Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower

Catherine Zulfer, a former employee of playboy filed a suit against them alleging that Playboy Enterprises violated provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The former employee reports that playboy retaliated against her for refusing to participate in fraudulent activity against Playboy’s shareholders (Katz, Marshall& Banks, LLP, 2013). Without receiving permission from the board of directors, Christopher Pachler, Chief Financial Officer, instructed Zulfer to gather one million dollars in bonuses for various corporate officers of the company.At that time Zulfer felt that Pachler was attempting to embezzle the money from the company, therefore she denied the request until it was approved by the board. Zulfer then informed Playboys General Counsel and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the request that was made by Pachler. Soon after Zulfer made the report, she claims that retaliation against her began. She was excluded from company meetings and discussions, crucial information to her position was withheld from her, and her accounting staff was diminishing (Katz, Marshall & Banks, LLP, 2013).On December 31, 2011 Zulfer was terminated, although Playboy describes it as a layoff. Issue: Did Playboy violate the whistleblower-protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (â€Å"SOX†)? Rule: The Playboy Company retaliated against Zulter for refusing to participate in fraud regarding the playboy shareholders. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (SOX) one rule prohibits any employer from retaliation against and employee. Another rule is that under this law employees are protected when they speak of a wrongdoing within the workplace.â€Å"Under SOX, employers are strictly prohibited from retaliating against employees who report illegal or unethical conduct. Employees are also protected when making disclosures about shareholder fraud or violations of SEC rules and regulations. † (Halunen, p. 1, Para. 1) Analysis: Append reflecti on Zulter dismissal was retaliation against her by the playboy company, because she reported and activity of fraud with the playboy shareholders.In this case, Zulter was continually excluded from meetings and discussions, withholding crucial information she needed to carry out her corporate accounting responsibilities, and eliminating corporate accounting staff. Conclusion: In the end, the courts dismissed playboy’s argument reaffirming that under the bylaws of (SOX) employees are protected from employees from retaliation for reporting violations of â€Å"any rule of regulation of the SEC.Zulfer was protected under the SOX Act, whistle-blower‘s of publicly traded companies are protected. Employers are not supposed to retaliate or discriminate against employees in the terms and conditions of their employment. The plaintiff provided information regarding violations the company was participating in; the violations that can be of a federal fraud statute, a rule or regulati on of the SEC, or a provision of Federal law relating to fraud against shareholders.The team agrees that Zulfer was protected under the Act and that the Act is there to bring forth more white collar crimes that would not otherwise be disclosed if the was not there to protect and compensate. SOX promotes honesty without fear, the whistle-blower provisions of the SOX Act provides a general framework for ensuring that employees (including attorneys and auditors) disclose information which may harm investors. Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Catherine Zulfer, a former employee of playboy filed a suit against them alleging that Playboy Enterprises violated provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The former employee reports that playboy retaliated against her for refusing to participate in fraudulent activity against Playboy’s shareholders (Katz, Marshall& Banks, LLP, 2013). Without receiving permission from the board of directors, Christopher Pachler, Chief Financial Officer, instructed Zulfer to gather one million dollars in bonuses for various corporate officers of the company.At that time Zulfer felt that Pachler was attempting to embezzle the money from the company, therefore she denied the request until it was approved by the board. Zulfer then informed Playboys General Counsel and the Securities and Exchange Commission of the request that was made by Pachler. Soon after Zulfer made the report, she claims that retaliation against her began. She was excluded from company meetings and discussions, crucial information to her position was withheld from her, and her accounting staff was diminishing (Katz, Marshall & Banks, LLP, 2013).On December 31, 2011 Zulfer was terminated, although Playboy describes it as a layoff. Issue: Did Playboy violate the whistleblower-protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (â€Å"SOX†)? Rule: The Playboy Company retaliated against Zulter for refusing to participate in fraud regarding the playboy shareholders. Under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, (SOX) one rule prohibits any employer from retaliation against and employee. Another rule is that under this law employees are protected when they speak of a wrongdoing within the workplace.â€Å"Under SOX, employers are strictly prohibited from retaliating against employees who report illegal or unethical conduct. Employees are also protected when making disclosures about shareholder fraud or violations of SEC rules and regulations. † (Halunen, p. 1, Para. 1) Analysis: Append reflecti on Zulter dismissal was retaliation against her by the playboy company, because she reported and activity of fraud with the playboy shareholders.In this case, Zulter was continually excluded from meetings and discussions, withholding crucial information she needed to carry out her corporate accounting responsibilities, and eliminating corporate accounting staff. Conclusion: In the end, the courts dismissed playboy’s argument reaffirming that under the bylaws of (SOX) employees are protected from employees from retaliation for reporting violations of â€Å"any rule of regulation of the SEC.Zulfer was protected under the SOX Act, whistle-blower‘s of publicly traded companies are protected. Employers are not supposed to retaliate or discriminate against employees in the terms and conditions of their employment. The plaintiff provided information regarding violations the company was participating in; the violations that can be of a federal fraud statute, a rule or regulati on of the SEC, or a provision of Federal law relating to fraud against shareholders.The team agrees that Zulfer was protected under the Act and that the Act is there to bring forth more white collar crimes that would not otherwise be disclosed if the was not there to protect and compensate. SOX promotes honesty without fear, the whistle-blower provisions of the SOX Act provides a general framework for ensuring that employees (including attorneys and auditors) disclose information which may harm investors.

TERORISM and it’s Growing Threat to the entire Human Civilization

Terrorism has been among the oldest and yet the most devastating social problems in every human civilization that passes the earth’s history. True, as time passes, terrorism gains more and more development along with all the advancements of both science and technology.Through the passing years of the human history, terrorism has brought pain and grotesque effect to the people living within the so called ‘war arenas’ of terrorist attacks.Through the world reports dating way back several years past, terrorism could be identified to be among the strongest culprit, which keeps away the possibility of enhancing peace and security within the human society. In the late 1980’s, terrorism appeared to be on the decline. However, a new breed of terrorist has emerged.Today’s terrorist threat comes primarily from extremists who have established their own funding networks—through traffic in drugs, private business, independent wealth, charities, and local f inancial support. Moreover, they continue to be as ruthless as ever. (Schimoff, 10)Recent years saw a proliferation of senseless acts of terrorism. The World Trade Center in New York City was bombed, killing six people and injuring some 1,000. A cultreleased sarin nerve gas in the Tokyo subway system, killing twelve and injuring more than five thousand. A terrorist leveled a federal building in Oklahoma City with a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring hundreds.Yes, it is indeed fearful enough for the current generations living today, thinking of the fact that terrorism now is ever developing and is directly affecting the entire human activities. Going back to the most recent and the most controversial terrorist attack that shocked the whole world is the September 11 incident in the United States.Upon the bombing of the big establishments in the United States, the whole world was alarmed and was moved to unify for peace. It could be remembered how the different races form equally dif ferent nations began to join in prayer for the whole world’s freedom from all the fears of being victimized by terrorism.With these, President Bush, acknowledged all those who took time to at least several minutes to pry for the aim of stopping the grave effects of terrorism not only in America but also in the entire human society.In his speech, President Bush points out the importance of the nations coming together in a goal of putting an end to the social dilemma brought about by the selfish aims of terrorists especially from Afghanistan.He further adds that there ought to be some changes on the way people from the said region of the world concerning their treatment to other nationalities especially to Americans. It could be noted that the most applauded part of his speech was that of the statements he directly addressed to the Afghan terrorists or Al Qaeda.As he said, he demands the people and whole society in Afghanistan to surrender any hidden terrorists in their country , thus helping the American government to eliminate the deepened terrorism operation in the said company.Furthermore, President Bush asks that the foreign national who were held captive by the al Qaeda group be released especially the soldiers who were only there to fight for the rights of the world to be free from the selfish and crooked desires of the said terrorist network group.Aside from this, the closure and the ceasing of the operation of numerous training camps in Afghanistan have also been demanded by the US President.   Hence, through this, the continuous development of young terrorists in the country could be ended and thus give the young boys of Afghanistan a better future than just the world that is controlled by anger, guns and wars.To be clear of what his idea of fighting terrorism is, he stressed that the fight is not against the believers of the Islam religion or the Afghanistan nationals living in the cradle of terrorism. He even pointed out that those who are en gaged in terrorism activities are traitors of their own faith. Thus, President Bush further emphasizes the importance of the fight, which he implies towards the terrorists.He then says that this is a fight of all those who believe in progress, pluralism, tolerance and freedom. Hence, to be able to fight terrorism, it is not war that is believed to stop the dilemma, but the application of meeting violence with patient justice.In the paragraphs to follow, the necessary points of consideration regarding the fight against the network terrorism activities around the world shall be carried through and tackled carefully. It shall highlight the act on how the American society as well as with the whole world is supposed to take high potential actions towards terrorist attacks.

