Monday, September 30, 2019

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in a German prison camp in April 1945, aged only 39 and at a time when the war was almost over. He is generally considered to be a martyr, dying because of his tremendous Christian faith. His life however started out as the youngest son in a large, happy and wealthy family. Although his father was an agnostic Bonhoeffer entered the Lutheran ministry, unlike his brothers who preferred more well paid carers in law and research. With Hitler’s rise to power his church was not prepared to make any stand against him.The seminary, of which he was head, was forced to move underground. At this period he wrote ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ in which he asks the questions ‘How do I live a Christian life in the world? What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? ’ From that time he became politically active against Hitler, even travelling to America in order to gain support. He soon returns because of his belief that if he is t o take an active role in post-war Germany he must also share the difficulties with his people.He moves from the pacifism of figures such as Mahatma Ghandi, whom he had hope to visit one day to direct action, even taking part in an assassination plot. In 1943, soon after his engagement he is imprisoned. His letters from prison are positive in their nature. Two years later he is moved, first to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, and then to Flossenburg. There he asks to conduct a service for the other prisoners – his texts are Isaiah 53 v 5 which speaks of being healed by Christ, and 1 Peter 1 v 3 which talks of the hope of resurrection. That same day he is taken to his death and to eternal life.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Ap Psych Journal

Psychology Journals These journals should be written in essay form, and they will be graded as an AP essay. These journals may require you to integrate different content areas and to evaluate and analyze psychological constructs. You are to use analytical and organizational skills to formulate cogent answers. Consult your calendar for due dates. Chapter 1: The study of Psychology has had many contributions in history. Explain the contribution of functionalism and structuralism in psychology. How are these two forms different? Chapter 2: Control is often called the hallmark of a good experiment.Describe randomization, group matching, counterbalancing, placebo, and double blind as control techniques. Briefly develop an example of the way each could be used or has been used in an experiment. Chapter 19: We conducted a variation of Asch’s (1951) conformity study in which participants made judgments about the length of lines. We randomly assigned participants to one of two conditions and told them tha t the study involved perceptual abilities. In the first condition, participants estimated the length of lines after hearing five people pretending to be participants (confederates) give inaccurate estimates.In the second condition, participants estimated the length of lines without hearing estimates of confederates. As we expected, participants in the first condition were less accurate in their estimates of line length, demonstrating the tendency to conform to majority influence.A) How would each element below be related to the specific content of the experiment reported in the abstract?Control groupDeceptionOperational definition of the dependent variableHypothesisDebriefingB) How might participants’ estimates of line length in the study be related to the following? Social Facilitation *Group thinkChapter 3: The human organism displays various reactions that are characterized by opposing tendencies. Using a specific physiological or psychological mechanism to explain how bot h aspects of opposing processes apply to each of the following.AppetiteAutonomic nervous systemNerve FiringChapter 4: Define the following termsSchemaAssimilationAccommodationEgocentrismConservationDescribe how each of the above terms applies to Piaget’s Cognitive development theory.Chapter 5: The Smith-Garcia’s are planning for their first baby.Both parents-to-be have had a psychology course and are looking forward to applying the principles they learned from theories and research that address child development. A) Summarize one main idea or finding of each of the following four researchers.Harlow’s theoryErikson’s Psycho-social theoryAinsworth’s attachment researchBaumrind’s research on parenting stylesB) Provide a specific example of actions the Smith-Garcia’s might take to raise their child to produce positive outcomes using each of the theories below to address the corresponding psychological concept.Harlow’s: social adjus tment Erikson’s psychosocial theory: independentAinsworth’s attachment research: self-relianceBaumrind’s research on parenting styles: self-esteemChapter 6: : Define the following: -Sound localization -Sensory adaptation -Absolute threshold -Difference of threshold Explain how the following help an individual perceive the world.Chapter 7: Describe the psychological concept of expectancy or set. Discuss a specific example of how expectancy or set affects each of the following. Human Perception Opponent Processing theory The effects of psychoactive drugs on a human Object permanenceChapter 8: Compare and contrast Freudian theory on dreams, and activation synthesis theory in interpreting dreams.Chapter 9: 5 year old Jessie is used to getting everything that she wants. Define the following terms and explain how each of the following terms were either used to create this behavior or could be used to extinguish her behavior. *positive reinforcement *negative reinforce ment *punishment *classical conditioningChapter 10: Although you genuinely enjoyed studying hard for your Psychology test, during the test you feel frustrated and irritable because you can’t recall the answer to a series of fairly easy factual questions. What techniques could you use to effectively remember the information previously learned?Chapter 11: Describe several heuristics that you might use or that you have used when deciding whether you should (a) study especially hard for a test, and (b) ask someone for a date or accept a date. Under what circumstances are these heuristics likely to contribute to poor decision-making? (3 for each, total of 6 different problem solving strategies).Chapter 12: Based on the research of Gardner and Klein: answer the following in detail. Must be in essay form with arguments and evidence. What do you think the goal of intelligence testing should be in Education?Does acknowledging the existence of Multiple Intelligence help or hinder that goal? Explain.Chapter 13: Define drive reduction theory, set point, Yerkes-Dodson law, hypothalamus, and intrinsic motivation. Explain how each of the following could lead to an eating disorder.Chapter 15: Explain how Jung, Adler, and Horney modified Freud’s psychodynamic theory on personality.Chapter 16: A classmate argues that â€Å"the best way to handle stress is to work harder and meet life’s challenges head on. Evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of you classmate’s position. (Think Seyle and the coping strategies)Chapter 17: A student becomes overwhelmed with anxiety when he is faced with major exams. How might the different viewpoints of psychology explain this reaction? -Psychodynamic -Cognitive -Behaviorist -Biological -HumanisticChapter 18: Describe how a therapist might use both aversive conditioning and operant conditioning techniques in order to help a client overcome a compulsive habit of sweeping the front walkway 3 times a day.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Hasbro in Brazil

With 41. 9% of Hasbro sales revenue being generated internationally, it is essential that they work to maintain positive relationships with countries throughout the world. The international arena is becoming increasingly important to their revenues. Brazil is one of several international markets that Hasbro has expanded into over the last 5 – 10 years. Not only are they shipping products to Brazil, but in around 2007 they also opened an office in Brazil.Even with this being the case, Brazil has taken governmental measures to promote and strengthen the national traditional toys and games industry and stimulate further local production. In 2010, Brazil approved the reduction of import taxes from 20% to 2% on components to produce traditional toys and games such as electronic mechanisms and later the government increased import taxes on manufactured products from 20% to 35% to inhibit further imports, mainly from China (Toys and Games in Brazil, 2011). In a bid to remain competit ive and increase market share, seven large domestic companies considered the possibility of merging to form the largest toys and game manufacturer in Brazil. While the project is still under consideration despite the challenges involved merging seven companies, three other companies, Baby Brink, Rosita and Acalanto, merged in April 2010 to create the group BBRA† (Toys and Games in Brazil, 2011). With measures such as these in place, it causes a disfavor to companies such as Hasbro.It requires them has to work twice as hard to gain acceptance in a country that is promoting growth for their national companies. Hasbro identified one opportunity for the locals of Brazil to view them in a light other than one of an â€Å"outsider. † In 2011, Hasbro partnered with Operation Smile Create Smiles to provide free medical treatment and toys and games for children born with cleft palate. â€Å"The medical mission in Brazil was made possible because of Hasbro. Our patients and fami lies in Brazil are incredibly warm and vibrant, and yet the laughter and smiles of these children were hidden behind their clefts.Today, their futures are full of hope and opportunity, and they will always remember that Hasbro helped make that happen†, said Dr. Bill Magee, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Operation Smile (Kraft, Jessica, 2011). By taking steps to increase their social responsibility in Brazil, Hasbro is promoting themselves in a way that will allow them to gain an increased acceptance rating and hopefully, not only make 100 children’s smiles brighter but also their bottom line.

