Monday, September 30, 2019

Alcoholism and Its Effects on the Family

Alcoholism is also known as a family disease. Alcoholics may have young, teenage, or grown-up children; they have wives or husbands; they have brothers or sisters; they have parents or other relatives. An alcoholic can totally disrupt family life and cause harmful effects that can last a lifetime. According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services and SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration) National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, seventy six million American adults have been exposed to alcoholism in the family.Alcoholism is responsible for more family problems than any other single cause. According to Silverstein (1990), one of every four families has problems with alcohol. Alcoholism may be defined as the disease that affects the environment, genetic, and psychosocial factors of an individual. The said disease is said to be distinguished by periodic or continuous intake of alcohol, without worrying about the adverse effe cts the addiction may incur on the individual (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, February 3, 1990). For this, Alcoholism has been regarded to have several effects on families.Like any other addiction, Alcoholism has its detrimental effects on the user. The normal signs include problems in the stomach and in the intestines, ulcer, nausea and vomiting, deliriums, and the urge to have more of the habitual vice. However, excessive intake of the alcoholic beverage would cause much damage to the body. Starting from ulcer, the problems would tend to become psychological, greatly affecting the individual. If not taken seriously, the symptoms would progress and would eventually lead to kidney problems, insomnia, weight loss, liver failure, and even death (National Treatment Referral, n.d. ). Although Alcoholism has not been taken seriously, families have been greatly affected by the symptoms and effects it has exuded on the people involved. The addiction starts with an indi vidual drinking an estimated two bottles of beer a day. Eventually, the individual increases his tolerance for the said drug by drinking more of the habitual vice each day. Eventually, the individual begins to show signs of irritability and impatience towards his peers and people around him. Contact with peers is limited, for conflicts normally arise when this happens (Alcoholism Symptoms, n. d. ).Unfortunately, the family and its members are the most affected people in this dilemma. This may be attributed to the fact that alcoholism can affect anyone regardless of age, sex, income and social status, and even ethnicity. This means that almost anyone can be afflicted by this. The worst part of them all is the fact that the simple drinking of beer could lead to a child’s heartbreak, or worse to the child being emotionally broken (Parsons, December 4, 2003). Alcoholism present in families has been classified into four types: type one, type two, type three, and type four respecti vely.The first type was regarded as active alcoholism. This was the type that included family members, such as the parents, children, grand parents, and so forth. It has been stated that this type has been present in all family lineages. The second type involved a family member that has stopped drinking alcoholic beverages. Although there was no more active alcoholic in the house, the family still supports the way that alcoholics follow. However, conflict still becomes a great part of the family. On the other hand, Type Three shows how the alcoholic has been removed from the family, for a generation or so.This type shows how a parent would not be considered as an alcoholic regardless of the family’s history. Regardless of this, characteristics for possible alcohol addiction may still become evident. Lastly, Type Four is considered to be an alcoholic system. This may be attributed to the fact that alcoholism easily progresses, and may easily attack members of the family causin g chaos (Olivera, November 19, 2005). Sometimes, Alcoholism is regarded to be genetic, and inherited from previous generations.Individuals who have family members who are alcoholics have a high risk of acquiring the said disease. Unfortunately, it is the children who suffer the most. As mentioned earlier, having parents for alcoholics would have an effect on the children. They would tend to be emotionally disturbed, and their behavior changes as well. Some even tend to be rebellious as a sign of protest to what is being shown by the parent. Although the whole situation is being blamed on genes, sometimes the behavior of the parents and what the children see are what matters most.When they witness such heartbreaking moments at such a young age, different queries would be formed at the back of their minds and would eventually lead to different factors (Alcoholism: A Family Component, August 2005). Alcoholism may be attributed for numerous things. Although there are certain things that people can do to cope with life, there are certain things that alcohol does in an individual’s body to console them. Human needs are given and everyone becomes happy. However, there are still certain things in life that are not taken into consideration.Furthermore, I believe that it is best to say that circumstances are really pivotal in the relationships of family members. For one, excessive heartaches cannot be cured with just a simple snap of a finger. Regardless of how an individual would try to forget a heartbreaking moment, he just can not. In turn, they shift their attention to other mediums, such as alcohol, to make them feel better. Being consumed by the alcohol inhibits them from wallowing on their heartaches, and in turn, go on with their interrupted life. Another instance that may be attributed to alcohol intake is depression.The individual would feel that being drunk is better than suffering from the heartaches and problems brought about by the circumstances tha t happened around them. It is just but human nature to feel hurt when some things are done unwillingly; however, it also depends on the individuals on how they would be able to cope up with such circumstances. Furthermore, I believe that it is best to say that the family is the primary structure of society affected by such dilemma. Seeing a family member wallow on the negative effects of alcohol may become heartbreaking, and worse, detrimental to the once healthy relationship that the family had.In addition to this, unborn babies who have no idea of the real world are also being affected by this habitual vice. Pregnant women tend to pass on some of the alcoholic content into their unborn children, while trying to enjoy this extraordinary lifestyle. Unfortunately, the intake of alcoholic beverages also causes some abnormalities and defects on the unborn babies. These tend to become irreversible and would forever remind the parents of their habitual vice. Children, on the other hand, also tend to be affected by such dilemma.Witnessing a parent wallow on the harsh effects of alcohol would make them perceive things differently from those of children their age. They tend to form guilt feelings toward themselves, and have very low esteem. In addition to this, they form a feeling of abandonment from their parents, because they feel that their parents would opt to satisfy their needs for the habitual vice than care for them. From here on, the children would develop insecurities about themselves that greatly affect their academic standing. In school, these children would be regarded to be different from their peers, for they tend to deviate from the crowd.In this light, they would also opt to be alone and become anti-social. Building relationships with others would become difficult from their end, for they would feel that they would also be blamed for any wrong action made by their peers (Effects of Alcoholism on Families, n. d. ). Although adults may tend to become mo re understanding of such situations than children, they may also be affected by the addiction. Having an alcoholic for a spouse would come as a challenge that has effects on the relationship. Like the children, the spouse also has to deal with the emotional and mental torture brought about by alcoholism.The role as father and mother would be passed on to the normal spouse’s hands, because of the partner’s inability to fulfill them. In this regard, the non-alcoholic spouse would have difficulty in handling everything, which would also have an effect on the children. As much as possible, the non-alcoholic spouse would accomplish tasks deemed from both, even to the extent of trying to be perfect. Unfortunately, the emotional and mental turmoil experienced by the spouse would come in between the relationship with the children.In this regard, the children would develop a sense of rejection from both parents. Alcoholism also affects the financial stability of the family, for much money is being spent in purchasing alcoholic beverages. In this regard, other privileges are sacrificed by the other members of the family. Quite a heartbreaking situation, but this is the way things go. For this, many couples would opt for separation and divorce (Parsons, December 14, 2003). From everything that has been said, it may be clearly stated that Alcoholism definitely as an effect on the family.Although it was evident how much emotional and mental turmoil Alcoholism may have on each member of the family, it may also be seen that not all are negative. Giving people temporary bliss would also help in the emotional state of an individual. However, this would come as a threat when things go overboard. Alcoholism is not as bad as it may seem. People should only be careful when dealing with such, so that no other person may be broken emotionally. Furthermore, having control over one’s self is essential in making the individual more capable of facing the future ahea d of him. References Parsons, T.(2003). Alcoholism and its effect on the family. All Psych Online. Retrieved November 27, 2008 from http://allpsych. com/journal/alcoholism. html (n. d. ). Alcoholism in the family: What can you do. Retrieved November 27, 2008 from http://www. learn-about-alcoholism. com/alcoholism-in-the-family. html (2005). Alcoholism: A family component. Retrieved November 27, 2008 from http://www. alcoholismresources. com/family_alcoholism. html (n. d. ) Alcoholism sysmptoms. http://www. learn-about-alcoholism. com/alcoholism-symptoms. html Leskinen, S. (n. d. ). Alcoholism: A family illness. Retrieved Nove