SWOT analysis for the company LIDDUP Term Paper

SWOT analysis for the company LIDDUP - Term Paper Example Innovation can lead a business towards a successful path but only when it is done keeping in mind the real problems faced by the consumers. Each & every product we use today is the result of an innovation. The purpose of the innovation is very important & also its acceptance by the society is also important. The people who developed mobile phones, first of all put due weight age on the necessity of talking while moving. Otherwise fixed phones were enough for communication. Therefore it’s necessary for the innovators to keep a constant touch with the intended market. This helps them in getting better ideas & better inputs for the product they are going to launch. Innovation also has a direct link with creativity. Creativity is the inborn trait of an entrepreneur who effortlessly succeeds in his work & can work with a team by providing them proper guidance & leadership. Creativity is the inborn talent of a person which can be nurtured with the help of proper research, in order t o make a unique product. Again the term Invention is just an idea. Until & unless the product becomes commercially viable, it can’t be called an Innovation. Innovation requires a lot of development & design work. Both innovation & creativity, together paves the way for wealth creation only if the new product is accepted by the market. (Swann, 2009, p.23) Strategy The term â€Å"strategy† was initially used in wars for developing tactics to win over the enemy. Business is also a kind of war, where the rival firms are considered as enemies & everyone fight with each other to achieve the maximum market share & maximum sales. In this war the weapon is strategy. A strategy is a tool used for managing the organization’s resources in order to mitigate risks & optimize resources. This is the simplest definition of the term strategy. However in real life, the organization faces a lot of complexity to form & maintain a strategy. The anticipation of the future risks & bene fits is termed as SWOT analysis in the language of management. It helps in getting knowledge about the past & thinking about probable solutions to an existing or potential problem. The method involves detailed study of the market, the company & competitors. The analysis includes two parts; the internal environment includes the strength & weaknesses of the company which is controllable by the company itself. The external environment consists of the threats & opportunities which are completely controlled by the outside sources like market & competitors. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Risk Management Agency, 2008, p.1) The focal point of our discussion would be a new product, which is a cooler that comes with built-in LED lighting, developed by a company named LiddUp. Here we will consider the features of the product, SWOT analysis of the product, evaluation of the current strategic plan of the firm & formation of our own strategies to improve the business. The Product LiddUp cooler is the brain child of Jayson Sandberg of Las Vegas who has 27 years of sales & customer service experience. He was assisted by Taylor Gwiazdon who graduated from Brentwood High School in 2004 with an engineering degree & presently, he is the national marketing director of Aria Resort & Casino, Las Vegas. Both of them have gone through around 200 prototypes before finally developing this product. The product is a portable beverage cooler with a

Ways To Improve Starbucks' Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ways To Improve Starbucks' Services - Essay Example Indeed, Starbucks needs to drastically change the way they distributes their service so as to increase customer satisfaction to remain competitive in the particular industry. Starbuck was founded in 1971 as a Seattle coffee bean retailer and roaster and since then has expanded quickly. Thus Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegel obtained the idea from Peet Alfred(of the famous Peet’s coffee)/.Initially the store just sold coffee making equipment and coffee beans as opposed to selling drinks, of which they have become popular globally. After a decade, Schultz Howard was contracted as a Director of Retail Operations and concluded that they ought to be selling drinks instead of machines and beans. Failing to convince the owners, they parted ways and Howard started the II Giornale series of coffee bars in the year 1986. The following year, Baldwin and company decided to sell Starbucks to Schultz who immediately changed the name of his II Giornale locations to Starbucks and began expanding. After dominating Seattle the chain of coffeehouses spread throughout the US and later on became international. Over the length of time, Starbucks has been in e xistence, it has acquired and bought companies such as Seattle’s and Peet’s Best Coffee and taken over several locations of Coffee people and Diedrich Coffee stores. From 1987, Starbucks has been opening 2 new stores everyday on average. The first ever store outside of the US or Canada was opened in 1996 in Tokyo and it Starbucks still maintains a considerable presence in Japan even to date. Today Starbucks has been able to expand to more than 17,200 stores in more than 55 nations worldwide. They have the biggest presence in the US, which has over 11,200 stores. Starbucks can be located in such diverse nations as Romania, Chile, Bulgaria and Bahrain. The very recent expansion took place in Budapest. Presently the overseas stores make up about one third of Starbuck’s

New York Times Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

New York Times - Research Paper Example The New York Times sold content portal About Group in late 2012. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger and his family control the company through a trust. The company has vowed to develop content from existing and emerging platforms like the wireless communication, in-house digital media, broadband technologies and the internet (Drexler, 2007). In an effort to acknowledge, the tremendous performance The New York Times has had through its segments since inception, the paper seeks to perform a business and corporate level strategy analysis of the firm and predict its future in the communication sector. The New York Times Media Group: The New York Times Media Group comprises of the New comprises of the New York Times which is a daily and Sunday newspaper media house; the New York Times index which is a print publication and in addition producing and licensing the New York Times Index; the International Herald Tribune which is a daily Newspaper; NYTimes.com; Digital Archive Distribution business that is responsible for licensing electronic archive database to resellers of that information in the professional, business, and library markets (Drexler, 2007). The New York Times Media Group is also responsible and management of the New York Times News Services Division. This main function New York Times News Services Division is the transmission of articles, graphics and photographs from the globe, the Times and several other publications to magazines, newspapers and web sites (New York Times (Firm), & In Claiborne 1966). New York Times News Services Division also performs the function o f distributing content online in addition to other digital platforms including e-reader and mobile applications, and social networking sites. The New England Media Group: This segment of New York Times comprises BostonGlobe.com which is a paid subscription Web site; the Boston Globe which is a daily and Sunday newspaper. Boston.com is also

Economic revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic revolution - Essay Example The new system aimed to represent every social group in administrating the interaction as it directs the new economic relations that resulted from social production. This had then paved the way to fundamental changes in humanity. Man’s primitive individualistic nature had made the development into a society quite a struggle. On the contrary his weakness and egotistical character drive him to acquire help that oblige him to cooperate with the same specie in order to survive. This was very evident in the ancient culture wherein food serves as their main necessity that binds individuals into a hunting tribe. But with the changing world, man’s needs and desires likewise moves toward something higher. As civilization advances man’s original nature was inevitably revealed, exposing a self-centered creature that he actually is. If individualism would prevail, diversity and disorganization would surely disrupt the society including its fundamentals such as industrialization. With that danger, man had come up with ways to prevent such disaster. Tradition had been used to preserve the society by obliging the succeeding generations to adhere to the previous kin’s occupation. At some part, it had to use authoritarian rule to defend its existence forcing people to work on their assigned task; this greatly refers to politics. Then came â€Å"market system† courtesy of economics. Market system secured the existence of the society by giving liberty to its people to do what they think would lead to their monetary advantage. The idea of gain lures its people to follow a central guiding rule without the need for tradition or authority. Being a systemic process that promotes interaction between its people as buyer or seller it had succeed to operate effectively into a social framework. Intelligently dealing with man’s individualistic nature it creatively answers the problem of

Cold War and the Los Angeles area Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Cold War and the Los Angeles area - Essay Example International sports sometimes need political support and this factor is exploited too, which was seen in the Cold war. President Carter concluded that such ban on sports would not create any benefit but on the part of athletes’, their career would be affected. This movement was well attuned to international politics, and the governments had access to the power. Joining of Russia in the Olympic movement politicized the games. Particularly, it is stated that to wage propaganda the U.S. government controlling the Olympic Games carried on this campaign against communism during Cold War. (Hill) The Los Angeles games of 1984 will be remembered greatly, as it showed the execution of super political power and it showed a significant impact on the domestic Olympics of the season. The games displayed the shift of powers from the IOC. Due to the Cold War, the strain between the countries allied with the super powers increased. Both the countries (West Germany and East Germany) were asked to participate as one team but the offer was declined by East Germany. (Rider) Such disagreement of countries allied with super powers continued for a long time and the athletes suffered. These games were sharply politicized on the other hand they were commercial as the taxpayers used it and refused to pay funds and exploited the games by all means. (Hill) The city holds an especial place in the heart of all Americans. It is called the hub of entertainment, leisure, culture films and many more. It contributes to the US economy by drawing in income from the sale of cultural products across the globe. For 40 year Los Angeles had advanced strategic-projects including Bomber projects, space projects, missiles and advance electronic communication. But in the late in 1980s Los Angeles faced sudden reverse in the flow of income. Due to the cold

Commercial uses of GPS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Commercial uses of GPS - Assignment Example GPS-enabled transporters can be activated when removed from selected machines and provide location updates for recovery. Apart from machines, humans can insert GPS devices in their body for tracking, in case they operate in insecure areas, or are wealthy enough to afford one. A satellite-linked GPS receiver can provide accurate navigational data on the location of a victim and aid in a rescue mission. In shipping, GPS has diverse valuable applications in navigation and service delivery. It is applicable if a company pairs a GPS tracker with a radio transponder for tracking purposes. It can ease their operations significantly, for instance, identification of problems in the course of transportation. The resultant up-to-the-minute update on a movement of products is helpful for companies, as it can help transportation trucks avoid traffic or accident routes. In addition, it is useful in commercial transportation, for instance, one can determine the distance and time a bus or train takes to arrive at its destination. In the contemporary society, companies use GPS in their advertisement and marketing strategies. GPS receivers in portable services such as cell phones enable location-based service delivery in terms of marketing. The GPS device offers estimated geographical location when one connects to a network using a GPS enabled device. In addition, social networking companies such as Twitter have taken up the trend, and offer services to ‘nearby’ consumers. Personalization of service delivery promotes efficiency because it connects virtual presence to real-world nearness. In addition, GPS is widely applicable in survey work and real estate processes. It saves hours of survey work because it enables verification of property location and property size online.  

