Aging on women's sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aging on women's sexuality - Essay Example The following piece of writing is based on the article ‘The impact of aging on sexual function in women and their partners’. The author of this article is Sheryl A. Kinsberg. In this article the writer discusses how different physiological, psychological and social factors that are important in the sexual functioning of a woman are altered by age and how this alteration affects her sexuality. The writer also discusses how the changing sexuality of a woman affects her partner and vice versa. At the end of the article, the writer discusses the role of a healthcare provider in situations where an elderly patient comes with a problem of sexuality. This essay is a response to this article and discusses why a certain issue brought up by the writer in the article is of particular interest to me and how this information can be of use to me in my personal life. The particular issue that I find most interesting is the effect of psychosocial factors that affect sexuality in women a nd how they are affected by age. The impact of this information on my personal life is multi-faceted as I can adjust to the changes that will occur in my intimate relationships with time as well as understand what elderly people in my circle are going through right now. It also pushes me into understanding the patient in the light of her ethnicity and culture and develops a better understanding of the psychological component of her problem. After a thorough reading of the article, I feel that the area that grabs my greatest interest is the analysis of psychosocial factors that affect female sexuality. The writer uses several psychological theories to explain the changes that occur in sexuality when its psychosocial component is altered by age. Using the self-perception theory, the writer explains how older women may feel asexual because their partners show a lot more interest in sexual activity than them while in reality, interest in sexual activity varies from person to person and a person cannot be considered to be sexually dysfunctional as long as he/she enjoys sexual intercourse. Similarly the writer uses the over-justification hypothesis to explain how older people may relate sex to external benefits and decrease their interest in the act itself. This is further explained by the writer using the cognitive dissonance theory. According to this theory, if a person stops relating the enjoyment of intercourse to the enjoyment of external benefit derived from it, he/she may actually enjoy the act itself. The writer concludes this section that psychosocial studies need to be conducted in the light of the culture and ethnicity of the patient for an accurate assessment of the problem. The reason why I chose this issue is that it is the psychosocial well-being that is affected most due to sexual problems particularly in older women as they may feel insufficient, worthless or guilty due to not being able to match the performance of their partners during sexual inter course. If these psychosocial factors are studied in depth, it is possible to alter them by counseling the patient and saving her time and money. While medications and different treatment modalities can provide relief to several patients with sexual issues, eventually it is the psychological benefits that the patient is seeking. If a large part of the treatment is simply an understanding of these factors and putting them in correct order, not only can patients avoid drugs and discomfort but also adjust to their increasing age. Hence, they may start to see their increasing age as a transition rather than pathology. This understanding has to be coupled by the understanding of the patient’s cultural background. This may be unique for most patients and the alterations in lifestyle and thought process that are suggested to them may vary accordingly. Thus treatment may be several times more effective. This aspect of sexual problems in older women is of great importance to a healthc are provider. The information in this article about the psychosocial fact

Social dance Essay Example for Free

Social dance Essay Dance does not leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to say when dance became part of human culture. Dance has certainly been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 9,000 year old Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC. One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been in the performance and in the telling of myths. It was also sometimes used to show feelings for one of the opposite gender. It is also linked to the origin of love making. Before the production of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing these stories down from generation to generation. [2] Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatic trance states in healing rituals. Dance is still used for this purpose by many cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert. [3] Sri Lankan dances goes back to the mythological times of aboriginal yingyang twins and yakkas (devils). According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originate, 250 years ago, from a magic ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king. Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, and ethnic dance. Partner Dancing in Art Dance at Bougival by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1882–83) Eadweard Muybridges phenakistoscope A Couple Waltzing (c. 1893) Dance classification and genres. Main articles: List of basic dance topics and List of dances Dance categories by number of interacting dancers are mainly solo dance, partner dance and group dance. Dance is performed for various purposes like ceremonial dance, erotic dance, performance dance, social dance etc. Dancing and music See also: Category:Music genres Many early forms of music and dance were created and performed together. This paired development has continued through the ages with dance/music forms such as: jig, waltz, tango, disco, salsa, electronica and hip-hop. Some musical genres also have a parallel dance form such as baroque music and baroque dance whereas others developed separately: classical music and classical ballet. Although dance is often accompanied by music, it can also be presented independently or provide its own accompaniment (tap dance). Dance presented with music may or may not be performed in time to the music depending on the style of dance. Dance performed without music is said to be danced to its own rhythm. Ballroom dancing is an art although it may incorporates many fitness components using an artistic state of mind. Saman Dance from Gayo people of Sumatra, Indonesia Morris dancing in the grounds of Wells Cathedral, Wells, England An amateur dancesport competition at MIT Professional dancers at the Tropicana Club, Havana, Cuba, in 2008 Dance studies and techniques See also: Dance theory, Choreography, and Dance moves In the early 1920s, dance studies (dance practice, critical theory, Musical analysis and history) began to be considered an academic discipline. Today these studies are an integral part of many universities arts and humanities programs. By the late 20th century the recognition of practical knowledge as equal to academic knowledge lead to the emergence of practice research and practice as research. A large range of dance courses are available including: Professional practice: performance and technical skills Practice research: choreography and performance Ethnochoreology, encompassing the dance-related aspects of anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, area studies, postcolonial theory, ethnography, etc. Dance therapy or dance-movement therapy. Dance and technology: new media and performance technologies. Laban Movement Analysis and somatic studies Academic degrees are available from BA (Hons) to PhD and other postdoctoral fellowships, with some dance scholars taking up their studies as mature students after a professional dance career. Dance competitions A dance competition is an organized event in which contestants perform dances before a judge or judges for awards and, in some cases, monetary prizes. There are several major types of dance competitions, distinguished primarily by the style or styles of dances performed. Major types of dance competitions include: Competitive dance, in which a variety of theater dance styles—such as acro, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, and tap—are permitted. Open competitions, which permit a wide variety of dance styles. A popular example of this is the TV program So You Think You Can Dance. Dancesport, which is focused exclusively on ballroom and latin dance. Popular examples of this are TV programs Dancing with the Stars and Strictly Come Dancing. Single-style competitions, such as highland dance, dance team, and Irish dance, which only permit a single dance style. Today, there are various dances and dance show competitions on Television and the Internet. Dance occupations There are different careers connected with dancing: Dancer, dance teacher, dance sport coach, dance therapist and choreographer. Dancer Dance training differs depending on the dance form. There are university programs and schools associated with professional dance companies for specialised training in classical dance (e. g.Ballet) and modern dance. There are also smaller, privately owned dance studios where students may train in a variety of dance forms including competitive dance forms (e. g. Latin dance, ballroom dance, etc. ) as well as ethnic/traditional dance forms. Professional dancers are usually employed on contract or for particular performances/productions. The professional life of a dancer is generally one of constantly changing work situations, strong competition pressure and low pay. Professional dancers often need to supplement their income, either in dance related roles (e.g. , dance teaching, dance sport coaches, yoga) or Pilates instruction to achieve financial stability. In the U. S. many professional dancers are members of unions such as the American Guild of Musical Artists, the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association. The unions help determine working conditions and minimum salaries for their members. Dance teachers Dance teacher and operators of dance schools rely on reputation and marketing. For dance forms without an association structure such as Salsa or Tango Argentino they may not have formal training. Most dance teachers are self employed. Dancesport coaches Dancesport coaches are tournament dancers or former dancesports people, and may be recognised by a dance sport federation. Choreographer Choreographers are generally university trained and are typically employed for particular projects or, more rarely may work on contract as the resident choreographer for a specific dance company. A choreographic work is protected intellectual property. Dancers may undertake their own choreography.

Donne’s Poem Death Be Not Proud :: Death Be Not Proud Essays

Donne’s Poem Death Be Not Proud In the poem "Death Be Not Proud," written by John Donne death is personified. The personification of death creates a feeling that death is less powerful than we think. Donne creates and image of death that is not mysterious, not in control, and a slave of low status. He does this by undermining the idea of death as bound to the rules of "fate, chance, kings, and desperate men." He insists that death is no more powerful than any mortal is. Suggesting that death is not mysterious is the word slave. Directed to death, "thou art slave" forms an unthreatening stance of death because slaves are not threatening. This is due to the connections that go with the word slave. A slave is bound in submission to a master therefore having no say in what he or she can do. Death, in being personified into a slave that has many masters, is more extremely bound. This lack of freedom that death has in choosing its victims takes away any reason to be fearful of it. Power comes from being able to control something. Here death is the one being controlled by other outside forces that have power over how and when death can do its work. Death casts fear into mortals because it is unknown as to what happens in the afterworld. This poem creates a sense that we know who death is. For example we can see how death is a poor beggar on the street. This would make death a non-threatening person. He is a low class citizen that is just waiting for an opportunity to feast when his master allows. Donne produces this low-life death figure by associating him with "poison, war, and sickness." These are all things that less fortunate mortals deal with on a daily basis. These are dreadful things that are not good. Death personified is subject to these horrible circumstances therefore is very low in stature. If death can only reap his vengeance with such low standards governing him, then death is as low as what he works for. Death becomes less mysterious and something which we are not afraid of.

