ACA - Code of Ethics Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ACA - Code of Ethics Questions - Essay Example Paraprofessionals should have also known the ACA Code of Ethics and applied it by informing the clients of their lack of training and supervised experience in the area of group counseling. Their conduct is highly unethical for accepting a roll for which they are not fully qualified to deliver, Counselor One is aware of the practice by the permanent licensed professional staff members of avoiding groups with heavy demands, indirectly causing that others who are new to the field and eager to serve skip the rules and show an unethical conduct. Counselor One should have gone to his supervisor for advise. Once the client had successfully dealt with the issues that originally brought him to treatment, Counselor Two should have either terminated the counseling relationship or together with the client assess whether there was need to continue with counseling in other areas. Counselor is responsible of monitoring her/his own effectiveness and when seeing that the client no longer benefits fro m the counseling move to appropriate termination.

Anthrax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Anthrax - Essay Example They are of three types: Symptoms: The causal agent does not cause the infection immediately but requires incubation period from 7 to 60 days. The initial symptoms are similar to flu with a very high temperature > 100 F followed by coolness or sweat. It may give chest distress, difficulty in breathing, muscular fatigue. The symptoms also include non-productive cough, aching throat, headache and nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal distress, vomiting or diarrhea (Mikesell,). 1. Cutaneous anthrax (skin): The causal organism gains entry in the body through a cut or an abrasion especially when a person encounters either contaminated animal products or diseased animal. The organism establishes the infection with a raised bump similar to an insect or mosquito bite, followed by itching. After 1-2 days it develops into a vesicle which takes the form of a painless ulcer. This ulcer after 7-10 days becomes black necrotic in the centre called as eschar. The body responds to this by swelling in the adjacent lymph glands. Fever, headache and distress occur. It could be fatal if antimicrobial treatment is not given. 2. Inhalation anthrax: The incubation period varies from 2 to 60 days. The symptoms are similar to common cold or sore throat with a mild fever and muscular pain and malaise. It is not contagious but if untreated the condition results in severe breathing discomfort, shock, symptoms like pneumonia or may give rise to meningitis. It may become fatal in 24 to 36 hrs. 3. Gastrointestinal anthrax: It is more severe form of anthrax than cutaneous form, caused by the consumption of contaminated animal product. This is featured by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. The condition onset with nausea, vomiting with blood, followed by loss of appetite, fever and severe abdominal pain and severe diarrhea with blood. It may be fatal in 25-60% of the cases as ascites fills the abdomen, followed by shock an death within the span of 2-5 days. 4. Oropharyngeal anthrax: It is not a popular form of anthrax. This encompasses fever, swelling in the lymph nodes especially in the cervical region and severe throat pain and discomfort in swallowing. Sometimes ulcer may appear at the basal region of tongue. If condition is not cured then breathing distress occurs (http://www.bt.cdc.gov). Treatment and Prevention: The disease is not contagious but the fomites of the patients may be contaminated with the spores of the causal organism. Decontamination of people and belongings is crucial with an antimicrobial agent or with bleach especially formaldehyde as chlorine is ineffective to kill vegetative cells and also the spores. Articles can be decontaminated by boiling them in water for at least 30 mins. Timely care and antibiotic therapy can enhance the chances of survival of the victims. Therapy can be started with the oral course of antibiotics followed by intravenous doses (IV). Fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin (cipro), doxycycline, erythromycin, vancomycin or penicillin. Early antibiotic prophylaxis can prevent the disease taking the fatal form. Quarantine

