Challenge that Faces Positive Marketing of Healthy Behaviour Essay

Challenge that Faces Positive Marketing of Healthy Behaviour - Essay Example Most consumer items such as cigarette have side effects, which are supposed to be clearly indicated on their packaging. In most countries, advertisements or any marketing information of such commodities should be accompanied by any side effects (Bond, 1993). The main challenge of such advertisements is the message that promotes the product. For instance, cigarette advertisement uses healthy and successful people to show the positive side of smoking. In most cases, the advertisements use public icons such as musicians and sport men to advertise cigarettes. It is difficult to convince the audience of such information that cigarette smoking or junky foods are harmful to their health. The other challenge facing positive advertisements is lack of uncertainty in the message. For instance, a typical message against tobacco smoking will contain information such as cigarette smoking is harmful to your health, smoking can cause lung cancer and cigarette smoking increase anxiety. Such messages lack certainty and hence they are open to different forms of challenges (Rokeach, 1973). Firstly, the message stating that cigarette smoking is harmful to the health of a smoker fails to state the extent to which smoking is harmful. In addition, adequate studies have not been conducted to establish the extent to which these health problems are related to smoking. ... Cigarette ads should state that smoking a certain number of sticks per day increases the risk of developing cancer by a certain proportion. The other challenge facing positive advertisement is the attitude that people have towards negative behaviours. People associate these negative behaviours with lifestyles. For instance, smoking is associated with leisure while junk foods are associated with busy or wealthy people. It is difficult to change the mentality that people have on these commodities through positive advertisement messages. For instance telling parents to stop feeding their children with junk foods seems to lower their social status. On the other hand telling people to stop smoking is similar to telling them to stop associating themselves with a certain class of friends. People always oppose such information since it does not contribute to their social well-being. Advertisements that target negative behaviours and certain commodities such as cigarettes and fast foods tend to criminalize the commodities or behaviour (Rokeach, 1973). In addition, the ads portray the negative sides of the commodities or behaviours. People always oppose information that warns them against certain action. In addition, people always want to experiment with things that have been declared harmful. For instance, people want to experiment the negativities of cigarette smoking. The main reason why cigarette smoking has not been banned in most countries is that making the commodity illegal will make it more attractive (Bond, 1993). This is similar to hard drug such as cocaine and marijuana. Due to the illegal status of these drugs, people always use them as a way of showing their defiance towards the

Cricket Essay Example for Free

Cricket Essay History of Cricket Early cricket was at some time or another described as a club striking a ball†. The ancient games of club-ball, stool-ball, trap-ball, stob-ball. Cricket can definitely be traced back to Tudor times in early 16th-century England. Written evidence exists of a game known as â€Å"creag† being played by Prince Edward, the son of Edward I (Longshanks), at Newenden, Kent in 1301 and there has been speculation, but no evidence, that this was a form of cricket. Many other words have been suggested as names for the term cricket. In the earliest real reference to the sport in 1598, it is called â€Å"creckett†. Given the strong old trade connections between south-east England and the County of Flanders when the latter belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy, the name may have begun from the Middle Dutch kricke, meaning a stick ; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff. In Old French, the word criquet seems to have meant a kind of club or stick. In Samuel Johnsons Dictionary, he derived cricket from cryce, Saxon, a stick. Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket. According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University, cricket derives from the Middle Dutch phrase for hockey, met de krik ket sen with the stick chase. Dr. Gillmeister believes that not only the name but the sport is of origin. During the 17th century, numerous references indicate the growth of cricket in the south-east of England. By the end of the century, it had become an organized activity being played for high stakes and it is believed that the first professionals appeared in the years following the Restoration in 1660. A newspaper report survives of a great cricket match with eleven players a side that was played for high stakes in Sussex in 1697 and this is the earliest known reference to a cricket match of such importance. The game went through major development in the 18th century and became the national sport of England. Betting played a major part in that development with rich  patrons forming their own select XIs. Cricket was popular in London as early as 1707 and large crowds flocked to matches on the Artillery Ground in Finsbury. The single wicket form of the sport attracted huge crowds and wagers to match. Bowling became popular around 1760 when bowlers began to pitch the ball instead of rolling or skimming it towards the batsman. This caused a revolution in bat design because, to deal with the bouncing ball, it was necessary to introduce the modern straight bat in place of the old hockey stick shape. The Hambledon Club was founded in the 1760s and, for the next 20 years until the formation of MCC and the opening of Lords Old Ground in 1787, Hambledon was both the games greatest club and its focal point. MCC quickly became the sports premier club and the custodian of the Laws of Cricket. New Laws introduced in the latter part of the 18th century included the three stump wicket and leg before wicket. The 19th century saw underarm bowling replaced by first roundarm and then overarm bowling. Both developments were controversial. Organization of the game at county level led to the creation of the county clubs, starting with Sussex CCC in 1839, which ultimately formed the official County Championship in 1890. Meanwhile, the British Empire had been instrumental in spreading the game overseas and by the middle of the 19th century it had become well established in India, North America, the Caribbean, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In 1844, the first international cricket match took place between the United States and Canada, although neither has ever been ranked as a Test-playing nation. Cricket entered a new era in 1963 when English counties introduced the limited overs variant. As it was sure to produce a result, limited overs cricket was lucrative and the number of matches increased. The first Limited Overs International was played in 1971. The governing International Cricket Council (ICC) saw its potential and staged the first limited overs Cricket World Cup in 1975. In the 21st century, a new limited overs form, Twenty20, has made an immediate impact. Equipment and Changes over Time Ball- A red or white ball with a cork base, wrapped in twine covered with leather. The ball should have a circumference of 23 cm (9.1 inches) unless it is a childrens size. Bat- A wooden bat is used. The wood used is from the Kashmir or English willow tree. The bat cannot be more than 38 inches (96.5 cm) long and 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) wide. Aluminium bats are not allowed. The bat has a long handle and one side has a smooth face. Stumps- 3 wooden poles known as the stumps. Bails- Two crosspieces are known as the bails. Sight screen- A screen placed at the boundary known as the sight screen. This is aligned exactly parallel to the width of the pitch and behind both pairs of wickets. Boundary- A rope demarcating the perimeter of the field known as the boundary. History of the Cricket Bat- (The only known piece of equipment that has changed, has only been the bat.) 1624 This is the first time that we have any mention of a cricket bat. An inquest was carried out after a fielder was killed. The batsman had tried to prevent him from catching the ball, and had presumably whacked him on the head in the process! Originally bowlers used to bowl the ball underarm. The cricket bat was therefore shaped very much like a hockey stick. 1770s The laws were changed to allow length bowling, which was still performed underarm. The cricket bat became roughly parallel with a maximum width of 4.25. This is still the same today. They were extremely heavy, with the swell at the bottom. 1820s Round arm bowling was allowed, instigating more bounce so the cricket bat became lighter with a higher swell. 1830s Until this period all cricket bats were one piece willow. However, because of increased breakages and shock as the ball travelled faster, cricket bat makers started to splice handles into bats. Handles were either solid willow or ash. 1835 The length of a cricket bat  was restricted to 38, which is still the same today. 1840 The first recorded use of a spring being inserted into the handles of the cricket bat. These were initially whalebone (as used in ladies corsets) and some years later India rubber. 1853 Thomas Nixon, a Notts cricketer, introduced the use of cane in handle making in cricket bats. 1864 The laws were altered to allow over- arm bowling so there was a further lightening and more refined shaping of the blade. Handles became intricate constructions and were nearly all made of cane with Indian rubber grips. 1870s The shape of todays cricket bat evolves.

