Xing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Xing - Coursework Example Xing magazine will offer the level of quality advertisement and services that you can expect from a world class magazine. It is therefore safe to say that the company will build its reputation based on results for discerning client base. Xing magazine will give the value for your money because it will provide advertisement services to a wide range of people and entities based all over the globe. As an advertising company, we always strive to improve the quality of service to the clients. To ensure we offer the greatest quality ads. Even though the company will start by first offering hard copy magazine, Xing aims at going digital in the first 6 months of operations. Fashion and style is no doubt a business concept on the rise. That is, the 21st century population loves fashion and always wants to look smart. Fashion is an all-round concept that engages everybody in every industry. From managers, manufacturing, schools to tourists and many more. Irrespective of your industry, be assured that Xing has your style. For instance; for managers Xing will make sure that you and your employees are well dressed and you will be the center of attention whenever you attend executive conferences; for tourists industry, be assured that fashion and style will be incorporated in your adverts to attract as many tourists as possible and these just a tip on the iceberg. Xing is a profession company that will help you in creating the visuals and lay out ads in relation to the latest fashions and styles in the market. Xing magazine believes that there is nothing more fun and freeing than fashion design shopping. After a very tiresome day at work, it feels great to trade in layers of dark tights, delicate dresses, strappy sandals, wedding dresses and much more fashion oriented. Though Xing consider fashion sense classic, we will always choose one trend to try when the seasons change. The idea of Xing magazine is to have a trailblazing