Knowledge From Western And Chinese Philosophy Perspective Philosophy Essay

Knowledge From Western And Chinese Philosophy Perspective Philosophy Essay In this paragraph the authors will discuss different points of views towards the definition of knowledge. In literature we can find differences but also similarities between Western and Chinese philosophy. To work with Knowledge Management Systems it is necessary to understand how to capture, store, share, learn, exploit and explore knowledge. The Western world may already have more experience in this process since knowledge management in China has just recently developed. Ancient philosophers in both worlds already had ideas how to define knowledge and how to transfer it among society and individuals. This paragraph should clarify how those ideas can be made useful for Knowledge Management. 4.2 Knowledge in the Western world First the authors will give a short overview on the Western perspective of knowledge. For this it is necessary to have a look on Western philosophers and their understanding towards knowledge. On some of those philosophers we will be able to reflect their theories on modern Knowledge Management. The goal is to find out how modern Knowledge Management gets involved with some ideas of philosophers or react in an opposite way towards their ideas by not adapting them in Knowledge Management Systems. J. Kaipayil writes in his book The Epistemology of comparative Philosophy (1995, S. 32) about Western philosophy according to the critiques of P.T. Raju. He is an Indian writer on Chinese and Western philosophy. According to Raju, the main subject of Western philosophy is its intellectualism, united with humanism. The cosmological interests of the Ionian philosophers and the humanistic interests of the Sophists are the two starting-points of Western philosophy. These two tendencies met and blended in Aristotle and Plato and for them, humans are rational beings and their essence is reason (the rational soul). The Greeks philosophy established a rational (intellectual) analysis of reality, and in the consequences the Western world became strongly outward-looking. Epistemology, logic and scientific methodology developed. In his Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle presents five virtues of thought that can mapped to levels of knowledge. Epistà ©mà ©: Factual or scientific knowledge Tà ©chnà ©: Skills-based technical and action-oriented knowledge Phrà ³nà ©sis: Experiential self-knowledge or practical wisdom based on experience Noà »s: Intuition Sophà ­a: Theoretical knowledge of universal truths or first principles Butler (2006, pp. 1-9) argues that Aristotles tà ©chnà © and phrà ³nà ©sis need to be the core of knowledge management attempts, and while they are not able to be directly applied to IT applications, they must be among the elements upon which knowledge management is based. Tà ©chnà © deals with subjects that vary rather than the constant relationship found in epistà ©mà ©. The use of tà ©chnà © is one of the most challenging but at the same time one of the most fertile of knowledge-management pursuits. The dynamic nature of knowledge is reflected in tà ©chnà ©. Artificial intelligence and decision-support systems seek to automate tà ©chnà ©. From that point of view, Aristotle has given us a clearly defined and delimited type of knowledge that can be related to information technologies (c.f. D. G. Schwartz, 2005, pp. 1-11). Phrà ³nà ©sis is practical knowledge dealing with action and handling things to an end. According to Aristotle, phrà ³nà ©sis is obtained through experiencing the actions being learned and hands-on training. From a learning-through-action point of view the difference between phrà ³nà ©sis and tà ©chnà © lies in terms of each type of knowledge can be shared. Aristotle says that tà ©chnà © can be taught from practitioner to student, phrà ³nà ©sis on the other hand can only be shared through actual mutual experience. On the perspective of the value of knowledge, Sveibys (1997, pp. 3) focus on the knowledge-action value chain can find significant roots in phrà ³nà ©sis. In terms of knowledge management, phrà ³nà ©sis escorts us on the way of simulation, rich media, e-learning, and other types of the experiental presentation of knowledge or captivation on a virtual environment in which the experience rendering phrà ³nà ©sis can be realized (c.f. D. G. Schwartz, 2005, pp. 1-11). J. Kaipayil (1995, pp. 33) says that the Melesians understood the principles of the universe in terms of something outward no matter how the origin and substance of the world was conceived, be it water, the indefinite, or air. This tendency was continued by the Atomists to find the source of the world in something outward. On the other hand, the Pythagoreans developed the idea that what is given to reason and not to the senses is the truth about the world. The important thing about Pythagoreanism was that it did not regard reason as an abstract concept rather as an existential and ethical entity. Yet, that does not mean that the world-view of Pythagoreanism had a clear idea of inward spirit; the viewpoint was still outward and cosmic. Heraclitus not only mentioned some rational order in nature, he also spoke about the Logos, which is called as the primordial fire and this is responsible for the world order. Still, his interest was in its foundation cosmological and did not perceive t he differences between the inward and the outward, spirit and matter. Von Loh ( 2009, pp. 1-2) writes about Heraclitus who says Everything is in a state of Flux, by reflecting his words on modern knowledge management and on the foundation that the words of Heraclitus are true knowledge organizations systems (KOS) like classification systems, thesauri, nomenclatures are all objects of permanent change and all bibliographical records are in the state of flux as well, which is not widely accepted in information science and practice. In modern technology information can be stored even if it is in a state of flux. According to the problem statement of that paper this proves how important it is to use technology in knowledge management applications. The Sophists shifted the philosophical attention from the cosmos to human and took a new turn in Greek philosophy. The human being was the centre of their philosophy, but Socrates had to fight against subjectivism and skepticism raised by the standpoint of individualism. The criterion of philosophic activity according to Socrates, is objectivity and universality. This not only restored confidence in reason but also clarified the philosophical basis of morality and state. Socrates was insisting on the cultivation of the inner self, he was remarkably rationalistic but also deeply inward-looking. For the stable foundation of morals and politics Plato continued the Socratic search for this subject. Aristotle toned down the inwardness explained by Plato in order to safeguard the reality of outward to introduce the idea of an intelligent first cause (Kaipayil, J., 1995, pp. 34). In his article A Knowledge Management Environment for Research Centers and Universities (2006, p 652 667) Jonice Oliveira writes that for Socrates knowing a subject or concept of consisted of gathering the components of a singular thing, or of a real substance, and joining the similar ones, and separating the unsimilar ones, to form the concept or the definition of the singular thing. In his thinking, in order to join the similar ones it is necessary for somebody to have demonstrations, definitions, axioms and principles for a concept to be proved as true. Which means that the knowledge resulting from scientific activities, is scientific knowledge. Its goal is to demonstrate a solution to a problem by argumentation. Scientific language leads to three main interpretations: knowledge how (know-how), knowledge that (objective knowledge) and knowledge by acquaintance. R. Hagengruber (2008, pp. 6) gives an example on that. Socrates once mentioned that knowledge is not createt because of a concrete situation, in fact the human mind is able to create knowledge in ones own imagination. Literately he claims that You do not need to walk the correct road to Larissa, it is enough if you imagine it in the correct way. To prove his hypothesis Socrates shows how a completely uneducated child can solve a difficult mathematical problem. Even though the child fails at the beginning and gives a wrong answer still due to the way how Socrates asks the child questions and gives him orders, the child is able to get to the answer. So, apparently even on a base of minimum knowledge, through disciplinary processes it is possible to create complex knowledge. This is very useful for information technology which collects and stores data and makes it accessible. Through algorithm this stored data can be merged and can be made useful. This shows how ancient Western philosophers already knew how important it is to get knowledge by experimenting through science. It is necessary to find a logi cal way to solve a problem. This way of capturing knowledge is important to make information technology useful for knowledge management. Later this paper will show how the eastern philosophy thinks about logic and the way/road in itself. In the post-Aristotelian Greek understanding the ethical and political interest was continued, so it lost much of the taste of universality and inwardness and people became isolated from society and moved towards individualism during that time. During the Middle Ages there was a tendency towards the destroying of confidence in human reason and powers through Christianity and mare reason subservient to faith. In fact the medieval philosophy was not able to make much contribution to the growth of Western thought. The following period of the Renaissance gave back the lost confidence in Greek rationalism and humanism. Rene Descartes started to consider the human self to be thought of reason. But he had to face empiricist critique on its mind-body dualism for forgetting the inward in the name of the outward. J. Aarons (2004, pp.6) mentions the method of doubt developed by Rene Descartes. In his Meditations on First Philosophy (1640) he writes that the real challenge lies in skepticism so if there is any sign of doubt about so-called knowledge being true then it cannot be genuine knowledge. But Knowledge Management stays in clear contrast to that, for Knowledge Management there is much more than just personal certainty about the world, it must involve conceptual understanding as well as practical ability. Furthermore justification of knowledge doesnt play the biggest role, it is more concerned with storage, production and processing of knowledge in a group or shared sense. So, here it is to see that the Western philosophy cannot always deliver useful suggestions towards Knowledge Management. In the case of justifying knowledge, it is quite different from its relevant philosophers. Other than Descartes the empiricism laid emphasis on the outward through its doctrine of knowledge as derived exclusively from sense experience. The unfortunate consequence of all these was the unsuccessful attempt to tackle the question of human inwardness as if it was a problem of the outward and the failure to see the mind as the mediating link between inwardness and outwardness. Kant kept a balance between the inward (the transcendental ego) and the outward (the phenomenal world) from the side of human experience. He had to keep God out of theoretical knowledge to keep this balance. Human inwardness was left in the background or sometimes ignored or rejected by the explaining the law of nature in the wake of modern scientific attempts. As a result many thinkers wanted philosophy to follow the methods of science, especially of physics to liberate the outward from the inward. What gave importance to the world was pragmatism, positivism, and analytic philosophy. Here Kaipayil points out, according to Raju, to take its dominant movements and latest accomplishments into consideration, and may say that the general trend of Western philosophy was to liberate the outward from the entanglement of the inward, the subjective, by disregarding or lessening the importance of human inwardness, at least for philosophical reasons. This does not mean that the Western philosophy is exclusively outward-looking and absolutely dissipated in objectivity. The West did realize human inwardness but did not explain it completely and did not give it due importance. The West was more consistently outward-looking in its scientific-objective attitude and it sometimes confused inwardness with faith and preventing inwardness from having its proper role in philosophy. The value what Western philosophers achieved on the other hand lied in its rigorous scientific analysis and conceptual reconstruction of reality. Hence, the West was able to make significant progress in logic and epistemology. This chapter shows that the main influence on Knowledge Management had the ancient philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates. They point out that it is important to see knowledge as a very complex source and needs to be looked at form different views. Aristotle for instance points out that there are different types of knowledge which can be captured, stored and shared in different ways. Socrates came to a similar conclusion by saying that knowledge creation can be achieved in a way of process. Thinking in a logical way was one of the main legacies ancient philosophers gave to the modern world. Knowledge Management learned from philosophers of the renaissance era, such as Rene Descartes that emphasizing on technology development is necessary to integrate effective Knowledge Management in an organization of the modern information era. To manage knowledge in a right way is a very complex and takes a lot effort and concrete analysis. This also proves the hypothesis mentioned at the beginning of this paper. It needs long and intensive approach to manage knowledge. Besides using mind-based managing of knowledge it is also very important to understand the necessity of technology development whci already was mentioned in the problem statement of this paper. After getting an overview of Western philosophy, in the following pages the authors will show how Chinese philosophy had its impact on Knowledge Management. Knowledge in China After we discussed the Western point of view how to define knowledge, now the authors will give the reader and impression of the Chinese philosophy and the understanding of knowledge and how their ideas might be able to reflect on modern Knowledge Management. The goal is to understand what impact Chinese philosophy has on knowledge management systems and how companies are able to deal with it or what they can do in the future. The next pages will show the development of Chinese philosophy. On certain aspects the authors will get deeper in to detail and reflect some ideas on modern Knowledge Management. W. Riegler (2007, p. 219) mentions that the ancient Chinese philosophy is part of a culture which does not know a kind of Genesis. Hence, it is not necessary to ask a cause to understand an effect. In the understanding of Daoism there is an everlasting cycle of recreation by the effect of changing Yin and Yang by the rules of the 5 phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). It is kind of strange for those who are not familiar with this kind of thinking. However it is very natural and also pragmatic for those who are. Riegler also asks why this kind of thinking is so important for us longnoses too? Because we are also part of nature and we act by these rules too. Most important, it is a natural way of how our brain works and we can call this thinking too. The essence is that people can synthesize single parts of information to a whole that is bigger than its parts. After this short introduction the authors will now have a closer look on the complex development of Chinese philosophy. J. Kaipayil (1995, p. 28) writes in his book The Epistemology of comparative Philosophy about Chinese philosophy according to the critiques of P.T. Raju. He is and Indian writer on Chinese philosophy. As for Rajus understanding of Chinese philosophy, humanism is its main feature. It is said that the Chinese tradition is to be primarily humanistic, because human nature, both individual and social, was the basic subject of thought in China. The Chinese extolled life and wanted to live it fully. The question of Chinese wisdom was how to be fully human. But this interest in human person and society was characterized, not by a spiritual inwardness as in India or by an intellectual analysis as in the West, but by a pragmatic immediatism. What means that the Chinese humanism was not a metaphysical humanism interested in explication of human nature but a pragmatic humanism that put emphasis on immediate and concrete human relations. The Chinese thinker was concerned with practical affairs of society and life, and, accordingly, that which has immediate application to the benefit of people and society was considered good and true. All theories were meant for immediate application to people and society for their benefit. One could therefore say an immediatistic and humanistic pragmatism characterized the entire Chinese philosophy. Confucius exemplified Chinese philosophys confirmed purpose of explaining the ideal form of society and state. As a social reformer his goal was it to put order and stability into society and state. The foundation of a good society consist in every one following ren (human-heartedness) and discharging the duties of ones state of life and vocation. The ethics in Confucianism were more or less completely devoid of metaphysics. Heaven meant for Confucius a kind of moral order only. Zhu Z. (2004 p. 67 79) says when China realized that their competitors especially from Japan, U.S.A. and Europe all engaged in knowledge management, the Chinese companies were shocked and decided to welcome knowledge management. They created a connection to wuli-shili-renli (WSR) framework, which has its origins in Confucianism. In WSR: Wuli claims the material-technical aspect of managing knowledge. Shili is to facilitate the constructive-cognitive knowing process and Renli denotes in the governing of social-political relations among knowers. The Chinese style is less focusing on debating on the nature of knowledge, nor in expressing well-ordered processual knowledge creation models. For WSR technological and institutional dimensions of knowledge are equally important. Chinese found out how to reflect Confucianism on their organization structure and how to use it to manage knowledge. They realized that it is important to put more effort into technological development. Later in this paper this technological importance will be researched in detail. The Moists (Mohists) also developed a social ethics, but there goal was it more to gain social discipline. To mention Mencius, we find in him a tendency towards human inwardness, as he saw the basis of all morality in human nature (the mind). Nevertheless, his ethical idealism was not metaphysical. Mencius wanted to build a morality on the goodness of human nature. Xunzi on the other hand maintained that human nature is basically evil and it should be controlled by education and state laws so that a good society is made possible. He was the teacher of the Legalists Han Fei Zi and Li Si. The Legalists came to the conclusion to have harder demands for enforcement of laws with rewards and punishments (J. Kaipayil ,1995, p. 29). Deli Yang (2002, p.7) explains that legalism resulted in the consequences of central planning and anti-elitism in China. The ruler (which can be any authority in a hierarchical position) establishes the law without the participation of any individuals. This affected the performances of different governments and resulted in a high level of bureaucracy. These distinctive features we can still find in many modern Chinese companies. Bureaucracy can easily hinder a fluent knowledge transfer across the organization. Not having influence on making laws and rules is a disadvantage for knowledge creation. Another fact would be that the knowledge flow goes only from the top to the bottom, so potential knowledge from the bottom cannot be reached. Further in this paper the authors will explain more about knowledge sharing and the knowledge flow. The Logicians also were not uninterested in society and state. They emphasized the absoluteness and predominance of the universals over the particulars and thereby demonstrated the harmony of things and the need for universal love. The Daoists advocated individual happiness by a life of purity, simplicity, and spontaneous union with nature. They also were interested more in human things than in material things. The Dao is not any material principle external to human being but the principle internal to humans and inherent in nature (J. Kaipayil ,1995, p. 30). Ai Yu (2008, p.4) argues that many people believe that Laozis philosophy is primarily based on Wu Wei, which is a central thought of his Daodejing and means non-action or not-acting. But Wu Wei is actually more complex and also focuses on wholeness and partiality. Laozi explains the Way (Dao) is wholeness and infinity, while everything else is partiality and finitude. Based on Daodejing as the ideal of all existence the Way is unseen, not transcendent, powerful and also humble which means it is the root of all things. In fact humans should live their life in harmony with the Way for being as true and pure as an infant. Laozis concepts considers to emotions, knowledge, rationalities and sensations and not directing ambiguity, chaos and oppressions to the outside world. People should look into their minds and should try to find explanations. Ai Yu (2008, p.5) also says that today the field of knowledge management has been changed as a model of value creation to a great deal due to the shift of demanded resources. Edvinsson (2002, p.47) argues that value is usually more than just money, knowledge management should give value a second thought because it is a cross-disciplinary area. The modern Chinese business world is changing and in 2005 Hu Jintao came up with his policy of building a harmonious society. China Mobile and domestic Chinese insurance companies had to face extra-economic challenges like income inequality, environmental degradation, rural poverty etc. and for that the Chinese companies reacted with providing support for less-privileged citizens. According to Laozi this means paying more attention to the altered value preference and therefore discovering a new way of doing business. An alternative to both Confucianism and Daoism would be Buddhism but itself was transformed under their influence none the less. Buddhism is a philosophy based on human nature alone, and therefore it was easily assimilated by the Chinese mind with its characteristics pragmatic humanism and immediatism. Cheng-Fong Wu (1989, p. 90) already said that in Buddhism giving Dharma means to deliver wisdom to living beings without pay, wisdom is designed to mentally benefit others. Which means using knowledge to inspire the poor and teaching them the knowledge of a skill can make them stand on their feet by acquiring jobs. Those thoughts of Buddhism are possible reasons that the Chinese way of thinking about intellectual property rights is far different from the Western world. They might see China as the poorer country and count on the richer countries to share their knowledge with them without getting paid in return. Further in this paper the authors will get back to the topic of intellectual property rights in China. Another philosophy called Neoconfucianism also marked a very important development in the history of Chinese thought. With its rich metaphysics Buddhism stimulated the Chinese mind to an intense interest in metaphysical problems about nature and life. Together with the revival of the Daoists way of thinking, demanded on the part of Confucian scholars to provide a more systematic cosmology that would serve as the metaphysical foundation for Confucian ethics and political thought. In Zhou Dunyi the Daoist and the Yin-Yang conceptions combined with Confucianism to make a cosmology to defend Confucian ethics. Everything is created by the Dao, called this time the Great Ultimate (Taiji), from beginning to end of yin and yang forces; and human beings are the highest creation which continues this creative process by spiritual cultivation leading to wisdom. Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi were the brothers who developed the concept of li (principle), which became a major theme in Neoconfucianism. As the source of all the laws of nature and the principle of all diversified things, li is the same as the Dao. The rationalist wing of Neoconfucianism was developed by Zhu Xing who was following Cheng Yi. Lu Xiangshan who was following Mencius and Cheng Hao was founder of the idealist wing. According to Zhu Xi the Great Umtimate, which is the highest li , is found in each individual. This is the all-inclusive and wholly good Dao. Each particular thing is a combination of qi and li, and in humans this li is ren, and this is called spiritual cultivation if followed this inner nature. Lu Xiangshan and Hao on the other hand rejected the very idea of qi and focused that everything is composed to li and li is essentially the mind. Wang Yangming goes further with this idealist doctrine and says that the substance of mind is nature of things and this is li. Li is to understand by looking within, since all things, heaven, earth and humans are one. To exercise this unity is to love people (J. Kaipayil ,1995, p.32). J. Kaipayil writes on the prospect of philosophy in the post-Qing communist China, that Raju commended that the Marxian ideology with its activism and pragmatism agreed well with the naturalistic, humanistic, and pragmatic tendencies of the general Chinese tradition and it would be no wonder if a Confucian variety of communist philosophy should emerge at some future time that will meet the philosophical needs of the Chinese people perhaps more adequately than the communism of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin in its western robes. Raju supposed that the history of Chinese philosophy shows that the Chinese mind on the whole avoided the extremes of inwardness and outwardness. It is neither wholly inward-looking nor wholly outward-looking. It tries to get a balance between the inward and outward characteristics of human existence, and this attidue is best illustrated by the Daoist ideal of sageliness within and kinglingness without. The whole of human life was made the topic of philosophical investigation. The cultivation of inner human nature was insisted upon and not only for its own sake however for the creation and sustainment of a good society. All philosophical questions were used to find answers in a practical life and so China could create some of the best ideas of social and political thoughts and ethics. According to J. Kaipayil the previous words showed the positive side of Chinese philosophy but there also is another side of this philosophy. Kaipayil says that Chinese philosophy fails when ultimate qu estions are brought up. It accepted man and their life as basic facts for philosophy, not because it came to this sort of conclusion in the light of answers to ultimate questions, but because it did not come up with them and avoided these questions when raised, so that the life of human beings does not discover any foundation for its significance. Raju believed that Chinese philosophy lacked a metaphysical foundation and Chinese social thought a certain philosophical depth. The Chinese philosophy, compared to the Western philosophy, lacks logical rigour and is less epistemological and metaphysical. For the cause of not coming up with ultimate questions about human inwardness and outwardness, it is hard to find great systems of metaphysics and epistemology in China as in the West. It does not say that China lacked completely in logic, epistemology, and metaphysics. China had thoughts about that but they were explained only to that extent that was hardly enough to understand some prac tical human affairs, the hard facts of state and society. There were no serious efforts made to unknot the philosophical foundations of human existence. After getting an insight in Chinese philosophy, the authors will now highlight the more import philosophies. Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and Legalism are mentioned as high influential thinking schools. People learned from their philosophies what is useful or less useful to integrate Knowledge Management in an organization. One result in Confucianism suggests to realize the importance of technology which is also mentioned in the problem statement of this paper. Legalism can be a problem for Knowledge Management because it hinders knowledge flow and knowledge transfer. This is a very common problem in China, because society and organizations are often use legalism as their foundation. If Chinese companies want to achieve success by introducing Knowledge Management Systems into their organization it is necessary not to use Legalism as a companys philosophy. Buddhism also shows how Chinese express their feeling towards intellectual property and how Western companies might find some re asons for being afraid of the loss of their technology knowledge. Further research in this field would be highly recommended. On the other hand this paper shows that Daoism not necessarily means do nothing , it also animates to seek for the creation of value, which some Chinese organizations already adopted. To give a short conclusion about Western and Chinese philosophy, then next chapter will show how to compare those two different cultures and find out that they are not so different in some aspects. Comparison of Western and Chinese Philosophy The comparison of those two philosophies should show how Knowledge Management can react on the influence of philosophy on two different cultures. In modern Knowledge Management both cultures lies their focus on the development of technology to capture, store and share knowledge. The Western philosophy already realized the importance of logic and scientific approach while on the other hand the Chinese philosophy mainly concentrated on inner values which should be good for society. The West has a character of individualism while the East is trying to create a harmonies society by less focusing on individualism. Here Legalism can be seen as one of the biggest problems which results in not using all advantages of Knowledge Management. The problem that Chinese companies are focusing on technology has not necessarily to be seen as a problem. But leaving personal interaction behind can be seen as a major problem. The goal of Knowledge Management in China is to form transparent organizations to create knowledge and to share knowledge among their employees. As the hypothesis says it is important to take intensive care of Knowledge Management and this also cannot be realized in a short term period. Especially in China with their long history of philosophy and its great impact on their society it takes much longer to integrate Knowledge Management Systems in a company than it would take in Western company. Tacit and Explicit Knowledge After the discussion of certain perspectives on knowledge in Western philosophy and Chinese philosophy and their influence on Knowledge management, the authors will now explain the two important aspects of tacit and explicit knowledge. It is necessary to focus on the characteristics of tacit knowledge, since this is more difficult to access. During this work the reader should understand how important it is to get access to tacit knowledge and how to make it useful in a cross-cultural business environment. Faxiang Chen (2006, p.2) says that the term of knowledge refers two different forms: tacit and explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be documented, transmitted, codified, stored, shared and learned indirectly. Tacit knowledge on the other hand originates from personal accumulated experience and learning and can be shared in direct ways vi

