy or other pregnancy complication must be considered. If the ectopic test is negative Ultrasound or endometrial biopsy examined for plasma cells is useful to increases the accuracy of diagnosis.Where symptoms are severe or if initial treatment is unsuccessful a laparoscomy may be considered (Simpson, 2005). Here a rigid viewing instrument called a laparoscope is used to view the inside of the pelvis and the abdomen through small abdominal incisions. The procedure is always performed under a general anasthetic. Among 814 women who underwent laparoscopy because of a clinical diagnosis of PID, 12 per cent had intra-abdominal conditions other than PID: ectopic pregnancy, appendicitis, ruptured ovarian cysts, and endometriosis (P rodigy, 2005).Medications are aimed at eradicating gonorrhea and chlamydia and recommended antibiotics include O?oxacin, Doxycycline and Metronidazole. Ibuprofen is a reccommended analgesia however the choice of analgesia and which route should be guided by clinicla judgement, Prodigy (2005). iii) Discuss Legal (authorised/permitted by law), Ethical (the philosphy of good/bad, right/wrong determined by our cultural/religious and philosophical beliefs) and Capacity (the power to learn or retain knowledge to understand the facts and signi?cance of your behaviour) issues surrounding Lizzy’s views and those of her mother.A signi?cant factor in Lizzy’s case is whether she has capacity. Capacity is de?ned as the power to learn or retain knowledge, and to understand the facts and signi?cance of your behavior (Gillick, 1986). Assessing whether Lizzy has capacity places a responsibility on the practitioner to provide her with suf?cient information to inform her fully of the cli nical importance of seeking immediate treatment. Then assessing whether she understands the risks involved and also if she is able to retain the knowledge long enough to make an effective decision.In the case of Gillick, the court held that children who have suf?cient understanding and intelligence to enable them to understand fully what is involved in a proposed intervention will also have the capacity to consent to that intervention. This is sometimes described as being ‘Gillick competent’. A child of under 16 may be Gillick competent to consent to medical treatment that requires their consent.If Lizzy is deemed Gillick competent and is able to give voluntary consent after receiving appropriate information, that consent will be valid and additional consent by a person with parental responsibility will not be required. It is, however, good practice to involve Lizzy’s family in the decision-making process, if she consents to her information being shared, DOH (200 9). Another challenge arises as Lizzy states her reason for not consenting to travel to hospital is that she is scared her parents will ?nd out about her sexual activity and drug abuse.When assessing capacity you should also ascertain if the patient is free from external pressure to make their own decision? In Lizzy’s case this appears in doubt as she has previously stated that she feels pressured by her mother. There is therefore an argument that Lizzy does not have capacity in these circumstances. There is also speci?c legislation on how to act when there is an issue of contraception , or sexual health in relation to children; Here it is advised that we should try to persuade Lizzy to inform her parents, or allow us to do so.If however she cannot be persuaded, advice and/or treatment should still be given if it is considered that Lizzy is very likely to begin or continue to have sexual intercourse with or without advice or treatment, and that unless she receives the advice or treatment then her physical or mental health is likely to suffer. This is very relevant in Lizzy’s case and poses an ethical question on whether or not to respect Lizzy’s request of con?dentiality between her parents.Each of these possibilities will challenge the practitioner and whilst it is essential that the law is followed it is important to adopt a dynamic approach to Lizzy’s situation and not forget that ultimately it is Lizzy’s ongoing health that is the priority in this situation. iv) discuss the psychological (affecting the mind) and/or social (living with others as oppose to in isolation – developing relationships) effects of peer pressure (social pressure by members of ones peer group to adopt certain values – to conform or to be accepted) in relation to underage alcohol abuse.Since 1990 the amount of alcohol consumed by 11 to 15 year olds who drink has doubled and there has been increases in the numbers of children admitted to hospital as a direct result of their alcohol consumption. Early age of starting drinking is associated with higher trends of alcohol dependence in adulthood and a wider range of other adverse consequences (Donaldson, 2009). Peers play an important role in the onset of drinking behaviours. The effect of peers has been shown to be particularly powerful when parent– adolescent relationships are poorer in quality (Donaldson, 2009).Kroger (2000) identi?es that Lizzy is at the stage of her childhood development where she is asking herself, â€Å"Who am I? † Here adolescents establish sexual, political and career identities and/or may be confused about what roles to play. Identity crises can create storm and