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China The two criminal justice systems that shall be discussed in this paper are those of the United States and that of the Peoples Republic of China. When comparing and contrasting these two systems one should start with the premise that both are instituted in their countries in the attempt to curb the proliferation of crime, apprehend offenders and deter potential offenders. Both the U.S. and Chinas criminal justice systems make use of a court system, police enforcement organizations and detention/correctional facilities. However this is as much as similarities go as the two systems are radically different since they are based on ideologically opposing government structures. The U.S government is based on a free market capitalist economy supported by a representative democracy. On the other hand that of China is founded on a social communist ideology. As for demographic figures, the U.S. has roughly 355 million citizens while China has well over one billion, which makes up one fourth of the world population. Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), in his book Criminal Justice in China, states that Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.) was founded in 1949 under a socialist rulership. From that point onwards a push was made to establish basic legislation with regards the administration of the criminal justice and enforced nationwide. The U.S. government is hierarchally based on a unified organization where power is shared between the federal and state governments. Therefore this means that the political system secures autonomy of each state in the U.S. but at the same time adopting a centralized government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The U.S. justice system is derived from the British common law tradition. Common law is the law that is agreed upon by the common people and exists in two forms, Lex Scripta (written law) and Lex non Scripta (unwritten law). On the other hand MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), says that the Chinese justice system is quite difficult to put under one unitary system. This is due to the fact that the Chinese criminal justice system was repeatedly reorganized in the wake of political changes and internal party disputes since 1949, when the communist party took over. MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) also notes that the Chinese justice system under socialism is not an independent administrative system but was integrated into a network of social control and political mobilization. The Chinese Criminal Law is based on the ideological precepts of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong. Its tasks are to use punishments to resist against all revolutionary or criminal behaviour, for the sake of protecting the Chinese autocracy. Gaines and Miller (2006) explain that the police forces of the United States are the successors of Militias originally instituted in the early colonies to protect the population and control the Native Americans. The different forming States developed their own security forces and these operated autonomously. Major cities instituted their own police forces, which function under the control of a city government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to Gaines and Miller (2006) Currently the U.S. police forces are structured on local/city/county and federal/state levels, thus having a federal system. All local policing duties are shared between local municipalities and rural localities. Cities, towns and villages are able to institute their own police forces, while others, usually rural localities, rely on a county Sheriffs department for the task of enforcement and policing. Usually the size of police forces in the U.S. is directly proportional to the population of the area being controlled. The 50 States forming the U.S. also have their own police forces that are ascribed to different regions and often patrol undeveloped rural areas. The job of such agencies include investigating crimes against the state such as alcohol licensing violations or welfare fraud, fish and game violations, and highway traffic infractions (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to a statistic of the U.S. Department of Justice (2008), on average the ratio of police to population in the U.S. is about 2.3 officers per thousand residents, however larger cities generate grater ratios. This police force ratio has stayed fixed around 2.21-2.34 police officers per 1000 civilian population for nearly 30 years. Next up on the U.S. hierarchal police system is the Federal Governments police force that subdivided into various other agencies (Gaines and Miller, 2006). There is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is independent of any administration. The F.B.I. intervenes when federal laws are infringed, an interstate crime is committed, or if national security is threatened. However the last case scenario has been taken over by the Department of Homeland Security established after the attacks of September 11th 2001. The U.S. has about 20 federal law enforcement agencies, which also include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Marshals Service. Further more there exist the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Services handle illegal immigrants while the U.S. Customs officials deal with border infringements. However this specia lization of the different policing agencies has its drawbacks. Problems can arise due to jurisdictional issues, when what one should really take care of is the upholding and maintenance of the law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) the P.R.C. employs around 2 million police officers, of which most work is small offices that serve communities of roughly 10,000 citizens. The main policing agency in the P.R.C. is the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), which includes about 700,000 officers. This agency was instituted in 1983 and was formed by incorporating disbanded units of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on domestic defence duty and armed frontier defence and fire fighting. The rise of the PAP shows how Chinese leadership is more concerned with domestic security than it is with foreign threats (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). The PAPs main task is to deal with domestic disturbances, by acting as riot police, guarding government compounds and also foreign embassies. It usually handles border defence but in some cases it is requested to back up local police. Recently it has been employed to suppress anti-government protests. The Public Security Service (PSB) is both a local police and the Chinese equivalent of the Secret Service in the U.S. The P.R.C. justice system also employs paramilitary armed police and more than 1 million security guards. Quasi-police force known as cheng guan also operates in China (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). These carry out tasks deemed unpopular by the citizens, such as collecting fines and tax money, often these are just thugs hired by the official police to carry out such tasks. The Chinese government introduced a new special unit in December 2008, to counter gun-related crimes and organized crime such as gambling rackets, organized prostitution, drug production and trafficking. By 2009 Chinas public security budget was increased by nearly a third, to $4.2 billion partly to tackle internal stresses related to the unrest in Tibet and western China. Also this increment in the public security budget came about as a result to unrest brought about by unemployed workers and other problems related to the global economic crisis (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). In the past, police forces in the U.S. have been accused of corruption and the Good-Old Boy network of hiring practices. Also in recent years charges of racism, racial profiling, and use of excessive force have been reported by citizens and related organizations (Gaines and Miller, 2006). In China family members of victims of crime have often been criticised police for their incompetence and reluctance to make sensible effort towards solving cases that affect them. Another criticism directed to Chinese police forces is that these have a reputation for being corrupt and connected to smuggling. Also citizens, particularly in rural areas, regard these with suspicion. Chinese police have traditionally been more involved in maintaining government control than solving crimes, and this is directly related with Chinas political ideology. (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). As for the US court system, this is a dual judiciary system, of which the two constituent parts (federal and state) function independent of each other. The federal judiciary system includes district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. The state system includes trial courts at the local and state levels, intermediate courts of appeal, and state Supreme Court (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The primary agents working along each other are the judge, prosecutor, and defence lawyers in the U.S. system. The U.S. law is derived from four main sources, which are constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations, and the common law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The most important source of law is the United States Constitution, under which all other laws fall. No law can contradict the U.S. Constitution. As already stated the U.S. follows the principles of Common law that were inherited from English jurisprudence. This tradition holds that a decision taken in court is always made on the principle of precedent. This means that each case previously resolved serves as reference and guide for new cases. New aspects of law may be determined or discovered and thus a precedent arises. The U.S. justice system allows for presumption of innocence until proven guilty, plea-bargaining, trial by jury, and the right to a quick trial (Gaines and Miller, 2006). These features compose the U.S. justice system which is flexible and according to Gaines and Miller (2006) caters for the citizens ne eds in a batter way. Chinese Law is based on the Constitution, of which Article 28 declares: The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms criminals. According to an article by Jeffrey Hays (2008), the main task of the Chinese justice system has fundamentally always been to protect the interests of the state rather than the individual and to keep the population under control. There is no independent judiciary in China and courts are regarded as weak and subordinate to the Communist Party and the National Peoples Congress. The court system of the P.R.C. is divided into two types, Courts of General Jurisdiction and Courts of Special Jurisdiction. The first type consists of the Supreme Peoples Court and the local peoples courts. The second type includes courts of the first instance, intermediate courts that handle important local cases for the first instance and hear appeal cases from the basic courts and the high peoples court responsible for issues of provincial level. As for Courts of Special Jurisdiction there exist the Military Court of China, Railway Transport Court of China and Maritime Court of China (Hays, 2008), According to Hays (2008) Unlike in their U.S. counterparts, in Chinese courts unlawfully obtained evidence is not excluded in court and an accused person has no right to remain silent but has the duty towards the state to speak, often after administration of corporal punishment. According to Amnesty International, when the Criminal Procedure Law was revised and promulgated in 1996, commentators pointed to various articles, which although did not explicitly state that suspects were to be presumed innocent, when taken in unison the presumption of innocence could be inferred. The penal system of the U.S., like the judicial system, branches into federal, state and local levels. The prison system is supported by governmental funds, in the form of tax revenue from federal (corporate income), state (sales) and local (taxes) revenues. Is also receives funding through Inter-governmental transfer, in the form of federal grants and state grants. Gaines and Miller (2006) sentencing within the US judiciary system are considerably lengthier than those of other western countries and many states have endorsed a three strikes system which forces the judiciary to sentence a suspect to a life term in the case of a third offence (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The USs penal system has a huge problem because of overpopulation of convicts and thus in order to counter this many states have resorted to the privatisation of prisons. Other problems include the imprisonment of the criminally insane, increase of sexual offenders, dangerous offenders, gangs and drug smuggling in the pr isons. The aim of the penal system in China is to reform criminals, however this is carried out by means which in the west one might deem unacceptable. The USs penal system on the other hand is instituted to punish the criminal and protect the public. Both systems endorse capital punishment as their most extreme sanction and such actions have roused many heated debates within modern human rights exponents. Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Incognitos latest costume set is Meridas outfit in the Disney Pixar film Brave that sold through internet. The purpose of this report is to analyse and compare the differences of standard profit and actual profit. All calculations are available in the appendices. 1.1 Absorption Costing System Absorption costing system is used to cost Merida. It recognizes the importance of absorbing the fixed overhead on valuation of stock in calculating profit as fixed overhead is essential to incur to make product. All fixed and variable production cost is included in stock valuation in absorption costing while, marginal costing only include variable production cost in stock valuation5. It allocates portion of fixed manufacturing overhead to each unit of product and hence, it will be brought forward to next period in the closing stock5. Also, it avoids fictitious losses being reported. For instance, a company produces more on first few months to cater the sales for the next few months. In absorption costing, fixed production cost will only be expensed off when it is sold. While, marginal costing would expensed it off when it is incurred that may cause a huge losses at the beginning. The absorption of fixed overhead in stock valuation helps prices to be set with full knowledge of all costs. This is useful for decision making and preparing financial accounts. Additionally, absorption costing system is consistent with external reporting5. 2 1.2 Variance Analysis Standard costing is predetermined costs that assist in budget preparation and decision-making. It allows profit measurement and inventory valuation purposes. The variance analysis is applied to explain the deviations in the actual results from budgeted amounts8. The results of variance analysis is attributes to different elements such as material, labour, variable overhead and fixed overhead. These would provide a better understanding of the business performance and aware of any changes in the organization, economy, or sector. The variances might due to several reasons. This variance analysis segregates total variance into different element such as price and efficiency8. This sub-decomposition would provide more detail in explaining the deviations. It helps in performance evaluation that could motivate managers and identify areas of concern that enables managers to focus on the most critical areas8. It seeks explanation for variances and helps in planning activity by identifying the necessary early corrective action to be taken depending whether variance is favourable or adverse8. It would allow manager to generate more informed future predictions. Therefore, it acts as measurement system and controlling tool to supervise the progress of a project and controlling of future cost by understanding the present costs9. Key findings of the variance analysis 2.1 Possible reason of variances The most critical areas are adverse variances especially those with significant figures. The adverse variance of sales margin price might due to overestimation of standard selling price; higher quantity discount given by sales manager that result to lower actual selling price or bad response of the product that influences management to decide to lower the selling price. Adverse sales margin volume variance may due to overestimation of budgeted sales that is set without careful analysis of market condition. Also, inefficient sales force such as failure in advertisement (marketing) effort or customer dissatisfaction because of poor quality of costumes. Although the decrease in selling price by $4 should reflect an increment in sales volume, however, in this case, it is shown as adverse sales volume which might due to economic downturn as what happen to unexpected sales drop of Hennes Maurit (Fashion retailer) by 5% during Euro zone crisis6. The purchasing power of consumer will drop. Hence, despite the drop in selling price, the sales volume will decrease. Another possible reason for adverse sales price and volume is the escalating market competition in internet of selling childrens costume that affects both the sales price and volume to decrease by 4 and 190 units respectively. Adverse material price variance (Velour fabric and Metal poppers) may due to management careless in purchasing a batch of material with a higher cost without realizing it, ; general increase in price of the material (inflation) or the used of the improved quality of the material. Moreover, it can due to underestimation of material standard price; losing bulk discount as less has been purchased or inefficiency of purchasing manager in price negotiation9. The adverse material usage variances (Satin fabric, Polyester yarn and Velcro) may due to mistake by production department in allocating materials to jobs which causes wastage. Excessive usage may due to excessive wastage of materials by untrain workers, faulty machines, poor supervision or theft existence. Furthermore, purchasing department may obtain inferior materials where it may be unsuitable for use and causes excessive waste9. Also, it may have stricter quality control where, if any material does not meet certain standards in terms quality would be eliminated2. The adverse labour rate for skilled and unskilled labour may due to inflation or increase pressure by labour union for salary increment. Also, it may be the management strategy to increase workers morale by increasing the pay so to improve worker efficiency as where it is reflected on favourable efficiency of unskilled labour. There may be also payment of unplanned overtime or bonus where it has to pay more2. The adverse labour efficiency of skilled labour may due to error where the standard time were set too tight without careful analysis of operating condition and the employee skills4 or human resource error in employing inexperienced skilled worker and yet still paying high wages of the skilled worker2. Moreover, the usage of inferior quality material that leads to inefficiency where more time is needed to produce each costume2. Additionally, this adverse can result by poorly trained or motivated workers which require more time in processing; faulty equipment causing work interruptions; inefficient work schedule and poor supervision of workers2. Adverse variable overhead rate variance may due to underestimation of the rate by management. While adverse variable overhead efficiency variance, may due to adverse figure presented in skilled labour efficiency. The lower productivity causes more time needed for production. The possibility of factory breakdown causes variable overhead to increase, as a day production is lost. The adverse fixed overhead variance for supervisor and utilities may due to the general increase in market price due to inflation. This inflation resulted to escalated living expenses and hence, a pay increment for supervisor is necessary. While utilities, the possibility for wastage of electricity and water when machinery faulty or equivalent. Although the hiring of skilled labour should result to a favourable labour efficiency variance, this adverse variance is possibly due to insufficient demand to keep the workers busy. Hence, production is reduced from 7,500 to 7380 units due to just-in-time principle. Since workforce is fixed, skilled labour would need to produce less costume, and hence causes inefficient in work as they have more idle time, resulting to the rise of labour hours needed per costume from 1.25 to 1.5 hours. The adverse variance of postage and packaging may due to general increase of international shipping. Measure should be taken to control the escalating material, labour, variable and fixed overhead rate and decrementing usage efficiency as it would reduce profitability. It should also understand the reason for favourable variances, so these practices will continue and be used within the organization. Firstly, favourable material price variances (Satin fabric, sequins, polyester yarn, metal hoops and Velcro) may due to inferior quality material usage which incur lower price, changed to a lower-price supplier, obtaining bulk discount by buying in bulk, industry oversupply of those materials causes the price to drop or material standard price is estimated too low4. The favourable material usage variance (Velour fabric) may due to efficient usage of the material by labour. There may have existence of inter-relationship of material usage and price. The better quality of velour fabric used, the higher the efficiency of the material2. Hence, material wastage decreases due to lesser defective material. The favourable labour efficiency variance for unskilled labour may relate to ergonomics whereby work motivation arises when there is improved quality of equipment or materials, or better techniques of production. Also, it may due to salary increment. Hence, the productivity increases lead to higher efficiency. The favourable fixed overhead variance (rent) may due to market price for rent have reduced or it shifted to another venue with a cheaper rent. 2.2 Implication of variances The adverse variance indicates ineffectiveness and overspending by the business as compared to budgeted figures and vice versa for favourable variances. Adverse variances would have a negative impact to reconciliation statement that causes lower profit, as more have to pay (Higher expenses) and used (More time and material used). Also, the reputation would be affected as it is less efficient. Whereas adverse sales price and volume indicates lower selling price and volume sold which causes lower sales revenue. Favourable variances have a positive effect towards reconciliation statement that causes higher profit as less have to pay (Lower expenditure) and used (Lesser time used). 3.1 Comparison Incognito has a net profit margin of 2% as compared to retail clothing sector average of 7.86%. It shows that Incognito has a higher risk that a drop in sales would wipe off profits and cause net losses. This may due to inefficiency in controlling cost as shown in several adverse variance figure (Material, labour, fixed and variable overhead). Also, the recession and continuing uncertain economic climate became the greatest threat to sales over the recent years as what happen to HM with sudden drop of 5% sales and which believed has influenced Incognito with drop of sales from 7,500 to 7310 costumes6. It founds that fancy dress industry is competitive as there shown a growing number of fancy dress like companies and website retail sales exceeded 10 billion in UK alone1. This would limit Incognito growth opportunities and reduce its profitability. 3.2 Recommendation To improve sales, it is prudent to increase marketing (Advertisement) efforts during slower sales periods as there are more competition and fewer consumers especially during current Eurozone crisis. It should utilise social networking features such as Facebook to extend business coverage. Nonetheless, it should keep up-to-date on the costume trends so it would not be left behind by its competitor. If the adverse sales are due to quality issues, it may consider using better quality materials or purchasing new machine. New machine would improve quality, productivity (Efficiency) and less maintenance is needed in the long run. Also, it is recommended to develop maintenance schedule to avoid future machine breakdowns that affects efficiency and costumes quality. To reduce material price, it is recommended to purchase material in bulk which lower the overall material price due to bulk discount given by the supplier. However, it should caution of not causing excessive inventory4. Also, it can bargain with the current supplier for a better deal by ascertaining a positive relationship. Nonetheless, it should always monitor the market for other alternative supplier that offers a better deal in term of lower price without compromising the materials quality. To ease labour rates, it is advisable to hire part-timer rather than full-timer as they are paid according to the actual hours work. This can prevent money being wasted during the idle time and improve labour efficiency. It can consider outsourcing certain jobs to low-cost areas such as Vietnam which is highly productive with lower labour rates. If adverse variance is due to inflation, it is advisable to revise the standard cost regularly so that it will always reflect the current market rates. For utilities rate reduction, it is recommended to negotiate a deal (Lower utilities rate) with the utilities company or seek for alternative utilities companies that may provide a lower utilities rate. To strengthen online presence, it needs to continue develop its B2C websites to ensure it is user friendly; high security to build trust and provide sufficient information on products offered3. Nonetheless, interaction with customer and respond to their feedbacks is important3. Also, it should increase its product range of innovative new fancy dress costumes so it would have larger market1. Ethical issues are important for sustainability as UK adults claiming to have made purchase decisions for ethical reasons7. It should concern with the material used to ensure it is up to certain quality, environmental friendly and cruelty free; employee working condition and pesticide used7. Furthermore, issue regarding trademarks copyright. Incognito took design of Meridas costume, a character in the Disney film Brave without the consent of the original designer. This could be subject to copyright issues and can be liable for fine. It is unethical as it is consider stealing of others trademark. It should encourage employee personnel development by providing training and improve employee attitudes through motivation. Frequent timely non-financial performance measure is advisable for control purposes such as observing defect rates and number of costumes completed without rework4. Additionally, it should identify its market share and target for planning purposes such as expanding and determining quantity to manufacture. 4.0 Conclusion Precautionary action should be taken to prevent material price and usage; labour rate; variable and fixed overhead rises uncontrollably in the future which reduces profitability. Nonetheless, non-financial issues such as environmental, working condition and ethics should be taken into consideration. (2000 Words)

