Norse Mythology in Modern Culture Essay

Amon Amarth is one of the most blatantly Norse Mythological metal bands in existence. In fact, they are probably the only band in the world that is this closely tied to Norse Mythology. Everything from their album names, to their song titles, to the lyrics embedded in the gut wrenching brutality of their fast-paced melodic guitar riffs, screams Odin, Thor, Loki and all the other gods and characters spoken of in the sagas and stories passed from generation to generation through both written and vocal methods. In true saga style, with the oral tradition of the most ancient establishments and peoples in the Nordic region, they sing the stories of the Eddas and send praise to the gods long after the time of their magnificence. The introductory album from Amon Amarth, entitled Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds, has many different references to the gods Odin, Loki and Baldr throughout the album. One of the more obvious references is from the song â€Å"Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds†, which refers to the universal weeping from the story Baldr’s Dreams in the Poetic Edda by Snorri Sturluson. In Baldr’s Dreams, Baldr, the second of Odin’s sons, dreams of dying and the Aesir are so disturbed by this that they send Odin down to Hel to figure out the meaning of the dreams. Subsequently, he is in fact murdered by the hand of his blind brother Hod, facilitated by Loki and the spear he fashioned out of mistletoe. Following the death, Hermod goes on a quest to return Baldr to the realm of the living. He meets with Hel, daughter of Loki and ruler of Niflheim, and, after much pleading, she makes a deal with him stating that only if â€Å"all things, living and dead, will weep for himâ₠¬ (Lindow), shall he be able to return to the land of the Aesir. The first song on the album shares the album title and lays out Baldr’s Dreams in a modern poetic way that is also exceedingly heavy metal. The lyrics play out the dream and then the revealing of the culprit, Loki, as follows: â€Å"Nightmares, demons haunt my taunted mind, I’m scared, my death’s foreseen ungloryful. Please Father make my demons disappear, please Mother, death is everywhere.† †¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The evil force around us still wants to destroy me. Who is the evil slayer, I cannot see? Loki, the deceitful God, discover the arrow of death. Pointed for the Hod the blind by the jealous Loki the arrow cut through the skin and into the heart of the bright one. Silence spread throughout the hall Aesir as the God of Light fell to his knees dying! Sorrow throughout the nine worlds the bright God is gone, sent to Niflheim by the deceitful†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Dark Lyrics) When looking at the orig inal story and the lyrics, the connection is painfully obvious. The subsequent albums are entitled, Once Sent from the Golden Hall, The Avenger, The Crusher, Versus the World, Fate of Norns, With Odin On Our Side, Twilight of the Thunder God and Surtur Rising. Once Sent from the Golden Hall is a hint to Valhall and the great halls of the many Aesir. The Avenger, The Crusher and Twilight of the Thunder God are referring to Thor who is commonly known throughout Norse Mythology and Nordic histories as the god of thunder. Versus the World is about Ragnarok, the epic impending battle between the world of the Aesir and the world of giants colliding to determine the future of the universe. Fate of the Norns is self-explanatory. The Norns in Norse Mythology are the determiners of the fate of everything in existence. With Odin on Our Side is another Ragnarok reference of sorts in that a couple songs on the album speak of fighting on Odin’s side during the great battle to end all time. Lastly, Surtur Rising is about the rise of the giants right befo re the start of Ragnarok. Surtur, or Sutr as it is spelled in the Eddas, is the final opponent of Freyr during the battle of Ragnarok. He weilds his giant sword that has a glow so bright that none can look upon it without a squint as described in both the Poetic Edda (Voluspa) and the Prose Edda (Gylfaginning). Not only does Amon Amarth do a great job of relaying the stories from the Eddas and the Sagas as the pertain to the gods, but they also describe all of the characters that act as help to, and also those made to antagonize, the gods. Odin’s Ravens, Hugin and Munin, are mentioned in the song called â€Å"As Long As The Raven Flies† which says that the â€Å"sky belongs to Asagods as long as the raven flies†. (Dark Lyrics) â€Å"Risen From the Sea 2000† is about the Midgard Serpent stating that when â€Å"He’s risen from the sea. The beasts of hell are here. Come to rule the world. And you will be in fire.† (Dark Lyrics) Skoll, the wolf eternally chasing after the sun until Ragnarok, when he is finally able to catch and devour it, is mentioned in the song, â€Å"†¦And Soon the World Will Cease to Be†, when it is said, â€Å"Across the western sky he runs, a wolf so grim and mean, devours the eternal sun, and soon the world will ceas e to be.†(Dark Lyrics) One last example of the inclusion of all the elements of the mythology is the power of Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir, which is hinted at and blatantly mentioned various times throughout all of the albums they have put out up to this day. Coincidentally, the number of albums they have out so far happens to be nine. The number nine is a sacred number in Norse Mythology and other mythologies around the world. In Norse Mythology there are nine worlds; Asgard, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Midgard, Jotenheim, Svartalfheim , Nidavellir, Muspelheim and Niflheim. Skadi, the â€Å"snow-shoe-god† and her husband Njord, ruler of â€Å"the motion of the wind†(Lindow), would spend nine days in the mountains at her home and then spend nine days at his home by the sea, continuing with the nine trend. In Ragnarok, Thor is fighting the Midgard Serpent and as he is engaged in battle with the serpent, he is struck by it. While he is dying, he takes nine final steps bef ore falling to his demise. A final example of this fixation with nine, and perhaps the most important example, is the nine days that Odin spent hanging from Yggdrasil to gain knowledge and power. Amon Amarth’s lyrical rampage in â€Å"Thousand Years of Oppression† tells the story of Odin’s sacrifice to himself as follows: â€Å"He hung on the windswept world tree whose roots no one knows, for nine whole days he hung there pierced, by Gugnir, his spear. Swimming in pain, he peered into the depths and cried out in agony. Reaching out he grasped the runes before falling back from the abyss. He gave himself unto himself in a world of shearing pain. Go that we all may live our lives by the wisdom that he gained.† â€Å"The Fate of Norns† is a shining example of how the band also integrates their personal lives into the myths that they constantly, and consistently, reference in all of their music. This song portrays a mourning of the loss of a son of only six years old that was the only chance of continuing the legacy of the father’s name. In the middle of the song the lyrics state that â€Å"the fate of Norns await us all there is no way to escape the day to answer Odin’s call or walk through Hel’s gate.† The Norns â€Å"established laws, they chose lives for the children of the people, fates of men†, meaning they were involved in the fortune of every man’s life, or death as it may be. (Lindow) Ragnarok, the final hoorah for the world of the Aesir and the gods themselves, is a huge influence on the musical flavorings of one of the most amazingly brutal, and yet melodically pleasing, metal bands in existence. Would you expect anything less? Hailing from Sweden, one of the metal capitals of the world, Amon Amarth is one of the most Norse mythologically inclined bands in the world. They use Norse mythology in every aspect of their music and truly epitomize the image of a modern day Viking. They pillage every stage that they bless with their presence and ravage the eardrums that their melodies touch. A live show from these guys brings you back to a more primal time of humanity where the gods were made from and of nature and there was still a mysticism in the hearts and souls of the people. To conclude, Amon Amarth is blatantly Norse and they deserve to be recognized as one of the major contributors to the continuing interest in Norse mythology and love of the past heritage of a great region of the world. â€Å"The wait is soon at end, always charge, never bend. Morning is here, make your stand. Live for honor, glory, death in fire!† Works Cited Dark Lyrics.â€Å"Amon Amarth Lyrics†. Metal Lyrics. http://www.darklyrics.com/a/amonamarth.html Larrington, Carolyne. The Poetic Edda. New York, New York: Oxford University Press 2008. Lindow, John. Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. New York, New York: Oxford University Press 2001. Sturluson, Snorri. Edda. North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle Publishing 1995.

