Capital Punishment Essays (1010 words) - Ancient Greek Philosophers

Capital Punishment During the Greek Golden Age, art and philosophy expressed hellenic weltanschauung, their unique outlook on the world and way of life. Through the works of artists, playwrights, and philosophers, one can see both sides of the conflicted systems of the world, such as; good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, stability vs. flux, relativism vs. absolutism and balance and harmony. The Greeks were materialists. They adopted the philosophical doctrine which says that physical matter is the only reality in the universe; everything else, including thought, feeling, mind and will can be explained in terms of physical laws. Their materialism was expressed in an excessive regard for worldly, beautiful material things and concerns. They used their art to show the glories of humanity and man. The sculptors of the Golden Age aimed to create graceful, strong and perfectly formed figures. Their art showed natural positions and thoughtful expressions rather than abstract art forms. Their standards of order and balance became standards for classical art in western civilization. The Greeks were proud of their temples and other architecture, made to honor the gods and beautify the polis (city-state). Their famous architectural styles were the heavy Doric columns and the slender scrolled Ionian columns. The Parthenon, the Greek temple for the goddess Athena, is a impeccable example of symmetry and proportion. The sides of the Parthenon give an optical illusion of perfect balance on all sides. Their desire for balance in art and architecture represents the balance of the world; order and moderation are expressed in the simplicity of lines and shapes. The resulting overall structure works together to achieve harmony. In ancient Greece, public drama was more than entertainment. It was a form of public education. It dealt with issues of importance to the people, such as; the authority of the leaders, the power of the people, questions of justice, morality, wars, peace, the duties of the gods, family life and city living. Aeschylus wrote about the furies and how they punished man for wrongdoings. This shows that he believed that chaos would be punished because order (and law) is the ideal state. Sophocles is best known for his plays of Oedipus. Those plays dealt with family and civic loyalty. The Greeks emphasized, particularly in their plays, the importance of loyalty as a goal to strive for. We learn a lot about Greek views through their philosophy, which literally means the love of knowledge. The Greeks educated through a series of questions and answers, in order to better teach about life and the universe. The first philosopher was Thales. He believed in absolutism and eternal matter. He said that water was the original matter and that without it, there would be no life. Parmenides stated that stability and permanence were the underlying conditions of the universe. He believed that change is only an illusion and that one's senses can only grasp superficial realities of change. Heroditus argued with Parmenides saying that change was the basic condition of reality. He further claimed that all permanence was false. Thus he saw things as naturally being in flux rather than a stable state. Democritus argued with both Parmenides and Heroditus. He insisted that there is nothing spiritual and that only matter existed. He then went on to say that everything is made of little invisible particles, hooked up in different arrangements. He was an atomist. The Greek philosophers went on to question the nature of being and the meaning of life. Pythagoras was the first metaphysicist, one who studies beyond physical existence. He believed in a separation between spirit and body, an opposition between good and evil and between discord and harmony. In the 5th century, the Greeks learned from Sophists, who believed that the views of society are standards and the sole measurement of good, truth, justice and beauty. Protagoras was a sophist. He said that, man is the measure of all things. He believed in a constant flux, and that nothing is absolutely right or wrong, but subject to change. His view is much like that held by Parmenides. The philosophers then asked a question such as; what would happen if things that were wrong were seen by society as acceptable? What, for example, Capital Punishment Essays (1010 words) - Ancient Greek Philosophers Capital Punishment During the Greek Golden Age, art and philosophy expressed hellenic weltanschauung, their unique outlook on the world and way of life. Through the works of artists, playwrights, and philosophers, one can see both sides of the conflicted systems of the world, such as; good vs. evil, order vs. chaos, stability vs. flux, relativism vs. absolutism and balance and harmony. The Greeks were materialists. They adopted the philosophical doctrine which says that physical matter is the only reality in the universe; everything else, including thought, feeling, mind and will can be explained in terms of physical laws. Their materialism was expressed in an excessive regard for worldly, beautiful material things and concerns. They used their art to show the glories of humanity and man. The sculptors of the Golden Age aimed to create graceful, strong and perfectly formed figures. Their art showed natural positions and thoughtful expressions rather than abstract art forms. Their standards of order and balance became standards for classical art in western civilization. The Greeks were proud of their temples and other architecture, made to honor the gods and beautify the polis (city-state). Their famous architectural styles were the heavy Doric columns and the slender scrolled Ionian columns. The Parthenon, the Greek temple for the goddess Athena, is a impeccable example of symmetry and proportion. The sides of the Parthenon give an optical illusion of perfect balance on all sides. Their desire for balance in art and architecture represents the balance of the world; order and moderation are expressed in the simplicity of lines and shapes. The resulting overall structure works together to achieve harmony. In ancient Greece, public drama was more than entertainment. It was a form of public education. It dealt with issues of importance to the people, such as; the authority of the leaders, the power of the people, questions of justice, morality, wars, peace, the duties of the gods, family life and city living. Aeschylus wrote about the furies and how they punished man for wrongdoings. This shows that he believed that chaos would be punished because order (and law) is the ideal state. Sophocles is best known for his plays of Oedipus. Those plays dealt with family and civic loyalty. The Greeks emphasized, particularly in their plays, the importance of loyalty as a goal to strive for. We learn a lot about Greek views through their philosophy, which literally means the love of knowledge. The Greeks educated through a series of questions and answers, in order to better teach about life and the universe. The first philosopher was Thales. He believed in absolutism and eternal matter. He said that water was the original matter and that without it, there would be no life. Parmenides stated that stability and permanence were the underlying conditions of the universe. He believed that change is only an illusion and that one's senses can only grasp superficial realities of change. Heroditus argued with Parmenides saying that change was the basic condition of reality. He further claimed that all permanence was false. Thus he saw things as naturally being in flux rather than a stable state. Democritus argued with both Parmenides and Heroditus. He insisted that there is nothing spiritual and that only matter existed. He then went on to say that everything is made of little invisible particles, hooked up in different arrangements. He was an atomist. The Greek philosophers went on to question the nature of being and the meaning of life. Pythagoras was the first metaphysicist, one who studies beyond physical existence. He believed in a separation between spirit and body, an opposition between good and evil and between discord and harmony. In the 5th century, the Greeks learned from Sophists, who believed that the views of society are standards and the sole measurement of good, truth, justice and beauty. Protagoras was a sophist. He said that, man is the measure of all things. He believed in a constant flux, and that nothing is absolutely right or wrong, but subject to change. His view is much like that held by Parmenides. The philosophers then asked a question such as; what would happen if things that were wrong were seen by society as acceptable? What, for example,

The Meaning and Origin of the WEST Surname

The Meaning and Origin of the WEST Surname The West surname was most commonly bestowed on  a person from the west- someone who had migrated from a place further west, or one who lived to the west of the town or village. Similar surnames include  Western, Westerman, and Westray. Alternate Surname Spellings:  WESTESurname Origin: English, German Where People With the WEST Surname Live According to surname distribution data from Forebears, West is most prevalent in the United States where it ranks as the 107th most common surname in the nation. It is also a common surname in England (ranked 111th),  Australia (131st) and New Zealand (152nd). Within England, West is most frequently found in Buckinghamshire, Sussex, and Kent, followed by Lincolnshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and Leicestershire. WorldNames PublicProfiler  indicates that within the United Kingdom the West surname is fairly common in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, as well as Isle of Wight and most of southern England. In the United States, West is most common in the South in a swath from Virginia to Oklahoma, especially the states of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Virginia. West is also a common surname in the Northern Territory of Australia. Famous People With the WEST Last Name Billy West  - silent film producer and actorCornel West  - political activist and authorBenjamin West  - American-born painter of religious and historical subjectsMae West - American theater and film actressJames West - American scientist and inventorKayne West - American hip hop artist Genealogy Resources for the Surname WEST How to Research English Ancestry: Learn how to research your English family tree with this guide to genealogical records in England and Wales. Includes information on both online and offline records including birth, marriage, death, census, military and estate records.West Surname DNA Project: Males with the surname WEST or a related surname that may have evolved from or to WEST (Westerman, Wieste, Western, Westh, etc.) are encouraged to join this DNA project focused on sorting out various West family lines.West Family Crest - Its Not What You Think: Contrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a West family crest or coat of arms for the West surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.  WEST Family Genealogy Forum: Search this popular genealogy forum for the West surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your West  genealogy query. FamilySearch - WEST Genealogy: Explore over 4  million historical records which mention individuals with the West surname, as well as online West family trees on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).GeneaNet - West Records:  GeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the West surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries.DistantCousin.com - WEST Genealogy Family History: Explore some free databases and genealogy links for the last name West.The West  Genealogy and Family Tree Page: Browse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name West from the website of Genealogy Today. Sources: Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997

