Marriage in the 20th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marriage in the 20th Century - Essay Example First, they perceived conscience as the possession of a general knowledge as regards moral principles. In addition, it was also seen as a process towards being deliberated morally. Finally, these theologians examined the term conscience in terms of its usage in specific cases. The perspective of the Catholic Church is also threefold, as regards the term conscience. First, conscience is seen as that which an individual is able to experience as a reality, from within themselves. The term conscience is perceived as an analytical, evaluative and reflective judgment regarding that which is right in respect of particular cases. In this case, a call towards openness is called upon; if at all individuals are to identify the truth (Firer, n. d.). Finally, conscience is seen as an event that facilitates the attainment of a moral decision. In other words, it is the gateway that enables individuals to differentiate between that which is right, or wrong. The exercise of conscience calls for its development and cultivation. To develop it, it is required of an individual to undergo through an experience that shall both deepen and sharpen their sensitivity in terms of the evils on the one hand, and the moral good on the other hand. This enables individual to 'see rightly' (Firer, n. d.). Secondly, the development and cultivation of conscience may occur as a result of a learning process that entails making of judgment during times of conversation with say, a community as well as those responsible for giving such a community moral wisdom (Firer, n. d.). This way, individuals are assisted in judging rightly. Finally, the definite occurrence of arriving at a decision, coupled with the ensuing action, accords to each one of us what may at best be referred to as a ' track record' that upon reflecting on it, turns out to be our individual fountain of guidance as well as moral wisdom. This often takes time, but eventually, it enables us to 'act rightly'. Moral discernment According to Wallace (2003), discernment may be seen as a conventional name that refers to the difficult process of arriving at decisions or choices, on the basis of the "moral imperative" of an individual's conscience, while taking part in a "reasonable dialogue" with experts in subject-matter and also spiritual guides. It is important to note that there is a variation between the process of making daily decisions on the one hand and discernment on the other hand. Wallace has also referred to discernment as a "thoroughgoing effort" (Wallace, 2003). Logic alone is not enough to warrant recognition of discernment; the rest of our mental facilities are also called upon. To begin with, discernment tends to be in tune with the "the moral good", as opposed to the profitable that which is solidly conventional, or expedient. In other words, discernment is about trying to identify the best source of action to undertake from a moral perspective, as opposed to doing what we might find easier to accomplish, and that which may not lead to others criticizing our actions. Discernment also differs from the everyday decision making process in another way that could be seen as even more subtle. In this case, individuals take an assumption that sheer logic is not enough to help them attain "the good" (Wallace, 2003), thus calling for discernment. Conscience, moral

Literature review Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Literature review - Dissertation Example Table of figures Figure 1 Evolution of materials used in structure construction (Balageas, et al., 2006) Figure 2 A schematic representation of coordinates and plate in lamb wave formation (Ryden, et al., 2004) Figure 3 propagation of Asymetric and Symetric lamb wave modes (NDT, 2012) Figure 4 Cross-section of a typical Contact transducer (Arnau & Vives, 2008) Figure 5 compact 3D laser vibrometer (Oliver, 2000) Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Structural health monitoring can be defined as the process of implementing strategies aimed at identifying damages in engineering infrastructure. Damages, within the monitoring process, refer to changes occurring in the components and materials that could affect structural functioning adversely. The evaluation tools utilised ought to present non-destructive effects to the structures. In establishing the damage, past, present and future status of structures should be considered carefully (Farrar & Worden 2007). Changes with adverse effects to the functioning of the systems form the greatest concern referred as damages. The relevant changes should be quantifiable for classification as damages and their effects on the functioning of structures adverse. Motivations of SHM Structural health monitoring remains an essential process aimed at ensuring safety of engineering structures. Monitoring could be essential in identifying defects within structures, prompting appropriate corrective measure with the aim of rectifying the detected defects. This process might be carried out as part of routine maintenance procedures undertaken during the lifetime of engineering structures. Monitoring could therefore, precede planned maintenance procedures as it can assist in detecting changes within the structure that need rectification (Balageas et al. 2006). Necessary repairs to structures can be identified through monitoring before engaging the repairing teams. These processes can assist maintenance teams in identifying the required mainten ance procedures for different projects. The adverse effects of damages could escalate to a point where structures become classified as unusable. Slow accumulation of damage could drive structures to this stage referred as failure. The process of implementing monitoring strategies involves making structural observations, over period, using standardised measurements and analysis. The monitoring process should provide analytical information regarding the future functioning of the structure in relation to the anticipated ageing associated with time (Farrar & Worden, 2007). Since ageing of structures remain inevitable, monitoring the ageing process become crucial in minimising the possibility of structures collapsing unexpectedly. Monitoring the ageing process provides engineers with information that can be utilised when performing routine maintenance on structures. This information can also be utilised when constructing new structures through identification of problems that might occur as observed in existing structures (Fassois & Sakellariou, 2007). The ageing process could impose significant changes into materials; changing their characteristics. Modifications to materials can, however, be undertaken artificially through addition of relevant components. The general trend of modifying the materials shows changes from simple, natural materials to complex, auto-adaptive materials as indicated in the figure below. These adaptations remain essential in increasing adaptability of materials

Survival Of The Huaorani Warriors Theology Religion Essay

Survival Of The Huaorani Warriors Theology Religion Essay The Huaorani Warriors of Ecuador have a rich culture including Gender relations, Beliefs and Values, and Sickness and Healing. They are cultivators as well as hunters who live in the Amazonian Rainforest in South America. Most Huaorani make their homes in northeastern Ecuador, but interestingly are not familiar with normal Ecuadorian culture. According to BBC News World (2011) The Huaorani have only had contact with outsiders in the last century. They are known to have killed oil workers in the 1940s, when Shell Oil had a station on their territory. Many Huaorani were relocated in the 1970s to make way for oil exploration http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12937408. The Huaorani are famous for being an aggressive, warlike community who disliked and killed Westerners. Huaorani and their advocates are involved in legal battles with oil companies that have built pipelines through their traditional lands. To this day, Huaorani continue to battle these pipelines. Even though living in the fo rest offered protection, they are hunters as well as cultivators and will kill to protect their way of life. Their populations of approximately 4,000 speak a Huaorani language, and studies have shown that this language is not associated with any other languages spoken in Ecuador. The Huaorani people have different features those of other tribes in Ecuador. The Huaorani people are sandwiched between the Curaray and Napo rivers which is notorious for the oil trap and logging which in Ecuador can get people in trouble with the law. This community is well known for the gruesome way they attack foreigners and other tribes around them to protect their culture. (Kaplan, Larrick, Yost, 1980). The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani also known as the Waos are foragers. In their society women and men have equal gender relations. For the Huaorani people, the women and men are considered equal, comparing to their neighboring tribe, the Kichwas, where the women are not equal but less than men. Women are responsible for cultivating and harvesting the crops while the men hunt. As such, they are both foragers and horticulturalists hunting using their spears to kill animals and cultivate manioc and bananas. Although they make family decisions together the women are very strong and can take care of themselves. Traditionally, a Huaorani settlement pattern consist of self-sufficient and isolated residential units with an average of twenty to thirty members inhabiting each longhouse. Kinship and marriage were structured by bilateral descent and cross cousin marriages. Cross cousin marriage divides people into two types, parallel cousins which are considered as siblings and cross cousins who could be potential spouses. The women may leave their spouse if they choose to, unlike the other tribe. The Huaorani have low birth rate unlike their neighbors. The Huaorani people usually only have two or three children. The Huaorani people limit and control their birth rates because of the availability of food. The women made a special blend of tea from items in the forest to use as birth control to prevent children. Men and women cannot survive without each others presence because each has their own duties to fulfill within the tribe. Their main hunting weapon is the blow gun and the arrows used are dipped in curare poison to paralyze the muscles of the animals being targeted. The huaorani were against eating deer, because they thought that deer eyes look very similar to human eyes. Spears were used for person to person conflict and settling of scores especially with the Western civilization. The Huaorani people made unusual outfits. There is a fruit, called achiote, which gives a red extract. They utilize this to paint items and their bodies as well as on special days. They use teeth of boars and the feathers of birds. The Huaorani men would consider a kome a form of cloth. This is a string like that ties to the foreskin and around the men waist. The Huaorani people have long hair in the back and their banes are cut all the way to the back of the ears. The Huaorani elders ears are pierced in a loop like ring. The various rings over time create a large drooping circle which hangs below the ear. Since this is an excruciating process present generations have stopped doing this. The pain is so unbearable that the bravest men have complained about the pain. This painful process normally begins in childhood. The term Huaorani means human beings or the people, and they refer to everyone else as cowode or non-humans. According to the various studies conducted the Huaoranis have come to be known for their way of isolating themselves from everyone by remaining in the forest. This way of life is due to their belief of the forest being a source of protection from anything and anyone that may cause harm to them. As a result, they believe everything outside of the forest is unsafe. This way of life forces them to hunt and gather food from their natural surroundings. Their beliefs and values play a major part on how they hunt and must gathering food for their daily diet. According to the Huaorani people, there are specific animals that may not be hunted. This also includes monkeys, wild peccaries, and birds for this there are some animals that cannot be eaten by anyone. As to the belief and values, anything that has features similar to a human can fall in that category as well. A deer would be one example. Hunting to gain profit within the society is deemed as an unethical matter. In many cases the Huaorani people believe that the spirit of the animals killed continue to live in the forest. This affects the way of how hunting and eating is done within the Huaorani society. This belief and value limits the type of species they are allowed to hunt for food. On the other hand, the forest is generally important in society since it provide them with medicines and other sources of food. The Huaorani community possesses a lot of knowledge concerning the botanical and medicinal values of plants in the forest. Plants are considered a part of the life of this community, since they are a part of the forest. (Kaplan, Larrick, Yost, 1980). The Huaorani people hold animist religious views, they believe spirits inhabit their forest, and that the Huaorani originally descended from the union of a jaguar and an eagle. The Huaorani people believe that a large serpent, when they pass on to the afterlife, is guarding the way to the spirit world and they must escape in order to enter the heaven. If unable to escape the serpent the dead would return as an animal. For this reason there is a limit on what animals that may be hunted for food. Unfortunately, this taboo has resulted in an even more limited amount of resources to hunt. Huaorani people are not allowed to hunt and eat certain animals such as the jaguar. This is because the jaguar is a significant and outstanding creature in the spirit world. They believe that the jaguar and the eagle have come together to create mankind. Some elders have the capacity to communicate with the spirit world generally adopt Jaguar sons. Jaguar sons were able to communicate both medical and s piritual knowledge. As a result, from this belief the Huaorani people highly respect the jaguar and hence they should not be hunted. (Man, 1982) When the Huaorani people die and pass over into the afterlife, they believe that a person should embark on a journey to get to heaven. During this journey, there would be a serpent in the middle of the persons journey. Only the strongest could jump over the serpent to get to heaven. The souls that do not make it over would descend back to earth as an animal. The Huaoranis are feared by everyone around them because of how violent they were known to be. The Huaorani people are fierce and unpredictable. They seem unemotional and which made it very difficult for anyone to interpret their mood or behavior. The Huaorani were feared greatly because they would violently kill with vengeance anyone who stood against them. Generally any conflict with the Huaorani resulted in the other person being speared. In the Waorani world there would be no difference between the present life and the life after death. The Huaorani once saw the world as a big forest. The basic entity for their culture dependency and existence remains in the enormous rain forest. The forest is their home. Since the outside world is considered to be a risk factor they remain in the forest for protection of all things that may cause harm to them. They consider the river and the trees a part of their life. This is what they are taught to understand as they raised up in the Huaorani community. The Huaorani people believe that animals exist spiritually and physically. They say that when you die a great serpent is waiting for you to prevent you from crossing over into heaven. All spirits that fail returns to suffer on earth. On earth these animals are recognized, respected, and cannot be harmed. They believed in the presence of animal spirits. The animal spirits are released when an animal is killed and harm its killer if it is not properly placated. The animals spirit may cause physical harm to the killer and potentially others. As the Huaorani people hunt for survival, they prepare the curare for the dead animals. Mengatoi are special people that live within the Huaorani community. The Mengatoi are believed to be able to transform into jaguars and also have the ability cure diseases and illnesses. If the Mengatoi has an ill patient, they will make dark colored psychoactive potion from a Banisteriopsis vine called Mii. This potion is made to cure the sick. The Mengatoi will then take the potion while sitting with the patient who is ill. Then as the Mengatoi is mediating and communicating with the animal spirits on behalf of the ill patient to make the person go back to feeling as their normal self again. The healing process must take place in the hours of darkness to take. Therefore, the process always takes place at night in the hours of darkness. The Mengatoi will follow the jaguar spirit which will lead them to a plant which in return will be the cure for ill stricken patient. They may take and blow peppers on the patients chest, or the Mengatois may suck on the persons head and then simply spit the sickness onto the ground. At the end of the process, the Mengatoi will give the patient a prescription of the herbs for them to take in the days to come. The Huaorani people are no longer travelers and presently have a permanent community. The settlements are made of five groups which are the Tagareri, Onamenane, Huinature and Taromenane. They isolate themselves at their own free will from our civilization to prevent unwanted influence. Technological advances have transformed the world and the Huaorani prefer to remain isolated with the forest. According to the Huaorani people, the forest is a safe haven from danger and the unknown supernatural. They only treasure what they do best which is hunting, gathering, and protecting their environment. They believe that plants and animals are connected by a spiritual as well as physical life force. Therefore they value the presence of animals and respect them when they are hunting because they believe that when someone dies they come back in animal form. This tribe has an ordinary way of healing their wound and sicknesses with herbs found in the Amazon. (Man, 1982) For the Huaorani, the forest is home, while the outside world is considered unsafe: living in the forest offered protection from the witchcraft and attacks of neighboring peoples (Southernexplorations.com). In the U.S. hunting is more of a hobby or leisure activity rather than a source of survival. But to the Huaorani hunting is a major part of their survival. They are known to have killed oil workers in the 1940s, when Shell Oil had a station on their territory. And in 1970s many Huaorani were relocated to settlements to make way for oil exploration http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12937408. Culture includes knowledge, beliefs, values, laws, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by people as a member of ones society. Due to the global demand for oil the Huaorani society and culture has changed forever. I believe the Huaorani had a right to kill the corporate giants who invaded their territory interrupting their primary mode of subsistence as well as their cu lture and way of life. Huaorani and their advocates are involved in legal battles with oil companies that have built pipelines through the rainforest of South America. To this day, Huaorani continue to battle these pipelines.