Total Effect of The Tragedy of Macbeth :: essays research papers

The Shadow   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Tragedy of Macbeth†, written by William Shakespeare, gives the reader an impact of the horror at the darkness in humans. In the story, the most dominant literary element is the theme. The theme brings out the impact of horror, while the other literary elements support it. One of the most evident quotes that made me think of the horror of darkness in humans was said by Macbeth, â€Å"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This quote showed that Macbeth was heavily influenced by his ambitions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme, being the most dominant literary element, shows how the darkness in people has been drawn out. Themes such as appearance versus reality, attempts to control the future, human responses to supernatural powers and loyalty show how we can be easily taken over by the evil in us. After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth tries to convince himself that he did the right thing. He murdered his king in cold blood and regained his consciousness for a brief moment. â€Å"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?† this quote, also spoken by Macbeth, gives the reader a sense that he regained his ego and was exposed with extreme guilt. It also gives a sense that he was possessed by a demon. This can be backed up by the theme of human responses to supernatural powers. Although the witches contribute greatly here, I would want to talk about hallucinations first. (In psychology, hallucinations are a form of supernatural powers.) The soliloquy in Act II Scene I show Macbeth hallucinating of an imaginary, bloody dagger. â€Å"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?† This was his illusion of what was upcoming, the murdering of King Duncan. This illusion gives the reader a sense that he is possessed by his alter-ego that he is going to kill the king. The witches foretold the future, and that their prophecies of Macbeth let his own â€Å"shadow† take over himself. Being that Macbeth went crazy from murdering his king, he also became aware that this murdering might also happen to him. This he decided to try and control his future – well, at least in several attempts, but always ended up half done. â€Å"To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this quote shows that Macbeth is in fear, and he tries to overcome this fear by eliminating anyone that was a threat to him.

Change the Culture of an Organisation Essay

The culture of an organization can be defined by the ‘way they do things’, this means the way they make decisions, operate and how they choose and achieve their objectives. As culture is a set of values and practices, changing it may be difficult and a long process, especially if the change is organized by a new chief executive. Changing the culture of an organization may not be easy especially if the new chief executive does not fully understand the previous culture and therefore does not embrace it in the change. This lack of knowledge may result in an inappropriate culture being chosen that could limit the company’s performance as productivity reduces. An example of a badly imposed culture can been seen with the Chrysler and Damier-Benz merge in 1998. Damier-Benz imposed their traditional and structured German culture on the free-spirited American car company Chrysler. The extremely different cultures created tension that later affected their efficiency as decision-making took longer and the workforce were not happy. The inappropriate culture resulted in a loss of $1.5 billon by 2006. In 2011, the new chief executive of Tesco, Phillip Clarke, also made a cultural change which proved unsuccessful. He proposed a strategy to change Tesco’s brand image to be known for â€Å"highly valued brands† as opposed to their cheaper â€Å"Value† products. The decrease in popular promotion deals such as vouchers and meal deals reduced their sales revenue and share value which fell by 15% by the end of 2011. This suggests that Clarke failed to identify Tesco’s main source of competitively. Therefore, both examples show that cultural changes may be difficult as the new chief executives lack knowledge and experience in the company. Culture change also takes a long time, especially as traditions and values are set. A prime example of this is with Sony. Sony is a Japan-based company who prides themselves in adopting a traditional Japanese business culture. Examples of their culture can be seen with their clear line of authority and their strong belief in respect. However, Sony’s reducing performance and the fast changing world alarmed the new chief executive, Howard Stringer, to change the culture to one that embraces change. Although proposals to change the culture were made in 2007, Sony’s culture has still not fully transformed which is reflected in their still low competitively. Therefore, it may still take some time for Sony to fully embrace an innovative culture as their Japanese culture has largely influenced the organization. It also took a long time for Marks & Spencer to introduce higher levels of technology, such as a stock control system, as they are said to have a ‘backward culture’. This is because they don’t embrace change and are led by system and procedures. These examples provide evidence that change in a business’s culture may not be done quickly as the organization is accustomed to the previous culture. However, changing a company’s culture can be easy if the new chief executive conducts the change in an appropriate manner. As culture change will have a direct impact on stakeholders, it is important for the new chief executive to inform all stakeholders of the changes and to also encourage feedback. The loss of the innovative leader of Apple, Steve Jobbs created much anxiety about the new CEO Tim Cook. Stakeholders feared Cook would change the company and reject all Jobbs practices especially as the two leaders have different personalities. The media worsened the situation with continuous negative press coverage which resulted in a decrease in consumer confidence as well as Apple’s share price. Although Jobbs had planned to make some strategic changes to the company’s practices, he reassured stakeholders by stating that â€Å"Apple will not change†. He also identified these new strategies and their benefits in a press release which justified his decisions and satisfied stakeholders. The newfound trust of stakeholders will enable Apple’s cultural change to be easier and happen more quickly. In view of the above, I believe that it is not easy to change the culture of a business, as the current practices are custom to the organization; this also suggests that the change will be quite a process and therefore won’t be done quickly. This situation is worsened as the chief executive is new and won’t have the necessary knowledge and understanding of the business to enable a smooth and quick transition. However, the ability for the new chief executive to change the business’s culture quickly and easily is highly dependant upon the reaction of the stakeholders. For example, BP’s customers may react positively as the new culture will increase the company’s responsiveness to customers. Shareholders may also react positively as the increase of innovation should increase BP’s competitive advantage which could increase the company’s value and share price. However, the increase in innovation may pose a threat the employees as management will expect higher quality and the need for more qualified personnel may be necessary. Therefore, support from stakeholders will encourage an easier and quickly transformation whereas negativity will not. The skills of the workforce is also important as if they are innovative the cultural change will happen faster. However, Sony is in a creative industry and their strategy to increase innovation still took a long time. This suggests that attitudes and beliefs of the workforce are also important. An easy change is also depend upon the new executives approach, is it forceful or flexible? Damier-Benz’s forceful approach result in a large amount of tension that slowed the change and resulted in a financial loss.

