Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Field Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Field - Essay Example ly greed for land stems from the Irish farmer’s deeply-rooted dedication to the land that feeds him and which ensures a stable homeland for his children. Add to this Bull McCabe’s cynicism toward technology. This greed for land is not due to harbored hatred from landlord-peasant disputes in the past. The Field portrays the struggle for ownership to a 4-acre land between Bull McCabe, an Irish farmer, and William Dee, an Irish businessman who came from England. Bull dreams of having his only son, Tadhg, inherit the field. This dispute over land ownership caused the murder William, which the local residents hid from the authorities. Bull’s obsession over the field makes the novel a powerful story. In fact, the book effectively depicted how the villagers, even without fully believing in the McCabes’ ethos and callous ways when they attacked William and killed him by accident, understand the feeling and ultimately protect the McCabes’ by their silence. It should also be noted that the villagers’ silence is partly caused by Bull’s threat â€Å"†¦keep your trap shut†¦There’s men around here would think nothing of puttin’ a bomb up agi’in a public door. ‘Twas done before, the time of the land division† (Keane , 1991, p. 51). Additionally, the villagers are also afraid that the McCabes might boycott people who go against Bull. Even Sgt. Leahy, who does not sympathize with Bull, is aware of this fact. Per Kean (1991), â€Å"There is nothing in your heads [he tells Bull and Tadgh], but pigs and cows and pitiful patches of land† (p. 29). Fr. Liam Mcdermot and Sgt. Leahy are both outsiders in the village, and Bull expresses even to them his convictions â€Å"When you’ll be gone, Father, to be a Canon somewhere, and the sergeant gets a wallet of notes and is going to be a Superintendent, Tadgh’s children will be milking cows and keeping donkeys away from our ditches. That’s what we have to think about and if there’s no grass, that’s the end of me

Monday, October 28, 2019

Knowledge acquisition Essay Example for Free

Knowledge acquisition Essay Jegrins Insurance Company is one of the largest insurance companies. Jegrins Company is a group of six other companies that deal with life insurance, property insurance, insurance exchange, property insurance and management. Jerkins Insurance Company is one of the largest casualty or property insurers and has so many policies. It deals with life insurance, asset management and casualty and property Insurance. Insurance companies have to maintain a competitive advantage in order to ensure growth. Jergins is one of those insurance companies that need to maintain a competitive advantage. The company has a very stable financial condition, works towards superior targets hence attains the aim of providing superior services. The employees of Jegrins Insurance Company are a very committed group who work towards the success of the company and ensure that the company grows. Jegrins Company has policy holders too that always set specific targets to be met by the company. They either set long term targets or short term targets depending on what they want to accomplish, agents of the company work hard in order not only to meet these targets but also to exceed them as a challenge to their policy holders. This company uses all these to ensure growth in the market as well as maintaining a competitive advantage. The company uses the capitalizations risk adjustment as one of the ways of ensuring growth. It has a unique solid operating performance system as well, that it makes use of and views this as very important in the growth of the company. Another design in place for the Jegrins Insurance Company is the availability of the regional market that is well established. The advantage of the regional market, the employees attitude towards working hard, the adjustment of risk capitalization and the policies of the company that have to be met, place the company in a very high class among other insurance companies and enables it maintain a competitive advantage apart from just company growth. There are other factors that contribute to the growth hence high rating of the Jegrins Insurance Company. These are factors such as improvements on technology which has enabled the company growth on performance and service offering, low operating costs, a solid income investment, an increased sophistication on pricing and a well organized and well mannered underwriting. Jegrins Company cannot only depend on the already mentioned factors to be successful and to maintain a competitive advantage. It has to look for knowledge and how to manage it for the benefit of the company. The company therefore tried to change or implement ways of getting knowledge which it realized was a very important factor in maintaining competitive advantage. The company realized that by gaining knowledge from outside about other companies or competitors, it would be better placed, and apart from that, internal knowledge was noticed as essential for the general growth of the company. The company manager therefore decided to implement knowledge strategies to use for the companies benefit and be well informed about competitive advantage issues. The knowledge strategy of a company is the approach the company gives to the knowledge capabilities and knowledge resources to the companys strategy in order to achieve what the company targets are. A knowledge strategy enables the company to increase its knowledge in a specified area be it internal or external knowledge of a company. Companies choose from the knowledge sources which are either internal or external or can choose to use both. Jegrins Company decided on a knowledge strategy that uses both the internal knowledge sources and the external knowledge sources. Jegrins company internal knowledge sources are those that the employees have in their minds, that is, in their behaviors, the duties and procedures they conduct everyday, the company equipments and the software of the company that they handle. Jegrins internal knowledge sources also lay in the various documents that the company has, the databases and the on line repositories. The external knowledge sources that Jegrins decided to use are such as consultants, from brokers of knowledge, universities, publications, personal relations and from professional associations. Jegrins company manager found out that internal knowledge source could be used to prevent imitation by other companies and to maintain the required level of knowledge requirement for executing the companys strategy and maintaining its current position. The manager then decided to go to an extent of looking for external knowledge sources to avoid being beaten by competitors since competitors too have knowledge levels. The company has to ensure the gap between the competitors level of knowledge is closed down to ensure it is not down and cannot be out done at any time. Jegrins also creates new knowledge to keep in pace and to maintain a competitive advantage position. This extra knowledge, the manager feels is very important since the company will be better placed that the other companies. The company exploits knowledge to keep pace by looking for more information that is relevant. Jegrins insurance Company Internal knowledge management and knowledge acquisition: Without a knowledge strategy, the success of a company can be jeopardized. The company has since implemented a strategy of knowledge acquisition. This strategy has various processes that the company follows. The knowledge of the company since it was initiated was made available to the company employees for them to get to know more about the company. In knowledge management, employees are very important. Jegrins encourages its employees to get the information about the company and perform there duties on the basis of knowledge that they have gained. Internal knowledge is based on the employee knowledge, about their experiences, the soft ware in the company and other company documents. Since the company already had these, it was easy for the manager to go through this step of knowledge acquisition because the employees already had knowledge about the company, the software and had experiences in vast areas of the company. On the basis that this is a large company that provides services to other members and has so many policies, Jegrins has a lot to be termed as internal knowledge. It is therefore an important task to take a long term plan to ensure knowledge acquisition is not stopped after a short time but is continued over a long period of time. Jegrins made this decision just based on the nature of the business or company that does not go for days then close down. The manager decided on long term plans to avoid failure during operations in the future. Apart from the company knowledge that was readily available, the manager still implemented ways to encourage the employees to share the experiences they had and other organizational issues as a way to improve the companys operational system. By this he encouraged learning through experience hence acquiring more useful knowledge to what his targets of the company are knowledge. External sources of knowledge: Jegrins acquires knowledge too from the external environment as has been stated. It gets information from consultants about the companys operation steps whenever the manager feels there is a point where consultation is required. The company has evolved to an extent of looking at the other companys successful methods and learning about them for the benefit of the company and to bridge the gap between the competitor and the company itself. When the company manager does this, he realizes that the other companies do not have more knowledge than the company does, and therefore are at almost the same level of knowledge and not left out yet the company still ranks above the competitors. This he realizes is important in maintaining a competitive advantage since knowledge about other companies is available to him and he knows the steps to make to avoid problems or going down the competitive advantage. The manager also involves the company in looking for information about the environment to which the company operates apart from the competitors information. The market is very important to the management of the company since the basis of the company being set up is to provide services to a specified market. Jegrins manager encourages research on the market for the advantage of the company. This though has been the company norm even before the manager decided on taking to knowledge strategy since it offered a lot of information about the steps to be followed for the success of the company. The manager realized that there was need for a strategy or method to be used to acquire just more information relevant for development. This kind of information gaining was meant for the purpose of just keeping in pace with others or being ahead of them which would be to the advantage of the company. The company therefore looked for external sources of information from universities, publications about the successful insurance companies, and other related information professional sources. Jegrins Information distribution: The manager of Jegrins Insurance Company adopted a system in the company that stored valuable information in an order that could be easily retrieved for reference. He also adopted the system of allowing information to be shared among the employees depending on the ranks and area of work so that when an employee does not accept an issue, he/she can explain it to others, discussed and a conclusion made. All these steps the manager considers as a good knowledge management strategy that has shown great success to the company after implementation. After knowledge acquisition, distribution, interpretation and general storage, the company’s knowledge management can be discussed. The manager so far has used this strategy to manage the company knowledge and is able to realize some bit by bit improvements from the previous level in which the company was before. The company though was at a high level, the manager had intentions of improvement and not just sticking to one level forever that may fall down in one time. The manager decided therefore to implement the knowledge management strategy to improve company performance and maintain competitive advantage. In all the knowledge management procedures, the manager had to take time to make sure that strategic knowledge creation is correctly done. He had to make the short term decisions in some cases and long term decision in others to make sure that there is a balance. This is because in some cases like the maintenance of the competitive advantage by the company, the manager had to decide on long term strategy since the future of the company has to be considered. After implementing a knowledge management strategy, the company has come to realize that knowledge is the key issue in the basis of competition. The company is always aware of any competitor steps that are relevant for the company in order not to be beaten by the competitor. Additional knowledge places the company at a higher class since more improvements have been made based on the acquired knowledge. Internal knowledge proved to be very advantageous to the company since it made the employees share the ideas out of the strategy that the manager created that allowed them to share ideas on the companies operations and make corrections and improvements where it was necessary. The result of these steps by the manager was tremendous, easy maintenance of the competitive advantage, noticeable growth, and increased class when compared to other companies and just being informed in terms of knowledge. It was success for Jegrins. Jegrins manager feels that knowledge strategies that suit respective companies are one of the ways to maintain competitive advantage in insurance companies since knowledge is the basis of competition and improvement. According to Jegrins manager, when the company has knowledge from the external environment, there are very high chances of improvement and maintaining a competitive advantage. Internal knowledge also contributes to the improvement and competitive advantage too since the main subject here is the employees and the employees have a big role to play in the company. They are the one who run it through their routine duties and experiences.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Grand Theft Theory: Vice City :: Essays Papers

