Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Diversity Issues and Population Risk Example

Essays on Diversity Issues and Population Risk Article ï » ¿Diversity Issues and Population Risk Diversity refers to the commitment to recognizing and appreciating characteristics that makes one unique. It also entails the differences among people in the society. Diversities exist in different way e.g. culture, age, disability, gender, language, race, physical appearance, heath, political affiliations, and religious beliefs among others. Population on the other hand is the total number of people living within an area or a group of people with similar characteristics. The recent statistics have shown that the different diversities and population are at risk according to Ewijk (2011). These diversities according to Ewijk should be recognized and appreciated. Kenya for example has diverse ethnic, cultural political and religious groups. According to Kim (2011) it was found that ethnic diversities can contribute to the stability of a nation and in turn promote exchange if various ethnic groups recognize and appreciate each other. Ethnic diversity however has caused problems in different parts of the world notably the Ruanda’s genocide which was based on ethnic violence between the Hutus and the Tutsis. (Thompson 302). This ethnic disparity saw Kenya experiencing post election violence which was fought on the basis of ethnic and political affiliations. The ethnic violence experience in this two nations lead to many deaths and loss of property. This came due to failure by citizens of these two countries to appreciate the diversity of ethnic groups in their countries. Cultural and religious diversity has also been witnessed in various parts of the globe where one is either discriminated on the basis of his culture and religion. According to Taylor and Francis (2001) the Muslims minority have been discriminated against in Christian dominated countries. However, the study also shows that discrimination on religious disparity is high in Muslim dominated courtiers as opposed to the Christian dominated courtiers. The war between the Israel and Palestine is majorly based on religious disparity between Christians and the Muslims. These two nations have not appreciated the existence of different religious beliefs in the world. Diversity also exists in relation to health issues where in many countries, there has been tendencies where the disabled persons are stigmatized and sometimes shunned from the community (Global Report 8). Those suffering from HIV AID have also been subjected discrimination and stigmatization. However, this has lead to intense advocacy and education to enlighten people to appreciate the social status of every individual irrespective of his or her health status. Population has therefore been put at risk as a result of failure to recognize and appreciate the existence of diversity in the world. This has lead to frequent wars in many parts of the world as some nations consider others enemies based on their diverse cultures and religion. This has seen many Muslim nations in the world fighting which America on the basic of perception by America and its allies that Muslims are terrorists. Work Cited Ewijk, Van. â€Å"Diversity and diversity policy: diving into fundamental differences†. Journal of Organizational Change. 2011. Kim EH Johnson LR. â€Å"Ethnic Identity, Self-Efficacy, and Intercultural Attitudes in East African and the US†. Youth Journal. 2007. Thompson, Allan. The media and the Rwanda genocide. Oxford Publishers. 2007. Taylor Francis. Religious Discrimination against Muslim Minorities in Christian Majority Counties. Politics, Religion Ideology. 2011. Global Report. Equality at work: tackling the challenges. International Labour Office. 2007.

Monday, December 16, 2019

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way Free Essays

Alex Stough Prof. Minner English 1301 9 November 2012 Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way Many people who are physically challenged have accomplished a lot during their lifetime, proving that they are not â€Å"handicapped†. Bob Sampson and Steven hawking have created successful careers while being confined to a wheelchair. We will write a custom essay sample on Where There’s a Will There’s a Way or any similar topic only for you Order Now Sampson, despite having muscular dystrophy, has worked for United Airlines for more than thirty years, and has also earned a degree in law. Steven Hawking, most famous for his book A Brief History of Time, used a voice synthesizer to dictate his books and conduct public lectures because he was unable to speak. He was also a teacher of mathematics at Cambridge University. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ann Adams, and Itzhak Perlman all refused to let polio destroy their lives. Roosevelt and Adams were diagnosed with polio when they were adults; Itzhak, however, was diagnosed when he was just a mere child. President Roosevelt led the United States during two of the worst periods of its history; the great Depression and World War II. Reassured by his bombastic voice, Roosevelt inspired hope and determination in the American public. Ann Adams, who was talented in art before polio paralyzed her, retrained herself to draw with a pencil grasped in her teeth; she now produces sketches of children and pets that are turned into greeting cards. Itzhak Perlman was unable to play sports when he was a child; instead he studied the violin which inevitably made him into one of the greatest violinist of today. Like Perlman, many physically challenged individuals turn to the arts; perhaps the reason is because the joy of artistic achievements compensates for other pleasures that they cannot experience. Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Jose Feliciano, and Ronnie Milsap all express their music through their souls. For instances, a lot of Ray Charles’ songs are emotionally driven and have a lot of meaning behind them. Although they are unable to see physically, their music reveals truly how well they see. Although hearing impairment struck Ludwig van Beethoven and Marlee Matlin, it did not stop them from developing their talents as Artists. Already a successful composer, Beethoven’s most powerful pieces were written after he had become deaf. Similarly, Matlin has had excellent acting roles in movies, plays, and television programs; indeed she won an Oscar for the film Children of a Lesser God. She encourages others to develop their ability, and because of this many hearing-impaired actors have been inspired by her. Handicapped is a word used far too often to describe those who are physically challenged. As history has proven, many famous individuals have made great achievements in spite of their disabilities. People who are physically challenged should not automatically be labeled as â€Å"handicapped†. We as humans have the mental capability to overcome and adapt the challenges that we may face, even if that means making lifestyle changes. How to cite Where There’s a Will There’s a Way, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Logistics And Operations Management British Petroleum

