Thursday, October 31, 2019

Romantic Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Romantic Literature - Essay Example The evolution of the style of romantic literature was borne out of the need of many writers to express their inner thoughts in a way that is characterized by freedom, imagination, as well as creativity, without the impediment of following normal human logic. As a result, many romantic works such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto bear situations that are not realistic, even during the time that these works were published. While these two works are entirely different, one is a poem while the other is a novel, what ties these two together is the creation of suspense as far as the main characters of the stories or narratives are concerned. The succession of events may not be as clear as logic to predict, thus adding a sense of uncertainty to what could possibly happen to the protagonists, the antagonists, or both. In the course of this analysis, these two important works from the Romanticist era of litera ture would be used to illustrate how the combination of the use of imaginary settings as well as adding a feeling of uncertainty in behalf of the characters not only appeal to the senses of the readers but also draw them into their lives and shoes, as well as being able to see the triumphs, the losses, and other emotions of the cast as real emotions that are valid in their given situations. Real Emotions in Surreal Situations In comparing the first chapter of The Castle of Otranto to the summary of the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, it can be seen that the settings of the narratives are surreal or even imaginary. However, the characters are portrayed as ordinary people, without any superpowers or whatnot. This puts real people in unreal or surreal situations. In the case of the Ancient Mariner and the rest of the crew of the ship, they felt real terror when they saw the ghost ship with Death and Night-mare Life-in-Death: Are those her ribs through which the Sun Did peer, as t hrough a grate? And is that Woman all her crew Is that a Death? And are there two? Is Death that woman’s mate? (Coleridge 11). The writer vividly described the people or apparitions aboard the appearing ship in order to help the reader visualize the passengers of the ghost ship. A few lines after the description of the passengers of the ghost ship came the terror that the mariner and his shipmates felt after Death and Night-mare Life-in-Death decided which souls they would take as their own, We listened and looked sideways up! Fear at my heart, as at a cup My life-blood seemed to sip! (Coleridge 11). To put it bluntly, the mariner felt as if his blood has totally drained away after hearing that the souls of all passengers of their marooned ship would be taken away. It can be likened to how a person would feel when facing immediate danger or seeing it approach, where time seems to stand still and it would feel like there is no other choice but to die. The same feeling of terro r is also depicted in the character Isabella when she was being pursued by Prince Manfred in the first chapter of The Castle of Otranto: â€Å"Words cannot paint the horror of the Princess’

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Reform movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reform movement - Essay Example Selfish needs of certain people especially if they are in power often result in backlash and revolt. Such revolts arise mostly because of suppression and lack of freedom. There have been many revolutions throughout the world which has changed the world for better. Abolitionist movement is one such revolution which arose in 1800’s with a motive to achieve emancipation for all slaves and to end all kind of racial discrimination in Unites States of America. People who supported the movement or advocated immediate end to slavery were known as abolitionist. Abolitionist movement which had started centuries ago was not new to the American people as many African slaves used to kill either themselves or their captors in order to resist slavery. In nineteen century when the society became more liberal and aware, more and more white people condemned slavery as unchristian.1 The first white people to denounce slavery in Europe and European colonies were known as Quakers. Quakers believed in universal equality and demanded equal rights for black and white man. They played an important role in abolishing slavery in Europe and were also behind the abolitionist movement in United States.2 Slaves were chained and were transported in crowded diseases ridden ships. These slaves were subject to abuse from the ship crew. Many of the Africans died on their way to America. The working conditions of these slaves were inhuman and were made to do rigorous labor in dreadful conditions. Although the movement started in 1800’s the overall sentiment regarding the abolitionist movement remained muted until 1830 when American Anti Slavery Society was formed to raise voice against slavery and the overall anti slavery movement gathered pace. The movement was very controversial as many powerful businessman and politicians opposed ending slavery, as it meant huge economical losses to them. The movement which started in the year 1800‘s gathered momentum in

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Impact of technology and science on International relations