Journalists influence the news Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journalists influence the news - Assignment Example â€Å"The production, presentation, and consumption of visual messages in all manner of media can be justifiably sliced in separate technological, historical, cultural and critical perspectives. The requirements for theory building at each stage are different† (Elliott & Lester, 2002). And while it is recognized that â€Å"Photography is the only ‘language’ understood in all parts of the world, and bridging all nations and cultures† (Helmut Gernsheim cited in Elliott & Lester, 2002), it is also acknowledged that â€Å"photographs supply information without having a language of their own. Photographs quote rather than translate from reality† (John Berger cited in Elliott & Lester, 2002). The difficulty arises from the variety of social, political and cultural approaches that can be taken in the interpretation of an image. Added to this is the greater ability of photographers and photojournalists to manipulate images in many different ways as a means o f achieving the image sought. In determining the ethics involved in the decisions made by photojournalists and their editors regarding whether or not to print a particular image, then, it is necessary to take into consideration the â€Å"intent of the image creator and the not-so-blank canvas of the image consumer† (Elliott & Lester, 2002) as these various approaches come into play. The question of ethics is often confused with other photographic considerations, such as aesthetics or etiquette. â€Å"A question that is truly ethical deserves a response that addresses the human cost† (Elliott & Lester, 2002). The use of a particular image that is likely to cause a great deal of pain, for example, must be justified not on the concept of its beauty or interest level – an aesthetic concern – but rather on whether or not the display of this image is necessary to present

Coens’ No Country for Old Men Essay Example for Free

Coens’ No Country for Old Men Essay McCarthy’s renowned novel, â€Å"No Country for Old Men† was superbly handled by the duo directors, Joel and Ethan Coen in their adapted version for the screen, one of the most praised films of 2007 of the same name. The movie had the format of a crime thriller. Just like the novel, the film deals with the exciting adventurous plot of a drug deal which goes wrong and the cat- and- mouse drama among the three major characters of the novel, Llewelyn Moss- the protagonist, Anton Chigurh- the antagonist and the old man Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who supervises the investigation. Before getting into the main discussion whether the film version has done proper justice to the novel or not, it is important to know some of the basic details of the novel itself. â€Å"No Country for Old Men† gets counted among the finest works by the American author, Cormac McCarthy. The story revolves round the incident of an illicit drug deal in a remote location, United States and Mexico Border in around 1980. There are four major characters in the novel apart from Carla Jean Moss, the young wife of Llewelyn. Llewelyn Moss, the protagonist is a welder who is the victim of the deal and Anton Chigurh is the antagonist, the psychopathic character with eyes â€Å"Blue as lapis. At once glistening and totally opaque. Like wet stones†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men. 2005) dark brown hair and dark complexion. In short, Chigurh is not a pleasant character. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, the old man is a World War II veteran who is asked to carry out the investigation of this drug deal. It is he who has to experience the horrors of numerous crimes and murders. He tries his best to solve it and his reminiscences form the Page 2 core part of the narration. Carson Wells is the fourth man who gets into the action. He is the former lieutenant Colonel from Vietnam War and another hitman who has been specially hired to retrieve money from Chigurh. Most of the story is being narrated in third person which is interrupted by the first person reminiscences from Ed Tom Bell. The novel comes up with the minimum dialogue but McCarthy could create the mystical air which the readers enjoy most. According to the critics, Anton Chigurh is â€Å"one of McCarthy’s most memorable creations. † Chigurh’s relentless loyalty to recover the cash made him the most unusual character of the plot. He is ready to eliminate anyone who comes in between Moss and him. He knows his job and he is loyal to it. His use of homemade weapons like coffee- can silencer or air driven cattle gun make him even more interesting to the readers. Sheriff Bell, the old man is thus not suitable for the mission he has been assigned. The modern era is in need of another brutal man to combat the psychopath like Chigurh. The novel ends with the revelation of the harsh truth that the old men will not find an ideal country to live in this modern era. The novel is an excellent crime thriller with the revelation of the biggest truth of the â€Å"mercenary civilization†. †(The Official Web Site of the Cormac McCarthy Society, No Country for Old Men 2005). The Coen brothers did a brilliant job as far as their handling of the theme of â€Å"No Country for Old Men† is concerned. The movie is based on a well knit script which focuses on the episodes of the novel. The setting of the film is exactly the same which the readers have Page 3 visualized while reading the novel by McCarthy. The first scene of the film introduces us to the desolate country side of West Texas. Josh Brolin is Llewelyn Moss in the film who plays the perfect role of a tragic protagonist who is chased by the psychopath Anton Chigurh, acted by Javier Bardem. The Coen Brothers did not forget the use of the unique weapons by Chigurh. A captive bolt pistol is shown to the viewers in the scene where Chigurh strangles a deputy of Sheriff. The movie involves lots of shooting, hiding sequences, driving and running scenes to keep the pace of the crime thriller in tact. The objective was that the viewers must feel the pulse of the thrill. The real man of the plot is surely Sheriff Bell acted by Tommy Lee Jones. Lee Jones did a wonderful job in the film playing the aging man who could not find an ideal country to live in. He realizes that he is not suitable for today’s era. The main characters serve as the loose ends of the mystery that revolves round the drug deal. It was the task of Coen Brothers to tie up these loose ends in such a fashion that the viewers get the theme of the novel. The objective of McCarthy was not to show the shooting skills of these characters but the consequences of exercising free will, game of chance and the predestination. The film version succeeded in inducing the link between fate and circumstance into the minds of the viewers. The motifs of the novel like predestination, chance and free will or the ironic relation between fate and circumstance have been finely weaved in the scenes of the movie. Chigurh decides his faith by flipping coin and this episode has been used by both the novelist and the directors to show the immense importance of the theme of chance in life. Scott Foundas wonderfully summaries the end of the film in â€Å"The Village Voice†, â€Å"In the end, everyone in No Country for Old Men is both hunter and hunted, members of some Page 4 endangered species trying to forestall their extinction†. (Scott Foundas, â€Å"Badlands†, Village Voice, Nov 6, 2007) A. O. Scott of New York Times comments Bell, Chigurh and Moss â€Å"occupy the screen one at a time, almost never appearing in the frame together, even as their fates become ever more intimately entwined†. ( Scott, A. O. 2007-11-09, â€Å"He Found a Bundle of Money, And Now There’s Hell to Pay†, New York Times: Performing Arts/Weekend Desk1) This was the objective of McCarthy and Cone Brothers and they succeeded in giving a proper shape to this mission in their film version of the same novel. Even Roger Ebert states that â€Å"the movie demonstrates how pitiful ordinary human feelings are in the face of implacable injustice† in the Nov 8, 2007 edition of Chicago Sun- Times. In short, it can be said that the film is the perfect adaptation of the novel with very little alterations. It captures everything from the mystery of the plot to the unique portrayal of the characters to the claustrophobic urban night to the mid day open sky of the desolate land