Case Study Managing a Systems Development Project

Elizabeth A. Humphrey Dr. Tim Brueggemann MBA54001OL November 11, 2012 Managing a Systems Development Project at consumer and Industrial Products, Inc. Situation Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc manufacture a variety of different products for individuals and businesses. Due to ineffective accounts payable system, Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc started a new project called Payables Audit Systems (PAS). The process of beginning this new project was taken very seriously. Roles were assigned and defined. Ted Anderson was the director of the project.Peter Shaw was assigned the responsibility of user project manager. The user project manager was â€Å"responsible for making sure that the system meets the user department’s business needs and that the system is completed on time. † (DeHayes, et al) Linda Watkins was given the duty of being the project director, whose main responsibility was to â€Å"manage the IS people on the project. † (DeHayes, et al) Harr y Carter was assigned the job of IS supervisor. The IS supervisor â€Å"was responsible for integrating all projects in the disbursements area and for allocating IS people to these projects. (DeHayes, et al) A steering group was also appointed and chaired by Ted Anderson. â€Å"The role of the steering group was to approve budgets, determine the business direction of the project, and make any necessary decisions. † (DeHayes, et al. )Communication was a very important part of this project. Therefore, everyone who was chosen to work on the PAS project had to have good communication skills. Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc had been using the CIMS (Computerized Invoice Matching System) system.This system would basically match invoices to purchase orders generated by the computer. Those invoices would then be paid if everything matched. If one minute detail didn’t match, the invoice would not be paid; delaying may accounts payable for an extended period of time. This system was not good for Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc and it was not good for the vendors. Due to the CIMS system being archaic and not meeting the needs of Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc, the project committee recommended developing a new system.The objects of the Detailed Study Report was to decrease the cost of processing vouchers, reduce the number of staff needed for processing vouchers, reduce the amount of time it takes to pay out the vouchers, and â€Å"support systematic integration with transportation/logistics, purchasing, and accounts payable to better facilitate changes due to shifts in business procedures. † (DeHayes, et al) When beginning the Drafts Requirements Study, Linda Watkins was concerned with so many systems dependent on each other being changed at the same time.When she voiced her concerns, she was basically told ‘the show will go on. ’ The last step was for the outline physical design group to take a look at the new system and get it set up. The original idea was for the PAS system to use the mainframe, but then an option of using a LAN was introduced. Using a LAN did cost quite a bit more than was budgeted. Just as the physical design report was being completed, Linda Watkins was in a car accident, leaving her with sever injuries and out of work for an extended amount of time. Ted Anderson was worried.Linda Watkins was the best manager he had and he wasn’t sure where to go from here. He asked his secretary to set up a meeting with IS Director Charles Bunke for first thing the next morning. He needed a plan. Target Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc is currently working on replacing their old CIMS system with the PAS system. Linda Watkins, the project director, was in a car accident and will not be able to return to work for an extended period of time. Ted Anderson, the executive sponsor is concerned and doesn’t quite know where to go from here. Many hours have been put into research ing this new system.It is on the edge of being adopted by the company and is now in danger of falling behind in the adoption process due to Linda Watkins’ car accident. Everyone involved in this project has taken great strides to do their research to ensure this is the right system for Consumer and Industrial Products, Inc. This company has done a great job with strategic planning. With all the great planning of this project, it doesn’t appear risks were taken into consideration. When working on and planning a project, â€Å"a good approach is to consistently include risk communication in the tasks you carry out.If you have a team meeting, make project risks part of the default agenda (and not the final item on the list! ). † (Jutte) Where was the plan B for this project? Proposal It appears Consumer and Industrial, Inc needs the PAS system in order to process accounts payable more effectively and efficiently. It appears it will save the company money, as well a s keep the vendors happy. Now that Linda Watkins has been injured and cannot return to work for an extended period of time, Ted Anderson will need to visit with Charles Bunke to come up with another plan to keep this project moving.Ted and Charles will need to meet with the other project managers to determine where to go from here. If the lines of communication stay open and they continue to work as a team, they will come up with a solution to keep the project from being put on the back burner. As stated in the article 8 Steps to Implementing Successful Organizational Change, â€Å"Once a change is planned, it is important to have good communication about the rollout and implementation of the change. A timeline should be made for the implementation and should make changes in the order that affect the process and the employees who manage the process.An effective timeline will allow for all new equipment, supplies or training to take place before fully implemented. Implementing witho ut a logical order can create frustration for those responsible for the work process. † Works Cited DeHayes, Daniel W. , et al. Managing Information Technology. Pearson, 2012. Print. â€Å"8 Steps to Implementing Successful Organizational Change. † http://thethrivingsmallbusiness. com/articles/8-steps-to-implementing-successful-organizational-change/ retrieved from web 10/19/2012

Feminism in Literature

Samuel Rodriguez 801-12-7900 INGL 3103-126 Prof. Nikita Nankov February 10, 2013 Feminism in literature Feminism is defined as a collection of movements and ideologies that are focused on establishing equal economic, political, and social rights for women. This includes equal employment opportunities for women. There is a big misconception of the feminist movement. A lot of people take a radical approach; they focus on a theory that there is a male supremacy to oppress women.The radical feminists tend to strive for greater feminine power and deviate from the original concept of feminism that strives for equality. Feminism was first introduced into literature in the nineteenth century. The number of published women authors was greater in the nineteenth century than in any preceding century. Women's access to higher education increased exponentially during the century, providing them with skills that they could use to develop their art.The growth of market economies, cities, and life e xpectancies changed how women in Europe and the United States were expected to conform to new social pressures, and made many women more conscious of their imposed social, legal, and political inequality. Many social reform movements led by nineteenth-century women, such as religious revivalism, abolitionism, temperance, and suffrage; gave women writers an audience and a forum in which they could express their views. Before the feminist movement migrated to literature women writers were largely confined into writing children’s poetry and literature.Women started migrating and started writing fiction. However the critical reviews of the age pummeled their works for lack of critical judgment and rationality and dismissed their work as being designed for the unrefined taste of women readers. Great novelist like Mary Shelly, George Sand and George Elliot never completely escaped the harsh criticism of their work based only on their gender. The legacy of sexism has been a historic element that helps dismiss the work of many great women writers. Feminist women writers come from all over the world, including Puerto Rico.Julia de Burgos is a well-known puertorican writer, but Burgos is best known for her feminist poems. Julia de Burgos poetry includes a variety of themes, including an inclination to the erotic and to social activism. Burgos feminist poems present a philosophical view of the role of women in Puerto Rican society. Burgos explores womanhood issues in her efforts to break away from hindering social patterns. Burgos stands out as an early feminist activist at a time when Puerto Rican culture restricted women to the traditional roles of spouse and mother.Authors of the feminist movement differentiate between gender and sex. They believe the person’s sex is predetermined and natural. Meanwhile the gender has been created by society along with the perception of gender roles. They believe that gender roles can be altered over time. The predominan ce of one gender of the other is seen in almost every society. The fact that this dominance is not in favor of women is a characteristic of feminist literature. Feminist authors argue that any society that does not provide equal opportunities to both genders is not an unbiased and complete society.Women in feminist literature are presented as protagonist, who usually does not accept the traditional predetermined roles dictated by society. Feminism in literature is not strictly limited to female writers; an example of this is James Joyce. Joyce’s texts are filled with feminine images. The way Joyce depicts women in his text may be tricky for people who reading his text for the first time. Joyce presents all the sufferings and hardships women go through. In Eveline the narrator talks about talks about a deprived female, referring to Eveline.Eveline lacks basic things that most people around the world have. For example she didn’t have a happy childhood. When she was playi ng as a little girl in the field her dad would chase her. In this example we can see the father is a dominant male figure that restricts the female of basic things like playing. Works cited Hudock, Amy, et al. Feminism in Literature. New York: Thomson Gale, 2005. Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Encyclopedia of Feminist Literature. New York: Facts On File, 2006. Joyce, James. Eveline. N. p. : Pennsylvania State University, 2005.

