Conformity Essay

This argument holds completely true for Americans; through matching standard definitions of tatty, and the reliance on and pervasiveness Of technology, Americans reveal their conformist tendencies. Be it plastic surgery, extreme weight loss, or expensive fashion trends, Americans will do almost anything to conform to society's values of beauty. Throughout the years society values of beauty have changed from realistic women to unreasonably thin supermodels, with Marilyn Monroe dollied as the most beautiful woman of the twentieth century, to Candace Swanlike as the most beautiful of the twenty-first century.Arguably one of the most famous celebrities of all time, Monroe stood at 5 Ft 5. Inches and 140 pounds. Swanlike on the other hand, a Victorians Secret Model, stands at 5 Ft 9 inches and 120 pounds. The new idea of beauty is unreachable for the majority of American citizens, yet women across the country still try to achieve the goal of looking tall and tremendously thin. Trends such as the thigh gap have caused teenage girls across the country to starve their selves in order to be skinny, beautiful, and loved.Stress on looking perfect has resulted in eating disorders amongst America's youth, all trying to lose weight to conform to beauty standards. Although America preaches that each and very individual is beautiful, there are advertisements on television and the radio everyday about plastic surgery such as liposuction and how being ‘fat' is embarrassing. Thousands of dollars will be spent on tummy tucks, spray tans, corsets, and even diet pills in order to look skinny; through engaging in this behavior Americans are conforming to the standard idea of beauty rather than appreciating and accepting their own appearances.This ideal of being thin and conforming to it holds power over a great amount of Americans; through conforming they are adding to the strength and impact of beauty tankards. Skinny is the new beautiful for this nation, and women will do wha tever it takes to achieve that. In present times technology has become an enormous part of our lifestyle, if not dominating it completely. Technology has replaced what was once common for people to engage in, such as manually washing clothes and dishes, face-to-face communication, and using candle powered light.People of the United States feel compelled to possess all kinds of technology so as to make their lives more convenient. Having a smartened is now viewed as a necessity, and something that people assume everyone owns. Even in schools those who do not have smartness are somewhat outcasts when a teacher asks the whole class to pull out their phones. Part of the American Dream is materialistic-?owning the finest of things, such as the best technological devices.The conformity of United States citizens since World War II to seek materialistic pursuits has given technology power over the lifestyles of Americans. Nowadays people cannot live without their technological devices, they have become weak and dependent upon technology, consequently giving it all the power over them and the American lifestyle. Without genealogy, people are unable to do the most colloquial of tasks, such as using a dictionary to look up a word, traveling without the luxuries of a car or airplane, and not rely on running water.By conforming to society materialistic goal of acquiring the best technological gadgets, Americans have given technology complete power over their selves and would not be able to function without it. Although some may argue that America is not a society of conformation, George F. Keenan is ultimately and utterly correct. Something as outrageous as unrealistic beauty standards are strictly followed by many of America's tizzies, consequently giving these standards power over how they live their lifestyle.

Conrad: Kill Whitey Essay

Indigenous peoples of Africa die every day because of war, famine, and disease largely due to the legacy of European imperialism. Joseph Conrad, who saw firsthand â€Å"the horror† (Conrad 154) of imperialism as a ship captain, sought to change public opinion and call attention to the atrocities committed. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad articulates his negative view of imperialism as oppressive and hypocritical through contrasts and parallels of Africa and Europe Conrad’s sympathetic portrayal of natives and demonizing portrayal of the Europeans makes the reader actively despise the institution of imperialism by forcing them to condemn the actions of Europeans in every circumstance presented. In his journey to the inner station, Marlow captains a ship that is crewed by cannibals and carries Pilgrims. Conrad sets up a decisive contrast as Marlow observes with puzzlement that the cannibals act restrained, even though the Pilgrims throw out their food. Marlow, acting as the European perspective â€Å"saw that something restraining, one of those human secret that baffle probability, had come into play here,† (Conrad 116). While this situation of native cannibals versus European pilgrims illustrates a distinct difference in behavior, other incidents stand out as well; most of Marlow’s encounters portray the natives not as villains, but as victims. At the central station he watches as a black man is beaten by whites for â€Å"[they] said he had caused the fire in some way; be that as it may, he was screeching most horribly,† (Conrad 92). Here, Marlow characteristically infused doubt as to the man’s guilt, through the â€Å"be that as it may† clause, that further shows victimization. But how much of this behavior is fiction? Avrom Fleishman writes that in his other works, Conrad consistently demonstrates how Europeans in their contact with natives show an emergence of â€Å"submerged barbarism† and that â€Å"whites become more savage than the savages,† (Fleishman 157). This pattern of role reversal allows Conrad to easily defame imperialists through their beastly and â€Å"Savage† actions. If Africa houses and nurtures evil, Conrad attempts to parallel it in Europe.  Before Marlow begins to tell his story the narrator remarks on his surroundings, frequently interlacing descriptions of settings with foreshadows of doom, making London and the Thames part of the world Marlow is about to take the boatmen into. The sun is described as being â€Å"stricken to death,† (Conrad 67) implying that evil lurks not just in and amongst the denizens of Africa, but here in Europe too in the relative safety of the Thames. Chinua Achebe in his indictment of Conrad as a racist admits a parallel between the Congo River and the Thames, stating â€Å"the Thames, too, ‘has been one of the darkest places on earth,'† (Achebe 1). The evil in Europe then must spread to its people. Kurtz, who embodies evil through his godlike control or hollowness, is both the most evil European and the most productive. Kurtz links ruthlessness to productivity and while his actions may only flourish in Africa, he still gathers ivory for Europe. By paralleling and linking the evil in Africa to Europe, Conrad poignantly shows the hypocrisy of the white view of black natives as savage. How can they be savage if the most evil person Africa is white? The hypocrisy of the imperialists extends beyond their perception of the natives; it surrounds all of their actions. In his essay of Conrad’s views of imperialism Cedric Watts describes the circumstances of Marlow’s visit to the central Station. On one side we see instances of the inefficiency, wastefulness and futility of the imperialists’ endeavours–objectless blasting, upturned trucks; and on the other side we see the price in human terms of these activities: the emaciated blacks of the chain-gang, starved slave labourers. The juxtaposition makes a telling indictment of the folly, hypocrisy and callousness of the so-called emissaries of progress, ‘pilgrims’ who, nominally Christians, are idolaters before ivory. (Watts 181) Watts’ charge illustrates view that all Europeans are alien to the region and do not belong. By making them seem useless and more as a burden, Conrad makes the reader feel that the Europeans should leave Africa; and convincing them in the context of Heart of Darkness will eventually help Conrad spread his anti-imperialist message. Throughout Heart of Darkness Conrad reinforces the Europeans as being outsiders, intruders, and the prime evildoers in the novel. He articulates his negative view of imperialism through contrasts and parallels of Africa and Europe: through his contrast of the cannibals and pilgrims, the role of Kurtz, and his portrayal of the imperialists. Conrad observed the horror of Imperialism and set out to fight it being sewing seeds of discontent in his readers’ feelings about the issue cementing Heart of Darkness as a prime example of an anti-imperialist text. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"An Image of Africa† The Massachusetts Review Vol. XVIII No. 4 Winter 1977: 782-94. Exploring Novels. Student Resource Center, Detroit. 29 Nov. 2003 . Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Signet Classic, 1950. Fleishman, Avrom. â€Å"The Politics of Imperialism.† Conrad’s Politics:Community and Anarchy in the fiction of Joseph Conrad. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, (1967): 89-96. Rpt. in Readings on Heart of Darkness. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. 156-161. Watts, Cedric. â€Å"Indirect Methods Convey Conrad’s View’s of Imperialism.† A Preface to Conrad. London: Longman Group UK Ltd., (1993). Rpt. in Readings on Heart of Darkness. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. 177-183.

SOCIOLOGY - Organizations and Social Change Essay

SOCIOLOGY - Organizations and Social Change - Essay Example Indeed this has proved to be the toughest and challenging activity, for most of America’s activists in politics and also the various community builders who are spread across the country. It is this climate that is currently prevailing within the US, with the various community developing organizations present across the country lobbying for getting the funds approved from the government, so that they can go ahead with their community job training initiatives. IAF, COPS and Metro Alliance are the main organizations that have been formed for community developing activities, that has focused its attention and influence in community development activities, in the areas around San Antonio as well as Texas. â€Å"Invest in us! Invest in us! chanted the six-hundred community residents across San Antonio as leaders of the IAF organizations COPS and Metro Alliance lobbied the mayor and city councilors for the funds to support their job training initiative, Project QUEST†. (www.go odreads.com) Indeed this is the situation of the congregation based community organizations, which are spread across the US. These organizations have to lobby for getting the necessary funds approval from the concerned mayors, if they have to go ahead with the job training initiatives for the small and poor communities across America. ... â€Å"The Texas IAF network asked gubernatorial candidate Ann Richards to support Project QUEST which was agreed upon and she won the election with strong support among low-income Mexican American and African Americans.† (www.goodreads.com) Organizations like the IAF and many others have a very high influence on the political leaders and they get the funds for the various community development and job training initiatives undertaken by them through this political clout. As the COPS organization across the US grew, they could easily get credit to the tune of several millions of dollars in public money, for undertaking various developmental activities which were needed for the communities. But all these types of the different developmental activities of the communities improved, but it was seen that the wages of the individuals residing within these communities did not show any increase. In recent years IAF have become a very powerful organization, with a lot of political influe nce that is inherent in them due to the huge influence on the population, which is residing in these communities. Hence such social organizations like the IAF, COPS and Metro Alliance have resulted in bringing about the much needed social changes and also helped in the upliftment of the poor and needy people, which has automatically resulted in the development of such communities that are scattered around America. Since such communities start developing, the whole economy of the US starts to progress and the power and the influence of these communities start to increase simultaneously â€Å"Publicity for Project Quest outreach went out through training opportunities at IAF, COPS and Metro Alliance church networks through church services and

