Saturday, August 31, 2019

Speech: Unconditional Love

Persuasive speeches aim to convince the audience to believe a certain view. A persuasive speech is a specific type of speech in which the speaker has a goal of convincing the audience to accept his or her point of view. The speech is arranged in such a way as to hopefully cause the audience to accept all or part of the expressed view. Though the overarching goal of a persuasive speech is to convince the audience to accept a perspective, not all audiences can be convinced by a single speech and not all perspectives can persuade the audience Figure 0. The Sales PitchAn example of a persuasive speech is a sales pitch. During a sales pitch, the speaker is trying to convince the audience to buy his or her product or service. If the salesperson is successful, the audience (the person being sold to) will choose to purchase the product or service. However, salespeople understand that just because someone does not make a purchase after the first sales pitch does not mean the pitch failed. Per suasion is often a process. People may need multiple persuasive pitches and a lot of outside information before they are ready to accept a new view.Components of a Persuasive Speech Persuasive speeches are composed of both logical and emotional appeals. Logic appeals are arguments that present a set of information and show why a conclusion must rationally be true. For example, arguments heard in court are logical arguments. Emotional appeals are appeals that seek to make the audience feel a certain way so that they will accept a conclusion. Negative political ads, for example, often incorporate emotional appeals by juxtaposing an opponent with a negative emotion such as fear.I think that every emotionally healthy person wants to love and to be loved. We want people to love us as we are. We want to feel accepted no matter what we may say or do. When we make a mistake, we want to be forgiven and we don't want to experience  rejection. We want to be loved unconditionally. A problem c omes though when we do not reciprocate unconditional love. For example, there will never be  real love  expressed between two people if both individuals are seeking to have their needs met. How can two people make a relationship work if both define love as, â€Å"if you love me then you will o what I want†? There is only one person who can truly  love unconditionally. His name is Jesus. See, God is perfect and demands perfection from us. But, we all have fallen short of living a perfect life and that is called sin. The penalty for sin is death. But, this penalty is too great for us to pay! The Bible says that God demonstrated themeaning of love  to us in this that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus laid down His life for us as the ultimate act of unconditional love. He accepts us for who we are, for what we have done, and even for what we have neglected to do.But, now He is asking us to accept Him unconditionally as well. He wants us to accept His lo ve by giving to Him our heart, mind, soul, and strength. He wants all of us. When we give ourselves over completely to Jesus then we are â€Å"fully known, fully accepted, fully loved, fully valued, and fully celebrated. † Jesus will never leave you, quit on you, belittle you, or even condemn you. Did you know that the Bible says that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save the world?He came to show you  what love is. Once we experience His love, we must step forward quickly to embrace it. The Bible provides an excellent description of unconditional love and gives us a pattern to follow. What is real love? Here is an example, â€Å"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, †¦ Love rejoices with the truth. Love believes and endures all things. Love never fails. † The longing of your heart to be loved unconditionally can be fulfilled only through Jesus Christ.You must admit your sin, believ e in Jesus, and follow His ways. If you do, you will experience  unconditional love. Once you have experienced  love unconditionally, you are then able to know  how to love  as well. As you travel life’s journey, you can take the road from conditional love to unconditional love. Let us Pray.. â€Å"Dear Jesus, I want real love and to be loved unconditionally. Please forgive me of my sin and show me  what is real love. I surrender my heart to you and ask that you take control of my life now. Thank you. â€Å"

Friday, August 30, 2019

Closed-book vs closed-notes quiz Essay

1. This is a closed-book, closed-notes quiz. No reference material (including assignments and labs) will be permitted for use during the quiz session. 2. The quiz contains the following types of questions: * Short essay type 3. Place your answers in the space immediately following each question. Quiz Questions 1. What does MAO define? Defines how long a business can be without system or applications before having adverse effects on the mission of the business. 2. Define CSFs for a BIA. The success of recovering critical systems or application necessary in an event that interrupts the services of the business. 3. List four of the seven steps for a contingency plan based on the NIST 800-34 standard. Develop a BIA, develop a recovery strategy, preventive controls identified, test the plan and train individuals. 4. What is the objective of a BIA? To identify the critical and non-critical resources of a business. 5. In the seven domains of an IT infrastructure, list three things that should be included as CBFs. The System/Application Domain, The LAN Domain, and the WAN domain. 6. List at least two differences between BCP and a DRP plan. A BCP covers all units of the business while the DRP covers functions of the IT department only. A BCP contains strategy and incidents to be included and the DRP contains recovery steps and procedures. 7. Describe and list four elements of a BCP. Identify critical equipment necessary for the business mission. Identifying critical personnel necessary for the business to return to normal operations of the business. Conduct a BIA, determine the impact on the business if systems were unavailable. Maintenance and updating of the BCP as changes are made to the network. 8. What does a BCP program manager do? What are his or her duties? Take the leadership role as they are responsible for writing the BCP and conducting the BIA. 9. Describe and list two of the commonly used teams for a BCP. BIA- which is the business impact analysis- The impact a disruption of service would have on a business. DRP- Disaster recovery plan- plans to recover from a disaster resulting in a loss of business systems necessary for the business to operate normally. 10. Describe at least one element that would be in a recovery phase of a BCP plan. An Alternative site to set up business operations in the event of a lost site due to a disaster.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement

Care should be taken, however, to ensure that deals are accurately valued, taking into account all considerations, such as relationship value, time value of money and the likelihood that the other party will live up to their side of the bargain. These other considerations are often difficult to value, since they are frequently based on uncertain or qualitative considerations, rather than easily measurable and quantifiable factors. The BATNA is often seen by negotiators not as a safety net, but rather as a point of leverage in negotiations. Although a negotiator’s alternative options should, in theory, be straightforward to evaluate, the effort to understand which alternative represents a party’s BATNA is often not invested. Options need to be real and actionable to be of value,[1] however without the investment of time, options will frequently be included that fail on one of these criteria. [citation needed] Most managers overestimate their BATNA whilst simultaneously investing too little time into researching their real options. [citation needed] This can result in poor or faulty decision making and negotiating outcomes. Negotiatiors also need to be aware of the other negotiator’s BATNA and to identify how it compares to what they are offering. 2] BATNA was developed by negotiation researchers Roger Fisher and William Ury of the Harvard Program on Negotiation (PON), in their series of books on Principled negotiation that started with Getting to YES, unwittingly duplicating a game theory concept pioneered by Nobel Laureate John Forbes Nash decades earlier in his early undergraduate research. [citation needed] Contents [hide] 1 Definitions 2 Examples 2. 1 Selling a car 2. 2 Purchasing 3 See also 4 References 5 External links [edit]Definitions BATNA An acronym defined by negotiation researches Roger Fisher and William Ury which means Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. 3] It is the alternative action that will be taken if your proposed agreement with another party result in an unsatisfactory agreement or when an agreement cannot be reached. Historical Theories The Nash Equilibrium as developed by John Forbes Nash, the father of Game Theory, is described in Getting to YES[3] as the underlying idea for the concept of BATNA in negotiation (Roger B. Myerson, April 1996). [4] In a nutshell, Nash Equilibrium theory explains that, if in a group of players, each player has in consideration the other player’s decisions, then no one will benefit from altering their decisions, if the other players haven’t either. 5] Example of Nash Equilibrium Theory Amy and Phil are in Nash Equilibrium if Amy is making the best decision she can, taking into account Phil’s d ecision, and Phil is making the best decision he can, taking into account Amy’s decision. Likewise, a group of players are in Nash Equilibrium if each one is making the best decision that he or she can, taking into account the decisions of the others. We cannot think of BATNA without first understanding the notion of negotiation. Negotiation has been part of the â€Å"business† mentality of human beings as we know it, since the beginning of mankind. Take for example the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one of the longest ongoing negotiations of the kind, based primarily on the dispute over land (UN, 1948). We negotiate every single day of our lives; whether it is goods, commodities, ideas, positions, or money. The list could be endless. For this reason knowing how to negotiate is very important. The idea is to have all parties mutually satisfied with the results achieved through the highest standards of (Ethics) and legitimate standards. In no other time of world history as the modern days, has the ability and the necessity of knowing how to negotiate, using sophisticated tools and civil discourse been so essential to society. As explained in Getting to YES, â€Å"We are each participants in a pioneering generation of negotiators†¦ it is central to human life and the survival of our species. â€Å"[3] Negotiations Concepts Leading to Good BATNA A ruthless, aggressive and cold blooded negotiation style is the framework approach most people have when it comes to negotiation,[6] a theoretical example of that is Adversarial Approach Style Negotiation. 6] But in reality, as mentioned by experts and researchers such as Fisher and Ury [3] it doesn’t have to be that way. As the world moves to more sophisticated platforms of communication, negotiation follows the trend and Problem-Solving Approach(citation) is in a way, the â€Å"antidote† of Adversarial Approach Style Negotiation. Getting to YES[3] sugge st an Interest-Based Model for the use of Problem-Solving Approach. Interest-Based Model focus on separating the person (positional) from the problems (resolution) and then concentrate on the resolution. This way allowing for both parties in a distributive way to get the results they both want. ABC’s of BATNA Having a BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) as part of the negotiation is imperative as the name explains. No one should come to the negotiation table without a BATNA. [7] This will allow for intelligent negotiation and bargain zones. In addition to having a BATNA, parties should have a Bottom Line or Reservation Price. What this prevents is that neither party will come out with agreements they don’t need[3] Often, parties go to the negotiation table with what they imagine is a great BATNA. For example, how many times have you walked into a job interview with no other solid job offers in hand, let alone perspective of solid salaries, benefits and other great things you are looking for in a job. [3] The ability to be in a powerful position so the negotiation can be intelligent and satisfactory to both parties requires preparation and research. So do not cut yourself short for the lack of having a better BATNA at all times. [3] If having a good BATNA in essential, developing a BATNA is equally important. Let’s assume that you are going to work for a company that is not offering you the salary you desire. Instead, you know that they offer other perks such as, company cars, luxurious vacation homes, and state-of-the-art computers and laptops to their employees. In other words, Alternatives. [3] Attractive Alternatives is what you want to explore in order to develop a very strong BATNA. In Getting to YES, the authors give 3 suggestions of how you can accomplish this: Inventing a list of actions you might take if no agreement is reached Converting some of the more promising ideas and transforming them into tangible and partial alternatives Selecting the alternative that sounds best BATNA rules Parties should never disclose their BATNA, unless, the alternative is better. In other words, if your best alternative to a negotiated agreement is better than what the other party is offering, then disclosing it, is to your advantage. If on the other hand it is worse, then do not disclose it. BATNA in Cross Cultural Frameworks Currently in the United States and due to recent world events, there are more and more individuals with a different cultural background and approach to negotiation. When individuals come to the negotiation and bargaining table ready to use their BATNA, and one of the parties is from a different culture, there is a tremendous game change in approach. Both parties need to think and account for cultural cognitive behaviors. Both parties must expand their thinking negotiation hats by not allowing external judgment and biases to affect the negotiation. As mentioned earlier, separate the individual from the objective[3] For example imagine you are negotiating with a party from an Arab Nation. Is this going to effect your view of how you are going to negotiate? Or even if you are the party from that nation, are you prepared to receive an offer lower than your BATNA because you know you are from a different culture. The previous is a very simple example, but the purpose here as Gulliver[8] mentioned, is for negotiation parties to be aware. Disclosure This is a very new topic in negotiation and there aren’t many frameworks in place to help this scenario. Nonetheless, preparation at all levels, including prejudicial free thoughts, emotional free behavior, biases free behavior are just a few ways according to the Handbook of Negotiations and Culture[9] that can helps in the right direction. edit]Examples The following examples illustrate the basic principles of identifying the BATNA and how to use it in further negotiations to help value other offers. [edit]Selling a car If the seller of a car has a written offer from a dealership to buy the seller’s car for $1,000, then the seller’s BATNA when dealing with other potential purchasers would be $1,000 since the seller can get $1,000 for the car even without reaching an agreement with an alternative purchaser. In this example, other offers that illustrate the difficulty of valuing qualitative factors might include: An offer of $900 by a close relative An offer of $1,100 in 45 days (what are the chances of this future commitment falling through, and would the seller’s prior BATNA (the $1,000 offer from the dealership) still be available if it did? ) An offer from another dealer to offset $1,500 against the price of a new car (does the seller want to buy a new car right now, and the offered car in particular? ) [edit]Purchasing Buyers are often able to leverage their BATNA with regards to prices. This is done through buying from the lowest cost or best value seller. [edit]See also Getting to YES Getting past No Conflict resolution research Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Nutshell [edit]References ^ Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement | Negotiation Experts ^ Negotiation, Readings, Exercises and Cases, Roy J. Lewicki ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fisher and Ury, Roger and William (2011). Getting to YES. Penguin Books. pp. 1–170. ISBN 978-0143118756. ^ Myerson, Roger B. â€Å"Nash Equilibrium and the History of Economic Theory†. Nash Equilibrium and the History of Economic Theory. Journal of Economic Literature. Retrieved 1 October 2012. ^ Hawkins and Steiner, Jeff and Neil. â€Å"The Nash Equilibrium Meets Batna†. Gamed Therory Varied Ueses in ADR. Harvard University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012. ^ a b Nolan-Haley, Jaqueline M (2001). Alternative Dipute Resolution in a Nutshel. Thomson West. pp. 39–50. ISBN ISBN 978-0314180148. ^ Honeyman and Schneider, Andrea and Chistopher (2006). The Negotiators Fieldbook: Desktop Reference. American Bar Association. pp. 200–300. ISBN 978-1590315453. ^ Gulliver, P. H (1979). Disputes and Negotiation: A Cross Culture Perspective. Academic Press. p. 287. ^ Brett and Gelfand, Jeanne and Michael (2004). The Handbook of Negotiations and Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement Care should be taken, however, to ensure that deals are accurately valued, taking into account all considerations, such as relationship value, time value of money and the likelihood that the other party will live up to their side of the bargain. These other considerations are often difficult to value, since they are frequently based on uncertain or qualitative considerations, rather than easily measurable and quantifiable factors. The BATNA is often seen by negotiators not as a safety net, but rather as a point of leverage in negotiations. Although a negotiator’s alternative options should, in theory, be straightforward to evaluate, the effort to understand which alternative represents a party’s BATNA is often not invested. Options need to be real and actionable to be of value,[1] however without the investment of time, options will frequently be included that fail on one of these criteria. [citation needed] Most managers overestimate their BATNA whilst simultaneously investing too little time into researching their real options. [citation needed] This can result in poor or faulty decision making and negotiating outcomes. Negotiatiors also need to be aware of the other negotiator’s BATNA and to identify how it compares to what they are offering. 2] BATNA was developed by negotiation researchers Roger Fisher and William Ury of the Harvard Program on Negotiation (PON), in their series of books on Principled negotiation that started with Getting to YES, unwittingly duplicating a game theory concept pioneered by Nobel Laureate John Forbes Nash decades earlier in his early undergraduate research. [citation needed] Contents [hide] 1 Definitions 2 Examples 2. 1 Selling a car 2. 2 Purchasing 3 See also 4 References 5 External links [edit]Definitions BATNA An acronym defined by negotiation researches Roger Fisher and William Ury which means Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. 3] It is the alternative action that will be taken if your proposed agreement with another party result in an unsatisfactory agreement or when an agreement cannot be reached. Historical Theories The Nash Equilibrium as developed by John Forbes Nash, the father of Game Theory, is described in Getting to YES[3] as the underlying idea for the concept of BATNA in negotiation (Roger B. Myerson, April 1996). [4] In a nutshell, Nash Equilibrium theory explains that, if in a group of players, each player has in consideration the other player’s decisions, then no one will benefit from altering their decisions, if the other players haven’t either. 5] Example of Nash Equilibrium Theory Amy and Phil are in Nash Equilibrium if Amy is making the best decision she can, taking into account Phil’s d ecision, and Phil is making the best decision he can, taking into account Amy’s decision. Likewise, a group of players are in Nash Equilibrium if each one is making the best decision that he or she can, taking into account the decisions of the others. We cannot think of BATNA without first understanding the notion of negotiation. Negotiation has been part of the â€Å"business† mentality of human beings as we know it, since the beginning of mankind. Take for example the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one of the longest ongoing negotiations of the kind, based primarily on the dispute over land (UN, 1948). We negotiate every single day of our lives; whether it is goods, commodities, ideas, positions, or money. The list could be endless. For this reason knowing how to negotiate is very important. The idea is to have all parties mutually satisfied with the results achieved through the highest standards of (Ethics) and legitimate standards. In no other time of world history as the modern days, has the ability and the necessity of knowing how to negotiate, using sophisticated tools and civil discourse been so essential to society. As explained in Getting to YES, â€Å"We are each participants in a pioneering generation of negotiators†¦ it is central to human life and the survival of our species. â€Å"[3] Negotiations Concepts Leading to Good BATNA A ruthless, aggressive and cold blooded negotiation style is the framework approach most people have when it comes to negotiation,[6] a theoretical example of that is Adversarial Approach Style Negotiation. 6] But in reality, as mentioned by experts and researchers such as Fisher and Ury [3] it doesn’t have to be that way. As the world moves to more sophisticated platforms of communication, negotiation follows the trend and Problem-Solving Approach(citation) is in a way, the â€Å"antidote† of Adversarial Approach Style Negotiation. Getting to YES[3] sugge st an Interest-Based Model for the use of Problem-Solving Approach. Interest-Based Model focus on separating the person (positional) from the problems (resolution) and then concentrate on the resolution. This way allowing for both parties in a distributive way to get the results they both want. ABC’s of BATNA Having a BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) as part of the negotiation is imperative as the name explains. No one should come to the negotiation table without a BATNA. [7] This will allow for intelligent negotiation and bargain zones. In addition to having a BATNA, parties should have a Bottom Line or Reservation Price. What this prevents is that neither party will come out with agreements they don’t need[3] Often, parties go to the negotiation table with what they imagine is a great BATNA. For example, how many times have you walked into a job interview with no other solid job offers in hand, let alone perspective of solid salaries, benefits and other great things you are looking for in a job. [3] The ability to be in a powerful position so the negotiation can be intelligent and satisfactory to both parties requires preparation and research. So do not cut yourself short for the lack of having a better BATNA at all times. [3] If having a good BATNA in essential, developing a BATNA is equally important. Let’s assume that you are going to work for a company that is not offering you the salary you desire. Instead, you know that they offer other perks such as, company cars, luxurious vacation homes, and state-of-the-art computers and laptops to their employees. In other words, Alternatives. [3] Attractive Alternatives is what you want to explore in order to develop a very strong BATNA. In Getting to YES, the authors give 3 suggestions of how you can accomplish this: Inventing a list of actions you might take if no agreement is reached Converting some of the more promising ideas and transforming them into tangible and partial alternatives Selecting the alternative that sounds best BATNA rules Parties should never disclose their BATNA, unless, the alternative is better. In other words, if your best alternative to a negotiated agreement is better than what the other party is offering, then disclosing it, is to your advantage. If on the other hand it is worse, then do not disclose it. BATNA in Cross Cultural Frameworks Currently in the United States and due to recent world events, there are more and more individuals with a different cultural background and approach to negotiation. When individuals come to the negotiation and bargaining table ready to use their BATNA, and one of the parties is from a different culture, there is a tremendous game change in approach. Both parties need to think and account for cultural cognitive behaviors. Both parties must expand their thinking negotiation hats by not allowing external judgment and biases to affect the negotiation. As mentioned earlier, separate the individual from the objective[3] For example imagine you are negotiating with a party from an Arab Nation. Is this going to effect your view of how you are going to negotiate? Or even if you are the party from that nation, are you prepared to receive an offer lower than your BATNA because you know you are from a different culture. The previous is a very simple example, but the purpose here as Gulliver[8] mentioned, is for negotiation parties to be aware. Disclosure This is a very new topic in negotiation and there aren’t many frameworks in place to help this scenario. Nonetheless, preparation at all levels, including prejudicial free thoughts, emotional free behavior, biases free behavior are just a few ways according to the Handbook of Negotiations and Culture[9] that can helps in the right direction. edit]Examples The following examples illustrate the basic principles of identifying the BATNA and how to use it in further negotiations to help value other offers. [edit]Selling a car If the seller of a car has a written offer from a dealership to buy the seller’s car for $1,000, then the seller’s BATNA when dealing with other potential purchasers would be $1,000 since the seller can get $1,000 for the car even without reaching an agreement with an alternative purchaser. In this example, other offers that illustrate the difficulty of valuing qualitative factors might include: An offer of $900 by a close relative An offer of $1,100 in 45 days (what are the chances of this future commitment falling through, and would the seller’s prior BATNA (the $1,000 offer from the dealership) still be available if it did? ) An offer from another dealer to offset $1,500 against the price of a new car (does the seller want to buy a new car right now, and the offered car in particular? ) [edit]Purchasing Buyers are often able to leverage their BATNA with regards to prices. This is done through buying from the lowest cost or best value seller. [edit]See also Getting to YES Getting past No Conflict resolution research Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Nutshell [edit]References ^ Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement | Negotiation Experts ^ Negotiation, Readings, Exercises and Cases, Roy J. Lewicki ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fisher and Ury, Roger and William (2011). Getting to YES. Penguin Books. pp. 1–170. ISBN 978-0143118756. ^ Myerson, Roger B. â€Å"Nash Equilibrium and the History of Economic Theory†. Nash Equilibrium and the History of Economic Theory. Journal of Economic Literature. Retrieved 1 October 2012. ^ Hawkins and Steiner, Jeff and Neil. â€Å"The Nash Equilibrium Meets Batna†. Gamed Therory Varied Ueses in ADR. Harvard University Press. Retrieved 1 October 2012. ^ a b Nolan-Haley, Jaqueline M (2001). Alternative Dipute Resolution in a Nutshel. Thomson West. pp. 39–50. ISBN ISBN 978-0314180148. ^ Honeyman and Schneider, Andrea and Chistopher (2006). The Negotiators Fieldbook: Desktop Reference. American Bar Association. pp. 200–300. ISBN 978-1590315453. ^ Gulliver, P. H (1979). Disputes and Negotiation: A Cross Culture Perspective. Academic Press. p. 287. ^ Brett and Gelfand, Jeanne and Michael (2004). The Handbook of Negotiations and