Re-appropriating the Parable of the Sower into the Modern Context Essay

â€Å"The Word of God,† the letter to the Hebrews writes, â€Å"is living and active† (Heb 4:12). In ways more than one, this passage tells of the eternal character that marks the truths found in the Scriptures; for while the written texts of the Scriptures have long been established – read: definitively canonized – thousands of years ago, the teachings and wisdom which are contained therein are never confined into either the timeframes or specific contexts of the written literatures themselves. Instead, the truths of the Bible speak to all believers in the past or in the present (as even in the future). As indeed, it is normative even, for Christians scattered all over the world, to glean faith and life lessons from the timeless teachings of the Bible. On account of these reasons therefore, it is surely not bereft of good reasons to claim that the Bible, all things considered, is a universal source of inspiration for all peoples of all times and places. Rationale and Scope  In view of the foregoing, the roadmap and central thesis of this term paper is aimed at appropriating a particular truth of the Bible into the present context. This is done on the underlying assumption that the stories in the Bible offer timeless lessons and truths, if only they are appropriately discerned within any particular context or situation. Specifically, paper attempts to make a successful re-appropriation of the Parable of the Sower; and the modern context into which it shall be retold would be in â€Å"workplaces† – i. . , into the context of people’s professional life and, in many ways, in the manner by which they conduct business enterprises. The choice to re-appropriate the Parable of the Sower into the context of people’s affairs relative to their business enterprises or professional jobs is an option taken not without discerned reasons to say the least. Christians, ever since, have always been called to bear witness to the faith they profess by living exemplary lives right within their very contexts. And since, nowadays, many people spend most of their times in their respective workplaces, the need to bear witness to the truths of the Gospel within these types of environments surely becomes even more urgent. Schminke, citing the idea of Delbecq, in fact argues that â€Å"at the beginning of the century,† the â€Å"non-business settings† acted as the locus where peoples’ â€Å"moral character was forged†; today meanwhile, â€Å"the employing organization takes up much of people’s preoccupation and time,† and, as a consequence, it â€Å"informs and shapes both (the) behavior and character† of modern peoples (ix). There are surely enough good reasons to say that, in view of Schminke’s observation, the Parable of the Sower – as a particular truth propounded by the Gospel – can speak volumes to the manner by which people of this contemporary setting respond to the invitation to seek the ways of God right into their otherwise non-religious contexts. Retelling the Parable in a Contemporary Context Before proceeding with the re-interpretation of the parable, it may be good to note that the Parable of the Sower appears in all Synoptic Gospels –namely, in the Matthew 1: 1-23, Mark 4: 3-20 and Luke 8: 4-15. At the very least however, it would appear that the story attempted to drive home a singular lesson: that God has made salvation openly available for all people; but the quality of a person’s response is what determines if one has helped oneself make that salvation work for his or her own life. The parable, essentially, is about the manner by which human persons respond to God’s call to salvation (Suarez 2). And key to attaining one’s salvation lies in â€Å"listening intently† to the ubiquitous invitation of God to live out the message of the Gospel in every moment of one’s life (Maxwell 103). If the Parable of the Sower is about the quality of a person’s response to God’s invitation to encounter Him at every moment of one’s life, how then should the story be properly re-appropriated into the context of one’s professional or â€Å"work-related† life? First, one can note the significance of the Sower’s sowing of seeds to this end, as this is the first aspect brought into the fore by the parable. The Gospel recounts: â€Å"A Sower went out to sow† (Mat 13: 3). This first statement itself, can be interpreted in a lot of ways. But what proves to be chiefly important for this study is to note that the act of â€Å"sowing of seeds† can mean that first, that Jesus announced the message of salvation without discrimination and prejudice, and that, second, while He was aware that people can take the message in a myriad of different ways, Jesus went on to proceed with sowing the seeds of salvation nevertheless. In many ways, one must always remember that these two aspects are especially applicable in one’s professional lives. Much too often, people think that, because business environments or professional workplaces are chiefly concerned with ensuring company’s development and growth, and applying key economic concepts thereof, or maintaining a healthy level of profitability for the company, the nature of these jobs have nothing to do with religiosity or the practice of one’s faith. And at the other side of the coin, people think that spirituality, or even the basic sensitivity to God’s presence, has to be confined within the august walls of the church. But this paradigm is problematic, if not all together false. If the Sower had sown seeds on to all types of grounds – whether nurturing or adverse to the seeds – then people should realize that the nurturing one’s faith is not confined to the time one spends in the church, but embraces all aspects of one’s life, including those times spent in one’s profession and work. Which is why, the call to live out that faith demands that one must find ways to recognize the presence of God within in these environments. For at the very least, even when one is immersed in an environment which, on the surface, has nothing to do with one’s exercise of faith, the challenge to be always conscious of the religious precepts demanding ethical conduct at all times and in all places, by choosing to adhere to the â€Å"framework of general principles of right or wrong,† and learning what one ought to do, and what one’s duties are,† ultimately has to be dealt with no matter what (Guy 22). Secondly, the significance of the four types of grounds on to which the seeds fell merits considerable attention in this regard. As indeed, it is certainly wise to ask how these characterizations best exemplify the context of people who find themselves at the heart of domineering culture of business enterprises. Jesus continues on with the parable: â€Å"As he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them† (Mat 13: 4). And, purporting its corresponding interpretation, Jesus furthers: â€Å"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown along the path† (Mat 13: 19). Pavements, because they is too often â€Å"packed so tightly†, as well as finished in a manner evened and leveled, makes a good place for â€Å"easy pickings for the birds† (The Bible Church). If taken into the modern context, Jesus here may be argued to be referring to people who, far from being ignorant, do not just give much thought about their belief system or faith. Herein it makes sense to call these people as atheists – people who, while not directly denying the existence of God, nevertheless â€Å"do not make any assertion whatsoever about him† or about the need to believe in Him (Gaudium et Spes 919). These are the types of people who manifest wholesale disinterestedness in asking questions about God or His precepts, since they find it meaningless. And in many ways, there are a lot of people of this nature in the world of business enterprise. Among others, these people are the ones who do not feel chiefly accountable to a higher authority in conducting business. Surely, it is not surprising to hear of unethical practices being committed within workplaces. In fact, it is a commonly held assumption that the â€Å"practice of business enterprise† smacks of a â€Å"dark side: narcissism, greed, political ruthlessness and injustice perpetrated on employees† (Schminke x). If these phenomena say something about the point in contention, it merely speaks of the manner by which â€Å"the modern world itself, though not of its very nature but because it is too engrossed in the concerns of this world, can often make it harder to approach God† (Gaudium et Spes 919). The Gospel proceeds: â€Å"Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched; and since they had no root they withered away† (Mat 13: 5-6). In view of this description, Jesus explains further: â€Å"As for what is sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the world, immediately he falls away† (Mat 13: 20-21). By right of observation, one can attest to the fact that rocky grounds are indeed replete with small weeds. But since there is â€Å"no place for a hardy root system to develop†, no plant ever grows from among the rocks (The Bible Church). The cited passage can be reinterpreted as a description referring to people who readily assume that faith is but a matter of intellectual exercise and conceptual frameworks. In modern society, there are a lot of people who, without knowing it, belong to this categorization. Suarez maintains that it is â€Å"risky† for believers to treat the truths of the Gospel as â€Å"mere object of ingenious intellectual dissertations (as well as) of brilliant and polemical but superficial essays† (2). For all its promises however, this type of attitude towards faith lacks breadth and depth, and ultimately, does not change one’s behavior for the better. In the field of business, many people are exactly such type of believers. These happen when, despite being idealistic about doing things rightly in the first place, certain individuals start to trade off moral precepts demanded by religion – such as honesty, justice, transparency and truth – for certain self-serving interests such as good name, promotions and sizeable profits, in the long run. Lack of conviction breeds a kind of faith lacking with the courage of bear witness. And like someone who hears the Word of God but, apparently, does not listen, a person who cannot bear witness to the truths of the Gospels in his or her workplace surely is reluctant to practice what he or she so delightfully hears on account of the difficulties that arise with the obedience is demanded corollary to it (Suarez 4). By and by Jesus continues the parable: â€Å"And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and chocked them† (Mat 13:7); and, explaining it further, He argues, â€Å"He who received seed among thorns is he who heard the word; but the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he became unfruitful† (Mat 13:22). Immediately, one may rightly surmise that this categorization reflects, in many ways, the general atmosphere of modern society. In fact, Cardinal Hume firmly believes that the contemporary milieu is gripped with a controlling desire towards consumerism and materialism; and, such unmistakable preponderance to what the world offers, endangers peoples’ faith as a consequence (61). To be sure, it is certainly not difficult to re-interpret this particular passage in the modern context of business enterprise for the plain reason that it is normative for nearly all types of business outfits to engage in trades that ensures growth and progress. Surely, such preeminent emphasis (which companies lay) on accruing profits has significant impacts in the peoples’ – read: employees’ – belief and value systems. Put in other words, if the company puts higher premium than most on achieving worldly success, the people employed under are said to follow suit, without them even realizing it. Guy even contends that â€Å"company traditions† can â€Å"creep into a person’s normative judgments† easily (47). And concretely, this happens when the company unreasonably demands from its employees’ their unqualified attention and time – on account of the need to work for higher earnings – and thereby not leaving them with space for their relational and spiritual needs. The results can therefore prove to be detrimental to the peoples’ faith; for if many people would simply shrug off the need to attend to their spiritual needs, by saying that â€Å"they just do not have the time† for it, then there are reasons to think that â€Å"the many cares and snares of this world† truly render Christian faith unprolific, if not meaningless altogether. Finally though, Jesus speaks of the Good News to end the parable in an optimistic tone: â€Å"But the other seeds fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit; some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold† (Mat 13:8). To such description, Jesus appends: â€Å"But he who received seed into the good ground is the one who heard the word, and understood it; which also bore fruit, and brought forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty† (Mat 13:23). In here, Jesus’ parable reaches its climax; it offers its central thesis – namely, that the way towards a meaningful life lies in listening to what the Lord says, understanding the message thereof, and putting its lessons in one’s life (Suarez 8). Interpreting this aspect into the modern context of conducting business, and living in the world of business altogether, is surely not difficult to do. This is because there are faithful Christians – immersed, as they were, into the morally-adverse structure of business enterprise – who still are able to discover the presence of God right into their otherwise difficult situations. One may perhaps cite how many business ethicists believe that there are still a good number of employees feel that it pays off not resorting to malpractices at the expense of compromising opportunities to practice ethical and religious principles (Guy 22). For instance, it is not uncommon to hear of stories involving high-profiled dissenters and whistleblowers who tried to rectify incidences of corruption, fraud or theft in their workplaces. Even when their decision to come out into the open comes with a high price – e. g. eing frowned upon by colleagues, or worse, losing their jobs ultimately – these exemplary people have shown exactly how one should practice the mandate of the Gospel and seek God’s ways in every moments of life. People who act ethically and observe religious precepts faithfully in workplaces too often show the world what faith in God truly means. For faith, as the learned John Constantino writes, â€Å"deals with the nature of God, with the essence of spirituality, and with the quintessential manifestation of that spirituality in our day-to-day lives† (4). Conclusion  By way of conclusion, this paper ends with a thought that affirms the tenability of re-appropriating the Parable of the Sower into the lives of modern people, who spend much of their times in their respective workplaces. In the first place, it was learned that the parable can lend an insightful thought which affirms the universal character of God’s call to salvation – i. e. , God sows the seed of salvation to all types of environment, even those – like the business environments – that may appear to be adverse to persons’ religious and spiritual ideals. In the succeeding discussions which were developed, it was likewise seen that Jesus’ description on the four types of soils can be taken as analogical references to the four types of attitudes that may be exercised in the workplace. But in the final analysis, the paper also affirms the fact that modern Christians are called to emulate the seed that fell into the good soil, and thereby put into practice the truths that are found in the Scriptures itself.