History of Strategy Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

History of Strategy - Literature review Example This book, even today, continues to be the strategy bible for some of the best corporate leaders, football coaches, cricket mentors etc. Contributions to strategy were from different domains – military, political, academic and practitioners as well. The word strategy is derived from â€Å"strategos† – a combination of the Latin words â€Å"stratos† meaning an Army and â€Å"agein† which meant to lead. â€Å"Strategos† was used to refer to an Army General in Athens. In 1505 AD, Nicolo Machiavelli, a politician authored a book titled â€Å"The Prince†. This book consisting of 26 chapters dealt with principles of the governance of a kingdom or a State. His strategy of taking control of country by either treating the powerful citizens very well or crushing them completely, gave rise to the Machiavillean philosophy in politics and governance. The academic origins of Strategy can be traced back to the 1960s when Drucker, Ansoff and Chandler studied the prosperity of large successful American corporations before and after the II World War and created a platform for the "Classical School of Business Strategy". Though it had its roots in the Military Strategy, this school has never been replaced by a better total view about strategy. They propounded that Direction setting or â€Å"Strategy formulation† as an important responsibility of top managers. Business practitioners such as Sloan, the President of General Motors from 1923 to 1946, designed the concept of a â€Å"Divisionalised Corporation†. Jones, the Chairman of ICI, contributed his thoughts on how to make the Board of Directors in an organisation work better. Grove, the President & CEO of Intel Corporation presented his insights as to how to run an organisation in an environment of very rapid technological advances. In 1965, Moore, the co-founder of Intel, brought out the very popular Moore’s Law. The law stated that the number of transistors / inch would double every 2 years. This law held good for about sometime but was overshadowed by the giant strides made by chip manufacturers in the technology front, in so much so that Moore himself, publicly acknowleged that technology had far outgrown the Moore’s Law. The present law suggests that the data density per chip doubles every 18 months. The evolution of the concept of Strategic Management travels back to the 1950s, when Ford and the Carnegie Corporation, sponsored research into curriculum of business schools. The major recommendation of the study was to expand business education to include a course on Business Policy which helped application of analytical techniques to businesses. By the 1970s, most of the top B-schools in the world had a course on Business Policy and the focus became wider. By the 1980s, research literature on competitive strategy had grown and the course on Business Policy began to look at the large picture of business. Hence, Business Policy was changed to Strategic Management. Johnson and Scholes (2002) defined Strategy as â€Å"direction and scope of an organisation over the long term†. It would be prudent to compare and contrast Strategic management with Operational Management. While both these concepts dealt with management per se, these two approaches are diametrically opposite. While Operational Management was routine in nature, small in scale, specific to an operation, was

War in Iraq and Afganistan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

War in Iraq and Afganistan - Essay Example They were office workers, waiters, police, firemen, moms, dads, friends and neighbors. Thereafter began an era of hunting for the terrorists and their links. It involved gathering info from everywhere with techniques like cyber-snooping. Attention was diverted towards Afghanistan as there was no regime as such. The ruling combine called Taliban did not believe in human rights and controlled the country with terror at gun point. Women were treated like third class citizens, not allowed to attend public functions and schools. One prosperous sheikh from Saudi Arab called Osama Bin Laden was there to help the regime with finances and arms. He had his own set of people ranging from nuclear scientists, engineers, villagers and other trusted lieutenants around him. They had their own ideology of calling the countries like US, UK, India, Israel etc. as the enemies of Muslims. For this very reason they gave calls for Jihad against these countries in particular. Afghanistan has the misfortune of being in news for all the wrong reasons since the late 1970s. It was in 1979 that Soviet troupes from the then USSR invaded Afghanistan and engineered a regime change. These forces remained in Afghanistan for the next 10 years, but no t before resistance forces were armed with lethal weapons and trained manpower. Thereafter began a bloody era of revenge when the erstwhile President was hanged in broad daylight in the middle of the road. This bloody has not stopped since then. The areas bordering Pakistan are still full of sympathizers for the terror machine led by the likes of Osama Bin Laden. Prior to 9/11, the world paid little attention towards these terror machines owing to a range of geopolitical issues and diplomatic concerns. But thereafter all eyes were focused towards the regimes which were considered to be unfriendly towards the European nations. Information was being compiled and analyzed from nations like Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Libya. This analysis led to the belief that Afghanistan is the hub of activities for producing the terror suspects while the regime led by President Saddam Hussain was considered having a friendly approach towards the terror suspects. All these factors resulted into formation of a coalition led by US in war against terrorism and the hunting down of the remnants of al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Though US had forces had earlier bombed some selected targets in Afghanistan, but these bombs failed to find the intended target. This time US did not want to take chances and launched a full-fledged war against terror in Afghanistan. It began on October 7, 2001 when the coalition forces launched the aerial attacks, followed by ground forces advancements. In fact many countries have been tackling this menace of terrorism for many years. This way there has been an ongoing war against terrorism. But the term 'The War on Terrorism' is the name given to the military and diplomatic campaign launched by the United States, with support from NATO and other allies. Stated goal of this campaign is to end international terrorism by preventing 'terrorist' groups from carrying out further attacks. Majority of these groups are Islamists like al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. Afghanistan is now free of Taliban government and at present led by President Hamid Karzai with active support from the coalition forces. But the cause of concern is that the main suspect

Critically assess the positioning strategies of 4 countries as tourist Essay

Critically assess the positioning strategies of 4 countries as tourist destination - Essay Example All these countries are assessed separately in the report. Turkey is assessed first. It is definitely a tourist destination, one that has a rich culture and one of the most fascinating histories. The heritage is amazing which is displayed in the great number of Turkish museums. The people are hospitable and family-oriented. This is all attractive for tourists and positions it as a striking destination for tourists interested in culture. The Bahamas is assessed next. It is mainly a spot for vacationers who enjoy the beach, sand and sun. There is little attraction for other kinds of tourists though. There are no events and activities are limited to water sports. Dubai is assessed next and it is definitely positioned as a luxury tourist destination. This is followed by Thailand which is very popular for its culture, cuisine and eco-tourism. The geographical structure is fascinating and attractive for many. The population includes British citizens, male and female in a high-income community. A sample of 10 British was drawn from the population. This was not a random sample. Instead sampling was done using the systematic sampling method. This is also called interval sampling and it means that there is a fixed gap between selecting people. This is a very effective technique for sampling for surveys (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). In our sample, 6 of the respondents were male while the rest were female respondents. They all belonged to the higher income group. Their names have not been disclosed but other demographic characteristics are illustrated below in the table: In our survey, the first person (from the first house) was selected randomly after which every tenth house was selected, out of which one person was selected for the sample. The following criteria were followed: The main search tool was based on interviews. Questions in the interview were open-ended. They had no

Hard Rock Cafe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hard Rock Cafe - Essay Example A list of all activities required to complete the project (typically categorized within a work breadown structure), 2. The time (duration) that each activity will tae to completion, and 3. The dependencies between activities. With help of this CPM a manager can easily see the overral progress and which operations are to be crashed in order to complete a project in time. The total duration of the project is a sum of operations durations on the Critical path. Critical path is the sequence of activities which add up the longest overall duration. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations shorter than the critical path is called a sub-critical or non-critical path (â€Å"Critical Path Method†, 2011). In the case of Rockfest, critical path is found using MS Project, Figure 1. In the first collumn there is the operations description, in the second, operations duration. There is Ganth diagram on the scheme with red marked crithical path. Therefore, the o verral duration of the project should be 23 weeks (the critical path duration). Crashing a project means shortening some operations to fullfill project’s time requirements. If activity B (Selection local printer) would take 5 weeks instead of planned 3 weeks we must crash some operations because activity B is on the Critical Path. The crashing time should be 5-3=2 weeks.

Why is it important that I understand what independent learning is Essay - 1

Why is it important that I understand what independent learning is - Essay Example Internalizing independent learning however is not easy and it would be necessary for the student to understand what independent learning is before internalizing it. It should begin in college that would later translate to our professional lives and even in our personal lives as we sought not only to become better professionals but also better individuals. Wedemeyer defined independent learning as consisting of â€Å"various forms of teaching- learning arrangements in which teachers and learners carry out their essential tasks and responsibilities apart from one another, communicating in a variety of ways †¦ Independent study programs offer learners varying degrees of freedom in the self-determination of goals and activities† (Wedemeyer 1975:11 cited in Kobuni 2013:232). This type of learning is exclusive among adults as it relates to â€Å"lifelong learning and self-directed learning† (Candy 1991; Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner 2007 cited in Kobuni 2013:232). In short, independent learning is self-motivated, lifelong and autonomous adult learning to achieve certain goals using various study programs and methods. Understanding independent learning should begin in college. It should start in college because it the stage where we prepare ourselves for our professional lives. Also, the academic rigors in college requires that we should understand and learn independent learning. College is very different in high school where many of the lessons are spoon fed. In college, we are required to look for information on our own through our research and study. We are also encouraged to think on our own and to do critical thinking. These modes of study require independent learning seeking information and learning materials using various methods such library, internet, interview, observation etch to be able to have the inputs necessary to do reports and critical thinking. It is important that