Autobiographical Fiction

In the beginning the official said, let the stadium lights come on, and they came on. The football players came onto the field, and they saw the light was good. Other teams started to show up and practice on the battle ground, otherwise known as the â€Å"playing field. † Fans shouted, and cheerleaders went on about their playful acts. Parents, brothers, sisters, and close friends all piled into the stands to see the game of the year. The official stepped out onto the moist grass at Manchester United Stadium in Manchester, England. The time was 7. 45pm on a Saturday night. He paused for a moment, looked at his stopwatch, and blew his whistle. Gigantic muscular men came from out of nowhere as the fans began to cheer, waving various flags, scarfs and t-shirts The players ran out to the middle of the stadium. A feel of hatred and resentment came about in the air. The crowd came unglued from their seats. The sounds of various noisemakers filled the air once again. Parents and grandparents alike came to their feet in the stands. Cars stopped on the street in front of the stadium, as they honked their horns, and cheered for their team of choice. As the two burly men stood in the middle of the field, many thoughts ran through their heads. They both knew someone was going to lose, but defeat was out of the question. The official tossed a silver coin into the air. The coin hit the wet grass with a shiny face of Queen Elizabeth clearly showing. The home team will kick off. Both anger infested players shook hands and ran back to their half. The fans began to cheer as the players took the field again. Little did the fans know of how the players practiced all week long. Burnage had a very intense practice, while Didsbury slacked off, and took an easy week, since their opponent was not that good of a team. The kick-off approached for both teams, almost instantaneously. Memories of past football games, and practices were rushing through our heads. The time clock read 8:00pm. Suddenly, a whistle blew, and the brown bundle of pigskin went flying into the air. Running to the ball, one of the Burnage players quickly got the football, stepped left, then to the right as he attempted to get past the opponents. Soon after, the player was tackled down by a pack of Didsbury players, and the referee gave the ball to one of the Burnage players. I had been waiting for this moment all of my life. The match of the year in Manchester was about to begin. Burnage have lost 14 years straight to Didsbury. Managers only daydreamed of beating the undefeated Didsbury team. As referee called for the play, I smiled with joy. The first play of the game was to me. I played at the defence, so I was going to run the ball. First play, up the middle of the field, I ran for a fifteen yard gain. The next play was to one of my fellow team mates, which he also ran for another large gain of 26 yards. I could not believe my eyes. After all these years, the game was finally here. We, as a team, were slowly tearing apart the Didsbury defence. Our offence was dominating the ball, and they could not stop our players. After 20 minutes Burnage took the lead to make the score 1-0. Straight after the lead it came as a shock to our team. We were starting to get tired, and make little mistakes that cost us to let Didsbury have a free kick. One of our defenders was not defending in the right place, and that lead to one of the didsbury player to strike the ball in an uncovered area to score a goal. We all hung our heads as Didsbury celebrated their goal, and taunted our players. As we approached to our half of the field, the manager had a few words of his own to share with our team. â€Å"Listen up here boys, it ain't over yet. If you give up now, you are going to lose. That is the sport of football. If you give up, you lose. † I was not going to let my 4 years of previous football experience go to waste, just because I was tired. We as a team knew our manager was serious, as a tiny tear drop formed in the corner of his eye. Half time came about, as we all headed to the locker room for a sip of cool water, and a long speech was made by the managers. To my surprise, our manager was very calm with us as he drew out plays with piece of white chalk on the board. The manager mainly concentrated on how to overcome the Didsbury defence. As I sat there in the locker room, I knew what I had to do. I knew that the team was depending on my skills. Visions of victory ran through my head. I visualized the opponent as a measly bowling pin, and myself as the bowling ball. My imagination started to run wild. As I felt the adrenaline running through my veins, my body started to tremble with anger. I thought to myself, â€Å"They really do think we can't win, and I have to prove them wrong. † The half time is over and the players stroll on to the battle ground with a feeling of fierce hatred. With anger and rage in my eyes, I was ready. I was a true lean, mean, defending machine. Nothing was going to get in my way. My head steamed a white smoke. The weather slowly began to get colder a cold front moved in. The sky, covered with clouds, grumbled at us as we called our plays, and ran them. Just 30 minutes were now left on the clock; both teams were overcome with fatigue. The score remained at 1-1 The weather began to get cold, and small droplets of water started to fall from the ocean like sky. I felt the nervousness of the crowd, as the clanging of the cow bells from the crowd came to a halt. Managers paced back and forth, as we headed into the last 15 minutes. Each team got two possessions on offense. Neither team had the strength to penetrate the defence. Now only 3 minutes remained on the time clock. The weather took over the game, pouring down with rain from the black sky. All the players stopped to visualize whether play will continue or not. The play wasn't called off in the huddle so the players engaged into the game again. The play consisted of me running to the right, and the left-back defender was going to toss the ball to me. As I took off to the right side of the field, I suddenly felt a burst of energy. My bones felt relaxed, and my muscles replenished. The left back defender tossed me the ball, and I ran frantically down the playing field strolling through the Didsbury defence. I couldn't believe my eyes, as I viewed the target made for me to run through. Fifteen yards down the field, I met up with one of my old friends who was Didsbury's centre back defender and my opponent. He slipped and fell in his attempt to tackle me. The perfect opportunity had come to strike the ball in to the net. So I did and scored! I smiled with joy. The crowd went wild, popcorn spilled onto the wet ground. Cow bells once again sounded as the raindrops still poured down. I will never forget that moment of my life. Shortly after, the referee blew the final whistle. Burnage went on to beat Didsbury! I could see it now on the front page of the town news paper: â€Å"Burnage demolishes Disbury for the first time in 14 years! † We finally beat the best team in the city. As we celebrated, and jumped around on the soggy grass, a tear came to my eye. It was all hitting me now. I finally achieved the goal of my life! I could not control the tremendous smirk on my face. As I watched the manager from the opposing team cry in agony, I thought to myself, â€Å"That must be what they call the agony of defeat. † I knew that the moment of my life I had long waited for, was gone. Only memories are left in my mind, and I cherish every single one of them.

WAWAP18 International Human Resource Management Essay

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TUI Group Environmental Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

TUI Group Environmental - Essay Example Established in 1997 the company has expanded its operations in tourism to emerge as the market leader globally (TUI AG, 2015). The company has invested in three business portfolio; TUI Hotels and Resorts, TUI travel and the cruise ship venture. TUI has strong portfolio comprising of over 1,800 travel agencies, 300 Hotels, 13 cruise liners, 130 aircrafts, six airlines, etc. The company recorded turnover of â‚ ¬18.7 billion in 2013/1014 financial year (TUI AG, 2015). TUI operates in more than 180 regions with over 30 million clients. The company’s shares trade on London Stock Exchange (FTSE) and in Frankfurt Stock Market. TUI experience strong competition from Thomas Cook, First Choice Holidays, Rewe Touristik and My Travel Group. TUI’s growth strategy is to increase the number of hotels by opening more 60 hotels and purchase four new ships.Porter’s five forces analysis promotes the understanding of sources of sources of external challenges facing the industry.T he threat of new entrants: The tourism industry requires high capital and is controlled by a few market leaders. However, the possibility of entrants of low-cost airlines offers price threat to TUI. Developing of efficient rails and customers preferences for personal vehicles can have adverse effects on the company. Substitutes: The social media, TV and other social activities pose some threats of substitutes though not a perfect replacement of tourism. Also, tourism is highly undifferentiated thus there is low threat of substitute.

System Modelling Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

System Modelling - Assignment Example The represented logical structures abstract the inputs, outputs and data flows in the system. In other words the process and representations in the system are models. Keywords: Web-based, management, JavaScript, Remote, Information Technology Sequence Diagram to add a book into the library database: Collaboration Diagram to add a new book to the library Alternative solutions In library management, the software application solutions available are numerous. For instance, one can build a virtual library, use the manual system, use a cloud application for the library management etc. Another additional option is to purchase an information system off the shelf. This means that it is not a tailor made solution; therefore it may pose incompatibility problems. All these systems require careful evaluation and assessment, in order to come up with the most cost effective option that also caters for the organisational needs (Lesley, 2006). The process of system analysis and design should cover th e business, or operational aspect of the organisation. This is in order to guarantee that the system makes â€Å"business sense†. The definition for business sense is a system that balances the organisational needs and the user requirements. This ensures that the end solution does not implement the business requirements and leave the user functionality (Hickie, Greasley & Bocij, 2008). Proposed system description Based on the requirements of the organisation, the system desired should introduce the concepts of automatic record keeping and digitize the library processes. The system will provide the functionality to add new books, update book details and manage non-book items. In addition, the system shall display referral links to electronic book sites and also provide purchase links. Further, the system proposed will also act as an information collaboration platform. This will coordinate the communication between the staff/management and the library members (Boehm, & Petty 19 99). Alternative solution one: Virtual Library The virtual library solution provides a fully functional system that manages issuing, sale and reading of electronic books. It can be accessed via the internet by users. However, the users need to register with the library for accounts and also pay a small subscription fee. The virtual library has the advantage of cost. It is cheap to implement it as a solution and it has minimal infrastructural needs. Berndt (2002) explains that the main disadvantage of the virtual library is that it cannot hold any physical objects given that it runs on the system. The Swansea Docklands society needs a physical access and the online system is intended to bring efficiency and convenience. To publicise their library internet marketing may work, but the virtual library will not be the desired product. Alternative solution two: Cloud Application Boehm, & Petty (1999) points that cloud computing is among the most recent technology developments in the IT wo rld that has revolutionised communication, data storage and. This technology squarely fits the needs of a museum and library management system. End users are able to access cloud based library manageme

