Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Theory - Essay Example An organization has to satisfy these needs if it wants to achieve efficiency from its customers (Bateman and Snell, 2013). It is important to denote that the satisfaction of these needs must be done in a hierarchical order. Starting with the most important need, that is need for survival; up to the least important need that is the need of self-actualization. Another theory is the ERG theory by Aldefer. According to this theory, an individual has three important needs that an organization must satisfy in order to motivate them. These needs are the desire to exist, relate and grow. According to this theory, these needs change as the position of an employee progresses (Tracy, 2013). Existence encompasses the desire to satisfy basic human needs such as food, shelter and clothing. Relatedness is the desire of an employee to form associations with employers, co-workers, and family members (Dessler, 2013). Growth is the desire of an employee to achieve his or her ambitions. McClelland needs theory is another theory of motivation. According to this theory, the needs of an individual are acquired over time, and it is their experiences that shape these needs. McClelland identifies three needs, which are achievement, affiliation and power. This theory is often referred to as the three needs theory. Under achievement, an individual takes a calculated risk to accomplish their goals. They tend to avoid high risks situations, because success there comes as a chance. They also tend to avoid low risk situations because there is no guarantee of success (Fa?bregas and Scalise, 2012). With affiliation, comes the desire of an individual to create relationships. On this basis, an individual favors collaborations, as opposed to competition. The individual also desires power. Under this need, two types of power exists, institutional and personal (Walters, 2010). Personal power involves the need to control friends, and family members. While institutional is the need to control organiza tions. The motivator-hygiene model theory is also another example of a motivational theory. According to this theory, an organization needs to understand the factors that cause an employee to be motivated, and ones that cause the same employee to be de-motivated. This theory denotes that factors that motivate an employee can change over a period of time, and settings of work (Ryan, 2012). However, the need of respect cannot change. It is the most motivating factor at any given point of an individual’s life. This theory further denotes that in an organization, there is an aspect of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Managers must put all this in consideration while formulating policies. The final theory is the equity theory of motivation. This theory explains that the motivation of employees come as a result of perceptions in relation to the fairness in which an organization treats its various employees (Schunk, 2012). This theory denotes that individuals value fairness, and th is makes them to have motivation. Of these theories, the most important theory of motivation is the Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Model. This is because the theory is practical and identifies two factors that an organizations needs to consider while developing human resource policies.

What are the trends and problems of Indias Balance Of Payments

What are the trends and problems of Indias Balance Of Payments Balance of Payments (BOP) of a country shows its economic strengths and weaknesses. Most of the developing countries are deficit in their Balance of Accounts, India being no exception. Since independence, India has been facing this deficit or disequilibrium in terms of BOP, largely observed as a disaster in 1990-91, the year of the severe BOP crisis. At that time, India had foreign exchange reserve of meager 1 billion dollar, hardly sufficient to finance a months import bill. The nation was on the edge of defaulting. This crisis resulted in large scale amendments in the countrys economic policy, particularly known as the Structural Adjustment Program or New Economic Policy (NEP) regime, center of attention being liberalization and globalization of the economy. We opted for a very vigilant approach and at present after having surmounted the initial glitches of a newly liberalized economy, we have a somewhat comfortable BOP condition. Even though we have arrived at a comfortable BOP position showing signs of a strong rising economy, BOP management still remains a tough walk for policy makers for taking any discussion, as now we are uncovered to each and every change in the global economic set-up. Trends problems of Indias BOP 1949-50 to 1999-2000 The disequilibrium in Indias BOP has been accounted to both internal as well as external factors. The requirement for development of such a big nation with a large population is one of the main factors resulting in recurring BOP problem. The BOP is always under some pressure and had large deficits due to high level of imports of food grains and capital goods, the profound external borrowings, their payment and poor exports. After independence, the primary challenge in front of the country was to attain economic growth with social justice. Indias aim after accomplishing independence was to achieve economic self- reliance. For this the country had to strike both the internal as well as the external resources. Not only our technology but our food availability was also on the backward stage. Hefty amounts of food grains had to be imported to supply the demand of such a large population. Protectionist Policies The main intention of the Second Five Year Plan (1956-57 to 1960-61) was to achieve self reliance through industrialization. Self reliance was to be realized through import substitution. For this, essential industries had to be established which required import of capital goods. Exports were anticipated to take-off by own with advent of industrialization. It was felt that with advent of industrialization, there will be an increase in production at home that will be reflected in greater export earnings. The approach for import substitution was based on physical- interventionist, non-price policies like quotas, licensing and other physical ceilings on imports. Heavy capital goods were imported however other imports were relentlessly restricted to shut off competition for promoting domestic industries. Mainly focus was on import substitution, with gross disregard of exports. These inward looking protectionist policies did resulted in some self-reliance in the consumer goods industries, but most of the capital goods industries remained majorly import intensive. The elevated degree of protection to Indian industries resulted in to inefficiency and poor quality products basically due to lack of competition. The high cost of production further wrinkled our competitive strength. Rise in petroleum products demand, harvest failure, two oil shocks, all put acute strain on the economy. The BOP condition remained weak for the period of 1980s, till it arrived at the crisis situation in 1990-91; When India was on the brink of defaulting mainly due to intense debt burden and continually widening trade deficit. External Debt India had been an exercising choice to large scale foreign borrowings for its developmental activities in the field of fundamental social and industrial infrastructure. The countrys reserves were very much restricted due to low level of per capita income and savings. The situation aggravated because Government of India resorted to large amounts of foreign borrowings to rectify the BOP situation in the short run out of frightening condition. With Seventh Five Year Plan, the debt service obligations increased sharply due to stiffer average provisions of external debt, including repayments to the IMF, commercial borrowing, and a drop in concessional aid flow. Export Promotion Even though by the Sixth Five Year Plan we had overcome the need of food grain imports and some crude oil was also produced domestically, BOP position was still not at ease attributed to low exports. The essential need for promoting export was realized during the 1960s. The Third Five Year Plan commenced certain promotion policies pertaining to export like tax exemptions, duty drawbacks, cash compensatory schemes, Rupee devaluation etc. However it didnt showed significant improvements in exports. Indian exports depended largely on situation of world trade. We were chiefly primary product exporters, for which fluctuations in prices are very high in entire world market demand. Primary products exporting countries generally have unfavorable term of trade. The incomes from primary product exports were unstable and low. Secondly, the Indian products were not up to the mark in terms of quality and standard to sustain in world market. Third, mainly residue products were exported. The fact that export earnings contribute significantly to economic development was disregarded. Cumbersome procedures, rules and regulations for license etc served as disincentives for exporters. Domestic inflation further diminished the competitiveness of Indias export. Exchange Rate The fluctuation in the exchange value of the rupee was another posing problem. The steady devaluations (to promote exports) enhanced the amount of external debt. The value of rupee was administered by the central bank (fixed exchange rate). The considerable gap between official and market exchange rate generated difficulties for the exporters and importers. The stringent foreign exchange controls also persuaded Hawala trade. Trends in Indias BOP (2000-2010) The benefits of foreign trade were overlooked year after year. Indian entrepreneurs were withdrawing with low-priced, outdated technology and demolishing subsidies, generating a heavy national burden of large ailing public sector undertakings. Despite acting through an incentive based approach, government protection in fact damaged our industrial growth. The New Economic Policy of the nineties targeted for opening up of the economy, to permit free trade and competition and condense the role of government considerably in foreign trade issues. Restrictions on international trade were detached, foreign investments were allowed and a completely new Liberalized Exchange Management System was brought in to garner the benefits of competition and offset the drawbacks of a closed, inward looking trade policy. The alterations towards liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy were conceded out very vigilantly in phases. Foreign Investment India effectively attracted Foreign investors to the country with its earnest positive economic transforms like reduced cumbersome formalities and other paperwork. From a scanty US$103 million   net foreign investment in the year 1990-91, it has grown to us$ 8669 million   in 2008-09. Foreign investments kept the country buoyant during the recent global meltdown period. Because the consequences of recession were worst in the developed countries, the investors turned to the less affected rising economies like China and India. While initially foreign investment in the country did slow down significantly due to risk repugnance in the phase of the recession, but it picked up over again because rising economies like India and China were quick to execute corrective procedures to fight recession, showing creditable elasticity to the recession which badly affected the much developed economies. There was massive turn down in net capital flows from US $ 106.6 billion in 2007-2008 (8% of GDP) to US $ 7.2 billion (0.6 % of GDP) IN 2008-09. The turn down was mainly due to net outflows under portfolio investment. Despite this, the FDI inflow remained floating at US $ 21.0 billion during Apr Sept. 2009 as against US $ 20.7 billion in Apr.-Sept. 2008. FDI inflow has been primarily in communication services, manufacturing, and real estate sector. Current Account of BOP The current account of BOP consists of the merchandise trade (export and import) and the invisibles (services, transfers etc.). The liberalized policy and reasonably hassle free formalities for export and imports have provided a push to our export industries as well as industries catering to domestic demands. Exports and imports both witnessed double digit growth rate. India is now a principally manufactured goods and services exporter deriving benefits from a better term of trade, as compared to what it was earlier, primary goods exporter, prior to 1991. The contribution of Indias exports in world trade has increased from 0.7 % in 2000 to 1.2 % in 2008. Services too have extended to various fields catering to both domestic and international consumers. The current account balance broadened in 2008-09 (-2.4 % of GDP) compared to that of 2007-08 (-1.3% of GDP) attributed to recession, but it was sustainable. The external demand shock resulted in to the decline of export growth from 57 % in April-June08 to (-) 8.4 % in Oct- Dec08 and further to (-) 20 % in January-March09, a decline for the first time since 2001-02. Imports too turn downed similarly due to domestic industrial demand and sharp fall in international crude oil and some other primary commodity prices. Indias net invisibles rose by 18.7% in 2008-09. With the economy (domestic as well as global) getting its pace of momentum once again, there is hope of glare once again in the trade and financial world. India having cruised reasonably successful through the uneven scrap of recession can look further to garnering greater profit from world market, at least till the time the developed economies which were poorly affected by recession, revitalize fully. In short, the situation of BOP is quite well administered and contented. However, lessons from the occurrences of the financial crises taking place in various parts of the world from time to time, we are required to continue our vigilant approach towards BOP management. The country cannot meet the expense of a setback to its economic growth attained through large scale changes in national economic policies. India indeed has arrived a long way from the time of the days of the protectionist policies, but there is a lot to be accomplished yet, particularly in the sector of infrastructure, in order to become a strong economy.