Tata Motors Acquisition of Dawoo Commercial Vehicles Essay

Tata Motors Acquisition of Dawoo Commercial Vehicles - Essay Example The company is still chasing the opportunities to expand its business further to other location across the globe. Daewoo Motors Similar to Tata group, this group also started off in 1967 with a textile business by Kim Woo Choong (Koontz & Weihrich, 2006, p.206). In the 70’d and 80’s, the group has experienced a considerable growth with its diversification into several business. Later on in the early period of 1990s, the Group has expanded overseas and emerged as the largest conglomerate across the globe with around 24 companies under its shield. Back in the year 1978, the group has entered into the automobile industry by the acquisition of 50 % stake in the Sachan motor company while the rest was owned by another automobile giant, General Motors. The venture was later renamed as Daewoo Motor Company. In 1992, the Daewoo group acquired remaining 50 % of the stake with the withdrawal of partnership by GM. Later on after the bankruptcy of Daewoo, GM and some other companie s have shown their interest to acquire its assets. Daewoo Commercial Vehicle, previously a vertical of Daewoo, did not come under the bid and established itself as a separate company in the year 2002. Strategic and Economic Aspects behind the Acquisition Tata Motors had been one of the oldest players in the automobile industry of India. After expanding its dominance all over the economy, the company aimed at expanding its business all over the globe which made it adopt tie-up strategies with automobile companies in some of the major emerging markets of the world. The automobile industry is generally characterised by a large number of units and the commercial vehicles vertical in it occupies a small fragment of the entire industry. Globally, the commercial vehicles arena is dominated by... As the paper stresses Tata Motors is the leading automobile manufacturer in India and is among the leading commercial vehicle companies across the globe with revenue of $20 million in the last financial year. The company has also emerged as the one among the top four truck manufacturers as well as top two bus manufacturer across the globe. Established back in the year 1945, the company now employs more than 24000 employees with a vision to be the best in its operation and to be in compliance to its value systems and ethics. Tata Motors has also got the pride to be the first in the Indian engineering sector to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange; that happened back in September, 2004. This essay declares that Tata Motors had been one of the oldest players in the automobile industry of India. After expanding its dominance all over the economy, the company aimed at expanding its business all over the globe which made it adopt tie-up strategies with automobile companies in some of the major emerging markets of the world. The automobile industry is generally characterised by a large number of units and the commercial vehicles vertical in it occupies a small fragment of the entire industry. Globally, the commercial vehicles arena is dominated by players like Volvo, Scania, DaimlerChrysler and a few other giants who occupy nearly 60 percent of the total market share. In order to distinguish its might amidst them, the Tata Group needs to have considerable strategic as well as economic edge.

The immigration debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The immigration debate - Essay Example In other words, the undocumented workers may take jobs away from Americans, but these are jobs Americans did not want in the first place. Rather, the illegal immigrants are doing us a favor by accomplishing the tasks that Americans find to menial for their tastes. In the overall scheme of things, illegal immigrants actually provide a larger benefit to the American economic system by adding at least $10 billion a year to our GDP. A small contribution to an overall GDP of a $10 trillion economy but an increase none the less and in our current national economic state, every little bit helps to ease the burden of inflation on the public. By boosting our GDP, these workers have actually proven that a larger workforce, regardless of employment status, will actually make a difference when it comes to worker output and/or consumer spending ( Said, Carolyn â€Å"The Immigration Debate†). Instead, the illegal immigrants who are working for us should be considered unsung heroes who actually contribute to the system. the Social Security system to be precise . The only problem is that since this batch of employees do not use valid SS numbers, their contributions remain floating within our system. So rather than debating the effects of illegal immigration on the workforce or economy, what we should really be looking at is a way to help make the contribution of these workers a part of the economic system of the country since those contributions are currently located in an economic limbo where it remains useless to everyone

The Development of Management Essay Example for Free

The Development of Management Essay Q.1 (a) What are the functions of management? In your opinion which function is more important and why? Management has been described as a social process involving responsibility for economical and effective planning regulation of operation of an enterprise in the fulfillment of given purposes. It is a dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities. These activities are different from operative functions like marketing, finance, purchase etc. Rather these activities are common to each and every manger irrespective of his level or status. Planning It is the basic function of management. It deals with chalking out a future course of action deciding in advance the most appropriate course of actions for achievement of pre-determined goals. According to KOONTZ, â€Å"Planning is deciding in advance what to do, when to do how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are where we want to be†. A plan is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem solving decision making. Planning is determination of courses of action to achieve desired goals. Thus, planning is a systematic thinking about ways means for accomplishment of pre-determined goals. Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human non-human resources. It is all pervasive, it is an intellectual activity and it also helps in avoiding confusion, uncertainties, risks, wastages etc. Organizing It is the process of bringing together physical, financial and human resources and developing productive relationship amongst them for achievement of organizational goals. According to Henry Fayol, â€Å"To organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning i.e. raw material, tools, capital and personnel’s†. To organize a business involves determining providing human and non-human resources to the organizational structure. Staffing It is the function of manning the organization structure and keeping it manned. Staffing has assumed greater importance in the recent years due to advancement of technology, increase in size of business, complexity of human behavior etc. The main purpose o staffing is to put right man on right job i.e. square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. According to Kootz O’Donell, â€Å"Managerial function of staffing involves manning the organization structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal development of personnel to fill the roles designed un the structure†. Directing It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods to work efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise which sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and staffing are the mere preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel aspect of management which deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Controlling It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann, â€Å"Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation†. According to Koontz O’Donell â€Å"Controlling is the measurement correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished. Planning is more important because, The first function of the Manager is planning. It is also the foremost and the essential function. Planning equips the Manager mentally to meet his tasks. To plan for the organization the Manager should first understand the culture and creed of the Organization, what it stands for what are its objectives. The Manager should study the resources available within the organization, as also the strength and weakness of the Organization. n the next phase the Manager should perceive the environment outside the organization and assess correctly the opportunities it provides and the challenges it poses. Planning involves selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve them. It also consists of policies, procedures, methods, budgets, strategy and programmes that are needed to achieve the goals set. Decision-making is the most important and integral part of planning

