Organizational Misbehavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organizational Misbehavior - Essay Example Nowadays organizations are clearly conscious that, "organizational ethical behavior will necessitate serious thought, at the board and executive level." (Armbrste 5) Prevalent organizational misbehavior and illegal activity have made the formation of an official ethics strategy an elevated priority for all enterprises, regardless of their size or structure. Many larger organizations have established a position for an Ethics Officer, and smaller organizations turn to consultants that specialize in ethical consultation. Such individuals provide the frontline of defense against moral decay in corporate America. Organisations are made up of individuals: This is because collectively a group can achieve far more than the equivalent number of individuals. Misbehaviour in organizations can be tricky for management to spot and correct, and as an end result, the cost to organizations can be high. ... The current research examines the causes of different types of misbehaviour, and makes suggestions for remedies and managerial practices that can help to reduce its occurrence and impact. The members of an organisation have their zones of comfort and agendas. The organisation has a specific mission; the management task is to ensure that these individual endeavors are aligned towards their organisation's purpose. Therefore an understanding of how individuals fit in to organisations, and the way in which organisations work is fundamental to the ability to manage. "Provided the recent misbehaviors in organizations that are all over the headlines, - - ImClone, Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco." (Aronwitz 13) The misbehaviour debate refuses to lie down or quietly fade into obscurity. It raises fundamental questions about the nature of social reality, the manner in which it is conceptualized and the theoretical means most appropriate in explaining the relationship between its constituent elements. In raising unavoidable, and difficult, questions about the nature of and link between "human activity and its social contexts" (Bacon & Story 2) , the misbehaviour debate forces students and members of organisation alike to confront a set of issues that defines irrevocably the constitution of the subject matter and the analytical and methodological terms. In general, this paper is rather optimistic about the nature of men and the possibilities to organize conforming and dutiful behaviour of employees. This undoubtedly is a reflection of our prosperous times and business successes, which marked the beginning of the new millennium. "Perhaps conforming to a certain political correctness" (Ball & Wilson 5), academics in organization studies, in addition, like to

English Learning Essay Example for Free

English Learning Essay This case study is based on Patricia, a Spanish national in her twenties who is in her last year studying an Economics degree course. She is also a student on the Elementary course at the British Language Centre. Patricia’s started learning English at the bi-lingual school she attended. She learnt English for 3 years but did not take any official examinations, but sees this as a possibility for the future. At school she learnt English because it was obligatory. The only other language she speaks is Spanish. She started attending the British Language Centre (which she still attends) to help her find a job in an international company and to prepare her for her visit to Eastbourne, East Sussex (UK) in July. She will be staying with a house family for one month and hopes to improve her English and use all of the language she has been learning to date. Her reasons for learning English are a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic ones. The main reason she is motivated to learn English is because she believes it will help her find a good job and earn loads of money, she also reads a lot about English culture and customs and watches films in English with subtitles for her own enjoyment. This can also be related to her learning styles. The results of her â€Å"multiple intelligences† questionnaire indicates that her learning style preferences are linguistic, spatial and interpersonal. Her conversations in English refer to things that she has read or heard, she enjoys solving mazes and other visual puzzles and considers herself to be a leader. 3 Problems and Possible solutions with Grammar The student enjoys English grammar, and generally finds it much easier than Spanish grammar. An example of this is the verb formations. She normally uses the correct tense when speaking in English but sometimes uses the infinitive form instead of the progressive. â€Å"I read† instead of â€Å"I’m reading†. Spanish often use an infinitive where English would use a progressive; this can be

Eulogy for my Mother Essay examples -- essays research papers

I want to thank all of my Mother’s friends and family for being here today to celebrate her life and to mourn her death. I’m sure she would be thrilled to see all of you here and I know it would have meant the world to her. I suppose that the way that these things are supposed to go is that I recap her life and tell all of the good things about her and all of the great things she did, and there are many, but I can only tell you about what my mother meant to me. Everything good that is in me came wholly or in part from this woman. She taught me to love and to give, even when no one noticed my efforts. She taught me the value of hard work and dedication to our passions in life, the things that make us more than just animals. She taught me that there is value in every human life, regardless of how meek or downtrodden. The lesson I would like to talk about today is the lesson of the value of the fight, and to her very last day she continued that lesson. My mother believed in the fight and she dedicated her life to helping others learn to do it as well. As a dependency nurse and counselor, she helped hundreds of patients who had lost their way in life to try to find something else to cling to, something that could help them deal with life without resorting to drugs or alcohol as an escape. Permanent success was rare, often she would see the same patient again a year or two later in the same position. When she learned she had Cancer, she organized herself into a one-woman battle squad. Anyone who knew my mother knows that sitting down and letting the sickness take over was just not in her. She took the eighteen month prognosis they gave her , smiled, and threw it out the window. Shortly after her diagnosis,... ...his day, and I’m absolutely sure that she would love it. I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky meet each other. Then someone at my side says† â€Å"There, she is gone!† â€Å"Gone where?† Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, â€Å"There, she is gone!† there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: â€Å"Here she comes!† And that is dying. Eulogy for my Mother Essay examples -- essays research papers I want to thank all of my Mother’s friends and family for being here today to celebrate her life and to mourn her death. I’m sure she would be thrilled to see all of you here and I know it would have meant the world to her. I suppose that the way that these things are supposed to go is that I recap her life and tell all of the good things about her and all of the great things she did, and there are many, but I can only tell you about what my mother meant to me. Everything good that is in me came wholly or in part from this woman. She taught me to love and to give, even when no one noticed my efforts. She taught me the value of hard work and dedication to our passions in life, the things that make us more than just animals. She taught me that there is value in every human life, regardless of how meek or downtrodden. The lesson I would like to talk about today is the lesson of the value of the fight, and to her very last day she continued that lesson. My mother believed in the fight and she dedicated her life to helping others learn to do it as well. As a dependency nurse and counselor, she helped hundreds of patients who had lost their way in life to try to find something else to cling to, something that could help them deal with life without resorting to drugs or alcohol as an escape. Permanent success was rare, often she would see the same patient again a year or two later in the same position. When she learned she had Cancer, she organized herself into a one-woman battle squad. Anyone who knew my mother knows that sitting down and letting the sickness take over was just not in her. She took the eighteen month prognosis they gave her , smiled, and threw it out the window. Shortly after her diagnosis,... ...his day, and I’m absolutely sure that she would love it. I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky meet each other. Then someone at my side says† â€Å"There, she is gone!† â€Å"Gone where?† Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, â€Å"There, she is gone!† there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: â€Å"Here she comes!† And that is dying.

The emphasis (of MBO)