Principles and Theories of ethics Essay

In their quest to seek for solutions on ethical issues, human beings have constantly been formulating theories. These theories form an important point from where any investigation should be launched. As people invent new ideas or even improve on the current existing ideas, more challenges and complications come up. This has been observed in the modern world where scientific advancement has seemed to dominate in every field of knowledge. Among these fields of scientific inventions is the medical field which many people have believed to reduce the mortality rate and at the same time increased the life expectancy among many people in the world. Despite all these, fertility rate has seemed to reduce among the people while the terminal illnesses have been rapidly increasing. It is this reason that many doctors and medical practitioners have joined hands to look for long lasting solutions to these problems. Some of these solutions have been unearthed, which include the use of stem cells in treating patients with these problems. This has however raised many questions especially on issues concerning ethical justifications. This paper therefore examines two of such works that were carried out by Dr Shroff and Dr. Kerkis as reported in articles entitled ‘mice have been used to make human sperm’ and ‘Stem cell treatment lets Aussie breathe’ respectively. (http://www. news. com. au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23768047-5012754,00. html ; http://search. news. com. au/search? us=ndmperthnow&sid=5012760&as=NEWS. WORLD. CANDSAMERICA&ac=TST&q=Mice%20to%20replace%20men%20as%20sperm%20donors ) According to Rainbow C, there exist four principles of ethics. These include; least harm, justice beneficence and respect for autonomy. According to the principle to the principle of least harm, it is prudent to make a choice that will harm the least number of people. The choice made should also result to the least harm to the people involved. In the modern world, there are so many men who are willing to have children but unable because their sperms are not viable. According to the research, there is still hope for couples who experience such problems. The use of mice in production of human sperms therefore adheres to the principle of least harm and thus justices the use of mice in production of viable human sperms. The extraction of the dental pulp from teeth is however harmful but there harm is less as compared to the inability of a man to produce viable sperms. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) The principle of justice on the other hand encourages actions that are fair to the concerned. Such a decision should be consistent and based on logic unless justified otherwise by existence of justified extenuating circumstances. In the case of mice and human sperm cells production, it should be noted that the men are first given the opportunity to try their best to get children in the natural way. Professional medical practitioners who exploit any other alternative of dealing with such a situation confirm their inability. The couples are finally given the chance to choose what is good for them and thus the use of mice is only for those who are willing. This therefore adheres to the principle of justice. Dr Kerkis has also made it clear that she first used stem cells from dental pulp that was extracted from ‘a male donor’. It therefore means that the process is justified by the adhearing to the principle of justice since the consent of the concerned was first sought. (http://www. lancs. ac. uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories. htm ; http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html) According to beneficence principle, people must do all that is seen to be good. Just like the utility principle, it is always advisable to maximize what is good and minimize the evil. It is very true to say that the greater the amounts of good that people do, the more the benefits. According to this principle, production of viable human sperm cells by mice will do well to those who are unable. Apart from improving the psychological health of the concerned, it will also strengthen family bonds that may otherwise be weakened by the inability to get children especially in those communities where children are highly valued as an important ingredient in a happy marriage. (http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html ) According to the principle of respect for autonomy, it is very important to ‘allow people to reign over themselves and to be able to make decisions that apply to their lives ’. This is based on the fact that only an individual can understand why he/she chooses a particular lifestyle. Since every human being must be respected, any decision, especially that which involves intimate issues, must come from him. In order to do so, he must get enough information in the consequences and finally, his consent must be obtained. The reason is because every human being has hisher emotions and motivations that heshe understands from hisher own life experiences. It is the right for every person to lead a life style that he she actually enjoys in which the control over it is vested in hisher decision. It is however important to realize that there exists two perspectives of autonomy respects; paternalists and libertarians views. According to paternalistics, ‘an authority prioritizes a dependent person’s best interests over the dependent person’s wishes’. In the case of mice and human sperms, since the man is aware of his inability to produce viable sperms even though he may wish to have children, he has the freedom to choose to live without them. If he decides so and realizes more satisfaction without the children than using mice to produce viable sperms, he becomes libertarian. When his wife and medical practitioner convinces him to use mice to get children, the principle of autonomy is violated and he becomes a paternalistic since his wish may not be based on the use of mice in producing the viable sperms even though his interest is to get children. Libertarian perspective is therefore observed when the person’s wish is prioritized over hisher best interest. The person maintains hisher autonomy over hisher decision. (Allan J. Kimmel, 1988, pp. 42) In the case of stem cells treatment for the paralyzed man is Australia, the principle of least harm is violated since the extraction of the embryonic stem cells will cost the life of the unborn child irregardless of whether the concerned woman’s consent was given or not. Human life ideally begins after fertilization and it is wrong to deprive the unborn of its right to live in favor of a person who has already had the chance to be born. If such actions were to be encouraged, many people will never live to be born and this will cause more harm than treating the paralyzed people especially if Dr Shroff’s vision is to be realized as expressed by her hopes â€Å"her technology would be made available around the world to patients suffering from incurable diseases and terminal conditions. † Dr Shroff’s technology also contradicts the principle of justice. The fact that there are many incurable diseases and terminal conditions that may be cured using embryonic stem cells does not justify the act of depriving the unborn the right to life. It will therefore be an act of injustice to deprive the unborn of their right to life. The only extenuating circumstance should be when the woman’s pregnancy threatens the life of both the unborn and its mother. The doctor’s advice should be sought and any alternative exploited before the decision to terminate the pregnancy and donate the embryonic stem cells is arrived. It should be realized however that this would result to paternalistic autonomy. Dr Shroff’s technology will also violate the principle of beneficence. This is because the embryo will not benefit in any way from the act of donating its stem cells. The embryo itself cannot give permission to donate the stem cells. The principle of autonomy is not spared either. The patient may enjoy a paternalistic autonomy but the embryo, which is indeed a human being does not have autonomy to decide on whether to donate the stem cells or not . For a person to make any sound decision on any issue, the principles however form the basis of ethical themes. According to rainbow C, there are five major ethical theories. These include virtual ethical theory, deontological theory, casuist theory and utilitarianism ethical theory. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) According to virtual ethical theory, a person is not judged through his/her actions but through his/her character. An action may not necessary indicate a persons normal behavior since behavior and action are normally conflicting. It is however important to observe an individual’s reputation, motivation and morals while making any judgment on any behavior that may seem to be unusual, irregular or unethical. It should however be observed that any individuals change of character is not put into consideration in this theory. This theory justifies the use of embryonic stem cells in the treatment of paralyzed patients. The assumption is that the doctors and the medical practitioners who actually carry out the process of extracting and injecting the stem cells into his/her victims body are people who are trusted and socially approved by the members of the community. Their character justifies their actions and thus they should not be questioned about what they do as long as a patient’s life is saved. The act of extracting the embryonic stem cells cannot be used to prove the doctor as guilty of murder as long as his/her record of accomplishment in this profession of medicine is clean. According to Rainbow C, the society’s rights are ethically correct and must be protected and prioritized while making any decision. All societies’ rights are ethically valid because the majority in any society endorses them. Those who have the power and resources may bestow rights upon people. The society is therefore responsible for deciding on what should be considered as a society is right. The issue of mice producing viable human sperm cells may not be welcomed by many societies. This is because many people do not think that human beings and animals especially the mice can share sperm cells. A child produced by such sperms may be isolated from the other people and this may cause more suffering and harm to it than good. Termination of human life is also unacceptable in the society. This is evident in countries where Christianity is the dominant religion. If the use of contraceptives is criminalized in such societies, it is even worse to extract embryonic stem cells to treat paralyzed people or even those with terminal illnesses. In such societies, everybody has the right to live and those people who are already born should seek medication incase of any ailment but not to destroy a life in order to save themselves. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) According to deontological theory, people’s obligation and duties that have been assigned to them should guide them in the process of solving ethical dilemmas. By so doing, the person is believed to have done what was ethically correct. Doctors should help sick people. In this case, sickness refers to any abnormal functioning or dysfunctional of any body organ. Those people who cannot produce viable sperm cells should seek medical attention and the doctors have a duty and obligation to ensure that such people can get children. The theory therefore justifies Dr Kerkis and Dr Shroff’s actions. It is a doctor’s obligation to ensure that all incurable diseases and terminal conditions are adequately dealt with. The casuist ethical theory is based on the assumption that the current dilemma in question can be successfully solved in a similar way to previously solved dilemmas. This theory therefore compares the current ethical problem with past and similar ethical dilemmas that were successfully solved. It therefore justifies Dr Kerkis and Dr Shroff’s actions since their previous works as medical practitioners have been reported to bare good fruits. It however fails to acknowledge that a similar ethical dilemma may not have been witnessed before. (http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/505222_2 ; http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) The utilitarianism ethical theory supports any choice that produces the most benefit to most people. Such a choice is seen to be ethically correct. This theory therefore foresees the outcome of an act and judges it based on the benefits that are likely to accrue. There are two types of utilitarianism. These include act utilitarian and rule utilitarianism. According to rainbow c, â€Å" In act utilitarianism, a person performs the acts that benefit the most people, regardless of personal feelings or the societal constraints such as laws. Rule utilitarianism, however, takes into account the law and is concerned with fairness. A rule utilitarian seeks to benefit the most people but through the fairest and most just means available. Therefore, added benefits of rule utilitarianism are that it values justice and includes beneficence at the same time† (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) Two or more of these ethical theories should be combined in order to make the best ethical decision. For instance, I would solve Dr Kerkis dilemma by applying utilitarianism ethical theory, rights ethical theory and casuist ethical theory. I would also solve Dr Shroff’s ethical dilemma by applying rights ethical theory, utilitarianism ethical theory and virtue ethical theory. (http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Ethics/notes. html ) Conclusion All the ethical theories have common goals that must be achieved for them to be successful. These common goals are the previously discussed ethical principles. It is important to realize that different points are emphasized by the theories that help people to arrive at a decision that is ethically correct. Different people usually use ethical theories in a different way depending on their individual experiences. The theories and principles of ethics lay a good foundation of analyzing actions since they guide people in making ethical decisions. This means that whether Dr Kerkis and/or Dr Shroff are justified or not to proceed with their work or not depends on which principle as well as the ethical theory an individual bases his /her ethical analysis. References Rainbow C, Descriptions of Ethical Theories and Principles, [Retrieved] 8th August, 2008, [From] http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm Lancaster University, Ethical theories [Retrieved] 4th August, 2008. [From] http://www. lancs. ac. uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories. htm Ethical theories compared http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html relations between utilitarian, deontological, and Aristotelian ethical theories Lawrence M. Hinman, Introduction: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory Excerpted from: Lawrence M. Hinman, Contemporary Moral Issues, 2nd ed. (Prentice-Hall, 1999). Ethical theories [Retrieved] 1st August 2008, [From] http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Ethics/notes. html Ethical Theories, Principles, and Decision-Making Models, [Retrieved] 3rd August, 2008 [From] http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/505222_2 Allan J. Kimmel, 1988, Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research: Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research, SAGE. Stem cell treatment lets Aussie breathe http://www. news. com. au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23768047-5012754,00. html Perth now Sunday times, July 7th, Mice to replace men as sperm donors http://search. news. com. au/search? us=ndmperthnow&sid=5012760&as=NEWS. WORLD. CANDSAMERICA&ac=TST&q=Mice%20to%20replace%20men%20as%20sperm%20donors

