Figures of speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Figures of speech - Essay Example Figures of speech Style and outstanding clarity are major features of the profound speakers in the world’s history. The ultimate objective of the figures is to initiate a creative shape of the speech. The diverse figures have unique purposes within the speeches. This is evident in the subsequent analysis of Martin Luther’s speech. Diverse figures are evident in the speech of Martin Luther King Jnr. Artful repetition is a paramount technique in formulating and presenting speeches. This involves a deliberate repetition of words or phrases with an objective of clarity and emphasis. The figure of speech also minimizes the complexity of the concepts at hand. Therefore, the audiences have maximum benefits from this figure of speech. It disintegrates sophisticated details for the interest of the audience. This is an evident phenomenon in the speech by Martin Luther King Jnr. In his third paragraph, he artfully repeats the phrase â€Å"one hundred years later†. This brings an emphasis and clarity about the chronology within the hundred years of an immigrant. Therefore, he skillfully disintegrates the complexity of history and presents a simple account. Assertion is also a paramount figure of speech. This technique ensures a revelation of relationships amongst concepts of discussion. The audience always attains clarity and understanding from the comprehensive comparisons of the concepts under discussion. Under this technique, analogies are essential figures of speech. They signify particular affiliations amongst the concepts of discussion.

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis English Literature Essay

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge Analysis English Literature Essay An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, is a short story with a unique plot twist. Ambrose Bierce uses time as a way of manipulating the readers perspective. Time is defined by a nonspatial continuum in which events occur in apparently irreversible succession. (TheFreeDictionary.com) This distortion of the continuous forward motion of time disrupts the perception of reality. When the reader can no longer distinguish actual reality from a perceived reality, other character judgments come into question as well. The disruption of time allows the sequence of events in An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge to be presented in a manner that forces the reader to question any assumptions made about Peyton Farquhars true character. By taking the reader through the mind of Peyton Farquhar during the moments prior to his death, his miraculous escape, and his sudden snap back into the present, the reader is left wondering about the true nature of time and the effect it has on the awarene ss of reality. The narrators description of every tangible detail to the story sets a specific time period for the events that take place. The reader can easily distinguish a historical time line for the story. Being a slave owner and like other slave owners a politician he was naturally an original secessionist and ardently devoted to the Southern cause. (Bierce p. 72) The story is set in the south, during the Civil War. Ambrose Bierce uses a specific time period as a method of developing the readers perception, of not only the situation, but of the character of Peyton Farquhar himself. By labeling Peyton Farquhar as a slave owner (Bierce p. 72), politician (Bierce p. 72), and original secessionist (Bierce p. 72), the reader may begin to empathize with the reasons for Peyton Farquhars situation. The reader can easily believe that by being devoted to the Southern cause (Bierce p 73) during the Civil War, the man who [is] engaged in being hanged (Bierce p. 74) is justifiably in the situation. The de scriptive language used to describe Peyton Farquhar during this specified moment in history, elicit strong emotions in the reader. Ambrose Bierce easily manipulates the readers perception of Peyton Farquhar while solidifying the reality of the story. Ambrose Bierce continuously foreshadows the disruption of time and Peyton Farquhars upcoming death. The moments leading up to his hanging, Peytons reality begins to become distorted. He became conscious of a new disturbance. (Bierce p 74) A sound which he could neither ignore nor understand, a sharp, distinct, metallic percussion like the stroke of a blacksmiths hammer upon the anvil. (Bierce p 75). What should be an irrelevant background noise suddenly becomes extremely significant and loud. Ambrose Bierce clearly expresses just how significant the few moments before death become. More significantly for Bierces purposes, though, is that time itself, when employed to calibrate human experience, seems to become indeterminate at points of maximum emotional disturbance. (Stoicheff) Peyton Farquhar only hears the ticking of his watch. (Bierce p 75) This distinct reference to time gives the reader a moment to ponder just how many ticks of Peytons watch actually occur during the upcoming s equence. As the noose tightens around his neck, and he is as one already dead (Bierce p 75) from this state he [is] awakened ages later. (Bierce p 75) Death is a reality each and every individual must eventually accept. Having to face death in such a brutal manner leaves Peyton Farquhar reminiscent of his wife and home. He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children. (Bierce p 76) Although improbable, the thoughts of escape begin to cloud Peytons mind. If I could free my hands, he thought, I might throw off the noose and spring into the stream.' (Bierce p 76) Until this point in the story, Ambrose Bierces narration has maintained a steadfast objectivity. In the third and most notable section of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, when the sergeant stepped aside and the board is released from beneath Peyton Farquhar, the narration becomes much more emotion-laden. The reader begins to experience the pain and terror that must come from facing death in such a manner. Although the events of his escape are surreal and improbable, because time-flow is normally irreversible, the reader is continuously pushed forward into believing Peyton has actually survived his escape. Thus, allowing time to continue uninterrupted, yet more subjective. The reader is finally given small insight into the thoughts and emotions of Peyton Farquhar. The internal thoughts and fears of a man just moments from his death can be unnerving and terrifying. However, the reader nearly cheers for Peyton Farquhar to escape unharmed. The narrator continues the objective description of even such a traumatic scene. It seemed to himby the pain of a sharp pressure upon his throat, followed by a sense of suffocation. (Bierce p 75) With each passing moment, with each detailed description of the pain Peyton Farquhar must endure to achieve his escape, time seems to slow down. As in any adrenaline filled moment, time becomes slightly distorted, however Bierce again uses descriptions to what can only be a method of elongating a single moment. As [Peyton Farquhar] rose to the surface, gasping for breath, he saw that he had been a long time under water. (Bierce p 75) Farquhars ordeal describe[s] the sensations of an exhausted escaper as those of a hanged and dy ing man. (Palmer p363) Reality becomes further muddled in the readers mind. Initially the reader was left with many assumptions about the character of Peyton Farquhar. The factual descriptions given allowed the reader to sympathize with Farquhars captors. However, in the second section of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, the reader is given the opportunity to see the events unfold. It becomes apparent that although a secessionist, (Bierce p74) Farquhar was entrapped into the events that unfolded by a union soldier. The reader can than begin to sympathize with the character. Ambrose Bierce uses this opportunity to and entrance into the surrealist dream sequence to develop character more fully (Walz p262-265) The Truth the reader has come to accept begins to unravel and suddenly becomes questionable. The distortion of time and perception begin to distort the awareness of reality for the reader. Ambrose Bierce shows that time can be manipulated and elongated significantly by highly emotional events. (Stoicheff) The narrators description of the a single insign ificant sound and how it comes the most abundant thought before death should make the reader question the subjectivity of not only time, but reality and truth as well. The readers ability to sympathize with the character through a distortion of time and to begin to question the nature and subjectivity of time make apparent how relative truth is. In An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, reality is subject to time, emotions, and the reader assumptions. Each individual aspect effects reality significantly. Ambrose Bierce reiterates the fact that time, reality, and truths are all created in the readers mind. If the readers perception creates each aspect and the readers perception can be easily manipulated, then it stands to reason that each aspect can then be manipulated as well. However, although time is nature to subjective perceptions, Ambrose Bierce makes it obvious that it cannot be escaped. In the end, all is darkness and silence! (Bierce p75) Peyton Farquhar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the Owl Creek bridge. (Bierce p76)

The Nightmare Essay -- India Indian Politics Essays

The Nightmare Dreams are often visions of the conscience that hold the most truth. In the novel, Cracking India, by Bapsi Sidhwa, the narrator Lenny, has a reoccurring nightmare that contains much truth about the state of India. In Lenny’s nightmare, Children lie in a warehouse. Mother and Ayah move about solicitously. The atmosphere is businesslike and relaxed. Godmother sits by my bed smiling indulgently as men in uniforms quietly slice off a child’s arm here, a leg there. She strokes my head as they dismember me. I feel no pain. Only an abysmal sense of loss- and a chilling horror that no one is concerned by what’s happening (Sidhwa 31). Lenny’s childhood nightmare is symbolic of the condition of India prior to and during the time of Partition. The future of India is being dismembered by British rule while Indians remain passive and impartial to the destruction of their country. This portrayal of India is comparable to Gandhi’s view that the British have not taken India; India has have given their country to them. In Hind Swaraj, Gandhi suggests that India is in a state of unrest and that it will take some time for an actual awakening. Lenny’s vision of children lying in a warehouse with their guardians remaining indifferent to the suffering taking place is representative of India’s state of unrest. This suggestive state of unrest also refers to India’s tolerance of British rule. In Cracking India, the Ice-candy Man is adamant about Indians awakening from this restive state. He says, â€Å"If we want India back we must take pride in our customs, our clothes, our languages†¦And not go mouthing the got-pit-sot-pit of the English!† (Sidhwa 38) Similarly, Gandhi suggests that in order to take back India from ... ...orm (Gandhi 206). According to Gandhi, the discontent that these tortured children in Lenny’s nightmare experience will force India as a nation to awaken and provide reform to stop the cries of their youth. If the leaders of India (Ayah and Godmother) can put an end to their passive behavior and answer the insistent cries of the future of their nation (Lenny), then there is hope that despite its dismembered limbs and deep cracks, India will be able to thrive once again. Sadly enough, a nightmare is only revealed in the slumber of the conscience and once the mind awakens it is readily forgotten. Works Cited Gandhi, Mahatma. â€Å"Hind Swaraj, Modern Civilization, and Moral Progress.† The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press, 1986. Sidhwa, Bapsi. Cracking India. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1991.