What are the trends and problems of Indias Balance Of Payments

What are the trends and problems of Indias Balance Of Payments Balance of Payments (BOP) of a country shows its economic strengths and weaknesses. Most of the developing countries are deficit in their Balance of Accounts, India being no exception. Since independence, India has been facing this deficit or disequilibrium in terms of BOP, largely observed as a disaster in 1990-91, the year of the severe BOP crisis. At that time, India had foreign exchange reserve of meager 1 billion dollar, hardly sufficient to finance a months import bill. The nation was on the edge of defaulting. This crisis resulted in large scale amendments in the countrys economic policy, particularly known as the Structural Adjustment Program or New Economic Policy (NEP) regime, center of attention being liberalization and globalization of the economy. We opted for a very vigilant approach and at present after having surmounted the initial glitches of a newly liberalized economy, we have a somewhat comfortable BOP condition. Even though we have arrived at a comfortable BOP position showing signs of a strong rising economy, BOP management still remains a tough walk for policy makers for taking any discussion, as now we are uncovered to each and every change in the global economic set-up. Trends problems of Indias BOP 1949-50 to 1999-2000 The disequilibrium in Indias BOP has been accounted to both internal as well as external factors. The requirement for development of such a big nation with a large population is one of the main factors resulting in recurring BOP problem. The BOP is always under some pressure and had large deficits due to high level of imports of food grains and capital goods, the profound external borrowings, their payment and poor exports. After independence, the primary challenge in front of the country was to attain economic growth with social justice. Indias aim after accomplishing independence was to achieve economic self- reliance. For this the country had to strike both the internal as well as the external resources. Not only our technology but our food availability was also on the backward stage. Hefty amounts of food grains had to be imported to supply the demand of such a large population. Protectionist Policies The main intention of the Second Five Year Plan (1956-57 to 1960-61) was to achieve self reliance through industrialization. Self reliance was to be realized through import substitution. For this, essential industries had to be established which required import of capital goods. Exports were anticipated to take-off by own with advent of industrialization. It was felt that with advent of industrialization, there will be an increase in production at home that will be reflected in greater export earnings. The approach for import substitution was based on physical- interventionist, non-price policies like quotas, licensing and other physical ceilings on imports. Heavy capital goods were imported however other imports were relentlessly restricted to shut off competition for promoting domestic industries. Mainly focus was on import substitution, with gross disregard of exports. These inward looking protectionist policies did resulted in some self-reliance in the consumer goods industries, but most of the capital goods industries remained majorly import intensive. The elevated degree of protection to Indian industries resulted in to inefficiency and poor quality products basically due to lack of competition. The high cost of production further wrinkled our competitive strength. Rise in petroleum products demand, harvest failure, two oil shocks, all put acute strain on the economy. The BOP condition remained weak for the period of 1980s, till it arrived at the crisis situation in 1990-91; When India was on the brink of defaulting mainly due to intense debt burden and continually widening trade deficit. External Debt India had been an exercising choice to large scale foreign borrowings for its developmental activities in the field of fundamental social and industrial infrastructure. The countrys reserves were very much restricted due to low level of per capita income and savings. The situation aggravated because Government of India resorted to large amounts of foreign borrowings to rectify the BOP situation in the short run out of frightening condition. With Seventh Five Year Plan, the debt service obligations increased sharply due to stiffer average provisions of external debt, including repayments to the IMF, commercial borrowing, and a drop in concessional aid flow. Export Promotion Even though by the Sixth Five Year Plan we had overcome the need of food grain imports and some crude oil was also produced domestically, BOP position was still not at ease attributed to low exports. The essential need for promoting export was realized during the 1960s. The Third Five Year Plan commenced certain promotion policies pertaining to export like tax exemptions, duty drawbacks, cash compensatory schemes, Rupee devaluation etc. However it didnt showed significant improvements in exports. Indian exports depended largely on situation of world trade. We were chiefly primary product exporters, for which fluctuations in prices are very high in entire world market demand. Primary products exporting countries generally have unfavorable term of trade. The incomes from primary product exports were unstable and low. Secondly, the Indian products were not up to the mark in terms of quality and standard to sustain in world market. Third, mainly residue products were exported. The fact that export earnings contribute significantly to economic development was disregarded. Cumbersome procedures, rules and regulations for license etc served as disincentives for exporters. Domestic inflation further diminished the competitiveness of Indias export. Exchange Rate The fluctuation in the exchange value of the rupee was another posing problem. The steady devaluations (to promote exports) enhanced the amount of external debt. The value of rupee was administered by the central bank (fixed exchange rate). The considerable gap between official and market exchange rate generated difficulties for the exporters and importers. The stringent foreign exchange controls also persuaded Hawala trade. Trends in Indias BOP (2000-2010) The benefits of foreign trade were overlooked year after year. Indian entrepreneurs were withdrawing with low-priced, outdated technology and demolishing subsidies, generating a heavy national burden of large ailing public sector undertakings. Despite acting through an incentive based approach, government protection in fact damaged our industrial growth. The New Economic Policy of the nineties targeted for opening up of the economy, to permit free trade and competition and condense the role of government considerably in foreign trade issues. Restrictions on international trade were detached, foreign investments were allowed and a completely new Liberalized Exchange Management System was brought in to garner the benefits of competition and offset the drawbacks of a closed, inward looking trade policy. The alterations towards liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy were conceded out very vigilantly in phases. Foreign Investment India effectively attracted Foreign investors to the country with its earnest positive economic transforms like reduced cumbersome formalities and other paperwork. From a scanty US$103 million   net foreign investment in the year 1990-91, it has grown to us$ 8669 million   in 2008-09. Foreign investments kept the country buoyant during the recent global meltdown period. Because the consequences of recession were worst in the developed countries, the investors turned to the less affected rising economies like China and India. While initially foreign investment in the country did slow down significantly due to risk repugnance in the phase of the recession, but it picked up over again because rising economies like India and China were quick to execute corrective procedures to fight recession, showing creditable elasticity to the recession which badly affected the much developed economies. There was massive turn down in net capital flows from US $ 106.6 billion in 2007-2008 (8% of GDP) to US $ 7.2 billion (0.6 % of GDP) IN 2008-09. The turn down was mainly due to net outflows under portfolio investment. Despite this, the FDI inflow remained floating at US $ 21.0 billion during Apr Sept. 2009 as against US $ 20.7 billion in Apr.-Sept. 2008. FDI inflow has been primarily in communication services, manufacturing, and real estate sector. Current Account of BOP The current account of BOP consists of the merchandise trade (export and import) and the invisibles (services, transfers etc.). The liberalized policy and reasonably hassle free formalities for export and imports have provided a push to our export industries as well as industries catering to domestic demands. Exports and imports both witnessed double digit growth rate. India is now a principally manufactured goods and services exporter deriving benefits from a better term of trade, as compared to what it was earlier, primary goods exporter, prior to 1991. The contribution of Indias exports in world trade has increased from 0.7 % in 2000 to 1.2 % in 2008. Services too have extended to various fields catering to both domestic and international consumers. The current account balance broadened in 2008-09 (-2.4 % of GDP) compared to that of 2007-08 (-1.3% of GDP) attributed to recession, but it was sustainable. The external demand shock resulted in to the decline of export growth from 57 % in April-June08 to (-) 8.4 % in Oct- Dec08 and further to (-) 20 % in January-March09, a decline for the first time since 2001-02. Imports too turn downed similarly due to domestic industrial demand and sharp fall in international crude oil and some other primary commodity prices. Indias net invisibles rose by 18.7% in 2008-09. With the economy (domestic as well as global) getting its pace of momentum once again, there is hope of glare once again in the trade and financial world. India having cruised reasonably successful through the uneven scrap of recession can look further to garnering greater profit from world market, at least till the time the developed economies which were poorly affected by recession, revitalize fully. In short, the situation of BOP is quite well administered and contented. However, lessons from the occurrences of the financial crises taking place in various parts of the world from time to time, we are required to continue our vigilant approach towards BOP management. The country cannot meet the expense of a setback to its economic growth attained through large scale changes in national economic policies. India indeed has arrived a long way from the time of the days of the protectionist policies, but there is a lot to be accomplished yet, particularly in the sector of infrastructure, in order to become a strong economy.

The Reality of War Exposed in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff :: English Literature

The Reality of War Exposed in Journeys End by R.C Sheriff In the play â€Å"Journey’s end† R.C Sherrif recreates the tremendous stress and fear by the men at the front in the First World War. In this essay I am going to focus on two characters, who show stress and fear. The two characters the essay will focus on are Stanhope, who is the captain and Hibbert who is an officer. A couple of background realities about the war are that it started in 1914 and a numerous countries were changed like Germany and England. This war was dissimilar to other wars that were formerly fought because they used more up to date weapons such as gas bombs and machine guns. It was estimated that nine million people died. R.C Sherriff was once himself in the World War one, as an officer in the East Surrey Regiment. He was injured in the battle of Passchendael in 1917. Journeys end is based upon his past experiences in the war - reflecting the way he and his comrades lived and fought and repeating some of its events. R.C Sherriff wrote other play, a few novels and quite a few film scripts. R.C Sherriff is best remembered for Journey’s End. R.C Sherriff reconstructs the war in Journey’s end by making the audience feel as if they are there in the war with the characters. The play is based in the officers dug out, which was where the most action took place. In order to make the audience feel as if they were there in the war R.C Sherriff made notes in the stage directions like for example â€Å"the red and green glow of German alarm rockets comes faintly through the dugout door† in this example the stage which the play would be carried out would have been pitch black and red green flashing lights and loud bangs which represents the war, it makes it as if the audience feel as if they were there. The audience would feel like they involved with the characters because of personal things they were saying, for example an argument. The dug out which is shown in most scenes of the play, where it is set is very small with only one table. The situations in the trenches would have been extremely uncomfortable for the men; this can be very stressful for the men at times. This can be noticed from certain things in the characters actions, â€Å"Captain hardy a red faced positive looking man is sitting on a box by the table, he concentrated on drying his sock over a candle flame†.