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Divorce Mediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Divorce Mediation - Essay Example 2. The mediator must use the framing and reframing of statements technique to defuse tension and hostility between parties and remind them that the children’s welfare are at stake. 3. Angela is in the best position to gain temporary custody of the children. Rationale The issues to be resolved between David and Angela can be divided into two: custody issue, and; property settlement issue. Initial and introductory mediation can be done during the first session as well as the issue on temporary custody. The subject of property settlement can be done in 1 to 2 sessions and child custody during the last session or vice-versa. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that everything can be settled in four sessions only. One of the ways to defuse tension and hostility during family mediation is through the technique of framing and reframing the statements of parties. The mediator must listen for hostile and provocative remarks coming from either party and be ready to reframe these remarks using neutral words to prevent the other from being agitated. It is also wise to remind the parties of the children’s welfare during the discussions.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Steve Jobs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Steve Jobs - Essay Example Jobs actively get involved in the process whether that is his department of operation or not. Due to his different style of management and remarkable success in global business, most references relating to entrepreneurship are drawn from him. He portrays a different way of doing the same things we are used to, and sees the normal things that we see in a different version. Any start up businessperson who aims to succeed has to draw quite a lot of inference from Jobs, and then apply creativity in running of the enterprise. Most start up business actually does not live beyond the initial stages and end up collapsing a few days in operation. Their owners loose hope, focus, and vision too fast that their dream becomes nothing more than a curse. At liquidation, the owners loose capital invested, time, and efforts. It is due to these reasons that learning how Steve Jobs managed to put Apple Corporation and provide great products to the world is important for any aspiring start up business o wner (Napier, 2006). A start up business requires owner involvement and participation in the running of the business. Just as Steve Jobs was involved in every aspect of the production process of the products Apple manufactured and was able to monitor them to the product, a startup business owner should be there to monitor the progress of the business. Understanding the weaknesses and majoring on these weaknesses are the strengths of a business. The entrepreneur understands the various difficulties that the business is facing. Environment of operation of the business is yet another aspect of a business the entrepreneur understands by involvement in the daily operations of the business. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses the business faces is key in its success. For Steve, the simple things regarded as final touches of a product matter to him a lot. The color of the computer casing, the sound a product produces when opened or closed or the size of the product to him is strengt h. He asks questions relating to these issues, and makes sure that he understands every bit of them, for example, why the designers opted for a black casing instead of a blue or yellow one. Through this, Steve has managed to understand the kind of weaknesses the business face with in its operations. For a businessperson, understanding the simple things goes a long way in understanding the needs of customers. Prioritizing on these needs wins the business more customers and gives a competitive advantage over other companies (McDaniel & Gitman, 2009). Knowing where an entrepreneur’s talent and passion lies is a better way to develop a business idea. According to Jobs, his area of passion is what brought the huge success that he is today. Entrepreneurship is a hard task and requires patience and not unless a potential entrepreneur majors on his area of strengths and where he feels he is more passionate, the hurdles experienced in the field would be will definitely break him (McDa niel & Gitman, 2009). Jobs, while advising young entrepreneurs said, â€Å"Go out and get a job as a busboy until you find something you’re really passionate about.† Passion drives desire and investing in a passionate field makes a person look forward to working the following day. Great ideas are born out of creativity, with a broader understanding of a particular phenomenon or aspect of a product leading to a

Monday, August 26, 2019

Define the terms constant capital, variable capital, and surplus Essay

Define the terms constant capital, variable capital, and surplus value. What role do these three factors play in the process of capital accumulation - Essay Example Moreover, capital can never exist not unless it is produced. Thus, to create capital, it must be combined with labor; in exchange with money and skill (Brewer, 1984). Capital can be claimed and its ownership transferred to a different individual. Hence, most governments have restrictions or rather regulations that limit how capital is used. Thus, this paper presents different forms of capital; constant capital and variable capital. In addition, it will discuss the surplus value in relation to capital accumulation. According to Marx (2004) constant capital refers to the part of capital that is fully represented by all the means of production, the raw materials, the auxiliary materials and labor instruments which do not undergo value alteration in the process of production. Thus, it includes the money outlay on fixed assets such as buildings, machinery and land, raw materials such as the externally purchased services and incident expenses. In addition, constant capital can be described as the proportion of capital which is invested and includes the circulating constant capital and the fixed capital. Fixed capital is a portion of constant capital that has been advanced and functions as the factors of production, in the labor category. Hence, a finished product alongside the materials that were used to create it are brought out from the production process and passed into circulation (Marx, 2004). However, the labor instruments remain intact in the sphere of production since their function expects them to be static. These static instruments that remain behind after a production procedure is complete are thus referred to as fixed capital which passes part of its value to the final product due to wear and tear. The value of fixed capital steadily decreases to a point where the labor instrument is completely worn out as a result of repeated series of production processes. The

Sunday, August 25, 2019

My Middle School Life Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

My Middle School Life Experience - Essay Example I have seen my life here only in Korea and have enjoyed being the youngest in all siblings. People use to settle in this particular newly developed urban city due to two reasons. Firstly the poor use to establish them here, as it was not expensive states those days. Secondly, the rich people or the upper class uses to settle in this area to discover business ventures and to earn a lot of money. I was quite proud of being designated as upper class or elite citizen. This might seem frightening because now I was a tiny fish in a big pool, but keep in mind: all new incidents are fearsome at initial. If one has the correct approach and rock-hard info on what to anticipate, one can be a middle school specialist in no time. In middle school, I made up a large number of upper-class friends since the start of my school days. In my school, there was a categorized difference in the lower or poor class students and the upper or elite class. Classmates felt very proud if they had any elite classmate in their group. There was a marked difference in the treatment as well. ...I packed myself in a lot of social friends who belong to high-status families. In my own class, I was quite powerful to turn things in favor of me as I belonged to the top social category. I use to rule over my classmates. My ego was quite strong in my social behaviors and I use to talk to classmates of my set only and never use to talk even a bit too poor fellows. Some of these elite classmates were even junkies as if bullying poor classmates, buying expensive stuff, showing off, mocking, playing video games, having fun all the time with luxuries and not more serious about the studies. Most of them were not good graders even. When my poor fellows who were the top graders, tried to be friendly with me, I just harassed theme and passed bad comments of them being poor so badly that it would have been very insulting for them.  Ã‚   There was a girl in my class who belonged to lower social class, was quite studious and wanted to be my friend but never actually told me directly.

Effective Organizational Transformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Effective Organizational Transformation - Essay Example Hence, it is imperative for the organizations to be cognizant of the inherent complexity of an organizational transformation, to avoid any confusion or possible frustrations. Organizational transformation mostly affects an entire organization and do brings in ample confusion and chaos in its wake. Therefore, the involved stakeholders need to be willing and prepared to act and operate in an environment defined by ample change, amorphousness and uncertainty. Besides, there aught to be an optimum awareness at all the levels within and organization regarding the multiple phases of change and the knowledge, attitude and expertise required to manage each specific phase. In the given context, an acknowledgement of some key elements involving organizational transformation does help. Vision- Any successful organizational transformation largely is dependent on a clear and lucid vision. A flawless vision does happen to be an essential ingredient of any well-managed organizational transformation.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Discuss, with reference to relevant academic literature, how a tax Essay

Discuss, with reference to relevant academic literature, how a tax system might be designed to combat avoidance and evasion - Essay Example Tax evasion and avoidance have become common and is raising concerns over the effective funding of government administrative functions. It is therefore imperative that the government develop strategies that would help it reduce the cases of tax evasion and avoidance as this is eating into the country’s financial policies. People who deliberately avoid tax by hiding their wealth and income tend to pose a great challenge to the society. In the country’s effort to adjust the economy and eliminate the balance of payment deficit, it is essential to detect and follow up tax evaders and ensuring that they pay up. The world is currently experiencing technologically-driven transformation in the way business is done. The private sector is a pioneer in technology application in daily business operation including honoring of tax obligations. It is therefore advisable that the government need to seek collaboration with the private sector to develop a workable technologically driven mechanism of curbing the tax evasion menace. One of the greatest challenges is the range of data available. The government need to formulate a legal structure that is able to capture the property and assets of various entities in the country so that it can easily close down on the tax avoiders. This may be achieved through the use of sophisticated technology to analyze the purchase of property, bank loans, individual and corporate tax returns (Koniordos, 2005). The government may also target bank accounts and the employment data with the aim of identifying asset property, mark and trace financial transactions that raises suspicion and point out those who are trying to keep their wealth and income off the sight of the authorities with the aim of evading tax. Incorporation of technology in implementing tax policies also means that resources will be freed and skilled manpower from the private sector will enhance chances of rounding up tax evaders. Past records indicate that by 2010 rev iew of the UK government’s spending, over ? 900 million to attempt to solve the problem of tax avoidance, evasion, economic fraud through increasing the size of the human capital base on this issue, invest in more skills, increase the use of data from a third party and consistently develop mechanism of tackling the slippery tax evaders and the hidden wealth. By 2012, the government stepped up its campaign of challenging the citizens to honor the tax obligation in the spirit of boosting economic growth for the general welfare of the society. The efforts of the government to apply various tax policies have always been ineffective and this explains why further remedial measures are needed. The governments of UK has been making many efforts to exploit the opportunities offered by the available data and modern technology to unveil the hidden wealth and income and to hasten its efforts in curbing tax evasion. One of the approaches that can yield better results is curtailing offshor e banking fraud that is one of the greatest loopholes of tax evasion. The government need to access data with the aim of identifying linkages of such foreign accounts to some people. If the account holders are found out they should be compelled by the government to pay interest on top of taxes so far unpaid as a penalty. The actions that are important to recover such unpaid taxes entails co-ordination with foreign countries’

