A Christmas Carol Analysis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1058 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/07/03 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: A Christmas Carol Essay Did you like this example? Facts: Scrooge doesn’t know why Fred is happy when he’s poor. Scrooge sees good as referring solely to profits. For characters like Fred and Bob Cratchit, Christmas represents the ideal of goodness and moral prosperity, but Scrooge is at his most miserly when Christmas is mentioned. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Christmas Carol Analysis" essay for you Create order Even though Scrooge constantly acts up, Fred still invites him to his house. If Scrooge allowed himself to feel happy once in a while he would be happy. But he does not. Scrooge’s mainly economic view on Christmas causes him to reject it and the people around him trying to help him. Fan is important to Scrooge. Fan is an important character in Scrooge’s past. Fan represented an idol to Scrooge, someone he loved his entire life, she was one of the reasons his childhood shone, and stood out in contrast to the present. She was the reason that Scrooge had an equal balance of sad to happy times in his young life. Even as an adult man, Scrooge went back to his old habits more similarly to his school, but now he has accepted and chooses loneliness and family. Fan eventually tells Scrooge that she is taking him home. â€Å"Home, for good, â€Å"she says happily. She says,† their father is kinder now and has asked for his son to be brought home to become a man and never return to the schoolroom.† Inferences: Scrooge is annoyed by happiness and marriage because his fiancee Belle left him around Christmas. Throughout the story Scrooge shows how he is annoyed by Christmas in many ways, and one of the most important ones is when his own family member, Fred, is introduced in the book. Although he is his nephew, Scrooge still shows no sympathy nor connection to him, one of his own family members. Scrooge’s choice to do this show how even he, a man rich enough to never have to work the rest of his life, still isn’t rich in happiness and neglects the only family he has left since his sister died. His annoyance with his nephew can also be thought of in a bigger picture as his hate for Christmas which may have all started with the loss of his fiancee Belle. Scrooge didn’t want to see the truth of the situation which the ghost of Christmas past was showing him. The ghost of Christmas past was showing Scrooge happier memories like when Scrooge’s sister, Fan, announces that she is taking him home. Home, for good, she says happily. She says that their father is kinder now and has asked for his son to be brought home to become a man and never return to the schoolroom. And also when Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig take to the floor. Once the party had finished Scrooge went straight to bed with his co apprentice Dick. Scrooge was watching the party carry on. It shows that something so little can give someone all the joy in the world. The ghost of Christmas past then shows Scrooge how he changed from someone who loved Christmas to someone who hated it. The arrival of the husband-figure with Belle and the gossip about the old flame Scrooge made it clear to what he was missing out on. Scrooge’s reaction to the ghost of Christmas presen t was a combination of him being annoyed, and him hiding from the truth eventually this caused him to slam the extinguisher cap down on the ghost’s head. The ghost of christmas past was trying to shed light on the situation by showing Scrooge Belle’s past. Themes: Gratitude is able to remember the past, make sense of the present, and decide the future. Three ghosts appear to show and tell Scrooge the consequences of his actions and behavior. The three ghosts throughout the story represent the past, present, and future, all beckoning him to make better choices throughout his life. They all try to teach him to appreciate and show gratitude towards everything you have. With the first two ghost Scrooge doesn’t show any change in his ways. However, throughout the course of his journey with the third ghost he begins to repent, and his future begins to change. Over the course of the book, the idea of it being based off of the past, the present, and the future is shown: First, the change in Scrooge’s personality is tremendous after not even giving the idea of Christmas a chance in the beginning to completely embracing and accepting it by the end. And second, the idea that even though one may not enjoy Christmas, everyone has their own wa y of celebrating it, there is Scrooge whenever he counts his money, and there are the rest of the characters who all enjoy and celebrate. Dickens writes about the Ghost of Christmas Past bringing Scrooge to a lighthouse where two men around a campfire, surrounded by the ocean were still able to celebrate Christmas even in their dire situation. In life, we must appreciate the people around us before they are gone. The goal of the story had been to depict an image of how dreary and bleak the setting had been. The idea of Christmas had kept everyone happy and motivated, but with people dying very frequently, the time was made very unhappy. This is similar to the idea that it is easier and takes less effort to be unhappy than happy, because when you are happy, you are putting more work into keeping yourself calm and collected. In this time period, people like Scrooge are the ones who are unhappy, because after all the losses they can’t hold themselves together. Some examples of the losses Scrooge experienced are his sister, Fan, who he had idolized his entire life, his fiancee Belle, who didn’t die, but left him , and finally his partner, Jacob Marley, who had no one else to show up to his funeral than a loosely connected co-worker (Scrooge). At the time however, Scrooge had another family member left, the son of his dead sister, Fred. Over the years, Scrooge had not even attempted to make contact with Fred. Fred had been trying to share some of the Christmas spirit with his uncle, but he still rejected Fred’s intentions to reconnect with his last family member.