ANALYSIS OF ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING WOMEN Assignment

ANALYSIS OF ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING WOMEN - Assignment Example Moreover, the purpose of advert on the ebay website is to let the audience comprehend of the great offer in the reduction of the price of the Black Velvet Whiskey. The advert on ebay is enhancing the buying of Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey even beyond the boundaries of Canada at a cheaper price than the usual normal rates. The advert looks appealing to the intended audience by inclusion of a beautiful woman in the advertisement to enhance the description picture in the mind of the audiences and entice the audience to buy the Black Velvet Whiskey The woman in the Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey in ebay website body is position to lie on a smooth Black velvet surface. Moreover, the woman is looking at the screen since the message is mainly to the audience to enhance the magnitude of the advertisement to the audience. The woman in the advert is wearing a beautiful black dress that resembles the velvet surface and the black dress is bear at the back. Moreover, the black accessories on the hand and ears add on the message of the advert, which is to simplify and make more people purchase the Black Velvet Whiskey. Therefore, Black Velvet Whiskey is one of the adverts that depict women as pure objects. In this advert, the woman is used to attract men’s attention to buy the Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey. The intention of the advert is to use the woman’s sexuality to sell the product.... Therefore, the purpose of the advert is for the company to get more men to buy their car parts. The advert becomes appealing to male audiences through using naked women in displaying the different parts in an automotive to attract more men to the company’s product. In the advert women have different postures where some are nakedly sitting on the car, others beside the automotive parts of the car while others lying on the ground. Some of the women are wearing undergarments that include bra and bikini while others covering a portion of their body with wool. Moreover, looking at the men featured in advert, all of them are fully dressed. Therefore, the advert use women sexuality to entice men into buying the car parts from the company hence, portraying women as just objects that only deserve to look at by men. Since, the purpose of the advert is to woo men in buying car automotive products, women posing naked in advert undermine the value of women in the society. Thus, the advert weakens the ability of women to be their own subject because their sexuality could only be used to the advantage of the automotive company. Hence, considering men in advert are not posing naked, this only mean women the advert relates women to pure objects, stripping off women their respects. Winter Fashion Collection Advert The H&M website featured women in advertising the women clothes, which are in fashion. The intended audiences in advertisement are women who are keen on the changing fashion trends. This is because the advertisements have different types of women trendy clothes such as jackets, trousers, tops, and scarfs. Moreover, the advertisement is trying to sell fashion trend clothes needed by women during winter clothes. The

Personal Strength Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Strength - Assignment Example I remained quiet. I tried to bring a smile on my face to keep mum but everybody could tell that was fake. Soon, Bob joined in. â€Å"Kidco (he made an unsuccessful attempt to add the effects by calling me a child name), show them you’re a child not! Show them you’re a boy hot! Here, come light this cigarette. Blow the smoke and along, this girl away!† Everybody was like, â€Å"Ooooo Bobby gotta poet maaaan!† I said, â€Å"Sorry, if I smoke now, I would smoke my whole life! This girl wants a man living an inorganic lifestyle. I am happy I’m not her choice! And for you Bob, who said smoking turns you into a man from a child? It never does!† Bob said, â€Å"Kidco, I meant you don’ have balls to try this out!† I said, â€Å"I don’ have balls to carry it along for the rest of my life. It’s not a one time show. Once a smoker, always a smoker!† Pub, Jem and Bibby exclaimed, â€Å"And that’s the ultimate per spective!† When I asked Tina about my personal strength, she said it was frugality. She mentioned several of my habits that reflected my frugality and impressed her. She said, â€Å"See, you update the to-do list for the next day every night before sleeping, don’t you? You are always ahead of others in your studies, aren’t you? Whenever we start a new project, it’s you who assesses the risks and you do that job pretty well. You make sure everybody has carried everything along before we leave for partying. You always keep an extra pair of shoes, trousers and shirt with you in your car when you go out. When someone gets a wound, one person that everybody knows would be carrying the bandage in his pocket is you. When we go crazy teasing one another in our group, it is you who remains somewhat reserved. We can always tell that you think much before you speak something. You take extreme care to ensure that you don’t break anybody’s heart.† I said, â€Å"It s all general habits. Tell me of some particular incident that made you believe I’m

Promoting Family Involvement and Providing Program Management Assignment

Promoting Family Involvement and Providing Program Management - Assignment Example They can talk about what works and what does not work. Teachers working collaboratively will make preschool an enjoyable teaching and learning experience for both the children and the teachers. They are more organized and better prepared for parents, visitors, and other people who may enter the school. They are also better prepared for any emergencies that may arise. Teachers work as social workers when they deal with various ethical dilemmas. Some of the ethical problems teachers need to work through are as follows: 1. Teachers must know and be able to keep confidentiality. The provider must keep what the parents tell them in confidence. They must be trusted to listen and to help, and not to tell others. This could be a problem when dealing with possible child abuse. 2. What are your beliefs for the child and the adult. This means do you always agree with how each of you will handle different problems that arise. 3. Showing respect is one way to get reasonable behavior from people, adults and children and this is a way to make them feel they are capable of reason, of thought. 4. Listening and paying attention and showing how they decide what to report if danger could be around the corner. 5. They have to know that there are limits to being helpful. 6. Teachers have to learn about different views, values and beliefs to make a child’s life richer. 7. They also must know how much information to give pertaining to the child and the family to be able to care for them. The three of them that could pertain to children are to make sure that they listen and pay attention to what goes on around them and you. They also need to learn about showing respect for the people around them. The three that pertains to teachers could be the ones dealing with the information and knowing how much to tell when problems arise with the child or the family. Teachers need to know how to gain the confidence of the parents and must have the ability to keep