Impact of technology and science on International relations Impact of technology and science on International relations Introduction: Science, technology and international affairs influence one another. The impacts of science and technology on international affairs, particularly those of communication and information technologies, are especially penetrating. The interactive effects of science, technology and international affairs are so crucial and extensive that the area needs to be identified as an autonomous sub-control. Its current position as a comparatively abstruse theory, to be charged to experts and kept more or less obscured from the principal body of international relations, is a threatening solecism. These impacts may be categorized as handling through one of four main mechanisms: (1) Altering the building of the international system: its structure, its main constructing theories, and the relations among its factors. (2) Altering the operations by which the international system employs, incorporating administration, diplomacy, war, commerce, finance, trade, policy formation, communications, and the assembling of intelligence; (3) Developing new issue regions, trade-offs and new constraints in the constructing environment of foreign policy, an expression which incorporates not only political constraints on international operations, but also constraints imposed by the laws of natural and social science; and (4) Contributing a source of adjusted realizations, of data and clarity for the operation of the international system architecture, and of new theories and schemes for international relations theory. Aim: The major intention of this project proposal is to carry out the factors that influenced on international relations based on technology and science. And how have significant elements in international affairs evolved as they interact with technological change. Objectives: To understand the project needs, it required collecting the background information through literature survey on international relations and it associated issues. To collect the back ground knowledge on technology and science, required to consider case studies. To make research, need to prepare a frame work with proper research methodology and approach. To critically evaluate the survey results and observations in literature study through discussion and analysis. Research questions: What are the critical factors that need to consider for project international relations when technology and science is the primary concern? What is the significant role of technology and science towards international relations get strengthen? Literature review: Taylor (2004), faces that technological creativity has a great impact on international affairs or relations. Yet, he specifies, international relations intellectuals in common have contributed small amount to the effect of science and technology. International Relations in different nations: According to Eugene B. Skolnikoff, the startling changes in world affairs that began in late 1980’s signaled the end of many of the central elements of postwar international relationships. Momentous and unexpected events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union occurred at a breathtaking pace, with a spontaneity that tended to obscure the underlying currents that had unleashed them. Many forces were at work in those societies over decades, culminating in dramatic upheaval in essentially all countries of the former eastern bloc. The influence of technological change in the disintegration of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union is but one manifestation of a much longer story in which the results of science and technology have contributed to a profound evolution of the details and substance of national and international affairs. The effects are visible not only in the outcome of the communist experiment but in the countless alterations in the relationships within and among nations and peoples. And that influence is likely to continue to be significant long into the future as the nations of the world remain strongly committed of supporting research. The evidence for the role of science and technology in the evolution of international affairs is pervasive, and most easily seen through dramatic developments that have led global consequences such as the deployment of massive strategic nuclear forces, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, foreign currency transactions on computerized financial markets in excess of $500 billion per day, or the total eradication of the scourge of smallpox. Relationship between Science technology and international relations: The relationship between international relations and science and technology is not only a result of result of recent advances in science and technology, though the breadth of interaction and the rapidity of change are relatively modern characteristics. The historical examples are countless, ranging from weapons developments that altered the fate of nations and social structures, to industrial technologies that were the basis of revolutions in economy and wealth, to new capabilities in science and technology themselves that led to astonishing discoveries and applications. It was not only the physical developments of technology that had an impact; underlying concepts of science and of the natural world were crucial as well. The intellectual currents of the enlightenment, so much a product of the new ideas of experiment and rationality that accompanied the scientific revolution, served to stimulate massive forces for change in the west. Today, given the scale and organization of the scientific and technological enterprises, science and technology have become arguably the most powerful and persistent factors lending to societal change and, necessarily, to change in international relations. The accelerated commitment of resources and development (r/d) during and after World War II has transformed the relatively haphazard climate of invention and scientific research of earlier centuries. There is now in place a formidable and growing capacity, a system for targeting human integrity toward the rapid expansion of knowledge and the production of new technologies designed to serve perceived or speculative needs. Not only do the products of this system have significant international effects, but it’s very operation leads to international consequences and favors the creation of global markets for its products and for surprising portion of the system, international goals provide the underlying motivation for the commit ment of r/d resources by governments and even by industry. Technical aspects of international relations: The subjects with international consequences that have been massively affected by technological change in recent years are familiar; weapons, communications. The economy, transportation, agriculture, health, space, and others; few, if any, aspects of international affairs have been untouched by science and technology. The effects of the application of technology are so widespread, in fact, and often of such obvious importance in the conduct and evolution of relations among nations, that it is routine for commentators to lapse into florid rhetoric in describing the resulting dramatic change in the international political system. Secretary of George P. Shultz said in December 1987, â€Å"Developments in science and social organization are altering the world profoundly- too profoundly for conventional habits of thinking to grasp. History suggests that mankind rarely understands revolutionary change at the time it is coming about.† W. Michael Blumenthal, Secretary of the Treasury under President Carter said in his 1987 Elihu Root lectures at the council on Foreign Relations in New York, â€Å"I believe there is one circumstance which overshadows all else and has set the current period apart: unprecedented, deep and continual technological change†¦extraordinarily rapid technological change has thrust upon us yet unresolved problems of governance in the national and international spheres. For all that the relationship appears to be self-evident; the extent even of the surface changes in international politics stemming from science and technology proves to be quite difficult to characterize with precision or to assess satisfactorily. It is not hard to draw up lists enumerating international political issues that are affected by technological change, but it is very much more demanding to understand the complexity of the interactions and their more profound consequences for international relations. That understanding is necessary not only to capture the relationship for analytical purposes, but also to assess the true extent of the evolution in international relations and to be able to anticipate, and possibly influence, the future directions and implications of change. It is that understanding of the complexity of the interaction and of the consequences for international affairs that we hope to achieve in this inquiry. Theories of international relations: Curiously, though there have been innumerable policy studies dealing with the effects of technological change in specific policy areas and a small number of works that attempt to look across the board at important policy areas, the subject is largely unexplored from the deeper perspective of the overall effects of science and technology on the evolution of international affairs. It is curious because of the evident centrality of the relationship, whether or not there is agreement on its ultimate significance. Even scholars concerned with theoretical issues in international relations tend to create science and technology as static givens or as emanating from impenetrable black boxes. One of the purposes of this study will be not only to fill this lacuna in the subject as a whole, but along the way to provide a basis for considering science and technology more appropriately in policy or theoretical analyses as the interactive, dynamic variables they are in reality. There is much obviously much in the theoretical literature on international relations that is pertinent and that would illuminate the issues we will be discussing. It would be possible, in fact, to structure along the lines of the debates among theorists. For example, according to differing views of the role of the state or of state or international organizations, both of which have been, and will continue to be, much affected by scientific and technological change. The idea of sovereignty, appearing often in both theoretical and policy terms, does require brief discussion, however, for it is a central element in the nation-state system and is repeatedly cited as having been eroded or at least greatly altered in meaning by technological change. It might easily be assumed that it would figure as an organizing theme in a study concerned with the impact of science and technology on evolution of international relations. The concept is generally thought by theorists, statesmen, and the public at large as fundamental attribute of nations, what Stephen Krasner calls â€Å"the constructive principle of the existing international system†. Methodology: As this project is mainly towards the qualitative research work and which extracts the information analysis from ground level. In this project data analysis point of view, primary data collection is considered where it is with the metric point and literature survey is considered towards the qualitative research part. Qualitative is chosen for project scope area where it deals with the amount of data collection which is not come true with quantitative. Corbin, A. S. a. J. (1998) Researcher want to collect the data from recent articles as well as recent publishers reviews and for primary data collection, he want to choose from different level of people in IT organization like project manager, employee and top level management. So it will be very helpful to analyze the particular point in multidimensional view. It will be more helpful for this research analysis. I had some reference in Indian IT companies, with that I want to go for primary data collection by taking the interviews (Yin, R. (1989)). Data collection is considered as primary and secondary resources. In secondary point, data is being collected in indirect manner where resource will be like books, articles, journals and internet resources (Easterby-smith, R. T. a. A. L. (2002). Primary data collection is the process of finding the data collection from real domain experts by taking the interviews and questionnaire. Then make a comparison study between primary data collection and secondary then make analysis according to the researcher choice with proper evolution. As this project deals the research area of qualitative where there is a lot of scope in mine the knowledge about project task. Interviews are conducted in semi structured pattern where the interview is frame with defined set of questions which is towards the objectives. The most common approach to studying the interaction of science and technology with international relations views the relationship in the context of specific policy areas, typically in relation to pressing policy concerns. A limited number of studies have taken a somewhat broader canvas using a variety of specific policy implications of science and technology as a way of illustrating the growth and change in the matter of international politics and the new relationships and institutions that have been created. These studies have been useful with respect to specific policy implications of developments in science and technology, but they are less satisfactory for our goal of understanding the broader and more fundamental interactions of science and technology with the international political system, and how that system is affected by the continued advance of science and technology. Our primary purpose is not to produce a definitive or quantitative measure of system change; the task would be difficult and the result ultimately arbitrary. Rather, we will explore the nature of the interactions between technological and social factors that lead to evolutionary change, identify the direction and patterns of that change, and record its characteristics. Our focus, accordingly, will be on the patterns of evolution of important elements of international relations as a result of the impact with science and technology. We will consider change in system characteristics or concepts to constitute a definitive transformation only when it is ambiguous. Analysis: The complete project is mainly concerned about the international relations with respect to the technology and science. Now a days, completely world relayed on globalization issues where technology plays vital role in all the fields of development as well as service oriented industries. According to the aim of this project proposal, it must be focused on technology relevant domains as well as current positions with respect to the fields of operations. Even here it required to consider the change management factors according to the change occurred in one sector. So change management plays crucial role in international relations when technology and science came in the primary concern. Researcher point of view, this domain brings very helpful information and prediction policies towards the international relations. For this kind of research, primary data collection is essential where the interpretation is mandatory with respect secondary data which gathered through literature survey. For primary data collection point of view, it considered personal interviews to the professionals in technology end who are worked for research and development sectors. For that researcher is considered information technology field which always keep on upgrading with their technologies and shows much impact on international relations and associated tools. According to the researcher, this research is much towards the real world, so it should be useful for improvement of international relations. Schedule plan and timetable: According to the researcher, this project takes around 90 days of time where the initial stage is completely depends on the requirement analysis of project. Then it will consider the significant study of literature associated with project domains. Then it is required to choose proper research methodology and primary data collection from real domain like surveys and personal interviews. Finally researcher will come to produce the key findings of results with proper frame work also conclusion where all the research work is done under supervision of my project coordinator. References: Cultural Impact on International Relations 2002 (Chinese Philosophical Studies). Edition. Council for Research in Values. Committee on Japan, 1997. Maximizing U.S. Interests in Science and Technology Relations with Japan (Compass Series). Edition. National Academies Press. John R. De La Mothe, 2002. Science, Technology and Global Governance (Science, Technology, and the International Political Economy Series). 0 Edition. Routledge. 2001. International Relations and Global Climate Change (Global Environmental Accord: Strategies for Sustainability and Institutional Innovation). 1st Edition. The MIT Press. Beverly Crawford, 1993. Economic Vulnerability in International Relations: East- West Trade, Investment, and Finance. Edition. Columbia University Press. MIT Political Science: Graduate Studies Fields of Study. 2014. MIT Political Science: Graduate Studies Fields of Study. [ONLINE] Available at: http://web.mit.edu/polisci/graduate/core.html. [Accessed 19 March 2014]. JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. 2014. JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20026535?uid=3738256uid=2480264703uid=2uid=3uid=60sid=21103798658603. [Accessed 19 March 2014]. What is the Impact of Science and Technology (NUCLEAR WEAPONS) Upon International Relations?. 2014. What is the Impact of Science and Technology (NUCLEAR WEAPONS) Upon International Relations?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.preservearticles.com/201106208251/what-is-the-impact-of-science-and-technology-nuclear-weapons-upon-international-relations.html. [Accessed 19 March 2014]. GT Catalog : International Affairs : MS International Affairs. 2014. GT Catalog : International Affairs : MS International Affairs. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/colleges/cola/inta/grad/phdintast.php. [Accessed 19 March 2014]. 20th-century international relations (politics) :: Science and technology in wartime Encyclopedia Britannica. 2014. 20th-century international relations (politics) :: Science and technology in wartime Encyclopedia Britannica. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/291225/20th-century-international-relations/32912/Science-and-technology-in-wartime. [Accessed 19 March 2014].

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Life of Norman Rockwell :: essays research papers

Norman Rockwell is best known for his depictions of dail life of a rural America. Rockwell’s goals in art revolved around his desire to create an ideal America. He said â€Å" I paint life as I would like it to be.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second child of Jarvis W. Rockwell and his wife Nancy, Norman Perceval Rockwell was born in the famous New York City. In his summers he enjoyed life on the countryside, which made a profound impact on his art.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rockwell remained in Manhattan until 1903, when they moved to Mamaroneck, New York. It was there he decided to pursue a career as an illustrator.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1908, He began attending the Chase School of Fine Art. At the age of fifteen he quit high school to enroll in classes at the National Academy of Design. He left the Academy a year after finding out that it was geared towards training of the fine artist rather than the illustrator. He then enrolled in the Art Students League studying inder George Bridgman and Thomas Fogarty. In addition to excelling in his skills in drawing and painting, Rockwell was introduced to the illustration of Howard Pyle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1911, Rockwell illustrated his first book, â€Å"Tell Me Why Stories†. Two Years later he contributed to â€Å"Boys Life†, He soon became art director of the magazine. Commissions for other children’s magazines, among them â€Å"St. Nicholas†, â€Å"Youths Companion† and â€Å"American Boys†, soon followed. In 1915, Rockwell moved to New Rochelle, New York, home to many of America’s finest Illustrators. He studied the work of older illustrators while painting crisply, painted renditions of fresh-faced kids and dogs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A turning point in Rockwell’s career occurred one year later when he sold five cover illustrations to George Lorimer, editor of the â€Å"Saturday Evening Post†. For the next four decades, Rockwell’s name would be synonymous with the â€Å"Post†. During that time he produced 322 covers for the magazine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By the 1920’s, Rockwell achieved considerable success.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Cango Analysis Essay

