Monday, December 23, 2019

The Glass Menegerie vs August Osage County - 1205 Words

Patel 1 The More Dysfunctions, The More Escapes The Wingfields and Westons are both inimitable families who carry distinctive traits and characteristics. In the play, The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams portrays a southern family in the 1930 s trying to deal with life s pressures, and their own fears after their husband and father deserts them. In the play, August: Osage County, Tracy Letts depicts a large eccentric family who come together after the death of the patriarch, Beverly, and try to triumph over the obstacles in life. Unhealthy and detrimental relationships among family members are ample between the two families. The Wingfield and Weston families are both trapped by their own dysfunctions, which force†¦show more content†¦Amanda sees the fire Patel 4 escape as an opportunity for gentleman callers to enter their lives. Laura’s view is different from her mother and her brother; her escape seems to be hiding inside the apartment. Also, the Westons are trapped in their homes and can’t seem to escape. They don’t all live together, but are brought together as one due to the death of the patriarch, Beverly. Every member of the Weston family has their differences. They endure many problems as they live with one another. An indication of incarceration is when Violet tapes the shades and lets nobody opens them. Charlie questions Mattie Fae about the situation, â€Å"This business with the shades, taping the shades?† (Letts 20) As soon as the family members see that they can break away from the house, they leave as soon as they can. Even though the family is brought together, they are all happier with their individual lives away from the family. Lastly, facing the truth can be challenging and exigent for certain people. In this case, Amanda Wingfield is not aware of the truth and repeatedly nags and aggravates her children. Amanda stipulates Tom to comb his hair, as she says, â€Å"Comb your hair! You look so pretty when your hair is combed.† (Williams 38) Amanda mainly bothers Tom about finding a gentleman caller for Laura, she feels that Laura is lonely and needs a companion in order to be happy and pleased in life. Also, she Patel 5 thinks that Laura will not be secure and

Sunday, December 15, 2019

How Do Psychologists Research Being in Love Free Essays

How have social psychologists researched ‘being in love’? What is love? According to McClelland (1986) â€Å"the mainstream view of love is that it is a state that arises from people mutually reinforcing each other or providing benefits to each other†. This is just one view and love is not that easy to define in one statement. The meaning of love is vast and there are a number of psychological theories that try to define and establish what this concept is. We will write a custom essay sample on How Do Psychologists Research Being in Love? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Being in love implies sexual desire and excitement, â€Å" the common expression that people use to describe their passionate desires for one another† (Martin, Carlson Buskist, p 758). In order to examine the question as to how have social psychologist researched ‘being in love’, it will be necessary to discuss some of the theories that have been put forward, and look at their interpretation of the concept of ‘love’. The works of Robert Sternberg (1986,), John Lee (1973) Carlos Yela (1996) and Hatfield Walster (1978) will be referred to in exploring the question of being in love Psychologist and Social Scientist Robert Sternberg (1986) proposed his triangular theory which categorised love relationships into three â€Å"orthogonal dimensions† which are intimacy, passion and commitment/decision commitment. Sternberg (1986) argues that without these three dimensions, you don’t have love. â€Å"Each dimension contributes to the quality of love in a relationship. The quality of a relationship is represented by the relative magnitude of each component† (Hassebrauck Buhl, 1996). The first component, intimacy, refers to the feeling of warmth, closeness, of bonding and of connectedness with someone in a loving relationship. Intimacy comes about when information or secrets are shared between two people and no one else. The second element is passion. Passion leads to romance, which is an essential element, according to Sternberg, in a love relationship. Passion involves sexual consummation and physical attraction. The third element, commitment/decision commitment is a choice that is made by an individual to remain committed in a relationship. Although Sternberg theorized that the three elements are necessary to have love, he also went on to show that when one or more elements are missing, many variations of love are derived. Sternberg came up with seven different kinds of love that are liking, nfatuation, empty love, romantic love, compassionate love, fatuous love and consummate love. These seven variations form his triangle. One is able to easily identify the kind of love that is being expressed by looking at the mixture of elements that it is made up of. Carlos Yela (1996) proposed a structural theoretical model of love, which introduces some variations of Sternberg’s Triangular Theory model (1986). This was done to veri fy the usefulness of Sternberg’s theory to try to prove his four components: Erotic Passion, Romantic Passion, Intimacy and Commitment. The dynamic side of the model was tested and the results conclude that Sternberg’s model can be used as an explanation for love. Some weaknesses of Sternberg’s theory (1986) are that outside of the western world, it is invalid, as a different value system exists in non-western societies where the components of love are not emphasized by intimacy, passion and commitment. Thus this theory cannot be applied across cultures. Also, according to Acker and Davis (1992), there were many gaps in his research in that firstly, the population was not widely represented, as these were graduates and under graduates with ages ranging from 18 – 28 years. Also, the time frames on which this theory is based, where Sternberg states that as commitment speeds up, intimacy grows and where intimacy declines over time, is not mentioned. John Lee’s (1973) book ‘The Colors of Love’ used an analogy of colour wheel as a â€Å"conceptual scaffold† to compare his Love Styles. He went on to state that just as there are three primary colours on the wheel, so too there are three primary Love Styles. They are Eros, Ludus and Storge. Also, he went on to say that just as we can combine the primary colours on the colour wheel to produce secondary colours, so too can this be done with Love styles. Many combinations can be derived from this, but focus was placed on the three secondary love styles, which are Mania (Eros + Ludos), Pragma (Ludos+ Storge), and Agape (Eros + Storge). Eros is a passionate, physical love based on physical appearance and beauty. It entails a deep physical attraction, based primarily on sexual pleasure. Ludus love is classes as ‘game-playing’ where love is treated as a contest or sport. There is almost no commitment as when the relationship becomes too boring, they move on to their next conquest. Storge love is an affectionate love that slowly develops and is based on friendship or companionate love, and is considered to be honest, loyal, and mature. Mania is possessive love that is highly emotional where there is jealousy, obsession and conflict. Pragma love is pragmatic or logical love where individuals take a practical or rational approach in selecting their partner with the view that both parties benefit from the relationship and that they are compatible for each other. Agape love is selfless where there is unconditional caring, forgiving, and giving. Sacrifices are made for love and the happiness of the partner is put above their own. Hendrick and Hendrick (1988) stated that within a relationship, men and women use more than one love style and over time, the styles may vary. Hatfield Walster’s (1978) book ‘A New Look at Love’, separates passionate love from companionate love. Hatfield et al (1978) describes passionate love as a state of intense physiological desire/longing to be with the other person, and companionate love as the feeling of affection, mutual understanding and respect for the people in our lives that we have deep feelings for. Hatfield spent a great deal of her professional career investigating passionate love (Livermore, 1993) and what was proposed to explain this were three factors: – physiological arousal, appropriate love object and cultural exposure. Passionate love occurs when physiological arousal is experienced in the presence of someone that the love label has been placed on and we term this as being in love as our culture teaches us this Passionate love is seen to be transitory, only lasting a short time, which then leads on to companionate love or friendship. Hatfield (1978) believed that the existence of both companionate and passionate love at the same time in a relationship to be rare to almost impossible, even though this combination is seen to be the ideal balance where there is security and stability of companionate love with the intensity of passionate love. There is evidence in support of this theory by Dutton Aron (1974) Love on a suspension bridge wherby men were interviewed by an attractive woman whilst standing on a low and high suspension bridge. The results supported the hypothesis that the men on the high suspension bridge would feel more attracted to the woman than those on the low suspension bridge. This was assumed to be the case as because of their height there was an increase in their physiological arousal and as a result they mistook this for sexual attraction in the presence of the attractive woman. In conclusion, we have seen that there is no single definition of love and the each psychological view is different from the other. There is no hard and fast definition of love and what being in love is. We have also see how useful the different interpretations and viewpoints are. The psychological theories of love provide partial explanations for this most intense of human emotion. In summary, after examining the various theories, we can conclude that love is a complex subject of which there will always be new theories evolving as human life progresses and no one answer REFERENCES Acker, M. , Davis, M. H. (1992). Intimacy, passion, and commitment in adult relationship: A test of the Triangular Theory of Love. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 9, 21-50. Dutton, D. G. and Aron, A. P. (1974). Some Evidence for Heightened Sexual Attraction Under Conditions of High Anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 510-517. Hatfield, E. , Walster, G. W. (1978). A new look at love. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Hendrick, C. , and Hendrick, S. S. (1988). Lovers wear rose coloured glasses. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 161-183 Hassebrauck, M. , Buhl, T. (1996). The Journal of Social Psychology, 136, 1, 121-122 Lee, J. (1973). The color wheel model of love. Chicago: Addison. Livermore, B. (1993). Lessons of love. Psychology Today, Mar/Apr 93 Martin, G. N. , Carlson, N. R. and Buskist, W. (2007). Psychology. 3rd edn. Essex: Pearsons Education Ltd. McClelland, D. (1986). Journal of Personality, 54, 2 , 334 – 353, Duke University. Press Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A triangular theory of love. Psychological Review, 93, 119-135. Yela, C. (1996). Componentes basicos del amor: Algunas matizaciones al modelo de R. J. Sternberg [Basic components of love: some refinements to the model of R. J. Sternberg]. Re-vista de Psicologia Social, 11(2), 185-201. How to cite How Do Psychologists Research Being in Love?, Essays