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Jason & Medea Essay

How do Jason’s feelings at the end of the play differ from those revealed in other encounters? In their first encounter, Jason appears to be trying to make himself feel as if he is better than Medea, and as if he is the bigger person than she, mfou no doubt hate me: but I could never bear ill-will to you† implies that he is a better person for helping her even though she hates him – and that even after all that’s happened and all she has said he still â€Å"could never bear ill-will†. He continues to try and defend his actions, claiming it was for social status, that he didn’t marry for love, but for the fact hat he wants to know they will have a good life and not be poor; also, as he marries the King’s daughter, his sons with Medea will be half-brothers to any children Jason may have with Glauce, therefore improving their status on becoming a king of Corinth. Their second encounter is after Medea has decided her exact plan; she knows how she will kill the princess and the king, and has then also planned to kill her sons. She asks for Jason to attend, and he does, at which point she acts like a stereotypical wife of the time, admitting that she was wrong for all the feelings she had, and that verything that had happened was her fault, that she overreacted because she knew Jason was only doing it for the good of their family. It would seem to be a friendly conversation on Jason’s part, he shows no kind of hostility towards Medea when she speaks to him, and openly accepts her apology, and states when he first speaks to her that he is â€Å"ready to listen†. However, later in this meeting he, again, demeens women, â€Å"Only naturally a woman is angry when her husband marries a second wife. † perhaps this is true in a sense, however I think anyone would be angry if their significant ther decided to marry someone else; not Just a woman. After this it could be said that Medea plays up to this, as when he mentions his sons growing up and being strong, she weeps. This may be because she knows her sons will never go, or she believes crying will make Jason pity her. In this encounter he also mentions sexual jealousy, implying that Medea is simply angry because of the fact that Jason is now sleeping with someone else, rather than her – this is because he doesn’t understand her anger, and therefore infers that it is because of this, rather than the fact that he eft her to marry another. Later in this passage, he also refers to Medea as a â€Å"foolish woman† when she tries to send the Coronet and dress to Glauce, and this theme of sexism is carried out a few lines later â€Å"If my wife values me at all she will yield to me more than to costly presents, I am sure of that†; again, the attitude of the ancient Greek time was that women were to do what they were told, rather than what they wanted. They were to be obedient, and not break any rules. In the third and final encounter, at the end of the play, it appears Jason has reached is peripeteia, his downfall. Medea, at this point, has killed their two sons – and it is clear he loses complete control of his emotions, and he begins wildly insulting Medea, calling ner an â€Å"abomination†. It is also earlier in this pa rt that ne calls ner â€Å"the woman I will kill. † at the beginning of the play, he was supposedly in love with her, whilst at the end, he wants nothing more than her to be dead. It becomes obvious that Jason has realised what Medea is truly like, how manipulative and cunning she is; and how she tricked him, in certain parts, at least, into believing she as Just an obedient wife to him. He claims he wants the gods to â€Å"blast her life†, and during the time in which most, if not all, people believed that these gods were real and had impact on their lives, this would be one of the worst things to wish upon someone else. Again, Jason also mentions her â€Å"sexual Jealousy’, blaming this for the murder of their children â€Å"†¦ out of mere sexual Jealousy, you murder them! † At the complete end of the play, Jason is on the ground, whilst Medea is in a chariot (pulled by dragons) on the roof; this could be a representation of the fact that, in the eginning, Jason was of a higher standing than Medea, however at the end she had gotten (in a sense) what she wanted, and that she was now on top – her enemies not able to laugh at her. He asks Medea to let him bury the children, a request which she declines, so he then asks if he could hold them one last time. She responds with â€Å"now you have kisses for them†, as previously Jason had appeared to be more than happy to let his sons be exiled – even if he did state in previous encounters that he had married the princess not for Just his social standing, but also his sons.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Database Management System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Database Management System - Essay Example ata type is used in many cases which is advantageous in terms of memory management and also to make changes in the size of a field in future as required. create table Customer(Customer_no number(12) constraint CONST_PK_CUST primary key not null, Customer_town varchar2(30) not null, Customer_name varchar2(45) not null, Customer_address varchar2(80) not null ); create table Flight(Flight_code varchar2(6) constraint CONST_PK_FLIGHT primary key, Departure_day_time date not null, Departure_airport varchar2(30) not null, Arrival_time date not null, Arrival_airport varchar2(30) not null); create table Booking(Booking_ref_no number(10) constraint CONST_PK_BOOKING primary key, Booking_date date, Customer_no number(10) constraint CONST_FK_BOOKING references Customer(Customer_no), Deposit_paid varchar2(1) not null constraint CHECK_YN check(Deposit_paid in(Y,N)), Sales_rep_id number(1) constraint CONST_FK2_BOOKING references Sales_rep(Sales_rep_id) ); create table FLIGHT_SEAT(Flight_code varchar2(6) constraint CONST_FK1_FLIHTSEAT references Flight(Flight_code), Seat_no number(4) constraint CONST_FK1_FLIGHTSEAT references Seat(Seat_no), price number(5) not null,constraint CONST_PK1_FLIGHTSEAT primary key(Flight_code,Seat_no)); create table Booking_line(Booking_ref_no number(10) constraints CONST_FK1_BOOKINGLINE references Booking_line(Booking_ref_no), Flight_code varchar2(6), Flight_date date,Passenger_surname varhcar2(20), constraints CONST_PK_BOOKINGLINE primary key (Flight_code, Seat_no, Flight_date),constraints CONST_FK2_BOOKINGLINE foreign key The entity SEAT seems to be a over head in data entry and also it has some effect in database operation. The SEATNO and CLASS_CODE field in the SEAT entity can be moved into the FLIGHT_SEAT entity. In the FLIGHTSEAT entity we can have the CLASS_CODE which will solve the above issues. When the entity FLIGHT_SEAT is inserted a new row or updated any existing row the CLASS field should be first class if the seat no is less than

NSB224 RESEARCH APPROACHES IN NURSING Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NSB224 RESEARCH APPROACHES IN NURSING - Essay Example (2). The abstract is a very important paragraph of the article. The length of the abstract is based on the journal for which the article is written, and normally does not extend beyond 250 words. This makes precision in the use of words and coherence of the matter important elements of the abstract. It is written as a single paragraph without references, providing the substance of the article. From such a perspective of a good abstract, the abstract the article can be rated as good. (3) The introduction is usually a few paragraphs in length written with the purpose of introducing the issue being investigated by the article, the relevance of the issue to the health care services and nursing. The problem of debilitation associated with hemodialysis is clearly mentioned at the outset, though not easily identifiable, owing to the structure of the introduction, wherein a number of issues are brought in one after the other. The problem is of significance to nursing, as it is nursing care that is essentially involved in patients on hemodialysis recovering their functional abilities and improving their well-being. (3). The main purpose of the literature review is to provide an understanding of what is known on the health subject or health problem. In doing so it gives clarity to the deficits in the current understanding of the health subject and how the article contributes to enhancing the understanding of the subject or problem. A good literature review draws information from reliable sources like peer-reviewed journal articles and books on the subject. It does not just summarize the information from these resources, but critically evaluates the information and looks at the connection of the information provide by these resources with regard to the topic of the article. In this way the literature review links the information from the different sources, provides

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Communication, Gender, & Sex Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Communication, Gender, & Sex - Article Example This essay "Communication, Gender, & Sex" outlines the issue of the behavioral pattern of the genders that exist in the society. Using the American community as an example, Kivel (1985) labels the stereotype given to males in America as Act-Like-a-Man box. The name given by the writer has two major derivations.. It is for the reason that boys are forced to belong to the order of toughness that the writer hold the opinion the whole system has generated into a stereotype. The name ‘box’ given by the customer has its reasons from the fact that the compulsion given to males to be touch is carried around on a 24 hour basis. This is to say that the practice does not end in a day. Another perception is given by the writer in his text in the context of cultural differences. The writer makes the point that even though boys all around the world are touted to be tough the rate of toughness and compulsion varies with different cultures. The advocacy that the writer assigns to the te xt is that the need for boys to be in control should not be mistaken for the need to be violent. Hur (2011) writes on the topic â€Å"Why I am a Male Feminist. The article is a typical narrative of the real life experience of the writer. As a typical family setting that is made up of its own challenges and strengths, the writer reports of growing up in a home where male dominance over females was shown in a rather bizarre manner. The bizarreness is seen in the sense that the writer reports of his father constantly abusing his mother and showing extreme lordship over her. Indeed if two captains paddle the same ship the ship wil sink and so there is the need for one to be a master whiles the other serves as a follower. This means that the family should certainly have a head. This however should not be mistaken for lordship of the head of the house over the others. Unfortunately, the father of the writer did not view the situation from such perspective and went ahead to abuse the mother. There are issues of socio-cultural concerns raised in the article. The writer holds the perspective that people with Black origin have a special attribute that is leading them in the wrong direction. It was generally due to how the father of the writer treated the mother that made the writer take the stand of becoming a feminist to fight for the right of women. In al two summaries above, there is a peculiar subject of gender stereotype that cuts across. Both articles have instances where males are seen as lords over females. In their attempt to show lordship, they go t he extreme to characterize their attitude with violence, force and compulsion. This is the perspective that is most regrettable. There is a clear misplacement of priority in the sense that men take the wrong approach towards the issue of gender difference. It is in this direction that Gandhi (2001) posits circumstances under which people of certain gender are portrayed as being with traitorous identity. If the scenarios presented by Kivel (1984) and Hurt (2011) are anything to go by, then it could be said without doubt that the answer to Gandhi’s question is that males are those with traitorous identity and the do this though various forms such as imposing their authority on females, abusing females by beating them, harassing females sexually and putting up other

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Intrusion into the Lives of Public Figures Essay