Grand Theft Theory: Vice City Both Cote and Khan said it's up to parents to decide whether their teens should be allowed to play Vice City. "Parents should be informed of what this game is about," said Khan. "I would definitely warn kids of the violence." Cote said when his mother first discovered that he and his brother played Grand Theft Auto III, she was "mortified."[1] Patriarchal formations of familial angst and romance included, Vice City has been received again and again in the several orifices of the public body. Each time new techniques, purposes, and functions may be discovered in the rubble evidencing the occurrence, but the repeated encounter itself symptomatically mythologizes a special strain of the back, bearing out a stigmata proving again and again the omnipresence of Vice City in the spaces of media outlets, and thus collection and reflection. Back pain in the very dens and living rooms of America! The back is just the end of the issue, where it starts is in the hands, a twitching organism tied by lines of fluid, flesh, force, and faith to the human configuration. If what is violent in the game is the mode of interaction by which the protagonist’s narrative transgressions can be rendered progeny of a sick mind (akin to the Japanese Otaku), the hand is a thing of the psychological measurement of the central nervous system an d the behavior of the favorite allopathic object. Gameplay is feedback, hand to computer to display to eye, and, like any such idealized circuitry, crossover is categorically denied. Honestly, hands are not their own and not even ‘yours’ in any romantic sense, but yours-insofar-as-you-are-humanized, and thus schematized into matrices of humanist pluralism of the population. A population of its instances. Aside these detachments in analysis, Vice City offers an anarchic confusion with implications for media theory by a methodological engagement of gameplay. GRAPH Democratic debate in mass public forums (newspapers and major websites mostly) permit and breed a stirring violence of dialogue always with its own purposes clearly ahead of itself, like the cartoon donkey’s dangling carrot – always just out of reach but enough to keep things going for the time being.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Issues Surrounding the Trial Scene Within to Kill a Mockingbird Essay

This essay will identify issues outside of the primary theme of race that come to light during the court case in which Tom Robinson, a black man, is trialled and convicted for raping Mayella Ewell. Throughout the trial, significant action occurs both inside and outside the court room that draws attention to side-lined topics including the definition of courage, the loss of innocence, class relations, and expectation within society. To Kill A Mockingbird was set in the 1930’s, a turbulent decade characterised by struggles between world powers, racial prejudice and economic depression. The aftermath of the Wall Street Crash in 1929 affected America particularly badly, and by the winter of 1932 they were in the depths of the greatest economic depression in their history. These historical events are reflected in the novel by the division within Maycomb’s society according to wealth and class, with families such as the Ewell’s epitomising the term ‘white trash’ and positioning at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Furthermore, despite the American government’s abolition of slavery in 1848, racism was as strong as ever in the Southern States. The black people were forced into racial segregation in schools, public transport and churches. Stemming from this racial prejudice comes a level of expectation that different people in society believe they must adhere too as a result of the segregation and racial prejudice engrained into society. This is shadowed in the book by the minor character of Dolphus Raymond, a drunken white man deemed an outsider by societies norms. All of the action that takes place within To Kill A Mockingbird is concentrated in the fictional county of Maycomb, which can be seen as a microcosm dissecting important issues present in the wider Southern America. The trial in many ways is the most important and dramatic sequence in the novel, as although the trial targets Tom Robinson, in a metaphoric sense it is in fact the entire county of Maycomb that are on trial. Despite Tom’s conviction, the trial does show a small progression within Maycomb, with the jury taking such a long time to make their decision constituting a sign of positive advancement in racial relations, with Miss Maudie stating â€Å"it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step. † This â€Å"step† is achieved through the books definition of courage, embodied through the character of Mrs Dubose, a ying old woman who embarks on the brave task of facing her addiction to morphine before reaching her end. According to Atticus, Mrs Dubose’s decision shows the possession of â€Å"real courage†¦ when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. † It is this attitude that foreshadows and fittingly describes Atticus’s own approach to the Tom Robinson case. It is clear in the novel that even before taking on Tom Robinson’s case, the lawyer knew that he would fail to acquit the accused of his charges because of the rigid prejudicial outlook innate within Maycomb’s inhabitants. Thomas Shaffer, argues that Atticus shows us precisely that what matters in professional ethics is character rather than moral principle which is highlighted by Atticus’s fights to prove Tom’s innocence to the community, even though he knows it will not be acted upon. While Atticus eventually loses the court case, it his courage and steely determination to see it through until the end that successfully reveals the injustice of a stratified society that confines the blacks to a â€Å"coloured balcony†. Furthermore, the involvement of the Ewell family in the trial also highlights issues of class relations within Maycomb County. The term â€Å"white trash† is a pejorative term particularly used in rural Southern America, to describe a collection of lower class people who live by degraded standards. The term suggests outcasts from a respectable society living on the fringes of the social order who are seen as dangerous because they may be of a criminal nature without respect for authority whether it be political, legal, or moral. The audience are aware from the beginning of the novel that the Ewell family epitomise â€Å"white trash† from Burrell Ewell’s refusal to go to school, and his ability to escape the legal system. Moreover, their home behind the town garbage dump in a tin-roofed cabin adheres to the characteristic of ‘living on the outside of town’ and highlights their social and physical segregation from the more respectable members of the community. Their position at the bottom of the social hierarchy is substantiated by Mayella Ewell’s section of the trial – the young girl believes that Atticus is trying to make a fool of her by labelling her as â€Å"Miss† conveying her lack of social skills as a result of her family’s failure to integrate into society. Moreover, the implication that Bob Ewell abuses his daughter creates a perception of him as being violent and criminal, two characteristics that are of course brought to light in the latter parts of the novel. Overall, this highlights that Maycomb County (and the wider South) are not just segregated by race, but also by class. The sad reality however, is that in the racist world of Maycomb, even the Ewell’s have the power to destroy an innocent man. This leads onto a further issue that is at stake throughout the trial: the threat posed to innocence by evil. This theme is revealed primarily through the characters of Tom Robinson and Jem Finch. The audience are made aware that Tom is an innocent man who has been wrongfully accused of a crime he did not commit. This depicts the evil attack of social prejudice on an unoffending man, guilty only of the colour of his skin. Tom Robinson is not prepared for the evil that he encounters, and this consequently leads to his downfall. This concept links to the title of the book â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†, which highlights that to destroy someone innocent purely for existing, is a sin. Furthermore, the trial also focuses around the loss of innocence of Jem and his movement into adulthood, linking to the Bildungsroman theme within the novel. The Bildungsroman genre is an example of â€Å"the coming of age† novel, and is evident in the novel from the children’s journey from ignorance to enlightenment. Hereby, Jem witnessing the harsh reality of life revealed by the trial is seen as a necessary growth point that his character must go through in order to reach maturity, summarising the transition from a perspective of childhood innocence, to a more adult perspective in which Jem has confronted evil and must incorporate it into his understanding of the world. This shift is apparent in the trial scene after Atticus reveals to the jury that Bob Ewell is a left-handed man, and that a left-handed man would be more likely to leave bruises on the right side of a girls face. Jem, still clinging to his youthful illusions about life working according to concepts of fairness, doesn’t understand that his father’s efforts will be in vain, commenting â€Å"We’ve got him. † After Tom is found to be guilty, Jem’s hopes are shattered as he cries over the injustice of the verdict. His emergence into a more adulthood perspective is highlighted by his conversation with Miss Maudie, where he reveals that he sed to think that the people of Maycomb were the best in the world, but having witnessed the trial, he doesn’t think so anymore. Ultimately, a final issue brought to light amidst the action of the trial, is the levels of expectation that people are pressured by as a result of the class and racial issues present in Maycomb. Dolphus Raymond’s attendance at the trial is accompanied by Jem’s description of his background – that he is a drunk who had several children by a black woman even though he was from a rich and respectable family. As the prosecution begins to question Tom Robinson, the action is diverted from the courtroom as Dill begins to cry resulting in Scout leading him outside where they encounter the mysterious character of Mr Raymond. It is revealed that he is in actual fact pretending to drink alcohol from the paper bag to provide the white people with an explanation for his lifestyle: â€Å"When I come to town†¦ if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey—that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does†. This highlights that Dolphus Raymond does care very much about what people think of him, and believes that by stereotyping himself as a drunk, the other members of Maycomb county will find his behaviour excusable. The significance of his character is to forefront the pressures that society’s norms exhume on those who wish to be different – Dolphus Raymond simply prefers black people to whites, just as the white community simply dislike blacks with no valid explanation. In conclusion, it is clear that many other relevant issues to the time period occupy the trial at the heart of To Kill A Mockingbird as well as simply racial prejudice.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost Essay