Putting A Tax On Junk Food Essay - 1943 Words

That has gone without, including paying for breakfast to be held in schools as kids won’t be getting a decent breakfast at home because their parents and guardians would have to pay more for the food that they want. However, I personally don’t agree with this statement, from my perspective, putting a tax on junk food won’t necessarily eradicate the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics from overconsuming junk foods, but it will reduce the consumption by a certain amount, however it’s something that’s not going to happen overnight. This is similar to smoking in the sense that smoking is taxed because it’s pernicious not only to the person concerned, but the society around them and even though smoking is taxed, people are still prepared to buy cigarettes at a ridiculously expensive price so they can still smoke, but the number of people that smoke has decreased by a reasonable amount. Therefore if the government puts a tax on junk food it will have a corresponding effect as to how smoking was taxed. The government must establish a tax on all unhealthy foods and uses the money to subsidize fruit and vegetables and promote and educate healthy eating in schools. By doing this type two diabetes and obesity and the health issues that have been derived from these epidemics will decrease this will mean that more people will be healthier and therefore live longer. At the moment junk food is ludicrously cheap; you just have to go into your local supermarket to see that a bottle ofShow MoreRelatedPutting A Tax On Junk Food Essay1927 Words   |  8 Pagesbreakfast to be held in schools as kids won’t be getting a decent breakfast at home because their parents and guardians would be having to pay more for the food that they want. However, I personally don’t agree with this statement, putting a tax on junk food won’t necessarily eradicate the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic from overconsuming junk foods, but it will reduce the consumption by a certain amount, howeve r it’s something that’s not going to happen overnight. This is similar to smoking in theRead MoreMalnutrition : The Common Misconception1290 Words   |  6 Pagesnutrition resulting from insufficient food, unbalanced diet, or defective assimilation . Malnutrition can be caused by starvation, medical conditions, an unbalanced diet, or problems with digestion or absorption. Junk food is one of the leading causes of malnutrition since most of its calories come from sugar and fat, not necessary vitamins or minerals, so a junk food tax should be put into place. This tax would make junk food, and some other non-nutritional food, more expensive than the produce thatRead MoreJunk Food Taxes1144 Words   |  5 Pagesof implementing a junk food tax was proposed by several experts. The purpose of the tax was to decrease the consumption of unhealthy foods. This tax would also generate revenue earmarked for relevant causes, such as; improving diet, obesity prevention, and nutriti on education. The underlying purpose is to focus on maximizing health benefits. It has sparked controversy on the levels of additional bureaucracy, interfering with personal liberties, and freedom of choice. Junk-Food Taxes Introduction Read MoreObesity : Obesity And Obesity Essay1508 Words   |  7 PagesAlthough it is well known that junk food leads to health risks and obesity, people are still putting unhealthy food into their body daily.   The United States has the highest obesity rate in the world by 6% and the government should be helping to lower that percentage (http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Health/Obesity).   