Saturday, December 7, 2019

The Barn Burning Blues Essay Research Paper free essay sample

The Barn Burning Blues Essay, Research Paper William Faulkner # 8217 ; s short narrative, # 8220 ; Barn Burning # 8221 ; , is about a household # 8217 ; s battle created by their male parent. the chief character and male parent, Abner Snopes, is a self-ritous # 8220 ; good-for-nothing # 8221 ; who supports his household by traveling from barn to barn as a renter. He is able to make this by puting fire to the barn he tends to, and so go forthing the metropolis and happening another fleeceable, victim who needs him to be given to their land. Faulkner describes Abner as coarse whit-trash who # 8217 ; s merely motive seems to be other # 8217 ; s down falls. The overall feeling Faulkner wants the reader to acquire is that his character Abner feels the whole universe is against him. The adversities placed on him from the civil war fuel his self- pitied attitude. In the Civil War, he became a Equus caballus stealer and was shot in the dorsum of the leg running from the Equus caballus proprietors, go forthing him broke and crippled. We will write a custom essay sample on The Barn Burning Blues Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Emotionally, the reader has a feeling of sorrow or commiseration for Abner and his household. His offenses are committed as survival tactics and non efforts to go an criminal entrapanuer. But, at the same clip you develope a hate for Abner for conveying hello s household into his unstable, unyeilding life manner. It # 8217 ; s a typical # 8220 ; Jerry Springer # 8221 ; household battle where the male parent brings everyone down with him. Without a positive role-model, who # 8217 ; s to state that the remainder of the household International Relations and Security Network # 8217 ; t traveling to turn out like him. A loony as their live may look, the snopes household valuses are similar to those of a healthy household. With all of the play traveling on, the household seems to turn closer the phrase # 8220 ; blood is thicker than water. # 8221 ; Faulkner even refers to this when he is speaking to his boy privatley and says # 8220 ; lodge to your blood cuz # 8217 ; you ain # 8217 ; t gon na happen any that sticks to you. # 8221 ; Everyone plants together in the family, the male parent farms, the boy # 8217 ; s assist, the female parent cooks and cleans, the miss # 8217 ; s aid. It # 8217 ; s about as if they don # 8217 ; t even see their male parents actions as offenses, but as occupations. Unfortuantely, present times, the Snopes aren # 8217 ; t such an uneven household. But in post-Civil War times, these people are considered white rubbish and foreigners. Williman Faulkner # 8217 ; s, # 8220 ; Barn Burning # 8221 ; is a message about no affair how difficult times get, neer trade in your household, because their the lone 1s who won # 8217 ; t trade you in.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Roswell Essays (1014 words) - Roswell UFO Incident, Walter Haut

Roswell Brazel's ranch was from an Army Air Force balloon. The new report states many new explanations. It says that ...witnesses are mistaken about when the events they saw occurred, and they also are seriously mistaken about details of the events. The report also states: Witnesses are conflating together, several events that occurred at different times, into a single event, and in every instance, the events the witnesses saw were normal Air Force activities. Surprisingly, the Air Force has never produced a weather balloon that matches witness accounts(Rodeghier). According to CUFOS analysts, the report is clumsily padded to make it appear lengthy and impressive(Rodeghier) Large fonts, wide margins, as well as irrelevant photos were also used. The new report also never mentioned or made any effort to interview witnesses that are still-living(Rodeghier). The Center for U.F.O. Studies(CUFOS) found several flaws and problems with the new report. The Air Force considers a man named Gerald Anderson to be a credible and honest witness, who is simply mistaken about places, dates, and details. The CUFOS says that there are no Roswell researchers that believe Gerald Anderson to be a credible witness. He falsified phone records and a diary to support his claims(Rodeghier). The Air Force also ignored the testimony of credible witnesses. A man named Frank Kaufman was involved with the recovery of the crashed object. Written notes, belonging to Kaufman, were given to the Air Force before the report was issued. Nothing pertaining to Kaufman or his notes appeared in the report(Rodeghier). The Air Force claims that the wreckage was a type of test balloon with life-like dummies inside(Rodeghier) Key witnesses cannot be placed at any balloon recoveries(Rodeghier). The report appears to depend on the UFO witnesses having actually viewed balloon and dummy recoveries. According to CUFOS response to the Air Force report, No witness involved in Roswell can be placed at any recovery. There is another problem ?e The Truth is Out There, Somewhere: Roswell, New Mexico Fifty years ago, in an isolated section of the southwestern desert of New Mexico, an incident occurred that has yet to be fully explained. It is referred to as the Roswell Incident. Others refer to it as Cosmic Watergate. Several people believe that it was a UFO,(unidentified flying object) containing aliens, that crashed and was recovered by the government. Others believe that there is no supportive evidence to back this theory. The government has released reports and determined the case to be closed. But, the facts show, life on other planets does exist. In early July of 1947, the incident began with several reports of a glowing object in the sky about 9:50P.M. during a large storm. The next morning, it was evident that something had crashed into the land tended by rancher, W.W. Mac Brazel(UFO Phenomenon 39). The strange debris was found scattered over a large portion of his ranch. It consisted of a tinfoil-like substance, strands of wire, small metallic rods covered with indecipherable writing, and pieces of parchment-like paper(UFO: Enigma 63). Mac collected a few scraps and carried them to the local sheriff, George Wilcox(Jeffrey). He was baffled at what he saw and contacted the Roswell Army Air Field, home of the world's only atomic attack unit(UFO: Enigma 63). Colonel William Blanchard, commander of the 509th Bomb Group, ordered Major Jesse A. Marcel to investigate the matter. He was the group's intelligence officer. An entire day was spent at Brazel's ranch. The material was surveyed and then loaded into two vehicles. Reports say that the material was then transferred onto a B-29 and flown to Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas(UFO: Enigma). Several tests were conducted on the debris. Shortly before Marcel's death in 1978, he confessed and told researchers that the material was nothing made on earth(UFO: Enigma 63). He told them of tests that were conducted. It turns out that the material could not be dented with a 16-pound sledgehammer, nor burned with a blowtorch. During Marcel's interview, he also stated that the material was no thicker than the tinfoil in a pack of cigarettes(UFO: Enigma 63). Around the same time as Brazel's discovery, Grady L. Barnett, who was more than 100 miles away from Roswell, came across what appeared to be a portion of a 'flying disc'(UFO: Enigma 63). According to Barnett, four small dead bodies lay beside it. They had frail limbs, and disproportionately large heads with big slanted eyes(UFO: Enigma). Barnett also says that he found

Monday, November 25, 2019

Contrib.of paint. in Mid. Age essays

Contrib.of paint. in Mid. Age essays The development and contrubutions of painting in the Middle Ages Cimabue, an Italian painter, was the first famous painter of the city of Florence. Cimabue's painting of the Madonna Enthroned is painted in a traditional style based on the medieval art of the Byzantine Empire. His faces and figures are rendered stiffly, and placed vertically without size relationship to the figures around them. Cimabue's works have great personal force and effect, even though the forms are traditional. Giotto was the most important painter of the 1300's. His paintings of the Madonna Enthroned was painted approximately twenty years after Cimabue and shows a slight contrast to the painters that came before him. Giotto painted the throne of the Madonna with open sides and showed two bearded men looking through the openings. In this way, he gave the feeling that the scene is not flat, but a sense of spacial depth and perspective. The angel's gazes are more expressive and the Virgin resembles an actual woman. His realistic style revolutionized painting in Italy and the natural figures in his works foreshadowed great changes in art. The Limbourg brothers were noted illuminated manuscript painters. Their most famous manuscript was a prayer book called Les Tres Riches Heures. In the vividly colored illuminations, beautiful lords and ladies amuse themselves while servants tend to the guests. These illustrations rise above all others of their time with intricately designed crowd scenes and exquisite detail. Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who is best known for his triptychs(three paneled paintings). Many of his paintings show landscapes full of distorted people, fantastic demons, and unidentifiable objects. Bosch's largest and most complex work is a triptych called The Garden of Earthly Delights which displays three interrelated scenes organized around the creation, fall, and damnation of the human race. The left pa...

Friday, November 22, 2019

Analysis of Stings by Sylvia Plath

In line 51 of Stings, writer Sylvia Plath uses images, suggestions and oppositions to develop her attitude toward men. In this part of Stings, Plath uses Bee King as his symbol - a man (Ted of her husband) is explained in lines 38-50, but she is a fierce, angry It is the girl of revenge. I am still awake. Because most of Plath's works are confession poems, they can be analyzed not only through the use of her poetry device but also through her private history. This poem was written on May 21, 1962, the second day we visited Wevils at the weekend. In most of Sylvia's biography, there is a frequently repeated story about what she returned to Smith University after trying suicide and subsequent hospitalization. This was the beginning of the spring semester of 1954 and when the plasma first saw a young woman occupying her dormitory during her illness - later Nancy Hunt, later Nancy Hunt Steiner became a plaque Let's take a closer look at Ariel by writing a short memoir about Sri Lanka's b est friends, their relationship. As the story says, Hunt spent a while in Silvia's room. And I felt that the previous resident was ghosted. Thanks to student talent and attempted suicide, Plath is a legend of Smith. According to Steiner, ... as time goes on I am getting more and more familiar with Plath's legendary details while guessing gossip by mentioning her name. Sylvia Plath was born on 27 October 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mother, Aurelia Schober, is a master's program student at Boston University when she met Otto Plas, her father, Plath's father, who was her professor. They married in January 1932. Otto teaches German and biology, focusing on genetics and bee research. Plath returned to Massachusetts in 1957 and began studying with Robert Lowell. Her first poetry collection, Colossus, was published in England in 1960 and was published in the United States two years later. She returned to England and gave birth to her children Frida and Nicholas in 1960 and 1962, res pectively. On 27th October 1932, at the Memorial Hospital in Boston, Aurelia (Schober) Plath and her husband Otto Plath (3 years old) gave birth to a woman's baby named Sylvia. Otto Plas is a writer of the book Bumblebee and their way published in 1934. Silvia is still very young, but her father is sick. His toes were cut, heels only, and later the legs were cut. Immediately after these incidents, another member of the Plath family was born. Warren Plass entered the world on April 27, 1935 (Sylvia is two and a half years old). When Sylvia came to eight things, she spent the rest of her life on her. Her father Otto died as a victim of diabetes