Friday, August 23, 2019

Samsung as a new IT leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Samsung as a new IT leader - Essay Example This paper concerns the marketing as a business strategy by which a manufacturer or producer of any goods or services shifts from the basic production function and takes into concern the needs and requirements of the customers-to-be. In this case, a manufacturer aims at discovering what customers’ interests in a rival product are and then attempt convince them that their product is better than the rivals’. The marketing department sells the product to the customer in such a way that the customer feels they have gained from the bargain more utility than they have paid for. Concisely, the main work of the marketing department of any institution can be summarized as to identify, satisfy and retain customers. Oversaturation of markets with similar goods from different manufacturers is among the many factors that resulted in development of marketing strategies. Therefore, a distinction between products by different manufacturers must be made to ensure that a customer knows t he product they are choosing well before making judgment. In addition, a manufacturer should know the trends, tastes and preferences of customers as they change with the times. This means that if technologically savvy people are shifting towards the use of smaller but feature packed gadgets, then the manufacturer should either adapt or produce the ideal gadget for consumers. Conversely, the manufacturer can try various available advertising methods to convince customers as to why their gadget is much better than their gadget of choice. Therefore, in order to achieve its objectives and remain competitive, a firm should be capable of anticipating and satisfying customer needs better than competitors (Armstrong, Harker, Kotler and Brennan 2009, p.7). Market and Literature Review Apple versus Samsung Brand There are two main differences between the two brands, market perception and pricing. Customers assume that products that tend to be for the high-end market are of higher quality. On the other hand, consumers in a market could be concerned by the number of features available in a product. Therefore, before venturing into the Chinese market, it is necessary to know the consumer perspectives about products from both companies in order to determine the measures that the firm should take to ensure competitive and profitable sale of Samsung products (Mankiw 2009, p. 290; Joshi 2005). The major concern for a consumer in the Chinese market is the authenticity of electronics since traders have

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Functional Assessments and Intervention Strategies Essay Example for Free

Functional Assessments and Intervention Strategies Essay Dewolfe (1997) discusses the relevant points on the book written by Reichle and Wacker (1997) about the effective approaches in terms of assessing challenging behaviors; and what are the intervention strategies that could be employed in order to decrease the risks for the development of a challenging behavior. According to Reichle and Wacker (1997), the most effective venue for the assessment of challenging behavior could be conducted in natural environments such as home, school and local community (para 2). Also, another key factor that must be kept in mind with regards to changing childrens challenging behavior is the idea that when one wants to change a behavior of a particular child, it necessarily follows, that the behavior of those people around her should also be changed. Effective interventions are also very relevant most specially the rate, quality and the effort that is given on the reinforcement (para 3). Reichle and Wacker (1997) also emphasized that Communications Based Interventions are the best approach in terms of dealing with challenging behavior (para 4). Such a type of intervention should be followed by a functional assessment that should be able to understand the child very well. In effect of this, what will one have is a communication based approach that perfectly matches the need of the child. The facilitation of an intervention program has been emphasized by Reichle and Wacker (1997) has to be conducted in natural settings. As such, the traditional notion that interventions should be normally done in clinics are no longer that patronized. Discussion The rate in which challenging behavior has been increasing now a days is understandable. On the advent of the 21st century where everything is in set to be in fast paced, most parents tend to forgot their responsibility to their children. On the first part of this paper, the author was able to enumerate the different causes and various risk factors of challenging behavior. In a nutshell, one could see that majority of the causes stem out because the mother fails to take care of her child during the prenatal stage and even during the early years of the child. Fox, Dunlap and Powell (2002) emphasized the necessity of early intervention during childhood in order to prevent the development of challenging behavior. In addition with this, the perception that problematic behaviors among toddlers and preschool-age children should not be dismissed as mere effects of his or her development stage. Rather, parents should be vigilant to see the patterns and the rate in which challenging behaviors occur and significantly think of a plan in order to address such a problem. The case of June is a good example on how a child develops challenging behavior during her life. June is perceived to be raised in a broken family. It could be implied that the source of family income is solely shouldered by her mother, hence leaving her and her siblings with small amount of time. In addition with this, the fact that June has two other siblings that her mother have to take care and worry about, further decreases the chance that June could be given appropriate attention and guidance. It is clear from the history of June and her other siblings that they somehow share the same patterns of behavior. Although the author could not completely distinguish if such is the result of how they are reared or maybe how did their mother take care of herself during pregnancy; but it could be seen that such a pattern of behavior is clearly evident to be existing within her family circle. The manner in which June was assessed, intervened and treated in her school could be seen as one of the most effective steps in which one could deal with challenging behavior. The team used a Communications Based Intervention (Reichle and Wacker (1997) in order to deal with the problem. One could recall that the manner in which the teacher talked to June allowed her to express her feelings and also allowed her to tell stories that upset her within the family and also within the school. In addition with this, the assessments that were made to June are done in a natural environment, such as her school. It could be recalled that various attempts are also made by Junes residential and community program placements, but such proves to be null. As such, the author perceived that the assessment at the school, wherein June spends mostly her time is a very effective approach because not only that she will be able to properly relate with her peers, such an approach will also pave the way for more understanding and willingness to support among her teachers. Reicle and Wacker (1997) emphasized the need of other people to also change their behaviors if they wanted to help a child with challenging behavior. It could be significantly noted that Laursen (2005) claimed that the team that is taking care and assisting June has also made an effort to make her educators understand the depth of her problem and how their support could help her to overcome her challenging behavior. In relation with this, the author wanted to introduce the notion of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) of Fox, Dunlap and Powell (2002) in order to change challenging behaviors among children. The PBS is tailored to meet the specific needs of the child and also takes into careful consideration all of the contexts in which problems with regard to challenging behaviors emerge. The model devised by Dunlap and Fox (1999) as cited from Fox, Dunlap and Powell (2002) creates an Individualized Support Program (ISP) that seeks to help the family and the childs care givers in order to change his or her difficult behavior. The ISP model revolves on two major steps which is the functional assessment and the person centered planning. The functional assessment focuses on accumulating detailed information about the childs behavior, activities, and other contexts that could be helpful for the family, taking into consideration the cause and effects of a particular behavior. Consequently, the person-centered planning centers on the expression of the childs dreams and other challenges that the child perceived to have within his or her family. After such, a behavior support plan will be created which is perfectly in accordance to the specific needs of the child.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques | Example Analysis

Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques | Example Analysis This work aims to perform a thematic qualitative data analysis of scripts entitled Is abortion right or wrong? A commentary on qualitative data analysis techniques will be discussed and an interpretation of findings from the scripts (Appendix 1-3) presented. A conclusion summarising the main findings will then be drawn. Qualitative Data Analysis It is the range of processes and procedures whereby qualitative data has been put in some form of explanation, understanding or interpretation to search for general statements about relationships among categories of data (Burns and Grove, 2002). Techniques Qualitative methodologies are identified by Glaser and Strauss (1967) as non statistical techniques that researchers use inductive logic to analyse yield correlations that are difficult to translate. Content Analysis Researchers state that this is the simplest and most popular methodology. According to Carley (1990) it is the systematic description of behaviour by asking who, what, where and how questions. It can also be argued that the process is much more mechanical with the analysis being left until data is collected. Gibbs (2002) further highlight that the researcher then systematically works through each transcript assigning codes, which may be in numbers or words. Thematic Analysis According to Miles and Huberman (1994) data is analysed by themes and highly inductive themes emerge from data. Data collection and analysis takes place simultaneously and prior background reading and knowledge on the topic can help to explain an emerging theme. Strauss and Corbin (1998) highlight that thematic analysis aims to understand data rather than know it. The main aim is to end up with key themes that describe the essence of the study. Although it provides meaningful structure and non insightful information it is time consuming. Strauss and Corbin (1998 p180) highlight that grounded theorists refer to the point when no new themes are being identified as theoretical saturation. When and how saturation is reached depends on the text complexity and the researchers experience. More experienced researchers are likely to reach saturation later than novices. Wilson and Hutchinson (1996 p 123) also warn against premature closure where the researcher fails to move beyond the face value of the content in the narrative. Comparative Analysis Finlay (2002) describes it as a logical and non statistical methodology. Data is compared and contrasted and the process continues until the researcher is satisfied that no new issues are emerging. Comparative analysis is often used with thematic analysis. The researcher works backwards and forwards, constantly revisiting notes and research literature. Discourse Analysis Researchers refer to it as complex and confusing. It was developed by social constructionists and is commonly used in cognitive psychology. According to Potter (1996) it is also called conversational analysis, a method that look at the pattern of speech, how particular words are used and how people take turns in conversation. Discourse analysis performs an action rather than describe a specific state of affairs and analysis is intuitive and reflective (Potter, 1996). Triangulation Analysis Involves strengthening by combining insights from both qualitative and quantitative analyses. According to Gibbs (2007), it contributes to the investigators efforts to achieve information. Myers (2002) however argues that, there are major concerns with reliability and validity in triangulation and qualitative data. How does one account for good or bad day interviews? This has been criticised by some researchers, for there is no way to evaluate precision on the investigators judgement. Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software New qualitative data analysis software programmes are now available for computer analyses. The Non Numerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searching and Theorising (QSRS NUD*IST) software is a popular programme. Lewins and Silver (2007), however argue that, although computers save time, they stop the researcher from becoming familiar with the data. As also highlighted by Alexa and Zuell (2000), a computer can undertake these processes but it cannot think, judge or interpret qualitative data. Themes The current parity between prolife and prochoice camp is mirrored in the respondents views on abortion. Given the attitude of people on abortion and the dominant images they have on prolife and prochoice, several themes can be traced for communication. Abortion is wrong in all circumstances (Prolife) Christians and most religious peoples views on abortion are much more in line with the Church and religion teachings that abortion is wrong. The profile sentiment in the respondents views is very much evident among all scripts. The official church doctrine does not allow abortion, the underlying dimension of religion being the most predictive of its position on abortion. As stated by Respondent 1 abortion is murder of helpless innocent babies. Respondent 3 further supports Respondent 1 highlighting that, God is the giver of life and should be the only one to take it. There seem to be an undoubted consensus that abortion is wrong as also highlighted by Respondents 2 and 5 who both quote Thou shalt not kill from the Bibles Ten Commandments. Respondent 6 sums up this up nicely stating that, whether raped or not, life is life, no one has the right to take it away. Respondents 1, 2, 4 and 7 also express the view that, the process of abortion is a painful, dangerous procedure that poses a substantial risk to a womans physical and mental well being. Abortion is right in all circumstances (Prochoice) Abortion is a discourse promoted by prochoice movement. Feminists argue that it is an affirmation of womens rights to control their bodies. As Respondent 1 captures, It is a womans right to choose what happens to her body it is her body not the legislators or the Churchs. It can also argue that the foetus is part of her body and utterly depends on her for viability. Respondent 2 further highlights that, Only the voice of the pregnant woman should put her future into perspective. Respondents 1,2,4,5 and 7 partly share the same view that society should not judge or blame any woman who chooses to have an abortion. The respondents clearly bring out that abortion is a paradigm, the ultimate paradigm of right or wrong. Middle of the road (Prolife/Prochoice) One striking finding from the analysis is that, some respondents agree to abortion despite being in the profile camp. Respondents 1, 2,3,5,6 and 7 all state that they agree to abortion when the unborn child poses a substantial threat to the mothers life and also in rape or incest. The respondents also highlight that abortion should be considered in gross congenital abnormalities. Respondent 5 further states that, abortion can be morally accepted only when an unborn baby is suffering from a serious illness or disability. These factors together with the fact of multiculturalism in the United Kingdom may partly explain how peoples attitude and views has varied over the years and how the balance is consistently favouring abortion rights. Conclusion The themes identified illustrate the multiple influences on peoples attitude and behaviour with regards to abortion. Although many issues were raised, there were specific elements of culture and religion that shaped the respondents views. Television Plays a Positive Role in Society | Statement Assessment Television Plays a Positive Role in Society | Statement Assessment TV plays a very important role in the building of a society. TV has changed the societies of world so much that we cant ignore its importance. First of all we have to know what the media is. TV is a source of information or communication and media plays a very significant role in everyones life. In todays modern society, media has become a very big parts of our life. Its duty is to inform, educate and entertain. TV like a bridge between the governing bodies and general public. It is a powerful and flexible tool that influences the public to a great extent. TV is the voice of the voiceless and a great force in building the nation. However, although there are some positive effects of media on people, there are also many negative effects of media on people. For example, respect for life, bad influence on children and hurting celebrities intentionally. Although there are some positive effects of TV on people, there are also many negative effects of TV on children. For example, respect for life, bad influence on children and hurting celebrities intentionally. Since the birth of communication, media has been used to convey information to those willing to absorb it. Beginning with publications and simple spoken words, and soaring to new heights in the twentieth century with radio, television, and the internet, media have been made accessible to people in every aspect of their daily lives. With such a strong hold on modern society, mass media have been able to shape popular culture and often influence public opinion. However, when abused, the power of tv can harm the general population. Biased media tend to make people strive to be someone elses idea of perfect while subconsciously ignoring their own goals. Stereotypes formed by the media that include thin, tanned women, and wealthy, muscular men have led to a decline in self-acceptanc e. The majority of media today often present the perfect body to the public, hoping that consumers will strive to achieve fitness using a certain product or idea. While this form of advertising may somewhat increase a products market share, many people suffer from inner conflicts as a result of failure to achieve the body of a top athlete or fashion model. Along with emotional conflicts, those influenced by the tv have encountered physical problems, including bulimia, anorexia, and the employment of harmful dietary plans. Unless reality is discerned from what is presented in certain media, some people will continue to suffer. Consumers could find the truth more easily if tv offered products advertised by normal people without all the extra glamor. In addition to this, if the public could view advertising only as something to get ones attention and not a portrayal of how one should look, there would be fewer problems. Until either is accomplished, the negative effects will be felt by the vulnerable, and companies will continue to make their money. Those consumers given a false impression about a product through various forms of media are the ones who suffer most from our societys portrayal of the perfect body. After being influenced by a television commercial or a magazine pictorial, certain people in this world will purchase an item hoping that the same success shown in the medium will be had by them as well. Mentally, some may feel an improvement but in reality nothing has changed. Realization of this leads to the demise of many individuals self pride. The severity of both the mental and physical damage done to the person depends on the case. Some may resort to extreme diets, more unnecessary spending, or a decline in social activity. The mental effects of the tvs portrayal of the perfect body can cause people to resort to unhealthy methods of losing weight to attain that athletic look that so many desire. Such conditions that can occur from trying to lose weight too fast are bulimia and anorexia. Bulimia is a food disorder caused by mental insecurities (Larsen, Joanne). Doctors recommend that bulimic people see a psychiatrist because the illnesss symptoms, including compulsive exercise, taking laxatives, and throwing up, can cause ones body to become short on electrolytes, which is extremely unhealthy (Larsen, Joanne). Anorexia is a similar condition in which one loses exorbitant amounts of weight often by eating very little and vomiting what minute amount of food that is actually consumed (Mathias ). In one extreme case, a young woman lost an incredible thirty pounds in a period of a month (Mathias ). Because of the constant binging and purging, ones metabolism becomes abnormal and one puts on large amounts of w eight by hardly eating anything (2). In the past, both men and women (predominately men) who were slightly overweight used a fat burning drug known as Redux. It was designed for obese individuals, but the off-label use of such drugs began rampant due to advertising techniques by the manufacturers (Lawsuit). Many people, including doctors, who were slightly overweight used the drug and have experienced pulmonary hypertension, valvular heart disease, and neurotoxicity (Lawsuit). Other drugs, such as steroids, have been widely proven to cause brain cancer, stunted growth, and shrinkage of the testes (Mathias ). Many student-athletes use these performance enhancers in an attempt to become as muscular as the men often portrayed by media. This problem is also present in female teenagers as well. To some girls, steroid use is comparable to diet pills and laxatives (2). The abuse of these drugs is partly a result of inaccurate advertising as well as the young persons desire to look and perform as well as the superstars shown in various forms of media. How can a fifteen year-old be like Mike without shooting up a performance enhancing steroid into his arm? The bottom line is that he can not. If TV were encouraged to present products in ordinary situations by ordinary people, there would be fewer negative effects as a result of advertising. Consumers might realize that an article of clothing is not meant solely for slender women but can be enjoyed by people of all sizes. The products may not necessarily sell because of their sexy advertisements, but rather because of the appearance of the items themselves. In the long run more customers would buy the product simply because it appeals to them. There would not be as many disillusioned people, and possibly some of the harmful activities done to lose weight could cease. If manufacturers would agree to this, it could help them financially as well. For example, in the Redux case, glamorous advertising cost the company millions of dollars in lawsuits and brand name recognition. If the product had been aimed only at seriously overweight people as the drug was originally intended, less money would have been lost, and the company c ould still haveitsgoodname. The bottom line is that people should make up their minds that they will not be negatively influenced by the media. In doing this, the public can view tv for what it truly is-a means of conveying information or supplying entertainment. Good common sense should tell a woman that the overly attractive person in an advertisement is a model and should be admired for her beauty; all women are not required to look like her to be attractive. The process of differentiating fact from fiction in advertising can not be described on paper. It can only happen in peoples minds, one at a time. As long as this method of advertising continues to sell products for companies, there will still be the gorgeous woman bouncing around ones television screen with a Marlboro in her hand and a Versace evening gown covering very little of her body. Although there is no direct solution to ending personal suffering due to the images put in front of the American population, there is a starting point. Companies can still successfully sell products without beautiful babes. Also, if certain media can be viewed for entertainment purposes only, people can enjoy the beautiful bodies before them. However, if some still model themselves after Cindy Crawford or Tom Cruise, they will keep failing to meet their extremely high personal goals. The medias negative grip on society can be greatly decreased if people remember just one thing what is on television is only an advertisement. To sum up, the effects of tv cannot be underestimated. They reach far into the foundation of the childs relationship to the world. They affect the childs values, their relationship to and estimation of other people, their relationship to themselves, their perception of reality. Even childrens programs, cartoons and education shows are not only violent in some cases, but they expose the child to behaviour that both shows lack of reverence and respect for other people, or encourages awareness of self image, which jars the child into growing up before her time. Not to mention the enormous impact and very researched field of the short-term and long-term effects of violence in the tv. Even regardless of the content watched, television, films and computer games are addictive, impoverish creativity and imagination, as well as keeping them sitting in front of a screen instead of moving and playing(Winn, Marie,2002). I think, tv can be a huge challenge to avoid exposing young children and babies to it because the tv is so much part of modern life. One thing that helps immensely is to start by weaning oneself from it. Try to watch less TV, and to sing and learn to play an instrument instead of only listening to music, and be selective and attentive to content when playing music around the child.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Virgin Marketing and Human Resource Strategies