Non-invasive Strategy for Isolating Cancer Cells

Non-invasive Strategy for Isolating Cancer Cells Here, we report non-invasive strategy for isolating cancer cells by autonomously propelled carbon nanotube (CNT) microrockets. H2O2-driven oxygen (O2) bubble-propelled microrockets were synthesized using CNT and Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the inner surface and covalently conjugating transferrin on the outer surface. Results show that self-propellant microrockets can specifically capture cancer cells. Self-propelled micro-motors have paved the way to exciting applications in biomedical field such as delivering drugs,[1] nanoscale transport and assembly,[2] motion-based biosensing disease markers and microrobotics.[3] The usage of such micromachines to transport diverse payloads is one of the next prospects for nanomotor development.[4-6] Particularly chemically powered micro-/nanomotors based on different chemical compositions and structures, that are capable of moving autonomously in the presence of hydrogen peroxide fuel are being given emphasis.[2,3,7,8] Among these, self-propelled microshuttle is lucrative for practical biomedical applications.[2-7]. Especially, fabrication of nano and micropropellant systems featuring specific cell recognitions in shortest time frame is highly anticipated and yet challenging. We report for the first time a chemically-powered CNT based magnetic micromachine for isolating and transporting cancer cells. Described microrocket technology could find a potential application as a bio-analytical micromachine for selective and rapid isolation of circulating cancer cells (CTCs). Detecting CTCs is a challenge due to the extremely low occurrence (10-100 per milliliter of blood) of CTCs among a large number of hematologic cells in the blood (109 mL-1).[10,11] Several strategies, involving immunomagnetic beads or microfluidic devices, have been designed for isolating and accounting CTCs from blood.[12-14] However, most of these approaches are limited by their slow rate and low CTC-capture yield.[13,14] Currently, only one technology is available commercially (CellSearch ®) to identify CTCs from the blood of cancer patients.[9] We recently reported rapid and specific isolation of CTC based on magneto-dendritic nanosystem [12] Here we show the preparation of bio-functionalized microrockets and their application for rapid isolation of cancer cells. Microrocket system consists of three functional components: (i) CNT, (ii) iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles for magnetic isolation, and (iii) Tf ligand (Tf) for specific targeting. Fe3O4 nanoparticles were loaded in the inner surface of CNTs as described previously with some modifications.[15] The unique advantages of the microrocket platform are: i) low density of microparticles ii) instantaneous propellant motion of microparticles (downward and upward) with an ability to ‘strike’ cancer cells in its path, iii) rapid capture (~5 min) of TfR-overexpressing (TfR+)cancer cells at the clinically relevant concentrations (approximately 1 CTC per 105 blood cells), iv) specific targeting ability due to presence of Tf ligand, which is generally used to capture cancer cells overexpressing TfR on their membranes, v) magnetic isolation of the captured cells owing to the presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and (v) large surface area and internal volume allows multiple components to be loaded onto the nanotube. We followed a multi-step process (Figure 1A) to synthesize the Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 platform. Figure 1A displays the TEM image of Fe3O4-CNTs. We observed that Fe3O4 particles deposited inside CNT had a uniform size of ~ 6 nm (see supporting information; Figure S1). Moreover, the image indicates the successful assembly of the Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the nanotubes with 4~8 nm i.d.Coupling of Tf on CNT-Fe3O4 composite was confirmed by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy (see supporting information; Figure S2). Further, Tf attachment quantified by a modified Bradford procedure was found to be ~ 0.2 mg of Tf per g of CNT-Fe3O4. The magnetic property of Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 particles was also visually evaluated in aqueous medium by placing it next to a permanent magnet (see supporting information; Figure S3). Figure 1B illustrates the self-propulsion of suspended Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microparticles mimicking microrocket in a solution containing H2O2. Microrockets initially propelled instantaneously towards the bottom of the tube and gradually reverted direction upwards. We noticed that the speed of the Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket was strongly dependent on the H2O2 concentration (Figure S4). As expected, the microrockets display highest speed at the maximum H2O2 (8%) concentration tested in aqueous solution. The upward directional speed of the microrockets decreases gradually from 0.90 mm†¢s-1 (at 8%) to 0.68 mm †¢ s-1 (at 4%), and subsequently to 0.56 mm †¢ s-1 (at 1%) per unit area of the particles. We hypothesize that microrocket motion is influenced by the surrounding H2O2 concentration as it affects the rate of the Fe3+ reduction to Fe2+. Notably such chemically powered micromotors are commonly incompatible with the high ionic strength environment of biological fluids and extending the scope of such microrockets to physiological conditions is a key challenge. So we studied the ability of our microrockets to propel in biological fluid such as Dulbaco’s modified eagle medium (DMEM) cell media. Interestingly, the microrockets were found to propel efficiently even in DMEM containing 4% of H2O2. Figure 1B shows images of the microrocket at different vertical positions during its motion for a complete cycle. Initially, it was observed that microrockets, of smaller dimension, floated at the meniscus due to the low density and attached O2 bubbles, formed by Fe3O4 nanoparticle catalyzed decomposition of H2O2. Once the smaller bubbles dispersed, a downward movement was observed (Figure 1B) due to the gravitational force. In the meantime, more O2 bubbles formed and adhered to the Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 particle and in few seconds, the adhered O2 bubble grew larger by coalescence of several smaller bubbles. Eventually the total volume of the bubble was sufficiently high, so that the buoyancy force balanced the gravitational and viscous forces and the microrocket moved upward (Figure 1B).[16,17] Figure 2A shows the tracking trajectory of a microrocket in cell media, indicating a vertical motion. It is noted that the microrocket moved with high average speed of 0.38 mm †¢ s-1 in the downward direction and 0.62 mm †¢ s-1 in the upward movement per unit area of the particle (about 12 and 16 times its body length per second). This corresponds to a large driving force of over 231 and 300 pN, based on the drag force F=6πΠ¼rv, where v is the speed, and ÃŽ ¼ is the viscosity of the medium and r is the radius of the microrocket. Further, when the concentration of H2O2 in cell media was varied there was notable effect on the speed as shown in Figure 2B. The speed of the microrocket at 8% H2O2 concentration was ~1.9 and~1.4 times higher in the downward and upward direction than at 1% of H2O2 concentration. Also, the number of times the microrocket moved up and down changed. At high H2O2 concentration (8%) the total distance moved by the microrocket was ~2 times more than that at lower concentration (1%) (Figure S5 and S6). Moreover, it was also revealed that the speed of the microrockets was only slightly affected in DMEM. The speed of the microrocket was 10% less in DMEM cell media compared to aqueous media containing 4% H2O2. Partial blocking of Fe3O4 surface by adsorbed proteins and increased solution viscosity may be respon sible for this moderated speed. We validated the application of microrockets for selective and rapid isolation of cancer cells from a heterogeneous population by separating HCT116 cells from an artificial CTC suspension. We placed cell suspension in DMEM at the concentration of (1 x 106 cells mL-1) containing 4% H2O2. Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrockets were incubated in cell suspension for 5 min to target and isolate the HCT116 cells. We envisioned that Tf-functionalized microrockets could strike and selectively bind suspended HCT116 cells through the TfRs and finally transport them at the top of the tube from where they can be retrieved. Figure 3A illustrates the pick-up and transport of a cancer cell by a microrocket. On the other hand, Figure 3B shows cancer-cell-loaded microrocket. The force necessary for moving a relatively large (~16 mm) cancer cell is considerably high. The minimum force necessary for transporting such large cells at one body length per second in DMEM estimated from Stokes’ law is 1.88 pN. The high speed of the microrocket is slightly affected by the cell loading (e.g., decreasing from 0.62 to 0.50 mm†¢s-1 in cell media), reflecting its high towing force. We observed that Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrockets can efficiently pick-up and transport HCT116 cancer cells. We observed rapid action and selective targetability of Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket in capturing cells from a suspension. It also confirmed that the isolated cells remained normal for ~30 min and could be used for further studies (see supporting information; Figure S7). In addition, the HCT116 cell viability was also evaluated in DMEM containing 4% H2O2 after 1 hour. The study showed majority of the cells (78%) remained viable (Figure S7). Furthermore, in order to confirm that the specific interaction of Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket with TfR+ cells (such as, HCT116) is because of Tf, we used CNT- Fe3O4 microrocketwithout Tf to capture TfR+ cells (as a negative control). We found that no cells were attached to the CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket even after 5 min incubation. Hence, experiments with HCT116 confirm that after 5 min incubation, there is very little non-specific interaction of cells with the Tf-CNT-Fe3O4microrocket. In addition, to evaluate the effect of self propulsion of Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket on HCT116 capture, Tf-CNT (without Fe3O4) was used. It was found that Tf-CNT could capture only ~ 22% HCT116 cells (see supporting information; Figure S8). The study shows that self-propulsion of Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket plays a significant role in cell capture and isolation. Our final goal was to quantify the capture efficiency of microrocket while targeting cancer cells from an artificial CTC suspension. We spiked human peripheral blood mononuclear (hPBMC) cells with TfR+ GFP-labeled HCT116 cells in various hPBMC: HCT116 ratios (e.g. 1 x 103:1, 1 x 104:1 and 1 x 105:1). Cell suspensions of different ratios were incubated with Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 microrocket for 5 min prior to magnetic isolation. Following isolation, both the captured and the residual cell suspensions were imaged to estimate the number of captured and uncaptured HCT116-GFP cells in each sample. Assuming the number of captured HCT116-GFP cells to be NC, the number of uncaptured HCT116-GFP cells to be NU and following the method of Zheng et al, the capture efficiency (C.E.) for each dilution was estimated as:[18 (1) Figure 4A shows image of captured cells (green) attached to the Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 particles (black). As expected, Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 particles are seen to aggregate following magnetic separation. Figure 4B shows an image of the residual cell suspension containing hPBMC cells and, in this particular case, a single uncaptured HCT116-GFP cell is seen (shown in red circle). Figure 4C shows a plot of recovered vs. spiked HCT116 cells. The % of recovered HCT116 cells for the clinically relevant range of HCT116:hPBMC ratios (1:1 x 104 to 1:1 x 105) are highlighted separately in the histogram of Figure 4D. Cell capture studies confirmed that Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 particles can successfully capture ~ 85% of the cancer cells within 5 min from a background of hPBMNCs even when the abundance of cancer cells is as low as ~0.001% of total number of cells. Experimental Section Preparation of CNT-Fe3O4 microparticle: Purification and oxidation of CNT were carried out using a previously described literature procedure.[18] Oxidized CNTs (AO-CNT) were then mixed with ethylene glycol and water. FeCl3â‹…6H2O and FeCl2â‹…4H2O were added to the mixture and sonicated for 2 h, followed by vigorous stirring for 4 h. The pH was adjusted to ~10 using NH4OH. The resulting CNT-Fe3O4 microparticles were isolated by magnetic separation, washed with distilled water and dried overnight under vacuum. Conjugation of Tf with CNT-Fe3O4: 2 mg of Tf was dissolved in 2 mL of D.I. water and 1.0 mg of the CNT-Fe3O4 was added to it. EDC.HCl was added to this reaction mixture (adding the same number of moles of EDC.HCl as Tf) and constantly stirred at room temperature for 4 h. The reaction time was limited to 4 h to avoid any possible intramolecular cross linking. Resulting Tf conjugated CNT-Fe3O4 microparticles were isolated by magnetic separation and dried at room temperature under vacuum. Tf-CNT-Fe3O4-cell imaging: HCT116-GFP cells were plated at a density of 2 x 105 mL-1 on glass coverslips in 35 mm culture dishes. After 24 h, HCT116 cells in 1 mL DMEM were treated with 500  µg mL-1 of Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 in a NMR tube for 5 min and then subjected to magnetic field separation. The cell pellet obtained after a minute in the strong magnetic field was removed from the remaining cell suspension (containing uncaptured cancer cells). The captured cell pellet and the residual cell suspension was imaged by a Zeiss microscope (Zeiss, Observer.Z1) fitted with a 20 Ãâ€" objective using both bright field and fluorescence channels and the number of cells were counted using ImageJ plugin.[19 Estimation of capture efficiency from artificial CTC suspension: Artificial CTC samples were prepared by spiking hPBMCs with GFP-labeled HCT116 cells at specific ratios (1:103-1:105 for HCT116:hPBMC respectively). 500  µg mL-1 Tf-CNT-Fe3O4 was added to the 1 mL of artificial CTC mixture incubated for 5 min and then subjected to magnetic field separation. The cell pellet obtained after a minute in the strong magnetic field was removed from the remaining cell suspension (containing hPBMCs and uncaptured cancer cells). The captured cell pellet and the residual cell suspension was imaged and the number of HCT116 cells were counted using ImageJ cell counter plugin.[19 Motion parameters, cell culture, isolation of human hPBMC and characterization are included in the supporting information. Conclusions We demonstrated a novel CNT based microrocket that propels efficiently by the thrust of O2 bubbles. The new self-propelled microrockets display ultrafast propulsion in aqueous solution as well as in DMEM. The microrocket displayed a driving force of over 231 and 300 pN in DMEM containing 4% H2O2. The speed and the distance travelled by the microrocket can be manipulated by changing the H2O2 concentration. The designed multifunctional microrocket has the ability to (i) rapidly target (~5 min) and efficiently capture (~85%) TfR+ cancer cells from an artificial CTC-like suspension, (ii) magnetic isolation of the captured cells from peripheral blood cells and (iii) subsequent high resolution imaging. We envision that such self-powered micromotors may provide a new and unique approach for rapid and efficient extraction of CTCs from biological fluids and hence for the early diagnosis of cancer and its recurrence.