Persuasive speech on volunteer work Essay

Intro It seems like most people who are trying to persuade you to do volunteer work are always trying to get you at their one specific company or organization. They show you all the benefits of working there and everything you should get out of it, all the reasons why it’s the best place to go. I’m sure one reason after another goes in one ear and out the other, especially when you have to listen to so many of them. Well today I want to discuss why any volunteer work is important in itself and it’s not so much about where you go or what you do but rather that you go out there and do it. First I will start with the importance of volunteering and why you personally should get involved, then I will talk about why volunteering should be voluntary and at a place that interests you (that’s not something we are used to thinking about but an important point nonetheless), and last tell you about what I learned during my volunteer work and why the Riley Arena Ice Rink in Cody WY is one great option for getting out there and starting to volunteer. Body The Importance of Volunteering 1. How it helps the community and why it is needed a. We all live in a community and the condition of it affects who we are and what we do. If its run down or has high standards b. A simple act of kindness can change a whole persons day or even their life c. Volunteering provides needed labor that may otherwise not be provided i. WY is ranked 18th in the country for volunteer work with about 30 Percent of residents consistently volunteering. (www.VolunteeringinAmerica.gov) it’s a pretty good number but I think we can do better. ii. In 2012 a total of 14.8 Million hours of work was given by WY residents resulting in $327 Million dollars’ worth of service iii. The sad part- a big chunk of those people are all over the age of 55. We need young people do to this too! I’m sure your thinking well that’s because I don’t really get anything out of it, that’s why only old people do it†¦but that leads to my next point of how it helps you 2. How it helps you specifically a. Learn new skills that can come in handy in life i. According to www.worldvolunteerweb.org 73 percent of employers would rather hire a person with volunteer work than without. and 94 percent of employers think that volunteer work can add useful skills to the job. ii. 94 percent of employees who volunteer actively either got a raise in salary or promoted over the employees who don’t volunteer. If the raise came down to you and one other person b. Increased sense of self-worth i. People who volunteer actively are 63 percent more confident in themselves according to that same study. I don’t know about you but I sure could use a bit more confidence, especially up here. ii. It can give you a sense of belonging and of being needed. This is bigger for men than woman because a lot of times men want to be useful and seen as doing good for the benefit of others. It’s who we are and volunteering is a great way to accomplish that. c. Provides opportunity to meet new people i. Meeting new people could lead to contacts in the future and it’s always a good idea to know as many people as possible, whether its people you are working with or helping serve ii. You never know when having friends will come in handy iii. Can introduce you to people in completely different walk of life or environments and that could be life changing in itself. Why Volunteering Should Be Voluntary 1. We usually don’t think about what doing volunteer work really means. We tend to skip across a big point†¦that it’s our choice to do. 2. According to Google.com the word voluntary comes from the Latin word Voluntas which means â€Å"out of free will† a. If we are going to pick somewhere to volunteer at it should be somewhere that we want to work at. Make it something that’s important to you! This will help in multiple ways including i. Increased happiness when doing the work. No one wants to be bored all day with something they don’t believe is important. ii. The quality of work is improved which makes the place you are helping at even more thankful iii. Sense of self-worth is even higher because we are helping with something that we know is needed b. If you don’t volunteer with something you value  you will get bored and not enjoy doing the work thus resulting in less time spent doing the work. So what’s the point then? It’s all about our will and what we think is right. Riley Arena Ice Rink –now I get to tell you all about my work here and why it’s a great place to start a volunteering career at 1. Background of Riley Arena a. Ice Skating Rink in Cody WY that started in 1999 by Mr.Riley (according to the riley arena website that is) b. During warmer months it also holds banquets and other large gatherings which can be scheduled through their website c. Homes the Yellowstone Quake hockey team 2. Why it’s a good start a. The work wasn’t too hard, mostly just time consuming. We mopped the floor and bleachers a few times b. They were very flexible with the hours that we wanted to come in help and always seemed thankful for us to be there. c. It really does look great on a resume and will let people know you volunteered at a â€Å"cool† place (it is an ice rink after all) 3. How and why it fit me a. I found a lot of pride in volunteering here because I felt like it’s somewhere that doesn’t get a lot of attention but still needed people to help at, even if it was cleaning bathrooms. b. Although I wasn’t out saving the world, or the children, or the animals, or the elderly†¦I was still making a difference in people’s lives. Conclusion In the end that’s what really matters anyway right, helping people in need and being a blessing in someone’s life. Volunteering is about helping the community around you and at the same time helping yourself, whether that is advancing your career or just making yourself feel good. You should try to volunteer somewhere that you believe is important and that you can make a difference, otherwise it won’t be fun for anyone involved. If you’re looking for somewhere to start your volunteering life then you could try out the Riley Arena but more importantly than going there is that you just get out there. Take a little time out of your  busy schedule and make a difference in someone’s live, because you never know what you will get out in return.  Thank you! Works Cited http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org http://www.helpguide.org http://www.rileyarena.coma

Pennsylvania School Essay

It is my fervent wish to attend the prestigious University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine primarily because of the instant respect that a graduate of this 128 year old institution commands and also because I share the university and I share the same mission objectives and beliefs. I firmly believe that my goal of becoming and exceptional citizen who strives to offer the best available, affordable and even free dental services to those in need will be lent a guiding hand by the university. This is because just like the university, I believe that dentistry is a lifelong commitment that requires a lifetime of learning and discipline that will help me achieve my objective of providing a necessary dental care to the people who need it the most regardless of their status in life and financial capability. Achieving this will be possible for me because Penn Dental Medicine encourages their students to undertake dental researches and education that most often thrusts their students into the center of innovative and improved dental care methods. It is my hope that I will be given the chance to join the roster of students of Penn Dental Medicine who have gone on to become leaders in their chosen areas of dental specialization by attending regular classes in the atmosphere of the school that is conducive to students like me who strive for constant learning. Since Penn Dental Medicine encourages free expression, reasoned discourse, and diversity of ideas, I believe that I can only blossom and reach my full intellectual potential while attending this university because I will be allowed to explore my full potential not only as dental student and future dentist, but also as an individual whose rights are respected by the university as well.

Aristotle vs Platonist Essays

Aristotle vs Platonist Essays Aristotle vs Platonist Essay Aristotle vs Platonist Essay Aristotle and Plato were two men with different theories. Although they had some aspects in common, each had their understandings and meanings. Here I will explain what were their beliefs and how these philosophers interpreted each word with its true value. Also with the information, I will try to undercover the meaning of why people used to say people were born either as a Platonist or as a Aristotelian. Between these two philosophers their were differences of character, temperament, background, and mental attitude. Their philosophic belief on the other hand was similar in words but not in action. Let us see why and what am I referring to (Grube). Also, let us choose if we are a Aristotelian or a Platonist and why they say people were born this or that. Virtue is a word that both used to use in their philosophic belief, but, as I said before, the actions were different. To begin with, Aristotles used to describe this word to a action that they have might not even have had the opportunity to chose themselves when they were young. In the norms, help by teachers, parents, and even the government; the development of proper habits was to be made from each persons childhood. This would eventually lead to a better community and for that, better and educated environment. Not only would an adult with this sense of virtue like this be wise to use courage, friendship, justice and other characteristics developed during childhood in a proper way but that is what is required to be good and act when adults. The help is what makes you better when educated young in childhood (Wiki). As mentioned before, Aristotle has different theories than Plato. He suggests that the forms can be discovered through a examination of the world being natural. Now, Plato believes that forms are farther than what humans can understand, it is way beyond. What Platonist ethics is all about is the Form of the Good. For him, virtue is knowledge. The soul, being divided in three parts, which are spirit, reason, and appetite have their share. Then, we have three virtues which are wisdom, moderation, and courage. What makes all of those be together and united is the virtue of justice. This makes the function be the perfection by each part of the soul is performed. Platonism is identified by the persons soul and describes idea prior to matter unlike Aristotelianism (Wiki). To my conclusion, looking at both Aristotelian and Platonist I agree with Platonist belief. While Aristotelian believes that virtue comes through this world as we see it, Plato goes beyond and knows that it is way beyond the eyes of the humans. I think that each person is up-brought differently and for that I believe that all humans have different point of views. My view is Platonist. I am a person that believes and does not have to see it with my own eyes. I do think its important to be educated from childhood but I believe in second chances. Everyone can change and it does not matter if it will be only when you are an adult. Virtue is something that can be used in all phases o life. That is my conclusion on why I was born as a Platonist and not as a Aritotelian. Work Cited: Aristotelian Ethics. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Inc, 2 Nov. 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. . Grube, G. M. A. Platonist and Aristotelian. Pheonix. Classical Association of Canada, 1947. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. . Platonism. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Inc. , 12 Nov. 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. .