A Compare and Contrast of the New Product Development Model Essay

New product developments are one of the main sources of competitive advantage for companies today. Companies need new product to keep up with its’ competitors. New product development can be considered as activities that aim to bring new products to market. The objective of NPD is to minimize the risk of failure. As NPD absorbs both financial and human resources from a company, it is therefore necessary to develop and implement a methodology for assisting in the introduction of new products. NPD models can help to identify problems at an early stage and assist in directing the NPD effort in the right direction. It can be used as a roadmap and provides an indication of magnitude of the project required in order to develop and launch a new product. It also helps to reduce risk and uncertainty at every stage by giving guidance regarding what information is required. An example of well known model is Booz, Allen, and Hamilton Model (1982). It has been argued that pass-the-parcel approach to NPD might extend the overall development time. However in more recent models, focus has been given to parallel-processing. The next section mentions about three model of NPD. Cooper’s stage-gate model A stage-gate model (Cooper, 1988) is improved from BAH model. The stage-gate model attempts to overcome pass-the-parcel issues which do not suitable for communicating the horizontal dimension of the NPD process. The stage-gate model uses parallel-processing to acknowledge the iterations between and within stages. The idea of parallel processing advises that major functions should be involved from the early stages of the NPD process to its conclusion. This allows problems to be detected and solved much earlier than in the classic models. The idea of dividing the new product development process into distinct phases or stages is the same as BAH model, but in the stage gate model the phases are more clearly separated from each other with management decision gates. In addition to the discovery gate, the model consists of five action stage: scoping, build business case, development, testing and validation, and launch. Stages are cross functional and each activity is undertaken in parallel to enhance speed to market. To manage risk, the parallel activities in a certain stage must be designed to gather vital information – technical, market, financial, operations – in order to drive down the technical and business risk. Each successive stage is also more costly than previous stage. The idea is to allow an increase in spending on the development of projects as the uncertainty goes down. Preceding each stage is a decision point or gate which serves as a go/kill and prioritization decision point. The advantages of the stage-gate are following: Well organized innovation can be a source of competitive advantage. -Accelerated product development. Necessary because of shortening product life cycles. -Increased success chance of new products. Prevents poor projects early and helps to redirect them -Integrated market orientation. Multiple convergent model The multiple convergent model (Baker and Hart, 1994) follows parallel processing – like the stage-gate model – which allows iterations among participants within stages. However, there are two problems with parallel processing. First, it ignores the important inputs to NPD that are provided by customers and suppliers. Second, if functions are to work in parallel then when do the processes take decisions and move on to the next stage? The multiple convergent model overcomes the issue by using convergent point, where is defined as â€Å"to move or cause to move towards the same point† or to â€Å"tend towards as common conclusion or result†. The model takes account of the functionally distinct tasks which must be carried out simultaneously at specific points throughout the NPD process and that the results must converge. And, due to iterations in the processes, this convergence is likely to happen several times. As the process moves from one step to another, the information gathered becomes more precise and reliable and the decisions are made with greater certainty. This model is therefore advantageous over the stage-gate in that the framework can easily accommodate third parties, provides mechanisms for real integration throughout the process among different functions set in the convergent points and fit into the most appropriate NPD structures for the company. Network model The multiple convergent model fails to highlight the importance of â€Å"inter-organizational collaboration† in a firm’s network. Networks in NPD could and should be considered at two different levels: external and internal level. And it should be realized that the functioning of the internal networks directly influences the efficiency and efficacy of the external network. According to the network model (Trott, 1998), the development and management of knowledge is one of the most important traits of the new product development. It represents the process of accumulation of knowledge crossing continuously over different internal functions, through which both internal and external knowledge is integrated in the process. Four different internal functions are related to new product development: marketing and sales, finance, engineering and manufacturing, and research and development. Different external inputs such as competitors, suppliers, partners, customers, university departments and so on are also presented. Conclusion NPD is a process of transforming business opportunity into tangible products. In order to reduce risks of failure associated with developing a new product, many models have been developed to assist in NPD activities. These models have evolved from the simple linear models to the more complex network models. And, in order for developers of new products to be successful, they must take into consideration the critical success factors in NPD.

A comparative essay between the novels Artemis Fowl and The princes and the goblin.