The best for the United States to help the obesity rate is by implementing a fat tax.   A fat tax is a tax on foods that are considered unhealthy and are believed to leadRead MoreArgument and Persuasion Essay625 Words   |  3 PagesLiving Eating unhealthy foods is one of the major causes of obesity today; but should there be a higher tax on all soft drinks and junk food? Should people be punished for eating what they want? Yes, there are health risks involved with an unhealthy diet but is a higher taxing on these foods the right alternative? With the price of healthcare raising maybe the extra tax could help alleviate it, maybe not. Perhaps the higher tax will turn people away from buying unhealthy foods and drinks. ConsumingRead MoreCutting A Tax On Junk Food961 Words   |  4 PagesRaising food taxes is the topic of the editorial article â€Å"Slapping a tax on junk food is still a bad idea† by the Globe and Mail. The writer states that raising taxes is not the answer to decrease high obesity rates and instead suggests that moderation and lifestyle are key to enjoying food. The editorial also acknowledges the increasing amount of attention we give to this problem now that it has grown larger and more com plex. Also, an increase of taxes ultimately allow the consumers to haveRead MoreShould Junk Food Be Taxed More?1738 Words   |  7 PagesShould Junk Food be taxed more to discourage consumption? Junk Food should be taxed more for reasons such as Obesity, Diabetes, and High Blood Pressure, etc. These health risks are linked to the consumption of Junk Food, which is consumed every day by many Americans. â€Å"10 percent tax would reduce consumption of soda by 8 to 10 percent.† Even though some people believe that Junk Food Tax won’t curb the many diseases linked to it, Junk Food Taxes could decrease the risks of diseases, limit consumptionRead MoreWhat Can We Do?1526 Words   |  7 PagesWhat Can We Do Ever wanted to grab something to eat, and all the cheap food options were where junk food? Have you ever once gone out of the way to go to a grocery store to not have enough money to spend on fruits, and vegetables, but end up buying 5 cartons of ramen noodles instead? Majority of our foods that are easily accessible are processed, therefore making junk food enticing and easier to buy. (Union of†¦) Having healthy food more expensive is dangerous for ourselves, and for our communities.Read MoreThe Cost Recovery Act And Tobacco Litigation1348 Words   |  6 Pagesthe government puts on junk and fatty food, it will not stop people from eating them. 2. In the academic journal, â€Å"The Cost Recovery Act and Tobacco Litigation in Canada: A Model for Fast Food Litigation,† the states: One of the most well-known fast food litigation cases in the United States is Pelman v. McDonald s Corp. In Pelman, two minors sued the fast food restaurant McDonalds claiming, among other things, that McDonalds acted at least negligently in selling food products that are high inRead MoreThe Obesity Epidemic Of Obesity Essay2378 Words   |  10 Pagesthe age of five were either overweight or obese. Unfortunately, in today’s society, the obesity rate is exceedingly high and will continue to increase if nothing is done about it. Obesity is caused by an over consumption of unhealthy foods and unhealthy foods are foods that classified as being high in sugar, fat and sodium. Over eating/ drinking these products not only lead to obesity, but also type 2 diabetes. According to www.diabetes.org type two diabetes contributes to a variety of different health