Ex Memo Essay

Subject: Improvement on written refusals I am writing today to provide all employees with some useful tips on how to compose a customer refusal letter. While the example letter to Mr. Largo is factual, there are some things that could be presented much better. Presentation of facts could determine if we are able to retain customers and reflect the credibility of the company. Some key elements that I want to focus on are: †¢ Tone †¢ Punctuation and Grammar †¢ Professionalism The best way to begin a refusal is by setting an apologetic tone. You do not want to point blame at the customer, even if you feel they are wrong. Show empathy, and see if you can help them in anyway possible. Remember when writing a refusal all that’s representing our company are the words on the page; so we must use correct grammar and punctuation. Thank you for your attention and your time. I encourage our department to utilize these factors when writing a refusal letter. I want all refusals emailed to me, before mailing them. If there are any questions, problems or concerns you can reach me by email (twhitmore@mainappliance. com). MAIN STREET APPLIANCES 576 Main Street Gainesville, FL 33312 To: John Largo From: John Wright, Customer Relations Supervisor Date: July 20, 2009 Subject:$50 discount voucher Dear Mr. Largo, We apologize for not being able to grant your request for a replacement refrigerator. Main Street Appliances values you as a preferred customer, and would like to offer you a $50 discount voucher, to put towards a new refrigerator, with a 1year warranty. The voucher can only be used at the local Main Street location and expires on August 17, 2009. We apologize, again, for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. In the event that we may be of any further assistance, please call our customer service hotline (800-MAIN-STREET ext. 112) or by email (twhitmore@mainappliance. com). Sincerely, John Wright Customer Service

How does the Bhagavad-Gita reveal fundamental teachings of Hinduism Essay

How does the Bhagavad-Gita reveal fundamental teachings of Hinduism expressed in lyrical format - Essay Example To be specific, Bhagavad-Gita, which is in the form of sermon from the God (Lord Krishna), tends to reduce confusion and ethical predicament faced by Arjuna (the Pandava prince). When this sermon is generalized to the wider context of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism, one can easily identify that Yoga or selfless action is helpful to attain ‘moksha’ or enlightenment. Thesis statement: The fundamental teachings (theories) of Hinduism (say, yoga, karma/dharma and selfless action to attain the divine) are revealed through Bhagavad-Gita because it deals with the scope of the same in human life (special references to Bhagavad-Gita). The fundamental teachings of Hinduism expressed in lyrical format One can see that the fundamental teachings of Hinduism are expressed in lyrical format. For instance, the sacred texts/works in Hinduism like the Ramayana (the story of Rama’s journey), the Mahabharata (related to the dynastic struggle in ancient India), and the Puranas (related to spiritual and theoretical concepts in Hinduism) are expressed in lyrical format, especially in Sanskrit. So, lyrical format is the foundation of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism because the same deeply influenced the oral tradition of chanting mantras in Hinduism. Within this context, the fundamental teachings of Hinduism expressed in lyrical format include: yoga, karma/dharma and the importance of selfless action in human life to attain the divide power or the Brahman. First of all, yoga or unselfish action without considering the consequence is the most important aspect of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism. A yogi (a person who is ready to discard worldly pleasures) can attain moksha because he or she is ready to shed ego. Karma or the amassed liability of one’s actions in day to day life is another important element of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism. To be specific, karma hinders one from attaining moksha. Within this context, dharma or duty min dedness can help one to escape from the cyclic process of birth, death and rebirth. Another important element of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism is selfless action. One can easily identify that Hinduism provides ample importance to selfless action, not idleness. From a different angle of view, yoga and dharma lead one towards selfless action and salvation. Revelation of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism through Bhagavad-Gita The most important elements of the revelation of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism through Bhagavad-Gita can be divided into three: yoga, karma/dharma and the importance of action. A. Yoga The most important aspect of Bhagavad-Gita which reveals the fundamental teachings of Hinduism is yoga. In Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna motivates prince Arjuna by pointing out the importance of yoga in one’s life. When Arjuna hesitates to be the part of the Kurukshetra war against his relatives, Lord Krishna motivates him by creating awareness on the import ance of action in human life. Selfishness cannot help one to attain moksha. Instead, selfless action can help one to realize the eternal truth/enlightenment. Mehta (2005) makes clear that â€Å"according to Gita, work should be performed for its own sake, with whole-hearted attention, unaffected by any thought of success or failure, profit or loss, honor or dishonor, fame or loss of fame etc† (p.39). Yoga is interconnected with devotional service and action in life. Other elements or steps which can help one to be a yogi are meditation and knowledge. To be specific,

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Marketing - Essay Example Earlier, such marketing initiatives were taken by local sales people but from Dec. 08 onwards, the company examined the viability of these campaigns by hosting events and advertising its value offer working in partnership with www.BillShrink.com, a free service that tells consumers how much they would be saving, as it shared the knowledge with prospective customers of T-Mobile that they would be saving $24 a month over a time period of two years if they change to T-Mobile. Promotions were organized in many markets including Los Angeles and San Francisco to get familiarize with BillShrink as a value tool for customers and get acquainted with sales people. It helped the company in attending to the customer needs where it has been providing distribution services, namely Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and San Francisco. On-site promotions were also offered to customers through â€Å"Mobile Makeovers† offering to win the maximum from using the BillShrink service (Chipps 1). Works Ci ted Chipps, William. â€Å"T-Mobile Sees Success.† Weblog entry. IEG’s Sponsorship Blogs. 25 November 2009.

Describe and evaluate the current budgetary process in Congress. What, Essay

Describe and evaluate the current budgetary process in Congress. What, if anything would you change How would you change it - Essay Example at include outlays, subsidies for loans and insurance (Beranek), tax deductions among other tools; and enhanced public confidence and trust in the said process. This article discusses the various reform options available and focuses on presenting the best ways that are most likely to meet the required effectiveness and feasibility. A breakdown of the best way to do this is divided into three sections comprising of efficient and timely budgeting, accountability, and transparency (Beranek). Since the budgeting process starts at the time the president communicates his proposed budget to the Congress and is usually meant to be carried out by the first Monday of February each year and usually fails to happen, it is, therefore, almost impossible for any newly elected president to comply with a set timetable at the beginning of the year due to the existence of a strong case regarding pushing back the legislative and executive branch timetables at the time as noted by the House Budget Committee. The reform that should be carried out in enhancing the effectiveness of timely budgeting include:- The level of public trust in the budgeting process has over the years been eroded alongside the deteriorating status of the federal government and the Congress specifically. One cause of the mistrust is the prevalent credence that insiders are frolicking some sort of shell game that is designed to completely conceal the actual happenings in the process. Politicians frequently castigate against the budgeting process: Proclaiming that â€Å"Only in Washington is an expenditure increase labelled as a cut. When viewed from the stance of the ordinary mutual sense, these critics seem to have a point. For example, considering a family that uses the same location as their vacation spot every year (Beranek). The prices for lodging and travelling rises, between this year and the next year, increasing the overall vacations expenditure by $700, the family has two options either to take the cost

People Express Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

People Express Case Analysis - Essay Example & development (T&D) of skills, employee relations, retention and motivation strategies, workplace culture and delegation of power, authority and responsibility. People Express indeed adopted some far reaching HRM practices to achieve organizational goals. The most powerful motivator of the workforce was the requirement to become shareholder of the company in addition to being an employee. Next the company encouraged team work in which 3 to 4 employees were teamed together so that time waste in coordinating work effort could be reduced and employees would be motivated by team spirit. In addition to these employee friendly work practices and motivators a number of others were also adopted. However the organizational outcomes were poor and questionable. In the first place People Express’s HRM practices were purely based on the textbook theory. Secondly motivation related HRM practices ignored productivity. In other words these HRM practices at people Express were poor growth drivers. For instance work teams don’t on their own produce efficiently simply because they are allowed to be self-reliant. In fact at People Express, work teams tended to be smugly satisfied with their own performance in the absence of standards of reference. Performance of work teams has to be measured against relative performances of others and this requires common standards to be set up on a priority basis. Broader level of employee participation, minimal hierarchy, in-house expertise and problem solving and job rotation practices were good measures but they were not backed by a system of performance-based metrics. The airline was operating in a relatively competition-free and regulation-free domestic market then. However, with the ever increasing threat of competition the airline HRM practices at People Express were oriented towards creating a pleasant work environment without a set of well defined corporate goals. Effective HRM practices must be aligned with organizational outcomes

Strategic Management Analysis The Thomson Travel Group PLC Essay

Strategic Management Analysis The Thomson Travel Group PLC - Essay Example The company in 2002 changed its formal name from Thomson Holidays Limited to TUI UK, Ltd. Presently it is operating as Thomson Holidays, a brand of its parent company TUI Travel Plc. delivering their services to vacation travel retailers. It is primarily a UK based group serving both travel and tourism packages in the national as well as international markets. The group operates its air-line services in European region, Australasia, Asia, the Middle East, and America, employing nearly 18000 people at present. (Bloomberg L.P., 2010). Apart from airlines the group also owns a number of cruises named as Thomson Cruises, offering lower cost Europe tour through water. Additionally, the group also feature many holiday resorts to serve their customers a cheaper and comfortable holiday experiences. With a difference to the prospects of mere holiday packages, the group has also destined its path in publishing several magazines and brochures defining the types of packages offered and there pricing thereof giving its advertisement sector an effective touch. Some of the published magazines are, Thomson Destinations and Summer Sun, Thomson Destinations Florida among others (My Holiday Co. 2010).