of Texas. Cinematographer Roger Deakins shot numerous landscapes to signify that the film is not about any heavenly redemption but earthly sin which is devoid of any divine intervention. The novel has been brilliantly adapted in the film and masterfully altered to serve the purpose. The critics have pointed out that each and every dialogue and scene has been taken from the pages of the novel. Thus, Coen Brothers did not allow the critics to raise the issue which one is better, the novel or the film version. Both can be considered to be a single creation. The movie highlights the theme of fate which actually picks up the man who is going to die next. It is a game of destiny and the characters are Page 5 mere puppets in the hands of the same although they think they are deciding the following actions. Coen Brothers could deliver the message of the death of society and evil cannot be defeated which McCarthy wanted to show in his novel. It is not about the death of any particular individual but the death of the human society. The great actors should also be credited for the success of the film along with the directors. They delivered their best natural performances. Just like the book the film is quite violent and bloody and thus it accurately reflects the essence of the original source. The Coen Brothers knew that casting is the most difficult task for the making of â€Å"No Country for Old Men†. Sheriff Bell is the soul of the movie and the directors were pretty serious about the selection of the actor for the role. They picked up Tommy Lee Jones and succeeded in their mission. The directors knew that they were in need of a truly great actor and Lee Jones being a Texan was the most suitable for the job. But the task for selecting an actor for the role of Moss was even more difficult. Ultimately Coen Brothers found the actor Josh Brolin, the breakthrough screen actor who could understand the reason why Moss was introduced in the plot. Josh Brolin played his natural role in the film. Now, the Coens were in search of Chigurh, the dark character lacking the sense of humor as portrayed by McCarthy. Bardem was chosen after his immense success in Before Night Falls and The Sea Inside. Thus, casting was done brilliantly by the Coen Brothers to deliver the message of McCarthy. All the major actors and actresses were nominated either for the Oscar or Emmy Award including the Scottish actress, Kelly Page 6 Macdonald who was chosen for the role of Carla Jean. (Interview with Joel and Ethan Coen in Emanuel Levy after the film was premiered in the Cannes Film Fest 2007) The Cannes review states Cinematographer Roger Deakins captures everything from mid- day open- sky vistas to claustrophobic night time urban action; in timing and tension, No Country for Old Men is one of the most suspenseful films the Coens have ever made, which says a lot. Cormac McCarthy’s novel has also been impressively well- adapted- improved and altered, but nonetheless full of McCarthy’s clear, concise yet poetic voice. With all of the seemingly standard- issue thriller plot devices in the piece-money, guns and trouble- there’s dim chance that some might not catch the smaller, subtler themes of No Country for Old Men, which would be a shame; this is a story about death, not just murder; this is a story about want, not just money; this is a story of principle, not just pursuit. †¦. How we live, how we die, what we regret, what we fear. (Rocchi James, May 20th 2007, Cannes Review: No Country for Old Men, Cinematical. com) No Country for Old Men was not the first venture of Coen Brothers as far as handling a crime thriller is concerned. In fact they are quite specialists in this genre. They handled the same genre in Blood Simple 1984. Joel wrote the story and it had the same kind of Texas setting as in McCarthy’s novel. It was all about A shady Texas detective (M. Emmet Walsh), on the trail of an adulterous couple, is smarter than everybody else in the movie but not luckier, as he realizes when his hand Page 7 gets stuck on a window ledge. (Ranked among the 10 Best Coen Brothers Moments by TIME in an article by Richard Corliss) Blood Simple was not that popular as No Country for Old Men. But it is quite evident that Coen Brothers were not freshers when they took up the story by McCarthy for a successful film version of the same. In Fargo 1996, Coen Brothers filmed the story of a car salesman who hired men to kidnap his own wife for a sum of eighty thousand dollars. The crime ultimately led to a chain of murders and an investigation process. Coens managed to get seven Academy Nominations for this film and won the Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress Award. The film also earned positive response at the Cannes Film Fest 1996. Thus, Coen Brothers had already mastered the art of filming a crime thriller plot by the time they ventured into No Country for Old Men. No Country for Old Men is definitely a film of better quality than Blood Simple and Fargo. This film bagged three British Academy Film Awards, four Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay along with two Golden Globes. But the film No Country for Old Men is not appreciated by all. Some critics are not happy with the film version of the novel although the film is the accurate adaptation of the same. The reminiscences of Ed Tom Bell at the beginning of each chapter of the novel are missing in the film. The viewers admit that the movie is interesting and they were impressed by Bradem’s performance but they complained that â€Å"the entire film is very Page 8 slow paced, and the ending is incredibly abrupt and thoroughly unsatisfying†. (Film review posted by Melissa Niksic on 3rd Apr 2008 in amazon. com) The film language has to be different than the language of the novel simply because these are two entirely different media of expressions. There was almost no music in the entire film. The objective was to deliver the message through the silence. It is true that this is not a movie for everyone. Those who love to watch crime thrillers or are well acquainted with Coen Brothers’ style, they will surely love it. Otherwise, the movie is too much about chasing, murder, blood and pursuit. But we cannot blame the directors for that because that is what is there even in the novel. Although Coen Brothers have altered few scenes and ignored few chapters from the novel, that really did not affect the message that need to be delivered. Every director chooses the scenes that will contribute to the development of the plot and ignore the ones that are not relevant. The objective is to give a proper shape to the novel and Coen Brothers have definitely done that with wonderful casting, superb cinematography, and their techniques to weave the intrigue plot of a crime thriller, minimum dialogue and minimum use of music. The film raises important theological questions regarding Truth and Justice and Judgment. It would be wrong to criticize the film as a misinterpretation of the novel rather it has given a new dimension to the concept of the death of society highlighted by McCarthy. The movie is indeed a fine adaptation of the novel with slight pardonable alterations to suit the language of film. We can draw the veil of this discussion as it was summarized by Ryan Parker, The Graduate Theological Union in the film review for No Country for Old Men in JRF, Page 9 The Coen brothers’ ability to weave comedy and drama of the utmost seriousness, along with spot- on casting and flawless performances have all resulted in one of their best films to date and certainly one full of fodder for theological discussion. (Vol 11, No. 2 October 2007) Page 10 Work Cited Interview with Joel and Ethan Coen. Emanuel Levy. Cannes Film Fest 2007 Melissa Niksic, film review, amazon. com, posted on 3rd Apr 2008 McCarthy, Cormac. No Country for Old Men. 2005 Richard Corliss, Ranked among the 10 Best Coen Brothers Moments. TIME Rocchi James,Cannes Review: No Country for Old Men, Cinematical. com, May 20th 2007 Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun- Times. Nov 8, 2007 edition Ryan Parker, The Graduate Theological Union in the film review for No Country for Old Men in JRF, Vol 11, No. 2 October 2007 Scott, A. O. â€Å"He Found a Bundle of Money, And Now There’s Hell to Pay†, New York Times: Performing Arts/Weekend Desk1. 2007-11-09 Scott Foundas, â€Å"Badlands†, Village Voice, Nov 6, 2007 The Official Web Site of the Cormac McCarthy Society, No Country for Old Men 2005