The Great Depression Essay -- American History

The Great Depression was one of the lowest times in American history. Although this depression brought great poverty to some areas, most were not even phased by it. For some it brought extreme poverty for others who had little money invested in banks or into the stock market, nothing really changed. It even seemed that those who were impacted the least, their changes would not occur until after the Depression was over. In fact some never even knew that there was a depression going on until it filtered down through the tabloids. This economic tragedy was forever changed by the Election of 1932 which eventually brought on the New Deal of legislative programs which would forever change America. The 1920s where a time when America was flourishing with businesses in the North and farming in the South and where the stock exchange could make one rich if the right investment was made. The South presented a different type of wealth-not money, but hard labor and excessive amounts of food. Over time with the stock market rising at record highs, and field crops in excess of amounts of over cropped produce, a barrier was about to be struck hard. Eventually it did in 1929 with to much stock and not enough buyers to purchase it. This led to a great deal of panic in the North. Peoples’ responses were to quickly pull out of the investments they had made, and running to their banks to withdraw their funds. Even people who had money in the bank before it shut down had no chance in getting their money there was no insurance to protect their money loss. It had not yet been devised by the government. This resulted in money being taken out of circulation, which caused high inflat ion to occur. The North’s economy had hit a jolting halt--t... ...onal system gave those who believed they could only provide through manual labor other opportunities to prosper. These changes brought more people into the South which would forever change not just the state of Tennessee, but the way the South is today. The New Deal would have a lasting affect on the economy, and would eventually bring America out of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt would be named as one of the greatest presidents of all time. Tennessee would forever change the way the South would be looked upon, due to it being the foundation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). As for the stock market, it would not recover until the 1950s. The banks would eventually become regulated by the government, and be forced by Roosevelt to acquire insurance on people’s money for up to $100,000. These actions paved the way for what is now a better America.

Marketing †Peter England Essay

To create a quick and universal awareness of the brand’s USP of quality and price. * To build strong brand preference and sustain brand loyalty through attractive imagery and constantly reiterate the product’s pluses Marketing Mix Peter England follows the 4 P’s of the marketing mix: Product architecture – The range comprises regular office wear, special occasion wear and casual wear. Pricing – Price grid integrity is maintained byensuring that65 per cent of the brand offering is below MRP 500 through ‘Core’ range. Promotion – Pricing Objective * Peter England aims at maximizing its market share * Introduces Market Penetration pricing * Peter England in 1997 the journey begins †¦ * Peter England follows Value Based Pricing * Goes in for a High Value Strategy * Offers the consumers premium quality at medium price Pricing Strategy * Price grid integrity maintained by ensuring 65 per cent of the brand offering was below MRP 500 through ‘Core’ range* At the same time premium products introduced at the top end through collectionslike ‘the solids collection’ and ‘the festival collection’

Can Chinese Brands Make It Abroad Essay

China is known for its manufacturing due to low labor costs and supplies the world’s biggest brands. Most Chinese companies take on the role of original-equipment manufacturer (OEM). However, due to the home market being so competitive, the Chinese government now wants Chinese companies to tackle the market abroad by establishing their brands in developed countries. Currently, companies have now emerged in developed markets with products such as appliances and consumer electronics. Examples of this include Lenovo computers which have positioned itself for overseas expansion. Keijian, a mobile-telephone maker, sponsors one of England’s top soccer teams to build brand recognition. The way in which Samsung achieved this was acquiring basic product-development skills through joint ventures and more than 50 technology-licensing agreements. On establishing their brand in the US, Samsung discounted their products to target price-sensitive customers. Slowly it learned the requirements of its markets by conducting extensive market research, building sales overseas and manufacturing operations in the US, Germany, the UK and Australia. They also increased R&D budgets which allowed them to invest in products and technologies that would raise their brand profile. China competes against the world’s best electronic products in features, quality and price. Furthermore, its low labor costs make Chinese goods less expensive. Also, China has a large growing pool of skilled engineers and money to invest in new products. By products alone, it is safe to say that China can establish themselves abroad, however, developing the right marketing strategy for branded goods is key. Branding Before, consumers were reluctant to buy good from Japan or Korea in fear of quality issues and now China is experiencing the same issue. The Chinese companies most likely to succeed are those which have a track record in low-cost, high-quality manufacturing and show marketing skill on a local level. Haier has built factories in the US which they believe the added expense of producing goods there is outweighed by the ability to respond quickly to changes in the market. OEM Cost, quality leadership, acquiring the need technology and capabilities and the ability to support a number of global customers are the key success actors in the OEM model. Low costs must be accompanied by excellent skills in supply chain management and sourcing. Manufacturers for OEM customers target those who want lower manufacturing costs but not ready to set up operations in China. Channels – Step by step approach Retailers are looking for distinct brands and products. They may also be interested in deals with Chinese companies who supply products on an exclusive basis. Shelf space is also expensive and the competition for it can be intense. SVA has transformed itself, focusing on high-end plasma TVs, TFT-LCD displays and DLP projection TVs. It also mass-produces quality products at a low cost. The company took a step by step approach to success: 1. Relying largely on distributors that offer promotion and service assistance to manufacturers. This gave the company a chance to learn about the US market. 2. Working with distributors on trade-level promotional activities including attendance at industry conferences rather than spending millions to build brand awareness. Distributors find SVA attractive because it can offer customers low-cost products, a factor that’s important to small and midsize electronic retails that compete with big retailers like Wal-Mart. 3. Avoid low-end color TV market where it would be up against other Chinese companies selling on an OEM basis. They instead focused on upmarket products where the market is growing and there is little rivalry from other Chinese companies. 4. Recruited US-based executives to whom they gave an equity stake in the venture and hired Japanese ex-Sony production man agers to help control its manufacturing quality. It’s also working with international firms to improve design. Taking this model to Europe may prove a little trickier due to Europeans being more conscious of brands and quality. Channels – Buying your way in An alternative is buying into the market through mergers and acquisitions. Suitable targets would have valuable assets, brands, customer bases, technology or channels. A buyer could move the bulk of the acquired company’s production to China while retaining the brand name, distribution channels and some of the local talent. Over time, it could co-brand the product with its own name to build customer awareness of its Chinese brand. Once this is established, the buyer could phase out the target brand. The biggest obstacle is locating qualified turnaround managers. TCL International Holdings purchased a German television maker in an attempt to tap into the European market. Included in the acquisition was Schneider’s plants, distribution network of chain stores, hypermarket, mail order and trademark rights to a series of brands. Some Schneider employees were also rehired to oversee production. TCL is also using the Schneider brand to position its mobile telephones in the high-end segment of the Chinese market.