Career Planning assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Career Planning assignment - Essay Example From here, one gets to the final stage of career planning which is designing their professional development plan. At this stage, an individual states the improvements they need to make in order to qualify for the requirements which are supposed to take them up towards their career goal (Fuller 2011, p. 410). The following text is my elaborated career plan as I aim at owning a top-of-the-range lingerie selling store in the U.K. I have always aspired to go into self-employment as opposed to being employed by anyone else. Specifically, I have always promised myself that I would start and run an executive lingerie selling store in the United Kingdom. This career appeals to me because I have a good taste of fashion, and I am sure what I will have to offer will be irresistible. Additionally, I am good at convincing people, and this is a good sign that I will always attract clients. Commercial skills to enable them to plan promotions, pricing, and product presentation, to achieve budget forecasts and targets, to devise the best store layout, and to advise retail managers on matters such as competition and marketing initiatives. Lingerie business also requires high standards so that compliance with procedures and policies is observed, excellence in customer service is instilled, and finally safety, repairs, and housekeeping is maintained. Presently, the skills I possess are aligned towards my career, but they are inadequate. First, I have people management and financial management skills that I have acquired from my major. These are however not sufficient in the event that I had to apply for such a lingerie store management job. The skills I have in commercial management are only on product pricing, presentation and promotion. However, the career demands that I should be able to achieve budget forecasts and targets. Additionally, my communication skills which I am quite satisfied with still need to be sharpened so that I

Teaching vocabulary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Teaching vocabulary - Essay Example This is because, the LAD as a device which inheres man and helps him learn language, atrophies with age. The acquisition of language also goes hand in hand with the acquisition of vocabulary. Disinterest may also serve as a strong impediment to the acquisition of vocabulary since it is nearly impossible to educate someone on matters he is not interested in. Language-related illnesses and impairment such as Warnicke’s aphasia and global aphasia may be setbacks to the knowledge and acquisition of vocabulary. Those who have suffered global aphasia have great difficulty in understanding words and forming words. In the case of Warnicke’s aphasia, a student may: fail to realise that he is using wrong words; have great difficulty in understanding some words; and not appreciate how words are strung together to form a phrase, clause or a sentence. Again, those with Warnicke’s aphasia have a problem building vocabulary since Warnicke’s aphasia affects the region of the brain’s left hemisphere which is responsible for the understanding of words. Question B There are certain activities which a teacher can expend to solve some of the problems which have mentioned above. When dealing with linguistic barriers which non-native adult speakers use, it is important for me to use both incidental acquisition and direct study. This involves, having proficient and self-motivated students to read a lot of books which are suited for their age. The teacher can then follow incidental acquisition method with vocabulary logs and other techniques which shall also be divulged upon. It is also important to follow up the use of the incidental acquisition model with the provisions of direct study. The use of direct study models will help high-risk students struggling with vocabulary. The strength of direct study helps the student develop his vocabulary by: nurturing an independent reading culture; strengthening the learner’s ability to use context clues ; and strengthening the learner’s context-clues vocabulary acquisition. This measure above will therefore require the teacher to foster a classroom reading programme whereby he can: have the students read in turn; correct the reader’s phonology in case of a wrong pronunciation; have students identify the meaning of a newly encountered vocabulary by using context-cues [so that the student does not rush to the dictionary]; give learners the exact meaning of the newly encountered lexicons with an example of a sentence; and have the students record the same down and use them in a sentence. Again, it will be extremely helpful [of me and to me] to develop a multifaceted approach to vocabulary acquisition. This will entail helping learners to develop the culture of independent reading. As the teacher, I can help develop a recommended reading list, or form a recommended reading list with the school administration. The books in the reading list are those that should challenge t he gifted and the talented, and help slow learners. Thus, the books should be high-interest and low-level. Students will read some of these books independently. For the remaining books, the students can provide feedback by: making oral and written book reports; producing plot summaries; and [if time allows] making performances of key or important scenes. Similarly as an instructor, measures must be made to ensure that students are encouraged to use the different semantic significance of words. This involves, hav

Assignment (Microeconomics) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

(Microeconomics) - Assignment Example It also assists government to take advantages of expenses associated with clerical works. Moreover, government can effectively avert unhealthy market competitions. 3. Utilities such as water, gas, and electricity are some of the examples of natural monopolies. Government must set price ceilings in national monopoly markets since products and services under this category are necessities that people may buy at any higher prices. 4. In both the cases, profit must be zero in long run equilibrium. Firms are affected by changes in demand conditions under both cases. A major similarity between monopolistic competition and perfect competition is that competition in pursuit of profit encourages efficient resource movements. 5. In the case of a monopolistically competitive firm, demand will increase and average cost will increase in the long run. Under such circumstance, monopolistically competitive firms end up making zero economic profits. 6. A monopolistically competitive firm chooses the level of output where marginal cost equals marginal revenue. The firm maximizes its profits so as to achieve this situation; and it is called short run equilibrium of the firm. This condition adds to the price fixation flexibility of the firm. Moreover, it enables the firm to rapidly adjust with unexpected market fluctuations. b. Availability of different varieties of breakfast cereals gives an opportunity for consumers to distinguish them on the ground of their quality and price. It also gives consumers chance to buy their most preferred

Leadership and Management Essay Example for Free

Leadership and Management Essay Education is a very important institution due to the role it plays in transmitting social skills and knowledge required of any member of the society (Hofman, Gray Daly, 2004). It is worth noting that the levels of development of a countrys education systems bears close correlation to the economic and social conditions that the said country will afford. It is therefore upon members of the society and the education system to ensure that members of the society achieve as much as possible from this system. High attainment in eduction is far much beneficial than low level education in the modern society due to the high level of educational attainment. A doctorate degree is currently what an undergraduate degree was in the 1990s (Hofman, Gray Daly, 2004). The level of educational attainment requires an individual to posses at least a masters degree to stand out among others. The need to stand above others and gain some advantage over them in the competitive job market is the main reason for my pursuance of a doctoral degree. In choosing educational leadership and management of higher institutions in Singapore the key consideration was my vocation. I have personally worked in the educational field in different capacity. Having served as an assistant head of international programs at Crestar institute, human resource management with a Christian association, lectured English at Kaplan city campus and being a full time consultant trainer at NTUC, my life has centred around management and higher institution of learning. Understanding the nature of higher education leadership and management in Singapore is therefore relevant to my career. Relevance of USQ Doctorate studies is about mastery and application of principles and theories studied in class. A doctorate graduate should be able to analyse and relate issues related to their area of specialisation by giving varied dimension. Doctorate graduates are expected to be above other levels not just in their approach to thinking but they must also display high levels of norms and values expected of the society (Mok, 2006). Mastery of principles that are relevant to the needs of the society, and the development of norms and values that are expected of the society are just but a few of the benefits expected of a USQ professional doctorate; it is thus clear that the program not only makes better specialists but also better members of the society by integrating the values of determination, team spirit and courage into the students. The role played by the education system just like any other social systems cannot be done by any other system. Propagation of social norms and development of skills that are relevant to the needs of the society are some of the objectives of the education system. Though the education systems is one of the oldest institution, the development of the higher educations sector in Singapore is a recent event. Singapores education system though quite organised as compared to its neighbours is faced with a number of challenges (Lee Fredriksen, 2008). Most challenges in the education system can be traced to the management and leadership of the education system. Despite the education system being a social systems it still falls prey to the effects of partisan politic. The involvement of the central government on educational matter cannot be avoided since the education system is under the governments care, however, the education system should be shielded from the negative effects of poor politics. Corruption lack of professional knowledge and nepotisms are some of the issue that affect the education systems at the low level. Researching on education management and leadership in higher education sector not only develops my research skills but also ensure awareness on issues that affect management and leadership of higher education sector and is therefore relevant to efficient delivery in future. Personal Capabilities Doctorate studies require good academic background and interest in the area of study. Determination defines me; level of education attainment and the nature of jobs that I have been involved in give me the experience and skills required to undertake a doctorate course. I am well versed in the management of the education system and problems faced by low level personnel like tutors and professors. My position places me in a situation where I can look at the issues from both the management and implementation level which is a capability that few have. My academic qualification is beyond question for I am a holder of a masters degree in education. I therefore possess the skills and qualification required of doctorate degree and there is no cause for worry on my abilities. Literature Review The education system thought critical to the development of the society is no stranger to controversy. Implementation of the education system goals has especially been under fire with some coming up with the view that the education system, just like any other social system is responsible for social reproduction (Kassem, Mufti Robinson, 2006). The education systems is seen by such critics as a tool used by those in power to ensure they maintain their position while disregarding the needs of the less empowered. It is quite true that commercialisation of education has led to increase in levels of educational attainment. Increase in levels of educational attainment is characterised by increase in the cost of acquiring higher education. The costs of education at a level that is relevant to the development of technical skills required by the job market is high and borders exploitation (Kassem, Mufti Robinson, 2006). Projection shows that the cost of education is likely to go up with increase in demand for education. This is blamed on commercialisation of education which has made it business like and therefore probe to the market forces of supply and demand the only differences being that the demand is always on a high. On the other hand, the commercialisation of education and strategies developed by the government and other stakeholders who are blamed for the problems facing education by social reproduction theorists is cited as the first step towards the development of the high education sector (Mok, 2006). Take China as an example, the reforms which included allowing privatisation of the higher education sector and formulation and implementation of cost sharing mechanism are cited as the key driving factors to the levels of development achieved (Mok, 2006).