In the poem ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost, the poet considers the value or otherwise, of boundaries. In contemplating whether good fences make good neighbors, he is including all barriers and boundaries in that – including walls. He is concerned that the saying may be becoming so popular – and spouted so often – that it is fast becoming trite. He wonders whether properties are always of sufficient threat to each other as to always demand some kind of barrier. Apples are no threat to cattle for example, or corn to forestry trees. However, others may feel different – it depends on what’s on the property and what the neighbor believes. Some believe that it’s pointless to wonder what your neighbor’s like – just throw up a wall and be done with it – that way everyone’s happy. There are no incursions and therefore no disputes. â€Å"I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought / And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:† I regret that I did not achieve many things I tried to get, and with old regrets renewed I now grieve over having wasted my precious time: â€Å"Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow / For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,† Then I can cry, being unaccustomed to crying, over dear friends who have died, â€Å"And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe / And moan the expense of many a vanish’d sight:† And weep again over former loves that I put behind me long ago, and cry over the pain of many faded memories: â€Å"Then can I grieve at grievances foregone / And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er† Then I can grieve over past griefs and recount each sadness with a heavy heart, â€Å"The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan / Which I new pay as if not paid before.† The sad remembrance of things I have grieved over already, which I now grieve over anew as though I never did before. â€Å"But if the while I think on thee, dear friend / All losses are restored and sorrows end.† But as soon as I think of you, my dear friend, all those wounds are healed, and my sorrows come to an end. Why is he saying it? Sonnet 30 is at the center of a sequence of sonnets dealing with the narrator’s growing attachment to the fair lord and the narrator’s paralyzing inability to function without him. The sonnet begins with the image of the poet drifting off into the â€Å"remembrance of things past† – painful memories, we soon learn, that the poet has already lamented but now must lament anew. The fair lord enters the scene only in the sonnet’s closing couplet, where  he is presented as a panacea for the poet’s emotional distress. Closely mirroring the message of sonnet 29, here Shakespeare cleverly heightens the expression of his overwhelming anxiety by belaboring the theme of emotional dependence. Whereas in sonnet 29 he quits his whining after the second quatrain, in sonnet 30 three full quatrains are devoted to the narrator’s grief, suggesting that his dependence on the fair lord is increasing. Meanwhile sonnet 30’s closing couplet reiterate s lines 9-14 of sonnet 29 in compact form, emphasizing that the fair lord is a necessity for the poet’s emotional well-being: the fair lord is the only thing that can bring the poet happiness. This pinnacle of the poet’s plaintive state is beautifully conveyed through an artful use of repetition and internal rhyme. Beyond the obvious alliteration of â€Å"sessions of sweet silent thought,† note the â€Å"-nce† assonance of â€Å"remembrance† and â€Å"grievances,† to which may be added â€Å"since† and â€Å"cancell’d†; the correspondence of â€Å"sigh,† â€Å"sought,† and â€Å"sight†; and the rhyme in â€Å"foregone,† â€Å"fore-bemoaned,† â€Å"before,† and â€Å"restored.† It is as though the poet wishes to hammer in his hardship with the repetitive droning of his troubled soul. Beyond its poetics, sonnet 30 also provides some prime examples of the poet’s recurring tendency to describe his relationship with the fair lord in financial terms. The opening lines of the sonnet remind us of being called to court (cf. â€Å"court sessions† and â€Å"summon a witness†). This is followed by a slew of money-related terms, including â€Å"expense,† â€Å"grievances,† â€Å"account,† â€Å"paid,† and â€Å"losses.† The phrase â€Å"tell o’er† in line 10 is an accounting expression (cf. the modern bank teller) and conjures up an image of the narrator reconciling a balance sheet of his former woes and likening them to debts that he can never pay off in full. The only cure for his financial hardship is the fair lord’s patronage – perhaps something to be taken literally, suggesting that the fair lord is in fact the poet’s real-world financial benefactor.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

James Weldon Johnson essays

James Weldon Johnson essays James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17, 1871. He was the second of three children. Johnson was an American author, lawyer, and diplomat. He was educated at Atlanta and Columbia universities. In 1898 he became the first black lawyer admitted to the bar in Duval County, Florida. He practiced law in Florida until 1902. In that year Johnson moved to New York, and collaborated on the well-known song, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Later Johnson served as U.S. consul in Venezuela from 1906 to 1909 and in Nicaragua from 1909 to 1912. This is the year that The Autobiography of an Ex- Coloured Man was published. The Autobiography of an Ex- Coloured Man was Johnsons best-known book. This novel examined race relations in the United States through its narrator who wrestles with the question of his racial identity. This is the story of a nameless protagonist who, because his physical appearance is not identifiably black he is able to assume the identity of a white American and pass. As I analyze Johnsons work there are several critical concepts that apply to this particular piece of work. I would like to examine double consciousness, and passing. In the book The Autobiography of an Ex- Coloured Man, the narrator is extremely light-skinned, and the truth of his race is kept from him. His mother raised him. She was a seamstress and a former servant. His father was her white master. They moved from Georgia to Connecticut at an early age, there Johnson learned from his teacher that he was black. This discovery was a traumatic one for him. As he adjusts to that information he gets into literature and music to find his identity and heritage. The first thing that this powerful piece of writing explores is the idea of Double Consciousness. Double Consciousness is the sense of looking at ones self through the eyes of others, of measuring ones soul by ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Japanese for Beginners - How to Start

Japanese for Beginners - How to Start Do you want to learn how to speak Japanese, but dont know where to start? Below you will find lessons for beginners, writing lessons, information on pronunciation and comprehension, where to find dictionaries and translation services, information for travelers to Japan, and  audio and video lessons. Try not to be overwhelmed. The Japanese language will seem very different at first from your native language, but it is not as hard to learn as many people think. It is quite a logically laid out language and once you learn basic reading skills it will be easy to pronounce any word you can read. Introduction to Japanese Are you new to Japanese? Familiarize yourself with Japanese and start learning basic vocabulary here. Japanese Vowels: Learn the pronunciation and how to write them in hiragana.Japanese Verb Conjugations: See the conjugations for the most common verbs.Japanese Grammar: Learn the characteristics of how sentences are constructed.Japanese Writing Systems: An overview of the three writing systems.Greetings and Everyday Expressions: Useful for tourists.First Meetings and Introductions: These tips will help in both business and social interactions.Simple Japanese Phrases: Learn a variety of simple phrases. Learning Japanese Writing There are three types of scripts in Japanese: kanji, hiragana and katakana. Japanese does not use an alphabet and all three systems are commonly used. Kanji has blocks of meaning and thousands of characters. Hiragana expresses the grammatical relationship between kanji symbols and katakana is used for foreign names. The good news is that hiragana and katakana have only 46 characters each and words are written as they are pronounced. Japanese Writing for Beginners - Introduction to Japanese writing and understanding how kanji, hiragana, and katakana are used.Kanji - 100 Most Frequent Characters: With thousands of different characters, these are the meanings of the top 100. Pronunciation and Comprehension Familiarizing yourself with the sounds and rhythms of the language is a good place to start. Audio and video lessons can help. Hearing someone speak in Japanese and being able to answer appropriately is very rewarding for the beginner. Audio PhrasebookJapanese Language Videos: Use these videos to see how to pronounce sounds from Hiragana and to use different expressions. You may learn better by seeing as well as hearing a person speak in Japanese. Japanese for Travelers If you need quick survival skills for your trip, try these. Japanese for Travelers: Learn phrases relating to getting around by train, taxi, bus, car, air, and walking.How to Order at a Restaurant: Youre going to need to eat, here are phrases that will come in handy. Dictionaries and Translations Choosing the right words for a translation can be difficult. There are many ways to look up Japanese words and to translate from English to Japanese and back again. Top 3 Japanese Dictionaries: If you want a book to have handy either on paper or electronically, these are the best.Top 10 Online Dictionaries: Access these from your mobile device or computer.Learning About Translating: Its not as simple of plopping words into an online form.Online Translations: The best of the bunch.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Field Technician - A First Job in Archaeology