Fahrenheit 451- The Journey to a New Montag Essay

Sometimes, people don’t realize how big of an effect someone can have on a life. What someone says can rub off, and if they are a positive person, it can make a person follow in their ways. Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction novel written by Ray Bradbury, the main character Guy Montag undergoes many changes within himself. Throughout the book, Montag encounters many different people that make him face his real self. Although Montag might not know it, maybe others know a little bit more about himself than he even does. The old lady teaches Montag about sacrifice and sticking to your beliefs no matter what. Then Faber teaches him that books maybe do mean more than just the words on the page. Last, Clarisse McClellan teaches Montag to slow down and appreciate the little things in life that are equally important as the big ones. Montag changes so suddenly when the old lady shows him who he really wants to be. On his normal night of work Montag will encounter someone who changes his life forever. The old lady teaches Montag to take risks and make sacrifices for what you believe in. She wasn’t going to give up, even if that meant her dying for it. The old lady would really rather die than let her books go. â€Å"You can’t ever have my books,† she said (Bradbury 38). This made Montag want to act in the same way and not let society bring him down. He is now not scared to learn books and is interested in to learn more, the old lady knew she had to make someone agree with her before she died, so somebody would carry on in her ways. â€Å"Play the man master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out† (Bradbury 36). Thankfully, this works for Montag and it changes his whole perspective on books. Montag later thinks about what he has done. It makes him physically sick with guilt and sympathy to think of what the old lady did for books. He now realizes that books must mean something more than what he had thought if an old woman was willing to die for them. Deep inside of Montag, he knows that this interaction happened for a reason. If it wasn’t for the old lady, Montag would not have had this important change. Next, Faber has Montag look at books in a whole new way. He knows that without understanding the real meaning of literature, the words have no meaning. Faber a former English professor has the knowledge, and skills to help Montag realize how important books are. Faber is convinced that he will teach where the quality in books  from. He gives him the three necessary things for good literature, â€Å"number one: quality of information†¦, number two: leisure to digest it, and number three: the right to carry out actions based on what we learn†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bradbury 84-85). This helps Montag know that literature is very important to this world. Montag needs Faber to teach him how to read and find the meaning of books. â€Å"I need you to teach me† he said, (Bradbury 88). As Montag rips pages out of the bible one by one, Faber agrees to teach him what he wants to learn. Montag is starting to change; he is starting to feel that books are a very good thing and it is all because of Faber. This is the second internal change within Montag. Clarisse McClellan is responsible for Montag’s biggest, most drastic change within himself. She shows him that there is much more to life than the big moments. Clarisse’s slows Montag down and points out the small things. But she also makes him face the truth about himself. Clarisse asks Montag a very interesting question that he was not expecting. â€Å"Are you happy?† she said, (Bradbury 10). Montag had never thought of such a simple question. In the moment, the first thing that came to his mind was yes. But after some thought, he realizes he is not. That was not Clarisse’s last question, she was still curious about Montag. She explained to him that if you rub a dandelion under your chin, and its yellow, that means you are in love. Montag’s chin did not change yellow. â€Å"I am, very much in love!† he tried to conjure a face to fir the words, but there was no face. (Bradbury 22). Right then Montag realizes that he was never really in love with his wife Mildred. As Clarisse and Montag are walking, she begins pointing out small things that Montag had never paid any attention to. â€Å"Have you ever smelt old leaves? Don’t they smell like cinnamon?† she asked, (Bradbury 29). Just this one simple thing represents all the moments in life that Montag doesn’t appreciate. At this time, he realizes he has been missing so much in life so far. In closing, Clarisse made Montag look at his life in a whole new way. As Montag continued on his journey to a new him, different people changed him in very different ways. Without the help of those three individuals who knows where Montag would have ended up. Montag is now aware of who he really is and what he is supposed to do through this series of internal changes. First, the old lady gives Montag sympathy, compassion, and guilt. Then Faber helps him find the true meaning in books. Last, Clarisse makes Montag find his true self and  lets that person come through. Reflecting on what Montag has now become, people can have a big effect on someone else’s life. In conclusion, like Montag, anybody can change for the better with the guidance of others.

John Stuart Mill Essay

Utilitarianism is a moral theory generally considered to have been founded by Jeremy Bentham, a 19th century English philosopher and social reformer. It is centered on the concept of happiness, and those who seek it. The idea is that all people seek happiness, and that it is the ultimate goal of all human beings to be happy. Therefore, according to classical utilitarianism, when a person wishes to act in an ethically sound manner he or she should strive to bring about the greatest possible amount of happiness for the greatest possible amount of people. This is known as the greatest happiness attitude. Another, similar idea is that a person should always strive, if incapable of producing happiness, to reduce unhappiness. As the theory is wholly focused on the outcome of a person’s actions, it is classed as a â€Å"consequentialist† theory, i. e. a theory that concerns it with consequences and not actions in themselves. Utilitarianism can be seen as a highly mathematical theorem, looking at the total units of happiness that a particular action gives rise to. For instance, I might want to go out and have drinks with some friends and my boyfriend or I could find something more family oriented and do something fun with my son and my boyfriend. Consider that my son is only little for a short time, would I rather have drinks and regret the hang over later or share a memory with my little boy. Taking my son out for a night might add 10 units of happiness to the world’s total stock, whereas going out for drinks would only add a total of 6. Certainly, the latter would make a greater quantity of people happy (the former only benefiting one person), but it is the quantity of happiness produced that is of the first importance to utilitarianists. But let us look more closely at Bentham’s utilitarianism. To understand his approach more fully, it is vital that one come to an appreciation of exactly what he meant by â€Å"happiness†. His ideas here are, really, quite simple. Bentham thought that we should look at happiness as being based on pleasure. Naturally, it follows from this that he also felt that we should treat unhappiness as something consisting of pain. This view on happiness has led his particular brand of utilitarianism to be seen as a hedonistic theory. Furthermore, Bentham did not distinguish between different forms of pleasure. To him, anything that gave rise to happiness – be it drugs or reading – was fundamentally good. Other philosophers have striven to develop Bentham’s theories further. One of the more notable of these is John Stuart Mill, who sought to distinguish between what he termed â€Å"higher† and â€Å"lower† pleasures. Mill disagreed with Bentham’s all-inclusive view on pleasure, feeling that there was a fundamental difference between the varying forms of pleasure available to people, and that some had a finer quality than others. It was Mill who put forth the notion that it is â€Å"better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied†. Mill’s idea was fairly straightforward, namely that while there are many simple, sensual pleasures in life, such as eating or drinking, there are also certain pleasures which are of a more cerebral nature, such as listening to classical music or reading poetry. According to Mill, these latter pleasures are of a greater quality, and should therefore be considered more important. He posited that someone who has experienced both forms of pleasure would naturally feel inclined to choose the higher pleasures. For instance, a man who is familiar with both tasty food and good poetry would view the latter as something more valuable than the former. This is a fairly straightforward exploration of the most common forms of utilitarianism. The most important thing to remember about these theories is that they are consequentialist and, above all else, that they are concerned with the greater good. Utilitarianists don’t care about your personal agenda or whether your actions happen to hurt some people. As long as the eventual results of your actions lead to more pleasure than pain, you’re in the clear. There were a number of things Mill did to change Utilitarianism. Mill said: â€Å"Better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be a Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. † Mill also linked Utilitarianism with Christian morality. He connected the theory with the teachings of Jesus. He said that the ‘ideal perfection of utilitarian morality’ was abiding by the ‘Golden Rule’-‘Do onto others as you have them do to you. ’ This made many more people accept Utilitarianism as it linked with their religion. Rules were introduced into Utilitarianism by Mill. The rules introduced were ones that generally brought about the greatest happiness for the greatest number. For example, Mill argued that society needs the principal of truthfulness as it brings the most happiness on the long run. Utilitarianism is a theory that Christians can relate to. Mill brought it closer to the Christian church by introducing Rule Utilitarianism. This would be closer to the principals Jesus lived by. For example, it was against the Jewish law to work on the Sabbath but when people were in need, Jesus bent this rule and healed them. The largest connection Christianity has with Utilitarianism is the death of Jesus. He was crucified and died for the sins of mankind-sacrificing himself for the majority. However, Utilitarianism does accept evil where Christianity most certainly does not.