Like Liz mentions in the video (speech); CanGo acts as a personal shopper for their customers. Customers don’t have go to different store to buy their merchandise when they can buy online at the same place and for affordable prices. Weaknesses: When Liz was asked to prepare a speech of how their company developed over time, she had no clue of where to start. She didn’t plan anything ahead, for example; she mentions in the resolution video that if she had done some planning for her company, her company would have gone much far from where they are at now. CanGo didn’t have a strategic plan for online gaming. Liz and her employees just had a small meeting and without giving a notice ahead of time, she just announced that they are entering into a new market of online gaming. All her employees were surprised at first. She didn’t ask any of her employees before that if they liked the idea of online gaming or not. She just went ahead and asked for preliminary marketing plan. The employees seemed hesitant as to asking questions. The employees at CanGo don’t work together and are not working in a team setting as should be implemented. Furthermore, the company doesn’t determine what this online gaming includes. Further, the company didn’t speak to determine what would be the various levels of support it would provide to its customers. CanGo didn’t develop a strategy explaining how it will conduct its business. Opportunities: As one of the employee mentions what about online â€Å"football† game ? I think it would be great idea for the company to go ahead and implement an online football game, since a lot of customers like to play football or sports. It could be that during the football season they can get a huge rush. Secondly online gaming also allows people from different countries to play at the same time which is a huge plus. Threats: CanGo doesn’t have a huge capital to invest. If they waste it on the idea of online gaming without knowing if they have any future with it, CanGo will be in a huge debt. If they are going to train their staff to do the operations, their customers are going to be unhappy because they have few people and there is a lot of work to do. They would have to increase wages of their employees because they will be handling more work than they are supposed to. Recommendation: CanGo company needs to have a mission and vision statement. Mission statement is going to describe what their company does and vision statement is where management wants to see their company in future. First step is, to have these two statements ready, which this company is missing. I don’t think CanGo should expand on their idea of online gaming without having a strategic plan. They were missing all the elements of strategic planning which are implementation, evaluation and formation. There were no questions about the future of online gaming nor there do any report to see how much success other companies had so far with online gaming. No one discussed about the equipment they are going to need to build this huge project. Liz has put the whole burden on one employee. There is no teamwork; what if that person gets lazy and comes up a lazy marketing plan. Then everyone would have to agree to it because no other member knows anything about marketing. Liz should have told her employees that everyone needs to come up with marketing plan and then in the next meeting they will choose the best one by consensus. I don’t think company is in its best financial condition. If they go ahead with their idea of online gaming, operational costs of buying equipment and software are going to cost a lot by itself. I also think they need new personnel; training old employees about the new technology is going to be a tough job. Hiring the new staff will be cheaper. May be they should wait for the financial times to get better or they should outsource. The company can outsource the implementation of equipment which would save them a lot of money and keeping the customer service here in America. CanGo’s customers will be very happy because they will be able to talk to their own people in their language comfortably. Customer Service should be the priority in any decision they make or any service they provide. References: Devry. (n. d. ). CanGo videos. Retrieved July 15, 2009, from devry: www. devry. edu/ec/crs