The History of Singapores Economic Development

The History of Singapores Economic Development In the 1960s, the city-state of Singapore was an undeveloped country with a GDP per capita of less than U.S. $320. Today, it is one of the worlds fastest-growing economies. Its GDP per capita has risen to an incredible U.S. $60,000, making it one of the strongest economies in the world. For a small country with few natural resources, Singapores economic ascension is nothing short of remarkable. By embracing globalization, free-market capitalism, education, and pragmatic policies, the country has been able to overcome its geographic disadvantages and become a leader in global commerce. Independence For over 100 years, Singapore was under British control. But when the British failed to protect the colony from the Japanese during World War II, it sparked a strong anti-colonial and nationalist sentiment that subsequently led to Singapores independence. On August 31, 1963, Singapore seceded from the British crown and merged with Malaysia to form the Federation of Malaysia. The two years Singapore spent as part of Malaysia were filled with social strife, as the two sides struggled to assimilate with one another ethnically. Street riots and violence became very common. The Chinese in Singapore outnumbered the Malay three-to-one. The Malay politicians in Kuala Lumpur feared their heritage and political ideologies were being threatened by the growing Chinese population throughout the island and peninsula. Therefore, as a way of ensuring a Malay majority within Malaysia proper and to limit the influence of communism, the Malaysian parliament voted to expel Singapore from Malaysia. Singapore gained formal independence on August 9, 1965, with Yusof bin Ishak serving as its first president and the highly influential Lee Kuan Yew as its prime minister. After independence, Singapore continued to experience problems. Much of the city-states three million people were unemployed. More than two-thirds of its population was living in slums and squatter settlements on the citys fringe. The territory was sandwiched between two large and unfriendly states in Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore lacked natural resources, sanitation, proper infrastructure, and adequate water supply. In order to stimulate development, Lee sought international assistance, but his pleas went unanswered, leaving Singapore to fend for itself. Globalization During colonial times, Singapores economy was centered on entrepà ´t trade. But this economic activity offered little prospect for job expansion in the post-colonial period. The withdrawal of the British further aggravated the unemployment situation. The most feasible solution to Singapores economic and unemployment woes was to embark on a comprehensive program of industrialization, with a focus on labor-intensive industries. Unfortunately, Singapore had no industrial tradition. The majority of its working population was in trade and services. Therefore, they had no expertise or easily adaptable skills. Moreover, without a hinterland and neighbors who would trade with it, Singapore was forced to look for opportunities well beyond its borders to spearhead its industrial development. Pressured to find work for their people, the leaders of Singapore began to experiment with globalization. Influenced by Israels ability to leap over its Arab neighbors (who boycotted Israel) and trade with Europe and America, Lee and his colleagues knew they had to connect with the developed world and convince multinational corporations to manufacture in Singapore. In order to attract investors, Singapore had to create an environment that was safe, corruption-free, and low in taxation. To make this feasible, the citizens of the country had to suspend a large measure of their freedom in place of a more autocratic government. Anyone caught conducting narcotic trade or intensive corruption would be met with the death penalty. Lees People Action Party (PAP) repressed all independent labor unions and consolidated what remained into a single umbrella group called the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), which the party directly controlled. Individuals who threatened national, political, or corporate unity were quickly jailed without much due process. The countrys draconian, but business-friendly laws became very appealing to international investors. In contrast to its neighbors, where political and economic climates were unpredictable, Singapore was very stable. Moreover, with its advantageous location and established port system, Singapore was an i deal place to manufacture goods. By 1972, just seven years after independence, one-quarter of Singapores manufacturing firms were either foreign-owned or joint-venture companies, and both the United States and Japan were major investors. As a result of Singapores steady climate, favorable investment conditions and the rapid expansion of the world economy from 1965 to 1972, the countrys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) experienced annual double-digit growth. As foreign investment money poured in, Singapore began focusing on developing its human resources in addition to its infrastructure. The country set up many technical schools and paid international corporations to train their unskilled workers in information technology, petrochemicals, and electronics. For those who could not get industrial jobs, the government enrolled them in labor-intensive un-tradable services, such as tourism and transportation. The strategy of having multinationals educate their workforce paid great dividends for the country. In the 1970s, Singapore was primarily exporting textiles, garments, and basic electronics. By the 1990s, they were engaging in wafer fabrication, logistics, biotech research, pharmaceuticals, integrated circuit design, and aerospace engineering. A Modern Economy Today, Singapore is a modern, industrialized society and entrepà ´t trade continues to play a central role in its economy. The Port of Singapore is now the worlds busiest transshipment port, surpassing Hong Kong and Rotterdam. In terms of total cargo tonnage handled, it has become the worlds second busiest, behind only the Port of Shanghai. Singapores tourism industry is also thriving, attracting over 10 million visitors annually. The city-state now has a zoo, a night safari, and a nature reserve. The country recently opened two of the worlds most expensive integrated casino resorts in the Marina Bay Sands and the Resorts World Sentosa. The countrys medical tourism and culinary tourism industries have also become quite successful, thanks to Singapores cultural heritage and advanced medical technology. Banking has grown significantly in recent years and many assets formerly held in Switzerland have been moved to Singapore due to new taxes imposed by the Swiss. The biotech industry is burgeoning, with drug makers such as GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, and Merck Co. all establishing plants here, and oil refining continues to play a huge role in the economy. Despite its small size, Singapore is now the 15th largest trading partner of the United States. The country has established strong trade agreements with several countries in South America, Europe, and Asia as well. There are currently over 3,000 multinational corporations operating in the country, accounting for more than two-thirds of its manufacturing output and direct export sales. With a total land area of just 433 square miles and a small labor force of 3 million people, Singapore is able to produce a GDP that exceeds $300 billion dollars annually, higher than three-quarters of the world. Life expectancy is 83.75 years, the third highest in the world. Singapore is considered to be one of the best places to live on Earth if you dont mind the strict rules. Singapores model of sacrificing freedom for business is highly controversial and heavily debated. Regardless of philosophy, though, its effectiveness is undeniable.

A Crash Course in the Branches of Linguistics

A Crash Course in the Branches of Linguistics Dont confuse a linguist with a polyglot (someone whos able to speak many different languages) or with a language maven or SNOOT (a self-appointed authority on usage). A linguist is a specialist in the field of linguistics. So then, what is linguistics? Simply defined, linguistics is the scientific study of language. Though various types of language studies (including grammar and rhetoric) can be traced back over 2,500 years, the era of modern linguistics is barely two centuries old. Kicked off by the late-18th-century discovery that many European and Asian languages descended from a common tongue (Proto-Indo-European), modern linguistics was reshaped, first, by Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) and more recently by Noam Chomsky (born 1928) and others. But theres a bit more to it than that. Multiple Perspectives on Linguistics Lets consider a few expanded definitions of linguistics. Everyone will agree that linguistics is concerned with the lexical and grammatical categories of individual languages, with differences between one type of language and another, and with historical relations within families of languages.(Peter Matthews, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford University Press, 2005)Linguistics can be defined as the systematic inquiry into human language- into its structures and uses and the relationship between them, as well as into its development through history and its acquisition by children and adults. The scope of linguistics includes both language structure (and its underlying grammatical competence) and language use (and its underlying communicative competence).(Edward Finegan, Language: Its Structure and Use, 6th ed. Wadsworth, 2012)Linguistics is concerned with human language as a universal and recognizable part of the human behaviour and of the human faculties, perhaps one of the most essential to human life as we know it, and one of the most far-reaching of human capabilities in relation to the whole span of mankind’s achievements.(Robert Henry Robins, General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey, 4th ed. Longmans, 1989) There is often considerable tension in linguistics departments between those who study linguistic knowledge as an abstract computational system, ultimately embedded in the human brain, and those who are more concerned with language as a social system played out in human interactional patterns and networks of beliefs. . . . Although most theoretical linguists are reasonable types, they are sometimes accused of seeing human language as purely a formal, abstract system, and of marginalizing the importance of sociolinguistic research.(Christopher J. Hall, An Introduction to Language and Linguistics: Breaking the Language Spell. Continuum, 2005) The tension that Hall refers to in this last passage is reflected, in part, by the many different types of linguistic studies that exist today. Branches of Linguistics Like most academic disciplines, linguistics has been divided into numerous overlapping subfields- a stew of alien and undigestible terms, as Randy Allen Harris characterized them in his 1993 book The Linguistics Wars (Oxford University Press). Using the sentence Fideau chased the cat as an example, Allen offered this crash course in the major branches of linguistics. (Follow the links to learn more about these subfields.) Phonetics concerns the acoustic waveform itself, the systematic disruptions of air molecules that occur whenever someone utters the expression.Phonology concerns the elements of that waveform which recognizably punctuate the sonic flow- consonants, vowels, and syllables, represented on this page by letters.Morphology concerns the words and meaningful subwords constructed out of the phonological elements- that Fideau is a noun, naming some mongrel, that chase is a verb signifying a specific action which calls for both a chaser and a chasee, that -ed is a suffix indicating past action, and so on.Syntax concerns the arrangement of those morphological elements into phrases and sentences- that chased the cat is a verb phrase, that the cat is its noun phrase (the chasee), that Fideau is another noun phrase (the chaser), that the whole thing is a sentence.Semantics concerns the proposition expressed by that sentence- in particular, that it is true if and only if some mutt named Fideau has c hased some definite cat. Though handy, Harriss list of linguistic subfields is far from comprehensive. In fact, some of the most innovative work in contemporary language studies is being carried out in even more specialized branches, some of which hardly existed 30 or 40 years ago. Here, without the assistance of Fideau, is a sample of those specialized branches: applied linguistics, cognitive linguistics, contact linguistics, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, forensic linguistics, graphology, historical linguistics, language acquisition, lexicology, linguistic anthropology, neurolinguistics, paralinguistics, pragmatics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and stylistics. Is That All There Is? Certainly not. For both the scholar and the general reader, many fine books on linguistics and its subfields are available. But if asked to recommend a single text that is at once knowledgeable, accessible, and thoroughly enjoyable, plump for The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, 3rd ed., by David Crystal (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Just be warned: Crystals book may turn you into a budding linguist.

Analytical tools in making decisions concerning increasing commodity Essay

Analytical tools in making decisions concerning increasing commodity price - Essay Example The government is the referee in making sure that there is fairness in the business. Economics being a social science it revolves the behavioral aspect of the human life which is imposed by the scarcity of resources in a person life. In a market the interaction between the sellers result what is called economic equilibrium which results the issue of competitiveness in the market. The term economics is a broad discipline that consists of microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics Microeconomics is a branch of economics that mainly deals with the decision that the agents of the market make while conducting business. The agents of the market are the people and businesses. In essence the study of microeconomics deals with basics of the market. It is more of specific than general. Microeconomics tries to bring the relevance of the small agents in the market that could be neglected but are very important in the study of economics. The consumers provide the market while the suppliers and the businesses provide with the goods and services. The major dwelling of microeconomics is in the supply and demand forces that operate in the market. The supply forces refers to the availability of goods and services to the market while the demand refers to the availability of customers of various products and services in the market. These forces are crucial in the determination of the price of various commodities in the market. The higher the demand it would mean that the goods and services are in short supply while the lower the demand it means the goods and services are in high supply. Thus in high demand the prices are in sky rocketing while in low demand the price are very low than normal (Zhang, 2005) Macroeconomics This is a branch of economics that mainly the whole industry in the market rather than a specific entity like a company. It tries to look an economy at a wide view e.g. the general economy of the country. In macroeconomics, issues such as the GDP are keenly followed and how they are affected by factors such as price levels, unemployment and the rate of growth. The two terms lead to a better understanding of economics. There could be some differences between them but they still deal with study of production, distribution and consumption of goods. In our module we have greatly dealt with microeconomics which entails eh study of the behavioral aspects and factors affecting the agents of economy. There are various theories that try to explain the term economics. These are the supply and demand theory and the classical theory. The supply and demand theory of economics mainly entails looking at the two forces in the market that entirely explains the relationship between the buyers and sellers. The other theory is the classical theory which entirely concentrates on the equilibrium in the market which operates in the market when the market is not interrupted. The theory mainly stresses on the factor that the market should operate freely withou t any interference (Adams, 2008). Analytical tools in making decisions concerning increasing commodity price The price of any product affects the sales of any company, which exponentially affects the profits acquired by the company. In any decision making process of any profitable company coming up with price rise is usually a tricky situation as it directly touches on the customers’ feelings. At the price level is where the company directly interacts with the customers. Price increase cannot be done overnight but it is usually as a result of many factors that contribute to this course. It is mainly as a result of