Field Technician - A First Job in Archaeology A Field Technician, or Archaeological Field Technician, is an entry-level paying position in archaeology. A Field Technician performs archaeological survey and excavation, under the supervision of a Principal Investigator, Field Supervisor, or Crew Chief. These jobs are known by a wide variety of names, including Field Hand, Field Archaeologist, Natural Resource Technician I, Archaeologist/Technician, Field Technician, US Government 29023 Archeological Technician I, and Assistant Archaeologist. Duties An archaeological field technician performs duties associated with pedestrian surveys as well as hand excavation (shovel testing, bucket auger testing, 1x1 meter units, test trenches) of archaeological sites. Field technicians may be asked to take detailed field notes, draw sketch maps, excavate archaeological features, bag artifacts, record provenience of the finds, use a Munsell soil chart, take photographs, use computer software programs (Microsoft ® Word, Excel and Access are typical), and at all times maintain client confidentiality. Some amount of physical labor is generally required, such as manually removing brush or vegetation, and carrying and maintaining tools and equipment. Field technicians may need to navigate with a compass and topographic map, help run a total station to create topographic maps, or learn digital mapping with using GPS/GIS. Job Type and Availability Kansas Archeology Training Program Field School. Mark Reinstein / Corbis via Getty Image Entry level jobs are usually short-term temporary positions; they dont usually come with insurance or benefits, although there are exceptions. Typically, a field technician is hired by a  firm that conducts archaeological work related to cultural resource management (or heritage management) in many different states or countries. Those firms maintain a list of field technicians and send out notices when projects are coming up: projects which can last for a few days or years. The long-term positions are rare; field techs rarely work full time and most are seasonal employees. Archaeological projects are conducted over the world, mostly led by cultural resource firms (or cultural resource arms of engineering companies), universities, museums, or governmental agencies. The jobs are fairly numerous, but require the technician to travel far from home and stay in the field for extended periods of time. Education / Experience Level Required This pile of excavation equipment is waiting for the next field trip. Kris Hirst (c) 2006 At a minimum, field technicians need a Bachelors degree in Anthropology, Archaeology or a closely related field, plus six months or a years experience. Most firms expect employees to have taken at least one professional field school or have had some prior field survey experience. Occasionally firms will take people who are still working on their bachelors degrees. Experience with ArcMap, ArcPad or other GIS hardware such as a Trimble unit is helpful; a valid drivers license and good driving record is a fairly standard requirement. Another highly valued asset is familiarity with cultural resource laws, such as Section 106, NEPA, NHPA, FERC as well as relevant state regulations in the United States. There are also specialist positions, such as coastal or marine/maritime projects that may require SCUBA diving experience. Field schools can be taken at a local university for tuition and living costs; archaeological and historical societies occasionally run projects to train prospective field technicians. Advantageous Assets Field technicians need a good work ethic and a cheerful disposition: archaeology is physically demanding and often tedious, and a successful technician should be willing to learn, work hard, and act independently. Verbal and written communication skills are among the most sought-after characteristics for beginning field technicians, particularly the ability to write technical reports. Membership in professional societies, such as the Institute for Archaeologists in the UK or the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) in the US, may be a requirement for employment, and background or knowledge in the cultures being studied (especially for long projects) is a valuable asset. Having many of these characteristics may lead to promotions or full-time positions. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act is in force for archaeological jobs in the US and there are similar laws in other countries, field technician jobs require employees to be in good physical condition, to be able to work outdoors in variable weather conditions and on varied terrain. Some jobs will require longer work weeks when circumstances arise; and survey projects, in particular, require walking long distances (8–16 kilometers or 5–10 miles a day) under adverse conditions, including inclement weather and wildlife encounters, carrying up to 23 kilograms (50 pounds). Drug screening, background checks, and even physical fitness exams conducted by the firm are becoming common. Common Pay Rates Based on job listings viewed in January 2019, rates for a Field Technician vary between $US 14–22 per hour and, in the United Kingdom,  £10–15 per hour- however, few job listings in 2019 provided explicit wage data. Per diem covering hotels and meals is often provided, depending on the project. In a statistical survey conducted in 2012, Doug Rocks-Macqueen (2014) reported that rates for US-based field technicians ranged between US$10–25, with an average of $14.09. Rocks-Macqueen, Doug 2014. Jobs in American Archaeology: Pay for CRM Archaeologists. Archaeologies 10(3):281–296 download the article for free from Dougs Archaeology blog. Pluses and Minuses of the Traveling Life The life of a field technician is not without rewards, but there are some difficulties involved. If specific projects last six months or more, it may not be practical for many field technicians to maintain a permanent address (apart from a family member or friend as a mail drop). Stowing furniture and other possessions in an empty apartment for six months or a year is expensive and risky. Field technicians travel quite a bit, which may be the single best reason to spend a couple years as an archaeological assistant. Wages and availability of jobs and housing will vary from company to company, from dig to dig, whether nationally or internationally. In many countries, field technician positions are filled by local experts, and getting hired on those excavations requires enough experience to play a supervisory role. Where to Find Field Tech Jobs US R. Joe Brandons Shovel BumsJennifer Palmers Archaeology Fieldwork.comINDEED: Archaeological Field TechniciansGlassdoor.com: Archaeological Field Technician Jobs Canada Jennifer Palmers Archaeological Fieldwork: Canada UK British Archaeological Jobs Resources (BAJR): EmploymentINDEED UK: Archaeological Field Jobs Australia INDEED AU: Archaeology Jobs

Saturday, October 19, 2019

LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

LAW - Essay Example . .But the classification of the agreement as a lease does not depend upon any intention additional to that expressed in the choice of terms. It is simply a question of characterising the terms which the parties have agreed. This is a question of law.†2 Traditionally in determining whether or not the arrangements between Botolphs Investments plc and Alfred Micawber constitute a tenancy or a license it will be necessary to look a the factual background and discern whether or not the intent of the arrangements was to give Alfred Micawber exclusive possession of the shop. If so, the agreement was a tenancy rather than a license.3 Lord Denning stated in Shell-Mex & BP Ltd v Manchester Garages Ltd [1971] 1 WLR 612 that: â€Å"Broadly speaking, we have to see whether it is a personal privilege given to a person (in which case it is a licence) or whether it grants an interest in land (in which case it is a tenancy). At one time it used to be thought that exclusive possession was a decisive factor. But that is not so. It depends on broader considerations altogether. Primarily on whether it is personal in its nature or not.†4 This submission by Lord Denning was merely an extension of his ruling in Isaac v Hotel de Paris Ltd [1960] 1 WLR 239 where he broadly held that exclusive possession was not the only consideration.5 Although the law changed somewhat it has once again been restored to the resolution of the question of exclusive possession. â€Å"In my opinion the agreement was only ‘personal in its nature’ and created ‘a personal privilege’ if the agreement did not confer the right to exclusive possession of the filling station. No other test for distinguishing between a contractual tenancy and a contractual licence appears to be understandable or workable.†6 The right to exclusive possession is the pivotal test for which to determine whether on not the agreement between Botolphs Investments plc and Alfred Micawber constitutes a tenancy as opposed

Friday, October 18, 2019

Compare and contrast two explanations of late-nineteenth century Essay

Compare and contrast two explanations of late-nineteenth century European imperialism with regards to two European empires in at - Essay Example The British conquest of India began in the middle of the eighteenth century and played a major part in this country’s rise to world dominance in the nineteenth century. Because Britain had an excellent Navy and a spirit of exploration and conquest, the first settlers there quickly set up businesses to supply the factories at home with raw materials. Britain had just begun a period of great economic expansion at home, which has come to be called â€Å"the industrial revolution.† The East India Company was created to build up trade in goods like spices and cotton, and Britain soon relied upon this country for the supply of many goods. The East India Company was a private organization but it received a lot of support from the British government. It grew into a major cultural influence as well, aiming to educate the Indian population in English ways. Britain’s colonial influence extended far across the huge territories of India. Some of the profits from trade were us ed to introduce new technologies into India like roads and telegraphs, and even a vast railway network. The purpose was to support the colonial trade system, but an important side-effect was a shift in the culture of India for the native people there. Some historians see the colonisation of India in terms of bringing progress to the whole world, especially economic progress: â€Å"no organization in history has done more to promote the free movement of goods, capital and labour than the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries† (Ferguson: 2004, p. xxi) From this perspective, the brutal oppression of Indians who did not accept British rule is seen as an unfortunate price that had to be paid for this great progress. It is astonishing that so few British people managed to control such a huge land, for example in the period 1860-1905, â€Å"there were seldom more than 100,00 of them (European people) scattered among a population of over 250 million, and mos t were British soldiers who lived in cantonments concentrated in the northern half of the country.† (Ferguson, 2004, p. 341) The British government supplied troops to keep control over areas where uprisings occurred, for example in Bengal, which quickly became a centre for British influence. (Marshall: 2005, p. 241) A key factor in the success of the â€Å"Jewel in the Crown† of Queen Victoria’s empire was this partnership between business and government for purposes which benefited them both. This economic analysis is a convincing explanation of Britain’s great success in colonising the whole subcontinent of India. The colonisation of Tunisia by France is seen also by some historians as an incoming advanced nation bringing civilisation and progress to a backward country. The colonial attitudes are the same, and Africa was seen as a great prize which could be easily taken. There was a great rush by many European countries to take what they could: â€Å"Th e partition of Africa took little more than 20 years. It began with the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wesseling: 2004, p, 148) France began to impose a political structure that fitted in with its centralist approach to government. Tunisia, along with Algeria and Morocco, became an extension of the French department system. At this late stage, more than a

Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Government - Essay Example storical and legal front, the fact that American constitution and history never granted the approval for same sex marriages until recently on state level is another reason put forth by all those who oppose the moves of same sex practices. Going by the previous rulings of Supreme Court in the form of previous cases such as Bowers vs. Hardwick which came forth in 1986 where the actions and practices related to sodomy and homosexuality were declared illegal and illegitimate, and further the case of Romer vs. Evans case in 1996 where the final verdict was upheld as 6-3 against the grant request for allowing homosexual practices on state level, similarly other accounts of proceedings and cases put forth reveal that Supreme Court has been against the concept and practices of same sex marriages. Originally the constitution guarded for the opposite gender marriages. The pattern of same sex marriages became more prevalent towards 1990s when the formally existent law of First Restatement of Conflicts, on Marriage and Legitimacy was questioned and challenged in the court. This law was existent and related to the rulings of 1934. The long practiced customs of opposite sex marriage limitation has been challenged and questioned, both on legal and argument level grounds. It is being termed as the violation of the basic rights to the people. Freedom of expression with regard to their personal life, personal orientations and personal sexual desires and tendencies is also accounted for a reason why the same sex marriage must be allowed for practice and legal approval. As an effort to reduce the domestic expenditure, the forestry spendings is an area where the possible cut is possible. This would help the already incurred heavy losses in the form of 1 trillion plus U.S dollars. It will have positive impact on the different variables and factors associated with the annual budget and the normal living standard of the common American citizens. The possible slash on the forestry

Thursday, October 17, 2019

The Stopped voyages and the Stopped Social Improving Essay

The Stopped voyages and the Stopped Social Improving - Essay Example Apparently, the initiation of the voyages marked a great Chinese historical period in cultural exchanges and trade. The number of ships in each fleet that Zheng led to the Western Sea had about 40 to 60 ships and over 27,000 people. In each envoy, Zheng acted as the business representative and herald of the Ming court. The voyages navigated through various countries where Zheng stopped and presented gifts to the rulers as a perfect way of enhacing cooperation and relationships. Unfortunately, in 1424, Yongle Emperor who was the sponsor of the expensive voyages was murdered in a skirmish touching the Mongols. Zheng could hardly undertake any other voyages, and set out for his last voyage in 1429 before the Hongxi Emperor who succeeded Yongle Emperor banned the voyages in 1433 on the grounds that they were a misappropriation of resources and money. While the emperor did this to circumvent China from external influence, it limited china’s development by cutting trade with the outside world, and advanced Europeans could easily target China (Jessie, 2). It is evident that Chinese voyages had cr eated great contribution to the Chinese culture and Economy and the decision of stopping more voyages was undeniably wrong. The Chinese society could have been improved much better if Hongxi Emperor did not stop the voyages. The voyages greatly contributed to growth of trade between China and the outside world as well as spreading Chinese culture to the outside world, factors that contributed to the growth of China. In the ships, there was a myriad of special Chinese products that were meant for the foreign countries such as India and coast of Africa. These included skein, newly established celadon, enamelware, gauze, and brocade. Noteworthy, during the Tang Dynasty, people in China had already understood the technology of making glass to be heat resistant through addition of