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

River Rother

We are visiting four different locations, on the 18th September 2009, along The River Rother. It is hoped that these locations will demonstrate the three main courses of a river; Upper Course, Middle Course and Lower course. The four locations that we will be visiting and carrying out our tests are: 1. Marley Lane, for the upper course (the source) 2. Sedlescombe, for the middle course 3. Bodiam, for the lower middle course 4. Rye Harbour, for the lower course (mouth) The purpose of the study is to find out if our hypothesis proven correct or not, ‘The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river.' Collecting data from each of the location hopefully will prove our hypothesis correct. The information that we need to collect from the three locations are; the width, depth and speed. To obtain these results we will be using a meter ruler, tape measure, clinometer and a dog biscuit. For some of the results that we are unable to get we will use a secondary source and we will compare our results to the results from text the books. The four locations that have been chosen are ideal for our study because they are close to the school, they show all the three stages of the rivers course and we are able to visit all the locations and get out tests done in one day. The River Rother, is 35 miles long, is a river flowing through the South East of England and runs though East Sussex and Kent. Its source is near Rotherfield which is in East Sussex, and its mouth is Rye Harbor, which is part of the English Channel. METHODOLOGY Width At a narrow point of the rivers course (Battle and Sedlescombe), we will use a meter ruler to measure the distance from one bank to other. At mid point (Bodiam), we will use a tape measurer crossing via a bridge. At the lower course (Rye), we will either estimate or use a secondary source. The hypothesis we expect to be proven correct that the width does get bigger as you carry on down the rivers course. Depth At Battle and Sedlescombe we will measure the river's depth 5cm interval to find out the shape of the river channel. At Bodiam there is a bridge and at every meter we will measure the depth using a tape measure with a weight at the end to hold it down. At Rye we will use a secondary source because the river there is much to deep for us to measure. The hypothesis we expect to be proven correct that the depth does getting deeper as you carry on down the rivers course. Speed of River The method for collecting the speed of the river will be the same at all for locations. We will measure ten meter along the side of the river, drop a dog biscuit in at zero on the stopwatch, and time it to see how long it takes to get to the end of the ten meters. The hypothesis we expect to be proven correct that the speed does increase as you carry on down the rivers course. Photographs We will be taking photos as we walk round to show the type of land use that is there and the landscape to see if it is the same as a typical landscape. The landscape showed to be the same as a typical rivers landscape. The hypothesis we expect to be proven correct. Field Sketches We will be noting down features/land uses of the land as we walk around so we can later on make a Field Sketch, really get an idea of the land use in the area, and see if it is like a typical river lay out. The hypothesis we expect to be proven correct; the landscape forms a more U shape as you carry on down the rivers course. Observations As we are walking round, we will be noting down the land uses. Valley/Slope Profile In pairs, we will measure the valley sides and floor at the river and will measure the distance it is between each other gradient of slope and measure the angle using a Clinometer. In pairs we will stand at the top of the valley sides. The first person will pace out until the slope changes angle, we will note this and the person at the top of the slope will note down the reading of the angle change with the Clinometer. The second person will meet the first person and the will repeat this, until the other side of the valley. The hypothesis we expect to be proven correct that the valley does make a ‘V' shape and closer you get to the mouth the ‘V' shape turns into a ‘U' shape. River Profile We will take the width measurement and depth measurement and create a cross section of the river for each location. Land Use Survey We will have an OS map of each location and use the keys to note down the land use. We will colour in the the land uses in different colour and after wards use a Ten by Ten grid (squared) and count up the number of square for each one and calculate the percentage out of a hundred for each one. We will then out this into a pie chart to show the percentages. The hypothesis we expect to be proven wrong for the land use to be the same as a typical river's land use. WHAT I EXPECT TO FIND Upper Course (Battle, Marley Lane) At this stage of the river it should be every slow and narrow and shallow. There should be many obstructions in the way of the river. It is because of all these obstructions that the river is flowing slowly. There will be steep valley sides a, ‘V', shaped valley and several waterfalls. There should be interlocking spurs. The land use should be over run by Pastoral Farmland and Woodland, Settlement. The volume should be small due to the large amount of obstructions and the shape of the valley which is due to the Interlocking Spurs (hard rock). Middle Course (Sedlescombe) The river should be wider than the upper course. The valley flor should be wider, faster flowing water and the volume should increase due to the change in the channel's shape. The valley shape should start to change more like a ‘U' shape. Pastoral Farmland and Woodland will dominate the land use. Lower Middle Course (Bodiam) The river has already started to widen so at this stage it is becoming even wider and the valley into a more pronounced ‘U' shape. From this the river is much large and deeper and volume is larger. The river should now be flowing much faster because there are very little obstructions in the way. Pastoral and Arable Farmland should dominate the land use. Lower Course (Rye) This stage should have the largest depth of the whole river because it is a deep ‘U' shape and the width is very wide. The speed as increased to its top speed because there is no obstructions in the way now and if there is every few. The main feature that should be found here is the mouth of the river that leads out to the Ocean. The flood plain is very large and the land use is all mainly Slat Marsh Land and Mud Flats so it unused and there is Industry. DATA ANALYSIS / INTERPRETATION Width The data that is being shown is the width of Battle, Sedlescombe, Bodiam and Rye. Rye had the largest width in between each bank leaving Battle the smallest. Ryes width was 2500cm; Bodiam had 1240cm, Sedlescombe 134cm and Battle 50cm. Rye has the largest width between each bank, this is because Rye is the lower course of the river and has no obstructions in the rivers path so it is the fastest flowing and erodes the banks faster. It is also the location where the mouth of the river, where it enters the sea. However, we did have to get this from a secondary source. Battle has the smallest width; this is because it is located in the upper course and the speed of the river here is at its slowest and is unable to erode the banks as freely as the lower course. The erosion found in the upper course is Vertical Erosion this is why in the upper course the river is shaped as a ‘V'. The most common type of erosion found in the middle course of the river is Lateral Erosion, which is why the river gets wider as you carry on further on down the river. The textbook theory from the textbook that the river gets bigger, in lateral erosion and vertical erosion, as you get near to the mouth of the river. Our hypothesis is proven correct for the width does act like a typical river. DATA ANALYSIS/INTERPRETATION Depth The data that shows the depth of Battle, Sedlescombe, Bodiam and Rye. From the upper course to the mouth the rivers depth got larger. Starting with Battle, which had the smallest depth of, only had 37cm, Sedlescombe with 50cm, Bodiam 97cm and Rye with the largest out of them with 400cm. The data for Battle may have been altered due to the heavy rain on the day, which may have caused erosion. However, previously very dry weather had led to low volume of water. The depth at Rye we have had to get from a secondary source due to the difficult fact that we are unable to measure. From the data, it shows very clearly that the rivers depth does increase as it goes along. This is due to the transportation of more water and material, which erodes vertically, this, is the act of it eroding downwards and laterally, which of it eroding across. The theory from the textbook agrees with our hypothesis and what we have found, the river does get bigger in lateral erosion and vertical erosion, as you draw nearer to the month of the river. DATA ANALYSIS/INTERPRETATION Speed The data shows that the River Rother picks up speed from Battle (Source) to Rye (Mouth). The speed of Battle was the slowest with 0.03m/ps, Sedlescombe 0.52m/ps, Bodiam 0.98m/ps and Rye with the fastest 1.72m/ps. The change in the speed is very noticeable when the river gets to Bodiam (lower middle course) the speed increases by 1.69m/ps. This is because this is the point of confluence (were two rivers meet).Battle and Sedlescombe are the tributary river from the River Brede, when a tributary river meet the speed and volume of the river increases. Because the volume increases that means there is more water in the river and from that there less obstructions in the way, so the river speed goes much faster. The theory from the textbook agrees with our hypothesis and what we have found, the river does get fast as you draw nearer to the mouth of the river. DATA ANALYSIS/INTERPRETATION Valley Profiles The valley at Battle is quite deep at the sides and not very deep in the middle. The shape is shaped like a ‘U' but this maybe be because of the bridge that goes over the top of the river. Battle has a small valley that had been enlarged by the bridge. Therefore, this affected our results slightly but the valley was meant to be ‘V' shaped. Sedlescombe is a lot flatter than Battle and it is wider. But we where only able to measure one side of the valley, so our interpretation is an estimate due to privet land but it still has the typical shape of a ‘U' which is what we expected to find. Bodiam has a very wide valley floor and the valley slopes where at an angle making a rough ‘U' shape like a typical river at this stage. Rye, we where unable to measure because the valley floor was too large. However, this is what we expected to find because it is the last stage of the river, the mouth. The theory from the textbooks is that the valley goes from a ‘V' shape valley to a ‘U' shape valley. This is due to hard rock being in the upper course of the river and because the high lands are mainly rock it is harder for the river to erode the away at the banks so it's a narrow shape forming a ‘V' shape but the river winds around the hard rock a pattern like a snake. As you carry on down the river the hard rock starts to get erode so what is left are interlocking spurs, these also erode over time crating a wider valley floor crating a ‘U'shape. The hypothesis is proven correct for the Valley Profile. How do I add the figures? DATA ANALYSIS/INTERPRETATION River Profiles The width for the three locations is as followed from smallest to the largest; Battle 55cm, Sedlescombe 130cm and Bodiam with 1200cm. Bodiam had the largest depth also with 150cm. This was we expected to find because it is in the middle lower course But this is possible to wrong because in the river were we measured there are pillars to hold the bridge up. So while measuring we may have measured off one of those by accident. In Sedlescombe the deepest point was 53cm which isn't very deep but this is also expected because it is the upper lower course. The depth is possible to change here too though but only due to lateral erosion. In Battle we expected a shallow depth and we got a shallow depth with 5.5cm. When we took measurements of the river at the different points we put this information into a graph, the graph showed us the shape of the river at each location; Bodiam had long steep vertical banks and the river bed was flat with a few bumps and then back up forming an almost ‘U' shape. Sedlescombe was more of a ‘V' shape, the banks both went down at different angles to each other and the river bed had a lot more bumps. The two banks are at different angles this would be due to Lateral Erosion (which is erosion at outside of the bend) which is common in the middle course to form such features like Ox Bow Lakes. Battle was very shallow and lots of bumps along the bed and is hard to tell if it looked like a V shape. After comparing our graphs to a typical river to see if our hypothesis proven correct or not, ‘The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river.' It is proven that it does act like a typical river when it is compared. Evaluation – Conclusion From all our data that we have collected proves our hypothesis, ‘The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river.' Our hypothesis has got most typical physical features and land use of a normal typical river. For example; Width, the width of the river proved our hypothesis correct that the river does get bigger, in lateral erosion as you get near to the mouth of the river. Depth, the depth of the river proved our hypothesis correct that the river does get bigger, though vertical erosion, as you get near to the mouth of the river. Speed, the speed of the river proved our hypothesis correct that the river does get faster as you get nearer the mouth of the river. River Profile, the river profile went clearly from a V shape to a U as you carried on down the river nearer to the mouth. Vertical Erosion and Lateral Erosion cause this. Valley Profile, the valley profile also went clearly from a V shape to a U shape as you got nearer to the mouth of the river. So from our data our hypothesis is proven correct. However they are some parts of our data that does not agree with the typical river physical features. Like for example; Land Use, the land use around the four locations was proven to be wrong because at each location the land use was predicted different to what we found to really be their. Land Use, In Battle it was predicted we would find Hill Sheep Farming due to the steep land and large areas. But we found was Arable Farming mainly and lots of Settlement. Sedlescombe it was predicted we would find Arable Farming and Settlement. What we found was correct for this location. Bodiam was predicted that we would find it dominated by Arable Farming which is correct. Rye was expected us to find mainly Marsh Land and some Industry. What we found was mainly Marsh Land but also a lot of Industry and Lines of Communication. With that being the only thing that proves our hypothesis wrong against the several other facts that proves our hypothesis correct, The River Rother does includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river. Photo and Filed sketches Evaluation – Limitation After getting all of my results I am happy with what I ended up with because a large amount of the data agrees with our hypothesis, ‘The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river.' The land use is the only thing that went against our hypothesis but two of the locations were a tributary from the River Rother. And because Rye is such a large river we are unable to carry out our tests on it because we don't have the resources so we have to get all the results from a secondary source, which could be either out of date or a bad estimate. All the data we collected could be improved for example; The measuring of the speed, instead of using a Dog Biscuit and counting till it got to a certain spot. We could have used a Flow Meter. We were only able to do the Dog biscuit test once because we only had one Dog Biscuit for each location and it kept getting caught on debris in the river; sticks, rocks, trees and other debris. In Sedlescombe there were too many trees to get an accurate result the dog biscuit kept getting caught so we had to use several leafs to get our results. If we had a Flow Meter the test would have been much easier to carry out and a lot more reliable. Measuring the depth in all three locations can change and be inaccurate, due to the amount of water volume at the time of the measurement. And for the fourth locations, Rye, we had to use a secondary source which could be wrong and out of date. Bodiam we could only measure one side, the other is an estimate so that can be wrong affect the results of the data. Also the pillars in the river that hold up the bridge, it is possible that we could have been measuring off one of those for our depth. Sedlescombe's results were as good as we could get them. There was no interference other than the rocks in the water but they are natural so it's possible. In Battle it was very easy to measure because at Battle the river was very shallow. So if there was any interference we could just easily move it out the way. The way that we could have improved measuring the depth would be getting a boat and sailing to the middle of the river and dropping a weight with a tap measure and making sure we don't get any pillars. Finding the width of the river valley could all be wrong because in Rye we had to use a secondary source, in Bodiam we were only able to measure one side of the river valley due to what looked like privet land and us having to estimate what the other side, and finally Battle and Sedlescombe are both a tributary from the River Brede, so this could be a problem to our results because were meant to be collecting results from the River Rother and not the River Brede. The way we can improve all of this is by having different up to date sources and up to date equipment and measure more than once and take an average. For Sedlescombe how we measured the width was measuring across the bridge rather than measuring the river its self which means the bridge was probably wider than the river so this is a problem that can affect our results. The way we could have done this better is by getting two people down on either side of the river and measuring the length with a tape measure as close as we can. Battle is small enough to easily enough to have trustworthy measurements. The Valley Profile could have been improved a lot more by actually counting and measuring out our own individual steps instead of making all our steps the same with the same distance between each one. These problems could have easily been solved with a Meter Counter, counting our distance and adding up the distance we travelled accurately and correctly. And once we are back in the class room working out our meters into our own steps. This would have improved our data. Measuring the shape of the land with the clinometers wasn't perfect because not everyone was the same high as their partner so the accuracy was off at that point as well as the clinometers steaming up from the temperature made it hard to read the angles. The day that we went to the four different locations to do our test to get our results wasn't the best of days. The weeks before where hot and sunny causing evaporation, less water. Then the day and night before our trip it rained causing erosion and prevented us from doing most of the tests we needed to do correctly. It wasn't a good temperature either causing the clinometers to steam up and unable to read the angles accurately enough for a good result. The rain also ruined my own paper with my results on it making me have to get other results that could be wrong. And people rushing the test because it would start to rain again made it possible that we skipped something important and get the wrong results. Our hypothesis, ‘The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river.' can be inaccurate because it isn't being very clear to what kind of river it wants us to test for, ‘a typical river' is there such thing? All rivers are going to be different whether its due to what part of a country they are in or the size of the river or even how much rain the river gets. But I think the main problem that makes our hypothesis inaccurate is not noting what country this typical river is from. A river in Africa is going to be different to a river in England because of the amount of rain fall, less rain less water in the river to clear the obstructions causing the river to have a smaller volume and slower speed. The land use would be completely different too; most of Africa is a LEDC (Less Economically Developed Country) so there wouldn't be a large amount of Settlement and Industry around the mouth of the river. The weather conditions affect the comparisons too, for example; if there is a heat wave the river will lose a lot of water causing speed to slow and volume to drop, depth and width would change too. In England we usually expect rain so the rivers volume, speed, depth and width would all increase. The hypothesis should change to a more clearer, ‘The River Rother includes all the physical features and land use of a typical river in England'. Or something similar that is more targeted on a specific river.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