McDuff essays

McDuff essays You may be wondering how the war ended and how your loving brave hearts wellbeing is shaping. Well, thanks to all mighty God, everything is all right and Im in good health. The courage and the determination that I wrestled with has paid off. I must speak to you of a plan that has captured my imagination and that could transform our life. As you may be aware, the war with Norway has been won and much of the recognition and credit for this joyous outcome, have been bestowed upon your brave Macbeth. While such a deed has been appreciated by no less a person than the King, my peers are in awe of me, saying But alls too weak; for brave Macbeth he deserves that name, I am now renowned as the greatest general and most skilled warrior in all of Scotland. I am portrayed; as brave, heroic, bold, and fearless in the face of death. Indeed I slew in battle the leader of our foes, I got this recognition after defeating Macdonwald (a rebel), and mounting his head upon the battlements for all to behold. He is acknowledged by all as a conspirator and a traitor for assisting Norway in the war. For some reason the news of the victory over Norway and the deeds that I confronted during the epic conflicts over northern Europe reached the sovereigns castle. And now to an event that has filled my whole being. Today in the hours of daylight, I met three witches, who foregathered on a shrub near Forres close to King Duncans castle. They cried, All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor and that he shalt be King hereafter and when I burned in desire to question them further they made themselves scarce, vanished into thin air. As I stood there, I was struck with the vision, the kings own messengers Ross and Angus rode up and addressed me as the new Thane of Cawdor prevailing over the traitor Macdon ...

15 Adorable Dog Quotes

15 Adorable Dog Quotes Ever wonder why dogs and puppies are considered cute animals, while a snake or a bat dont necessarily evoke the same emotion within us? Why do some people prefer to keep cats than mice? While dogs have been known to be mans best friend since the beginning of civilization, their cuteness is natures way of endearing them to humans. Evolution has wired humans in such a way that humans find their own offspring cute. The big head, big round eyes, and tiny limbs, and toothless grin of a little baby look so cute to us that parents would happily nurse their babies till they grow up. In 1943,  ethologist Konrad Lorenz in his  research proposed his theory about  baby schema, the science behind cuteness in animals. The baby schema is a set of infantile features that are perceived as cute and motivates caretaking behavior in humans. By the same logic, animals that have  physical features that fit human parameters of cuteness- large head, big eyes, chubby cheeks, tiny body, and the like- trigger the protective instinct. In medical terms, it is the baby schema that activates the  mesocorticolimbic  pathway of our neurological system, which activates the caretaking instincts in humans. So if you find dogs cute, that is only  because nature has designed us to want to extend our caring love towards dogs and puppies. If you love dogs, here are 15 cute dog quotes. Share them with your dog and watch him wag his tail in agreement. Mark Twain If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. Josh Billings A dog is the only thing on earth that will love you more than you love yourself. Ann Landers Dont accept your dogs admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. Jonathan Safran Foer Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness? Kristan Higgins When an eighty-five-pound mammal licks your tears away, then tries to sit on your lap, it’s hard to feel sad. Charles M. Schulz Happiness is a warm puppy. Phil Pastoret If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them. Gilda Radner I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive. Edith Wharton My little dog- a heartbeat at my feet. Abraham Lincoln I care not for a mans religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. Henry David Thoreau When a dog runs at you, whistle for him. Roger Caras Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. Ben Williams There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. J. R. Ackerley A dog has one aim in life... to bestow his heart. Karel Capek If dogs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people.

Sea Otter Facts

Sea Otter Facts Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are an easily recognized and beloved marine mammal. They have furry bodies, whiskered faces, and a propensity to lay on their backs and float on the water, a behavior that humans perceive as evidence of fun-loving.  They are native to the northern coastlines of the Pacific Ocean, from northern Japan to Baja, Mexico. Most critically, they are a keystone species, meaning that their continued existence is required for several other species to survive. Fast Facts: Sea Otters Scientific Name: Enhydra lutrisCommon Name: Sea ottersBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 3.3–4.9 feetWeight: 31–99 poundsLifespan: 10–20 years  Diet:  CarnivoreHabitat: Coastlines of the North Pacific Rim, from northern Japan to the central Baja peninsulaConservation Status: Endangered Description Sea otters are carnivores in the family Mustelidae- a group of animals that also includes terrestrial and semi-aquatic forms such as weasels, badgers, skunks, fishers, minks, and river otters. Sea otters are the only fully aquatic form of otters, but they share features with the others such as thick fur and short ears. This thick fur keeps the animals warm ​but unfortunately has led to over-hunting by humans of many of these mustelid species.   Sea otters are the smallest fully marine mammal in the world: Males range in length between 3.9–4.9 feet, while females range between 3.3–4.6 feet. The average body mass for males is about 88 pounds, with a range of 49–99 pounds; females range from 31–73 pounds.   Temperature balance is a significant challenge for sea otters, who lack the blubber of other marine mammals such as seals and walruses. Otters have a dense fur made up of a combination of undercoat and longer guard hairs that provides insulation, but it must be almost continuously maintained. Fully 10 percent of a sea otters day is spent grooming its fur. However, fur is an inflexible insulation, so, when necessary, sea otters cool off by flapping their nearly-hairless rear flippers. Habitat and Distribution Unlike some marine mammals like whales that would die if they were on land for too long, sea otters can go up onto land to rest, groom, or nurse. However, they do spend most if not all of their lives in the water- Sea otters even give birth in the water. Although there is just one species of sea otter, there are three subspecies: The Russian northern sea otter (Enhyrda lutris lutris), which lives in the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka Peninsula, and Commander Islands off Russia,The northern sea otter (Enhyrda lutris kenyoni), which lives from the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, down to Washington state, andThe southern sea otter (Enhyrda lutris nereis), which lives in southern California. Diet Sea otters eat fish and marine invertebrates like crabs, urchins, sea stars, and abalone, as well as squid and octopuses. Some of these animals have hard shells, which protect them from predators. But that isnt an issue for the talented sea otter, which cracks open the shells by banging them with rocks. To hunt prey, sea otters have been known to dive as deep as 320 feet; however, males mostly forage at depths of around 260 feet and females about 180 feet. Sea otters have a baggy patch of skin under their forelimbs which is used for storage. They can keep extra food in this spot, and also store a favorite rock for cracking the shell of their prey. Jeff Foott / Getty Images Behavior Sea otters are social, and hang out together in groups called rafts. Sea otter rafts are segregated: Groups of between two and 1,000 otters are either all males or females and their young.  Only adult males establish territories, which they patrol during mating season to keep out other adult males. Females rove freely between and among male territories. Mint Images - Frans Lanting / Getty Images Reproduction and Offspring Sea otters reproduce sexually and that only occurs when the females are in estrus. Mating is polygynous- one male breeds with all the females in its breeding territory. The gestation period lasts for six months, and females nearly always give birth to a single live pup, although twinning does occur. Young sea otters have a form of extremely woolly fur that makes an otter pup so buoyant that it cant dive underwater and can float off if not tended carefully. Before a mother otter leaves to forage for her pup, she wraps the pup in a piece of kelp to keep it anchored in one spot. It takes 8–10 weeks for the pup to shed its initial fur and learn to dive and the pup stays with the mother for up to six months after birth. The females enter estrus again within several days to weeks after weaning.   Female sea otters become sexually mature at about 3 or 4 years of age; males do so at 5 or 6 although most males dont establish a territory until they are 7 or 8.  Female otters live 15–20 years and can have pups every year from the first estrus; males live for 10–15 years. Keystone Species Sea otters are a keystone species and play a critical role in the food web of the kelp forest,  so much so that even terrestrial species are influenced by sea otter activity. When sea otter populations are healthy, urchin populations are kept in check, and kelp is abundant. Kelp provides shelter for sea otters and their pups and a variety of other marine organisms. If there is a decline in sea otters due to natural predation or other factors such as an oil spill, urchin populations explode. As a result, kelp abundance decreases  and other marine species have less habitat. Kelp forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and a healthy forest can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than if it were subject to sea urchin predation.   When sea otter populations are abundant, bald eagles prey primarily on fish and sea otter pups, but when sea otter populations declined in early the 2000s due to predation by an increased population of orcas, bald eagles preyed more on marine birds and had more offspring because of the higher caloric content of a seabird diet. Threats Because they are dependent on their fur for warmth, sea otters are heavily affected by oil spills. When oil coats a sea otters fur, air cant get through and the sea otter cant clean it out. The infamous  Exxon Valdez  spill killed at least several hundred sea otters and affected the sea otter population in Prince William Sound for well over a decade, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.   While sea otter populations increased after legal protections were put in place, there have been recent declines in sea otters in the Aleutian Islands (thought to be from orca predation) and a decline or plateau in the populations in California. Other than natural predators, threats to sea otters include pollution, diseases, parasites, entanglement in marine debris, and boat strikes. Conservation Status Sea otters first became protected from the fur trade by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911, after the population had decreased to about 2,000 as a result of unrestrained hunting for furs. Since then, sea otter populations have rebounded, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as a whole as Endangered. The ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System lists both northern and southern sea otters as threatened. Sea otters in the U.S. today are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Sea Otter Skins. Gulf of Maine Cod Project, NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries / National Archives Sources Anthony, Robert G., et al. Bald Eagles and Sea Otters in the Aleutian Archipelago: Indirect Effects of Trophic Cascades. Ecology 89.10 (2008): 2725–35. PrintDoroff, A. and A. Burdin. Enhydra lutris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T7750A21939518, 2015.  Northern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni). ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System, 2005.Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis). ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System, 2016.Tinker, M. T., et al. Otters: Enhydra Lutris and Lontra Felina. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (Third Edition). Eds. Wà ¼rsig, Bernd, J. G. M. Thewissen and Kit M. Kovacs: Academic Press, 2018. 664–71. Print.Wilmers, Christopher C, et al. Do Trophic Cascades Affect the Storage and Flux of Atmospheric Carbon? An Analysis of Sea Otters and Kelp Forests. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10.8 (2012): 409–15. Print.