Malarkey Doesnt Mean That

Malarkey Doesnt Mean That Malarkey Doesn’t Mean That Malarkey Doesn’t Mean That By Maeve Maddox In a recent television ad for a cell phone service, potential customers are shown as being afraid of â€Å"hidden fees,† â€Å"funny business,† and â€Å"bamboozling.† The agent asks, â€Å"What is bamboozling?† A potential customer says, â€Å"It’s like malarkey.† The ad bothers me because bamboozling is a gerund and malarkey is an ordinary noun. I’d prefer something like this: Agent: What is bamboozling? Customer: It’s trying to trick us by feeding us a bunch of malarkey. But then, I suppose the extra words would drive up the price of the ad. The verb bamboozle is noted in English as early as 1700, in a Tatler article complaining about the invasion of slang terms. The OED definition of the verb bamboozle is â€Å"to deceive by trickery; to perplex or confuse.† The definition in Merriam-Webster is, â€Å"to conceal one’s true motives from someone, especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end or achieve an advantage.† The first OED citation for malarkey is 1924; the most recent, 2000. It’s defined as â€Å"humbug, bunkum, nonsense.† Malarkey is any idea or utterance seen as â€Å"trivial, misleading, or not worthy of consideration.† M-W defines malarkey as â€Å"insincere or pretentious talk or writing designed to impress one and usually to distract attention from ulterior motives or actual conditions.† A person intent on bamboozling someone might employ malarkey in the effort to deceive, but bamboozling and malarkey are not quite synonyms. Synonyms for the verb bamboozle: trick deceive delude hoodwink mislead take in dupe fool double-cross cheat defraud swindle gull hoax entrap con bilk shaft flimflam Synonyms for the noun malarkey: rubbish gibberish claptrap balderdash hogwash baloney rot moonshine garbage jive tripe drivel bull bunk/bunkum BS hokum twaddle gobbledygook Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Spelling Test 15 Lessons for Mixing Past and Present TenseUlterior and Alterior

Jennifer Aniston essays

Jennifer Aniston essays Jennifer Aniston is an amazing actress who has won the hearts of over a billion people across the nation who have seen the hit-series FRIENDS. The topics I will be going over in the paper are Jennifers stages of growing up, her movies and shows shes stared in, and her life at home with her husband. Born in Sherman Oaks, CA, and raised in New York City, Jennifer Aniston is an actress who was exposed to acting at an early age by her father, John Aniston, who stars on NBC's daytime show "Days of Our Lives," and her godfather, Telly Savalas. Jennifer is of Greek descent and lived in Greece for one year and then moved to New York City when her father got the role on the daytime show love of life. She first started acting at the age of 11 when she joined the Rudolf Steiner Schools Drama Club. Jennifer said, I was always fascinated with acting, but my experience at Rudolf Steiner encouraged me to pursue it as a career. Steiner was a free-spirited school that encouraged creativity and individualism. Jennifer began her professional training as a drama student at New Yorks high school of performing arts. After her graduation in 1987, she played the roles in off-Broadway productions such as For Dear Life and Dancing on Checkers Grave. In 1989, she landed her first television role as a series regular on Molloy. After all of her small acting offers, she was asked to audition for the role of Monica on the new TV series called Friends Like These. Jennifer said no and decided to take the role of Monica instead. Now the cast of the show, whichs name has changed to just Friends, now earns a salary of 750,000.00 for every episode. On top of that she has now stared in the following movies: How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Camp Cucamonga) 1990 ...

The 19th Century Bone Wars

The 19th Century Bone Wars When most people think of the Wild West, they picture Buffalo Bill, Jesse James, and caravans of settlers in covered wagons. But for paleontologists, the American west in the late 19th century conjures up one image above all: the enduring rivalry between two of this countrys greatest fossil hunters, Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. The Bone Wars, as their feud became known, stretched from the 1870s well into the 1890s, and resulted in hundreds of new dinosaur findsnot to mention reams of bribery, trickery, and outright theft, as well get to later. (Knowing a good subject when it sees one, HBO recently announced plans for a movie version of the Bone Wars starring James Gandolfini and Steve Carell; sadly, Gandolfinis sudden death has put the project in limbo.) In the beginning, Marsh and Cope were cordial, if somewhat wary, colleagues, having met in Germany in 1864 (at the time, western Europe, not the United States, was at the forefront of paleontology research). Part of the trouble stemmed from their different backgrounds: Cope was born into a wealthy Quaker family in Pennsylvania, while Marshs family in upstate New York was comparatively poor (albeit with a very rich uncle, who enters the story later). Its probable that, even then, Marsh considered Cope a bit of a dilettante, not really serious about paleontology, while Cope saw Marsh as too rough and uncouth to be a true scientist. The Fateful Elasmosaurus Most historians trace the start of the Bone Wars to 1868, when Cope reconstructed a strange fossil sent to him from Kansas by a military doctor. Naming the specimen Elasmosaurus, he placed its skull on the end of its short tail, rather than its long neck (to be fair to Cope, to that date no had ever seen an aquatic reptile with such out-of-whack proportions). When he discovered this error, Marsh (as the legend goes) humiliated Cope by pointing it out in public, at which point Cope tried to buy (and destroy) every copy of the scientific journal in which he had published his incorrect reconstruction. This makes for a good storyand the fracas over Elasmosaurus certainly contributed to the enmity between the two menbut the Bone Wars likely started on a more serious note. Cope had discovered the fossil site in New Jersey that yielded the fossil of Hadrosaurus, named by the two mens mentor, the famous paleontologist Joseph Leidy. When he saw how many bones had yet to be recovered from the site, Marsh paid the excavators to send any interesting finds to him, rather than to Cope. Cope soon found out about this gross violation of scientific decorum, and the Bone Wars began in earnest. Into the West What kicked the Bone Wars into high gear was the discovery, in the 1870s, of numerous dinosaur fossils in the American west (some of these finds were made accidentally, during excavation work for the Transcontinental Railroad). In 1877, Marsh received a letter from Colorado schoolteacher Arthur Lakes, describing the saurian bones he had found during a hiking expedition; Lakes sent sample fossils to both Marsh and (because he didn’t know if Marsh was interested) Cope. Characteristically, Marsh paid Lakes $100 to keep his discovery a secretand when he discovered that Cope had been notified, dispatched an agent west to secure his claim. Around the same time, Cope was tipped off to another fossil site in Colorado, which Marsh tried (unsuccessfully) to horn in on. By this time, it was common knowledge that Marsh and Cope were competing for the best dinosaur fossilswhich explains the subsequent intrigues centered on Como Bluff, Wyoming. Using pseudonyms, two workers for the Union Pacific Railroad alerted Marsh to their fossil finds, hinting (but not stating explicitly) that they might strike a deal with Cope if Marsh didnt offer generous terms. True to form, Marsh dispatched another agent, who made the necessary financial arrangementsand soon the Yale-based paleontologist was receiving boxcars of fossils, including the first specimens of Diplodocus, Allosaurus and Stegosaurus. Word about this exclusive arrangement soon spreadnot least because the Union Pacific employees leaked the scoop to a local newspaper, exaggerating the prices Marsh had paid for the fossils in order to bait the trap for the wealthier Cope. Soon, Cope sent his own agent westward, and when these negotiations proved unsuccessful (possibly because he wasnt willing to pony up enough money), he instructed his prospector to engage in a bit of fossil-rustling and steal bones from the Como Bluff site, right under Marshs nose. Soon afterward, fed up with Marshs erratic payments, one of the railroad men began working for Cope instead, turning Como Bluff into the epicenter of the Bone Wars. By this time, both Marsh and Cope had relocated westward, and over the next few years engaged in such hijinks as deliberately destroying uncollected fossils and fossil sites (so as to keep them out of each others hands), spying on each others excavations, bribing employees, and even stealing bones outright. According to one account, workers on the rival digs once took time out from their labors to pelt each other with stones! Next Page: The Bone Wars Get Personal Cope and Marsh, Bitter Enemies to the Last By the 1880’s, it was clear that Othniel C. Marsh was winning the Bone Wars. Thanks to the support of his wealthy uncle, George Peabody (who lent his name to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History), Marsh could hire more employees and open more dig sites, while Edward Drinker Cope slowly but surely fell behind. It didnt help matters that other parties, including a team from Harvard University, now joined the dinosaur gold rush. Cope continued to publish numerous papers, but, like a political candidate taking the low road, Marsh made hay out of every tiny mistake he could find. Cope soon had his opportunity for revenge. In 1884, Congress began an investigation into the U.S. Geological Survey, which Marsh had been appointed the head of a few years before. Cope recruited a number of Marshs employees to testify against their boss (who wasnt the easiest person in the world to work for), but Marsh connived to keep their grievances out of the newspapers. Cope then upped the ante: drawing on a journal he had kept for two decades, in which he meticulously listed Marshs numerous felonies, misdemeanors and scientific errors, he supplied the information to a journalist for the New York Herald, which ran a sensational series about the Bone Wars. Marsh issued a rebuttal in the same newspaper, hurling similar accusations against Cope. In the end, this public airing of dirty laundry (and dirty fossils) didnt benefit either party. Marsh was asked to resign his lucrative position at the Geological Survey, and Cope, after a brief interval of success (he was appointed head of the National Association for the Advancement of Science), was beset by poor health and had to sell off portions of his hard-won fossil collection. By the time Cope died in 1897, both men had squandered their considerable fortunes. Characteristically, though, Cope prolonged the Bone Wars even from his grave. One of his last requests was that scientists dissect his head after his death to determine the size of his brain, which he was certain would be bigger than Marshs. Wisely, perhaps, Marsh declined the challenge, and to this day, Copes unexamined head rests in storage at the University of Pennsylvania. The Bone Wars: Let History Judge As tawdry, undignified, and out-and-out ridiculous as the Bone Wars occasionally were, they had a profound effect on American paleontology. In the same way competition is good for commerce, it can also be good for science: so eager were Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope to one-up each other that they discovered many more dinosaurs than if theyd merely engaged in a friendly rivalry. The final tally was truly impressive: Marsh discovered 80 new dinosaur genera and species, while Cope named a more-than-respectable 56. The fossils discovered by Marsh and Cope also helped to feed the American publics increasing hunger for new dinosaurs. Each major discovery was accompanied by a wave of publicity, as magazines and newspapers illustrated the latest amazing findsand the reconstructed skeletons slowly but surely made their way to major museums, where they still reside to the present day. You might say that popular interest in dinosaurs really began with the Bone Wars, though its arguable that it would have come about naturally, without all the bad feelings! The Bone Wars had a couple of negative consequences, as well. First, paleontologists in Europe were horrified by the crude behavior of their American counterparts, which left a lingering, bitter distrust that took decades to dissipate. And second, Cope and Marsh described and reassembled their dinosaur finds so quickly that they were occasionally careless. For example, a hundred years of confusion about Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus can be traced directly back to Marsh, who put a skull on the wrong bodythe same way Cope did with Elasmosaurus, the incident that started the Bone Wars in the first place!