Employees Turnover: the Effectiveness of an Organization

Employees Turnover: the Effectiveness of an Organization Executive Summary Productivity or effectiveness of an organization frequently suffers as a result of high level of absenteeism and worker turnover. There is evidence that all concerned owners, contractors and workers are interested in resolving problem. This study examines the source and size of problem and recommendations to reduce it. For this purpose we have conducted interviews and literature survey in order to investigate the organization effectiveness. This report describes an HR management tool for decreasing turnover at Dancom Communication. High employee turnover is like shrink. It cuts into the bottom line, but it can be controlled. There are many potential causes for turnover. Certainly, area economic conditions as well as other factors such as labor market conditions, effect general turnover rates. In voluntary turnovers are difficult to directly manage however are voluntary turnover that can be managed. The purpose of this literature survey is to allocate the important variables of our existing problem i.e How does employees turnover affect the effectiveness of organization. With the help of these variables we a can assess the variables related to our problem for structuring theoretical framework. This survey includes the situation which had occurred in past with others companies and how those companies deal with these variable means how they solved different problems. After completing literature survey and defining problem there is need to develop framework. In it we try to discuss the interrelationship among the variables that are deemed to be integral to the dynamics of the situation being investigated. Different variables can affect the effectiveness of organization we are considering all-important variables that can effect company. After the thorough study of literature survey we deduct some variables, which can become a cause that can effect the sales and keeping in mind we make schematic diagram of the theoretical framework so that the reader can see and easily comprehend the theorized relationship. The research design, which involves a series of rational decision-making choices, the various issued involved in the research design, will be discussed here. Like Purpose of the study, Types of investigation, Extent of researcher interference, Study setting , Measurement and measures, Unit of analysis, Sampling, Time horizon and Data collection method. But the hypothesis statement, which we are going to proof, it will come under hypotheses testing study. This study that engage in hypotheses testing usually explain the nature of certain relationships, or establish the differences among groups or the independence of two or more factor in a situation Causal type of investigation is done, when it is necessary to establish a definitive cause and effect relationship, however, if the researcher simply wants a mere identification of the important factors associated with the problem then a correlation study is called. Correlation type of investigation will be suitable for our research, actually our hypotheses is effective compensation has positive impact on organizational effectiveness Thats why we select this method to identify the important factor associated with the problem. A correlation study is conducted in the natural environment of the organization, with the researcher interfering minimally with the normal flow of work. Organizational research can be done in the natural environment where work proceeds normally (no contrived settings) or in artificial, contrived settings. As we have selected correlation investigation method with minimum interference, then automatically our study setting will be no contrived. Its mean our research will be conduct under natural environment. What we are going to apply in our project that is ratio scale and interval scale because these scales give maximum accuracy in measuring the variable. Even though the method we have selected for investigation is correlation that provide less accuracy as compare to causal. In this project we selected individuals and organizational as a unit of analysis, and this selection is match with the definition of unit of analysis.. Why we chose probability sampling? Because the sample we get from probability have the quality of representatives. We have proved that there is positive relation between compensation and effectiveness. By increasing the retention rate. Retaining hourly employees. Improving management retention. Training first than promoting. Attractive salary packages. To motivate employees. Management through selection. Table of Contents Problem Statement Broad Problem Area Preliminary data gathering Unstructured Interviews Literature Survey Theoretical framework Generation of hypothesis Research design Purpose of Study Type of study Study setting Unit of Analysis Time Horizon Sampling Data Analysis Data Interpretation Conclusion / Deduction Recommendation to Management OBJECTIVE OF STUDY: The main objective of our project is to apply our concept and knowledge in practical scenario. And how the organizations are getting competitive advantages through conducting business research. Nowadays, as we know organization can increase their profitability, customer satisfaction, and productivity by conducting business research. Because through business research we can detect the real problem and its cause. Thats why, we can say that research generates alternative to solve problems. By getting solution of the problems in time we can run our business smoothly and effectively. BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF COMPANY Dancom Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd. was established in 1995 under the Company s Ordinance 1984. Our major shareholder, Dancom Telecommunication (M) Sdn Bhd Malaysia provides total Telecom IT solutions for the Malaysian marker and abroad as well. The group specializes in smart technology-based product applications, cellular deployments; IT related projects Digital TV, Broadband wireless and turnkey solutions related to telecommunication projects. The Company, core strength lies in its state of the art telecom systems deployment, dedicated expertise to manage and operate the core network, and an effective after sales support network of over 6 offices al over Pakistan with over 800 personnel. Dancom established the telecom services with a mission to provide easy and manageable access to the workforce of general consumers. Since 1997,Dancom s team has made consistent efforts to establish its services all over Pakistan including the remotest parts such as AJK, Northern Areas and the other far-flung remote areas of the four provinces of the country. To meet the requirement of the corporate sector for its online networking all over Pakistan, Dancom has successfully deployed and tested the system, which is capable of providing wire line and wireless connectivity. Dancom also provides managed Internet access service for Corporate/SME/SOHO and also offers turnkey solutions including LAN WAN support. THE RESEARCH PROCESS: In this section we will discuss each and every step of research process that is: Problem Statement Broad Problem Area Preliminary data gathering Theoretical frame work Generation of hypothesis Research design Data analysis Data interpretation Conclusion / Deduction Recommendation to Management Problem Statement: How does employees turnover affect the effectiveness of organization? Broad Problem Area: Employees turnover is a serious problem in organization and warrants attention. Poor supervision, unproductive relationships with boss, poor planning, non-attractive packages, non-motivation and generally poor management are the prime reasons for turnover. Lower turnover offers a broad range of productivity gains. As the turn over lies in all the organizations but we have selected one organization (Dancom Company). In order to implement our concept and knowledge regarding employees turnover. What are the causes of employee turnover? How it causes the ineffectiveness of organizations, How to reduce it? In broad problem area our focus is on these three things: Background information of the organization Company polices Perception behavior responses of organization members In background information in the organization we have origin and history of the company when it came into being business is in ownership and control, Size in term s of employees, assets purpose and ideology. Background detail of the company we obtained from published records website of the company. Employees turnover is broad area, which includes skilled and unskilled workers but we are focusing on skilled workers. Unskilled workers turnovers are immaterial with assumption of 100% of labor availability in Pakistan. Pakistan being developing country unemployment is more than other countries. So unskilled workforce is available any time. So it does not make any contribution to organizational effectiveness. Skilled workers can affect more the effectiveness of organization. This study is aimed at the achieving productivity gains in organization through an improved understanding of causes and effects of turnover, specifically, the study sought to: Verify the problem. Analyze the major contributing factors. Quantify the costs. Offer recommendation for corrective action. Preliminary Data Collection: How study was made: A group member of our group was retained to devise a questionnaire, based on teams understanding of the practical problems to identify the reason for turnover from workers perspective. The questionnaire was designed specifically to measure worker or employees attitude about their job and to investigate underlying causes for turnover. Preliminary data was collected from different resources to anticipate potential problem. During survey different employees were asked about voluntary termination. In order to get information about on project we have used two methods as follows: 1. Interviews Unstructured interviews Questionnaires Questionnaires for the Topic Q: 1 what is your expectations from organization? Good feed back Good compensation Overtime (d) Benefits Q: 2 what makes you to work at organization? Good package Bonus Flexible working hours Q; 3 what do you think about turnover is caused by (a) Less wages (b) Boss relation (c) Inflexible hours Q: 4 In which case you will not leave the organization? Q: 5 In what conditions you would like to work? (a) High pay offering (b) Working conditions (c) High growth organization Q: 6 Employees commitment depends upon; Overtime bases Good compensation Good relation with boss Increasing their moral Q: 7 How does employees turnover can be reduced? (a) Revising salary (b) Increasing basics (c) Increasing incentives (d)Providing facilities Q;8 How does job growth of employees within the organization affects? (a) Positively (b) Negatively (c) Challenging Q; 9 Do you get the additional benefits like allowances, bonus? (a) Strongly agree (b) Agree (c) Neither Agree nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 10 Does turnover cause organization high cost and inefficiency in working? (a) Strongly agree (b) Agree (c) Neither Agree nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 11 High level of growth leads efficient working of organization and cause low turnover.? (a) Strongly agree (b) Agree (c)Neither Agree nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 12 Better Compensation to an employee is a factor that can cause employee turnover. (a) Strongly agree (b) Agree (c) Neither Agree nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 13 Better wages makes employee motivation high. (a) Strongly agree (b) Agree (c) Neither Agree nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 14 Job growth in an organization is very much important for an employee? (a) Strongly agree (b)Agree (c)Neither Agree Nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 15 Do you think Behavior of the employer is a factor that motivates employees to be within the organization? (a) Strongly agree (b)Agree (c)Neither Agree Nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q:16 Which type of boss you would like in your organization? Autocratic Motivational (c) Democratic Q: 17 Would you like to get promotion? Yes No Q: 18 What you think that, job security can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of person? (a) Strongly agree (b)Agree (c)Neither Agree Nor Disagree (d) Disagree (e) Strongly disagree Q: 19 Would you like to perform job in this organization forever? Yes (b)No Q; 20 Does proper compensation and bonuses effect the organization Effectiveness? (a)Yes (b) No Q;21 Does working environment effect the organization effectiveness? (a) Yes (b) No Q: 22 Does motivation play important role in turnover? Yes (b)No (c) Neither yes nor no Q: 23 To what extent organization effectiveness increases when turn over rate is low? 25% 50 % (d) 75 % Q:24 What is your opinion about the leaving organization, when organization? Does not pay you fairly (b) Discriminate you Q: 25 Better environment provided to an organization will cause employee work more efficiently. Yes No (c) Do not know Literature Review Reason of literature survey The purpose of this literature survey is to allocate the important variables of our existing problem I-e How does employees turnover affect the effectiveness of organization. With the help of these variables we a can assess the variables related to our problem for structuring theoretical framework. This survey includes the situation which had occurred in past with others companies and how those companies deal with these variable means how they solved different problems. manager. Asking employees why they are leaving is generally not a good way to find the real reason behind their departure. Instead of evaluating employee satisfaction according to exit interviews, pay attention to the turnover rate. High turnover is the key indicator of employee dissatisfaction. It takes a lot of effort and risk for an employee to change jobs. Resigning is the loudest statement they can make to tell you that your management skills are lacking. Commit to making every employee feel worthwhile, respected, and revered. You must not be too busy working in your business to recognize the importance of each and every one of your employees. One of the Jim Moran Institutes entrepreneurial clients was also his companys primary salesperson. Because of the huge amount of time he spent selling, he never had enough time to make his fifteen employees really feel needed and, consequently, the company experienced high turnover. Employees can quickly feel less than respected by either abusive bosses or bosses who are just too busy to give the requisite care. One of the things you can do to help is to occasionally, tell employees how much you appreciate them. Even better is to tell your whole company how certain employees have really made a difference. Another thing that really helps is to make sure you go around and ask employees how they are doing. It all just boils down to making each and every employee feel worthwhile. Employee turnover is a good benchmark to evaluate the effectiveness of your management style. If you are seeing high turnover, your management style may need to be significantly overhauled. References#4 Binning, J.F., Barrett, G.V. (1989). Validity of personnel decisions: A conceptual analysis of the inferential and evidential bases. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 478-494. An Innovative Approach for Cost-effective Turnover Reduction By John F. Binning, Ph.D., and Anthony J. Adorno, M.S.Human Resource Group- Bloomington, IL Turnover costs for many organizations are unacceptably high. When the direct and indirect costs associated with employee separation, replacement, and training are accurately compiled, it is not uncommon for even medium-sized companies to lose several million dollars a year resulting from employee turnover. This article describes an HR management tool for decreasing turnover which is based on professional research linking various job characteristics to job candidates sourc We are now presenting the reference of different sources. Reference # 1: Employee Turn Over BY: Dr. Blake Frank Professor at University Of Dallas. According to new ideas for retaining store-level employees, a study conducted by Dr. Blake Frank an industrial psychologist and professor at the University of Dallas, for the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council. For those in higher paying jobs, the cost of turn over is also higher. Symptoms that organization has to face in response of turnover are: Direct Costs: Advertising, training, interview time, employment testing, new employees processing, and backgrounds checks. Opportunity Costs: Change-making errors, mistakes in paperwork, product damage, shrink and improper use of equipment. High as these drains on the bottom line are, they do not include the adverse impact on the quality of service and customer satisfaction, and a stores consequent loss of sales as shoppers vote with their feet and take their dollars to another store. The Coca-Cola study asked participants for a rough estimate of the number of customers lost due to turnover-related factors. Reference # 2 Michelle K. Duffy, Daniel C. Ganster, and Jason D. Shaw Positive Affectivity and Negative Outcomes: the role of tenure and job satisfaction, Journal of Applied Psychology, 1998 Vol. 83 no 6 pp. 950 959 Employee Turnover and Sabotage A matter of Disposition, Job Satisfaction and Tenure ÂÂ   Understanding an employees disposition may help predict turnover and purposefully poor performance. Together disposition and Job tenure along with job dissatisfaction plays a role in how employees react to stress. What is positive affectivity Positive employees are more likely to take a wait and see attitude early in their employment. But watch out! Could stress be the reason for turnover and employee poor performance? Why might it be better, in the long run, to have employees who are low in positive affectivity? What can be done Researchers have found that there is a dimension in personality having to do with a persons outlook on life. Persons high in this dimension are enthusiastic, active, and happy. These people are generally more satisfied and see life positively. Persons low in this dimension are the ones with the dark clouds over their heads. Researchers have named this dimension positive affectivity (PA). A study of fire fighter and police employees revealed that PA, a persons positive disposition or lack thereof, in combination with tenure on the job has a bearing on how employees react to perceived job dissatisfaction. Employees that are low in tenure, high in PA and who are dissatisfied with their jobs are less likely to seek another job than those who are low in PA and who also have short tenure and are also dissatisfied. The high PA and low tenure employee also experiences less stress and less physical symptoms of stress than does the low PA low tenured employee. The positive person seems to be able to take the long view. When they first work for an organization they feel less stress when experiencing dissatisfaction than negative people do and are able to reframe from taking action to find a different job. They also do not engage in counter productive behavior at this stage of their tenure with the organization. But when positive people, who are dissatisfied with their job, stay with an organization and become long term employees this changes. They are more stressed by job dissatisfaction, reporting more physical symptoms related to stress, and more likely to look for a different job and to engage in counter productive work behavior. The opposite seems to be true of the more negative person, low in PA. When they are first with an organization and become dissatisfied they seem to experience more stress and physical symptoms of stress than the more positive employee experiences. They look for another job or engage in counter productive work behavior. If they decide to stay with the organization and become long term employees, they become less likely to leave the organization and less likely to purposely perform poorly. This is probably because stress reaction and physical symptoms related to job dissatisfaction are lower for the long-term low PA employee. The person who views life more on the negative side seems to be able accept that work is dissatisfying and is able to plod along without either seeking a different job or performing poorly to get back at the organization. Since they do not expect to find a greener pasture on the other side of the hill, a negative outlook on life, they do not seek to leave the organization. What can be done? Controlling for job dissatisfaction and stress is an organizations only option. Take a good look at employees who are dissatisfied with their work and see if adjustments in hours, duties or work practices can elevate the situation. Not taking action will mean you will loose valuable employees. Remember that the remaining dissatisfied employee may begin to overreact and actually work against you. If you have high turnover among sales persons and other such jobs even among your long term employees you had better take a hard look at how employees feel about their supervision, work rules, work environment and the organization as a whole. It may even be better to help employees make adjustments in their career path leading to work outside the organization. Thereby avoiding having employees who feel there is no way out and who may have chosen sabotage as an outlet for their job dissatisfaction stress. Reference #3 Employee Turnover February 7, 2003 By Jerry Osteryoung The difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says, Go! a leader says, Lets go!' -E. M. Kelly, Growing Disciples, 1995 Recently, an entrepreneur whom I am assisting stated that he had 600 W-2s this year and he has a full time staff of less than 50. When I questioned him about this rapid employee turnover, he said it was the nature of the business. At this point I wanted to throttle him by the neck and yell at him, Employee turnover is bad, bad, bad! Rather than risk rupturing my vocal cords yelling, I sat down and listened to him talk about this problem. What was most disconcerting about the conversation was that he thought the problem was systemic with todays labor pool and took very little responsibility for employee turnover in his own management style. Compensation is also caused the employees Turnover and reduce the effectiveness. Most employee turnover is related to poor management practices. Yes, employees are working for wages, but, more importantly, they are working to have their non-financial needs met. Its important to understand that employees are seeking to extract something far more than a paycheck from their work. Most employees need to feel respected, worthwhile and appreciated in their work. Time after time employees leave when they feel under-appreciated (sometimes for less money), just to have these more important needs met. The reverse is true as well when employees are offered a significantly higher salary from another company, they dont leave if they are appreciated at their current workplace. Most entrepreneurs do not perceive themselves as bad managers. However, a high employee turnover is a telling detail that an entrepreneur may, in fact, be a horrible es of personal discomfort and dissatisfaction. While this assessment process is relatively new to the professional HR literature, it has been shown to dramatically reduce annual turnover rates. In one organization where this type of process was used, annual turnover was reduced by 54% (from 168% to approximately 78%). In another organization, the process lowered annual turnover from 120% to 48% (60% reduction). ÂÂ   Reference Reducing Employee Turnover ÂÂ  Willis Mushrush, Small Business Technology Development Centers, West Plains for University of Missouri newsletter May 2002 Creativity in compensation and benefits can make quite a difference to the welfare of the employee. A company should assess overall employee needs when addressing retention issues. If employee welfare is a genuine concern, what about child care? How much employee absenteeism is attributable to not having a dependable babysitter? Although the costs and liabilities involved in providing onsite day care can be prohibitive, perhaps a company could subsidize childcare in some manner. Sometimes, just negotiating rates for your employees with area childcare providers could be very helpful. Maybe some kind of a company match would be possible. Household chore assistance is another possibility that is being used by some companies. Consider other options such as alternative work schedules or flextime, or perhaps preventative health care and wellness programs such as fitness center memberships as possible cost-effective benefits. Dont forget that perks or non-cash rewards to recognize exceptional performance can be critical. Service recognition, event tickets, trips, and public recognition can send strong messages to the public regarding company culture and values. Simply examine the issues and needs of your employees and try to develop creative programs to address these needs. Although many costs associated with these suggestions may seem prohibitive, as well they may be, the company must evaluate the costs of current turnover, analyze the reasons for the individual organization, and develop strategies that in the long term are less costly than continued turnover. Some of these suggestions may not be so costly in comparison. Just a word of caution: Be fair and consistent in establishing compensation. Promote from within if possible. Attempt to avoid bringing new people on board at a higher rate than current employees. Policies to prevent discussion of wages simply do not work. Furthermore, such policies are in complete opposition of open-door communications. Although many companies use contract employees to address fluctuations in business, working side by side with someone who is making twice the rate of pay without any commitment or loyalty to the company can be a real morale killer. Avoid this if at all possible! If your company follows these steps and shows a genuine concern for the well being of your employees, you may not have to pay the highest wages in town to have the lowest employee turnover rate. MANAGING TURNOVER THROUGH SELECTION There are many potential causes for turnover. Certainly, area economic conditions, as well as other factors such as labor market conditions, affect general turnover rates. These more general causes for involuntary turnover are difficult to directly manage. However, there are certain causes for voluntary turnover that are associated with any specific job in a given organization (e.g., non-competitive compensation, high stress, unpleasant physical or interpersonal working conditions, monotony, and poor direct supervision) that can be managed. Although considerable research has been published in professional journals that underscores the relationship among workers preferences, job performance, absenteeism, and voluntary turnover, there has not been much advancement in the field of personnel selection based on these findings. One management option for addressing the issue of employee turnover is to change the job to eliminate negative characteristics, but this often is not feasible or desirable. An alternative method for reducing turnover is to screen out potential levers during the hiring process. Organizations can use the information regarding negative job characteristics as part of their pre-employment screening process in order to identify job candidates who are likely to have particularly adverse reactions to these characteristics. The assessment of employees sources of job-related discomfort and frustration has proven to be a powerful predictor of turnover (Bernardin, 1987). Survey results consistently indicate that workers negative emotional reactions to job situations do predict voluntary turnover. Employees in any job have conscious and unconscious emotional reactions to work. If these reactions are generally positive, an employee is less likely to quit. On the other hand, if these reactions are generally negative, an employee is more likely to quit. One very promising approach for managing turnover is to identify job candidates who are more likely to have negative reactions to a given job. These candidates can be screened out early in the hiring process, thus saving further hiring costs, and decreasing subsequent turnover. Unfortunately, the most frequently used instruments for identifying such negative job characteristics (e.g., Job Diagnostic Survey, Job Characteristics Inventory) have little utility for making employment decisions because the scoring process is relatively transparent to job applicants. ÂÂ   INTRODUCTION TO THE JOB CONGRUENCE SYSTEM (JCS) General psychological inventories and realistic job previews have been used to reduce turnover, but with varying degrees of success. Traditional personality and interest inventories are not as successful for identifying candidates who are likely to turnover due to the ease with which they can be faked during the application process. Researchers have indicated that deliberate distortion of responses is one of the most serious problems in the use of instruments designed to measure personality and interest characteristics. Similarly, realistic job previews are not effective with some job seekers who are highly motivated to gain employment, because they ignore the negative job characteristics during the application process, but over time the negative job content becomes instrumental in the decision to quit. There is an alternative pre-screening method for reducing employee turnover which has demonstrated both effectiveness and consistency. The system described here is called the Job Congruence System (JCS). In HR literature, this general approach has been referred to as job compatibility or job congruence assessment. The J