Marketing Managerment Project Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing Managerment Project - Research Paper Example The case cites an example of Kellogg’s in Asia-Pacific region especially in India. This case is a classic example of concerted marketing efforts going haywire to produce reverse results. When a multinational giant organization such as Kellogg’s launches into an unknown region and area it needs to do the homework and establishes itself. The case highlights on the turnaround strategies used by the company to control the damage and survive. Today Kellogg’s is a household name in most Indian families and also the most preferred breakfast cereal, irrespective of that Kellogg’s needs to be alert in the volatile market. In an upcoming and third world market the options available are many for the consumers as the competition keeps offering one product after the other, which eventually widens the choice for the average consumer. Hence to not only to survive, but also sustain profitably, Kellogg’s has to innovate and in product as well marketing strategies. T his paper also suggests a few such strategies with its implications and challenges. No organization can capture a market and be complacent, because capturing a market may be a onetime effort but retaining the market with profitability requires new challenges to be taken and met with competence, effort and good marketing. Kellogg’s – The Indian Story We all love breakfast cereals and the crackling sound they make early morning. They give us an idea about how fresh and beautiful each day is going to be after a healthy breakfast. We are now going to look into a healthy breakfast story of none other than the breakfast giant Kellogg’s in India. Kellogg’s so far in western market has always maintained its upper hand. It was introduced in the Indian market in the year 2005 and was an absolute flophouse. From there on the company looked into various perspectives to make the product a success and has continued to grow in the market steadily. Today even if it has n ot captured the so called breakfast market share it has managed to survive and even run profitably and smoothly in India. We are going to study the turnaround of Kellogg’s in India in this assignment. Kellogg’s started its way in 1906 and today is the leader of corn flakes and breakfast cereals. Its worldwide expansion program goes as back as 1914. Kellogg’s expanded in England and Australia. By the year 1958 Kellogg’s settled in America making it the most popular breakfast frosty cereals and corn flakes. Over the years Kellogg’s has acquired Worthington Foods, Kashi Company and Keebler Foods. They also have a marketing tie up with Disney. Today Kellogg’s is manufactured in 17 countries and marketed over 180 countries worldwide. It has multiple products such as corn flakes, nutrition bars, ice cream cones, pies, and waffles etc. Today it is a company with billions of dollars of turnover world over. With this strength, history and backing Kel logg’s launched with many trumpets in Indian market. It started with its basic product - cornflakes. SWOT Analysis of Kellogg’s: Strengths: 1. Kellogg’s is a multi-billion dollar company having presence worldwide. 2. The product quality that is offered is uniform across the markets world over. 3. It has an excellent brand name and enjoys a healthy brand image. 4. Through various acquisitions it has acquired a range of products starting from breakfast cereals to nutrition bars and diet cereals. 5. Its primary strength lies in baking and innovative products it keeps coming

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

The Stopped voyages and the Stopped Social Improving Essay

The Stopped voyages and the Stopped Social Improving - Essay Example Apparently, the initiation of the voyages marked a great Chinese historical period in cultural exchanges and trade. The number of ships in each fleet that Zheng led to the Western Sea had about 40 to 60 ships and over 27,000 people. In each envoy, Zheng acted as the business representative and herald of the Ming court. The voyages navigated through various countries where Zheng stopped and presented gifts to the rulers as a perfect way of enhacing cooperation and relationships. Unfortunately, in 1424, Yongle Emperor who was the sponsor of the expensive voyages was murdered in a skirmish touching the Mongols. Zheng could hardly undertake any other voyages, and set out for his last voyage in 1429 before the Hongxi Emperor who succeeded Yongle Emperor banned the voyages in 1433 on the grounds that they were a misappropriation of resources and money. While the emperor did this to circumvent China from external influence, it limited china’s development by cutting trade with the outside world, and advanced Europeans could easily target China (Jessie, 2). It is evident that Chinese voyages had cr eated great contribution to the Chinese culture and Economy and the decision of stopping more voyages was undeniably wrong. The Chinese society could have been improved much better if Hongxi Emperor did not stop the voyages. The voyages greatly contributed to growth of trade between China and the outside world as well as spreading Chinese culture to the outside world, factors that contributed to the growth of China. In the ships, there was a myriad of special Chinese products that were meant for the foreign countries such as India and coast of Africa. These included skein, newly established celadon, enamelware, gauze, and brocade. Noteworthy, during the Tang Dynasty, people in China had already understood the technology of making glass to be heat resistant through addition of

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Aviation Organization in Nigeria Research Paper

Aviation Organization in Nigeria - Research Paper Example Women workforce in Nigeria would aid the development of its economy as women have started taking tertiary education. Third, it is also important to understand the difference in the managers’ attitudes to work, in both Nigeria and the United States. This is important as many MNCs have expanded their operations in developing countries and employ both local and expatriate managers. The managers need to have an in-depth understanding of how to manage diversity because decisions on issues such as recruitment and training, promotions and retentions, could vary. Managing diversity could mean utilizing the differences to gain competitive advantage. It not only helps in recruitment and employee retention, it also leads to reduced turnover and absence costs, enhanced customer service and greater flexibility and creativity in the organizations (Maxwell, 2004). Nigeria is the most populous African country having about 130 million inhabitants. It consists of more than 250 ethnic groups and is besieged with ethnic and religious tensions. Nigeria has an abundance of labor and scarce talent. The average Nigerian could find employment based on the culture, religion, language, gender and educational qualifications. Attracting, developing, deploying and retaining talent has become a major concern in Nigeria. Nigeria has been facing the challenge of managing religious and political diversity ever since its independence in 1960 (Anaba, 2011). In the aviation sector diversity matters to customers; hence, in the airline company proposed to be set up in Nigeria, diversity should be kept as a part of the hiring policy. The commercial airline is a highly competitive, safety-sensitive, high technology service industry (Applebaum & Fewster, 2002). The core competency can come from people and employees. Hence, the focus should be in managing people. The whole aviation sector functions as a traditional, top-down, highly divisionalized, industrial model of operations and governance. T o have a customer-centric, learning-oriented workforce capable of adapting to the strategic goals and the change-imperative facing the industry, diversity and equal opportunity are required. Southwest Airlines believes that its dedication to ensure employee diversity also ensures the right fit. They give preference to women and minorities in interviewing them ahead of other candidates. Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity at Continental Airlines experienced continued profits and double-digit growth. It has an aggressive attitude towards hiring, training and retaining minority employees as a result of which 23% of its employees and 37% of its employers are minorities. America West also has a corporate statement of commitment regarding equal employment opportunity that is updated annually. United is committed to provide opportunity for career advancement for women and minorities. Diversity matters to customers and this has been incorporated as the organization’s hiring po licy. Delta Airlines also promotes the development of women and black pilots in an industry where only 5% of all pilots are women and less than 1% is non-Caucasian. Applebaum and Fewster find that a high correlation exists between customer satisfaction and that of employees. A high correlation also exists between satisfied employees and world-class human resource practices. Women in Nigeria have