Friday, September 27, 2019

The Great Depression Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Great Depression - Assignment Example This led to an increase in inventories while agricultural income remained relatively low. Federal regulations on the US businesses contributed to the Great Depression. This is especially because taxes laws were made favorable to large corporations. Macroeconomic policies never existed, and there was the absence of fiscal and monetary policies. Laissez-faire and hands off government were the watchwords used by the leaders. The Great Depression ended when the Federal Government of the United States imposed rationing, recruited around 6 million defense workers who included African Americans and women, ran massive deficits in order to fight World War II and drafted 6 million soldiers. Deficit spending, inflating the supply of money and the new deal of the federal government also cured the Great Depression. World War II also cured the Great Depression. The Great Depression ended in December 1941 at the same time when the World War II began. The economy had  been expanding since 1938, just less than three years before the country’s entry into the Second World War and the economy stopped expanding in 1945 before the war ended. During the war, the economy of US was a huge arsenal which led to the deterioration of the consumers well being. However, after the war, a genuine prosperity returned in the economy for the first time since 1929 making the war a cure of the Great Depression. Hebert Hoover was blamed for the Great Depression as he was not involved in the stock market issue. The depression affected him so much that he had to give much that he had to pull out his money from the stock market. He did not give government aids to the people for fear of inflating the budget of the Federal government and was forced to break off from the laissez-faire policy which was used to deal with depressions and recessions in the country. He was forced to spend more of the country’s income to help in economy rebound like the construction of the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Company Law - Essay Example The most appropriate remedy that Quincy should avail is the second remedy of applying for an order from the court on the ground that the company's affairs are being conducted in a manner which is 'unfairly prejudicial' under Part 30 CA 206, ss 994-998 because this remedy allows Roar to continue its business. CA 2006 (s 994) gives Quincy very flexible solutions to disagreements within Roar without having to necessarily wind up the company under the first remedy. Specifically, s 994(1) CA 2006 provides as follows: "A member of a company may apply to the court by petition for an order under this Part on the ground - (a) that the company's affairs are being or have been conducted in a manner that is unfairly prejudicial to the interests of members generally or of some part of its members (including at least himself), or (b) that an actual or proposed act or omission of the company (including an act or omission on its behalf) is or would be so prejudicial. The 'Act or omission' under this Section can include either an isolated act or omission or a continuing situation, depending on the circumstances. In fact, in Re Norvabron Pty Ltd (No 2) (1986) 11 ACLR 33, this can even include an act which took place before the petitioner became a shareholder. Furthermore, the legal import of the term 'C onduct of the company's affairs' has been considered in Re Legal Costs Negotiators Ltd (1999) 2 BCLC 171 CA wherein there were originally four individuals who set up a company, each was a director and employee and each had an equal amount of shares. When the relationship with one person broke down, he was dismissed subsequently as an employee although he resigned as a director just before he was removed. Nonetheless, he remained a shareholder although he refused to sell his shares to the other three. When the majority petitioned under s 459 CA 2006 for an order that he should transfer his shares to them, the petition was rejected because of the distinction between this remedy and personal actions, i.e. in this statutory remedy, what is relevant to consider is the 'company's affairs'. In the given situation, the following facts clearly indicate that the company's affairs are being or have been conducted by Patrick and Sally in a manner that is unfairly prejudicial to the interests of Quincy, a minority; and an actual act of the company (including an act or omission on its behalf) is so prejudicial to Quincy: Patrick and Sally have remove Quincy as a director; Patrick and Sally take out any profit from the business as director's salaries; and they also decide to change the nature of the business which by the Articles of Association requires a 75% majority. In fact, the 75% requirement in amending the Articles of Incorporation was not met because Patrick and Sally only owned at least 70% of the shares. Moreover, Patrick and Sally appropriated several valuable contracts to Sally's company, Tiddles Limited (Tiddles) which would normally have gone to Roar in order to make sure that no benefit will come to Quincy from these contracts. Clearly, these events and the facts taken together not only constitute a basis to grant an application for an order based on the ground that the company'

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 65

Assignment - Essay Example To gauge this conclusion as an investment opening, the use of the extra and or available money to make more money later will be discussed. Some of the considerations to keep in mind are risk tolerance, investment options available, and the cash flow situation. Below are some vital points to consider in regard to the question ‘is paying down debt usually a good investment?’- Before considering whether or not to invest, you have to make sure that you really have additional money. Have enough backup income to keep all debts current; being behind on your debt expenses can destroy your credit and lead you to suffer fees that will overcome the return on any investment (ROI). At least ensure that you settle your minimum payments on all your debts. This will reduce the incidences where one pays debts and he/she is with time has no money for personal and emergency situations (Warren & Amelia 75). Things may be looking up now; this is where one takes into consideration the long term effect. For instance, what will happen if one loses his/her job next month or in the case of a medical emergency? Before one thinks of investing or making larger than necessary payments on your loans, some amount of money should be saved for emergency purpose. Many financial consultants recommend that one saves enough to cater for at least three months of emergency scenarios; the money should be in a safe, accessible account (Warren & Amelia 105). This is when one looks at reduction or full settlement of any given liability as an investment as it provides the first step to accumulation of assets, wealth. Accumulated interest rate increases the duration one take to source wealth; this makes one to avoid payment of unnecessary extra amount of cash annually in the future (Warren & Amelia 33). For instance, when one makes $5000 payment on a loan with a 10% interest rate, your annual return is 10%, or $500. This is based on the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Alexander Hamiltons The Federalist, No. 15 Essay

Alexander Hamiltons The Federalist, No. 15 - Essay Example Each side would feel a certain way, in terms of how the system of government should be handled and what its role would need to be. Making the argument in favor of the constitution and what it meant, would be Alexander Hamilton. The key to convincing the general populous, remains the dedication to the core argument within the issue and for Hamilton, he would seek to do just that. Hamilton would seek to make his case, through the creation of his work commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers. As for the work itself, "The Federalist Papers, originally written as a series of newspaper editorials intended to persuade New York to ratify the Constitution, remains the most valuable exposition of the political theory underlying the Constitution," (Hamilton, p.60). In order for something to be agreed to, it must first be understood. The impact of Alexander Hamilton's work would be the ability to clearly define the core issue at the center of document itself. To make known the very thing that would ultimately have lead to the document's creation. First and foremost, Hamilton would make the argument that, in order to maintain a sense of organization within the nation, there must be some form a of guiding force that would keep everything, as well as everyone, together and in working order. In the end, so the government could be held to a stronger degree of regulation and to a higher standard of expectation, in terms of its specific responsibilities. With regard to the founding fathers view of the current state of the American political system, they would see a system that would have a specific organization to it, would still fall sort of an absolute solid outline. Different interpretations bring about potential changes to be made and that has continued to be the case for many years. Hamilton would further argue that, while there would be those who wished to make light of the imperfections found within the national system, they would in turn fail to step forward and enact the change that would improve the situation that they themselves, would feel required improvement. Hamilton asserts the following, "..While [opponents of the Constitution] admit that the government of the United States is destitute of energy, they contend against conferring upon it those powers which are requisite to supply that energy," (Hamilton, p. 61). When it comes down to it, Hamilton's views about a league would be appear to be folded within his overall argument in favor of the possession of a document, such as the constitution that would be the primary guiding force of a more productive and succinct system of governing. Discontent would be felt on the part of Hamilton, in terms of viewing those whom he would feel as being reactive, rather than proactive. Such persons that would make an argument for the sake of making it, rather than offering up any form of answer, in regard to a potential solution(s) that would fix whatever issues that would have been present. As he writes, "There is nothing absurd or impracticable in the idea of a league or alliance between independent nations for certain defined purposes precisely stated in a treaty regulating all the details of time, place, circumstance, and quantity, leaving nothing to further discretion, and depending for its execution on the good faith of the parties," (Hamilton, p. 61-62).