Question: Describe about the Outsourcing contract, Logic map of Outsourcing and analysis of decision making using the 5 performance objectives by British Petroleum? Answer: Executive Summary The reports the choice and results of the study conducted on three successive outsourcing by British Petroleum. The IT outsourcing helps the BP to explore its technological capabilities and to act as a broader initiative to reshape the department of IT. This study conducted defines the key notions of IT outsourcing and efficacy of its risk management and defines the various techniques adopted to assess the study. The report demonstrate the three significant IT outsourcing contracts by BP along with the assessment of distinctive levels of risks and decision logic map that assist in making effective decisions on outsourcing. Outsourcing contract by British Petroleum British Petroleum (BP) reputed as the worlds largest integrated oil and gas companies meet the growing demand of energy in a safe and responsible way (Alsouri et al. 2011). As the operations manager of British Petroleum, I have prioritized value over volume and it has always been the prime factor by actively managing the upstream and downstream portfolio and investment only where distinctive strengths, capabilities and technologies can be applied. Outsource contract of BPX The first major venture of BP that is decided to outsource is BPX contract. This project would cover the telecommunications, data center, management, systems development and maintenance. This has been decided for outsourcing, as the project encompass all the BP exploration offices across the globe, 42 businesses and 8 major sites. The major objective of this outsourcing arrangement decided is to ensure that suppliers would act as the single Virtual supplier with the focus to provide seamless services to customers (Bentounsi et al. 2012). In spite the area of expertise for each contractor, major business sites of BP would act as the key contractor and would coordinate services provided by the other two. BPCC outsourcing The next outsourcing would consider the BPs corporate center. This project is undertaken to outsource its data center management and telecommunications. The implementation of this outsourcing strategy involve negotiations with three suppliers i.e. One for its WAN services and two for its site services (Chen et al. 2013). The outsourcing decision and management of BPCC focus to build partnerships with the suppliers, facility management relationship and detailed analysis of the contract design that is common in outsourcing of IT. BP Global contract BP global contract is another outsourcing decisions made to besides the BPX and BPCC contract. This outsourcing arrangement was decided to replace the fragmented assortment of existing suppliers as well as regrouping of different contracts and all infrastructures. In this outsourcing plan, the supplier is anticipated to provide similar IT environments at all operating regions of BP (Cooper et al. 2012). This outsourcing contract is decided to envisage for five years. BPX, BPCC and BP global contract is the three successive IT outsourcing decide at the BP. The aforementioned outsourcing was further evaluated by using decision logic and risk analysis of the outsourcing contracts. Logic map of Outsourcing The decision of outsourcing is add significant value to the organizations bottom line in terms of increased efficiency, cost savings and enhanced services to customers. Outsourcing at BP is done to enhance the organizational performance, increase its competitive advantage and add value to customers (Dhar, 2012). Moreover, the decision logic of outsourcing presented here will acknowledge the BP business processes that are kept in-house and the ones that are safely outsourced. (Diagram is modified) Strategic alliance- This quadrant is high in strategic importance and has little contribution in operational performance. BP forms strategic alliance on its data center management. The company induces effort to retain control of the technology and ensure that tasks are done accurately, getting the expected quality, however, the outsource tasks are relatively insignificant in terms of effective operation and cost, hence it is not worth of in-house focus. Retention- BP retain its oil production processes and data that contains the mechanism of refining and processing crude oil into an usable product, that include chemicals and high quality items gasoline utilized in daily items. Tasks in this particular quadrant are of high strategic importance and considered to have significant impact on operational performance of BP (Ge, 2011). This particular task is kept in-house so that the company can gain maximum control. The production and refining process of oil should be retained in-house as it is strategically critical and constitute the core competency of organization. Moreover, in-house product planning process makes huge contribution to the effective performance of the company. Outsource- BPX, BPCC and BP global contract are the essential elements for successful operational performance; however, they are not strategically important. All of these three outsourced contracts include significant areas of IT management such as telecommunication, system development and maintenance, etc. On the other hand, the outsourcing of BPCC management emphasize on developing partnership with the suppliers and facility management relationships. Moreover, BP global outsourcing management was done to regroup the existing contracts, infrastructures and in focus to replace the fragment assortment of various in-house suppliers at BP (Isaksson et al. 2014). The IT management processes such as telecommunication, data center, system development and maintenance plays a significant part in improving the customer experience with the company. Outsourcing or working with an offshore supplier for IT or technical support allows the efficient use of resources, thus improving the overall services and th rough this BP achieve the ability to work with efficient experts in the field of non-core business operations. Eliminate- BP removed the several project co-ordination tasks from the BP project engineers. The removal of task freed up the BPs personnel, which in turn allows them the opportunity to become program managers so that they can engage in higher value work (Jain and Natarajan, 2011). At the higher level of BP business processes, elimination of coordination tasks helped the renowned oil company to improve its procurement of petrol stations. Analysis of decision making using the 5 performance objectives Cost- Services outsourcing to various countries that are comparatively cheaper in respect to UK leads to cost effective solutions for companies like BP. Countries like India, Philippines offers similar level of services with high quality, however the cost is comparatively less that UK. Thus BP focus to gain an overall cost advantage by outsourcing its IT management services and telecommunications to countries like India (Kumar et al. 2013).Outsourcing of data center management and call center services allows BP to save upto 60% of total cost on IT. Offshore outsourcing of IT services that cost $100 an hour in UK can be accomplished at the rate $20 an hour when done in cheaper countries like India or Beijing. Moreover, Outsourcing relief BP from the cost of maintaining IT infrastructure, this is essential for catering customer services (telecommunication) and data Center management. In addition, outsourcing the requirements of business to a trusted vendor help the company to reduce its capi tal expenditure thereby, minimize time and also reduce the extra effort and money spend on personnel (Lacity et al. 2014). Nonetheless, BP is no longer liable to invest on training its IT executives, investment in latest technologies or purchase the expensive software that is essential for telecommunication, system development and maintenance and data center management, is It is of no surprise that, outsourcing offers expert services at a cost effective rate. Dependability- The decision of outsourcing can be effective if the process is reliable and offers dependable delivery. Considering this particular determinant of performance objectives, it becomes difficult to rely and outsource the management of data center that contains valuable data and information of production and refining processes implemented by BP (Leeney et al. 2013). It holds the main privacy factor of BP and hence reliability on outsourcing is less. The third-party outsourcing on IT management offers seamless services at a reasonable cost. The outsourcing of telecommunication, call center activities, development of systems and its maintenance does not incur considerable risks with maintenance of privacy, uncertainty or hidden service costs. Quality- Quality of outsourced activities varies widely depending on the type of task outsourced. Data solutions involve cloud computing and highly relies on sharing of resources to achieve economies of scale and coherence. Moreover, cloud computing is a broader concept of sharing services and converged infrastructure. The quality of cloud computing to store, manage and process the production and refining mechanism is highly uncertain due to the security, privacy compliance and legal compliance (Mohr et al. 2011). It is undesirable to outsource the data management activity of BPs prime production due to the unpredicted costs, Lock Ins and incompatibility. As a result, the company seems to lose control and reliability on the suppliers that can negatively affect its organizational performance. Outsourcing of telecommunication activities and system development allows the opportunity to receive expert and skilled services. Functions that are outsourced may not be the core competency for BP but offers proficient services in areas of customer services and system development. After sales services by offering customer care services is an important aspect that brings that offers profit and productivity for long term. Speed- Outsourcing is incorporated with the typical objective to save cost and gain timely delivery of quality services executed by skilled professionals and experts. Speed is important in order to address customers in time. This attribute is viewed positively as the customers are likely to return with more business. Thus, the impact of speed has much to do with cost reduction of the operations (Pellegrini et al. 2012). Speed reduces the cost in two significant areas such as reduction in inventory and risks as well. In case of BP, faster throughput of information to customers will be effective in reducing the cost. However, the facility of inventory cost reduction due to fast throughput and short delivery lead-time is not considered in case of data center management, hence it is kept in-house. Flexibility- Flexibility allows the outsourcing operation to fit variety of products and services for its customers. The flexibility in volume and delivery allows the operations to adjust its level of output and procedure of delivery in order to cope with the unexpected changes in telecommunication and system development services to BP (Percy, 2013). Thus, it is decided to outsource its telecommunication and system development services as flexibility is associated with three significant benefits such as flexibility allows saving of time, flexibility maintain the dependability and flexibility speed up the response. Evaluation of risks involved in decision-making The risks involved in decision making of IT outsourcing in IT management of BP considers the following: Hidden cost Hidden cost of service was the major threat in this particular scenario. The hidden cost of services is expected to be high due to large extent of contract and the huge number of activities outsourced in the process (Ravi et al. 2011). The Outsourcing of IT management tasks include worldwide locations; hence, the cost rate fluctuates according to the changing economy of countries. Uncertainty Outsourcing of IT management is complex as the needs are likely to change anytime in future, being unsure of the needs, hence uncertainty was significantly high. However, the risk of uncertainty can be decreased significantly, if the outsourcing is decided on limited term contract. Thus, it allows the flexibility to alter technology solutions matching the needs of business within the reasonable period (Saunders, 2013). Moreover, the risk of uncertain needs in future can be mitigated by selecting suppliers with entrepreneurial and innovative abilities and by the adoption of best practices. Loss of competency Loss of organizational competencies is another significant risk associated with outsourcing. As BP decided to become the knowledge organization by proficient management of information, hence IT related activities are close to core competencies of organization. Outsourcing will result into loss of IT skills from the company (Shi, 2013). Moreover, the outsourced activity is an indication of high level of interdependence. To minimize the loss of expertise, BP evaluated its entire staff prior to transition and retained the skills it needed. The company hired single supplier to remain associated with the quality and skills of suppliers, their technology, and management services. Service debasement The risk of service debasement can materialize in three significant ways i.e. poor resolution of problems, slowdown of services and declination in staff skill of supplier. The risk factor associates with factors such as task complexity, lack of supplier expertise, interdependency and financial stability of supplier. The risk-mitigating tool considers deployment of more than one supplier and spreading of service between two or three outsourced company to mitigate the risk of service slowdown (Tanriverdi and Uysal, 2011). The interdependent characteristics of activities can be reduced by assignment of clear field of responsibilities. BP can mitigate the risk factors by asking one outsourcing supplier to take the key responsibility for problem solving activities at each of its site. Reference List Alsouri, S., Katzenbeisser, S., and Biedermann, S. (2011). Trustable outsourcing of business processes to cloud computing environments. InNetwork and System Security (NSS), 2011 5th International Conference on(pp. 280-284). IEEE. Bentounsi, M., Benbernou, S., and Atallah, M. J. (2012). Privacy-preserving business process outsourcing. In2012 IEEE 19th International Conference on Web Services(pp. 662-663). IEEE. Chen, J. K., Chang, C. S., and Le Huyen, N. T. (2013, December). Multiple criteria model for evaluation and selection of outsourcing service countries: A case study in the East and Southeast Asia. InIndustrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2013 IEEE International Conference on(pp. 887-891). IEEE. Cooper, B. P. (2012). The ABAs Modest Changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct: Correspondents Report from the United States.Legal Ethics,15(2), 386-391. Dhar, S. (2012). From outsourcing to Cloud computing: evolution of IT services.Management Research Review,35(8), 664-675. Ge, L. (2011). Hands-off the mess: Contract choice for business process outsourcing. InTechnology Management Conference (ITMC), 2011 IEEE International(pp. 643-650). IEEE. Isaksson, L., Kiessling, T., and Harvey, M. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: Why bother?.Organizational Dynamics,43(1), 64-72. Jain, R. K., and Natarajan, R. (2011). Factors influencing the outsourcing decisions: a study of the banking sector in India.Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal,4(3), 294-322. Kumar, S., Sharma, R. K., and Chauhan, P. (2013). Systems Engineering for Effective Supply Chain Coordination for Knowledge Process Outsourcing. Lacity, M. C., Willcocks, L. P., and Craig, A. (2014). South Africa's business process outsourcing services sector: lessons for Western-based client firms.South African Journal of Business Management,45(4), 45-58. Leeney, M., Varajo, J., Ribeiro, A. T., and Colomo-Palacios, R. (2013). Information systems outsourcing in large companies: evidences from 20 Ireland companies.Perspectives and Techniques for Improving Information Technology Project Management, 81. Mohr, J. J., Sengupta, S., and Slater, S. F. (2011). Mapping the outsourcing landscape.Journal of Business Strategy,32(1), 42-50. Pellegrini, L., Lazzarotti, V., and Pizzurno, E. (2012). From outsourcing to open innovation: a case study in the oil industry.International journal of technology intelligence and planning,8(2), 182-196. Percy, S. (2013). BP's sustainability strategy: capturing returns from first-mover advantage.American Journal of Business,28(2). Ravi, S. P., Jain, R. K., and Sharma, H. P. (2011). An analysis of business process outsourcing strategies of public and private sector banks in India.International Business and Economics Research Journal (IBER),10(2). Willcocks, L. (2011). Machiavelli, management and outsourcing: still on the learning curve.Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal,4(1), 5-12.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The strength of the wolf is the pack the strength of the pack is the w

This to me sounds like an old saying that my father would tell me, "your only as strong as the weakest link". In the marine corps this meaning is well rehearsed by all the marines. They know that one marine can mean the difference between life and death and will all work to get the marines in their command under the same physical and mental fitness. That is why when in boot camp all of the marines are put through the same trials, they are treated like this so they will work as a team and when one falls the others will help. On the other side if one marine is ineffective as a marine the entire unit Is ineffective. In the beginning of boot camp the recruits are put on the famous yellow foot prints. They are shuffled through a building getting stripped of any individuality that they have in the matter of 36 hours. They are then put through the worst conditions that the drill instructors can think of and it is all for one purpose. This purpose is so that the future marines can start to learn only the corps. They learn that they are owned and protected by the articles of conduct of the united states and they are programmed everyday with the topic of this essay. They are taught that they are only as strong as the weakest link and that they must assist the slower cadets. After boot camp the marines will go their separate ways. Sometimes a couple of the marines that graduated will be stationed together in the same place. It does happen but they must never look forward to it as it is a 50-50 chance. In the new station that they are given they are taking the skills given to them from boot camp. They can often times forget these standards and make mistakes that they ought not to make. However I must reiterate that marines are still only human, a mistake that people make when thinking about them as they walk with a new pride after the trails they survived. Many try to deface them and after 200 years they only laugh at the attempts. If you were to come across a marine what would you see? Often people will say that they are arrogant and cock and that they think they are gods. All of these things are partly true. Many marines actually think that when they are younger. As they grow they learn humility and grace and they become something resembling my father. With the mentality that they may not be the best but if you get in their way they will move you. Marines always look out for their own. They are, in a sense, like a wolf pack. They are loyal to their own and they will back each other up for anything as long as that doesn?t mean they are breaking the law. A marine will always be a marine, even if they are dead or retired. And sometimes when the need arises they will be a wolf pack.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How Global Capitalism Works