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Death by execution has existed as a punishment since the dawn of time. Yet although this has existed seemingly forever, the question of its morality has also existed for that same amount of time. Killers kill innocent people, there is no question about that, but does that give us the right to kill these killers? I do not think so.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Racism is often the driving force behind crime. Yet in a justice system that preaches equality, it too is led by racism. There is â€Å"a pattern of evidence indicating racial disparities in the charging, sentencing, and imposition of the death penalty† according to a 1990 U.S. Government report. An overwhelming majority of death row defendants since 1977 were executed for killing whites despite the fact that whites and blacks are victims of murder in approximately equal numbers. In Texas, for example, blacks found guilty of killing whites were found to be six times more likely to receive the death penalty that whites convicted of killing whites. Of the 3,061 inmates on death row 1,246 of them are black, making 40% of death row inmates black. Compare this to the fact that blacks make up 12% of the U.S. population. Furthermore, many black prisoners on death row were sentenced to death by all-white juries after prosecutors had deliberately excluded black peop le from the jury pool.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Racism alone is not the only problem with Capital Punishment. Many inmates on death ...

Ecriture Feminine

Ecriture feminine, literally â€Å"women's writing,†[1]  more closely, the writing of the female body and female disparity in language and text,[2]  is a strain of  feminist literary theory that originated in France  in the early 1970s and included foundational theorists such as  Helene Cixous,  Monique Wittig,  Luce Irigaray,[3]  Chantal Chawaf,[4][5]  and  Julia Kristeva,[6][7]  and also other writers like psychoanalytical theorist  Bracha Ettinger,[8][9]  who joined this field in the early 1990s. [10]  Generally, French feminists tended to focus their attention on language, analyzing the ways in which meaning is produced. They concluded that language as we commonly think of it is a decidedly male realm, which therefore only represents a world from the male point of view. [11] Nonetheless, the French women's movement developed in much the same way as the feminist movements elsewhere in Europe or in the United States: French women participated in consciousness-raising groups; demonstrated in the streets on the  8th of March; fought hard for women's right to choose whether to have children; raised the issue of violence against women; and struggled to change public opinion on issues concerning women and women's rights. The fact that the very first meeting of a handful of would-be feminist activists in 1970 only managed to launch an acrimonious theoretical debate, would seem to mark the situation as typically ‘French' in its apparent insistence on the primacy of theory over politics. [12] Helene Cixous  first coined  ecriture feminine  in her essay, â€Å"The Laugh of the Medusa† (1975), where she asserts â€Å"Woman must write her self: must write about women and bring women to writing, from which they have been driven away as violently as from their bodies† because their sexual pleasure has been repressed and denied expression. Inspired by Cixous' essay, a recent book titledLaughing with Medusa  (2006) analyzes the collective work of Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray, Bracha Ettinger and Helene Cixous. [13]  These writers are as a whole referred to by Anglophones as â€Å"the French feminists,† though Mary Klages, Associate Professor in the English Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has pointed out that â€Å"poststructuralist theoretical feminists† would be a more accurate term. [14]  Madeleine Gagnon is a more recent proponent. And since the aforementioned 1975 when Cixous also founded women's studies at Vincennes, she has been as a spokeswoman for the group Psychanalyse et politique and a prolific writer of texts for their publishing house, des femmes. And when asked of her own writing she says, â€Å"Je suis la ou ca parle† (â€Å"I am there where it/id/the female unconscious speaks. â€Å")  [15] American feminist critic and writer  Elaine Showalter  defines this movement as â€Å"the inscription of the feminine body and female difference in language and text. [16]  Ecriture feminine places experience before language, and privileges non-linear, cyclical writing that evades â€Å"the discourse that regulates the  phallocentric  system. â€Å"[17]  Because language is not a neutral medium, the argument can be made that it functions as an instrument of patriarchal expression. Peter Barry writes that â€Å"the female writer is seen as suffering the handicap of having to use a mediu m (prose writing) which is essentially a male instrument fashioned for male purposes†. 18]  Ecriture feminine thus exists as an antithesis of masculine writing, or as a means of escape for women,although the phallogocentric argument itself has been criticised by W. A. Borody as misrepresenting the history of philosophies of ‘’indeterminateness’’ in Western culture. Borody claims that the‘black and white’’view that the masculine=determinateness and the feminine=indeterminateness contains a degree of cultural and historical validity, but not when it is deployed to self-replicate a similar form of gender-othering it originally sought to overcome. 19]  In the words of Rosemarie Tong, â€Å"Cixous challenged women to write themselves out of the world men constructed for women. She urged women to put themselves-the unthinkable/unthought-into words. †[20] Almost everything is yet to be written by women about femininity: about their sexuality, that is, its infinite and mobile complexity; about their eroticization, sudden turn-ons of a certain minuscule-immense area of their bodies; not about destiny, but about the adventure of such and such a drive, about trips, crossings, trudges, abrupt and gradual awakenings, discoveries of a zone at once timorous and soon to be forthright. 14] With regard to phallocentric writing, Tong explains that â€Å"male sexuality, which centers on what Cixous called the â€Å"big dick†, is ultimately boring in its pointedness and singularity. Like male sexuality, masculine writing, which Cixous usually termed phallogocentric writing, is also ultimately boring† and furthermore, that â€Å"stamped with the official seal of social approval, masculine writing is too weighted down to move or change†. 20] Write, let no one hold you back, let nothing stop you: not man; not the imbecilic capitalist machinery, in which the publishing houses are the crafty, obsequiou s relayers of imperatives handed down by an economy that works against us and off our backs; not  yourself. Smug-faced readers, managing editors, and big bosses don't like the true texts of women- female-sexed texts. That kind scares them. [21] For Cixous, ecriture feminine is not only a possibility for female writers; rather, she believes it can be (and has been) employed by male authors such as  James Joyce. Some have found this idea difficult to reconcile with Cixous’ definition of ecriture feminine (often termed ‘white ink’) because of the many references she makes to the female body (â€Å"There is always in her at least a little of that good mother’s milk. She writes in white ink†[22]) when characterizing the essence of ecriture feminine and explaining its origin. This notion raises problems for some theorists: â€Å"Ecriture feminine, then, is by its nature transgressive, rule-transcending, intoxicated, but it is clear that the notion as put forward by Cixous raises many problems. The realm of the body, for instance, is seen as somehow immune to social and gender condition and able to issue forth a pure essence of the feminine. Such essentialism is difficult to square with feminism which emphasizes femininity as a social construction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [23] For Luce Irigaray, women's sexual pleasure  jouissance  cannot be expressed by the dominant, ordered, â€Å"logical,† masculine language because according to Kristeva, feminine language is derived from the pre-oedipal period of fusion between mother and child. Associated with the maternal, feminine language is not only a threat to culture, which is patriarchal, but also a medium through which women may be creative in new ways. Irigaray expressed this connection between women's sexuality and women's language through the following analogy: women's  jouissance  is more multiple than men's unitary, phallic pleasure because  [24] â€Å"woman has sex organs just about everywhere†¦ feminine language is more diffusive than its ‘masculine counterpart'. That is undoubtedly the reason†¦ her language†¦ goes off in all directions and†¦ e is unable to discern the coherence. †Ã‚  [25] Irigaray and Cixous also go on to emphasize that women, historically limited to being sexual objects for men (virgins or prostitutes, wives or mothers), have been prevented from expressing their sexuality in itself or for themselves. If they can do this, and if they can speak about it in the new languages it calls for, they will establ ish a point of view (a site of difference) from which phallogocentric concepts and controls can be seen through and taken apart, not only in theory, but also in practice. 26] ————————————————- [edit]Notes 1. ^  Baldick, Chris. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms. OUP, 1990. 65. 2. ^  Showalter, Elaine. Critical Inquiry, Vol. 8, No. 2, Writing and Sexual Difference, (Winter, 1981), pp. 179-205. Published by: The University of Chicago Press. http://www. jstor. org/stable/1343159 3. ^  Irigaray, Luce,  Speculum of the Other Woman, Cornell University Press, 1985 4. ^  Cesbron, Georges, † Ecritures au feminin. Propositions de lecture pour quatre livres de femmes† in Degre Second, juillet 1980: 95-119 5.   Mistacco, Vicki, â€Å"Chantal Chawaf,† in Les femmes et la tradition litteraire – Anthologie du Moyen Age a nos jours; Seconde p artie: XIXe-XXIe siecles, Yale Press, 2006, 327-343 6. ^  Kristeva, Julia  Revolution in Poetic Language, Columbia University Press, 1984 7. ^  Griselda Pollock, â€Å"To Inscribe in the Feminine: A Kristevan Impossibility? Or Femininity, Melancholy and Sublimation. †Ã‚  Parallax, n. 8, [Vol. 4(3)], 1998. 81-117. 8. ^  Ettinger, Bracha,  Matrix . Halal(a) – Lapsus. Notes on Painting, 1985-1992. MOMA, Oxford, 1993. (ISBN 0-905836-81-2). Reprinted in:  Artworking 1985-1999. Edited by Piet Coessens. Ghent-Amsterdam: Ludion / Brussels: Palais des Beaux-Arts, 2000. (ISBN 90-5544-283-6) 9. ^  Ettinger, Bracha,  The Matrixial Borderspace  (essays 1994-1999), Minnesota University Press, 2006 10. ^  Pollock, Griselda, â€Å"Does Art Think? â€Å", in:  Art and Thought  Blackwell, 2003 11. ^  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Murfin, Ross C. †Ã‚  http://www. ux1. eiu. edu/~rlbeebe/what_is_feminist_criticism. pdf 12. ^  Moi, Toril, ed. French Feminist Thought. Basil Blac kwell Ltd, 1987. (ISBN 0-631-14972-4) 13.   Zajko, Vanda and Leonard, Miriam,  Laughing with Medusa. Oxford University Press, 2006 14. ^  a  b  Klages, Mary. â€Å"Helene Cixous: The Laugh of the Medusa. † 15. ^  Jones, Ann Rosalind. Feminist Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer, 1981), pp. 247-263. Published by: Feminist Studies, Inc. http://www. jstor. org/stable/3177523 16. ^  Showalter, Elaine. â€Å"Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness. †Ã‚  The New Feminist Criticism: essays on women, literature, and theory. Elaine Showalter, ed. London: Virago, 1986. 249. 17. ^  Cixous, Helene. â€Å"The Laugh of the Medusa. †Ã‚  New French Feminisms. Elaine Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron, eds. New York: Schocken, 1981. 253. 18. ^  Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory  : An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. New York: Manchester UP, 2002. 126 19. ^  Wayne A. Borody (1998) pp. 3, 5 Figuring the Phallogocentric Argument with Respect to the Classical Greek Philosophical Tradition Nebula: A Netzine of the Arts and Science, Vol. 13 (pp. 1-27) (http://kenstange. com/nebula/feat013/feat013. html) . 20. ^  a  b  Tong, Rosemarie Putnam. Feminist Thought  : A More Comprehensive Introduction. New York: Westview P, 2008. 276. 1. ^  Helene Cixous, Summer 1976. 22. ^  Klages, Mary. â€Å"Helene Cixous: ‘The Laugh of the Medusa. 23. ^  Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory  : An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. New York: Manchester UP, 2002. 128. 24. ^  Murfin, Ross C. http://www. ux1. eiu. edu/~rlbeebe/what_is_feminist_criticism. pdf 25. ^  Irigaray, Luce. This Sex. 26. ^  Jones, Ann Rosalind. Fem inist Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Summer, 1981), pp. 247-263. Published by: Feminist Studies, Inc. http://www. jstor. org/stable/3177523. ————————————————- [edit]External links

Free Essays on Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 Review

Several months after its release on the PS2, T Hawk grinds its way onto Xbox with a new level and a new hidden character. March 06, 2002 - The first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater opened the gaming public's eyes to the possibilities of an extreme sports game. Others have tried but none have been able to match the success of T Hawk. Each subsequent version of the game has only gotten better. Now, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ollies its way onto Xbox. While essentially the same as the PS2 and GameCube versions, it does feature slightly better graphics, less slow down, and a few extra goodies to reward patient Xbox owners. Features Over 20 characters, each with their own special tricks Supports customized soundtracks Several multiplayer modes Massive levels in beautiful detail Create-a-park mode so you can make your own skate park Exclusive Xbox level and secret character! Gameplay Slip on your Chucks and grab a board. Take control of one of nearly two dozen skaters and grind your way around a plethora of massive levels. THPS3 is packed with modes to provide endless hours of play. This is easily its best feature. This is one of those extremely rare games where you will play it from the day you buy it until the day the next installment is released. It's that good and it's that deep. The bulk of game time is devoted to Career Mode. Each level has a variety of goals that must be completed to open new levels. These goals include getting sick scores of up to 500,000 points, grinding certain areas, collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E, and performing certain actions (like soaking the foreman). In Hawk 2, your main focus was getting money so you could buy new tricks and raise your stats. The money is gone, replaced by five stat points strewn about each level. This is a good thing. Skating, even professional skating, has never projected the image of being about the Benjamins. Also hidden in each level is a new deck design. There are three com... Free Essays on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Review Free Essays on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 Review Several months after its release on the PS2, T Hawk grinds its way onto Xbox with a new level and a new hidden character. March 06, 2002 - The first Tony Hawk's Pro Skater opened the gaming public's eyes to the possibilities of an extreme sports game. Others have tried but none have been able to match the success of T Hawk. Each subsequent version of the game has only gotten better. Now, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ollies its way onto Xbox. While essentially the same as the PS2 and GameCube versions, it does feature slightly better graphics, less slow down, and a few extra goodies to reward patient Xbox owners. Features Over 20 characters, each with their own special tricks Supports customized soundtracks Several multiplayer modes Massive levels in beautiful detail Create-a-park mode so you can make your own skate park Exclusive Xbox level and secret character! Gameplay Slip on your Chucks and grab a board. Take control of one of nearly two dozen skaters and grind your way around a plethora of massive levels. THPS3 is packed with modes to provide endless hours of play. This is easily its best feature. This is one of those extremely rare games where you will play it from the day you buy it until the day the next installment is released. It's that good and it's that deep. The bulk of game time is devoted to Career Mode. Each level has a variety of goals that must be completed to open new levels. These goals include getting sick scores of up to 500,000 points, grinding certain areas, collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E, and performing certain actions (like soaking the foreman). In Hawk 2, your main focus was getting money so you could buy new tricks and raise your stats. The money is gone, replaced by five stat points strewn about each level. This is a good thing. Skating, even professional skating, has never projected the image of being about the Benjamins. Also hidden in each level is a new deck design. There are three com...