When interpreting statutes, do judges simply give effect to the will Essay

When interpreting statutes, do judges simply give effect to the will of Parliament or do they amend statutes under the guise of interpretation - Essay Example 2). Therefore, statutory interpretation refers to the process of expounding and giving explanation for the easy understanding of the legal system. Dalhuisen (2014) states that statutory interpretation in England is an ongoing change with a purposive approach hence promoting the overall legislative aim of enactments. This paper is a discussion of how the English statutes are interpreted; it is to find out whether the judges simply give effect to the will of the Parliament or they amend the statutes under the guise of interpretation when interpreting the statutes. In answering the question, the paper will first give a brief description of the will of the Parliament and the amendment of statutes in the English legal or judicial system. It is reported that the will of the English Parliament is only expressed through an Act of Parliament (Twining and Miers 2010). This means it has vital concrete effects thereby preventing forceful imposition of decrees upon the law by an autocratic or a despotic leader. This is unlike what characterize the French assemblies where dictatorial monarchs conduct abrupt resolutions on the law to suit personal interests. This principle in which Parliament speaks singly through an Act of Parliament immensely increases the authority of the English judges (Dicey 2013). Hence any bill which has been subjected to a statute automatically becomes subject to the judicial interpretation. It is also reported that the independence of the English Parliament ensure that it does not interfere with other authorities of the regular c ourse of law. The amendment of a statute refers to a designed process of alteration applied to make changes in an existing legal structural provision (Slapper and Kelly 2010). In the event of an amendment textual codification is applied because there is an adoption of a new provision which substitutes the existing contents. However, this procedure has one main challenge that the amendment has very limited sense or meaning

Introduction of international financial reporting standards(IFRS) in Essay

Introduction of international financial reporting standards(IFRS) in Australia - Essay Example The IASC was established in the year 1973, at London, as an independent private-sector body. It sought to lay down comparable and harmonising standards for accounting, in the context of International Financial Transactions. These set standards were commonly termed under International Accounting Standards (IAS). The membership of the IASC involves about one hundred and forty three organisation in one hundred and four member countries. The main body that undertakes the formulation of a set standard for financial accounting, amongst the member nations, is the IASC Board, comprising sixteen member countries. In the year 2000, on May 20th, the member countries felt the need to renew the IASC structure and unanimously voted in support of the same. This new structure came into force on April 1st, 2001 and was termed the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The new structure comprises two distinct bodies within the IASB, namely, the Trustees and the Board. The trustees perform advisory functions and also raise funds. The Board on the other hand, performs the sole function of setting accounting standards. On the lines of the IAS as enforced by the IASC, the IASB has come up with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), as the standards for accounting and financial reporting. Thus, the IFRS is the new standard for accounting and financial reporting, being adopted by the members of the European Union (EU) and other countries like Australia, China, etc. Reasons for its adoption in Australia Global markets have become integrated and extremely inter-dependent due to the increase in multilateral business ventures and investments. Thus, acknowledged and approved standards of accounting facilitate easy trading and also increase the trust factors amidst countries. Australia, too, is no exception to this growing globalisation and growth, since it cannot remain aloof from world activities. Therefore, it needs to adopt the same standards of accounting and financial reporting, as wet by major countries and international organisations. Here are some of the important reasons as to why Australia has adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards: Increased Transparency: IFRS facilitates increased transparency and clarity in global financial undertakings and accounting. Investors can carry forward and implement their investment plans in Australia, without fear of any risks. This would increase Australia's revenue, while also strengthening its multilateral relations. Greater Comparability: Since the IFRS are the global standards set by IASB, there is bound to be greater comparability between the financial reports of Australia, with other

Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Music - Essay Example The music was an integral part of the everyday living needs within the region. This was combined with songs which have been recorded by those who have visited the tribes to note the forms taken. The meanings within the songs were noted by the daily activities as well as spiritual rituals and traditions which were able to express the lifestyle and the culture of the Yakima tribe and the association with the occurrences which were a part of the time frame. The unique concepts associated with the Yakima culture not only come from the attributes of the music played. The Washing State region is one which has unique attributes to the tribes, specifically because it is where the five nations began to meet and the tribes began to unite. This was also noted because the tribe was located at the point in which Washington naturally divided, leading to the nation being attributed as the people of the gap. The influences which occurred with the music were altered because of the position of the Native Americans in relation to others that were on the land as well as the association which this had with trading ideologies and creating music that was able to build a sense of peace between the nations. The main concept was one which led to music such as greeting songs which signified a known sound when meeting tribes and others passing through the region at different times. The type of music which was attributed to the Yakima culture also formed with both secular and sacred forms that were performed during ceremonies. An example of the secular music is known as the â€Å"Owl Dance.† This consists of drum beats and singing that lead the song. The men and women are able to recognize the Owl Dance by the initial drumming and singing, which leads to the formation of a circle. The men and women are then able to interact and chose partners, specifically which is identified with different parts of the dance as women and couples interchange while the music changes with beat and portions of the song. These attributes worked to combine the social culture with the dancing as well as the meaning within the music. Similar concepts were used with the secular, specifically in which the singing, drumming and other interactions were used to summon the spiritual nature of the tribes and the ideologies which were needed at the time. The basis of the Yakima culture with the secular and sacred music as well as the music used to intertwine cultures is one which is still practiced today. However, there are also changes from the Western influences and capacities which are available. Many are using the concepts of recording to improvise the songs used within the tribe and to alter the way in which the music has been approached. The music has been combined with new ideals that are used with the secular music as well as contemporary bands that continue to use the same instrumentation and sound while changing both the sacred and secular music. These alterations are creating different aspects to the music while building different ideologies that are associated with the main culture and the aspects of the music. While the evolution of the tribe continues to evolve, there is still the same sense of meaning with the sacred and secular music as well as the way in which the music is initiated for the tribes in the Washington area (Schuster, 1990). Women's M usic The concept of women’s music is one of the trends which continues to emerge in society and has created a distinct image outside of the regular scenes with music. In Western cultures and in classical forms, women were not recognized as composers and weren’t expected to study or build their own repertoire as professional musicians. The lack of information and the amount of suppression for women to be recognized as com

Anotated Bibliography Annotated Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Anotated - Annotated Bibliography Example It is more a protest of the existing form of Government that is not in compliance with the needs of its subjects. The mainstay of this journal article is about ones right to vote in accordance with the declaration of the Government. This is an interesting article from amazon.com that traces the life of Plato (427 – 347 BCE) the great philosopher and highlights his life focusing on the great literary genius. He was a student of the great philosopher Socrates whose passion for morals in defense of moral judgments was the centrifugal point around which his philosophy was centered. This film by Ken Burns highlights the saliet attributes of Thomas Jefferson and his spirit of Enlightenment thinking. The film explores the life and times of one of the most remarkable man in the history of America with special focus on some of his most controversial writings and interviews. N.Y Nathiri the compiler and editor of the book titled "Zora: A Woman and her community" examines Zora, Neale Hurston’s character against the backdrop of the aftermath of the American Civil War (1867 – 1877) and the period of Reconstruction and the formation of the great number of race colonies. Nathiri also speaks of the dedication and work put in by Zora by contributing to the Eaton community which now stands as a source of

Economic growth and economic development Essay Example for Free

Economic growth and economic development Essay Like the infrastructure development, improvement of legal mechanism Can now be regarded as the most important precondition for sustainable Growth, a stronger economy, and pro-people system of governance, Writes M S Siddiqui Economic development generally refers to sustained and concerted actions, taken by the policy-makers and communities, which promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area. Economic development can also refer to as being quantitative and qualitative changes in the economy. Such actions might involve multiple areas including development of human capital, critical infrastructure, regional competitiveness, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, health, safety, literacy, and other initiatives. Economic development differs from economic growth. Whereas economic development is a policy intervention endeavour with aims of economic and social well-being of the people, economic growth is a phenomenon of market productivity and rise in GDP (gross domestic product). According to Amartya Sen, economic growth is one aspect of the process of economic development. Despite the good performance of Bangladesh in terms of many growth indices, it has been lagging behind in building a necessary infrastructure for achieving goals for the country to be treated as a middle-income one. Economic governance embraces all macroeconomic, microeconomic and fiscal policies, public economic agencies, regulatory bodies, company laws and legal institutions connected with economic matters. Good governance means an efficient, open, accountable and audited public service, which has the bureaucratic competence to help design and implement appropriate public policies and, at the same time, an independent judicial system to uphold the law. Good governance is a system of governance that is able to unambiguously identify the basic values of society, where values are economic, political and socio-cultural issues including human rights, and pursue these values through an accountable and honest administration. It is obvious that good governance is a must for the development and growth of a nation. Good governance generally implies a number of institutions, which regulate the behaviour of public bodies, stimulate citizens participation in government and control public-private relations. Governance is government plus the private and third (not for profit) sectors. In the 1992 report titled Governance and Development, the World Bank gave its definition of good governance. Good governance is defined as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a countrys economic and social resources for development. In an October 1995 policy paper called Governance: Sound Development Management, the ADB outlined its policy on this topic. Further, in a separate opinion issued by the ADB General Council, it was explained that governance has at least two dimensions: (a) political (e.g., democracy, human rights); and (b) economic (e.g., efficient management of public resources). The United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) definition of good governance is spelled out in a 1997 UNDP policy document titled Governance for Sustainable Human Development. The document states that governance can be seen as the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a countrys affairs at all levels. The key elements of good governance as defined by UNDP are listed below: Participation: Participation by both men and women is a key cornerstone of good governance. All men and women should have a voice in decision making either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interests. Rule of law: Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights. Transparency: Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions and information are directly accessible to those concerned through it, and enough information is provided to understand and monitor them. Responsiveness: Good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. Consensus orientation: There are several actors and as many viewpoints in a given society. Good governance requires mediation of different interests in society to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. Equity: All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. Effectiveness and efficiency: Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society, while making the best use of resources at their disposal. Strategic vision: Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development. There is also an understanding of the historical, cultural and social complexities, in which that perspective is grounded. The rule of law as gauged by the responses to efficient functioning of judiciary indicates that most low and middle-income countries rate it as a much higher obstacle than their high-income counterparts. The aggregate average of street crime, organised crime, and corruption are all higher in these countries than in the developed world. There are many problems that come up as barriers to good governance. To ensure sound local development, action should be taken to work towards achieving good governance. The legal policy regime of a country provides base to the potential Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Unequivocal, neutral legal framework and better protection of property rights can lead to higher FDI. The legal and regulatory environment does matter for financial development. Countries with legal and regulatory systems that give a high priority to creditors receive the full value of their claims on cooperation, have better- functioning financial intermediaries than countries where the legal system provides much weaker support to creditors. Bangladesh is the seventh largest country in the world in terms of its population and now it is treated as N-11 after the BRICS countries. However, without progress in legal arenas, such as making suitable laws and their appropriate execution, speedy resolution of all corporate and financial disputes, and quick and transparent transfer of properties, some vital sectors of Bangladeshi economy may suffer irreparable loses. Like the infrastructural development, improvement of legal mechanism can now be regarded as the most important precondition for sustainable growth, a stronger economy, and pro-people system of governance. The writer is pursuing PhD at the Open University, Malaysia. [emailprotected]