Royal Dutch Shell Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Royal Dutch Shell Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) The Corporate plays a vital role in economic development of the country and these corporate involves in various activities for their sustainability in the business environment. In this globalization era business organizations finds the greatest challenge in managing the stakeholders demands, which results in complex in the competitive market. So, here the corporate takes up social responsibility as a commitment and engage themselves in the society development. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a commitment by the business organizations in improving the society through their business activities and its contribution in community development. CSR is an effective tool which needs to be implemented in the organizations for their sustainable growth and development of societal objectives. This report addresses the socially responsible business of two multinational organizations high income and emerging economies group. Here, Royal Dutch Shell is chosen in high-income and Tata Steel in emerging economies group of multinational organizations. Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in Dutch, which involves in production of oil and Shell Transport and Trading Company in British, which involves in transportation of oil, merged their operations in 1907 and later it is named as Royal Dutch Shell. Shell is a multinational petroleum company and its headquarters locates in The Hague, Netherlands. Their business involves in production and marketing of petroleum and natural gas. They operate in more than one hundred countries with 45,000 service stations worldwide. They produce 2% of worlds oil and 3% of worlds gas. Shell is worlds largest corporation and its ranks one by Fortune 500 in 2009 (Shell, 2009). TATA Group, the largest multinational group founded in 1868 and based in Mumbai, I ndia. Initially the trading company was established by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata involving in Opium business. Later, the group expanded by JRD Tata by establishment of Tata Steel, Tata chemicals, Tata Motors, Tata Industries etc. According to 2009 annual survey by Reputation Institute, Tata Group is ranked has 11th most reputable group in the global (Tata, 2009). Tata Steel pervious known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) founded in 1907. Tata steel one among top ten steel producers in the world. With their recent acquisition of Corus, Millennium steel and NatSteel, Tata steel has established its business network across the global like South East Asia, Europe and Pacific-Rim. Tata Steel has net sales revenue of USD 33 billion with employee strength of 82700 by year 2008 (Tata Steel, 2009). This report firstly briefs on companies commitments on society from stakeholders viewpoint with a stakeholder saliency model to identify them. Secondly on companys approach and initia tives towards social responsibilities and finally those approaches and initiatives by companies are analyzed and compared on different viewpoints. Stakeholder Identification Stakeholders are a person, group, or organization who is directly or indirectly involves in an organizations actions, policies, and behavior. Shareholders, customers, creditors, government, suppliers, employees, directors, owners, and society are the key stakeholders in a business organization. All stakeholders are not equally same; each stakeholder is entitled to different concerns. In order to analyze an organizations social engagement from stakeholders perspective, it is necessary to identity the applicable stakeholder group. Several approaches and attempts are made to identify different stakeholders relevant for a company. Later Mitchell, Agle, and Wood made up with definition in identifying the stakeholder group by developing Stakeholder Salience Model, which propose the vital of stakeholder group based on its salience. They argued that the stakeholder who has high degree of salience will play the vital role in controlling the corporate behavior. They argued stakeholder salience model identifies the stakeholder group by three attributes, namely Power, Legitimacy and Urgency (1997). This concept of three attributes is used to categories seven stakeholders and one non-stakeholder. 1. Dormant 2. Discretionary 3. Demanding 4. Dominant 5. Dangerous 6. Dependent 7. Definitive 8. Non-Stakeholder With this Stakeholder Salience Model the different types of stakeholders are identified and measure their corporate social responsibility activities of two multinational organizations (Royal Dutch Shell and Tata Group). Here, we briefly consider what organizations activities in social responsibility and the changes made to accommodate these CSR initiatives. The following fig1.2 describes on different stakeholder of shell according to stakeholder salience model. Shell associate with general business principle, as business principle shell contributes to sustainable development. Their business principle is to protect the shareholders investment and give them the long-term returns compared with others leading firms in the industry. So, shareholders are identified as definitive stakeholder of shell. Here, dormant stakeholders are the host government, as shell establishment in a country with support of government. For example Shell in Nigeria worked closely with government to help realize the Nigerias energy potential and support for society development. With help of Nigerian government shell expanded their business and energy sector in Nigeria. Non-Government organizations are found to be dangerous stakeholder, who has the power and urgency. Shell had a negative impact in 1995 after its announced to sink the Brent Spar in the Atlantic Ocean, NGOs like Greenpeace and media started campaign against shell with support of local people and government for environmental disputes. These initiatives by Greenpeace made many people in Europe countries to boycott shell products and they were successful in influence. Employees are identified as discretionary stakeholder of the organization by encourages them in social performance. Institutions are dependent stakeholder, shell as a leading corporation in the global involves in decision making policies of institution which impacts on society. Local communities are found to be demanding stakeholder, where they need urgency in the environmental issues. For example shell operates in Schoonebeek has stopped their operation in 1996, where it not made any economic sense in extraction of oil, the plant was closed consulting with local community and framework with new project in 2003 after the approval of local communities. Tata Steels Stakeholder Saliency Model The above Fig1.3 shows the stakeholder salience model of Tata steel, which is used to identify the different stakeholders of Tata Steel. Shareholders are the distinctive stakeholders who actively take part in all important meeting on social investments and business ethics. They have the power in decision making on corporate governance which will benefit both the company and society. Employees are identified as discretionary stakeholders; where the employee are encourage to take part in community initiatives through employee involvement planning and volunteering programme like disaster relief. Government is found has dominant stakeholder, who has power and legitimate. Tata steel had joined hands with government by taking part in collaborative initiatives on public policy development. They work together on environmental impacts. Local community are identified has demanding stakeholders, where Tata steel had taken number measures on social responsibility. They are mainly focused on sust ainable livelihood, health, education, empowering youth and environment. Even feedback on business performance and impacts are taken from local communities. So, the company can come with new initiatives and development for community. Stakeholder differences between Shell and Tata Steel According to Stakeholder Salience Model, the stakeholder groups are classified into three categories namely Latent Stakeholders or Low salient classes (dormant, discretionary demanding), Expectant Stakeholder or Moderately salient classes (dominant, dangerous, dependant) and Highly Salient Stakeholder (definitive) (Friedman, 2006, p94). It is observed from stakeholder salience model of Shell and Tata steel, Shell is forced by expectant stakeholders like Greenpeace in social responsibility. Most of the social responsibilities of Shell are found in places where they bad experience and negative impacts by the society. This show their business motto and against their business principle. Whereas Tata steel are more focused on social responsible of local communities. The company helps the community in their day to day activities and joined collaboration with government in new initiatives and society development. Here, the latent stakeholder (Financial Community) reviews their business performance and ethical behavior on society. Tata steel is more focused on Latent stakeholder compared with other stakeholders. Shell Societal Approach and Initiatives: Shells mission is to achieve its social responsibility to stakeholders and provide them with high quality product and service. Shell stands with General Business Principle, which contributes to their sustainable development. The company finds the major responsibilities has to protect the shareholders investment, provide a quality product and safety environment to customer, provide a safe and good working condition to their employee, valuable relationship with suppliers and partners, and finally secure environment to the society (Shell, 2009). The following are the systematic approach of Shell in social responsibility: Impact assessments Social performance plans and reviews Social performance professionals Local employment Social investment Impact Assessment Impact assessments are done at initial stage of new project; the assessment done on environment, social and health impact and consult with local communities. Where the environmental and social impacts are identified and measures are taken according to reduce the negative impact to the local community. Social Performance Plans and Review The chemical facilities and refineries of shell have major impacts on community, so they have social performance plans and review. These plans have information on impact assessment, surveys of local community and communication of local stakeholders. On working with local stakeholder, the plan will be executed to reduce the disputes on society and improve the benefits. These plans are reviewed every four years by shell and information is shared on key social impacts across their operations. Social Performance Professionals Social performance management unit is support the people in risk, where shell had the concept of buying and hiring locally. The company used local supplier and contractors, and hired local employee to create benefits and trust. This made more employment in the local communities and provides more opportunities to local people and businesses. Even government gets benefited by these responsibilities. Social Investment Society and local communities are benefited by Shells social investment programmes. They support the community by number of social responsible initiatives like education, health, community development, environmental issues and infrastructure development. They also join with NGO like Living Earth Foundation for community development. Shells CSR initiatives are achieved through Social Investment Programmes across the global. They have Shell Livewire, which helps and encourage the young crowd to start their own business. This programme is conducted in 24 countries across the global and in this programme the young entrepreneurs are awarded for the best business approach. Shell centenary scholarship programmes helps the students in providing scholarship to postgraduate studies and those students are send to UK for their studies. Along with government and NGOs, shell helps society in road safety measures by their Global Road Safety Partnership programme. Shell has HIV/AIDS programme to prevent their employee and their dependents from the diseases. They participate with other organization and government to fight against HIV/AIDS. Shell Foundation is a self-governing charitable trust started in 2000 with contribution of $250 million from the company. Shell Foundation is mainly focused on community welfare and environmen t impacts. To save the livelihood of the local community in oil and gas field, shell had Resettlement Action Plan in china. Shell Petroleum Development Company in Nigeria has spent $4.5 million for community development (Shell, 2009). Tata Steel Societal Approach and Initiatives: Tata Steel approach towards sustainability is considering the triple bottom line economic, environmental and social performance in business activities. They believe the sustainable development is depends on improving the quality of life of its employees and communities it serves (Tata Steel, 2009). The following are social responsible activities of Tata Steel Stimulating of Economic growth Environment Healthcare Initiatives Education Culture Empowering of women Stimulating of Economic Growth Society had indirect economic impact on community infrastructure development. The company announced Rs.1 billion for implement social responsibility programmes in tribal communities of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The involves in infrastructure development projects like municipal service to one million people in Jamshedpur Township by providing basic necessity like electricity, water, road and transport facilities. They engage in infrastructure development in building schools and colleges, sports facilities like international stadium. By these initiatives by company will increase the economic growth of the society. Environment Tata Steel targeting towards reduction of Co2 emission and provide safety environment to the society. The company committed with healthy and safety working environment by implement Environment Management System. Tata Steel Rural Development Society encourages the local community in planting saplings and safeguards the forest. Nearly 250 hectares of wasteland had been reclaimed by planting saplings in 2008. Several measures are taken to control the water pollution and provide safe drinking water after proper treatment. Number of wells and tube wells are constructed for local community. They have separate environment cell to monitor the environmental and pollution control activities. Healthcare Tata steel implemented number of healthcare initiatives to its employees and the society. The company employees are benefited by free medical facilities even after their retirement. The company operates more than 46 free mobile clinics in Jamshedpur and runs Life Line Express medical clinic to the remote places in Jharkhand and Orissa. They organise free blood donate camp, eye camp and provide free medical equipments and beds to hospitals. They conduct a HIV/AIDS awareness programmes to the employees, suppliers and local community. Education Culture The company runs six schools and one college in Jamshedpur. In Thailand through Grow Smart with Tata Steel programme underprivileged children in remote places are provided with learning facilities. In Singapore the company offers scholarship to poor and disabled children. Tata steel constructed a Tribal Culture Centre to enrich culture heritage among the local community. What is the level of engagement does companies maintained in these initiatives? Whether these approaches and initiatives by companies benefited society? Shell has invested nearly $148 million in society development during the year 2008 (Shell, 2009). Shell in Nigeria has made great difference in people live and work by contributing to social responsibility initiatives like health, safety, and education (Idowu and Filho, 2009, p402). But shell image got damaged in Ogoni, where shell has failed to deliver the benefits and rights, like employment, education and clean environment to the Ogoni (Boele, 2001). Ogonis voice, we would be better off today if Shell had never come and taken one drop of oil (Boele, 2001). Shell pointed that it is the Nigerian government who has failed to deliver the right to Ogoni people (Boele, 2001). Shell has been charged for its human rights abuses in Nigeria and they agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle the lawsuits against the executions of protesters, polluting air and water in Nigeria (BCC News, 2009). Though shell spends million dollars in community development resurrecting their public image is a big challenge. For Tata Steel, CSR is not new they are involved in society activities from the established of the company. Tata Steel Ltd was awarded with Golden Peacock Global Award for CSR, in improving the quality of life of their employees, local communities and the society (Business Standard, 2009). According to survey conducted by The Nielsen, global consultancy firm, Tata steel is identified has most admired company by stakeholders for their society development initiatives (The Economic Times, 2009). They participate in international partnership like UN Global compact, where they encourage other organization to learn their initiatives and to create positive impacts for local communities (Tata Steel, 2008). The company continuously engaged in various CSR activities for society welfare and community development, this shows their significant growth in those initiatives. Classification and Analysis of CSR Activities In this section CSR activities of Shell and Tata Steel are classified and analyzed using Ponte et al typology. Here, CSR activity matrix by location and type are viewed from business perspective. Shell CSR Initiatives CSR Awards Disengaged/Engaged CSR Profile Proximate/Distant CSR Profile The Emirates Businesswomen Award Disengaged Encourage Businesswomen in strategic development of UAE Distant Social Reporting Awards Engaged Corporate communications campaign Distant Health Safety Environment Contractor Award Engaged Encourage supplier and contractor for safety operation Proximate Worldaware Award for Sustainable Development Disengaged Socially, economically and environmentally development in a community. Proximate Lawrie Group Award for Social Progress Disengaged Free Education facilities Proximate Awards from Malaysia Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH) Engaged Occupational Safety for their employee. Proximate Engaged Practice of Code of Business Conduct for their employee, suppliers and contractors. Proximate Disengaged Philanthropic activities through Shell Foundation. Distant The above table shows shell CSR initiatives in a form of engaged proximate, an indication of strategic initiatives which meets the company benefits. Disengaged distant indicates the philanthropic initiatives by the company. The following shows Tata Steel CSR initiatives, Tata Steel CSR Initiatives CSR Awards Disengaged/Engaged CSR Profile Proximate/Distant CSR Profile National Energy Conservation Award Engaged Reduced Energy Consumption Proximate Global Business Coalition Award Disengaged HIV/AIDS education and awareness programme. Proximate Greentech Safety Award Engaged Safety Management in Metal and Mining Operation Proximate Singapore Health Award Engaged Helping Employee to lead healthy and vibrant lives. Proximate 5th Asia Water Management Excellence Award Disengaged Helping the water management industry Distant Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industrys (FICCI) Award Disengaged Philanthropic activities through Tata Steel Rural Development Society Proximate Golden Peacock Award for CSR and Excellence in Corporate Governance Disengaged For improving quality life of employee and their families Proximate Excellence in Manufacture Award for Tata Steel, Thailand Engaged Environment and safety management in their operation Proximate Engaged Supplier Guiding Principles Distant Dr Jamshed J Irani Award for Excellence in Education Disengaged Providing quality education in schools of Jamshedpur. Proximate Compare to shell, Tata steel engaged more in philanthropic activities for social welfare and development. Impacts on Business Approach Lantos argues that CSR has three components ethical, altruistic and strategic which every organization must practice (Crowther, 2005). When a government fails, the managers have to be prepared to take up the slack to do good for society and business. Shell follows their business commitment in General Business Principle and code of conduct. Though Shell fails in Ogoni, it has taken significant measures to re-orientate their business principle to encourage more accountable and dynamic set of relationships with stakeholder and by doing this, it can recapture the position in Ogoni (Boele, 2001). Shell engaged in several philanthropic activities in Nigeria through Shell Foundation. From Ponte et al typology analysis it shows majority of shell CSR investments are Engaged-Proximate initiatives. Most of the Shell CSR initiatives are found in Nigeria and Ogoni, where they reputation was damaged. This clearly indicates shells business motto. Shell spends only tiny amount from their profit towa rds community development, whereas they earns around $ 400 billion from oil production in Nigeria (BBC News, 2004). Even Tata steel has undergone some social challenge; for example Tata Steel was protested by people in sathankulam, Tamil Nadu. They decided to acquire 1000 acres of land in sathankulam for their ilmenite mining operation, which will may result in relocate thousands of local farmers and cause huge damage to environment. In spite of these many threats, Tata Steel had signed the MOU with Tamil Nadu government in 2007, which is still in dispute (Sanhati, 2007). However, compare to shell, Tata steel engaged more in philanthropic activities for community development. Tata Steel partnership with UN Global Compact has increased their publicity and reputation. Tata Steel encourages other organization to learn their activities in society development. All these CSR initiatives by the company have increased their business and brand image. Conclusion The report has focused on stakeholder identification of Shell and Tata Steel and their CSR approaches and initiatives. From the analysis is found both Shell and Tata steel are contributed more to the society welfare. However, shells role in the environmental and social impacts in Ogoni cannot easily carry away. Shell spoiled its brand image in issues like Brent Spar, environment pollution, oil spilling, discharge of production waste, and gas flare in Africa. All these activities made the world to look at shells business behavior towards society. Though shells CSR approach and initiatives sounds best across the global, but they have failed to fulfill real thirst of Ogoni community. This reveals that shell is more focused on business rather than society. All those CSR initiatives by shell are assumed as their business promotion and profit motive. When we look at Tata Steel, the company has fulfilled all the stakeholders through their corporate governance and sustainability development. They are more focused on community welfare and development. Even though Tata Steel is emerging company compare to shell, shell has learn a lot from them to fulfill all its stakeholders.