Describe elements of power and quote work from Weber, Bachrach & Essay

Describe elements of power and quote work from Weber, Bachrach & Baratz & Lukes - Essay Example Power and control are two concepts highly analysed by theorists and researchers. The works that are most known in this field are those of Weber, Bachrach & Baratz and Lukes. Their views on power and control have certain similarities; still, differences exist at the level that each one of these theorists uses different criteria for evaluating human behaviour. In any case, it has been proved that the relationship between power and control is strong at such level that each of these concepts cannot be fully explained without referring to the other. However, there are also cases where the above concepts can be independent, but these cases are rather the exception and not the rule. In order to understand the relationship between power and control, it would be necessary to check the elements of these two concepts, as explained by theorists who studied the particular subject. The view of Weber of power is quite important for understanding the relationship between power and control. In accord ance with Goverde et al. ... The above description of power has been derived by the view of Weber on the specific concept, meaning that the elements of power, as perceived by Weber, could be slightly differentiated from the description given above. In other words, the interpretation of the view of Weber of power cannot be considered as standardized, reflecting the personal view of the theorist who has tried to explain the concept of power using the work of Weber. The definition of power, as given by Weber, is the following one: ‘power is the possibility of imposing one’s will upon the behaviour of other persons’ (Weber 1954, p.323 in Vahabi, 2004, p.2). The approaches used by Weber for interpreting power are analysed in the study of Breiner (1996). The above study helps to understand also the relationship between power and control, as perceived by Weber. Breiner (1996) notes that the view of Weber on power seems to have the following form: power is considered as an advantage of political auth orities; in other words, power is not so much a right of all individuals, but primarily, a right of governors to decide on critical issues of their state. From this point of view, power is depended on control in the following way: the control on the social/ political and economic affairs of a particular state reflects the power of its governor to rule (Breiner 1996(. In other words, control is a means of governors – or politicians – in order to show their power to govern. This power is related not just to various political issues, but it can be expanded on all aspects of citizens’ daily life, including culture, sciences and business activity. In accordance with Vahabi (2004) the above description of power is quite effective, reflecting the characteristics of power when being

Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Biology - Essay Example While the cannabinoid constituent may be free of central brain activity, it may possess potential therapeutic characteristics due to its anti-convulsant and myo-relaxant characteristics. In addition, the THC constituent in marijuana has attenuation effects such as tachycardia and euphoria. The mechanism of cannabinoids in effecting these changes is not clear since it is not possible to explain them through receptor binding (Shapiro, 2011). For the purpose of this study, THC alone will be studied in the process of sleep and sleep latencies, in the morning, after administration of marijuana. Research Question What are the effects of marijuana on the sleep patterns of young adults? Hypothesis Marijuana causes reduced sleep latency and increases sleepiness. Methodology The subjects who were incorporated in the study were between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, weighing between sixty and ninety kg for males and fifty and eighty kg for females. Their body mass index was supposed to b e below thirty. The subjects were also required to have little incidence of medical history and were removed from the study if they had familial history of insomnia or daytime sleepiness, schizophrenic illnesses, and emotional or psychiatric problems (Solowij, 2010). Those taking more than 14 U of alcohol a week, smoking more than five cigarettes a day, and taking over five caffeinated beverages a day were also excluded. Inclusion required blood pressure measurements, oral temperature measurements, and hearty rate measurements. Those with blood pressure over 140/90 and a heart rate below 40 during rest were excluded. All subjects were required to use barrier methods during sex during the study, and that if they were on hormonal treatments, then they could not discontinue its use. The subjects consisted of four females aged between 20 and 22 years and 4 males between 24 and 30. The females weighed an average of 61.3kg and the males weighed an average of 74.7 kg. They were also social marijuana users and reported not using the drug for 30 days before the study, which was confirmed by a drug screen. The subjects also did not have any history of caffeine, tobacco, or alcohol abuse, confirmed by a drug screen that included tests for amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and opiates (Solowij, 2010). Their alcohol intake was also below 8 U/week for females and 20 U/week for the males. The independent variable for the study is sleep while the dependent variable is marijuana. The research study was a placebo-controlled and double blind experiment with observations of THC and CBD effects on sleep patterns the day after administration. There was a night for adaptation and four nights for the experiment that were separated by one week. The participants were required to sleep at their usual time, and refrain from catnaps and exercise during the day before the experimental nights and were also required to refrain from exercise at least twelve hours following the experimental nights. The participants were chauffeured to the sleep lab for the experimental nights. During the adaptation night, the participants were familiarized with the experiment and to confirm that they possessed a normal pattern of sleep. Caffeine and alcohol ingestion was prohibited during the adaptation night for twenty-four hours with smoking prohibited five hours before the sleep-over (Solowij, 2010). The participants

School History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 18

School History - Essay Example   I am a member of Biology Society, which has consisted of those who have the deep interest in biology and medical science. As a part of the society, I have organized and participated in meetings with health organizations to learn more about human anatomy and other biological issues. My strong interest in economics led me to become a member of Economics and Finance Society of Rutgers, which is an organization, offers many seminars with executives from recognizable corporations such as JP Morgan. The American Student Dental Association for pre-dental and dental students has helped me immensely to prepare for the dental school. I am also a part of the Pre Health Society which works closely with Biology Society and arrange meetings among medical and dental students to help us excel in our careers. Being a member of Student Doctors Society, which consists of medical and pre-medical students, I was able to participate in programmes in which we could exchange information about experiences within medical field. I worked as a sales representative in a telecommunication industry and learned to interact with various kinds of people. I worked as a floor director at Korean Broadcasting System. My job was to support PD. It is one of the most important positions to keep productions flow. I have also worked for Japan Camera Repair, which required me to have highly skilled hand-eye coordination as it dealt with many minute components of cameras. I will wake as a tutor to teach biology students at Rutgers University and hope to get chances to interact more with professors and students through learning and teaching.

Young and restless in china Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Young and restless in china - Essay Example doctrine and emergence of open trade economic system based on the capitalism, current Chinese capitalist economy presents immense opportunities for personal growth and prosperity. However, in the process of materialistic growth and development, Chinese youth finds itself stuck in the middle of clashes between traditional Chinese values and rapidly growing Western ideologies in the country (Williams & Dietz, 2008). The documentary has captured this struggle of a young Chinese generation to balance between the old and new virtues through the stories of nine young Chinese people. Out of these nine, the present paper analyzes the story of one character, Miranda Hong who is a successful marketing executive in advertising branch of a mutual fund corporate company (Williams & Dietz, 2008). Miranda Hong is an ambitious, young woman. She has been always dedicated and serious about her life goals, work, and career. However, since the early young age, she had to take some crucial decisions which significantly influenced her career progress. In 2003, Miranda successfully completed her MBA from the business institution in Shanghai, which is considered as one of the topmost and reputed universities in the country. Soon after her graduation, Miranda had to take a critical decision whether to settle in Shanghai or return to Beijing. Miranda’s husband and parents live in Beijing. In terms of her career, Shanghai was the best choice to live as there were vast opportunities. Despite being aware of this fact, Miranda Hong opted to return to her family in Beijing, giving priorities to her family duties and responsibilities rather than own career (Williams & Dietz, 2008). Further, while working in a mutual fund investment company, Miranda faced a dilemma of continuing or quit ting the job. Miranda was working in an advertising section of the company and working on the projects which were meant to promote the company’s mutual fund policies, focusing common and senior citizens.

Business Morals and Social Responsibilities Essay

Business Morals and Social Responsibilities - Essay Example Business organizations through the code of ethics benefit in enhancing their reputation and winning the trust of its clients. For instance, Nike’s code of ethics has assisted the organization to regains its reputation that was ruined by activities carried out by its contractors in Asia. However, like in the case of Nike, the code of ethics may influence the profits of business organizations. For instance, Nike developed its code of ethics following criticism over the unethical activities carried out by their contractors in Asia. The contractors unethically used labor from the poor communities in Asia to, cheaply, produce products for Nike. Nike’s high profits came from utilizing these activities that were orchestrated by their contractors in Asian countries (The Blake project 2008). Since the creation of the code of ethics, Nike’s profit reduced since they have to observe and adhere to the contents of that code of ethics. Society’s expectation for corporat e social responsibility may only change for the better. Corporate social responsibility affects the business’ profitability in a great manner. For instance, Nike’s major corporate social responsibility is to produce quality footwear for its customers. Compromising the quality of its products will lead to great losses and tarnishing the image of the company (Kidd 2008). It also has a social responsibility to produce its products without harming the eco-system. It is evident how business organizations work towards achieving their corporate social responsibilities. For instance, Nike has developed Nike environmental design tool to produce products with higher sustainability standards (Nikebiz).