Operations Management of Supermarket Retail Shops

Operations Management of Supermarket Retail Shops Operations are a primary activity for a supermarket retail business. As such, a business that wants to be successful needs to have a leading operating model. Staff plays very important role in this model. It is necessary to put a sustained focus upon how to develop best operational staff to ensure the supermarket industry is fit to embrace the significant future developments that are expected and to excel in customer service (Sramek, Mentzer Stank, 2008). As per Martyn (2010), operations must be viewed with the appropriate level of importance, so as to support an ambition to create a world-class operating environment, which consists of people, process, technology and organization. A good operational team staffed by good operational individuals can create a competitive advantage, keeping customers satisfied, having a company that is efficiently, economically and effectively run, and creating a band of loyal and committed employees (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). It is worth being ambitious for the operations function and the associated staff it will make a difference to the business According to Willis (1998), operational management is the systematic management and control of processes that transform resources into finished products and services. The operation includes support for a significant proportion of the workforce and material assets in most organizations. Managers are involved in each step in the operations. They determine what kind of equipment, labor, tools, equipment, materials, energy and information must go into the operating system and how these materials can be the best way to go and use to meet the needs of the market (Banker and Khosla, 1995). Managers are responsible for critical activities such as quality management and monitoring, capacity planning, materials management, purchasing and planning (Goodale and et al. 2010). Without the assistance of staff, these activities cannot be successful. Operations management is also known for production and capacity management and operations management area is a multidiscipline that focuses on operations of the organization (Lashley Taylor, 1998). Schniederjans Cao (2009) states that OM includes many decisions such as the scale of operations, including managements decision regarding the design, planning, and managing a number of factors that affect the operation. (Shin Collier, 2000). Operations Manager needs to apply the ideas and technology to increase productivity and reduce costs, increase flexibility to respond quickly to changing customer needs, shorten delivery times, improve product quality, and improve customer service. These are the important areas to be taken care of for the success of a company or a branch. There has been dramatic increase in the importance of operations management. Significant foreign competition, shorter product and service life-cycles, better-educated and quality-conscious consumers, and the capabilities of new technology have placed increasing pressures on the operations function to improve productivity while providing a broader array of high-quality products and services (Williams Anderson, 2008). With the globalization of markets, firms are recognizing that the operations function can be used to strengthen their position in the market place. Managers in operations management play a strategic and tactical role in satisfying customer needs and making their firms strong international competitors. Organizations should follow the competition. If an employee is away from work or not paying attention then the company will lose customers and its competitors are able to take this opportunity, the company can lose its popularity and profitability. For gaining efficiency quality is the key to success and which is an effective treatment, especially for continuous improvement (Soteriou Chase, 1998). Excellent customer service is essential to the success of any business. Officials must be monitored at all times, if they offer a good customer service or not, so they can better perform and can excel in customer service and their work should be assessed frequently. It takes time to really excel in customer service, but this ability can be learned with proper training. Employees should leave the bad attitude, family problems and personal issues at the door. Generally, customers will not see the owner or management f the company. Instead, they see that the customer service and this is how t hey judge the whole business. Employees are the mirror of the company so the employees should show their best services through their good attitude. Employees should sincerely welcome every customer with a smile, they are valuable. A participatory management and team work are major components of successful operations (Hays Hill, 2006). Motivation, leadership and training are essential too. In addition, materials management and quality, these are two important areas. Materials management is becoming increasingly important in many organizations as the cost of purchasing materials is more than 50% of the total cost products (Shin Collier, 2000). Quality management programs and quality products are essential to compete in todays business environment. The supermarket retail branch staff should have the qualities to win the heart of the customers by their services. For excelling in customer service employees should consider that customers are not easy to deal with but if employees have the patience and the people skills to overcome that, it would be easier for them to excel in it (Sramek, Mentzer Stank, 2008). Perhaps the most essential thing the employees should always remember when on a customer service job is to keep a positive attitude. For instance, if one works at a call center, the first thing the employee should expect from a call from online is a burst of angry customers (Soteriou Chase, 1998). Although sometimes this may not be the case but it is better if one is prepare for it. To develop that pleasant and relaxed attitude, it is best to smile even if one is only on the phone. The action of smiling automatically buffers the outbursts you are going to get from your client. In the case of working in a retail business, smiling will go a long way with the customers. When the customers are greeted with a friendly face, they will start t o give their interest. The next thing the employee must remember is how to respond at a time when they come into contact with customers. For a retail customer service, employee does not follow the customers around when they come into the store (Hays Hill, 2006). This is a common mistake made by the store customer service staff. Employees must make it possible for customers to have the freedom to explore the product without tailing behind him. They should let them walk around and check out the goods. When they are ready to ask questions, they talk to employees. Employee must comply with them if they seem to ask, is the signal for the employees can go up to them and ask how they can help them out (Sramek, Mentzer Stank, 2008). All this will result in having good reputation in the market. The working operations can output more than they would work alone as the organization has developed sophisticated systems and equipment that increase worker productivity (Horvathova, 2010). The company also provides education and training for their workforce to increase their knowledge and improve their skills. As a result of improvements in productivity and improved training, more outputs are produced and the standard of living increase for all. Employees should think of customers as individuals. If they think so, they realize that their business is their customers, not their products or services. Put all the attention for goods in shops, or companies offering their services, leaving the most important component: each individual customer. For good customer service, employees must go the extra mile. They should include a thank you note to the package to a customer, send a greeting card, clip articles, and write a note of congratulations when they get a promotion (Martyn, 2010). There are many ways for employees to stay in touch with customers and make them closer. An effective operations strategy can provide a competitive advantage. Managers must rethink many of the basic principles of good managers of operations who worked in the past (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). Companies should adopt a strategy for improvement that fits the specific needs of the organization at that point. Assigning a team to perform a task may not always be the best idea. Sometimes it is better to allow an individual to work alone. Foster Jeffrey (2008) believe that the main purpose of Operations Management is to plan, organize, direct, and control the process of bringing together people, equipment, materials, and methods to accomplish a broad range of operational tasks outlined below in the most cost-effective manner. The manager of the branch should understand how people think and act accordingly to motivate workers by creating a harmonious workplace. Proper management of the operations function has led to success for many companies. For example, in 1994 Dell Inc. was a second-tier computer maker that managed its operations similar to others in the industry (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). Then Dell implemented a new business model that completely changed the role of its operations function. Dell developed new and innovative ways of managing the operations function that have become one of two- days best practices. These changes enabled Dell to provide rapid product delivery of customized products to customers at a lower cost, and thus become an industry leader. As change is the law of the nature, the operations of the supermarket retail branch should be flexible so that they can adapt the changes in the future. For operations management to be successful, it must add value during the transformation process (Willis, 1998). The greater the value added, the more productive a business is. Activities that do not add value are considered a waste; these include certain jobs, equipment, and processes (Banker Khosla, 1995). In addition to value added, operations must be efficient. Performing well at lowest possible cost results in greater efficiency. An important role of operations is to analyze all activities by eliminating those that do not add value, and restructure processes and jobs to achieve greater efficiency (Goodale et al. 2010). Todays business environment is more competitive than ever, and the role of operations management has become the focal point of efforts to increase competitiveness by improving value added and efficiency. This can be possible by employing new methods, new technology and by training employees. As customers demand ever higher quality in their products and services, companies have been forced to focus on improving quality in order to remain competitive. With TQM everyone in the company is responsible for quality. TQM was practiced by some companies in the 1970s and became pervasive in the 1990s (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). Quality is the area of the operations management which can never be ignored by companies. The importance of this movement is demonstrated by the number of companies joining the ranks of those achieving ISO 9000 certià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cation (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). ISO 9000 is a set of quality standards developed for global manufacturers by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to control trade into the then emerging European Economic Community (EEC) (Foster Jeffrey, 2008). Today many companies require their suppliers to meet these standards as a condition for obtaining contracts. To have effective operations management, the company must employ T QM. Competition based on time is the one of the recent trends in the companies. It has many aspects like development of the new products and services and reaching the market first and meeting customer orders most quickly (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). For example, two companies may produce the same product, but if one is able to deliver it to the customer in two days whereas the other delivers it in five days, the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rst company will make the sale and win over the customers. Time-based competition requires specifically designing the operations function for speed (Schniederjans Cao, 2009). Supermarket branch should cater to the needs of the customers more quickly in order to gain competitive advantage. Supply Chain management plays a vital role in appropriate operations management. Willis (1998) states that supply chain management (SCM) involve managing the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow of materials and information from suppliers and buyers of raw materials all the way to the final customer. Its aim is to reduce the overall cost and improving the quality and the delivery of the service. Team approach is essential in supply chain management. It requires the co-operation from all the departments such as marketing, purchasing, operations, and engineering. It will result in more satisfied customers (Banker Khosla, 1995). It has become possible with the development of information technology (IT) tools which assist in collaborative planning and scheduling. The technologies help to combine the supply chain execution and design collaboration, which enables companies to respond better and faster to changing market needs. The companies which have achieved great success through supply chain management are Dell Computer, Wal-Mart, and Baxter Healthcare (Banker Khosla, 1995). Today businesses must think in terms of a global marketplace in order to compete effectively. This includes the way they view their customers, competitors, and suppliers. Key issues are meeting customer needs and getting the right product to markets as diverse as the Far East, Europe, or Africa (Willis, 1998). Operations management is responsible for most of these decisions. Operations Management decides whether to tailor products to different customer needs, where to locate facilities, how to manage suppliers, and how to meet local government standards (Williams Anderson, 2008). Also, global competition has forced companies to reach higher levels of excellence in the products and services they offer. The use of best supply chain management should be used in supermarket retail branch for excellent management of the operations. There should be an effective, consistent and impartial way to benchmark service levels in all the supermarket retail branches, and Mystery Programmes can provide the solution. The employees should have thorough understanding of what the branch offers in order to win and retain the customers. Moreover, the employees must fully understand the position of the branch in the market and what is expected of them (Horvathova, 2010). Mystery shopping programmes support the management and development of service delivery in supermarkets, transforming an intangible asset into exactly what one promises to the customer a vital competitive advantage in todays uncertain market (Hays Hill, 2006) . This programme is very helpful for making improvements among the staff. It will help in identifying areas for revenue improvements, recognizing and rewarding employee and customer service initiatives Mystery shopping programmes should be developed to reflect own unique quality protocols. These systems wil l help to measure the staff performance. Continous monitoriting of the service improvements can be done through this programme. One can define and monitor staff in many ways. These programmes should be designed in such a way so that these can check variables like employee product knowledge, check consistently the quality check standards and uniformity, and monitor customer care and communication (Martyn, 2010). Benchmarking should also be employed in the branch in order to make the comparison among different branches. Otherwise, it is complex to identify the areas that need improvement. Employees should be rewarded on the basis of their performance and there should be incentive plans which will reward the employees when they outperform. This will be very helpful for effective operations management. At the end, it is concluded that for the success of the retail branch operations the employees should pay full attention rather than taking their personal performance for granted. The quality of the service will decline if they dont co-operate. The employees should be checked at all times whether they are providing good customer service or not and there should be training conducted from time to time so that they can learn to excel in this skill and their work should be evaluated frequently. They should also be trained so that they can acquire new skills. There should be an effective, consistent and impartial way to benchmark service levels in all the supermarket retail branches. Todays business environment is more competitive than ever, and the role of operations management has become the focal point of efforts to increase competitiveness by improving value added and efficiency. This can be possible only by employing new methods, new technology and by training employees. By behaving strategically, the supermarkets or companies can pave their way towards effectiveness, efficiency, productivity and prosperity.