 «The emphasis (of MBO) is on trying to predict and influence the future rather than on responding and reacting by the seat of the pants. It is also a ‘results-oriented† philosophy of management, one of which emphasizes accomplishments and results. The focus is generally on change and on improving both individual and organizational effectiveness. » A successful implementation of MBO in any country requires a narrow examination of such elements as customs and traditions of that country, which give support to the application of MBO. These elemets are higly influenced by the history. Starting from the early centuries, Russian people got accustomed to live under the central rule when the tsar was the only decision-making body in the country. The communication between the rulers and ruled was flowing only one-way. The landlords, owning the farmers, set quotes to farmers without thinking whether they would be able to achieve them. Afterwards, when the bolshewiks came to rule instead of the monarchy, the same thing happened. Working for a state enterprise, the employees didn†t have a chance to set objectives for their work they performed. The central planning department set quotes, by which all the organizations had to obey even if those planks were set too high to reach. Workers were responsible for reaching organizational goals no matter for at what costs, but on the other side the means by which they had to reach the organizational goals were predetermined by the central planning department. So, we can see that the word  «central », which  «disables » MBO, was quite common and used heavily thrughout the whole history of Russia. Nevertheless, I would say, there were some elements of MBO such as rewarding the employees when they exceeded the quotes set by the central department. Reward was very seldom material. Usually, you would have received a red flag for an excellent work, and your photo would have been printed in the organization†s newspaper. In addition to the rewards, people were working for a common purpose: to reach the communism. And each piece they had produced contributed to this goal. Anyway, this system of rewards worked; it was a good source of motivation although it was resting solely in the willigness of the employees to contribute to the process. Factors that influence management in Russia After we had examined the historical factors that influence the application of MBO, let†s come down to determine factors that influence overall management in Russia now. As a result, it gives also some impact on the ability of MBO to be successful in this country. The first and also the most important factor is the social one. Managing an organization became a real challenge for managers during these hard times. Their decisions are highly influenced by the social environment surrounding the organization. Such a factor as, for instance, values goes hand in hand with the organization†s purpose (profit) in Western societies, but Russian people†s values are different. Russians, as they got accustomed that the only aim of the organization is to contribute to the public welfare, can†t and do not want to understand that the transition to capitalism and, particulary, to a free market economy will delete all the organizations that don†t bring profit that is at least enough to cover the expenses. That is why, for instance, formerly free hospitals are forced to charge fees. No matter whether it is for-profit or non-for-profit organization. It happened so that every organization should make money to live on. As Russia has been passing its stage of transition to a free market economy for only 7 years, there is a lack of specialized managers. Formerly, the best profession was considered to be a physician, but starting from 1991, people realized that the economy needed skilled managers (and employees), lawyers, etc. So, at the time being, there are only a few organizations that are led by professional managers and the rest by, for instance, doctors and teachers; as a result, Russia has a high rate of firm†s failures. The overall atmosphere of distrust has created such a situation where it is difficult to deal with any firm. You are afraid of being cheated; as a result, people are more likely to go for help to a state-owned organization than to a private one. Political instability in Russia explains why organizations in this country are so highly centralized. Due to need of the availability to adapt to the continuously changing situation, which requires application of conceptual skills, managers are forced to have a total control over their  «child », no matter how big the organization is. Lack of important laws creates another challenge for the Russian managers; however, for some of them it is an advantage, for instance, for Mafia. Such an important function of management as planning, which is important for MBO in order to be successful, can†t be realized fully because of ever changing situation. The manager can†t predict the future and plan for the organization because of the uncertainty about the future. That is why in Russia, also called  «the country of wonders », it is more likely to fail in business than in other countries. Another challenge for a manager is to run an organization under economic instability. The heavy dependence on the foreign investments from the USA, World Bank, IMF etc. contributes to factor of uncertainty: no investments – economic recession. In addition to that, the main financial resources are concentrated within a small group of people, called  «semibojarshina », owning the largest firms in Russia. And these become more and more involved in the political process. They extract resources, pass laws only if they are advantageous for their companies. The rest can only watch this  «game ». Focusing on the USA has led to copying the Western way of life, trying to produce goods and services like Americans without actually having knowledge or background in it. All these factors put pressure on the managers and influence the relationship between managers and employees, which is a prediciding factor for applying the MBO approach to a particular organization. Relationship between the employer and the employee MBO offers people a field within which to penetrate. Workers have a relative freedom of choice in deciding which means to choose for reaching a stated goal. They are motivated through reward given to individuals on the basis of how close they come to reaching their goals. Under MBO people should be self-directed and should like their work, and, of course, any MBO program is based on responsibility and proposes democratic leadership. Throughout the previous paragraph we can see that MBO works best under Theory Y. In order to know whether individual†s way of thinking about workers enables MBO to exist in this country, I†ve taken twenty Russian people (all work for Russian organizations) and tried to get out their assumptions about workers. The result was as follows. From the results we can see that most participants stuck to the Theory X, the theory that incorporates people who do not like work, must be forced to do the job, are motivated through the threat of punishment, see their personal gain in job security, and deslike responsibility. Under such conditions, an autocratic leadership is necessary. And only 4 people prefer the Theory Y. The theory that incorporates that people do not dislike work, work through self-direction, are motivated through recognition & reward, see their personal gain in fulfillment, and accept responsibility. Under such conditions a democratic leadership is possible. We see that the Theory Y, which enables MBO, got only 20%. From this research, I†ve proved my assumptions that the way of thinking about workers does not allow any MBO program to be implemented successfully. An impact on MBO has also the system of expectations, so it is important to know what different counterparts (employer and employee) expect from each other. To know what a Russian employer expects from a Russian employee I†ve asked 5 Russian people that are running companies to fill out a questionnaire. The result was the following. The second answer crosses out to ability of MBO to be successful. It does not allow an employee to be creative, to be able to set objectives together with the superior†¦ So we can see that the employer is not  «mentally » ready to apply the MBO approach at the time being. To know what a Russian employee expects from a Russian employer I†ve asked 15 Russian people that are working for Russian organizations to fill out a questionnaire. The result was the following. Nobody has mentioned any of the MBO†s characteristics (ability to set objectives,†¦). That gives us much food for thoughts. If employees† primary goals, while working for an organization, do not match the MBO†s gains (advantages), then MBO won†t be advantageous for the employees. As a result, the question arises  «Why should employees be for the application of MBO at their organization? »

International Pay Systems

The Human Resource department must be able to work closely with the foreign country in order to understand the customs and preferences of the locals while complying and enforcing privacy, copyright, and Intellectual property laws. They must also take Into account the cultural differences of the workers and customers and work to bridge the gaps with management and other transplanted American workers.By taking account of the legal Issues that are Involved In international business venture and being able to Incorporate the customs and prefers of the country will help Ordain Manufacturing meet their goals in expanding their market and sales in a global economy (University of Phoenix, 2010). The Case of Robert Lord Local taxation and living costs must be considered, along with the gross salary of the senior managers.Senior mangers typically earn a higher gross salary than that off lower ranked employee in many countries including Japan. Once the local taxation and cost of living are taken into account, it is estimated that the United States employee is compensated well than that of his Japanese counterpart. If Robert Lord was sent to Japan on the domestic terms, his buying power is reduced greatly although the gross salary would be higher. The expendable Incomes need to be adjusted to meet the differences In the cost of living.In doing this the expatriate Is assured of the same appending power in the host country as here in the United States. Several allowances and or incentives could also be added to the host country The united States is one of the few countries to impose tax on income portion. Earned on foreign soil, although many of the companies will bear this additional tax burden. This is called tax equalization agreement in which the employee is reimbursed by the employer for the extra amount incurred by the expatriate.Most often a company will withhold a set tax from each payroll payment to the employee, eased on a projected tax Incurred by that nations sala ry, and at the end of the tax year, after the exact amount of tax is calculated, the employee or employer must reimburse the other for over/under payment. US companies find themselves at a disadvantage with these tax-equalization pay systems, and many companies are trying to fill their senior management positions with local hires (ace International, 2010).One of the defining reasons for a government's tendency to enact protective measures to counterbalance the effects of markets are the insufficient welfare yester and Japan's existing social contract, which does not tolerate uncertainty and social suffering. At the very basic level a social contract is a covenant to the Japanese culture. It is not codified by which the society and the state are constituted. It addresses the areas such as how many services the government has to provide in return for its right in reducing citizen's incomes. This could be done through high taxes and or high prices.The differences are reflected signific antly in the basic societal assumptions and preferences as well as the political and economic struggles. Countries will differ in how they craft this social contract over the course of history. A social contract will evolve over time and become inclusive of that country's leading interests as well as their norms and values, and it is extremely difficult to change either incrementally or radically (Olson, 1982). Changes in a covenant require that there be changes in the fundamental values within Japanese society.Since the recession has continued to loom large globally the Japanese people seem to be more concerned with the existing values which would include stability, security and retainer. Japan is certainly not the only country where existing social contract has created barriers to the changes that are needed to transition successful to a post- industrial society. As an example, many in United States are unhappy with a system that in spite of the countries significant wealthy, more than 40 million people are working without health insurance (Olson, 1982).The Role of the Social Contract on Compensation Systems Internationally Human Capital is the most valuable resource that a company has and companies must treat their employees with dignity, aspect, and not to allowable them on compensation Just to make a greater profit for themselves. The 20th century corporate models in the past and still exist today are based on the financial capital as being the dominate source of competitive advantage. Corporations were viewed as solely instruments for maximizing the wealth of its financial investments.Corporations today need to adopt new strategies within their employment practices which will build and sustain the trust and commitment of its human and financial investors and to be able to return fair value to both stakeholders. Those who participate in managing the company need to be held accountable for creating and investing for a future that is sustainable. This would imply that all groups should have a voice in regards to the accountability of the company's board members and other governance bodies (Cocoon ; Sultan, 2007).The Equity in Compensation between Expatriate and Nationals within the Same Country Critical issues regarding compensation focus exclusively on the home country nation expatriates. These issues revolve around negotiations which if there are too many premiums and inventive you will create an international tamped and unrest in the domestic pay system. On the other hand too few incentives given and you will influence people not to risk foreign assignment (Engle, 2007).Issues brought to light by trial and error, or the components and adjustments to domestic pay which comprise the company's balance sheets. This so called stumbling to a â€Å"balance sheet† approach has comprised much of the case-oriented options, suitable housing, education of the expatriates children, and other incentives needs to be facilitated by consulti ng firms, in which a pattern can be developed to have a standardized balance sheet approach (Brioche, 1995). In doing this the company is able to adjust to the intention environment, but by relying on their own domestic terms.The Effect of Trade Unions and Employee Involvement in Compensation Systems for Cross Border Organizations They forces that are affecting today's trends in the international and domestic markets must be carefully analyzed so to be better equip for the needs of tomorrow. Understanding how employee compensations will be determined and what the consequences will have by using different approaches is important. The ways by which employees are compensated affect their financial and emotional well being. Directly impacting the company's effectiveness and the talents of the nation's human resources is compensation.Finally, the way in which employees are compensated gives credence to society's sense of social Justice. A trend that is affecting tomorrow's compensation i s shifting away from responding to negotiated or benchmarking patterns to a completive positioning stand. One of the most important relations is that between management, employees and trade union representatives. The central role of the nation unions combined with single nation orientation will sometimes slow or even top the development of an international union bargain capability (Engel, 2007).Compare and Contrast Pay Systems across Countries No matter in which country you reside pay is a status symbol within the organizations and also society. Societies that are less complex in nature the status of an individual may be the product of many standards in which Judgment is past; for example, the individuals family, friend, education, occupation, religious or political affiliations. In a more mobile society such as the United States, many of these same standards are harder to measure and are not near as important. Income as a symbol of stature does not present this problem (Atchison, B elcher ; Thomson, 2004).Organizations create statues within the structuring of the Jobs and the compensation that is associated with that position. By placing coworkers in a status structure of the organization according to how much they are compensated is quite commonplace. Since pay is a universal measure of status, it is easy to understand that differentials in pay can be significant. Across cultural boundaries this is the one constant in relation to pay systems. This symbolic significance adds another dimension the importance of compensation to individuals (Atchison, Belcher, ; Thomson, 2004).These same values are seen not only within organizations but in society as well. Organization is influenced by what the norm is across industry standards regarding pay. Outside forces vary in their influence with the type of people who are hired, their loyalty or attachment to the company and the similarity of the organization Jobs to those found elsewhere. Outside influences can be minimiz ed if the company is able to create unique Jobs, which only entry level positions are hired for beyond the company's walls.Customary relationships that are Just as conservative soon arise inside the organization and groups within will begin to struggle for status and pay which will bring the same type of powerful forces as the same as outside forces (Atchison, Belcher, & Thomson, 2004). The Effect of Trade Unions and Employee conducted exclusively at the company level and no mechanisms for the extension of agreement beyond the signatories, bargaining coverage exactly matches union density (rebound, 2005).