Compare and contrast the two accounts. What is the perspective of each Essay

Compare and contrast the two accounts. What is the perspective of each text How does Diamant change or add to the Genesis narrative Why - Essay Example very important to anyone who reads this novel to read also the Bible, so that he will be guided by the chronological events, the characters and the existing facts that might be destroyed, if a reader will just be depended or hooked to the ideas and emotions the novel injects. The reference here is the scripture, which will be the real basis of the discussion, and relatively how the novel, The Red Tent made slight changes to the biblical story line. By then, a reader will be equipped with the necessary understanding on how a margin line can be created from both, such that will separate what is scriptural and a historical fiction. Speaking of fiction, The Red Tent is a thing that could be appreciated. Any person who loves fiction can easily grasp and understand the point of view of the author. It is expected that from the original text, a novel can add and modify the real content in order to create the twist of what the true story is, and then produce a beautiful piece without necessarily referring from the actual facts. From the title of the novel, it will lead us to the idea that the whole novel would not really be a Biblical fact. The term â€Å"red tent† where allegedly Dinah and her mothers gather together is only a creative thing added by the author of the novel itself. In the novel, the red tent is the place where Hebrew women gathered together during their menstrual periods, and as they gather share thoughts, ideas and their womanly experiences in life. The portrayal in the story attempts to make us visualize a designated place for women exclusively made for them to hide themselves from the com munity during their monthly periods. Biblically, it is not true that there is an intended place particularly for women to gather during their monthly period. Scriptural account from the book of the Bible shows that a woman during her menstrual cycle would stay on her tent until menstruation end, but not particularly red tent. Another point is, the practice of

Choose an allied health profession Research Paper

Choose an allied health profession - Research Paper Example EHOs prevent, investigate, consult, and spread awareness in the community about the importance of maintaining a safe and healthy environment and avoiding health risks. EHOs display a firm understanding of risk assessment, microbiology, food science, environmental technology and science, knowledge and skills about tracing the communicable diseases and controlling them, and study and implementation of legislation associated with environment and public health. EHOs work together with the ministries of government like the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Health, businesses, local municipalities, community agencies and individual community members. The main role of an EHO is to protect the health and safety of the public. EHOs have been traditionally known as sanitary inspectors and inspectors of nuisances. Titles for this job that exist presently include public health officer, and health official. State health authorities or local governments employ t he environmental health professionals to help them enforce the standards of public health. Many EHOs are also employed in the military as well as in the private sector. Jobs related to EHOs that can be found in the advertisements include services of inspection and enforcement, investigation of communicable disease, community planning, environmental health consulting, training in the course of food safety, planning of sewage disposal system, pest control, air quality monitoring, and noise control. EHOs work in a variety of settings. For example, when they have to work as Navy Environmental Health Officers (EHOs), they are required to have a bachelor’s degree at minimum. They are required to prevent and achieve control over the diseases in the populations of Navy and Marine Corps. They are expected to conduct the investigation of ongoing diseases, identify useful methods for the assessment of health-threat, and recognize potential dangers along with developing the countermeasur es for the threats. In the job of Navy, an EHO may be â€Å"[p]roviding guidance to Commanding Officers, Operational/Joint/Coalition Force Commanders and Installation Commanders on food safety, water and wastewater safety, communicable disease control, risk communication, and epidemiological/biostatistic methods of assessing threats† (Navy, n.d.). They have to do considerable amount of fieldwork and many of them are required to travel frequently. Working hours for EHOs are long and irregular. They have to inspect the places and equipment with respect to the standards of health and safety. In the US, the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) offers the environmental health credentials. â€Å"Founded in 1937 by practitioners who wanted to establish a standard of excellence for the profession, that standard has come to be known as the Registered Environmental Health Specialist or Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS) credential† (NEHA, 2013). Recently, NEHA has added a computer testing along with a process of online continuing education submission. Numerous professional organizations are conducting research and contributing to the development of the EHOs and through them, the whole society. The Environmental Health Officers’ Association (EHOA) is one of such professional organizations whose objective is promotion of the environmental health and education of the public regarding the issues of

Markets, Profits and Prices Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Markets, Profits and Prices - Case Study Example If revenue is less than total variable costs, a firm should stop operating, even in the short run (Barron, Lynch & Blanchard, 2003, p.241). The second rule applies the concept of marginal cost. The profit must rise if producing another unit of output adds more to revenues that to costs. Similarly, the profit must fall if producing another unit increases costs by more than it increases revenues. The analysis of fixed, variable and marginal costs combined with identification of the market in which Boeing operates and the concept of opportunity costs can assist in understanding how Boeing estimated the offer made to its workers in a commercial aircrafts division. In the context of production, fixed costs are costs that do not change with the level of output they produce. Whether the firm produces 1 million units of output or zero units of output, those costs must be paid (Barron, Lynch & Blanchard, 2003, p.241). For Boeing, the plant, machinery and equipment should constitute the majority of its fixed costs in the commercial aircraft division. ... Other fixed cost components might include wages to executives, administrative and selling expenses, leases, etc. Overall, Boeing is expected to have a very high level of fixed costs. "On the other hand, any costs that do vary with output, like materials and labor, are referred to as variable costs" (Barron, Lynch & Blanchard, 2003, p.241). The major variable costs for Boeing are materials used for aircraft production (i.e. steel), utilities and labor. It is stated in the article that there are more than 18,500 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers covered by the Boeing contracts. This number indicates that Boeing hires a large amount of workers. Therefore, labor costs might account for the majority of variable costs of Boeing in producing commercial aircrafts. The total cost of producing a given amount of output is simply the sum of costs associated with the hiring of all the inputs, both fixed and variable. The average cost for Boeing is the total cost divided by the number of aircrafts that Boeing produces. Even though average cost figure provides some useful information to the company, it does not seem to play a significant role in economics decision-making."The marginal cost of production is the increase in total costs resulting when output is increased by one unit" (Barron, Lynch & Blanchard, 2003, p.79). Commercial aircrafts are very large products. So the marginal cost of production of Boeing should be very high in money terms, but commensurate with the prices Boeing charges for its aircrafts. Out of fixed and variable cost, only variable cost plays a role in decision-making. "Because the fixed costs do not vary with the level of output, they are irrelevant in

Literary Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Literary Analysis - Essay Example Spayde (1998) further adds that formal training is a vital necessity, however power and class simultaneously plays significant role in the sector of education. For instance, the graduates from world class universities like Stanford and Harvard would be offered the designations at workplace to prepare the work schedules for those who have acquired their degree from a not so famous, regional college. The eminent journalist and novelist, Earl Shorris (Spayde, 1998, p.67) realized the flaws of the modern educational system and took initiative for starting up an Ivy League adult education course which was meant for the â€Å"Asians, whites, blacks and Hispanics† (p.67). On the first day of his lecture, Shorris (Spayde, 1998, p.67) addressed his students and let them know that â€Å"humanities† is not just a subject to be studied by the Rich strata of the society. The term â€Å"Humanities† embraces the entire world and its people. The concept of humanities teaches the students how to live, how to think and how to enjoy life. The subject enriches the readers by providing them a new perspective towards life. Spayde (1998) further recognizes several misconceptions about the term â€Å"education†. He states that â€Å"training† at a local computer school is an option considered suitable for the poor Americans. However technical training inevitably tur ns out to be obsolete after a few years. Spayde (1998) argues that â€Å"education† is nothing but a dialogue which carries different meanings for different societies. The present concept of education is merely making the students suitable for fighting the â€Å"global competitiveness† but Spayde (1998) states that despite of possessing specialized skills, these contemporary graduates lack â€Å"intellectual breadth† (p.68) which can only be learnt by the practice of humanities. The professor of environmental studies of Oberlin College defines the recent trend of

Government Managing the Economy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Government Managing the Economy - Coursework Example The government employs the use of fiscal and monetary policy in controlling the economy. The fiscal policy uses spending and taxation to bring about stability. The monetary policy applies the use of the use of key tools by the central bank to bring about stability in cases of excess or limited liquidity in the economy. These roles can only be played by the government which confirms how important the role of government in the economy is. The government plays a critical role in capital budgeting through adoption of the various techniques in its public expenditure decisions. Just like individual firms, the government engages in authorization of capital spending on long-term projects that are of great significance to the entire nation. This is done through qualitative and quantitative analysis of projects (Lee, et. Al, 2012). Provision of pubic goods in the economy is done by the government. These are goods that the society need for their survival and are meant to benefit everyone. If the provision of such goods is left in the hands of the private sector, many people will not be able to access such goods owing to the profit making initiative of private firms (Goldin, 1994). The government plays a vital role in creating order within the economy which is very critical for elimination of social unrest and political upheaval. Such order by the government eliminates social evils such as corruption, hoarding, smuggling of goods and operation of black market that sell illegal products in the economy. The economic policies applied by the government assist in maintaining the stability of the local currency thus promoting international trade and

Literary Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Literary Analysis - Essay Example Spayde (1998) further adds that formal training is a vital necessity, however power and class simultaneously plays significant role in the sector of education. For instance, the graduates from world class universities like Stanford and Harvard would be offered the designations at workplace to prepare the work schedules for those who have acquired their degree from a not so famous, regional college. The eminent journalist and novelist, Earl Shorris (Spayde, 1998, p.67) realized the flaws of the modern educational system and took initiative for starting up an Ivy League adult education course which was meant for the â€Å"Asians, whites, blacks and Hispanics† (p.67). On the first day of his lecture, Shorris (Spayde, 1998, p.67) addressed his students and let them know that â€Å"humanities† is not just a subject to be studied by the Rich strata of the society. The term â€Å"Humanities† embraces the entire world and its people. The concept of humanities teaches the students how to live, how to think and how to enjoy life. The subject enriches the readers by providing them a new perspective towards life. Spayde (1998) further recognizes several misconceptions about the term â€Å"education†. He states that â€Å"training† at a local computer school is an option considered suitable for the poor Americans. However technical training inevitably tur ns out to be obsolete after a few years. Spayde (1998) argues that â€Å"education† is nothing but a dialogue which carries different meanings for different societies. The present concept of education is merely making the students suitable for fighting the â€Å"global competitiveness† but Spayde (1998) states that despite of possessing specialized skills, these contemporary graduates lack â€Å"intellectual breadth† (p.68) which can only be learnt by the practice of humanities. The professor of environmental studies of Oberlin College defines the recent trend of