Essay on Pointing the Finger in John Milton’s Paradise Lost

Pointing the Finger in Paradise Lost  Ã‚   After the fall in Milton’s Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve bicker and blame one another for their decent. First, Adam accuses Eve for her physical act of accepting the apple from Satan and eating it, thus defying God’s decree not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. In retaliation, Eve responds and attempts to not only justify her act, but also to place the blame on Adam. Eve’s reaction is typical of someone who does not like to admit he is wrong. Eve begins by challenging Adam with an argument that he would have done the same thing had he been in her situation. "[Had’st] thou been there,/ Or here th’ attempt, thou couldst not have discern’d/ Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake" (IX 1148-1150). She is trying to justify her action in Adam’s mind by making him realize he would have acted the same way, and in effect she also hopes to gain his sympathy. This tactic is often effective because we do not tend to choose to recognize faults in others when we realize we are susceptible to the same mistakes. Aristotle recognizes the relationship between eliciting sympathy and making the audience relate to the situation in his Poetics when he describes the ideal character as one who is "true to life" (81). An audience must be able to relate to a falling character, or else they will not pity his plight. In other words, if a speaker wants sympathy from his audience, he must make them "feel his pain." Eve proceeds in her rebuttal with justification for her action based on the circumstances of the scenario. She argues, "No ground of enmity between us known,/ Why hee should me ill of seek to harm" (II 1151-1152). She seems to imply that a less trusting person would not have listened to the se... ...ccusation that he did not try hard enough to keep her at his side when he asks, "What could I more?/ I warn’d thee, I admonish’d thee, foretold/ The danger, and the lurking Enemy/ That lay in wait" (IX 1170-1172). No matter how developed any one piece of Aristotle’s triangle seems, it is useless without the other two parts. If you take a step back and observe this scene of Paradise Lost with your own experiences in mind, you realize how petty the "blame game" can be. Eve tries very hard to use persuasion as a "finger pointing" tool so she can alleviate any guilt of her own. However, she fails. We all must know what it feels like to fail in an argument, yet we still test situations like these sometimes when we do not want to accept full responsibility for something that has gone wrong. Works Cited   Milton, John. Paradise Lost. New York: W.W. Norton, 1993.   

Mobile Devices Essay -- Technology, Invention, Education

Mobile devices such as mobile phones, smart phones, palmtops and handheld computers (personal digital assistants (PDAs) and tablet PCs Kukulska-Hulme (2005) add an extra dimension to the technology used in teaching and learning. This change has led to a new concept called m-learning (mobile learning) and there are now a number of examples where mobile devices have been integrated into formal education and/or informal learning (Kukulska-Hulme 2009). Opportunities such as learner-centred learning and learning outside the classroom are made possible within m-learning due to the number of different attributes that are offered by mobile devices (Kukulska-Hulme 2005). Pachler et al, (2010) elaborate on this, stating that mobile devices have a number of important characteristics that make them attractive from an educational perspective, including increasing portability, functionality, multimedia convergence, ubiquity, personal ownership, social interactivity, context sensitivity, location awareness, connectivity and personalisation. Kukulska-Hulme (2005) noted that personal, informal, contextual, portable, ubiquitous and pervasive nature of mobile devices are particularly useful in learner centred learning. Moura & Carvalho (2008) and Scanlon et al. (2005) conclude that mobility and portability have the potential for making accessing information and interaction more effective in science learning. Further they allow the learner to lear n autonomously (Callum & Kinshuk 2006), collaboratively (Eliasson et al., 2010) and also provide opportunities to conduct learning experiences outside the teacher-managed classroom (Naismith et al., 2004), (Corbeil & Valdes-Corbeil 2007) by expanding learning beyond the four walls of the classroom and thus... .../or students to bring ‘the outside world’ into the classroom during a science lesson(Ekanayake & Wishart,2010a). According to the findings of this study, the mobile phone camera could be used to support the teacher during the different stages of a lesson including planning, implementating and reviewing. The phones themselves also helped students to learn science effectively by enabling collaborative and authentic learning opportunities. In addition to this Ekanayake & Wishart (2010b) report a study where students used mobile phone video to record the deflection of a galvanometer in a secondary level science lesson. According to the authors, the mobile phones’ video camera helped students to capture a fleeting (observation) event which could have been missed otherwise. This enabled the students to view their observations repeatedly and share them with their peers.