A comparative essay between the novels Artemis Fowl and The princes and the goblin. The elements of comparison that immediately come into focus when there is mention of the book ‘princess and the goblin’ and ‘Artemis fowl’ range widely. The variance of themes span from the essentials that describe a society such as food, clothing, money and the fundamentals that describe a place such as its geographical landscape or terrain. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A comparative essay between the novels â€Å"Artemis Fowl† and â€Å"The princes and the goblin†. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The landscape at the heart of the story in the book ‘princess and the goblin’ is a mountainous terrain that has very many subterranean hollows. Winding caves and caverns characterize the landscape in this book. Some of the caverns have water coming out of them, while some shine when light gets inside these structures. In this book, two characters of very distinct ba ckgrounds and with very different lifestyles get to interact, and end up being friends. The two come from the two different social groups that define the living standards of the region. Irene, the princess, born of the king and therefore enjoys every ounce of leisure life could offer. She has spent her life enjoying the comfort of the palace built by his father on one of the mountains. The palace is beautiful and it is what the princess has grown up to believe is the whole world, until her curiosity leads her out of the palace into the outside world beneath. There are seemingly a different type people beneath the palace, strange people who it seems have different lives, and are of a different race, these are the goblins. Legends attribute their existence to the fact that they all lived together in the same kingdom, until the king levied upon them higher taxes, tried to impose more severity, and handled them with stricter rules. As a result, these people escaped from the kingdom, b ut instead of going far away from the kingdom, they sought refuge in the underground caves and caverns from where they came out only at night (Macdonald, 1990). The tale has it that these people hardly walk in groups, they come out only in the dark and never show up to large groups of people. This tale goes on to say that they operate in large groups of people in the areas of the mountain that are least visited, deeper into the mountain and that they even gathered in the open air. As a result of them hiding away from the sun, dwelling in the cold and dark dungeon that was the mountain, their bodies had changed greatly both in form and texture through the course of time. They looked abnormally strange to the extent that no literary genius could put to pen the matching description of their appearance. Advertising Looking for essay on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The goblins, in as much as th ey grew more disheveled in face and form, they grew smarter and brighter in the head. They had advanced intellectually to the point that they could do things that were unheard of in the world of mortals, yet all this creativity they dedicated to making the life of the people living on top of the mountain a living hell (Macdonald, 1990). This community was very cruel to the people living on the mountain (suns), but they treated others of their type with affection and love. Their wits saw them establish a government run by a chief. The main business of this government besides running their own personal affairs was devising trouble for their neighbors on the mountain (Macdonald, 1990). They held onto the grudge they bore against the suns people with a passion, they professed it with a near religious zeal; their perception of the suns was negative. They viewed them as the people who occupied their former abodes, and more so as the descendants of the king who caused their expulsion from the mountain. For this reason, the princess had never seen the sky at night the whole of her life. Also at the heart of this kingdom is a young girl called Irene, she happens to be the king’s daughter; the princess. On one, boring, rainy day she decides to take a stroll through their old huge kingdom house. Due to the complexity of the structure of the house, she gets lost in the rooms and wanders her way into her great grandmother’s secret room. Her grandmother been living beneath their house for ages and therefore knows a lot about the kingdom, yet the occupants of the kingdom didn’t know she was there. She is stunningly beautiful for a grandmother and Irene soon bonds with her. Upon returning to the castle, she tells her nanny Lootie about her encounter with her grandmother, an assertion to which Lootie does not believe and a quarrel ensues. On the first sunny day, they set out for a walk and stay out late. This is their first encounter with the scary gobli ns, but they are saved by a young boy called Curdie, who sings rhythms which the Goblins find unbearable and they leave the two alone. Curdie has saved their lives and Irene promises him a kiss but Lootie interrupts. This marks the beginning of a relationship that would go along way affecting the lives of the people around them, at one point even the fate of the kingdom. This happened when they boy eavesdropped on some goblins and heard them talking and planning an attack on the suns kingdom. He also got to know that their heads were hard but the lower parts of their bodies were weak (Macdonald, 1990).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on A comparative essay between the novels â€Å"Artemis Fowl† and â€Å"The princes and the goblin†. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Artemis Fowl is a book based on the story of a young boy living with his mother. The father, who happens to be a crime lord, has deserted the family and they are the only members. This boy, at only twelve ears was intelligent, a genius for that matter and had the determination, zeal and desire to be rich. In his quest to attain wealth, he conducts an extensive research on fairies and discovers their existence. He hatches out a plan to kidnap a fairy, this involves trailing them and learning their ways. Artemis and his friend, Butler track down a rogue fairy pretending to be a healer in Vietnam, they intend to get from her the ‘book of the people’, a holy book for fairies that is written in gnomish. At the same time, a police captain Holly short happens to be going after another troll which has escaped from the fairy city deep underground from the earth’s surface. (Colfer, 2001) Captain Holy is assisted by her friends and they debilitate the troll, this exercise consumes all of her magical ability, forcing her to carry out a sacrament that would help bring back her magic. Using his wits, Artemis trans lates the book using a computer, and while at it he learns the essentials of the ritual. From the details in the book, they locate over 100 places where the ritual could be conducted. Four months later they find Holly on the spot conducting the ritual, they tranquilize him with a hypodermic syringe. The Fairy council sends a group of fairies to examine Fowl Manor. The members are equipped with a special ability that allows them to travel faster than the human eye can follow, this was called shielding ability, but Artemis expects this and installs a camera that could resonate with their speed by freezing the image. Butler debilitated the threat while Root cordoned Fowl Manor by initiating a time stop and entered discussions (Colfer, 2001). The amount demanded to release Fowl manor was 24 carats of gold. Artemis, armed with the knowledge he gained from decoding the book, took the chance to disclose his ability to undo the time stop. Following Artemis guidance, they break into the Ma nor. He digs underground to get to the house and finds a safe where a copy of the book was stored. This gives a hint to where Artemis got his knowledge about fairies. In the meantime, Holly digs a space through the concrete wall of her cell, gets an acorn that had been smuggled inside. She takes it and completes the ritual, this enables him to regain his magic and he sets off to the main house. The fairies honor their end of the bargain and give Artemis the ransom they had initially agreed upon. They give him the gold, but in the face of all that and coupled with all the riches bestowed upon him, he cannot cure his mother’s condition. He requests holly to grant him a wish; he wants her to cure his mother’s insanity, which had been caused by the loss her husband’s disappearance (Colfer, 2001). As result she is bed ridden. Advertising Looking for essay on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In return Holly offers to grant the wish and cure her mother’s insanity but at a price, he demands to be given half the gold Artemis had. The fairies had other intentions, they intended to kill Artemis by infecting him with a biological bomb and get the gold, but this flops when Artemis drugs himself and his comrades with sleeping pills. The sleeping pills enable him to escape the time-stop, when he wakes up he finds his mother’s health in top condition, having recovered from her insanity. In both stories, there is a common theme that comes to light. A theme that has been a factor in both instances, it has also been the driving force behind most of the events in these books. This is money. Because of money the goblins were expelled from the kingdom that they rightfully belonged, one that was rightfully there’s. The king used it to expel them from the kingdom by raising the tax rates imposed on them, purposefully in order to get rid of them. Money has caused the re to be division and classification according to how much one had, them that lacked had to escape the kingdom, and moved to inhabit the subterranean dungeons. As a result of the limited exposure to the sun and other environmental factors, they had grown scarily grotesque. This had caused all the difference in the lives of these people, hence the contrasting lifestyles. The people who had money lived and enjoyed their lives, though they were not at peace wherever they were, its like they lived in total seclusion, in that some of them had never seen the sky, let alone know. They were confined in their freedom, and did not even know the beauty and glory that lay beyond the confines of their kingdom. In Artemis’s case, the quest for money and wealth almost caused him his life were it not for his intelligence and ability to see ahead and think faster than his adversaries. The biological bomb they had sent him kills all forms of organic life, and his life, however bright was no ex emption. After outwitting them all and having amassed all that wealth that was to the tune of twenty four gold carats, he discovers he still has needs that the money can not buy. The money cannot buy him happiness; it cannot repair the broken relationships, it can neither heal illnesses nor better them, and certainly too much of it does feel uncomfortable. It surprises us at the end when he gives out half the amount of gold he had worked so hard to attain, but what is all that when the person who is closest to you, your mother, is still sick? It surpasses logic. He did it out of the love, it is what matters most and that is what counts. He was happy eventually when the mother recovered, and he still had half the gold. In the case of the kingdom, this people harbored anger and scorn towards each other. The goblins were so cruel to the suns to the point the established an own government whose sole purpose was to create disturbance and mayhem to the suns people. Money had caused this problem, the goblins wanted to attack the sun people, and submerge their kingdom as a result of the hate they had for the suns (MacDonald.1992). This is salvaged after a boy overhears their conversations and alerts the suns . The get ready to protect the kingdom so by the time the goblins attack, they defend. These two, Irene and Curdie, save the kingdom not for the money but because of the love and the indifference of heart they saw among the people of the two communities. In both cases, money has been of utmost disservice to the peace that has existed. Whenever the characters considered money as a factor, there was division and war. Money has proved its ability to buy almost anything that has economic value, but it has failed to buy virtues upon which good life is based upon, such as love, peace and harmony. It happens that people who have all the money don’t have it all when it comes to these virtues; instead money cultivates greed, envy, war and instability in the case of kingdoms and power centers. Money could not buy the suns people the peace they so yearned for, neither could it heal Artemis mother of her condition. He had to make a wish to the Fairy, it is only because the fairy had been frustrated by Artemis that he decided to punish him by charging him half the gold he had. Artemis needed joy and happiness, and he could stop at nothing to get it, his only joy was his mother’s well-being, and he reaped the fruits when he sacrificed half his wealth. His mother was well, the other kingdom was rescued after the money factor was put aside and they all lived happily ever after. Colfer, Eion. (2001). Artemis Fowl: Artemis Fowl series. NY. New York. Vicking press. MacDonald, George (1990). The princess and the goblin. Paperback. Trafalgar Square Publishing.