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Tourism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism - Assignment Example These serve well. The first article captures the true spirit of international tourism, published in the Washington Post written by David Nakamura. The news article is how and why President Barack Obama has amended policies to support the growth of tourism in the country. Visa process will become fast so people who want to visit the United States will find it easier to enter and enjoy the sights of the US and more importantly bring in the much wanted revenues for the US. Reading the second half of the article, opposing politicians (republicans) are not thrilled, but they are never against the plans of expanding on tourism, they are merely ridiculing the fact that Obama can’t pull it off. His dreams are high but there is no ground to build the dream on. Criticism has its own place but there is no second argument that the global tourism has changed the way we think about economy and even foreign relations. Tourism constituted 2.7% of the GDP and provided 7.5 million jobs in the U S back in 2010 (Nakamura, 2012). But the message of Obama is more important as to what he means when he says that he wants to speed up the visa process for tourists; â€Å"We’re all here today to tell the world America is open for business,† (Nakamura, 2012) The second article is about the luxuries that attract people and how a hot desert landscape can become one of the most sought after tourism destination of the whole world. This is a blog article published in the New York Times, written by James Kanter. The way Kanter talks about the impact of ‘global tourism’ on the economy, is very interesting. Talks are that in Dubai a cool beach is being built only to take care of the filthy rich international tourists who want to enjoy lying on the sand under the sun, but the sand needs to be of perfect temperature. Just like the artificial beach on Dubai coast. In one glance the picture becomes clear. Global tourism doesn’t have an impact on the economy in s single dimension. It is not a matter of how many coconuts a vendor sells at a beach as a result of more tourists visiting the place. Tourism does have its footmark on the economy but it also has a giant hand print on the face of green planet. But the industry is growing at a splendid rate. It is predicted that by the 2030, there will be 1.6 billion tourists traveling the globe (Kanter, 2009). The third article gives a very unique view into global tourism and its impact on historical places. The article is published in Telegraph and is written by Charles Starmer Smith. World Monuments Fund (WMF) is an organization set up to protect the historic buildings and places of the earth. Most of the antique architectural structures are quite fragile and when more people visit these places, they get into a worse shape. Plus there is an ever increasing threat of global warming and extreme changes in weather and temperatures that make it very hard for historic fragile structures of the world t o stay stable. As a consequence the buildings won’t be able to stand the test of time for very long. No matter how positive the impact of the global tourism on the economy, this fact can’t simply be ignored that increasing visitors to world’s monuments are having a bad effect on the buildings. When the buildings won’t be there any more there will not be any tourists to visit that place. Without a doubt WMF has worked very hard in organizing funds to take care of t

Monday, September 23, 2019

National Interest of State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

National Interest of State - Essay Example The paper shall look at the various aspects which are imperative in the creation of national and foreign policy. Since the policies framed at the national level are maligned in the structure of foreign policy, it is crucial to understand the growing relation between the two of these policies. â€Å"The main reason why the notion of national interest is given such enormous, indeed decisive, weight in explaining the foreign policy behavior of any country, including India, is because of the widespread belief that the Realism paradigm, even in its crudest form, accurately describes and explains the essential character and functioning of the world order.† The paper shall analyze the disparity, if any, between realism and national interest. This will help the reader understand where the distinction lies between the independence of the policies as well as the dependency on reality for a nation to frame its policies. Current affairs take a major toll in shaping the policy of any state and therefore it is imperative to gain an understanding of the same. Introduction: A state is an actor in international politics which is dependent on other nations. A state does not have a specific way of running the country as the focus of the nation keeps on changing and shifting from time to time. This is so because the external politics of the world also keeps on changing and this influences the current state of the nation at any given point of time. A state has many diverse interests to cater to and this hugely influences the national interest of the state. Lets us define national interest: â€Å"A broad term for any matter of public concern that is addressed by a government in law or policy.† National interest of any state is the matter which concerns the government of the State with respect to its functioning internally and externally. Every country strives to fulfill everything in the notion of achieving its national interest, and it comes as the most fundamental and important aspect in the governance of any country. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that international treaties, deals, partnerships as well as relations are made and broken on the basis of country’s national interest. If the State is indulging in an act and it is not satisfying its national interest then it would not go ahead with such an act. Having established national interest as the most important factor in the actions of any state, we shall now move on to understanding how national interest is governed on a national and international level with respect to Nation-State. â€Å"According to this paradigm the world is basically an inter-state system where states are the primary, unitary and rational actors. Moreover, the state is perceived in a cartographic and not sociological sense, i.e. as a 'national-territorial totality' encompassing that whole space marked on any map as the country in question.† Understanding from the above statement, a State is always inter-related with different nation states. This defeats the idea of t otal independence, which is true in this context to the extent that States are always dependent on each other to perform actions pertaining to their national interests. Looking from a geo-political angle, it is the relations between the states which influence the world

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Extreme Poverty and the Rights of the Poor Essay Example for Free

Extreme Poverty and the Rights of the Poor Essay Extreme poverty and the rights of the poor has been a high priority of the UN ever since its creation, yet this dilemma are still happening in many underdeveloped and developing countries. To eliminate this problem, public awareness and a genuine cooperation in the global community is required. Extreme poverty and rights of the poor goes hand in hand, because in many third world and developing nations, poor people have no rights. France encourages nations to genuinely cooperate to increase the awareness of the issue and to abolish habits of â€Å"ignoring poverty and the rights of the poor. † The eradication of poverty must begin by providing help to those most affected by the problem. The poor and uneducated makes up the majority of those without any rights, they lack access to the fastest way of escaping poverty, education; therefore, they rarely ever have a voice in their communities. France is well aware that efforts have been made to fight poverty in many regions simultaneously, including Africa, Central and South America, and the Middle East. France strongly believes that the most essential step the UN should take in order to solve this problem is to encourage all nations to provide free education to everyone. In order to reduce poverty and guarantee rights to the poor, free education must be made available to everyone, especially to those that cannot afford it. If this is achieved, people most definitely are able to have a bigger and better access to economic opportunities, a major factor in escaping poverty. In France, it is required for children from the age of 6-16 to attend school. After ninth grade, students can choose whether or not to pursue a higher education, such as high school and college, if not, they can be admitted to a technical school, then graduate from such school and have a professional career. France believe that based on the high efficiency of this method, the UN should carry out similar actions to a global scale by encouraging nations to adopt the same principle. In conclusion, France strongly believes nations must genuinely cooperate effectively in order to reduce poverty and guarantee rights to the poor. The source of this problem is believed to be the lack of access to education due to poverty. Providing free education must be the first step nations should take in order to bring an end to this problem.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Problem Statement Scope And Limitation Engineering Essay