Comparison of UK and Indian Cultures

Comparison of UK and Indian Cultures Introduction In this era of globalization in business environment, companies are expanding their business all over the world, i.e. in different countries and each of them with different cultures. One area in particular of growing importance is intercultural management skills. Culture in international business nowadays is recognized to have a major role to play in the international sales, marketing, recruitment, management and mergers. In short, culture is behind everything we do or say. (www.kwintessential.co.uk) Therefore, in the international and multi-cultural business community, there are very much possibilities of misunderstandings which can have a negative effect on the people which will intern affect the productivity of the organization. This complexity requires a manager to adapt in order to offer modern solutions to these problems. (www.kwintessential.co.uk) Culture is: Something shared by all or almost all members of some social group. Something older members of a group try to pass to younger members. Something (as in the case of morals, laws, and customs) that shapes behavior, or structures ones perception of he world. Therefore culture is all that one needs to know in order to be accepted in a society or an organisation which is a sum total of all the beliefs, values and norms shared by a group of people who have been brought up in a society to think, feel, interpret and react in a particular manner. Or it is a human need of adapting to circumstances and transmitting these skills and knowledge to the next generations. It can also be said as culture as mental programming is also crystallization of history in the hands, minds and hearts of the present generation. (Hofstede, 2001). This essay will talk about the cultural difference between India which is my home culture and UK which is the counterpart. I have chosen UK because I have been to UK for my Supervised Work Experience (SWE) and during my stay in UK I never paid attention towards the UK culture dimensions and would now like to analyze with respect to the different models. But before that lets have a look at some customs or values that are followed in these countries: India Hinduism Social freedom amongst the sexes is not appreciated. Use of first name to address people is avoided. The method of greeting depends on the social status of the person you are meeting i.e. if a son is meeting his father usually he greets him by bowing down and touching his feet. Where as educated people, in business meeting shake hands to welcome or greet each other. If invited for dinner one may only have the dinner with the business partner and not the whole family and do not get upset if you host asks you several times to have some more food. It is Indian custom to make sure that the guest does not get up hungry from the table. Also at the table one should use the right hand in passing food as Indian consider left hand as impure. UK: British people are formal, sophisticated, value privacy and are sensitive. Within UK controlled business environment, maintain decorum and avoid casualness in dress and conversation, loudness and shouting is too taboo. Family names and first name are preferred. British people are good negotiators as they are tolerant and good listeners. Fine manners and good etiquette are expected at all social occasions. Gift giving is not a normal custom in UK. (Harris, 2004 Rodrigues, 2001) Hofstede Model Cross-cultural study to find out the differences in national cultures, this was done by Hofstede across 60 different countries which included matched samples of business employees. These studies together identified four independent dimensions of national culture differences. The dimensions explored were Power distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism verses collectivism and Masculinity verses femininity. The first of four dimensions discovered by Hofstede is called power distance. Power distance is the extent to which the less powerful member of an organization or an institution accept and expect that the power is distributed unequally (Hofstede, 2001). The basic problem which is prevalent here is to what extent in a culture the degree of inequality between a less powerful individual and a high powerful individual is expected and accepted. India stands at the 10/11 position in the survey with a score of 77 whereas Great Britain is on the 42/44 position with a score of only 35. (see appendices-) For example During my SWE the service operation head of the whole hotel chain was very friendly, who was also the head of my department. I used to share my personal problems with her and even go out for dinner. This example would be further analyzed in the competencies. The second dimension is labeled as uncertainty avoidance (UA). It refers to the extent a culture or organization prepares its members to feel comfortable or uncomfortable in an unstructured situation (Hofstede, 2001). The issue involved here is the level to which a culture or society would accept strict laws and regulations over uncertainty and risk. Countries or cultures scoring high on UA have long history and the population is homogeneous. Risks even calculated are avoided and new ideas and concepts are difficult to introduce whereas countries on low UA scores are completely opposite. Although there is not much of a difference in the ranks given by Hofstede but still India scores a higher rank than Great Britain, also this dimension does not have a major role in the core competencies.( see appendices-) The third is individualism and collectivism which is the degree to which a culture stress on that right of an individual as compared to those of a group. Countries scoring high on individualism live in the I culture and strive for personal goals and achievements. In such countries it is acceptable to pursue personal goals at the expense of other. Whereas a country scoring low in individualism has the we culture. Individual desires and goal could be suppressed for the good of the group. For Example In UK culture people always consider themselves as an Individual, they are more bothered about themselves even if they belong to same family, whereas in India people consider each other as a part of a group and thats the reason joint families still exist in Indian society. The last one is masculinity and femininity which refers to the distribution of role between the two genders i.e. male and female. Countries with high masculinity are observed to have the following characteristics i.e. Priorities in life for people are achievement, wealth and expansion. Usually people settle conflicts through aggressive means.Women and men have different roles in society. OftenProfessionals in these countries work for longer hours and short vacations. Whereas in counties which are low in masculinity the following is observed. Priorities are the family, relationships and quality of life.Conflicts are usually solved though negotiation.Men and women share equal positions in society. Masculinity/Femininity are equally powerful but in respect to Hofstede, 2006 research both India and UK share common Masculinity culture as in both of these cultures social gender roles are clearly distinct.( see appendices) Halls Model The vital distinction is made by the anthropologist Edward Hall between high and low- context cultures and how these contexts have an effect on communication. In High Context cultures high context communication: information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person with little communication in the explicit words or message and on the other hand a low context culture communication most information is contained in explicit codes, such as words (Harris, 2004). High context cultures depend heavily on the external environment, situations, and non-verbal behavior in creating and interpreting communications. In high context cultures when individuals communicate they try to find out how much the listener knows about what is being discussed. People in high context cultures emphasize on interpersonal relationships, also developing trust is very important factor or step which should be made before starting a business. People are collectivist and work on their intuition rather than on reasons and are more indirect as well as formal. India is high context culture. Whereas in Low Context cultures the environment is less important, and non -verbal behavior is often ignored. While communication is going on the listener knows nothing or little and need to be told about what is being discussed. People in low context cultures emphasize legal documents rather than inter personal relationships or trust. People are individualistic and work based on logical reasoning and not on intuition, also they are direct and informal. UK is a low context culture. For example During my SWE I was asked by my colleague to help her with the work load. Instead of saying I can not, I said it would be difficult. The example would be analyzed in the competencies areas. The second concept given by Hall was to do with the how different cultures structure or manage their time i.e. polychronic verses the monochronic time orientation. The polychronic cultures believe in doing many things at one time and the monochronic cultures believe in doing one task at given point of time and time is subordinate to interpersonal relationships. UK belongs to monochromic culture and India is a polychronic culture. Stereotyping Another important factor or variable that the managers in the organization need to keep in mind is stereotyping. Stereotypes are set of attitudes that causes us to attribute qualities and characteristics to a person based on the group to which that individual belongs. (Harris, 2004) It basically involves categorizing and making perceptions about people based on ones experiences and it guides ones behavior towards that group of people in a particular way. Teamwork A team is a number of persons associated in same joint action, while teamwork is described as cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of persons working together towards the actualization of a goal (Harris, 2004). A hotel firm can only survive if the employees are ready to work and produce an effective team. As each and every operation in the hospitality industry is interrelated to each other. For example front office is depended upon housekeeping department for clean rooms and restaurant is dependent on kitchen for cooking food. Thus in order to have a successful multicultural team member should have complimentary skills and should think in favor of the team.( example see appendices-) Communication All activities involve communication. In the global era different managerial activities like motivating, leading, negotiation exchanging information etc are all based on the manager of one culture to communicate effectively and successfully to people of other cultures. Communication can not only verbal or written but also non-verbal i.e. body language, expressions etc (Adler, 1997). In international Hospitality and Tourism industries language plays a very important role, as both of these industries include direct guest contact; good language and communication skills can either make or break the impression of the organization especially hotels.( example see appendices) Conflict and Negotiation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Conflict- A state of disharmony between incompatible or antithetical persons, ideas, or interests; a clash (www.ANSWER.COM) Causes of conflict communication failure personality conflict value differences goal differences methodological differences substandard performance lack of cooperation differences regarding authority differences regarding responsibility competition over resources non-compliance with rules (www.geocities.com) These are some of the factors which causes conflict in an working environment of an organization which needed to be resolved through various modes and means Force Negotiate Bargain Avoid Accommodation and Appease (Mead 1998:2005) The most important tool is negotiation whichs is used to resolve conflict Negotiation is a process in which two or more entities come together to discuss common and conflicting interests in order to reach an agreement of mutual benefit (Harris, 2004). In international business negotiation, there can be misunderstanding due the difference in the culture to culture in language, cultural conditioning, negotiation style, approach to problem solving etc. Negotiation plays a very important role in Hospitality and Tourism Industries, such as negotiation on room rate with guests and travel agents in different countries etc. As India belongs to polychromic culture, while taking decisions people from India tend to involve other people (colleagues) into the negotiation process which makes the process longer. This also confirms the stereotype associated with them. This also happens as India a collectivist and high PDI country. Whereas UK which is monochromic culture they see time as an asset and quantity to be scheduled, they emphasize on making agendas and finish the work or taking the decision in time. Negotiation can also be effected by the communication style of the country i.e. as explained earlier the concept of high and low context cultures i.e. misunderstanding due to lack of clarity amongst the two cultures thus leading to unsatisfactory results of negotiation. Evaluating myself- Me, As a manager After completing my reflective practice assignment and following up the tasks given to us. After doing the Hofstedes measuring cultural differences approach model or exercise and I found that I measured masculinity more than femininity which clarifies that the job which is given or I undertake is done to get personal sense of accomplishment and I look for new and challenging opportunities for a high success .I would describe my self as low power distance human being as I would like to work with those mangers which makes decision by considering all the employees view points rather making their own personal decision I would focused more on collectivism rather on Individualism as I look for more opportunities to improve upon my skills and develop new skills by adapting to new working conditions ( see appendices- ) Cultures are normally attributed to groups of people but, within group each individual has his/her own individual characters which make the person stand out from others. I would describe my self as a good listener, good observer, cooperative with employees, Flexible and competitive (see appendices-). These individual characteristics make me stand out from other members of different cultures. The results of CCAI indicate that my strongest are is Personal Autonomy and my weakest area is Flexibility/Openness. While scores in Emotional Resilience and Perceptual Activity almost the same.( see appendices-) The area in which I lack the most is communication among different cultures; while I can easily handle situations in which things do not go as per plan or situations and in which stress and tolerance occurs. I lack in area where I am expected to communicate among different cultures, despite of the fact that, I would love to spend some time with people from different cultures. By improvin g my intercultural skills such as communication i.e. how to react on different ideas, people and experiences and I should not focus on what other people are saying and doing rather make my own decisions. This will make me a better person while I am in different culture and in my own culture. Also I should learn to appreciate different people and expenses. In the next six months by following up the action plan I would improve on my communication skill by reading novels and newspapers and also at the same time try interact and discuss on different issues with people in college whom I normally dont interact with, as it will also help me in appreciating different people as well. Completing this exercise would help me in dealing with different people at my future work place and also communicating effectively with them.(see appendices-) Conclusion and Recommendations The main focus of this essay was to analyze similarities and dissimilarities among Indian and UK cultures. This was done though use of two models of cultural analysis done by Hofstede and Hall. It was realized that both the cultures are too different from each other. As hospitality and tourism industry are growing at a rapid scale and due to globalization of the business, the demand for multicultural employees is increasing, but managing employees from totally different cultures like in India or UK would be great challenge faced by the managers in the industry. Also international visitors often expect that service providers should understand and respect their customs, beliefs and cultures, if not it may lead to cross cultural conflicts. Following are the recommendations for UK and India based managers: Cross cultural training should be provided to the employees so that they can adjust in new cultures. Information about other cultures should be provided which will lead to better understanding amongst the employees and enhanced teamwork. While communicating with Britishers, Indian people should use simple words which are grammatically correct should be used and direct communication should take place as British people belong to a low context culture and prefer messages/communication to be structured directly, that they get immediate to the point and state conclusions and bottom line. Proper understanding of other cultures and choosing appropriate negotiation process can produce effective and useful negotiation. A manager must find out the common and the uncommon values of his and counterparts culture in order to conduct effective and successful negotiation. While negotiating between UK and Indian cultures, managers should take care of the body languages, Gestures and use of grammatically correct language for communications should be used also, importance of time should be taken into consideration. Cross cultural training should be provided to the employees so that they can adjust in new cultures. Information about other cultures should be provided which will lead to better understanding amongst the employees and enhanced teamwork. Another consideration for global managers is that they should have/develop good listening skill. Bibliography Adler .N.J, (1997), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 4th Edition, South-Western, United States. Abercrombie.N and Warde .A( 2001), The Contemporary British Society, Black well PublishersLtd, Great Britian. Brislin. W.Richard , ( 1981), Cross Cultural Encounters, Pergamon Press, USA. Brislin.W. Richard and Cushner. K,( 1996), Intercultural Interactions, 2ed , Sage Publications, USA. Barker. C.( 2002) , Making Sense of Cultural Studies , Sage Publications, London. Conflict: Definition, Synonyms, from answers.com ( online) cited on 2 November url: http://www.answers.com/topic/conflict Francesco, A. M. Gold, B. A. (2005) International Organizational Behavior : Texts, cases and exercises Upper Saddle Row, New Jersey, Pearson/Prentice Hall. Grazia. V.(1981), The Cultural Of Content,University of Cambridge , Cambridge Hooker.J,(2003) , Working Across Cultural , Standford University Press, Califonia. Hofstede .G ,(1985) , The Cultural Relativity of Organizational Practises and Theories , London. Harris. P., Robert .T. M Sarah. V. M, 2004, Managing Cultural Differences Global Leadership Strategies for 21st century, 6th Edition, Elsevier, London. Hodgetts. R, Luthans. F, Doh. J, 2006, International Management Culture, Strategy, and Behavior, 6th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi. Hofstede. G, 2001, Cultures Consequences, 2nd Edition, Sage Publications, London Kwintessential (2008), Intercultural Training (online) cited on 3 December URL: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/intercultural-training.html Mead, R. 1998 International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions 2nd edition Cambridge MA. Blackwell Publishers Mead, R. 2005 International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions 3rd edition Cambridge MA. Blackwell Publishers Rodriguez. C, 2001, International Management A cultural Approach, 2nd Edition, South-Western College Publication, United Kingdom Robinson. M.(1999) , Cultural Conflicts In Tourism Inevitablity and Inequality, CAB Publication, USA Schneider.C.Susan. and Basoux Louis.J,( 1997), Managing Across Cultural , Prentice Hall, Europe. Storry.M and Childs. P.( 1997), British Cultural Identities,Routledge New York Samovar. A .Larry and Porter.E. Richard,( 2003) , Intercultural Communication , 10th edition , Thompson Learning, USA Singh.Y.(2002),Culture Change In India,Rawat Publication, Jaipur. Yahoo: Causes of conflict ( online ) cited on 4 November url: http://geocities.yahoo.com/causes of conflict