CSR Benefits Organization and External Shareholders

CSR Benefits Organization and External Shareholders Introduction Corporate social responsibility is a practice that provides more benefits to the organization in comparison to external stakeholders. There are scholars who oppose this argument and believe that CSR actually benefits the external stakeholders more. I will first present two arguments supporting the ideology that CSR benefits the external stakeholders. I will then show why these arguments are hollow and weak.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on CSR Benefits: Organization and External Shareholders specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More I will also outline four arguments that prove that the practice of CSR only benefits the organization in the long-run. First of all I will theoretically show that CSR has become a public relation issue. CSR causes managers to feel that they are ethical and accountable yet it may not be true. In addition, when it comes to CSR it is the corporate that has all the power to determine which stakeholder to consider and if they choose an external stakeholder, it is only because they will maximise their profits. The other argument presents a very profound question. Which entity should be concerned about social responsibility? Should it be the government or the entity? Lastly, why should we task the corporate with a broad implementation of CSR? I will give the reasons why it should not be so drawing from the writings of Milton Friedman. I will also highlight the feasible expectations that the society should have on the corporates as they conduct business to avoid the public feeling short changed. There are feasible restrictions placed on the corporate as they conduct business which Milton Friedman clearly highlighted. CSR’s positive impact on External Stakeholders Milton Friedman proposed in one of his writings that the focus of the company managers should be to make profits for their bosses who are the shareholders. However, there are those who argue that he was w rong since as time has passed companies have embraced corporate responsibility. The managers have other goals apart from profit-making such as increasing social welfare (Bejou, 2011). CSR causes the company to be compassionate towards its external shareholders. Compassion encompasses certain values such as integrity and actions in support of human rights, animal rights, environmental sustainability and freedom.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It also causes one to get involved in actions against global ills such as poverty and diseases. There are particular companies that have earned the reputation of being compassionate companies and researchers have highlighted the efforts that the companies have taken around the world. These include companies such as Pepsi, Ford, Aeropostale Inc. and Target. Ford Company is involved in providing support to food banks throughout the world through their Food pantry Project. Their employees also volunteer their man hours and in 2009, it was noted that they had volunteered 100,000 hours which is equivalent to $2 million. Pepsi is a company involved in assisting families that have been caught up in various disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti, the wildfires in Australia and the hurricanes in Central America and Mexico. Aeropostale Inc. has also been a compassionate company in providing gifts to children in hospitals, donating clothes to the homeless and assisting the victims of the Haiti earthquake. The Target Company on the other hand demonstrates compassion in giving 5% of its income to local communities in form of cash, in-kind donations and volunteer hours. Secondly, there have been many researchers who have criticized the Friedman article titled ‘The social responsibility of business is to increase profits’. They feel that he was against the broad view of CSR. It is argued that Miltonâ₠¬â„¢s view supported quite a narrow view of CSR (Schwartz and Saiia, 2012). The firm should be constrained by a broad view of CSR which includes ethical considerations that were not considered by Friedman. These broader values include utilitarianism where the firm considers the net good of all the stakeholders even though it will not give the maximum profit to the firm. There is also Kantianism where one is supposed to put himself or herself in another person’s shoes when making decisions and taking certain actions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on CSR Benefits: Organization and External Shareholders specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is argued that the broad view should be adopted since organizations are powerful entities which can make great positive impact in the society (Post, 2003). A research case study was carried out to analyse the broad and narrow application of CSR. The Ford Pinto and Merck and Rive r Blindness incidents were the areas of focus. The Ford Motor Company realized there was a design flow in the manufacture of its Ford Pinto and had to recall the car from the market. The researcher argues that Friedman would have advised the company not to recall the car since it was quite a costly exercise and the car had conformed to the safety regulations at that time. However, the broader CSR view caused the company to recall the vehicle. The researcher also highlights the Merck and Co. management which decided to invest in a new drug that would cure river blindness yet the economical profits from the venture were quite low and uncertain. The Case against CSR benefitting External Stakeholders In analysing the arguments mentioned above, it is important to first point out how hollow the arguments are. CSR efforts should not be confused with ethical responsibility of managers. The world has faced global recession where many people have lost their jobs and homes due to the greed of senior managers yet all these companies were heavily involved in the compassionate activities outlined. Companies adopt CSR activities in order to portray themselves as compassionate and endear themselves to the public. Secondly, it is important to remember that the Ford Company only recalled the vehicles from the market after intense pressure from the public. They only did so after seven years. 27 people died during the period. In the case of Merck and Co, it is possible that the company knew the indirect financial benefits that would accrue by engaging in such a philanthropic act and this should not in any way prove that firms do not think of profits in all their actions. I will outline several arguments that show CSR only benefits the organization. First of all, people are more concerned with the business of ethics rather than the ethics of business. In many businesses there are ethical officers and departments. There are many books in print that highlight business ethics and bus iness ethics is a heavily researched area in different education institutions.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More When the ethical structures fail, the public blames greedy individual behaviour, the over-regulating government or the combination of business and politics. People rarely analyse the problem in a holistic way in order to provide a viable solution (Neimark, 1995). Ethics in business and especially CSR has just become a public relations issue. It would have been better for efforts to be geared in training individuals to have ethics instead of CSR. The objective of corporate social responsibility is hardly achieved since the allure of being viewed publicly as social responsible may cause managers to think they are practising social responsibility yet their actions speak otherwise. In a research study conducted in an Australian Company, PackCo, the researchers investigated whether the CSR policies helped managers to behave in an ethical and accountable manner. It is hard for managers to act ethically since in the aggressive pursuit of profit actions are taken on the expense of others. T he researchers interviewed managers in the different levels of management, environmental and accounting departments. Information was collected on the respondent’s opinions, values and impressions concerning the company’s social responsibility. Social responsibility was practiced in relation to the effect of the company’s activities on the environment. Managers had targets on minimising waste such as diesel and electricity. At the same time, the company was involved in recycling used packages, reconditioning them and using them again in selling products to the clients. The management thought that they have a social and ethical identity since they participated in these practices. A survey on the employees however showed that they were displeased with the working conditions such as recognition, fair treatment from managers and the state of the site amenities. The chairman wanted to restrict the results and not give them to senior management. Some of the managers di d not like the employees’ comments. The study showed that senior managers in getting involved in social responsibility may feel morally and ethically righteous causing them to refuse to address the real issues in the company (Baker and Roberts, 2011). They do not want to be questioned as they feel they are doing enough. It emerged that social responsibility was benefiting the organization’s managers and owners only and not the external stakeholders or the employees. As managers practiced environmental policies, they were interested in cutting costs at the detriment of the working conditions of employees as they pursued profit. In the organization itself senior management and owners of the company benefit the most from CSR as employees may not get any benefit at all. My second argument shows that the corporate is a powerful entity that determines which stakeholders it should consider. While defining corporate responsibility, there has been the use of terms such as oblig ations. However, the question is, who determines the obligations of a business to its external stakeholders and to what extent can the external stakeholders impose sanctions on a business when they engage in â€Å"illegitimate activities†? In analysing the social responsibility practices of firms, the firm focuses on pleasing the stakeholders who would have an influence over the financial or competitive position of the firm. There are therefore stakeholders who are marginalized since they do not influence the profitability of the firm positively (Bannerjee, 2008). CSR is viewed as a competitive strategy. One should not think that the interests of the external shareholders are the primal basis for the firm’s actions. In companies that have slick annual reports on social responsibility, there are high employee lay-offs yet the CEO salaries keep increasing. It is really all about cutting costs and making profits. The CSR actions will be taken only if they affect the botto m line positively. It is expected that the company will think beyond profits, will be ethical and transparent and get involved in actions to spur social welfare however this is a difficult task considering the inherent characteristic of a corporation to aggressively pursue profits. Big corporations that have caused environmental havoc especially in the Developing world have not gone out of business. As much as they have had to alter their policies and practices, these actions were voluntary and the public cannot really enforce such actions. Just because a company practices social responsibility does not mean that they are ethically responsible or accountable. Enron, a company that was rocked by scandals was voted as the best company to work in and the most innovative company. Another example is the unequal relationship between mining multinationals and indigenous people. If asked, the people would want the companies to leave however all the mining companies do is hire anthropologist s to investigate how they can expand their activities. There is a question one should ponder, if the corporate institutions are not really able to increase the social welfare through their business efforts, which entity then should be tasked with this responsibility? It should be the government of the country. It should provide an environment where there is balance. The disadvantaged or less powerful in society should be protected by laws that are entrenched in the constitution. The government however has not been able to address its responsibilities well. They have become caught up in creating conditions that are conducive for economic growth for the corporates (Roberts, 2003). The truth of the matter is that the economic structure in a capitalist society encourages the aggressive pursuit of profit at the expense of others. It was wrongly assumed that self-interest behaviour combined with market competition would greatly protect the interests of interests of the public. It is out o f this gap that there has been quite a high level of interest in investigating the powers of corporate institutions and forcing them to care for the society all in the name of corporate social responsibility. The public wants corporations to now take on the role of government and ensure that there is increase of social welfare. If an organization is involved in actions that impact the environment, it is okay to expect them to be involved in waste management and recycling efforts. However, there are areas which are beyond the scope of the organization. It is admirable if the company chooses to engage in such activities however having such high expectations will eventually lead to disorientation when it emerges that it was all a sham. The media has helped the public in pushing corporate investors to address ethical concerns and corporates only bow in fear of bad publicity but it is not because they want to do it. The non-governmental institutions have joined the media in making demand s on corporates and with the tools of video cameras and the internet companies are caught between a rock and a hard place. There are even certain companies which have become proactive to release stakeholder reports with the aim of avoiding the bad publicity. Milton Friedman did not support the call for corporate social responsibility and he outlined several reasons supporting his arguments. At the end of the day, a corporate is set up by the owners of the business to maximise profit. To engage in social responsibility and not regard the costs involved or the profit margin is indeed a violation of trust since the manager acts as the agent of the shareholders. There are costs that a business incurs every time it engages in corporate social responsibility. These costs can be considered as taxes on the shareholders especially where the company gets involved in charitable events. It is very hard for a business manager at times to anticipate the negative and positive effects of the compan y actions. Secondly as he imposes the costs of social welfare he will definitely lose the support of the shareholders. There is also the risk that a manager may engage in corporate social responsibility initiatives on his own without consultation with the owners or other stakeholders (Coelho and Spry, 2003). Certain individuals decide which CSR efforts to endorse. No wonder then CSR has simply become PR since these managers also have their own selfish interests. I therefore agree with Milton that the proponents of CSR are proposing socialist actions yet the businesses are operating in a capitalist market system. There are arguments that even if social impacts of business are unknown, this cannot be an excuse for the company not to engage in CSR (Mulligan, 1986). The businesses engage in new product and market campaigns despite the fact that there is a lot of uncertainty. However, there are estimation parameters that can be applied in predicting business events that may not be used i n estimating social events. The second argument is that CSR cannot be termed as socialist even though Friedman argues that the business manager ceases to be an entrepreneur and gets a political role where he is obligated to the society. The firm deals with scarce resources yet there are numerous needs in the society. Politicians are charged with the task of allocating scarce resources in society. CSR therefore turns the business man into a politician. It is argued that in a capitalist society, the political sphere is laced with individuals who are only concerned about their self-interest therefore CSR is not socialist. Considering this argument, then businesses should not attempt socialist actions at all in the capitalist market structure where there are no rigid controls. It is argued that Milton Friedman’s essay paper showed that he only supported legal restrictions on the enterprise and not moral or ethical restrictions. The fact of the matter is that the law keeps being a mended every few years as technology advances and other changes occur in the market place. By using the law, he wanted to give the business men a definite yard stick to work with rather than giving people an ambiguous yard stick that entails changing moral or ethical implications. He therefore did not intend for businesses to disregard the interests of others. It is worthwhile to also note that as much as he recognised the self-interest of business men he did not expect them to act in a selfish manner. Self-interest and selfishness should not be confused to mean the same thing (Cosans, 2009). Every human being is a rational being, looking out for their self-interest while purchasing items in the market place however it does not mean that every human being is a selfish individual. Researchers who have also read other works by Friedman have highlighted that his arguments were incorrectly analysed by different researchers. He recognized that we live in an interdependent society so busi ness should obey the rule of the law. They should also not act in deception or fraud. It is argued that he set a low ethical bar or that his view of CSR was narrow however his intention was not to act in such a manner. There is no need to set such high bars of ethical obligations yet the companies will face great dilemmas in trying to implement the acceptable forms of behaviour. It is also important to note that Friedman said that generally the desire of shareholders is to maximise profit. He acknowledges that there are situations where due to other considerations the aim of the management is not to maximise profit. In such instances, if the manager continues with his role as an agent he will do exactly what the shareholder desires. In light of the development of CSR and the recent corporate scandals, it is evident that Milton understood the politics of business and the propensity of business to gravitate towards profit-making at the expense of others. Friedman was not against CSR s ince he argued that the business in pleasing the owners should take care not to commit fraud or deception. He therefore placed limits on the firm in their pursuit of maximization of profits. That is truly the best CSR approach and not just engaging in charity events yet there are frauds happening in the organization. Those companies that are viewed as having attained high levels of social responsibility still disappoint society since sooner or later it comes out that they were a fraud. Conclusion The essay proves that indeed corporate social responsibility does not really benefit the society but the organization. It was expected that it would benefit external stakeholders however the nature of the market system and organizational entity makes it not possible. The company has been set up by individuals who are interested in making profits. The shareholders and managers act like rational beings just like everyone else. The imposition of CSR has made managers engage in public theatrics where they portray themselves as ethical yet their actions speak otherwise. It is better to place reasonable limits on the business rather than put unrealistic expectations causing the public to be disillusioned or disappointed. The task of increasing social welfare should be a role of the government since corporates are set up to make profit for the owner of the company. References Baker, M and Roberts, J. 2011. ‘All in the Mind? Ethical Identity and the Allure of Corporate Responsibility’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 101, no. 1, pp 5-15. Bannerjee, S. B. 2008. ‘Corporate Social Responsibility: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’, Critical Sociology, vol. 34, no. 1, pp 51-79. Bejou, D. 2011. ‘Compassion as the New Philosophy of Business’, Journal of  Relationship Marketing, vol. 10, pp 1-6. Coelho, M. and Spry, J. 2003. ‘The Social Responsibility of Corporate Management: A Classic Critique’, American Journal of Business, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 15-24. Cosans, C. 2009. ‘Does Milton Friedman Support a Vigorous Business Ethics?’  Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 87, no. 1, pp 391-399. Mulligan, T. 1986. ‘A Critique of Milton Friedman’s Essay â€Å"The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 5, no. 4, pp 265-269. Neimark, M.K. 1995. ‘The selling of ethics: The ethics of business meets the business of ethics’, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, vol. 8, no. 3, pp 81-96. Post, F. 2003. ‘A Response to The Social Responsibility of Corporate Management: A Classical Critique’, American Journal of Business, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 25-35. Roberts, J. 2003. ‘The Manufacture of Corporate Social Responsibility: Constructing Corporate Sensibility’, Organization, vol. 10, no. 2, pp 249-265. Schwartz, M. S and Saiia, D. 2012. ‘Should Firms Go â€Å"Beyond Profits†? Milton Friedman versus Broad CSR’. Business and Society Review, vol. 117, no.1, pp 1-31.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Developing Managerial Talent Through Simulation