Free Essays on General Education

Why the University of South Florida has General Education Requirements The University of South Florida’s General Education Requirements seem just like standard classes that students of any field have to take. These classes consist of thirty-six credits that you must take in order to get your degree. Why does everyone have to take these courses? Well the University of South Florida feels like they are needed to set a standard for the education you receive from USF. With everyone taking these classes it ensures that they will leave here with at least those knowledgeable skills. Others major universities all over the United States of America have there own appointed General Education Requirements. Other universities may have different standards such as the prestigious Ohio State University. Is Ohio State’s requirements for their curriculum better than the University of South Florida’s? Students from all schools would have their own opinions on the whole idea of general education requirements but schools would not have them unless the higher officials felt like they are needed. So here is a brief comparison of two schools requirements and why they even bother setting standards for the students. Ohio State University has there own classes they feel is needed to set their standard. They set their required classes based on your major. If you’re a Science major then your social sciences will be more rigorous than if you are an English major. Something else that is different than the University of South Florida’s idea on general education requirements are the credit hours needed. In some areas South Florida requires six credit hours where Ohio State only wants you to complete five credit hours in that subject. That may sound good but Ohio State’s total general education credit hours for completion is one-hundred and five total credit hours. Thir... Free Essays on General Education Free Essays on General Education Why the University of South Florida has General Education Requirements The University of South Florida’s General Education Requirements seem just like standard classes that students of any field have to take. These classes consist of thirty-six credits that you must take in order to get your degree. Why does everyone have to take these courses? Well the University of South Florida feels like they are needed to set a standard for the education you receive from USF. With everyone taking these classes it ensures that they will leave here with at least those knowledgeable skills. Others major universities all over the United States of America have there own appointed General Education Requirements. Other universities may have different standards such as the prestigious Ohio State University. Is Ohio State’s requirements for their curriculum better than the University of South Florida’s? Students from all schools would have their own opinions on the whole idea of general education requirements but schools would not have them unless the higher officials felt like they are needed. So here is a brief comparison of two schools requirements and why they even bother setting standards for the students. Ohio State University has there own classes they feel is needed to set their standard. They set their required classes based on your major. If you’re a Science major then your social sciences will be more rigorous than if you are an English major. Something else that is different than the University of South Florida’s idea on general education requirements are the credit hours needed. In some areas South Florida requires six credit hours where Ohio State only wants you to complete five credit hours in that subject. That may sound good but Ohio State’s total general education credit hours for completion is one-hundred and five total credit hours. Thir...

Learn About Consonant Clusters in English Grammar

Learn About Consonant Clusters in English Grammar In linguistics, a  consonant cluster (CC)  is a group of two or more consonant sounds that come before (called an onset), after (called a coda) or between (called medial) vowels. Also known simply as a cluster, these occur naturally in written and spoken English - though sometimes may be altered phonetically. This process, called consonant cluster simplification (or reduction) sometimes occurs when at least one consonant in a sequence of adjacent consonants is elided or dropped. In everyday speech, for instance, the phrase  best boy may be pronounced  bes boy, and first time may be pronounced firs time. Onset consonant clusters may occur in two or three initial consonants, wherein three are referred to as CCC while coda consonant clusters can occur in two to four consonant groups. Common Consonant Clusters The written English language contains up to 46 permissible two-item initial consonant clusters, ranging from the common st to the less common sq, but only 9 permissible three-item consonant clusters, as Michael Pearce posits in his book The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies. Pearce illustrates the common three-item initial consonant clusters in the following words: spl/  split, /spr/  sprig, /spj/  spume, /str/  strip, /stj/  stew, /skl/  sclerotic, /skr/  screen, /skw/  squad, /skj/  skua, wherein every word must start with an s, be followed by a voiceless stop like p or t and a liquid or glide like l or w.   In terms of codas, or consonant clusters that end words, they may contain up to four items, though they are often truncated in connected speech if the consonant cluster is too long, as in the word glimpsed being acceptably written as glimst. Consonant Cluster Reduction In spoken English and rhetoric, oftentimes consonant clusters will be truncated naturally to increase speed or eloquence of speech, oftentimes dropping the same consonant if it occurs at the end of one word and again at the beginning of the next. This process, called consonant cluster reduction, is relatively variable but confined by linguistic factors that inhibit the operation of reducing these words. Walt Wolfram, writing in Dialect in Society, expounds, with respect to the phonological environment that follows the cluster, the likelihood of reduction is increased when the cluster is followed by a word beginning with a consonant. What this means for average English users is that cluster reduction is more common in phrases like west coast or cold cuts than in west end or cold apple. This technique can also be found in poetry to force similar-sounding words with different consonant endings to rhyme. Take for example the words test and desk, which dont rhyme in their original form, but if one uses consonant cluster reduction, the rhyme Sittin in my des, takin my tes can be forced through truncation, as Lisa Green describes in African American English: A Linguistic Introduction, this is most common in the poetic raps of African American origins in the United States.

Word Choice Dessert vs. Desert - Proofread My Paper

Word Choice Dessert vs. Desert - Proofread My Paper Word Choice: Dessert vs. Desert We’ve all been there. You’re in a restaurant with friends. You finish your main course and order a â€Å"desert.† Moments later, the waiter returns and buries your table beneath a truckload of sand, ruining the evening for everyone. Mmmm sand. [Photo: Simon A. Eugster]OK, this probably hasn’t happened in real life. But that’s because â€Å"desert† and â€Å"dessert† are pronounced differently enough that you wouldn’t normally mix them up. Written down it’s different, and we see these terms confused on a regular basis. Sometimes this is a just a typo (so remember to proofread!) but it can also be an issue with spelling, so make sure you know the difference between these words. Dessert (Sweet and Delicious) This is the easy one, since â€Å"dessert† only has one meaning. Specifically, it’s used to describe sweet food eaten after the main part of a meal: For dessert, I ate my own body weight in ice cream. As such, you should only use â€Å"dessert† in reference to food. Getting hungrier now You sometimes see people write â€Å"just desserts,† but this is actually a mistake; the correct term is â€Å"just deserts,† meaning â€Å"that which is deserved.† By comparison, â€Å"just desserts† would mean something like â€Å"only puddings,† which is only useful if you run a diner for people with a sugar addiction. Desert (Dry and Sandy) The most common use of â€Å"desert† is to identify a place with little to no rainfall, typically somewhere hot and sandy: The Mojave is the hottest desert in the United States. It really is very, very hot there. [Photo: Theschmallfella]We also use this sense of â€Å"desert† as an adjective, such as when describing something associated with the desert: From his campaign in North Africa during WWII, Rommel became known as the â€Å"Desert Fox.† Meanwhile, the verb â€Å"desert† is pronounced a little differently despite having the same spelling. This sense of â€Å"desert† means â€Å"to abandon†: The prisoner got away after the guard deserted his post. Dessert or Desert? It’s easy to avoid mistakes with â€Å"dessert† and â€Å"desert† as long as you remember that â€Å"dessert† only has one meaning (it becomes even easier if you imagine the double-â€Å"s† in â€Å"dessert† stands for â€Å"something sweet†). Once you’ve ruled that out, whether you’re using â€Å"desert† as a noun or a verb, the spelling is the same. Just keep in mind that: Dessert (noun) = The final course in a meal (â€Å"something sweet†) Desert (noun) = A dry, sandy area of land Desert (verb) = To leave or abandon