Play critique Essays

Play critique Essays Play critique Paper Play critique Paper Acting Critique A Separate Peace Did the actor present a believable character and an interesting performance? The actor, Jason, created a very believable character in the sense that I could understand why John Brown would want to go live in a hospital. I understand why he wanted to stay away from everyone and everything and Just go to a hospital where he could be taken care of. He even says it literally in one of the lines, l came for the clean linen, I came for the calm, the meals on tray, time passing by and bringing nothing. He idnt want anyone expecting anything from him; he Just wanted to do nothing. This was his separate peace. Did the actor create believable relationships? Yes, the actor created believable relationships, ones that the audience could have thought unorthodox but these relationships reflected his unusual character and this added more to the plot of the play. For example, when the Matron asks him and how are we this morning? his reply is we are very well thank you, how are you? This is bizarre in the sense that a patient doesnt normally ask a doctor/nurse/matron how hey are when theyre coming to check on you. Again, this Just adds to John Browns peculiar character. Also, Jason created a believable relationship with Maggie who is Browns special nurse. His relationship with Maggie was one that showed his fondness of her, yet at the same time their relationship suggested that it could never be anything more than a mutual fondness because of the state John Brown was in and because of an uncertain future, even when Brown tells Maggie l like you very much, she replies, l like you too, Brownie, but there is more in life than that. As an audience, I felt the relationship between these two characters was well defined. Did the actor listen, respond and react truthfully under the imaginary circumstances? Yes, he would listen very well to the other actor/actress with him on stage and then he would respond with his line at the right time, in the right tone of voice. He did not Just say lines flatly and his movements on stage were motivated from the lines. For example, when he asked Maggie what are you like when youre not wearing your uniform, he was painting right before that but he paused, went to it on the bed while rolling around the paint in the bucket and then asked her that question. He didnt meant it in a sexual sense but rather in a curious one because he always sees Maggie in the hospital context with her uniform so he was wondering what she was like out of that environment. Under the imaginary circumstances, the actor was truthful and believable. Was the character sustained throughout the performance? The character was sustained throughout the whole performance; it was always John Brown there, rather than Jason. Even when he was painting he was still 100% focused concentrate in order to end up with such a beautiful painting and still be able to stay in character and focused isnt exactly easy. Furthermore, when he went into his dream-like state when he was talking about the wartime, he absorbed the audience into his thought process in a sense that they could feel the pain he went through at that time. Could you hear and understand what the character was saying (projection and subtext)? Yes, the actor had outstanding projection, even when he was painting and is back was towards the audience, I could still hear him very clearly. Regarding subtext, the character did a good Job revealing it. For example, when he tells the Doctor it must be wonderful to have the healing touch, he says it in a sarcastic tone of voice and that gets through to the audience so they laugh. The actor also portrays John Browns humorous side well after the Doctor tells him Matron will be along to discuss your case with you tomorrow and he replies my finger? , when really he knew it had nothing to do with his finger but rather with his unnecessary stay at the ospital. Please conclude with comments on the following: Visual (set, costumes, lights) The set was simple; it reflected the white typical hospital set. The costumes really fit the actors well, and especially matrons costume was very appropriate and added more to her character, she wasnt wearing the clich? © scrub uniform but an actual black outfit. Furthermore, the lighting was an important component of the play; the diming, and the dream-like state when Brown was talking about the war all added more suspense to the mood. Sound The sound suited the play very well, all four music tracks were calm and this added more to the hospital setting and Just the overall environment of Maggie and Browns relationship. Also, the music that was playing during the time Brown was painting went with his painting of nature and the trees and landscape. In addition, the song that was on when Brown was changing was very romantic and built up on the suspense of both the preceding and proceeding scenes. Lastly, the fact that the music faded in and out created an overall serene atmosphere.

What Does ACT Stand For The Complete Story

What Does ACT Stand For The Complete Story SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The ACT is now the most popular college admissions standardized test in the US, with the number of test-takers exceeding that of the SAT. But what does ACT actually stand for, and why does this actually matter? We answer all your questions in this guide. What Does ACT Mean? The ACT began in 1959, when Everett Franklin Lindquist, a professor at University of Iowa,was unhappy with the SAT for two reasons: The SAT was designed as an aptitude test – essentially, it tested your intelligence and innate capacity to learn. Lindquist thought that a college assessment test should really be testing what you’ve actually learned in school. The SAT was popular in private schools in the northeastern US (New York, Massachusetts) but not in the rest of the country and not in public schools. Lindquist believed the test should be accepted by public institutions and other schools across the country. Even though the SAT had begun over 30 years earlier and was growing in popularity, Lindquist believed he could do things better. As a result, he founded the American College Testing Program. See the ACT in there? Exclusive Bonus: What's a good ACT score, and how high do you need to score?Read our guide to find out. Lindquist designed the ACT to cover skills that you’ve learned in school. It began with four sections: English, Math, Social Studies, and Natural Sciences. It gave a composite score, just like it does now (read How is the ACT Composite Score Calculated?) Since then, the test hasn’t changed all that much, in contrast to the SAT, which has had something of an identity crisis. Here are the major milestones in the history of the ACT: 1959: The first ACT is administered to 75,460 students. 1972: Million Mark: The ACT hits 1,000,000 students taking the ACT. 1989: Redesign: The ACT undergoes a major change. The Social Studies section is changed into Reading, and Natural Sciences is changed into Science Reasoning. Both changes are an attempt to test fundamental reading and reasoning skills, rather than facts about history and science. 2005: The ACT adds an optional Writing Test. 2007: Every single college in the United States now accepts the ACT for admission. 2012: The number of students taking the ACT surpasses the SAT for the first time. At 1.85 million students, this means over half of the country’s graduates are taking the ACT. So what does ACT stand for? It started off as the American College Test, but at this point the ACT organization doesn’t formally call it that. The test is just known as the ACT. What's Next? Now that you’ve learned the history, you probably want to know how you can get the highest ACT score possible. Find out what a good ACT score is, and how to calculate your own ACT target score. Interested in free ACT practice tests? Click here for a guide on how to get every official ACT practice test available. Read our detailed guide to the best ACT prep books. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points or more? We've written a free guide to the very best strategies you need to use:

Bata Analysis of Markets and Segments

With main focus on providing a high product quality and keep prices reasonable compared to devastation of the markets caused by the wars, they kept expanding and follow the market changes. â€Å"As a result, Bata enjoys a long history as a leading manufacturer and retailer of quality footwear, and proudly serves some one million customers each day. With more than 30,000 employees, 5,000 international retail stores, and a presence in over 70 countries, Bata is positioned to deliver an unparalleled combination of selection, quality, and service to customers around the globe. (Bata, (C) 2013) The market In a now very overcrowded market defined as a fully competitive market, because it is a heterogeneous market and has a lot of competitors, this is the situation for all Bata’s markets as they are very similar around the world. Bata’s competitors are companies such as Zara, Hamp;M and Pedro as they sell cheap products to a segment very similar to the Bata’s. In most of the countries where Bata is visible there are many copycats and markets with very cheap shoes. These local shops are also a competitor to keep in mind. One of the big main competitors is the Chinese low cost products that are exported from China to many other countries. The competition is very intense and can be defined as close as there are many competitors with very similar products competing for the costumer’s money. Project focus This project will focus on analyzing the target group and the halo segment to learn more about why the already chosen markets are attractive to Bata and which markets could be interesting later on. This is necessary to make the right choice in market segmentation and selection. We will also look into an analysis of the current market segmentation and selection including what made Bata choose the countries that they are already in. Finally we will suggest a country for Bata that could be a new lucrative market to enter, based on the earlier findings. Research methodology For this project we will use secondary data gathered from sources like newspapers, internet newspapers and the like. For the sake of the project and its reliability it is very important that the information is conducted by valid sources. It is necessary to be critical when using secondary data, as the source can be pursuing different goals with its content. To show an example; Batas website is reliable for correct information as it is important to the company and its image that stakeholders can access the right information easily. At the same time the website should also pursue to sell the company’s brand which usually makes them show only the very best sides of the company. This makes some of the information partly unreliable or at least questionable. To overcome this problem we will be aware of the sources intensions and reliability. If the source is unknown to us or the information does not fit with other information we have, we will research this to make sure we end up with the right information to base a project on. We will always look at the opportunity to find the same data from other sources to back up its reliability. Primary data would be highly valuable to us in this project – and a credible and reliable source to us as the projects main topic is to analyze the company’s market segmentation. Interviewing the company would truly bring us inside the company and data the employees go through prior to screening and selecting markets. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to get in contact with Bata. Had the time and size of this project allowed us to, it would also be possible to conduct a questionnaire from consumers in the companys stores asking why they chose Bata over its competitors. Analysis of target group The markets Bata has entered (Bata, (C) 2013) shows a market segmentation that mainly sells shoes in countries with a large segment of costumers with lower purchasing power; the middle class and lower middle class of the society. It is presumable that this makes the consumer use high involvement when purchasing these products. When this segment is satisfied with the purchase it usually will stay loyal to the brand as the segment consider for a longer time before spending money; as loyal as consumers can be these days. It is noticeable that Bata is not visible in North America, Scandinavia and UK which is another argument for theory above (Bata, (C) 2013). This method of segmenting has a great likelihood of fighting against grey markets/parallel import which is highly likely to happen between markets with segments with low purchasing power. Due to the changing markets the competition started undercutting their prices and Bata tried pursuing a new segment; the higher premium society. Bata tried and failed. When a brand focusing on a (lower) middle class segments wants to change their focus – or add focus to a higher society it very often fails. This is very likely to be because the perceived brand value is lower – often created by the price of the products. This kind of change usually just work when an expensive brand changes the target group to a lower society class, which makes the price drop. Then in the beginning the sales will boost because the consumers still perceive the same value of the brand but at a lower price – the benefit (or value) exceeds the cost of the product (to state a very basic example: it is like exchanging one Malaysian ringgit and getting one Malaysian ringgit and fifty cents back. ). That only lasts for a while until the perceived value has dropped to the same level as the actual buying price. If Bata wants to include a higher premium brand they need to create another brand as to not affect the already known products and the new premium ones. Back to the original segments; middle Class families were being offered footwear by Bata as they had shoes ranges for  school going children, young men, and even some offerings for women. In terms of the behavioral aspects Bata’s target customers could be quite price sensitive, demanding value for money, looking for basic needs to be met, and not very conscious about the shoe lasting for a long time, yet at the same time demanding adequate quality footwear which is trustworthy to last for a while. Bata may also be categorized as a store where usually entire families visit together because of the various offerings that Bata has to offer to them. The following products are Bata’s main products and the segment they focuses on, to clearly specify what usually is in Bata’s markets around the world. Bubblegummers The Bubblegummers brand serves the children segment, in the age about 0-13 years. It has provided a variety of design and type of shoes the segment. Marie Claire The Marie Clare brand is for women. Bata is trying to target the young working women who wants reasonably priced, decent design and durable shoes for work and this brand in many cases serves its segment well. Sandak Sandak is a sponge sandal that mainly serves a women segment who wants very good quality sandals in different types. It is mainly used in rainy seasons when many prefer it because it is washable and decent in looks. Power This is reasonable priced good quality sports and sandal shoes for young males and females. The target segment of Power is teenagers and some parts of the elderly people who need sneakers for walking purpose. KingsStreet The most famous dress shoes from Bata. Targeted towards the family or working man who needs nicer looking shoes for work or special occasions. Weinbrenner This brand of Bata provides trendy, outdoor, rough use footwear for men. This is also a popular brand with the youth. Though the brand is not that cheap but the quality of it is very good. Bata has other products too and many products special to the individual markets. To include all these products would require a much bigger project and more time than given.