McDonald's Health (choose a topic regarding health in mcdonalds) Research Paper

McDonald's Health (choose a topic regarding health in mcdonalds) - Research Paper Example This is despite great criticism that the corporate was selling junk foodstuffs. It should be noted that McDonald as a corporate is part of the larger community since they operate in serving the community. Being part of the society, they have all the legal rights to carryout their business independently. However, there is caution when some of the operation is causing more harm than good. It is unfair and selfish for corporates to dwell only on profit making and discard humanity (Bakan, 2005). It is sad for everybody to hold a negative impression against a corporate due to its unsocial impacts. For example, the McDonald 40% expenditure directed to kids (Bakan, 2005). This is an ethical since the kids are underage and they have not yet developed critical thinking skills that will help them evaluate media adverts. This forced the IOM (Institute of Medicine) to urge the government to insist on adverts directed to kids should promote healthy approved food (Schlosser, 2006). This policy nearly saw McDonalds corporate being closed up until they came up with rebranding their name and marketing healthy food. The questionnaire developed was entitled to gather respective reaction among people concerning the McDonald Corporation. In this regard, a total of 120 students of different grade filled in the questionnaire during the data collection. The target population was SDSU campus. According to the correspondents, there were more females (33) than males (27). Gender contribution was necessary to attain mixed feedback among people. The large sample size was aimed at eliminating possible errors likely to emanate. Considering different grades was also aimed at acquiring mixed response based on age factor. The questionnaire my group developed was composed of both closed and open ended questions. Closed questions were specific to the point and open ended question aimed at gathering descriptive responses from people.

Defining A Therapeutic Relationship Between Patient And Nurse Nursing Essay

Defining A Therapeutic Relationship Between Patient And Nurse Nursing Essay In this assignment the author is going to explore what is a therapeutic relationship, by defining it and describing what elements and skills are necessary to uphold an efficient therapeutic relationship with a patient. The assignment shall explore how Multi disciplinary teams contribute to achieving a therapeutic relationship. It further will explore what governs a therapeutic relationship according to the code of practice set by the nursing governing body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), putting into consideration what is expected from nurses as health professionals. Being Self aware is a crucial attribute in order to maintain a therapeutic relationship, so the writer shall give a brief definition of what self awareness is ,and explain the significance of being self aware within a therapeutic relations and relate it to an incident that happened in practice that made them more self aware. The therapeutic relationship is fundamental to the care of a patient and was described in the 1950s by famous psychotherapist Carl Rodgers .Rogers defines it as a helping relationship, A relationship in which one of the participants intends that there should come about, in one or both parties, more appreciation of, more expression of, more functional use of the latent inner resources of the individual (Rodgers 1961). Other authors have come up with various definitions but they are all closely linked to that of Rodgers, Jane Stein-Parbury (2000) suggests it is unilateral because the nurse maintains most control and it is usually short or average duration, with the patient facing a non threatening situation. However (Stuart 2001) defined a therapeutic relationship As a mutual learning experience and a corrective, emotional experience for the patient (cited in Cutliffe and Mckenna 2005.P.304) For a therapeutic relationship to work effectively, certain elements need to be upheld and followed, such as showing warmth towards your patient, being respectful by showing the patient that they are individual and a unique being. Dignity of the patient puts the patient at ease and they feel more valued and may in turn open up more to the nurse which aids their treatment. Demonstrating professionalism assures the patient that they are in capable hands and will effectively build trust about your capabilities. Carl Rodgers highlighted that the three core components of a therapeutic relationship are empathy, which is defined as: a continuing process whereby the counsellor lay aside her own way of experiencing and perceiving reality, preferring to sense and respond to the experience and perceptions of her client. (Mearns and Thorne, 2005, p.41) Where there is lack of empathy expression, patients may be left with a sense of isolation, which have an effect on their treatment plan. The sec ond crucial element that was highlighted by Rodgers as being essential is having unconditional positive regard towards patients or client which is a label given to the fundamental attitude of the person-centred counsellor towards her client. The counsellor who holds this attitude provides care for the individual irrespective of what beliefs and values the individual (patient) may hold. (Mearns and Thorne,2005 p 64). In other words unconditional positive regards is being non judgmental towards a patient regardless of what the care provider believes or values themselves. Unconditional positive regard should ideally commence on the onset the relationship between patient and nurse. Other elements that constitute a therapeutic relationship include, maintaining confidentiality, and treating people as individuals at all time, good record keeping (NMC 2008). For Therapeutic relationships to be successfully applied and implemented, nurses have to acquire certain skills to achieve this. To instate a strong therapeutic relationship a practitioner should consider their interpersonal communication skills with the patient. There are two forms of interpersonal communication skills, which are non-verbal and verbal communication. Non-verbal communication skills are a very effective way to convey a message, empathy and active listening. Egan formulated a communication tool which aids to effective non-verbal communication skill, the skills are summarized by the acronym SOLER, meaning sitting squarely with an open posture, leaning forward to show your interest maintaining eye contact at all times showing that you are relaxed, not fidgeting nervously. Argyle (1994) suggested the main forms of non-verbal communication as, facial expression, gaze, body movement, gesture, partial behaviour, clothing and behaviour. (Cited by Rana, Upton, 2009, ). Verbal skills are too, an essential part of interpersonal communication, these include techniques such as paraphrasing; this is where by a nurse rephrases what has been stated by the patient into their own words, i.e. by saying in other words. (Jane Stein -Parbury). Other methods of active listening are to parrot what the patient has said; this shows you have clearly heard what they have said. Practitioners should also be able to know when to use open and closed questions in the appropriate manner and time, for this skill can easily perceived as uncaring and unprofessional when not adopted carefully. In conclusion to what has been talked about, nurse and patient should reflect on what they said. Heron (2001) stated that a there are six tools of a clients needs. Herons model has two basic categories, authoritative and facilitative. These two categories further breakdown into a total six categories to describe how people intervene when helping. Authoritative Interventions are Prescriptive, which is giving advice, Informative where you provide information to guide the other person, Confronting- you challenge the other persons behaviour in an unaggressive attitude. Facilitative Interventions include: Cathartic-you help the other person to express and overcome thoughts or emotions that they have not previously confronted. Catalytic- You help the other person reflect, and they become more self-directed in making decisions. Supportive- You build up the confidence of the other person by focusing on their competences, qualities and achievements. A multi disciplinary team (MDTs) is important in the care of a patient. A multi disciplinary team is a group of professionals from different disciplines, who have a role in contributing to an assessment of an individuals needs. This should include two health professionals, i.e. nurse, clinician or therapist, as well as a representative from social care services, i.e. a social worker (NHS 2010). Chan (2004) argued that the main mechanism is to ensure truly holistic care for patients and a seamless service for patients throughout their disease trajectory and across the boundaries of primary, secondary and tertiary care. Multi disciplinary teams ensure a continuum in patients care and can be 24 hours. Different professions bring different type of care to the patient. MDTs can however come to conflict, if they demonstrate allegiance to their profession. Junor, Hole Gillis (1994) states that multidisciplinary team working is known to maximise clinical effectiveness, Multi disciplinary teams have enabled health professionals to adopt the clinical care pathways where different teams within the organization outline anticipated care, place an appropriate timeframe, to help a patient with a specific condition or set of symptoms move progressively through a clinical experience to positive outcomes. In a multi disciplinary team within a healthcare setting, one may expect to work with doctors, social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, health care assistants (HCAs) and other related professions. A therapeutic relationship within nursing follows the code of professional code of practice which was set by Nursing and Midwifery Council [NMC], which acts as the governing body for nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom which was formed in 2002 by parliament. Its main objective is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public,(NMC 2008).The NMC outlines that Nurses should always uphold the patients respect at all times, it states that nurses should always treat people as individuals and respect their dignity. Nurses should respect patient confidentiality, and uphold it at all times, breach of confidentiality can lead to serious consequences for health professionals (NMC 2008) including disciplinary actions such as suspension or being struck off the NMC register. Consent is very important in patient care; its the opening avenue for any care that follows. NMC states the every adult must be presumed to have the mental capacity to consent or refuse treatment. Patient care is a lways going through different multi disciplinary teams therefore accurately record keeping is crucial, it should be factual ,not falsified, and clearly legible (NMC 2010), these are some of the factors that insure accurate information is passed on to different care givers to maximise effective care for the patient. Nurses endure different feelings and emotions when interacting or treating patients, which calls for them to be more self aware, Duval and Wuckland defines self awareness as a state in which one is aware of oneself as an object, much as one might be aware of a tree or another person (cited by Rana and Upton 2009. p142).For a nurse to be self aware they need to treat each patient as individuals and present themselves appropriately. Patients have a plethora of beliefs and values, which always come into play in any given care setting. Beliefs can be associated with patients religion and culture, such as that of Muslims, to only eat halaal meat, a nurse has to be aware of this dietary requirement and honour it. Equally beliefs also play a vital role in the treatment of a patient, so a provision to fulfil this should be met at all time, i.e. providing a chapel in the hospital. Values of a patient are crucial when in care. Downie, R. S. 1990 stated that values are preferences based on beliefs about objects, persons, or situations and are accompanied by feelings of approval or disapproval. Patients of a different culture will most certainly have different values based on what they were brought up on. On any given care setting, the way in which nurses present themselves to patients is of utmost importance, their body posture is a critical aid to supplement being self aware, and nurses can use SOLER (Egan 2001) to ensure they achieve this. In practice, the author recalls an incident when a 92 year old lady was referred to their practice for assessment on every Wednesday of the week. On arrival the lady would engage in social activities with fellow patients. The staff provide the lady with a menu relevant to her culture of West Indian background, The staff fulfilled their role in being self aware on her values and diversity, During the meal, staff began to talk about a holiday abroad and how the food made their bowel move rapidly, and how they really found the food disgusting. The lady did initially try to express her frustration of the conversations the staff were having whilst she was trying to enjoy. She eventually stopped having her meal as she found it not appetizing anymore, staff recorded that the patient had poor dietary at dinner time, and they were not self aware that they were the catalyst for the poor intake of her food. Had the staff been more self aware of their presentations, they would have considered that different cultures have different table manners. In conclusion an effective therapeutic relationship is accomplished by good verbal and non verbal communication. Respecting individuality, beliefs, values, this promotes good recovery and openness between nurse and patient. A therapeutic relationship is not just between a patients and nurse but can, and often extends to other multi disciplinary teams. The therapeutic relationship can never be stated as fully complete, but can be made more effective, because different patients have different opinions i.e. different experiences in previous care, and different values and beliefs.