Of Mice and Men Essay example -- English Literature

Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck’s novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ is one of those books which make you believe everything that takes place between the covers. Books like these always remain as classics, because of their very informative and believable stories. John Steinbeck especially excels in this, and therefore is the reason I have chosen this book to describe. ‘Of Mice and Men’, the title of the novel, originates from the poem ‘To a Mouse’, by Robert Burns. It means that no matter what you plan to do in the future, something will always go wrong. It comes from the line ‘†¦the best laid schemes o’ Mice and Men, Gang aft agley’. The title of the book was originally ‘Something that Happened’, as the story is about what actually happened, not what should or could happen (at least to John Steinbeck). This is always at the back of the readers mind. During 1919 until 1926 (while Steinbeck was at college), he took up a few manual, and unskilled jobs, one being where he became a farm labourer on ranches between King City, and Santa Clara in Northern California. These experiences seem to have helped Steinbeck create the setting for his novel (‘Of Mice and Men’). He uses two main settings throughout the story; Curley’s father’s ranch, and rural California. Most of the story is set in and around the ranch, which allowed Steinbeck to contain all of the important events in one place. Steinbeck has written the novel in third-person, which allows him to tell the reader each characters point of view. He describes the setting around the characters in such a way that when the characters are doing or saying something, you can literally picture it in your head. He has also made all the characters in the novel talk America... ... the ranch. He wants to be able to enter the bunkhouse, or play cards with the other men. In conclusion, I believe that this book provides a very powerful impact to the reader, the main reason being because it shows how real life actually was in America at that time. It tells of how coloured people were treated differently, how women were looked upon as second class, and also how cruel real life can actually be. If say, the ending of the story was altered, where Lennie lived, and everyone lived happily ever after, you would not be able to appreciate it as much. The reason being, that life doesn’t always have a happy ending. Things never turn out the way you want them to. No matter how hard you try, events occur which can alter your hopes and your dreams. This book shows the message very loud and clear, and certainly provided a powerful impact to myself.