How Global Capitalism Works Global capitalism is the fourth and current epoch of capitalism. What distinguishes it from earlier epochs of mercantile capitalism, classical capitalism, and national-corporate capitalism is that the system, which was previously administered by and within nations, now transcends nations, and thus is transnational, or global, in scope. In its global form, all aspects of the system, including production, accumulation, class relations, and governance, have been disembedded from the nation and reorganized in a globally integrated way that increases the freedom and flexibility with which corporations and financial institutions operate. In his book Latin America and Global Capitalism, sociologist William I. Robinson explains that today’s global capitalist economy is the result of â€Å"...worldwide market liberalization and the construction of a new legal and regulatory superstructure for the global economy... and the internal restructuring and global integration of each national economy. The combination of the two is intended to create a ‘liberal world order,’ an open global economy, and a global policy regime that breaks down all national barriers to the free movement of transnational capital between borders and the free operation of capital within borders in the search for new productive outlets for excess accumulated capital.† Characteristics of Global Capitalism The process of  globalizing the economy began in the mid-twentieth century. Today, global capitalism is defined by the following five characteristics. The production of goods is global in nature.  Corporations can now disperse the production process around the world, so that components of products may be produced in a variety of places, final assembly done in another, none of which may be the country in which the business is incorporated. In fact, global corporations, like Apple, Walmart, and Nike, for example, act as mega-buyers of goods from globally dispersed suppliers, instead of as producers of goods.The relationship between capital and labor is global in scope, highly flexible, and thus very different from epochs past. Because corporations are no longer limited to producing within their home countries, they now, whether directly or indirectly through contractors, employ people around the world in all aspects of production and distribution. In this context, labor is flexible in that a corporation can draw from an entire globe’s worth of workers, and can relocate production to areas where labor is cheaper or more highl y skilled, should it wish to. The financial system and circuits of accumulation operate on a global level. Wealth held and traded by corporations and individuals is scattered around the world in a variety of places, which has made taxing wealth very difficult. Individuals and corporations from all over the world now invest in businesses, financial instruments like stocks or mortgages, and real estate, among other things, wherever they please, giving them great influence in communities far and wide.There is now a transnational class of capitalists (owners of the means of production and high level financiers and investors) whose shared interests shape the policies and practices of global production, trade, and finance. Relations of power are now global in scope, and while it is still relevant and important to consider how relations of power exist and effect social life within nations and local communities, it is deeply important to understand how power operates on a global scale,  and how it filters down through national, state, and local governments to impact the everyday lives of people all over the world. The policies of global production, trade, and finance are created and administered by a variety of institutions that, together, compose a transnational state. The epoch of global capitalism has ushered in a new global system of governance and authority that impacts what happens within nations and communities around the world. The core institutions of the transnational state are the United Nations, the  World Trade Organization, the Group of 20, the World Economic Forum, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Together, these organizations make and enforce the rules of global capitalism. They set an agenda for global production and trade that nations are expected to fall in line with if they want to participate in the system. Because it has freed corporations from national constraints in highly developed nations  like labor laws, environmental regulations, corporate taxes on accumulated wealth, and import and export tariffs, this new phase of capitalism has fostered unprecedented levels of wealth accumulation and has expanded the power and influence that corporations hold in society. Corporate and financial executives, as members of the transnational capitalist class, now influence policy decisions that filter down to all the world’s nations and local communities.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Where in the World Classroom Icebreaker

'Where in the World' Classroom Icebreaker Technology and transportation in the modern world have given us the opportunity to learn so much more, often first hand, about the rest of the world. If you haven’t had the privilege of global traveling, you may have experienced the thrill of conversing with foreigners online or working side-by-side with them in your industry. The world becomes a smaller place the more we get to know each other. When you have a gathering of people from various countries, this icebreaker is a breeze, but it’s also fun when participants are all from the same place and know each other well. Everyone is capable of dreams that cross borders. To make this icebreaker kinetic, require that one of the three clues be a physical motion. For example, skiing, golfing, painting, fishing, etc. Basic information about the Where in the World Icebreaker: Ideal Size: Up to 30. Divide larger groups.Use For: Introductions in the classroom or at a meeting, especially when you have an international group of participants or an international topic to discuss.Time Needed: 30 minutes, depending on the size of the group. Instructions Give people a minute or two to think of three clues that describe, but don’t give away, either the country they are from (if different from the one you’re in) or their favorite foreign place they have visited or dream of visiting. When ready, each person gives their name and their three clues, and the rest of the group guesses where in the world they are describing. Give each person a minute or two to explain what they like best about their favorite place in the world. Start with yourself so they have an example. If you want students on their feet and moving, require that one clue be a physical motion like swimming, hiking, golfing, etc. This clue may include verbal help or not. You choose. For example: Hi, my name is Deb. One of my favorite places in the world is tropical, has a beautiful body of water you can climb, and is near a popular cruise port (I am physically imitating climbing). After guessing is finished: One of my favorite places in the world is Dunn’s River Falls near Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We stopped there on a Caribbean cruise and had the marvelous opportunity of climbing the falls. You start at sea level and can climb 600 feet gradually up the river, swimming in pools, standing under small falls, sliding down smooth rocks. It’s a beautiful and fantastic experience. Debriefing Your Students Debrief by asking for reactions from the group and asking if anybody has a question for another participant. You will have listened carefully to the introductions. If somebody has chosen a place related to your topic, use that place as a transition to your first lecture or activity.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

How art embodies cultural identity (Aztec Vs.New nations of the US) Essay

How art embodies cultural identity (Aztec Vs.New nations of the US) - Essay Example nited States, which is predominantly Christianity, at times forbids artistic expression of the religion (Hollingsworth, 2004, p341) and at others is often limited to Renaissance-style depictions of Bible stories with a heavy focus on the central character, Jesus Christ. Most art in the United States is of no obvious religious character. One of the most famous examples of Aztec sculpture is known as the calendar stone, which depicts the sun god surrounded by bands that depict various days and eras. This stone shows the seamless integration between art, religion and daily life, because it is at once a piece of art, a depiction of a deity and a useful object. The carving of the central sun god is created in typical Aztec style, having a close relationship with that found in the Phonecian culture and representing the intricate relationship between man and nature (Miller, 1986, p205). There are many more examples of Aztec sculpture which feature depictions of a sun god, and countless stone carvings depicting aspects of the religion. Conversely, it is fairly difficult to find one such shining example of religious sculpture which has originated in the new nation of the US. Religious sculpture in the United States is often commisioned for use outside religious buildings. One such example is known as the King of Kings, a 62 foot tall statue of Jesus that adorns the entrance of a megachurch in Ohio. The artistic value of this sculpture has been debated (Williamson, 2004, p89) although the Aztec calendar stone was also probably of questionable artistic value to those who used it as a ceremonial basin (Morà ¡n & History, 2007, p157). However, whether the King of Kings is considered art or not, the main value this had (until it was hit by lightening in 2010) was to adorn the baptismal pool and depict the central character of Christianity. It had no additional usage, highlighting the distance between religion, art and everyday life in the new nation of the United

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Visit to the Museum of Modern Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Visit to the Museum of Modern Art - Essay Example The essay "Visit to the Museum of Modern Art" analyzes visit to Museum of Modern Art. The museum’s archive has a restaurant and relevant materials of explaining modern art. â€Å"The Museum of Modern Art† was an idea developed by â€Å"Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie Bliss and Mary Quinn† in 1928. At first, the museum was on the twelfth floor of Heckscher structure in Manhattan in a six-roomed gallery, and within a period of ten years, it had moved to three dissimilar locations. At first, Abby’s husband was against the idea of opening up MoMA hence refusing to offer funds to support the artwork, thus forcing the initiators to seek funds from other sources. By 1935, the museum had various artworks from different artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, which promoted it, turning it to be a success. During 1940, the museum become famous internationally after Picasso held a concert with the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1939, Nelson Rockefeller was the museumâ€℠¢s president who highly participated in the investigation and foundation of publicity, acquisition and its expansion. In 1948, David Rockefeller became the new leader of the museum. In 1997, an architect called Yoshio Taniguchi executed and designed the current museum, which re-opened in 2004. Up to date, the museum is very famous around the globe enticing many visitorsevery year hence boosting the country’s economy. It has both countrywide and global programs that oblige the public by offering them with loans, video libraries and circulating films. among others (Umland 42). Globally, many people value The Museum of Modern Art because it has rich and many assortments of modern art works representing a comprehensive and panoramic modern museum. People consider it to entail the most current Western masterpieces Worldwide. It contains over 150,000 individual art performances for various artists Worldwide. It also contains 22, 000 films together with 4 million film stills. In par ticular, the museum contains very important and famous works; for example, â€Å"the Starry Night performed by Vincent Van Gogh, The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, The Dance by Henri Matisse and Love Song by Giorgio De Chirico† (Umland 47). In addition, the museum is prominent of European and American performers such as Georges Braque, Edward Hopper, David Smith and Jackson Pollock among others. The museum is famous for having the best art photography Worldwide, which were designed by Edward Steichen and John Szarkowski. They also have a good collection of movies such as the Citizen Kane and Vertigo designed under the name of â€Å"Museum of Modern Art Department of Film† (Umland 47). The museum has the architecture and design department formed in 1932 as the World’s first department of architecture and design. It contains over 28,000 architectural and design works, which includes the drawings together with a photograph. It contains the following perman ent collections, 150, 000 paintings, monuments, sketches, designs, photographs, architectural models and other design objects. It has more than 22, 000 films, videos, film stills, scripts, historical documents and scripts among others. It has a library that contains artist books and periodicals, its archives have over 2, 500 historical documents and photographs (Umland 51). I have visited different museums, but I found MoMA to be a very high-class museum because it has modern art exhibits worth paying a visit. The museum