The Mind of a Serial Killer essays

The Mind of a Serial Killer essays In the last three decades the USA has been troubled by an approaching problem, the serial killer. A serial killer is a person who kills a number of people, usually considered over five, with a cooling off period between each murder, usually one murder at one given time). Two murders at one time occasionally happen and these murders may go on for a period of months or years until the killer is caught. Throughout the last three decades the US serial killer rate has risen 94% and it is estimated that by the next millennium it will claim an average of 11 lives a day. Serial Murder is an epidemic; there are at least 35 serial killers active in the USA today who claim one third of the annual murder rate. The USA has 6% of the world's population yet it has three quarters of all serial killers. Not only are serial killers appearing in more numbers in the US but also all over the world countries are terrorized by serial killers, which are appearing in more numbers year and year after. A serial killer is a typical white male, 20-30, and most of them are usually in the USA. Their main motives are sex (even though the act of sex may or may not take place), power, manipulation, domination and control. The sex motive is usually rape for an organized killer and sadism for a disorganized killer. They act in a series of 5 or more murders with a cooling off period between each murder. Serial killers can go on for months and years before they are usually caught. The victim is usually the same for every killer - prostitute, hitchhiker etc. Their victims may also have the same or similar attributes in gender, age, race, general look, residence etc. Serial killers also stick by their modus operandi very closely and may change it with experience. Most murders occur by strangulation, suffocation, stabbing etc. Serial killers act by a sex-murder fantasy based with their control, they usually live in this dream world in their teens until they...

Genealogy Research in Great Britain

Genealogy Research in Great Britain Once youve explored as much of your family tree as you can online, its time to head to Britain and the land of your ancestors. Nothing can compare to visiting the places where your ancestors once lived, and on-site research offers access to a variety of records that arent available elsewhere.   England Wales: If your family tree leads you to England or Wales, then London is a good place to start your research. This is where youll find most of Englands major repositories. Most people begin with the Family Records Centre, jointly operated by the General Register Office and the National Archives, as it holds the original indexes to the births, marriages and deaths registered in England and Wales from 1837. There are also other collections available for research, such as death duty registers, census returns and the Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills. If your short on research time, however, most of these records can also be searched online (most for a fee) in advance of your trip. Located within walking distance of the Family Records Centre, the library of the Society of Genealogists in London is another excellent place to start your search for British ancestry. Here youll find many published family histories and the largest collection of transcribed parish registers in England. The library also has census records for all of the British Isles, city directories, poll lists, wills, and an advice desk where you can get expert suggestions on how and where to continue your research. The National Archives in Kew, outside of London, has many records that are not available elsewhere, including nonconformist church records, probates, letters of administration, military records, taxation records, association oath rolls, maps, parliamentary papers, and court records. This is generally not the best place to start your research, but is a must-visit for anyone looking to follow up clues found in more basic records such as census enumerations and parish registers. The National Archives, which covers England, Wales and the central UK government, is especially important for anyone researching members of the armed forces. Before you visit, be sure to check out their online catalog and comprehensive research guides. Other important research repositories in London include the Guildhall Library, home to the parish records of the City of London and records of city guilds; the British Library, most notable for its manuscripts and Oriental and India Office collections; and the London Metropolitan Archives, which houses records of metropolitan London. For further Welsh research, the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth is the main center for family history research in Wales. There you will find copies of parish registers and family collections of deeds, pedigrees and other genealogical material, as well as all wills proved in the Welsh diocesan courts. The twelve County Record Offices of Wales hold copies of the indexes for their respective areas, and most also hold microfilm copies of records such as census returns. Most also hold their local parish registers dating back to 1538 (including some that arent also kept at the National Library of Wales).   Scotland: In Scotland, most of the main national archives and genealogical repositories are housed in Edinburgh. This is where youll find the General Register Office of Scotland, which holds civil birth, marriage and death records from 1 January 1855, plus census returns and parish registers. Next door, the National Archives of Scotland preserves a host of genealogical material, including wills and testaments from the 16th century to the present day. Just down the road lies the National Library of Scotland where you can search trade and street directories, professional directories, family and local histories and an extensive map collection. The Library and Family History Centre of the Scottish Genealogy Society is also located in Edinburgh, and houses a unique collection of family histories, pedigrees and manuscripts.   Go Local Once youve explored the national and specialist repositories, the next stop is generally the county or municipal archive. This is also a good place to start if your time is limited and you are definite about the area where your ancestors lived. Most county archives include microfilm copies of national records, such as certificate indexes and census records, as well as important county collections, such as local wills, land records, family papers and parish registers. ARCHON, hosted by the National Archives, includes contact details for archives and other record repositories within the UK. Check the regional directory to find county archives, university archives and other unique resources in your area of interest.   Explore Your History Be sure to leave time on your journey to visit the places where your ancestors once lived, and explore the history of your family. Use census and civil registration records to identify the addresses where your ancestors resided, take a trip to their parish church or the cemetery where they are buried, enjoy dinner in a Scottish castle, or visit a specialty archive or museum to learn more about how your ancestors lived. Look for interesting stops such as the National Coal Museum in Wales; the West Highland Museum in Fort William, Scotland; or the National Army Museum in Chelsea, England. For those with Scottish roots, Ancestral Scotland offers a number of clan-themed iteneraries to help you walk in your ancestors footsteps.

Compare and contrast paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Compare and contrast paper - Essay Example The Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) under Dr. Juan Bosch has been a long-standing opposition to the dictator Rafael Leonides Trujillo. When the latter was assassinated in 1961, Bosch was groomed to become the next leader of the country. He was inaugurated in 1963 but was overthrown in a military coup on September of the same year (state.gov). Joaquin Balaguer, Trujillo’s long-time top aide became president. It was during this time or after that Bosch separated from PRD and formed the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). It should be noted that both PRD and PLD were founded by the same person, Dr. Bosch. During the course of time, the PRD successfully raised three presidents. Antonio Guzman was its first president who defeated Joaquin Balaguer in 1978, Salvador Jorge Blanco in 1982 and Hipolito Mejia in 2000. The latter was soon to become the close political rival of Leonel Fernandez, PLD’s pride and the two parties that were originated by one person fought for power th rough political positions from then on. Both claim to consider the good of the nation and the people, however, their motives are still to be seen in their management of the government. Leonel Fernandez is perhaps the epitome of PLD’s vision. ... The proceeds from the sales were used by the government to improve municipal services and to fund education (Marxists.org). In 2004, he was elected again as president, defeating PRD’s Hipolito Mejia. This time, he promised to promote fiscal austerity, fight corruption and support social concerns. This is an ideal change that all Dominicans might have wanted had they been implemented for their welfare. However, there is quite an argument to this. It is claimed that the â€Å"fiscal austerity† means further attacks on most people’s standard of living. The people were not satisfied with Fernandez and he soon faced protesters against unemployment, price hikes and electricity blackouts that begun in 1997. These were coupled by strikes from the working class. Things were not different when Mejia was elected into office in 2000. He championed the cause of free trade, signing a free trade agreement (CAFTA-DR) with the United States and five Central American countries in August 2002. The government sponsored and obtained anti-trafficking and anti-money laundering legislation, sent troops to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom and ratified the article 98 agreement. Despite the actions taken for changes and improvement, difficulties presented themselves to the Mejia government because of massive bank frauds and constant power shortages (state.gov). Therefore, instead of progressing, the country’s economy deteriorated. This caused many strikes and protests during Mejia’s rein, ones that were worse than those that occurred during Fernandez’ term. The government used all means to pacify the people and stop the protests through military involvement.

Acer in China Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Acer in China - Assignment Example The economic development in India is facilitated by both manufacturing and service sectors. Thus, Acer should make the fast move in conquering this market. This conclusion is based on the premise that the Indian market represents huge revenue and profit opportunity which remains largely untapped. Even though Acer is also bound to deal with numerous risks and uncertainties in its decision, this paper still believes that the business organization has already built strong presence in the smaller cities which can help it in succeeding in conquering India in contrast with the highly problematic Chinese market.The move to conquer India is warranted by the high demand in technological gadgets including personal computers which will support the growth in business process outsourcing. Acer should also need to make a quick decision in entering this market postponement will make it very late for it to establish a strong presence once larger and more efficient industry players abroad settle and gain strong foothold in the market. This is very possible noting the aggressiveness of top companies like Dell and IBM. Acer can gain a competitive advantage against this player recognizing its cost leadership strategy which is expected to appeal to the still highly price sensitive Indian market.Another reason why the Indian market should be pursued is the fact that the large market remains unsaturated.