Intrusion into the Lives of Public Figures - Essay Example In general, the world we live in is bound to be filled with observers. Taking a portion of a whole, the United Kingdom has her share of glorious intrusion unto the lives of public figures with unprecedented fame and popularity. The paparazzi are like the earliest of birds, leaking information into the open - something that celebrities disgust and fear the most. To protect their privacy, numerous cases have been filed to the Royal Courts. Basically, these claims are being heard in accord with Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Right. However, these definitions are in somewhat contrary to a disclosure of information about persons with records of sexual misgivings especially pedophiles. In this paper, the following important considerations will be dealt in accordingly. First, privacy rights of celebrities and suspected child sex offenders will be discussed in such detail with reference to some cases. Despite attempts of the UK media to justify intrusion, the consensus of UK judges in the legal protection of certain fundamental values will be at the heart of succeeding discussions. How have UK judges defined the values that strengthen a right to privacy Where do we draw the barrier between 'public' and 'private' parts of a person's life On the other hand, the discussion will continue from the perspective of protecting interests such as public safety or child welfare. Since the public demands for disclosure of information about sexual offenders, is it logical to assume that they forfeit any 'right to privacy' because of previous convictions Privacy is a right that everyone deserves to have. It is by far the absolute result of someone needing enough space and enabling him to enjoy even the simplest of things. American lawyer Judge Cooley in 1888 defined privacy as "the right to be let alone" (29). Another suggestion came from Geoffrey Robertson who in 1993 suggested that the right to privacy is, at its most basic and generic, "the right to be able to live some part of life behind a door marked 'do not disturb'" (104). Let alone, this right has been the subject of many debates regarding whether celebrities have fully enjoyed it or not and as such, given the High Courts notions to think about forcing them to create consensus in defining fundamental values that adhere to a successful, unambiguous protection of the right to privacy. Let it be remembered that Gareth Crossman, et. al. has noted, "In the United Kingdom, privacy's time in the spotlight will continue for the foreseeable future. Continued attention from the courts also appears likely, given the rapid development of case law relating to privacy over the short period since the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) came into force. Media attention continues unabated as the courts continue to grapple with the competing demands of privacy and freedom of expression, and the question of whether there is a distinction between 'the public interest' and 'what interests the public'". Before proceeding, it is imperative to incorporate Articles 8 and 10 of the Convention insofar as they are relevant in understanding decisions of core cases. Article 8 -Right to respect for private and family life entails that everyone has the right to respect for

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Marketing Research on Selected Two Major Competing Brands Essay

Marketing Research on Selected Two Major Competing Brands - Essay Example As the paper stresses the marketing case study analysis of the Google Inc presented by Abt had demonstrated the marketing programs of Google precisely. Taking insights from his work, the most important facet of Google’s marketing program is that it aims to make its applications and products accepted by all the market segments. Another important aspect of Google is that it allows both private and non-profit organization to use this search engine at absolutely free of cost. It is of no surprise to mention that Google works on the marketing motto that information gathering is a phenomenon of individuals, non-profit organizations and small and large businesses. This discussion declares that the external environment of Google is dynamic in nature and thus also provides opportunities and threats to the search engine. Google is on high demand and to remain competitive in this dynamic environment, it needs to predict the changes and accordingly adapt systems, cultures, strategies and also the process of alignment with the changes. In this respect, Google until now has undertaken several changes like that of the decision taken by Larry Page to step down from the role of Vice President and make Eric Schmidt the front man for Google (CEO). This indicates that Google follows dynamic strategies within its internal environment to cope up with the ever changing external environment. Google holds the top most position in the web and this position allows it to control any of the growth areas. Google has been so far applying marketing penetration strategies in the web industry for remaining on top. Free exposure and free benchmarking are some of the stra tegies that have been helping Google over the years. They always keep themselves aware of the competitive positioning and this trait of the company helps in achieving the competitive advantage over other competitors. The strongest element of Google’s marketing mix is their ‘universal search product’. This element always allows Google to either vote for or against any form of information and it is believed that this product type of Google is the ultimate generator of its

Monday, September 23, 2019

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 44

Summary - Essay Example After reading about Avila and watching trailers of ‘Savages’, I realized that women are more deeply involved in drug trafficking than it is widely believed. The involvement of high-profile women from the world of fashion in dangerous, life-threatening and illegal activities also raises other important questions like the reasons and factors that contribute to their involvement and their manipulation on the basis of their gender in drug trafficking. A research article by Council on Hemispheric Affairs stated: Because a woman could use her appearance to bypass security officers, DTO affiliates began attending beauty pageants held in Latin America in order to approach contestants with the lures associated with drug trafficking... Colombian beauty queen and lingerie model, Angie Valencia, who was supposedly using other young, beautiful models to transport drugs in an international cocaine ring. (Mares, COHA) This research topic would not only explore the dual roles of women as victims and perpetrators but would also investigate about the ambiguous roles played by women in the complex web of the underworld. â€Å"According to the National Womens Institute (INMUJERES), the number of females convicted in connection to the drug trade rose 400 percent between 2007 and 2010.† (Ramsey, Insight) Such facts and figures about the involvement of women in drug trafficking are likely to attract students of women and gender studies, legal studies, criminal psychology etc. The data available at the official websites of law enforcement agencies, newspaper articles, human rights organizations, etc. shall prove to be the most authentic sources of acquiring information about this topic. Some sources from where official statistics can be obtained are: Almanac of Policy Issues (http://www.policyalmanac.org/); United States Drug Enforcement Administration

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Alcohol Essay Essay Example for Free

Alcohol Essay Essay Alcohol is not only the reason why prohibition took place in the 1920s, but it is also the reason why many persons wake up not remembering their pervious night’s events. It has always been evident that alcohol has an effect on brain function, which in-turn impairs the behavior of a person. Alcohol can be separated into two separate groups: what is expected to happen, and what actually happens. Alcohol is expected to play social lubricant and aphrodisiac. When it comes to being social, alcohol does seem to have a loosening effect on people, however, it is almost the opposite sexually. Alcohol actually acts as more of a suppressant when sex is brought into the picture. It has only be known to be a sort of aphrodisiac because that is the way it is perceived and that is the way in which people choose to perceive it. Given the choice between two women, one holding an alcoholic drink and the other not, a man will more often pick the women with the alcoholic drink due to the fact that alcohol is a precursor to the possibility of having intercourse. It has always been evident that alcohol has an effect on brain function, which in-turn impairs the behavior of a person. Not only has alcohol been linked to multiple physical issues but also mental and emotional. When alcohol is consumed it can create acetaldehyde in the brain to allow a chemical reaction to take place with other elements already in the brain waiting to be activated. Acetaldehyde is present everywhere in the atmosphere and may be produced in the body due to the breakdown of ethanol. Short-term exposure to acetaldehyde results in disturbances such as irritation of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. Symptoms long-term intoxication of acetaldehyde seem to be parallel with those of alcoholism. Besides these physical effects, alcohol has been seen as playing a role in multiple sexual outcomes and processes. Even knowing that another person has drunk can influence the way he or she is viewed. And although alcohol is commonly known to be a social lubricant, it can also severely impair judgment and cause a person to carry out an action or become interested in something they otherwise would never explore or even encounter. When studying brain pathology, it is common to conduct postmortem research. This is because when a brain is functioning, it can be very difficult to view more than just images of the brain’s activity level. Studies conducted this way have contributed to our knowledge of the permanent nervous system damage from long-term and reoccurring alcohol intoxication. In terms of temporary effects, the list includes impaired judgment, poor insight, distractibility, cognitive rigidity, and reduced motor skills. Acute alcohol intoxication compared with sobriety effects hand-eye coordination, stability in gait and balance, and speed performance. When viewing a brain in vivo, a MRI is conducted and the images presented give insight as to which parts of the brain are being used while in the scanner. This machine has allowed comparison between a frequent drinker and a sober person. Many problems contracted while alcoholism is taking place can start to recover over extended sobriety, however they are also in danger to further decline with continued drinking. In terms of physical and emotional effects of alcohol, it does seem to play a role in many sexual adventures. This is probably because when a person is consuming alcohol, they are seen as more sensual and are believed to more likely engage in sex. Because of this, it is no surprise that alcohol has been known to serve as an aphrodisiac in situations such as weddings, dates, and fraternity keggers. Nonetheless, alcohol can be separated into two separate groups, what is expected to happen, and what actually happens. This is because drinking men and women are seen as more sexually obtainable and willing to take part in foreplay as well as intercourse than their non-drinking equivalent. However when it comes to what is truly occurring, things are quite different. Alcohol actually decreases both women’s and men’s genital reactions. Male’s penile prominence is actually restrained and their orgasm potential is decreased. Likewise, female’s potential for orgasm is lowered and the blood flow to the vagina is constrained. This means that even though people feel as though the alcohol is enabling them to become more sexual and be aroused easier and more often, it is actually doing the opposite. In spite of this, it is not noticed because of the expectancy. These suggestions were researched through a study of implementing alcohol as well as placebos to men and women and then having them view different images and talk with different people in order to see what would arouse them and what was seen as attractive and sexual. The misrepresentation of a drunk person is often perceived attempting to walk in a straight line and failing while displaying no coordination whatsoever. It should stand to say that if you were to give a drunken person enough time, there is a possibility they will be able to accomplish any task on a normal level. In the present paper, it has been illustrated that the link between health, wellness, sexual endeavors, social interactions, and behavior can all lead back to alcohol in some way. However, even knowing all these facts and the effects alcohol can cause not only mentally, but also physically, people continue to drink, even if only a sip.