Reflection and Enemies of Promise :: Reflection Enemies

In the last three decades, a great advance in genetic research and biotechnology has occurred. Max Born said in his essay, "Reflection," "But suddenly, about three hundred years ago, an explosion of mental activity occurred: modern science and technology were born. Since then, they have increased at an ever growing rate, probably faster than exponentially, and are now transforming the human world beyond recognition" (209). Similarly, Michael Bishop said in " Enemies of Promise," "We live in an age of scientific triumph. Science has solved many of nature's puzzles and greatly enlarged human knowledge" (237). Both scientists have written their essays before the present controversies over genetic engineering and the biotechnology research, but it is amazing how true their predictions are, considering the number of protests and fears generated by these researches. The genetic engineering science has always been in the human mind since the famous French scientist, Mendel, discovered the genetic dominant characters in some plants in the 16th century, and he started cross changing the characters to get strong plants with fast growth and more production. Nowadays after discovering the DNA by the American scientist James Watson ". . . that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material" (138), genetic engineering became a matter of interest for many scientists. Every scientist is trying to use a new method either on plant or animal to increase its production. Some of these new methods are being used already, and many of the foods that people eat now are mass-produced through many methods of the genetic engineering to feed world's overpopulation. The world population is increasing tremendously because of medical progress. "Medicine has overcome most plagues and epidemic diseases and it has doubled the human life span within a single generation: the result is catastrophic overpopulation" (Born 209). Because of the increase in population the demand for food has also increased such as in India and China. Also the decrease of the water resources, because of earth's dryness, has worsened the food production situations as in different parts of Africa. Therefore, population increase and earth's dryness give very good reasons for scientists to do their research on developing a new technology that will provide human needs. Reflection and Enemies of Promise :: Reflection Enemies In the last three decades, a great advance in genetic research and biotechnology has occurred. Max Born said in his essay, "Reflection," "But suddenly, about three hundred years ago, an explosion of mental activity occurred: modern science and technology were born. Since then, they have increased at an ever growing rate, probably faster than exponentially, and are now transforming the human world beyond recognition" (209). Similarly, Michael Bishop said in " Enemies of Promise," "We live in an age of scientific triumph. Science has solved many of nature's puzzles and greatly enlarged human knowledge" (237). Both scientists have written their essays before the present controversies over genetic engineering and the biotechnology research, but it is amazing how true their predictions are, considering the number of protests and fears generated by these researches. The genetic engineering science has always been in the human mind since the famous French scientist, Mendel, discovered the genetic dominant characters in some plants in the 16th century, and he started cross changing the characters to get strong plants with fast growth and more production. Nowadays after discovering the DNA by the American scientist James Watson ". . . that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material" (138), genetic engineering became a matter of interest for many scientists. Every scientist is trying to use a new method either on plant or animal to increase its production. Some of these new methods are being used already, and many of the foods that people eat now are mass-produced through many methods of the genetic engineering to feed world's overpopulation. The world population is increasing tremendously because of medical progress. "Medicine has overcome most plagues and epidemic diseases and it has doubled the human life span within a single generation: the result is catastrophic overpopulation" (Born 209). Because of the increase in population the demand for food has also increased such as in India and China. Also the decrease of the water resources, because of earth's dryness, has worsened the food production situations as in different parts of Africa. Therefore, population increase and earth's dryness give very good reasons for scientists to do their research on developing a new technology that will provide human needs.

language in presidential debates :: essays research papers

Language was a very important tool in the 2004 presidential campaign. The way that both John Kerry and President George W. Bush used language was extremely important in this election. The way a candidate uses language can make people feel connected if used effectively and aloof is used ineffectively. There are many components of language such as word choice, vocabulary, repetition of words, and dialect used in political discourse. Each candidate used several of these components in their campaigns. I will analyze a speech from each candidate and focus on how effectively or ineffectively each candidate used language in the 2004 presidential election.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to best analyze political discourse in the 2004 presidential campaign it is important to look at the different uses of language in each candidate’s campaign. John Kerry used several components of language throughout his campaign. In his speech given at the Democratic National Convention many of these components were displayed. Kerry delivered the speech in Boston on the 29th of July 2004. Kerry opened his speech by giving his audience a positive message about America and its future, saying, â€Å"We are here tonight because we love our country. We are proud of what America is and what it can become† (Command). This opening is very common in political discourse, it conveys a very positive message filled with hope and also unites his audience using the pronoun â€Å"we†. Kerry also uses other language components to connect with his audience and their ideologies. Speaking about his mother, Kerry says: She was my den mother when I was a Cub Scout and she was so proud of her fifty year pin as a Girl Scout leader. She gave me her passion for the environment. She taught me to see trees as the cathedrals of nature. And by the power of her example, she showed me that we can and must finish the march towards full equality for women in this country. (Command) Kerry uses a powerful simile when he refers to trees as cathedrals of nature. Kerry uses word choice and vocabulary to convey his passion for the environment but by using the word cathedral he also shows his connection with religion. Kerry’s word choice is very important because it helps present to his audience a candidate who is concerned with both religion and the environment. Religion and the environment were important issues in this year’s election.