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Report - Essay Example 1). Being Islam and Arabic from Kuwait, the festival is an intriguing event and a unique experience to be at the center of a cultural life unfamiliar to what I have been traditionally used to. In this regard, the experience gained from attending the event is hereby summarized in terms of the activities participated in and is instrumental in presenting an analytic evaluation of that experience through the lens of an Asian American Studies student by applying what one has learned in this course. Prior to the event, I was already profoundly interested and have actually heard so much about the Cherry Blossom Festival from friends and acquaintances as one of the much awaited intercultural events in the US. Wanting to find out more about this occasion, I searched on the internet and was made aware that â€Å"the cherry blossoms (Sakura) is a well-known and ubiquitous symbol of Japan and are frequently depicted on traditional Japanese goods and art. The cherry blossom is particularly important in Japanese culture as it represents the end of the winter and the being of new life and growing season of spring† (Japanese Lifestyle, par. 1). Remarkably, despite the tragic event of the earthquake that instigated a tsunami in Japan on March 11, the remaining cherry blossom trees continue to bloom and became symbols of both fragility and courage. As Sakurai indicated, â€Å"the warrior class liked the flowers because they didnt cling to life, but rather showed up for the briefest spell, and fell at the peak of their splendor. In this way, they embodied the spirit of "bushido" — the way of the warrior that combines stoicism, bravery, and self-sacrifice† (par. 7). By this, I was convinced that the event would be a worthwhile and memorable experience. The NCBF in Washington, D.C. has events lined up since February to April of 2011, showcasing arts exhibition of different seasons in Japan, an exhibition of flower

Compare the parliamentary and presidential forms of government. What Essay

Compare the parliamentary and presidential forms of government. What are the strengths and weakness of each - Essay Example The Prime Minister (who is the chief executive) may be elected to the legislature in the same way that all other members are elected" (Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations n.d.). Power in Parliamentary systems is concentrated in the Parliamentary leaders. It follows that pressure groups, to promote their interests, must influence the leaders, and this they can do effectively only by putting pressure on them directly or by acting through agencies that can, above all the parties and civil servants. Parliament, of course, also has some influence with its leaders, hence it is not entirely useless for British pressure groups to try to influence Prime Ministers (Mettenhiem 27). But compared to the pressures exerted through parties and civil servants their parliamentary activities are secondary. For instance, the need to focus pressure on the bureaucrats is reinforced by the activities of British government. First, the vast scope and technical character of decision-making r equired by welfare-state policies has led to the devolution of more and more decision-making authority to the bureaucracy, so that there is in Britain a vast amount of executive legislation (Ben-Zion Kaminsky 221). Equally important, the decision-making powers delegated to the Departments are likely to be of special concern to interest groups (Lijphart 129). General policy, of course, is still predominantly made by the Government, but technical details, especially the sort needing fairly frequent revisions (e.g., how much money is to be paid to doctors; what prices to guarantee to the farmers; on what basis to grant or withhold licenses to build, import, issue securities or acquire raw materials), are taken care of by the Departments, and such details are likely to be of as great concern to interest groups as policy in its broad sense (Mettenhiem 29). In contrast to Parliamentary systems, where the P.M is a party leader, the President is chosen by a separate election. "The President then appoints his or her cabinet of ministers (or "secretaries" in US parlance). Ministers/Secretaries usually are not simultaneously members of the legislature, although their appointment may require the advice and consent of the legislative branch" (Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations n.d.). In this view, the constitutional separation of the executive and the legislature is the main culprit in the now excessive fractionizing of governmental power. Following Lijphart (1992): "the notion of the supremacy of parliament as a whole over its parts is a distinctive characteristic of parliamentary systems" (37). The main differences between the Parliamentary and Presidential forms of government are found in separation of power (Lijphart 16). In general, the Presidential form stipulates separation of power between different branches while the Parliamentary form means a fusion of power. In both forms, corporatism is characterized by high concentrations of government power as well as private power (Ben-Zion Kaminsky 221). Pluralism, on the other hand, is based on low concentrations of government and private power. A state-directed system is characterized by high concentration of government power, and low concentration of private power. And, finally, high concentratio

Request to Conduct research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Request to Conduct research - Essay Example In addition, cigarette smoking harms secondhand smokers. Around 438,000 Americans die every year from inhaling secondhand smoke (Webber 13). The workplace is one of the most frequent places of smoking because of the time people spend in working and due to work-related stress. Hence, it is critical for the company to implement a comprehensive workplace smoking program that will benefit its employees and the organization. DECISION-MAKER The authority, who can implement the program, is the Human Resource Department (HRD) Manager. He is in charge of approving policies and solutions that impact the welfare of the employees. He will need the approval of the Finance Department and the support of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board of Directors. The HRD Manager should grant this solution because it will improve the health of the people, which will impact their performance and reduce the long-term healthcare costs of the company. PROPOSED SOLUTION The solution is embodied in a compreh ensive â€Å"Workplace Smoking Cessation Program.† The title does not emphasize banning smoking or anti-smoking because some smokers have aversive attitudes to such language. To launch this program, an ad hoc committee will be formed, consisting of at least six people, two from HR and four employee representatives, wherein two are smokers and two are non-smokers. The goal is to promote employee participation and enhance the legitimacy of the program as a pro-employee effort. These people will brainstorm on the policies and procedures regarding the program. The program will be composed of its benefits and communications strategy. It will offer health benefits support for tobacco cessation, while communicating tobacco-free worksite policies (Webber 14). The company will play a large role in educating employees and their families about the health impact of tobacco use and the programs and services that are accessible for employees, so that they can quit smoking (Webber 14). In o rder to save money, existing resources for motivating smoking cessation behaviors will be used, as well as public measures for assessing the success of the program. The HR will employ multiple communication tools and techniques to promote smoking cessation practices. These tools will emphasize the social, health, economic, and ethical reasons of stopping smoking habits. Several elements will be underscored: 1) Employ a value-based benefit design that promotes screening, counseling, and over-the-counter and prescription medications that will support tobacco cessation. 2) Emphasize the various benefits of smoking. 3) Give information about programs and services that help employees quit, such as telephone counseling quit lines, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resources, and other public resources. 4) Promote a general health philosophy in the worksite (Webber 14). BENEFITS The benefits of the program to the organization are: 1) Better employee and organizational perfor mance because of less smoking-related absences and illnesses. 2) Lower healthcare costs. 3) Decrease of instances of sudden workforce problems because of deaths and illnesses caused by smoking. 4) Higher morale due to emphasis on health and welfare. The benefits of the program to the employees are: 1) Better understanding of the benefits of quitting smoking. 2) Improved health and stamina. 3) Increase in morale because of the attention given to their health and welfare

Compare the parliamentary and presidential forms of government. What Essay

Compare the parliamentary and presidential forms of government. What are the strengths and weakness of each - Essay Example The Prime Minister (who is the chief executive) may be elected to the legislature in the same way that all other members are elected" (Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations n.d.). Power in Parliamentary systems is concentrated in the Parliamentary leaders. It follows that pressure groups, to promote their interests, must influence the leaders, and this they can do effectively only by putting pressure on them directly or by acting through agencies that can, above all the parties and civil servants. Parliament, of course, also has some influence with its leaders, hence it is not entirely useless for British pressure groups to try to influence Prime Ministers (Mettenhiem 27). But compared to the pressures exerted through parties and civil servants their parliamentary activities are secondary. For instance, the need to focus pressure on the bureaucrats is reinforced by the activities of British government. First, the vast scope and technical character of decision-making r equired by welfare-state policies has led to the devolution of more and more decision-making authority to the bureaucracy, so that there is in Britain a vast amount of executive legislation (Ben-Zion Kaminsky 221). Equally important, the decision-making powers delegated to the Departments are likely to be of special concern to interest groups (Lijphart 129). General policy, of course, is still predominantly made by the Government, but technical details, especially the sort needing fairly frequent revisions (e.g., how much money is to be paid to doctors; what prices to guarantee to the farmers; on what basis to grant or withhold licenses to build, import, issue securities or acquire raw materials), are taken care of by the Departments, and such details are likely to be of as great concern to interest groups as policy in its broad sense (Mettenhiem 29). In contrast to Parliamentary systems, where the P.M is a party leader, the President is chosen by a separate election. "The President then appoints his or her cabinet of ministers (or "secretaries" in US parlance). Ministers/Secretaries usually are not simultaneously members of the legislature, although their appointment may require the advice and consent of the legislative branch" (Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations n.d.). In this view, the constitutional separation of the executive and the legislature is the main culprit in the now excessive fractionizing of governmental power. Following Lijphart (1992): "the notion of the supremacy of parliament as a whole over its parts is a distinctive characteristic of parliamentary systems" (37). The main differences between the Parliamentary and Presidential forms of government are found in separation of power (Lijphart 16). In general, the Presidential form stipulates separation of power between different branches while the Parliamentary form means a fusion of power. In both forms, corporatism is characterized by high concentrations of government power as well as private power (Ben-Zion Kaminsky 221). Pluralism, on the other hand, is based on low concentrations of government and private power. A state-directed system is characterized by high concentration of government power, and low concentration of private power. And, finally, high concentratio

Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Essay

Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Essay Example One of the benefits accruing from the Act is with regards to the fact that it offers an extension of Medicaid’s eligibility in 26 states for up to 138% for the poverty level in the federal hence making it possible for most of Americans to have access to health care. Whether a citizen gets a health insurance coverage for themselves or whether it is done by their employees, the Act abolishes actions that leave citizens without insurance covers when they need them the most. No person gets left out based on their gender or even color. No canceling of policies Unlike before, an insurer cannot come forward and cancel a policy the moment one falls sick on claims that one had made a mistake when taking out the policy. The act of canceling is what is referred to a recession. If an applicant made an honest mistake while taking out the policy, their policy cannot, later on, be canceled on that very ground the instance they fall ill. Appeals When someone feels aggrieved by a decision that an insurance company has reached regarding their policy, they have a right to go ahead and apply for an appeal. The applicant makes the said appeal to a neutral or rather an independent reviewer who checks into their application and delivers a sound verdict in that regard. The response given by the independent reviewer is delivered within 72 hours when the medical condition is urgent in nature. No limited insurances Treatment for some illnesses can consume a lot of time and finances hence accumulating big medical bills.