Developing Managerial Talent Through Simulation In the last 35 years, simulations have been used with increasing frequency in the development of managerial talent. In various forms, simulations of managerial and organizational activities have been used to study administrative behavior (Hemphill, Griffiths, Fredericksen, 1962), assess potential (Thornton Byham, 1982), enhance managerial skills (McCall Lombardo, 1978), diagnose training needs (Stumpf, 1988a, 1988b), foster team building among groups of managers (Kaplan, Lombardo, Mazique, 1985), and evaluate the effectiveness of managerial training (Moses Ritchie, 1975). In this article, we evaluate how simulations have contributed to the development of managerial talent by summarizing theory, research, and practice in three areas: research on managerial behavior, assessment of managerial abilities, and training managerial skills.Definitions and BackgroundOur review of simulations covers what is formally called gaming simulations (Jones, 1972). A simulation is a model or repres entation of real-world events in which elements are depicted by symbols or numbers or in physical form.A discrete and stochastic simulation of the repres...In a simulation, some essential features of an activity are duplicated without portraying reality itself (Jones, 1972)-for example, something as simple as the interactions of a manager and subordinate dealing with a performance problem on the job, or something as complex as an island nation faced with multiple economic and political crises (Streufert, Pogash, Piasecki, 1988). A game involves one or more players who are given background information to study, rules and conditions to follow, and roles to play. The essential feature of a game is the interactive process of players and the system (Jones, 1972).When gaming simulations are used for assessing individuals, they are often called performance tests or exercises (Cronbach, 1970) or, when set in the context of an organization, business games. We have restricted this review of business games to simulations of social interactions, general management processes, and decision making...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Binomials in English - Definition and Examples