Best Fit and Best Practice in HRM

Best Fit and Best Practice in HRM Today, many organizations are facing an increasingly competitive and hastily changing environment illustrated by various labor market, deregulation, globalization, improved information technologies, uninterrupted labor markets among other factors. For success in its operations, a company/firm should improve its performance through reduction of its operation costs, creation of new processes and products, increasing quality, productivity and speed market. Consequently, organizations have to center on their workforces capabilities. If a firm manages its human resources effectively, it will be able to generate and enhance commitment, synergy and motivation that will to a sustained competitive advantage. Studies have shown that human resource management is one of the avenues that an organization can use to shape her employees behavior and attitude. Human resource management practices form forums that ensure employees get highly involved in the activities of the organization and work hard to achieve her goals. The manner in which an organization manages her human resource institutes the conditions and tone that will govern the relationship between employers and employees. There are many ways of defining human resource management (HRM) practices. Bowman Swart (2007) looks at it as organizational activities directed at managing the pool of human resources and ensuring that they are directed towards fulfilling the goals of the organization. It has also been looked at as a set of internally consistent policies and practices that are developed and upon implementation, they will guarantee that the human capital of an organization add to the achievement of its business objectives. The approach to definition of human resource management practices may vary slightly but the bottom line of it all is organizing and managing the man power i n an organization. The connections between a firms performance and its human resource management practices are based on two approaches namely best fit (contingency) and best practice (universal) approaches. In best practice, a set of HRM practices are argued to be associated with improved firm performance in all types of organization and by allusion for al types of employees (Nahapiet Ghoshal, 1998). Conversely, the best fit approach argues that performance of a firm is maximized if the human resources policies are constant with the firms business strategies. Both the best fit and the best practice have an assumption that human resource policies take on will be implemented and as projected and have the same consequence on all employees that work in the firm. Researches on human resource management however show that that there is no consensus on which human resource management approach is looked at as suitable. Notwithstanding the inconsistence in both the best fit and best practice approaches, there is a momentous effect of human resource management practices on attitudes and behavior of employees based on the idea of social change. Studies reveal that employees of an organization infer organizational actions like human resource practices as indicators of how much an organization is committed to their welfare (Abraham et al., 2001). In response, the employees counter this gesture through improving their obligation to the organization. Particularly if the human resource practices of the an organization are professed as supportive, the employees will take it as their employer being committed to them through concern and high level of care , consequently they will work hard to and get very much engaged in the organization expressing their enthusiasm in hard work to achieve the goals of the organization. MANAGEMENT 4 The concepts of best fit and best practice are applied in strategic human resource management to the particular policy section of reward structures. Each of the approaches endeavors to explain the manner in which human resource policies generally and reward policies particularly can lead to better organizational efficiency (Zupan KaÃ… ¡e, 2007). Organizations can wok within the framework both the best fit and best practice. I agree with the best fit that suggests that a close alignment between organizational strategy and different systems that it employs like the rewards will go along way in improving the efficiency of the organization. The idea that pay should be linked strategy is not new but it got momentum from scholars in the 1990 talking about its merits as the â€Å"new pay†. It is evident tat all organizational systems have to start with a business strategy to achieve the goals it has set, failure to which it may face difficulties to carry on its operations. This is b ecause the strategy will clarify what the organization wants to achieve over a specified period of time. It will also set the conditions on the manner in which the organization will behave to achieve them; this means that the organization sets cope of standards on the way it is run (Boxall Purcell, 2008). Additionally the strategy will express the types of performance and the levels of performance it wants to employ to run in a organized and effective way. This is as a result of business strategy, organizational behavior and diving individuals being the benchmark for the reward strategy development. The contingent nature of a reward system should not be looked at as a set of compensation practices at all. Nonetheless, it should be treated as one way of thinking about role of a reward system in a complex organization setting. This goes against an assumption that is often made to mean that certain best practices have to be incorporated into an organizations  approach to pay (Simons, 2002). Having looked at best fit, the attention now is on best practice. This premise has been popular in human resource management over the last decade. Studies show that this model otherwise known as high commitment was initially stimulated by work of some United States of America academics, although it was recently developed by those in Britain (KaÃ… ¡e et al., 2009). Although both the models of best fit and best practice are assumed to be complimentary, the later is arguably seen as not having an element of discussion on the organizations strategy at all. Its fundamental benchmark is that all organizations who adopt the best practice strategy will attract super human resources, competencies and talent. According to the views of its proponents, the super human resources available has an effect of influencing the strategy that an organization adopts hence acting as the source of its viable advantage. Consequently for this approach, the organizations policy precedes its strategy. Coff (1997) asserts that there are mutually compatible bundles of human resource policies that sustain high standards of motivation of employees and also their commitment that has a positive impact on the performance of the organization. This is the approach that advocates of best practice say it stands for. However, there is no common ground on which these practices are, on a general scale they are composed of: extensive training, selective hiring, and structure to encourage employees participation, employment security and pay policies which lead in relation to industry competitors (Lengnick-Hall Lengnick-Hall, 2003). There is apparent point of disagreement between in the sector of pay linked to performance appraisal. Researchers have criticized merit pay in a number of ways as: there is subjectivity and unpredictability that reward political skills instead of performance, there is no concern for performance of the organization, it encourages short term focus, there is an emphasis on the individual success that undermines teamwork and lastly there is a tendency of such like a system to create fear at work place. Those who support either side of the human resource management approaches argue that both approaches, hest fit and best practice, will help an organization to achieve its goals and objectives. There are several ways that an organization employs when it comes to organizing its human resources that will help it achieve what it was set up for. The methods of achieving the objectives are: attracting and retaining employees, motivating the performance of employees, promotion of skills and culture in an organization, contribution to corporate culture of an organization among other things There are differences in which the two approaches handle attracting and retaining employees. The capability of an organizations reward systems in attracting and retaining its employees is of cardinal concern to many organizations (Cullinane Dundon, 2006). During economic expansions, times when the labor markets are tight and organizations are struggling to fill vacancies at the same time trying very to ho ld on to hold on to their qualified employees, this becomes a very crucial issue. This also happens during recessions as organizations sometimes become keen on getting the services of qualified employees. To cope with this, the best fit approach boasts of the composition of its reward package attracting many and various kinds of applicants. This argument holds water because drawing example, an organization offering a straight base salary and no chance for incentive earnings, naturally attracts and retains quite different individuals that as compared to one that gives big amounts of incentive pay. Organizations rewarding their employees with different performance related pay incentives have increased chances of attracting employees who are more problem solving and entrepreneurial compared to those offering a base salary. The best fit proponents basically assume that it is in organizations where good performance is recognized and rewarded that good performers tend to seek or employment. This is a correct observation because skilled personnel will take pleasure in working where they will be appreciated as good performers. Systems have a way of identifying poor and a good performer as not all employees turn over is harmful to performance of an organization. To this effect, a reward system has to promote the retention of good performers at the same time aiding the decision of poor performers leaving the organization. According to Dowling Welch (2006), there is also an emphasis on the importance of external competitiveness of an organization for attraction and retention of employees. According to best fit advocates, for effectiveness, a reward system must distribute rewards such that the most valuable employees of the organization will feel contended while relating their rewards with those of individuals performing same jobs in organizations of the same nature as theirs. However caution must be taken here because some studies have shown that in some organizations, it is more cost effective in keeping the wages low and accepting high employee turnover, particularly if the cost of replacing them is low as it is the in unskilled labor. Despite the fact labor markets are far from being perfectly efficient, it is evident that there is some relationship between the quality of a work force and organization attracts and how it pays its employees. This is quite true and it is convincing for the best fit a pproach as it gives the facts on the behavior of employees and pay. Looking in the manner in which the best practice deals with attracting and retaining the employees, it emphasizes on employees that will assist an organization in gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. It achieves this through externally competitive pay levels. According to this however, a combination of a number of a number policies that are interrelated are responsible for highly qualified individuals apply and remain in an organization. The recruiting procedures which provide a huge pool of qualified applicants, coupled with a dependable and valid routine has a significant influence on the quality and type of skills the new employees will have. The thorough process of selecting employees will make the selected candidates feel that they are joining privileged organization with elevated prospects. The best practice approach advocates for positively value low turnover with no cautions whatsoever as opposed to the best fit approach. This happens so as other related procedures a nd policies make sure that the employees chosen are the right ones for the job and are taken in at first instance (Galpin Skinner, 2004). The best practice takes into consideration todays global business employment to be of key importance in attraction and retention of employees as opposed to the other approach which that claims that employment security does not reflect the realities of todays competitive global business. This is due to employees being unlikely to make suggestions to increase the productivity whenever they fear that it will make them loose their job. Researchers assert that the cardinal concern in the design of a reward system is the plan works in employee motivation. There are various theories of employee motivation and there is no one particular that has been accepted universally. The different theories that exist handle different types of reward systems. The best fit approach believes that the payment system of an organization should reflect individual employee contributions (Fitz-Enz, 1993). Employees may at times cut down their efforts to look for employment in highly paying jobs in other organizations due to dissatisfaction originate from negative inequity and some other consequences. It is observed that highly dissatisfied companies are more strongly attracted towards an external market orientation. On the other hand, organizations that are based on a single industry or technology will naturally find themselves much calm with an internal-equity basis. Both types of inequity in an organization have serious consequence for an organization but the implications for external equity like absenteeism and turnover are more rigorous for a particular organization and should be given chief consideration (Lepak Snell, 199). This is clear evidence that the best fit approach in human resource practice has support for the contribution principle. It therefore has an implication that employees who remarkably contribute to the success of an organization ought to be able to compare themselves with significant others form both outside and inside the organization and still get contented with the pay they get. The best fit practice for that matter looks at it as an obligation of the design to promote development and make use of employee inputs that will promote the organization. The best fit approach also makes use of expectancy theory of behavior. The theory utters that individuals make choices depending on some factors like: there expectancy that th ere efforts will make them achieve certain standard of performance, believing that their performance will result significant upshots and the scale of value they place on those upshots (Intagliata, et al., 2004). It is line with best fit thinking as it gives a design framework for each element of a reward system to utilize to its best advantage. The best practice advocates depend on the content theories of motivation as the foundation of their system of reward. It is apparent that factors that get drawn in to produce job satisfaction and motivation are different from those ones that lead to job dissatisfaction. Motivators are the source of job satisfaction and are intrinsic to the particular encompassing recognition for the achievement, the work itself, responsibility and advancement or growth. The potential source of job dissatisfaction is extrinsic and is made up hygiene factors like salaries. The approach does not advocate for incentives for as it results to spiralling of wages and employees who search for the next pay increase. Research has shown that firms block the development of some behavior that front competitive advantage by picking on incentives. Looking at the above discussion, it is apparent the both the best fit and best practice approaches as employed in human resource management practices are all directed towards ensuring that an organization achieves its goals and objectives through organizing its strategies and man power. Through striking a balance between the contingent and universal approach, an ideal or more comprehensive model can be developed by looking at their limit ations and merits. The value of the universal (best practice) framework depends in the demonstration of the strategic significance of human resource management. High rates of significance in their tests were achieved by its proponents but it has limitations in both its methodological and theoretical domain. There is compatibility between the two approaches as the contingency approach comes in handy here to complement the universal model encompassing the external relationships

Henrik Isbens A Dolls House :: A Dolls House Essays

A Doll’s House When the play â€Å"A Doll’s House† by Henrik Ibsen was first performed, society was much different, and the play shocked many people. Today we don't have quite the same problem, but a deeper look at the "meaning" of the play reveals that it is about problems themselves, not a specific issue. Perhaps a play about gay parenting, internet privacy, or AIDS in the workplace can strike chords of concern in our contemporary audience, and Ibsen's works (perhaps) should be viewed in light of their impact upon social awareness rather than as purely historical pieces. If Nora’s story seems somewhat "archaic" to us, because of our own enlightenment, then we can in a sense thank Ibsen for his pioneering work as a social conscience. Rather, what the play symbolizes about our needs in society, to communicate, and to work towards understanding and tolerance, are much more important issues to a modern day audience. It makes us wonder; can we still learn from Ibsen? Yes we can. Many modern day values are presented in this family. Money is still such a vital role in society. If you don’t have it your worthless, and if you do you are nice to have around. People need money, and still today they will go out of their way to get it. At the time Ibsen's wrote and presented this play it was unheard of that a women COULD leave her family in pursuit of herself and her own happiness. Nowadays this idea is commonplace. Ibsen showed that women were first people, not just doll's, not a â€Å"play thing† for her husband. And that women are intelligent and had others needs then raising a family, and taking care of the home.

Probation and Electronic Monitoring Essay -- essays research papers

I am doing this paper on electronic monitoring. I am doing this paper because I need a paper to write for you and this is the page I opened to in the book to get the idea. No, really because I believe that electronic monitoring is a terrific way to police probation and parolees when probation and parole officers are so severely overworked. By not having to check in on the offenders as much, because at any time we can hit a button and know exactly where they are, or be notified instantly when they are somewhere they shouldn’t be, it would be a lot easier on probation and parole officers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Electronic monitoring is a good idea and should be used more. The advances in technology can be very useful in community corrections. Implementing GPS technology into these el...