As below in the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

As below in the instruction - Essay Example iour the Effectiveness, the article describes cultural and universal leadership aspects, how different key cultures from different countries influence leadership are also discussed. Not only does these suggestions aim at helping global executives predict and understand challenges of leadership that he or she might encounter while operating outside America, but also help them to come up with coping strategies while faced with such challenges. Different cultures from China, Egypt, Brazil and France have been used for this research since they represent various cultures and are from different cultures. According to Javidan, Dorfman, De Luque, & House (2006, p. 69), common cultural dimensions that would help a global manager to understand and be open minded about other countries cultures, and be able to make a comparison between their own cultures and those of the host country are such attributes like performance orientation. Performance orientation involves giving culturally appropriate rewards and encouragement for better performance. How people relate with each other is also important. Some of the countries are less assertive while others are highly assertive. Some countries also have practices that are highly future-oriented while others are not. Some countries rank high in human orientation while others rank low. Other attributes are in-group collectivism, power distance, gender egalitarians, and uncertainty avoidance (Javidan et al. 2006). The variation in leadership from different cultures is determined by cultural leadership beliefs held by members of different countries. The research further argues that the content and structure of these systems of beliefs can be shared in common cultures among individuals. Therefore, they came up with culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory that helped them to identify different leadership qualities among different nations. These qualities are team oriented, charismatic, Participative, human oriented,

Business Morals and Social Responsibilities Essay

Business Morals and Social Responsibilities - Essay Example Business organizations through the code of ethics benefit in enhancing their reputation and winning the trust of its clients. For instance, Nike’s code of ethics has assisted the organization to regains its reputation that was ruined by activities carried out by its contractors in Asia. However, like in the case of Nike, the code of ethics may influence the profits of business organizations. For instance, Nike developed its code of ethics following criticism over the unethical activities carried out by their contractors in Asia. The contractors unethically used labor from the poor communities in Asia to, cheaply, produce products for Nike. Nike’s high profits came from utilizing these activities that were orchestrated by their contractors in Asian countries (The Blake project 2008). Since the creation of the code of ethics, Nike’s profit reduced since they have to observe and adhere to the contents of that code of ethics. Society’s expectation for corporat e social responsibility may only change for the better. Corporate social responsibility affects the business’ profitability in a great manner. For instance, Nike’s major corporate social responsibility is to produce quality footwear for its customers. Compromising the quality of its products will lead to great losses and tarnishing the image of the company (Kidd 2008). It also has a social responsibility to produce its products without harming the eco-system. It is evident how business organizations work towards achieving their corporate social responsibilities. For instance, Nike has developed Nike environmental design tool to produce products with higher sustainability standards (Nikebiz).

Organisation Design and Organisation Development Essay

Organisation Design and Organisation Development - Essay Example Therefore, organizational development is one of the most important practices that any organization needs to follow. But, it is very for the management to understand what OD is not because it is not practice of training and development, human resource development, group or team building. It is an organizational perspective but not any individual perspective. Therefore, the main objective of organizational development policies has developed the organization as whole but not to develop an individual staff or to develop a specific division or team within the organization.   It can be stated as a continuous process and not as an acute event. An effectively designed organization contributes in keeping the work environment healthy and job can be done within a structured framework. Organizational development helps an organization to have improved performance on a sustainable basis. The OD practitioners should have strong democratic and humanistic approach to any change in the organization. A collaborative work environment and work culture is the key drive for OD intervention in an organization. Organizational development process involves a number of major interventions that include strategic diagnostic, evaluation of current and proposed strategies, critical thinking, change management, cultural changes, performance management, talent management, learning and development, customer service and sales effectiveness. Finally, organizational development practice believes that each and every areas of an organization is essential to build an advanced system that has strong impact on all internal and external environments where the organization functions.

A P by John Updike Analysis

A P by John Updike Analysis In the short story A P, John Updike explains how Sammy is a young man working as a cashier. One day three young ladies come into the supermarket half dressed wearing only their swimsuits. Sammy is intrigued by these young women, along with everyone else in the supermarket. Sammy watches their every move, as the girls made their selections. Sammy tries to play the hero at the end of the story; however he may have been his own worst enemy. Sammy describes the three girls in great detail throughout the story. The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white Just under it, where the sun never seems to hit at the top of the backs of her legs (496). Sammy refers to the next young lady as, one with chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadnt quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long-you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very striking and attractive but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much (497). Last but not least, there was Queenie. She didnt look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs. She came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didnt wa lk in her bare feet that much (497). He had nothing better else to do than to day dream about the three young ladies, and ponder what to do next. From the third slot I look straight up this aisle to the meat counter, and I watched them all the way (498). It was a small town with not much to do. Sammy was not trying to make a career out of working at the A P supermarket. From the moment the girls walked into the supermarket Sammy was checking them out. The ladies were walking towards the meat department, being led by Queenie of course. They stopped and asked McMahon a question about somethings whereabouts in the supermarket. The moment the girls turned and started walking away from McMahon, Sammy noticed that McMahon was checking them out from head to toe. Sammy said, Poor kids, I began to feel sorry for them, they couldnt help it (498). In this moment, Sammys feelings for the girls changed, and he started to sympathize with them. He forms a different perspective of the girls. He feels sorry for them because of the way McMahon is gawking at them. Up to this point he has been looking at the two girls and Queenie the same way as McMahon did. Maybe Sammy did not see it that way just by looking at himself. He noticed how McMahon sized up their joints (498), and he did not approve. The girls make it to the check out aisle with their Herring Snacks. Sammy proceeds to check the snacks out for the young ladies. Lengel is Sammys manager, who is also a friend of Sammys family. Sammy spotted Lengel, as he made his way over to the check out aisle and the girls. Sammy immediately starts thinking oh great, here we go. Then everybodys luck begins to run out. Lengel comes in from haggling with a truck full of cabbages on the lot and is about to scuttle into the door marked MANAGER behind which he hides all day when the girls touch his eye. Lengels pretty dreary, teaches Sunday school and the rest, but he doesnt miss that much. He comes over and says, Girls, this isnt the beach. Lengel continues to repeat himself over and over again. The only time someone repeats themselves, is when one does not understand what the speaker is saying. This is not the case. Queenie and the girls understood what Lengel told them. But this isnt the beach (499). The girls were almost out of the store. They were not on this huge shopping spree. We werent doing any shopping. We just came in for one thing (499). Lengel would not leave the situation alone, he kept pushing the issue. That makes no difference, we want you decently dressed when you come in here (499). After arguing with Queenie, Lengel throws in the white flag. Girls, I dont want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. Its our policy (500). Sammy does not approve at all. He was offended by the way Lengel treated the girls. Sammy feels they were treated to harsh. Policy is what the kingpins want. What the others want is juvenile delinquency (499). As, Queenie and Plaid and Big Tall Goony-Goony, were leaving the supermarket Sammy decided to quit. He thought it was best to stand up for what you believe in. You didnt have to embarrass them (500). He did consider for a moment what he was doing was wrong, but he talked himself out of it. But it seems to me that once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it (500). Lengel was trying to talk him out of it. He was trying to make Sammy think about what he was fixing to do. Lengel said, Youll feel this for the rest of your life (500). Sammy thought about that for a second but he remembered how he made that pretty girl blush makes me so scrunchy inside (500). Some people may argue Sammy was a true hero. He displayed a true act of heroism that day in the supermarket, and stood up for what he believed in. Sammy did not approve of the way everyone was gawking at the girls, and the way Lengel embarrassed. He felt protective of them. Sammy made the decision to quit his job based on what he thought was the right thing to do. However, Sammy got himself into this situation. Sammy quit so abruptly. He did not think of the consequences. If he hated his job that much he could have given them a two week notice. Sammy did not dwell on what type of stress this would put on his parents, or how hard it would be to find another job after quitting on a whim. He let his hormones get the best of him. The girls gave him a way out, gave him an excuse to quit the AP. Sammy acted immaturely, which is why he lost his job. Sammy showed throughout the story some heroic traits. His innocence and immaturity got the best of him. When Sammy left the supermarket he realizes what just happened. My stomach kind of fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter (501). Sammy comes to the realization that he has to grow up now. And that being an adult is hard work. He is no longer working for friend of the family. That he is not a child anymore, My white shirt that my mother ironed the night before (500). And Sammy did not want to be like his coworkers. Sammy did not regret the decision he made. He wanted to achieve bigger goals in his life than just being a store manager at the AP. Sammy quit his job because of his innocence and lack of maturity. Work Cited Updike John. AP. Exploring Literature. Writing and Arguing about Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. Ed. Frank Madden 4thed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 496-501.