Ghost Story of the Motel Murders :: Ghost Stories Urban Legends

Prophetic Dreams of the Motel Murders This particular ghost story was told to me by one of the members of my gymnastics troupe. We had become friends over the course of the season, and she was telling me this story in an informal setting in my dorm room on a Friday night. She is twenty years old and grew up in a very conservative Catholic family in New Jersey. Later on, as I attempted to find more people who would have heard a similar story, I ran into another friend who had heard a variation of the same plot. This was a Jewish Caucasian male, nineteen years old, who grew up in North Carolina. He told me this story as we were eating lunch at a sandwich place in College Park: Back home, a couple of students from some other school came to Rowan [University] to visit some friends from high school or just party. Two of the people that came were dating and they got in a big fight. They didn’t want to have to sleep together at their friend’s dorm, so the guy went to stay at a local hotel to think things over. In the middle of the night, the girl had this horrible dream that her boyfriend was crying out for help because the owner of the hotel was trying to kill him. The dream was really horrifying so the girl woke up in sweat but then realized it was just a dream and went back to bed. But then she saw another dream where her boyfriend was yelling at her to call the police because he had just been killed by the owner and his body is hidden in white van. So the girl got her friends together and went over to the hotel to see what was going on. She didn’t find him in the room he checked into, so she called the cops, and when they came she point ed out the only van in the parking lot. Sure enough the guy’s body was in there all bloody. And this is a variation of the same story: A couple of guys from some frat back home were traveling away to some Greek chapter meeting. They were all supposed to stay at the same motel, but they didn’t coordinate it very well and two guys had to stay at a different motel than the rest of the frat. So then one guy had this dream that the two in a different motel were being chased by the manager and he was trying to kill them.