Forensic Science Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Forensic Science - Case Study Example Since his execution, his parents and relatives have been striving to show the world the misuse of justice evident in the case because they still trust that their son was not guilty of the crime. Various articles and books have been published with respect to the case of James Hanratty, with some supporting the fact that Hanratty was not guilty following their investigation and the medical reports that were using the DNA of the victim and those of the deceased. For one to better understand the investigations and the trial that was conducted on Mr. Hanratty, it is essential to consider the criminal record of the individual prior to the case that led to his death. It can be retrieved from the criminal accounts of Hanratty that by the period when he was found guilty of murdering Michael Gregsten, he has already been convicted of four crimes that were linked to motoring offences and minor theft such as housebreaking. In atatininig seventeen years of age, Mr. Hanratty appeared before Harrow Magistrate for taking someone’s motor vehicle without authority, and also driving a vehicle without insurance or a driving license. Such led to Hanratty being introduced to psychiatric treatment at the Portman Clinic where he was treated as an outpatient. At the age of eighteen years, Hanratty appeared before the court at the county of Middlesex Sessions where he was found guilty and sentenced to two years of imprisonment due to breaking in into someone’s house and stealing some property. After the release of the release, his father opened a window cleaning business to help me keep away from crime. However, at the age of 20 years, five months after release from Wormwood Scrubs, he was sentenced for six months due to a variety of crimes associated with motor vehicles and driving without a license. However, he was released after four months, but later he was convicted of car theft when he was

The Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Cuban Missile Crisis - Research Paper Example Then, the Civil War was fought in order to determine that America was established for the freedom of all regardless of race. The biggest and largest scale engagements that the United States was involved in were World War I and World War II. After the end of these worlds, very few superpowers existed to maintain the world order. Europe had taken the hammer the hardest and suffered the most. The two superpowers that were still standing was the democratic United States and the communist run Soviet Union. Because of the advent of nuclear technology and the development of nuclear warheads, each country was hardening itself trying to take hold of superiority. Many of the small fires which flared up were fought based on the policy of containment that the United States upheld to as well as fighting a war based on proxy. The single most defining event in United States history, in my opinion, was the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was an event in which the whole world was watching waiting for armage ddon to occur. Mutual assured destruction (MAD) seemed inevitable. The historical setting was that Cuba was and still is a communist controlled country. The United States had tried to intervene by supporting a particular communist government in which would be friendly and cooperate with the United States (Batista Dictatorship).

Fences By August Wilson Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fences By August Wilson - Research Paper Example The experiences Troy Maxson had to go through in his early life and his failure to realize his American Dream have a negative impact on his life and family. This frustration makes him unable to forgive and then gain maturity. Wilson portrays the painful experience of Troy Maxson whose American Dream turns out to be a failure. Despite his talent as a baseball player, he faces racism and segregation that prevent him from making a successful career in the Negro League and, therefore, achieve his American Dream. The failure of his dream transforms him into a bitter person who realizes the limitations of his opportunities. His shift from a Negro League player to a garbage collector reveals terribly the downfall he has to go through and the forms of careers America reserves to people of his color. This critic sums up his experience: â€Å"For Troy, however, the American dream has turned into a prolonged nightmare. Instead of limitless opportunity, he has come to know racial discrimination and poverty. At age 53, this former Negro League hero is a garbage collector who ekes out a meager existence, working arduously to support his family and living from hand to mouth† (Koprince). This failure of his American Dream explains his strong and definite refusal to allow his son to embrace the career of baseball player. The memory of his own painful experience and his awareness of the racial barriers ahead justify his opposition. He wants to avoid his son the same humiliation and failure he has to undergo. Troy’s life has always been filled with much drama and painful experiences from his birth to his death. Born in an African American family that faces the hardships related to the social realities of the period, he does not enjoy much joy. The family supposed to nurture and protect him was the first one to let him down and deceive him. The actions of his own biological parents were the first deceptions he had experienced in life, which explains his departure fro m home. Denied security and protection from his own home, his refuge in the streets will not offer him a better opportunity but lead him straight to jail. This article indicates: â€Å"What should a realist expect of Troy Maxson, who was abandoned by his mother at age eight, fled a brutal, lustful father at age fourteen, began to steal for a living, and served fifteen years on a murder charge? One can only hope for some measure of good, and Troy exceeds a realist's expectations† (Wessling). These painful experiences do not prepare Troy to become a responsible man, which explains the various struggles he faces to raise a family himself. His whole life has not been easy because he had to face one obstacle after another and learn to defend himself against any aggression and injustice. His concern to defend himself and his attempts to attain justice for himself and blacks in general make him a rebel. This author argues: â€Å"Even in Wilson's fictive world of 1957, he is regarde d as a ‘troublemaker’ for complaining that black garbage workers should be able to drive the trucks, just like white men. Not only was Troy ‘born too early,’ therefore, but Wilson portrays him as lacking the conciliatory temperament to be one of the first players to break baseball's color barrier† (Koprince). These claims grant him the status of a pre-civil rights actor who denounces injustice and fights for more consideration. The painful

Sales Pitch Wk 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sales Pitch Wk 7 - Essay Example Raise the proposal continuously? The proposal could be raised continuously through two approaches: by monitoring the performance of proposed changes and reporting the outcome to management; and by elevating the matter to senior management through performance reports to propose wider target markets (additional schools and universities), as deemed necessary. Package the issue incrementally? Packaging the proposed new product incrementally could mean recommending increasing either the volume, product sizes, or product variants to the target market depending on performance and demand. Tie it to profitability? Bundling techniques mean linking the proposed change to other ideas or issues. In this case, a proposal to market new products to schools, for instance could be tied to profitability by proving to management that the pro-forma financial statements would indicate profits of so much if the projected volume would be sold in a particular time period. Tie it to market share or organizational image? Tying the proposed launching of a new product to market share or organizational image simply means that by targeting children, the market share of the organization would increase by, say 10 to 20% within the defined time frame. The effect would boost organizational image as patronizing a new product through children in school have potentials for brand retention and repurchase. Tie it to concerns of key stakeholders? Key stakeholders include shareholders (who would benefit from increased profits and returns), employees (would be motivated with good financial performance), consumers (needs would be satisfied), community (a healthy product would benefit the community in terms of emphasizing proper nutrition that would be derived from the new product which is needed for child development). Tie it to other issues? The new product could be tied to corporate responsibility and environmental protection. The proposed product must use environmentally promoted packaging

Philosophy of African culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosophy of African culture - Essay Example The African culture has a special concern and regard for the cosmos and the humanity’s place in the cosmos. Most of the African stories are crafted concerning nature, animals , tricksters ad other themes with the common aim being explaining the existence of some occurrences that are perceived by the humanity to be controlled by the divine, and beyond the humanity control. Family values are very important in the Asian stories, with families occupying a special place in the lives of all members. How the tortoise got its rough shell is one of the stories that define the relations between cosmos and humanity in the African culture. Though the story is a trickster, it has a good lesson on the role of humanity in the universe as characterized by the animals. This story is a characterization of animals that were going to the heavens to see God Eke in appeasing him to send forth rains to quench the scorched earth, and bring about produce. From the story, the tortoise had to attend but had no wings to fly, so the birds accepted to donate each a feather to help the tortoise (Uche, 2). As the story narrates, the animals agree on brotherhood and so should help one another (Uche,3). The animals agree to sacrifice in order to appease Eke to send rain and end starvation that had claimed many lives (Uche, 4). The story explains of selfishness (Uche, 7) where the eagle remarks that the tortoise stands better to be sacrificed and the tortoise shows his selfishness by tricking others into eating all the food offered (Uche, 8). From the story above the aspect of humanity in the universe is evident. ... Hard work with no visible goals leads Temba to recount his 30 years of hard work in his daily labor with nothing to show of it (Achebe and Innes, 67). Again in this story, the sun has scorched the earth and humans are hungry again as Temba’s family still count on him to deliver failure to which they might die. The presence of a deity or god who provides in times of difficulty and despair is clear as Temba is provided with a meal for the family after hunger bites hard with no fish to catch (Achebe & Innes, 68). As Temba monologue continues, he wishes that the humanity on earth appease the Gods to send forth rains to end the suffering. This narrative portrays a good relation between God, man and the interdependence of man on God, in times of despair. The strong faith in African culture is evident that enables Temba to get food form God to feed his family. Drought is seen as a punishment from God. Wake, is another African story that spells of despair and desperation in times of n eeds. The story is about the shootings of Soweto in South Africa and largely narrates of the ordeal of death and how it is viewed in the African culture. The signing choirs explain a religious nature of the African people and the respect that the dead are given in their last send off (Achebe and Innes, 33). Death is viewed with a lot of respect in the African culture with multitudes paying their last respects and God appeased through songs for the sake of the dead. The sanctity and belief in respecting the human life is clear (35) as the narrator curses the whites who she accuses of being responsible for the death of their daughters and sons. All the above stories portray a strongly