Cybercrime technology Essay Example for Free

Cybercrime technology Essay People rationally choose to participate in criminal   acts;  in order to   prevent these acts from occurring people need to know that consequences will outweigh the benefits. If people believe that the consequences outweigh the benefits t hen they will   freely choose not to participate in the criminal behavior. On the other hand the positive   school of criminology believes that individuals participate in crime because of forces beyond individual control and relies on the scientific method to prove   it s theories (Cullen Agnew, 2006  ). Individuals should not  be held solely responsible for their actions   because not everyone is rational. Outside factors can play an important part in determining one‟s participation in crime. Now that we have exami ned the two most   dominant schools of criminological theory we can examine how two theories, self   control and routine activity, have been applied to the study of cybercrime and cybercrime victimization. Self Control  Theory  One general crime theory that has been applied to the study of cybercrime is  self   control theory. Self   control theory was first proposed by Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson in their 1990 publication A General Theory of Crime  . Self  Ã‚  control theory   beli  eves that criminal motivation is rampant, but that people act on this motivation only when they possess low self  Ã‚  control   (Cullen Agnew, 2006)  . This paper will discuss the   basic elements of self   control theory, as well as research that has provided eviden ce to   support the validity of this theory. Then this section will review empirical studies that have applied self  Ã‚  control theory  to the stu  dy of cybercrime and cyber victimization  and   will dis  cuss the benefits  of applying this theory to the study of cyberc  rime. Cybercrime 28 In their book, A General Theory of Crime , Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson describe the major characteristics that define individuals with and without self control (1990). Individual‟s with low self control are â€Å" impulsive, insensitive, physica l (as opposed to mental), risk   taking, short sighted, and nonverbal, and they will   tend therefore to engage in criminal and analogous acts .† (Hirschi Gottfredson, 1990) People with characteristics of low self   control may be more likely to participate in  deviant acts because they want immediate gratification. As compared to individuals who lack self   control, individuals with self   control are able to delay immediate gratification   and are more likely to be vigilant, emotional, verbal, and long   term orientat  ed (Hirschi   Gottfredson, 1990). Individuals who possess characteristics of self   control may be better   able to appreciate the consequences of participating in   deviant acts and have the control  necessary to delay their gratification. In conclusion, those who lack self   control are more   likely to possess characteristics such as impulsivity a  nd short   sightedness, that make  crime and its immediate gratification more attractive to them, as compared to those who possess characteristics of high self   control such   as being cautious and long   term   orientated.   This brings up an important question, does an individual‟s level of self   control   develop over time or is someone born with one level of self   control that remains the same  throughout his or her lifetime  . According to Hirschi and Gottfredson individuals are  not  born with one certain level of self   control,   rather   they learn self   control most often   through their parents (  Hirschi Gottfredson, 1990  ). An individual does not have only   on  e  level of self   control, as they grow older they may develop a different level of self   control then when they were younger. However, they do suggest that, â€Å"individual Cybercrime 29  differences may have an impact on the prospects for effective socialization† ( Hirschi G  ottfredson, 1990  ). For example, individuals with mental health problems may have a higher probability of not being effectively socialized. The authors believed that self   control is learned through life, but especially while you are a child. The authors   al  so addressed why some individuals possess characteristics of self   control. They suggest that individuals develop characteristics of self   control as a result of   their upbringing (Hirschi Gottfredson, 1990). While   parents do not intentionally  teach   their c  hildren  to not have  self   control, the authors  suggest that â€Å"  in order to teach the child   self   control, someone must (1) monitor the child‟s behavior; (2) recognize deviant behavior when it occurs; and (3) punish such behaviorall that is required to activat e the   system is affection for or investment in the child  .† (Hirschi Gottfredson, 1990) They   suggest that a deficiency in any one of these categories will inadvertently allow the child to develop characteristics of low self   control (Hirschi Gottfredson , 1990).   Characteristics of low self   control can be the result of ineffective parenting. Low self   control makes crime more attractive to individuals who possess learned characteristics such as impulsivity and lack of responsibility. Good parenting is impo  rtant in developing   individuals who possess high levels of self   control, however good parenting can only   occur if parents care about their children and are able to monitor, recognize, and effectively punish their children for deviant behavior. Self  Ã‚  control theory  has been the subject of many empirical studies, which have   attempted to test the validity of the theory in explaining crime (Pratt Cullen 200 0; Pratt, Turner Piquero 2004; Perrone, Sullivan, Pratt, Margaryan 2004 ; Turner,   Piquero, Pratt 20  05; Reisig Pratt 2011;   Deng Zheng 1998 ) . In 2000, Pratt and