English American Wedding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English American Wedding - Essay Example Devine replied with a smile. She said, "It used to be one to two months, but nowadays people are getting busier. They usually go for a two-week honeymoon, three weeks at the most. The couple cannot leave their jobs too long and have to get back to work immediately." With a slight doubt, the grey-colored eye Devine guesses, "I think that traditionally, the man would go down on his knees and propose to the woman he loved with a diamond ring. But time changes although some men still do it. Men start to get more creative in proposing to women." Devine said that wedding reception usually takes place in a hotel or a garden. It serves as a token of gratitude. The couple party with their family and friends. Delicacies and finest foods are served, toasts of wishes for the couple, and a dance. After I laid my final question, the whole class started to get noisier and louder. I was having a lot of fun talking to Devine when Mr. Wonderful stood up in front of the class and told us to stop the discussions. During the reception, the groom and the bride will cut the cake together with a knife and eat it together. The cakes are usually very large and tall stacked in multiple layers. Maybe this shows that Americans love to eat cake and the abundance of the cake represents luck of the couple's marriage that they will always have enough food. Today, the white wedding is considered semi-formal way of uniting ... She greeted me back nicely, "It was nice to talk to you, Dian." It was a great way for me in learning the American wedding culture from my partner, Devine. I thought she was cheerful and friendly. If she will be marrying in the future, I hope she will have a great wedding ceremony. Commentary The term "white wedding" refers to the theme and the color of the wedding dress. The color white symbolizes purity of the heart and the innocence of childhood. According to White also signifies virginity. Maybe the "white wedding" theme has some connection with Christianity. During the reception, the groom and the bride will cut the cake together with a knife and eat it together. The cakes are usually very large and tall stacked in multiple layers. Maybe this shows that Americans love to eat cake and the abundance of the cake represents luck of the couple's marriage that they will always have enough food. The white wedding was first performed by Queen Victoria who wore a white lace dress at her wedding. It is popular today that maybe it shows how Americans are fond of the royal life. Today, the white wedding is considered semi-formal way of uniting a couple. Even so I think that this wedding ceremony is simple. Maybe this has to do with the busy life of American people. Their jobs who keep them busy drive American couples to have a simple and uncomplicated wedding ceremony like the white wedding. Almost a decade had passed; the American wedding traditions have become a lot more liberal. Also, American wedding ceremonies vary according to religion and culture. There are no strict guidelines in celebrating wedding. Narration I am fifteen minutes late when I arrived at my good friend's wedding ceremony held in a Catholic

Marketing Strategies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Marketing Strategies - Research Paper Example However, changes in technology will be the key trend that will affect the business. Express Vending LLC will keep track of the changing technology and adjust accordingly. Express Vending LLC will a family owned business that will provide high quality beverage and vending equipment for commercial purposes. The company will take advantage of the current situation in which customers lack high quality equipment at reasonable prices. Initially, the business will operate locally but will expand to global markets such as the European market. The business plans to approach the market by introducing unique products that are technology intensive. The company will offer three vending products; Sandwich Express, Fresh Juice Machine and Multi-line Machine. The company will also offer restaurant equipment such as Fresh Juice squeezer and Expresso Makers and Toasters. The company will target Branded Juice firms, Sandwich manufacturers and distributors and end users. â€Å"The mission of Express Vending LLC is to be the dominant company in both the vending machine and the restaurant equipment industries by providing easy access to a wide range of unique, high quality and innovative products at reasonable prices. We believe that we will be successful in meeting the needs of our customers by developing close contacts with them so that we have cordial relations with them. Express Vending LLC will earn adequate stream of profits from its operations so that stability can be sustained and even finance the future growth avenues. We will ensure that all our business operations will be conducted ethically and the value is added to our community by maintaining a familiar and friendly environment.† The business will use an advertising strategy that will segment, target and position in the market in order to market products effectively. Targeting will ensure that the right advertisement reaches

Information System Hardware and Software Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Information System Hardware and Software - Essay Example They generally include databases, word processors, and spreadsheets. Microsoft Office Professional 2007 is a type of application software. It includes Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and word that are widely used as business application software. By using Office Professional 2007 business professionals can work faster, efficiently and effectively, stays organized, and manage contacts and customer information more effectively and in one place. It helps in producing professional-looking marketing materials, dynamic business documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases with no prior experience or technical staff. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 can be used for analyzing business information for making better business decisions. It has features such as new tools for filter, sort, graph, and visualizing information so that business information can be analyzed more easily. Office Excel 2007 provides improved PivotTable and PivotChart views for advanced analysis and it is much easier to create. Microsoft Office Word and PowerPoin can be used for creating professional-looking documents and presentations in less time. Microsoft had included new templates and tools that make Office Word easier to reuse content, apply professional formatting, and quickly preview changes. Office PowerPoint makes it quicker and easier to create presentations that are more dynamic. Office PowerPoint has a wide library of customizable themes and slide layouts, and new graphic tools. It enables to create powerful charts, SmartArt graphics, and tables, and then instantly preview formatting changes. Microsoft Office Access helps in find, use, and manages information more effectively. By using it, new database can be created easily without any previous experience. Microsoft has provided a library of predefined database tracking applications for the most common business processes and

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 23

Assignment - Essay Example The better looking components of the GDP were housing, business investments in software and equipment and increased consumer spending. Consumer spending is a key element for the betterment of the economythis year as seen it augmented at a 2.2% rate as compared to 1.6% in the third quarter. This was most probably because the personal income had increased by 2.8 percent in December 2012 (bea.gov) 1c. According to the Federal Reserve officials the downfall in economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 seems to be mainly due to ‘weather-related disturbances and various other temporary factors. However budget tightening is also a leading factor in the economic fall this quarter such as military spending that went down at a rate of 22.2% (Mitchell, 2013). The situation is likely to move towards betterment as the consumers are becoming more confident as prices of homes is increasing which gives them a feeling of security. As companies in the U.S invest more in equipment and software and consumers spending power growing, the economic situation might get better in 2013. 1d. The U.S economy was in trough in 2009 but it seems now that currently it is just about to enter the expansion phase. With the all the positive energy of the economy experts and their hopes up we might just see a bright future after all. 2b. There have been many reasons for the increase in value of Euro. People are now much relaxed about the death of the currency as the crisis no longer seems to be a threat so investors are not selling the currency in exchange for the dollar. As the U.S economy seems to topple as seen in the fourth quarter of 2012, the Euro has gained strength since the report. 2c. An ascending Euro is very useful for the Euro zone countries for obvious reasons such as a strong economy. There also a disadvantage to a strong Euro; as the currency ascends it threatens the export industry as the trading partners find it over expensive. For more developed countries the