Monday, October 14, 2019

Social Psychology Essay Example for Free

Social Psychology Essay War represents a complex phenomenon with can be conceptualized through multiple perspectives, including an historical, a sociological and a psychological point of view. This type of organized aggression is inherent to human nature, and can be observed since the dawn of humankind, characterizing both civilized and primitive societies. Wars and armed conflicts in general, radically disrupt the normal course of life and human behavior and may exert detrimental effects on physical and mental health and social and financial well-being (Piachaud, 2007). War deprives individuals and communities of major human and material resources and eventually leads to the breakdown of societal structires, giving rise to states of chaos and anarchy (Pedersen, 2002). Given that aggression constitutes a primal human instinct, wartime is a period where aggressive actions frequently reach extreme levels and are usually rationalized by some kind of ideological manifesto. During war, otherwise ordinary and sensible people may be engaged in various atrocities and display unnecessary or extreme cruelty in the name of several racial, religious, political social or other values and beliefs. In the last few decades, the breakdown of communism in Eastern European countries has led to a significant shift in the spheres of global domination and to major modifications in international relationships. As a result of these radical geopolitical changes, the world community has witnessed many bloodstained regional armed conflicts, including the wars in former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Sudan and Uganda. It is estimated that almost 30% of the world population is currently engaged in or experiencing the impact of some form of war. In recent years, the majority of political ideologies has gradually lost significant ground and has been substituted by national, racial and religious ideologies (Jost, 2006). These emerging ideological contructs have proven a useful tool in governments’ premeditated agendas to fanaticize people, rationalize war and violence and manipulate public opinion. However, despite these historical transitions, major financial interests and the struggle for power and profit remain the deeper causes of most armed conflicts worldwide. The civil war in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s was a regional conflict which rattled the Old Continent and lead to a series of major geopolitical changes. In the battlefields of former Yugoslavia, former neighbors and friends were turned intro enemies, a process which progressively set in motion the vicious circle of violence. That war was founded on people’s religious and national differences and was characterized by unprecedented atrocities. The Srebrenica massacre represents a hallmark of civil war wildness and according to the Institute for War and Peace, it probably constitutes the larger scale genocide in European ground since the World War II. In this event, a significant percent of the Srebrenica male population were brutally killed by Serbo-bosnian troops and the rest inhabitants, including women, children and elderly civilians, were forced to leave their homes. In a similar vein, during the first decade of the current century the international community has been witnessing the consequences of the civil conflict in Darfur between Sudanese of Arabic and of African origin. This war has been characterized by unspeakable ferociousness and multiple episodes of mass murdering and genocide have been officially reported. It is roughly estimated that the Darfur conflict has so far lead to the death of almost 400,000 people and the violent displacement of even more and despite the truce recently signed by both sides, hostilities have never actually ceased in the region. The armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia and Darfur, among people living in close contact, in some instances among friends and relatives, has shed valuable light to the mechanisms through which war dehumanizes and lets loose the most destructive instincts and tendencies residing in human beings. Modern research in the field of social psychology has systematically attempted to describe and eluminate normal and abnormal human behavior at times of war and societal turmoil. Most sociologists agree that war is triggered by the desire to dominate over other people. This desire is rooted in the perception of oncoming threats against autonomy and existence. People attack and wish to eliminate other people, when they perceive them as threats to their psychological, financial and physical existence and prosperity. In this respect, even attackers and torturers may feel that they justifiably defend themselves, their families and their most fundamental beliefs through their unspeakable actions (Summerfield, 1997) Social psychology suggests that war is a massive phenomenon of organized and rationalized aggression, which may provide alibi for people to commit the most atrocious crimes in the name of just cause. During war, violence becomes blind, victims are deprived of their human characteristics and qualities and these processes enhance the act of destruction and murder. It is much easier to torture and murder people when the victims are viewed as inferior, worthless or evil and dangerous. Leaders who wish to manipulate the public opinion into advocating for war are systematically engaged in demonizing propagandas. In addition, during war, murderers and torturers have the opportunity to hide their criminal behavior in the anonymity of the mob, under the confusion and total disruption of everyday living provoked by the war state. Commonly in wartime, social systems, including lego-judiciary procedures, are disrupted and chaos prevails (Summerfield, 1997). Under these circumstances, individuals who commit crimes in wartime are rarely held accountable, especially when they are in the winning party and their aggression is addressed towards the enemies. Research has consistently shown that the social context plays a significant role in the generation of massive violence and social influences may shape individual behaviors. War crimes and mass murders are not necessary the illogical actions of psychopathic personalities. These animosities are usually being committed by ordinary people who find themselves under extreme conditions. Any person is capable of exhibiting extreme and violent behaviors when facing threats to his/her survival and autonomy. In addition, individuals are vulnerable to the influence of the mob and can be easily carried away in actions and behaviors which violate any known moral and societal rule (Raafat et al, 2009). These vulnerabilities commonly serve as vehicle for the spreading of several racial and religious prejudices which ultimately lay the foundations of all kinds of racist ideologies. The presence of financial adversity and sociopolitical instability may further contribute to the strengthening of racist beliefs and subsequently a significant portion of society may eagerly support or even actively participate to inhumane actions of destruction including ethnic cleansing and genocide, abolishing any sense of morality and humanity. Experiencing or witnessing war atrocities, either as a victim or as a perpetrator, may have significant psychosocial negative consequences on individuals. Several investigations have shown that war victims may suffer from a variety of psychopathological symptoms, mainly post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Moreover, torture and extreme violence have emerged as significant predictors of psychological disturbance (Steel et al, 2009). Children appear extremely vulnerable to the detrimental effects of war either directly or indirectly exposed to combat related traumatic experiences (Peltonen et al, 2010). These negative sequelae may manifest themselves late and last for many years following the resolution of the conflict. Apart from the psychosocial impact on civilians, research has recently reveal that soldiers and war veterans who have witnessed or participated in tortures, rapes and mass murders, may also suffer from a variety of psychological difficulties including post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, psychotic disorders and substance abuse (Gaylord, 2006). In addition, veterans frequently complain of vague somatic symptoms, poor general health and disturbed quality of life (Levy et al, In a recent study by Killgore et al (2008), veterans who have been exposed to significant human trauma and have killed during combat displayed, after deployment, major risk-taking behaviors including alcohol abuse, verbal and physical violence. War veterans and especially those engaged in extreme violence, may suffer from moral trauma which adversely affects all aspects of human living (Litz et al, 2009). Aggressive behaviors constitute a self-perpetuating phenomenon where being a victim of violent abuse may lead either to attitudes of further self-victimization or to patterns of abusing and aggressive behavior towards others. In wartime, the basic rules that normally govern the harmonious coexistence and cooperation of individuals within the social context are fundamentally challenged and people’s actions are guided by the instinct of self-preservation. In any case, the display of extreme violence by ordinary and otherwise sensible individuals during war may be the result of previous victimization and abuse or may represent a misguided attempt of self-defense against an actual or imaginary danger. The international community has increasingly exhibited a marked sensitivity towards victims of genocide and has repeatedly advocated the exemplary punishment of war criminals, starting from the Nuremberg Trial and reaching the more recent events in Srebrenica and Darfur. However, there is still a great amount of skepticism, given that its motivation may not always be entirely humanitarian, but also political and strategic, given that international forums and organizations occasionally display selective and carefully designed humanitarian concerns which conveniently fit certain governments’ tactical aims. It is common knowledge that the conviction of war criminals has never proven panacea in society’s attempts to control aggression and prevent armed conflicts and war-related crimes. In addition, taking official military actions to impose peace and protect civilians has always been an issue of much debate and major controversy in the context of political and ethical discussions (Deutscher, 2005). The resolution of these controversies possibly lies in the hands of unbiased scientific research in the field of humanitarian disciplines. Sociological and psychological research may provide useful insight in the causes, mediators and consequences of massive violent behaviors, which could guide the implementation of prevention strategies. Instead of designing holy crusades and seeking skape-goats to curse and condemn, governments and policy makers should also focus on the fact that a large part of the society has been exhibiting marked tolerance or even active participation in atrocities and extreme cruelty during war. This observed societal consent in massive destruction and aggression should alarm the public opinion and possibly constitutes a major humanitarian concern and a potential target for intervention. Although the concept of individual responsibility can not be entirely discarded as non-existent in periods of war and anarchy, there is a growing awareness that in grievous times different dynamics govern human behavior and these processes should be taken into consideration when implementing preventive measures. Individuals function in an entirely different way when they are part of a larger group and especially when this group operates according to the mentality of a mob. To eliminate evil, society should conceptualize violence as an inherent characteristic of living creatures in the struggle for physical and psychological survival and try to understand its origin and mediating factors, without blinders, prejudices or anathemas. Only when the mechanisms underlying organized violence and war cruelty are fully described, analyzed and comprehended, one can begin to hope that nations and people will eventually obtain immunity to the manipulations performed by tyrants and demagogues, and as a consequence the heavy toll of war on humanity may finally start to weaken. References Deutscher, M. (2005). The responsibility to protect. Med Confl Surviv, 21(1); 28-34. Gaylord, K. M. (2006). The psychosocial effects of combat: the frequently unseen injury. Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am, 18(3); 349-57. Jost, J. T. (2006). The end of the end of ideology. Am Psychol, 61(7); 651-70. Levy, B. S. Sidel, V. W. (2009). Health effects of combat: a life-course perspective. Annu Rev Public Health, 30; 123-36. Litz, B. T. , Stein, N. , Delaney, E. , Lebowitz, L. , Nash, W. P. , Silva, C. Maguen, S. (2009). Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: a preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clin Psychol Rev, 29(8); 695-706. Pedersen, D. Political violence, ethnic conflict, and contemporary wars: broad implications for health and social well-being. Soc Sci Med, 55(2); 175-90. Peltonen, K. Punamaki, R. L. (2010). Preventive interventions among children exposed to trauma of armed conflict: a literature review. Aggress Behav, ;36(2); 95-116. Piachaud, J. (2007). Mass violence and mental healthtraining implications. Int Rev Psychiatry, 19(3); 303-11. Raafat, R. M. , Chater, N. Frith, C. (2009). Herding in humans. Trends Cogn Sci, 13(10); 420-8. Steel, Z. , Chey, T. , Silove, D. , Marnane, C. , Bryant, R. A. van Ommeren, M. 2009). Association of torture and other potentially traumatic events with mental health outcomes among populations exposed to mass conflict and displacement: a

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Globally United Way Analysis SWOT and PEST