Problem Statement Scope And Limitation Engineering Essay In this research ZnO thin film will be doped with aluminium using sol-gel spin-coating method. Then the Al-doped ZnO thin film (as seed catalyst) on a glass substrate will be then layered bottom of an aligned ZnO nanorod structure which was prepared using sonicated sol-gel immersion technique. The nanorod thin film parameters will be characterizing through its I-V curve characteristics and also the optical and absorbance of aligned ZnO nanorod thin film. INTRODUCTION 1.2.1 Background study UV sensor or stands for ultraviolet sensor are important devices that can be used in commercial and military applications. The applications are including gas sensing, space research, high temperature flame detection, air quality monitoring and many more. UV detectors currently used silicon-based detectors and photomultiplier tubes. These materials require costly filters and attenuators. However by replacing those technologies with wide band-gap semiconductors such as zinc oxide (ZnO) have been suggested [1]. UV light emitting or receiving devices, solar cells, gas sensor and transparent electrodes are some of the zinc oxide applications. Various deposition methods such as chemical vapor deposition, sputtering and molecular beam epitaxy were used to fabricate ZnO thin films. However, these deposition methods are high production cost because required high temperature processing and vacuum technology [2]. In this paper, the purpose of this research is to fabricate ultraviolet sensor using zinc oxide thin film and characterize the sensor performances by its electrical properties. Furthermore, this research is to characterize aluminum doping concentration and the nanostructure of zinc oxide thin film. In this research, sol-gel spin coating method was used to prepare Al doped zinc oxide thin film and an aligned ZnO nanorod structured thin films on a glass substrate by the sonicated sol-gel immersion method. 1.2.2 Literature Review ZnO is an n-type semiconductor with a direct band gap of 3.42eV and because of the oxygen vacancies and intrinsic defects such as interstitial zinc atoms, the electrical conductivity of the films is large [3]. It is very good material for electronic device application due to its wide band gap and large exciton binding energy of 60meV [4]. The properties of ZnO thin film can be improve by a doping process and annealing process [3]. There are that focus on the doping process. To improved electrical or optical properties of ZnO, ZnO were frequently doped with group 3, 4 and 5 elements such as Gallium (Ga), Sn and Aluminium (Al) [5]. Al doping is most suitable because its cheap, abundant and non-toxic material and will produce Al doped ZnO thin film with higher optical transmittance and low resistivity in infrared region [4]. From the journal [6], radio-frequency (RF) reactive magnetron sputtering method was used to deposit Al-doped ZnO on the smooth nucleation side of FSD films by. The electrical properties were discussed. The first electron concentration increased and next decreased with the increase of Al doping concentration. The maximum carrier concentration achieve when the film is doped with 2at% Al. Hall mobility is inversely proportional to the Al doping concentration. The high temperature annealing process is use to enhance the Hall mobility of the films [6]. From the journal [7], ZnO thin films with various weight percentages of aluminium and the electrical properties were discussed using sol-gel dip-coating method. The conductivity shows higher response of the doped ZnO thin films under UV compared with dark condition. Both condition proof that the conductivity of ZnO is directly proportional to doping concentration. The optical band gap energy is also directly proportional with doping concentration. The transmittance of ZnO thin films is about 75% when wavelength from 390nm to 850nm. From the journal [8], at different dopant concentration the electrical properties of Al-doped ZnO thin films were discussed using sol-gel method. The resistance first decrease with increase aluminium ion concentration. Then the resistance of doped thin films increased with increasing dopant concentration and it decreases at higher Al concentration. The transmittance of ZnO thin films is about 80% when wavelength from 370nm to 850nm. The advantage of gallium is an excellent dopant for increasing the conductivity and this source is less reactive and more resistive oxidation. Based on the journal [5], Ga-doped ZnO nanowires were growth using thermal deposition method. The ZnO nanowires have grown uniformly with high yield and average length of each nanowire is about 1.3um. From the XRD pattern, it can be deduced that the Ga element doped into the nanowires creates a clear broadening. The Ga-doped ZnO nanowires have a greater field-enhancement factor than the undoped ZnO nanowires [5]. Aqueous solution process with post-growth rapid photothermal processing (RPP) was used to prepare Sn-doped ZnO nanorods to develop aligned Sn-doped ZnO nanostructure. Aqueous solution method was chosen in preparation of metal oxide nanoparticles structure due to its cost and environment friendly. Rapid photothermal processing (RPP) as an alternatives of thermal annealing was combine with aqueous solution due to short cycle time, reduced exposure and flexibility [9]. Based on journals [6], [7] and [8], the optimum doping concentration of aluminium is 2at%, 5at% and 1.5at% respectively. Optimal aluminium doping concentration will gives highly semiconducting properties of Al-doped ZnO thin film for application UV sensor [4]. A research had done on various Al doping concentration and the optimum doping concentration is at 1at% Al. This research will used 1at% Al concentration based on journal [4]. Aligned ZnO nanorods that were prepared using sonication method are a simple way and very low cost method compared to other techniques. It also will growth high quality ZnO nanorod with a small diameter size [10]. 1.2.3 Problem Statement, Scope and Limitation Most people are aware of the effects of UV through the painful condition of sunburn, but the UV spectrum has many other effects whether its benefits or damaging to human health. Too much exposure to UV radiation can affect human health. UV application for optical sensor used 230 nm to 400nm wavelength which is ultraviolet B (UVB) which is harmful to human skin. Since it is harmful to human skin, metal oxide semiconductor films have been considered due to its excellent chemical and physical properties. One of them is zinc oxide material. Zinc oxide is not only good in optoelectronic but also in electrical properties. Zinc oxide is then will be doped with aluminium to enhanced the zinc oxide thin film properties by using sol-gel spin-coating method. It is important to choose the right method for preparing aligned ZnO nanorod. The scope of this research is to investigate the electrical properties (I-V characteristic) and the optical properties of the ZnO nanorod thin film at different i mmersion time. The limitations of this research are on the solution preparation and deposition condition which are different for different groups and on the fix parameter. 1.2.4 Significant of the research The nanomaterials based sensors are raising the advantage of size reduction and enhanced functionality [12]. This research will used a simple method to prepare an aligned ZnO nanorod thin film which is sol-gel immersion method which is this method has not been reported by any research group. Moreover it is very low-cost method. 1.2.5 Objectives To prepare Al-doped ZnO thin film as seed catalyst layer. To prepare aligned ZnO nanorod thin film at different immersion time. To fabricate aligned ZnO nanorod thin film based UV photoconductive sensor. To characterize fabricated UV sensor. 1.2.6 Research Questions To achieve the objective of this research, some research questions would need to focus on which are: What is the I-V curve characteristic of aligned ZnO nanorod thin films before and after exposing to the UV illumination? What is the optical and absorbance characteristic of aligned ZnO nanorod thin films? How to fabricate ZnO thin film? What is the factor affecting the nanostructure ZnO thin film before and after exposing to the UV illumination? CHAPTER 2 2.1 Research Methodology 2.1.1 Al doped ZnO thin films Sol-gel spin-coating method was used to prepare Al doped ZnO thin films. The solution include zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)2 2H2O) as precursor, aluminium nitrate nonahydrate (Al(NO3)3 9H2O) as a dopant source,monoethanolamine (MEA, C2H7N14) as a stabilizer and 2-methoxyethanol as a solvent were prepared. The concentration of aluminium nitrate was 1.0at% Al doping and the molar ratio of MEA to zinc acetate was fixed at 1.0. At 3 hours before aged at room temperature for 24hours to yield clear and homogeneous solutions the solution was stirred at 80Â °C. The solutions were then used for deposition process by spin-coating technique. Substrates used were microscope on the glass substrates. At room temperature, the spin-coating was performed using 10 drops of solution per deposition with a speed of 3000rpm for 60s. The films were preheated in atmosphere ambient at 150Â °C for 10 minutes to evaporate the solvent each time after deposition process. The films were annealed at 500Â ° C for 1 hour in air ambient using a furnace (Protherm) after repeating the coating procedure 10 times. The crystal structure and orientation of ZnO thin films were investigated by X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The cross-section of the film thickness is observed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). By using UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer, the optical properties of ZnO thin films were measured in the wavelength range from 200 nm to 1500nm. The electrical properties were measured by dc probing system [4]. Start Prepare the solution of zinc oxide Precursor : zinc acetate dehydrate Stabilizer : monoethanolamine Dopant source : aluminium nitrate nonahydrate Solvent : 2-methoxyethanol Heat and stir the solution Temperature : 80Â °C Time : 3hr Solution stirring and aging Temperature : room temperature Time : 24hr Thin film deposition using spin-coating tech. Speed : 3000rpm Time : 60s Temperature : room temperature Solution : 10 drops of solution per deposition Thin film drying Temperature : 150Â °C Time : 10min Repeat 10 times Thin film annealing Temperature : 500Â °C Time : 1hr End 2.1.2 Aligned ZnO nanorod structure An aligned ZnO nanorod structure was prepared using the sonicated sol-gel immersion method on a glass substrate coated with a ZnO thin film that had been doped with 1at% Al. The sol-gel coating method was used to prepare the Al-doped ZnO thin film as a seeded catalyst that was prepared on the glass substrate. A solution was prepared of 0.1M zinc nitrate hexahydrate (Zn (NO3)2 .6H2O) and 0.1M hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, H2NCH2CH2OH) in deionized water (DI). At 50Â °C for 30 minutes using an ultrasonic water bath, this solution was sonicated. The solution was then aged and stirred for 3 hours at room temperature. The sonicated and aged solution was poured into a Schott bottle, at the bottom which had been placed the horizontal Al-doped ZnO thin film coated glass substrate. The capped bottle was then immersed in a 95Â °C water bath for 4 hours. After the immersion process, the sample was cleaned with DI water and allowed to dry in ambient air. By using field emission scanning electro n microscope (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), the resulting ZnO nanorod structure was characterized for surface morphology and crystallinity. The optical transmittance and absorbance properties of the sample were characterized by UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer [10]. Start Prepare the solution in deionized water 0.1M zinc nitrate hexahydrate 0.1M hexamethylenetetramine Sonicated solution using an ultrasonic water bath Temperature : 50Â °C Time : 30min Solution stirring and aging Temperature : room temperature Time : 3hr Placed the horizontal Al-doped ZnO thin film coated glass substrate at the bottom Schott bottle. Poured sonicated and aged solution Immersion process Temperature : 95Â °C water bath Time : 4hr Clean with DI water and dry in ambient air Nanorod structure characterization Electrical properties Optical properties End CHAPTER 3 3.1 Conclusion The electrical properties of ZnO thin film improved when ZnO thin film was doped with aluminium. Optimum aluminium doping concentration will gives highly semiconducting properties of Al-doped ZnO thin film for application UV sensor. It is important to find low cost method. The ZnO nanorods have an average diameter of 100nm. An average optical transmittance of 78% was observed. The electrical properties and optical properties of an aligned ZnO nanorod thin film were affected when varying the immersion time. High degree of crystalline, large surface area availability, a visible wavelength transparency and high UV absorption properties, this method show its suitable for UV sensor application.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Ethnocentric Approach To Human Resources Management Essay