Agency Roles in Health and Disease

Agency Roles in Health and Disease Introduction Health is a one of the main are in any country. Public health and social care is the area which has more government concern. Due to different factors there are many health hazards reported all over the world. These factors need to consider very seriously and within the country health management policies and procedures need to be updated to control some of the issues. The health sector cannot work isolate. They need to have links with the other government entities and private entities to collectively implement procedures and policies. To manage the public health support from the general public is highly essential. There is a proper defined structure in the health sector where all the functionalities are defined and well manage. Task 1 1.1 Role of Different agencies According to the Greener (2008; p. 45) National Health Service (NHS) is the total body responsible for the implementation of health related activities. The chief governor is the Secretary of state for health. He is responsible all the health related activities in the country. All other departments and governing bodies are coming under secretary. Secretary gives proper guidelines and commands to the other authorities about all the drugs management, new researches, disease management related policies and processes. Under the Secretary Department of Health is coming. Department of Health is responsible for the action plan and implementation of the policies defined and to manage the better health of the public. There are strategic health authorities are there to do the ground work implementation. One category is the primary care trust, which consider the peoples health for the emergency and any necessary assistance. There are community health service, General practitioners, dentists, pha rmacists and opticians. Each of them is responsible to play vital role in terms of public health. The second category is the NHS trust or the secondary care unit. This is the major section of the health service. Which has taken care of hospitals, clinics and other supportive services. As a public health care providers the government funds these and there are few voluntary services organisations who support to manage some of the activities. Hospitals are playing a key role in both prevention and cure. Epidemiological vaccinations are provided from the childs birth to prevent BCG and thereafter another series of doses to prevent different infections. For the cure also hospitals play a major role in different treatment methods implementation. Due to the change of the lifestyle of the people it is highly increasing the no of people who suffer from diabetes. Diabetic research unit is doing researches and providing guidelines for people how to prevent that kind of diseases as per the findings of Britain (2012: p. 3). 1.2 Statistical data analysis Infectious disease Due to the Wilson (2006: p. 67) Tuberculosis is one of the alerted infection in European countries. Since it needs 6 months continuous treatment people tent to forget some time to take drugs. Due to his if the normal tuberculosis turn into multi drug resistant tuberculosis it is very difficult to cure from existing medicines. Following statistics show the behaviour, patterns, and trends of tuberculosis. Noninfectious disease According to Merril and Timmreck (2006: p. 165) Diabetics are the most dangerous non infected disease. Once a person got diabetic it is critical because with it, high blood pressure, heart attacks and many other related complications may arise. At the UK rate of diabetic is around 5% of the population. This is again an alarming situation where the lifestyle matter a lot. 1.3 Effectiveness of the processes implemented Price et al. (2004: p. 78) say that health research organisation has already planed new developments and strategies to reduce and prevent tuberculosis from the UK. There are many strategies implemented and following are the key areas identified and the success of some of the areas. Develop new vaccine current TB vaccine was developed in 1921. It helps to protect 40,000 children every year. With the high rate of HIV and due to the speed it is spreading there is a requirement of researching for new vaccines. Develop more effective drugs Drugs currently using been discovered 40 years ago. Normally it need to treat many moths. Patients who are unable to take the proper drug course may get into drug resistance TB. Develop better diagnosis Present method of diagnosis sputum smear microscopy is 100 years old technique of identifying a patient and it is time consuming. There is a requirement of researching for a new method to identify a TB patient. Introduce innovation in TB control Since the UK TB rate is increasing and no of HIV patients are increasing, it is a requirement to find new methods to control TB. To prevent and cure diabetics there are some implementations planed. Below are some of the steps to prevent diabetes in the UK due to the Britain ( 2012: p. 23). Awareness of the risk of type 2 diabetics Support and advice for the people to minimise risk of diabetes Educate people who have diabetics to minimise complication Educate people to maintain blood glucose level Effective care for people who are hospitalised Above strategies are more forcussing the after effect care. But to prevent any of the disease it is required to educate people from the childhood. Then automatically the lifestyle of the people will change according to the correct health practices. This may be a 20 year project. Since the implementation is taking time this kind of a project need to execute from the government level as findings of HNS Website (2012). Task 2 2.1 Current priorities Due to the Farnan and Enriquez (2012: p. 112) the entire world is now facing a bigger problem, which is HIV. There are 3 main ways where HIV can be infected to another person. Sexual transmission Transmission through blood Mother to child transmission If these 3 risks can reduce the prevention of HIV is easy. There are some methods which are spelled out to reduce the risk. HIV testing Counselling Condom use Circumcision Family planning Sex education Since there is no proper medication found yet the best practice is to avoid people getting HIV. For this continues training programmes and awareness campaigns need to conduct. School children need to educate about the dangers and the prevention methods. All VOG sergeants need to take blood checkups for the pregnant mothers make sure children are not getting spread. This is the millennium challenge in from of us in this century to control HIV as findings of Ramaiah (2008: p. 62). 2.2 Disease prevalence Farnan and Enriquez (2012: p. 112) say that no of people and patients who are getting some medical testes does not count exact no of people who has suffered from the same disease. Same time there are many people who are not aware that they have already infected. Therefore the exact no of people needs to calculate using a model, understand the full effect to the society, and get ready for medication. Most of the diseases public is not aware the actual effect on them. It is necessary to educate them about the effects and synthems of the diastase and soon as feel uncomfortable to meet the GP and get treated. This is the best method of preventing the diseases spreading over the place. 2.3 Impact of Lifestyle Peoples health is depending on their behavioural patterns and lifestyle. This is a proven concept of today for many illnesses. As an example. Type 2 diabetes can be easily managed if the people get used to proper health habits and exercises. With the busy schedules of the people time that they have to spend for health maintenance got reduced. It is the biggest challenge the health sector is having now. The second reason is the dining patterns of people. Most of the people are not taking a balanced dilate. This affects their health in the long term. The next challenge is the people who suppose to come to clinics are not participating those in regular manner. This will break the medication process and for cases like TB can cause serious complications due to this as per findings of Kinger (2005; p. 123). Task 3 3.1 Health and wellbeing priorities According to the Bianchi et al. ( 2005: p. 45) considering the health and well being of people there are several factors combine together to affect the health of individual such as physical factors, sociological , psychological, economic and environmental factors. In addition to that there are several determinants that affect human health and well being. Mainly they are included; Physical factors- malfunction of the body parts, hormonal imbalance, immune system and genetic disorders that exist in the human body are physical factors that affect the health of people. It can be high blood pressure, high cholesterol, releasing stress hormone as well as genetic factors. The psychological factors- These are factors of psychological , behavioural and cultural that involve the physical health and illness of human . Stress is psychological factor and smoking, alcohol, unsafe sexual activities are behavioural factor that affects the health and illness due to Taylor (2012: p. 98). Environmental factors-The environment where people live and work is an environment and Physical environmental factors also affect the human well being and health such as safe water and environment make healthy place. In addition to that some biological, chemical and physical environment factors also affect the health and well being of human. Socioeconomic factors-Education, income, environment are the most important socioeconomic factors that affect the health and well being of human. As an example higher income and social health make better health. Higher education level link with both poor and better well being. And also social factors such as interaction with people, family and friends also important in the facts of Bianchi et al. ( 2005: p. 65). 3.2 Effectiveness of strategies, systems and policies Martin et al. (2010; p. 66) say that strategy is something which are defined by the people sometimes may not have real ground level experience. The policy and the implementation requirements are the factors which need to implement to overcome the issues. However, there can be instances where the ground level implementation is not possible according to the defined guidelines. This may be due to the economical, social, cultural and behavioural patterns of the people. In such situations the policy framework wither not implemented or the implementation will be partial. Then the result will be not according to the predictions. The policy framework needs to define for these areas separately and implementation should carry out accordingly to get the maximum gain. 3.3 Improve health and well being To improve the health and well being it is important to understand the factors which are causing the route. Sometimes social factors such as poverty cause poor health habits and negligence. Physical factors According to Taylor (2012: p. 136) physical factors are high blood pressure, high cholesterol level like things and these can be created due to psychological factors also. In a high work pressure it can create stress as well as increase the blood pressure. Behavioural factors such as eating behaviour can increase the cholesterol levels , sugar levels as well as carbohydrate levels of the body and it will affect the health and well being of the person. In addition to that genetic factors play a part in health and well being by developing certain illness. People need to make aware of such incidents and make necessary arrangements to treat them with priority. Psychological factors Brannon and Feist (2009: p. 56) say that most of psychological factors indirectly influence on human health such as changing behaviour of human. It affects the eating, sleeping, socializing of human and it also affect the hormonal changes as well as heart functions such as heart rates. It makes physical health problems such as heart attacks. As an example stress is a psychological determinant and it affect the memory and reduce the efficiency of the immune system. It influences the reduction of white blood cells and cause bacterial infections mailing physical illness in the human. Depression is another psychological factor that affects heart disease. Its impact on h heart and circulatory system function and mark towards attacks also. In addition to the lack of exercise and excessive use of alcohol, drug abuse like poor habit also related to depression. Insomnia is another psychological factor and causes for that are experts, anxiety, depression and stress. This altered thiamine system and rheumatoid, arthritis like infection can suffer due to that. According to that all these affect the health and well being of human as findings per Rice (2008: p 126). Behavioural factors Jones and Creedy (2012: p. 36) say that for the health and well being of human behaviour also influenced. As an example smoking, drinking drug abusing are behaviours that affect the health. There are several health effects of alcohol consumption. It is damaging most of the body parts. Social economic factors Due to Glanz et al. (2008 : p. 89) poverty is the most important factor that affects the health and well being of people. There is no enough money to live and it influences the mental stress conditions and it causes the work overload lack of sleep etc. These are the causes of other health diseases such as heart attacks. In addition to that poverty affect the food also. There is no adequate food and due to that can increase the nutritional issues such as malnutrition and other nutrition deficiency diseases. Low income people have no time to prepare a good meal and it also causes nutrition problems. The education level also can less and it also leads to unbalance diet that causes the obesity and other diseases. According to that each and every way it shows that the poverty causes the health and well being of humanity. Environmental factors According to the Winkelman (2008: p. 910 environments that human life and work is a very important determinant of their health and well being. Climate, culture, religion, workplace are environmental factors that important in overall well being. As an example the environment with polluted air , water will enhance the negative health and clean air and safe water make a positive health effect. As well as these the working environment also affects the health and well being of humanity. If working environment is no good it make stress to the human and destroy their satisfaction due to other workers and conditions of work environment. Other factors According to the Windsor (2000: p. 98) Social factors such as family background, friends, working members also affect on the health and well being of human. It is related to good relationships and make happy and it affects the mental health of human. In addition to that biology and genetics also other health and well being determined. As an example certain diseases and health conditions from a parent can affect their child and also the behaviour of parent can effect to the child such as stress and mental conditions. Due to the Fisher (2003: p. 95) culture is another factor determine the health and well being because due to some cultural tends also it destroy heath of human. As an example due to some cultures there can be bad feeding habits and believes and it can cause for health and well being of people. Gender is another important factor that affects the health and well being. As and example there can be same diseases in some stages of female than male. And also retention capacity of stress is less in female than the males. This leads to week mental health of female than the male and it is a major determinant. 3.4 Activities need implement to improve health and social care According to Martin et al. (2010; p. 89) there are certain processor to implement as precautionary actions to control spreading health diseases. It is recommended to start health camps from the school level, where the vaccinations and related health camps can be conducted to maintain the school children health. The next most important set of people is elderly community. According to social security information planned visits need to arrange weekly or monthly to check the health status of these people. One of the best practice to control diseases coming to the country is to manage it from the border control. Department of health need to work further closely with immigrations to implement the set guidelines to minimise people coming from infected countries or countries. Conclusion Health sector controls the entire economy in one angle. Because if the people are not well they may not be able to contribute to the economy. In this assignment health sector organisational hiearcahy identified with the roles of each entity. Some of the infectious and noninfectious diseases analysed with statistical data and key elements of improvements to control procedures and their issues being identified. Country and the world facing the change of HIV. Some of the information and procedures mentioned to control health related issues and practical difficulties. Human related wellbeing factors and the most alarming situations explained and solutions to overcome those issues identified. There are some better implementations required to further increase the health of the public.