Two Former Tyco Executives Found Guilty

The past three years have witnessed stunning financial collapses in many companies that were ranked among the most admired companies in America. Sunbeam, Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and HealthSouth were lauded, imitated, and studied for their stunning performances. Now they are studied for their failures. What went wrong? How could so much go so wrong? And, the inevitable question, where were the auditors and the accountants as these financial statements of well-being were released? Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski, former CFO Mark Swartz, and former general counsel Mark Belnick were all indicted on charges that Kozlowski and Swartz, among others, stole $170 million from the company and pocketing $430 million from the fraudulent sale of Tyco stock. Belnick was charged with hiding $14 million in loans to himself. Tyco's management fired back as well. It filed a lawsuit against Kozlowski looking to recoup $244 million in pay and benefits. Tyco, over the period between 1964 and 2001, went from a small research firm based in New Hampshire to a conglomerate with a presence in over 100 countries and over 250,000 employees. Between 1991 and 2001, then-CEO Dennis Kozlowski took Tyco from $3 billion in annual sales to $36 billion in 2001 with over 200 acquisitions at a cost of $60 billion. It was through its expansive acquisition program that Tyco's accounting pushed the envelope. Tyco made its acquisitions look as anemic as possible. Called â€Å"spring-loading,† the goal was to have the acquired company seem to be a nonperformer in terms of earnings, much below its actual performance. However, if the acquired company then simply performs normally the following year, Tyco enjoys a boost to both its growth as well as respect for its management ability. Spring-loading is easily accomplished by, for example, having the acquired company pay all bills for the acquisition, even if that bill is not due, and also pay all other bills, whether they are due and owing. Raychem's treasurer sent out the following email when Tyco was acquiring Raychem: At Tyco's request, all major Raychem sites will pay all pending payables, whether they are due or not †¦ I understand from Ray [Raychem's CFO] that we have agreed to do this, even though we will be spending the money for no tangible benefit either to Raychem or Tyco. A report completed by David Boies, at the direction of Tyco's board, included an interview with an employee of another Tyco acquisition in which the employee indicates that a Tyco executive asked: â€Å"How high can we get these things? How can we justify getting this higher?† (Ackroyd & Thompson, 1999). The Boies report indicates that Tyco executives used both incentives and pressure on executives in order to get them to push the envelope on accounting rules in the acquisition process. The SEC has begun an investigation into Tyco's accounting in its acquisition of U.S. Surgical in 1998. Documents in the case include memoranda between Tyco financial executives proposing ways to slow U.S. Surgical's growth between the Tyco acquisition announcement and actual transfers of the assets. The memos refer to their ideas as â€Å"financial engineering†. Just prior to final closure, U.S. Surgical took a one-time hit of $322 million in miscellaneous charges. Beginning in the last quarter of 2001, Tyco's shares began to drop in price as shareholders realized the extent of the accounting creativity. By the summer of 2002, when Kozlowski was indicted for sales tax evasion on transactions involving his personal art collection, shareholder trust was dissipated and Tyco's shares had fallen 80 percent, from over $50 per share to just above $10. For purposes of examining ethics instruction for accountants, auditors, and managers, there are two common factors in these case studies. First, the financial pictures painted of the companies were grossly distorted. Only the level of sophistication in terms of masking the true financial condition varies among the companies. Enron used the slightly more nuanced SPEs while WorldCom used the less glitzy sleight of hand in turning ordinary expenses into capital expenses. Sunbeam relied on quantitative materiality standards to evade detection of its management of numbers, and HealthSouth seemed to start with the numbers it wanted for results and work backward. Second, these were also companies trying to maintain exponential growth. There were continuing pledges from their CEOs to keep the double-digit growth going. That pressure to maintain numbers increased with each passing quarter as the economy took a downturn and as their once unique strategies for growth fell victim to competition or the realities of economic cycles. The distortions were a function of their goals of maintaining an unrealistic pace of earnings growth. In short, individuals in the companies felt pressure and succumbed to deceit to satisfy increasing demands. These companies and those responsible for their financial reports were not dabbling in gray areas. The issues in these cases are clear and the conduct plainly wrong. With all the training in ethics and professional responsibility, the question that arises is as follows: How could so much go so wrong for so long in such large companies with no one raising an effective objection to halt the juggernauts of creative financial reporting and accounting? That this question must be posed in the wake of such staggering failures actually provides the answer. The answer is that those who were engaged in the creative and, often, not-so-creative but fraudulent accounting were trained in schools of business in which the curriculum (including ethics courses) is misguided in terms of training ethical leaders. The senior officer group of Enron included M.B.A.s who were trained during the financial wizardry era of M.B.A. programs in the 1980s. Mark Schwartz, the CFO of Tyco, held an M.B.A. Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, held an M.B.A. from Harvard. Andrew Fastow, then CFO, graduated from the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Clifford Baxter, another member of Enron's senior executive team, graduated from NYU's M.B.A. program. Tragically, Mr. Baxter took his own life following the collapse of Enron and during the period of daily revelations about its activities and the pending Congressional hearings. Mr. Baxter clearly saw the accounting issues within the company because Sherron Watkins, considered the whistleblower in the case, references him in her internal memo as someone who understood the accounting improprieties. Mr. Baxter left the company in the final months prior to its collapse. The M.B.A. curriculum has, since the time of the Milken and Boesky era, trained students in the importance of smoothing out earnings so as to maximize shareholder value, the often-stated role of business. While the role of business in society and the issues surrounding maximizing shareholder wealth are typical topics of coverage in ethics courses and modules in business schools, very little in textbooks and mandates from the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) focuses on moral absolutes or â€Å"bright line† virtue ethics such as honesty, fairness, or even false impressions in financial disclosures. The AACSB guidelines contain no mandates or references to these issues of honesty or training students in resolution of dilemmas involving honesty, disclosure, and false impression. The typical topics for business ethics textbooks, indeed for the literature in the field, center around social responsibility, and include a plethora of materials and cases on environmental issues, health and safety issues, sweatshops, diversity, and corporate philanthropy. The officers of all of the companies examined here and the companies themselves were all heavily involved in community and philanthropic work. Because of the focus of business schools on social responsibility as ethics, many of these officers and, to a large extent, the cultures of these companies, felt comfortable with deceptions in the name of shareholder value because they were accomplishing what they were trained to do in business school and they had ethics derived from their dedication to philanthropy, diversity, and environmentalism. These were all â€Å"soft† companies in the sense that they were not involved in those types of activities that are the targets of environmental protesters or labor activists. These were not companies running sweatshops or producing chemicals. Their perception of being â€Å"good† derived from the definition of good touted and taught by business ethicists in schools of business. The split, in their minds, between right and wrong did not lie along the lines of virtue ethics, but, rather, along the lines of social responsibility. Enron's CFO, Andrew Fastow, was beloved in Houston's Jewish community for his fund-raising for the city's proposed Holocaust museum. He was also involved in the city's art museum and virtually every other philanthropic cause related to the arts in the Houston area. Even those who worked with these officers in community projects and fund-raising had equated social responsibility with ethics, and were consistently shocked when Enron's financial conduct and reports were revealed. All of the companies noted here, as well as Charles Keating's American Continental and Finova Capital (the 7th-largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States), were widely known for their dedication to philanthropic activity, social responsibility, environmental activism, and dedication to community generosity. The curricula at business schools had permitted them the luxury of rationalization when it came to accounting and financial reporting because, in their minds, they had reached the conclusion Jeffrey Skilling touted in nearly every interview he gave, which was, â€Å"We are on the side of angels†. The behavior of executives in these companies reflects their grounding in any one of the three currently used models of business school ethics training: (1) the social responsibility model; (2) the code model; and (3) the stakeholder/normative model. Under the social responsibility model, students are educated in the importance of environmentalism, diversity, human rights, and philanthropy. Included in this approach may also be extensive discussions of product liability issues. Deficiencies in this approach are characterized in the previous section. The most descriptive list of this approach to ethics is found in the screens used by social responsibility investment funds, listed as follows: 1. The hiring of women and minorities; 3. Equity interest and ownership of South African operations (this screen is now dated because of the elimination of apartheid); 5. No layoffs and the hiring and promotion of those with disabilities; 6. No generation of revenue from weapons production; 7. Donations and the use of economically disadvantaged contractors and suppliers; and So long as stock prices are cranking up, it seems the CEO can be â€Å"cellophane man† for all anyone cares. But CEO divas are still quite an item in the business press. One thing is clear: Credibility and character count. Post-Enron, integrity and fair play matter more than the old gung-ho. Press reports about the lack of executive integrity are everywhere. One notable media story exposed the rise of companies conducting extensive background checks, complete with credit reports and neighbor interviews, for prospective CEOs. Ronald Zarrella, Bausch and Lomb's chief executive, was found to have shaded the truth about his credentials, saying he had an M.B.A. from New York University. Actually, he left prior to graduating. The board responded by cutting him out of a $1.1 million year-end bonus. Today CEOs are getting slammed for hoarding huge bonuses as they terminate legions of mid-level managers and production workers in the face of recession fears. Dennis Koslowski, CEO of Tyco, siphoned off millions from the firm by granting and forgiving employee relocation loans. He used the wealth for such essentials as a $15,000 umbrella. A guilty plea by one auditor and the criminal conviction of his audit firm have resulted in statutory reform, new policies on financial reporting, and stricter regulatory requirements for audit firms. When all the reform dust settles, however, and the new statutes, regulations, and rules are implemented, auditors and those who educate them will still be left with the same question: why were auditors willing to allow the types of financial reports and reporting decisions that produced fundamentally unfair and inaccurate portraits of the companies they were auditing? The answer to this question requires exploration of ethics education in both business schools and schools of accountancy. While there are voids in that training, there are also seminal works that could be used to help future accountants and auditors understand the dilemmas they will face and how to resolve such dilemmas. The Israeli bank-shares fiasco, the Enron affair, and, in its wake now, the WorldCom and Tyco scandals clearly demonstrate that unethical managers are a liability not only to their own organizations, but to the general public. The problem is that the formulation and publication of codes of ethics alone do not guarantee that managers and employees will behave ethically. Moreover, it is evident that managerial ethical behavior has a great deal of influence on the ethical climate and culture of the organization. Walking the talk is the name of the game, managers must not only be familiar with the ethical culture and accept it, but must serve as examples to the rest of the corporation. Any disparity between the declared ideology of the organization and managers' behavior has a deleterious effect. To establish a reputation of ethical leadership, managers must adhere to a high moral ground and ensure that their actions are perceived to be ethical. When ethical dilemmas are not confronted and when ethical aspects of daily managerial life are ignored, employees quickly perceive that ethical considerations do not constitute an integral component of the organization. They may rightly observe that bottom line and profits, not integrity and accountability, are core values. Consequently, when employees are faced with an ethical dilemma, the almighty dollar is most likely to rule the day.