My Family History My Grandmother Essay Example For Students

My Family History : My Grandmother Essay When you think about your family history and how far you can follow your family history back to the first time they arrived in the U.S you would be pretty amazed. When I start back to my family history on both of my parents side I can go as far back as my great-great grandparents on both sides. On my mom side her great grandmother was from a Caribbean island she later came to the U.S. because of my great-great grandfather wanted to live in Mississippi to work there to earn more money. Later my great grandfather and grandmother moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan with my grandfather who was from Michigan. My grandfather parents lived in the south when he was younger. But my grandfather’s great-great grandparents where slaves who were run a ways who later went back south after the civil war. My grandparents lived in Grand Rapids and raised a family both of my grandparents had kids from a past marriage. They later had kids with each other the first child was my mom after her was my uncle Ben, after him it was my aunt Tracey. The last child that they had was my uncle Corey. For my dad’s side of the family my great-great grandfather was a Native American who lived down in Georgia with his wife and kids. My great grandmother later had my grandmother who lived down in Georgia with my grandfather. They later moved to Alexandria, VA where my dad and brothers and sisters where born. Before I was my born my grandfather died because of a hit and run. My parents later meet at Howard University where my mom attended school to become a teacher. My parents dated for about 5 years and later had me in 1994.My parents never married was a child born out of wedlock I also have two siblings but they are half siblings according to the Webster dictionary a . .gout with him and my god-brother Tre a lot he basically raised me like I was his son to this day his death still hurts me. But out of all of the bad in my family there has been good. Such as my Uncle Ben got remarried and had two daughters from the marriage he is still married to his wife now. Also we have added a boat load of kids on both sides of the family which is great because the younger kids will be able to continue the tradition.Overall, I have great family I know people who look from the outside might see a dysfunctional family but I love my family. I wish things could be better but I wouldn’t change anything for the world. This paper is probably the first time I really talked about my family in depth and I feel fine doing it because I feel like I should tell people more about my family instead of acting like I’m embarrassed by them when people ask.

Womens Roles 2000 Essays - Abortion, Gender Studies, Womens Rights

Women's Roles 2000 Overall, the rights and status of women have improved considerably in the last century; however, gender equality has been threatened within the last two decades. Blatantly sexist laws and practices are slowly being eliminated while social perceptions of women's roles continue to stagnate and even degrade back to traditional ideals. It is these social perceptions that challenge the evolution of women as equal on all levels. In this study, I will argue that subtle and blatant sexism continues to exist throughout educational, professional and legal arenas. Women who carefully follow their expected roles may never recognize sexism as an oppressive force in their life. I find many parallels between women's experiences in the nineties and Betty Friedan's, cofounder of the National Organization of Women, in her essay: The Way We Were - 1949. She dealt with a society that expected women to fulfill certain roles. Those roles completely disregarded the needs of educated and motivated business women and scientific women. The subtle message that society gave was that the educated woman was actually selfish and evil. I remember in particular the searing effect on me, who once intended to be a psychologist, of a story in McCall's in December 1949 called A Weekend with Daddy. A little girl who lives a lonely life with her mother, divorced, an intellectual know-it-all psychologist, goes to the country to spend a weekend with her father and his new wife, who is wholesome, happy, and a good cook and gardener. And there is love and laughter and growin g flowers and hot clams and a gourmet cheese omelet and square dancing, and she doesn't want to go home. But, pitying her poor mother typing away all by herself in the lonesome apartment, she keeps her guilty secret that from now on she will be living for the moments when she can escape to that dream home in the country where they know what life is all about. (Fetzer, 57) I have often consulted my grandparents about their experiences, and I find their historical perspective enlightening. My grandmother was pregnant with her third child in 1949. Her work experience included: interior design and modeling women's clothes for the Sears catalog. I asked her to read the Friedan essay and let me know if she felt as moved as I was, and to share with me her experiences of sexism. Her immediate reaction was to point out that, Betty Friedan was a college educated woman and she had certain goals that never interested me. My grandmother, though growing up during a time when women had few social rights, said she didn't experience oppressive sexism in her life. However, when she describes her life accomplishments, I feel she has spent most of her life fulfilling the expected roles of women instead of pursuing goals that were mostly reserved for men. Unknowingly, her life was controlled by traditional, sexist values prevalent in her time and still prevalent in the ye ar 2000. Twenty-four years after the above article from McCall's magazine was written, the Supreme Court decided whether women should have a right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade (410 U.S. 113 (1973)). I believe the decision was made in favor of women's rights mostly because the court made a progressive decision to consider the woman as a human who may be motivated by other things in life than just being a mother. Justice Blackmun delivered the following opinion: Maternity, or additional offspring, may force upon the woman a distressful life and future. Psychological harm may be imminent. Mental and physical health may be taxed by child care. There is also a distress, for all concerned, associated with the unwanted child, and there is the problem of bringing a child into a family already unable, psychologically and otherwise, to care for it. In other cases, as in this one, the additional difficulties and continuing stigma of unwed motherhood may be involved. (Goldman, 205) I feel the court decision of Roe v. Wade would not have been made in 1949. Even in 1973, it was a progressive decision. The problem of abortion has existed for the entire history of this country (and beyond), but had never been addressed because discussing