Greek Mythology Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Greek Mythology Assignment - Research Paper Example He evidently does not see their humanity and spiritual value, presenting their stories as embroidery on male tales. It is the thesis of this paper that female characters in the Iliad are like trophies, and what they do or say does not affect what happens in any important way. Trophies are awarded for accomplishments and they attest to the competence of the person to whom they were awarded. Trophies are motivators of competition between opponents or groups of opponents. Trophies are useful as launching pads for bragging. Trophies indicate that the trophy holder is a winner, but they give no assessment of how much skill was demonstrated or what the criteria was. Trophies can give a biased picture of the trophy-holder as more than what he/she actually is. Trophies can also become an annoying distraction as they require dusting and polishing, arranging and protecting, all the requirements of object management. Some people buy themselves trophies, so they will look and feel more important and powerful than they really are. Trophies can arouse jealousy in others who have no recognized accomplishments. Trophies come in various levels of quality. Although they usually look elegant, and most often come with a pedestal, some are of a more fragile nature while othe rs last well. Trophies are usually placed in a designated area, such as an enclosed cabinet, a wall of shelves with other trophies, or on a bookcase, and they are kept there in one place, being viewed from a single perspective. These characteristics of trophies, their place and use, apply to the Iliad’s women too. Helen was a top quality trophy. She was intelligent, expressive, self-motivated in spite of tremendous restraints. She was a hated foreigner, inadvertently responsible for the Trojan War and a lot of suffering. She is a captive, possessed object. Being a possessed object was par for the course in the time of the Iliad.

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 14

Business law - Essay Example In Saudi Arabia, supreme religious councils order how Islamic law should be applied and have authority over legislation. On the other hand, the IUS law is derived from, statutory law, common law, court rules, administrative law, and constitutional law. Statutes provide enactments of legislative bodies of the US and are more specific in dealing with issues than the constitution. Common law, sometimes called case law provides laws or decisions by courts in personal cases. The US’ court system consists of judicial branches of the state and federal governments charged with the interpretation and application of the law. The system is divided into two administrative split systems, the state and the federal, each acting as independent of the legislative and executive branch. It is a dual court system inherited from the colonial period. In comparison, the court system of Saudi Arabia or the Sharia court system includes the basic judiciary of the nation and its lawyers and judges make up the ulema, which is the country’s religious leadership. Besides, there are extra-sharia state tribunals that handle conflicts related to particular royal decrees. The final appeal from both the government tribunals and sharia courts is to the king. All tribunals and courts follow sharia rules of procedure and evidence. However, this system has been criticized for being arcane, slow, and lack of some protection of justice and of being unable of dealing with wor ld issues. The court system in Saudi Arabia has no jury trials and their courts consider few formalities. In the United States, a right to appeal is guaranteed by the statute or an underlying legal or constitutional principle. An appellate court must listen to the appeal. The appeal by permission or leave needs the appellant to get a leave to appeal. In situations like this, the appellate court and the lower court may refuse or grant the appellant’s command to appeal the decision of the

Sexual harrasment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sexual harrasment - Essay Example I will rely on specific aspects of sexual harassment and discuss certain laws that relate to sexual harassment in investigating the claim before giving a detailed opinion. Notably, the two women had previously complained to the supervisor’s immediate superior informing him of their discomfort and their need for the unwelcome sexual advances. Ideally, 1995 Auto Corp should have engaged in an investigation process to ascertain the magnitude, facts, and effects of the sexual harassment claim with an aim of resolving the issue to the benefit of the employees and the company. The company should have sought the application of all labor and employment laws to all union and nonunion employees. Although the two female employees were working in the nonunion satellite offices, they enjoyed the protection under Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The company should have investigated the claim on fair grounds and under the applicable labor and employment laws. In determining the investigator, the company should consider the relationship of the claim and the accused. The investigator should be conversant with the complaint and company policy. The investigator should have established the correctness of the adopted complaint procedure. The investigation on the complaints procedure will have determined the name and position of the accused and other victims. The investigation would also describe the date, location, and witnesses of the incident (SHRM, 2014). The investigation would also establish the effect of the reported claim on the complainant as well as the efforts initiated by the complainant to stop the sexual harassment (SHRM, 2014). Ideally, the internal investigations ought to address the privacy of all parties. The investigator should have interviewed the two female employees, the accused, and any witnesses to help the employer in resolving the complaint (State of

International Political Development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Political Development - Assignment Example By the establishment of markets for various commodities, underdevelopment and poverty can be easily eradicated because there is increased diversification, production, and industrialization. Goods and services that are available through a market-based economy increase the quality of life of people within the society. The whole community benefits from trading services since the individuals that are directly involved in the trade are able to accumulate wealth while the community is able to benefit from the distribution of resources that enable them to get access to better products and services.The other point of view in regards to development is the critical approach. This differs from the orthodox view as it disagrees that the only way in which development can be measured is in numerical terms. It notes that there are various other forms of transactions that occur in these types of societies such as barter transactions and these are not accounted for in the Orthodox concept. The inform al sector plays a very important role in regards to these societies. According to the critical approach, development is measured by the ability of a certain group of people to be able to meet their immaterial and material needs (Development, 2009). Given that each society has their own views in regards to what they need, there cannot be a universal standard to measure for development. Each society, therefore, has to set their own standards that are in relation to their requirements. These can, therefore, be broken down into 3 wide areas and they include the ability of the people to obtain the basic human needs, the political empowerment of the marginalized people and the state of the natural environment.The Orthodox concept of development argues that consistent underdevelopment is as a result of poor regulations and policies by the state legislatures. To promote trade, these poor states can have legislation that enables them to protect their internal industries from external protect ion. This is despite the fact that these industries might not have any comparative advantage in that sector.

Netflix in 2012 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Netflix in 2012 - Case Study Example The five forces model has been rated in the table as shown. Netflix Company currently experiences medium entry barriers. The company does not experience much of the entry barriers. However, the company receives low cost of switching powers concerning the capital requirements thus enhancing financial stability. Besides, Netflix seems to be one of the leading movie rental companies with decline in the identity and loyalty to subscription (Thompson 140). The organizational returns are mainly linked to customers’ returns that have bargaining power in terms of the quantity of order, while most customers are not willing to make streams as before. The above is because most customers have found alternatives to watching movies. The organization experiences different types of competitors from all corners of the world including Amazon and blockbusters who deal in similar products. As in the case above, Netflix needs to redefine the strategy and offer the best video on demand based on customers experience (Thompson 147). The company experience high level of competitiveness splitting along two main service provisions, pay TV distributors and cash technological companies. For instance, the organization experiences Apple cash balance leading to a decline in sales from 11.84 to $77.37 in Nov 2011. It has also been facilitated by low switching cost of consumers (Thompson 140). The organization experiences high bargaining power of suppliers with the quality in content-based as part of the organizational key input. Otherwise, there is no specific substitute for movie contents. Therefore, suppliers are limited to high-quality contents (Thompson 140). As from the year 2000, the movie industry has experienced quite a big mode of transition from technology to electronics and multiple consumer opportunities. For instance, current