Segmenting In PharmaSim

Alyssa Mgmt. 324 10/10/2011SegmentingThere are two different segmentation options we can use to segment our consumers in PharmaSim. The first is demographic segmentation which refers to young singles, young families, mature families, empty nesters, and retired. The second way we segment consumers in PharmaSim is by illness (cold, cough, and allergy). There are other ways to segment consumers in markets such as: geographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, and behavioral segmentation.Geographic segmentation is based on region and city size, and where potential customers live or work. Psychographic segmentation focuses on lifestyle, personality or needs of prospective customers. Behavioral segmenting is built on observing actions or attitudes, such as: product features, usage rate, and where they buy. Looking at these different ways to segment prospective customers, PharmaSim can use behavioral segmenting to be more sufficient.For example, it could show our prospective customer s’ personal preferences as to what form of medications they are looking for such as: pill, gel capsule, or liquid. Adding behavioral segmentation with the demographic and illness segmentation already found in PharmaSim can help better lead us to specific marketing actions. Table of Segmented Market in 3 Different ways: Analyzing Perception of Allround As of right now Allround’s promote benefits are relieves aches, clears nasal congestion, reduces chest congestion, dries up runny nose, suppresses coughing, and helps you rest.When looking at the perception and brand’s purchased graphs, provided at the end of this report, we see that we are not doing very well with the allergy market or perceived effectiveness of allergy symptoms; however, because Allround isn’t an allergy medication we do not have to worry about how we are perceived in relieving those symptoms. Because we are perceived high effectiveness in fever in all three segments of the market we shoul d promote that in our product as one of the benefits.In the cold segment Allround is doing better than Besthelp in the perception of effectiveness for fever, cough, and chest congestion, but is behind Besthelp in nasal congestion and runny nose. Besthelp is the next highest brand purchased under Allround in the cold market, so Allround may want to decide that the advertising message should be to improve Allround's perceived effectiveness against runny nose or nasal congestion. Summary of the Three SegmentsEach segment (cold, cough, and allergy) have different brand leaders and different products are target marketing different consumers. Each segment has some of the same symptoms; therefore perception of the product (by symptoms) and how we market it is very important. For example, if Allround improves a little on the cough suppressant in their product or advertises it just a little more they may improve percentages in the cough segment. Overall, Allstar is sitting in a pretty good p osition right now with the Allround product.For the cold segment they are the leading brand purchased, and have the most satisfaction. In the cough segment, although they are under Coughcure and End in brands purchased and satisfaction of product, Allround is ahead of Coughcure in brand perception in everything except cough. Because cough and cold are more closely related than allergy, Allstar should stick to trying to improve in the cold and cough market. Allround is not targeted for allergy consumers so it does not have to worry about the allergy segment.

My Favorite Deserts

ENGLISH COMP. 2. ASSIGN 2| A Description| | A description about my favorite desserts. | | Mrs. Mirelle Jayawardene| 3/10/2013| | My Favorite Desserts Everybody has their favorite games, cars and meals. Also everyone has their desserts and I have mine. All my favorite desserts have one thing in common they all are made with one ingredient that is â€Å"Chocolate†. Mmm!! Chocolate Desserts! I honestly believe that chocolate is the closest we can get to heaven as mortals, seriously. Is there anything better than chocolate to make you feel all wonderful and gooey inside?Can anything cheer you up as instantly as chocolate desserts can? If you’re like me, you are going to love these Best Chocolate Desserts as well as the mouth-watering pictures of the amazing treats. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s dig in! Chocolate Decadence Cake Inspired by the old-school, ultra-rich, mousse like chocolate cake that usually called for a whole pound of chocolate, half a dozen eggs and lots of butter, here is an enlightened rendition with deep bittersweet chocolate flavor and that dense melt-in-your-mouth texture so characteristic of the genre. No one will guess it’s healthier.The secret is excellent natural cocoa powder and good-quality bittersweet chocolate, preferably with 70% cacao. Although the cake can be eaten once it’s completely cool, it comes out of the pan much easier and even tastes better if it has been chilled at least overnight. Frozen Chocolate-Covered Cappuccino Crunch Cake This cake is unbelievably awesome, delicious and easy to make and versatile; you can actually use other flavors to make it more appealing to those who are not coffee-lovers. Cappuccino Crunch Cake combines coffee ice cream, pound cake and NESTLE ® TOLL HOUSE ® Milk Chocolate Morsels for a rich and creamy frozen dessert!This dessert was created by Beth Royals of Richmond, VA. Simply Rich Chocolate Syrup This is not your average chocolate syrup, with its dee p, rich and smooth chocolate flavor; the perfect treats for sweet fresh fruits, or to use for the topping of your favorite ice cream or dessert. Cinnamon Chocolate Pudding Chocolate and cinnamon has always been the perfect and a winning combination for any dessert. Cinnamon adds more warmth and deep scent to this special treat and this is one of the best flavors that a chocolate-lover can dream of because of its richness and creamy texture which is intensified by the whipped cream or any milk.Chocolate Banana Cream Pie The flavors complemented each other beautifully. The banana and chocolate -– a classic combo -– but brought to another level of interesting with the addition of the salted caramel, which also played nicely with the buttery graham cracker crumbs. Cool, creamy, sweet, and just so delicious. Chocolate Hazelnut Terrine with Raspberry Sauce This elegant dessert is a chocolate-lovers’ dream served in a pool of ruby-red raspberry sauce. Either made with hazelnut liquor, this will surely become a big hit because of its sweet taste.The good thing is you can make some changes. Instead of using heavy cream you can use whipped fat-free evaporated milk blended. For chocolate, you can substitute Dutch cocoa and cocoa white baking chocolate bar. Chocolate â€Å"Buried Treasure† Bars You will find sweet delight in every bite in this chocolate buried treasure bars, with layered almonds, dried berries and morsels; these bars are worth craving for. The combination of this bar will positively wow you’re lucky guests who have the golden opportunity to taste this fantastic chocolate treat.In all these wonderful pictures that have been displayed above lies a wonderful, mouth watering and breath taking taste that I have had the pleasure of indulging in. I have tasted these wonderful treats mainly when I was on vacation in different countries and different cities. There are many more wonderful delicious treats that I have not mentioned and the reason for that is, those delicious desserts had no real description, because I could not describe them. They are indescribable; there taste was so sweet and tender that my taste buds could not control themselves.I have been too many countries, seen many cities and tasted many desserts enough to know that the desserts I have mentioned above are for me the top 7 that I will always want to taste just one more time. Desserts are described as a sweet, delicious conclude to a wonderful meal that brings you to utter the words â€Å"Delicious†. My dreams vary from entertaining people, discovering and studying history and as of my last vacation that solidified my professional like taste buds; my new dream is to travel the world tasting all the delicious desserts.