How does Miller build tension in Act 1 in A View from the Bridge?

How does Miller build tension in Act 1 in A View from the Bridge? The play A View from the Bridge was written by American playwright Arthur Miler in the early 1950’s. The play is set in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This is where the ports are near the Brooklyn Bridge that is the gateway to Manhattan. The play is centred on an Italian-American longshoreman– Eddie Carbone. Eddie lives with his wife Beatrice and his niece Catherine who he has developed improper feelings for, however his feelings are repressed.These matters are further complicated when Catherine falls in love with immigrants they are sheltering from the US government. Eddie repressed feelings suddenly begin to seep out in the form of rage and anger. Miller initially wanted the play to have one big arc culminating in a â€Å"final bang†. It was intended to have only one Act but was split up into the two. Because of this, the first Act does not contain any major climaxes in the plot but rather includes various tension-building elements that form the path to the eventual pinnacle at the end of the play.A View from the Bridge is a very tense play, with numerous layers of conflict consistently going on, and almost all of these are with Eddie. The tension aroused in Act 1 is crucial for the rest of the play. Miller during Act 1 creates tensions in a variety of manners. One of the ways Miller creates tension is through the sphere of sex and love. This is a key theme throughout the play. There are many examples of sexual tension in Act 1. On various examples it is obvious to the audience the sexual tension that exists between Eddie and Catherine even if they cannot see it.This is evident right from the opening of the play where Eddie is complementing Catherine on her new look. Eddie is supposedly the father figure in the life of Catherine and though nothing he says here is too improper, Miller from the outset has planted the seeds that Eddie thinks that Catherine, to some extent, is quite attra ctive. This idea that Eddie is sexually attracted to his niece is further illuminated by his overly protective nature of her. Even though she is practically an adult Eddie still treats her like a child.Beatrice conveys this when talking with Catherine when she says â€Å"I told you fifty times already you can’t act the way you act†¦if you act like a baby he be treatin’ you like a baby†. However, this is not the main reason why Eddie treats Catherine in an over protective manner. When Catherine is showing off her new skirt Eddie reacts by saying â€Å"I think it’s too short, ain’t it†¦I don’t want to be a pest, but I’m tellin’ you you’re walkin’ wavy. †His over  protectiveness in this instance demonstrates the idea that Eddie is not comfortable with the fact of other guys being attracted to his niece, as his feelings towards her are not resolved. Further tension is created in this household when Catherine alerts Eddie that she wants to go to work. Eddie thinks of all the possible excuses to sway her decision. Simultaneous to this Beatrice is questioning why Eddie is so overly concerned by this. Eddie tells Catherine and Beatrice one of his lacklustre excuses for Catherine not taking the job â€Å"I know that neighbourhood, B., I don’t like it. †, Beatrice responds with â€Å"â€Å"Tell her to take it. You hear me†.This is a clear example of Eddie’s possessiveness for Catherine and how Beatrice seemingly doesn’t see it as his feelings are suppressed. Sexual tensions are further highlighted by the problems that are going on between Eddie and Beatrice. This is evident when Beatrice demands of Eddie â€Å"When am I going to be your wife again? † This implies that Eddie has rejected his love for his wife because of these strange and confusing feelings he has bottled-up.He fears that if he engages in any romantic way with Beatrice his tr ue feelings will spill out. One of the crucial aspect of the build-up of tension is the fact that the audience always knows more than Actual characters themselves. They understand that Eddie has feelings for Catherine, they can see that it is burning him up inside and they can also notice the obliviousness of Beatrice to this improper love. Miller in Act 1 has verbally conveyed much of the sexual tension, however there are various occasions where sexual tensions is expressed through physical and visible ActionOn various occasions in Act 1 Miller has created tension by physical Actions and events rather than by any verbal dialogue. Sometimes physical dialogue is more powerful than any verbal dialogue as it can sometimes to be more accessible to the audience, as the message that is trying to be conveyed is easier to comprehend. In Act 1 this can once again be seen by the creation of tension between Eddie and Catherine. This is clear in the scene where Eddie is talking about the immine nt arrival of Beatrice cousins Marco and Rodolpho. After talking of this Catherine goes gets Eddie a cigar.Catherine is eager to be at Eddie’s assistance and to even light it for him. The long spherical shape of a cigar can be likened to a phallus. This image of Catherine lighting the cigar is quite provocative thereby provoking quite blatant sexual imagery. Another key moment in the play in regards to tension building is the scene where Eddie teaches Rodolpho how to box. This scene ultimately culminates in the display of Marco’s superior strength. This scene evokes tension in different ways. Initially Eddie has taken the manly role in trying to get Rodolpho to box.By doing this, to some extent, he is patronising Rodolpho as he treats him as a physically inferior being. This idea of Eddie’s superior strength climaxes when he punches Rodolpho. However, quickly the tension is turned around as Rodolpho reacts by saying â€Å"No, no, he didn’t hurt me. To Ed die with a certain gleam and smile: I was only surprised†. This is a very subtle way of showing that maybe Eddie has physical superiority but Rodolpho can hurt him mentally which in reality is much more painful. This is achieved by Rodolpho asking Catherine to dance in front of Eddie.Tension is then further increased as Marco challenges Eddie’s physical superiority. Marco asks Eddie if he can lift the chair with one hand by grabbing one of the legs at its base. Eddie cannot manage to do it however in a symbol of pure strength and force Marco is able to do it. The stage directions describe the end of the scene â€Å"Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaws, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddie’s head – and he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into a smile of triumph, and Eddie’s grin vanishes as he absorbs his look†.This is the end of Act 1 and it substantially esta blishes the tension that is to arise in Act 2. The tension in this circumstance is built by the changing mood of the scene in such a short time. Eddie initially felt masculine and superior; however any sort of superiority seems to be lost as Rodolpho can torture him with his relationship with Catherine. But more importantly the brute, strong, physically superior character of Eddie is no longer as Marco demonstrates his grander strength. Eddie no longer has any power and has essentially, in a way, been stripped of his masculinity.Eddie has no power in the Marco or Rodolpho now. In Act 2 it becomes clear that Eddie due to the tension between him and Marco and Rodolpho has resorted to the pettiest measures to get what he wants. The grin Eddie once had of knowing that he was strongest has disappeared as there is a new man of the household. Arthur Miller in Act 1 creates tension by using visual imagery and Actions. In this manner the events that go in front of our eyes carry a greater si gnificance while we also gain a better understanding of emotions as we are able to see the Actors faces.The tension that is existing between the characters is more visible as in some situations the tension is physically present. In Act 1 Miller employs various techniques to create tension. In the scheme of the whole play Act 1 is crucial as it sets up for the climax that is to come in Act 2. Miller creates tension in Act 1 verbally through various moments of sexual tension. Furthermore tension is created in Act 1 through physical interactions. Arthur Miller creates tension in Act 1 in A View from the Bridge through verbal and physical dialogue.

Hezbullah: Impact of Ideology on Group Structure, Strategy, Targets and Tactics Essay