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

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

Consumer - Essay Example The financial system performs the overall function of moving money between savers and borrowers and this allows people to transfer their ability to use money to transform the world through time and space. (Shavinina 2003, p. 530) The financial system interacts with real economic activity through its various functions by which it facilitates economic exchange. What is the significance of this system for consumers, one may ask. The financial system plays an important role in mobilizing funds in such a way that they are transformed into assets that better meet the needs of individuals as investors and as consumers. A specific example is when financial intermediaries facilitate portfolio diversification. Here, resources are transferred across time and space, allowing investors and consumers to borrow against future income and meet current needs. Financial systems also have existing mechanisms that are pivotal in developing pricing information. This information such as the appraisal of the value of companies allows investors to make informed decisions in regard to how they allocate their money. A market that is plagued by information imperfection will result to an imbalance in the quantity and quality of investment hurting an economy’s potential. In regard to financial institutions such as banks, they perform various functions within the financial system, including the use of technological infrastructure to profitably and reliably deliver services and so extend the institutional trust upon which the financial system depends. A particularly important role played by financial institution is how they ease the tension between a saver’s preference for liquidity and the entrepreneurs’ requirement for long-term financing. Because of this, wrote Nnadozie, at any given level of saving, an efficient financial system will allow for a higher level of investment by maximizing the proportion of saving that actually finances investment. (p.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Management of Restraint and Seclusion for Aggression in Essay

The Management of Restraint and Seclusion for Aggression in Psychiatric Patients in Inpatient Units - Essay Example Although initially nonviolent, Jane turned aggressive during normal sampling for tests and punched the nurse who was collecting samples for the tests. On becoming excessively aggressive, the patient was secluded and further restraint to minimize harm to her, her loved ones and the facilities’ staffs and other clients. However, these interventions are rather controversial and the family members opposed their use just as health care and legal professionals and the public continue to question their therapeutic capacities. Consequently, their use is questioned and opposed in equal measures. Instead, aggression management strategies such as individualized safety plans, patient-specific and focused restraint management and prevention, staff notification of restraint and seclusion phenomena, official briefing and debriefing about restraint and nursing staff mentoring are encouraged. In applying these interventions, a nurse leaders and managers should work with all other stakeholders, especially other medical and nursing staff and the families or caretakers of the patient. Consultative approach to leadership would have been quite appropriate for dealing with Jane’s situation. Transformational leadership theory, which postulates that great leadership emerges in cases of problems and encourages collaboration and teamwork, could also apply in this situation. In addition, the contingency theory, which expects leaders to different behaviours and contexts or circumstances are and react accordingly is also appropriate for handling Jane’s aggression. This paper proposes strategies likely to help eliminate or reduce the use of restraint and seclusion as the first choice measures whenever a psychiatric patient turns aggressive on self or others. Introduction For many nurses working in psychiatric inpatient units, violence and aggression are common phenomena. Aggression continues to pose serious challenges to psychiatric inpatient unit nurses despite the many modern and universal methods and strategies of restraint (Schacht, 2006). The two most commonly used interventions applied in the treatment and management of violent and disruptive conducts in psychiatric patients are seclusion and intervention (Anderson & West, 2011). Notably, the application and management of these nursing interventions vary from one country and institution to another. The central role played by these interventions have been largely highlighted in quite a number of nursing and health care studies and literatures, with most of the authors citing numerous recommendations for managing and reducing mental patient aggression (Peterson, 2004). In most of the studies and literatures, the effects of seclusion and restraint on mental illness patients and the prevention of seclusion and restraint or the reduction of their use are among the most highlighted aspects of seclusion management (The Joint Commission, 2008). Whereas seclusion refers to retaining and placing a ment ally ill inpatient in a room so that the immediate aggressive clinical situation is contained, restraint entails the use of different techniques that are custom-made to confine a mentally person to specific body motions (Cruzan, 1992). Despite the difference in meaning, both seclusion and restraint are measures generally used with the aim of preventing further injuries to patients, harm to nurses and to reduce violence and agitation (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2006). This paper explores the appropriate management and leadership strategies for handling restraint of mentally ill inpatients by nurses. The following case study of an aggressive patient will form the basis of the proposed aggression management strategies outlined in the paper. Sample Case Jane (name changed for confidentiality)

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Zara and H&M Essay Example for Free