Ethnocentric Approach To Human Resources Management Essay In this time of rapid globalisation and competitive business world, firms seek to gain competitive advantages by going global via entering foreign markets. According to Chew and Horwitz, (2004), over the years, this rise in global competitive pressure has led to the growth of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) that generated the need for developing global management strategies as well as to designing International Human Resource Management (IHRM) strategies in order to gain long term competitive advantages. Subsequently, Shen, (2005, p83-102) as cited in Plessis and Huntley, (2009, p414), reports that the notion of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) can be defined as a set of distinct activities, functions and processes that are directed at attracting, developing and maintaining the Human Resources (HR) of a Multinational Corporation (MNC). Thus, the above definition clearly implies that the various Human Resource Management (HRM) practices of a Multinational Corporation (MNC) are entirely focused upon the international management strategy that it adopts in order to maintain or manage its Human Resources (HR) within its foreign subsidiaries. Moreover, Sims, (2002, p364) states that Multinational Corporations (MNCs) usually adopt one of the four major strategic approaches to planning and managing their international Human Resources (HR). In addition, Hodgetts and Luthans (1999, p253) as cited in McNally and Parry (2000, p85) also state that Multinational Corporations (MNCs) usually adopt one of Heenan and Perlmutter (1979) classifications of international staffing which include either the ethnocentric approach, the polycentric approach, the regiocentric approach or the geocentric/transnational approach to planning and managing Human Resources (HR) globally within the foreign subsidiaries. Furthermore, according to Caligiuri and Stroh, (1995, p496), over the years, ethnocentric Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have been dominant in numbers, especially in the case of firms from developed countries like the UK and the US seeking to enter the lesser developed foreign markets within the region of Asian countries. This according to Sims, (2002, p365) is mainly due to the fact that such an approach to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) simply requires exporting the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) already established Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies to its foreign subsidiaries via the usage of expatriates. However, Weirich and Koontz, (2007, p277) over the recent decade, various literatures published by academicians and practitioners within the field of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) have illustrated that each of these strategic approaches to planning and managing Human resources (HR) internationally has its own merits and demerits for these Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Hence, this report seeks to critically evaluate the benefits and the drawbacks for adopting and ethnocentric approach to Human Resources (HR). In doing so, this report firstly outlines what constitutes adopting an ethnocentric approach to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and then highlights its merits and demerits in addition to providing a brief overview of the benefits and the disadvantages of the other approaches to international staffing. This report discusses the merits and the demerits of adopting an ethnocentric approach to managing Human Resources (HR) globally within the context of a US owned Multinational Corporation (MNC) which is looking to reassessing its current ethnocentric approach to managing its Human Resource (HR). The given scenario of this report is that the Human Resource (HR) director of this US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) feels that its ethnocentric approach to managing its Human Resources (HR) globally is inhibiting the organisations a ttempt to become a global company. Thus, by evaluating the advantages and the disadvantages of adopting an ethnocentric approach to international Human Resources (HR) strategy, this report would provide critical analysis of various academic literatures and other relevant sources in order to come to a rounded conclusion and provide justifiable recommendations. These recommendations would be in relation to whether this US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) should continue to adhere to its ethnocentric approach to managing its staff globally or whether this US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) should seek to alter its current approach to managing its staff globally in order to truly become a global company and to gain further competitive advantages in the years to come. The evaluation of the merits and demerits of adopting the ethnocentric approach also constitutes providing a brief overview of the advantages of adopting the other approaches to managing staff globally which include the polycentric, the regiocentric or the geocentric approach. Hence, this report would not only provide valuable insights to the Human Resource (HR) director of the US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) but would also provide the general readers of the report with useful information in relation to comprehending the importance of adopting those International Human Resource Management (IHRM) practices and policies within its foreign subsidiaries which provide the Multinational Corporation (MNC) with sustainable competitive advantages over the long run. Overview of the Merits and Demerits of the Four Major Strategic Approaches to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) As mentioned earlier in this report, there are mainly four major approaches that most Multinational Corporations (MNCs) adopt in relation to managing their Human Resources (HR) globally. According to Caligiuri and Stroh, (1995, p496), these have been categorised by Heenan and Perlmutter (1979 as a Multinational Corporations (MNCs) global management strategies of being ethnocentric, polycentric, regiocentric or geocentric/transnational in its approach to managing its Human Resources (HR) within its foreign subsidiaries. Plessis and Huntley, (2009, p417) defines the ethnocentric approach as the approach where the cultural values and business practices of the home country are predominant as it is the Head Office (HO) of the Multinational Corporation (MNC) which develops a managing and staffing approach and applies it consistently around the world. According to Pattanayak, (2005, p416), Multinational Corporations usually adopt such a strategy in the early stages of internationalisation process in order to ensure that the corporate values of the parent company are instilled within its foreign subsidiaries so that the same corporate standard and reputation is maintained all over the globe. For example, McNally and Parry, (2000, p85) asserts that such an ethnocentric predisposition allows a global company to control the strategic direction of all its foreign subsidiaries and that it is a very nationalistic approach as it highly regards the parent companys Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies as the best-way for managing the Human Resources (HR) globally as well as to attaining the overall corporate goals of the Multinational Corporation (MNC). Furthermore, Sims, (2002, p365) states that Multinational Corporations (MNCs) usually adopt this strategy via sending expatriates to fill all the senior management posts within it foreign subsidiaries as a result of which these Multinational Corporations (MNCs) can withhold tight control over all their foreign counterparts. According to Ferner, etal, (2004, p364), the Head Quarters (HQs) of these Multinational Corporations (MNCs) not only send expatriates but also plays a crucial hand in outlining or highly dictating the policy on other aspects of Human Resource Management (HRM) which include factors like compensation and reward systems, collective bargaining, communications, union recognition, and welfare and training policies, etc. The benefits of adopting an ethnocentric approach is able to be seen when a firm needs to produce extremely standardised products or when the host-country lacks technological expertise in which cases employing staff from the Head Quarters (HQs) can guarantee consistency to a great extent (Francesco and Gold, 2003, p166). Thus, from these statements, it can be clearly deduced that those Multinational Corporations (MNCs) who seem to adopt such an ethnocentric approach or strategy to managing its staff globally mainly seek to centralise its Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies which are mainly designed and implemented at the Head Quarters (HQs) of such Multinational Corporations (MNCs) with the view to maintain total control over its foreign subsidiaries. However, adopting such an ethnocentric approach to managing Human Resources (HR) has its own drawbacks despite of the merits of being able to hold onto the cultural values of the Head Quarter (HQ) of a Multinational Corporation in addition to being able to yield the benefit of maintaining a tight control over its foreign subsidiaries (Decenzo and Robbins, 2009, p5). In addition, Francesco and Gold, (2003, p166), asserts that sending expatriates to foreign subsidiaries also limits the promotion opportunities of host-country staff which could lead to demoralisation of the staff at these foreign subsidiaries in addition to loosing advantages that could be gained from competencies of local members of senior management staff. Thus the above statements clearly imply that an ethnocentric approach to Human Resources (HR) can be highly rigid which can inhibit the flexibility that contemporary firms require in order to gain competitive advantages in this era of rapid globalisation of markets and growing competition. On the other hand, McNally and Parry, (2000, p85) reports that the polycentric approach to managing Human Resources (HR) are based on strategic decisions which are adapted to suit the cultural context of the countries within which these Multinational Corporations (MNCs) operate. This implies that within a polycentric