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Violence In Youth Culture Essay Example for Free

Violence In Youth Culture Essay The youth is the future of any nation. Every young person has the potential to lead towards the detriment of himself and others as well as towards the beneficial aspects. The life of violence is expectedly, a personal choice; but this choice oftentimes is impacted by social structure and individuality. For some who have lived the life of violence all their lives, option is not within their fate, so to speak. It is their byword most of the time that â€Å"life has few if not, no choices at all† for people like them. Crime, especially committed by the youth, comprises a major, escalating portion of the nation’s criminal problem. Whats more, majority of adult offenders in the country’s jails grew up from child and adolescent life of criminal behavior. In addition, many of the adults in prison today began their criminal careers as youths and teenagers. . Consequently, whatever approaches the government seeks to implement in order to curb juvenile delinquency must touch every segment of society that has bearing, in any way, upon children (Source:www. cato. org/testimony/ct-wc67. html). A lot of studies on demographical statistics have been made to figure out the problem of juvenile delinquency. As a result of these studies, awareness is achieved as to what to do or how to deal with this rising problem of youth in general. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) formed a Study Group on very young offenders to look at the special case of children from ages 13 down and examine the incidence and the frequency of crimes committed by this particular age group. According to their study, the number is rising of children committing crimes based on the record of the juvenile justice system; i. e. according to court caseloads. Considering their age (at a very young age of 13 – below), one would automatically understand the odds of these children committing more crimes as they pass through adolescence into adulthood) (Source: Organization of African Unity and UNICEF, â€Å"Africa’s children, Africa’s future†, a background sectoral paper prepared for the OAU International Conference on Assistance to African Children, Dakar, 25-27 November 1992, Accessed:www. cato. org/testimony/ct-wc67. html, Dec. 3, 2006). A. Demographics Latest statistics show, as U. S. Department of Justice’s has done in their survey, youth offenders with age ranging from 7 to 12 years, are becoming more and more involved with the juvenile justice system. Meaning, â€Å"criminals† within this age group are increasing. One in ten juvenile arrests involves kids under thirteen years old. Offenses range from arson, rape, homicide, aggravated assault, robbery, to not so serious but persistent disruptive behavior such as truancy and incorrigibility. These children â€Å"have a two to threefold greater risk of becoming serious, violent, and chronic offenders† (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). Of course, if these children are not given enough attention and not dealt with effectively, by the authorities (including, first of all, their parents), the likelihood is that they will be spending their future years, in a more prone condition, to commit the same crime/s repeatedly (given the opportunity), as they had already committed the same in the past. They will be â€Å"in it† for the long haul. When this happens, the result will not be a good prospect for the citizenry of the nation, and even more for the parents. Large funds will be siphoned from educational system, child welfare system, the justice system, mental health agencies, just to alleviate this worsening problem. Added to this dismal prospect, is the continuing threat to public safety and property (Loeber and Farrington, 2001). B. Age and Crimes Committed Survey tells us that among U. S. penitentiaries, it’s very common to see very young children behind the bars (Snyder, 2001). The FBI has its own collected data under its branch Uniform Crime Reporting Program. The data shows that, all in all, law enforcement agencies in 1997 have recorded arrests of children less than thirteen years of age, and they are approximated at about 253,000 arrests (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999). And of these arrests, ten percent are violations such as running away from home, curfew violations, and drunkenness violations. The FBI data also shows that nine percent of these overall arrests (253,000) of delinquent children are youths younger than thirteen. Notwithstanding this overall projection, there is good news: Intervention and prevention programs are being made to curb this increasing problem on child delinquency. These programs are seen to produce positive results as they are addressing the factors that constitute this whole concern (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). In 1998, OJJDP, in attempt to better comprehend the studies made thus far, convened the Study Group on Very Young Offenders. Their aim was to analyze the existing data so as to be able to address the remaining key issues left untouched in available publications that time. The Study Group members together with some experts on juvenile delinquency and psychopathology (most of them authors) found out that â€Å"some young children engage in very serious antisocial behavior† show by their behavior that they had early delinquency problems. They were able to identify several factors that are, based on their observations, contributing parts to the early onset of the child’s offending (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). The convening of these experts resulted in the completion of The Child Delinquency Bulletin Series in 2001 with grant number 95-JD-FX-0018 which was published subsequently by Sage Publications under the title Child Delinquents: Development Intervention and Service Needs (edited by Rolf Loeber and David P. Farrington). Now, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention encourages all concern – the parents, teachers, and the juvenile justice community to avail and use the information compiled in this book to deal with the needs of youth offenders and proceed to think of ways on how to be more strategic and effective as they implement their steps (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). C. Background (home, childhood, and family) Sociologists, in an attempt to explain and point out the reasons behind delinquency, have concluded that there are connections between specific youth behaviors with the home environment, family background, the neighborhood, associations, and many other aspects that together, or separately affect the formative years of young people’s social environment. Delinquent children usually come from a background of difficult circumstances. Some of them were virtually forced under certain circumstances that leave them no other options but commit certain crimes. Parental alcoholism, poverty, breakdown of family, abusive conditions in the home, death of parents during armed conflicts or drug overdose, and the HIV/AIDS scourge, and etc. are some of the various reasons that can leave children virtually orphaned. One or both parents may be physically present, but because of irresponsibility on their part (if even one of them is addicted to drugs or alcoholic), a child may grow developing certain ways and attitudes that are directly/indirectly caused by the parent/s addiction or drug-related behavior. In this case, true delinquency lies on the parents; and the children are, in a way, orphaned or unaccompanied, and without any means of subsistence which, in the first place, the parents’ fundamental responsibility to provide. Few children, if there are any, survive these disastrous environment. They are first in the line of those who are at greatest risk of falling into juvenile delinquency. According to UNICEF, between 1992 to 2000, children in especially dire conditions of life have increased in number from 80 million (1992) to 150 million (2000) (Source: Organization of African Unity and UNICEF, â€Å"Africa’s children, Africa’s future†, a background sectoral paper prepared for the OAU International Conference on Assistance to African Children, Dakar, 25-27 November 1992, Accessed:www. cato. org/testimony/ct-wc67. html, Dec. 3, 2006). There are behaviors which can be said as normal part of growing up years of children in general. Some even stretched it too far as to say that antisocial behavior may be normal at some stage between childhood and adolescence. It is either just a part of growing up path in which everyone must pass, or if not given proper guidance, antisocial attitudes may become part of a long-term pattern of criminal activity(United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency or The Riyadh Guidelines).. â€Å"Youthful behavior or conduct that does not conform to overall social norms and values is often part of the maturation and growth process and tends to disappear spontaneously in most individuals with the transition to adulthood† says The Riyadh Guidelines. It is quite common to young people, especially in teenage or adolescent years, to have committed or commit some kind of petty offence at some point. But this pattern should not continue into adulthood turning someone into a full pledged criminal (United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency or The Riyadh Guidelines). Guidance and oversight by parents or responsible adults are very important during crucial years of a child. This stage is between childhood to adolescence. Children must be closely monitored and mentored and be guided/assisted between transitional periods. While it is true that delinquency is part and is a common characteristic of immaturity, it is very important to bear in mind that during this period of growth, juveniles (if left alone and unguided) often tend to create stable criminal groups. With this more permanent association, an atmosphere of stability and belongingness begin to impress into young people’s subconscious until it becomes a virtual reality where life for them comes alive (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). Without noticing it as it is typical of any youth to be lacking in prudence, with newly embraced group, a corresponding subculture starts to assimilate them, and before long, they start to engage in activities of adult criminal groups. It is usually after being engaged in criminal activities for an extended period of time with its accompanying consequences (such as ending up in prison or rehabilitation institutions for drug addicts) that delinquents realize they are into a very dangerous zone. They have, in effect, chosen delinquent careers (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). According to available Statistical data in many countries, delinquency is, by and large, a group trend. A large portion of all juvenile violations (between two-thirds and three-quarters) are perpetrated by youths who are members of certain gangs. â€Å"Even those juveniles who commit offences alone are likely to be associated with groups. According to data from the Russian Federation, the rate of criminal activity among juveniles in groups is about three to four times higher than that of adult offenders† † (Venkatesh, 1997). If the subcultural aspect of juvenile group activities is only given the attention it deserves, it will be better understood. The culture being advocated by different juvenile groups is a heterogeneous mix. It is a mixture of predominant values of a certain social class, which are (unfortunately) spread mainly by the entertainment industry unconsciously. It can be values or lifestyle systems which are particularly indigenous to a neighborhood or even to a smaller group. â€Å"Subcultures can be defined as particular lifestyle systems that are developed in groups and are in structurally subordinate positions as a result of pressure exerted by the predominant systems. Subcultures reflect individual and group attempts to solve structural contradictions† † (Venkatesh, 1997). Because juvenile groups exist in a locality, this fact must be taken into consideration. A community is defined by its geographic location, â€Å"by the similarities of social characteristics of its residents, such as membership in a social class or ethnic group† (Venkatesh, 1997). Children who are well taken care of by their parents and are thus adequately supervised are at less odds to be involved in criminal activities. Studies have proven that. Dysfunctional family, on the other hand, which is commonly characterized by regular conflicts, parental negligence, poor communication because of absorption to outside activities by parents, are always assumed to be the breeding ground for delinquents. Children in disadvantaged family settings are usually insecure, have a low view of self, and consequently have fewer opportunities for legitimate employment. They face a higher risk of social exclusion† (Venkatesh, 1997). Because of the breakdown of family institution, the ever increasing rate of single parenting and the many factors that contribute to this disintegration, the family as a unit has been redefined and as a result children are reaping the effects((OJJDP, Mar. 2003). An important assumption here is that, boys coming from the low-income families search for models of masculinity from these gangs. These forms, in a lot of instances, serve as their surrogate family, filling in the void for leadership roles which are supposed to be filled in by their real fathers. Instead of finding what they are looking for in a family, through those substitute groups, what they get is more than what they bargained for: â€Å"cruelty, becoming bully themselves, excitability and anxiety† (OJJDP, Mar. 2003) Conclusion Because family is the true breeding ground for achievement and true success, great importance is now being given for the well-being of this important unit of the community. Children’s achievements and/or performance in school are directly influenced by their parents more than the school itself. The parents’ moral, emotional, and financial capacity are basic for children’s early training: e. g. the acquisition of educational resources depends so much on the parents’ determination to obtain them for the enhancement of their children’s education (Wiig, 2001) . Here now is the immense disparity: young people aged 18 and below, who come from the socio-economically-deprived level most of the time feel excluded because of their disadvantages. Thus, they resort to looking for ways to help this area where they see themselves deprived. Gangs, to them, are easy solutions. Delinquents who are already part of this subcultural group are eager to recruit them. Opportunities are equal to everyone (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). Unlike in school and their family, these have no strict rules to be followed except loyalty to the group. It gives young people esteem when they somehow feel they are the â€Å"rule† in themselves. This is the lure of gangs. It gives the promise of fulfillment to would be delinquents. Popularity, access to the powerful figures on the streets, freedom to express one’s self, as well as easy flow of money (if the gang is also involved in some illegal activities such as drug dealings, which is common in most gangs) are seemingly within grasp of anybody who just have the guts to dare (OJJDP, Mar. 2003). Reference: Griffin, Torbert, and Szymanski, 1998. See J. Hearn, The Violences of Men: How Men Talk about and How Agencies Respond to Men’s Violence to Women (London, Sage, 1998); L. A. Goodman and others, â€Å"Male violence against women†, American Psychologist, vol. 48, No. 10 (1993), pp. 1,054-1,058; and M. P. Koss and others, No Safe Haven: Male Violence Against Women at Home, at Work and in the Community (Washington, American Psychological Association, 1994). Loeber, R. , and Farrington, D. P. , eds. 2001. Child Delinquents: Development, Intervention, and Service Needs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. OJJDP, Mar. 2003. (The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office for Victims of Crime.) http://:www. cato. org/testimony/ct- wc67. html.. (Accessed Dec. 2006)J. Flores, Administrator. Snyder, H. N. , and Sickmund, M. 1999. Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report. Report. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency prevention. Snyder, H. N. 2001. Epidemiology of official offending. In Child Delinquents: Development, Intervention, and Service Needs, edited by R. Loeber and D. P. Farrington. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. , pp. 25–46. United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency   or The Riyadh Guidelines http://:www.cato.org/testimony/ct-wc67.html.. (Accessed November 2007)J.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Flores, Administrator.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Hiroshima :: essays research papers