Starting All Over essays

Starting All Over essays Ray Bradburys the Martian Chronicles is a futuristic story about space travel, invasion and planet colonization. Analyzing characters in this twenty-eight-chapter novel is extremely difficult because every chapter includes different characters, which are oriented to form the plot. Each chapters characters are used to show the founding of the planet Mars, the colonization of it, the destruction of Earth and almost the whole human race, and finally the rebuilding of the human civilization on Mars. The story starts off in the year of 1999 and ends twenty-seven years later in 2026. Ray Bradbury doesnt just tell his story from the point of view of the space travelers and the colonizers, but from angry Martians who were trying to kill the humans or Martians later on who were just having a conversation with a human about Mars, also people seeing the great colonial change happen. Captain Wilder was the captain of the fourth expedition to Mars from Earth. The three expeditions before had failed because either the Martians tricked and killed the earthlings or the earth people were thought of as mentally ill and sent to a hospital on Mars. Later on in the story when there are towns on Mars, the very few Martians are not discriminated against because the people on Mars were kind people who were in search of new things and seeing Martians was rare. Luckily the minor human sickness, chicken pox, had killed off most of the Martians accidentally. Captain Wilder and his crew explored the planet and responded to Earth to say that the missions were successful, and with only a few complications. Captain Wilder with his Crew of Jeff Spender, Hathaway, Sam Parkhill, Cheroke, Gibbs and a few other men help begin to portray the theme of the story, by finding Mars and seeing that it was safe (this was in the beginning of the story, but in the last several chapters they a ...

To What Extent Was the Decline of the Staple Industries Essay Example

To What Extent Was the Decline of the Staple Industries Essay Example To What Extent Was the Decline of the Staple Industries Essay To What Extent Was the Decline of the Staple Industries Essay To what extent was the decline of the staple industries the most significant development affecting the people of Wales and England 1880 – 1929? The decline of the staple industries was a very significant development in people’s lives. Before the decline of the staple industries, Britain was known as the â€Å"workshop of the world† this was due to the fact that Britain producing 2/3 of the worlds coal, 50% of the worlds iron and 5/7 of all the worlds’ metal. This all changed when countries like Germany and the US used cheaper methods of extracting and producing these resources that Britain’s buyers looked else wear, the decline of these main industries caused a wave of job losses and other main industries to suffer. Britain lost its place as the most powerful empire; there were many reasons for this. Britain didn’t have the necessary raw materials needed for industrialisation; Britain’s farming industry couldn’t produce enough food to feed the growing population. The Liberal reforms were very significant in people’s lives. There were many reasons for why the liberals decided to reform Britain and these issues are highlighted in Booth and Rowntrees reports about people living below the poverty line. These reports tell us that if someone lost their job before the reforms they had to rely on their savings, family and friends, and the pawn brokers or depend on the poor laws which were the only sort of social protection they had. The government hardly ever stepped in to help people, the conservative government and member of the House of Lords all believed that if a person was poor that meant they were lazy; these reports discovered that that wasn’t the case and that in fact the majority of the poorest in society were born there. Some shocking statistics had shown that 11% of primary school children were malnourished and in 1900 the height for enlisting was reduced to 5 feet and even 50% who enlisted were in too ill health. There was a major need to reform, because working conditions needed to be improved in order to improve Britain’s employed for the future. Another significant factor that affected the people of Britain was the changing role of women in Britain. The main cause in the change to women was primarily down to world war one. The war opened up a wider range of occupations to female workers and hastened the collapse of traditional womens employment, particularly domestic service. From the 19th century to 1911, between 11 and 13 per cent of the female population in England and Wales were domestic servants. By 1931, the percentage had dropped to under eight per cent. For the middle classes, the decline of domestic servants was facilitated by the rise of domestic appliances, such as cookers, electric irons and vacuum cleaners. The popularity of labour-saving devices does not, however, explain the dramatic drop in the servant population. Middle-class women continued to clamour for servants, but working women who might previously have been enticed into service were being drawn away by alternative employment opening up to satisfy the demands of war. The number of women in the Civil Service increased from 33,000 in 1911 to 102,000 by 1921. The advantages of these alternative employments over domestic service were obvious: wages were higher, conditions better, and independence enhanced. Another reason was the general strike. The general strike was called by the TUC to support the miners in their quarrel with the mine owners, who wanted to reduce their wages by 13 per cent and increase their shifts from seven to eight hours. Workers in industries such as iron, steel and coal were encouraged to stay off work. The strike affected people across the country because these industries were at a standstill this caused the rest of the country to suffer. To conclude, I think that there were many significant factors that affected the British people and the declined of the staple industries was one of them. However, i think that the most significant factor was the war, as this affected all sexes and age groups across the country and no one was left unscathed by it.

The Management of Change of General Motors (GM) and Dell Essay

The Management of Change of General Motors (GM) and Dell - Essay Example This essay discusses that the organizational change is a constant procedure of remaking the ideas and approach of the organization by shifting the tactical routes and operations of the organization. This change assists the organization to enhance its potential with the greater monetary returns and its plan to meet the changing conditions and requirement of the clients. The main element that the organizations should look into before making any changes is to decide the future goals and objectives of the business and to see that how the resources should be implemented in order to make the change successful without the resistance of the employees at all the levels of the organization structure. The adjustment for the changing goals and the customer demand has become a big challenge for the organizations to meet the global competition. This job has become more difficult and complicated for the organization because they are not sure that their employees can handle and cope up with the chan ge or not. In the sector of profitability, the growth of global market and shift in political situations has made a way for the new markets of products and services that is never seen before in the corporate sector. In response to this changing pace, the organizations are adopting simple and reactive structure in which the culture is such that it empowers the employees and teamwork is the main driving force. Because of this changing environment, the employees expect that they will be involved in the decision regarding the organizational change. ... t position and share of the company falls due to change in demand of the customers and increase of competition from the car manufacturers of Japan (GM, 2012). Reason for Change: Previously, the company made many efforts to overcome the decline of sales, bad brand image, declining market share and some other reasons but most of those changes effort were failed due to communication gap between the top management and the employee’s and also because of the poor management. In 2009, the company was in extreme financial crises and the US Government would impose bankruptcy if the company will not be able to pay its debt. The new CEO fritz Henderson focus was to restructure the company within 2 months in order to save the company from bankruptcy. The company granted the financial and time aid from the US Government in order to exist as a company and payoff all the debts. The global recession made the company in financial crises and the management failed to overcome that pressure (Ande rsen, 2011). The basic reason for change is to improve the competitiveness of the company by cutting down the number of employees working and to decrease the other brands that General Motors owned. In addition, the company wants to change its overall structure by making it less bureaucratic and cut off the layers of management that is unnecessary for the company. This way the company assumes to save money and to the decision-making speed will also increase. The second point that the company decided was to change the culture of the company that would help to improve the market focus. This meant that the company would build the cars that are according to the requirement of the customers. This will help the company to see a definite path and help to come out of the financial crises that it was

Trends in Health Information Technology Research Paper

Trends in Health Information Technology - Research Paper Example It is observed that British Columbia Ministry of Health (BC MoH) possesses the comprehensive responsibility for ascertaining that suitable, cost effective, quality as well as opportune health related services are accessible to all the residents of British Columbia. In order ensure such effective services the Ministry of Health (MoH) requires quality support from advanced technology based systems such as HIS. In this regard, as a consultant, it can be advised to the MoH to follow the trends of electronic medical records (EMRs) and subsequently incorporate to ensure a sustainable and progressive future for the service provider. In this process of bringing in change for introducing EMR, the aspect of stable leadership from the part of MoH is crucial to succeed by a considerable extent (Ministry of Health, 2011). A Review of BC MoH Strategic Plan The health related system prevailing in British Columbia entails a composite network of organizations, professionals and groups that function t ogether to ensure valuable service for the commoners and most importantly for the patients. In the process of ensuring service of utmost quality, the health system faces critical challenges regarding offering sustainable health system in sync with the rising demand. Moreover, ascertaining that different elements of the society as well as the entire population are able to access the services related to health is also a crucial challenge for MoH. Furthermore, aging population, increasing burden of diverse chronic diseases, advancements in pharmaceuticals as well as technology aspects along with development of human system infrastructure and human resources are among the major considerations in the strategic plan BC MoH. BC MoH also aims to fulfill certain major goals which include optimizing information management and providing people of British Columbia access to superior quality services in each hospital among others. In this regard, in order to meet these varied kinds of challenges and goals efficiently the use of health information systems technology can be observed as a major beneficial facet (Ministry of Health, 2011). Recommendation on EMR Adoption By considering above depicted aims and objectives of BC MoH, it can be advised that the use of EMR can be an invaluable proposition. It will significantly enable to ensure information management of the entire population of BC. Moreover, as it is recognized that determining the amount of aging population is a critical challenge for MoH, the advent of full-fledged use of EMR would enable the MoH to have a thorough access of major patient related data efficiently. EMR adoption can be recommended for MoH due to various other benefits derived from EMR. Primarily, a collection of financial, operational and clinical benefits can be obtained by healthcare professional through EMR. EMR enables to make efficient the entire operational workflow (Landon, n.d.). In terms of financial benefits, through the use of EMR precise coding of the condition of a patient can be made which in turn can facilitate to prepare appropriate billing and augment patient throughput. Moreover, patient related data can be viewed comprehensively by using EMR due to greater exchange of information by

What is the secret meaning of the art and how we knowers could access Essay

What is the secret meaning of the art and how we knowers could access the secret through emotions and imagination - Essay Example Through cultivating and releasing the spirit of creativity, art becomes a perfect tool for healing patients with serious mental disorders. Art liberates the process of creativity in our minds and seeks solutions to the problems affecting us in our lives. It helps us provide freedom and sustenance to our creativity and hence moving freely to any direction that is most appropriate for us. Art has acquired great significance in treating patients with critical mental sickness, patients with severe depressions, patients with anxiety and emotional disorders. In addition, some programs organized for solving addiction problems incorporate art to make them perfect. To add on that, people without mental disorders also use art to communicate their ideas, feelings, facts, thoughts and findings (Rustin 5). A person with serious fright attacks and horrified by most of the things that many take in a pace that include conversation with cashiers, driving and receiving telephone calls may remain stagnant in his house just because of fears outside. Art therefore, focus on current issues that induce stress as well as those of the past. Through art, the individual can learn how to deal with the problems knowing that he cannot run away from them. Paintings can also help remember previous problems and the means used to address them and cultivates a culture of acceptance in oneself and confidence in dealing with the problems. The paintings create a visual impression in one mind, which tends to reduce the imagination as one learns to familiarize himself with the situation. Art in this way makes what is invisible visible and thus easier to fight an enemy you see than one you do not see (Rustin 7). The arts paintings depicting the various problems facing the society will help reduce the imaginations and suffering. Problem sharing between individuals helps to reduce the adverse effects created by the problem. A painting therefore helps to create an impression of problem