How To Extract DNA

How To Extract DNA DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is the molecule that codes genetic information in most living organisms. Some bacteria use RNA for their genetic code, but any other living organism will work as a DNA source for this project. DNA Extraction Materials While you can use any DNA source, some work especially well. Peas, such as dried split green peas,  are an excellent choice. Spinach leaves, strawberries, chicken liver, and bananas are other options. Dont use DNA from living people or pets, as a simple matter of ethics. 100 ml (1/2 cup) of a DNA source1 ml (â…› teaspoon) table salt, NaCl200 ml (1 cup) cold waterenzymes to denature protein (e.g., meat tenderizer, fresh pineapple juice,  or contact lens cleaning solution)30 ml (2 tablespoons) liquid dishwashing detergent70-90% rubbing alcohol or other isopropyl or ethyl alcoholblenderstrainercup or bowltest tubesstraws or wooden skewers Perform the DNA Extraction Blend together 100 ml of DNA source, 1 ml of salt, and 200 ml of cold water. This takes about 15 seconds on high setting. You are aiming for a homogeneous soupy mixture. The blender breaks apart the cells, releasing the DNA that is stored inside.Pour the liquid through a strainer into another container. Your goal is to remove the large solid particles. Keep the liquid; discard the solids.Add 30 ml liquid detergent to the liquid. Stir or swirl the liquid to mix it. Allow this solution to react for 5-10 minutes before proceeding to the next step.Add a small pinch of meat tenderizer or a squirt of pineapple juice or contact lens cleaner solution to each vial or tube. Swirl the contents gently to incorporate the enzyme. Harsh stirring will break the DNA and make it harder to see in the container.Tilt each tube and pour alcohol down the side of each glass or plastic to form a floating layer on top of the liquid. Alcohol is less dense than water, so it will float on the liquid, but you don t want to pour it into the tubes because then it will mix.  If you examine the interface between the alcohol and each sample, you should see a white stringy mass. This is the DNA! Use a wooden skewer or a straw to capture and collect the DNA from each tube. You can examine the DNA using a microscope or magnifying glass or place it in a small container of alcohol to save it. How It Works The first step is to choose a source that contains a lot of DNA. Although you can use DNA from anywhere, sources high in DNA will yield more product at the end. The human genome is diploid, meaning it contains two copies of each DNA molecule. Many plants contain multiple copies of their genetic material. For example, strawberries are octoploid and contain 8 copies of each chromosome. Blending the specimen breaks apart the cells so you can separate the DNA from other molecules. Salt and detergent act to strip away proteins normally bound to DNA. The detergent also separates the lipids (fats) from the sample. The enzymes are used to cut the DNA. Why would you want to cut it? The DNA is folded and wrapped around proteins, so it needs to be freed before it can be isolated. After you have completed these steps, the DNA is separated from other cell constituents, but you still need to get it out of solution. This is where the alcohol comes into play. The other molecules in the sample will dissolve in alcohol, but DNA does not. When you pour alcohol (the colder the better) onto the solution, the DNA molecule precipitates so that you can collect it. Learn More About DNA 10 Interesting DNA FactsDNA Versus RNADNA Facts Quiz