Hiroshima   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Would you be afraid of an atomic bomb dropping on your city? In August 1945, World War II was finally dying down. The United States, including her allies, had already defeated Germany by this time and had reclaimed land that had been taken over by Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Now that the United States and her allies had defeated the Nazis all the attention was pointed towards Japan. Japan was a city that would fight to the very end, and if needed fight to the very last man. The people of Japan did not believe in surrendering to anyone. Do you think that the people of Japan were afraid of the bomb that the United States’ best physicists had created? (Claypool 1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The people of Japan did not know the power of the atomic bomb and so they were not afraid of the United States. An hour before the United States dropped the bomb, Japan had detected the approach of some American aircraft heading towards the southern part of Japan. (The Manhattan Engineer District) The Japanese were in fear of a huge B-29 raid that could occur. At 8:00 a.m. the radar operator in Hiroshima determined that the number of planes coming was only a couple and probably not more than three. Basically, the Japanese were pretty clueless of what was coming. What was coming? There were a total of 7 B-29s flying towards the city of Hiroshima. One plane was a stand-by plane; three of them were weather planes, two of the planes carried scientific equipment and observers. The final B-29, the â€Å"Enola Gay,† carried the first atomic bomb Nelson 2 that would be dropped on Hiroshima. In less than three hours, sixty percent of Hiroshima would be erased. (Hersey 35) Hiroshima was located on a flat delta off the Ota River. The Ota River had 7 channels that divide the city into 6 islands. The city of Hiroshima was slightly above sea level and was almost entirely flat. It consisted of 26 square miles, and out of the 26, only 6 square miles were built-up. Seventy-five percent of the people had lived in the center of Hiroshima. (The Manhattan Engineer District)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was no separation between commercial, industrial, and residential zones. The houses and industrial buildings were made of wood. Also, the outskirts of the center of the city had an area of close small wooden workshops that were scattered between the Japanese houses.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Caricom Formation

Caricom- Caribbean Community and Common Market The formation of Caricom came about when the initial four countries’ governments saw the need for an integration of its members and economies, and the creation of a common market. When the West Indian Federation came to an end in 1962, Caricom was established as a means of regional integration. The West Indian Federation was a political union and consisted of ten countries- which are now states of Caricom- with the exception of Belize, The Bahamas and Guyana.The ending of the Federation meant the beginning of more serious efforts on the part of all Caribbean leaders to strengthen the existing ties among them by providing opportunities for the continuance and sustaining the areas of co-operation. The idea of Caricom was proposed by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago when it announced its withdrawal from the West Indian Federation. Hence, the first Heads of Government Conference was summoned by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. This conference was attended by the leaders of Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.These four countries agreed that there was an immense necessitate for closer co-operation in the Caribbean region. At the eighth Heads of Government Conference in Georgetown, Guyana in April 1973, the decision to establish Caricom was authorized with the signing of the Georgetown Accord. Caricom was finally established on July 04, 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. This treaty was signed by the Heads of Government of Barbados- Mr. Errol Barrow, Guyana- Mr. Forbes Burnham, Jamaica- Mr. Michael Manley and Trinidad and Tobago- Dr. Eric Williams. After many years of existence, Caricom has extended to fifteen members of state.Members of State of Caricom Name of Country| Capital City| Name of Head of State| Head of Government | Date of Membership| Antigua And Barbuda| St. John's| Dame Louise Agnetha Lake-Tack, Governor-General| Winston Baldwin Spencer| 4th July , 1974| The Bahamas| Nassau| H. E. Sir Arthur A. Foulkes, GCMC, Governor General| Perry G. Christie| 4th July, 1983| Name of Country| Capital City| Name of Head of State| Head of Government | Date of Membership| Barbados| Bridgetown| H. E. Ellliot Belgrave, Governor General| Freundel Stuart| 1st August, 1973| Belize| Belmopan| H. E. Sir Colville N. Young Snr. Governor General| Dean Oliver Barrow| 1stMay, 1974| Dominica| Roseau| H. E. Dr. Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool, DAH, President| Roosevelt Skerrit| 1st May,1974| Grenada| St. George's| H. E Sir Carlye Glean GCMG, Governor General | Tillman Thomas| 1st May,1974| Guyana| Georgetown | His Excellency Donald Ramotar| 1st August,1973| Haiti | Port-au-Prince| His Excellency Michel Joseph MartellyPresident| July, 2002| Jamaica| Kingston| The Most Honorable Patrick Linton Allen, ON, GCMG, CD – Governor General| The Most Honorable Portia Simpson – MillerPrime Minister| 1st August,1973| Montserrat| Plymouth| H.E. Mr. Adria n Derek Davis, Governor| Honorable Reuben Meade Premier| 1st May,1974| Saint Lucia | Castries| H. E. Dame Perlette Louisy, GCMG, PhD, Governor General| Dr. The Honorable Kenny D. AnthonyPrime Minister| 1st May,1974| St Kitts And Nevis| Basseterre| H. E. Sir Cuthbert Montraville Sebastian, Governor General| The Right Honorable. Dr. Denzil Llewllyn DouglasPrime Minister| 26th July,1974| St. Vincent and the Grenadines| Kingstown| Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne, Governor General| Dr. the Honorable Ralph E.GonsalvesPrime Minister| 1st May,1974| Suriname| Paramaribo| His Excellency Desire Delano Bouterse President| 4th July,1995| Trinidad and Tobago| | His Excellency George Maxwell Richards, TC, CMT, PhD President| Honorable Kamla Persad-BissessarPrime Minister| 1st August ,1973| Caricom also has its Associate Members (located in the territories of the United Kingdom): * Anguilla * Bermuda * British Virgin Islands, * Cayman Islands and * Turks and Caicos Islands Caricom Secretariat Th e Caricom Secretariat is the principal administrative organ of the ommunity and is headed by a Secretary General, who is the CEO of the community. The Caricom Secretariat is located in Guyana and the current Secretary General is Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, a national of Dominica. Functions of the Caricom Secretariat * Initiate, organize and conduct studies. * Provide, on request, services to Members of State of Caricom on matters of the community. * Collect, store and disseminate relevant information to Member States. * Mobilize resources from donor agencies to assist in the implementation of Community Programmes. * Conduct, as mandated, fact-finding assignments in Member States.Offices and Directorates Offices * Secretary-General * Deputy Secretary-General * General Counsel * Office of Trade Negotiations | Directorates * Foreign and Community Relations * Human and Social Development * Trade and Economic Integration * Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States   (CARI FORUM)| Reference â€Å"Caricom Member States† 2011, Caricom. org. http://www. caricom. org/jsp/community/member_states. jsp? menu=community â€Å"Formation of Caricom† May 2006, Scribd. com http://www. scribd. com/doc/2905473/Introduction-to-CARICOM-CSME