Hezbullah or Hezbollah, which literally means â€Å"Party of God†, is an organization based on Lebanon. It is a religious-political-paramilitary organization of several thousand Shiite Muslim militants that plays a significant role in the Lebanese politics. Hezbullah, while maintaining to be a major contributor to social programs and services in Lebanon, has been considered an Islamic struggle movement. The group also is a foremost provider of agricultural services, medical aid, and school operations in Lebanon. The group is also a significant and influential power when it comes to the world of Lebanese politics. With its outright mission, to destroy Israel, it has been condemned by many governments – but others have praised the party. Western countries, most notably the United States, consider Hezbullah as a terrorist organization. Other countries that recognize in some part or in whole the group as a terrorist organization include the Great Britain, Australia, Canada and several others. Origins It was in the year 1982 that Hezbullah surfaced in Lebanon as it was invaded by Israel and was dubbed as â€Å"Operation Peace for Galilee†. Hezbullah was set in resistance against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon amid the Lebanese civil war. Inspired by the great Iranian political and religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, the leaders went for the training and organization of some Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Although the first manifesto of the group did not directly mention the destruction of Israel, the leaders of Hezbullah made several claims on destroying the â€Å"Zionist entity† forcing themselves to the lands rightful owners own. They referred to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon that during the course, claimed not only livestock, lands, homes, but more especially lives. The group started only as a small militia but slowly gained followers that agree to the views and ideologies of the left-leaning group. They started to gain social power, as getting seats in the Lebanese government, being able to create social development programs, as well as getting control and owning their own radio station and a satellite television station. As Shiite Muslims account for majority of its members, their members now vary from all domain of Lebanese population, especially after the 2006 Lebanon war or the July war that featured the warfare between Israel and Hezbullah themselves. Given their broad tally sheets of members, they are able to mobilize protests to the hundreds of thousands of their members, creating a major concern for the Lebanese government itself. Objectives The 1985 manifesto of the Hezbullah enumerated their three main goals as follows: (1) to put an end to any â€Å"colonialist entity† that existed in Lebanon, (2) to bring the Phalangists, a right-wing party in Lebanon, to justice for the â€Å"crimes† they had perpetrated, and finally (3) to the rightful establishment of an Islamic regime in Lebanon. The manifesto also featured some of the ideologies of the group. The group condemns the â€Å"Zionist occupation of Palestine† outright and added by several claims that â€Å"there is no legitimacy for the existence of ‘Israel’†. The Ideology of Hezbullah is derived from the Islamic Shiite Ideology popularized by Ayatollah Khomeini, known for leading the Islamic revolution in Iran in the 1970’s. The Founding Statement of Hezbullah contains a section that reads: â€Å"We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve. Our primary assumption in our fight against Israel states that the Zionist entity is aggressive from its inception, built on lands wrested from their owners, at the expense of the rights of the Muslim people. Therefore our struggle will end only when this entity is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no cease fire, and no peace agreements, whether separate or consolidated. We vigorously condemn all plans for negotiation with Israel, and regard all negotiators as enemies, for the reason that such negotiation is nothing but the recognition of the legitimacy of the Zionist occupation of Palestine.† It was entitled â€Å"The Necessity for the Destruction of Israel† which pretty much sums it all up. Structure From 1992 up to the present, the organization has been headed its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah. Originally a military commander, but with the background of studying Shiite theology in Iran and Iraq, Nasrallah made it higher in the ranks with ease. Some reports suggest that he took advantage of the inside rivalry in the group to capture the Secretary-General position from Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini. Another leader, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, has been the group’s spiritual leader since its founding. However, Fadlallah, died of a liver hemorrhage recently, 4th July 2010, at the age of 75. There is still a huge blank space to be filled in the group’s spiritual leader’s death. One other leader can be considered as the brains of the Hezbullah operations worldwide. It was Imad Fayez Mugniyah who was considered as the key planner, the mastermind, the engineer that finds time to plan details and execution of its terrorist operations. Mugniyah got his talent from experience, training with al Fatah in the 1970’s in the midst of the Lebanese civil war. It was in the 1980’s that the two, al Fatah and Mugniyah, were expelled from Lebanon by Israeli forces. But with his talent and skill, he quickly went up ranks after joining the Hezbullah. However, it was on 13 February, 2008, that Mugniyah was killed in a car bombing incident in Damascus supposedly pinned to Israel but with no solid grounds. The group is structured into three sub-groups namely the Bayt al-Mal, Jihad al Binna and the IRSO (Islamic Resistance Support Organization). Hezbullah gets its finances from support from various governments, Iran, Tehran and Syria, as well as donations from the Lebanese people and both local and international Shiites. With the current finances, the influence and the power both as a group and in the government, its forces gained momentum as gaining several thousands in members. The Lebanese government itself secured Hezbullah’s existence with policies that allow the group to continue on in their fight for liberty and recover occupied lands. According to data from the United States, the two states, Iran and Syria, contribute to not only the finance, but also to the training, weapons, explosive, diplomatic and political aid of the group. Hezbullah is believed to have a budget ranging from $200 million to $500 million, about $100 million coming from Iran. Operations Hezbullah’s main base for operation is in the Lebanon’s Shiite-populated areas. This includes Beirut, Bekaa Valley and southern parts of Lebanon. But with recent intelligence reports from the U. S.  suggest that the group has been starting its expansion of operations, from Africa to Europe, South America and even in North America. The group has at least five thousand core members, consisting of militants and activists. But it varies notably from time to time due to conflicts that the group engages in, most probably conflicts with Israel. US intelligence also reports the presence of at least 60,000 firearms and other weapons in the hands of Hezbullah. It includes both short and long range rockets, and even anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-ship arsenals. With periodic conflicts with Israel, people are concerned that a third Lebanon war may erupt if tensions remain high. Although Israel has officially withdrawn from Lebanon in 2000, and despite the UN certification of the withdrawal of all forces, Hezbullah still periodically create problems in the disputed Shebaa Frams border zone. Consequently, a full scale war erupted during the summer of 2006 and if it weren’t for a UN-led-ceasefire, it probably wouldn’t have stopped any time soon. Even so, it stopped only after taking more than a thousand lives and hundreds of thousands homeless or forced to flee especially the five-week long conflict. Some major attacks attributed to Hezbullah includes the kidnapping of several Americans in Lebanon during the 1980’s; suicide attacks in a U. S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon which kills over two hundred American soldiers; the 1983 U. S. Embassy bombing in Beirut that killed 63 people, including 17 Americans; the French multinational force headquarters bombing in 1983 that killed 58 French soldiers; the hijacking of TWA flight 847 that featured in an infamous footage of a pilot with a gun to his head; an attack that killed hundreds in the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community center both in Argentina in 1992 and 1994 respectively. The most recent major attack claimed by the Hezbullah was on 2006 when they launched a surprise raid on a border post in northern Israel. They took two Israeli soldiers in captive that caused an intense military campaign to be forced against Lebanon. But there was more to the campaign of the Hezbullah. By 2003, they have worked diligently with other Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihan, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and especially Tanzim. It has also been reported that Hezbullah has been a major firearms supplier with their allies as in the Hamas. Analysis It has been with mixed decisions whether Hezbullah is to be considered as a terrorist organization or not. It is a known fact that some countries do not consider the group as a terrorist organization in whole. The United States however, has issued statements against the group, considering them to be a highly-organized terrorist organization. To be able to analyze the group itself, there is a need to answer this question: Should the Hezbullah be considered as a terrorist organization? For the sake of unbiased perspective, we must consider all perspectives. In the Hezbullah perspective arguments include that fact that (1) the main ideology of the group is based on Islamic ideologies, only more radical ones, (2) every country has the right to protect and maintain its liberty in ways it can, and finally (3) the group is actually a part of the Lebanese government. But then again, nothing gives the right for any person, group and even a country to declare that a country has no reason to exist and that the country and its people should be obliterated. By this argument plus the known attacks that they have committed and claimed for, it can be concluded that the group can be considered as a terrorist organization. After setting the fact that Hezbullah is a terrorist organization, an analysis can be put in this perspective. From its origin standpoint, the group can be considered outright to be a radical and extremist in thoughts and in action. It is based from their ideological background that was actually derived from a radical form of Islamic Shiite Ideology that Khomeini had started. Its aim, more than anything else, is to destroy the country of Israel and its occupants, and kill the Jews. The structure of the group can be considered to be a help in their aims and objectives. Considering the separate leadership roles in the group, namely the political, religious and military roles, there are good opportunities to focus to their separate roles. There is a much efficient set of directives that would be of help to the members of the group. But there also is a backfire, if there are any occasions that the three leaders would disagree, the whole group could turn into a separate sub groups, reducing considerably the ability to achieve the objectives of the group. Considering the strategies of the organization, it could be noted that this is interwoven with the organizations structure. The military strategies of the group should coincide with both the religious and political perspective of the group, and vice versa. With the strategy of the organization to attaining its aims, they will be bounded by international policies only if they want to. Their tactics to complete their objectives can be considered to have lessened in the amount of violence that they have made in the older movements. Whether it could be accountable for the tighter defense being pushed by their opposition, i. e. U. S. , Israel, or to internal erosion with the group’s desire to succeed, will be a question to be answered in the future. Their targets remained the same, the â€Å"Zionist entity† that they refer to Israel, added to the â€Å"vanguard† of Israel, the United States. But the question mark lies in the present execution of their objectives, whether they will take it hard, as in violence that includes the public, or will they use a more reasonable action. The group structure and strategies very much meet their deed to accomplish its task. They may be planning to be more of a supporting group to other terrorist organization with the way they are moving as of the moment. They have no other engagement as of the moment. A possible scenario could be that the group would slowly blend to other terrorist organizations and would create a larger one, with a bigger objective than the original. They may consider to continue on supplying and supporting groups such as Hamas, to help them achieve their ultimate goal.

Canadian Governor General Michalle Jean Biography

Canadian Governor General Michalle Jean Biography A well-known journalist and broadcaster in Quebec, Michaà «lle Jean emigrated from Haiti with her family at an early age. Fluent in five languages- French, English, Italian, Spanish and Haitian Creole- Jean became the first black governor general of Canada in 2005. A social activist for women and children at risk, Jean planned to use the office of governor general to help disadvantaged young people. Jean is married to filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond and has a young daughter. Governor General of Canada Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin chose Jean to be the governor general of Canada, and in August 2005, it was announced Queen Elizabeth II approved the choice. After Jeans appointment, some questioned her loyalty, because of reports of her and her husbands support of Quebec independence, as well as her dual French and Canadian citizenship. She repeatedly denounced reports of her separatist sentiments, as well as denounced her French citizenship. Jean was sworn into office Sept. 27, 2005 and served as the 27th governor general of Canada until Oct. 1, 2010. Birth Jean was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1957. At the age of 11 in 1968, Jean and her family fled the Papa Doc Duvalier dictatorship and settled in Montreal. Education Jean has a BA in Italian, Hispanic languages and literature from the University of Montreal. She earned her masters degree in comparative literature from the same institution. Jean also studied languages and literature at the University of Perouse, the University of Florence and the Catholic University of Milan. Early Professions Jean worked as a university lecturer while completing her masters degree. She also worked as a social activist, as well as a journalist and broadcaster. Michaà «lle Jean as Social Activist From 1979 to 1987, Jean worked with Quebec shelters for battered women and helped establish a network of emergency shelters in Quebec. She coordinated a study on women as victims in abusive relationships, which was published in 1987, and she has also worked with aid organizations for immigrant women and families. Jean also worked at Employment and Immigration Canada and at the Conseil des Communautà ©s culturelles du Quà ©bec. Background of Michaà «lle Jean in Arts and Communications Jean joined Radio-Canada in 1988. She worked as a reporter and then host on the public affairs proframs Actuel, Montrà ©al ce soir, Virages and Le Point. In 1995, she anchored Rà ©seau de lInformation Radio-Canada (RDI) programs such as Le Monde ce soir, LÉdition quà ©bà ©coise, Horizons francophones, Les Grands reportages, Le Journal RDI, and RDI là ©coute. Beginning in 1999, Jean hosted CBC Newsworlds The Passionate Eye and Rough Cuts. In 2001, Jean became an anchor for the weekend edition of Le Tà ©là ©journal, Radio-Canadas major news show. In 2003 she took over as anchor of Le Midi, the daily edition of Le Tà ©là ©journal. In 2004, she started her own show Michaà «lle, which featured in-depth interviews with experts and enthusiasts. Addtionally, Jean has participated in a number of documentary films produced by her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond including La manià ¨re nà ¨gre ou Aimà © Cà ©saire chemin faisant, Tropique Nord, Haà ¯ti dans tous nos rà ªves, and Lheure de Cuba. After the Governor General Office Jean has remained publicly active after her service as the federal representative of the Canadian monarch. She served as a special envoy of the United Nations to Haiti to work on education and poverty issues in the country, and she was also the chancellor of the University of Ottawa from 2012 to 2015. Beginning on Jan. 5, 2015, Jean began a four-year mandate as the secretary general of the International Organization of La Francophonie, which represents countries and regions where French language and culture has a significant presence.