Short Story Al Q Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Short Story Al Q - Essay Example More so, there is very little or no evidence that occurrence of terror activities that relate to publication. The 9/11 Museum for instance refused to censor an Al-Qaeda film even amidst criticism (Weiss, 2014). This is because, according to Akbar Ahmed, Chair of Islamic Studies at American University argued that censoring such publications was an offense to the Islamic religion because it would stigmatize the whole world into thinking that terror activities are done by Muslims. To make it clear, John Esposito, an apologist for Islam at the Saudi-funded Prince Talal Center at the Georgetown University insisted that if censorship was to be used, it was then important make sure that â€Å"Muslim terrorism† and â€Å"Islamic terrorism† are two independent terms that needed to be defined separately. Through such explanation, negative ideologies embedded in peoples’ minds that terror activities are purely carried out by Muslims could be dropped. According to reports dating 13th Jan, 2015 on CNN (Wimple, 2005), censoring Al-Qaeda information would only generate news and in return most people would end up reading all contents revolving around the Militia group. Therefore, disassociating from such propagandas, according to the CNN spokesman would be an intelligent way of protecting news reporters from being targeted especially in situations where there is very little evidence to support the claims. CNN host Carol Costello r said, â€Å"CNN will not show you the new cover, which depicts the prophet Muhammad, because it is our policy not to show potentially offensive images of the prophet.† (Wimple, 2005). The statement was made after people claimed that the media was censoring Charlie Hebdo out of fear of Islam (Hemingway, 2015). A critical analysis into the claim indicates that censoring Al-Qaeda publications, especially the Inspire Magazine could be a

Alfred Russel Wallace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Alfred Russel Wallace - Research Paper Example However, only Wallace and other two of his nine siblings (Fanny and John) survived past early adulthood. The deteriorating financial condition of Wallace’s family interrupted his education. However, his home was a rich source of maps, books as well as gardening activities, which Wallace recalled later with pleasure. He notes in his autobiography that he devoted far more time to the games that he played as a child than to the lessons that he received at school, and he found this to be boring and painful. Nevertheless, Wallace was a realistically good student since in his last year of school; he assisted in teaching the younger pupils. This anomalous position of being both a teacher and a pupil was especially repugnant to the tall young man, and he suffered from recurring dreams of colossal torment at school for two decades (Wallace & Camerini, 4). As discussed earlier, Wallace grew up in an underprivileged background, what may be designated as rural middleclass in rural Wales a nd then in Hertford, England. This upbringing was very different from that of other Victorian scientific counterparts (Wallace & Camerini, 4). ... He also had the opportunity of travelling abroad, which gave him exposure and respect for ‘savages’ (persons from non-European cultures) and to the colonial exploitation systems that they were exposed to. Therefore, that his enduring identification with the underdog eventually resulted in his becoming a socialist is not astounding (Wallace & Berry, 1). Wallace explains in his autobiography that in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, Britain’s economic base revolutioniz d from agriculture to manufacturing and the British Empire grew in power as well as in size. This was a period of new opportunities as well as mounting dissent. The traditional values of Britain’s agricultural society were based on the status and wealth of the family where one came from. Industrialization and expansion into colonial lands subverted the staid social structure, and there resulted a substantial wealth and power re-distribution out of the need for expertise as well as s cientific knowledge in the change to a manufacturing society. This wide context shaped the life of Wallace while he was young, a context charged with difficulties to traditional forms of authority, particularly the Church of England along with political power based on heritage. The fact that Wallace’s interests ranged so broadly makes it very hard to apply a single label to him. Depicting him as a natural scientist would do for the early part of his life, but so would travel writer and geographer; one would have to add spiritualist, intellectual and social critic for the second half of his life. Equally difficult to pin down is his status within the scientific community. To some historians, Wallace was a loner, an outsider or the ‘other’ man who discovered evolution. These terms however

Short Story Al Q Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Short Story Al Q - Essay Example More so, there is very little or no evidence that occurrence of terror activities that relate to publication. The 9/11 Museum for instance refused to censor an Al-Qaeda film even amidst criticism (Weiss, 2014). This is because, according to Akbar Ahmed, Chair of Islamic Studies at American University argued that censoring such publications was an offense to the Islamic religion because it would stigmatize the whole world into thinking that terror activities are done by Muslims. To make it clear, John Esposito, an apologist for Islam at the Saudi-funded Prince Talal Center at the Georgetown University insisted that if censorship was to be used, it was then important make sure that â€Å"Muslim terrorism† and â€Å"Islamic terrorism† are two independent terms that needed to be defined separately. Through such explanation, negative ideologies embedded in peoples’ minds that terror activities are purely carried out by Muslims could be dropped. According to reports dating 13th Jan, 2015 on CNN (Wimple, 2005), censoring Al-Qaeda information would only generate news and in return most people would end up reading all contents revolving around the Militia group. Therefore, disassociating from such propagandas, according to the CNN spokesman would be an intelligent way of protecting news reporters from being targeted especially in situations where there is very little evidence to support the claims. CNN host Carol Costello r said, â€Å"CNN will not show you the new cover, which depicts the prophet Muhammad, because it is our policy not to show potentially offensive images of the prophet.† (Wimple, 2005). The statement was made after people claimed that the media was censoring Charlie Hebdo out of fear of Islam (Hemingway, 2015). A critical analysis into the claim indicates that censoring Al-Qaeda publications, especially the Inspire Magazine could be a

Read Chapters Three and Four of your text Corporate Universities and Essay

Read Chapters Three and Four of your text Corporate Universities and respond to the topic questions - Essay Example Meister says that the principle of corporate university is based on flexible approach so that they are able to incorporate the environmental changes within their work paradigms. My company keeps evolving with outside changes through creation of constant learning environment. The company’s well defined hierarchical organizational structure is designed to cater to the wider perspectives of competitive business. Coaching and feedback are top priority that enables us to keep up with the challenges of the time. I agree with Montgomery (2008) that changing times require more dynamic strategic goals to meet the emerging new challenges. My company’s plans and actions in promoting its dynamic business goals are aligned to its values which thrive on change. While corporate university is a recently evolved concept, the imperatives of providing a learning environment for the workers have been consistent with the vision and mission of our company since its inception. I strongly believe that training programs facilitate the acquisition of skills and necessary knowledge to develop a wider perspective towards various issues. Indeed, the company has been able to provide the hierarchy of workers with a wider scope for professional growth in the area of core competencies. Meister believes that the basic goal of the corporate universities is to ensure that the corporate bodies are able to easily adapt to the fast changing equations of the global business so as to maintain market position. They do that through partnership with other businesses and educational institutes. The alliances help to provide a wider database of new resources and knowledge acquisition. It facilitates development of curricula based on real situation and incorporates the demands of the changing times. Thus, the corporate universities are able to exploit the huge