Sales Pitch Wk 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sales Pitch Wk 7 - Essay Example Raise the proposal continuously? The proposal could be raised continuously through two approaches: by monitoring the performance of proposed changes and reporting the outcome to management; and by elevating the matter to senior management through performance reports to propose wider target markets (additional schools and universities), as deemed necessary. Package the issue incrementally? Packaging the proposed new product incrementally could mean recommending increasing either the volume, product sizes, or product variants to the target market depending on performance and demand. Tie it to profitability? Bundling techniques mean linking the proposed change to other ideas or issues. In this case, a proposal to market new products to schools, for instance could be tied to profitability by proving to management that the pro-forma financial statements would indicate profits of so much if the projected volume would be sold in a particular time period. Tie it to market share or organizational image? Tying the proposed launching of a new product to market share or organizational image simply means that by targeting children, the market share of the organization would increase by, say 10 to 20% within the defined time frame. The effect would boost organizational image as patronizing a new product through children in school have potentials for brand retention and repurchase. Tie it to concerns of key stakeholders? Key stakeholders include shareholders (who would benefit from increased profits and returns), employees (would be motivated with good financial performance), consumers (needs would be satisfied), community (a healthy product would benefit the community in terms of emphasizing proper nutrition that would be derived from the new product which is needed for child development). Tie it to other issues? The new product could be tied to corporate responsibility and environmental protection. The proposed product must use environmentally promoted packaging

The SAP ERP at the finance department of Al Jazeera Dissertation

The SAP ERP at the finance department of Al Jazeera - Dissertation Example Directly related to the agency theory which will be discussed under the theoretical framework, Clegg, Hardy & Nord (1996) noted that the issue of self-interest among some employees is a major reason for resistance to change in several organisations. In various profit making companies such as Al Jazeera, there are external stakeholders who have different forms of interest with the organisation’s management and the outcome of its management processes. In line with this, the external stakeholders, most of who are shareholders may give their own specifications as to the outcomes that should be seen from the operations of the organisation. In some of these cases, Kirkman (2000) stated that in order for the targeted goals from the stakeholders to be achieved, there must be different forms of changes in the approach to business operation at the workplace. However, some employees and even managers may have their ego which interferes with the organisation’s overall attempt to fa cilitating change within its premise (de Jager, 2001). The situation becomes more serious when such employees seeking their self-interest succeed in forming a cartel among the larger employee base to get others to support their agendas and motivations. Another factor that has been noted to make the issue of self-interest among employees a serious one is when the employees seeking their interest are known to have some level of authority within the organisation and thus have their own followers they issue instructions to (Dent & Goldberg, 2009).

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay In some works of literature, the main character often finds himself or herself in conflict with the social or moral values of his environment. Choose one novel or play of literary merit in which the character is at odds with the people around him or her, or with society at large. Write an essay in which you explain how these conflicts are essential to the overall meaning of the work. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: An Analysis of Conflict In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, author Mark Twain introduces the conflict of an individual versus society. Huckleberry Finn, the protagonist, embarks on an adventure of his own in order to escape the society that has done him wrong. With a runaway slave as his companion, Huck ventures out on the Mississippi River, observing and analyzing all aspects of the world around him. On his journey, Huck not only uncovers the hidden hypocrisy of his so-called â€Å"civilized† society, but also discovers his own inner conscience and sense of morality. Set in pre-Civil War Missouri, Huckleberry Finn’s tale captures the essence of southern society during that time period. During the early nineteenth century, slavery was still a predominant establishment in southern life. Those who owned slaves saw nothing wrong with the practice, for they had been raised believing slavery was just and acceptable. And the slaves themselves were born into the system simply accepting their fate as inferior beings. The reader sees this strange predicament in almost every situation Huck is faced with, from his temporary stay with the Widow Douglas to his encounter with Mrs. Loftus. During his stay with the Widow Douglas and her sister Miss Watson, Huck is constantly pestered to be more well-mannered and â€Å"civilized. † Miss Watson feels that Huck is in need of a spiritual saving, and so â€Å"By-and-by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed,† (Page 2). While she tries to save Huck from eternal damnation, she fails to realize that she herself is practicing a much more damning institution. She ironically preaches salvation, but she herself is involved with slavery – something the Bible condemns. Another example of this irony is Huck’s confrontation with Mrs. Loftus. Although she seeks to aid Huck, she ultimately is part of the reason he is in danger. Her husband is on a search for Jim, who is wanted for not only being a runaway but also for being a suspect in Huck’s â€Å"murder. † With this, the Loftus family puts Huck in more danger than he already was in. As Huck observes the hypocrisy of his society, he feels more inclined to break away from their way of life and instead form his own conclusions about what is right and what is wrong. Huck’s struggle against society and its attempts to civilize him is the starting point of the conflict in the novel. He feels trapped by the standards society has set for him. In order to avoid his culture’s influence, Huck flees his life with the adults that have done nothing but set a bad example for him. As he forms a relationship with Jim, a runaway slave, Huck truly begins to question the morals upheld by his society. To Huck, being associated with a slave is one thing, but aiding one in escaping is an entirely different and more dangerous predicament. When Jim is captured, Huck must decide whether to turn Jim in, as society demands, or to protect and help his friend instead. Eventually, though, Huck’s inner conscience and humanity prevail, and declares that he rather â€Å"go to hell,† (Page 170) than let Jim be enslaved again. Huck’s sacrifice to save Jim in return for his own eternal soul is the ultimate climax of the story. After dealing with the conflict of a morally corrupt society, Huck’s decision to disregard the norms set for him and make up his own mind creates an epic conclusion to the story. In the end, Huck not only frees Jim from bondage but also metaphorically liberates himself of society’s control over him. With this moral reckoning, Huck can learn from the mistakes of his society and set a new path for others to follow.