Analytical Essay Sample on Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Analytical Essay Sample on Tess of the D#8217;Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Wessex The fictionalized region of southwest England in which Hardy set all of his fiction. This region was somewhat backward in the late nineteenth century. Although industrialization had made the north of England and the region around London prosperous and modernized, southwest England was still rural, agricultural, and quite poor. Modern advancements in farming techniques were slow in coming to this region, and the transition to modernity was not easy. Hardy, who grew up and lived in the region, is particularly interested in showing the ways in which Wessex is caught between its old, traditional culture and modernization; little details showing this dilemma appear throughout Tess of the dUrbervilles and his other works. In some ways Wessex is as much a character in Hardys work as any of the people he depicts-and indeed, Tess is very much identified, physically and emotionally, with her surroundings in Wessex. Pure, purity Purity, both sexual and moral, is an important concept in Tess of the dUrbervilles. The word is used throughout the narrative with reference to Tess, and the subtitle of the book deems her A Pure Woman. (Even one of the inns where her father drinks is called The Pure Drop.) When applied to women in Victorian England, the concept of purity had specific reference to sexual chastity. By this definition, Tess very early on loses the right to be called pure. The word is nevertheless still applied to her. In this application, there is some degree of Hardys characteristic irony. But it also means something more. Hardy considers Tess pure because, despite her bodily state-that is, her loss of virginity-she is morally pure and innocent, uncorrupted by her hard life. When Hardy wrote this book, he knew that the characterization of a sexually fallen woman as pure would shock some readers, and indeed it did, but he thought it was important to show that the loss of virginity did not necessarily t horoughly corrupt a womans heart and mind. Dialect A localized way of speaking a language, distinct from standard usage. The local Wessex dialect is spoken by Tesss family and by the agricultural workers she knows, but Tess uses language closer to standard English. This is because she has been to school, where she has been taught a national standard version of the language. The change in speaking habits of people in Wessex and other areas of Britain was very much a hallmark of increasing modernization. As national schools and standards spread across the country, regional variations began to disappear. (This process is still ongoing, though it has been accelerated by radio and television.) Therefore, Tesss speech patterns are one more indicator of the way in which she is caught between the traditional world in which she was raised and the modern culture she confronts outside her village and home. Droit de seigneur An old custom of feudal days, in which lords had the right to demand sexual favors from peasant women bound to their estates. Although Hardy does not discuss the concept directly, this ancient custom has obvious relevance to Tesss plight with Alec dUrberville, who is a false lord but claims Tesss virginity nevertheless. Fallen, fallenness Middle-class Victorian ideas about womens sexuality were quite rigid and condemned women who engaged in any sort of sexual activity outside of marriage. It was thought that women who lost their virginity before marriage fell from their exalted position of chastity. This is one manifestation of the dichotomous view of women as either virgins or whores that has characterized much Western thought about the nature of women. In Victorian times the specific concept of fallenness took on a great deal of significance. It was thought that a woman who was fallen changed in her very nature-she might become not only more sinful, but more vain, unwilling to work, greedy, or otherwise immoral. This idea that fallen women were intrinsically different from and in all ways morally inferior to their pure or chaste counterparts is demonstrated in Tess of the dUrbervilles when Angel says to Tess that she is an entirely different person to him once he knows of her sexual past. Religious doubt The Victorian era was a deeply religious age, and faith was very important to many people in the era. Because of the great cultural significance of religion, the idea of religious doubt became controversial and much-publicized. In the later portion of the century, there were a large number of people who began to doubt the faith they had been taught. To some degree, this widespread doubt-which was particularly common among educated young men-can be attributed to scientific advances, particularly to the publication and general acceptance of Darwins evolutionary theories. When Angel Clare decides that he cannot believe literally in the principles of Christianity and decides not to become a clergyman, then, the event is not merely a personal decision. For readers, this would symbolize that he is a modern young man, participating in the intellectual and cultural movements of the day, however troubling this participation might have been to older people, for whom faith was still an importan t part of their culture. Fate, fatalism Hardy had a particular view of fate that plays itself out in most of his novels, and Tess of the dUrbervilles is no exception. Hardy believed that fate was a force that drove events, but that it was internal as well as external to people. In the case of Tess, her fate is largely driven by the discovery that she is a member of the old family of dUrberville. That fact of her existence is intrinsic to her-and, in Hardys view, it gives her certain character traits that condition her life-but it is also discovered through an external force, namely Parson Tringham. Because of this combination of internal and external forces, Hardy presents Tess as doomed almost from the very beginning. The novel concentrates very heavily on the ways in which Tess finds it impossible to escape her ultimate fate, because of the historical and cultural context in which she lives. This attitude that fate is inescapable, which is very characteristic of Hardy, particularly in his tragic later novels, is called f atalism. Banns Banns were an old-fashioned way of getting legal permission to marry. In this custom, an engaged couple had their names read out at church three Sundays in a row before the wedding could take place. Parishioners were told that they must object if they knew of any obstacle to the marriage. It was free to get married by banns, so they often used by the poor in preference to a license. Obtaining a marriage license from the state was both a more modern way of getting married and slightly more prestigious. Although Tess prefers getting married by license instead of banns because she is afraid that someone will tell Angel about her past, the marriage by license also symbolizes her wish to leave behind her sexual past and her class background as well as old traditions. You can order a custom essay, term paper, research paper, thesis or dissertation on Tess of the dUrbervilles topics at our professional custom essay writing service which provides students with custom papers written by highly qualified academic writers. High quality and no plagiarism guarantee! Get professional essay writing help at an affordable cost.

History of the Artificial Heart

History of the Artificial Heart The first artificial heart for humans was invented and patented in the 1950s, but it wasnt until 1982 that a working artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, was successfully implanted in a human patient.   Early Milestones As with many medical innovations, the first artificial heart was implanted in an animal in this case, a dog. Soviet scientist Vladimir Demikhov, a pioneer in the field of organ transplantation, implanted an artificial heart into a dog in 1937. (It wasnt Demikhovs most famous work, however - today he is mostly remembered for performing head transplants on dogs.) Interestingly, the first patented artificial heart was invented by American Paul Winchell, whose primary occupation was as a ventriloquist and comedian. Winchell also had some medical training and was assisted in his endeavor by Henry Heimlich, who is remembered for the emergency choking treatment that bears his name. His creation was never actually put into use. The Liotta-Cooley artificial heart was implanted into a patient in 1969 as a stopgap measure; it was replaced with a donors heart a few days later, but the patient died soon thereafter.   The Jarvik 7   The Jarvik-7 heart was developed by American scientist Robert Jarvik and his mentor, Willem Kolff.   In 1982, Seattle dentist Dr. Barney Clark was the first person implanted with the Jarvik-7, the first artificial heart intended to last a lifetime. William DeVries, an American cardiothoracic surgeon, performed the surgery. The patient survived 112 days. It has been hard, but the heart itself has pumped right along, Clark said in the months following his history-making surgery. Subsequent iterations of the artificial heart have seen further success; the second patient to receive the Jarvik-7, for instance, lived for 620 days after implantation. People want a normal life, and just being alive is not good enough, Jarvik has said.   Despite these advances, less than two thousand artificial hearts have been implanted, and the procedure is generally used as a bridge until a donor heart can be secured. Today, the most common artificial heart is the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart, accounting for 96% of all artificial heart transplants. And it doesnt come cheap, with a price tag of around $125,000.