Comparison of Positivist and Phenomenological Methods

Comparison of Positivist and Phenomenological Methods Describe, compare, contrast, and critically evaluate the effectiveness of both positivist and phenomenological methodology adopted when studying society. Sociology is the study of human society, including both social action and organisation. Sociologists use scientific research methods and theories, and study social life in a wide variety of settings, this offers not only information but also a distinctive way of looking at the world and the position humans play in it. Whereas most people try to explain events by analyzing the motives of those involved, sociologists encourage a look beyond individual psychology to many recurring attitudes, actions and how these patterns vary across time, cultures and social groups. To look at the different ways people act and behave in society, it has to be seen from a sociological perspective. Within sociology there is no single method, but many. As stated by Haralambos and Holborn (1995) Science appeared to be capable of producing objective knowledge that could be used to solve human problems and increase human productive capacity in an unprecedented way. This assignment will look at the two main me thodologies, used by sociologists, past and present, and compare the effectiveness of the two. When the task of comparing and contrasting the two methodologies of positivism and phenomenology, adopted within the study of society, there are many things that leap to mind: Firstly, there is the factor of time or circa and secondly is the influence of certain acclaimed sociologists within the two different approaches. Methodology within sociology is the study of methods and deals with the philosophical assumptions underlying the research process, using scientific quantitative data collection under those philosophical assumptions. The broad methodology positions, positivism and phenomenology differ hugely. Positivism contains the underlying philosophical assumptions of research in the most pure and applied sciences, physics, chemistry and biology, based on ideas of the objective reality of the physical world, scientific method and empiricism. Just as positivism arose out of rejecting speculation an alternative view has arisen out of rejecting the view that scientific empiricism can be applied to the social world. There is no one philosophical basis, but phenomenology, which can be seen as the basis for what is the assumption that society can only really be understood through personal actions such as language, feelings and emotions. As stated by Kirby, Kidd, Koubel, Barter, Hope, Kirton, Madry, Manning and Triggs, (2000), that although not perfect the link between the methodologies is that the structuralist-minded sociologists tended to adopt a positivist approach and social action based sociologists tend to adopt a phenomenological approach. The positivist versus the phenomenological approach to the study of man and society is considered in terms of one of the major debates in social science research. Many of the founding fathers of sociology such as Marx (1818-1883), Comte (1798-1857) and Durkheim (1858-1917) believed that it would be possible to create a science of society based on the same principles and procedures as natural sciences. Positivist theorists believed that this approach would reveal that the evolution of society followed invariable laws and that it would show that the behaviour of man was governed by principles of cause and effect which are just as invariable as the subject of natural sciences. Kirby et al, (2000) states that positivists believe that only by adopting a position of total objectivity towards the subject matter or phenomena can unbiased knowledge or theories be produced. Comte believed in the hierarchy of science and that each study of science is dependent upon another. His theory ranged from the simplest to the more complex forms of science and that sciences above rely on sciences below stating that sociology was more abstract and difficult than other sciences. Originating from his hierarchy of science, as stated in Haralambos and Holborn, (2004), Comte widely believed that industrialization and the growth of scientific knowledge would lead to secularization, therefore devising his contribution to the study of social dynamics in that, the rule of societies passing through three stages defined by their social relationships. Theological law was a belief in superhuman or divine powers, Metaphysical, a belief in the powers of the individual human mind and the positive law was based on truth produced by collaborative, quantitative and scientific work. An appeal of the positivist approach is that scientific knowledge does not contradict or surprise the ex perience of the everyday world. It argues that factors, which are not directly observable, such as meanings feelings and purposes, are not particularly important and can be misleading, they therefore, form, reliable quantitative data. Phenomenological theorists such as Simmel (1858-1918) and Weber (1864-1920) propose that the consciousness is the proper area of study, for its study will reveal meaning. They seek to sense reality and describe in words rather than numbers, trying to produce convincing descriptions of what they experience rather than explanations and causes. Weber disagreed with Comtes theory, he believed there could be as many sciences as needed, Quantitative and empirical studies cannot tell people what to do, and it is important to go beyond simply recording events and to explain the reasons behind them. When referring to Webers idea of puritanism, a case study in the empirical construction of the protestant ethic, Weber, as cited by Ghosh (2003), clearly states that empirical sources are not tablets of stone, eternally available to the truth seeking historian; rather they have a history of their own. Weber believed that values play a crucial role before during and after research and that social a ction is governed by the dynamic of individual needs. Weber was committed to the study of causality, the probability that an event would be followed by another event not necessarily of a similar nature. In addition to this Weber also analysed the levels to which rationality was becoming institutionally embedded in modern industrialised societies. Marxs view of bureaucracy was according to Weber a form of organisation superior to all others, Weber wrote in one of his many books, that without this form of social technology the industrialised countries could not have reached the wealth and extravagance that they currently enjoy, (Weber, 1928) as cited in Haralambos and Holborn, (2004). He believed that this capacity for social order would lead to the evolution of the iron cage, and as a result, a society that was technically ordered, rigid and dehumanized. As stated by Giddens (1997) Weber sought to understand social change. He was influenced by Marx but was also strongly critical of s ome of Marxs major views, rejected the materialistic conception of history and saw class conflict as less significant than Marx. From a positivist stance, Marx believed that ideas were expressions of public interest and that they served as weapons in the struggle between classes and political parties. Class for Marx, is defined as a social relationship rather than a position or rank in society. Class struggle and owners of production determined economic order. In Marxs view, classes are defined and structured by work, labour, possessions, production, and the class structures of capitalism consisted of class struggle, political power and the development of a classless society. Marxs theory of society consisted of two categories of class and that economic order was determined by the two; Bourgeoisie, the capitalist class, the hierarchy, the wealthy, the employers and the Proletariat, who are the workers or the lower class. His view was that as the bourgeoisie employed the proletariat, who has to fulfill his basic needs, the capitalist class could not exist without them. As cited by Haralambos and Holborn (1995), Marxism has sometimes been regarded as a positivist approach since it can be argued that it sees human behaviour as a reaction to the stimulus of the economic infrastructure. Although Weber agreed with Marx in part, that as methods of the organisation increased efficiency and effectiveness of production, Marxs theory threatened to dehumanise society. Webers theories, stratification and views on economic behaviour were rooted from Marxs view on the economics of a society. Another positivist view came from Emile Durkheim, whose impression of society was of structures that function apart from human purpose and will. While he considered society to be composed of individuals, his theory was that it is not individuals behaviours, thoughts and actions that construct society, but that society has a structure and existence of its own. His thought was, that society was to have developed from traditional to modern society, through the expansion and development of the division of labour, of course, it is individuals who act, but they do not act on a purely individual basis, they have obligations and duties and are strongly influenced by structure, tradition and the roles of our forefathers. Durkheim considered himself with the issue of social order and how modern society holds together, given that society is composed of many individuals each acting in an individual and autonomous manner. Durkheims classic study of suicide, (1970, first published in 1897), as cit ed in Haralambos and Holborn, (2004) is often seen as a model of positivist research and it does indeed follow many of the methodological procedures of positivism. Although supporting the two different methodologies of sociology, Durkheim was heavily influenced by Weber, who defined sociology as the study of social action between individuals. In contrast to Durkheims impression of society and view that society has an existence of its own apart from the individuals in it and so proceeds a proper object of study. As argued by Haralambos and Holborn (1995) where Marx was pessimistic about the division of labour in society, Durkheim was cautiously optimistic. Marx saw the specialised divisions of labour trapping workers in their occupational role, Durkheim saw problems arising from specialisation in industrial society, but believed the promise of the division of labour far outweighed the problems. While Simmel is generally not regarded as being as influential in sociology as were Marx, Weber and Durkheim, Simmels theories, had some similarities to Durkheims theory of problems of individuality and society, Webers dynamic of individual interests and Marxs theory of class structure. Simmel considered society to be an association of free individuals and that society could not be studied in the same way as the physical world for example, sociology is more than the discovery of natural laws that govern human interaction. His theory was that society is made up of the interactions between and among individuals and that, sociologists should study the patterns and forms of these associations rather that look for social laws. By defining sociology in this way, Simmel avoids the conflict about the nature of science whether it should be concerned with timeless, universal laws, instead, there are always multiple ways in which we can look at things. He argued that society was made up of soc ial facts, and these social facts coerce and shape the actions of individuals. He argued that in traditional societies, solidarity binds together individuals in order to allow society to operate. Social facts only come into being in an interaction, and do not exist within an individual consciousness. Durkheim (1970) as cited in Haralambos and Holborn (2004), stated that the determining cause of a social fact should be sought among the social facts preceding it and not among the states of individual consciousness, the causes of variations in suicide rates were to be found in social facts and in society rather than the individual. Therefore, social groups represent. He argued that societies that functioned well were societies that held a consensus sway over individuals; society, therefore, was something outside and inside individuals. As stated by Haralambos and Holborn (1995) to phenomenology, it is impossible to measure objectively any aspect of human behaviour, through language humans distinguish between different types of events, actions, objects and people. The process of categorisation is subjective; it depends upon the opinions of the observer. Statistics are simply the product of the opinions of those who produce them. The distinction between positivist and phenomenological approaches is not as clear-cut as this assignment implies. There is a considerable debate over whether or not a particular theory should be labelled positivist or phenomenological. Often many of the theorists lie somewhere in between, some taking views from either side. Haralambos and Holborn (1995) argue that in terms of sociology, the positivist approach makes the following assumptions; the behaviour of humans, like the behaviour of matter, can be objectively measured, just as the behaviour of matter can be quantified by measures such as weight, temperature and pressure. Methods of objective measurement can be devised for human behaviour, such measurement is essential to explain behaviour. Early Positivists such as Comte, and Durkheim argued that objectivity was attainable by adopting a scientific methodology. Marx also believed that his sociology was objective and scientific, although he saw society very differently. Weber did not think complete value freedom was possible, but he did believe that once a topic for research had been chosen, the researcher could be objective. He argued that sociologists should not make value judgments, that is, they should not state what aspects of society they found desirable or undesirable. It is plainly nonsensical to throw into one big pot labelled sociology all those researches which could have been satisfactorily conducted by national economy, history of civilisation, philosophy, political science, statistics, demography and ethics. That gives us a new name, but no new knowledge. Simmel, G (1858), cited in American Journal of Sociology [online]) (1898) Reference List Ghosh, P, (2003), Max Webers Idea of Puritanism: A Case Study In The Empirical Construction Of The Protestant Ethic, History of European Ideas, [online], 29;2, 183-221, Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6V9C-48D2RD7-1_user=10_rdoc=1_fmt=_orig=search_sort=dview=c_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_userid=10md5=10803212fe05d9a06d9a7ce5cfaec919 [Accessed November 21, 2008] Giddens, A, (1997) Sociology, 3rd Edition, Polity Press, Cambridge Haralambos, M, Holborn, M, (1995), Sociology, Themes and Perspectives, 4th Edition, Collins Educational, London Haralambos, M, Holborn, M, (2004), Sociology, Themes and Perspectives, 6th Edition, Collins Educational, London Kirby, M, Kidd, W, Koubel, F, Barter, J, Hope, T, Kirton, A, Madry, N, Manning, P, Triggs, K, (2000), Sociology in Perspective, Heinemann Educational, Oxford Simmel, G (1898) The Persistence of Social Groups, American Journal of Sociology, [online], 5; 3, 662-663. Available at: http://www.brocku.ca/MeadProject/Simmel/Simmel_1897a.html [Accessed November 11th 2008]