Choicepoint and Sony, an Ethical Analysis Essay

Ethics refers to what comes off as right or wrong to an individual’s conscience .The internet age has brought about new ethical issues, not only for an individual but for the society as well as it has eased anonymous manipulation and distribution of information, creating new and easier paths for committing crimes like piracy, identity theft, infringement of an individual’s privacy etc. In this paper we will be analyzing the Choice-point case and the ‘Sony data breach ‘case from an ethical point of view. (Laudon &Laudon, 2010, p.128) Background: The ChoicePoint Data breach: On September 27 of 2004, ChoicePoint,a company that aggregates and stores personal information, suspected that some of its small business customers were involved in suspicious activities and informed the police. (Paine, Phillips, 2008)On February of 2005, ChoicePoint only notified those residents of California whose data had been leaked to the illegal customers, since a certain law in California requires it. A protest from the public, however, forced the company to notify the details of the breach to the other involved parties residing in the other states. The swindlers who scammed ChoicePoint had created over 50 accounts with previously stolen identities over the course of a year or even longer. (Pantesco, 2006) Look more:  the issues concerning identity theft essay Changes in business practices (Otto, Anton & Baumer, 2007): ChoicePoint made numerous changes after the 2004-2005 data breach. The company closed the 50 fake accounts and made a policy to refuse any faxed business licenses in the future .The Company formed a new policy, that all nongovernmental organizations need to be re-credentialed in order to do business with it, and increased its procedures in verifying the identity of the company. More stringent and better business policies in ensuring the safety of their customer’s data, for e.g. partial masking of social security numbers were employed. The company continued its investigations of its databases for further indications of foul play and brought in outsiders to assess and rectify their practices. The Sony Data Breach: The Sony data breach was a result of an intrusion from an outsider party, causing an outage in the PlayStation Network and Qriocity’s services between 17th April 2011 and 19th April, 2011.A confirmation from Sony revealed that pieces of personal information had been stolen from each and every 77 million accounts. This breach resulted in Sony shutting off the PlayStation Network for 23 days. (Hirai, 2011) Sony stated that the chairman of the company had submitted explanations wanted by United States House subcommittee regarding the attack and that they were taking some measures to prevent further breaches. When questioned about the delay in making the breach public, Sony explained that they’d sought help from outside officials to conduct an investigation in order to comprehend the nature and magnitude of the incident; and hence forensic analysis and investigation had caused the delay since they wanted to have all the necessary details before making the breach public. On May 14, 2011, Sony released a security patch called PlayStation 3 firmware version 3.61 requiring users to change their password upon signing into their account in the PlayStation Network. (Seybold, 2011) Compensation: In compensation for this outage, Sony announced hosting of special events for their users. Sony wanted to appreciate the loyalty of the customers who stuck to using Play Station network and didn’t look for other alternatives. Hence Sony announced an extension of free 30 days of its various services for its existing users. Also, few of their games in the PlayStation network were made free, though these games are available only in some regions or countries. In addition to that Sony also offered one year’s worth of â€Å"free identity theft protection’ to all of its customers. (Wesley, 2011) Ethical Analysis According to Culnan and Williams (2009, p.679),the two aspects of morality that are principal to the relationship between information aggregators and information providers are vulnerability and avoiding harm. Aspect of Vulnerability Analysis: Since the customer gives away his data in exchange for something in return, he loses control on how that information would be used in the future.(Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 681) The firm that is aggregating the data has the duty to exercise caution in protecting the consumer’s vulnerability, not only for the sake of the customer but also to build its own reputation. However, in the cases of both ChoicePoint and Sony breach, the consumers were vulnerable. Individuals whose data ChoicePoint and Sony stored lacked knowledge about the risks posed by – Choice Point’s credentialing procedures or the way personal information was stored by Sony. Aspect of â€Å"Do No Harm† Analysis: Most ethicists are of the opinion that data aggregators have the minimum duty of doing no harm whenever there is an issue concerning information privacy rights (DeGeorge 2006; Goodpaster 1987; Marcoux 2003; Valesquez 2003 as cited in Culnan& Williams, 2009), even more so when their treatment of the consumer’s sensitive personal information makes the consumers unnecessarily vulnerable. (Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 682) In both the cases of ChoicePoint and Sony Data breach however, the ‘DO NO Harm’ principle was violated and moral responsibility was clearly absent in the behavior of the officials of these firms. (Culnan& Williams, 2009, p. 682)ChoicePoint’s questionable intentions in delaying the notification of the breach to the public and the fact that ChoicePoint only bothered to search records that were leaked within 15 months to the date of the search ,until pressurized, were criticized heavily.( Evers, 2005)Further investigations revealed that ChoicePoint had been subjected to a similar scam in 2002.( Paine, Phillips, 2008) The fact that ChoicePoint could be duped so easily within two years proved that ChoicePoint hadn’t done anything to improve its practices since the last breach. Similarly, Sony also had a delay in notifying the users of PlayStation network about the breach. The public disputed Sony’s reason for its delay by speculating that, if Sony judged the situation to be so grave that it felt the need to shut down its PlayStation network, then they should have warned the public without any delay as well. Moreover, Sony failed to give any concrete reports regarding the breach and merely stated that they cannot rule out the possibility of a ‘username or password ‘leak. One more thing to be noted is that the fiends could have possibly gotten information like email addresses and first names of the customers who had consented to receiving information about new deals or products from Sony or its partners.Now, there is a pretty good chance that the fiends might send emails in the format of a Sony webpage template and extract valuable information from those customers. Hence this breach indirectly paved the way for more unintentional breaches in the future. (Eddy, 2011) According to, (Laudon &Laudon, 2010,p.135),the basic Concepts of ethics are as follows: Responsibility: where the individual or the organization should accept the duties, costs and obligations for the decisions that it made. Accountability: where the organization should be aware of what decision is taken by whom. If it is impossible to find out who was responsible for what action then that organization is basically incapable of ethical analysis. Liability: this basically extends the concept of responsibility to legal actions where the affected individuals should be able to get compensation for their damages. Analysis : In my opinion, both ChoicePoint and Sony showed half-hearted ethics on these incidents as a whole. While Choicepoint did inform officials about the breach as soon as it found out, yet it only felt necessary to inform the public because of the California law. The people in the other states were notified because of public outcry. Also limiting the search results for leaked records to only 15 months prior to the date of the search just because it was necessary by the law was another mistake on ChoicePoint’s part. Thus ChoicePoint violated the ethical concepts of responsibility and accountability yet they seemed to have understood their mistake when they were making changes in their policies and practices after the 2004-2005 breach, and were willing to take corrective actions. But it is debatable whether ChoicePoint’s corrective measures were taken to save its own business or whether it genuinely cared for the affected individuals. Similarly, though Sony did do necessary investigations, it failed to concretely identify which parties had been affected or what kind of information have been stolen. Similar to ChoicePoint, there was a delay in notifying the public regarding the breach. Hence, there is a dearth of responsibility and accountability from Sony’s side as well .The compensations given can similarly be argued to be a ploy for keeping itself in the market. While, ChoicePoint and Sony offered free credit monitoring and free identity theft protection respectively for one year, they disregarded the possibility that the thieves might lie low and take advantage of the stolen information after the passage of a year. Hence these companies showed half-heartedness in being ethically liable as well.