Zara and HM Essay Zara History of Zara Marked as the first prestigious venture of the Inditex group the first store of Zara, the chain of Spanish fashion stores came into reality on central A Coruna Street in 1975. In 1985, Amancio Ortega integrated Zara in a new holding company, Industria de Diseno Textil, INDITEX S.A. The Zara fashion concept was well received by the public later in 1976, allowing it to expand its network of stores to the other main Spanish cities. During 1981-1988 with the growing popularity Zara started new ventures by multiplying in number not just in Spain but around the world. In 2003 enjoying being the eye candy among the fashion followers Zara entered the home furnishing market by opening the first Zara home store. Everything else is a history; today Zara is present in 73 countries, with a network of more than 1,540 stores, ideally located in major cities. Its international presence clearly shows that national frontiers are no impediment to sharing a single fashion culture. Product Design Zara’s unique approach to product development is instrumental to their success. Zara gives store managers significant autonomy in both determining the products to display in their stores and which to place on sale, and relaying market research and store trends back to their headquarters in La Coruà ±a. At headquarters there are teams of commercials who take this information into account to design and effectively plan and produce all of  Zara’s products. Zara maintains a design team of 200 people, all of which produce approximately 12,000 new styles per year for Zara. The process of obtaining market information and relaying it to design and production teams expedites product development by shortening the throughput time of a product to 3-4 weeks from design to distribution. This process is very different from its competitors. Many competitors rely on a small elite design team that plans both design and production needs well in advance. Stores have little autonomy in deciding which products to display or put on sale because Headquarters plans accordingly and ships quantities as forecasted. Zara’s speed to market in product development exceeds the capabilities of its competitors. This in itself provides additional value to stakeholders, customers, and stores in producing quality clothing at affordable prices .Zara’s product development capabilities are essential to Zara’s business strategy and future success. Advertising and Marketing Zara’s unique approach to advertising and marketing is an additional factor within their business model that adds to their success. Zara spends 0.3% of total revenues on advertising and marketing. This is significantly less than their competitors who on average spend 3-4% of their total revenues on similar expenditures. Hence, Zara maintains a cost advantage to their competitors in marketing activities. In order to effectively complete with their peers Zara uses location, store layout, and product life cycles to act as their marketing tool to consumers. For instance, Zara strategically locates all of their stores in prime retail districts for visibility marketing. Additionally, because of the product development cycles mentioned earlier, customers are trained to visit Zara stores often because new items are presented weekly and are often not restocked. This feeling of scarcity encourages customers to come to the stores and buy frequently. Lastly, in order to keep the stores looking fresh and trendy; Zara invests heavily in their store layouts. They have a testing facility nearby their headquarters in Spain where different types of store layouts are tested. Each Zara store is remodeled every 5 years in order to keep up with current trends. Zara does not invest heavily in direct marketing, though their efforts in  image/brand marketing do a great deal to attract a loyal customer base. Their cost advantage and ability to maintain brand recognition and customer loyalty are essential elements of Zara’s capabilities that build value in the company. The success path Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning * Positioned as a fast fashion brand globally, Zara, targets the mid-market. * Zaras core TG in the country consists of people familiar with the brand much before it entered the country. They are well travelled and aware about global fashion trends * High import duties ensure that the pricing of Zara remains premium * Does not invest in advertising, and largely relies on PR * It has clearly chosen the locations high-end malls where its core target group, that is, the upper middle class is surely present Zaras Strategy for Growth and Positioning Zara believes in Zero advertising. It would rather spend on store expansion than to advertise. However, the minimally advertise in fashion magazines. The rationale behind this is the quick turnaround of store display, which is around 4 weeks, which renders advertising an unnecessary cost. Also, Zara concentrates on efficient design to market cycle and focus on showcasing large number of designs annually. The workforce in Zara is essential to its success right from the production to the store level as the feedback generated about fashion performance at store is percolated to the designer and production and supply chain helps to put the latest styles in 2 weeks’ time. We need to take a look at the factors that determine these strategies and also the shortcomings associated with these strategies * Growing online sales Online retailing has been growing at a scorching pace in the last decade and considering UK market, more than  £14 billion has been spent on online shopping. Zara should try to open online retail shops to cater to the audience who need to shop for standardized version of Zaras products. This also presents an opportunity to display the entire product lines from Zara and can be easily searched. It will enable strong growth in online and well as, offline retail sales. Cultural adaptation Zara did not follow any localization in the countries where it was present and provided only standardized products. Also it believed in providing the latest fashion at the low costs. Thus from the Global Strategy Grid it can be seen that Zara Followed a Global Standardization Strategy. By doing so it hoped to increase its profitability by reducing costs and achieving economies of scale. Entry Mode * Wholly Owned Subsidiaries: Zara entered UK markets by opening up wholly owned subsidiaries, to take advantage of the controls that it could exercise in those countries. When it comes to other markets, company also prefers to expand through franchising, joint ventures. Distribution * All production, regardless of its origin, is received at the logistical centers for the brand, from where it is distributed simultaneously to all the stores worldwide on a highly frequent and constant basis. * In the case of Zara, distribution takes place twice a week and each delivery always includes new models, so that the stores are constantly refreshing their offer. * The logistics system, based on software designed by the company’s own teams, means that the time between receiving an order at the distribution center to the delivery of the goods in the store is on average 24 hours for European stores and a maximum of 48 hours for American or Asian stores. Manufacturing * A significant proportion of production takes place in the Group’s own factories, which mainly manufacture the most fashionable garments. The Inditex Group takes direct control of fabric supply, marking and cutting and the final finishing of garments, while subcontracting the garment making stage to specialist firms located predominantly in the North-West of the Iberian Peninsula. * The Group’s external suppliers, a high percentage of which are European, generally receive the fabric and other elements necessary for making the clothing from Zara itself. Pricing strategy Zaras dual price policy Euros for pounds Spanish women wear chain Zara is charging the same amount in UK pounds as it is Euros in Spanish shops for some of its clothing, potentially netting the retailer huge extra profits at the expense of UK customers. H M History of H M The history of HM started with a man named Erling Persson, who was a Swedish former salesman that became fascinated with America’s high-volume efficient outfits that 8 Barneys and Macy’s carried. Persson first discovered the outfits when coming to the United States after World War II. Persson brought the retail concept – that high turnover produced lower prices – and brought it back with him to Sweden. It was then that Erling chose to open his own store which he called Hennes, standing for â€Å"hers† in Swedish. During this time the store only sold women’s clothing (International Directory of Company Histories, 1999). The company Hennes was established in 1947 in Vasteras, Sweden and by 1968 Persson had purchased the men’s sportswear inventory and property of a Stockholm hunting equipment store which was named Mauritz Widforss. Erling Persson then changed the name of his store Henne to Hennes Mauritz to express the expansion, and later downgraded to just the abbreviations HM. When Persson began to exporting his business overseas he began with Norway in 1964 and then joined Denmark in 1967. Persson bought the inventory, which was a left supply of men’s clothing which lead him to expand into men’s apparel. By 1970 Hennes Mauritz developed a children’s clothing line and by 1978 the store offered much of all family clothing. With Hennes Mauritz offering a wide range of family clothing, it helped the company expand with the new generation of youth wanting to be able to express their individualities. There are around 2,700 HM stores in more than 40 countries and 94,000 employees all work hard to bring you fashion and quality at the best price. Product design HM designers design fashionable and trendy apparel products that are of respectable quality. Their product line includes t-shirts, fashion shirts, cardigans, jeans, pants, undergarments, dresses, jackets, shoes, purses, jewelry, and other fashionable trendy accessories. HM is able to offer their consumers fine quality apparel at an economically friendly price. Hennes Maurtiz is able to provide superb quality products for a low price due to their reduction of a middle man who buys the material for the company and sells the material for a higher margin. HM buys their apparel fabrics in bulk straight from the suppliers Pricing strategy The price strategy of HM is designed based on their customers’ need which is low price and high fashion. The company purely focuses on following penetration price policy. Promotion To develop a promotion strategy, a company should firstly identify and understand target audience. (Jobber, 2007). HM’s target customers are young women who want more fashion cloth at low price. Young people have plenty access to information. A multi-channel promotion strategy including * advertising, * internet promotion * sales promotion Hennes Mauritzs’ promotional strategy includes mobile marketing through SMS text messaging, celebrities, charities, and popular music artists. In doing this mobile marketing strategy consumers receive SMS coupons, mobile banner ads placed on major portals and media sites. Cultural adaptation HM does not change anything from price of a product to commercials. They keep the same strategy as they have in their country. Everything remains the same as in the country it first started in. It reduces cost of inventory, as  well as an allowance to an increased product innovation since the company focuses more on developing their product instead or spending too much time trying to adapt to the market. Distribution HM distribution channel is direct distribution, from producer to customers. By cutting middle transaction, it reduces cost and assures quick delivery, which echoes the concept of fastness and economy. Jobber (2007) suggested that channel selection is affected by producer, product and competitive factors. HM choose to sell clothes and cosmetics in around 2,000 stores which belong to HM. Store selling, on one hand, assures basic access to customers and helps the command from headquarters go to outlets efficiently and correctly. Because the inventory for HM is refreshed every day (HM website, 2010), direct command is important for correct adjustment in more than two thousand stores. On the other hand, controlling so many stores gives rise to the managerial cost. Besides stores, HM starts to launch online sale in several areas. It was suggested that well-known fashion retailers have advantages of their brand to attract customers (Marciniak and Bruce, 2004). Therefore it is beneficial to take the initiative to launch online shop. And this step could satisfy online customers and complement the shortcomings of store sale. Manufacturing HM does not own any factories. Instead, clothes and other products are commissioned from around 700 independent suppliers, primarily in Asia and Europe. The HM buying department plans the range. After that, all practical aspects are dealt with by our production offices. These production offices, where most of the employees are drawn from the local population, are in constant contact with the suppliers. The production offices are responsible for placing the order with the right supplier and for items being produced at the right price, making sure that they are of good quality and delivered at the right time. They also audit that production takes place under good working conditions. The production offices perform extensive  safety and quality testing, including checks for shrinkage, twisting and colorfastness, as well as ensuring that the chemical requirements have been met.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Essay --

The above figure shows the annual real GDP growth and per capita GDP growth in India since 1990 til 2011. Mr Ruchir says,†As the poorest of the big emerging markets, with a per capita income of just $1500, India is hardly overachieving; it is always easier to grow fast from a low base. Since the early 1980s, when the government cut back its monopoly on most imports and started easing rules about who could manufacture what and in which quantities, India has finished each decade with an average GDP growth rate about 1 to 2 percentage points faster than the emerging market average. That is unusually consistent but not particularly impressive-its standard for emerging nations in India’s low-income class.† He talks about the decrease in manufacturing jobs in India. But a survey by Morgan Stanley shows this is the case with developed countries as well. On the IMF rankings of nations by rate of inflation, India plunged to 122nd in 2012, from an average ranking of 65 between 1980 and 2010. Sharma says, â€Å"Low inflation has been the hallmark of sustained economic success from Japan in the 1960... Essay -- The above figure shows the annual real GDP growth and per capita GDP growth in India since 1990 til 2011. Mr Ruchir says,†As the poorest of the big emerging markets, with a per capita income of just $1500, India is hardly overachieving; it is always easier to grow fast from a low base. Since the early 1980s, when the government cut back its monopoly on most imports and started easing rules about who could manufacture what and in which quantities, India has finished each decade with an average GDP growth rate about 1 to 2 percentage points faster than the emerging market average. That is unusually consistent but not particularly impressive-its standard for emerging nations in India’s low-income class.† He talks about the decrease in manufacturing jobs in India. But a survey by Morgan Stanley shows this is the case with developed countries as well. On the IMF rankings of nations by rate of inflation, India plunged to 122nd in 2012, from an average ranking of 65 between 1980 and 2010. Sharma says, â€Å"Low inflation has been the hallmark of sustained economic success from Japan in the 1960...

Monday, November 11, 2019

Hall of Fame (Essay/Response)

Earlier in the year I presented a speech that was about believing in yourself and pursuing your dreams. Shortly after I did that, a song called ‘The Hall Of Fame’ by a band called The Script, featuring a rapper from the pop group The Black Eyed Peas, Will. I. Am, was released on the 19th of August 2012, and has been in the Top 100 Billboard charts since then. The lyrics in this song really motivates me in so many ways, and just inspires me to reach higher, and strive harder everyday. The three phrases that were used repeatedly in these song lyrics were ‘You can’, ‘You Could’, and ‘Do it’.These constant sayings in the song are the words that motivate me the most. ‘You can’, because you can do anything. â€Å"You can be the greatest, You can be the best, You can be the king kong banging on your chest. †, are the first 3 lyrics that are sung, telling you that if you want to be somewhere great in your life, you can a chieve it. That ‘can’ is letting you know that it is possible, anything is possible, and that it is achievable. ‘You could’, because with your belief, you could achieve the greatest record, with your belief. You could go the distance, You could run the mile, You could walk straight through hell with a smile. † These are another 3 lyrics that are sung in the second verse of the song. This ‘could’ Is telling you the possibilities that are open for you to take a chance in, letting you know that the world records that you think can never be broken, could be broken, with your effort & faith. ‘Do it’, because you only live once, and may never get the chance again. â€Å"Do it for your people, Do it for your pride†¦ Do it for your country, Do it for your name. The ‘Do it’ is telling you to make your people proud, to prove your haters wrong, and to do it for yourself, your diginity. â€Å"Dedicate yourself and you can find yourself standing in the hall of fame. † In my personal opinion, it’s one thing if you have a dream and want to pursue it, but you have to dedicate yourself. Working hard at not what you want, but what you need. This lyric lets me know that if I believe in something, put my best efforts into it, and keep a smile on my face, with great possibility I can be standing in the hall of fame.When they say ‘Standing In the Hall Of Fame’, I don’t necessarily think it means being a celebrity or being famous, but being the best you can be, in a ‘hall’ as they like to call it, which to my imagination, is a hallway filled with records broken, and names to remember. The reason why I like this song so much is that I can easily relate it to my normal life. And I’m sure not only mine, but to plenty others too. It makes me feel better about myself in such a way that I know that anything is possible.Everyone has a goal, or a dream whether i t’s losing a few pounds for summer or breaking and Olympic record, everyone has one. Having a goal is the greatest way to get somewhere you want, because a goal paints a picture in your mind of what you want and need, and I can honestly say that when I picture myself being onstage, and daydream about working with my favourite producers, it gives me an motivational boost that tells me, ‘it’s possible. ’ But imagining things isn’t the only way I can keep motivated, listening to music keeps me motivated.And with this particular song being released, it is a mash of the two, which is why it’s so inspirational to me, and it’s also why I am writing a response to it at this moment. â€Å"Be students Be teachers Be politicians Be preachers Be believers Be leaders Be astronauts Be champions Be true seekers† This repetition is what caught my ears the most in this song. That persuasive ‘Be’ makes you just want to get up and do something. The vocals they use in the song while singing these enhance even more, it’s as if they are chanting for you to do it, it makes you feel like you’re in a stadium having people cheer you on to pursue your dream.It’s giving you that motivation and support which you might not be able to find at home or at school. One last thing I would like to elaborate on, is when the lyric reads, ‘Don’t wait for luck. ’ It’s pretty much a way of saying, don’t be lazy. Which is an excellent example of why teenagers today aren’t achieving much. It’s because they get lazy. I’ve met so many people around my age who have huge dreams and goals, but they never get anywhere because they are just waiting for something to happen. In order to get what you want, you need to fight.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Let’s analyze the gaming console industry Essay