Top and Bottom Down Approaches in Research

Top and Bottom Down Approaches in Research 1.1 Introduction: The theoretical challenge of managed environments General works in the field of development studies or environmental management typically imitate structural, institutional and political economy analyses. This dissertation however focuses on the theoretical and methodological foundations of an actor-oriented, process-based and social constructionist form of analysis. It also aims to show the usefulness of such an approach for providing new insights into critical areas of empirical enquiry. In the introductory chapter I posed the dilemma confronting change managers and citizens with existing practices of environmental governance reform that are performing inconsistently. My starting point is the premise that experiences of decision-making over environmental management practices have not reflected the intent of smoother transitions and greater legitimacy that a turn to more participative approaches had promised. More democratic methods are not consistently producing more democratic outcomes, at least so are reports from practice warning. Instead, governance reform is experienced as frustrating struggles by actors brought together using ideals of collaborative practice that are frequently proving disappointing in application. The stories that this report recounts are indicative of the type of struggles and indeterminacies more and more encountered by policy actors in addressing issues of society-nature relations. It will be shown that the day-to-day tensions are not well expressed in the languages of social science or practitioners. Are there better ways to conceptualize these problems? Do we have language for this? To answer this, I will have to look for alternative ways to enter the subject and pose questions in different ways. A search for models of practice and theoretical foundations that may prove relevant to the rapidly changing contexts of managed environments encounters a rich literature that has engaged with the problems posed by the environmental pressures of population increase and technological development. However, as will be seen, existing conceptualisations encounter limits of abstraction. The implicit recognition of that has seen practitioners develop a wide range of approaches that are nearer to a recognition of actor perspectives in the field of environmental governance reform that more anthropological perspectives will highlight. A closer examination shows that abandoning abstraction in order to acknowledge the natural complexity of modern contexts in a post-modern time does not resolve the problem of constructively navigating changing knowledge systems. I therefore turn to post-structuralist thinking which allows me to give more attention to the social constructivist view and, in particul ar, to the co-constructed nature of knowledge, framing and subjectivities. The method that proves most promising to demonstrate and resolve the ambiguous nature of social knowledge is a dialectical approach to mapping the deliberative spaces of 21st century environmental governance reform. To do this work, perspectives from different disciplinary areas are brought together, including environmental sociology, environmental policy, anthropology, development studies, conservation management, political ecology and public policy. The discussion will seek to ‘ambiguate key notions in the society-nature literatures, that is, work with the ambiguity that becomes exposed when different scholarly worldviews are applied to core concepts of environmental governance. Working dialectically with the framings of theorists and practitioners means moving at different levels of extension, probing generalisation and rethinking subjects. This will show how ideas of nature, knowledge, community, and identity are central. The journey I will pursue in this chapter and effectively continue in the following transects key themes in the literature on environmental and development issues that I will not attempt to treat comprehensively a futile task even with the best of intentions but instead I want to trace insightful tensions and contours in the landscapes of academic, practitioners and subjective knowledges that shape the individual and institutional behaviour of social actors. By focussing on boundaries, and the conceptual or physical movement across these, I claim that I can show useful insights into the processes through which actors engage in participative, democratic spaces. By evoking a journey through the literature, I shadow the journey that I myself followed when I entered into and pursued this research, coming from a career as aid worker and encounter with the Great Barrier Island setting. Entering into academic reflection on social and political situations from that background opened perspectives that are not easily available to a researcher arriving from the outside or evaluating social processes with less reference to practical experience. At the same time, a positioning on the boundaries of the settings studied that my own background with the frequent geographic and career changes allowed, can be said to have greatly elevated my ‘hermeneutical horizon, opening up better appreciation of multiple, overlapping contexts. The aim of this chapter is to reveal a range of features and entry points into a number of settings that I gained access to, even if not comprehensively but certainly illustrative. I want to show that abstraction needs to adopt not only an actor-grounded and situated methodology but equally a more subjective theorisation, in order to give new meaning to abstraction. The literature I will bring into the discussion will help me elaborate how simultaneously seeking out top-down, bottom-up and reflective positions can give complementary insights into processes of actor engagement over environmental governance. The reason is that the political, social and cultural complexities that determine human-nature, and particularly society-nature, relations impose a need for multiple perspectives. In the following sections I will construct several positions located on metaphoric boundaries that offer perspective on subject areas and cultures of practice. To do that, I will open three views, or categories of view: one as a top-down view, which uses analytical thinking looking at overviews, comparisons and indicators to form structural explanations that underlie theory and practice. A second position approaches actors within a situation and is interested in narratives that convey the struggles and explanations present in a given situation, as they are seen from the bottom up. And with a view that is neither top-down, nor bottom-up, I want to emphasize a self-conscious, reflective treatment of knowledge and the co-construction of world views that deliberative practices can entail. 1.1.1 Case study or research intervention? The scholarly practitioner as participant in knowledge production Before I enter the subject area however, I must first clarify my point of entry into and positionality within the subject. In particular, the performative character of social science research needs to be acknowledged. Scientific inquiry is recognized as a social practice mediated contextually through symbolic means {Foucault, 2002; Pryke, Rose, Whatmore, 2003}. Sociological research has documented the extent to which science is as much a socio-cultural activity as a technical enterprise. The post-positivist challenge to the social sciences that was evoked by Fischer and quoted introductory chapter, derives from evidence that the elements of empirical inquiry from observation and hypothesis formation through data collection and explanation are grounded in often limited theoretical assumptions of the socio-cultural practices through which they are developed {Root, 1993}. Scientific explanations therefore have to be understood as explanations offered by specific communities of inquirers situated in particular places and times, so Fischer emphasizes (1998). These are discursive communities that are located alongside and intermeshed with other political communities in the social landscape. This draws attention to positioning researcher and science within the political communities that are present. Attention must be paid throughout the approach, engagement and interpretation of social situations to be reflective about the relation of the researcher to the subject. In my engagement with the actors within the settings I investigated, my approach and interest was shaped by all of my curriculum vitae but especially by my background as former aid worker. At least three specific aspects of this career were particularly significant in forming my approach to this study and, in particular, the lines of questioning that I adopted. For many years while working on behalf of large non-governmental aid organisations like Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), when I was often assigned as project planner in collaboration with medical or logistics experts with the task to research the humanitarian, political and security context in a particular setting to identify priority needs an organisation was able to address and to design the detailed aid interventions. I led needs assessment missions lasting 2 to 4 weeks to Georgia, Tajikistan, Congo, Burundi, Syria, Iraq, and Nepal among others,. The output would consist of reports documenting findings of data collection and interviews, verbal and written interpretation of implications for launching aid operations, and proposals to governmental donor agencies that complied to institutional requirements and priorities in order to maximise chances of gaining funding support. Essentially this was a research role with an action orientation. My primary role while working for these international aid organisations was project manager and/or country representative, positions that I held in Russia. Chechnya, Congo, Kenya, Lebanon, and Mauritania among others. Aid projects would be managed by a team of expatriates and local staff, often growing into large, well-resourced and formalised organisations with up to 50 staff. This required me to manage teams and situations with a view to producing outcomes, conforming to organisational policies. As head of usually one of the larger NGOs in a sector, I would frequently also act on behalf of a wider community of aid agencies that shared similar values and objectives in collaborating and representing interests to government counterparts. The emphasis on advocating for universal rights and principles on behalf of vulnerable and victims under threat was an important advocacy priority for organisations like Oxfam and MSF, and thus was a critical rationale for situating, maintaining, and promoting many aid activities. At the same time I would be representing associations that had explicitly defined visions and principles in an organisational environment and so I had to be very self-conscious about the philosophical distinctions between advocacy, religious, purely charitable, bilateral or inter-governmental agencies. In other words, through this work I had been sensitized to the subtleties of organisational culture and its relationship to operational policies. In general, as a project manager I shared an outcome orientation that allowed me to identify with the role of other project managers in comparable organisational settings, even outside the domain international aid. The reason I found myself in a ten-year career as aid worker was in part due to a long-standing interest in foreign settings and the extensive time I had already spent living abroad. The familiarity with different cultures from growing up in the Middle East, emigrating during school years to New Zealand and working in several European countries not only opened my appreciation of how cultures and societies are distinguished but also permitted me to acquire conversational fluency in eight languages. Overhearing the words our interpreter used to translate my speech into Arabic for a group of village elders in a Sahel village, or joking with Russian militia officers to be able to enter an ethnic enclave in the Caucasus, added diverse points of view that only first-hand knowledge can make relevant to other situations. The value of knowing how language and cultural upbringing can shape world views, understanding and humour is invaluable when attempting to reflect on other situations from a position that is neither entirely inside nor outside but on the boundary between cultures and places that are in (dialectical) relation. 1.1.1.1 Adopting an inside-out view: focus on protagonist, on the relationship between identity and subject. While it is tempting to examine a situation from the point of view of those with the power to affect it the change makers and potential audience for the research findings it can be critical to also adopt the point of view of less influential actors. An inside out view seeks to show how outside forces influence the nature of polity, rather than using the people in the area of interest to provide a background against which to set the actions of outsiders {see also Routledge, Pacific History as seen from the Pacific Islands, Pacific Studies Spring 1985}. This study, in other words, seeks to be not merely island-centred but islander-oriented. The perspective thus adopted is that of a scholarly practitioner. Bentz and Shapiro {, 1998 #1684} use this term to recognise that in the enterprise of knowledge generation and critical reflection, there is a two-way relationship. The role of the scholarly practitioner involves â€Å"using professional practice and knowledge as a resource for the formulation and production of scholarly knowledge as well as for evaluating, testing, applying, extending, or modifying existing knowledge† (p. 66). Bentz and Shapiro stress that this requires also an awareness of the limits of knowledge, and, I would add, the contested nature of knowledge. This recognition brings attention to the production of knowledge in environmental politics. 1.1.1.2 Social science must be conscious of its performative character: Reconnecting the researcher with the researched There are a number of research traditions that address the ontological gap between researcher and the researched. Action research for one, is a participatory methodology that seeks to produce knowledge that emerges from context of action as a collaborative project between researcher and the researched. It typically sees the researcher performing functional roles within groups working together on real world projects and tasks (Wadsworth, 1998). Participatory research finds many other outlets and emphasizes a philosophy of co-production or research, from the formulation of the question, through reflection on outcomes to the communication of findings (Cornwall Jewkes, 1995). A methodology that seeks to discard theoretical preconceptions completely is grounded theory. Theories are grounded in the groups observable experiences, but researchers add their own insight into why those experiences exist. It is a method formulated by Strauss and Corbin that categorizes empirically collected data to build a general theory to fit the data (Barney G. Glaser, 2004; B.G. Glaser Strauss, 1967; A. McCarthy, 1999). The investigator develops conceptual categories from the data and then makes new observations to develop these categories. Hypotheses are derived directly from the data, and may be tested against it. All conclusions must be grounded in and supported by the data. Their seminal work, The Development of Grounded Theory (1967), moved researchers past the hypothesis-testing uses of raw data into the hypothesis-generating potential of their observations. The approach has been steadily expanding its reach within academia through sociology and social anthropology an d, more recently into applied disciplines like nursing and educational research. Notwithstanding the uptake of grounded philosophy by researchers motivated to reconnect with the empirical subject, the lack of theorizing underlying this may be criticized by more ‘sophisticated theorists like Habermas, who I later want to bring into this discussion. For the German, the lack of critical framing that grounded theory represents is a crucial shortcoming that needs to be addressed methodologically. I will begin this by first discussing methodological treatment of settings and context. 