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Critical Analysis and Research on Sylvia Plath’s poems Essay

The literary tradition Plath is most closely associated with: Confessionalism, engenders robust biographical interpretation due to the innately self-revelatory idiom. Plath, even more so than other Confessional poets like Anne Sexton or Robert Lowell, explored the poetic possibilities of contemporaneous self-expression which involved intimate, sometimes deeply personal psychological and biographical revelation. This aspect, along with deftly executed figurative language, expressive and interesting prosody, and stark, often violent imagery distinguishes the poems of Plath’s most well-known book of verse â€Å"Ariel. † Plath’s most famous poem â€Å"Daddy† enjoys myriad biographical interpretations, an understanding of which are as necessary as understanding the poem’s other dimensions: prosody, rhyme, image, and theme for a thorough reading of the poem. Interestingly, Plath her self noted, in a reading for the BBC, that â€Å"Daddy† was â€Å"spoken by a girl with an Electra complex. Her father died while she thought he was God. Her case is complicated by the fact that her father was also a Nazi and her mother very possibly part Jewish. † (Plath, Nos. 166-188). These words express Plath’s attempt to pace a narrative distance between herself and the speaker of the poem and seem to indicate that she felt such a distinction failed to be strongly apparent in the poem itself. This latter conclusion is understandable; close inspection of Plath’s diary, biographies, and the lines of â€Å"Daddy† exhume a potent parallels between the events described in the poem and the events of Plath’s life. Beginning with the most obvious parallel as well as the poem’s central theme of a â€Å"girl with an Electra complex,† Plath’s journals reveal that she, indeed, suffered personally from an â€Å"Electra complex. † While undergoing treatment with her psychologist Dr. Ruth Beuscher, Plath experienced a cathartic emotional climax during psychotherapy and recorded her subsequent Sylvia Plath’s Poems Page -2- thoughts. Plath also noted that her father was an â€Å"ogre† and â€Å"tyrant† and that he kept a hidden Nazi flag in his closet which he occasionally paraded in front of while dressed in Nazi regalia. â€Å"He wouldn’t go to a doctor, wouldn’t believe in God and heiled Hitler in the privacy of his home. † Of her mother Plath observed, â€Å"She suffered{†¦ } bound to the track naked and the train called Life coming with a frown and a choo-choo around the bend. † (Plath Journal, 430) This latter turn of phrase (with its train imagery) informs the imagery of Daddy when Plath writes: â€Å"An engine, an engine/ Chuffing me off like a Jew. † Likewise, the Nazi imagery of â€Å"Daddy† conveys a sense of bleakest hopelessness, with Plath directly identifying her own childhood pain and loss of her father with the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis. â€Å"I have always been scared of you/ With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo. / And your neat mustache/And your Arayan eye, bright blue. † Although the poem expresses the dramatic revelation of an â€Å"Electra complex,† the poem’s opening lines foreshadow a strange inversion of powers; the admonition â€Å"You do not do, you do not do/ Any more, black shoe† portends or infers that the speaker has won a victory over her oppressor (s); taken at their full impact, the opening lines convey not only a release from the familial neurosis implied by the aforementioned biographical details, but a sinister hint at the poem’s ultimately suicidal themes. The line â€Å"in which I have lived like a foot/For thirty years, poor and white† mean to strike to the heart of the poet’s entire life and not merely the â€Å"Electra complex† that is so obviously rendered. The â€Å"shoe† is all form of oppression and constriction, though throughout the poem there is a strong sense of male domination and patriarchal oppression. â€Å"Of the poems that Sylvia Plath’s Poems Page -3- concentrate on the family, those dealing with the father provide the clearest and most powerful example of Plath’s divided conception of the universe. † (Rosenblatt 119) That said, the poem gains its most sinister and perhaps most powerful energies from deeply autobiographical confession. Lines such as â€Å"In the waters off beautiful Nauset. /I used to pray to recover you. † can only be interpreted as personal motifs, since Plath summered in Nauset with her family and often referred to this time period as the most gloriously happy in her life. Memory, in the poem, is like the child remembers: â€Å"Daddy† brilliantly enlarges the memory of Plath’s father to legendary proportions. â€Å"Plath dramatizes the situation between daughter and father as if no time had passed since the father’s death: the emotional situation is still burning in her consciousness. † (Rosenblatt 160) This constant tension between the ideal and the real – the remembered and the present – the child and the grown woman mirror the universal experiences of most people whether the specific biographical details are similar. In order to firmly establish the mythical impact of her private â€Å"theater† Plath employs heroic exaggeration via the imagery of the poem: While most of the geographical references in Plath’s poetry are to New England or England, â€Å"Daddy† refers to San Francisco in the lines â€Å"Ghastly statue with one gray toe / Big as a Frisco Seal / And a head in the freakish Atlantic. † These lines identify the daddy in the poem as a colossus who stretches across America from the Atlantic to the Pacific–a colossus even larger than the one described in â€Å"The Colossus. † (ANO194) Similarly, Plath demonstrates that her personal life, as a focused theme for her thoroughly crafted poetry, attains a mythical stature in the process. This mythical resonance is prevalent in her poem â€Å"medusa,† which, while not as generally well-known as â€Å"Daddy† is actually a complimentary piece to the more famous work, with Medusa providing the maternal aspect of the Sylvia Plath’s Poems Page -4- two parentally themed pieces: â€Å"†Medusa† corresponds in Plath’s work to â€Å"Daddy†: both represent the search for freedom from parental figures. † (Rosenblatt 127) If â€Å"Daddy† drew upon events from Plath’s life and juxtaposed them with sweeping images drawn from world history, â€Å"Medusa† presents a more directly mythological connotation. From the title, alone, the reader is set to expect a resonance with Greek myth. However, what ensues is an inversion of the technique employed in â€Å"Daddy,† which utilized a mathematically precise rhyme scheme and colloquial diction to elevate the personal to the status of myth. In â€Å"Medusa,† a well-known myth is used as a kind of â€Å"anchor† by which the personal can be magnified and universally comprehended. Plath imagines her mother as the Medusa, capable of turning all who look at her into stone. â€Å"†Medusa† paints the portrait of a similar figure: she observes the speaker from across the Atlantic; she has a hideous head that can apparently turn the self to stone; and she wishes to hurt the speaker. † (Rosenblatt 127) One of the most interesting images in the poem is that of the Atlantic cable viewed by the poet as a â€Å"barnacled umbilicus† which keeps her tied to the â€Å"stone† world of Medusa with its â€Å"God-ball,/Lens of mercies† and Medusa’s â€Å"stooges† following the poet â€Å"Dragging their Jesus hair. † This image also allows the infusion of biographical details, as in â€Å"Daddy† and in nearly all of the â€Å"Ariel† poems, as functional a part of the aesthetic as meter, rhyme, and diction. â€Å"The reference in the poem to the umbilical attachment between the poet and Medusa identifies this figure as the mother. Plath also alludes to a visit that her mother made to England in the summer of 1962 in the line: â€Å"You steamed to me over the sea. â€Å"[†¦ ]†Medusa† attempts to cast off the parental image and to attain personal independence. † (Rosenblatt 127) Sylvia Plath’s Poems Page -5- The diction of â€Å"Medusa† is deliberately colloquial, conversational and punctuated by complex, corresponding imagery and figurative language. This alloy of disparate impulses, one toward the informality of a phone call or table-conversation, the other for the deep mythological reference and probing psychological confession, produces a brilliant and enduring poetic tension in Plath’s â€Å"Ariel† poems. Perhaps more than nay other single poem in the â€Å"Ariel† sequence, â€Å"Lady Lazarus† pushes the parameters of the poetic idiom described above. The subject of Lady Lazarus, like the subject of â€Å"Daddy† and â€Å"Medusa† is simultaneously autobiographical and mythological. In this poem, Plath conjoins her first suicide attempt with the Biblical story of Lazarus. And again, Plath produces a tension in diction by contrasting formal and colloquial language. â€Å"Lady Lazarus† defines the central aesthetic principles of Plath’s late poetry. First, the poem derives its dominant effects from the colloquial language. From the conversational opening (â€Å"I have done it again†) to the clipped warnings of the ending (â€Å"Beware / Beware†), â€Å"Lady Lazarus† appears as the monologue of a woman speaking spontaneously out of her pain and psychic disintegration. † (Rosenblatt 40) Against the predominantly colloquial diction, complex Latinate terms and phrases are contrasted providing the voice of the â€Å"establishment,† of the â€Å"enemy† and the numb, indifferent, objective world. â€Å" The Latinate terms (â€Å"annihilate,† â€Å"filaments,† â€Å"opus,† â€Å"valuable†) are introduced as sudden contrasts to the essentially simple language of the speaker. † (Rosenblatt 40) The prosody of â€Å"Lady Lazarus,† with its sporadic, nursery-rhyme like rhymes: â€Å"I do it exceptionally well/ I do it so it feels like hell† â€Å"A wedding ring,/ A gold filling† ventures near the territory of light-verse, but the poem’s themes and images are anything but light. The strain of the prosody and diction against the profound themes of suicide, Nazism, psychiatric and medical Sylvia Plath’s Poems Page -6- tyranny, and social-alienation is produced without poetic collapse due to Plath’s unerring control of language: â€Å"The inventiveness of the language demonstrates Plath’s ability to create[†¦ ] an appropriate oral medium for the distorted mental states of the speaker. The sexual pun on â€Å"charge† in the first line above; the bastardization of German (â€Å"Herr Enemy†); the combination of Latinate diction (â€Å"opus,† â€Å"valuable†) and colloquial phrasing (â€Å"charge,† â€Å"So, so †¦ â€Å")—all these linguistic elements reveal a character who has been grotesquely split into warring selves. (Rosenblatt 39) â€Å"Lady Lazarus† closes, like â€Å"Daddy† and â€Å"Medusa† with the affirmation of the speaker’s vengeful triumph over adversaries. This closing â€Å"sting† in many of the most successful of the â€Å"Ariel† poems suggests a rebirth for the fragmented self described in â€Å"Lady Lazarus. † The successful rebirth also indicates another, if secondary impulse, in the â€Å"Ariel† poems, that of communal identification or empathy. It is as though poet, having undergone the vivisections of â€Å"Daddy† â€Å"Medusa† â€Å"Lady Lazarus† and other poems, can now empathize with others who have been similarly wounded. An ironic take on this aspect is the pome’ The Applicant,† which substitutes the idea of salesmanship for compassion, admitting, however, that identification with the customer is a necessary component of selling. â€Å"One of the more bitter poems in Ariel is â€Å"The Applicant† ( October 11, 1962), a portrait of marriage in contemporary western culture[†¦ ] Somehow all interaction between people, and especially that between men and women, given the history of the use of women as items of barter, is conditioned by the ethics and assumptions of a bureaucratized market place. † (Annas 104) Plath’s melding of colloquial and formal diction in â€Å"The Applicant† results in an ironically bitter observation on the consequences of human-objectification, a theme which upon close inspection informs nearly all of the â€Å"Ariel† poems. Works Cited Annas, Pamela J. A Disturbance in Mirrors: The Poetry of Sylvia Plath. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. Plath, Sylvia. The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. New York NY Anchor Books. 2000. Plath, Sylvia. â€Å"The Source of the Vampire and â€Å"Frisco Seal† in Plath’s â€Å"Daddy†. † ANQ 4. 4 (1991): 194-194. Rosenblatt, Jon. Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Art of Language essays