Advances in Research on Plant Genetic Resources of Mexico :: Ecology Ecological Nature Mexico Essays

Advances in Research on Plant Genetic Resources of Mexico We read in this book that in Mexico can be found 30,000 of the 250,000 species of higher plants so far described. Between 5,000 to 7,000 of Mexican species are deemed to be of economic use, and of these, 1,000 to 1,500 are edible. According to a conservative estimate cited here, 10% of genera and 52% of species found in Mexico are endemic. This makes Mexico, a country that ranks 14th globally in terms of territorial extension, the fourth country in terms of biodiversity. It is therefore evident that an understanding of Mexican flora, in conjunction with effective strategies for use and preservation, is of first importance for our plant-dependant, agricultural world. Contributors to this work argue for this and more: 1) the urgency of halting degradation of biological and cultural environments that are closely tied to the use and preservation of many important ecotypes, 2) the significance of social issues that affect the viability of ways of life that have created, and that maintain, important stores of the world's genetic diversity, 3) the need for coordinated strategies and action between national initiatives and those of international germplasm agencies. It is satisfying to see Mexican scientists earnestly wrestling with such issues. The book consists of the proceedings of the third meeting on Mexican biodiversity (8-9 February, 1990), organized jointly by the Mexican Society of Plant Genetics (SOMEFI) and the Botanical Garden of Mexico's national university (UNAM). Strongly represented are top researchers from UNAM's Biology department, from the agricultural university of Chapingo, from the national agricultural research agency (INIFAP), and from the PostGraduate College, Mexico's premiere institutions for the study of ecological and agricultural sciences. Significantly, the book is dedicated to one of the foremost authorities on Mexican flora and traditional farming systems, Efraim Hernà ¡ndez Xolocotzi, who was to die a year after presenting the lead paper at this conference. The proceedings have been well edited for book format. Text is in Spanish, with a summary provided for each chapter in Spanish and excellent English. The book is organized into six major sections, including papers on the general philosophy of biodiversity preservation, regional studies, basic studies, the policies of international preservation societies, and a succinct summary of the discussions of the symposium. However, the pith of the book is the third section, consisting of depth reviews of current germplasm status for several major species of useful Mexican plants, including: Zea, Phaseolus, Amaranthus, Capsicum, Cucurbita, Physalis, Sechium, Persea, Crataegus, Agave, and several medicinal species.

Feds Transition from Monetary to Interest Rate Targets Essay -- essays

Feds Transition from Monetary to Interest Rate Targets The Fed’s Transition from Monetary Targets to Interest Rate Targets Introduction The Federal Reserve appeared to be taking on a completely different stance in 1994 versus 1993. During 1993 there were no changes in the policy directives of the Federal Open Market Committee and short-term interest rates remained steady. In contrast, during 1994, the FOMC announced six different policy changes while at the same time making an adjustment to the short-term interest rate. This change in policy was due to two factors. First, the economic environment had changed. The Fed’s monetary policy during 1993 was accommodative to permit the recovery of the economy from a recession, while the policy became more restrictive in 1994 as the economy appeared to be recovering and possibly heating up. Another cause of this apparent shift was growing consensus that price stability should be the ultimate long-term goal of the Federal Reserve. Also, the Fed adjusted its intermediate targeting strategy, placing more emphasis on interest rate targets over monetary aggregate targets . Monetary Goals To understand why the Fed changed its targets and goals the way it did, we should first examine the process the Fed uses to determine and pursue its stated goals. There are six monetary policy goals that are desired in an efficient economy. These are; 1) price stability, 2) high employment, 3) economic growth, 4) financial market and institution stability, 5) interest rate stability, and 6) foreign-exchange market stability. There has been in the past, and continues to be, some concern that these goals may be in conflict with one another. This concern, although valid for some circumstances, has been given more attention than it warrants. In particular, there has been an historic belief that there is a tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. Low inflation was expected to come at the cost of high unemployment and vice versa. The experiences of the 1970’s in the United States showed us that this is not necessarily true, as we experienced periods of simultaneously high in flation and high unemployment. The tradeoff that we expect is actually a short-term one, and as Alan Greenspan noted, in the long run â€Å"lower levels of inflation are conducive to the achievement of greater productivity and efficiency and, therefore,... ... 5 goals. Second, an increasing use of interest rate targets meant that they were using targets that were more indicative of the effectiveness of its policy tools and the need for further action. Continuing to track monetary aggregates may not have revealed the need to take action. Third, the economy had been heating up and some action to slow the growth was simply needed at this time. The change in the Fed’s policy actions from 1993 to 1994 is not as drastic as it may first appear. It is merely a continuing evolution of the manner in which the Fed executes the strategy and tactics of its monetary policy. The effectiveness of this modification of its policy is borne out by the lack of any visible sign of inflation at the end of 1994. Additional time will provide the necessary information to determine if this policy stance is still effective in the future and adjustments will undoubtedly have to be made. Bibliography: References â€Å"The FOMC in 1993 and 1994: Monetary Policy in Transition.† Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, March,1995 â€Å"Flying Swine: Appropriate Targets and Goals of Monetary Policy† Journal of Economic Issues, June, 1996

Women in the Military

Gender discrimination is a paradigm that has affected the role of women in the society depicting her as a minority contributor. Although the number of women in the military continuously increases this mishap is predominantly depicted because women are not allowed to engage in most combat duties as their counterpart male partners in most countries for example Germany, Spain and Italy. This further stimulates the physical and mental characteristics of men and women which argue against the support of women in the battle field. Women are perceived to be weaker than men because of their body structure which contains less dense skeletal systems thus have a higher possibility of fracturing or breaking their body parts. It is also argued that women’s bodies cannot handle the g-forces that are part and parcel of combat pilots therefore, less regarded in the aviation unit. Moreover, women are perceived as more prone to health risks than men thus highly vulnerable. A fact the submarine departments relies on to deny women career opportunities in this field (Adeboyejo 7-15). Women are also considered as psychologically incompetent because men lack the confidence of women performing similar duties as them thus mistrusts them. Men are likely to develop sexual relationship with the women thus affecting their performances. This also leads to unwanted pregnancies which incapacitates the role of the women. Furthermore, women are more likely to be captured by war enemies to be later subjected to dehumanizing acts such as sexual harassment and torture. Cultural practices and beliefs also perpetuate gender discrimination in military as these practices do not allow women to perform military tasks which are regarded as men’s role. Women who engage in this practice are considered as sexually promiscuous and therefore alienated from the community. Therefore, women are forced to prove their competence more than men to counter these allegations (Silva 937-960). This report aims at sharing the views and experiences of women in the military to enable the society to broaden its perspective and knowledge in an attempt of dispelling this paradigm and improve the situation for other younger women who desire to purse military as their career. History of Women in US Military The role of women in the US military was highly emphasized from the early 1900s though gender discrepancy took the toll of their activities and they were not allowed to engage in many tasks that military men were involved in. For instance in 1917 women were recruited as military nurses and doctors to tend to the injured men. Between 1940 and 1943 women were allowed to volunteer their services into the military forces where military curriculum was prevailed to their vicinity. However, they were given small ranks and duties such as being auxiliary corps and administrative officers while the men were their bosses. In the 1990s women were allowed to involve themselves with combat roles though were not accorded the opportunity to participate in the front lines. They were given small menial tasks such as carrying heavy war equipments and weapons to the front lines (Baker 12-238). Lately the role of women in the military have been further defined as a small percentage engages in the combat duties, submarine operations and aviation duties such as military pilots as bans that restricted women from flying aviation planes and ships have been lifted, for instance approximately 170,000 military women are among the US forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan (Baker 205). However, they still have to concentrate on proving their competence to the men and the traditional society (Baker 183-227). Hardships that Women in the Military Face Civilization has not totally eradicated this phenomenon as the appointment of officers is still not fairly done because women are treated as the minority which favors the men availing more appointment vacancies to them. Also the selection criteria for women is higher in comparison to that of men as conducted research depicts women in this field to be more learned than men. Therefore, women need to prove their confidence as there are very limited slots for their enrollment into the combat unit for instance in America approximately 15% of the women in the military force are allowed to serve in the combat unit (Mitchell 176). Women also still have to face sexual abuse and molestation from their counter parts while conducting their tasks. On the contrary this unjustly actions go unpunished as women who report such incidents are perceived as weak and thus cannot handle pressure and danger (Onesto para2-5). On the other hand the life of military women who report the incidents are made miserable while in the force by men who would go to extents of killing those women as a teaching guide to others to keep their mouths shut. For example Spc. Kamisha who was murdered in cold blood by her assaulter who she had previously reported three times (Creveld 85). Clearly these complaints in most occasions fall on deaf ears thus perpetuating the criminal offense. For instance in reference to the above case, Spc. Kamisha had reported her assaulter three times with no stern action being taken against him. This increases the vigor of women as they attempt to overcome this predicament and shun it while trying to prosper in the military field. Military women are also commanding for respect and recognition of their rights from the male counterparts, the society and traditional beliefs (Creveld 82-98). It is also quite evident that men in the military receive recognition and acknowledgment for their efforts and success unlike women who have to fight for this provision by demanding popularity in the force which prevails opportunities for them to prove their competence. Also the fact that women are supposed to serve their families and fully dedicate their lives to family responsibilities has increased the campaigns against the incorporation of women in the combat unit especially in countries where Muslim as a religion is prevalent. Therefore, women try to perform dual duties of establishing their responsibilities in the military forces and at home as mothers, in an attempt of proving to the society and men in the military of their capabilities in addressing the two responsibilities to earn the same treatment and respect accorded to man (Mitchell 256). The society has depicted two different stereotypes in the human race where men are portrayed as more analytical than women thus performs their duties better than women. In the event women in the military have to emanate more effort so as to be accorded the same treatment as men and allowed to engage in tasks that men are involved in, for instance submarine and aviation activities. Therefore, women have to maximize on their liberation from administrative and cultural constraints to portray their independence and unshakable attitude to discern this allegations and prove their abilities to work under pressure depicting analytical skills (Hogg para. 3-6). Current Status of Women in the US Military. In the past women were banned from participating into ground combat activities as they did not fulfill the criteria set in the physical test standards. Currently these standards have been re-evaluated and changed to allow more women to perform combat duties as men because of the high demand for military troops to perpetuate peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the event women have been allowed to perform their civic responsibilities however, women are still demanding equal civic promotions and acknowledgment. This initiative has still not been fully approved even though implementation steps have taken place. Critics of this move argue that this provision will disrupt the cohesion of men while on duty thereby decreasing their performance and concentration. Also, more women are being recruited into military camps and marine forces. Furthermore, the women are now being trained to defend themselves against sexual harassment and discrimination to avert the inhuman vices that surround them (Manning 7-12). Conclusion The society, government, ethicists and critics should aim at stipulating legislations that support military women to enable them to develop their careers by availing the same treatment accorded to men and in the event protect their rights. Therefore, military women should volunteer to share their experiences both the hard times and jovial moments to enable effective publication of the social injustices they undergo and thus perpetuate the eradication of gender discrepancies in the military, thereby allowing more female youths with the desire of perpetuating their civic responsibility as military agents to do so with ease and pleasure. Word Count: 1413 Annotated Bibliography Adeboyejo, Betsy. â€Å"Women in the Military Face Increasing Opportunity and Risk. † Crisis (15591573). 110. 3 (2003): 7-15. Adeboyejo outlines the increased opportunities for recruiting women in the military as they are can now engage in Marine Corps and aviation unit activities. However, the author stipulates the risks that women have to face while in the military and sends an outcry to the relevant authority challenging them to re-evaluate their policies and improve the working environment for women. Baker, Anni. Life in the U. S. Armed Forces: (not) Just Another Job. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. The author gives the history of women in the military and the development the career has undergone. She further elaborates the duties of both women and men in the military outlining the dedication they put to protect the residents of their countries. Furthermore, she explains that they need to be highly regarded and respected for the work they do is cannot be compensated. Anni also encourages the youths to consider military as their career prospectus because it will give them a chance to fulfill their civic duty and thus reduce the crime rate in the society. Creveld, Van. â€Å"Armed But Not Dangerous: Women in the Israeli Military†. War in History. 7. 1 (2000): 82-98. The author explains the hardships that women in the military face. He further liberates the practice of women always being armed because he describes it as a mechanism for protecting themselves from unethical behaviors that deny them their rights. Hogg, Jennifer. Military Women – Ready to Rock the Boat 18th, July, 2008. Women's Media Center. 22nd, May, 2008. < http://www. womensmediacenter. com/ex/071808. html>. Jennifer Hogg an author in the Women's Media Center published this document with the aim of outlining issues that curb the development of women. She discusses the role the society, government and traditional practices plays in advocating for gender inequality. She uses the military career for women as an example and elaborates what these women face while trying to prove their self worth. Manning, Lory. â€Å"Military Women†. Women's Review of Books. 21. 5 (2004): 7-12. The author studies the life of women who peruse military as their career. The conditions and attitudes that the women in the military display are well elaborated in the journal. The author also mentions the struggle that the women have done to improve the condition of their career which has had a positive impact on the perception of the society and government bodies. Mitchell, Brian. Women in the Military: Flirting with Disaster. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 1998. The author explains the kind of conditions women in the military undergo describing the career as a disaster. He outlines the hardships women have to dwell with everyday and the extent the mechanisms they have adopted to be able to shun the paradigm of gender discrepancy. Onesto, Li. Reality for Women in the U. S. Military: Rape in Uniform. 8th, December, 1996. Revolutionary Worker #886. 22nd, May, 2009. < http://rwor. org>. Onesto, Li a revolutionary worker wrote this piece with the aim of uncovering the sexual harassment, molestation and abuse women in the military face. She explains that when she was on duty the things she saw were horrific as women would get gang raped and not report the incident for fear of her life. Onesto says that those incidents broke her heart thus decided to air out the grievances that women in the military face in an attempt of attracting the attention of the relevant authority. Silva, Jennifer. â€Å"A New Generation of Women? : How Female ROTC Cadets Negotiate the Tension between Masculine Military Culture and Traditional Femininity. † The University of North Carolina Press 87. 2 (2008): 937-960. The author conducted interviews on, military women and men in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps to learn how women surpass the allegation aired out because of going against traditional practices and indulging themselves in masculine activities.