Friday, September 20, 2019

BP Commerce Analysis

BP Commerce Analysis I believe strongly that we need a work environment where everyone can bring all of themselves to work every day and not feel like they have to be someone else in order to succeed. -Tony Hayward, BP CEO /BP is one of the largest organizations in oil, gas, and alternative energy industry in the world. It employs more than 100 000 people across the world and provides essential oil, gas, and energy products for nearly 13 million customers every day in more than 100 countries. The company has a wide range of businesses including exploration and production, refining and marketing, gas power, and alternative energy (BP, 2010). Despite the success in the market or economic downturns, organization always must care about their employees who bring this success through skills, competencies, and hard work. Therefore, company must have a diversity and inclusion policy in place in order to create perfect working environment for these employees, to motivate them, remunerate, and retain the best. We might ask ourselves why diversity and inclusion is so important to any large or small company. The answer is that employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, and community partners place a high value on organization for being fair and meritocratic (BP, 2010). Furthermore, we need to recognize the availability of skilled employees is getting smaller in nowadays market and economic situation. Every organization tries to attract new skilled labor and to retain talented employees in the company. In order to achieve that, organizations must have reputation, operational processes and imbedded policies, working climate that not only respects differences, but expose them for competitive advantage. BP is a multinational organization and it is essential to have an up-to-date policies and procedures in place for evaluation and monitoring purposes in order to comply with equality and inclusion policies, avoid any kind of discrimination, and ensure equal opportunities for everyone. Different organizations have different policies and practices and in order to compare BP to others, this organizational audit will review BPs other main competitors such as Exxon and Shell for a comparison on diversity and inclusion issues, provide investigation summary of BPs equal opportunity and equal pay practices, and provide action plans and cost and benefit analysis in order to enhance equality and diversity practice in the organization. A Summary of Analysis The purpose of this project is to produce diversity and inclusion analysis for BPs North Africa Strategic Performance Unit (further NA SPU) based on pay review recommendations in 2009 for employees to be effective on 1st of April 2010. I will be looking at Level E (senior level leaders) to Level K (administration) concentrating on equal pay issues and gender inequality (gaps) among UK employees only. The reason for this is that NA SPU has fairly big population and it is down to UK employees based locally in UK and in the businesses across the world. More to mention, this SPU is a perfect representation sample for other similar strategic performance units across the organization. 270 employees in North Africa Strategic Performance Unit (NA SPU) 139 UK nationals in NA SPU 31 Female employees 108 Male employees Level E (senior level leaders) 7 Males; 0 Females Level F(team leaders/professionals) 26 Males; 2 Females Level G (team leaders/professionals 30 Males; 4 Females Level H (team leaders/professionals 19 Males; 6 Females Level I (specialists/advisors) 17 Males; 8 Females Level J (specialists/advisors) 8 Males; 5 Females Level K (administration) Male 1; 6 Females All analysis is done only for the UK nationals population across all Levels, and Disciplines in NA SPU In order to get a better picture about pay equality and find out if there is any gaps in gender equality it is essential to analyse consistency of Salary Review process across the NA SPU and identify potential inequality in monetary reward between genders in different departments, levels, and across different disciplines. It is important to concentrate on the data which is robust- gender, income, length of service, and grouped by levels and disciplines. The sample group of employees does consist of different levels from E (senior level leaders) to K (administrative employees). It is a healthy business population that depicts statistical average of different employees in SPUs and other businesses within the company. Even though we have split the data down to segments any equal opportunity data is best analysed by working of groups so similar in roles and at similar level can be looked at. In order to understand the data better, I am providing few tables with graphic representation and statistical summary of the proposed data, following the brief comments to bring the main points or anomalies that could be potential gaps in reward and gender equality in the workplace. E F G H I J K Level Average SalaryGraph 1 Average New Salary comparison between Males and Females All Levels Higher level male and female employees positioned on the higher range of average salary scale and lower level male and female employees positioned on the lower range of average salary- it is consistent across every level. As the graph shows all the proposed employee salaries does not have any significant and female and male employees up to level G are similarly positioned on the salary grid. However, I would like to mention that circled in red on the graph data shows that level F female employees are on the lower range of the salary comparing to level F male employees. Picking the fact that there is significantly low number of female workers in higher levels- it raises the question of the possible glass ceiling that prevents female workers to get higher levels and be paid equally. Graph 2 Average New Salary by Job Discipline All Levels This data is very interesting, because it compares proposed new average salary between male and female employees in all levels but grouped by job discipline. The lowest paid group is administration, and the highest paid group of employees are drilling, geosciences disciplines where employees considered as professional and highly skilled workforce. Unfortunately, we notice that in geosciences and petroleum engineering disciplines we a have a significant difference in average salary between male and female employees. This is due to the fact that we have few women who works in these disciplines and the pay equality is very doubtful. On the other hand women earn more in average in the administration and commercial disciplines and we do not have any women working so called male oriented jobs in drilling and maintenance disciplines. This needs more investigation of companys recruitment policies and procedures why company does not attract more women into these jobs. Graph 3 Average New Salary by Years of Service All Levels This graph shows different set of data how the salary progresses depending on length of service despite the level of the employee but across level groups and disciplines. We can notice the gradual increase in salary for women and men, however we have only few women with a lengthy history of employment with company, but the good fact is that more and more women are hired into the business comparing with 20 years ago. It is worth to mention that circled in red- employees appear in the bottom of the range due to lower levels and the job discipline itself (administration). A Discussion of the Meaning of the Data Collected To summarise the findings it is clear that males and females are equally paid and well aligned to each other in every level, but there are few gaps in certain disciplines. Even though the national UK statistics is showing that the pay gap between gender is very high (see appendix 1) BP is trying their best to operate according to Equal Pay Act (release 1970), and Equal Pay between sexes (Article 141, EC Treaty). However the lack of female employees in main leadership positions and levels in our sample population- by all means might be understood as glass ceiling effect in the company (Podro, 2006). Therefore, it is interesting to look deeper into BP diversity and inclusion policy and compare the information to main rival companies policies and think of further improvements and recommendations in order the DI policy in BP policy to be attractive and by no means discriminatory. Table 1 Diversity Policy Comparison between Competitors Recruiting Developing Diversity Inclusive Leadership BP The number of graduates recruited through global recruitment program has increased by 58% since 2005 and 63% of these are engineers or scientists. 35% of all graduate hires were women, while 34% of all graduate hires came from racial or ethnic minorities. Diversity and inclusion policy aims to create a truly inclusive meritocracy at organization, in which the diversity of workforce reflects global reach and maximizes available talent while respecting individual differences. By valuing the differences between employees company establishes a platform for creativity, innovation and problem solving. There is a commitment to the development of a culture of diversity is therefore a true business imperative. Managing Inclusion program is now mandatory for all senior level leaders and by the end of year 2006, around 1000 employees at this level had completed the program. The program is still continues to exist in the organization. Exxon Women comprise about 25 percent of companys worldwide workforce, excluding company-operated retail stores. Approximately 12 percent of executive employees are women, compared to 9 percent in 2000. Organizations strength is the quality and diversity of employees. Organization operates Global Workforce Diversity Framework to attract, develop, and retain a premier workforce, actively foster a work environment where individual and cultural differences are respected and valued; and identify and develop leadership capabilities of employees to perform effectively in a variety of environments. Organization is committed to promoting leadership opportunities for women globally and improving the gender balance in the company. Shell By the end of 2009, 14.0% of the most senior leadership positions were filled by women, up from 13.6% in 2008. As well, 26.4% of supervisory positions (up from 24.7% in 2008) and 16.1% of management positions (up from 15.3% in 2008) were held by women. With a core strategic team in Central HR as well as representatives in organizations businesses worldwide, diversity and inclusiveness is an integral part of the organization. It has a vital part to play in underpinning its continuing success by ensuring attraction, recruitment, and retaining the best people- regardless of their gender, nationality or background. Local people fill senior management positions in every country we operate in. In 37% of countries, local nationals filled more than half the senior leadership positions, compared to 32% in 2008 Sources: BP (2010); Shell (2010); ExxonMobil (2010) 3. An Equality Plan BP has made a significant investment over a short period of time to raise awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion in the organization. The diversity and inclusion team was reorganized in 2007 in order to shift ownership of diversity and inclusion to the line and embedded in the business to ensure alignment with organizational strategic plans (BP, 2010). This reorganization of the team paid dividends in the sense that the companys diversity and inclusion policy was a driving force in creating engagement in the workplace, changing leadership attitudes, improving performance representation statistics against competitors, and building pride and ownership among employees in different strategic performance units in the organization. To be more specific, in order to achieve desired results there should be a support for leaders and line managers with implementation of a framework that defines the strategy and priorities. The need of advancements or improvements on existing policies and the frameworks are imminent to achieve business goals and improve on diversity issues: Table 2 Diversity Inclusion Development and Maitenance Population Actions Leadership team Governance of diversity and inclusion strategy and periodical reviews of the progress. Ensure objectives embedded within operating business in every strategic performance unit. DI team Developing and proposing strategy, policy, and framework that advocates and supports diversity and inclusion. Cooperating with HR teams and external sources in order to be up to date with the policy and practices. HR team Serving as consultants and advising everyone involved to identify the critical DI areas in the organization that needs improvement. Leading various activities across the business to promote the equal opportunities. BP employees Everyone must take a part in helping the organization to tackle the diversity issues by taking responsibility for diverse behaviour and attitudes. It is essential to participate in creating inclusive working environment using all available tools and support. Having said that, I would like to concentrate on North Africa SPU populations gender equality and equal pay issues and provide recommendations on what can be done to improve situation and to be compliant with BP diversity model and policies: Table 3 Recommendation Costs Issue Target Recommendation Cost Equality in gender workforce Significantly increase the percentage of female employees in senior level jobs Aggressive external recruitment and local talent search via internal recruitment High costs external recruitment and headhunting can be very expensive since there is scarce pool of highly skilled women to fill in senior level positions Minimal costs local talent search via intranet, local recruitment database, and companies internal publications in every form and shape Equal pay across the levels and disciplines Ensure the pay reviews are according to equal pay act and not discriminatory among male and female workers To review the policy of Salary Review procedure and implement a equal pay process that would allow team leaders to have market data during the annual pay conversations Minimal costs internal policy review procedure, and up to line managers responsibility to be up-to-date of legalities Medium costs a market research, investigation new trends, time costs as well implementing, and communicating the new procedures (if any) Equal opportunities for career progression Increase the percentage of female workers in male dominated disciplines (for example geosciences and drilling) Professional development workshops and attractive internship schemes for university graduates Medium costs third party provided courses and development sessions Medium costs graduate recruitment campaigns, including task group time costs, competitive graduate packages to retain the best talents Culture change DI learning sessions / conferences To make aware BP population about internal issues and introduce to internal statistics Reiterate on importance of diverse workforce and how it could be change to achieve diverse working environment Minimal cost lunch and learn sessions, DI team monthly bulletins, presentations Medium costs external investigation or third party conferences and sessions about the different issues of DI On the other hand, some policies might not become a good practice and therefore organization could face a biggest obstacle- its own culture (Kirton and Greene, 2005). Having said that, it is important that organizations do not force the decisions and make the policy unnatural thing. Diversity and inclusion comes along with the culture and one changes another. So, in order to change the rules of the game in nowadays fast changing environment, organizations should come up with diversity audit to highlight the potential gaps. A Cost and Benefit Analysis It is important that leadership of the organization understands that companies that implement workforce diversity policies acquire an important benefits that strengthen not only long-term competitiveness in the market but also produce short and medium-term performance results (CSES, 2003). Therefore, a cost and benefit analysis is widely used to establish how well a planned action or new policy might turn out. The analysis always brings a results into monetary values, so the very important that a cost benefit analysis include all the costs and all the benefits in order to count the true value and establish if the new policy or new action plan is worth the money. On the other hand, companies in most cases gain positive non-monetary benefits. As Hubbard (2004) clearly explained the value of non-monetary benefits- loyalty of the staff, reputation of the organization, employer of the choice status, and etc. can not be transferred or measured into value of money. Also, the major benefit is that making employees and leadership to think critically and be explicit about the issues within the company that along with diversity and inclusion it brings new strategic choices like culture change. Would like to stress on the few diversity and inclusion initiative that BP already is working on, which is with no doubt puts organization in very positive place among the competitors and promotes business success by trying to minimize obstacles to inclusion: Affinity groups- typically form around ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disabilities, but groups that wish to focus on other important or relevant issues may be considered on a case by case basis, and BP as organization encourages and supports affinity groups working for business benefit (BP, 2010). To name a few, these include the African American Network, Asian American Network, Womens Network, Beyond Pride, BP Latino Network, Gray Matters!, and Working Parents and Parents-to-Be. Flexible working- organization always recognizes that flexible working arrangement is almost a part of the modern working environment and can enable it to retain and attract skilled staff and increase employee commitment and morale. And the most important- the flex-working scheme is an integral part of BPs diversity and inclusion agenda. There are more of these initiatives and groups that work towards developing diverse and inclusive workforce around the world, but of course, there are costs as well associated with the implementation of diversity policies in the organization. Let not forget the cash costs of compliance with laws on discrimination, as well as the investment into programmes that serves as implementation to change internal cultures in the way that the diverse workforce is recruited, retained, and developed (CSES, 2003). To reiterate more on proposed changes for North Africa SPU and diversity and inclusion strategies for BP company as a whole, over recent years, BP has implemented and managed a wide range of global and local diversity and inclusion training programs and initiatives to support employees in understanding diversity and building inclusive behaviors. As we could see that organization is treats the DI very importantly in order to stay in the leading position in the market, however there is plenty to do and enough work in progress.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Effects of Gender on Education Essay -- Gender Education Sexuality Med