Consumer Behavior Research Project

| |Consumer Behavior Research Project 2011 | | |[pic] | |6-12-2011 |Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company. | | | | Consumer Behavior Research Project 2011 Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company. INTRODUCTION More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of taking care of our environment. Almost everybody has heard about environmental problems (likely) caused by human consumption. In order to stop the constant decline in natural resources and the excessive demand of consumers, things need to change. Business has to change their philosophies into a focus on not harming human and ecosystems (Hofstra, 2011). But in our ‘free market economy’ companies need to be able to make a profit or at least break-even from a change, before they will embrace it. That is why this research papers answers the question: Can a company increase their profitability by engaging in environmental responsibility? To answer this question, the following problem statement was formulated: Engaging in environmental responsibility increases the profitability of a company. Two sub questions need to be answered first: 1. Do consumers want eco-friendly products? 2. Do customers act upon their environmental believes? 3. Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility? The first two sub questions are questions that must be answered positively for the hypothesis to hold. Without consumers willing to purchase products from environmentally responsible companies, there is no way that companies can make extra profit from engaging in environmental responsibility. Although a positive answer on the first two questions is a condition for the hypothesis to hold, it is still no conclusive evidence that engaging in environmental responsibility will increase profits. For conclusive evidence empirical proof is needed, which will be provided in the third sub question. The expectation is that engaging in environmental responsibility will increase the profitability of a company. Methodology of the research The first two sub-questions will be answered by examining the results of the provided questionnaire (among 24 respondents by e-mail). Several statistical tests will be used to determine the significance of outcomes and the relationship between several variables. In order to research the third sub-question of the research project, to test whether firms make more profits when they engage in an environmental responsibility, a literature study will be provided to review studies that look at the market value of firms. Due to the limited amount of time and resources for this research project, the use of existing science and literature is required to give a useful insight into the problem statement. These sources will provide an overview of the profitability of firms that are engaged in environmental responsibility. Theoretical background Our research considers 2 backgrounds. First, to research consumers, that is, the demand for environmentally responsible produced products, the assumption is made that consumers are aware of the impact consuming has on the environment. Recent years, media has reported frequently about environmental changes induced by mass consumptions and its corresponding mass production. Furthermore, more products use labels to signify they are produced in an eco-friendly manner. Also companies actively try to build their ‘green’ image with marketing. Therefore this research assumes that people are aware of harming the environment by consuming. For the supply side of our research, the standard economic theory (SET) is used. One of the aspects of this theory states that firms are profit-maximizing. Firms will only involve in certain activities such as environmentally responsible producing, when it pay-offs in terms of profits. When it does not improve a firm’s profit, it will abandon it. According to SET, when this research shows that environmentally responsible producing results in larger profits, firms will adopt it. Research findings Do consumers prefer environmentally responsible produced products? Are consumers aware of environmental problems? The first four questions of the survey correspond with this question. But before the data from the survey can be used for analysis, an internal consistency reliability analysis is necessary. Such an analysis will tell us whether or not the data is useful and reliable. Reliability is important, because in the absence of reliability it is impossible to have any validity associated with the scores of a scale. Conducting and interpreting the internal consistency reliability analysis can be done through Cronbach's alpha. The following questions in the survey correspond with whether or not the respondent thinks the environment is important: -Q1: An increasing amount of consumers recognizes the relevance of taking care about â€Å"mother earth† considering the design, production and disposing of the purchased products. Do you agree or disagree? -Q2: What is your opinion about the statement? â€Å"Caring about the flora (vegetation) is important† -Q3: What is your opinion about the statement? â€Å"Caring about the fauna (animals) is important† Q7A: Do you consider yourself as a person who is striving to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer? Higher values of Cronbach’s alpha are more desirable. As a rule of thumb a lot of professionals require a reliability of 0. 70 or higher before using an instrument (See Appendix, Figure 1). Using SPSS an alpha value of 0. 878 is obtained, which is considered very high (See Appendix, Figure 2). This means the test results are internally consistent and reliable. The data needs to be normally distributed to use a parametric test; otherwise we will have to use the non-parametric test. Both the Kolmogorov-Smirnov as the Shapiro-Wilk test of normality, tells us the data (Q1,2,3,7A) is not normally distributed (See Appendix, Figure 3). A good non-parametric test is the ‘one sample chi square test’. To use this test the data needs to be simplified to agree and disagree. Running the chi square test on the first three questions, results in a significant positive outcome for all three questions (See Appendix, Figure 4). Looking at the percentages of people that responded positively, it’s very clear in general a significant majority of people care about the environment (Q1: 75%, Q2: 95,8% Q3: 87,5%). Also 95. 8% of the respondents indicated that they are aware of environmental problems caused by human consumption. (See Appendix, Figure 5) When asking respondent’s why they think taking care of the environment is important, a common answer is ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Biodiversity’. In short: The vast majority of people is aware of environmental problems and thinks taking care of the environment is important because of ‘sustainability’ and ‘biodiversity’. Are consumers convinced buying products from environmentally responsible companies will offer a solution for environmental problems? Questions 6A and 6B are both questions indicating that the consumer believes buying products from environmentally responsible companies will have benefits for the environment, if answered positively. A ‘one sample chi square test’ on both of these questions tell us that a significant majority answered these questions positively (See Appendix, Figure 6). This means that consumers think that companies need to pay attention to the environmental impact of their activities. The industry and the shop chains have to change their methods of production and selling of the products. By looking at the way people answered the questions, one can say that consumers almost demand companies to be environmentally responsible. Not only do they want companies to meet the legal requirements (with regard to the environment), but they want companies to really examine and optimize their production process in order to minimize the use of energy, pollution and waste. From our research it is very clear that consumers are aware of environmental problems and want to do something about it. They also believe that the environment will benefit from companies that produce and sell products in an environmentally responsible manner. This is why they are not only willing to buy products from environmentally responsible companies, but are almost demanding companies to be environmentally responsible. Do consumers act upon their environmental believes? In the previous question, we have found that consumers prefer environmentally responsible produced products. However this does not necessarily have to mean that consumers act upon this. First of all we have to know if consumers belief that they (the consumers) are responsible for making a chance and buy eco-friendly products. This is what Q6C asked our respondents. The result of the ‘one sample chi square test’ is that a significant majority of the respondents think that consumers are responsible to make a change in purchasing ‘eco-friendly’ products (See Appendix, Figure 6). So now we know that not only do people believe companies should produce in an environmental responsible manner, but that they also believe consumers are responsible to buy the products of those companies. As it is common knowledge that people don’t always do what they think others should do, let’s take this research a step further and take a look at how the individuals themselves behave. Question 7A answers this perfectly, by asking: â€Å"Do you consider yourself as a person who is striving to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer? † This time a ‘one sample chi square test’ tells us nothing, because there is no significant majority of people who agree or disagree. The ‘one sample chi square test’ is therefore not of use this time. A ‘Related-Samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test’ is useful in this case; this test measures the differences between the answers on question 6C and 7A and then tests if the media between them equals zero (not significant). The result of this test is a rejection of the null hypothesis (H = 0 ? Median of differences between Q6C and Q7A equals zero. ). A closer look at the results tells us that people don’t do what they think others should do (See Appendix, Figure 7). This result is very interesting, and in laymen’s terms means that a majority of the people claims that ‘consumers are responsible to make a change in purchasing ‘eco-friendly’ products’ but do not ‘consider themself as a person who is striving to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer’. To make matters worse the same test between Q6A and Q7B also leads to a rejection of the null hypothesis (See Appendix, Figure 8). Meaning that a majority of the people think consumers are responsible to purchase ‘eco-friendly’ products, but not purchase them themselves or talk about environmental issues with friends. What do these findings mean for the answer on the question if people act upon their environmental believes? Even though our results are not directly in favor of a positive answer on this question, we can make some nuances. Because when looking at the descriptive statistics and frequencies we can obtain that still 37. 5% of the consumers strives to be a more ‘eco-friendly’ consumer (vs. 29,2% not & 33,3% don’t know). (See Appendix, Figure 9). In short, not all consumers how see the importance of ‘eco-friendly’ products, act upon this. Sometimes they do not act upon it, even if they believe consumers are responsible for making chances and buying eco-friendly products. But there are still a lot of people who do act upon it and strive to be more ‘eco-friendly’ consumers. Now we have a positive answer on the first two sub-questions, the conditions for the hypotheses to hold are met. There is demand for products from environmentally responsible companies. However, this is still no conclusive evidence that engaging in environmental responsibility will increase profits. For that, some empirical proof is needed. Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility? In order to give a reliable conclusion about the third question of our problem statement, Is there empirical evidence of increased profits by engaging in environmental responsibility? , already existing literature was used. But before something meaningful can be said about increased profits, the term environmental responsibility(ER) and also increased profits itself need to be defined. In the literature studied, the ISO14000 standard was used to signify ER. The use of this standard, or certificate, is to[1] . Recognize and manage the environmental impact of a firm’s activities, products and services. 2. Give the firm support to constantly improve their impact on the environment. 3. Give a firm the methods to set environmental goals and methods how to achieve these goals. Among these methods to reach these environmental goals are management sys tems that take into account the environment and also the use of product labels. Beside the certificate for ER, increased profits also needs to be defined. This can be done by looking at the market value of a firm. The market value of a firm represents the book value plus expected future earnings[2]. The book value consists of all assets on the balance sheet of the firm[3]. An increase in the market value of a firm will show that a firm has become more worth, because its assets have increased in value, for example its current assets has risen. Another possible increase in market value is by a change in expected future profits. For instance, the disclosure of forecasted profits by the board of the firm can increase market value. What does the empirical evidence reveals about environmental responsible firms? The study that was used compares the market value of 156 Egyptian firms over 3 years, between 2003 and 2005. Of the examined firms, 84 of them did have an ISO14000 certificate; the other 72 firms did not have a certificate. Next, the research looks at the contribution of such an ISO14000 certificate, the dependent variable, to the market value, the independent variable. Being environmental responsible as a firm, has a positive and significant impact on the market value[4]. Thereby, the research concludes that the firms, who do have the ISO14000 certificate, have increased their market value. In other words, the research found that applying ER to your firm is positively reflected in your market value and, on average, does not lower your market value. 5] Discusion Survey The first obvious shortcoming of the survey is the low number of respondents (24). With such a low number of respondents, statistical test are not very reliable. Most of the respondents fell into the same age group, meaning that the survey is not a good representation of the population. Also a lot of respondents were irritate d by the large amount of open questions, which could lead to rushed answers. Literature Study Now we have seen that the practice of ER is profitable, we will look at the shortcomings of this research and its results. The first downside of the research, from a company's perspective, is the fact that we do not know by how much ER is profitable. Indeed, the goal of the firm is to maximize shareholders value as much as possible, mainly in order to attract new and reward current shareholders. However, we do not know to what extent engaging in ER is more (or less) beneficial in comparison to firms that do not produce with the environment in mind. Firms will only engage massively in ER when it will maximize shareholders value more than when they do not apply ER to their firm. This research does not provide conclusive results on this topic. Another downside of the research is that it only focuses on Egyptian firms. A study that takes firms of other countries into consideration will provide a better conclusion. Although Egypt has a free market economy, a research conducted in the West with positive results regarding to profits due to engaging in ER, will inspire Western firms more than the same outcomes in Egypt. Furthermore, the small period the research evaluates, 3 years, is subject to market fluctuations. It could be that the general stock market, where the market value of a firm is based upon, improved during these examined 3 years. On to other hand, the environmental business is changing constantly. A research that examines a period longer than 3 years needs to account for increased legislation regarding waste and pollution, which would increase the difficulty of the research. Lastly, we also face the limitation of why firm profits increase by involving in ER. Having concluded that engaging in ER is profitable is step 1, why engaging in ER is profitable, is the next step. Is it because firms that practice ER are selling more? Do these firms sell more because they can sell their products for a lower price? Or do they sell more because customers or businesses who purchase these products or services perceive more value because these creations are produced responsibly? Or do profit increase because firms have smaller expenses to produce the same amount of products or services? Are those lower expenses the result of economies of scope or economies of scale? All those questions are beyond the scope of this research should be answered with future research. Conclusions This research tried to answer the question whether or not engaging in environmental responsibility can increase the profits of a company. After finding that consumers really prefer environmentally responsible produced products in the first sub-question, the second sub-question asked if they also act upon this. The answer was somewhat interesting because a lot of respondents believed the consumer is responsible for eco-friendly consuming, but at the same time didn’t strive to be ‘eco-friendly’ consumers themselves. Nevertheless a lot of consumers do strive to be ‘eco-friendly’ customer. It is beyond the scope of the research to look at the reasons don’t do what they want other to do, but is interesting for further research. After concluding there is a demand for environmentally responsible produced products, the research continued by looking at empirical proof for supply these environmentally responsible produced products. Knowing those consumers are willing to buy, there is possibility for firms to supply these environmentally responsible produced products. However, firms will only produce and provide these products when this is more profitable than their current supply. In order to determine whether it actually pays off for a firm to provide environmentally responsible produced products, a literature study looked at this. The literature study provided empirical proof that firms engaging in environmental responsibility have an increase in profit or market value. This conclusion is somewhat positive because there is a positive relation between producing environmentally responsible produced products and the market value of a firm. However, the literature study did not give insight into whether applying environmental responsibility to a firm outperforms firms that do not practice environmental responsibility. This leaves room for future research to examine to what extent engaging in environmental responsibility is beneficial for a firm’s profits. References Books Frank, Robert H. 2008. Microeconomics and Behavior. Europe: McGraw-Hill Education. Blackwell, Roger D. , Miniard, Paul W. , Engel, James F. 2006. Consumer behavior. Mason: Thomson/South-Western. Papers Wahba, H. 2008. â€Å"Does the market value corporate environmental responsibility? An empirical examination,† Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 15: 89–99. Appendix Figure 1 |Cronbach's alpha |Internal consistency | |? ? . |Excellent | |. 9 ; ? ? . 8 |Good | |. 8 ; ? ? . 7 |Acceptable | |. 7 ; ? ? . 6 |Questionable | |. ; ? ? . 5 |Poor | |. 5 ; ? |Unacceptable | Figure 2 |Reliability Statistics | |Cronbach's Alpha |Cronbach's Alpha Based|N of Items | | |on Standardized Items | | |. 878 |. 889 |4 | Figure 3 Tests of Normality | | |Kolmogorov-Smirnova |Shapiro-Wilk | | | Figure 4 |Test Statistics | | |Q1 |Q2 |Q3 | |Chi-Square |10. 714a |20. 167b |18. 182c | |df |1 |1 |1 | |Asymp. Sig. |. 001 |. 000 |. 000 | | | Figure 5 Q1 | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Frequency |Percent |Valid Percent |Cumulative Percent | |Valid | | |Q6A |Q6C | |Chi-Square |14,727a |11,842b | |df |1 |1 | |Asymp. Sig. |,000 |,001 | | | Figure 7 [pic] Figure 8 [pic] Figure 9 [pic] ———————– [1] http://www. iso. org/iso/iso_14000_essentials [2] http://www. investopedia. com/terms/m/marketvalue. asp#axzz1fUqMwWqQ [3] [pic]()*+,-. 78S†¹ Z? oaIA oA†? n[AH