If Only I Could Go Back

It was around 9:00 pm and the atmosphere was charged. The roads were blocked and the police were to be found on every corner. A search was in place, I was the suspect. My clothes were stained with blood, not my blood but Eve's blood. My face was covered with dirt as though I had taken a dip in a pigsty. Suddenly just behind me I heard a booming sound â€Å"Freeze, don't move†, but I was too faint to synchronize with a response. Red and blue lines were flashing before my guilty eyes, it was the police. They had found me; I was handcuffed on the spot and thrown into the back of a van like a captured animal thrown into his cage. I was read out my rights â€Å"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law†. That was it, I had been on the run for 4 consecutive days. My stomach lunched with hunger, my body desperately urged for rest but worst of all I was ruined. I was filled with intense regret. Although a sense of denial ran through my head, my conscience overcame the effect and I knew what I had done was wrong. â€Å"Too late now† I thought to myself. As I neared the place of my judgment with the last bit of strength in me I shouted aloud â€Å"God Forgive Me†. Time seemed to crawl as freedom raced its way out of my life. I was utterly left to rot. Fear and regret was all I could think of. My sense of fear was so strong, that I began to cry. My emotions overpowered me once again and the more I thought of the crime I had committed the more I continued to cry. I then arrived at the police station where I saw my father standing with only one expression on his face, ‘SHOCK'. As a police officer informed my father of my actions I saw a tear form in his eyes, a tear filled with shame and disappointment. The sight of my father's face scared me all the more. A vision of an empty, lonely future came alive at the back of my head, the past 18 years of my life flashed past me so fast like a video cassette put on super forward. I then heard a rough thick voice say â€Å"Why my son, why did you beat Eve to death?† It was my father who by now had understood precisely what had happened. He was a man who went through a lot of rough times himself. I was silent. The cause of my actions was due to my family problems. The agony, the loneliness of my parents being divorced and not having a father and a mother at the same time made me feel empty. My family was very dear to me, as a ‘real family' was all I wanted. Ever since I was a child I've been brought up by a single parent and always wished to have my parents back together. I longed all my life to know how a real family life was, but I was deprived of that. I did not want my father to pity me hence; I kept the reason to myself. I am a man now and should be responsible for my actions. It was because of Eve who simultaneously insulted my family and made fun of the fact that my parents were divorced. â€Å"Your parents don't love you that was why they left you† was one of the many hurtful things she said. At first I tried to ignore it but the truth penetrated its way into me and anger was all that was left in me. The blood in my veins boiled making me all the angrier where at one point I burst and took all my anger out on her. Punch after punch, kick after kick. This is when my emotions took over me at first. Everything happened so fast, and by the time it was all over and saw Eve's helpless body lying horizontally opposite to me, I was shocked but most of all scared. This was the first time I had actually seen someone die before my own eyes, and to worsen things it was me who had â€Å"murdered† her. I acted like a robot controlled by the truth and my emotions. Then the fear of death took over me and for the first few minutes I froze at a standstill but the thought of what I had done scared me so much that I began to run as fast as I could to hide myself from what I had done. Now my life is ruined. I feel like a total failure. Till this very day each moment I sit in my jail cell, I feel helpless and hungry and regret what I had done and just wish if I can take back what had happened. The thought, the whole thing just keeps running through my mind making me feel so wrong and so bad. â€Å"Oh! If I could only go back in time!†

How sports influenced my life Essay

I have been participating in sports ever since I was four. Athletics has always been a very big part of my life, and that is the way I love it. I play soccer, volleyball, basketball, and lacrosse for my school, as well as playing travel soccer for the LIJSL. I also enjoy playing softball, football, tennis and any other sport. Partaking in athletics has had an extremely positive influence on my life and my development as a person. For one thing, it has taught me cooperation and teamwork. It has taught me how to be a good leader and to work well under pressure. This has become exceptionally handy during test time. Participating in sports has given me very useful problem solving skills as well as keeping me healthy and in great shape. Most importantly, taking part in sports has given me the confidence that I know I could never live without. Playing sports has helped me make a lot of friends. When I first moved to Stony Brook, I was very shy and did not know anyone. Some of my first friends were from my soccer team. It has also kept me very busy. I feel that this has prevented me from trying drugs and/or alcohol along with teaching me some very important organization skills. Since I spend so much time at practice or games, I have learned to organize and manage my time more efficiently. There is little time to procrastinate. Furthermore, I feel that from being a participant in sports I have developed a great amount of self discipline. Sometimes I just don’t feel like getting up and going to those early morning practices or taking that extra mile when I feel like I can’t go another step. Sports have shown me the importance of making the right choices. Aside from teaching me some very important life skills, being an athlete has opened many doors for my future. After I graduate high school, I plan to go on to college and continue my athletic career. I am hoping to get a scholarship so I can then become a veterinarian or a professional soccer player. In conclusion, I feel that playing sports has not only helped me to become a  better person, but it has also helped me to excel in other areas. I think that athletics is a very important part of my life and I encourage many others to participate too. Most of all, I HAVE FUN! There is nothing more I enjoy than going outside and playing any sport; it doesn’t matter which it might be.

Professional Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Professional Development - Assignment Example The skill of flexibility within me also helps in developing a positive attitude owing to which I accept fresh challenges with ease and also broadens my thought process owing to the presence of this particular positive attitude in my character. The positive attitude prevents me from becoming demoralised in my work. I also have the tendency to work rigorously as a result of which in spite of several failures in my task, I never intend to always come forward for the reason of attainment of that particular task. The interpersonal skill within me also assists me to make effectual communication with others. I would also like to add in this context that I also possess qualities of a good listener and have the flair of getting along with people well that too owing to my good communication as well as listening skills. Weaknesses The weakness in me is the lack of confidence in work and also while talking to the customers and even my friends or class mates owing to my poor pronunciation. In cer tain instances, this dearth of confidence results in embarrassing me in front of others. This dearth of confidence while communicating with people is my greatest weakness which might hold me back from scaling heights in the profession I am in presently and the one that I wish to pursue in the future, as both calls for the requirement of this skill to a large extent. Thus, to overcome such weakness increased growth in the level of confidence is required which is only possible with the help of regular practice or training. I must focus on my confidence level as it is regarded as essential while dealing with customers in any kind of business along with triggering self-assurance in the competitive environment. I even... The reflective summary of the study has been prepared by taking into consideration the requirement of the development of the needed skills towards the attainment of my career objectives. The SWOT analysis that the researcher conducted on himself helped him to identify the skills that the researcher lack in and the ones that needs honing. Based on that analysis and according to the basis of priority the cognitive skills need to be developed initially. This will entail the need of enhancing the researcher’s listening skills which will further trigger the development of his cognitive skills. The researcher intends to develop this skill within him in the initial three months by way of enrolling myself in the required regular classes that will assist in the development and promotion of this skill. The next aim will be to develop my communication skills which the researcher can start consequently with the development of the earlier mentioned cognitive skills. The researcher will req uire initiating communication with the people present around him without feeling shy. He needs to overlook the aspect of poor pronunciation which restricted or resisted him from communicating with people around him for all this time in order to effectively develop this skill. The researcher will also need to start communicating or strike conversations with the customers coming to his place of work. The researcher’s active participation in the discussions during his course classes will also be a contributing factor for the development of communication skill.

In what ways do colonialist ideas continue to influence contemporary Essay - 1

In what ways do colonialist ideas continue to influence contemporary culture Describe with reference to fashion, literature, fi - Essay Example In the modern world, both colonialism and imperialism are practiced indirectly in various nations across the world. Nations with political and economic superiority across the world, such as the US and other European nations, exercise direct and indirect global control. The dominant powerful nations are using grounds, such as art, film, literature, and fashion to ensure a constant global expansion of their dominance. Often, imperialism is justified as a means of bringing people the blessings of a superior and modern way of life or of liberating them from tyrannical rule. The act results from a variety of causes including economic pressures, greed, human aggressiveness, search for security, prestige, search for power, humanitarianism, national emotions and many other factors. These motivating factors make it difficult to eradicate imperialism. However, they are also very beneficial especially for nations susceptible to victimization because they make it easy for them to suspect policie s that might turn out to be imperialistic (Sartre, 2001). For example, some states in the Third World have accused former colonial masters and other powerful nations of neocolonialism. The post-colonial theory clearly explains the modern spread of colonial ideas in various forms. Post-colonial theory involves the study of interactions between colonialist nations and the societies that they colonized (Gandhi, 1988). The theory examines the effects of the domination and colonization of non-European people, land, and cultures. The key concepts in this theory include history of colonialism and representation, and identity of modern cultures and other practices (Gandhi, 1988). Majority of studies have shown that Western traditions and cultural practices especially regarding thought, music, fashion, and literature dominate the global culture. Non-Western traditions, cultural practices, and other forms of expression are widely excluded and marginalized in modern practices. This field of po st-colonial studies was greatly influenced by a Palestinian literary critic named Said. Through his popular piece of work known as Orientalism, Said sought to depict how Middle Eastern and African Arab people and their cultures were represented as the exact opposite of occidental and Western cultures (Said, 2003). Orientalism is a reflection of the Western style in restructuring, dominating, and acquiring total control over the East (Celik, 1996). In his literary piece, Said argued that the modern orient representations impose colonial dominations by implying that oriental cultural practices are inferior in relation to Western cultures. The Western culture is brought out as a culture with a rich history, with morally superior and virtuous practices. On the other hand, the oriental culture or third world practices have its history imposed on it by powerful facets with possessive and submissive practices. In addition, the oriental culture is brought out as strange, lazy, and weak and one that promotes immoral and unequal practices (Said, 2003). According to Said’s argument, the Western superior nations are making every effort possible to make the colonized people admit that their culture is inferior, unrealistic and imperfect in character (Said, 2003). The colonizers promote their history, language,