Theres One In Every Group :: essays research papers

There's one in every Group As time passes many of us will experience an array of trials and tribulations. As we go on our many journeys though out life you’ll find that you have to be strong to make it though hard times. During Elaine’s adolescence’s she is abused physically and mentally by her peers, but later gains self-confidence. Many people may find the novel Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood to be very disturbing at certain times in the book. When we are first introduced to Elaine, we learn that she is a shy, young girl that doesn't have friends, all she had was her brother Stephen and her Parents. The war has just ended, and Elaine and her family have finally got a house to call there own. The only thing that Elaine is unhappy about is that she has no friends. But that would soon change. Elaine meets 3 girls from he neighborhood Grace, Cordelia, and Carol, and these are the three girls that would change Elaine's life forever. As the friendship between the 4 girls gets older, we begin to see a change. Cordelia slowly begins to take charge of the group, becoming the ringleader. " Don't do it like that or Cordelia will punish you" is the attitude that you begin to get. As time carries on in the book we see that Elaine is the one that is always getting singled out, the one that is always being picked on. The 4 girls decided to put on a play, Elaine plays the headless Mary Queen of Scots, Cordelia has been digging the hole for a while, and has collected boards to cover the hole with. "They pick me up by my the underarms and the feet and lower me in into the hole. They arrange the boards over the top. The daylight air disappears, and there's the sound of dirt hitting the boards†¦ Up above outside I can here their voices, and then I can't here them. I lie there wondering when it will be time to come out. Nothing happens. When I was put into the hole I new it was a game; now I know it is not one." Here were we see the Physical abuse, just one of the many harsh incidents that takes place in Elaine's Childhood. As time carries on in the book we notice that the relationship between the girls has changed a great deal.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - The Character of Scout :: Kill Mockingbird essays