Globally United Way Analysis SWOT and PEST Curtin University Marketing for professional practice 300 Client Briefing of United Way BACKGROUND Globally United Way was founded in 1887 in Denver, Colorado in the USA. It is a non-profit organization founded by five people a Denver woman, a priest, two ministers and a rabbi to distinguished the welfare problems and get suitable actions in their city. They assembled to get solutions of problems and connected with welfare societies and make organization to collect funds for local charities and coordinate wellbeing services. United way doing works on providing caring power and create better lifestyle for people. In 1986, United Way WA was established twenty eight years ago by a group of Perth businessmen in Western Australia Inc to growing requirements of society and increasing charitable requests. They developed a 12 months pilot program in July 1988 they begun full operation of United Way. The United Way do struggle for providing better opportunities to improve the lives of societies by fulfill their basic needs so they mainly concentrate on three fields EDUCATION, HEALTH and INCOME because these three fields play an important role in society. Quality education helps the youth to achieve good knowledge and skills so students will get suitable jobs and enough income for fulfill the basic needs of their families. United Way WA also created so many activities in Health sector, they works to improve health services by caring to individuals and organizations(A 50-Year History of United Way and Toronto-the-Giving; the Citys Needs and Generosity Have Both Grown over the Decades 2007). MILESTONE ACCOMPLISHMENTS Community Engagement United way WA has more focus on corporate social responsibilities towards the society so they involved in communities to find and understand the problems of community and take appropriate steps to solve these problems and provide help to community. Customer relations Management United Way create relationships with their customers and they always concern about the demands of their customers then they fulfill the needs of people and helping families and individuals become financially stable and independent. Unique position for philanthropy United Way wants to involve in particular social activities of Western Australia. In this way they do works to improve health and welfare services to give better lives of society. They make better lives with solving social problems and advance the career of people of society and individual(Anonymous 2011). MAJOR SPONSERS OF United Way WA Corporate Donations Corporate Partner organizations make important annual lump sum donations. Workplace Giving an licensed Australian Tax Office program where employees make a donations from their pay and receive an immediate tax deduction. Corporate volunteering a program where teams of employees from our corporate partners volunteer for a specific project at a local community organization such as painting, gardening or mentoring. Other ways to collect money for United Way: They are store some other events such as casual dress Fridays, Football competitions, Easter food hampers and adopting and funding special projects in the workplace. These Sponsorship Agreements provide funding to projects from origin to end. United Way has the reputation, resources and relationships on a worldwide scale so it is not simple to handle such a largest privately funded non -profit organization because of this the partners and sponsors of United Way contribute their ideas, skills and volunteering power more than money in the projects(Smith 2005). VOLUNTEERING WITH UNITED WAY WA United Way WA enhance their activities in education, income and health for individuals and society but they do not handle these three areas alone so they have 2.6 million volunteers and 9.6 million donors for creating and improving the lives of communities. They bring changes to make societies better. Corporate connect (Team volunteering) In the team volunteering they make small groups up to twenty people to handle the projects from origin to end they collect the information about the needs of societies then they safely improving and fulfill the basic needs of societies. Education volunteering They provide education to children of communities and children have the opportunity to reach their potential with quality education. It is improving the literacy rate and volunteer opportunity. They works in groups who are agree to spend one hour, one day or one year during school. They enroll in those activities who supporting to the children in reading, coaching, and create a differences and make strong decisions in their lives. Skilled volunteering They put their good efforts, knowledge, talent and skills to improve the communities and increasing the capacity of people for better results. WORKS OF UNITED WAY WA Give Volunteer Advocate Give -This means donate something to open your heart in United Way WA. By providing some part of earning to fulfill the needs of common people and make a wellbeing community. There are easy ways to give some money to organization, people can directly transfer money from their earning to United Way it will be tax free and they will be give regular updating of money where and when it is used. Volunteer United Way WA provide volunteering to people because anyone put their skills and knowledge to improve the lives of community. They have a opportunity works in groups, who spend their time to help and improve the communities. Advocate United Way has lots of programs for improving the community through their supporters skills, knowledge, talent and experience and they provide better lives to society(Jean C 1986). ORGANISATIONAL OVERVIEW In Western Australia United Way existence some twenty eight years ago, concerned about needs of society and increased charitable requests, In west Australia it is established in 1986 by a group of Perth businessman they develop a 12 months pilot program then begun full operations of United Way in July 1988 and to supply more than $16 million everywhere in Western Australia. United Way performs at a National level They have large networks toward Australia with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Ballarat, Glenelg, Central Coast, Perth and South Australia. They hold over 3400 volunteer who invest $6million in the community project in the country for improving the lives of 18,000 Australians. United Way perform at a International level This organization established 125 years ago in Denver, Colorado in the USA by five people a Denver woman, a Priest, two ministers and a rabbi to identify the welfare problems and take cooperation actions to solve these problems in their city. They got together plan the first united campaign for ten health and welfare agencies and make organization to get funds for local charities for coordinating wellbeing services. Denver created a movement by increased $21,700 and spread over the country to become a United Way in that year. United Way concentrated on to assemble the caring powers of societies and create a difference in lives of people. Nowadays United Way spread in forty-one countries and territories, they increase $5 billion in a year for local communities nearly by 1800 communties. MISSION To enhance the lives of societies in Western Australia they take care of all aspects of life by mobilizing and take good steps to provide better lives of societies. Energize and inspire people to make a difference; Provide meaningful opportunities to individuals to realize their potential; Increase investments in our community by expanding and diversifying our own resource and fundraising efforts and supporting those of others; Ensure our investments have recognizable impact; Strengthen the United Way movement and Brand at the local and national levels. VALUES OF UNITED WAY Demonstrate trust, integrity, transparency, inclusivity and respect; Measure, communicate and learn from the impacts of our efforts; Endorse innovation, partnerships and collective action; Encourage and promote volunteerism and volunteer leadership; and Embrace diversity(Gracie Bonds 2008). CHALLENGES FACES BY NON- PROFIT ORGANIASTIONS These all are major issues faces by non-profit organization in 2012.They have lots of difficulties with business structure. First of all, Economic Unrest- After the 2008 people are not willing to donate money in the non-profit organization in this way they lose their funds but the needs of services raised, it is big issue resource problem in economy. Leadership Succession- Non-profit organization has intelligent leaders for participating in the growth of sector annually, but some of the leaders find a difficulty to make a plan for strategy of business to improve the welfare programs because of this they do not get success in their plans. Change Management- Most of the non-profit organizations face this big challenge in their business, because they change their structure of business such as selecting members of board, using volunteers, remain with their resources. CHALLENGES FACES BY UNITED WAY WA Losing Donor: It is an important part of United Ways programs so they are not concentrate on their business structure in this way they lose their donors day by day. Strategic philanthropy: Most of the Companies moving to strategic philanthropy approach. Overreliance on Old economy business: United Way mostly dependent on old economies business in this way they do not follow advance techniques to handle their business. Large trust gap: In this business has a large trust gaps toward age groups in this way they faces some challenges in their business because they have different age groups of employees and they do not pay well attention on their works. Low public trust: They have low public trust compared to other large non-profit organizations it is one of the important reasons go their business down. (Beatty 2007). SWOT SWOT is known for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in the organizations SWOT of United Way WA Strengths Strengths always give ability to achieve the organizations mission. It can be perceptible and imperceptible. Funding is strength of United Way. It is a Public Ancillary Fund include DGR Item 2 Status. These funds are links between donors and organizations, who can receive tax deductible donations as deductible gift recipients (DGRs). Ancillary funds are two types-private ancillary funds and public ancillary funds. Weaknesses- Weaknesses are the properties that prevent the organizations from their achievements of mission and full potential. Weaknesses are presents in United Way like 20% of children are not preparing to go school in their early year, other weakness is Homeless Coalition means there are lack of permanent place of residence in the organization. Opportunities Opportunities are defined by the environment and works of organization. United Way have so many opportunities such as grant, exemptions and tax deductions, these all collect by donors and government. Threats Threats are difficult condition of united way because this will affect the economy of business such as funds, donations and charities. It happens when external environment conditions threat the profit of organization. PESTLE ANALYSIS Pestle analysis gives the information of whole situation of business .It includes political, social, economic, technical, and legal and environment factors. Political factor This factor effect the economy of non-profit organization because its find out that areas which effected by government such as new tax and duty which change the whole revenue structure of organization, these includes tax policies, fiscal policy, trade tariffs. Economic factor This factor identify the economic performance of non-profit organization, this includes inflation rate, interest rate, foreign exchange rates, demand and supply and economic growth. United way concentrate on their strategy of business they work with their economic factor for providing opportunities to community. Social factor This factor identify the social conditions of the market like cultural trends, demographics and population. United way works with the different communities to fulfill their needs. Technological factor In this factor non-profit organization influence by inventions of technology. United way follows the innovative techniques to enhance their skills and experience in the business. Legal factor-This factor affect the business from both external and internal sides, it affect the certain policies and certain laws. In this way United Way WA concern about these laws- consumer laws, labor laws and safety standards because they take- care the whole business. Environmental factor-All the organizations affect by their surrounding environment. United way uses their resources carefully to fulfill the basic needs of people of society and also they think about location of business in the suitable areas which prevent the environment clean(Pestle Analysis Vital for Strategic Decision Making [Column] 2015) . CONCLUSION United Way works very well in the society it is a non- profit organization so they fulfill the needs of society with donations, funds and charities. References A 50-Year History of United Way and Toronto-the-Giving; the Citys Needs and Generosity Have Both Grown over the Decades. 2007. Toronto Star, 09/13/ 2007 Sep 13. P4 http://search.proquest.com/docview/439287051?accountid=10382 Anonymous. 2011. Historic Achievement of $113.2-Million Completes Week of Milestones for United Way. Canada NewsWire, 01/20/ 2011 Jan 20. http://search.proquest.com/docview/845679535?accountid=10382 Beatty, Sally. 2007. Philanthropy (a Special Report); a New Way: The Chief Executive of United Way Talks About the Challenges Facing the Organization. Wall Street Journal, 12/10/ 2007 Dec 10. http://search.proquest.com/docview/399041103?accountid=10382 Gracie Bonds, Staples. 2008. Faith Values: Were with You Is United Way Theme. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 09/13/ 2008 Sep 13. http://search.proquest.com/docview/337508494?accountid=10382 Jean C, Hill. 1986. Interfaith Council Part of United Ways History. Richmond Times Dispatch, 11/05/ 1986 Nov 05. A-14 http://search.proquest.com/docview/420068701?accountid=10382 Pestle Analysis Vital for Strategic Decision Making [Column]. 2015. AllAfrica.com, 12/31/ 2015 Dec 31. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1752565050?accountid=10382 Smith, Dennis. 2005. Macisaac New United Way Chair; Part of Charitable Organizations Plan for Stronger Burlington Presence. The Post, 05/15/ 2005 May 15. 01 http://search.proquest.com/docview/362708200?accountid=10382

Saturday, October 12, 2019

A Comparison of The Jewel in the Crown and Wuthering Heights Essay

Shared Elements of The Jewel in the Crown and Wuthering Heights       The Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott, and Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte', are romantic tragedies which share many common elements. Although written in two vastly different time periods, the shared elements reveal the continuity of romantic tragedies over time. Wuthering Heights, a 19th century realistic fiction, shares the same kind of passionate, violent and emotional characters as The Jewel in the Crown, a post colonial modernist fiction. Both stories contain a love triangle which subsequently end in death.    In both stories, Catherine and Daphne are much alike in that they are the point around which the two men in their lives dance circles around. Catherine and Daphne are both willful, doing as they please, Catherine fostering her love for Heathcliff, and Daphne secretly seeing Hari Kumar. "At fifteen, she [Catherine] was the queen of the country-side; she had no peer, and she did turn out to be a haughty, headstrong creature" (WH, p. 51). And of Daphne, "She had to make her own marvelous mis...