Q1 - Using Knowledge & skills to Assess Usage of Web Technologies in Essay

Q1 - Using Knowledge & skills to Assess Usage of Web Technologies in Your organization - Essay Example This practice also assists organizations to trim down their operating expenses and thereby offer best quality products and services to consumers at affordable prices. Therefore, any flaw in the use of web technologies would raise potential challenges to the competitiveness of the organization, and this in turn may cause the firm to lose its market share to competitors. In this situation, it is necessary for every firm to maintain a multidisciplinary team capable of assessing the firm’s use of web technologies. Evidently, combined use of IT and management skills is inevitable to evaluate the use of web technologies in the organization effectively. Undoubtedly, improved IT skills are the most prioritized need when it comes to assessing the efficiency of the firm’s technological base. An organization’s databases and network servers contain a wide range of customer data and information that are sensitive in nature. Hence, it is the duty of this team to ensure that sensitive customer data are secure at the best level and they are not exposed to growing security vulnerabilities. Presence of individuals with great IT skills in the team is vital to add advanced security features to the firm’s internal servers and networks, and this will reduce the threat of hacking and other malware attacks (Lemos, n.d.). In addition, it is also essential to identify security pitfalls in the firm’s databases and networks (if any) and resolve those issues immediately. Similarly, the combined use of IT and management skills is essential to make employees aware of the dreadful consequences of the data loss or theft, and enlighten them about improved data management practices. Reports indicate that inappropriate data management practices by employees is one of the major problems making sensitive customer/management data vulnerable to external security threats (Cisco, n.d.). The team charged with

Homework assignment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Homework assignment - Case Study Example One customer may complain about the store’s services online and have great repercussion to the businesses sales. The presence of social networks handled to the constant connection of more customers Customer before and after sale services have a large impact on the store’s customer base due to the relationships levels. The employee’s interpersonal and communication skills have effects on the customer choice of the store. The case study has also revealed the efforts of the management to improve these skills to ensure that the store attracts more customers. The management has come up with training procedures that have will help improve employee-customer communication and relationships. It will also help interpersonal relationships between the employees that will encourage helping amongst various departments. These strategies will improve customer satisfaction ratings of the store and in the long run increase the number of sales (Lawson, 2006). Without proper customer handling skills, a firm without customer handling skill may lose all its customers. The retail store has adopted a customer service training program that will incorporate all employees. The core objectives of the employee program are to improve customer interaction through relationships and good communication skills. It will focus on the employee behavior towards customers despite the situation they are put in at the store. Knowledge will be passed to the staff through use of videos that portray the real situation that an employee may encounter. Situation behavioral approach helps control employee emotions towards customers despite the character traits of the customers (Werner and DeSimone, 2012). The videos are presented in two sessions that expose different situations depending on the employees response towards the customer. They show both good and bad customer services and ways of handling. After the

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

Steve Wozniak - Essay Example Wozniak remains unknown to many including some of the most loyal consumers of Apple products. Indeed, education goes hand in hand with technological innovations and advancing. This essay, thus, purposes to illuminate the impetus behind Wozniak’s innovation and relate it to educational attainments. Jobs started Apple Co. with Steve Wozniak in 1976. Wozniak provided his technical ability while Jobs brought his mesmerizing energy on the table to develop a powerful team. Wozniak showcased his first home-made Apple I computer at Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley in 1976. Apple’s popularity took a sudden twist and rose exponentially following Jobs employment at the Byte Shop. Wozniak soon followed suit and released a computer that made Apple as a company overly popular. The talented engineer built Apple II single-handedly ensuring that every hardware and software component had its place. What is more, Wozniak did this while still delivering at his day job with his coll eague, Jobs, at Hewlett-Packard. Apple II went public in 1977 during a computer fair held in the West Coast. In the years that followed, Apple became a publicly listed company in the biggest IPO in 1956. Apple II redefined personal computers and introduced myriad ordinary people to extraordinary personal computers. The reason behind this success was the amazing design. An interview with Wozniak reveals the miraculous aspect of the engineer’s character (Ghosh 1). The teachers saw my smartness and encouraged me to read widely.  

In the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

In the instruction - Essay Example Each of these components is essential when understand the information an image portrays. The ability to derive meaning from any image of everything we see—to write and read visual language— is known as visual literacy. It refers to being vision-competence a person can develop by viewing and while having and integrating the other sensory experiences. Developing these competencies is important to normal human learning since they allows a visually literate human being to discriminate and interpret visible objects, symbols, or actions that he or she encounters in the environment. By creatively using these competencies, the person is capable of communicating with others. Another form of literacy is new Literacies. These are digital literacies (online, phones, messaging, sms, and computers. New Literacies comprises of letters, symbols, sounds, colors, and graphics to extend our language and how we communicate. On the contrary, information Literacy refers to the ability to recognize what information is required, understand how that information is organized, find the best sources of the information for any given need, discover those sources, assess the sources analytically, and share that information. In simple terms, it is the know-how of universally used research

London Through Centuries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

London Through Centuries - Essay Example Perring (2002, p.1) states that, â€Å"Roman London was built on the north bank of the Thames, the site of the modern city†. Our visit to the Museum of London helped us a lot to understand more about the after effect of the amalgamation of British and Roman cultures. The museum is not so far away from the suburbs of London because it is near the London Wall. But we did not like to waste our time by viewing all the items displayed at the Museum. We entered the Museum and the Museum authorities pointed out that the objects displayed on the floor E can help us to learn more about Roman London. The curator guided us towards a number of objects displayed at the Roman collections section. We were totally stunned with surprise because it was beyond our imagination. The artistic craftsmanship of the people who lived between AD 50 and AD 410 was really amazing to us. The Roman Collection is symbolic of the human interest in preserving historically important objects. The curator pointed out that the effort to reconstruct the city of London helped to discover the objects that were preserved under the ground for centuries. The collection primarily includes ceramic objects, marble/metal objects, coins, wooden objects, and some items in bone and leather. The ceramic display at the Museum sheds light into the lifestyle and culture of the people who lived in London between AD 50 and AD 410. ... After viewing the ceramic section, we headed towards the Marble/Metal object section. The curator led us towards the marble sculptures that are excavated from a historically important place in Roman London, known as the Temple of Mithras. Later, we viewed the metal objects discovered from the Walbrook stream. These works are symbolic of the industrialization of handicrafts and domestic life of the Roman London. For instance, the jewellery and household utensils prove that handicraft developed into the form of industry in Roman London. The next section was really interesting to me because the same revealed the vividness of the cultural aspects of Roman London. The coin collection helped me to understand more about the importance of trade and commerce in Roman London. Besides, the leather and wooden objects were helpful to understand more about handicrafts in Roman London. So, the visit to the Museum of London was helpful for us to understand the cultural aspects of Roman London. Medie val London: First of all, Medieval London is interconnected with Norman invasion, which happened in the year 1066. One can see that some of the religious buildings and monuments in the Modern London are symbolic of the cultural heritage of Medieval London. To be specific, the Norman rulers constructed a number of forts and monuments in London. So as to have deeper understanding on the historical and cultural characteristics of Medieval London, we searched for churches and historically important monuments. Then we came to know that some of the churches and monuments like St. Bartholomew the Great, St Bartholomew the less and the Guildhall are important. So, we decided to visit these churches and monuments and restructured our timetable. Our first visit was

An investigation into the impact of training on the staff Performance Dissertation

An investigation into the impact of training on the staff Performance in Saudi Arabian Airlines - Dissertation Example Saudi Arabian Airlines recognizes the importance of training their staff and has several staff training programs like- -Crew Leadership training. -Training Technical Services staff. - Training program for Finance. -Passenger Sales and Services training. -Training of new recruits. Aim: To understand the impact of training and development on the efficiency of the employees in Saudi Arabian Airlines. Objectives: 1. To investigate the current efficiency level of the employees in Saudi Arabian Airlines. 2. To investigate the roadblocks faced by the employees in performing their jobs in Saudi Arabian Airlines. 3. To investigate the nature of training and development required by the employees of Saudi Arabian Airlines to perform efficiently in Global scale. 4. To investigate the procedure and schedule required to be implemented to train the employees. Literature Review: Training and development of staff requires proper planning by human resource management. There are three methods of traini ng that are basically followed by most organisations. The basic three types of training followed are Cognitive, behavioural methods and management development. In cognitive method the employees are mostly trained regarding the theoretical concepts applicable at work (Hall & Hughes, 1989, p.209). This type of training places more importance on theoretical knowledge required by the employees in order to function properly in their jobs. Knowledge about the company policies, laws related to the functioning of the organization (Martin, 2006, p.15). Knowledge regarding procedures followed by the organisations. Technical knowledge required for carrying out work in the... The aim of this paper is to understand the impact of training and development on the efficiency of the employees in Saudi Arabian Airlines. This research will throw sufficient light on the methods that can be implied by the Saudi Arabian Airlines to achieve better performance from their employees. This research will help the Saudi Arabian Airlines to curtail training and development according to the need of their employees. The result of this research will throw insight on the nature of training that is required by the employees to perform better in their job. The Human resource department will become better equipped in understanding the difficulties faced by the employees. Employees will also feel comfortable in informing the HR department regarding their problems. The trainers will also understand the kind of approach they should have to maximise the benefits reaped by the employees from the training and development.