Economic Impact Of India Hosting The Commonwealth Games Tourism Essay

Economic Impact Of India Hosting The Commonwealth Games Tourism Essay As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programmed and selects the host cities. The host city is selected from across the Commonwealth, with eighteen cities in seven countries having hosted it. The event was first held in 1930 under the title of the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event was renamed as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, and gained its current title in 1978. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest achieving team for eleven games, England for seven and Canada for one. There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and 71 teams participate in the Games. The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games, and individual teams are also sent from the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man (unlike at the Olympic Games, where the combined Great Britain team represents all four home nations and the Crown dependencies). Many of the British overseas territories also send their own teams. The Australian external territory of Norfolk Island also sends its own team, as do the Cook Islands and Niue, two states in free association with New Zealand. It was reported that Tokelau, another dependency of New Zealand would be sending a team to the 2010 Games in New Delhi, India. In the end however they did not. Common Wealth Games 2010 in India To Aim is to Achieve-India has aimed for successfully hosting the prestigious mega event of Commonwealth Games and India will achieve it. To fulfill this dream an enormous amount of work needs to done. This dream was born long back when India hosted the Asian Games in 1982, the entire nation dream of hosting the Olympics one day. After a long gap of more than 20 years and due to lack to will and infrastructure we were unable to get the opportunity again. This time, the things fall our way and we won the bid to host the nineteenth Commonwealth Games in 2010. The vision was to host the mega event in a way it has never happened before and leave a mark in the history of the event organization. As the time passed by the vision became the mission and Delhi has to gear up to create the state of the art infrastructure. New Delhi was deliberately chosen as it has its rich experience of the Asian Games behind. Moreover it has some already existed infrastructure like Indira Gandhi Arena, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Dhyan Chand National stadium etc. The rich culture of Delhi and its hospitality also plays a pivotal role in the organization. To accomplish the mission a total budget of US$ 1.6 billion is estimated which will make the 2010 event, the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever. Games Village: A new modern games village of 63.5 hectare is being built on the bank of river Yamuna at the cost of USD 230.7 million. It is situated near the renowned landmark Akshardham Temple. The village will hold the capacity of 8500 athletes and officials. The old stadiums like Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium are also getting a facelift. A new society is getting constructed along the village side to provide free accommodation and cutting health facilities to the athletes. Infrastructure: The preparation is on full swing and Delhi is experiencing a city makeover. To boost up the infrastructure Delhis transport was the biggest pain, to eradicate this problem Delhi Metros plan was POSTIVES OF COMMONWEALTH ON INDIAN ECONOMICS India is a developing country. Ironically, India is a country which is, on one hand struggling with the problem of poverty since the time of independence while on the other hand is spending millions on the Commonwealth Games. But the people on the other side of the coin think that it will lead to urban regeneration, economic profit development of Delhi in terms of new hotels, metro extention, flyovers etc. and will give India great exposure to the world through global media. Economy of the country is complex structure which depends on agriculture innovative developement,manufacturing goods sctor,services rendered by the country ,infrastructure developement etc .The conduction of Sports developes the professionals in the fled of sports and games and bring the country in the eyes of the world with a minor impact on the economy in the form of improving the local infrastructure Think thrice before doing wrong things but dont think fraction of second before doing good things Commonwealth Games 2010 is going to be the biggest Commonwealth Games in history. It is only fair that one should expect that India should get good returns on the amount of resources and time that India has invested in the Games. Yes, one can rightly call it an investment, for the benefits that India can come to gain from the Games are enormous. The Commonwealth Games hold the promise of great economic returns even after they are over. The development and building of the infrastructure in Delhi in preparation for the Games have already released a lot of money into the economy. The building of sports venues, hotels, flyovers etc have involved many contractors, construction companies, and daily wage earners. The amount of work that is being done across the city is making sure that a lot of jobs are on offer. Even after completion, these projects will require management and maintenance, especially the sports venues, stadiums, and hotels thereby generating more job openings. To accommodate the tourists expected during the Commonwealth Games numerous small hotels, bed breakfasts and other hotels are being built to meet the requirements as estimated by the government. The Games, even before officially having started are generating jobs on a large scale. But once the Games start, that is when the Government of India expects to break even and maybe gain even more. ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) predicts that tourism alone is going to bring in US$ 16.915 million in 2010 because of the Games. All tourism industries and industries related to providing services to tourists are expecting a rainfall during the Games, and seeing the above figure, they are right in doing so. India estimates 10 million tourists will visit India in 2010, with a large percentage of them coming during the Games. The main industries expected to benefit from this are Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Hotel Industry, Aviation Industry, Airport Authorities, and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Even the small industries, which produce and market small knick knacks, such as the markets in Janpath, Sarojni Nagar etc and even the malls and bigger markets are going to benefit during the Games. The cities surrounding Delhi, that serve a s weekend getaways and popular tourist destinations, are also looking forward to a large influx of tourists. The games are going to benefit a lot of people indeed. It is only once the Games get over that the real long term benefits to the Indian economy are going to come into effect. If Delhi can pull off a good show during the Games, Delhi and India may find itself soon becoming a tourist hotspot. The average number of foreign tourists coming to India is going to rise by an estimated 5 10% after the Games. Currently India gets only a small percentage of income generated by the tourism industry worldwide. The Games will give Delhi and thus India great publicity as a tourist destination, and give its image as a tourist destination a much-needed boost. The success of the Games holds a lot in its hands. Until now, India has been a tourist destination for the eccentric or adventurous traveler, this all stands to change after the Games, and all this change is good, as it will benefit India and its people. 2. Worldwide Experiences The world over, cities vie with each other to host hallmark events such as the Olympics, World Cups etc. It is seen by many as a sure way of shooting the host city into the limelight, resulting in an economic windfall (Baade and Matheson, 2003), and at the same time giving these host cities the impetus to improve domestic facilities and infrastructure. The impact of being the host city, range from the physical (construction projects) to the intangible (local self-esteem or international impact). The impact that an event of this kind has on the urban landscape can largely be gauged by the size of the Legacy that it creates. It is important to note here that it is not only legacy creation that is important, but creating a legacy which is beneficial to the host community post games, and which justifies the costs involved. The controversy surrounding these events however is centred on its economic sense. Do these games make money for the host city or not? The data from past Olympic Games seems to suggest not Sector Changes caused by the Olympics Transportation The transportation system is changed by an improved infrastructure and new concepts of public transportation. In Munich 72, the subway was expanded, in Seoul 88 many major roads were improved and in Barcelona 92 the ring roads were built. Telecommunication system A high standard in telecommunications is another important location factor to keep existing, or attract new enterprises. In this sector, the Olympics bring the latest technology into the city to satisfy the demand in telecommunications services during the Olympics. After the games, the systems remain existent. Sports facility structure Olympics have the strongest influence on the sports facilities structure in the city. There must be adequate and sufficient sports and training facilities for all sports at An international level. After the games, these facilities are often available for leisure Sports. Housing In most cities, Olympic villages are newly constructed. The question of the social distribution of the newly created housing units is reviewed. In Munich 72, the Olympic Village was constructed for the socially deprived groups of society. In other cities, the Olympic Villages were sold to the middle and lower-upper classes. In Los Angeles 84 and Atlanta 96, the villages continued to be students homes. Urban culture The general embellishment of a city, an improved transportation system, additional leisure time facilities and numerous ecological projects frequently lead to a revival of the city centre by improving the city atmosphere. Source: Preuss, 1998 the costs of these mega-events almost always run in to billions of dollars. Japan spent over $4 billion, and South Korea $2 billion, on new stadiums and infrastructure for the 2002 World Cup. China has spent a reported $20 billion on infrastructure improvements ahead for 2008 Olympics. Athens spent over $1 billion only on security expenses during the 2004 Olympics (Baade, R and Matheson, V, 2003). Substantial economic impact provides backers of such events with a justification for public subsidies for mega-event infrastructure. They argue that the expenditure must be viewed as an investment that will in turn give returns. However this is a case where vested interests are at stake. Many independent researchers have found that ex ante predictions made by the event organizers of economic impact, far exceed the ex post estimates. The obvious question that NEGATIVES OF COMMON WEALTH GAMES Corruption in Commonwealth Games There are also allegations of wide spread corruption in various aspects of organising the games including procurement and awarding contracts for constructing the game venues. The Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee on 5th Aug 2010 suspended T S Darbari (joint director in the organizing committee) and Sanjay Mahendroo (deputy director general in the organising committee) following the report of the three-member panel which was probing the financial irregularities related to the Queens Baton Relay. Also Organizing Committee treasurer Anil Khanna resigned from the post in the wake of allegations that his sons firm had secured a contract for laying synthetic courts at a tennis stadium.    The two principal bids for the 2010 Commonwealth Games India is a developing country. Focus on the word developing as India is not yet developed. Ironically, India is a country which is, on one hand struggling with the problem of poverty since the time of independence while on the other hand is spending millions on the Commonwealth Games! Forty percent of Indias population is below the poverty line which clearly indicates that the booming Indian economy is still unable to feed a majority of its citizens. Climatic change like global warming is causing an agricultural crisis for the peasants all over the country, worsening their conditions which, in turn, is leading to inflation in the economy, energy resources are getting depleted, unskilled and poor people are forced to get involved in unorganized employment with least possible wages and lets not forget the skilled and literate unemployedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but who really cares? India is too busy with Commonwealth Games! Indias present goal should be the development of human resources, dealing with poverty and creating a healthy, wealthy and literate India. I believe that as a result of the approaching Commonwealth Games, India, especially Delhi is undergoing a complete makeover where the infrastructure is concerned. Lavish five-star hotels, better flyovers, etc, are being constructed. Better buses can be seen running on the roads of Delhi. Why all this? Just to show that India is on its way to become a developed nation soon? But can it hide those shabby and disguised slums behind the shimmering and glamorous construction? Can it suppress the cries of those million hungry stomachs? Can it? Unfortunately not! And can anyone explain how modern infrastructure helps those million unemployed men who have to support half a dozen of their family members without any source of income? I wont deny the fact that may be these games will have an international impact and benefit a particular section of the society temporarily. But this is where the most significant question arises that if the games will benefit a certain strata of the society which is already rich and powerful then what happens to those strata of the Indian population which is below the poverty line? Who bears the responsibility of their welfare? I also agree that the Commonwealth Games will usher in a certain amount of employment but will it offer employment to millions of unemployed? And by the way this is only for a temporary period of time. Then what? Back to square one? Thus, a country like India wearing poverty in the form of national shame cannot afford to conduct such games at the cost of its poverty stricken citizens. Therefore India should first win the race against poverty and then think of going international through such ventures. Hence Indias poverty and the hosting of Commonwealth Games are not at all compatible as for a nation the welfare of its citizen is its first priority and not the conduction of sports and leisure. 6. Conclusion One can see that at least on paper; the city is all set to transform itself by the time it plays host to the Commonwealth Games. However it is also necessary to keep one thing in mind, and that is that Delhi is otherwise too a rapidly growing city, a dynamic economy and an integral part of Indias growth engine. Delhi is estimated to have a population of approx. 192 lakh people by 2010, compared to 140 lakh in 2001, a growth of nearly 40%16. This means that it would be wrong to place the causation of all infrastructure and urban development onto the Commonwealth Games. A large amount of it would probably have taken place anyway, the games just gives it a geographical bias and a deadline. The world over there is a serious re-think taking place among city officials as well as academics about the way to go about these events. Do they do more harm than good is not a question that has been answered conclusively, as many of the benefits derived are intangible ones. However it has yet to be conclusively shown that these events are beneficial as well and it is crucial to examine each event independently, studying its unique characteristics, as well as examine previous events and try and learn from their mistakes. Delhis citizens have a right to know about the benefits that such events can have to the city, but need to be informed of the downsides as well. The present plan for the Commonwealth Games may be a recipe for an ecological and financial disaster, or they might finally put the city, and the country, on the world map. They may bring in a new era where electricity and water problems, perennial problems in the city, are no longer an issue or they might increase the burden on an already overloaded system. Popular perception tells us that the Asian Games was an unmitigated success. Closer analysis tells us that it was not so simple. The Commonwealth Games, with some smart marketing, may just follow in those footsteps.