Effects of Gender on Education This topic is also well discussed in many of the standard textbooks, but a bit unevenly and a bit oddly. Thus Haralambos and Holborn (1990), or Barnard and Burgess (1996) have good sections specifically on gender and educational achievement. However, rather strangely, the section on education is treated almost entirely as a sort of empirical matter and not linked very well to the other admirable sections on gender generally, or gender in the family or work sections. This is especially odd in the Bilton et al (1996) classic, written by a team that includes a prominent feminist (M Stanworth) and which has good sections on genderas an organising pespective in the theory and methodology chapters. So, one suggestion is to take the material specifically on gender in education, but to read up the topics more widely and generally in the other relevant chapters as well. As before, I'll try to show how this might be done via my own glosses and interests: Early work focused on female underachievement in the formal education system, which was (finally) considered to be as much of a 'dysfunctional' outcome as underachievement by working class kids ( see file on connections between educational policy and functionalist models of stratification). If the educational reforms of the period in Britain after World War 2 were designed to make sure the most talented kids got to the highest levels of achievement, we would expect as many girls as boys to hit those levels -- selective schools, sixth-form, examination success, university entrance or whatever. This was clearly not the case in the 1950s and 1960s. These gender differences began to be explained initially using the same sort of factors that had been used to explain working-class underachievement. 1. Early theories suggested that females were not as able or as intelligent as males, and there is still a lot of stuff around on relative brain sizes or supposedly innate cognitive limits. There are obvious objections to this view too, of course -- such as that the tests of intelligence are likely to be value-laden. Equally, there is a methodological problem, one which runs through all the work on gender that involves biological explanations - biological accounts are reductionist in that they try to reduce a number of complex social differences to one simple set of biological differ... ... Hutchinson Hammersley M (ed) (1986) Case Studies in Classroom Research, Milton Keynes: Open University Press Hammersley M and Woods P (eds) (1984) Life in School, Milton Keynes: Open University Press Haralambos M and Martin M (1990) Sociology: themes and perspectives, London: Collins Education Harris D (1987) Openness and Closure in Distance Education, Basingstoke: Falmer Press Kaplan A (1987) Rocking Around the Clock, London: Methuen Kinder M (1991) Playing with Power in Movies, TV and Video Games, Los Angeles: University of California Press McRobbie A and Nava A (eds) (1984) Gender and Generation, London: Macmillan Mulvey L (1982) 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' in Bennett T et al (eds) Popular Television and Film, London: BFI in association with the Open University Press Sharpe S (1976) Just Like a Girl, Harmondsworth: Penguin Waites B et al (1981) Popular Culture: past and present, London: Croom Helm Whyld J (ed) (1983) Sexism in the Secondary Curriculum, London: Harper and Row Willis P (1977) Learning to Labour, Farnborough: Saxon House Woods P and Hammersley M (eds) Gender and Ethnicity in Schools : ethnographic accounts, London: Routledge

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Horse Dealers Daughter :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The short story, â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter,† by D. H. Lawrence is about Mabel Pervin and her three brothers who are left with debts to pay after their father’s death. Once the horses are sold Mabel’s brothers decide where their lives would lead them and advice her to seek the home of her sister. Realizing their rejection and acknowledging an uncertain future, she visits the graves of her mother and father. Feeling depressed and helpless, Mabel walks into a mucky pond not cognizant of Jack Fergusson’s presence. Fighting his fear of water, Jack saves Mabel from an attempted suicide and has become a part of Mabel’s plan to remain where she wants to be. She decides to take advantage of the situation by expressing her love and convincing Jack that he loves her as well. Mabel’s love, in this story by D.H. Lawrence, is her escape from having to leave her town and live with her sister in a less desirable fashion. Sh e uses love as a means of obtaining the comfortable lifestyle that she once lived. She can once again have luxuries in life now that she will be marrying a doctor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Just as in the previous story, James Joyce’s short story â€Å"Araby† also suggests love as an escape. In this short story, the young boy’s existence surrounds a dreary and harsh environment. He lives with an uncle who drinks and an aunt who suffers from the heartache of an unhappy marriage. The boy’s friend Mangan has a sister who he is infatuated with to the extent of following her every move. He is so empowered by his feelings for her, he decides to go to Araby and buy Mangan’s sister a gift. On the day of the bazaar, his uncle forgets to be home on time to give the boy money and therefore causes him to be late.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Positive and Negative of Transformational Leadership Essay

As portrayed in the previous examples, leaders are essential to the progression and development of successful organizations. Much contribution could be given to those who follow transformational leadership qualities and principles. Transformational leads inspire and result in positive progressive change within and throughout the company. Of course, there are positive and negative aspects that follow. Recent researchers have spent efforts to understand the relationship of leader and follower. However, even when weighing-the- cost companies can not complain that their overall competitive and relational advantages prospered as result of tranformational overheads. When leaders successfully identify everyone personally and socailly, companies experience retention and growth which can sometimes be seen as priceless. There are negative concepts to consider, like a leader must be able to adequately protray a sense of charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and indidulatized conseidetaionl; while leading a team that produces numbers. That could be a lot of pressure, which in turn could lead to a destroyed department or company. Overall, transnational leadership-performance relationship has deemed a positive technique when integrated in most systems. This week, we continued our research and discussion on leaders and their roles within the organization. It is impartive that we understand and respect the differences between leaders and managers. I mentioned last week, that until this class I used those terms interchangably. However, the fact is that there are many differences and qualities that distinish the two. For instance, even when you look at the literal meaning of the terms. Manage – a person can maintain something or someone without playing a virtial role in specifically directing. On the same hand, Leader – someone can give perfect instruction and direct for a group or thing without being able to properly maintain or manage it the way needed. I can admit, before now I did not take the time to understand the important differences. Qualities also vary from leader to manager as well. It is typical for most leaders to value and focus on monetary and economical status and have a plan of long term goals and effects. Most managers are stuck on the short term  goals, while not considering the effects the company will experience. As I look more into these managerial roles and qualities it becomes easier to notice and identify.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Asnani Nandini Essay