Binomials in English s Definition In language studies, a pair of words (for example, loud and clear) conventionally linked by a conjunction (usually and) or a preposition. Also called a binomial pair. When the word order is fixed, the binomial is said to be irreversible. (See Examples and Observations below.) A similar construction involving three nouns or adjectives (bell, book, and candle; calm, cool, and collected) is called a trinomial. Also, see: ChunkCollocationDoubletsIdiomReduplicative Etymology From the Latin, two names Examples and Observations Examples of binomials in English include aches and pains, all or nothing, back and forth, beck and call, bigger and better, bit by bit, black and blue, black and white, blood and guts, bread and butter, bubble and squeak, cease and desist, checks and balances, cloak and dagger, cops and robbers, corned beef and cabbage, cut and dried, dead or alive, death and destruction, dollar for dollar, dos and donts, fair and square, fast and loose, fire and brimstone, fish and chips, flesh and bones, goods and services, ham and eggs, hand to mouth, hands and knees, heads or tails, hearts and flowers, hem and haw, high and dry, high and low, high and mighty, huff and puff, hugs and kisses, kiss and make up, knife and fork, leaps and bounds, life and death, little by little, long and short, lost and found, loud and clear, make or break, milk and honey, needle and thread, nickel and dime, nip and tuck, now or never, null and void, nuts and bolts, old and gray, one to one, open and shut, part and p arcel, peace and quiet, pins and needles, pots and pans, rags to riches, rise and fall, rise and shine, rough and ready, safe and sound, saints and sinners, short but sweet, show and tell, side by side, slip and slide, soap and water, song and dance, sooner or later, spic and span, sticks and stones, strange but true, sugar and spice, thick and thin, time after time, tit for tat, tooth and nail, toss and turn, ups and downs, wash and wear, and win or lose. Reversible and Irreversible Binomials In the typical newspaper headline Cold and snow grip the nation it is proper to set off the segment cold and snow as a binomial, if one agrees so to label the sequence of two words pertaining to the same form-class, placed on an identical level of syntactic hierarchy, and ordinarily connected by some kind of lexical link. There is nothing unchangeable or formulaic about this particular binomial: Speakers are at liberty to invert the succession of its members (snow and cold . . .) and may with impunity replace either snow or cold by some semantically related word (say, wind or ice). However, in a binomial such as odds and ends the situation is different: The succession of its constituents has hardened to such an extent that an inversion of the two kernels*ends and oddswould be barely understandable to listeners caught by surprise. Odds and ends, then, represents the special case of an irreversible binomial.(Yakov Malkiel, Studies in Irreversible Binomials. Essays on Linguistic Themes. University of California Press, 1968) Synonymous and Echoic Binomials The third most frequent binomial in the DoD [Department of Defense] corpus is friends and allies, with 67 instances. Unlike the majority of binomials, it is reversible: allies and friends also occurs, with 47 occurrences.Both allies and friends refer to countries which accord with US policies; as such, the two coordinates of the binomial may incline us to categorize the binomial as synonymous (Gustafsson, 1975). Rhetorically speaking, friends and allies may have an intensifying function, similar to echoic binomials (where WORD1 is identical to WORD2), such as more and more and stronger and stronger.(Andrea Mayr, Language and Power: An Introduction to Institutional Discourse. Continuum, 2008)

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Sensation and Preception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sensation and Preception - Essay Example Driving is another instance where sensation and perception is vital to our well-being. Determining our distance in relation to a structure, or another vehicle, is particularly important for our safety, and the safety of others with whom we share the road. These are two instances, in which these processes are necessary to ensure our survival during our normal, everyday lives. During the viewing of this video, my perception of sensory stimuli was noticeably changed on numerous occasions. The most notable of these, was the screen that appeared to be a darker shade of gray on the left half. This was most intriguing, because when the sensory stimuli was altered by simply covering the center boundary, the only area in which a difference in shade was actually present, both halves of the screen were proven to be identical in color. In retrospect, even though one is aware of there being no actual difference, aside from the center boundary, we still get the sensation that there is a slight dif ference in brightness or color. This phenomenon, referred to as subjective contours, is explained as the brain’s tendency to detect a slight difference in the sensory stimuli, in this case the slight color variation, and to over-extend that variation, therefore registering a pattern that does not exist.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Ethical Conduct In War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical Conduct In War - Essay Example Soldiers comprehend that the military and the fellow soldiers look forward to them to show high sense of honour beyond what is shown in popular culture. The world of honour in military involves an individual discovering his real identity in roles and turning away from the roles is actually turning away from oneself. Hence, soldiers recognize that he or she is expected to take risks and forgo something in order to achieve the task, shield fellow soldier or defend innocent people. The use of force to decrease risk to fellow soldiers while placing the mission or innocent people at risk has to be considered to be inconsistent with military code of honour as well as the professional ethics. While emphasizing ethical behaviour as a goal, soldiers also value utilitarian basis for sustaining the highest moral standards. Education on values in soldiers can ring hollow unless tracked in a manner that offers perspective and shows relevance. Therefore, showing soldiers their enemy’s propa ganda aids in emphasizing the significance of ethical behaviour in countering misinformation. In military, considerate treatment, addressing grievances and developing trust within the population is one of the essential means for achieving success in military operations. Historical examples of extremes or abuse in pursuing tactical convenience have corrupted the moral nature of military units and destabilized planned objectives (â€Å"Moral, Ethical, And Psychological†¦Ã¢â‚¬  13-16). Leaders in military learn from history in order to evaluate their activities and putting modern operations within the perspective of previous experiences. Evaluating previous military operation experiences allows leaders to question contemporary missions, evade mistakes committed in the past, identify opportunities and recognize effective techniques. Though, education and indoctrination in professional military ethics as well as tough and realistic training are essential, they are insufficient in preserving moral character in intense emotional and psychological pressures that result from combat (â€Å"Moral, Ethical, And Psychological †¦" 17). Therefore, leaders prepare units to cope with stress that results from continuous operations within counterinsurgency environment, because combat stress usually results in unprofessional and unethical behaviour. Since counterinsurgency operations are more stressful compared to the conventional war, control of stress is a command responsibility even when grieving the loss of fellow soldiers. Military leaders have to be familiar with grief counselling and be able to watch soldier behaviour carefully in order to identify warning signs of stress like disconnection, suspiciousness toward comrades, distractibility and inconsistency (â€Å"Moral, Ethical, And Psychological †¦" 16). Leaders have to look for soldiers who have become â€Å"revenge driven† because they can break down discipline of the unit and inflict significa nt damage to the mission and fellow troopers; therefore, leaders endorse commitment to fellow troopers and mission as the main motivating factors in war. Certainly following rules of warfare slows down reaction time and forces commanders to discriminate the use of firepower, because the discriminate and precise use of firepower does more good than harm even in the lowest levels. Choosing to be precise in the use of firepo

Descriptive Statistics Memo Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Descriptive Memo - Statistics Project Example The average number of students per faculty was 8.48. The average age was 28.36 years. The average local tuition was $ 12,374.92, and foreign tuition was $ 16,581.80. On an average, 28.08 percent of enrolments at schools were foreigners. 56 percent had taken the GMAT, and 32 percent had taken an English test. 76 percent of students had prior work experience. The average starting salary was $ 37,292. The results for scatter plot analyses have been illustrated in figures 1-4, and the results have been summarized in table 1. Student faculty ratio, work experience, or starting salary did not influence full time enrolment. Among all the variables, age had the strongest influence (41.38%) on full time enrolment. Descriptive statistics for full time enrolments, students per faculty ratio, local tuition, foreign tuition, age, percentage foreigners, GMAT takers, English test takers, work experience and starting salaries have been illustrated in table 2. The average foreign tuition was $ 4206.88 higher than the local tuition. The average starting salary for graduates of schools requiring work experience was $ 41305.26, while for schools without work experience was $ 24583.33. The average starting salary for graduates of schools requiring English test was $ 45088, while for schools without work experience was $ 33623.53. The distribution for GMAT has a kurtosis of -2.11 (spread out from the mean). Factors that a school should consider are tuition, student faculty ratio, admission tests and prior work experience. These factors would help attract more students, and increase the number of enrolments in the MBA program. The average student to faculty ratio in schools was 8.48 students per faculty. The average local tuition was $ 12,374.92, and foreign tuition was $ 16,581.80. Graduates with admission tests (GMAT and English) received higher starting salaries than those without. Also, graduates with prior work experience had higher

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Destination Alliances Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Destination Alliances - Article Example The article "Destination Alliances" talks about the alliances - market strategies whereby two or more organization join to share marketing strategies or to promote concepts, services, or products. Alliance marketing is suitable for any business as long it finds an organization that shares mutual goals.A destination marketing organization (DMO) or convention and visitors bureau (CVB) is an organization that supports a town, city, region or country with the aim of increasing the number of visitors. DMO and CVB also promote the development or markets a destination through convention sales, tourism marketing, and services. Apart from targeting a high number of visitors, DMO and CVB also targets increase of business travelers which brings about overnight lodging for a destination, shopping revenues, and visits to restaurants. These organizations are funded by the country’s taxes. Convention and visitors bureau is considered to be the most important tourism marketing organizations i n their respective tourist destination. Philadelphia is referred as the world heritage city in the United States of America. It is a home to many national historical sites related to the foundation of the United States and it is among the 22 UNESCO World Heritage sites. It is in Philadelphia courageous visionaries crafted the modern day democracy. It harbors the independence hall, the liberty bell, the first and second bank of the USA, the president house where George Washington and John Adams spent most of their presidencies.