Art of Language essays Language is the blood of the soul... (Oliver Wendell Holmes) The blood flows through internal and external thought, giving the world insight into the human mind. Language can be found in many forms; including speech, expression, literature, and vocabulary. This art of language shapes the world in many ways. Language is a step beyond simple communication, allowing the mind to express thoughts, emotion, and intellect. It changes the way in which the world is understood and conformed. Ideas of different cultures spread throughout regions by both the written and spoken word. An example is the US Constitution. Some countries have tried to imitate the government of America in order to better theirs. The values and morals have been communicated and shaped the world so that democracy is understood and replicated. Also, speeches have been appreciated so that people follow the advice given. Such an instance is the famous speech given by Kurt Vonnegut at MIT, Wear Sunscreen. Many high school seniors can directly relate to the wisdom portrayed and recite lines stating how to make the most out of life. One persons ideas changed the way that humans conduct themselves, and how they perceive the world. Music is a form of language and communication of the heart and soul. The tone and rhythm of songs open the mind to various emotions and thoughts. It can be portrayed through instrumental and vocal sounds. A note on a page is a universal language for all musicians. When lyrics are added, the entire comprehension of the music may be altered. One word may change the way that a song is interpreted and may also determine whether or not it is liked or disliked. A composer can address the way that a person feels about a certain event in life through the beats and words put together. The order that words and rhythms are put to song may also affect the interpretation by others. Communication in the fo ...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Answer These 5 Common (but tough) Interview Questions

How to Answer These 5 Common (but tough) Interview Questions Even the best job interviews sometimes have deer-in-headlight moments†¦the times when you get a question you can’t answer with a breezy, offhand response. While your brain reaches for a response that sounds coherent and hire-worthy, the pause can feel like an eternity. If you go into the interview extra-prepared to field some common questions, you can avoid that and come off as the smooth operator you know you can be. Also don’t forget to prepare for these hardest interview questions. You never know when you might get hit with these tough questions.1. â€Å"Tell me a little bit about yourself.†This is not an invitation to talk about your childhood hopes and dreams (unless you’re interviewing to be a cowboy astronaut) or a request to detail your square-dancing hobby. Remember what you’re there to talk about: you as the ideal candidate for this particular job. This question is a chance to give a quick outline of the elements of your education and career background that make you a super fit for this position.2. â€Å"What are your strengths?†Again, you need to target your response to the job for which you’re interviewing, but this one has the added sandtrap of testing your humility. If your answer makes you seem like a combination of Steve Jobs and Mother Theresa, dial it back a bit.Before your interview, come up with three qualities that make you look like a strong candidate for the role. Good answers: â€Å"I’m extremely organized;† â€Å"I work very well in a team-oriented environment;† or â€Å"I have a long track record of turning leads into sales.† Bad answers: â€Å"I’m one of the smartest people I know† or â€Å"I win at any cost.†3. â€Å"What are your weaknesses?†Similar to #2, this is a bit of a trap. The interviewer is not your therapist/clergyperson. Don’t confess to lifting office supplies from your last job or talk about your weakness for buying Precious Moments figurines from Amazon. Make sure that your response contains a little bit of spin (but not too much- again, the humility thing comes into play here).For example: a stated weakness could be that you try to take on everything at once. But as soon as you say that, acknowledge that you know the importance of delegating projects throughout the team and working together toward a common goal, so you will always strive to make that balance of your own hard work and looping other people in. Whatever you respond, be sure to flip the script and finish up with how it makes you a stronger candidate and how you know you can turn that into a productive quality for this position.4. â€Å"Why did you leave your last job?†Depending on how things went at your old place, you might be sorely tempted to be totally honest. However: bite your tongue. You will gain nothing from trash-talking your former colleagues and bosses- and things could get awkward very fast if your interviewer knows people at your last company. Instead, be as honest as you can while spinning it a little to emphasize your current opportunity: â€Å"I felt I’d grown as much as I could in my last role, and I think this job is a logical next step for me.†If you were fired from your last job, this makes things trickier, but not a lost cause. Never lie about it (as this is easily checked by the interviewer), but rather talk about the reasons your last job was not a good fit for your goals or what you learned from the difficult situation.5. â€Å"Aren’t you overqualified for this job?†In a complicated economy, sometimes we find ourselves applying for jobs that might be a step back, qualifications-wise. Maybe you wanted that reach-y dream job, but your mounting bills and frustrations mean you’re willing to be flexible and take a job that might be slightly lower in seniority or salary.If the interviewer asks you about being overqualified, emphasize t he reasons you want this job. They’re asking because they’re concerned you might not find the job challenging enough or that you will skip out as soon as another opportunity comes along. You can reassure them by talking about how this role is in line with what you like about your field, and how you see yourself growing in the role.You can also talk about how you understand that your resume may seem a few steps ahead of this particular role, but you’re interested in a permanent role at this company, and would like to bring your extensive experience to the job and make it your own.Preparation is your friend here. If you think ahead of time about questions that are almost guaranteed to come up, you’re more likely to avoid the awkward deer moment and keep the interview seamlessly moving forward.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Scholarly Paper Caring for Individuals, families and groups Research

Scholarly Caring for Individuals, families and groups - Research Paper Example (A Nation Free...p.2) The factors such as geographic location, mental health, age, gender, socioeconomic status, religion are found to be main determinants in health care discrimination. Lack of insurance is the biggest barrier, more than any other economic or demographic barrier that affects the quality of health care received by these groups. They constitute about one-third of the U.S. population, but make up more than half of the 50 million people who are uninsured. Of the total 50 million people who are uninsured, almost half belongs to the racial and ethnic group; while they constitute only one-third of the U.S. population. Reforms under the Affordable Care Act have to be seen in above light and it is likely to be a boon for many and may be a bane for someone. Some of the significant milestones of the act can be described as per the following. Benefits to Children and Senior Citizens The reforms have brought new rights and benefits for children and to those under the age of 26 t o stay on their parent's health insurance. It has also ended annual limits on care. The new act provides 50% discounts on brand-name drugs to seniors in Medicare and it also provides tax credit to small businesses for extending insurance to employees. Providing Access to Insurance for Uninsured Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Uninsured Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions A Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) is made for individuals who are uninsured for at least six months for that reason. States are also free to run the new programs. The Department of Health and Human Services will run the plan, if the state does not have a plan. This program will serve as a bridge until 2014, when any discrimination against pre-existing conditions will not be allowed. The act will have influences on health and caring across wide section of ethnic minorities in varied ways. Though, the Affordable Care Act is formulated to provide the health for all but it essentially addresses th e needs of those who had no access to adequate coverage due to their underprivileged status. Well-Being, Health, and Safety of the American People The broad range of health indicators pertaining to racial and ethnic minorities is far worse than their non-Hispanic White counterparts hence well-being of these people needs special attention. Hence need is to create an environment that can control chronic diseases and associated risk factors. The effective community-based programs and policies can reduce and tackle the disparities in health standards. (A Nation free†¦p4) Racial and Ethnic Minority It is true that all American citizens do not have equal access to health care. Various racial and ethnic minorities, low-income groups and most of the underprivileged populations have higher rates of illness and less treatment options. Mostly, they do not have any insurance coverage for treatment. They’re less likely to get chance of preventive care and will have no access to the t reatment and screenings to stay healthy. Preventing diabetes and heart disease is a tough task for them. Perhaps, this is the group who is going to get the biggest benefits from this new healthcare program. Economical Ways The Affordable Care Act is geared to reduce these disparities regarding health care by improving access to health care for all citizens. This is aimed at bringing down the