Sustainability and community Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sustainability and community - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that the development of sustainability has become a key priority for governments worldwide. The need for promoting sustainability seems to be mostly related to the severe effects of environmental pollution, as reflected in the worsening of climate worldwide. However, sustainability has been also found to result in the improvement of quality of life and the increase of effectiveness of communities’ infrastructure, as for example through the development of green areas across a city or the establishment of recreation areas for people of all ages. In accordance with a relevant report of the European Commission in 2009, the sustainable development is closely related to the economic development. This means that effective sustainable development plans within a particular community could help towards the improvement of social and economic life of all residents. Sustainability is of critical importance for communities worldwide. In fact, by supporting sustainabilit y communities can serve a series of critical needs: the improvement of infrastructure, meaning especially the transportation system available in each community, the limitation of pollution across the community as this fact would positively influence the lives of the local people, the limitation of energy use across the community and the development of projects for enhancing the local economic life, such as the increase of ecotourism and so on. The above targets can be achieved only through a carefully designed plan of action. At this point it would be important to take into consideration all aspects of such projects, meaning especially the capabilities of each community in terms of infrastructure, financing and human resources (Pierce and Dale 2000). Despite the challenges related to such initiatives it would be quite important for the people in each community to support the particular projects. At this point, it would be necessary to consider the significant effects of environmenta l pollution and of other environmental events on the life of residents. The excess pollution can limit the options of residents in terms of sports and other similar activities (Phillips and Pittman 2009). Also, the lack of appropriate infrastructure, based on the principles of sustainability, can result to the pollution of the community, an effect that can also negatively influence the local agricultural and fishery. Even if the importance of sustainability is significant, as described above, the promotion of sustainability in communities worldwide faces a series of obstacles. In accordance with Mazmanian and Kraft (2009) the reason for the delays in the development of sustainability across communities can be identified in the following fact: the requirements and the role of sustainability, as an element of a community’s strategy, is often not adequately explained. As a result, residents often think of sustainability as of a non-important issue, being regulated through approp riate legislative texts worldwide. On the other hand, not all communities have the resources required for promoting sustainable; reference is made not only to the technical and human resources available for the realization of the above project but rather to the managerial staff supervising these plans. Since sustainability plans can be quite complex it is necessary that appropriately educated and skilled staff participate in the relevant efforts (Mazmanian and Kraft

Global Tax Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Global Tax Management - Essay Example To absorb a reduction in the corporate tax rate, the US government will have to extend the corporate tax base and remove or scale down the corporate tax expenditures: accelerated depreciation, domestic manufacturing production deduction, and the research and development tax credit, that reduce capital costs, increase new investments, and encourage job creation. This will result in an increase on the cost of new investments and reduced wages and productivity. Therefore, America should not increase the corporate tax rate and should retain the territorial system, but also combine it with worldwide territory to ensure the government does not lose revenue. The biggest factor that determines Foreign Direct Investment in the country is GDP, a study of 46 countries established that there is a direct correlation between corporate tax rates and foreign direct investment. Countries with low corporate taxes attract more foreign investments compared to countries with higher rates. To increase profits, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) invest in countries with favorable economic conditions and tax rates. Empirical evidence for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries shows the negative FDI inflows and increased taxation. There is increased lobbying for the Internal Revenue Code to be revised, for simplification of corporate and personal taxes. Globally there has been a shift towards the flat tax regime, where citizens and business are charged at a harmonized tax rate, with everybody paying an equal amount. Advocates of the flat system argue that there are many benefits that accrue from using this system, the system itself is very simple, with easy to comprehend tax codes, both the taxation authority and the taxpayer benefit. Governments primarily adopt the system, as an enticement to attract companies and the general citizenry to paying taxes. Because everyone will be paying

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance - Essay Example Religion was a vital cultural feature at the time. Religion influenced the cultural and social values in a society. Furthermore, religion influenced governance since religious leaders advised leaders. As such, religion was a fundamental cultural tenet in the early societies. The role of women in religion safeguarded the position of nuns thereby safeguarding some of the fundamental principles of faith. Additionally, Herrad of Landsberg portrayed the role of women in enhancing the growth of knowledge and safeguarding the position of women in the society. She used arts to show the ability of women to learn and take part in arts. By authoring the Hortus deliciarum, a pictoral encyclopedia she sought to enhance the spread of knowledge besides proving the ability of women to take part in arts. The encyclopedia comprised of paintings and poems that helped grow both arts and the enlightenment of women. Her works were among the earliest forms of feminist movements. Lavinia Fontana was among the earliest female artists in Italy. She was the daughter of a painter a feature that influenced her involvement in the art. Painted in 1576, Christ with the Symbols of the Passion is one of her works. Louise Élisabeth Vigà ©e Le Brun on the other hand was one of the most renowned female painters in Northern Europe in the 18th century. She created several works including Portrait of Princess Alexandra Golitsyna and her son Piotr in 1794. The two women had numerous similarities and differences all of which influenced their works and participation in the various forms of arts. Key among the similarities was the fact that they were both daughters of painters (McGuire 55). They therefore inherited the art from their fathers. Their involvement in the art was in a bid to foster the growth of their respective family business. However, the two women lived in different times and locations thereby creating unique works that

Sustainability and community Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sustainability and community - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that the development of sustainability has become a key priority for governments worldwide. The need for promoting sustainability seems to be mostly related to the severe effects of environmental pollution, as reflected in the worsening of climate worldwide. However, sustainability has been also found to result in the improvement of quality of life and the increase of effectiveness of communities’ infrastructure, as for example through the development of green areas across a city or the establishment of recreation areas for people of all ages. In accordance with a relevant report of the European Commission in 2009, the sustainable development is closely related to the economic development. This means that effective sustainable development plans within a particular community could help towards the improvement of social and economic life of all residents. Sustainability is of critical importance for communities worldwide. In fact, by supporting sustainabilit y communities can serve a series of critical needs: the improvement of infrastructure, meaning especially the transportation system available in each community, the limitation of pollution across the community as this fact would positively influence the lives of the local people, the limitation of energy use across the community and the development of projects for enhancing the local economic life, such as the increase of ecotourism and so on. The above targets can be achieved only through a carefully designed plan of action. At this point it would be important to take into consideration all aspects of such projects, meaning especially the capabilities of each community in terms of infrastructure, financing and human resources (Pierce and Dale 2000). Despite the challenges related to such initiatives it would be quite important for the people in each community to support the particular projects. At this point, it would be necessary to consider the significant effects of environmenta l pollution and of other environmental events on the life of residents. The excess pollution can limit the options of residents in terms of sports and other similar activities (Phillips and Pittman 2009). Also, the lack of appropriate infrastructure, based on the principles of sustainability, can result to the pollution of the community, an effect that can also negatively influence the local agricultural and fishery. Even if the importance of sustainability is significant, as described above, the promotion of sustainability in communities worldwide faces a series of obstacles. In accordance with Mazmanian and Kraft (2009) the reason for the delays in the development of sustainability across communities can be identified in the following fact: the requirements and the role of sustainability, as an element of a community’s strategy, is often not adequately explained. As a result, residents often think of sustainability as of a non-important issue, being regulated through approp riate legislative texts worldwide. On the other hand, not all communities have the resources required for promoting sustainable; reference is made not only to the technical and human resources available for the realization of the above project but rather to the managerial staff supervising these plans. Since sustainability plans can be quite complex it is necessary that appropriately educated and skilled staff participate in the relevant efforts (Mazmanian and Kraft

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance - Essay Example Religion was a vital cultural feature at the time. Religion influenced the cultural and social values in a society. Furthermore, religion influenced governance since religious leaders advised leaders. As such, religion was a fundamental cultural tenet in the early societies. The role of women in religion safeguarded the position of nuns thereby safeguarding some of the fundamental principles of faith. Additionally, Herrad of Landsberg portrayed the role of women in enhancing the growth of knowledge and safeguarding the position of women in the society. She used arts to show the ability of women to learn and take part in arts. By authoring the Hortus deliciarum, a pictoral encyclopedia she sought to enhance the spread of knowledge besides proving the ability of women to take part in arts. The encyclopedia comprised of paintings and poems that helped grow both arts and the enlightenment of women. Her works were among the earliest forms of feminist movements. Lavinia Fontana was among the earliest female artists in Italy. She was the daughter of a painter a feature that influenced her involvement in the art. Painted in 1576, Christ with the Symbols of the Passion is one of her works. Louise Élisabeth Vigà ©e Le Brun on the other hand was one of the most renowned female painters in Northern Europe in the 18th century. She created several works including Portrait of Princess Alexandra Golitsyna and her son Piotr in 1794. The two women had numerous similarities and differences all of which influenced their works and participation in the various forms of arts. Key among the similarities was the fact that they were both daughters of painters (McGuire 55). They therefore inherited the art from their fathers. Their involvement in the art was in a bid to foster the growth of their respective family business. However, the two women lived in different times and locations thereby creating unique works that