Miranda vs. Arizona Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Miranda vs. Arizona - Essay Example We know we have the right to remain silent and have a right to an attorney. Yet, the Miranda decision was far more reaching than the few principles that are read from a card. It reaches back into history to establish a precedent and presents ongoing dilemmas as it faces new challenges for the courts and law enforcement.Up until the time of the 1966 Miranda decision, police interrogations varied widely in manner and method. American law, based on English principles, had long accepted that coerced testimony or confessions were unreliable as evidence. This was the premise of the Fifth Amendment that made coerced and manipulated testimony inadmissible as trial evidence on constitutional grounds. Even though law enforcement eliminated the use of torture to elicit confessions, by the middle of the 20th century new questions about the ethics of more modern tactics arose.The court was faced with the problem of enforcing what was known as the 'totality of the circumstances' rule (Lively 293). It stated that the overall environment and climate that the confession was obtained in was what the courts were to consider when evaluating whether it was voluntary or not. Courts around the country had different standards and police had different methods. There was also the problem of the interrogations taking place in private and little was known about the methods being used behind closed doors. In addition, the mandatory informing of the right to an attorney had only recently been established. ... At that point in history, the privilege against self-incrimination did not extend to police interrogations and under existing law his confession probably met the standard of 'totality of circumstance' and was considered voluntary (Hall 553). However, according to Hall, they did not meet the new standards that the court would put forth in this case (553). The court ruled that a person held for questioning has the (1) right to remain silent, (2) anything they say can be held against them, (3) they have the right to have an attorney present, (4) and the right to a public defender if they can not afford an attorney (Hall 554). This is the basis of the Miranda decision. The court also held that police needed to clearly advise the subjects of these rights and they needed to be clearly understood. If the suspect waived these rights, they must do so "voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently" (Lively 294). These rules were established to assure that suspects were afforded their constitutional rights under the 5th and 6th amendments. Supporters of the decision saw this as a move away from the strong arm and intimidating police tactics of the past. They applauded the ruling as a move towards fairness in an accusatorial system, enhancing the presumption of innocence, and preventing the cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners and suspects (Vile 400). It also set federal standards for the interrogation of suspects. Opponents to the ruling saw it as too limiting for law enforcement. In a harshly worded dissent, Justice John Harlan argued that it would bring about the end of the confession as a useful law enforcement technique. He stated in his opinion that, "The thrust

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Olympics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Olympics - Essay Example It has been seen that the countries compete with each other in order to win the chance of hosting the Olympics and in this way as has been seen the countries or the cities who win the chance to host the Olympics are the ones who show off their potential to host the event as well as their true hospitality to the audience who attend the event. These are viewed by billions and this is the one that creates opportunities for the business entities. Thereby the products are the ones that reach billions of people in a matter of minutes and it has been linked with the higher sales within the time period of Olympics (Masteralexis 22). In this case it has been seen that the main disadvantage that has been noticed that the products marketing during the Olympics are not long lived and they are not found to be too effective and thereby it can be said that the advertisements in the Olympics may gain a lot of votes but they are not found to be cost effective. ... Technology can be the way by which the businesses can be run in a smooth manner. There are technologies that can be applied and used in various modes within the businesses as the supply chain management, logistics management which can be done with the help of the latest software that can keep track of the best available suppliers as well as the constant communiqu with these suppliers is made sure. Logistics and the supply chain management are the key parts of a business that can ensure success only if it is managed in a proper manner. In addition this, the technologies can be applied in marketing the products in a best possible manner (Shilbury 22). Innovation is the one main fact that has been realized to be of utmost importance in the market and this is the principle that has been helping the businesses in attaining the greater number of sales and the sales volume in the local as well as the international market. Changes and the innovations can be helpful in defining newer strategies for the product manufacturing as well as the marketing. The pains that are being faced by the businesses being run without any changes is the discarding of the unpopular and stagnant products being produced. Innovations in the products can, initially prove to be costly, but in the long run, these are the innovations that can be providing the success that is needed by the business (Jana 2). Conclusion Olympics are an event in which nations are the ones that compete in a vigorous manner to get a place in the competition. Billions of people are the audience to this events and this is an audience which is reached by the business entities in order to market their product. Works cited Jana, Reena., Balfour, Frederik.,

Miranda vs. Arizona Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Miranda vs. Arizona - Essay Example We know we have the right to remain silent and have a right to an attorney. Yet, the Miranda decision was far more reaching than the few principles that are read from a card. It reaches back into history to establish a precedent and presents ongoing dilemmas as it faces new challenges for the courts and law enforcement.Up until the time of the 1966 Miranda decision, police interrogations varied widely in manner and method. American law, based on English principles, had long accepted that coerced testimony or confessions were unreliable as evidence. This was the premise of the Fifth Amendment that made coerced and manipulated testimony inadmissible as trial evidence on constitutional grounds. Even though law enforcement eliminated the use of torture to elicit confessions, by the middle of the 20th century new questions about the ethics of more modern tactics arose.The court was faced with the problem of enforcing what was known as the 'totality of the circumstances' rule (Lively 293). It stated that the overall environment and climate that the confession was obtained in was what the courts were to consider when evaluating whether it was voluntary or not. Courts around the country had different standards and police had different methods. There was also the problem of the interrogations taking place in private and little was known about the methods being used behind closed doors. In addition, the mandatory informing of the right to an attorney had only recently been established. ... At that point in history, the privilege against self-incrimination did not extend to police interrogations and under existing law his confession probably met the standard of 'totality of circumstance' and was considered voluntary (Hall 553). However, according to Hall, they did not meet the new standards that the court would put forth in this case (553). The court ruled that a person held for questioning has the (1) right to remain silent, (2) anything they say can be held against them, (3) they have the right to have an attorney present, (4) and the right to a public defender if they can not afford an attorney (Hall 554). This is the basis of the Miranda decision. The court also held that police needed to clearly advise the subjects of these rights and they needed to be clearly understood. If the suspect waived these rights, they must do so "voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently" (Lively 294). These rules were established to assure that suspects were afforded their constitutional rights under the 5th and 6th amendments. Supporters of the decision saw this as a move away from the strong arm and intimidating police tactics of the past. They applauded the ruling as a move towards fairness in an accusatorial system, enhancing the presumption of innocence, and preventing the cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners and suspects (Vile 400). It also set federal standards for the interrogation of suspects. Opponents to the ruling saw it as too limiting for law enforcement. In a harshly worded dissent, Justice John Harlan argued that it would bring about the end of the confession as a useful law enforcement technique. He stated in his opinion that, "The thrust

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Experiencing Flow Essay Example for Free

Experiencing Flow Essay There are a number of characteristics in Christy’s basketball playing that defines her flow. First of all, he feels that she is â€Å"in the zone† when she is playing. Basically, this reflects to a state of mind. She worked in all aspects of the game and she did it effortlessly. Her responses were automatic and all the shots she took got in. Christy seems to be in a state of â€Å"optimal experience† as stated by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the book entitled, â€Å"FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience†. Christy feels a sense of exhilaration and enjoyment in what she does. She is able to anticipate the movement of her adversaries and she knows the court very well. Moreover, in all of these tasks, she is calm, and focused even under pressure. There are strategies that would help Christy experience flow more. Csikszentmihalyi describes the feeling as autoletic. It elevates life to a different level (2008). Basically, one needs to build inner harmony. This is done by how one interprets everyday experiences. This promotes happiness and an ability to control forces existing in the universe. Firstly, in order to achieve flow, one should take control of his body. Everything that the body does can be potentially enjoyable. The key to achieving flow is the enjoyment of doing. The important part of achieving flow is not the task in itself but how the task is being done. A person can achieve enjoyment by learning to impose order on one’s sensations. Christy needs to fully feel each sensation her body is experiencing. She must always determine her goals and break them into parts. These parts should be challenging in themselves so that she may sustain enjoyment. There are also ways of experiencing flow more often and longer. One way is to try new things that eventually lead to development of new skill. More enjoyment will be experienced with more skills developed. It is important that progress in these activities is monitored so that the flow can be experienced longer. It is also good to increase the difficulty of a challenge. Mastery of a particular skill may make one bored thus, a person such as Christy should try to find more challenges that she believes she can attain. Christy should also find more activities that she believes she can get flow from. It is essential that one needs to find many flow experiences as possible. Her coach plays a vital role in helping her experience flow more often. The coach can get her practicing with two opponents or shoot from the center of the court. This will not only avoid boredom but could increase her level of skill. Christy should also try to always get feedback from people on what she is doing. Thus, it is important for the coach to always monitor her performance and tell her about it. The coach should also make sure that the team is practicing in a place where there are little distractions. The coach should avoid making Christy do multitasking. He should develop a lot of activities during practice that will make her stay focused. Lapses in time during practices may destroy the momentum of the players and lessen the chances of achieving flow. All these strategies are important in order to achieve flow. Flow is essential for every experience because is promotes focus and total control of situations. It enables people to concentrate more effectively in their tasks. Understanding how to acquire it helps people to focus their attention at their will, without having others to get their attention. It also promotes happiness and enjoyment in all activities. Moreover, understanding flow can lead to understanding why people procrastinate on certain issues. References Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Chicago, IL: Harper Perennial.