Warwick Castle Essay Example

Warwick Castle Essay Example Warwick Castle Essay Warwick Castle Essay Warwick Castle Robert Craven and Stuart Chambers Warwick Castle the finest mediaeval castle in England. INTRODUCTION The Stratford-on-Avon and District Hotels and Caterers Association (SCATA) publishes a brochure which has described the Castle as follows; â€Å"This magnificent ancient Castle, situated at the very centre of England, is a treasure house of great beauty and splendid, rare quality collections of pictures, furniture, furnishings and an outstanding collection of arms and armour which bear witness to the power and influence of the Earls of Warwick down through the centuries. The beautiful grounds landscaped by Capability Brown, where peacocks roam freely, are a delight in all seasons. . . Excellent catering facilities are available all year round to suit every pocket and disposition, as well as several gift shops† Warwick Castle is less than two hours by road from London with easy access from all major cities by motorway, road and rail. This excellent infrastructure allows the area to be part of the itinerary of any visitor to the UK. The County of Warwickshire is lyrically described in the SCATA brochure: â€Å"Stratford-an-Avon and Shakespeares Country. When you think of England, and the very best of England, you are probably thinking about this fascinating region. Here in this most English of English landscapes, the broad rolling sweep of the Cotswolds, the classic half-timbered villages of the Vale of Evesham and leafy Warwickshire, there is an unparalleled variety of attractions. The birthplace of the worlds greatest dramatist, William Shakespeare; the finest mediaeval Castle and most-visited stately home at Warwick; Englands most magnificent palace at Blenheim; and the worlds most famous theatre in Stratford† THE CASTLE The Castle is part of the Tussauds Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pearson plc, which also owns the Financial Times Group and Royal Doulton among other varied interests. The Tussauds Group runs entertainment centres that include: Madame Tussauds, the famous waxworks in Baker Street, London; the London Planetarium and Laserium; the Royalty and Empire Exhibition at Windsor; Alton Towers, the UKs only world-rated leisure park; and Chessington World of Adventures and Zoo. The Castles General Manager, Martin Westwood, works in the stately home, from a majestic suite of offices overlooking the grounds. He is enthusiastic about the Castle both as a building steeped in history and as a business. In the relaxed atmosphere of his office, where he is surrounded by portraits and old paintings of the Castle, he refers to it as a brand leader in stately homes for it is in the top five most visited historic sites that charge entry fees (see Table 1). Table 1 Historic sites attracting more than 300,000 paid admissions 1 Tower of London 2 Roman Baths and Pump Room, Bath 3 State Apartments, Windsor 4 Stonehenge, Wiltshire 5 Warwick Castle 6 Shakespeares Birthplace, Stratford 7 Leeds Castle, Kent 8 Hampton Court Palace, near London 9 Tower Bridge, London 10 Blenheim Palace, Wood stock, Oxford 11 Beaulieu, Hampshire 12 Cutty Sark, Greenwich, London 13 St Georges Chapel, Windsor 14 Anne Hathaways Cottage, Stratford 15 HMS Victory, Portsmouth 16 Mary Rose, Portsmouth 17 Royal Pavilion, Brighton 18 Chatsworth House, Derbyshire 19 Hever Castle, Kent 20 Fountains Abbey, North Yorks. Paid admissions (000s) 2298 950 855 703 685 604 540 525 528 517 493 411 372 365 340 333 314 306 303 300 As you pass through the ticket office from the large car park you catch your first view of the Castle. The view truly takes your breath away and fully warrants the description given by Sir Walter Scott in 1828: the most noble sight in England. MARKETING Marketing Manager, Sarah Montgomery, is another enthusiast of the outstanding beauty of the Castle. Discussing the marketing of the business she considers that the Castles unique selling point must be that carried on all the promotional material: Warwick Castle the finest mediaeval castle in England. But she does not discount the Castles unique state of preservation, the breadth of attractions it offers, its location on the banks of the River Avon or its thousand-year span of history. In the year 1068 the first castle was built at Warwick and since that time it slowly developed into a mighty stronghold and later a grand mansion befitting the station of a high ranking nobleman. . In November 1978 the present Earl sold Warwick Castle and its contents to Madame Tussauds of London. The Castles marketing team recognised that the Castle attracted a diverse audience, each segment of which wanted different things from a visit. So in targeting audiences the team had to decide whether it was trying to sell the Castle aspect, the stately home aspect or the gardens. It was felt that all thre e areas attracted different audiences and conjured up different expectations. Research had established that from the publics point of view castles were not associated with grounds and formal gardens, and neither were they associated with the notion of being someones home. On the other hand, stately homes were associated with grounds and gardens but were felt to be formal and museum-like, with ropes keeping the public away from the interesting areas. So, was the most visited Stately Home in Britain really a castle, or was the Castle also a stately home? This conundrum had to be solved. The Castle management has a deliberate policy of charging one overall admission charge for all areas of the Castle and Grounds open to visitors. In the past they had considered charging separate admission prices for the Castle and the Grounds but this, it was felt, would confuse the customer. (See Figure 1 for price and attraction details. ) The Castle regularly has detailed market research questionnaires compiled by an outside company. Sarah said that market research is taken very seriously by the team: â€Å"On average, overseas visitors represent 42 per cent of the total. Twenty-five per cent of our customers seem to come in groups of greater than 20 and these groups are predominantly from overseas. On the other hand, 58 per cent of visitors come from the UK, of which roughly half come from within a 100 km radius of the site. Another interesting point is that 25 per cent of all customers are repeat visitors which we feel reflects the popularity of the Castle. With UK visitors 33 per cent are repeats. Of the nonlocals, that is UK residents from outside the 100 km radius, 78 per cent stay overnight in the area and the remainder have travelled over 100 km to visit the area for the day. With the recent opening of the M 40 motorway into London (approximately180 km} it is felt that travel time may be a more important factor to consider than distance travelled in kilometres† Figure 1 Admission Rates and attractions at Warwick Castle The data are collected over a period of days, and the market research reports sent to Sarah include not only the profile of visitors but what parts of the Castle they visit. The popularity of various parts of the complex varies according to how busy the site is. For instance, on a quiet day 87 per cent might visit the Private Apartments, but on a busy day this igure drops to 68 per cent. Likewise, during one such busy period, the visitors to the Woodland Gardens increased from 17 per cent to 20 per cent, to the Mound from 46 per cent to 52 per cent, and to the River Island from 34 per cent to 40 per cent. On average, visitors stayed on the site for three hours. Coach parties tended to visit for three hours, probably because the Castle was part of a full-day, tightly scheduled excursion that included other nearby tourist attractions. Competition for the paying tourists disposable cash was quite fierce in the area, it was felt. Other sites competing for the leisure pound were the Black Country Museum, Drayton Manor (Adventure) Park, West Midlands Safari Park, Cadbury World, Blenheim Palace, Alton Towers Theme Park, Ironbridge, Stratford’s Shakespeare and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. In the Undercroft Restaurant marketing researchers overheard an elderly professor in conversation with a friend he had encountered in the Castle grounds: â€Å"I came early in the morning to avoid the rush. Any major historic tourist site is going to be heaving by midday in the summer and personally I hate all the queuing and tourists with cameras and all that. I got here at about 10 a. m. when the place opened this morning. I was able to enjoy the pure magic of the building with relatively few other people around. By lunch-time the queues were what I felt to be unreasonably long, but it is August and this must surely be their peak time here. I do wonder, for instance, should they not encourage more visitors out of season and what about allowing people to visit early morning or in the evening to avoid the lunch-time crush? † MANAGING DEMAND Warwick Castle brochures show a wide variety of activities that supplement turnover outside the peak season. According to Sarah, this literature was intended to push up the shoulders of demand: Every Friday and Saturday evening the Undercroft provides the setting for splendid five-course mediaeval banquets recreating the eve of the Battle of Agincourt. . A special events calendar has been published (see Figure 2). The Warwick Arts Festival uses the Castle as a venue in the evenings for a week in July. Exclusive tours of the Castle, and separately of the Gardens, are run by experts for pre-booked groups. These are available during the periods October to March, and March to November respectively, except during school half-term holidays and bank holidays. As a profit centre for the Pearson Group, the Castle is given targets that increase at a rate exceeding inflation. From these, prices are derived based on product developments, the prices that competitors are charging and known external factors that may affect demand (such as exchange rates and elections! ). The Castle expected between 700,000 and 800,000 visitors in the next year and