In this essay you will be informed about Jean Louise Finch, or other-wise known as Scout, after reading this essay you will understand about her physical description, conflicts, courage, and emotional moments discussed in the book , 'To Kill A Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee. Scout is just a straight, plain tom-boy.   She wears dirty overalls, very scruffy, has bangs and, like most tom-boys, hates to wear dresses.   That was just to tell a little about her physically you will find more about her behaviour while reading the following paragraphs. There are moments in this book that show conflict between Scout and other characters.   An example of a conflict is between Scout and Cecil Jacob, a class-mate.   This conflict is about her father, Atticus, Cecil said that Atticus was a nigger-lover.   The same conflict came up again but this time it was between Scout and Francis, her cousin, about her dad, Atticus, being a nigger-lover, this conflict started on page 83-86.   A part of this is below (page 86): '"What did Francis call him[Atticus]?". "A nigger-lover...."' One other conflict was with an old lady, Mrs. Dubose, this conflict was started by Mrs. Dubose, she had started this problem because she was being snappy at Scout for no reason, Scout hated her, this hate is shown on page 99.   It is stated below: '"Jem and I hated her[Mrs. Dubose]."' So after Scout had found out Mrs. Dubose's reason for be snappy all the time, the reason was she was sick and on the drug Morphine. Scout is an extremely courageous character too.   Since I've told you about the Cecil Jacobs' conflict you might be thinking, "What a JERK!!"   Scout does too and wants to make him eat a knuckle-sandwich!   The amazing and courageous part is that she has never turned down a fight in her life but now she does because Atticus had said for her not to listen and most importantly of all not to fight back.   So she is not fighting back because of her love for Atticus but taking the blow, as in letting them call her and her father names.   I call this being a courageous human-being.   This drama is shown on pages 75-77.   I have taken an example from pages 76-77: '"You gonna take that back, boy[Cecil Jacobs]?" '"You gotta make me first!" .... "My parents say...."   I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, "Scout's a coward!" ringing in my ears.

Beowulf Vs. Grendel :: essays research papers

Grendal, a descendant of Cain, is one of the main antagonist of the poem Beowulf. He lives under an inherited curse and is denied God’s presence. Throughout the story Grendal causes enormous grief and fear to the people of Herot. After so much pain and agony the king of Herot, Hrothgar, sends for the protagonist of the poem, Beowulf. He is a Geat and the epic hero of the poem. The wide variety of distinctions between Grendal and Beowulf is what develops the climax of the composition. Beowulf kills Grendal, so he is honored by the people of Herot for his heroic act. Since Grendal and Beowulf play opposite roles in the poem, Beowulf, they let the reader know how contrasting characters can develop the plot of the story. Grendal is known as a monster and portrays one of the many villains in the poem. He is referred to as the "guardian of his sins". Grendal depicts a heathen the physical image of man estranged from God. Basically, Grendal reflects a physical monster, an ogre who is hostile to humanity. Grendal’s constant visits to Hrothgar’s mead hall for bloody feasts made him feel powerful over God’s humanity. Unfortunately, the night Beowulf lies in wait for him, he assumes that his bloody feasts will continue and Grendal gives no attention to his method of attack. Grendal is then killed. Beowulf, the heroic figure in the poem, is known throughout the land as a courageous man who performs great deeds of valor. He is a Geat, who later becomes the king of the Geats. Beowulf’s strength seems to be a gift from God. As a noble and kind man, Beowulf comes to Herot to save them from God’s foe. Before Beowulf initiates battle with Grendal he exhibits a sense of fairness in not using a weapon against the monster. This demonstrates a great difference between the two characters. Had Beowulf’s attack not been unexpected, Grendal surely would have used a weapon. Beowulf’s defeat against Grendal sets one of the first stepping stones to his long legacy of heroic deeds. Both of these characters remain static throughout the poem. Beowulf portrays the heroic figure who saves everyone, while Grendal always remains evil with bad intentions. Grendal attacks mead hall because of jealousy. Grendal envies the fellowship and happiness he observes. He dislikes living in the outer world, excluded from the company of men; thus he stalks the moors, jealous of the pleasures of mankind.

Two Views of the Mississippi

Two Views of the Mississippi Before beginning his vocation of being an author Samuel Clemens better known by his pen name Mark Twain, fulfilled his one lasting childhood ambition of becoming a steamboat pilot. Twain writes about his journey on the river in his autobiographical book Life on the Mississippi where in one section he talks about how one thing he would have to do is learn to distinguish the two views of the Mississippi, the beauty of the river and the navigational aspect of the river.I believe that one of the main messages is that even though you may love something, as time goes on you lose the beauty and innocence you had one seen in it. He describes this message through the use of figurative language and well placed rhetoric as he juxtaposes the ideas of the beauty and practicality of the Mississippi River. Mark Twain begins the first section of this excerpt with the statement that he â€Å"had mastered the language of this water†, which in all reality is actually a hyperbole, or an exaggeration, because nothing, ranging anywhere from breathing to performing a surgery, is ever truly able to be perfected or mastered.He uses this hyperbole at the beginning of this section to show how advanced he was in the knowledge of the river in that part of time. Twain then move on to use an oxymoron to describe the features of the river that he had â€Å"mastered† as â€Å"trifling†, or unimportant, saying that he knew every â€Å"trifling feature† along the river as he â€Å"knew the letters of the alphabet† with this he is saying that he knew all of these features of the river very well and to him they seemed irrelevant and saying he made a â€Å"valuable acquisition†.He uses this language to show us that all of the things along the river that he deals with everyday are irrelevant and unneeded. At the end of this section Twain juxtaposes this statement completely by calling all of these features â€Å"useful. † This language works because it creates a paradox with what he had previously said to show. This paradox shows that even though he may have said that this language is unimportant he actually does find it useful and needed in being a steamboat pilot.Twain carries on to say that he had lost something also, saying all of the beauty that he had once seen in the river was all gone except for one â€Å"wonderful† sunset that he experienced when he was new to steamboating. He describes the sunset with a metaphor saying â€Å"a broad expanse of the river was turned to blood† saying that the river is actually blood; this also personifies the river giving the river the human characteristic of having blood. Whereas later in the section Twain juxtaposes and begins the next bigger paradox with this by saying later in the piece that all the sun meant was that they were going to have wind the next day.Twain then describes the color of the water saying â€Å"in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold. † He also talks about the other memorable sights that he saw on the Mississippi that night such as a log floating by and how in one place the water was smooth and there was a â€Å"slant mark lay sparkling across the water† and in another the â€Å"surface was broken by boiling tumbling rings that were as many-tinted as an opal. † Mark Twain uses a simile to describe the way that the sunset made a tree on the shore look by comparing to a glowing flame saying that â€Å"a single leafy bough glowed like a flame. He uses other romantic words to describe the condition of the water and the surroundings such as â€Å"delicately traced† and â€Å"graceful curves and that the lights of the sunset were covering his surroundings â€Å"with new marvels of colors. † The reason that Twain uses all of this figurative language and tools of figurative language is to in essence describe the beauty he saw that night in a way that it w ould paint in picture in the mind of the audience.He then goes on to juxtapose all of these previous features that he witnessed during the subject by describing that all that the â€Å"floating log means the river is rising† and that â€Å"slanting mark refers to a bluff reef† that could â€Å"kill somebody’s steamboat† and he continues to explain that all of the other sights he saw that night of the sunset were simply just nautical phenomena that he must watch out for to keep the steamboat out of danger.. All of these sights and contradictions that he made conclude the large paradox that Twain had set in this piece.These two sections also juxtapose each other in the sense of the style of language used. In the first section Twain uses more poetic or romantic type of language such as â€Å"river was turned to blood† and â€Å"single leafy bough glowed like a flame† to show and describe the beauty in what he had witnessed. Whereas in the secon d section Twain uses a more realistic style of language when he describes that all the things he saw were all just evidence of the changes in the river such as the sun meant that there was going to be wind the next day and the log meant that the water was rising or that the tree with the ingle branch would stand as a landmark to help guide him down the river. The language in these two sections differs so drastically because of the fact that Twain had gained more knowledge and experience in being a steamboat pilot and in his understanding in the river, and with this gained knowledge and experience all of the assets he had seen as beautiful and that astounded him during that memorable sunset had turned into simply just dangers that he had to look out for routinely as a steamboat pilot.The language difference in these sections reiterate the message of this piece being that as you gain knowledge and experience in something you lose the innocence you once had and in turn all the beauty a nd enjoyment fades and it seems to become merely a routine. It also shows how Mark Twain first saw so much beauty in the river when he was new to steamboating that he was â€Å"in a speechless rapture† and how as he gained experience and knowledge the beauty that the river had once held for him began to slowly diminish until it was completely gone and became simply signs that he must look for while piloting his steamboat down the river.Twain starts off in the next section of this excerpt describing the wonderment that the sunset he experienced had brought to him saying that he stood â€Å"like one bewitched†¦in a speechless rapture† and stated that â€Å"the world was new† to him and that he â€Å"had never seen anything like this at home. Not long after this he continues on and says that he â€Å"began to cease from nothing the glories and charms which the sun and the twilight wrought upon rivers face† and that â€Å"if that sunset scene had been repeated, I should have looked upon it without rapture†, this describes how he has lost all of the sense of beauty that the river had held during that sunset. He even says that at one time he altogether ceased to take notes of what he noticed on the river, which means that at one point he had completely lost interest in observing and learning about the river.This entire section is a complete contradiction to the previous section in which he described the beauty that the sunset held and how â€Å"a broad expansion of the river was turned to blood† to saying that none of that was correct that that â€Å"the romance and beauty were all gone from the river† and it was merely just all in all signs that a steamboat pilot needs to look out for when piloting a steam boat saying â€Å"all the value†¦was the amount of usefulness it could urnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. † I believe that the river is a metaphor for all things that are l ost as time passes, because as the river lost its beauty to Twain, Twain also lost the whole hearted ambition that he had as a child to be a steamboat pilot. In the final paragraph of this excerpt Twain goes on to explain that all of the beauty that he had once seen in the river was nonexistent now.He then explains how he feels sorrow for everyone who has had all of the beauty they once saw in something simply fade away from them to where they ended simply in a routine-like life style like what Twain had happen to him. He finishes this passage with four rhetorical questions using a doctor, which I believe represents society, and a beautiful patient, which is representative of all the beautiful things in life, as an example asking if the doctor ever even notices the beauty in his patient or if he just works strictly in a professional, or routine, manner.He ends this excerpt with the most powerful question saying â€Å"and doesn’t he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade† it is in whole the message of this piece saying that someone may see beauty or enjoyment in certain aspects of life, but as you progress in gaining the knowledge and experience you lose your innocence and the beauty and enjoyment you had once seen fades to black and that passion becomes a task or a routine that you have to go through day after day; in a sense it is saying is it better to know few details and see the true beauty in things or would you rather understand all the details but see no romance or beauty? I believe that by this whole doctor scenario he actually asking does society even see the beauty in life or do they simply see what they need to see?Throughout this entire excerpt from his autobiographical piece Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain talks about his life as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, he talks about how he once saw such beauty and had so much fascination in the Mississippi River but as time progressed and he gained more and more knowledge and experience that beauty and wonderment he once saw began to disappear into just the things that became signs that he had to look for while piloting a steam boat just for safety. While doing this he has uses an extensive amount of rhetoric and figurative language to try to send a warning to his audience of the message that this piece holds. Twain uses this piece to warn his audience to the fact that as you gain knowledge on some aspect in your life you begin to lose your innocence, and with that loss of innocence something that may have once fascinated you so much may seem to lose the enjoyment it once held and eventually that part of your life will become simply a routine and machine-like habit.