Virgin Marketing and Human Resource Strategies Introduction Task 1 Critically evaluate, appraise and analyze the management of human resources to aid the development of business strategy in Virgin Trains Virgin Trains is successful today because it is known for running high quality, fast and reliable state of the art trains over the different cities of UK including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. A very good management of people is the key to success in all the businesses. Management of Human Resources Human resource management focuses on the recruitment management and provide the right direction for the people who work in the business. They deals with all the issues related to the employees including hiring, performance management, safety, benefits, employee motivation, organisation development, administration and training. An effective HRM system allows the businesses to address human resource issues strategically. In virgin trains, they are managing the human resources very well as there is a set of managers responsible for the operating area in each region and they link up with others to share the ideas and expertise. The managers of the business are working actively with all the employees within the business. They ask them questions about how to improve something and their point of view and ideas. This technique is very effective as it makes the employees feel special. If the employees know that their views are important for the business, they will even work harder. Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term. Corporate strategy is about strategic decisions in all type of businesses. In Virgin Trains, corporate strategy is their business policy which they make to run the business successfully and to work towards it. Task 2 Critically evaluate strategies of Virgin Trains for people recruitment, retention, Training, learning and development which maximize the skill and contribution of people The case study shows that the virgin trains supports to hire people who are willing to adopt the vision of the virgin trains. Apart from the person specification, virgin also looks for the people who are willing to support the vision and allow them to speak freely. They also look for the people who have a calm behaviour and can listen to their customers without panicking. This type of recruitment sets out the relationship between the organization and its people respecting different views and encouraging openness and honesty. They can get the best of the resource by publishing their vision along with the hiring ads. In order to retain them, virgin trains undertake the development of their employees very seriously. They have encouraged their employees to take part in decision making. They have always appreciated the suggestions coming from the employees who are directly in contact with the customers. This encourages the lower staff and they feel free to share their practical experien ces with the managers to develop much more suitable services for their customers. Employee Development For The development of their employees, virgin trains arranges workshops every week to keep them up to date with the current market trends that help their employees to deal with the customers and the daily challenges in a much better way as compared to their competitors. Virgin trains have given their employees a lot more benefits and some great training programs to develop their personal skills. Approaches to Select Right Candidates There are different approaches to select the candidates. To attract the pool of candidates they use media like newspapers, websites, internet, internal hiring and through job fairs arranged in universities and colleges as well. The best one would be to hire from within the organization. As the people inside the organization will already have an idea about the culture of the organization and they will prove better to be promoted. In case of new hires, the best idea would be to get new blood in the organization through job fairs arranged in colleges. The strategies adopted by virgin to develop and retaining employees are ideal. They have arranged workshops on weekly basis and on the job training that proves great for the employees. Another thing is the participation of the employees in decision making which motivates employee and helps retaining them. Virgin has developed a talent wheel for their employees who help them to identify what sort of behaviors does their employee posses that help the organization in future training as well as promoting the right employees. In this way they are not only finding the best but also reducing the extra cost and saving the time that would have been wasted on someone not capable enough o handle the positions at higher level. In this way the bad performances can be improved through the training sessions and also can help employees to self manage them. The best thing to do while checking with the performances is to run a 360 degree performance reviewing program in which all the peers, sub ordinates and managers take their part to evaluate their co-worker. In this way, you can get the right idea about how much an individual is performing at all levels. As we also see in case of the management development, Virgin is running learning and development training courses for its managers. These courses are actually targeted to improve the leadership skills. A lot of leadership programs for front line managers are also helping the cause of management development. Due to all these steps, virgin rails has successfully set up the KPIs such as reduced leaves, improving customer satisfaction and lowering the staff turnover. Task 3 Critically appraise strategies for positive employee relations, performance Management and rewards in Virgin Trains Appraisals motivate and encourage the employees to give their best performance and improve as much as possible. Appraisal system gives opportunity to the staff to improve their performance and set targets for their selves to achieve. If the employees will do self-appraisal, this will help them to manage their own performance and make improvements in their selves. Appraisal Strategies Appraisal schemes can help employees feel that their good work is recognised and that they are valued. The management of Virgin Trains gives appraisals to their staff if they done their work well. It can also provide an opportunity to discuss any weaknesses they might have, and to come up with the solutions. They can also link the appraisal systems to decisions about pay, bonuses and other incentives such as share schemes. They also give appraisals to the more junior staff like cleaners, drivers and others. They could be more motivated by the appraisals. All of these methods of rewarding system for the employees are maintain to motivate the workers and to make feel loyal with the company. There are so many different reward systems which specially designed to suit the workers needs. For example, the pension schemes to their workers who want to stay with them longer. But for the lower jobs like cleaners, drivers, porters wont accept pension schemes if they are not staying with the hospital for longer period. Employee Involvement Techniques Every business use employee involvement techniques to run the business. Virgin Trains also uses these techniques in the business so the workers more involved in decision making. The employees fell happy and motivated if the management involve them in the decision making process. They involve their employees in the actions which they take for the good cause of the business. They ask them what they think about the particular matter and discuss it with them. They may do whatever they want but they always involve their employees in the decision making process. The employees feel more loyal with the business and it makes them feel happy and secure. It also makes them feel that they have a value so they can express their feelings easily. Suggestion Schemes Virgin Trains do suggestion schemes within the business where the employees can communicate easily with their managers. The employees can give their personal suggestions to the management. Through this way, they can involve their employees with the personal matters of the hospital. Through employees suggestions, they could save a lot of money. They give prize to the employees if the suggestion is successfully implemented. This method motivates the employees to give useful suggestion to the management. Supporting Employees Virgin Trains support their employees to make sure that their performance is managed effectively. Supporting staff have two forms, one is mentoring and the other is monitoring. Mentoring it is when the management allows one employee to get access to another employee for help and advice. This is very important as it encourages the employees to achieve the best performance. A senior employee who has vast experience in the work can be work as a mentor. The mentors will pass on their knowledge to the employees to support them. This will be very beneficial to the employees as they will get the ideas from their mentors which help them to improve their selves. Monitoring through this, the managers can measure and analysed the performance of the employees. They can work together with the employee to see if they are improving their performance or not. They can do formal or informal monitoring to see their performance. Competence The management of Virgin Trains is making their workers more competent so they carry out their tasks easily. They need to make sure that the staff has enough training and experience to do the work. If they have competent staff, they can deliver better service to the patients. This will create a very good reputation for the business. They should invest enough money in staff training so they have latest training for the work. Then they can check the level of performance of the employees with other employees and the workers of other hospitals and see how they are doing. Through this they can check that if the staff needs more training so they can arrange it for them. Task 4 Critically appraise the importance of marketing within the development of business plans of Virgin Trains and analyze the processes of market development Marketing Objectives Objectives must be set before producing a marketing plan, as marketing success cannot be measured without these. Marketing Objectives a statement of what is to be accomplished through marketing activities, McDaniel Et Al (2009), 2 simply set out what the business is trying to achieve. Marketing Mix Decisions The marketing mix involves elements of marketing (7 Ps) being used together in order to meet customers needs and expectations to gain a brand image and reputation. (Marketing Teacher. 2010)7. The 7Ps will now be looked at in relation to Virgin Trains, and the importance of using them will be shown. Product As Virgin Trains is a service organisation, the product will be the trains running in the big cities of UK. They aim to provide the best service to their customers. The product is an important element of the marketing mix as it must meet customers needs and expectations. Price The prices for the tickets are not high at Virgin Trains. It depends where someone is going to. The price range of tickets is  £10 to  £50. The price for the travel from Birmingham to Manchester is as cheap as  £10.50. They have pricing strategy for their trains so people prefer to travel on Virgin Trains. They constantly do special offers on different ticket prices so to attract the customers. Psychological pricing will be used to attract more customers, because it will seem like they are spending a lot less. The company will also use penetration pricing, where the price is set low in order to gain market share, once the product reaches the growth stage in the product life cycle, prices will then be slightly increased. Place Place includes all the train stations in big cities like London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh .etc. big train stations like Piccadilly train station in Manchester are used as distribution channels. Retail outlets such as Selfridges, other large outlets will be used as distribution channels. Places of distribution are important, without these the customers are unable to know about the service and travel. Consequently, these locations have been chosen cautiously, for example customers from the local areas can catch the train from their nearest big city. Promotion The main promotion technique used by Virgin Trains is advertising; this will be done by using the internet, train stations and magazines .etc. On some occasions the company may do special promotions such as buy one get one half price, this will encourage customers to purchase more as they will be saving money. They do special offers on their website by selling cheap tickets. Promotion is a key element to make customers aware of what the company has to offer and advertisements give customers a vision of what to expect from the business. Sales promotions also help to generate more income and attract new customers. People People includes staff as well customers. In Virgin Trains, all the management and people who are dealing directly or indirectly to the customers have the knowledge and skills such as good communication, to help them whilst interacting with customers. These people all play an important part of the company, as the staff is required to assist customers in order to gain brand reputation, and customers are required to use the service again and again. Process This entails the process of providing a service to the customer from the first, to the last point of sale. Therefore Virgin Trains should obtain customer feedback to measure if their current practice is efficient and helpful to customers. The process of buying the tickets from the stations and via their website must have to be easy and secure to meet customers expectations Physical Evidence The physical evidence allows customers to make judgements on the company based on their perceptions; this can be related to the building, uniform, etc. Virgin Trains are the main physical evidence for the people and also the stations where they can catch the trains. All the trains must be in good condition so the customers have a memorable and comfortable journey. They also have their own website where people can go and find the information they need. This is a very effective way of giving the information to their customers as people can check the ticket prices and timings from their home. Task 5 Critically evaluate, appraise and analyze the place of information systems and new technologies in developing business and marketing strategies and planning The main role of Internet marketing is simply to provide quality information to the online public, and making it accessible to them by taking into consideration the different methods used by Web surfers. One of the biggest advantages of online marketing for Virgin Trains is that it facilitates quick and easy sharing of information amongst consumers. This reduces the companys marketing costs to a large extent. On the internet, there is wide range of websites to look at for so customers have wide variety of choice available. They can also compare the prices of the tickets and choose the suitable for them with reasonable price. There is wide range of information available on the internet so people can check and get that information from their homes. Internet also allows the customers to download the information they need. Internet marketing provides opportunities to the businesses. Through the internet, Virgin Trains have the opportunity to develop their service. They can use latest technology in their website to meet customer expectations. They can put different images of the service they provide on the website so people can look at them. Having a website is very beneficial for Virgin Trains as they can communicate with their customers even better. Customers can contact them through internet. Through this they can get the contact details of their customers and use it for the future promotion. Customers find it very easy and convenient to buy and look for the information over the internet. It saves their time to go out and look at prices and timings because some people dont like going out so they find it very easy to use the internet as they can check and get all the information from there. New Technology in Developing Business The new technology is improving day by day so Virgin Trains needs to keep pace with the new technology because to stay competitive in the market. They have to make sure that they meet customers expectation. They can do this by providing them the latest technology online. One of the biggest advantage of the use of the internet is that it overheads the business cost. For example, they have cheaper tickets available online so the customers, who will get the tickets from the internet, will get cheaper prices. This will save the time of the people and more and more customers will use the website and buy tickets from it. An online business have to provide payment security to their customers as well so Virgin Trains have to make sure that the payment method they are using is safe and secure for their customers. If the customers will have the experience of non secure payment method then it will go against the business. They will loosen their customers because they will stop buying from them online and not trusting them anymore. This will affect the strategy of their business. The benefit for having an online presence is that they can be seen by more customers nationally and internationally. Their customers will increase so this will have a big impact on the business. Investment in Information Technology If the businesses want to achieve benefits from e-business, they must invest in the field of IT. They can do investment in hardware and software requirements, security issues to consider, designs and maintenance of a website and network technologies. This is very important as it will beneficial for the business itself. Task 6 Critically evaluate, appraise and analyze the place of information systems and new technologies in developing business and marketing strategies and planning Marketing and Operation in Manufacturing Total Quality Management (TQM) m It means that the management of the business not just need to check the quality of the products on the production house but to check as the whole organisation. Everyone within the business from managers to employees involves in TQM effort to improve the processes, products and services because it requires approach that is much more comprehensive. This process requires the quality department to spend more on doing planning rather than just inspection and control. This means it is not just the products but it is also the process of producing products and the service, which they provide to the customers. Internet is the most important and popular tool which people choose to search for any product. So for the manufacturing business, it is the best way to market their products. First of all, they need to have an internet appearance so people can search them over on internet through the most used search engine Google. The images of the products are as important on the website as the website itself. They need to convey very large amount of information because there is a lot of information available on the internet and the competition is strong. The main principle of marketing is to understand the customers needs. Carrying out a research to find out what people want from you is very important. The competition is always strong for manufacturing business so they need to be very careful when selecting the pricing strategy for their business as the customers will easily move to the other businesses if they found the products expensive. This will have a big impact on the business and its strategies. Service and Not-for-Profit Organisation A service organisation is the one who provides the service to their customers and make profit from it. It is also known as profit organisation. The best example of service organisation is Virgin Trains as they are providing the best service to the customers all over the UK. Whereas, a not-for-profit organisation is the one which does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders but use them to peruses their goals. The example of the not-for-profit organisation is the charitable organisations, trade unions or public arts organisations. Both profit or service and not-for-profit organisations are similar in many ways. They both need to generate their revenue to spend on the operations of the company to survive and grow. They both are producing a good or service for the society. They both employs people and managed and run by them who are employed for them. Marketing strategies for profit and not-for-profit organisation They both need to make a positive relation with the target audience. Target audience are the group of people which they want to sell their product or service to. The selection of media to do marketing is very important. A not-for-profit organisation needs to choose the right media for promotion. They need to make sure that they have a visual identity even if they are not selling any products. They need to frequently display their organizations name and logo on newsletters, reports, signs, and brochures. A memorable, well-designed visual image will strengthen awareness of the organization. Conclusion