Asian American Heritage Language Education in U.S Research Paper

Asian American Heritage Language Education in U.S - Research Paper Example Until recently, negative views about the personality and social development of bilingual children have been frequently expressed. Bilingualism was long associated with and even said to cause, mental confusion, identity and emotional problems, social attachment deficits, loyalty conflicts and poor self-esteem and self-concept (Sung & Padilla, 1998). However, it is clear that most people in the world have some sort of facility in more than one language and, as widely informed, it is monolingualism that is an aberration, an affliction of the powerful, and a disease to be cured.Until the late 1970’s, a majority of authors presented a negative, prejudiced view about bilingual personalities. Bilingual children were described as having split minds, being ‘neither here nor there,’ marginal people. Subsequent research has demonstrated that in any case, bicultural or bilingual individuals suffer detrimental effect on personality; bilingualism is not likely to be the cause. Rather, the social, economic and political conditions surrounding the development of bilingualism generate the problems.In America, where English is considered the dominant language, it would make sense to teach everyone English only. However, would this be the right course of action given that this would contribute to the extinction of heritage languages and cultures? In the late 20th century, United States had enacted the English-Only pedagogy among conquered peoples and minority groups on the margins of national life.... Subsequent research has demonstrated that in any case bicultural or bilingual individuals suffer detrimental effect on personality; bilingualism is not likely to be the cause. Rather, the social, economic and political conditions surrounding the development of bilingualism generate the problems (Park, 2007). In America, where English is considered the dominant language, it would make sense to teach everyone English only. However, would this be the right course of action given that this would contribute to the extinction of heritage languages and cultures? This question is best addressed by looking at the nation’s history. In the late 20th century, United States had enacted the English-Only pedagogy among conquered peoples and minority groups on the margins of national life (Blanton, 2006). The first region to be affected was Puerto Rico, and was considered the most significant pedagogical laboratory for language learning. English was made the primary language of instruction fo r all the subjects shortly after the American occupation in 1898. This was in place of Spanish-English bilingual education (Blanton, 2006). While English-Only pedagogy was the dominant instructional approach for teaching non-English speaking children between 1900 and 1930, it demonstrated an abysmal track record. Children in English only classrooms were simply not expected to thrive educationally. Educators made it clear that spoken English was the only objective it took precedence over such other subjects as reading, mathematics, and science (Sung & Padilla, 1998). In assessing the approach, it was concluded that English-Only pedagogy institutionalized and rationalized academic failure (Blanton, 2006). The most publicized

Netflix in 2012 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Netflix in 2012 - Case Study Example The five forces model has been rated in the table as shown. Netflix Company currently experiences medium entry barriers. The company does not experience much of the entry barriers. However, the company receives low cost of switching powers concerning the capital requirements thus enhancing financial stability. Besides, Netflix seems to be one of the leading movie rental companies with decline in the identity and loyalty to subscription (Thompson 140). The organizational returns are mainly linked to customers’ returns that have bargaining power in terms of the quantity of order, while most customers are not willing to make streams as before. The above is because most customers have found alternatives to watching movies. The organization experiences different types of competitors from all corners of the world including Amazon and blockbusters who deal in similar products. As in the case above, Netflix needs to redefine the strategy and offer the best video on demand based on customers experience (Thompson 147). The company experience high level of competitiveness splitting along two main service provisions, pay TV distributors and cash technological companies. For instance, the organization experiences Apple cash balance leading to a decline in sales from 11.84 to $77.37 in Nov 2011. It has also been facilitated by low switching cost of consumers (Thompson 140). The organization experiences high bargaining power of suppliers with the quality in content-based as part of the organizational key input. Otherwise, there is no specific substitute for movie contents. Therefore, suppliers are limited to high-quality contents (Thompson 140). As from the year 2000, the movie industry has experienced quite a big mode of transition from technology to electronics and multiple consumer opportunities. For instance, current

Neo-liberal Critique of the Welfare State Essay Example for Free

Neo-liberal Critique of the Welfare State Essay The welfare state refers to the initiative of the government in a country to take care of the wellbeing of the public. Under the welfare state, the government undertakes the responsibility of protecting and promoting the economic and social welfare of its people (Kuhnle 2000). The welfare state is based on the equality of all. In a welfare state, the government is involved in the lives of its people on all levels. The burden of providing for the physical and social needs of the people is almost fully placed on the government. The main objective of the welfare state is the creation of economic equability and striving to improve the standards of living. The government ensures fair distribution of resources, provision of equal opportunities, and provision of public services to those who lack the means to acquire them. The government in this case takes the accountability for the wellbeing of its people (Gooden et al. 1999). Hypothetically, the responsibility is supposed to be inclusive given the fact that the welfare of the people is generally considered as a right. This is to say that citizens are entitled to the welfare state. This can also be taken to refer to the establishment of â€Å"social safety net† (Rice, Goodin and Parpo 2006). Neoliberals have attacked the welfare state from different angles with some advocating for its complete abolishment and others claiming that it should be partially eradicated (Barrow 1998). They have given very many reasons as to why the welfare state should be reviewed and necessary measures taken. They have provided a number of reasons as to why the welfare state should be reconsidered. Neo-liberals are the advocates of economic liberalization as the means by which social progress can be achieved (Niggle 2006). This paper evaluates the neo-liberal critique of the welfare state. The neo-liberals advocate for a free and liberal economy where every person is involved. It is from this perspective that the welfare state is criticized for failing to give the citizens a chance to participate in the liberal market economy (Rice, Goodin and Parpo 2006). It is argued that the welfare state makes people reliant on the government and thus fail to labor for their own needs. Most developed countries have established welfare states for providing for the needs of their people. As a result, most people do not see the need to toil when their needs can be met freely. Nevertheless, there have been studies that have provided the claim that there is no connection between the economic performance and appending on welfare in the world economies. This means that there is no proof of the fact that the welfare state hinders social progress (Niggle 2006). When the progress of some of the developed countries that provide welfare is analyzed, it is clear that some of the countries that spend less on welfare are doing worse than those that spend more. For example, the US performs worse than a country like Netherlands. This is despite the fact that the latter spends more on welfare state than the former. This therefore shows that the welfare state could contribute, but is not responsible for uneven social progress (Gooden et al. 1999). The opponents of the welfare state claim that it tends to put the burden of providing for the citizens on some people while others sit back and enjoy. This is supported by the fact that the welfare state is financed through the taxpayers’ money (Kuhnle 2000). This is from the people who are employed and working hard to earn an income. Their income is taxed to provide for the people in the country who are not able to work through the welfare state. This can however be countered by the fact that there is a great income inequality in the society today. Inequality exists between executives and the average workers, between male workers and female workers and between people of different races. The welfare state is one way of ensuring that there is redistribution of resources and income for uniform development and also to take care of the marginalized groups in the society (Rice, Goodin and Parpo 2006). There has been criticism on the welfare state based on the dispensations made by the capitalists. This is done in the efforts to redirect the working class away from the need to follow an entirely socialist society and economy. This is what has been evident in a country like Germany. Additionally, the socialist class is a strong believer in patching up the inefficient capitalist economy and revealing the loopholes in the capitalist economy. They believe that the welfare system will not be necessary where government and ownership of the means of production is implemented (Kuhnle 2000). The critics also claim that the welfare state and the contemporary social democratic programs stifle the motivation of the market. This is so because of the provision of resources like unemployment insurance policies, minimum pay, profits on taxes, and reduction of the reserved labor. The result of this is that there is very little motivation to invest. Basically, the opponents claim that the welfare state demoralizes the capitalist economy and its incentive organization. There is no capitalist who will be motivated to invest his capital in order to feed the entire society (Itoh 1995). Another criticism views the welfare state as stealing of the wealth of slavery. This is based on the classical liberal fundamental right to obtaining and property ownership. From this point of view, it is a fundamental right of every person to be in ownership of his own body and thus be allowed to enjoy the fruit of the labor of that body (Cook 2001). This is where the transfer of money from one person to another by the state in the name of the welfare state is considered stealing. It is also a form of forced labor where some people have to work hard only for the benefit of others. Despite the fact that the welfare state is created by a democratically elected government, it infringes this fundamental right that every person is entitled to. This leads to less motivation to work, where one begins to view his or her labor as being for the benefit of others. The welfare state imposes what is referred to as Servile Law (Waarden and Lehmbruch 2003). This law shares the element of the ancient slavery. According to this law, positive law states that some individuals must toil for others, who in the same way must take care of them. This is unfair because one group of the public works for one that does not work. The group that is fed from the sweat of others is mostly comprised of people who have intentionally refused to work (Mendes 2003). Some other critics argue that the welfare state tends to offer its benefactors with the same rate of income as the minimum payment (Gould 1993). This has encouraged more people to sit back and wait for the welfare. The dependants of the welfare state do not find the need to work for minimum wage where even without working they will receive the same amount. This has led to the creation of a class of citizens that are fully dependant on the welfare state. This is despite the fact that the welfare is available only for the citizens who are not able to work. In the United Kingdom for example, the idea of the welfare state was aimed at poverty alleviation by offering certain individuals basic necessities (Niggle 2006). The state of affairs currently is that the welfare state has extended to provision of finances to a large number of individuals than the nation is able to afford. There is a feeling by some supporters that this argument is ideally untrue. They argue that in the United Kingdom, the welfare system offers people very little finances compared to the minimum wage in the country. However, the dependants of the social welfare in this country have the feeling that they need to access more benefits from the government. If the government bends to these demands, it is evident that the country could be in a very huge financial trouble. People have become so dependant on the welfare state until they feel that it is their right to make demands (Cook 2001). Neo-liberals criticize the welfare state for leading to increase in taxes. This criticism is logical because the finances for the welfare states come from taxes. Enough money has to be availed for the system to operate well and ensure that all the benefactors are covered. This can only be done through ensuring that enough money is obtained through taxation from those who are working. This leads to an increase in taxes. This is basically true from case studies like in Denmark, where the tax level went up to 48. 9 percent of the country’s GDP in the year 2007. Another similar case is Sweden where the tax level was as high as 48. 2 percent of the country’s GDP in the same year (Xu 2007). This however does not mean that there is a reduction in the income of the people in the countries in question. It is argued that this is so because the state taxes ideally return to the workers it is obtained from. This is from the fact that most of the money from tax is used in the provision of public amenities that are enjoyed by the same people who are the tax payers (Barr 2004). The opponents believe that the welfare benefits offered by the government are more costly and less effective than if the same were offered by the private sector. This is in line with a liberal economy where the private sector is offered an important part to play in the economy. In the year 2000, Louis Kaplow and Steven Shafell produced two articles with the argument that any social program founded on the elements of equality and impartiality would lead to an economical system that is Pareto inefficient (Barr 2004). It is obvious that every commodity that is offered free of charge at the consumption point would obviously be highly demanded. There would be efficient allocation of resources if stipulation reflects the charges (Mendes 2003). There have been arguments that the welfare system undermines the conventional family life. Dependence on welfare state encourages over-reliance on the government and increment of social evils. Single parenthood has been encouraged since people know that they will be taken care of by the state. It has been argued that the welfare state fails on moral, social and economic grounds. The welfare system has led many people to relax and wait for the free income. As a result, people have become reluctant to get education and employment. This has led to the increase of social evils as a result. This shows that the welfare state does the society more evil than good (Cook 2001). Conclusion The welfare state was established with the needs of the people who are not able to work in mind. It is a fact that most of the criticisms against the welfare state are true. The welfare state has led to over reliance on the government, making people less inclined to work. It is also true that they have tended to discourage capital investment where people will work to benefit those who are not working. The welfare state has also led to an increase in taxes, as more finances are needed to fund the welfare state. These are some of the neo-liberal criticisms of the welfare state. This does not mean that the welfare state should be completely abolished. As mentioned in the paper, there is great income disparity in the community today. This is not the fault of those who are unfortunate to have low income and those who are not able to access employment. There is dire need to redistribute resources and income in the society. There is no better way of doing this than taxation for provision through the welfare state. The welfare state was also created for a noble objective that is, benefiting those who are unfortunate and marginalized in the society. This group is still in the society and abolishment of the welfare state will be a problem to them. It is however undeniable that something needs to be done to make this system more effective and efficient for economical development. One of the ways forward is to restrict the spending on the welfare state. This will be achieved through restructuring of the policy and reviewing the benefactors. Neo-liberal critics agree that there is need for minimum provision for those in need. This means that the system cannot be entirely abolished, but there is need for serious changes on it. This way it will be able to meet its objectives to the society, while at the same time allowing for economical development. Studies need to be carried out to find the best way forward as far as the welfare state is concerned. Barr, N. 2004, Economics of the welfare state, Oxford University Press, New York. Barrow, C. 1998, State Theory and the Dependency Principle: An Institutionalist Critique of the Business Climate Concept, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 32. Cook, P. 2001, Discrediting Neo-Liberalism: The Social Democratic Welfare State Of The Netherlands. Available on May 12, 2010 from http://www. wlu. edu/documents/shepherd/academics/cap_01_cook. pdf Gooden, R. et al. 1999, The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Gould, A. 1993, Capitalist Welfare Systems, Longman, New York. Itoh, M. 1995, Political Economy for Socialism, St. Martins Press, New York. Kuhnle, S. 2000, Survival of the European Welfare State, Routledge, New York. Mendes, P. 2003, Australias Welfare Wars: the Players, the Politics and the Ideologies, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. Niggle, C. 2006, â€Å"Neo-Liberal Economic Policy: Critical Essays,† Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 40. Rice, J. , Goodin, R. Parpo, A. 2006, â€Å"The Temporal Welfare State: A Cross-national Comparison,† Journal of Public Policy 26 (3): 195–228. Waarden, F. Lehmbruch, G. 2003, Renegotiating the Welfare State: Flexible Adjustment Through Corporatist Concertation, Routledge, New York. Xu, Q. 2007, â€Å"Globalization, Immigration and the Welfare State: A Cross-National Comparison,† Journal of Sociology Social Welfare, Vol. 34.