Optimism vs. Pessimism in Popes Essay on Man and Leapors Essay on Wom

Optimism vs. Pessimism in Pope's Essay on Man and Leapor's Essay on Woman     Ã‚   Both Alexander Pope's Essay on Man, Epistle 2 and Mary Leapor's Essay on Woman expound the fatalist contention that neither man nor woman can "win," as each individual exists in a world of trade-offs. Yet, by each author's singular technique of sculpting his ideas with the literary tools of contrast, argument, and syntax, the cores of the two essays turn back to back, evolving into distinct, but contrary perspectives of Man's (in respect to mankind) and Woman's existence. Pope asserts that a profusion of trade-offs establish a certain equilibrium point where Man hangs "on this isthmus of a middle state" (Magill 2629). After defining the boundaries of Man's oscillations through a procession of clever paradoxes of words, Pope conciliates Man's unpredictable balance, or fulcrum point, as the essence of Man as an individual. Although consistent with Pope's theory of life's extremes, Mary Leapor utilizes contrasting imagery within specific female case studies to decry the life of Woman as doomed to slavery by her inevitable fate. The two poets' views ultimately oppose each other. While Pope experiments with punctuation and precision, Leapor explores the effects of personalization. By subtly but convictively proposing an optimistic perspective, that Man's confused position is his claim to fame, Pope intones his poetry with an uplifting vitality readily conducted to his reader; whereas Leapor opines Woman's confused position as the doom of life's essence and transitively condemns her reader to the incurable pessimism she so vividly relates.    The essence of man, as defined by Pope, is a series of paradoxical, yet concrete sets of contrasting wo... ...les: 1968.    Dixon, Peter. The World of Pope's Satires. Methuen & Co, London: 1968.    Lonsdale, Roger. Eighteenth Century Women Poets. Ed. Oxford University Press, London: 1952.       Morris, David B. Wit, Rhyme and Couplet: Style as Content in Pope's Art. Jackson-Wallace, New York: 1993. Rosslyn. From Alexander Pope: A Literary Life. Cambridge UP, Cambridge: 1993.    Sherburn, George. The Best of Pope. Ronald Press Company, New York: 1929.    Soloman, Harry M. "Johnson's Silencing of Pope: Trivializing an Essay of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual. New York: 1992. on Man." The Age    Tillotson, Geoffrey. On the Poetry of Pope. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1950.    Thomas, Claudia N. Alexander Pope and His Eighteenth-Century Women Southern Illinois Readers. University Press, Carbondale: 1994.       Optimism vs. Pessimism in Pope's Essay on Man and Leapor's Essay on Wom Optimism vs. Pessimism in Pope's Essay on Man and Leapor's Essay on Woman     Ã‚   Both Alexander Pope's Essay on Man, Epistle 2 and Mary Leapor's Essay on Woman expound the fatalist contention that neither man nor woman can "win," as each individual exists in a world of trade-offs. Yet, by each author's singular technique of sculpting his ideas with the literary tools of contrast, argument, and syntax, the cores of the two essays turn back to back, evolving into distinct, but contrary perspectives of Man's (in respect to mankind) and Woman's existence. Pope asserts that a profusion of trade-offs establish a certain equilibrium point where Man hangs "on this isthmus of a middle state" (Magill 2629). After defining the boundaries of Man's oscillations through a procession of clever paradoxes of words, Pope conciliates Man's unpredictable balance, or fulcrum point, as the essence of Man as an individual. Although consistent with Pope's theory of life's extremes, Mary Leapor utilizes contrasting imagery within specific female case studies to decry the life of Woman as doomed to slavery by her inevitable fate. The two poets' views ultimately oppose each other. While Pope experiments with punctuation and precision, Leapor explores the effects of personalization. By subtly but convictively proposing an optimistic perspective, that Man's confused position is his claim to fame, Pope intones his poetry with an uplifting vitality readily conducted to his reader; whereas Leapor opines Woman's confused position as the doom of life's essence and transitively condemns her reader to the incurable pessimism she so vividly relates.    The essence of man, as defined by Pope, is a series of paradoxical, yet concrete sets of contrasting wo... ...les: 1968.    Dixon, Peter. The World of Pope's Satires. Methuen & Co, London: 1968.    Lonsdale, Roger. Eighteenth Century Women Poets. Ed. Oxford University Press, London: 1952.       Morris, David B. Wit, Rhyme and Couplet: Style as Content in Pope's Art. Jackson-Wallace, New York: 1993. Rosslyn. From Alexander Pope: A Literary Life. Cambridge UP, Cambridge: 1993.    Sherburn, George. The Best of Pope. Ronald Press Company, New York: 1929.    Soloman, Harry M. "Johnson's Silencing of Pope: Trivializing an Essay of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual. New York: 1992. on Man." The Age    Tillotson, Geoffrey. On the Poetry of Pope. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1950.    Thomas, Claudia N. Alexander Pope and His Eighteenth-Century Women Southern Illinois Readers. University Press, Carbondale: 1994.      

Students Must Not Take Part in Politics

STUDENT MUST NOT TAKE PART IN POLITICS Albert Einstein observed: â€Å"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacity to give validity to his conviction in political affairs. †Ã‚   I’m sure, this pretty much sums up why we’re debating on this topic today, since we students are considered to have become â€Å"politically aware† by the age of 18. So, what exactly do we understand by the word â€Å"politics†. Politics is the  art  or  science  of influencing people on a civic, or individual level, says most of us present here.I’msure all of it sounds really great but in reality, politics has been synonymous with violence and vandalism ever since its origin, and associating students with it only worsens the scenario. Students are mainly at a tender age and cannot make proper political judgements as they can be easily misled by emotional values or brainwashed by big leaders from big political parties and with the political parties realising the benefits of harvesting voters young, university elections have entered the big league.Big money, big campaigns, big names and big intimidation. We have to understand, that when we use the term â€Å"student politics†, the body to benefit the most from its decisions should be the students themselves. Unfortunately, it is not really so. Infact , the students are the worst sufferers in the war of Power and there is only one reason for this-the financial benefit the so-called student leaders are receiving aims at promoting the mission and vision of the national political leader.This is why, despite the existence of several student unions since times immemorial, government colleges and institutions continue to be in their sorry state with no development or advancement whatsoever. In order to develop a political awakening within the students,we need not join politics at a time when we should be educating ourselves, rather we can engage in social services and l earn how to speak up for what’s right or wrong without any fear in a non-violent yet an impactful way.Student politics has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, like expensive campaigning, violence, nepotism, threatening, intimidating professors, and conducting strikes. Student leaders, once elected, think themselves of more like ministers, surrounded by hangers-on and unapproachable to the students actually in need. Attacks on the principal and higher authorities in Raiganj and Rampurhat College are just a few examples of how terrifying and horrific the reality regarding student politics is.At the end of the day, for an ordinary student, all that student politics means is loss of study time, without any redressal of problems. In fact, some may even suffer discrimination when student leaders carry out nepotism in various forms like wanting to take up all hostel space to accommodate their supporters, and insist on out-of-turn admissions or forcefully make the students sw ear allegiance to their party in exchange of such favours or resort to violence yet again. Student politics has become as bankrupt of issues as national politics.What matters now are affiliations, caste, history, religion, and of course money. It was never imagined that student politics would breed terrorism, extortion, vandalism and even murder. Students have been used as tools taking them away from pursuing their academic goals. These days student politics is not concerned about the academic problems, such as computer facilities, photocopies at nominal charge, but only about violence, and cadre politics of flexing muscles in the academic areas.And the main casualty of all this violence is Education. The campuses these days have turned out to be arsenals of sophisticated weapons. But this was never the objective that drove the parents to send their wards to join colleges and universities or pursue higher studies. What could be more shocking for the parents than their wards coming b ack home in a coffin as a sequel to campus violence? It is high time that everyone realises the incalculable harm that â€Å"politics in its ugliest form† has done to the student community.It is evident from the growing incidents of campus violence that Hooliganism is gaining ground than idealism among student leaders. The student unions have become more inclined towards their political identity rather than protesting against ceratin causes for the welfare of the students. Only recently, a second-year BCom student of Prabhu Jagabandhu College in Andul, Howrah, died after he was thrown into a canal by members of a rival students' union. Two days after this incident, a student Of Ashutosh College lost vision in his left eye after being an innocent victim of campus violence once again.Such incidents are not only limited to India,only last year, in the north-eastern region of Nigeria,26 students were killed,in the aftermath of students union elections, at the college hostels, whe rein the the newly elected leader of the student union alongwith his supporters other went from door-to-door, shooting or stabbing their victims. Student Politics has increasingly led to the loss of innumerable young and promising talents of the country. Last but not the least, in spite of the strong presence of students taking part in politics, an inhuman dearth of noble natures in Politics at the national level is being witnessed.Students who are active in politics tend to neglect their studies for that. They have got themselves scholarships or loans and a chance to study at a college or university. Why not wait until they have finished their studies first? The discredit very much lies with the students taking part in politics, because, unless they are educated and refined themselves, there is little hope of its resurgence because it has been rightly said that without education, man is a splendid slave, a reasoning savage.