Huawei UCN Research and Practice

Huawei UCN Research and Practice A NEW CONCEPT In recent years, DSL systems have faced many new challenges, such as crosstalk. The standardized DMTs modulation techniques are deployed more densely than ever, making radio resources allocation a severe challenge to address. Insertion of additive guard bands like cyclic prefixes led to the addition of new deal. These insertions are not enough to simply improve the capability of a single traditional DMT transceivers to counteract the impact of the crosstalk. It lies that network development requires a new way of thinking. Based on an optimization-based perspective, next generation DMTs require coordinate network nodes, frequencies and bands, and uniformly arrange network resources, and capable to provide optimal user experience. Therefore, Huawei established a new concept: User Centric Network (UCN). User Centric Network (UCN) is a concept of user-centric network construction. In traditional network construction, base stations were centered, and users were served by a certain base station. As users may be located in different places, it is a challenge to ensure stable and reliable performance for users. Interference between adjacent base stations also reduces the resource efficiency of the entire network. With the new concept of UCN, resources are coordinated, combined, and optimized in allocation, based on a user-centric philosophy so that the user experience will be enhanced. UCN is also a new user-centric concept in term of operation. In the traditional way, operators can just sell simple data packages to customers. USER BENEFITS UCN focuses on users it can provide a lot of benefits for end users. First, UCN can eliminate cell boundaries, providing noborder service experience and improving the peak and average rates. Second, UCN enables multiple cells to receive signals from terminals in a coordinated way, reducing requirements for transmit power of terminals and prolongs their standby time. Third, UCN uses flexible networks, providing customized services and tariff packages for users. UCN AND 4.5G, 5G Here we have to emphasize that UCN is a network construction concept beyond the definition of wireless technology generations. UCN and 4.5G or 5G are not simply a one-to-one relationship. UCN can be implemented phase by phase in 4.5G and 5G. For example, UCN technologies can be used in the 4.5G phase, such as distributed MIMO. Distributed MIMO uses distributed, multi-site, multiple antenna beamforming and multiuser multiplexing technologies on the RAN side to reduce interference and increase capacity. In the recent field trials, distributed MIMO proved 3- to 4- folds of cell capacity. RECENT RESEARCH ON UCN At present, the number of base stations deployed on 4G networks has reached several millions. The recent research on UCN focuses on how to apply the leading-edge UCN concept to these base stations early. We are pleased to see that the entire industry has made successful progress in UCN research. CloudRAN-based technological innovation such as distributed MIMO can ideally control intersite interference and enable extremely dense deployment of sites, without the need to upgrade terminals on live networks. 4.5G distributed MIMO has been put into trial use on live networks for advanced operators. For example, the inter-site distance of lamp pole sites on Shanghais Bund is as short as 50 m. With distributed MIMO, the data rate of cell edge users has increased from 8.2 Mbps to 15 Mbps, an improvement of 80%, and the average cell throughput has increased from 45 Mbps to 65 Mbps, an increase of 45%. Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) Estimation for Interference Identification We are interested in an estimate of the time-varying channel gain matrix. It is obtained by means of a statistical estimation approach that combines the measurements with (i) statistical knowledge of measurement uncertainty, and (ii) prior knowledge of spatial correlation of the interference links. We assume known positions of the transmitted and received vectors and known noise vectors from which the a priori distribution of the channel gain matrix with a mean and a covariance matrix is derived. Statistical knowledge about the channel gain vector and measurement uncertainty is exploited. Given some physical-layer measurements, an ideal linear model in which the prior distribution of the interference matrix and the uncertainty distribution is Gaussian in linear scale is derived. This model relates the measurements to the channel gain vector and therefore can be used to derive an optimal linear MMSE (LMMSE) estimator for the channel gain vector. Since interference is often assumed to have a log-normal distribution, a more realistic model in which the prior path-loss distribution is log-normal and the uncertainty distribution is Gaussian in dB scale is used. In this case, the model becomes non-linear, and therefore a closed-form linearized MMSE estimator, named linearized log MMSE (LLMMSE), is derived to estimate the channel gain vector. The results presented here show how the accuracy of interference estimation obtained from the proposed MMSE Estimator is affected by two syste m parameters, namely the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) uncertainty à Ã†â€™ and the channel variance à Ã‚ . The performance of the MMSE is compared to the simple least squares (LS) estimator. The simulation results in Figure 2-2 show that the proposed MMSE estimator outperforms the LS estimator. The gains are large for high noise levels or when the channel variance à Ã‚  is small. The performance in low noise situations is similar to the LS performance as in such cases the solution of the MMSE estimator converges to the one of the LS estimator. Same behaviour is observed when the channel variance is high.

Invisible Man Essay: Ellisons Influences and Inspirations

Ellison's Influences and Inspirations for Invisible Man  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All authors draw upon past experiences, people they have known, places they have been, as well as their own philosophy of life to write.   Ralph Ellison, in his book Shadow and Act refers to this process when he writes, "The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike" (xix).   In preparing to write his novel he notes that, "[d]etails of old photographs and rhymes and riddles and children's games, church services and college ceremonies, practical jokes and political activities observed during my prewar days in Harlem-all fell into place" (xxvii).   While the novel Invisible Man is not autobiographical, the plot, settings, characters, themes, and point of view show the influence of people, places, and stories from his childhood.    A case in point is the plot of Invisible Man.   The plot is divided into three main divisions: Invisible Man's school days, his involvement with the Brotherhood, and what happens to him during the Harlem race riot.   Ellison draws heavily on his years spent at the Tuskeegee Institute for the first part of the novel.   Jack Bishop, in his book Ralph Ellison maintains that all of Invisible Man's college days are based on Ellison's own days at Tuskeegee (45).  Ã‚      Most critics agree that the Brotherhood is a euphemism for the Communist Party which was active in the US from the beginning of the 1920s.   In an article entitled "Communist Party of the United States" in the Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, Robin D. G. Kelly reports that the popularity of the party among Blacks was due to its work to end racism and its support of Blac... ...lph. Invisible Man. New York: The Modern Library, 1994.   ---. Shadow and Act. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Fabre, Michael. "Wright Richard." Encyclopaedia of African-American Culture and History. 1996 ed. Hill, Robert A. "Garvey, Marcus Mosiah." Encyclopaedia of African-American Culture and History. 1996 ed.   Kelly, Robin D.G. "Communist Party of the United States." Encyclopaedia of African-American   Culture and History. 1996 ed.   Lawler, Mary. Marcus Garvey. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. O'Meally, Robert G. "Ellison, Ralph." Encyclopedia of   African-American Culture and History. 1996 ed.   Smock, Raymond W. "Washington,Booker Taliaferro." Encyclopaedia of African-American Culture and History. 1996 ed.   Tate, Gayle T. "Harlem Riots of 1935 and 1943." Encyclopaedia of African-American Culture and History. 1996 ed.  Ã‚  