Zara & Pandora Recommendations

Zara case Zara uses a vertically integrated system (VMS): In this system, wholesalers, retailers and distributors work as a unified system. One channel owns the others. They have a corporate VMS system, because Zara has managed to build a system that is controlled from the headquarters and it allows a quick response to decide and solve problems. Inditex, Zara’s parent company owns most of the resources to design, produce and distribute.Recommendations: Instead of doing everything themselves, Zara could train their managers in the local stores to already make quick decisions than to just send many ideas to the main headquarters in Spain and let them decide what is best. So spread the decision making process among their local stores. Zara’s vertical integration has many advantages, but there is a drawback for Zara as they focus distributing small batch quantities and do not receive any discounts on manufacturing large quantities. PandoraValue Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. The activities of a business could be grouped under two headings: Primary Activities – those that are directly concerned with creating and delivering a product. -Inbound logistics: All the raw materials are collected from their distributors and in Pandora’s case these are the songs from musicians. – Operations: is transforming the raw materials into a finished product and service.Pandora’s software gets smarter through the listener’s inputs of likes and dislikes and marks them as unique playlist for that same user. – Outbound logistics: All those activities associated with getting finished goods and services to buyers. Pandora has pushed the music service into a variety of channels, including apps for smart phones and tablets as well as through home entertainment systems such as video game players, DVD players and Internet ra dios. – Marketing & Sales: Essentially an information activity – informing buyers and consumers about products and services (benefits, use, price etc. Pandora informs their listeners firstly through web page, and then music has become more mobile. Pandora has formed strategic partnerships to push their music service into different channels, such as apps for smartphones and tablets, as well as through video game players, DVD players and Internet. Since listening to music goes through the radio, Pandora has also collaborated with new car brands. – Service: All those activities associated with maintaining product performance after the product has been sold. The service plays musical selections of a certain genre based on the user's artist selection.The user then provides positive or negative feedback for songs chosen by the service, which are taken into account when Pandora selects future songs. Recommendation: The client should have more possibilities to have an o pinion on the music instead of likes and dislikes. So after each opinion they have, they get a small questionnaire. Global market The activity of buying or selling goods and services in all the countries of the world, or the value of the goods and services sold. Global marketing is sometimes used to refer to overseas expansion efforts through licensing, franchises, and joint ventures. Zara got stores all over the world.If the designers design new clothes, it will come in all the stores. Zara does most of the things by themselves, like making their own fabric, produce their own clothes and having their own designers. Recommendation Zara could create a joint venture with distributors in the markets such as Asia or the US, to produce the products for them. Support Activities, which whilst they are not directly involved in production, may increase effectiveness or efficiency. Procurement: When the raw material is purchased together with other inputs to create value to the product and su pport the value chain activities.In the case of Pandora the raw materials purchased are the songs from musicians. – Technology development: Includes research and development, process automation, and other technology development to support the value chain activity. For Pandora they have an automated software-driven machine that discerns the types of music and places them in genres. – Human Resource Management Using people as a resource to support the value chain. Young analysist analyze of the music by a professional musician to analyze and decode them in different genres.Young analysts sit together with senior analysts to encode the music and add features to differentiate its service. – Firm Infrastructure Includes activities such as finance, strategic planning and control, general management, etc. Pandora is mostly focused on strategic planning ; control, because they have to critically analyze their songs they get delivered from musicians. This takes a lot of time and need be planned strategically. Strategic planning is then linked to general management. Recommendation: Pandora can hire more junior analyst which can be trained to become senior analyst so that the work is divided.