Just off main street †summary Essay

In â€Å"Just Off Main Street† author Elmaz Abinader depicts the physical and social barrier between Americans and hyphenated Americans such as Arab-Americans who live in dual sensitivity facing identity crisis, racism and other various problems living in America. In the first part of the story â€Å"Crossing The Threshold† we learn of young Abinader, her family, their customs and how they are separated from the rest of the families in their town. In the second part of the story â€Å"Making A Writerâ€Å"Abinader explains how entering college changes her view on her identity that lead to the person she is today. Abinader grew up in a small Pennsylvanian town, her father and uncle ran three businesses through which they served the neighborhood. From the store gate Abinader saw no difference between her father and the people on the streets. This idea soon changed when she met the two Barbie like girls in school, she realized there was nothing in common between her and the other kids. Even though they didn’t know how her lifestyle was, they made fun of her. After she reaches home she understands her life and that of her peers are separated by the â€Å"magic door†. Since it’s a Wednesday Abinader’s mother prepared Arab delicacies which have â€Å"hypnotic† effect on her. The three boys and three girls of the Abinader family had after school duties, devotion to God, obedience to parents, and good school grades dominated the family. They gave little importance to interactions that took place outside the house. On holidays, relatives visited, they ate together, danced and enjoyed but Abinader knew that her life inside and outside the â€Å"magic door â€Å"would always clash, she would never be accepted by her peer and felt like an outcast. Abinader went to university of Pittsburgh when she grew up. That had nationality classrooms which represented different cultures. The Syrian-Lebanese room, one she wanted to see was locked and required permission to access. When she finally got into it, the royal furnishing and exoticness of the room made her feel proud. Soon she wrote about her heritage culture but she realized the Americans â€Å"exoticized† her. Focused on her writing, she wrote about her family and their history that was suppressed inside. Her writing was still inside the door.Outside the door she felt unwelcomed. Abinader didn’t give up and continued writing about the issues on identity, culture, etc. She participated in activism as a U.S citizen, marched, protested and created committees. Her writing made her feel like an activist as it conveyed her message more directly.

Jane Loevinger and Her Theory of Ego Development Essay

Human development is a fascinating subject. Psychologists have long studied the recurrent patterns of how humans develop physically, emotionally, and psychologically. If psychologists can find patters, then they can begin to predict behavior and understand how and why people behave the way they do. Many theories have been put forth to try to explain some of the consistencies people go through as they develop. Jane Loevinger is one of those developmental theorists. Her theory of ego development has been a significant contribution to the psychological world. Loevinger was born in 1918. She grew up in Minnesota as the daughter of a lawyer and homemaker. Her home was comfortable, but not full of a lot of love. After finishing her undergraduate and master’s degree at the University of Minnesota, she ended up at the University of California. There she was a research assistant for Erik Erikson. She learned a great deal during this time about her own thoughts and beliefs about psychology (www. webster. edu). In 1943 she finished her PhD dissertation on the construction and evaluation of tests of ability. Her critique of test reliability made her no friends in the psychometric world, and publications refused to publish her work. She ended up paying for the publication herself. After finishing her dissertation, Loevinger quit working full time to have her two children. During this time she felt the guilt and pressure all moms feel. Working moms feel guilty for all the time they spend away from their children, and stay-at-home moms feel guilty for not doing anything professionally. She also felt discriminated against because of her gender. After working in unfulfilling part-time jobs, Loevinger finally decided to get back to research. She was one of the first psychologists to focus her testing on the demographic of women. She began working with a small group of women, and eventually designed the Sentence Completion Test (SCT) which consists of thirty-four open-ended questions that measures ego development. This test led her to develop her theory of ego development, which states that a person’s ego development follows nine typical phases (psychology-health. today. com). Loevinger’s theory of personality asserts that as people grow, they begin to internalize social rules, become less impulsive, and mature in their decision-making processes. The first stage of development is the infancy stage. This is the very beginning of development and ego. The infant does not know how to do anything but cry when it needs something. No thoughts are about anything other than the self. The impulsive stage is similar; when a young child wants something, they want it now. They are starting to understand consequences at this stage, so there is some awareness of others. The self-protected stage is when children first exhibits self control. They understand rewards and consequences, and are very motivated by them. The next stage, the conformist stage, is when conforming to the group of peers in paramount. There is no identity outside the group, and the disapproval of others is a major problem. Behaviors are judged by what happened, not by the intentions behind them. Finally, in the self-aware stage, there begins to be a bit of maturity. This is when people begin to become individuals. There is more to life than the group, and an inner sense of self is emerging. The conscientious stage takes those ideas even further. Here the person has goals and ideals, a sense of responsibility, and feels guilt not only about breaking a rule, but because of the thought of hurting others. Motives are taken into account as well as actions. During the individualistic stage, there develops a greater tolerance of other people, as well as an awareness of inner conflict. During this stage, the person will pull away from the group toward a more individual identity. People in the autonomous stage show a great deal of maturity. They worry about their needs verses the duties of their lives, they want self-fulfillment, and they can understand more than one point of view. Finally, the integrated stage is reached when a person fully understands their own identity. She is self-actualizing, and can understand behavior motives and intentions of others as well as herself. While not all people will be able to reach this last stage of integration, Loevinger shows a road map of how to get there. I feel her developmental theory is meaningful today, because people still have inner struggles throughout the course of their lives. When I think about all of my friends and family, I can see which stage they are each in. Loevinger contributed a theory that definitely stands the test of time and is relevant to people today. I can also look back over my life and see that some decisions I made were direct results of the stage I was in at the time. I feel like I am always trying to improve myself on the inside, and be a good person on the outside, so I feel I am in the conscientious stage. I know some of my friends who are still in the conformist stage, and this is probably a source for much of our conflict. I cannot understand why they are so concerned with what others think about them, but it might be simply because they have no matured past that stage yet. I think most young adults fall somewhere between the conformist and self-aware stages. That is why so many young adults get into trouble; they follow the group and try drugs or things they would not ordinarily try on their own. The group mentality can be very problematic, and the power it has over young adults is scary. Loevinger contributed a theory of ego development that has made a significant impact on how we understand why we act the way we do. Her stages of development represent specific time frames of life and the decisions that many people make during those times. Her theory is relevant today and still has valid implications for anyone studying human development. References Women’s intellectual contributions to the study of mind and society. Retrieved May 17, 2009, from http://www. webster. edu/~woolflm/loevinger. html Writer 44. Jane Loevinger’s theory of ego development. Retrieved May 17, 2009 from http://psychology-health. today. com/2009/03/01/jane-loevingers-theory-of-ego-development/

Discuss Changing Family Structures in the Uk and Give Examples of Sociological Theories That Provide Explanations as to Why and How Families Have Changed.