Monday, August 19, 2019

Elements of The Lord of the Rings in Final Fantasy VIII Essay -- Lord

Elements of The Lord of the Rings in Final Fantasy VIII      Ã‚  Ã‚   J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy is arguably the most influential work of fantasy literature in modern times. Its epic tale of good against evil and its surreal world of magical and unusual characters and places have captured and enchanted readers since its publication half a century ago. The story of the struggle to destroy the One Ring still influences numerous tales of adventure in literature, film, and role-playing games. Since the advent of role-playing video games, the Final Fantasy series has endured in a genre where many other games seem to blend together. It marks a standard in the world of role-playing games in much the same way The Lord of the Rings marks a standard in fantasy literature. This essay shall examine these two epic adventures and show some of the ways in which Final Fantasy VIII draws upon elements from The Lord of the Rings.    At the center of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is the basic struggle between good and evil, manifested through the battle over the One Ring. The story draws upon traditional Christian theology and ideas about good and evil, right and wrong. Goodness in The Lord of the Rings is represented by selflessness and an interest in the good of all, with a willingness to give of oneself for the good of the whole. However, the border between good and evil is not always clear, and characters are not necessarily completely good or completely evil. Selfishness, greed, and hunger for individual power are destructive forces for evil within individual characters, and characters must use their own moral compass to choose whether to strive for good or give in to the temptation of evil. Even... ...Merry and Pippin or Zell Dincht. Perhaps it is the vulnerability in characters like Frodo Baggins or Squall Leonheart; seemingly 'regular guys' who are thrust into extraordinary situations and who persevere for the forces of good in the world. Regardless, both The Lord of the Rings and the Final Fantasy series are works that have managed to grow beyond the narrow bounds of their genre, and both will likely remain influential standards by which other works are judged.    WORKS CITED Final Fantasy VIII. SquareSoft/Electronic Arts. 1999. Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart. Final Fantasy VIII home page. Tolkein, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Ballantine Books, 1954. ---. The Return of the King. New York: Ballantine Books, 1955. ---. The Two Towers. New York: Ballantine Books, 1954.   

A Research on Communication Technologies and their Applications Essay

Videoconferencing The keyword â€Å"videoconferencing† when entered into search engines such as Google would immediately reveal at least two classifications of information. The first is consisted of applications developed and being marketed and sold for use. The second are business enterprises that offer videoconferencing services and facilities for individuals and businesses. For example, there is a company called Cliftons which caters to multinational clientele and provides conferencing service to its staff who are scattered across the globe. This usage may include meetings, trainings and other organizational activities. Cliftons (2012) rightly argue that videoconferencing â€Å"overcomes the problems inherent in communications between regional business centres as well as enabling [the management] to keep in touch with key people whilst away from their office.† It is a matter of in-depth research to determine the exact nature of this technology, explaining the principle behind its oper ation and conferencing process. An excellent resource for videoconferencing as is the case for almost all things, people, places, and so forth is, of course, Wikipedia. This website has detailed information on this technology. However, it is widely recognized that the site is unreliable and is not often recommended by academic institutions as a resource. Nonetheless, the website proved an effective starting ground that informed this researcher’s efforts at investigating videoconferencing technology. The information provided in the website offered insights as to what specific aspects of the technology should be examined and documented. The preliminary research enabled the identification of at least two types of videoconferencing platforms. There is the case... ...he noise results in satellite power failures. Works Cited Cliftons. (2012). Fact sheet. Cliftons. Retrieved from http://www.cliftons.com/video-conferencing-facilities. Dundee Satellite Receiving Station. (n.d.). Geostationary Satellites Frequently Asked Questions. Dundee Satellite Receiving Station. Retrieved from http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/pdusfaq.html. â€Å"Geostationary Satellites.† (2007). Reformation.org. Retrieved from http://www.reformation.org/geostationary-satellites.html. United States Office of Satellite Operations. (2012). Geostationary Satellites. (USOSO). Retrieved from http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goes/. Videoconference.com. (2012). Start Videoconferencing. Videoconference.com. Retrieved from http://www.videoconference.com/. Webopedia. (2012). Videoconferencing. Webopedia. Retrieved from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/videoconferencing.html.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