Pompey :: essays research papers

Question: Account for Pompey’s rise to political prominence between 78- 62 BC. You are to examine and analyse political machinations of Pompey and attempt to explain how he managed to fulfil his ambition. You must establish a clear understanding of the complexities of the political situation and the effects of the Civil War. Gnaeus Pompeius Crassus, better known as Pompey, or Pompey the Great, was born on September the 20th, 106 BC. Pompey was a Roman general and statesman, the erstwhile ally of Julius Caesar, but later his arch rival for power. Pompey was born in Rome into a senatorial family, and established an impressive military record. He brought an end to the Servile War instigated by the slave Spartacus; cleared the Mediterranean Sea of pirates; conquered the kingdoms of Pontus, Armenia and Syria; and captured Jerusalem in 61 BC. He entered Rome in triumph, but encountered opposition from the Senate. Pompey then formed an alliance, commonly called the First Triumvirate, with Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus. The career of Pompeius opened in fraud and violence. It was instigated, in war and peace, through illegality and treachery. Pompey was a great general, but a bad politician. Pompey helped to end the slave revolt of Spartacus in 72 BC. Because of his leadership abilities, Pompey was elected consul in 70 BC. However, he ran into opposition in the senate, especially from Marcus Crassus, and returned to leading the army to more conquests. Pompey was an opportunist, he worked by himself, all the while leading the senate to think that he was working with them. He manipulated the senate to make out that Caesar was dangerous. Pompey became the most powerful man in Rome. During the time of his political prominence, the senate was very weak. Because of Pompeys popularity with the public and his military ability, along with his opportunism, he rose to this political prominence by his political machinations. The Civil War between Gnaeus Marius and Lucius Sulla was a major factor that effected his political situation. Pompey was a young, confident man who had a habit to boast of the magnitude of his clientela, to advertise monarchs and nations bound to his personal allegiance. (Ad fam. 9, 9, 2: ‘regum ac nationum clientelis quas oestentare crebro solebat). Pompey had from Thrance to the Causasus and down to Egypt acknowledging his predominance. The worship of power, paid homage to Pompey as a god, a saviour and a benefactor, devising before long a novel title, ‘the warden of earth and sea’.

Effects of Advertising on Children Essay

Overall view on advertisingAdvertising is the communication relayed from companies to persuade an audience to purchase their products. This communication is usually through various forms of paid media — TV and radio commercials, print ads, billboards and more recently, product placement. Ads are placed where advertisers believe they will reach the largest, most relevant audience. Commercial businesses use advertising to drive the consumption of their product, while non-profit organizations may place ads to raise awareness or encourage a change in behavior or perception. Advertising is the form of communication by fresh ways that the ad-filmmakers used to encourage, persuade or entice the consumers to buy their products. If an advertisement for a product attracts the consumers, they tend to purchase it frequently or at least give it a try. If a company has to survive in this competitive world, it has to project the image of its products in such a way that, they pick up the maximum sales. Nowadays, advertising plays an important role in the society, and since children form the major parts of the target group for advertisers, many advertisements focused on children are a proof of this fact. Today, children are watching more television than years ago, and thus viewing more advertisings. Many books have been written and many studies and reports done on the effects of TV advertising on children. In this presentation, we will look at some different positive and negative effects of TV advertisement on children, and give some suggestions as a solution to lim it negative effects of advertising on children. I. Positive effects of advertising on children – Advertising makes the kids aware of the new products available in the market. It increases their knowledge about the latest innovations in the field of technology. – Alive and flashy images with short messages like a motto, and charming models stimulate children’s imagination and their intelligence. – Certain advertisements, with strong messages motivate the kids in chasing their future prospects such as becoming a doctor, scientist or an engineer. They generate the passion in children, regarding their future and makes them realize the importance of education. – Some advertisements inculcate good habits in children, as all the toothpaste companies create strong awareness regarding dental hygiene in kids. II. Negative effects of advertising on children -Children may make excessive demands on their parents for the products they see in the advertisements. At times, they cry, pinch, pull and will not keep quiet till the parents purchase the product. Some parents who cannot control their children may fall in anger with them. -Junk food advertisements influence children greatly, leading to an increased demand for junk food by children. When children watch young adults eating junk foods in the advertisements they assume that it is good for the health. They are unaware of the fact that junk food does not contain nutritional value. They may even think that by eating these junk foods they might become like the thin and fit models in the advertisements. These unhealthy eating habits lead to diseases, such as obesity, heart diseases, high-blooded pressure. It even influences the way the kids think about the actual taste of food. – Children often tend to misinterpret the messages conveyed in commercial advertisments. They end up having wrong believes about many problems. Sometimes, they imitate the acts of models in the ad-films. For example, they can try smoking, drinking wine or beer. – As more and more advertisments are becoming animated, children are unable to understand the difference between real world and fantasy. They tend to have difficulties in doing tasks such as solving puzzles and reading. III. Solutions to limit negative effects of advertising on children – Parents play a major role in this case. Parents should teach their children of how to be critical of ads and how to become less influenced by the messages in the ads. Parents need to teach their children the importance and value of money. – Parents also need to instill good habits and help children to differentiate between right and wrong – Parents should limit the time of watching television of their children and spend more time playing with them or organize more outdoor activities for them. – Solutions from government: A few countries have banned marketing and advertising targeted at children below the age of twelve. One country has banned advertising of toys before 10 p.m. as it is at this time that children are mostly awake. Previously advertisers marketed children’s products towards parents. Parents were their target audience for these products. But nowadays, marketers aim their messages directly at children. Advertisements are made specifically in such a way that they draw the attention of children. The marketing messages are aimed directly at the children. – Advertisers on the other hand, can also try to put their message across creatively and target the entire family rather than just children. With a balanced approach, the negative effects of advertising can surely be controlled. I.Overall view of advertising 1. What is the advertising? – A form of marketing. – A method of mass promotion. – Purposes of advertising: + To introduce new products + To persuade the audience to purchase the product. + To cultivate brand identity 2. How does the advertising affect to people’s mind? – By the language – By the design – By the image and music II. Positive effects of advertising on children – Making the kids aware of the new products available in the market. – Stimulating children’s imagination and their intelligence. – Generating the passion in children and making them realize the importance of education. – Inculcating good habits in children. III. Negative effects of advertising on children -Making excessive demands on their parents for the products in the advertisements. – Increasing demand for junk food in children. – Misinterpreting the messages conveyed in commercial advertisments and imitating the acts of models. – Hardly differentiating the difference between real world and fantasy in the ads. III. Solutions to limit negative effects of advertising on children – Solutions from parents: +Teaching their children of how to be critical of ads and how to become less influenced by the messages in the ads and the importance and value of money. +Instilling good habits and helping children to differentiate between right and wrong. +Limit the time of watching television of their children and spending more time being with them. – Solutions from government: + Banning marketing and advertising targeted at children (related to time and the age of children) + Asking advertisers to target their messages to the entire family rather than just children. Advertising is all around us, it is an unavoidable part of everyone’s life. Some people say that advertising is a positive part of our lives while others say it is a negative one. Discuss both views and include your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. You should write at least 250 words. Advertising is all around us, it is an unavoidable part of everyone’s life. Some people say that advertising is a positive part of our lives while others say it is a negative one. Discuss both views and include your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. You should write at least 250 words. Of Course for several reasons: firstly, it motivates the psychological point in everyone, especially women. They will run to buy this advertised product especially if it’s from cosmetic roof, just to show their beauty to men, which will lead to more offender and raped cases. Secondly, you can sit comfortably with your family and suddenly the telephone is ringing, but it’s nothing important, it’s just another company try to convince you to buy one of their products. It is a real intrusive example of advertisement. Lastly, sometimes you do not have the financial ability to buy something, but with these new methods of advertisement, you will run to buy it, which will affect your budget. On the other hand, there are some good sides to advertising. For instance, it compares the prices of many companies which benefitthe consumer. Besides, it really opens our vision to see more products which we do not knowit unless the TV or Radio advertised them. In addition to, it breaks our daily routine and allows us to see new faces and learn the language better with the help of the daily updates they deliver through advertisement. In conclusion, as we can see there are many aspects to this essay. I feel that we gain no benefits at all from advertisement, it playson minds of people buy more things that they do not need it at all. Advertisements are all around us, and they vary greatly in their attempts to attract consumers. Some ads highlight the product’s features, while other ads’ content seems to be completely unrelated to the product they’re trying to sell. It’s the latter type of ads that shoppers need to be most wary of, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and George Washington University focused on two different types of advertisements. The first type of ad, called â€Å"logical persuasion,† or LP, presents facts about the product, such as, â€Å"This car gets 42 miles to the gallon.† The second type of ad is referred to as â€Å"nonrational influence† (NI) because it circumvents consumers’ conscious awareness by depicting a fun, vague or sexy scene that seems to have nothing to do with the product. In the study, researchers showed advertising images to 11 women and 13 men while recording the electrical activity in their brains using electroencephalography (EEG). Each participant viewed 24 ads that had appeared in magazines and newspapers. The ads contained either LP or NI images. LP ads showed a table of facts and figures in a cigarette ad and suggestions about selecting food for dogs on the basis of their activity level in an ad for pet food. The NI advertisements included a liquor ad featuring an image of beading water and a cigarette ad showing a woman leapfrogging over a fire hydrant that is spraying water as a man grins behind her. The researchers found that the brain regions involved in decision-making and emotional processing (including the orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate regions, the amygdala, and the hippocampus) experienced significantly higher activity levels when participants looked at the LP ads. These brain regions have been shown to help inhibit a person’s response to certain stimuli, such as preventing an impulse purchase. When participants viewed the NI advertisements, however, these regions of the brain did not show activity levels that were as high as what the individuals experienced when they viewed the LP ads. â€Å"Watch your brain and watch your wallet,† study researcher Ian Cook, a professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, said in a statement. â€Å"These results suggest that the lower levels of brain activity from ads employing NI images could lead to less behavioral inhibition, which could translate to less restraint when it comes to buying products depicted in the NI advertisements.† The study is published in the current edition of the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics.