We can define two types of supplier: the hardware supplier and the software supplier. The hardware suppliers providing the elements needed to build the consoles have a low bargaining power because there have very low switching costs and there are a lot of them. On the other hand, the software suppliers (developers) have a high bargaining power because they choose and set the conditions to work with each console. Entry Barriers Entry barriers are high because of high R&D costs and the high capital investment needed to start a business in the console industry. Internal Rivalry There is high internal rivalry among competitors because the core player market is growing slowly, competitors have high exit barriers and the products developed turn obsoletes in less than 5 years due to the fast progress of technology. The players in the industry are: Sony, XBOX and Nintendo. Buyer Power The bargaining power of buyers is high because there are many options with very low switching costs. Substitutes Low substitute power because they are not very similar (like TV or other entertainment device) and don’t fulfill the same exact purpose. Sony has few competitors due to high barriers-to-entry and startup costs but buyers and suppliers (game developers) have high bargaining power and low switching costs. Sony should target a new market as Nintendo did. We could call this market the casual players market. In order to get in this new segment, Sony will have to develop a more interactive way of using their console without dropping the numerous features to avoid losing their core player market share. The key of success for Sony is to adapt a new technology such as Nintendo did with Wii that will enable the company to target a broader market and not only the males from 16-36 years old. The advantage of entering those two markets with one console is that Sony will enter a bigger market with bigger returns and consequently bigger economies of scales. Also, entering the casual player market is important for the company to avoid falling behind its competitors in both markets since this new segment will enhance the brand exposure and recognition. The risk associated to this option is to turn this high performing console in a low performing console (as Nintendo did) and lose the core players customers that are very important to Sony financial stability and growth. A big challenge for this new console will be to cut costs in order to make it more accessible to customers, since the casual players market will definitely be â€Å"guided† by price. Vis-a-vis the Five Forces, if Sony were to pursue this option, the company will be competing in the core player market and on the casual player market. On the casual player market the substitutes will have more power. Sony will compete with other activities such as watching TV, watching a movie and others living room activities. The main â€Å"purpose† of this market is entertainment in general while the core player market is about playing video games. Update: Sony and Microsoft had already implemented advanced interactive technologies. Nowadays, Microsoft has the most advanced software and hardware that don’t need controllers anymore, just your body.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The First Dinosaurs

The First Dinosaurs About 230 million years agogive or take a few million yearsthe first dinosaurs evolved from a population of archosaurs, the ruling lizards that shared the earth with a host of other reptiles, including therapsids and pelycosaurs. As a group, dinosaurs were defined by a set of (mostly obscure) anatomical features, but to simplify matters a bit, the main thing that distinguished them from their archosaur forebears was their erect posture (either bipedal or quadrupedal), as evidenced by the shape and arrangement of their hip and leg bones. (See also What Is the Definition of a Dinosaur?, How Did Dinosaurs Evolve?, and a gallery of early dinosaur pictures and profiles.) As with all such evolutionary transitions, its impossible to identify the exact moment when the first true dinosaur walked the earth and left its archosaur ancestors in the dust. For example, the two-legged archosaur Marasuchus (sometimes identified as Lagosuchus) looked remarkably like an early dinosaur, and along with Saltopus and Procompsognathus inhabited that in-between shadow zone between these two forms of life. Further confusing matters, the recent discovery of a new genus of archosaur, Asilisaurus, may push back the roots of the dinosaur family tree to 240 million years ago; there are also controversial dinosaur-like footprints in Europe dating to as far back as 250 million years. Its important to bear in mind that archosaurs didnt disappear when they evolved into dinosaursthey went on living side-by-side with their eventual successors for the remainder of the Triassic period, at least 20 million years. And, to make things worse, around this same time, other populations of archosaurs went on to spawn the very first pterosaurs and the very first prehistoric crocodilesmeaning that for 20 million or so years, the late Triassic South American landscape was littered with similar-looking archosaurs, pterosaurs, two-legged crocodyliforms, and early dinosaurs. South America: Land of the First Dinosaurs As far as paleontologists can tell, the earliest dinosaurs lived in the region of the supercontinent Pangea corresponding to modern-day South America. Until recently, the most famous of these creatures were the relatively large (about 400 pounds) Herrerasaurus and the medium-sized (about 75 pounds) Staurikosaurus, both of which date to about 230 million years ago. Much of the buzz has now shifted to Eoraptor, discovered in 1991, a tiny (about 20 pounds) South American dinosaur whose plain-vanilla appearance would have made it a perfect template for later specialization (by some accounts, Eoraptor may have been ancestral to lumbering, four-footed sauropods rather than agile, two-legged theropods). A recent discovery may overturn our thinking about the South American origin of the first dinosaurs. In December of 2012, paleontologists announced the discovery of Nyasasaurus, which lived in a region of Pangaea corresponding to present-day Tanzania, in Africa. Shockingly, this slim dinosaur dates to 243 million years ago, or about 10 million years before the putative first South American dinosaurs. Still, it may yet turn out that Nyasasaurus and its relatives represented a short-lived offshoot of the early dinosaur family tree, or that it was technically an archosaur rather than a dinosaur; its now classified, somewhat unhelpfully, as a dinosauriform. These early dinosaurs spawned a hardy breed that quickly (at least in evolutionary terms) radiated out to other continents. The first dinosaurs quickly made their way into the region of Pangea corresponding to North America (the prime example is Coelophysis, thousands of fossils of which have been discovered at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, and a recent discovery, Tawa, has been adduced as further evidence for the South American origin of dinosaurs). Small to medium-sized carnivores like Podokesaurus soon made their way to eastern North America, then onward to Africa and Eurasia (a latter example being the western European Liliensternus). The Specialization of the First Dinosaurs The first dinosaurs existed on pretty much an equal footing with their archosaur, crocodile and pterosaur cousins; if you traveled back to the late Triassic period, you would never have guessed that these reptiles, above and beyond all the others, were fated to inherit the earth. That all changed with the still-mysterious (and little-known) Triassic-Jurassic Extinction Event, which wiped out the majority of archosaurs and therapsids (mammal-like reptiles) but spared the dinosaurs. No one knows exactly why; it may have had something to do with the upright posture of the first dinosaurs or perhaps their slightly more sophisticated lungs. By the start of the Jurassic period, dinosaurs had already started to diversify into the ecological niches left abandoned by their doomed cousinsthe most important such event being the late Triassic split between saurischian (lizard-hipped) and ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs. Most of the very first dinosaurs can be considered saurischians, as can the sauropodomorphs into which some of these early dinosaurs evolvedslender, two-legged herbivores and omnivores that eventually evolved into the giant prosauropods of the early Jurassic period and the even bigger sauropods and titanosaurs of the later Mesozoic Era. As far as we can tell, ornithischian dinosaurswhich included ornithopods, hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs, and ceratopsians, among other familiescould trace their ancestry all the way back to Eocursor, a small, two-legged dinosaur of late Triassic South Africa. Eocursor itself would have ultimately derived from an equally small South American dinosaur, most likely Eoraptor, that lived 20 million or so years earlieran object lesson in how such a vast diversity of dinosaurs could have originated from such a humble progenitor.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Effective staff development programme for nurses Research Paper

Effective staff development programme for nurses - Research Paper Example A Clinical Nurse Educator is a registered professional nurse with an advanced education, including postgraduate clinical and educational training combined with several years of expertise in a healthcare specialty (Coe, n.d.). A combination of clinical expertise and a passion for teaching are two of the fundamental skills that are needed by nurse educators (March & Ambrose, 2010). Nurse educators should have research and writing skills needed to identify learning needs and develop the right educational programmes and teaching strategies for their target learners (March & Ambrose, 2010). They should also have classroom teaching skills, where they are prepared to design and assess academic and continuing education programs for nurses and clinical staff (Coe, n.d.). At the workplace, they design informal continuing education programs that aim to enhance professional competencies as part of the individual learning needs. In addition, nurse educators serve as leaders who redefine processes for improved work-flow, document the results of educational programs and assist staff, students and patients through the learning process (Coe, n.d.). Nurse teams work closely with healthcare professionals and patients to develop enhanced disease outcomes and innovative approaches for patient management, which range training of professionals on new treatment protocols to working with patients and healthcare workers to instruct, train, advice and provide clinical support (Coe, n.d.).