A Heartfelt Wedding Speech by the Father of the Groom -- Wedding Toast

A Heartfelt Wedding Speech by the Father of the Groom There is a small amount of humor at the beginning and toward the end of the speech, but it is the sentiment that makes it special. The speech ends with some advice for the bride and groom, which is touching, and a toast in the form of a poem. The happy couple, reverend celebrant, dear guests. The first wedding speech I ever gave was in 1958 when I married the groom's mother. Oh, I was in love! I remember clearly what a great feeling courtship gave me. I used to lie awake all night thinking about something she said. After we married and had four kids I'd fall asleep before she finished saying it. I'd like to focus on my son for a moment. He's married now, this may be his last chance to be the center of attention. His arrival on this earth was a most significant event for us as his safe delivery was my wife's first after many disappointments. He was both long-awaited and much-wanted. Other birth disappointments followed but where there is a strong desire for offspring there is a way and eventually We were blessed with four lovely children. And they in turn have given me grandchildren who give me great pleasure. When you are raising your kids you often wonder if You are getting it right. Forgive my little boast, but when I see how my children have turned out, its all been worthwhile. Every one of them, their partners, and my grandchildren are worth knowing. My son did not get the best start in life, losing his mother when he was sixteen years of age. Having me as a father did not always help. Fewfathers aree equipped to be mothers too, to bridge the gap successfully. His mother and I felt he got every one of the personal qualities of both of us. Some of ... ...iderable amount of hard work and organization and I commend the bride and groom for the effort they have made to ensure a day worth remembering. It’s their day, they’ve worked hard, and done good. What I wish most for them is that they be each other’s best mate. You can have all the love in the world swirling through the ether, flashing lights, sky rockets and balloons going up, but unless your partner is your best mate, the one who is always there for you, the one most interested in what you think and say, you will be missing out on the best of life's greatest institution. Would you please join me in this toast to the newlyweds: May you live as long as you like, and have all you need for as long as you live. May the road you choose be smooth, and your burdens light. May your pleasure in each other, grow with your years together. The bride and groom.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is a strange and powerful book of family loss, love, vengeance, and good versus evil. According to Janet James, Wuthering Heights, in essence, is a battle of nature versus nurture (James 2). As this classic begins, the evil villain in the book—Heathcliff—appear to be following the path of the good-hearted hero. His true characteristics, however, slowly unravel—showing his tenacity for evil against many of the characters in this multi-generational novel. The affects that Heathcliff has on Catherine and many other family members in Wuthering Heights create our flawed character. Yet, Heathcliff is the fuel that drives every other character as they act and react to Heathcliff and his evil ways. In Wuthering Heights Mr. Earnshaw brings home an orphan named Heathcliff that he quickly adopts into the family. This apparent noble gesture of family love for an individual without a real family or home opens the floodgates of drama. The Earnshaw family winds up initiating a war that spreads over several generations. According to Hubbard, Nelly Dean is a servant who was raised in Wuthering Heights. Nelly tells the history of Heathcliff and, thus, narrates much of the story. Hubbard 1) Heathcliff is raised in the family. He eventually falls in love with Catherine, one of the Earnshaw children, a pseudo-step-sister to Heathcliff. Mr. Earnshaw eventually dies and the family members attempt to ruin Heathcliff’s life due to years of bitter resentment. Yet, the courtship between Heathcliff and Catherine continues to unfold as the warring within this intense saga deve lops. A key turning point occurs when Catherine dies during childbirth. Heathcliff reacts to years of vengeance, vows his own revenge on the very family that he has grown up in. Heathcliff, then, attempts to gain control of the family legacy. As we look at our central character, Heathcliff, his initiation into the family has him cast as a protagonist. However, as the fate of good versus evil begins to gather thematic weight, we find a shift in Heathcliff. In fact, the shift is so dramatic that Heathcliff becomes the story’s antagonist. The entire structure of Wuthering Heights revolves around Heathcliff. As in many classics, love is an overriding subplot that weaves together the multi-generational conflict that evolves. Love, in the end, seems to be the demise of the evil characters. Heathcliff and many of his surrogate family members are unable to share their love for one another. It’s a case of honor for the bloodline of the Earnshaws that creates the war. Graphic bloodletting results as many characters—Heathcliff, our supposed protagonist included—sink to killing as the only means to alleviate the family drama. Characters choose to use lies and deceit to meet their unbridled need for passion, lust, and selfish gain. Wuthering Heights, although its main protagonist is an orphaned child, cradles its main character into a large family with a special purpose. This adoption creates animosity between step-siblings and spouses. Estrangement and bitter revenge is a subplot linking this graphic and upsetting intense novel. As the battles between individuals progress in the novel, the undercurrents of physical and mental pain—sometimes horrific pain—create intense situations as characters constantly juggle with a decision: Is the fight for a worthy cause? Heathcliff, in Wuthering Heights, winds up becoming loved and hated. He is, in effect, the hero and villain of this grand classic novel. His character creates dramatic intensity. Here, is an example of one of the Earnshaw’s discussions with Heathcliff. Hindley said, â€Å"and I pray that he may break your neck: take him, and be damned, you beggarly interloper. † (p. 61) His drama slowly evolves into an evil being. He pushes his hatred at everyone except Catherine. Heathcliff gets to a point of dependency on Catherine. As long as he has Catherine, he can deal with anything. Heathcliff is, in effect, the story of Wuthering Heights. Thus, when Catherine dies, Heathcliff loses his co-dependent love and releases years of build-up rage and aggression. The emotions and actions of other characters in this epic novel all seem to stem from Heathcliff. His magnetic personality is the catalyst toward other character interaction and plot development. Catherine, for example, is torn emotionally and spiritually over Heathcliff because of the feelings other family members have regarding Heathcliff. In the end, it has been viewed as a death she desired. It was the only way to find relief to a life of bitter entanglements. The following quote comes from Catherine describing her feelings about Heathcliff to Edgar: â€Å"Oh Edgar, Edgar! † she panted, flinging her arms around his neck. â€Å"Oh, Edgar darling! Heathcliff’s come back. † (p. 114) As Heathcliff and Catherine develop their relationship fairly early. In chapter 10, we see that Catherine has grown bored of Edgar. Her interest in Heathcliff abhors Edgar and thus a bitter jealously between Heathcliff and Edgar ensues. Since Edgar is Catherine’s wife, the intensity of this jealousy from Edgar brings secret joy to Heathcliff. Heathcliff and Catherine wind up sharing deep passionate love. But the secrecy of her unfaithfulness becomes well-known in the family. Plus, the wealth of the Earnshaw creates greed within Heathcliff. This foreshadows the fact that Heathcliff will go to almost no-end to get what he wants: the Earnshaw legacy. On an estranged level, we see that Heathcliff’s mental stability becomes a question mark. The entire Earnshaw family, except for Catherine and Hareton, view Heathcliff as some sort of ruthless, cold-blooded creature. Some even consider him incarnate evil. From the author’s perspective, however, he is a man of turbulent emotions who feels that everyone else is evil due to that fact that society has excluded him. His short-temper and violent tendencies helps to create the character backdrop of a villain that can cause two generations of a wealthy family to be turned upside-down. Healthcliff creates his own laws which are the main reason why he is hated by almost every other character in the novel. However, his commitment to Catherine leads readers to offer him some credibility, or at least pitied on some levels. This credibility is forever in question due to Heathcliff’s inability to be forgiving of anyone. Through dialogue from Heathcliff, Emily Bronte creates the image of a character sinking out of control. Isabella writes of her anguish over the Earnshaw dilemma. She wrote, I do hate him–I am wretched–I have been a fool. † (p 163) Catherine, in Wuthering Heights, whose eventual demise comes by the hands of losing her own life, is set up by her personal struggles in her love-hate relationship with the arch nemesis, Heathcliff. She builds walls that suffocate herself from her family, all at the extent of Heathcliff. When other family members suspect his less-than-moral activities, Heathcliff simply stacks on the lies by jabbering on to cover up his deception. He continues to manipulate situations based on fast-talking. Again, his unfortunate orphanage and adoption into this glamorous family is his means of escaping victimization. Yet, ironically, he is, both, a victim and villain in the grand scheme of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece. In the following, we listen to Hindley express his mental state of mind regarding Heathcliff. Hindley said,†Unless you overreach him; and he’ll be my ruin. Damn the hellish villian! † (p. 193) The tide turns as the lies intensify and the great network of these families begin to see the truth. Other characters begin to boast their concerns over troubling issues surrounding Heathcliff. This unraveling of the family adds intensity to each new scene. In other words, the world is wrong and only Catherine and Heathcliff are correct—at least that is how Heathcliff sees things in his mental instability. Comedy is another component that is woven into the threads of the evil characters in Wuthering Heights. Most often, Bronte pokes fun at Heathcliff as the other family members and servants treat him unfairly and oftentimes with mockery. The grand theme of death and horror is apparent in Wuthering Heights. The characters evolve and revolve almost entirely around the characterization and altering behaviors of Heathcliff. The other character’s true motives come to light: They yearn for the demise and death of Heathcliff. As timing is such a critical component of Heathcliff’s development as a character, the timing of the lies within the family reach a climax. Before they can amend their ill-mannered plans to end Heathcliff, the damage is done and the family suffers. Bronte uses more empowering language to make her point with such artistry: The guest was now the master of Wuthering Heights. † (p. 204) In closing, this classic novel gained universal fame for its ability to weave the consequences of war and family and love and loss. And, it is done in climatic fashion. Betrayal and love and comedy are the components that keep the characters moving—especially our villain Heathcliff. There is one single link that connects Heathcliff with humanity. That is his respect for Harton Earnshaw, the man who adopted Heathcliff into the family, initiating this lifelong journey. According to Vogler, respect for family also manifests in the story as the battle between siblings and loved ones becomes the necessary device to overcome loss and deception and overzealous pride (Vogler 16). There is no way to correct the death and horrific pain that was unleashed as the story of Heathcliff and the Earnshaws occurred. In fact, Heathcliff wound up spending almost his entire life acting out on revenge against this family. As his life came to an end, Heathcliff was seeking spiritual aid. In fact, his dream was to be with Catherine again where he could spend eternity with the love of his life. Thus, as he brought about a slow death upon himself, he became happier the nearer and nearer he got to death. Yet, ironic as it may sound, Wuthering Heights is based on the love found by being forced into the trenches of war, a war that goes beyond the physical pain of the battlefield and into the ache of the soul. In the end, deceit loses but not before causing rampant death and destruction among the link known as family. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is a strange and powerful book of family loss, love, vengeance, and good versus evil. Wuthering Heights, in essence, is a battle of nature versus nurture. Tartuffe is also a story of estranged family love, loss, and deceit. As each story begins, the evil villains in both books appear to be following the path of the good-hearted hero. Their true characteristics, however, slowly unravel—showing their tenacity for evil. Heathcliff, in Wuthering Heights—and Tartuffe, in the play Tartuffe—have many comparable attributes. In Wuthering Heights Mr. Earnshaw brings home an orphan named Heathcliff that he quickly adopts into the family. This apparent noble gesture of family love for an individual without a home winds up initiating the warring and drama between several generations. In Tartuffe, the eventual evil character known as Tartuffe is regarded as a most pious and holy man, a hero on God’s path—or so we are led to believe. This can be paralleled to Heathcliff’s entry into the story as a loved orphan child. Tartuffe is regarded by the community members with the utmost respect. The intertwining of love, lust, and deceit is rampant in both stories. Love, in the end, seems to be the demise of the evil characters. They are unable to share their love and thus choose to use lies and deceit to meet their unbridled need for passion, lust, and selfish gain. Wuthering Heights, although its main protagonist is an orphaned child, cradles its main character into a large family. This adoption creates animosity between step-siblings and spouses. Estrangement and bitter revenge is a subplot linking both of these graphic novels of intensity. As the battles between individuals progress in each novel, the undercurrents of physical and mental pain—sometimes horrific pain—create intense situations as characters constantly juggle with a decision: Is the fight for a worthy cause? Heathcliff, in Wuthering Heights, winds up becoming loved and hated. He is, in effect, the hero and villain of this grand classic novel. His character creates dramatic intensity. His drama slowly evolves into an evil being. He pushes his hatred at everyone except Catherine. Heathcliff gets to a point of dependency on Catherine. As long as he has Catherine, he can deal with anything. Heathcliff is, in effect, the story of Wuthering Heights. The emotions and actions of other characters in this epic novel all seem to stem from Heathcliff. His magnetic personality is the catalyst toward other character interaction and plot development. Catherine, for example, is torn emotionally and spiritually over Heathcliff because of the feelings other family members have regarding Heathcliff. In the end, she seeks relief in death. Some of the characters in the play begin to see that Tartuffe is not the pious individual they were led to believe he was. Cleante and Dorine, for instance, discuss Tartuffe’s questionable characteristics. They both agree he is filled with deceit and has tricked Orgon. The web of love and desire runs amok as communication between family members and loved ones is blurred. Deception creates the sub plotting elements between Damis, Orgon, Mariane, Valere, Cleante, and Dorine that create animosity. This French play is in direct correlation to Emily Bronte’s classic novel that also weaves family deception, love, desire, and war to create an empowering story. Catherine, in Wuthering Heights, whose eventual demise comes by the hands of taking her own life, is set up by her personal struggles in her love-hate relationship with the arch nemesis, Heathcliff. She builds walls that suffocate herself from her family, all at the extent of Heathcliff. Tartuffe also builds walls. For Tartuffe, however, his walled persona is central to his initial means of deceiving others. He seeks to capture the love of Elmire. When others suspect his less-than-moral activities, Tartuffe simply stacks on the lies by jabbering on and using religious cliches to cover up his deception. He continues to manipulate situations based on fast-talking. Again, his religious background leads others to believe him. The tide turns in both stories as the lies intensify and the great network of these families begin to see the truth. Other characters begin to boast their concerns over troubling issues surrounding Tartuffe. Madame Pernelle’s advice is seen as truly absurd. She feels betrayal and takes out her angst by reprimanding other family members. For example, she hounds Cleante for his desire to counsel society; she doesn’t like how Elmire dresses; even the maid is reckless. This unraveling of the family adds intensity to each new scene. In other words, the world is wrong and only Madame Pernelle and Tartuffe are right. This talkative old woman reveals to the audience, for the very first time, that Tartuffe’s true character is not pious. Comedy is another component that is woven into the threads of the evil characters in Tartuffe and Wuthering Heights. In scene four, Orgon is completely fooled and also blinded by his committed affection to Tartuffe. The servant-master relationship gives way to humor. Here, we witness a bitter, yet sharp-witted, servant who makes fun of the unintelligent master. This dim-witted masters isn’t even aware of the ridicule. Comedy is found throughout Wuthering Heights as well. Most often, Bronte pokes fun at Heathcliff as the other family members and servants treat him unfairly and oftentimes with mockery. The grand theme of death and horror is also apparent in both stories. The characters evolve and their true motives come to light. However, by the time the lies are brought to light, the damage is done and the families suffer—in both stories. In closing, these two novels gain universal fame for their ability to weave the consequences of war and family and love and loss. And, it is done in climatic fashion. Betrayal and love and comedy are the components that keep the characters moving—especially our villains Heathcliff and Tartuffe. There is one single link that connects Heathcliff with humanity. That is his respect for Harton Earnshaw, the man who adopted Heathcliff into the family, initiating this lifelong journey. Respect for family also manifests in Tartuffe as the battle between siblings and loved ones becomes the necessary device to overcome loss and deception and overzealous pride. Wuthering Heights is based on the love found by being forced into the trenches of war, a war that goes beyond the physical pain of the battlefield and into the ache of the soul. It’s ironic, in Tartuffe, that our antagonistic villain was once considered holy and pious. In the end, deceit loses but not before causing rampant death and destruction among the link known as family.