King Philip VI of France

King Philip VI of France King Philip VI  was also known as: in French,  Philippe de Valois King Philip VI was known for: Being  the first French king of the Valois dynasty. His reign saw the beginning of the Hundred Years War and the arrival of the Black Death. Occupations: King Places of Residence and Influence: France Important Dates: Born:  1293Crowned:  May 27, 1328Died:  , 1350 About King Philip VI: Philip was a cousin to kings: Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV were the last of the direct line of Capetian kings. When Charles IV died in 1328, Philip became regent until Charles widow gave birth to what was expected to be the next king. The child was female and, Philip claimed, was therefore ineligible to rule under Salic Law. The only other male claimaint was Englands Edward III, whose mother was the late kings sister and who, due to the same restrictions of Salic Law regarding females, was also barred from succession. So, in May of 1328, Philip of Valois became King Philip VI of France. In August of that year, the count of Flanders appealed to Philip for help in putting down a revolt. The king responded by sending his knights to slaughter thousands at the Battle of Cassel. Not long after that, Robert of Artois, who had helped Philip secure the crown, claimed the countship of Artois; but a royal claimant did so, as well. Philip instituted judicial proceedings against Robert, turning his one-time supporter into a bitter enemy. It wasnt until 1334 that trouble began with England. Edward III, who didnt particularly like paying homage to Philip for his holdings in France, decided to flout Philips interpretation of Salic Law and lay claim to the French crown through his mothers line. (Edward was most likely spurred on in his animosity toward Philip by Robert of Artois.) In 1337 Edward landed on French soil, and what would later be known as the Hundred Years War began. In order to wage war Philip had to raise taxes, and in order to raise taxes he had to make concessions to the nobility, the clergy, and the bourgeoisie. This resulted in the rise of the estates and the beginning of a reform movement in the clergy. Philip also had difficulties with his council, many of whom were under the influence of the powerful Duke of Burgundy. The arrival of plague in 1348 pushed many of these problems to the background, but they were still there (along with the plague) when Philip died in 1350. More King Philip VI Resources: King Philip VI on the Web Philip VIConcise intro at Infoplease.Philippe VI de Valois (1293-1349)Very brief bio at the official website of France. The Hundred Years War Chronological Index Geographical Index Index by Profession, Achievement, or Role in Society The text of this document is copyright  ©2005-2015 Melissa Snell. You may download or print this document for personal or school use, as long as the URL below is included. Permission is not granted to reproduce this document on another website. For publication permission, please   contact  Melissa Snell. The URL for this document is:http://historymedren.about.com/od/pwho/fl/King-Philip-VI-of-France.htm

Strategy Implementation - Smart Water Research Paper

Strategy Implementation - Smart Water - Research Paper Example This brand is targeted to replace carbonated soft drinks, which are believed to have high calorie intake (Griffin & Moorhead 321). Smart Water is designed to address the needs of the customers who are concerned with their health status. This â€Å"Nutrient enhanced water† has imposed strong competition, not only against other bottled water, but also against other carbonated soft drinks, of which it acts as a perfect substitute (Griffin & Moorhead 322). The Smart Water packaging is designed to conform to the company’s policies and practices. The packaging is made out of sustainable and recyclable materials, which is consistence with the company’s sustainable packaging policy. Key performance indicators are often used to monitor sustainable packaging (Griffin & Moorhead 323). One of the company’s policies is to disclose the use of recycled materials in its products: a strategy that was successfully implemented in the production and packaging of Smart Water. Some of the company’s policies and practices that relate to the packaged water include; water recycling initiatives, water efficiency targets, water efficiency process, disclosed water conserved, reveal water use at Non-US Facilities, disclose normalized water use, policies to improve the efficiency of water use, and climate change policies that address water conservation and use (Griffin & Moorhead