1.1.2 Accounting for context with mental models and ethnographic methods The cognitive patterns that underlie social behavior are not easily accessible to the researcher. Conceptualizing mental models that can account for communicative behavior in a way that relates to settings and context must represent basic notions of cognition such as ideology, knowledge and values. Ideologies in the sense used here, are general and abstract, principle based, axiomatic beliefs, while knowledge are the actual facts and beliefs held as true. Attitudes are taken to comprise opinion, beliefs, feelings, and intentions about specific issues, typically socially shared (see also Leiserowitz, Kates, Parris, 2006). A mental model then, is the categorical understanding constructed from ideologies, knowledge, and attitudes of specific contexts and situations. An accompanying notion is that of group knowledge as those social beliefs that which a group, or imagined community, holds to be true according to its own evaluation or verification (truth) criteria (eg science) and which can be doubted by outsiders. But such cultural, common ground knowledge is not challenged within groups, and is presupposed in public discourse, even when they are shifting as are the notions of conservation, environment and sustainability did that were discussed. 1.1.2.1 Context models as subjective representation To study context and its relation to subjective meanings, ethnographic approaches hold most promise as they work with subjective representation and group knowledge processes (e.g. Descola, 1996; Wolfe Yang, 1996). Such a view is also interested in how context structures social relations (communicative and interactional), social dynamics (group membership and interaction). But it also brings another interest relevant to the study of participation, of how cognition has a role in terms of framing goals, knowledge and other beliefs of participants in deliberation. The notion of context is used in scholarship as ambiguously as ‘environment is in wider discourses. To be able to treat it as an analytical object needs a basic model. By defining contexts and contextualization in terms of mental models and their role in discourse production and comprehension, this can account not only for the role of social representations such as attitudes and ideologies in discourse, but also allows a more subjective explanation of discourse and its variation in terms of personal mental models. The empirical studies will demonstrate this. Van Dijk (2001) sees context as a model of relevance that shapes actors opinions and actions. He recognizes that context is subjective and individual and with that is ideologically based and has coherence within group discourse. Thus, context models are subjective representations of social situation, including communicative events they define what is relevant. This makes an account of context critical for understanding participation. And subjective context framing may be ideologically biased. 1.1.2.2 Frames of referenceand the ‘black box of mental models The concept of frame of reference is also used commonly used to refer to the cognitive effect of contextual models (Swaffield, 1998). It describes and categorizes the attitudes displayed by individuals when discussing a management issue. The framing concepts in this study were defined as follows: A frame of reference is an analytical model of attitudes concerning a resource policy or management issue. A personal frame of reference refers to the attitudes expressed by an individual. A common frame of reference refers to the distinctive pattern of attitudes that is common to a number of individuals. However, there is no claim that the frame of reference as defined here represents cognitive processes. Rather, it is a model of the attitudes openly expressed by individuals when discussing an issue. A basic problem that remains, is that context, subjectivities and cognition remain inaccessible to a researcher. A ‘black box model of subjective context therefore lacks explanatory relevance. But as the subject of deliberation, context circumscribes the cognitive boundaries of actors ‘mentalities. For van Dijk (2001), the advantage of such an approach is that it accounts not only for the role of social representations, such as attitudes and ideologies in discourse, but also allows a more subjective explanation of discourse and its variation in terms of personal mental models. And since contexts are by definition unique and personal, context models of framings precisely allow an individual approach to contextualization to be combined with a more social one, in which shared representations, groups, and other societal aspects play a prominent role. 1.1.3 Boundaries: Locating and moving across by following, pushing or re-imagining phenomena ## I will begin with the premise that the totality of relations in a socio-ecological geography are meaningful, that is the relations between people, places and things. And that the inverse of relationships are distinctions that coalesce to form boundaries between categories and instances. This is worth emphasizing since the recognition that boundaries constrain meaning can draw attention to the contrived and therefore limiting nature of abstraction. How this premise will permit established abstraction and meanings to be questioned, fragmented and reassembled is the work that this chapter will begin and will be completed in the methodological chapter that follows. The first boundary to highlight and that can show what is meant by transgressing distinctions consists of the separation of human from non-human nature. Imagining environmental governance reform as regulating the entry of humans into nature and the export of non-human resources out of nature is counter-intuitive to any gardener. Fence lines, compost bins and patio seating all blur the boundaries. Self-identity for many derives from emotional attachments to home and garden, nurturing roles that a vegetable plot reinforces and status that manicured lawns or urban bio-diversity islands respectively can demonstrate. Thus the domain of interest should not be a non-human nature as an object of human intervention but instead a nature as a geography of human relations that are linked to an environment through diverse interests. This is a geography that is physically located in both the commons and in private property another paired abstraction that will prove to be divided by a blurred boundary. But this is also a geography that exists in the social imagination as social, cultural or political objects. The environment so seen can be conceived as the total of society-nature relations which relate to all material, subjective, cognitive, political, and other interests or dimensions. The challenge then becomes not in naming these complex relations but in thinking about them, in framing them. 1.1.4 Environmental governance as an adjustable lens [## develop] The first conceptual tool to prepare will thus be the notion of environmental governance as an adjustable lens. Rather than using the literature in an inevitably selective manner to stabilize the meaning of this concept at least for the duration of this discussion, I will adopt a counter-strategy of reinforcing the ambiguity of the notion and employing it with shifting meanings to approach the research problem from different scales, extension and perspectives. Environmental governance is a category of practices and ideas that are of interest to several perspectives. As a domain of practice it is the concern of academic text books (Durant, Fiorino, OLeary, 2004; Hempel, 1996; Kettl, 2002; Levy Newell, 2005) as much as ministerial policy statements {Ministry of the Environment 2000, 2003}, international donor policy, and publications of environmental agencies. In practice, actually relating good governance to ecological outcomes is near impossible. Choosing one arbitrary example from international experience, an in-depth evaluation of different forest management governance regimes in Madagascar showed how there were enormous difficulties in explaining the dynamics and assessing measures of sustainability and equity (McConnell Sweeney). The term of environmental governance can be encountered in a range of contexts. In a recent survey of issues in environmental policy and management Durant et al (ibid.) identify key topics in environmental governance as sustainability, the precautionary principle, common-pool resource theory, deliberative democracy, civic environmentalism, environmental justice, property rights, environmental conflict resolution, devolution, among others. This has introduced a range of perspectives from environmental economics, democratic theory, public policy, law, political science, and public administration. In effect, environmental governance does not so much represent a theoretical field or a professional discipline, but a theme of shared concerns in scholarship and applied practice. This chapter will consider how environmental governance can be re-approached by detaching it from the portfolio of resource managers and relocating it within a wider arena of development and democratic practices. In the development field the notion that the public, stakeholders or local people have an important role in environmental governance is emphasized. Environmental governance includes the structures (e.g. management regimes), organizational forms (e.g. farmer research teams, water user associations), processes (e.g. multi-stakeholder dialogue), actors and rules (e.g. negotiated access rights and boundaries) that determine how resources are managed at international, national and local levels. (International Development Research Centre) Aside from government agencies and development practitioners, scholars will also characterize contemporary environmental governanceas a â€Å"collaborative approach to policy formulation and implementation†(Durant et al., 2004, pp. 22-23). Environmental governance therefore is relevant to several different fields of interest to scholars and can be framed in several ways. In the first instance, environmental governance is political and so a subject of political inquiry. This opens up a diverse body of literature to employ in developing an approach to environmental governance. Another dimension that arises out of the political, and that the following discussion shows to be explicitly present, is deliberative democracy. But the most promising approach to begin to problematize environmental governance lies with the notion of development and its contemporary manifestation as sustainable development, particularly its application by foreign agents in local settings. Each of these dim ensions embodies unresolved tensions tensions that can also be encountered in many sites of social theory and practice which centre on epistemological concerns. It may also be useful to think in terms of environmental governance as a body of political theory, as Humphrey has done (2007), that has a central focus upon environmental concerns as these relate to democracy, justice, globalization, political economy, freedom, the welfare state, and other aspects of political life. This body of work is no longer as closely related to the environmental ethics and values of nature of a deep ecology, but is more integrated into mainstream political theory. For the purpose of this discussion, I will develop the notion of environmental governance as a conceptual tool to approach the research problem from different scales, extension and perspectives. The complementary notions of environmental governance offer entry points into related literatures and cultures of practice: Environmental Democracy, Environmental Reform, Environmental Collaboration, and Environmental Sustainability. Environmental governance can thus best be treated as both as assembly of practice and as a body of theory that is doing political work. To reconnect theory and practice will be the task of this chapter. 1.1.5 We are being ‘participated again: An incomplete typology of participative approaches There is an emerging consensus that the public need to be more involved in the processes of environmental decision making. From the international arena exemplified in documents such as Agenda 21 and the initiatives of the World Bank to national government policy initiatives, local policy and planning systems such as the New Zealand Resource Management Act, and in the discourses of actors including scientists and business groups, a role for public participation has been instituted (Davies, 2002). Implicit in the idea of participation is that the initiative lies with the reformers, the change-makers to approach the public with a project to respond to. From the perspective of an un-associated citizen, the prospect of another round of workshops and discussion groups events that have become familiar to many villagers in target zones of international aid the process is passive and invites the expression not surprisingly encountered in developing nations of ‘we are being participated again. The notion of taking part in environmental decision-making and in contrast to an authority taking top-down action is taken up by a wide range of terms and practices. Participation in the social science is an umbrella term including different means for the public to directly participate in political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision making then infers a level of proportionate decision making power and can take place along any realm of human social activity, including economic (e.g. participatory economics), political (e.g. participatory democracy), cultural (e.g. communalism) or familial (e.g. Feminism). In practice, the term participation applies to processes initiated by an agency seeking to initiate a project or introduce reform. It thus becomes critical to ask, who is invited to participate, and by whom. What regulatory requirements may apply, is there precedent, and what resources are available are only some of the parameters that the term participation by itself does not convey. In the government sector, at least in New Zealand, the word consultation is frequently used to describe a range of processes to engage with the community i.e. citizens and citizen associations. These range from the prescribed processes in the Local Government Act (2002) such as the special consultative procedure (section 83) to informal processes such as e-mail chat groups or anecdotal local knowledge. In this report, the term consultation will be used in a broad sense to include any form of government agency engagement with local communities, including activities carried out by an authority to inform itself of community views as well as specific consultation exercises. Collaboration is another category that carries the notion to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavour. The sense that will be used here, emphasises the absence of authority, a consensual decision making process with respect to an established domain. Dispute resolution is a related practice that seeks to reduce differences or to seek a solution when a conflict situation exists. When the services of a third party are utilized, this is often referred to as mediation. These categories denote some of the dimensions that structure relationships in public involvement: consultation as an exercise in information exchange, participation implying a direct input into deliberation over decisions linked to