London Through Centuries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

London Through Centuries - Essay Example Perring (2002, p.1) states that, â€Å"Roman London was built on the north bank of the Thames, the site of the modern city†. Our visit to the Museum of London helped us a lot to understand more about the after effect of the amalgamation of British and Roman cultures. The museum is not so far away from the suburbs of London because it is near the London Wall. But we did not like to waste our time by viewing all the items displayed at the Museum. We entered the Museum and the Museum authorities pointed out that the objects displayed on the floor E can help us to learn more about Roman London. The curator guided us towards a number of objects displayed at the Roman collections section. We were totally stunned with surprise because it was beyond our imagination. The artistic craftsmanship of the people who lived between AD 50 and AD 410 was really amazing to us. The Roman Collection is symbolic of the human interest in preserving historically important objects. The curator pointed out that the effort to reconstruct the city of London helped to discover the objects that were preserved under the ground for centuries. The collection primarily includes ceramic objects, marble/metal objects, coins, wooden objects, and some items in bone and leather. The ceramic display at the Museum sheds light into the lifestyle and culture of the people who lived in London between AD 50 and AD 410. ... After viewing the ceramic section, we headed towards the Marble/Metal object section. The curator led us towards the marble sculptures that are excavated from a historically important place in Roman London, known as the Temple of Mithras. Later, we viewed the metal objects discovered from the Walbrook stream. These works are symbolic of the industrialization of handicrafts and domestic life of the Roman London. For instance, the jewellery and household utensils prove that handicraft developed into the form of industry in Roman London. The next section was really interesting to me because the same revealed the vividness of the cultural aspects of Roman London. The coin collection helped me to understand more about the importance of trade and commerce in Roman London. Besides, the leather and wooden objects were helpful to understand more about handicrafts in Roman London. So, the visit to the Museum of London was helpful for us to understand the cultural aspects of Roman London. Medie val London: First of all, Medieval London is interconnected with Norman invasion, which happened in the year 1066. One can see that some of the religious buildings and monuments in the Modern London are symbolic of the cultural heritage of Medieval London. To be specific, the Norman rulers constructed a number of forts and monuments in London. So as to have deeper understanding on the historical and cultural characteristics of Medieval London, we searched for churches and historically important monuments. Then we came to know that some of the churches and monuments like St. Bartholomew the Great, St Bartholomew the less and the Guildhall are important. So, we decided to visit these churches and monuments and restructured our timetable. Our first visit was

Topic Assignment-Psychology Essay Example for Free

Topic Assignment-Psychology Essay Assignment Topic: Intellectual Disability State: An IQ test is used for several reasons, even to determine if an individual ha intellectual disability. Intellectual disability (also known as mental retardation), is a condition in which a persons behavioral and cognitive skills exist at an earlier development stage, developmentally delayed. Elaborate: In other words, there are individuals that are taking longer to develop. They are developmentally delayed, meaning that their behavioral and cognitive skills exit at an earlier developmental stage than the skills of others who are the same hronological age. Without all the technical terms, basically these individuals have a harder time to develop and get involve in things any other individual would do, because they depend on someone else and most of the time they cannot live independently. To determine who has intellectual disability they must have an IQ lower than 70, adaptive behavior skills are low, and limitations presented by age 10. Exemplify: For example, when we were all in high school there were a few students who had their specials needs. They received the same opportunities as us, but also ould have their own special class to help them out with their disabilities. Most of the individuals had a staff with them at all times because they were not able to do things on their own. Illustrate: part 2: Partner 1 Name: I learned from about Ideal Self. Ideal Self is basically when someone is influenced by someone else and they try to become them. His example was perfect on how children see an athlete and they want to become Just like them because of how good they are, according to the child. I mentioned to about a different example on how I saw it. Children like superheroes when they are young and IVe seen this frequently when a child wants to become Spiderman, Batman, etc Partner 2 Name: I learned from about the Latency stage. He explains to me that this stage is when children dont pay attention to opposite sex. Once he said that I thought about when I was young we used to say boys had cooties and girls had cooties. In the end that is what meant. His example made me laugh but it is true, when they are young they dont getting touched by the opposite sex. Topic Assignment-Psychology By eli_shorty

Kentucky fried chicken

Kentucky fried chicken Entrepreneurship: Colonel Sanders started the Kentucky Fried Chicken at the age of 65. Presently KFC is one of the leading firms in food industry around the world. Over a billion KFC chicken dinners are served featuring the Colonels â€Å"finger likin good† recipe, each year. At the age of 40 Sanders first started cooking in a service station in Corbin, KY. But soon hundreds of people started coming to the service station for food instead for car service. Soon he shifted to a hotel and restaurant that had a capacity of holding 142 people at a time. With his special cooking techniques, Sanders station became well-known and he was acknowledged for his incredible cuisine by the Governor at the time, RubyLaffoonin 1935 when he was made a Kentucky Colonel.In 1939, Colonel Sanders restaurant won the top spot on Duncan Hines â€Å"Adventures in Good Eating.† In 1952 colonel sanders got good start for his company and devoted the rest of his life in franchising business. By 1964, over six hundred franchised outlets were opened in theUnited StatesandCanadafor his chicken. The company got listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 16, 1969, only 3 years after it had gone public on March 17, 1966.Then on July 8, 1971 the company was taken over by Heublin Inc, for $285 million dollars. Soon the company grew to an enormous three thousand and five hundred franchised and company-owned restaurants world-wide.But after being regularly travelling around the globe, Colonel Sanders died of leukemia at the age of 90 in 1980. Nowadays its part of a bigger company known as Yum Brands. Advantages To Parent Business 1. Financial:It is another source of income through franchise fee and royalty. Also there is increase in Cash flow, return on investment and profits. 2. Operational:There is smaller centralized control as compared to developing and having locations by company itself. It also ensures consistency, enhanced productivity and better quality. Self-motivation as franchisees invests their own money. 3. Strategic:It helps in dividing risk by having multiple locations through peoples investment. That ensures faster network expansion and a better opportunity to focus on changing market needs. 4. Administrative:With a smaller central organization, the business maintains a more cost effective labor force, no change in important staff members and better recruitment. Disadvantages To Parent Business 1. Franchisor is required to have enough resources to recruit, train and support the new franchisees. 2. Franchisee may spoil the image of the company if he is not capable of running the franchise perfectly. 3. Also franchisor has to tell all the internal information of the company to the franchisee. So, privacy of company is also at risk.† Marketing/ Advertising â€Å"The KFC Marketing team focuses fervently on delivering an unvarying pipeline of mouth-watering meals. They try to search the wants of the customers and bring new innovative products to meet the customers standards. Target market is divided on the basis of demographic, geographic and psychographic segments. The pricing strategy that they follow while entering new market is price skimming. In starting they try to price their product a bit high and target the middle and upper class people. Than after some time they start lowering their prices to focus on middle to lower class people. They do this to get to larger part of the market. The Marketing team gives more importance to Operations and Product Excellence. They try to find new ways to develop and execute new ideas, as well as assessing the input of the finance in the business. The Marketing team is the primary medium of communication between the company and the customers. The budget of marketing is divided in accordance to the media buying and advertising production to guarantee a year round calendar of innovative news to drive consumers back to our restaurants every time. Advertising strategies are the same as any other firm but they have their distinctive slogan â€Å"finger likin good† which relates to quality of food they provide. KFC usually charges advertisement fee of 5% of the gross revenue to the individual stores. KFC charges a Local advertising fee of 3% and fee equal to 2% of the gross revenue for national advertising fee. Operations Management KFC primary raw material is chicken. They are not breed in a normal way. These chickens are kept alive by tubes inserted into their bodies to force blood and nutrients right through their body. They do not have any beaks, feathers as well as feet. Their bone structure is considerably shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is beneficial for KFC because they do not have to pay a huge quantity for their production costs. There is rarely any plucking of feathers or the removal of the beaks and feet. However this method has been disapproved of by many animal rights organizations and has been upsetting the image of the company. There have been many cases against KFC regarding the treatment of chickens in their farms. Cost Initial Investnment: â€Å" Expenditure Low High Initial Franchise Fee $25,000 $45,000 Development Services Fee Varies Varies Real Property $400,000 $1,000,000 Construction and Leasehold Improvements $575,000 $915,000 Equipment/Signage $216,000 $366,000 Opening Advertising $5,000 $5,000 Opening Inventory $10,000 $10,000 Utility Deposits and Business Licenses $7,000 $7,000 Initial Training $3,900 $10,000 Miscellaneous Opening Costs $5,000 $15,000 Additional Funds (3 months) $13,000 $18,000 Total $1,379,900 $2,391,000† The figures are taken from the KFC website. Please refer to the URL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: The franchisor does not provide any indirect or direct financing. They do guarantee any lease or obligation. KFC is one of the parts of organization named YUM brands. YUM Capital is a special purpose limited liability company structured under Delaware law, the sole member of which is YUM Capital Funding Corp a non-stock corporation in Delaware. YUM Capital issues commercial paper secured by loans purchased from YUM Capital Funding Corp and made by YUM Capital Funding Corp to franchisees in YUM restaurant brands. ROYALTY: KFC franchisees have to pay royalty fee equal to 4% of gross revenues or else minimum of $600 per month. BREAK-EVEN POINT: It is the condition of a company when they are having no profits. In other words when company is just paying all its expenses. If it has to be calculated from sales than a certain number has to be found out at which company is having no profit. An estimated amount of sales revenue for 2010 is 21926 million dollars and the estimated revenue is 1452 million dollars. So break-even point should be the difference of sales and revenue i.e. 20474 (21926-1452) million dollars. This means company has to earn At least 20474 million dollars to cover up all its expenses. Human Resource Management KFC stresses upon the fact that either franchisees or at least one of the managers should complete the training program set-up by the company. But KFC is very strict about asking for employees to complete the training process as per the companys discretion. Besides basic training if company has certain additional course work or programs they can ask the franchisee, managers and employees to do those too. The training program is generally of 4 days, each having a session of 8-10 hours each day. This kind of training technique helps in growing the efficiency of workers and managers and makes them accustomed with their work hence reducing the likelihood of errors and mistakes. But on the other hand this procedure can be time consuming and can possibly become more costly due to the excessive training that the possible employees have to go through before entering the organization. References: http://www.kfc.com www.yumfranchise.com www.ehow.com www.yum.com KFC Annual report. www.answers.com Key Takeaway This assignment helped in understanding different ways of managing a new business. It made me familiar with the concept of having a franchise business, what are the benefits of having franchise and what are the additional expenses of having a franchise business. Besides that it gave me an opportunity to review franchisees of KFC all over the world and helped me significantly in analyzing all the dynamics involved for having KFC franchise. In future if I want to start my own business I might give a preference to franchise form depending upon the kind of business I want to have.