This house believes international sporting events are beneficial to Essay

This house believes international sporting events are beneficial to the host country - Essay Example The most obvious appeal of hosting a large scale sporting event is that it creates a suitable platform for the host destination to market its facilities and culture to the world. The image portrayed during the event creates an influential impression on the viewers, which determines future visits to the destination (Solaf, 1998, p. 44). Since the inception of Olympic Games, the number of participants and viewers has been increasing. In 1984, only 140 countries participated in 221 events at the games. In the 2000 Olympic Games, the number of participating countries increased to 199 while the events rose to 300 (Shaffer, Alan and Celine 2003, p. 83). During the 2008 summer Olympic Games in Beijing, a record 204 nations who are members of National Olympic Committee participated in 302 events (Liauw, 2010, p. 28). These figures show that hosting Olympic Games is one of the largest tourism advertising opportunities that the host country and city can ever have. The wide media coverage of th e event promoted the image of the city in the international market by displaying the good infrastructural framework, diverse Chinese cultures and the excellent living conditions in the city (Campanella, 2008). Analysts explain that this effect occurs through the enhancement of both pull and push tourist factors (Hinch, and Higham, 2001, p. 70). According to Kearns and Philo (1993, p. 75), pull factors are the positive and tangible attributes of the host destinations. They include cultural and historical attractions, good infrastructure, security, facilities for leisure activities and other opportunities including favourable shopping amenities, accommodation and other supporting services. China has a rich historical and cultural background that includes the Chinese Great Wall. The media coverage during the event provided a valuable opportunity for marketing such scenic sites to the world. Push factors are intangible tourist motives, associated with stimulating the desire of people to travel to a particular destination for leisure activities (Solaf, 1998, p. 247). Six years before hosting the Olympic Games in 2008, the number of tourists arriving in China increased by about 6 percent annually (ETOA, 2010). In 2007, a year before the event, 132 million foreign tourists visited the country. Moreover, the event stimulated domestic tourism from 644 million in 1997 to over 1 billion tourists in 2007 (Zhang and Zhao 2007, p. 79). Hosting the Olympics games require heavy capital investment and critics argue that the anticipated benefits do not justify the cost. Construction of infrastructure associated with hosting of the event contributes the largest proportion of the costs (Preuss, 2000). There is hard evidence, however, which proves that hosting the Olympic Games does have a lasting and positive effect on the economy of the host region. In 2009, the number of tourist arrivals in Beijing increased and exceeded the 2008 arrivals (ETOA, 2010). The 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona stimulated tourism industry in the city profoundly. Before the Olympics, tourism accounted less than 2 percent of the city’s gross domestic product (GDP). After conclusion of the event, tourism in Barcelona has been on an increasing trend and currently, it

History of education Essay Example for Free

History of education Essay â€Å"Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed for a lifetime. † This adage is completely true in its meaning and substance. It means that if you educate a person, you are showing him the way to the future. You are giving the necessary training that helps him earn his bread and lead a better life for himself and his children in future. Education is the only way which distinguish human from the animal. According to Aristotle, the distinguishing feature of man is his moral sense. Man can learn from his experiences and from his experiences of others; he knows what is good and what is bad. He is capable of revising his judgements whenever he doesn’t agree with the circumstances of life. It is because of this reason that education became a part of the training of man. We are the superior because we contain the knowledge and the education which has only bought us in this condition. Education is described as the training and instructions given to the human. It also gives a person ability to develop character and mental power. It is compared to light that light up the darkness. In other words, it means that people become more aware of things in life and they see things from different perspectives. It also leads a person from mental bankruptcy to enlightenment. Education can be obtained formally and informally. The education we get at schools and colleges is termed formal education and the education ewe get at homes regarding family values and social relationships is called informal education. A Chinese proverb says, â€Å"If you are planning for a year, sow rice, if you are planning of ten years plant trees nut if you are planning of hundred years, educate people. † Education is the backbone of a society. It holds the foundations of civilizations and development. If the system of educating people is good in a country, the country makes rapid progress. This is the reason why millions of dollars are earmarked for education in the developed countries. The real purpose of education lies in disciplining our reasoning and emotion. If our emotions are not properly channelised, we are reduced to the status of animals. If our reasoning is not properly controlled, it my go wrong. Similarly, emotion and reason should have their due share in determining the personality of a person; otherwise man becomes a lopsided creature. At last, education is the important thing which we should not discourage. The real purpose of education can be achieved if it is not tagged with any other motion expect education. We all have the right to study and gave as much information as we can so let gather the knowledge and be educated.