The Dehumanization of Gregor in Kafkas Metamorphosis Essay -- Kafka M

The Dehumanization of Gregor in The Metamorphosis In the novella The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, the main character Gregor undergoes a physical transformation from human to bug. Despite this change in appearance, he maintains his human brain as insect tendencies slowly take over his day to day behavior. He maintains his thoughtless state of mind, memories, and inner dialogue during his exterior transformation. Although he maintains his mental capacities, it is his change in appearance that causes his family to turn against him and eventually kill him. These events show how people can become dehumanized by society and the government only because of a difference in behavior or appearance. In Gregor's case, he is transformed in an extreme manner and only remains human in his thoughts and emotions. "He found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." This extreme form of physical transformation is used to show how even a person's own family can, under certain conditions, reject, mistreat, and eventually kill because of a change in outward appearance or behavior....

Acquisition Payment Cycle

Acquisition and Payment Cycle According to Arens, Elder and Beasley (2006), â€Å"is considered as the third major transaction cycle. † The three major transactions in the acquisition and payment cycle include: 1. Acquisition of goods and services 2. Cash Disbursements 3. Purchase returns and allowances and purchase discounts Components such as, acquisition of raw materials, equipment, supplies, utilities, repairs and maintenance, and research and development plays a major role in the acquisition and payment cycle.The major accounts that are associated with the acquisition and payment cycle are, accounts payable, inventory, and expenses. The methodology for designing tests for phase 1 – 3 of the process includes; identification of client risks affecting other accounts, setting tolerable misstatements, assessing inherent risk for accounts, and assessing control risks for accounts. Business functions included in the acquisition and payment cycle includes: processing purch ase orders, receiving goods and services, recognizing the liability, and processing and recording cash disbursements.The incorporation of e-commerce affects the acquisition and payment cycle in many ways. Information about the products and services that Apollo Shoes offers is readily accessible on the internet. This could be a hindrance for Apollo Shoes, since the company competitors can mimic the company’s products and services. For communication purposes, Apollo Shoes use the company’s intranet to communicate information securely. This action prevents a potential leak of information to the public and competitors. Below is a detailed illustration of the audit of the acquisition and payment cycle for Apollo Shoes.TRANSACTION-RELATED AUDIT OBJECTIVE| KEY INTERNAL CONTROL| COMMON TEST OF CONTROL| COMMON SUBSTANTIVE TESTS OF TRANSACTIONS| | | | | 1. Recorded acquisitions are for goods and services received, consistent with the best interests of the client. | | | | 2. | Pu rchase requisition, purchase order, receiving report, and vendor’s invoice are attached to the voucher. Acquisitions are approved at the proper level. Computer accepts entry of purchases only from authorized vendors in the vendor master file. Documents are cancelled to prevent their reuse.Vendor’s invoices, receiving reports, purchase orders, and purchase requisitions are internally verified. | Examine documents in voucher package for existence. Examine indication of approval. Attempt to input transactions with valid and invalid vendors. Examine indication of cancellation. Examine indication of internal verification. | Review the acquisitions journal, general ledger, and accounts payable master file for large or unusual accounts. Examine underlying documents for reasonableness and authenticity. Examine vendor master file for unusual vendors.Trace inventory acquisitions to inventory master file. Examine fixed assets acquired. | TRANSACTION-RELATED AUDIT OBJECTIVE| KEY I NTERNAL CONTROL| COMMON TEST OF CONTROL| COMMON SUBSTANTIVE TESTS OF TRANSACTIONS| | | | | 3. Existing acquisition transactions are recorded. | | | | 4. | Purchase orders are prenumbered and accounted for. Receiving reports are prenumbered and accounted for. Vouchers are prenumbered and accounted for. | Account for a sequence of purchase orders. Account for a sequence of receiving reports. Account for a sequence of vouchers. Trace from a file of receiving reports to the acquisitions journal. Trace from a file of vendors’ invoices to the acquisitions journal. | 5. Recorded acquisition transactions are accurate. | Calculations and amounts are internally verified. Batch totals are compared with computer summary reports. Acquisitions are approved for prices and discounts. | Examine indication of internal verification. Examine file of batch totals for initials of data control clerk; compare totals to summary reports. Examine indication of approval. Compare recorded transactions in the acquisitions journal with the vendor’s invoice, receiving report, and other supporting documentation. Re-compute the clerical accuracy on the vendor’s invoice, including discounts and freight. | TRANSACTION-RELATED AUDIT OBJECTIVE| KEY INTERNAL CONTROL| COMMON TEST OF CONTROL| COMMON SUBSTANTIVE TESTS OF TRANSACTIONS| | | | | 6. Acquisition transactions are properly classified. | | | | 7. | An adequate chart of accounts is used. Account classifications are internally verified. | Examine procedures manual and chart of accounts.Examine indication of internal verification. | Compare classification with chart of accounts by referring to vendor’s invoices. | 8. Acquisition transactions are recorded on the correct dates. | Procedures require recording transactions as soon as possible after the goods and services have been verified. Dates are internally verified. | Examine procedures manual and observe whether unrecorded vendor’s invoices exist. Examine ind ication of internal verification. | Compare dates of receiving reports and vendor’s invoices with dates in the acquisitions journal. 9. Acquisition transactions are properly included in the accounts payable and inventory master files and are properly summarized. | Accounts payable master file contents are internally verified. Accounts payable master file or trial balance totals are compared with general ledger balances. | Examine indication of internal verification. Examine initials on general ledger accounts indicating comparison. | Test clerical accuracy by footing the journals and tracing postings to general ledger and accounts payable and inventory master files. | Results of the AuditOf the preliminary audit of Apollo Shoes acquisition and payment cycle a sample size of 120 invoices were selected. There were missing invoices related to the sample size. The invoices were properly posted to the general ledger sales and accounts receivable control accounts. Each invoice was posted to the appropriate account, no discrepancy was found. The invoices not listed to the proper accounts demonstrated no deviations to other documents, re-calculations, or comparisons. The expected credit approval notation, â€Å"No credit approval,† was not found in the related documents.When a notation of the, â€Å"Wrong quantity billed,† was posted, a description of the explanation followed. In addition, the notation of, â€Å"CM,† meant the customer contacted Apollo Shoes stating an error and credit memo was issued on the following date. This notation caused all credit memos to generate a debit to a sales return account followed by a credit to accounts receivable. In regards to the other documentation, there were no additional discrepancies to alert management regarding the acquisition and payment cycle. All findings of the 120 sample size were warranted.

1776 Reading Review

Katie Cohen Ms. Kenny AP US History, Period 5 15 August 2012 Summer Reading Assignment David McCullough’s 1776 is an insightful and honest account of America’s first war; the Revolutionary war. In the book, David McCullough describes events and skirmishes that led up to the independence of the United States of America and the events that followed it. The book primarily focuses on the military aspects of the revolutionary war. The variety of firsthand account, quotes, and perspectives of both the Americans and the British make 1776 an extremely well crafted story made up of firsthand facts.To some 1776 may not be enjoyable or engaging, however, it is very precise and descriptive. David McCullough does an exceptional job of explaining the Independence of America in a way that does not bore the audience like most historical biographies do. Although it is clear from the beginning that David McCullough intentionally portrays America as the hero of the book, he allows the rea der to identify with the British and even the king of Britain at the time as well. Honest and unbiased accounts are given towards both the Americans as well as the British.Many candid and liberal accounts of the British and the Americans as put forward throughout the book. With much detail, David McCullough illustrates King George’s reaction to the rebellious American colonists as they begin to organize for freedom in the first chapter. He does not shed light on George Washington as a superior and more competent general than Howe. Both American and British forces are described in times of brilliance, luck, disappointment and shame. Not only is David McCullough unbiased, but he gives many in depth descriptions of his characters.The reader is able to become familiar with the characteristics, physical appearances, and biases of a majority of the characters. Joseph Reed is described as â€Å"a young man with a long jaw and a somewhat quizzical look in his eyes (44),† and J ames Grant, â€Å"a grossly fat, highly opinionated scot (71). † The descriptions of characters range from the British generals, to the American traitors. They make the book understandable and complex. Overall, 1776 is an enjoyable read, however, it could have focused more on he Declaration of Independence and the effects the war had on Great Britain. McCullough delivers the history as a story, while maintaining the attention of his audience. The usage of imagery is tremendous with few exceptions; all of the events were illustrated vividly. Quotes of the people who participated in the war are probably the most intriguing aspects of this book. I, personally, would recommend this book because it is intriguing and an easy way to learn essential information about the country in which we live in effectively.