approach, the Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices within the foreign subsidiaries are adapted to meet the cultural and other environmental circumstances of the countries in which these Multinational Corporations (MNCs) operate. In other words, Sims, (2002, p365), reports that such a strategy makes a subsidiary independent from its Head Quarter (HQ) as mainly local managers are given the responsibilities for managing their Human Resources (HR). Myloni, etal, (2004, p; 519) reports that such an approach to staffing and managing Human Resources (HR) is seen to be less expensive as Multinational Corporations (MNCs) do not need to send expatriates for managing its foreign subsidiaries as required in the case of adopting an ethnocentric approach. In addition, it also resolves the issues of adapting to cultural changes when expatriates are sent to foreign subsidiaries and also eliminates the costs that can be incurred from failed expatriate assignments (Monks, etal, 2000, p541). However, Pattanayak, (2005, p417) states that such an approach also presents the challenges for Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in relation to maintaining understanding between the corporate and the subsidiary management in addition to imbibing the original culture of the company. On the other hand, Hannon etal, (1995, p536) report that the regiocentric approach to Human Resources (HR) strategy highly focuses on grouping of subsidiaries based on specific regions instead of countries. Furthermore, according to Sims, (2002, p365), these subsidiaries are usually staffed by managers from any of the countries within the region which poses the drawback of limiting communication between the region with their Head Quarters (HQs). Subsequently, Edwards and Rees, (2006, p113) asserts that with the geocentric/transnational approach, Multinational Corporations (MNCs) seek to create a synergy of best practices. According to Kelly, (2001, p538) these best practices are adopted from both the Head Quarters (HQs) of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and from their respective subsidiaries in order to develop consistent global Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies which can eventually yield long term organisational competitive advantages for both the Multinational Corporations (MNCs) as well as for their subsidiaries. For example, Buzzle, (2009) reports that within such an approach, suitable managers are hired centrally for taking key managerial positions within the foreign subsidiaries from a global pool of talent , chosen in accordance to their abilities to meet the global corporate objectives in addition to being responsive to local needs. Myloni etal, (2004, p521) claim that this approach to Human Resource (HR) strategy enables a Multinational Corporation (MNC) to develop core competencies in the form of competent managers which can be a crucial source of gaining competitive advantages for a global firm. However, according to Pattanayak, (2005, p417), such an approach also has its own demerits in the form of being expensive to recruit the best talents in addition to completing the paper formalities associated in relation to hiring these foreign nationals to work at different parts of the globe for specific subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Despite of these drawbacks, by far, from the discussions made above, it can be clearly deduced that the geocentric or the transnational approach to Human Resource (HR) strategy would suit the global corporate goals of most Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Thus, from all the above discussions, it can be stated that even though each of these different strategic approaches to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) strategies have their own merits and demerits, the ethnocentric approach to Human Resource (HR) strategy seems incompatible towards attaining the flexibility that is needed in order to gain competitive advantages in this era of global competition. Subsequently, the geocentric or the transnational approach seems to be the most relevant and to be the most useful approach that a Multinational Corporation (MNC) should seek to adopt in this era of contemporary business world. However, for substantial evaluation of the appropriateness of these strategies the following other factors which highly influence International Human Resource Management (IHRM) also need to be taken into consideration. Other factors that influence the approach that is adopted to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) According to Muratbekova-Touron, (2008, p335), in this era of rapid globalisation and competitive business world, one of the major growing concerns facing such global companies or Multinational Corporations (MNCs) is that how such companies can attain the right balance between the local autonomy of their subsidiaries and the extent to which these are controlled by the corporate headquarters of these Multinational Corporations (MNCs). Furthermore, Reade, (2003, p208) illustrates that the statement that greater collaboration between all the subsidiaries of a Multinational Corporation (MNC) is not only highly desirable but is also completely essential in order to effectively cope with the global competitive pressures and towards becoming successful in attaining global competitive advantages. Moreover, Liu, (2005), also confirms the notion that Multinational Corporations (MNCs) face the dilemma of optimising the balance between standardisation and localisation of Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices. This according to Liu, (2005) is because of the desire of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) to develop global brands by thinking globally and acting locally and by developing the right balance between local responsiveness and global consistency and control. Subsequently, Markus and Harzing, (2007) state that contemporary Multinational Corporations (MNCs) should not opt for standardisation in terms of adopting the home country practices but should seek to adopt the strategies which underline the best practices in relation to Human Resource Management (HRM). Furthermore, Reade, (2003, p208) reports that the Head Quarters (HQs) of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have the responsibility of identifying and transferring relevant skills and expertise from different parts of the corporation as well as of disseminating it to all its foreign subsidiaries in order to attain its global as well as local corporate objectives (Reade, 2003, p; 208). For example, Markus and Harzing, (2007) state that if the home country practices of a Multinational Corporation (MNC) are highly effective then all the subsidiaries of that company should be yielding competitive advantages provided those practices are applicable in different cultural and other environmental contexts. This is because, according to Francesco and Gold, (2003, p166), although the overall international corporate strategy of a firm determines which strategic approach to International Human Resource Management (IHRM) it adopts, other environmental factors should also be taken into consideration while determining which strategy a Multinational Corporation (MNC) should adopt in relation to managing its Human Resources (HR) globally. Such factors include the political and legal factors, level of development in foreign locations, technology and nature of the product, organisational life cycle as well as cultural differences (Francesco and Gold, 2003, p166). Moreover, Markus and Harzing, (2007) states that ethnocentric approaches to managing Human Resources (HR) globally are no longer valid in this era of competitive and globalised business world and that the geocentric or the transnational approach to managing Human Resources (HR) internationally is more contemporary towards attaining competitive advantages and towards becoming truly global by implementing the best Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within contemporary Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and in their respective foreign subsidiaries around the globe. 4.0 Conclusions From the critical analysis of various literature sources made above, it can be concluded that the US based Multinational Corporations (MNC) should change its approach from an ethnocentric one to a geocentric or a transnational approach to managing its Human Resources (HR) globally in order to gain more flexibility in terms of adapting Human Resource Management (HRM) practices according to subsidiaries cultural and environmental contexts. This is because contemporary firms can gain competitive advantages only by adopting Human Resource Management (HRM) strategies that find the right balance between standardisation versus localisation of such practices and policies. Recommendations The following recommendations have been drawn for the US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) based on the critical evaluation of the benefits and the drawbacks of adopting an ethnocentric approach to managing Human Resources (HR): The Multinational Corporation (MNC) should adopt a geocentric approach to Human Resource (HR) strategy rather than an ethnocentric one in order to gain competitive advantages as the ethnocentric approach pose certain limitations which inhibit companies from going truly global in terms of failing to adopt the best practices in relation to International Human Resource Management (IHRM). However, the firm should also take into consideration whether the environmental factors mentioned earlier in this report support it to alter its approach to International Human Resource Management (IHRM). For example, if this US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) produces highly technological or standardised products then it might need to continue with its ethnocentric approach. Nevertheless, the firm could still opt to adopt a geocentric approach to staffing and hire the best expertise from around the world in order to gain competitive advantages over the long run. Thus, it can be stated that the US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) should seek to alter its approach from an ethnocentric to a geocentric/ transnational one in order to manage its Human Resources (HR) more effectively globally. (Words: 3000)