stress for the young person. Sociological theory suggest that changes within social roles cause con?ict, e. g. girlfriend and daughter, schoolgirl and work experience. In addition mass media and peers can cause con?icting values for this age; a factor that may be affecti ng Lizzy evidenced by the posters on her bedroom wall.It can be a very dif?cult time for the young person going through this stage of development. Studies such as Adams et al (1994) have found that adolescents report an increase in the importance of peers in adolescence. The proportion of time spent with peers correspondingly increases. Peer relationships also become more intimate than those of preadolescence, with a new focus on sharing secrets and disclosing feelings. Peer groups assume particular importance.Although Lizzy’s alcohol consumption is a concern it could be argued that this is an essential stage in development and here adolescent’s will begin to question whether their relationships are bene?cial or not. It is therefore possible that Lizzy’s drinking is temporary and her self realization of its effects on her life play an important part in how she develops relationships later in her life. v) discuss the advice you would offer promoting the health (a ction to maintain the best possible health and quality of life) of Lizzy considering all the various aspects of this presentation for her future well being.Ambulance services in the United Kingdom are being compelled to move away from being a relatively uncomplicated patient transport system towards becoming part of a fully integrated, national healthcare service offering a holistic approach to patient care (DoH 2005, Ball 2005). Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increases control over, and to improve their health and heir-in health is de?ned as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing (WHO, 1986).The ?rst action to address Lizzy’s health would be to ensure that Lizzy attends hospital. There is evidence from her observations that Lizzy could eventually enter into sceptic shock, which is potentially life threatening therefore this should be the ?rst priority above all other health promotion considerations. If it was unable to ensure this at the scene then Clincial telephone Advice desk should be contacted along with a Duty Station Of?cer and consideration to contacting Lizzy’s GP. Health Education is a process with intellectual, psychological nd social dimensions relating to activities that increase the abilities of people to make informed decisions affecting their personal, family and community well-being.This process, based on scienti?c principles, facilitates learning and behavioral change in both health and personnel and consumers, including children and youth (Ross, 1997). Of the three different methods of health education (Coercion, Persuasion or health empowerment) empowerment focuses on developing decision-making skills and the con?dence to bring about change; the decision on which health actions to adopt is the decision of the practioner.However Lizzy could potentially bene?t more from being given the tools to help herself in this situation and help develop the know-how to help herself at this critical stage of her adolescent development (Hubley, 2008). This is reinforced in the DOH (2006) paper (with relation to year groups 10 to 11 ((14-16 year olds)): pupils develop self awareness and con?dence needed for adult life, further learning and work. They have opportunities to show that they can take responsibility for their own learning and career choices by setting personal targets and planning to meet them.They develop their ability to weigh up alternative courses of action for health and wellbeing (DOH, 2006). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended that offering brief, one-to-one advice on the harmful effects of alcohol use, how to reduce the risks and how to ?nd sources of support is an effective approach for tackling harmful drinking among children and young people (Donaldson, 2009). Lizzy should be informed that contraceptive use in?uences PID rates. Barrier contraception reduces the risk of PID by preventing the acquisition of chlamyd ia and gonorrhea.Lizzy has used condoms however it is likely that she acquired PID on the occasions where she failed to use them (Prodigy, 2005). Another useful approach with considerable potential is that of information shops. These provide health promotion on an informal ‘drop-in’ basis from accessible loctions in high streets and communities (Hubley, 2008). Lizzy should be encouraged to improve her attendance at school; The contribution of schools to public health education and health are mutually reinforcing. Education and learning promote health literacy and an increased capacity to make informed decisions on health matters.A healthy child has a greater potential to bene?t from education than one who has poor health and misses schooling. Health promotion in education settings bene?ts public health in three ways: bene?ting directly the health of the child, promoting future health by providing the necessary understanding, skills values and competencies that they can use in later life, bene?ting the health of the community through the transfer of knowledge and skills from the school back into the home place and community (St Leger, 2001).