Advantages Of Performance Appraisal Essay

It helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programs for efficient employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case. It helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. PA tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which include bonus, high salary rates, extra benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority. The systematic procedure of PA helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programs. It helps to analyze strengths and weaknesses of employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing future development programs. It helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard. For an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. It serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of employees, a person’s efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a person for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future. Disadvantages of Performance Appraisal If not done right, they can create a negative experience. Performance appraisals are very time consuming and can be overwhelming to managers with many employees. They are based on human assessment and are subject to rater errors and biases. Can be a waste of time if not done appropriately. They can create a very stressful environment for everyone involved. What Are the Benefits of Performance Appraisals to the Organization? The performance appraisal is an essential part of the human resources department’s contribution to an organization. An effective appraisal may not only eliminate behavior and work-quality problems, it can motivate an employee to contribute more. Often, a company will ask its employees to perform â€Å"360-degree feedback† that assesses peers and subordinates as well as supervisors and management. Regardless, the opportunity to receive — and give — constructive criticism shouldn’t be ignored. Improving Communication All too often, employees and managers don’t get along and can’t understand why. Problems that stem from a lack of communication can sometimes be resolved with a performance appraisal. If the appraisal is used as an opportunity to describe the criteria on which performance is judged — using meaningful and relevant examples — then the employee will walk away from the meeting with a better understanding of how to best perform his job. For example, â€Å"John, when I say you need to be more customer-focused, what I really want is to see you greet the customers with a smile when they enter the store, and ask how you can help.† Providing a Career Path The performance appraisal is the perfect opportunity to address long-term goals that may not be on the everyday to-do list. Not only does this provide the employee with an opportunity to be of greater use to an organization, the employee feels pleased and valued. Lighting the way toward a successful career path inspires loyalty and stability and can improve the bottom line, especially when the employee’s first concern is the health of the business, and subsequently, her career. Encouraging Good Work and Improvement Celebrating a job well-done is the easy part of the performance appraisal. Noting areas of improvement is not so easy. Nevertheless, no one is perfect, and the performance appraisal is an ideal time to diplomatically highlight areas that need improvement. Even the most valuable employee could benefit from additional training, while those who are on the cusp of dismissal need the heads-up. Be specific by providing examples and clearly explain what needs to occur to turn things around. Showing an employee that you care enough about them by taking the time to work with them may make even the most hardened employee feel better. Improving Decision-Making Ability When a company has detailed information on employee performance, business decisions become easier. Filling open positions with existing staff strengthens the organization and promotes loyalty. Knowing which employees display what strengths improves the speed with which projects can be assigned. Appraisals also provide a framework when making decisions about compensation — and layoffs. If the organization becomes the unfortunate party to a lawsuit, the performance appraisal can refute or support claims. As a result, the effective use of performance appraisals helps an organization operate efficiently and with focus. 180 degree 180 Degree – a method of measuring performance appraisal of an employee. As we have already discussed about â€Å"performance appraisal ‘in the previous blog, it’s quite clear that it’s a method of measuring and giving feedback of any employee performance. 180 Degree is one of the method by which feedback of an employee can be judged and measured. Here two people are involved in the feedback process; one is the employee himself and his immediate boss. The employee share his work experiences including good and bad with the hr people, and the boss gives the feedback of the skills and attitude the employee carry. And then the data collected is matched with the competency norms of the organization and a feedback is prepared about that particular employee. And with this feedback the management takes s further actions for better performance of that employee. This performance appraisal form is used in all big and small scale industries and organization. What is 270 degree appraisal method? Answer: 270 Degree is kind of performance appraisal system.. in 270 degree feedback/ review from self, Boss , and pEErs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A Reflection

Abraham Maslow, a popular psychologist during 1950's to 1970's has developed a model on how people could test their personality, based on their needs as an individual. This is called ‘Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs'. The model is illustrated as a triangle. The base of the triangle, which is the biggest, is the Psychological Need. Since this is the base of the triangle and the biggest, Maslow interpreted this as the individual’s basic needs. Most of the things that Maslow included in this area are the health and medical needs of an individual. These things are some of the things the individual cannot live without, examples are: oxygen, sleep, physical activities, water and rest. Following the psychological need is the Safety and Security Need, which takes up the second level of the triangle. As the individual fulfills his psychological need, he will seek for order and security. Perhaps, he will seek for a secured job so that he could continually fulfill his psychological needs, or look for a shelter or community where he could find safety and serenity. These are some examples of Safety and Security needs. The third level of the triangle is the Love and Belongingness Need. The famous quote ‘no one is an island', best describes this need. Next level in Maslow's model is the need for self-esteem. This need could come from the people surrounding the individual or from himself alone. The last level of the triangle is the Self-Actualization. The last level of the model according to Maslow is a little bit different among the four needs mentioned earlier. Self-actualization happens when the individual finally fulfilled the four needs. In layman's term, self-actualization could also mean ‘contentment or fulfillment'. However, though many psychologists and many practitioners are using Maslow's model, there are some questionable issues as he explained his model. First issue is that, not all individual needs to fulfill the four needs before he can have self-actualization. For example, some individuals are already successful in their respective fields by living alone. Some of these people do not need love and belongingness; in fact, they see love and belongingness as hindrance to whatever they want to achieve in life. Some people are achievers without partners in life or without even a family. Second issue is that, psychological needs encompass almost all of the needs mentioned in his model. In fact, it would be proper for Maslow to name the first level of his model as ‘Basic Needs' instead of psychological needs.