Dueling and Honor in the Old South Essay Example for Free

Dueling and Honor in the Old South Essay The practice of dueling in the Old South was inseparably bound to the notion of honor, in all its manifestations, that in large part defined the Southern self-image. Though dueling was a very male activity, its influence as far as defining a man’s character, courage and viability as a gentlemen was also a powerful one with women. The practice was anathema to Northern notions of honor and accomplishment but for the Southern men who dueled the practice was inseparable from their identity as gentlemen, members of an elite and noble caste. A CULTURE OF HONOR It is impossible to understand the importance of the ritual of dueling in the Old South without understanding the traditions of honor as they were celebrated by the men and women of the elite classes of the antebellum period. Honor, or the offence of one’s honor, was the motivation behind the carnage that the practice of dueling left in its wake. Honor, and the importance placed upon it by the Southern aristocracy, flowed from the ideals of hierarchy and entitlement. It was inseparable from the need to defend one’s family, reputation and one’s community (Wyatt-Brown, p. 4). The sanctions for violating honor were not trivial, given that one’s personal honor could be connected to the honor of one’s family and one’s community as a whole. To be truly honorable in the South required adherence to a particular paradigm: Honor was obviously a very personal matter but it was also a very real public matter that merited enforcement by elite the community. In the South, the community, and one’s reputation within it, were as important as and a vital part of one’s self-image. Everyone had to subordinate personal autonomy to the collective will. It was the test of leaders to carry out the comminity’s desires, to uphold its sacredness; otherwise they would find that they themselves were the sacrifices offered up to the sanctified ideals. (Wyatt-Brown, p. 12) Elitism was intrinsic to the idea of Southern honor. The North had largely abandoned the idea that honor, distinction and priveledge where things that were earned through family lines or wealth. The South, however, maintained the ideals of aristocracy long into the 19th Century (Wyatt-Brown, p. 19). Where the North idealized that all were equal before the law, the South still held on to notions of there being different standards for different classes of people. For the Southerner of the elite classes, the Nothern view would represent an affront to their notions of entitlement. The Southern aristocrat was assumed to be a man, or woman, of honor simply because of their station in life. In the North, the situation was quite different. Northern ideals of equality of all men before the law, though imperfect in practice as always, undermnined the privileges of the wealthy and wellborn. To get ahead required skill at intellectual tasks, not just expertise at manipulating others—or at least so the ideal became (Wyatt-Brown, p. 20). While honor in the North was quite often defined by temperance, intellectual achievement and rising above vice (Wyatt-Brown, p. 21), Sothern honor was inseperably attached to notions of masculinity and an important part of being masculine was the willingness to use violence and face death to settle disputes. The Sothern idea of honor is incoherent without understanding its opposite, shame. In the South, public chastizement was still embraced as a good and right way to deal with those who had violated community standards, the culture of honor or had shown themselves to be, perhaps, unworthy of the station to which they had been born (Wyatt-Brown, p. 19). In the North, the pentitentiary system, an essentially private affair, and the idea that a deviant was accoutnable before the law instead of being accoutnable to the wrath of the community in such a public sense, represented a remarkable difference. A crime in the North was a crime against the written letter of the law. A crime in the South, however, could be cast as a violation of an archaic, elitst set of values and accountability was not tied to the private punishment of prison, but to public shame. In fact, Southern honor was such a powderkeg that one who was not familiar with local customs regarding what constituted an insult literally took their life in their hands when travelling to one part of the South from another or to the South from another region (Williams, p. 23). If one were planning to exhibit a bit of wit at the expense of another, the only way to safely do so was to be certain that one knew the recipient of the jest well enough that the subject mater would not be one that addressed too sensitive an issue or challenged too harshly the gentleman’s honor (Williams, p. 24). Another form of public shame was public goading. Challenges to duels were frequently printing in newspapers or hung up in public places—called â€Å"posting† someone— and, of course, many were given verbally in public settings. Both often consisted of rather eloquent insults directed toward the desired opponent. (Williams, p. 23). Given the contraints of such an exacting culture of honor, it’s easy enough to understand how this would leave a man unable to let go such a public humiliation without seeiming to confirm the allegations of the challenger. Another way to issue a challenge to duel with almost certain success was to call another man a liar (Greenberg, p. 32). For the Southern man, being â€Å"given the lie†, which meant to be called out for lying or to simply be accused of being a liar, was one of the highest forms of insult. Greenburg notes that determining whether or not Southern men were on the whole more or less honest than their contemporaries is essentially impossible but that is not the issue. What was important was that one’s honesty was called into question and that, as much or more than anything else, was cause for deadly retribution. Cherchez la femme Southern women were as bound to the culture of honor as were men. In fact, a great deal of a man’s personal and family honor was vested in the women of his family. An insult toward a wife, daughter, cousin or mother represented a slight against all that the man held dear, especially his notion of personal and public honor. Possibly the worst insult that could be leveld against a woman was one implying promiscuity. To say as much of anyone’s wife or daughter almost guaranteed that violence would follow quickly. This flowed from the notions of nobility carried on through a family line. A woman’s promiscuity implied the dishonor of the man, unable to protect his home of which his woman was part. Women also presented a threat in that they could present the man with an illigitimate child. This would cast doubt upon the legitimacy of the entire line. (Wyatt-Brown, p. 54) Of course, in a region where the legitimacy of one’s family claim to aristocracy was essentially one of birthright, and insult such as this implied that the gentleman himself may be unworthy of the privelidges afforded the upper classes. Quite a strong implication: not only was the man, in this case, having his honor challenged but he was also was having his right to even call himself worthy of the title of an honorable man challenged. An insult such as this could not go unanswered. Wyatt-Brown traces this tradition all the way back to the ancestral lands of many white Sotherners. â€Å"Fierce retaliation was therefore mandatory when a daughter, wife, or mother had been dishonored. So it had been in ancient German and Celtic tribes, and so it continued to be in antibelum society (Wyatt-Brown, p. 53). † To modern minds, this brings up an obvious conflict between the typical freedom to be promiscuous granted to males and its not being granted to females. One must keep in mind that the world of the Old South was, in reality, a collection of many worlds. The worlds of the elite and the common, the free and slave and the man and woman. †¦ to the traditional mind there was no â€Å"double standard† of morality. The sexes differed. They lived separate lives—one in the world, the other in the home, one in exterior cicumstances, the other in the inner sactuary that required vigilant safeguarding. (Wyatt-Brown, p. 54) This does not mean that women were simply the targets of insults over which duels ensued where men defended their honor or that they were not a part of the honor culture that lead to the ritualized violence. Quite to the contrary, women were often the causes, and sometimes the instigators, of duels. The view that a woman might not care for a man unwilling to duel when challenged had implied support, at least, from the wife of a Clinton, Mississippi man who told him on the eve of a duel that she would ‘rather be the widow of a brave man than the wife of a coward† (Williams, p. 19). This culture of manliness being validated by way of violence was characteristic of Southern honor and seems to have crossed gender-lines without difficulty. In order for the sort of ritualized killing embodied by dueling to continue, there needed to be a sort of conformity that existed above and beyond independent thought. â€Å"Dueling depended strongly on those who gave faithful and somteis mindless adherence to the trappings of social elitism, who paid open homage to controlleed violence as being synonymous wwith both maleness and personal honor (Williams, p. 39)†. As we can see from the examples above, it was not only men who adhered to these notions of what defined them as masculine. Race and Class White Southerners saw themselves as aristocrats and, like all good aristocrats, one’s position could partially be measured by the amount of land over which one held power. Landownership was important for a great deal more than economic advance. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries landownership provided the necessary key to respected social position and to participation in political life (Cooper Cooper, p. 6) This, of course, is anathema to the Northern ideal—if not always the practice—that all members of a society are entitled to an equal voice in politics. It is also indicative of the way in which Southern society was divided along class lines. However deep these divisions between rich and poor may have been, however, there were nowhere near as deep as the divisions between black and white which, in the old South, amounted to a division between human beings and those treated as if they were something less. Southern blacks were excluded from most of the benefits of personhood which, obviously, excluded them from the culture of honor which dominated the South. In fact, blacks weren’t even able to make a legally-binding statement. Those outside the commuiyt ranks, most especially blacks in the American South, were inelegible for oath-taking. For that reason, among others, slaves and free blacks could not serve as witnesses in trials of whites (Wyatt-Brown, p. 57). Oath-taking, denoting an unwritten, unbreakable code of ethics among men of honor, was an obsession in the South. Taking on debts, particuarly, was an instance where an oath substituted for the stronger bonds of family among Southern whites (Wyatt-Brown, p. 55). This exclusionary idea of whom could give an oath, only a man whose honor was beyond reproach, and who could not, those classes and peoples who honor was suspect because of social rank or racial background, kept the white aristocracy on a pedestal forever above those they considered their lessers. It also presented an obvious route to a duel, should conflicts over loyalty to an oath ever present. To defy an oath was, essentially, to lie and to accuse one of breaking an oath was to call them a liar. In its exclusionary nature, the cutulre of honor had obvious connections to the perpetuation of the institution of slavery. Slaves were deprived by masters of all the elements necessary for the formal duels of gentlemen of honor. They could not exchange notes because law and custom forbid their literacy. After all, a slave who could write a challenge could also write a pass allowing him his freedom—or could read the abolitionist press. (Greenberg, p. 34) Likewise, a slave would certainly not be give the knife, sword or pistol of the duelist! A weapon of avenging one’s honor could easily be turned upon one’s master. While a gentleman was encouraged to risk his life in the defense of his honor, the institution of slavery was largely dependent upon the fear of life and limb on the part of the slaves. The last thing a slave owner wanted to encourage in his slaves was a willingness to risk their lives, lest they decide to risk those lives in an attempt to escape (Greenberg, p. 34). Of course, if a slave were encouraged to have a personal sense of honor, it is only obvious where he might find the first offender of that honor and against whom he may well have chose to avenge himself. Likewise, because a slave was absolutely subject to the will of his master and unable to form any legal contracts on his own (Oakes, p. 4), he was, by default unable to enter into the legal and honorbound world. How could someone less than a man deliver an insult to a man? How could one impugn the honesty of another man if his honesty, by virute of his race, was always assumed to be non-existent? OPPOSITION TO DUELING The impact of dueling was so great on Southern life that officials in some states still have to swear an oath regarding their opposition to and non-involvement in the old practice. Dueling in Kentucky dueling remains a serious matter. In Section 228 of the state’s constitution there remains a link with Kentucky’s violent past. That link is the famous â€Å"dueling clause. † Since 1891, the commonwealth’s officials have had to swear or affirm that â€Å"since the adoption of the present Constitution, I being a citizen of the state, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within the State or nor out of it, nor have I sent or accepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I acted as a Second in carrying a challenge nor aided or assisted any person thus offending, so help me God. (Kentucky, 2005) Given the strict culture of honor in the South and the very real damage that could be done to a man’s economic and social status by turning down a challenge, legislators found themselves with a complex legal problem: How does one pass a law that protects a man’s honor and allows him to turn down a challenge to duel? For those men who already were serving as government officials, it was easy enough to make laws such as the Kentucky law quoted above to deal with the problem. The problem was that the people who engaged in duels thought of themselves as members of an elite; and if a gentleman said, I cant duel because Ill go to jail, his challenger would accuse him of being a coward. So the states in the early 19th century tried an indirect approach: They passed a series of laws that attempted to break the connection between dueling and honor by prohibiting people who dueled from holding public office (Rosen, 2002). A curious example of dueling, once a symbol of the status of those who had access to power now becoming a barrier to the legal, governmental power structure that would come to replace the old aristocracy of the South. Ostracism and criminalization were frequently used as means to discourage dueling. Another solution, though it seems to brush up hard against the first amendment, was to pass laws prohibiting â€Å"fighting words†. Fighting words being those said with the intention of inciting violence, whether they be true or not. By 1942, the Supreme Court had â€Å"marginally enshrined† the concept of â€Å"fighting words† as constitutional (Rosen, 2002). Even though the concept had been accepted, by the time 1942 came along the culture of honor that would have led to personal insults resulting in duels to the death had long since passed away. The Old South was forever gone and, with it, the need for gentlemen to settle their disputes, however petty they may seem by modern standards, with a flintlock pistol or shotgun. Another antidote to the culture of honor was ridicule. A New York Times Article from May 19. 