Saturday, November 2, 2019

The Probation System of Georgia Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Probation System of Georgia - Term Paper Example As observed in the past years, the crime rate has increased leading to a consequent upsurge in the number of criminals in the population, in the state of Georgia. This resulted in set up of improved probationer and management responsibilities. Therefore, the probation operations were more successful such that an improvement in case management was observed. Improved case management resulted in supervision that is more efficient from the probation officers in such a way that they did not affect the society in a negative manner. There was also the creation of an environment whereby the departments run by the probation officers are redirected such that the probation officers handle cases of higher risk probationer population. The state of Georgia also developed the Probation Reporting Contact Centre. It was specifically developed to help in the improvement of processes by the probation officers and acted as a reliable source of information and assistance. The Probation Reporting Contact Centre was also observed to offer relief to the probation officers through offering compliance reports and offering routine content. This was made probable by the formation of an Interactive Voice Response system, which handled the automation of notes system documentation and call reception automation. The adoption of this new system also meant that the probation officers received customer support from staff members designated to make live telephone conversations. The Probation Reporting Contact Centre proved to be an efficient and effective way since it offered a low risk operation whereby all stable probationers were in a position to report their residences and at the same time comply with the court order conditions of probation. Through this body, the probation officers were also able to participate in self-improvement programs with translation in better service delivery (Palmer, 2008). The probation officers are responsible for the management of all cases and the decision-making activities pertaining offenders in the state of Georgia. These probation officers are highly qualified in the field of handling cases of delinquency and hence the all the assisting technologies were designed in such a way that all the data concerning patients was delivered to the probation officers in a timely manner electronically. The transmission of patient’s data electronically prepares the probation officers psychologically such that they are able to prepare prior to meeting with the patient. As a result, the tactics and approaches employed by the probation officers are informed as they already have an insight of the case at hand. This increased the effectiveness of the probation programs making the probation system in Georgia robust. The Probation Reporting Contact Centre acts as a very essential reporting tool for the probation officers. This is because this organization was formed and designed in such way that it acts as a positive sanction and supervision tool. The use of this instrument has proven to be very successful in the sense that the community receives safer and faster probationer supervision and compliance. This is evident through instances whereby the probationers are not always required to report to the office to offer their service as a probation officer in person. This in turn translates into the overcoming of many shortcomings posed such as time wastage on the job owning to the wait time in most probation lobbies and childcare expenses. The incorporation of this new technology in probation offices,

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Textual Analysis Of Western Europe In South-West India Essay

Textual Analysis Of Western Europe In South-West India - Essay Example For example, one set of authors might indicate the absence of nothing positive to learn from  one  part of the world. On the other hand, a different set of authors might provide a positive viewpoint of the same part of the world provided by the first set of authors. Nonetheless, the differences in the differing viewpoints are a result of the different undertakings that these authors carried out in order to build their opinions and justifications for their viewpoints. In their separate articles, Richard Grove and James D. Tracy provide two different viewpoints of Europe’s involvement in the South East Asia during the Renaissance period. In this case, the two authors use different sources to provide evidence about two differing sets of societies in South East Asia that Europeans interacted with during this period. On  one hand, Grove presents a dark side of the region during the time the Dutch East India Company carried out its operations. In this regard, Grove’s ar ticle depicts a region whose leaders represented an illustration of ways not to govern territories since the authors used sources that identified the leadership of the Asian region as despotic. In effect, Grove does not identify any influential role that the region played in Europe. On the other hand, James D. Tracy's article identifies the region as influential in developing medicine and botany in Europe. In this case, Tracy’s sources outline the influential role of the South East Asia society in developing classification systems and defining contemporary medicine and botany. Hence, this expose is an analysis of these differing viewpoints and identifies the authors disagreement due to the various sources used in developing the two disagreeing articles. In a synopsis, Grove’s article is a description of what the Portuguese and Dutch learnt from their interaction with the indigenous communities in South-West India. The author indicates the simulation of an awareness of the wider world in Western Europe. In addition, the author indicates that the voyages and the explorations enabled the development of natural history and the status of government. In this case, the article seems to indicate that the Dutch and Portuguese and the entire Western Europe benefited from their interactions with South-East Asia. For example, as the first explorers, the Portuguese had earlier settled and occupied territories of the indigenous people of South-West India. In line with this, the Portuguese explorative agenda was instrumental in accelerating the renewed interest in botanic gardens and medicine, which was through the knowledge offered by the indigenous communities in South-West India.1Conversely, the author argues that the Dutch’s replacement of the Portuguese in South-West India also benefited the Dutch since they interacted with the local communities and established a relationship that contributed to modern-day medicine and classification system.2 To del iver the argument about the benefits that the Portuguese and Dutch accrued from these communities, the author argues that European and Asian constructions of nature are a result of the South-West India and the Leiden botanic gardens incorporation.3 The author identifies two texts as core in the diffusion of botanic gardens into the explorative nature of the Europeans. The first of this text is the Coloquioso by Da Orta while the other text is Hortus Malabaricus by Van Reede.4 The author identi

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Should Pluto be considered as a Planet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Should Pluto be considered as a Planet - Essay Example In the end around 2700 astronomers agreed that the solar system be divided into two categories called 'Planet' and 'Dwarf Planet'. Pluto being put in the category of 'Dwarf Planet' that means it will no longer be placed in the company of eight planets viz. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A new distinct class of objects called 'Dwarf planets was decided with Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313 (temporary name) being the first three members of this club. When Pluto was discovered, in 1930 astronomers assumed that it had a mass comparable to Earth's. Only gradually, in the ensuing decades, did celestial mechanicals come to realize that this grossly overestimated. Pluto turned out to be less than 1% of Earth's size. With the advent of powerful new telescopes on the ground and in space, planetary astronomy has gone though an exciting development over the past decade and we are bound to find many more dwarf planets in future, if we continue placing them all in the list of 'Planets', in the company of Earth moon then we'll doing injustice to this elite club members having such distinctive features as life, air, water, atmosphere etc. Astronomy, the branch of physics studying celestial bodies, gives room for improvements and evolutions with newer discoveries. Since the time in 1930 when Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, many similar objects were discovered in the outer solar system, most notably the Trans-Neptunian object Eris which is slightly larger than Pluto. If we continue to treat Pluto as a Planet, it is bound to give room for more debates for including some more names in the list. Pluto is very unlike its inner neighbors, the gas giants Uranus and Neptune. This thought led to the exclusion of Pluto from the refurbished Hayden Planetarium in New York City when it unveiled its spiral planet walk. This goes on to prove that Pluto's place in the list was being doubted for long. We now know of thousands of small icy bodies in a zone called the Kuiper Belt and at least 100 of them are like Pluto. Studies are still on to look for many more. The article states that 'there are two fundamentally different ways to define planets. One is to treat the planets as dynamically interacting ensemble with bodies that perturb each other gravitationally. This approach is what led to Pluto originally being considered as massive as the Earth-to account for the perturbations on Neptune and Uranus that were supposedly the basis of Percival Lowell's prediction of a trans-Neptunian planet. But as the decade rolled by, astronomers realized that apparent irregularities in the motions of the outer planets were attribution to an erroneous mass assigned to Neptune. Pluto, discovered by coincidence roughly where Lowell said it should be, is actually an irrelevant lightweight compared to the main family of planets.' Pluto, Eris and others require to be studied and analyzed further, before we arrive

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Marxist Theory of Crime: An Overview and Analysis