Friday, October 11, 2019

Families Growing Weak in America Essay

Higher divorce rates directly contributes to the breaking down of the family structure identifying that families are growing weaker in the United States. It is tremendously essential for family members to remain together in order to maintain a strong family unit where each individual in the home is able to prosper and develop into a more solid and successful person contributing to a stronger America. Patrick Fagan and Robert Rector, explain the negative effects of divorce on our families in America when they tell us that, (2000, Fagan, Rector) â€Å"As social scientists track successive generations of American children whose parents have ended their marriages, the data are leading even some once-staunch supporters to conclude that divorce is hurting American society and devastating children’s lives. † Not only does divorce affect each individual in the family when the separation of the family occurs but it continues to devastate those same lives later in their personal lives and in their careers later in life, contributing to the breaking down of families and causing an even weaker America. We also learn from Fagan and Rector that According to data reported in 1994 by Mary Corcoran, professor of political science at the University of Michigan, â€Å"During the years children lived with two parents, their family incomes averaged $43,600, and when these same children lived with one parent, their family incomes averaged $25,300. † It is fair to assume that families are growing weaker in our country and in to establish a more concrete and stronger family unit, it is extremely crucial that families work harder at staying together in order for the family to be more successful and grow from a weaker family in our country to a stronger one. For children to grow up to be more successful, parents must strive to build a stronger household by taking all necessary means to keep their family together as one. Dr. Scott Haltzman tells us that (2007, Haltzman, DiGeronimo)â€Å"Overall, children living with their own married parents have fewer behavioral problems compared to children whose parents are living together but not married. Differences in the area of physical health also exist. Young children in single-parent families are less healthy overall than are children in all other family types. † Children from broken homes need extra medical care because of this weakening of the family structure. It is never too late to start building stronger families and working toward improvement in America. There is outside help being offered to families who feel they may need therapy or other means of help to keep their family together. (1985, Stinnent, DeFrain) Nick Stennett and John DeFrain explain that we can get help and tells us about community services that may be beneficial. He tells us that â€Å"Many children and families are resilient, but in these complex times, sometimes they need a little assistance in overcoming the obstacles in their lives. † Reference Page Fagan, Patrick; Rector, Robert. 2000. The Effects of Divorce on America. The World and I. Haltzman, Scott; DiGeronimo. 2007. The Secrets of Happily Married Men. Jossey and Bass. Stinnett, Nick; Defrain, John. 1985. Secrets of Strong Families. Berkley Books

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Mediated Communication: Connected or Disconnected? Essay

Abstract: We all seem to live and breathe social media. Sending a message and staying connected is as easy as it can get. Technology is essentially transforming traditional methods and revolutionizing the way we communicate with one another. Today, we have to stay relevant, informed, and up-to-date on the newest communication channels and incorporate them into our range of daily activities. However to build meaningful connections between people, we need to let technology enhance our communication, rather than dictate it. As new communication technological advancements become available, our temptation is also to spend less time on face-to-face interactions at the risk of losing the critical context of our message. Of course, texts, e-mails and social media can dramatically impact the speed and volume of messages, but therein also lies the danger in allowing the subtle aspects of dialogue and personality to fall by the wayside Face-to-face discussions are the foundation of human communication; once established, it allows us to build trust, clearly articulate our ideas and minimize misunderstanding. However, for many of us, face-to-face communication seems to be a dying art – replaced by text messaging, e-mails, and social media. Human communication and interactions are getting shaped by available technologies. Thus we have to ask – in today’s tech-savvy world, are we really connected or essentially disconnected? Is social media sabotaging the art of personal communication? On a crisp Friday afternoon last October, Sharon Seline exchanged text messages with her daughter who was in college. They ‘chatted’ back and forth, mom asking how things were going and daughter answering with positive statements followed by emoticons showing smiles, b-i-gï Å  smiles and hearts(/). Happiness†¦. Later that night, her daughter attempted suicide. In the days that followed, it came to light that she’d been holed up in her hostel room, crying and showing signs of depression — a completely different reality from the one that she conveyed in texts, Facebook posts and tweets . (Courtesy; Forbes magazine, April2012) As human beings, our only real method of connection is through authentic communication. Studies show that only 7%  of communication is based on the written or verbal word. A whopping 93% is based on nonverbal body language. Indeed, it’s only when we can hear a tone of voice or look into someone’s eyes that we’re able to know when â€Å"I’m fine† doesn’t mean they’re fine at all†¦or when â€Å"I’m just sad† means they’re thoroughly depressed. Flooded in technology, anyone can hide behind the text, the e-mail, the Facebook post or the tweet, projecting any image they want and creating an illusion of their choice. They can be whoever they want to be and without the ability to see or feel, their audiences are none the wiser. Every relevant metric shows that we are interacting at breakneck speed and frequency through social media. But are we really communicating? With 93% of our communication context stripped away, we are now attempting to forge relationships and make decisions based on phrases, abbreviations, snippets, emoticons which may or may not be accurate representations of the truth. This presents an unprecedented paradox. With all the powerful social technologies at our fingertips, we are more connected – and potentially more disconnected – than ever before. This is where social media gets dicey. Communication Barriers: New Dimensions Social technologies have broken the barriers of space and time, enabling us to interact 24/7 with more people all over the world. The focus is now on communication quantity rather than quality and Superficiality against authenticity? But like any revolutionary concept, it has initiated a new set of barriers and threats. It is an ironic situation where social media has the potential to make us less social; a surrogate for the real thing. For it to be a truly effective communication vehicle, communicators bear a responsibility to be genuine, accurate, and not allow it to replace human contact altogether. In the workplace, the use of electronic communication has overtaken face-to-face and voice-to-voice communication by a wide margin. This major shift has been driven by two major forces: the speed/geographic dispersion of business, and the lack of comfort with traditional interpersonal communication among a growing segment of our employee population: Gen Y and Millennials. Studies show that these generations – which will comprise more than 50% of the workforce by 2020 – would prefer to use instant messaging or other social media than stop by and talk with someone. This new communication preference is one of the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"generational gaps† plaguing organizations as employers try to manage a new set of expectations and norms in their younger employees. The majority of the world’s largest businesses are using social media with little thought as to how it can contribute to the organization’s overall strategy and that its use is destroying the integrity of face-to-face conversations and replacing it with â€Å"hidden conversations†. This is arguably true to some extent with many companies confused as to the role it should play inside the corporate framework. Further, because most business communication is now done via e-mails, texts, instant messaging, intranets, blogs, websites and other technology enabled media, minus body language, the potential for misinterpretation is growing. Rushed and stressed, people often do not take the time to consider the nuances of their writing. Conflicts explode over a tone of an e-mail, or that all-important cc: list. When someone writes a text in all capital letters, does it mean they are â€Å"shouting†? Are one- or two-word responses a sign that the person doesn’t want to engage? On the flip side, does a smiley face or an abbreviated acknowledgement of agreement really mean they are all set and aligned? Unfortunately conclusions are drawn on frighteningly little information. Getting Real In this wired world when we have only abridged words and faceless chats instead of voice, face and body expression how then do we communicate effectively and build more authentic relationships? Leaders must consider the impact on business relationships and the ability to effectively collaborate, build trust, and create employee engagement and loyalty. Susan Tardanico, leadership and communications executive coach, consultant and professional speaker and CEO of the Authentic Leadership Alliance LLC suggests certain ways for keeping communication real Suggestions for Keeping E-Communication Real †¢Address your issues. If you are drawing a conclusion about experiencing a conflict based on an electronic exchange, then pick up the phone or have a face-to-face conversation to clear things up. †¢Me first. Make an effort to check your own communications to ensure you aren’t sending an inaccurate  message. Take steps to put forth an accurate picture of reality. †¢Bridging the gap. As employees and employers, there are chances of dealing with different generations who have noticeably different communication preferences. Talk with colleagues about this aspect and ask for input on the best way to keep communication flowing through the team. †¢Stay connected. Don’t fall prey to the comfort of sitting behind closed doors and doing all your work from behind a computer screen or the hand-held device. No doubt it takes the pressure off many of the complexities of management, but this also disconnects us from face to face connections. Find a way to stay connected with colleagues; employee relationship is one of the determining factors for level of engagement and loyalty to the organization. †¢Beware of the disconnect. An eloquent and motivating online communication is easy to write. But if our words are not consistent with our actions and reality, this disconnect will harm our credibility and impede our ability to work effectively. †¢Two-way communication. Communication is essentially a two-way process. Just because you’ve fired off an e-mail or text, it doesn’t mean communication has taken place. We must pay attention to the feedback to see if our message is understood and accepted. Considering that this trend is here to stay, we need to create cultures where managers, employees and stakeholders renew their efforts to get at the real messages and issues. When colleagues spend personal time we can expect better working abilities. Correlations between face-to-face relationship-building and employee engagement and loyalty are a concept that has been proven again and again over the years. This has also been excellently explored in the concept â€Å"Management by Walking Around† in Tom Peters’ groundbreaking book In Search of Excellence. As global citizens of a technologically-enabled world we must find a way to incorporate all the amazing benefits which mediated communication has to offer while ensuring that we aren’t losing the human touch with the most significant personal and professional relationships.