Discuss changing family structures in the UK and give examples of sociological theories that provide explanations as to why and how families have changed. This essay will discuss the various family structures in society. It will give theoretical explanation as to why and how families have changed. The essay will also bring statistical, historical and political evidence to back up the reason for these changes. During the pre-industrial society the ‘extended family’ was the most common family structure.This family structure involves three generations including the parents, children and either the grandparents (vertical-extended) or uncles and aunts (horizontally-extended). The extended family structure was essential for this society as families were a ‘unit of production’ so they needed as many workers as they could get. Michael Anderson (1971) argued that in ‘critical life situations’ there was a dependence on the extended family for help and sup port. Then Parsons (1949) said large families were economically beneficial, so the extended family was the most suited structure.However, during in the industrial revolution family life changed. It was no longer seen as a ‘unit of production’ but now a ‘unit of consumption’. The ‘nuclear family’ emerged and became the main family structure. However, the extended family may become popular again as in our current society people are living longer and state funding on residential care has decreased so this has shifted the care and responsibility onto the family. Also, there has been an increase in Multi-generational families. ‘The earlier age of child-bearing reducing the age gap between generations’ (Fulcher and Scott, 2011: 446)The ‘nuclear family’ consisted of two generations, the mother, father and their children. Parsons (1949) argued that industrialisation resulted in a shift from the extended family to the nuclear f amily, as its characteristics are more typical for a capitalist society. Parsons (1956) believed that you must move where there is work and that you should only take your immediate family with you not everyone. This is why nuclear families were more beneficial as it was easier to move for work with just your immediate amily. With the industrial revolution and the growth of capitalism, production was no longer carried out by family members, but by workers. Public policies were put in place during 1940-1970 such as the welfare state, which was designed to support family roles (breadwinner and caring mother). Since then there has been significant changes in public policies such as the divorce reform act (1967), the abortion act (1967), the equal pay act (1970), the sex discrimination act (1975) and maternity leave was introduced.This gave women more freedom and more opportunities especially within employment and lifestyle choices. This lead to social change; postponement of marriage an d childbearing, the number of divorces in England and Wales increased from 6,000 in 1938 to more than 48,000 in 1968, and in 1960 the fertility rate was 2. 72%, dropping to 1. 93% in 1998. Due to these rapid increases in divorce cohabitation has become more preferable for couples as there are no legal ties, the couple can see how it goes before making any major decisions such as marriage.Also couples may marry later as weddings are expensive and they don’t have the money to afford one due to the recession, however living with each other saves money. This was the democratic and educational revolution and the era of the nuclear family. However, with new policies in place and such major social change, from the 1970s onwards it became the ‘post-industrial society’ and the rise of post-modernism. This society brought new family structures, and units that were previously perceived as unacceptable became acceptable.Since the divorce reform act (1967) divorces have rapid ly increased resulting in many re-marriages, introducing the reconstituted family unit. This family includes children that live with one biological parent and a step-parent. These families may also include step/half brothers and sisters. Divorce has also meant there are many more single-parent families. This is a family structure where only one parent takes care of the children. This can be due to birth outside of marriage, divorce and death or imprisonment of a partner.Murray (1990) would argue that the rise in single parent families is due to the underclass and fatherless families. Boys without fathers are inadequately socialised and don’t have a male role model. When they have their own children they wont have an understanding of a ‘dad’ role, so this may result in them being absent in the child’s life and separation from the wife/partner. Marx (1848) would argue that the breakdown of marriage is due to the conflict that the capitalist society is creati ng and this is affecting relationships.Feminist, Delphy (1977) argues that the exploitation of women’s labour is rooted in ‘the domestic mode of production’ within the household, not in the capitalist mode of production. ‘Men hold a superior position within the domestic mode of production and exploit women through marriage’ (Fulcher and Scott, 2011: 435). This exploitation could create conflict and domestic violence may occur resulting in separation/divorce. Lastly, some individuals blame single-parent families on the permissiveness of the sexual revolution.Jeffrey Weeks (1989) believes that post-war changes in capitalism has led to a new pleasure-seeking attitude in females, which resulted in sexual behaviour as a source of pleasure rather a means of producing children. This can relate to why there are so many single-parent families headed by women from births outside marriage. Finally the most recent type of family structure is ‘same sex fami lies’. This involves a homosexual couple (gay or lesbian) that take care of children. This is the newest family unit as the civil partnership law was only passed in 2004.Since then 45,000 have been formed up until 2010. Homosexual couples have been apparent for a long time however only recently have the attitudes towards them become more acceptable resulting in the civil partnership law. Beck (1992) says this is because of individualisation; people are designing their lives based on their own choice not expectations. Also, people have very different attitudes now to previously in history, so homosexuality is more widely accepted. In conclusion, family structures are constantly changing and there is never only one type.Family structures tend to base around suiting the type of society there in. Policies can increase or decrease certain family structures. For example the divorce reform act (1967) increased single parent and reconstituted families and decreased the nuclear family . Also new family structures, same sex families have been introduced because of policies and change in attitudes. There may be new family structures in the future as society progresses. References- Fulcher, J. and Scott, J. (2011) Sociology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Financial markets and sovereign debt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial markets and sovereign debt - Essay Example Among securities that are traded in the financial markets are bonds, stock as well as commodity materials such as the agricultural products and precious metals. It therefore adopts the notion of a common market in that it presents a platform in which interested buyers meets with interested sellers as well as the commodities on bargain. In a financial market, parties participating are government agencies, individual persons, firms as well as households. This is a common feature with a market economy where the government relies primarily on the structures of buyers as well as sellers in allocation of resources as contrasted to non-market or commodity economies. Besides, the effects vary depending on the stage of development of an economy where in the emerging economies; the governments largely take the responsibility in financial aid and financial management and participation especially for the reason of such eventual occurrences as the sovereign risks (Aizenman, Jinjarak and Park, 201 3, para 1-5; Herrero, 2005, p. 5). Discussion Financial markets and the global economy Basic responsibilities of financial markets in finance include capital summation, risk transfers, discovery of prices, global participation in integrating financial markets as well as liquidity transfers (‘International Monetary Fund’, 2010, p. 1). ... 1-4). The financial markets also brings together borrowers and lenders where in money markets, firms borrow finances on short term while capital markets provide long term based funding to corporations for expansion purposes.The following illustration is on the interactions that are engaged in financial markets as well as the parties to the transactions. Lenders Financial intermediaries Financial markets Borrowers Individuals as well as companies Banks, insurance firms, pension funds as well as mutual funds Interbank Stock Exchange, money Markets, Bond Markets as well as Foreign Exchange Individuals, Companies, Central Governments, Municipalities as well as Public Corporations The relationship depicted therefore shows that borrowers, lenders and financial intermediaries have a common link through the financial markets where stock exchange, bonds as well as foreign currencies are traded. It is worth noting that the interaction of these parties at the international scene depicts the act ual picture of the global economy. Market efficiency is a critical concept that must be employed in the analysis of financial markets as well as the global economy and it involves three categories: strong, semi-strong as well as the weak form of efficiencies. However, the inefficiencies notable in financial markets result from ‘frictions’ which broadly represents asymmetries in information and taxes as well as costs of transactions. Value and liquidity in the transactions are therefore basic features in the consideration of efficiencies in financial markets. The concept of efficiency is very critical in investment decisions by investors within a country besides guiding on such decisions as arbitration and speculation. Information influences the behavior of

International Business Theories. Outward Foreign Direct Investment Essay

International Business Theories. Outward Foreign Direct Investment from China - Essay Example Introduction It is said that no country is an island. The fact behind this saying is made evident in several theories including economic theories. For instance it is out of this realization that several countries and regions of this world are forming organizations and unions that seek to bridge the borders that hinder the easy flow of investment from one country to the other; allowing that investors of other nations have free access to do business and trade in other countries. A number of such organizations and associations of the world that foster free movement of investment for economic purposes can be mentioned. Some of these include the Gulf Countries Cooperation, Middle East and North African Organization, European Union and Economic Community of West African States. The freedom for other foreigners and foreign businesses to do business and invest in other countries bring to fore the discussion on foreign investment. Foreign investment comes in different forms, depending on what is involved in the investment. The differences in investment packages has over the years resulted in economic terms such as foreign indirect investment, outward foreign direct investment and inward foreign direct investment. Today, economic scholars seem more comfortable, discussing the phenomenon of flow of investment from one country to another as just foreign direct investment. ... To this end, Graham and Spaulding (2005) explain that â€Å"the definition has been broadened to include the acquisition of a lasting management interest in a company or enterprise outside the investing firm’s home country.† There is no denying the fact that China and India remain some of the world’s largest attracters of foreign direct investment; specifically outward foreign direct investment. This paper is therefore dedicated to researching into the general trend associated with foreign direct investment from those two countries in relation to how international business theories adequately explain the reasons for outwards foreign direct investment in those two countries. Overview of outward Foreign Direct Investment from China By definition, China is one of the most celebrated countries that enjoy â€Å"a type of investment that involves the injection of foreign funds into an enterprise that operates in a different country of origin from the investor† ( Economic Watch, 2011). Simply put, China enjoys massive foreign direct investment. Without saying the least, recent survey conducted by the United Nations has proved that investors rank China as the world’s first most important destinations for foreign direct investment over the 2010 to 2012 period (Asia Briefing, 2011). The implication of this top spot is that China enjoys and benefits from outward foreign direct investment like no other nation in the world. Indeed the success of China as the top ranked dates far back as Shaukat and Wei (2005) notes that â€Å"China is by far the largest recipient, and in 2004 surpassed the USA as host destination. It has consequently

The cost of shortselling (finance) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The cost of shortselling (finance) - Essay Example procedures are discussed in depth to show that the chances of making a profit through short selling are as high as incurring a loss due to this activity. It all depends on how accurately an operator is able to predict the future market movements of stocks that are sold short. Mutual Funds hold largest number of stocks and are the most active operators in stock market. So, some analysts feel that if the additional costs related exclusively to short selling are added to the average cost of transactions undertaken by Mutual Funds, a correct value of the costs of short selling can be obtained. But the reasons why this approach would never give a true indication of short selling costs have been explained in a cogent manner. Finally, the assignment ends with a strong argument against branding short sellers as precursors of misfortune. â€Å"Short selling† is a very common term in stock exchanges. In simple terms, if a seller sells stocks which are not owned by them, then they are selling it short. This is possible if the seller borrows those stocks from a broker for a limited period and would return those stocks later. In order to do this, the short seller must have an account with the broker. That account could be either cash account or margin account. A cash account requires all transactions to be settled in cash while in a margin account the broker comes forward with finance or securities, as the case may be, to fulfill temporary requirements of the investor. The investor has to; of course, provide collateral securities for all the shares that they borrow. One of the most pertinent costs of short selling is the interest foregone on the securities that are presented as collateral to the broker. A short seller undertakes these transactions because they have a hunch that the price of securities would go down in future. So when they would buy those stocks from open market for returning to the broker they would be able to do so at a lower price than at which they had

Should Military Recruiters be Allowed in High Schools Thesis

Should Military Recruiters be Allowed in High Schools - Thesis Example Students must be open to all kind of possibilities and military is one of them. Military recruiters’ presence at campus is to inform, educate, motivate and assist young students for an honorable, potentially lucrative and competitive career. According to Weekly Reader Corporation (2006) almost 100,000 teenagers joined United States military in 2004. Approximately 57 percent of all army, Marine, Navy and Air Force recruits are between 17 to 19 years of age. These statistics points towards influence military recruiters have on high school students when it comes to deciding about volunteering for army. According to a clause of No Child Left behind Act 2002, military recruiters are allowed to visit high schools twice a year and schools must provide students’ contact information with recruiters. Military recruiters should be allowed in high schools due to the fact that not only military entirely depend on recruiters to enroll educated and young people to defend the country but also the young students should be aware of all options for making informed and beneficial career decision in uncertain economic conditions and increasing competitiveness for higher education. Military recruiters should be allowed in high schools because army and our defense system depend on the contributions of these young people. According to U.S. Recruiting Command, since the abolition of draft in 1973, United States has an all-volunteer military. It implies that army is completely dependent on recruiters for recruiting well-educated, properly trained and sophisticated people to defend us on war fronts and save our sovereignty (S. Douglas Smith as cited in Herbert, 2006) Parents and students must not feel forced to join military. It is a fact that every employer search for the best to serve and military is no exception. By visiting high school campus, military recruiters not only serve the nation as a whole but also broaden the horizon for teenagers. Their