profit projections were made based on these estimates. All catering facilities are run by the Castle, recognising franchising to another company would result in lost control and reduce potential to participate in profitable activities. Martin Westwood commented on fluctuations in demand: â€Å"Staffing varies relatively little with demand. It is felt that once the basic positions around the Castle are attended by staff, there is little that an additional staff member can provide. Winter weekends attract more visitors than winter weekdays, such that Saturday and Sunday combined turnover is the same as the other five days of the week put together. In summer things are more even, a Saturday or a Sunday being equivalent to two weekdays, although Sunday is usually busier than Saturday† Figure 2 Warwick castle Special Events Calendar BUSINESS OBJECTIVES Martin is clear that the Castles prime objective is to achieve growth in earnings per share for its shareholders. At the same time he emphasizes the sense of responsibility the management feels as custodians of this precious monument to work within it and use integrity and sensitivity at all times. Hence all signs, directions and facilities take a very low profile. Flashing neon lights are not the order of the day! Sarah Montgomery commented on the need to underplay the commercial side of the organisation: â€Å"Coca-Cola have offered us a sponsorship deal. They will give us money for a particular project which will increase our revenue and also the number of visitors we are getting. The problem is that Coke is the epitome of youth and fizz while the Castles target market is adults ABC 1, average age somewhere around 45! So how do we pull this deal together? † It is the integrity of the business in which the management take pride. It is not any business site but a very special building that is loved and cherished by the staff. Their constant concern is how to run a business from the Castle without destroying the charm and romance of the buildings, and without covering it with obtrusive signs and facilities. All staff are very polite and courteous and, though they are available to the public, tend not to interfere with the customers visit. In fact they blend in with visitors as they wear little that suggests they are actually staff. And when the Castle is relatively empty of visitors it has a really enchanting atmosphere. PERFORMANCE Evaluation of the performance of the business has difficulties. On the one hand, queues are an obvious problem (see Table 2) but then the customers do not seem to mind too much! Above all, the business is going from strength to strength, and achieving healthy profit performance. So, while the criticisms have to be noted, management has been achieving the high returns and growth that the shareholders require. Table 2 Observations of queuing and flow, Tuesday afternoon Queue to Private Apartments (number of people) 1. 00pm 130 1. 20 147 1. 40 128 2. 00 153 2. 20 132 2. 40 119 3. 00 137 Flow through doors to Private Apartments (number of people) 1. 00-1. 20 104 1. 20-1. 40 113 1. 40-2. 0 107 Flow from Private Apartments and State Rooms (number of people) 1. 00-1. 20 127 1. 20-1. 40 117 1. 40-2. 00 121 Queue to Rampart Walk 0-20 people at anyone time Number of people entering Rampart Walk 1. 40-1. 50 174 Queue at top of ramparts to get down (number of people) 6 minutes 63 Martin Westwood was defensive on the question of queues: â€Å"What popular to urist attraction doesnt have queues, and in any case, the queues here move pretty quickly. If we get queues for one part of the Castle we simply put out a sign suggesting people move on to the next attraction, although, to be frank, that doesnt really work. You see, the trouble is, that once people see a queue they dont want to miss out so they still join on the end of it. Our marketing questionnaires (see Appendix 1) suggest that weve got the operation about right, but theres always room for some improvement† The Professor in the Undercroft Restaurant had raised several issues connected with this: â€Å"The Castle really is in a unique condition of preservation. Its truly marvellous but I wouldnt seriously consider visiting it in the peak season. I just happen to be in the area because were going over to Stratford tonight to see Twelfth Night at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Im really looking forward to it! I wonder why they dont have off-peak rates for those not visiting around midday and maybe open earlier and close later. I would be more than happy to spend more time on the site if it werent for all the other tourists everywhere. And another thing, couldnt they do a package deal with the theatre at Stratford? Im sure a lot of visitors here also go there. In fact, I would pay a premium price to have the Castle almost to myself. For instance, Id find it simply delightful to sip a Pimms or a gin and tonic in the grounds as the sun went down. I know that I am rambling but I am sure theres a way to re-jig the prices so that the site basically generates more income throughout the year. And even if you say they do things out of season Ive not heard about them, so whats the use of publicity if it doesnt reach the people that want to spend money? † Sarah Montgomery, mindful of the need to keep a close eye on customers diverse requirements, often talked to individuals at the exit. A transcript of one such encounter is reproduced in Appendix 2. APPENDIX 1 MARKETING QUESTIONNAIRE OF RANDOM SAMPLE OF PEOPLE LEAVING WARWICK CASTLE Age range 0-5 6-15 16-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66+ 7 37 27 25 34 17 20 33 Area of origination Local (within 100 km) UK (outside 100 km) Europe (excl. UK) USA/Canada S. America Australia Africa Asia Other/unspecified Length of stay in area Day trip 1-3 days 4-7 days 8+ days Method of transport Coach trip Own transport Hire car Public transport Other (bicycles etc. ) 37 27 25 47 3 11 5 14 2 96 50 13 5 96 74 31 20 12 Did you find that you had to queue very much? Yes 186 No 12 No comment 2 Did you feel that the queues were the same as other large tourist sites? Same 190 Better 4 Worse 6 Did you visit? State Rooms and Great Hall The Private Apartments The Watergate (Ghost) Tower The Armory The Dungeon The Torture Chamber The Gatehouse and Barbican 191 190 31 104 193 183 87 Guys Tower, the Rampart Walk and Clarence Tower The Victorian Rose Garden The Peacock Gardens The Conservatory The River Island Foxes Study and Cedar Walk Pageant Field The Mound Refreshment Stall Stables Restaurant and Tearoom Undercroft Restaurant The Bookshop Did you.. .? Bring your own picnic Did you see the Red Knight Did you buy a brochure How long have you spent at the Castle? hours Is this your first visit? Yes No Would you visit again? Yes No Maybe Dont know 186 103 117 102 57 31 101 54 118 52 71 62 32 81 99 5 67 75 37 16 148 52 144 31 23 2 APPENDIX 2 TRANSCRIPT OF A CONVERSATION WITH A VISITOR Christabelle Trymko, Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucester We got here at about midday. We came up for the day from Gloucestershire. It was quite a good trip and the kids behaved t hemselves in the car. We had heard a lot about the Castle from some friends who have just moved up to Stratford, which is just down the road from Warwick. The Castles in superb condition! You dont know what its going to be like until you get past the ticket office and it really is amazing. It has been kept in impeccable condition, and the gardens are beautiful as well as being far less crowded than the Castle. There were too many people in and around the Castle. The queues were an irritation but I parked my husband in the queue and took the kids elsewhere until he was near the front and then we joined him. I think a few people got upset because we seemed to be pushing in, but Im not prepared to wait with three children in long queues in the sun. Mind you, its nothing like the queues at Madame Tussauds in London, they really are crazy. I didnt realise quite how big the grounds were. If I had known I think we would have spent longer at Warwick Castle and made a full day of it. We should have come here at about ten and then spent the whole day here. That way the queues inside the Castle would have been shorter for us. The grounds are lovely and theyve got special picnic areas which I thought was a nice idea. (I wish wed brought a picnic. ) Mind you, it does seem to be more than a bit light on entertainment for the kids. Nicky loved the man with the wonderful moustache dressed up in full Crusader uniform on the horse. He was very good with the kids. Nicky also liked the waxworks in the Private Apartments place. The queue wound its way up, down and around the place but apart from mild feelings of claustrophobia (thats my problem, I suppose) it went at about the right speed and I guess it lasted a bit under an hour. Oh yes, the Ra mpart Walk, they ought to warn you about just how many stairs you have to climb. I mean, I know there is a sign but you dont take it seriously, do you! You go up and up and then theres that great spiral staircase up the inside of that tower, I wont do that again in a rush! But it was worth it for the view. All in all it was a good day. More interesting than the average castle and not full of the usual touristoriented rubbish associated with tourist attractions. The commercial side is very much underplayed and I like that. You dont feel obliged to buy ice creams and tee-shirts and pencils and tea towels. Maybe some of the signs were a bit too discreet we had to ask where the toilets were but it makes a pleasant change. Also I like the one price for everything. At other places, I object to paying an admission charge and then paying on top of that for particular attractions. You always feel mean if you dont pay up, and then you also feel that you might be missing something. No, Id recommend the place and its so much less hassle than the tourist places in London which you almost feel obliged to visit every so often. This case is from : Cases in Operations Management (Second edition) Johnston, Chambers, Harland, Harrison, Slack, FT Prentice Hall 1997