Equality of women in the workplace

Equality of women in the workplace Companies around the world are currently going through a period of transforming and changing. Some are expending their business globally and there are some who wonder how the changing will effect or give an impact on their organization. As we know, men and women are entering the labor force in equal numbers but the majority of top mangement positions is still belong to men. The failure of more women to break the upper levels of corporate management is due to the glass ceiling. In economics, the term glass ceiling refers to situations where the advancement of a qualified person within the hierarchy of an organization is stopped at a lower level because of some form of discrimination, most commonly sexism or racism. However, since the term was coined, glass ceiling has also come to describe the limited advancement of the deaf, gays and lesbians, blind, disabled, and aged based on the defination in Wikipedia. There are many types of glass ceiling such as religious discrimination, different pay for comparable work, sexual, races, ethnics and even harrasment in the workplace. Other than that, exclusion from informal networks like preconceptions and stereotyping of womens role and abilities is also one of them. Another types of glass ceiling are lack of family-friendly workplace policies and policies that discriminate against gay  people, non-parents, or single parents. There are many reasons that causes the glass ceiling. One of the reason is job segregation. Job segregation is the concentration of women and men in different types and levels of activity and employment. Normally, men tend to be highly concentrated in the upper levels of professions such as managers, supervisor, production supervisors and also executives. Women on the other hand, tend to be in the status of lower level and lower paid professions such as teachers, secretaries, receptionists and nurses.  Women also measure success in the workplace differently than men because women place a higher value on their positive interpersonal relationships and feelings whereas men tend to measure success by high salaries, promotional opportunities and job titles. There is also opinion that saying glass ceiling is voluntarily choose by some women. For example, men tend to work harder in order to get good pay and women tend to choose to work less hours or may not want to extend their work duration in order to organized their children and spend more quality time with their families. There are some organizations that provide their employees with family-friendly programs that offer options such as flex-time which employees can choose their own work hours, employee-assistance programs and child care nursery which allows their workers to have a better chance of balancing their work lives and home. Unfortunately, women may feel reluctant to take advantage of these programs as they feel it may lessen than chance for being success within the company. Besides, part of the reason lies in leadership  stereotypes. It is still a strong view that women are viewed by many others as weak and soft whereas good male leaders are mostly known as tough and powerful.   More or less, this appears to affect career choices as the organization may have a perception that women is weak and not qualified for the positions especially the top management positions. Women and men also differ in their career gaps. Men are not influence to take a leave of absence. For example, when one of their children is sick, women is most likely to have to take the leave because men seldom do that. Men also refuse to work on a part-time job in order to get additional or side income when compared to women. It is maybe because they are shy that people would know when they have two jobs as mentioned earlier that men tend to measure success by high salaries and job titles. Other than that, most of the employers have the believe that women may quit the job when they want to begin a family and get married. Therefore, the organizations are less likely to invest in womans career by appointing them as the top management position. In order to let the organization hire a woman as one of upper levels of corporate management, they must show the dedication and willingness to take on new challenges and risks and be vocal about their personal ambitions. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION Today, women represent more than 40 per cent of the global workforce as they have achieved higher levels of education than ever before. Unfortunately, their share of upper management positions remains unacceptably low, with just a little tiny ratio succeed in breaking through the glass ceiling. According to the journal, the main topic that been highlight is about the impact and how gender diversity influence the career development of women being a director or one of the top position in the organization. There are three key areas that focus on women directors which are theoretical perspectives, characteristics and impact. Theoretical perspectives comprise of individual, board and firm. Individual consist of human capital, status characteristics and gender self-schema while board consist of social identity, social network and social cohesion, gendered trust, ingratiation and leadership. Firm level includes in resource dependency, institutional and agency theories. Characteristic review in four levels which are individual, board, firm and also industry and environment such as demographics, social capital, role, size, commitment, shareholder distribution, performance and economic environment. Impact also focus on the same level such as role models, governance performance, decision making, glass cliff effect, talent and also recruitment and retention. Glass ceiling exist because of few factors such as occupational sex discrimination, childcare responsibilities, stereotypes and gender discrimination. The perception of women can also lead to a problem because there are some belief that women are unqualified and they might have their own agenda. Organizations are very much concerned about hiring, retaining and promoting women to higher level but few are making the necassary changes to make a difference. Women hold less powerful corporate titles, fewer multiple directorships and earn considerably less than men. Men are more likely to have the collective trust whereas women believe in collective trust as well as relationship trust. The impact of women as a top management postition dwell in different level. In areas where they are very much represented in the pool from which leadership is drawn, women still do not move into leadership positions in equal ratios. The reason is women typically hold up on too much share of the burden in balancing their job and family. Sadly there are so much barriers that prevent women to become one of the top position in an organization. One of the barrier is the environment in a workplace. Organizational cultures, employees attitude, racial stereotype commonly limit women from completely participating in the organizations. Working parents, especially mothers, usually have to deal with family obligation which they often have to choose between their job and family. They actually require flexibility at work. Women often lack the right type of job experience to move foward. The experiences they have normally do not suit the promotion criteria. Equal but different? As mentioned earlier, men and women are entering this labour force in equal numbers but why is that women is being treated as minority group and a weak person? In this paper, i have attempted to contribute to glass ceiling by exploring how glass ceiling affect the women in achieving their dreams. Women often to have less power or right to control, judge, or prohibit the actions of others than men in the organization. They face different challenges and most likely they should have a required skills to be successful in the organization compared to their male counterparts. This is due to glass ceiling that appear to have in every organizations directly or indirectly. Men and women are seen differently because men want to see and analyse if women have the capabilities and the qualification that fit to be in the upper level management. The inflexibility of our culture builds an organizational resistance against the values that women and people with disabilities bring to the workplace. Women need to be guide and support through the challenge. The organization should revamped the assessment in order to exclude gender discrimination and conduct an exit interviews in order to determine the reason why women leave positions. Mostly, women will have less salary compared to men because the employers sometimes view women as they are not devoted to their work. In organizations, the progress of women and disable people appears to be affected by more than career choices and qualifications. Today there are some organizations that appraise, measure and do changes to their organizations policies and procedures in order to attract talented women to work in a diversifying work force. Doesnt mean that when there are still difficulties in the working environment, women should stop trying to achieve their dreams. They should always think positive that one day women will no longer treated as a minority and a weak person instead they are being treated equally as men. It is important for them to strive and go for what they dream of because they might be able to break the glass ceiling. SUGGESTION / RECOMMENDATION Recently there have been many changes that organizations are trying to intergrate so that more women can be a part of the top management position and achieve their dream. Some of the examples are work from home, flexible timing and so on. There are few recommendations that i would like to suggest that may helps in changing the perception and mind-set of certain people towards glass ceiling. The recommendations are: Women will have equal access to jobs if the government enforce the anti-discrimination legislation at the workplace. Provide various training that emphasize on the workplace equality, values and their importance and the consequences of gender discrimination. Part-time workers must have the same entitlements and benefits as full-time workers and make sure all employees conditions and benefits are equally distribute. Providing education and enough informations about sexual harassment and directly implement no-sexual harrasment policies to create a note of respect in the workplace. Creating a forums for women so that whenever they have issues affecting them in the workplace or jobs, they can always discuss it there. Develope a programmes to help employers acknowledge the capabilities and the benefits that women can bring to their businesses. Evaluation must not be rated based on employees gender, but it must be evaluated by their performance. Implement a family-friendly policies that will help supporting women at work which include the flexible working hours, child care nursery and other facilities, parental leave for women and men and many more. Organizational leaders should learn on how to enhance or upgrade the developmental and advancement opportunities for women and take responsibility for removing barriers. CONCLUSION In a nutshell, it seems that glass ceiling are still exsist in an organization and women have made a great tread in smashing on the glass ceiling but have not quite broken through it yet. In order to compete on a same level with men, having an access to line experience and management training it very important. Other than that, women must also have a good and effective communication skills that can give the opportunities for better interaction with others. Women also must have the ability to cope effectively and positively under pressure and willing to face of challenges, criticism and setbacks. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that successful elimination of glass ceiling requires not just an effective enforcement strategy but also the involvement of employers, employees and others in identifying and reducing attitudinal and other forms of organizational barriers encountered by women in advancing to higher level management position in different workplace setting. Organization also need to embrace the concept of diversity and redefine leadership model in organizations so that this will let women bring value to and integrate into leadership structures.