Thursday, September 19, 2019

America Needs The Death Penalty Essay example -- pro-capital punishmen

The death penalty has been a heated topic of debate for many of years. Some people believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional in that it is cruel and unusual punishment. Many people also think that the states do not have the authority to take a life. They think that it is god’s responsibility to judge life and death not mans. So they look at the death penalty from a religious view point. Items that this commission will consider in evaluating the humanity and constitutionality of the death penalty, are is lethal injection a humane way to put an offender to death. We will also consider the constitution to ensure the state follows the constitution. Further, consideration will be given to if the state ensuring that all death penalty offenders being given proper DNA testing to prove their guilt or innocence. One of the most important things that this commission needs to decide is whether the death penalty violates constitutional rights. Many people have claimed that the death penalty is unconstitutional because the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. An example of this is in California when the state delayed the date an inmate was sentenced to die because his lawyer said that the death penalty by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment (Hooper, 2006). Michael Morales’ (the man sentenced to death by lethal injection) lawyers state that there were cases with other inmates that did not receive enough anesthetic and therefore felt too much pain while being put to death (Hooper). This doubt raised can create a great concern for any state and that is why the governor has decided to hault executions and put this panel in place. A good portion of this cruel and unusual punishment will be explaine... ... Constitution. However, even though the death penalty is more costly, there are people that are simply too dangerous to remain alive. The death penalty also offers deterrence for people who may be considering an awful act. It may prevent someone from robbing a store because there is a chance someone could die in the act, therefore making it a capital punishment. There are pros and cons to the death penalty, but in the end I believe that it should be considered when dealing with the most serious and gruesome criminals. Works Cited Allen, H. E., Latessa, E. J., & Ponder, B. S. (2010). Corrections in America (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Hooper, R. (2006). US States Face Dilemma Over Death Row Injections. New Scientist. 189(2541). P. 10. McGraw, D., & Locy, T. (2000). DNA and the Death Penalty. U.S. News & World Report. 128(23). P.20-21 America Needs The Death Penalty Essay example -- pro-capital punishmen The death penalty has been a heated topic of debate for many of years. Some people believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional in that it is cruel and unusual punishment. Many people also think that the states do not have the authority to take a life. They think that it is god’s responsibility to judge life and death not mans. So they look at the death penalty from a religious view point. Items that this commission will consider in evaluating the humanity and constitutionality of the death penalty, are is lethal injection a humane way to put an offender to death. We will also consider the constitution to ensure the state follows the constitution. Further, consideration will be given to if the state ensuring that all death penalty offenders being given proper DNA testing to prove their guilt or innocence. One of the most important things that this commission needs to decide is whether the death penalty violates constitutional rights. Many people have claimed that the death penalty is unconstitutional because the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. An example of this is in California when the state delayed the date an inmate was sentenced to die because his lawyer said that the death penalty by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment (Hooper, 2006). Michael Morales’ (the man sentenced to death by lethal injection) lawyers state that there were cases with other inmates that did not receive enough anesthetic and therefore felt too much pain while being put to death (Hooper). This doubt raised can create a great concern for any state and that is why the governor has decided to hault executions and put this panel in place. A good portion of this cruel and unusual punishment will be explaine... ... Constitution. However, even though the death penalty is more costly, there are people that are simply too dangerous to remain alive. The death penalty also offers deterrence for people who may be considering an awful act. It may prevent someone from robbing a store because there is a chance someone could die in the act, therefore making it a capital punishment. There are pros and cons to the death penalty, but in the end I believe that it should be considered when dealing with the most serious and gruesome criminals. Works Cited Allen, H. E., Latessa, E. J., & Ponder, B. S. (2010). Corrections in America (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Hooper, R. (2006). US States Face Dilemma Over Death Row Injections. New Scientist. 189(2541). P. 10. McGraw, D., & Locy, T. (2000). DNA and the Death Penalty. U.S. News & World Report. 128(23). P.20-21

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Rebutting Arguments to Legalize Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide Essay

Rebutting Arguments to Legalize Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide      Ã‚   This essay focuses on several of the most common arguments in favor of the legalization of euthanasia or assisted suicide - and rebuts them. The language is simple, or, as they say, in layman's terms so as to be easily understandable. The sources are from professional journals, internet websites, and news outlets.    The first common argument favoring euthanasia or assisted suicide is this: "Since euthanasia and assisted suicide take place anyway, isn't it better to legalize them so they'll be practiced under careful guidelines and so that doctors will have to report these activities?" That sounds good but it doesn't work. Physicians who do not follow the "guidelines" will not report and, even when a physician does report information, there is no way to know if it is accurate or complete. For example, the Oregon law requires the Oregon Health Division (OHD) to collect information and publish an annual statistical report about assisted suicide deaths.(Oregon) However, the law contains no penalties for health care providers who fail to report information to the OHD. Moreover, the OHD has no regulatory authority or resources to ensure submission of information to its office.(Prager) Thus, all information contained in the OHD's official reports is that which has been provided by the physicians who pr escribed the lethal drugs and only that which the physicians choose to provide.    The OHD even admitted that reporting physicians may have fabricated their versions of the circumstances surrounding the prescriptions written for patients. "For that matter, the entire account could have been a cock-and-bull story. We assume, however, that physicians wer... ...19, conducted by Hebert Research, October 31, 1991, and within one week following the November 5, 1991 vote. Five days before the vote only 9.7 percent of those opposing the measure cited religious reasons for their opposition. Following the measure's defeat, individuals who had previously indicated support for Initiative 119 were again surveyed. Of these previous supporters, 15 percent subsequently opposed the initiative. Religious reasons accounted for only 6.1 percent of this eventual opposition.    Transcript from audio tape of "On Target," WVON Radio (Chicago). Debate between Rita Marker and T. Patrick Hill, September 26, 1993.    Van der Wal,G. P. J. van der Maas, J. M. Bosma, et al., "Evaluation of the notification procedure for physician-assisted deaths in the Netherlands," 335 New England Journal of Medicine (November 28, 1996), p. 1706.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Critical-Thinking Questions: The Social Bond, Positive and Negative Reinforcement Essay

The Social Bond   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Dan Okada (2011), Hirschi integrated the aspects of social disorganization, labeling, differential association, containment, and anomie in order to propose the elements of the social bond. The bond contains four vital elements: â€Å"attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief† (Okada, 2011, p. 42) all of which create a â€Å"bond to the conventional order† (Okada, 2011, p. 42) when fused together. It is stated that if the bond is strong, there are increased chances of prosocial behaviors and activities, whereas the opposite would mean that crime is more likely to occur (Okada, 2011).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Among the aspects relevant to the theory of the social bond which are credited to the University of Chicago are the theories of social disorganization. These theories are the â€Å"legacy of the University of Chicago† (Okada, 2011, p. 42) for their Department of Sociology is considered to be a sacred ground for America’s criminology. The school began their studies on the city of Chicago, using the various data collected from people, places, and objects found within the area. Without the numerous studies conducted regarding social disorganization by the University of Chicago, Hirschi would not have been able to integrate the aspect of social organization to explain the elements of the social bond (Okada, 2011). Reinforcement and Punishment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reinforcement is referred to as an event which occurs after a response and increases the frequency of said response. Reinforcement may either be positive or negative; positive reinforcement involves the â€Å"presentation of an event that strengthens or increases the likelihood of a behavior† (Kalat, 2008, p. 219). An example of positive reinforcement would be providing a child with food which he likes after the child does a good deed such as cleaning his room. The positive reinforcement is the food which the child likes, and in order to attain this reinforcement, the child then increases the behavior which helps him attain the desired outcome, which is cleaning his room (Kalat, 2008). A negative reinforcement, on the other hand, is also a form of reinforcement to increase a particular behavior; however, the reinforcement is the absence of a particular event (Kalat, 2008). For example, a mother often nags her child to wash the dishes, the negative reinforcement is the nagging, and in order to avoid it, the child, in turn, washes the dishes. On the other hand, punishment â€Å"occurs when a response is followed by an event such as pain† (Kalat, 2008, p. 222); unlike reinforcement which aims to increase the frequency of a particular response, punishment involves decreasing the frequency of a particular response. Apart from this, punishment may either be an offset or an onset of something. An example of a punishment would be removing a child’s allowance if his grades are bad (Kalat, 2008). Self-Control Theory and Delinquency   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The self-control theory states that poor child-rearing is the result of all forms of crime, for it leads to an individual’s low self-control. It is stated that parents should be able to help their children establish a sense of self-control by the age of eight and if such is not done, this can leads to delinquency (Davies, 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One program which complements this theory is The Incredible Years: Parents, Teachers, and Children Training Series. This program is specifically designed for parents who have children with ages 3 to 12; it focuses on helping the parents improve their child-rearing skills, particularly their disciplinary and monitoring skills. Since parents are trained to discipline their child appropriately, this helps them help their children improve their self-control, thus, decreasing the chances of delinquency (Regoli, Hewitt, & DeLisi, 2011).   Ã‚              Ã‚   References Davies, S.J. (2008). Security supervision and management: The theory and practice of asset protection. Oxford: Elsevier, Inc. Kalat, J.W. (2008). Introduction to psychology. California: Thomson Wadsworth. Okada, D. (2011). Criminological theory and crime explanation. In M. Maguire & D. Okada (Eds.), Critical issues in crime and justice: Thought, policy, and practice (31-46). California: SAGE Publications, Inc. Regoli, R.M., Hewitt, J.D., & DeLisi, M. (2011). Delinquency in society: The essentials. Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.   