Journey of Life

2010 Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya(Technical University) B. E Civil Engineering MODEL QUESTION PAPER – 2010, RGPV, Bhopal, Thermo fluid for Civil Engg. Question paper (1) Air enters a nozzle steadily at 2. 21 kg/m3 and 30 m/s and leaves at 0. 762 kg/m3 and 180 m/s. If the inlet area of the nozzle is 80 cm2 , determine the mass flow rate and the exit area of the nozzle. (2) A frictionless piston cylinder device initially contains 200L of saturated refrigerant-134a.The piston is free to move and its mass is such that it maintains a pressure of 800kPa on the refrigerant. The refrigerant is now heated until its temperature rises to 500C. Calculate work done during the process. (3) A steam power plant receives heat from the furnace at a rate of 280GJ/h. Heat losses to the surrounding air from the steam as it passes through the components of the power plant is 8GJ/h. The waste heat transferred to the cooling water is 145GJ/h.Determine the net power out put of the plant an d the thermal efficiency of the plant. (4) (1) Air enters an adiabatic nozzle steadily at 300 kPa, 200oC and 30 m/s. It leaves at 100 kPa and 180 m/s. The inlet area of the nozzle is 80 cm2. Find the mass flow rate through the nozzle, temperature at the exit of the nozzle and the area of the nozzle at its exit. (5)Air is heated in a circular duct by a 15 KW electric heating system placed inside the duct.Air enters the duct at 100 kPa and 170C with a mass flow rate of 150 m3/ min. If the heat lost from the duct to the surroundings is at a rate of 200 J/s, determine the exit temperature of the air. (6) Steam enters an adiabatic turbine at 10MPa and 5000C at a rate of 3 kg/s and leaves at 200kPa. If the power out put of the turbine is 2MW, determine the temperature of the steam at the exit. Neglect the changes in kinetic and potential energy.

Gift Shop Red Flags Essay

The interest expense on the income statement for the year is $1,560. This one is kind of tricky – you have to pay interest on loans there is really no way around it. You could either pay off the loan with the money that is in savings – this would save you a ton on interest – or you could try to find another bank with a lower interest rate for this. Because this is a non-profit organization paying interest on a loan is really unrealistic – If I were in control of the budget this would be paid off with the money that is in the checking account. Red Flag 4 The balance sheet shows that the checking account has over $20,000 in it, and the account does not pay interest. The gift shop does not have an interest bearing account. This is a problem because the gift shop is a non for profit organization so it really needs to be a little smarter with its finances – this checking account should really be an interest baring account. This needs to be switched over – it might not make a fortune but it would definitely be better served if we were gaining interest on this money that is just sitting here. Red Flag 5 You notice that in the floral cooler there are many flower arrangements which are looking as if they are dying. Not only is this not appealing to the customers that do come into the gift shop but this also means that whomever is doing the ordering for the gift shop is ordering more than they are selling – someone needs to go throw and make sure that there is not a lot of back stock for the gift shop – ordering more than the gift shop is selling is an internal control that can be fixed. Red Flag 6 There are five employees who are paid; one fulltime and the rest are part-time. The fulltime employee purchases the stock, which is to be resold. She places purchase orders, receives the goods, and pays vendors. Her sister is also a part-time employee. I really do not see the need to have that many employees running a gift shop that is not making any profit. If cutting back some hours would help until we can get the gift shop back to a profit or even just where we are coming out even then I think that should be done. We also need to make sure that there is just one person handling the books if we have to many employee’s doing the ordering and such than mistakes may happen. Our fulltime employee needs to take on more responsibility in the gift shop so the part time employee’s can be cut back. Since there is going to be a cut in what is being ordered for the shop this should increase her time to be helpful to customers and clean the gift shop.

Is Technology Making Us Stupider

Nicholas Carr starts his essay with the observation that his win book reading and long article writing habits have suffered immensely due to lack of concentration which can be attributed to the time being spent on the internet. He goes on to say that the human beings are developing a new reading habit which he doesn't think is best suited given that there is much less concentration and even lesser contemplation. While commenting on how the future researcher will not do a lot of reading, Carr paints a sad picture of the new generation of readers.While accepting that his work has o backing from neurology and other brain related science, Carr presents a theory that unlike the ability to speak, which he says comes naturally, the ability to read has to be taught. Here in he says the internet is doing no good to that particular ability. Carr makes a reference to the great German philosopher Nietzsche and his use of the typewriter. He quips about how the typewriter had made the philosopher' s work even more abrupt. Carr then reaches the central topic of his essay – the effect of internet on the cognitive ability of man.He says that man had a series of intellectual tasks in his daily routine all of which have now been taken over by the internet He further adds that the style of the internet has been adopted by other media as well, further denting man's cognitive ability. Another key aspect of the internet that Carr says has dumber down the human brain is the conversion of an abstract concept to a concrete knowledge. This he says was previously done by the human being as an intellectual exercise but has now been taken over by the computers.Carr ends his essay on the note that in the past some great hinders such as Socrates and Sacrificing have expressed similar concerns about new ideas such as the written language and printed working. On this note, he leaves the question open to the reader (Carr). Steven Johnson bases his book on denying the argument that pop cult ure has affected human intelligence negatively. He first refers to the sleeper curve to make a point that even the society that existed before us had not discovered how cream pies could be a nutritious diet.However here he denies that just the fact about sleeper curve, which itself he draws from the movie Sleeper, can exhaustively prove his argument. He then goes on to suggest that the video games of today, contrary to popular perceptions Of spreading addiction through violent and vulgar content, are instead addictive because of their structural superiority. He says the games give the mind a lot to think and organize – a task previously not natural to the human cognitive process. He further speaks about television and says that the TV has taken the understanding of the emotional quotient to a higher level.He gives the example of reality shows and says that these shows have got a realistic understanding of the complex human engagements and relationships. While speaking about t he evolution of films, Johnson says that stories are no more being spoon-fed to the audience. Symbolic references made to help the audience understand moments like flash-back have reduced and it is now assumed that the audience will understand what is going on. This he says has helped the people explore and express their cognitive self – much more than in the past (Johnson). Studies have found that the human brain's evolution ceased over a thousand years ago (Connors).The technological advances that have been made in recent history have only served to compensate in the declining intellect of the human mind. While people who live between 2000 to 6000 years ago had to depend greatly on their mental strength to solve problems, the current availability of technology and inventions eliminates this need greatly. However, â€Å"the decline in intellect itself is not associated with the advent of technology but to deterioration in human genes† (Connors). Neither of the two the orists – Carr and Johnson have made scientific claims in their arguments.These arguments however are presented in a logical format with each claim being justified by significant arguments. Critics have remained vastly dismissive of both the arguments, calling the latter – an absolution for couch potatoes and the former a little too mournful too early. It is therefore clear that a real understanding of the effect of internet on the human mind can only be justified through neurological correlations and studies. However, human intellect has witnesses a decline for several thousands of years and hence it cannot be solely attributed to technology.