The Bitter Truth Polar bears sweating, the Earth reforming Into a volcano. And oxygen artificially supplied to the atmosphere is the future of tomorrow. It is unfortunately a consequence of our activities today. â€Å"The truth† that AH Gore considers to be a potential threat is the trapping of gases within the boundaries of the ozone layer, with the addition of humans deepening the wound with their negligence. The truth is an eye-opener for negligent individuals.Global warming- an extremely adverse word and a great deal of controversy. An Inconvenient Truth is a terrifying and imminent once which awakens us to realize our responsibility we need to have to the earth. Davis Guggenheim presents the film in a form of presentation, showing the upward trend of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. AH Gore connects this data with glances of melting of Ice caps, and shows how dependent people are. In fact, 40% of the people are dependent on the water that these Ice caps provide.De forestation Is reflected with Increasing factories and reduced trees. The Impact of this global carols is unprecedented. Vehicular pollution, burning of fossil fuels and human caused hazards like this are depleting our resources. Myths and misconceptions about the earth were unveiled. For instance, the bitter truth of animals losing their habitat and forest fires is not Just a natural hazard. It is a proved, irresponsible action of the selfish humans, who deforest and for their own greed set up factories.To top that, they pollute the environment with their factory pollutants in the form of smoke and oil spills. If this be the condition furthermore, we all will be walking around with oxygen masks. This truth shows us that global warming Is not a political issue but rather, the biggest moral and ethical challenge facing our civilization due to our own actions. These facts should help to galvanism people, governments, organizations and Individuals to work on a better environment. Some myths exposed transfixed us In stupefaction.Such as, the average American generates about 1 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide every year from personal transportation, home energy use and from the energy used to produce all of the products and services we consume. Most emissions from homes are from the fossil fuels burned to generate electricity and heat. By using energy more efficiently at home, you can reduce your emissions by more than 30%. Our actions to reduce global warming can extend beyond how we personally reduce our own emissions. We all have influence on our schools, workplaces, businesses, and on society through how we make purchases, invest, take action, and vote.The truth emphasizes how we provoke the environment, such that It backfires to us unknowingly. The population Is dependent on the resources of the environment and do not realize they are depleting It themselves! â€Å"What we take for granted might not be here for our This quote of AH gore should be a repeated ech o and remind us to wake up and realize that we are the only preservers oxide struck me. It was shocking to know that the ten most hot years have occurred in the past fifteen years! More devastating summers indicates greater chances of hurricanes.The heat and warmer air Just adds fuel to on going hurricanes Just like Strain. It seemed pretty simple until it rapidly increased in the degree of its disruption after passing over the Gulf of Mexico. And finally when it reached New Orleans, the consequence of those warm winds caused immense destruction, loss of lives and property. Another important aspect of â€Å"The Inconvenient Truth† which is highlighted is the Kyoto Protocol. It focuses on the measures taken to reduce pollution and bring down the level of carbon-did-oxide in the environment.The alarming visuals stress on facts is an eye-opener and makes us aware of the severity of damage we have done. The truth is, we are facing a crisis bigger than warmer days, overworked air conditions and painful sunburns- the exploitation and depletion of the resources of the Earth. Apparently, all the cycles of the Earth are interrelated. The need of the hour is to make an impact on this planet, reduce the carbon footprint and make your voice be heard. Losing the planet and even the fear about it can be depressing and overwhelming.The title represents how â€Å"inconvenient† this is going to be in the near future and the suffering we are going to go through. Switch off those electric bulbs when not in use, change them to the incandescent lights, car pool, use chimneys, reduce, reuse and recycle. Promote and pass this understanding to others. The film ends as it began with stunning video of a beautiful wilderness stream peacefully flowing to the ocean in the hope that such scenes will remain a part of the future landscape. So step out and make a difference!

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Nucor – Porter’s 5 Forces

NUCOR AT A CROSSROADS CASE ANALYSIS NUCOR’S SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE RECORD PORTER’S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS †¢ Supplier Power: With the eventual exit of integrated steel companies from buying scrap, the options available with suppliers to sell, reduced. Nucor started several small plants that were close to suppliers ; customers, thereby reducing transportation costs. Also, the sites chosen had inexpensive electricity. Their employee-centric policies resulted in them having lowest attrition levels ; a steady supply of new employees. Thus the supplier power was moderate-low. Buyer Power: Although Nucor employed the latest technology ; competitive prices, with imported steel available, the buyers had more options to choose from. However, Nucor’s customer service was a differentiator that buyers were willing to pay for. Hence, the Buyer power was mildly unattractive. †¢Barriers to Entry: Minimill business was a capital-intensive business for a new player. Also, for existing integrated steel makers, their reluctance to adapt to newer technology ; smaller scale discouraged them to get into the market of the minimills. Thus it was mildly attractive from Nucor’s point of view. Threat of Substitutes: With wide availability of substitutes such as aluminum, plastics ; advanced composites, the demand for steel had stagnated. Hence, the threat of substitutes in the future was highly unattractive. †¢ Degree of rivalry: The integrated steel makers didn’t threaten Nucor’s business. Nucor always had the cost advantage ; efficiency coupled with superior technology ; innovation. However, this was challenged by the global steel makers which resulted in lowering of prices ; lower margins. The only differentiation for Nucor was its highly sought-after customer service.Thus the degree of rivalry was high. Thus overall, Nucor had sustained performance so far, due to its technology innovation, lean operations, high efficiency, strong emp loyee relations ; superior customer service. However, going ahead, with availability of substitutes ; growing threat of equally good foreign steel makers, the sustainability is in question unless Nucor innovates ; strategically aligns itself to the changing demands of its customers. FUNCTIONAL FIT †¢ Low Cost Focus Strategy: Nucor adoption of organic growth helped in bridging the gap between the company and its customers.Mills were set up near the Vulcraft operations and Vulcraft in turn ensured speedy delivery of the products to its customers. The company was also able to bring down the fixed order processing costs by using computerized order entry and billing systems. With the help of competent distribution and other measures, the company was successful in raising the willingness of the customers to pay even if the price was increased. Also, the company focused on the low end segment. †¢ Organizational systems / Procedures: Nucor had a flat organizational structure. They decentralized the plant-level decision making to the respective plant managers.This led to a lot of autonomy ; faster decision making thus providing them an advantage over the competitors. The performance measurement was more quantitative in nature for the plant managers, where they had to meet specific revenue targets. The Nucor management supported creativity ; risk taking as they firmly believed in innovation ; improvisation. There was a relatively high degree of inter-plant communication vis-a-vis consolidation of orders, sharing of deliverables, etc. Thus the plants didn’t entirely work in isolation, although the structure was decentralized.At the plant level, there were conscious efforts to treat all levels of employees at par ; make all of them feel equally important ; relevant to the organization. †¢ Performance Measurement: The performance of the plant manager was more quantitative in nature. However for those of the other employees, it was a mix of qualitative as well as quantitative. This is because of their emphasis on productivity ; quality. The reward / compensation were more group based rather than individual based, encouraging teamwork. †¢ Values / Culture Review: Employee focus was the hallmark of Nucor.They encouraged risk taking, creativity ; innovation. Their policies didn’t allow for much differentiation between different cadres. Their flat structure had decentralized decision making, they provided employees a sense of belonging / ownership with the organization. The all-cash incentives were regularly doled out ; were directly performance linked – quality ; quantity-wise. Their strong employee-bonding started right from the time the plant was constructed, till retirement. They didn’t believe in firing ; during lean times, would rather cut back on working hours, than fire people.The end result was that they not only had a highly productive, motivated, experienced ; non-unionized work force, but their e mployee turnover was much below the industry average ; they had many people willing to work for them. Their high human capital was a clear differentiator ; advantage over the competition in the steel industry. Thus, Nucor’s approach of controlled growth, focus on technology ; innovation, high employee productivity coupled with a dedicated workforce, decentralized ; quick decision making, have resulted in a sustained growth ; success of Nucor.For sustainability in the future, Nucor will have to continue to focus on technology ; innovation as it has been its point of differentiation among its competitors. TETRA-THREAT FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS: Threat of Imitation: †¢ The advantage it derived from a flatter decentralized structure ; a motivated workforce, was hard to imitate, as it would mean reorganizing the organization ; it would take much longer to be effective. †¢ Nucor constantly innovated ; used latest technology. Hence, even though a competitor cop ied its technology, it would take time for it to implement it ; in that while, Nucor would have moved n to a newer technology. †¢ Costs of imitation in this case are the capital investments that would have to be made ; the economies of scale that will have to be achieved. Threat of Substitution: †¢ The internal threat of substitution by means of resource substitution is very little, as the employee attrition rate is very low compared to industry level ; the services offered to customers is of high value for the customers. †¢ External threat of substitution is high due to emergence of aluminum, plastics, etc as cheaper substitutes for steel.But as Nucor is focused on innovation, it can counter this by itself moving towards these substitutes or coming up with further innovative ways to make steel which can compete with the substitutes. However this would mean further investments in technology ; infrastructure ; training of employees. Threat of Holdup: †¢ Nucor has a strong vertical integration ; the market for the suppliers is limited as the integrated steel makers are no longer in its market. So threat of holdup from suppliers is low. †¢ It also adds value with superior customer service, which the buyers are willing to pay for.But the buyers do have option to opt for imported steel. Thus, Nucor will have to sustain the additional value it generates for its buyers. Threat of Slack: †¢ Nucor has optimized the technology that is available for manufacture. It also has a dedicated skilled workforce. However it has not fully exploited these to venture into newer steel markets or into a Joint Venture with foreign steel makers who could provide newer technology. However its organizational structure ; policies are suited for sustained growth. UNCERTAINITIES AND RISKS ASSOCIATED 1.Technological threat: CSP would become obsolete in 10-12 years time, as new technology of casting even thinner slab was already under way. This posed risk and unce rtainty to Nucor’s heavy investment in CSP, but adoption of this technology could give it the first mover advantage also. 2. Quality: SMS’s pilot plant ran only 7 minutes and produced 12 tons per charge due to space constraints. It wasn’t clear if it could take the load from continuous operations and sustain the wear and tear. The components had to operate with more than 96% reliability for it to be cost-effective. 3.Raw Material: Nucor used scrap as its raw material, and the uncertainty of the scrap prices could make the project not viable. If scrap prices rose above $ 140 per ton, Nucor might have to shift to Direct Reduced Iron as raw material which would require major changes in facility and operations. 4. Competition: Other minimills will also adopt CSP in a few years and hence Nucor may not be able to bask in the glory of first mover advantage. It wasn’t even clear if first mover advantage would offset the huge costs this project entails. 5. Company : They didn’t have the expertise in flat rolled products which had to be acquired.Integrated mills adopting CSP were a major threat as they already had the expertise in flat rolled production. 6. Operations: CSP plant was very large and more complex. It couldn’t have been located in rural areas, where Nucor have till now established their plants, hence would require new strategy to cater to these plants. 7. Growth: Nucor was concerned that it would have to enter the high end market if it plans to build more plants with CSP technology and that would require products with superior quality ; reliability of delivery, which CSP did not guarantee for such products.Moreover the high end market demanded relationship based marketing which involved the customers at early level of development of product, which would be difficult. 8. Resources: If Nucor pursued both the projects i. e. CSP and joint venture with Yamato Kogyo, then it would have to stretch its financial resources an d raise equity or debt for huge capital expenditures for the initial years. But, according to its policies, Nucor restricted its debt/equity ratio to less than 30 % and did not issue new stock. So the problem of raising funds for the two projects is a matter of concern.PROJECT FEASABILITY ? Financial Decisions Assumptions: †¢ The new project technology will become obsolete in 10 to 12 years of time, so assuming that this project will last for 12 years of time including 2 and half years of startup time and two years for full capacity utilization. Assumed that 50 % of capacity will be utilized in 3rd yr, 80% in 4th yr and full from 5th yr onwards. †¢ The capital expenditure of $280mn takes place in phase wise manner with $70mn today, $170mn in first year and $40mn in second year with additional $30mn in second year for startup cost.Working capital of $30mn will also be divided in 3 years based on their capacity utilization. †¢ The revenues and costs are adjusted with an inflation of 3. 5% each year. †¢ The rising scrap prices are also taken into consideration. †¢ Assuming that reduction in labor costs and savings in energy will be absorbed by inflation. †¢ Depreciation taken around 13% w. r. t. given data (Done by WDV method). †¢ Tax rate taken around 44%. †¢ Assume salvage value equal to the book value at the end of the project life. †¢ As the industry is stable, so taken beta value (=0. 95) around market beta (=1). Keeping the Debt/Equity ratio to be around 15%, according to existing capital structure policies. The Capital budgeting of the project leads to the following analysis: IRR=11. 8%, NPV =$18mn and ROC=26. 5% The Expected rate of return of the project is more than the WACC (10. 19%) and NPV;gt;0, though it is not very high. The project is therefore financially viable and can be adopted. ? Industry Opportunities: †¢ As the market for low end products was beginning to reach saturation, CSP was a great opp ortunity for Nucor to enter into flat rolled products.It could easily enter into the low end of the flat sheet market, consisting mostly of construction applications, where low price was key differentiator. †¢ Its internal sales (Vulcraft division) could be 100,000 tons of flat sheets each year to produce steel deck. †¢ Moreover, it could enter into the high end market after some years by expanding its capacity, which will make it possible for Nucor to compete with US integrated mills and capture their market share. †¢ The threat of ocean freight imports could be mitigated by the reduced costs. Construction industry offers good opportunity as it takes high priced products from the integrated steel mills and CSP will give Nucor the cost advantage to charge lesser price and hence be able to sell its products. ? Operations: †¢ CSP would lead to savings in casting operations, labor costs and energy costs. †¢ Nucor would be able to achieve economies of scale at a reduced output as compared to the US integrated mills. The yields will be higher and the operating costs will reduce. ? Technology: †¢ Nucor had the drive to embody technological advances.It invested heavily in upgrading its capacity. Its investment levels were 2. 9 times its depreciation charges, wherein the three largest integrated firms had a ratio around 1. 6. Through CSP, Nucor will gain the first mover advantage for atleast a few years. †¢ Hazelett Caster wasn’t as effective as CSP. Also, there were some operational constraints with Hazelett approach like expensive conveyor belts, reduced product quality and increased maintenance costs. Conclusion: Taking all the business and financial aspects into consideration, Nucor should go ahead with this technology.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Socratic Seminar Questions Tkam