Hamlet’s Madness

â€Å"I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw† (Foakes 213). This is a classic example of the â€Å"wild and whirling words† (I.v.134) with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his â€Å"antic disposition,† Hamlet is very sane indeed. Beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is calculatedly choosing the times when to appear mad. Hamlet is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted â€Å"handsaw† or heron, in other words, that, very far form being mad, he is perfectly capable of recognizing his enemies. Hamlet's madness was feigned for a purpose. He warned his friends he intended to fake madness, but Gertrude as well as Claudius saw through it, and even the slightly dull-witted Polonius was suspicious. His public face is one of insanity but, in his private moments of soliloquy, through his confidences to Horatio, and in his careful plans of action, we see that his madness is assumed. After the Ghost's first appearance to Hamlet, Hamlet decides that when he finds it suitable or advantageous to him, he will put on a mask of madness. He confides to Horatio that when he finds the occasion appropriate, he will â€Å"put an antic disposition on† (I.v.173). This strategy gives Hamlet a chance to find proof of Claudius's guilt and to contemplate his revenge tactic (Burton 2). Although he has sworn to avenge his father's murder, he is not sure of the Ghost's origins: â€Å"The spirit that I have seen May be the devil† (II.ii.596-7). He uses his apparent madness as a delaying tactic to buy time in which to discover whether the Ghost's tale of murder is true and to decide how to handle the situation. At the same time, he wants to appear unthreatening and harmless so that people will divulge information to him, much in the same way that an adult will talk about an important secret in the presence of a young child (Boyce 232). To convince everyone of his madness, Hamlet spends many hours walking back and forth alone in the lobby, speaking those â€Å"wild and whirling words† which make little sense on the surface but in fact carry a meaningful subtext. Although he appears to have lost touch with reality, he keeps reminding us that he is not at all â€Å"far gone, far gone† (II.ii.187) as Polonius claims, but is in fact very much in command of himself and the situation. With his ranting and raving and his seemingly useless pacing of the lobby, Hamlet manages to appear quite mad. The naive and trusting Ophelia believes in and is devastated by what she sees as his downfall: â€Å"O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! . . . The expectancy and rose of the fair state . . . quite, quite down!† (III.i.152,4,6). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are also fully convinced. They are Hamlet's equals in age but are far inferior in intellect and therefore don't understand that he is faking. However, although Hamlet manages to convince these simple friends and Ophelia of his insanity, other characters in the play such as Claudius, Gertrude and even Polonius eventually see through his behavior. Claudius is constantly on his guard because of his guilty conscience and he therefore recognizes that Hamlet is faking. The king is suspicious of Hamlet from the very beginning. He denies Hamlet permission to return to university so that he can keep an eye on him close by. When Hamlet starts acting strangely, Claudius gets all the more suspicious and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. Their instructions are to discover why Hamlet is pretending to be mad: â€Å"And can you, by no drift of circumstance, Get from him why he puts on this confusion Grating so harshly all his days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous lunacy† (III. i.1-4). The reason Claudius is so reluctant to believe that Ophelia's rejection has caused Hamlet's lunacy is that he doesn't believe in his madness at all (Kirsch 2: 507). When Claudius realizes through the play-within-the-play that Hamlet knows the truth about his father's death, he immediately sends him away to England. The prevailing piece of evidence demonstrating Claudius's knowledge of Hamlet's sanity is the fact that he feels threatened enough by Hamlet to order him killed by the king of England: â€Å"For like the hectic in my blood he rages And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun† (IV.iii.67-9). In the scene in his mother's bedroom, Hamlet tells Gertrude that his insanity is assumed: I have utter'd: bring me to the test And I the matter will reword, which madness Even without this confirmation, the Queen has seen through his act (Burton 2). While Hamlet is reprimanding her, she is so upset that she describes his words as â€Å"daggers† (III.iv.98) and claims, † Thou hast cleft my heart in twain† (III.iv.158). The words of a madman could not have penetrated her soul to such an extent. The queen takes every word Hamlet says seriously, proving she respects him and believes his mind to be sound. Furthermore, she believes Hamlet's confession of sanity immediately. She does not question him at all but instead promises to keep it her secret. â€Å"I have no life to breathe What though hast said to me† (III.iv.200-1). Even Polonius can see that Hamlet has not completely lost touch with the world. Although he frequently misses the meanings of Hamlet's remarks and insults, he does recognize that they make some sense. When asked if he recognizes Polonius, Hamlet promptly replies, â€Å"Excellent well; you are a fishmonger† (II.ii.172). Although the response seems crazy since a fish-seller would look completely unlike the expensively dressed lord Polonius, Hamlet is actually criticizing Polonius for his management of Ophelia, since â€Å"fishmonger† is Elizabethan slang for â€Å"pimp† (Boyce 237). He plays mind-games with Polonius, getting him in crazy talk to agree first that a cloud looks like a camel, then a weasel and finally a whale, and in a very sane aside, he then comments that â€Å"they fool me to the top of my bent† (III.ii.375). After the confusing conversation with Hamlet he remarks, † Though this be madness, yet there is method in't† (II.ii.205). When his theory of rejected love proves wrong, he becomes very suspicious of Hamlet's behavior and offers to test it by hiding behind the â€Å"arras† in Gertrude's bedroom so that he can listen in on Hamlet's private conversation with his mother. Polonius' suspicions about the legitimacy of Hamlet's madness lead to his death when Hamlet stabs the â€Å"arras† in the mistaken belief that the eavesdropper is Claudius. Hamlet's soliloquies, his confidences to Horatio, and his elaborate plans are by far the most convincing proof of his sanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet's soliloquies reveal his inner thoughts, which are completely rational (Kirsch 511). In one such speech, Hamlet criticizes himself for not having yet taken action to avenge his father's murder: â€Å"O what a rogue and peasant slave am I Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words† (II. ii. 545, 581-3). Hamlet calls himself a â€Å"dull and muddy-mettled rascal† (II.ii.563), a villain and a coward, but when he realizes that his anger doesn't achieve anything practical other than the unpacking of his heart, he stops. These are not the thoughts of a madman; his emotions are real and his thoughts are those of a rational man. Even when he contemplates suicide in the â€Å"to be or not to be† soliloquy, his reasons himself out of it through a very sane consideration of the dangers of an unknown afterlife: â€Å"And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought† (III. i. 85-6). A further important proof of his sanity is how patiently he devises plans to prepare for his revenge. As he explains to Horatio, his â€Å"antic disposition† is a device to test his enemies. His mounting of the play-within-the-play is another well-laid plan to trap Claudius into admitting guilt: â€Å"The play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king† (II.ii.602-3) and even when the play brings him concrete proof, he is careful not to rush to take his revenge at the wrong moment. He could easily kill Claudius while he is praying but restrains himself so that there is no chance of Claudius's entering heaven. Although Hamlet's patience can be seen as an example of his procrastination, the Foakes think that it is rather a sign of rationality. Hamlet shows himself perfectly capable of action, as well as of rational thought, in escaping the king's armed guard, dispatching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths in England, dealing with the pirates and making it back to Denmark. In addition, the letter Horatio from him through the ambassador bound for England is clear and precise and shows no signs of a befuddled mind (Burton 1). Finally, we are convinced of Hamlet's sanity by his very normal reactions to the people around him. He is perfectly sane, friendly and courteous with the players, giving them good acting tips, which they appreciate and respect. When Polonius and Claudius test the rejected love theory by â€Å"loosing† Ophelia to him, Hamlet acts completely rationally. He greets Ophelia sweetly, gets a little cold when he remembers that he has not seen her â€Å"for this many a day,† is very hurt when she returns his remembrances, and becomes completely furious, insulting womankind in general, when she lies to him about her father's whereabouts and he realizes he is being spied on. He reacts the way any hurt young rejected lover would. This shows that he is very sane and rational indeed Throughout the play, Hamlet†s calculating mind lets him get away with all of his actions. He is the most sane person in the play and he uses his â€Å"antic disposition† to manipulate people, confuse everyone, and investigate anything he wants. He is fully aware of all of his actions and the consequences that they will have on the other characters in the play. Shakespeare†s genius shows through in the character of Hamlet. He was able to show Hamlet outwardly as a madman, but still keep the audience believing that he was still very sane underneath. Hamlet puts on his antic disposition very well. He is, in fact, â€Å"sane throughout the entire play† (Boyce 239).

10 Reasons to Get a College Degree Essay

In the article â€Å"10 Reasons to Get a College Degree† by Kelci Lynn, she discusses tangible and intangible reasons on why getting a college degree is important. One tangible reason is that a person with a college degree will be able to make more money than a person without a college degree, and able to get a better job than a person without a college degree. Leaving the person with the college degree with a larger range of income. A second tangible reason is better job opportunities. It is easier to get a good job with a college degree compared to a person without a college degree. With a college degree in hand, it opens up more and/or better job opportunities. A third tangible reason to have a college degree is that is prepares you for situations in life that have yet to occur. A degree better prepares someone for changes that can occur in the world around them when thrown their way. They will know how to handle and overcome them once they happen. One intangible reason on why to get a college degree is that it makes someone feel better about them self knowing that they accomplished something. See more: Experiment on polytropic process Essay A second intangible reason is a college degree can help someone realize that they can do and accomplish bigger and better goals and/or dreams. The third Intangible reason is that while getting a college degree is gives a person an opportunity to meet and become friends with a lot of people that could become helpful to them in the future if needed. For example: A doctor, lawyer, or even a teacher. I am attending college to get a degree for a few reasons. One reason is because I want to set a good example for my younger siblings so they will go farther with their life and want to go to college when they get older. I want them to be able to look at me and think to themselves that they can also accomplish something with their life, and be able to have better opportunities instead of just settling with a GED. A second reason is because I want to become successful as a person and actually do something with my life by having a career instead of just a job. With a college degree I will be able to go farther in life than I would without a college degree. A Third reason why I am going to college is I want to have the chance to be able to have a better income, rather than making minimum wage for the rest of my life. With the job I have now I hardly have enough money to put gas in my car, but by getting a college degree I can have a career instead of just a job and have a better chance of making a higher income. One of the last reasons why am attending college to get a degree is because I want to open more doors in my life. I would like to have more opportunities with the choices I am going to have to make in the future, so I can have a greater chance of becoming successful at what I want to do.

Rene Descartes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rene Descartes - Essay Example "I think, hence I am, [this is] so certain and of such evidence that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the skeptics capable of shaking it, [therefore] I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search." (Descartes, 1989, p30) This is fair enough from a depth psychological perspective. Although psychic energy (particularly archetypal energy) is more usually regarded as Jungian Depth Psychology's starting point due to psychic energy being primordial and universal. It is the view of Jungians that it took millenia's of human psychological evolution to produce humans like Descartes who are capable of such great attentitive, focused, reflective thought. Nevertheless, for Descartes, he was primarily focused on this own individual self, and for that reason his starting point is accepted here. "Thus what I thought I had seen with my eyes, I actually grasped solely with the faculty of judgment, which is in my mind." (Descartes) We can be certain of psychic reality. We can be largely certain of much physical reality but what Descartes is saying here, is that outer objects may not be seen as they really are. We have no way of knowing. We cannot get beyond human limitations. Where Jungian Depth Psychology parts from Descartes is in limiting his thinking to one type directed consciousness thinking. But before coming to that we can briefly state what is positive in this Cartesian method. It has already been noted that it took millenia's of evolution to reach the stage where one could reflect, think, be attentive and focused in the way that Descartes was. Because for Descartes, the true way of living was to 'think'. A thinking thing must think in order to be healthy. For... Rene Descartes was a major philosopher of the seventeenth century, belonging to the school of continental rationalism. Descartes sets out in his Discourse on Method to doubt all that could be doubted, albeit not to end up believing in nothing, but rather so that he would believe in only that which really was true. We can be certain of psychic reality. We can be largely certain of much physical reality but what Descartes is saying here, is that outer objects may not be seen as they really are. We have no way of knowing. We cannot get beyond human limitations. Where Jungian Depth Psychology parts from Descartes is in limiting his thinking to one type†¦ directed consciousness thinking. But before coming to that we can briefly state what is positive in this Cartesian method. It has already been noted that it took millennia's of evolution to reach the stage where one could reflect, think, be attentive and focused in the way that Descartes was. Because for Descartes, the true way of l iving was to ‘think’. A thinking thing must think in order to be healthy. For Descartes, this thinking must be free from passion and prejudice if it is to be healthy†¦ and if it is to â€Å"operate with perfect rational clarity and thereby attain certain knowledge†. Descartes (as good as) perfects ‘directed thinking’ appropriate to his ‘pre-Freud’ and ‘pre Jung’ time and place.