Monday, September 16, 2019

Case Study: Ryanair Essay

1) What’s your assessment of Ryanair’s launch strategy? In 1986, the Ryan siblings are getting ready to start competing against British Airways and Aer Lingus on the Dublin-London route. This route was one of the most traveled air routes inEurope, which meant that Ryanair was taking a big risk by deciding to enter this market. At the moment the airline passenger market was a complex one, since the governments would highly control it. Additionally, the airline industry has high fixed costs, which was something that Ryanair needed to take into account if the company wanted to face its already experienced competitors. However the Ryan brothers knew that it was important to fly this route, and so they decided to follow an aggressive strategy: sell cheaper Dublin-London tickets (PRICE). The problem with this strategy was that they did not highly differentiate from their competitors, and as a result a â€Å"price war† took place. By 1989 prices were as low as 70 pounds, and even though Ryanair started flying other routes, by 1991 it seem ed that bankruptcy was around the corner for the airline. The main problem that led Ryanair to this poor performance was that the company’s strategy focused on competing on operating efficiency, without altering its cost structure against experienced and somehow protected companies by some of their stakeholders.The strategy followed by the airline could hardly enhance the â€Å"competitive advantage† Ryanair had (operational efficiency), because at that moment the airline did not have a good amount of customers; andadditionally it did not realize that its competitors could easily reduce their price to the marginal cost, which they were already able to cover. The strategy was not sustainable by any means. Another problem that arise thanks to the poor strategy chosen by the company, was that it did not gave the client a certain level of added value that would be attractive for him/her. Therefore Ryanair lacked a clear competitive positioning, which  enabled a quick retaliation from BA and AL. And as a result, if Ryanair wanted to continue in business, it had to completely change its strategy and revise is goals by figuring out a way in which the perceived added value they could give to the customers was good enough to, later on, capture value from them. 2) How do you expect Aer Lingus and British Airways to respond? Why? Both Aer Lingus and British Airways were already well-established in the Dublin-London route and this route provided a high-volume of business and return on capital, especially for Aer Lingus. But then†¦Ryanair appeared and, as we know, the entry of a new competitor represents an entry price below the market’s price. So now what? What should these two companies do? Aer Lingus and British Airways have two options: either they maintain their current level of prices, or start a price war. In order to decide which way to go, they have to think how costly it would be for them to retaliate against Ryanair’s launch rather than accommodate it. Both companies have a significant disadvantage, they have a cost structure very difficult to cut (staff + accommodation, ground†¦+ selling + handling and catering represents more than 45% of the costs per passenger, approximately 90 £ and they need to add landing fees and oil). As if this wasn’t enough, it is also very difficult to start a strategy based in differentiation because Ryanair, at that time, was trying to offer a service of a similar quality to these companies (first-rate customer service.) Both Aer Lingus and British Airways are supported and hence policies are also controlled by respective governments. Offering low cost airfare requires whole systemic change which is not practically possible just for the reason of retaliating Ryanair. However, these two companies are competitors with deep pockets and there’s a possibility of them driving Ryanair out of business by reducing price to their marginal cost, even if that marginal cost would be higher than marginal benefits. So, considering all of this plus the fact that Ryanair is a very nascent to fully fledged airline service and the very volatile revenues of Airline industry, we think that Aer Lingus and British Airways will not retaliate on Ryanair’s price strategy. 3) How costly would it be for Aer Lingus and British Airways to retaliate against Ryanair’s launch strategy rather than accommodate it? Both for British Airways and Aer Lingus, retaliating against Ryanair’s launch strategy would end in a price war as Ryanair’s only focus is cost leadership. The costs of entering this  price war would be higher than potential advantages. British Airways calls itself â€Å"The world’s favorite airline† – a clear differentiation statement – and has a successful flotation and privatization as one of its mail goals. Entering a price war would show its abilities to fight against competitors, however price pressures can cut profit margins to the bone, especially as the airline might have to face not only Ryanair but more low-cost competitors in the future. Restoring its high fares might result in operating losses. After Colin Marshall joined the company, British Airways focused on satisfying full-fare business customers. If it were to retaliate against Ryanair, it might lose those business class customers and its reputation for safe, reliable flig hts and an outstanding customer service. International journeys accounted for two thirds of British Airway’s sold seats and 90% of its revenue. As Ryanair is focusing on short-haul, intra-Europe flights, British Airways’ focus should be on overseas flights which typically generate more money. British Airways has the advantage of an extensive network and its location at London Heathrow Airport which distinguishes it from Ryanair as a low-cost operator. Exhibit 4 in the case shows that British Airways had  £140.9 cost per passenger. So if it were to retaliate against Ryanair, it would have to cut costs by almost 30% which would result in a harsh decline in perceived value by its high-end customers. If the airline accommodates Ryanair’s launch strategy, it can focus on its differentiation strategy and experience in international flights which makes Ryanair a less dangerous competitor as target groups are different. The costs of retaliation are similar for Aer Lingus. If it enters a price war, it will pro bably lose more money because it cannot even operate profitably with the prices charged above Ryanair levels. Furthermore, it would need high capital expenditures to modernize its fleet. Although it might lose some passengers to Ryanair, the disadvantages of retaliation would still exceed possible gains. The airline’s goal is mostly to promote national interests and be safe, efficient, reliable and predictable. As Aer Lingus can be seen as a public good, it can count on extensive government support. Furthermore, it even has the chance to break even with its diverse portfolio that includes maintenance services and engineer trainings to other services. In order to keep its good reputation, accommodating Ryanair’s launch strategy would be the best thing to do despite potential lost  customers. Aer Lingus would, just like British Airways, be confronted with a tough price war which it can barely win because of its inefficient cost structures and its differentiation strategy appealing to its loyal customers.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Genetically- Modified Foods and Ingredients Essay

Visiting a supermarket has become a usual experience of each one of us. We have to read all the labels that warn us against genetically-modified ingredients and its expiry date. I, try myself to calm down that epidemic services take control over dangerous products. Yet, I have my doubts in eating my favorite snack, French fries that is done in a fast food. The cumulative effect of genetically-modified foods is particularly dangerous for sensitive populations, including kids, elderly people and people who have indigestion people and even us, whose normal healthy living people. I have studies literature on genetically-modified ingredients, trying to be objective in my judgment. Genetically-modified ingredients advance the modern biology achievements. These products and ingredients strengthen the resistance to herbicides and improve nutritional food contents. Genetically-modified (GM) foods production lessens time-consuming than conventional breeding. Molecular Biologists have not discovered yet how harmful GM products and ingredients are but they claim that GM foods may be environmentally hazardous. Only allergy was recognized as negative effect of GM foods. We, cannot break out from the GM products, since two-thirds of genetically modified crops are corn, cotton, soybeans, potatoes even the fruits we eat. This is just a sign that we should be well inform on what is going in our world especially in our foods that can affect our living. We cannot escape from this advancement in our modern world but we, people, can prevent this to have real healthy living life style.

Saturday, September 14, 2019