Period 6 Nieto Socratic Seminar Questions TKAM1) Discuss Atticus’s parenting style. What is his relationship to his children like? How does he seek to instill conscience in them? a. Atticus is a wise man, committed to justice and equality, and his parenting style is based on fostering these virtues in his children—he even encourages Jem and Scout to call him â€Å"Atticus† so that they can interact on terms as equal as possible. Throughout the novel, Atticus works to develop Scout’s and Jem’s respective consciences, through both teaching, as when he tells Scout to put herself in a person’s shoes before she judges them. 2) Analyze the trial scene and its relationship to the rest of the novel. b. To Kill a Mockingbird explores the questions of innocence and harsh experience, good and evil, from several different angles. Tom Robinson’s trial explores these ideas by examining the evil of racial prejudice, its ability to poison an otherwise admirable Southern town and destroy an innocent man, and its effect on young Jem and Scout. 3) Discuss the author’s portrayal of the black community and the characters of Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. Are they realistic or idealized? c. The black community in Maycomb is quite idealized, especially in the scenes at the black church and in the â€Å"colored balcony† during the trial. Lee’s portrayal of the black community isn’t unrealistic or unbelievable; it is important to point out, however, that she emphasizes all of the good qualities of the community without ever pointing out any of the bad ones. The black community is shown to be loving, affectionate, welcoming, pious, honest, hardworking, and close-knit. Calpurnia and Tom, members of this community, possess remarkable dignity and moral courage. 4) Explain why Jem crys when the hole in the tree is filled with cement? d. Boo Radley uses the knothole in the tree to leave gifts for Jem and his sister Scout. This is his only way to connect with them as he keeps himself isolated in the house. Seeing Mr Radley fill the hole with cement is like filling in the hole between their two worlds and Jem is sad to lose this link. 5) When is Scout first exposed to â€Å"the real world† of racism and inequality? e. Chapter 10 when Cecil Jacobs talks about niggers and when she gets in the fight with fransis 6) Although Atticus did not want his children in court, he defends Jem's right to know what has happened. Explain, in your own words, Atticus's reasons for this f. Atticus feels that the adults have made the world the way that it is and the children have to learn to live in that world. They can’t hide from it and need to be exposed to it as early as possible. 7) Miss Maudie tells Jem that â€Å"things are never as bad as they seem. † What reasons does she give for this view? g. She names all of the people who helped Tom Robinson, such as the black community, Atticus, and Judge Taylor. 8) Why does Bob Ewell feel so angry with Atticus? Do you think his threat is a real one, and how might he try to â€Å"get† Atticus? h. He feels Atticus made him look bad in front of the entire town. This threat was meant to get a reaction from Atticus; however, Atticus just kept his head up. 9) What do you think of Atticus's reaction to Bob Ewell's challenge? Should he have ignored Bob, retaliated or done something else? i. He did the right thing by walking away. Bob was looking for a fight and Atticus wouldn’t give it to him. 10) What does Atticus tell Scout about why the jury took so long to convict Tom? j. He tells her that a Cunningham was on the jury and didn’t want to convict. The jury actually had to think about the conviction before they did it because the case was based on purely circumstantial evidence. 11) Why does Aunt Alexandra accept that the Cunninghams may be good but are not â€Å"our kind of folks†? Do you think that people should mix only with others of the same social class? k. She tells Scout that they are not people that the Finch family should associate with because they are lower class. People should be able to socialize with whoever they want, even if they are in a different social class. 12) Compare the reactions of Miss Maudie and the other ladies when Scout says she is wearing her â€Å"britches† under her dress. l. Miss Maudie takes Scout seriously and only laughs at Scout when she intends to be funny. The other ladies choose to make fun of Scout. 13) How, in this chapter, do we see Aunt Alexandra in a new light? How does Miss Maudie support her? m. Aunt Alexandra shows concern for Atticus and Tom. Miss Maudie gives her a pep talk and gets her to go back to the meeting. 14) Explain the contrast Scout draws between the court where Tom was tried and â€Å"the secret courts of men's hearts†. In what way are hearts like courts? n. In a true court of law everyone should receive a fair trial, but people’s hearts are not dictated by law; they are dictated by feeling. 15) In her lesson on Hitler, Miss Gates says that â€Å"we (American people) don't believe in persecuting anyone†. What seems odd to the reader about this claim? o. The town just persecuted a black man for being black. He was convicted and sentenced to death with no real evidence.