Character Analysis of Shakespeares Othello

Character Analysis of Shakespeare's Othello Above all else, this Othello character analysis reveals that Shakespeares Othello has gravitas. A celebrated soldier and trusted leader whose race both defines him â€Å"The Moor† and defies his lofty position; it would be rare for a man of race to have such a highly respected position in Venetian society. Othello and Race Many of Othellos insecurities are derived from his race and from the perception that he is lowlier than his wife. â€Å"Haply for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation That chamberers have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Othello, Act 3 Scene 3, Line 267) Iago and Roderigo describe Othello at the start of the play, without even naming him, using his racial difference to identify him, referring to him as â€Å"the Moor†, â€Å"an old black ram†. He is even referred to as â€Å"the thick lips†. It is generally the morally dubious characters who use his race as a reason to disparage him. The Duke only speaks of him in terms of his achievements and his valor; â€Å"Valiant Othello†¦Ã¢â‚¬  ( Act 1 Scene 3 Line 47) Unfortunately, Othello’s insecurity gets the better of him and he is moved to kill his wife in a fit of jealousy. One could argue that Othello is easily manipulated but as an honest man himself, he has no reason to doubt Iago. â€Å"The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,† (Iago, Act 1 Scene 3, Line 391). Having said that, he more readily believes Iago than his own wife but again this is probably because of his own insecurities. â€Å"By the world, I think my wife be honest and think she is not. I think that thou art just, and think thou art not.† (Act 3 Scene 3, Line 388-390) Othello’s Integrity One of Othello’s admirable qualities is that he believes that men should be transparent and honest as he is; â€Å"Certain, men should be what they seem† (Act 3 Scene 3 Line 134). This juxtaposition between Othello’s transparency and Iago’s duality identifies him as a sympathetic character despite his actions. Othello is manipulated by the truly evil and duplicitous Iago who has so few redeeming qualities. Pride is also one of Othello’s weaknesses; for him, his wife’s alleged affair confounds his belief that he is a lesser man, that he cannot live up to her expectations and her position in society; her need for a conventional white man is a critical blow to his achieved position. â€Å"For naught, I did in hate, but all in honour† (Act 5 Scene 2, Line 301). Othello is clearly very much in love with Desdemona and in killing her he denies himself his own happiness; which heightens the tragedy. Iago’s true Machiavellian victory is that he orchestrates Othello having to take responsibility for his own downfall. Othello and Iago Iago’s hatred of Othello is profound; he does not employ him as his lieutenant and there is a suggestion that he bedded Emilia previous to his relationship with Desdemona. The relationship between Othello and Emilia is never corroborated but Emilia has a very negative opinion of Othello, possibly based on dealings with her own husband? Emilia says to Desdemona of Othello â€Å"I would you had never seen him† (Act 5 Scene 1, Line 17) presumably this is out of love and loyalty to her friend as opposed to a lingering affection for him. Othello would be very attractive to someone in Emilia’s position; he is very demonstrative in his love for Desdemona but sadly this turns sour and his character becomes more recognizable to Emilia as a result. Othello is brave and celebrated which could also account for Iago’s intense hatred of him. Jealousy defines Othello and also the characters associated with his downfall.

Stat assigment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Stat assigment - Assignment Example It will help in their search for cereal with desired calories. If the desired calorie is close to the statistical mean, it will be easier to find a brand; however if the desired calorie, for example, two standard deviation away from the statistical mean, it would take more time. The search time will depend on the shape of the frequency distribution of calories of cereal population. The task will present data in the form of charts and graphs, determine central tendency of collected data, calculate dispersion through standard deviation, and define skewness of sample data. The title of the project is Statistical Evaluation of Calories from Breakfast Cereals. The aims of the task are to collect a sample from a population of breakfast cereals available in the market and conduct a statistical evaluation of calories. The data of each sample represents the published calorie value of 100 grams of breakfast cereals. The frame is the published calorie values, and the sample size for this study is 30. Sample size is calculated based on literature review for determining the sample size based of known population. The formula is (â€Å"Sample Size Calculator†), Sample size for finite population = sample size / (1 + ((sample size - 1)/population)). The concept of data in statistics implies variables and its values. Variables are names, such as; age, height, salary, temperature, gender, hair color, field of study, degree of satisfaction. In statistics variables can be quantitative and categorical. Selection of quantitative or categorical variables depends on the research type that one intends to carry. Each variable possesses some values; gender variable contains only male and female values while, for example, temperature variable may contain any numerical value. Variables and values together are called data. In statistical research data are classified as quantitative and qualitative. Some research needs quantitative data, and

Public International Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Public International Law - Coursework Example The paper throws light on international laws, the laws which govern the relations of states and the global community in general. Fiore discusses that the goal of international law is to evaluate and establish international rights and duties which must be fulfilled by all members of the international community. Its goal is also to establish the legal rules which are applicable to these rights and duties and the legal remedies available to ensure compliance. For this reason, it is therefore important to establish first which the subjects and persons who are to enjoy and lay claim to these rights and duties. There are various subjects and objects of international law, and the most common of these are the states. A state, as defined by Article 1 of Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, is an entity possessing of the four elements: permanent population, defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. In order for a state to be considered as such – and therefore entitled to the rights and burdened with the responsibilities of international law – it must fulfil these requirements of statehood. The first element of statehood is a permanent population. There is no actual minimum numerical requirement for state population, only that it must be permanent; and by permanent, it means that the people must have an intention to occupy a territory permanently. The population must also be big enough to ensure the smooth implementation of policies and manageable enough for the state to govern. The state must also have a defined territory with its boundaries defined and occupied by its population. This state must also have a government. A government includes executive, legislative, and executive functions which help promote the smooth management of political processes5. Such a state must also be sovereign and independent; in other words, not subject to the whims or control of other states6. Lastly, a stat e is also one which has the ability to enter into relations with other states. This capacity is based on the existence of the government and of sovereignty and independence. Thereupon, control of an entity by another state or political entity would likely negate independence, and would also negate the capacity to enter into relations with other states7. An entity fulfilling the above elements would be subject to international rights and responsibilities. These states would therefore have the right to self-determination, or the right to be free of any territorial changes which would be against their political mandates8. It also refers to the right to be free of interference in their political and economic activities. This right is based on prohibitions imposed as a means of establishing distance from the practice of colonialism and imperialism which used to dominate human history. A state is therefore subject to various rights and responsibilities. In general, a state would have the competence to carry out acts in the international arena, enter into and make treaties, as well as similar agreements9. These states are also â€Å"exclusively competent with respect to their internal affairs-â€Å"exclusive† means plenary and not subject to control by other States†10. Crawford also discusses that states cannot be subjected to international processes and activities without their express consent11. They are also considered as entities which stand on equal ground12. These rights and responsibilities govern international relations and violations of these responsibilities would make a state liable and subject to international laws and policies. Non-state entities, like Kosovo, Somalia, and Taiwan, do not enjoy these same rights and are not dealt with as states. For example Taiwan cannot enter into a treaty with another state,