Marxist Theory of Crime: An Overview and Analysis What can a Marxist understanding of society contribute to criminological theory? Marxist understanding of the society sets the tone by giving an economic analysis of the society that sees a class struggle between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. This struggle contains the attempts by the proletariat to free themselves from the domination of the bourgeoisie as they seek to take over the means of production. As Chablis states, the capitalist society is where the means of production are in private hands and where the inevitably develops a division between the class that rules and the class that is ruled, it creates a substantial amount of crime (Chablis, 2016). Marxism is a conflict theory established to create a belief that the capitalist system is just a way in which the bourgeoisie control and exploit the proletariat. It underlines the unequal conflict between these two social classes in the society. Marxist understanding of the society provides an explanation or gives us the opportunity to understand the criminological theory from a different perspective. It perpetuates an understanding of how the significant gaps between the social classes are the prime reason for criminal acts, it explains this through the income gaps, the exploitation of profit through labour, using consumers as an instrument to the end profit. Chablis Crime diverts the lower classes attention from the exploitation they experience and directs it towards other members of their own class rather than towards the capitalist class or the economic system. (Chablis, 2016) this reinforces the whole idea of capitalism structured only to favour the bourgeoisie as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It also underlines how weve accepted being exploited as something natural and making ourselves wage slaves (i.e. slave to the market, low pay and precarious employment, to the petty tyranny of managers, to the crises of capitalism). This essay would address how the Marxist perspective comes into play in contributing to the criminological theory. The mode of production consists of both the means of production (the technological process) and the relationship of different classes to the means of production. The distinction between those who own and those who work for others is crucial. Often of the most violent sort, as a result,it emanate from the capitalist system. Chablis in his writing reinforces upon the prime Marxist factor in understanding the criminological theory Due to the division of class, conflicts awake and this manifests in rebellions and riots among the proletariats, the state, acting in interests of the owners of the means of production will pass laws designed to control, through the application of state-sanctioned force, those acts of the proletariat which threaten the interests of the bourgeoisie. This act is defined as criminal. (Chablis, 2016) The capitalist system is one which is subject to the crisis, due to its structure and how it functions, Marx and Engel argue that capitalism brutalises the poor, it f osters immorality and creates a higher likelihood for people to want to commit a crime. This can be supported from Mertons idea of the strain theory; he explains this theory using the idea of the American Dream. In this, he illustrates how the end goal, is to achieve the American dream, however, those who cant achieve this dream through legal means become delinquent in an attempt to achieve their goal in one way or the other. The structure of capitalism creates both the desire to consume and for a large mass of people. For those with the inability to earn the money necessary to purchase the items, they have been taught to want means they become delinquent. On this note, Marx would say, capitalism functions on this factors, without people being delinquent, capitalism cannot function as it thrives on poverty, unemployment and crime. Marx would also further on say, the bourgeoisies power to create and make law is what provides power, work and ability to control and bend the rules in th eir favour. As also argued by Chablis, The criminal law is not a reflection of custom but is a set of rules laid down by the state in the interests of the ruling class. Due to class structure, criminal behaviour is now inevitable. Criminal behaviour is a product of the economic and political system in a capitalist society. (Chablis, 2016) Criminality is simply not something that people have or dont have, crime is not something some people do and some dont. Crime is a matter of who can pin the label on whom and underlie this socio-political process is the structure of social relations determined by the political economy.so therefore, Marxist understanding of society contributes in making us understanding the criminological theory but illustrating how the apparent significant social gap amongst class contributes to the criminological theory. The starting point for the understanding of society is the realisation that the most fundamental feature of peoples lives is their relationship to the mode of production. Willem Bonger view on the criminological theory underlines that capitalism is a culture of egoism, greed, the rich legitimately but also criminally greedy, the poor illegitimately greedy. He illustrated how the criminal justice system permits the selfish greed of the rich but criminalises that of the poor. This shows that the system significantly favours one social class and on the other hand significantly criminalises the other. The war or fight against crime is one which cant be won. The criminal justice system doesnt help but rather create a system of policing and punishment which reproduces the problem of crime which causes re-offenders to re-offend. Marxist understanding of the society creates a premise that there is a causal system in play. The proletariat is constantly in the struggle of overthrowing the bour geoisie to create a utopian society ruled by all people. The constant attempt of the proletariat in overthrowing the bourgeoisie means it gets defined as a crime and therefore the proletariats are classed as criminals. This is as a result of the bourgeoisie actively working to set laws in place that oppress the proletariat by creating crimes that target the proletariat or put in place systems such as unemployment equals prison. As once the consumer cant consume at will, they become delinquent. So, therefore, Marxist understanding of society contributes to criminological theory in illustrating how the social gaps cause a causal effect where the bourgeoisie uses their power in making the proletariat delinquent. Marxist understanding of the society on criminological theory poses the notion that crime is an ideological construct as they do not refer to those behaviours which objectively cause harm, injury and suffering. Marxist understanding denotes that the capitalist structure creates a state of illusion. In this, he explains how the bourgeoisie uses their control to keep the masses ignorant of their exploitation. These results in the isolation of the worker from the process of production, the lack of control over work mean that the person identifies themselves as a machine and therefore work appears alien. The difference class system gap leaves the proletariat oppressed, with no power whatsoever to alleviate their situation. This then brings into light the whole idea of ideological control through the use of media in portraying an image of something which isnt necessarily the case. This, of course, depicts a false illusion and creates a society where people are unsure of their identity or in fact living a fake identity in and within their societies. This essentially means the proletariat are being set up to fail by the bourgeoisie and punished by the legal system when they do fail. As Greenberg states there must be something rotten in the very core of a social system which increases its wealth without diminishing its misery, (Greenberg, 1993; 54) Marxists understanding also believe that when it comes to crime, governments fabricate information to suit their purposes and to get public backing for any action taken by that government that might be construed as trespassing on freedoms. Marx himself also recognises that we can observe in recent times that the continuous repetition of mass incarceration has turned into an economic attempt. It creates jobs (in the legal profession and in law enforcement) and it creates new technologies (e.g., electronic tags). Furthermore, the existence of criminals might foster the feeling of societal cohesion among the law-abiding and amo ng those who appear to be law-abiding. Law enforcement agency discretion in making arrests, prosecuting attorney discretion in refusing to take legal action; dropping or reducing charges or going ahead with the prosecution, judges discretion in setting sentences and discretion in releasing criminals from custody, all operates to the advantage of the bourgeoisie. The right to a lawyer benefited those who could afford such superior legal representation more than it benefited others. Significantly, Marxian criminologists began to see these discriminations not as an unfortunate product of prejudice on the part of isolated individuals, but rather as a reproduction of the inequalities in power that follow from the inequalities of the bourgeoisie. On the other hand, Marxist understanding also gave room for some questioning. The major problem with Marxist understanding makes an attempt to apply actions to people which are only applicable to a small minority. In addition to, the assumption or the conclusion that every form of crime that happens or occurs is due to the economic class struggle is tough to sustain. We must not dismiss the fact that Marxist understanding of the society doesnt contribute to the criminological theory today but it is plausible to say such views are invalid in todays society as Marxist understanding of the society was an explanation for the situations paying at hand in the 19th century but we are in a different era now. So, therefore, his understanding of the society is slowly becoming irrelevant. This is plausible and fair to say because we now live in a society where most people have undergone considerable improvements in their standard of living and we live in a society, where people are not trying t o overthrow the bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie arent in control of manipulating the criminal justice system as unlike before, most politicians, corporate companies, the rich, the enforcer of the law are being held accountable for any deviant actions and not rather just the proletariat being criminalised. So, therefore, it is fair to say the system now holds everyone accountable. In addition to, functionalist criminology would attribute more to flawed socialisation and see crime as a necessary element of the society to help bring about a collective change but also to support the combined conscience of the people. Marxism ignores the process involved with the criminal system. For example, Becker and Edwin Lemert focus on labelling theory to identify how and why people are identified, labelled delinquent and criminalised. Many fundamentalists such as Oakley argues more in common with a Marxist understanding of the society but with an emphasis on patriarchy rather than capitalism. This , therefore, shows that there are some loopholes for criticism in Marxist understanding of the society in contributing to criminological theory. However, one notion still stands firm and plausible, the gap between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is one which is still apparent as the rich gets richer and the poor get poorer. To conclude, Marxist understanding of the society supporting contribution to criminological theory outlines the facts that crime occurs due to the class gaps amongst the proletariat and bourgeoisie, Marx also further goes to elaborate that the class gaps creates an effect where the bourgeoisie are in charge of the criminal justice system and therefore are capable of bending and making the law. This in facts put power only in the hands of the bourgeoisie and therefore makes the whole process undemocratic. Due to this, this creates and an economic gap where the poor are exploited of their services as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. This understanding illustrates that capitalism only thrive and survive on this factor, Marx explain this through the whole concept of the proletariat being sold a reality that they cant afford and therefore are paid lower wages and in order to reach this goal, they either become delinquent or work harder and get exploited. The crimes of the rich are unaccounted for as they are in control of the law and the bourgeoisie ability to define law means they decide who a criminal is and what makes a criminal. Marx also touches upon the idea that crime is an ideological construct created by the capitalist system to create a state of illusion and as a result, he endorsed or highlights a revolution and such notion against the bourgeoisie would be considered an act of crime. Although briefly highlighted,, there are some loopholes in Marxist understanding of the society, it is plausible to conclude that Marxist understanding has helped put things into perspective in understanding the criminological theory as the social class and economic class gap amongst the rich and the poor, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is still an issue that needs addressing in todays society. Bibliography Chambliss, W. (1975) Towards a Political Economy of Crime, Extract reprinted in J. Muncie et al (eds.)(1996) Criminological Perspectives: A Reader, London: Sage pg. 249-255 Bonger, W. (1916) Criminality and Economic Conditions (excerpt), in J. Muncie et al (eds.) (1996) Criminological Perspectives: A Reader, London: Sage. Scraton, P. (1987)(ed.) Law, Order and the Authoritarian State: Readings in Critical Criminology, Buckingham: Open University Pres. GREENBERG, D. (Ed.). (1993). Crime and Capitalism: Readings in Marxist Criminology. Temple University Press. Pg.54 Howard Becker (1973). Outsiders: studies in the sociology of crime and deviance. New York: New York free press. 1-18. Lemert, E. (1951) Social Pathology. New York: McGraw-Hill Lynch, M. J., Groves, W. B. (1986). A primer in radical criminology. Harrow and Heston. Sims, B. A. (1997). Crime, punishment and the American dream: Toward a Marxist integration. Journal of research in crime and delinquency, 34(1), 5-24. doi:10.1177/0022427897034001002 Sparks, R. F. (1980). A critique of Marxist criminology. Crime and justice, 2, 159-210. Margaret E. Reid. (2008). A feminist sociological imagination. Reading Ann Oakley. 5 (1), 84-91. Akers, R. L., Sellers, C. S. (2009). Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and Application. (5th Ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Kenny Chesney Essay -- Country Singers Biographies Musicians Essays