Friday, September 13, 2019

12 Angry Men Essay

12 Angry Men Essay Every man put on trial is considered innocent until proven guilty. In 12 Angry Men Essay this theory can almost be considered false to the jurors involved in this murder case. But one man can be credited with sticking to the innocent until proven guilty theory that most likely saved a mans life. This juror must show 11 other jurors that he can prove with enough valid evidence that this boy is be wrongfully accused of killing his father. Reginald Rose shows us how that one mans integrity can prove to make a big difference in a kids life. Juror #8 can be credited with saving someones life. Under intense and hostile scrutiny juror #8 is the only juror to vote not guilty on the stabbing death of a boys father. #8 doesnt believe straight out that this boy is innocent of this crime. #8 believes that it would wrong to send a boy off to be executed without discussing it first. Jurors #3 and #10 are the most hostile of the jurors. They believe deep down that this boy killed his father. They believe that everything they heard in the courtroom holds true and they dont really want to see this kid live any longer. Juror #8 still had reasonable doubt about the murder. He doesnt want to vote guilty until he has enough evidence that this boy did indeed kill his father. Many different points are made about the boy who supposedly stabbed his father, that are cross examined well by juror #8 who still stands alone at not guilty. All of the evidence that the 11 jurors found contains flaws in them. For instance the woman who supposedly witnessed the stabbing wasnt wearing her glasses. Also the stab wound in the boys father was made so that a taller man or boy could have made that type of wound with a switchblade knife. When these key pieces of evidence becomes clearer to the 11 jurors we start to see jurors questioning there own guilty vote. #9 is the second juror to vote guilty, because he too has some reasonable doubt. As more evidence is put on the table the 12 jurors come together and decide that this boy is innocent. In conclusion, juror #8 believes that every person is innocent until proven guilty. He was given many pieces of key evidence that showed this boys guilt but the evidence was examined carefully, and as more evidence was put out more jurors believed this boy was indeed innocent bringing them all together to believe this boys innocence Bibliography dont got one .

Thursday, September 12, 2019

American National Identity 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American National Identity 2 - Essay Example Since America is the superpower nation of the world, there is reason enough to believe such claims, and quite rightly so. The people are satisfied with their lives largely and do not like to mingle with the lives of others. In essence, America is a free world where every soul has the right to be free on his own and let others enjoy their freedom nonetheless (Schlesinger 1998). These are some of the most sought after aspects that America brings to the fore when one thinks of the superpower nation of the world, a nation which manifests success, growth, development and security matching none other. Even though the September 2001 attacks on the America were something totally out of the blue, the Americans feel safe more than ever. They know that their country is being protected from the evil forces which are widespread all over the world. They trust their government and they know that they have become the superpower nation of the world through a better and more resilient ideology than an y other country in the world (Schuck 2008). This has come about through a lot of hard work and dedication that the Americans have shown for their country, and the manner in which they have been cohesive is something that stands out in a head and shoulders scenario when one compares America with the rest of the nations around the globe (Huntington 2005). When one wants to know what the most significant factors are that make people to visit America, the answers seem ready and coming. This is because America is such a happening place that people would like to be there at any time. They would give up their homelands just to be in America – a place where they can dream to be in. There is a good amount of diversity that one can witness within America. This has meant that there are different races and communities that have started to live in America. It is because of this that there are several languages that are being spoken in the country. These have meant that English has started to break down and it has given rise to a number of languages in the different areas and states of America. This is true that people no longer need to learn English if they want to live in America or even visit it from time to time. There are so many ethnic communities widespread in America that one can make do with other languages as well, and thus live easily without a doubt. Also the fact that America allows people to enter into its different states and regions through a legal procedure is something that asks of people to cherish their stay as long as they are within America. The legal ramifications for the illegal visitors and immigrants is indeed very harsh and this is one of the reasons why Americans feel safe that unwanted intruders would not be able to enter into America. However on the flip side, America has more problems than any other country in the world. People have unequal chances of getting jobs, have basic problems like the rest of the world, and enter into health an d educational issues just like others. There is violence within certain states, one of which is Texas where many people die due to a number of negative incidents that have started to come to the fore (Bellah 1967). But all in all, America is a heaven to live within, and this has been proven time and again by the

I need 5 seperate one page weekly current events Article

I need 5 seperate one page weekly current events - Article Example This took place after his plea. After his prosecution, the federal government prosecutors had told a judge in New York about their exaggeration regarding the capabilities of the equipment found in the goods that he had previously been arrested for exporting. The judge has not made any efforts to change the judgment although the lawyers from both sides are continuing to press on the charges This is a complex case within which some banned actions can become legal after sometime. It shows how laws can shift from governing a certain activity to the providence of freedom. In this case, it moved from national security to freedom of internet for Iranians. A dilemma is thus presented regarding those who had been convicted of an action that has now become legal. In my opinion, they should be given consideration especially if it is later found that the activities in which they were involved were not as harmful as it had been earlier stated. The article focuses on the speech given by Governor Bobby Jindal on the significance of protecting liberty in the religious context. Majorly, he focused on some of the major attacks that have taken place against religious liberty citing especially the Obama administration. The speech was related to law in the sense that it talked about the rights of all American citizens as a whole and not the prerogative of a chosen few. This was mainly with the concern of people’s freedom. According to him, despite the diversity in belief shared by members of different denominations and faiths, every citizen still bears an intrinsic right to life, liberty and to pursue happiness. Instead of it bringing out a major difference, the diversity should be a foundation that forms the basis of law and foundation. It is thus an important aspect especially if people want to work together including the entrepreneurial spirit since they form the basis of

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Was Peter Berger right when he changed his views on secularization in Essay

Was Peter Berger right when he changed his views on secularization in the 1990s - Essay Example My paper hence deals with the idea that Peter Berger was right in changing his views on secularization. The paper will also deal with the different ideas that Berger worked with and related to in his studies on religion and secularization. In this context, ideas of modernization, pluralism, supply-side of religion and the rational choice theory as well as the sociological relevance of religion are considered within this paper. Secularization is the lessening of religious influence in a society; it is the loss of religious institution’s authority to dictate to the public the practices required in organized religion. Bryan Wilson talks at length about the need for another force in place of religion in a society that is heading towards or has already adopted secularization. Religion forms the crux for most people in today’s world. The need or presence of religion cannot be ignored in one’s life and it is this presence that has driven scholars from all walks of life to study the effects and consequences of religious presence in our life and to present their view points. Secularization became prominent when religious debate turned towards whether secularization was beneficial or not. For Peter Berger, secularization is, â€Å"the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols. It operates at three levels, one is a social structural: in the west, Christian churches have lost functions that are now performed by secular agencies.† (Berger, 1969) To put this idea into simpler terms; the importance of religion in any person’s life is reduced since religion loses its previous stature and place in an individual’s life. Earlier, individuals paid more attention to religious details and believed that religion had to function in cohesion with state policies. This is

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

CEO Communication Analysis Memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CEO Communication Analysis Memo - Essay Example If you can highlight all of these points in your report you will please all interested parties. Certainly, it can be a difficult balancing act, but it is important to appear confident and positive throughout. CEO of Nokia: Be responsible In the course of the three messages examined, the above elements appear again and again. In an annual report from a few years ago, the CEO of Nokia briskly discusses the company's values and then reviews changes made in the previous year to create value for investors and shareholders. He describes Nokia's vision as a world where everyone is connected. This is a great vision as it also communicates to investors that the company is listening to them and is responsive. The CEO goes on to speak about corporate social responsibility and how the company is looking to improve its programs relating to this in the future. This shows that the CEO is empathetic and is strongly considering the feelings of those who have a relationship with the company. It shows he understands the brand and the power of the brand. Part of a company's success is their products and profit margin, but another is how they are perceived. The job of a CEO must be to show they understand how their company is perceived both by customers and by investors. This is also reassuring to investors as it implies the company is being responsible and is willing to adapt to a changing marketplace. These are all key aspects to communicate. CEO of Samsung: Be respectful The CEO of Samsung writes similar things. He also makes sure to expressly state his gratitude to investors: â€Å"I deeply appreciate your continued support and encouragement for our success and would like to highlight our accomplishments in 2009.† Although this may sound obvious, many investors will appreciate the gesture. Again, this CEO talks about the changes that Samsung has undergone in the previous year. Of course, this is even easier to do after paying a big dividend and increasing the value of yo ur stock, as this CEO did. He continues by laying out a strategy for the future, including maximizing synergy. Investors want to know that a smart, dedicated man is at the helm of the company. They want to feel a sense of direction emanating from the report. They want confidence and courage to be displayed. CEO of Sony: Platitudes are not enough The third example which you can take a lot away from is a recent message in an annual report from the CEO of Sony. His task in this message was different than that of the CEO of Samsung. Sony was coming off a year where the company had significant losses. The purpose of his message was to convince investors that Sony was the company to put their money in. There are thousands of companies in the world, many with presences on many continents. Money is constantly shifting around between these businesses. It is the job of the CEO to keep investors' money parked in his company. Using snake-oil salesman techniques will not work on sophisticated in vestors. They are looking for transparency and accountability. This CEO explains in detail how the company will improve its performance—for example, by reducing the amount of suppliers. Investors will want concrete details of how the officers of the company plan to turn things around. Mere platitudes will not be enough. Conclusion The job of a chief executive officer is never easy. There are multiple constituents that must be pleased. There will always be