Salvador sausage business plan Essay example -- essays research papers

1.0 Executive Summary †¢ By focusing on its heritage and the strength it brings into the products, their quality, and uniqueness, Salvador's will increase its sales to more than $2 million by the turn of the century, while improving the gross margin on sales cash management and working capital. †¢ This business plan leads the way. It renews our vision and strategic focus on the quality and value we put in our products and the market segment originally targeted. Our vision has been broadened by the success we have found in the marketplace, to the extent of adding new products and current plans on additional items and services. It has given us a step-by-step plan to meet and exceed our goals for increased sales, gross margin, and profitability. †¢ This plan includes this summary, and chapters on the company, products and services, market focus, action plans and forecasts, management team, and financial plan. 1.1 Objectives 1. Increase sales to more than $1 million over the next three years. 2. Move gross margin to above 55% over the current product line and maintain that level. 3. Add products and services to meet market demand, again at 55% margin or above. 4. Sell $2 million of salsa and related Hispanic food items and service by 2000. 5. Improve inventory turnover, reduce the cost of goods sold while maintaining the high quality of the products. 6. To provide jobs to the Hispanic community that are rewarding and fulfilling. 1.2 Mission Salvador's was built on offering the highest quality and value in its authentic hot salsa, filled with the history of the Hispanic community. Time honored family recipes have been passed down through the generations, rich with ethnic heritage. Knowledgeable consumers were looking for authentic products, filled with the best ingredients. The consumer was crying out for a change! They wanted real down home Hispanic salsa. Salvador's answered this call, first with its hot salsa, then adding mild and extra hot salsa, followed by yellow and blue corn chips. Constantly striving to supply what the consumer is asking for, we continually review what is available in the marketplace, and what isn't. Improving on what is available and providing new products and services to the areas of need will assure our success in a market driven by consumer demand. 1.3 Keys to Success 1. Delivering high quality products that set ... ...itional Ratios  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1996  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1997  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1998  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  RMA Assets to Sales  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0.22  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.30  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.34  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0 Debt/Assets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   35%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -12%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -24%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0 Current Debt/Total Assets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   55%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  25%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  14%  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0 Acid Test   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0.58  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.46  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5.43  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0 Asset Turnover  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4.59  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3.29  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.91  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0 Sales/Net Worth  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   7.08  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.95  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2.34  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0 Dividend Payout  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0.00  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  0

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay example -- Post-traumatic stress d

There are hundreds of different kinds of psychiatric disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV). One of them is called Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Based on the research, post-traumatic disorder usually occurs following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape (Harvard Women’s Health Watch, 2005). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the risk factors, pathophysiology, clinical manifestation, diagnostic criteria and tests, treatment, prognosis and future research and approaches to treat this psychiatric illness of post-traumatic stress disorder. Risk Factors As to all other kinds of disorders, determining the risk factors is a major influential aspect of a person’s life in exposing herself to such diseases and illnesses. The factors that put people at risk for post-traumatic disorder are having a history of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. In addition to that, people who have been abused as children or who have had other previous traumatic experiences at a time in their lives are more highly to develop the disorder (Harvard Women’s Health Watch, 2005). Other risk factors that contribute to PTSD include motor vehicle crashes, disasters, torture, and comorbid substance abuse (Miller, 2000). The most common precipitating events for PTSD in women were rape and physical assault. For men, physical assault and other traumas were the most prevalent. However, both genders are at heightened risk for PTSD when it comes to motor vehicle accidents. These are the major risk factors people may face that predict the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder to occur. Furthermore, according to Harvard Women’s Health Watch 2005, people do not necessary have to encounter the traumatic events directly in order for PTSD to develop. Pathophysiology Until now, there has not been a definite understanding of how post-traumatic stress disorder occurs in the brain. The exploration into its pathophysiology is fairly recent. However, there is research around it discussing about PTSD’s pathophysiology and coming to a complete understanding. In a normal person without the disorder, a stress hormone, adrenaline, releases from the body and prepares it to flee o... ...ive therapy is say to process â€Å"the strengthening of a cognitive plan that can guide thinking and behaviour in future potential encounters with trauma†¦,† (Wells & Sembi, 2004, p. 308). Future research also includes postmortem brain studies because it is significant in understanding psychiatric disorders to the neurobiology level (Soboslay, Martin, & Kleinman, 2004). Scientists are attempting to determine which treatments work best for which type of trauma. Works Cited Thomas Miller, Assessment of Life Stress Events: the Etiology and Measurement of Traumatic Stress Disorder International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 38, No. 3, 215-227 (1992) J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2004 Dec ;35 (4):307-18 15530845 (P,S,E,B) Metacognitive therapy for PTSD: a preliminary investigation of a new brief treatment. [My paper] Adrian Wells, Sundeep Sembi Deep-Soboslay A, Martin CE, Kleinman JE. The development of a posttraumatic stress disorder brain collection. Psychiatry. 2004 Winter;67(4):416-8. Harvard Women's Health Watch http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch_resources.htm Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.