Kenny Chesney Introduction: â€Å"No shoes, No shirt, No problems. Blues what blues†¦hey I forgot them. The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand with no bottom and no shoes, no shirt, and no problems! (Lyrics on Demand). These are the lyrics of infamous country legend Kenney Chesney. Kenney Chesney is a leading artist in the country music industry. Earlier in his life, he experienced several set backs and disappointments on his way to becoming a country singer. Nashville, TN was very difficult on this young song writer, as it was the same to others. However, with persistants and dedication, Kenny Chesney finally made a name for himself, and is now a â€Å"Big Star.† Country Music History Unlike other genres of music, country music did not begin until August 1, 1927. On this day in Bristol, Tennessee, Ralph Peer signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to recording contracts for Victor Records. These two acts set the tone for others to follow – Rodgers with his unique singing style and the Carters with their extensive recording of old-time music (Roughstock’s History of Country Music). However, it was not until 1950 when the â€Å"Nashville Sound† began. The â€Å"Nashville Sound† is defined as a blend of pop and country music. This is the category of country music in which Kenny Chesney falls into. K.C's History: Kenney Chesney grew up in a very small town called Luttrell, Tennessee. There, he was what you would call a typical â€Å"red neck.† He was a starter on his high school football team and his heart was broken by his high school sweetheart. Additionally, he idolized country singers like â€Å"Conway and Waylon, George Jones and Lefty Frizzell, Willie nelson and George Strait and Merle haggard, Vern Gosdin and John Conley and whatever ... ...Chesney has sold over eight million albums. Conclusion: Kenney Chesney has definitely made a name for himself in the country music industry. Through his had work and persistence, this guy from a small town in Tennessee has become a â€Å"Big Star.† Although Kenney Chesney is known thought the world, Chesney said for me, it’s â€Å"about the guy in the baseball hat and the girl that guy thinks is pretty. Real life the double platinum boy, who finds his solace in the ocean, realizes doesn’t’ always who up with the glided edges and profound pronouncements – you gotta find the truth as it rolls by with tan lines, an easy smile and a twinkle in its eye. And you know, so far, that’s worked just fine† (Official Website). Works Cited: href="www.roughstock.com"Rough Stock href="www.kchesney.com"The Official KC Homepage href="www.lyricsondemand.com"Lyrics on Demand

Thursday, October 24, 2019

On Becoming a Leader Essay

The book I chose to review is â€Å"On Becoming a Leader† by Warren Bennis. At the crux of this book is a search to understand how leaders are made. Throughout the book, the author tries to prove through polls and observations, that leaders are not born but are made through a combination of nature and nurture. Leaders who excel tend to have similar characteristics which have been developed by a series of experiences in their lives (these include embracing mistakes, taking risks and learning from adversity). Another idea discussed in the book is that of the role of education in making leaders. Bennis notes a number of qualities and abilities that are common amongst the leaders he interacts with. Some of those are relating well to others, trusting others and in turn being trustworthy, the ability to motivate people and to not give up, inspiration and competence in the job. However, he claims that a major problem in business & leadership is the â€Å"societal disease of our time† (as said by Norman Lear to him) – short term thinking. He highlights throughout the book that this form of thinking is not beneficial to organizations and that a good leader should be able to look further and not give the short term too much importance. At one point he claims that short term thinking is what kills one of the most important attributes a leader must have – innovation. The author mentions that leaders are important to an organization since they are of paramount importance to the operational performance, stability and integrity of the organization. To this end, Warren Bennis presents in a systematic manner various attributes that are required of a leader to be able to perform well. The first attribute discussed is the ability to â€Å"Master the context†. In this chapter, the author discusses the fact that a leader must be able to understand the reasons and outcomes of different situations. Only once he has managed this, will he be able to act in the best possible way for his organization. This is in line with what we have learned throughout our course regarding improving one’s self-awareness as well as the 4 perspectives of organizational effectiveness. A leader must be able to understand the context of work and respond by being aware that he needs to look after different perspectives of people and systems related to the organization. The second thing discussed is â€Å"understanding the basics†, which is quite similar to mastering the context. In this, Warren Bennis explains that leaders need to understand the underlying concepts at work before making decisions. He lists a series of attributes that can be found in most leaders including self-knowledge, passion, vision and trust. He argues that most of the leaders are not born with these attributes but life experiences and a desire to lead people enables them to develop a good understanding of this. Their drive to acquire and learn are much higher than on average and they actively pursue these drives while taking risks and placing lesser importance on their drive for safety. In this he also discusses the difference between managing people and leading them. We have gone through various topics related directly to this effect in class. According to me, one of the strongest drives an individual has is the drive to safety. An individual would be much more comfortable if they can trust their leader. The ability to understand the thought process of their leader and their belief/trust in him helps shore up their drive for safety. Across cultures, people tend to avoid uncertainty and if a leader is able to, through knowledge and an understanding, provide people with an image of consistency; it goes a long way in settling people and reducing stress. The third lesson is â€Å"knowing yourself†. Warren Bennis argues that in order to lead others, one must fully understand themselves. To be able to trust your decisions/inner feelings is extremely important for leading people and making correct choices. The author goes on to highlight 4 lessons that enable an individual to understand themselves. They are â€Å"you are your own best teacher†, â€Å"accept responsibility†, â€Å"you can learn anything you want to learn† and â€Å"true understanding comes from reflecting on your own experience†. All these lessons are at the core of organizational behavior as we have learnt. These 4 lessons can apply even to organizations as well as being useful for individuals. Self-concept is an important part of an individual’s make up and to feed that we must be able to reflect on our past experiences to learn from them. Social learning, learning through reinforcement and learning through experience are discussed as important factors of learning in organizations in our course. I believe this same applies to individuals as they are able to develop their social identity and self-concept through these lessons. Next, the author discusses â€Å"Knowing the world†. This takes a similar route to the previous subject of knowing yourself, while developing a greater scope to the understanding. Cultural understanding is an extremely important attribute in a leader. In an increasingly diverse workforce coupled with increasing globalization, a leader must have the ability to and desire to understand various cultures and behaviors. Values and behavior are very different for different cultures, and a lot of organizations have failed due to the incompatible understanding of their leaders. The HP-Compaq merger was a major case where while it was beneficial financially and operationally for the companies to merge, their leaders were not able to fully adapt the two company’s cultures properly, causing the merger to have not performed anywhere near expectations. One point that I found particularly interesting and felt that was very important was the need for a person to find a mentor who can help them enhance and shape their cultural understanding. The social learning aspect discusses similar concepts, where a person learns from someone whom they aspire to be. Being able to find a mentor who has an in depth understanding of cultures, or at least has a desire to learn cultural differences can help an individual become a more complete leader. The next thought discussed by the author is â€Å"Operating on instinct†. This discussion focuses on the fact that a good leader should be able to believe in himself and should be able to take decisions from his gut feeling. More often than not a leader and even individuals will have to make decisions without knowing all the details they would like to know. The presence of incomplete information should not make the leader less likely to make a decision. A good leader will have developed enough self-awareness and through self-evaluation and verification be able to rely on his instinct to make the right choice. This enables the leader to be able to quickly and decisively contemplate and decide issues. The next discussion is based on †Deploying yourself†. In this the author talks about the fact that a successful leader is a person who is willing to take on challenges even though he might have failed in earlier challenges. The drive to learn and acquire are, I feel, major contributors to this topic. A good leader will be able to reflect on his past experiences and learn from them; and this gives them confidence to continually drive for newer challenges and tasks. Another topic discussed is â€Å"Moving through chaos†. In this chapter, Warren Bennis describes the difference between all individuals and leaders. He points out that everyone faces problems and issues in their career, but that leaders analyze these problems and tend to learn from these. Conflict resolution can take many forms through third-party conflict resolution or negotiation. Leaders reflect on their conflicts and develop an understanding of how to overcome those challenges. â€Å"Getting people on your side† is the next topic covered. The main point of this discussion, and a very important learning for me personally, is the ability of the leader to be trustworthy. To be trusted, a leader must display consistency in his actions, congruity – meaning what they say, reliable to their followers and have a strong integrity. This once again gravitates towards the drive for safety individuals have. To be lead by someone, an individual must trust them to act on their behalf and be able to predict to a certain extent what their leaders will do for them. The concept of romanticizing leadership is down to this ability of leaders. If a leader is able to bring their employees/followers on their side, the leader’s ability to work through tasks and challenges is increased. Even mistakes made by them will be viewed in a positive light, enabling them to continue taking risks. â€Å"Organizations can help – or hinder† is the next topic that is discussed. This focuses on the fact different organizations will have different expectations from their leaders. The culture at an organization will dictate how well a leader will be able to lead the organization. A good leader will be able to understand the context of the organization and will try to devise strategies he can implement to make changes. The author also mentions that the leader should try and develop organizational characteristics that are in line with their culture. This also transposes into the last discussion of â€Å"Forging the future†. The impediments faced by leaders in an organization can be very hard, but a good leader will be able to develop his own culture and characteristics to move the organization forward. One major issue I had with this book was that while the author continually refers to short term thinking as a â€Å"societal disease†; he himself to a certain extent subscribes to that notion. His interaction with the leaders seems comparatively very short term. Throughout the statements made in the book, it felt that the interviews were more about successful past rather than forward looking. I understand that one of the major attributes is to learn from experiences but the I’d prefer if the author also focused equally on the leader’s thoughts about the future. Secondly I felt that there was quite a bit of political commentary in the book. I knew that it was going to have some after reading the reviews while selecting the book, but the political leadership aspect seemed to be a comparatively one sided. I feel that the author could have refrained from making this political and focused instead on the corporate leadership aspect.