1886 betrays a bit of Northern condescension toward the honorable society of the sophisticated Southern gentry: What would a few years ago have been a difficulty between two eminent Colonels in North Carolina has now shrunk to the proportions of an affair, and now seems likely to dwindled still further to a mere incident. It is well worth noting as an illustration of how far modern ideas have penetrated the fastness to which chivalry has betaken itself (New York Times, 1886). With the end of the Confederacy came the end of the antebellum notions of honor and, with it, the feeling, at least in the Northern states, that its demise was no cause for nostalgia but a sign of progress. RULES OF THE GAME Like the vast majority of the men who engaged in then, duels had their roots in Europe. Like many early American customs, dueling was imported. Starting in the Middle Ages, European nobles had defended their honor in man-to-man battles. An early version of dueling was known as judicial combat, so called because God allegedly judged the man in the right and let him win (Public Broadcasting Service, 2000). Above all other things, duels are a highly regulated, ritualized form of violence. They are not a spontaneous brawl nor are they an organized military battle where commanders endeavor to keep their tactics and intentions secret from their opponents. In a duel, both parties know the rules from the start and make their intentions clear. If there is a source document for the accepted rules of dueling, it would have to be the 1777 Code Duello, written by a group of Irishmen (Public Broadcasting Service, 2000). The code was finalized at Clonmel Summer Assizes and intended to be adopted throughout Ireland. It was followed in adoption in England and in America with some variations in the latter (Public Broadcasting Service, 2000). The rules are quite exacting. The first rule, in fact, specifies that in a case where a man was insulted, it is the obligation of he who insulted him to apologize first, even if the insulted offered a much harsher retort than the original insult. Much of the document has to do less with the rules of the actual duel and more to do with mending the wounds to the insulted party’s honor, or ego. The Code Duello applies to combat undertaken with sword and gun but does mention the most condescending form of punishment, being beaten or caned, usually reserved for lower classes, in the context of offering oneself to be caned as a way of apologizing and taking responsibility for the instigating insult. Rule 5. As a blow is strictly prohibited under any circumstances among gentlemen, no verbal apology can be received for such an insult. The alternatives, therefore the offender handing a cane to the injured party, to be used on his own back, at the same time begging pardon; firing on until one or both are disabled; or exchanging three shots, and then asking pardon without proffer of the cane (Public Broadcasting Service, 2000). The rules are predictably chauvinistic, as well, insults to a lady being regarded as particularly heinous and requiring their own extreme form of apology. Two of the rules are particularly interesting in the way they act to control the violence. Rule 13 states that there shall be no â€Å"dumb shooting† or firing into the air as a means of preventing frivolous disputes from escalating to the level of a duel. Though the rule stipulates that â€Å"The challenger ought not to have challenged without receiving offence† and that the challenged should have apologized before he reached the place of the duel. Jackson and Avery, in a duel where they both forewent taking a fatal shot at their opponent, clearly both violated this rule. Depending on one’s perspective, this could be taken to both of their credits or detriments where honor is concerned. Seconds, through whom the duelists communicated and who were responsible for arranging the terms and rules of the duel, are regulated heavily in behavior and station in the Code Duello. Seconds were to be the duelist’s equal in social rank. The Second’s job, aside from facilitating and arranging the duel, was to try to reach reconciliation between the parties. According to Rule 21 of the Code, â€Å"Seconds are bound to attempt a reconciliation before the meeting takes place, or after sufficient firing or hits, as specified. † What is particularly telling about The Code Duello is the specificity of the rules. Dueling was clearly a sport, though a deadly one, by which men could redeem whatever honor had been taken from them by an insult, deed or implication. As gentlemen, the strictly-regulated nature of their conflicts separated them from the brawlers of the lower classes. In America, there were conventions not specified in the Code Duello. Duelists, though their Seconds could draw up contracts detailing the specifics of the duel and weapons other than pistols or swords could be used at the duelist’s preference (Williams, p. 50). Particularly deadly as a dueling weapon was the shotgun. Where the high degree of inaccuracy associated with smooth-bore, flintlock weapons may well have saved the lives of more than one duelist (see the Clingman vs. Yancey duel described below) a shotgun requires little skill to ensure a hit. However, even among the elite classes, dueling was not automatically thought of as manly or honorable and was even viewed with scorn by some of America’s most famous men. George Washington congratulated one of his officers on refusing a challenge to duel (Public Broadcasting Service, 2000), quite different from what would have been expected by a Southern military man who had declined such a challenge. Benjamin Franklin, for his part, failed to see the point of dueling at all. â€Å"For him , the duels seemed a pointless activity because it could not determine whether a man had really lied†¦ (Greenberg, p. 14). † From Franklin’s perspective, all the emphasis on honor was rather silly. For the Northerner, a duel over a debt failed to get the money back and was, therefore, essentially useless. For the Southern gentleman, the debt itself was pointless, the duel was about honor and tradition (Greenberg, p. 15). It would be difficult to find a modern American equivalent to the honor dueling that took place in the antebellum South. One could argue that sports such as boxing, wrestling and the â€Å"cage fighting† events such as the Ultimate Fighting Challenge are similar, but they are typically arranged fights based on factors such as weight class and fighting record, not on personal slights. While a fist-fight may erupt over an insult to a woman’s honor or a man’s, these are not the regulated, proscribed duels of the past. In short, a duel existed as a means of controlling and regulating violence as much as it was a means of fostering it. Where the modern world is concerned, the heavily-regulated and ritualized world of the Southern gentleman duelist is conspicuously absent. NOTABLE AMERICAN DUELS Burr vs. Hamilton On July 11, 1804, long-standing political and personal tension between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, two of America’s â€Å"founding fathers† came to a head. Their rivalry was longstanding and Burr believed he may have been the President, instead of the Vice President, if it had not been for Hamilton’s interference (Americas Library, 2008). The Hamilton-Burr duel is an instance where a personal insult was the impetus for the duel. Hamilton voiced his disdain for Burr at a political dinner held for the Federalist party. The exact slur was not printed but Burr twice demanded and failed to receive what he would have considered an adequate apology from Hamilton. After failing the Second time, Burr demanded a duel (Jefferson National Expansion, 2008). Burr, ultimately, did receive â€Å"satisfaction†. He shot and mortally wounded Hamilton, who shot his pistol into the air, and Hamilton died the next day (Jefferson National Expansion, 2008). Burr was indicted for murder, dueling was not legal in New York, but was never prosecuted for the crime (Americas Library, 2008). He went on to serve out his term as Vice President. A question that had plagued historians is why, exactly, these men undertook such a drastic means of settling what amount to a fairly petty matter. For Burr, obviously, the idea of avenging an insult is explanation enough. But Hamilton was opposed to dueling on moral and religious grounds. He did not even expect to be challenged to a duel but was known for being very protective of his notions of personal honor, possibly because of his insecurities concerning his own illegitimacy (Freeman, 1996). However, Hamilton’s failure to respond was not meant as an insult. Rather, a friend, Rufus king, advised Hamilton that the letter sent to Hamilton by Burr did not merit a response. Hamilton intended to accept a challenge should it have been offered but he hadn’t any intention of shooting Burr (Freeman, 1996). According to Joanne B. Freeman, Hamilton’s moral reasoning for accepting the duel was thus: He had satisfied the code of honor by accepting Burr’s challenge, violating the civil law only under duress. He had maintained his political integrity by refusing to apologize for heartfelt political convictions. Now he would uphold his moral and religious principles by withholding his fire (Freeman, 1996). It is interesting that Hamilton wanted none of the â€Å"satisfaction† of killing or wounding his opponent. As we shall see, this pageant aspect of dueling was not entirely unique, as represented in the Jackson vs. Avery duel described below. For Hamilton, his honor would be sustained by not killing his opponent. Convoluted reasoning, to be certain, but quite in line with the more Northern ideal that honor could be measured by a man’s ability to withhold from vices, in this case bloodlust. Hamilton saw the honor in dueling not in the death of his opponent, but in having the courage to participate in such an affair, which he felt would benefit him politically as well as personally (Freeman, 1996). Jackson vs. Dickinson A very characteristically Southern duel between Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson. Charles Dickinson, 27 years old and having had a few drinks in him, made some â€Å"uncomplimentary remarks about Rachel Jackson, Andrew’s Wife, who was the subject of much gossip (Williams, p. 18). † The reaction was predictable, the next day Andrew Jackson confronted Dickinson, who attempted to no avail to apologize and found himself facing off against Jackson on â€Å"the field of honor† in May of 1806. According to William’s account, Dickinson aimed and did successfully wound Jackson in the chest. Old Hickory, however, lived up to his name and did not fall when struck. He clutched the wound, took one shot that failed to discharge his weapon and then a Second that killed Dickinson. Clay vs. Randolph On Saturday, April 8, 1825, Henry Clay and John Randolph squared off in Virginia over the latter’s support for John Quincy Adams and Clay’s having insulted Randolph for it. Randolph had a reputation for being a deadly-accurate marksman and it was assumed among most Washington officials that Clay would not survive the encounter. What followed was as farcical as any duel could have been. Randolph’s pistol discharged before the duel was underway. Clay, not satisfied, insisted that they carry though. The duel was held at thirty-steps distance, apparently beyond the marksmanship skills of either duelist. Clay shot and hit the ground, Randolph managed to hit a tree stump. Still, despite the urging of a Second, they insisted on carrying through. The third attempt was slightly more impressive, Clay managed to penetrate Randolph’s coat. Randolph, according to the Code Duello, now had the right to fire upon Clay. After stretching out the moment, apparently for maximum dramatic impact, he opted to fire into the air, against the rules of the Code Duello. Clay inquired whether he had injured Mr. Randolph’s to which Randolph replied â€Å"No, Mr. Clay. But you owe me a new coat. † (Kentucky, 2005) NOTABLE NORTH CAROLINA DUELS Carson vs. Vance The Carson vs. Vance duel is representative of most Southern duels in both its impetus and the means in which it was conducted. Samuel P. Carson and Robert Brank Vance would seem, at first blush, to be men who had much in common. Both were known for their intelligence, their political skill and their charisma. In fact, the pair of them were friends before a political debate and a series of bitter slurs against Carson and his family on the part of Vance would tear the two apart and lead to their meeting on â€Å"the field of honor†. Vance and Carson both came from families with prestigious backgrounds, Carson’s noted for his father’s service under Washington. Vance was a physician who, upon winning a lottery, retired early and entered politics. Both served as members of Congress where their skill came to be well-respected among their peers. Carson, for his part, was popular not only among people of his own class but even among the slaves at his father’s plantation. Vance was noticeably short, having a left leg six inches shorter than his right but his remarkable intelligence came to overshadow his physical form to most who made his acquaintance. Though the two were friends, during the course of a political debate in 1827, Vance would set into motion a series of events that would lead to their eventual duel. During the debate, after both men insinuated that the other wasn’t so honest or trustworthy as they represented, Vance called Carson, in so many words, a coward. Vance did not believe that Carson would ever resort to a duel as Carson had refused to enter one years before. Things got even worse when Vance began attacking Carson’s father’s military record. Implying that Col. Carson had sought the protection of the British, Vance essentially accused the Colonel, and, thereby his family, of being cowards and unworthy of their social status. Vance, despite his rather vicious efforts to disparage his opponent, lost the election. Colonel Carson wrote Vance an angry letter in regards to the accusations. Vance replied that he could not have an altercation with so aged a man as Colonel Carson and said that one of the Colonel’s son’s should step up to defend the old man’s honor. Colonel Carson sent a proxy to inquire as to which son Vance meant and Vance replied that Sam knew that Vance was speaking of him. Sam accepted the challenge. The duel took place on Saluda Gap on the North/South Carolina line. The weapons were pistols at ten yards. Vance missed his mark but Carson did not, sending a ball through Vance’s hip where it lodged. Vance died of his wound about 30 hours later at a hotel. Carson had expressed a desire to speak with Vance following the duel and Vance said that he held no ill-will toward Carson. The two never did speak, however, and the incident is said to have had negative repercussions on Carson for the rest of his life (Arthur, 1914). Clingman vs. Yancey Depending upon one’s view of the custom of dueling, the â€Å"duel† between Thomas Clingman and William Yancey was either a noble instance of two men desperately trying to uphold the rigid customs of honor or a revealing example of the ridiculous nature of wanting to avenge insult with murder. Yancey, an Alabama congressman, had viciously attacked Clingman in a political speech, impugning Clingman’s loyalty to the South. This was in retaliation to Clingman’s attacks upon the Democrats which was a notably fiery piece of rhetoric (Jeffrey, p. 49). Both speeches were characteristic of the fierce partisanship of the time. Clingman was a Whig and Yancey a Democrat. However, a distinction between the remarks given by Clingman and those given by Yancey were that Yancey’s attacked Clingman personally . Clingman’s remarks were certainly over-the-top but they were not, at least in a personal sense, over-the-line (Jeffrey, p. 49). Yancey had turned the art of parliamentary rhetoric into a personal assault. The North Carolina Standard said that â€Å"Never was any man so severely castigated as Mr. Clingman was. (Jeffrey, p. 49). On January 6 or 1845 Clingman told Yancey that he intended to press the matter. He challenged Yancey to meet him in Baltimore where he intended to deliver a formal challenge. Unfortunately, despite Clingman’s enthusiasm for the duel, he was not familiar with the art of shooting