Aristotle, Kant and Mills on Morals, Morality and Moral Philosophy Essay

The human social and personal life has become more and more complex. Over time, individual thinkers and intellectuals have consistently delved and investigated many important aspects of the human way of life. One of which is the investigation of how people rationalize their actions based on the socially-shared concept of right and wrong. Every time an individual acts, the deeply embedded instinct to question whether the action is right or wrong is influenced by the concept known as morality which is important in the society . Today, morality as an idea and as a practice and social feature remains unstable because it is still subject to change. This is the reason why morality is never cast in stone and that is why there is a saying that not all moral actions are legal and not all legal actions are moral. What morality affects is an aspect of life that greatly varies based on case-to-case situations and scenarios. It is difficult to define what morality is, and more importantly, what morality expects from the people. Helping the people understand that and manage this dilemma are the ideas of thinkers like John Stuart Mills, Immanuel Kant and Aristotle, who provided explanations and ideas regarding morality, what it is, what it entails, what to do with it, how to use it, etc. They are famous during their time and even in their present because of their intellectual gifts, how they used it and what resulted from it, these individuals proved to be instrumental in exploring and explaining the extent of morality and moral philosophy. They opened ideas regarding morality and moral philosophy that acted as guide for people to better understand it and live and act in accordance to what they believe are suitable tenets in their own way of life. History has viewed Kant, Mills and Aristotle as important pillars in the discussion of morality and moral philosophy. What people feel vis-a-vis what people are subjected to by law are all making its impact in how morality develops, shifts and change every day. It is important that individuals have a solid understanding of what these ideas are, how they differ or are similar with other ideas and how it can impact human life. II. Discussion A. Morality What is morality? For the longest time, morality has been strongly debated by many of the world’s greatest thinkers in the hope of finding a concrete and definitive answer to this inquiry en route to a useful application of such ideas in practical everyday lives. In the past as well as in the present, morality has often figured significantly in the many different affairs and activities of human beings. It is a set of beliefs. It includes important aspects like punishment and reward system in societies as well as traditional practices among others . Society has been strongly dependent and influenced by the concept of morality especially those which are socially shared. Morality has long existed but in the past was hardly explored, explained and defined. With the works of philosophers like Aristotle, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mills, among others, morality and the philosophy operating it has been explained and explored, especially in consideration to how people act or in anticipation of how people will and should act. Morality is an important aspect of social and personal life that influences and dictates the actions of human beings and how the society and other human beings respond to it. It is hard to imagine world without the concept of morality as it is. It may be presented in another words or terms but the ethos of such idea will persist. The human nature is naturally attuned to discovering and exploring a natural aspect of human interaction such as morality. Through the established ideas of morality accepted by the society, an action is defined as right or wrong, moral or immoral (although in case to case basis it is often more complex than that). Morality acts as a guide. The society hopes that through aspects like morality, people can have an organized set of actions and the social life will not fall into chaos. As an important indicator of what is right and what is wrong, morality and morals of the individuals have always been subjected to investigation. This is done to see if the existing parameter for the identification of morality and what is moral or immoral is acceptable, and if necessary, challenged to influence the entry of change. Individuals like the thinkers Kant, Mill and Aristotle tried to find out and explain the implications of morality, as well as its scope and boundaries. They explained whether it is a simple code of conduct or is it something more, something reflective of the real and true character of the individual which is innate even without the influence of external rules. â€Å"What is at stake is whether morality is essentially a system of rules, which persons can obey for whatever reasons, or something that is broader in its demands – a system that reaches to the ingredients of the characters or personalities of those who obey its rules . † B. Morality according to philosophers i. Immanuel Kant – Immanuel Kant was a very insightful and talented thinker and intellectual who made his mark in history based on what he offered to the world as important ideas in many different fields of human way of life. His position on morality and moral theory is characterized by his creation of what is known as the Categorical Imperative or simply CI. For Kant, discerning what is moral or immoral is simply based on how the individual acts according to the Categorical Imperative. Being consistent with what the Categorical Imperative requires mean that the action and the individual is moral, while varying or deviating from the Categorical Imperative is equal to being immoral. Basically, what Kant is trying to point out here via his Categorical Imperative is the idea that morality is something that should be hinged on a particular set of standards established and shared by the society pertaining to what is acceptable and what is unacceptable action. Kant rationalizes that the individual should be free to pursue or deviate from the Categorical imperative. The individual is a rational being and not a being that is merely driven by emotional motors without consideration to reason. He or she is free and endowed with autonomy to make the distinction in recognizing moral and immoral actions. The individual pursues what could be moral or immoral in the person’s perspective and the perspective of other people or community. Kant’s position on morality is found in his several published works which have been extensively read, critiqued and reviewed by other individuals, who, like Kant are also intently pursuing the philosophy of morality and the ideas affecting it. These include â€Å"The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals†, followed by â€Å"The Critique of Practical Reason†, â€Å"The Metaphysics of Morals, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. † His writing entitled â€Å"Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason† also touches the topic of morality and is important in moral theories. ii. Aristotle – Aristotle is a thinker who has explored many different aspects of human social life and has contributed many different important ideas. One of the things that Aristotle talked about in his works is morality. Aristotle is known for his contribution to the philosophy of morality. Despite the fact that Aristotle is well respected as a thinker, critical analysis of his works on moral philosophy still revealed some key holes and weaknesses in his overall concept . Some of the ideas that Aristotle explored with regards to morality and moral philosophy include the idea that the main consideration in morality is having people consider what is best for the many and not for the few. Aristotle’s discussion of morality is also focused on virtue, and the consideration and role of money and material consideration and the weighing of material and non material considerations when it comes to what constitutes happiness. In turn, it is an important consideration in assessing moral and immoral actions. It can be considered that Aristotle was practical and realistic in his approach to explaining morality, even giving ideas in simple construction, like how it is not easy to be good, as reflected in his work Nichomachean Ethics . iii. John Stuart Miller – John Stuart Mill has been considered as one of the individuals in the nineteenth century who talked about morality and provided new ideas regarding morality and moral philosophy. Many believed that Mill’s ideas were actually off shoot from other ideas in the past like those presented by intellectuals like John Locke and David Hume among others. Critics and analysts believe that what Mill did was consolidate some of the important ideas of these philosophers and develop and new approach in understanding morality and moral philosophy to help guide people and their way of life and way of thinking. This results to a society in tune with moral paradigms and is assisted in defining what is right and wrong actions and way of life. Mill is identified with the utilitarian approach in moral philosophy. This means Mill believes in the idea that the morality of the action of the individual is assessed by the consequences of that action which makes considerations on action utilitarian. The society judges the actions based on what it can do to the people or society. C. Similarities The three philosophers provide moral philosophy outlooks that share similarities based on what they imply and based on its characteristics as well. For example, critics and analysts believe that the theories of the three in morality are considered as normative. These are the kinds of theories that people should value and put importance to. â€Å"Kant, Mill and Aristotle are offering normative theories; theories of what we should value . † The moral philosophy design of Aristotle, Mill and Kant also shares the similar belief that part of the concept to be good which is important in morality is the recognition that it is difficult to act in such a way that is perceived by the society as good. The concept of what is difficult and what makes the actions difficult vary from one philosopher to the other . Also, morality plays an important part in Mill, Kant and Aristotle’s explanation of other related concepts integral to morality, like ethics, for example . One of the similarities of the three individuals with regards to their pursuit of and contribution to the concept of morals, morality and the moral philosophy is that they are all responsible each for three different perspective, approaches and ideas on morals and morality based on what they have popularized. Aristotle has his Nicomachean Ethics while Kant has his Categorical Imperative. Lastly, Mill has his Utilitarianism . Kant and Mill, two philosophers whose lives are closer to one another compared to the differences in time span with that of Aristotle, has become a factor that resulted in the creation of similarities in their ideas regarding moral philosophy. Larmore explained that the moral philosophy of both Mill and Kant are considered as liberal theories. It is characterized by consistent similarities between the two moral philosophies that featured ideas such as the autonomy and independence of individual in relation to morality, among others . â€Å"Liberal political theory since Kant and Mill has usually presented itself as an all-encompassing moral theory committed to overall personal ideals such as autonomy or an experimental attitude towards ways of life . † Both Kant and Mill also focused on the role and importance of virtue, citing the idea that virtue is a driving force behind achieving morality. Morality, in turn, is realized because of how virtue manipulates individuals towards action. â€Å"Kant and Mill both wrote about the importance of virtues. Still, in their views of morality, what makes for a virtue is the fact that the agent acts in accordance with the fundamental principle of morality . † Also, another similarity, this time between Kant and Mill, is their similar use and advocacy regarding human freedom regarding action and the pursuit of morality. For these two individuals and their moral philosophy, an important idea postulated is that of the role of autonomous human beings being empowered by freedom to choose their actions and by themselves consider what is moral and what immoral actions are. An important characteristic of the ideas of Kant, Mill and Aristotle when it comes to moral philosophy is the shared similarity of the three which made them a collective whole in the analysis of moral theory and philosophy. Prinz, in his book â€Å"The emotional construction of morals†, explained that when moral philosophies are examined collectively, Mill, Kant and Aristotle’s ideas comprise a particular group from which other groups involving different ideas are compared and contrasted with. An example is how the approaches of Hume and Nietzsche are compared to the collective similar ideas of Mill, Kant and Aristotle. â€Å"It is important to see that Hume and Nietzsche are doing something very different from Kant, Mill and Aristotle . † D. Differences i. The different ideas – In many different ways, the philosophical approaches of these three individuals vary from one another. For example, both Aristotle and Mill put forward reasonable, practical and understandable constructs and designs for their moral philosophy and the expectations of the humans and the societies in this matter. In comparison, Kant appears to be extreme in his ideas and in his expectations of the people and the society if his approach on moral philosophy would be followed. For example, Kant was expecting that the rest of the society and other people will rigidly follow behaviors indicative of moral behavior when the truth is, it is more complex than this. Also, Aristotle and Mill’s moral philosophies are considered teleological while that of Kant is considered deontological . Others believe that Aristotle was developing something which differs from the point of focus of the works of Mill and Kant, especially in the idea that moral philosophy can be a guidebook for some, while for others simply the identification of the idea good person . ii. Differences in lieu of God, religion and morality – In comparing the approaches, perspectives and moral takes of these three individuals on morality, morals and the philosophy of morality, it is noticeable how the concept of god and religion has often figured in this equation, and how the three individuals handled them differently. There is Kant who believes that the autonomous individual exercises free will and the belief that this act is a manifestation of God’s will and that reason is used to identify and understand morality. Mill, on the other hand, believes that morality does not include God in the equation and the identification of morality is dependent strongly on the consideration of the individual of his happiness or pleasure. Unlike Kant who believes that as morality is dependent on the individual, so is the individual answerable for his actions on morality and immorality. Mill believes that the individual is not the only entity answerable in morality but society as well. It appears that Aristotle sides with the idea that morality is dependent on the conscious course of action of the individual. This creates moral virtues which in turn influences and determines actions and whether or not they lean towards morality or otherwise. In the idea of virtue, differences are found, especially in comparison to the moral philosophies of Aristotle, Kant and Mill wherein Mill and Kant are in similar standing in the idea and concept of virtue different from how Aristotle perceived it. â€Å"For Aristotle, virtue is basic in a way which it is not for Kant and Mill. That is a crucial difference that is reflected in their theories as overall . † Aristotle provides a very good model for morality, explaining that morality and the pursuit of moral living should be aided by other aspects of life, like education. By being educated, the individual can act better in a way that morality is being considered more significantly in the actions. E. Analysis An important consideration to the understanding of, as well as appreciation, of the moral philosophies of the three moral philosophers is not just based on what the individual analyst or critic is experiencing at the moment and what the individual is biased for or against. Rather, it is based on the context by which they are trying to define and explain morality. It is important that regardless of their differences and similarities as ideas. All of these perspectives are based on an important foundation, and that is the reason through which the philosopher propels his or her ideas (in this case â€Å"his† since all three are male philosophers). As Rosenstand explained it, analysis and criticism of any of these ideas first require the individual to be able to understand the point of reason of these philosophers, why they are trying to say what they are saying and why this is how they see things. â€Å"If we were to ask Kant, Mill, Aristotle, or just about any moral thinker, he or she would say we must try to appeal to their reason . † This phenomenon, in a way, is indicative of the social condition. Societies vary from one another when it comes to their collective idea of morality as well as the differences in the personal preferences on morality. They all have their reasons why their morality and their moral philosophies are designed as it is. III. Conclusion The philosophers Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill and Aristotle are individuals and thinkers who explored and discussed morality and in the process helped people in defining standards for life and way of life. These individuals are important because people has the need to understand how they should act and under what considerations. It is an idea that is important and crucial in the concept of morality and moral philosophy. Through these individuals and their ideas which are similar and different in one or many different points, people are given the chance to assess their actions and see if they are good or bad depending on the moral guides that they follow. â€Å"Kant, Mill and Aristotle are telling us what we should value . † Bibliography Bailey, Andrew. First Philosophy: Fundamental Problems and Readings in Philosophy. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2004. Ben-Yehuda, Nachman. The politics and morality of deviance: moral panics, drug abuse, deviant science, and reversed stigmatization. New York: SUNY Press, 1990. Care, Norman S. Decent people. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. D’Andrea, Thomas D. Tradition, rationality, and virtue: the thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. Vermont: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. , 2006.