Customer Service and Order Processors

The Human Side of Management Assignment Repairing Jobs That Fail to Satisfy Learning Goals Companies often divide up work as a way to improve efficiency, but specialisation can lead to negative consequences. DrainFlow is a company that has effectively used specialisation to reduce costs relative to its competitors’ costs for years, but rising customer complaints suggest the firm’s strong position may be slipping. After reading the case, you will suggest some ways it can create more interesting work for employees.You will also tackle the problem of finding people who are qualified and ready to perform the multiple responsibilities required in these jobs. Major Topic Areas Job design Job satisfaction Personality Emotional labour The Scenario DrainFlow is a large residential and commercial plumbing  maintenance firm that operates around the United Kingdom. It has been a major player in residential plumbing  for decades, and its familiar rhyming motto, â€Å"When  Yo ur Drain Won’t Go, Call DrainFlow,† has been plastered  on billboards since the 1940s. Leigh Reynaldo has been a regional manager at DrainFlow for about 2 years.She used to work for a newer  competing chain, Lightning Plumber, that has been  drawing more and more customers from DrainFlow. Although  her job at DrainFlow pays more, Leigh is not happy  with the way things are going. She has noticed the work environment  is not as vital or energetic as the environment  she saw at Lightning. Leigh thinks the problem is that employees are not motivated  to provide the type of customer service Lightning  Plumber employees offer. She recently sent surveys  to customers to collect information about performance,  and the data confirmed her fears.Although 60 percent  of respondents said they were satisfied with their experience  and would use DrainFlow again, 40 percent felt  their experience was not good, and 30 percent said they  would use a competi tor the next time they had a plumbing problem. Leigh is wondering whether DrainFlow’s job design  might be contributing to its problems in retaining customers. DrainFlow has about 2,000 employees in four  basic job categories: plumbers, plumber’s assistants, order  processors, and billing representatives. This structure  is designed to keep costs as low as possible.Plumbers make very high wages, whereas plumber’s assistants  make about one-quarter of what a licensed  plumber makes. Using plumber’s assistants is therefore  a very cost-effective strategy that has enabled DrainFlow  to easily undercut the competition when it comes to  price. Order processors make even less than assistants  but about the same as billing processors. All work is very  specialised, but employees are often dependent on another  job category to perform at their most efficient  level. Like most plumbing companies, DrainFlow gets  business mostly from the Yellow Pages and the Internet.Customers either call in to describe a plumbing problem  or submit an online request for plumbing services,  receiving a return call with information within 24 hours. In either case, DrainFlow’s order processors listen to the  customer’s description of the problem to determine  whether a plumber or a plumber’s assistant should  make the service call. The job is then assigned accordingly,  and a service provider goes to the location. When  the job has been completed, via mobile phone, a billing representative  relays the fee to SHR034-6, 12-13 he service rep, who presents  a bill to the customer for payment. Billing representatives  can take customers’ credit card payments by phone  or e-mail an invoice for online payment. The Problem Although specialisation does cut costs significantly, Leigh  is worried about customer dissatisfaction. According to  her survey, about 25 percent of customer contactsà ‚  ended in no service call because customers were confused  by the diagnostic questions the order processors  asked and because the order processors did not have  sufficient knowledge or skill to explain the situation.That means fully one in four people who call DrainFlow  to hire a plumber are worse than dissatisfied: they  are not customers at all! The remaining 75 percent of calls that did end in a customer service encounter resulted  in other problems. The most frequent complaints Leigh found in the customer  surveys were about response time and cost, especially  when the wrong person was sent to a job. A  plumber’s assistant cannot complete a more technically  complicated job. The appointment has to be rescheduled,  and the customer’s time and the staff’s time have  been wasted.The resulting delay often caused customers  in these situations to decline further contact  with DrainFlow—many of them decided to go with  Ligh tning Plumber. â€Å"When I arrive at a job I can’t take care of,† says  plumber’s assistant Jim Larson, â€Å"the customer gets  annoyed. They thought they were getting a licensed  plumber, since they were calling for a plumber. Telling  them they have to have someone else come out doesn’t  go over well. †Ã‚   On the other hand, when a plumber responds to a  job easily handled by a plumber’s assistant, the customer  is still charged at the plumber’s higher pay rate.Licensed plumber Luis Berger also does not like being in  the position of giving customers bad news. â€Å"If I get  called out to do something like snake a drain, the customer  isn’t expecting a hefty bill. I’m caught in a difficult situation—I don’t set the rates or make the  appointments, but I’m the one who gets it from the customer. †Ã‚  Plumbers also resent being sent to do such simple  work. Obi Ani i s one of DrainFlow’s order processors. She is frustrated too when the wrong person is sent  to a job but feels she and the other order processors are  doing the best they can. We have a survey we’re supposed  to follow with the calls to find out what the problem  is and who needs to take the job,† she explains. â€Å"The  customers don’t know that we have a standard form, so  they think we can answer all their questions. Most of us  don’t know any more about plumbing than the caller. If  they don’t use the terms on the survey, we don’t understand  what they’re talking about. A plumber would, but  we’re not plumbers; we just take the calls. † Customer service issues also involve the billing representatives. They are the ones who have to keep contacting  customers about payment. It’s not my fault the  wrong guy was sent,† says Elisabeth King. â€Å"If two guys  went out, thatâ €™s two trips. If a plumber did the work, you  pay plumber rates. Some of these customers don’t get  that I didn’t take their first call, and so I get yelled at. †Ã‚  The billing representatives also complain that they see  only the tail end of the process, so they don’t know what  the original call entailed. The job is fairly impersonal,  and much of the work is recording customer complaints. Remember—40 percent of customers are not satisfied,  and it is the billing representatives who take the  brunt of their negative reactions on the phone.As you can probably tell, all employees have to engage  in emotional labour, as described in your textbook,  and many lack the skills or personality traits to complete  the customer interaction component of their jobs. They  are not trained to provide customer service, and they see  their work mostly in technical, or mechanical, terms. Quite a few are actually anxious about speaking directly  with customers. The office staff (order processors and  billing representatives) realise customer service is part  of their job, but they also find dealing with negative  feedback from customers and co-workers stressful.Two years ago, a management consulting  company was hired to survey DrainFlow worker attitudes. The results showed they were less satisfied than  workers in other comparable jobs. The following table  provides a breakdown of respondent satisfaction levels  across a number of categories:  Ã‚  Ã‚   SHR034-6, 12-13 DrainFlow Plumbers DrainFlow Plumber Assistants DrainFlow Office Workers Average Plumber Average Office Worker I am satisfied with the work I am asked to do. 3. 7 2. 5 2. 5 4. 3 3. 5 I am satisfied with my working conditions. 3. 8 2. 4 3. 7 4. 1 4. 2 I am satisfied with my interactions with o-workers. 3. 5 3. 2 2. 7 3. 8 3. 9 I am satisfied with my interactions with my supervisor 2. 5 2. 3 2. 2 3. 5 3. 4 The information about avera ge plumbers and average  office workers is taken from the management consulting  company’s records of other companies. They  are not exactly surprising, given some of the complaints DrainFlow employees have made. Top management is  worried about these results, but they have not been able  to formulate a solution. The traditional DrainFlow culture  has been focused on cost containment, and the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"soft areas† like employee satisfaction has not been a major  issue.The Proposed Solution The company is in trouble, and as revenues shrink and  the cost savings that were supposed to be achieved by  dividing up work fail to materialise, a change seems to  be in order. Leigh is proposing using cash rewards to improve performance  among employees. She thinks if employees  were paid based on work outcomes, they would work harder  to satisfy customers. Because it is not easy to measure  how satisfied people are with the initial call-in, Leigh  wo uld like to give the order processors a small reward  for every 20 calls successfully completed.For the hands-on  work, she would like to have each billing representative  collect information about customer satisfaction for each  completed call. If no complaints are made and the job  is handled promptly, a moderate cash reward would be  given to the plumber or plumber’s assistant. If the customer  indicates real satisfaction with the service, a  larger cash reward would be provided. Leigh also wants to find people who are a better fit with  the company’s new goals. Current hiring procedure relies  on unstructured interviews with each location’s general manager, and little consistency is found in the way  these managers choose employees.Most lack training in  customer service and organisational behaviour. Leigh thinks  it would be better if hiring methods were standardised  across all branches in her region to help managers identify  recruits who can actually succeed in the job. Your Assignment Your task is to prepare a persuasive report for Leigh on the potential  effectiveness of her cash reward and structured interview  programmes. Make certain it is in the form of a  professional business document that you would give  to an experienced manager at this level of a fairly large  corporation.Leigh is very smart when it comes to managing  finances and running a plumbing business, but she  will not necessarily know about the organisational behaviour  principles you are describing. As any new  proposals must be passed through top management,  you should also address their concerns about cost containment. You will need to make a strong evidence-based  financial case that changing the management style will  benefit the company. When you write, make sure you touch on the following  points:  Ã‚   SHR034-6, 12-13 1.Although it is clear employees are not especially satisfied  with their wor k, do you think this is a reason  for concern? Does research suggest satisfied workers  are actually better at their jobs? Are any other behavioural  outcomes associated with job satisfaction? 2. Using job characteristics theory, explain why the  present system of job design may be contributing to  employee dissatisfaction. Describe some ways you  could help employees feel more satisfied with their  work by redesigning their jobs. 3. Leigh has a somewhat vague idea about how to implement  the cash rewards system.Describe some of the  specific ways you would make the reward system  work better, based on the case. 4. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using  financial incentives in a program of this nature. What, if any, potential problems might arise if people  are given money for achieving customer satisfaction  goals? What other types of incentives might  be considered? 5. Create a specific plan to assess whether the reward  system is working. What are the dependent variables  that should change if the system works? How will  you go about measuring success?

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in the Prince William Sound Essay

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in the Prince William Sound - Essay Example These investigations proved beyond doubt that the damages caused by this mishap have been more than what one would anticipate and therefore huge remedial measures are necessary to regain the damaged eco system back to its normal state. Even though some relief works were carried out at the site for few months and some compensation were dispersed by Exxon; these measures were not sufficient enough to bring back the affected region to its normal state. Exxon slowly started to withdraw its relief operations in this area even though they accepted the responsibility of this mishap. This paper discusses the things happened after this mishap to the key players, the appropriateness of their actions and the recommendations for avoiding such mishaps in future. â€Å"Exxon Mobil has paid about $900 million under the 1991 settlement† (Yardley, 2011) to rebuild the environment back to its normal state. â€Å"Exxon says it doesnt have any obligation to pay more. But the settlement also had a "reopener" clause allowing the state and federal governments to later claim up to $100 million more from Exxon if there were unforeseen damages† (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Exxon Mobil Scores Key Victory In Alaska Case, 2011). But Exxon is note ready to obey the "reopener" clause of $100 million more aid to the affected people. Oil that penetrates deeply into beaches can remain relatively fresh for years and can later come back to the surface and affect nearby animals. In addition, oil degrades at varying rates depending on environment, with subsurface sediments physically protected from disturbance, oxygenation, and photolysis retaining contamination by only partially weathered oil for years. Long-term exposure of fish embryos to weathered oil at parts per billion (ppb) concentrations has population consequences through indirect effects on growth,