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Factors affecting the salary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Factors affecting the salary - Essay Example Executives receive a variable compensation that is known as executive bonus that is based on attainment of organisational goals and objectives. Managers also get long-term incentives that are based on the firms’ goals and objectives. Executive perquisites and benefits are different than those that are offered to subordinates. This means that they receive higher levels of pension plans, fringe benefits, life insurance and health insurance. The website states that the pay rates for executive compensation in the US are higher as compared to the situation in other countries. The situation is similar in other nations including Asia and Europe. It is also clear that managers have the option to increase their levels of compensation. This has attracted numerous ethical concerns over the years. The book starts by stating that the issue of executive remuneration has attracted increasing attention over the years especially following the 2008/2009 banking crisis. This leads to the important question on the factors influencing executive remuneration. The recent discussion has shifted from how much the executives make in a month to how much they can make from their firms. The book notes that executive remuneration has spawn out of control in the recent past. In fact, it has become clear that the bonuses available to executive are approximately seventy percent of their basic salary. The High Pay Commission found verification that high pay for executives has negative impacts for society and the economy at large. The same commission found that while executives’ salaries increased dramatically over the years, the share prices have been observed to have declined significantly. Generally speaking, the main factors influencing executive remuneration include the decisions by remuneration committees, inherent values of executives, competitive forces in the market. There are two main theories that can further explain this

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

History (access to humanities and social science) Essay - 1

History (access to humanities and social science) - Essay Example (Davis & Moore, 1945: quoted in Zaidi, 1999) The most important factor of social stratification includes the division of society in three main classes i.e. upper, middle and lower. Lower or labor class makes the largest stratum of almost all societies that contains limited income resources and wealth. An overwhelming majority of the individuals belonging to this class has to survive and fulfill their needs and requirements in these scarce resources. Since the poor stratum or lower class is not able to keep the wolf from the door even by working hard from dawn to dusk, almost all members of this class engage themselves in financial activities in order to meet with their growing expenditures. Consequently, the children are also expected regarding lending a helping hand to their parents and senior family members by earning something in one way or the other. Hence, child labor has been in vogue for centuries, and children of lower stratum had been deprived of proper nutrition, adequate l earning facilities basic education and other fundamental rights since ever. The working classes had been undergoing extremely miserable and pathetic situation in all parts of the planet. Their situation was worse in European countries during 18th and 19th centuries, where the exploitation of the innocent children was order of the day. They worked at the houses, farms and agricultural lands of the rich clergy and nobility from dawn to dusk, and did not get any money in return. Industrial revolution of 1750 increased the miseries of the working classes and their children were forced to work in mills and factories with no or nominal remunerations and wages. Since there had been taken place no legislation to protect the rights of women and children at the eve of industrial revolution, there was no statute of law to bar the recruitment of children in industries. It was the time when industry was in its budding and the owners of mills, factories and industrial units required

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Importance of aligning human resource processes with business strategy

Importance of aligning human resource processes with business strategy Strategic alignment these terms are some of the phrases which are being used to explain the latest, evolving function of human resources process. The aligning human resource processes with business strategy about the growth of the business, increasing the performance of the employees and keeping the costs under a control. Which means the employee satisfaction and benefits provide to the population as they are not the strategic goals, but they are tools to reach the goals important for the whole organization. The importance of the alignment of the HR process with the business strategy is about going deeper and finding the real root components of the successful human capital management in the organization. The HR Managers have to identify the real goals of the business, the business way how to reach the goals and the real needs of the business from Human Resources. Dainty (2000) the HR tends to take care of employees, but it is not what the business asks for usually. The HR process ali gnment with the business strategy needs many discussions inside Human Resources about the real goals of the organization and how the organization will utilize its human capital to reach the goals. It is not about the employee satisfaction, it is a side effect. They have to understand, how the business wants to reach the goals and then the HR process can be developed and fully aligned with the business strategy. The aligned HR process misses the nice words about the retention, the employee satisfaction and other nice HR initiatives. These are the tools; the real business goals are different. These few points which are important in jumpstarting the organisations revenue and profit growth if well utilized: Develop a workforce that can perform higher-grade assignments. Increase efficiency, effectiveness and standards of performance by the employee Keep the employees informed Provide the usual training of new recruited workforce Business strategy remains important in ensuring that a business performs well. It is important that human resources process is carried out in a proper manner the human resource has a function of delivering strategy insights in the organisation so as to enable the organisation to be more effective in sourcing, evaluating and motivating employees in this increasingly unstable business environment. J. D Wheelen (2003) the human resource has to continue providing administrative services which are dependable, responsive and cost effective to the needs of the organization. Starbucks and Humana companies have been able to be successful because of their good human resources management practices. It is clear that, for any company to be able to achieve, its market goals, it has to have correct human resources management. However, aligning the human resources does not guarantee 100% success towards achieving the market objective of a company. 2.  Discuss how the firm used benchmarking to determine the performance standards for leadership, client-facing and specialty/support functions? Leaders in different organisations and contexts do not look the same, but they share many characteristics. The challenge for  businesses is to understand both what they have  and what they  need in order to  secure  their future. Druker, J (1995), the Support Function will be an integral part of this practice which helps service-based businesses achieves significant, rapid, and sustainable improvements in customer satisfaction, cost, and revenue performance. These strategies bring our clients competitive advantage and significant, measurable, bottom-line impact. Benchmarking leadership and clients facing talent must take account  of  the values and strategic intent of the organisation. Leadership and client facing assessment can be applied at all levels in the organisation, from the identification of high potential leaders to an intervention with a senior team to examine their effectiveness and help them to raise their performance. The benchmarking for leadership, clien t facing, specialty/support functions may be driven by: Mergers and acquisitions Changes of ownership Changes to adapt to new technologies or markets Building leadership bench strength and a leadership pipeline Appointments to senior leadership positions Building high performance teams Self-confidence is more trustworthy than the statistical data. Develop approaches and methods for optimizing business support functions in strategic and administrative area Prepare project proposals and client discussions, assist with project planning, organize client workshops/meetings/conferences Participate in internal knowledge building/management Strategic and creative thinkers who are exceptionally adept with quantitative analysis and business case work Passionate about and committed to operations and technical excellence Proven leaders with the ability to inspire others, build strong relationships, and create a true followership Results-driven achievers who are able to grasp and communicate complex ideas clearly Collaborative team players, capable of working well with others but also autonomously with little direction Demonstrated broad business perspective 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Identify and explain three objectives of the talent management system including one from each category of operations, customer, and financial objectives? Objective of talent management system is to optimizing the performance of each employee and the organization. However within many companies the concept of human capital management has just begun to develop. In fact only few of the organizations have a clear talent management strategy and operational programs in place today. It is very important to develop a clear talent management strategy and to increase awareness of available talent and successors, all organizations should conduct regular talent review meetings to be prepared for a variety of business changes, such as mergers, company growth, or a decrease in talent needs. In the same way that all companies have regular meetings and reports regarding their financial status and budgetary needs, the talent review meeting is designed to review the current talent status and future successor needs in the organization. Grant R.M. (2005) the talent review meeting is an important part of the overall talent management process; it is designe d to review the performance and career potential of employees, to discuss possible vacancy risks of current employees, to identify successors and top talent in the organization, and to create development action plans to prepare employees for future roles in the organization. This is what talent management is all about gathering information about talent, analyzing their career interests and organizational business needs, identifying top talent and successes, and developing these individuals to reduce the risk of losing the best people and experiencing extensive leadership gaps when turnover occurs. Main objective of Talent Management System will assist organization in developing, managing, rewarding and optimizing organizational talent to increase workforce productivity and maximize operating performance. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discuss how the company would measure each objective. Company would measure any objective through Balanced Scorecard. This is a management system that maps an organizations strategic objectives into performance metrics in four perspectives: financial, internal processes, customers, and learning and growth. These perspectives provide relevant feedback as to how well the strategic plan is executing so that adjustments can be made as necessary. The term scorecard signifies quantified performance measures and balanced signifies that the system is balanced between: short-term objectives and long-term objectives financial measures and non-financial measures lagging indicators and leading indicators internal performance and external performance perspectives The financial perspective addresses the question of how shareholders view the firm and which financial goals are desired from the shareholders perspective. The specific goals depend on the companys stage in the business life cycle. Hunger (2003) the customer perspective addresses the question of how the firm is viewed by its customers and how well the firm is serving its targeted customers in order to meet the financial objectives. Generally, customers view the firm in terms of time, quality, performance, and cost. Most customer objectives fall into one of those four categories. Operation objectives address the question of which processes are most critical for satisfying customers and shareholders. These are the processes in which the firm must concentrate its efforts to excel. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discuss how the changes made to Porter Novellis talent management system impact organizational performance. Carter, L. Goldsmith, M. (2010) changes made to Porter Novellis talent management system impact organizational performance to meet the needs of todays organizations, this handbook is filled with practical advice on how to implement employee and customer-centered programs that emphasize consensus building; self, group, organizational, and one-on-one awareness and effective communication; clear connections to overall business objectives; and quantifiable business results. With lessons from companies that are widely recognized as among the best in organization change and leadership development, for succeeding during challenging times. As best practice organizational champions, these companies share many similar attributes including openness to learning and collaboration, humility, innovation and creativity, integrity, a high regard for peoples needs and perspectives, and a passion for change. And all these outstanding organizations have invested in human capital the most important asse t inside of organizations today. Porter Novellis talent management system offers lessons from the worlds best organizations in various industries and sizes, and shows how to identify the key elements of leading successful, results-driven talent management; access the tools, models, instruments, and strategies for leading talent management; apply practical how-to approaches to diagnosing, assessing, designing, implementing, coaching, following-up on, and evaluating talent management; and measure critical success factors and critical failure factors of a program. No matter what the size or mission of the organization for diagnosing, assessing, designing, implementing, coaching, and evaluating a winning team of talent.