mortal kombat :: essays research papers

Mortal Kombat â€Å"According to Time magazine, September 27, 1993, violence in video games is on the rise especially with the release of Mortal Kombat. Over 50 million children all over the United States brought this violence into their homes. The parents and other adults of these children finally decided that the video games in the U.S. had gone too far.† Mortal Kombat was the first game that brought blood and gore into the video game world. Mortal Kombat started in the arcades it was such a hit, they made it into a game you could buy for personal use. Critics raved over it when it was first introduced, saying it was too violent for kids and it needed to be taken off the shelves. This game appealed to many people because of its real-life graphics, blood and gore. The game was also responsible for the video game rating system used today. The game was an instant hit, they made an endless amount of Mortal Kombat games, for every gaming system imaginable, there was even a movie made based on the game. This essay will illustrate how Mortal Kombat is violent, and take a critical point of view of this popular game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mortal Kombat is a video game based around hand-to-hand combat between two characters in the game. The person playing would control one-character and use combinations of punches, kicks and special moves to cause as much damage to the opponent as possible. This game is fun and very addicting; children would end up playing the game constantly trying to master the moves and techniques of the game. People found it fun because the characters and the worlds that you fight in seem like some fantasy, most people would fight their friends to see who would rein supreme; it was a constant challenge to be the best fighter. With the new game that came out not too, long ago you are able to plug an internet cord in the back of your gaming system and play anyone in the world. This game caught so much criticism that the makers had to take the blood out of the game, and they turned it in to white sweat, but little did the critics know that there were codes you could enter to bring the blood back to the game. There also were codes called â€Å"Fatalities† which were finishing moves where you could decapitate someone’s head, rip their arms off and burn them alive.

Super Project

The Super Project Case Study FIN 3717 Braden Eddy, Lauren Gear and Dakota Conravey The Super Project Case Study FIN 3717 Braden Eddy, Lauren Gear and Dakota Conravey Statement of Facts General Foods is a large corporation organized by product lines. They are evaluating Super Project, the manufacture of a new powdered dessert. Crosby Sanberg, a financial analysis manager, must determine the value in accepting the proposal, along with J. C. Kresslin, the Corporate Controller. The Super Project will increase profit with a payback period of less than ten years.The proposed capital investment for the project is $200,000 ($80,000 for building modifications and $120,000 for machinery and equipment) and production would take place in an already existing building in which Jell-O is manufactured using the available capacity of a pre-existing Jell-O agglomerator. Sandberg has analyzed the different investment proposals based on three different capital allocation techniques. The three different cash flow evaluation alternatives (Incremental, Facilities-Used, and Fully Allocated) differ in the way that the cost of existing facilities and future increases in overhead are allocated.The acceptance or rejection of the project relies on the project’s costs. As Sanberg looks to compare Super Project with current profit criteria, recent discussion has brought about what the proper evaluation technique is for their cash flows; specifically, in concern to the relevancy of sunk costs. The problem for General Foods is to decide what the best method for evaluating the Super Project was since each method produced drastically different returns. Issues General Foods has quite a few factors to consider when determining relevant cash flows in their analysis of the project.Multiple factors for consideration are whether or not to account for test market expense, the allocation of overhead expense, the allocation of charges for agglomerator and capacity use, and erosion of Jell-O sales. Under the analysis of an incremental basis, management included the incremental fixed capital of $200,000, which included packaging equipment. Sanberg also advocates that Super should be charged with the â€Å"opportunity loss† of agglomerating capacity and building space that could be used for future production of Jell-O or other products.Management also analyzed the project based on the amount of facilities-used. Recognizing that Super will use half of an exisiting agglomerator and two thirds of an existing building, Sanberg added Super’s pro rata shares of these facilities to the incremental capital. Overhead costs directly related to these existing facilities were also subtracted from incremental revenue on a shared basis. Sanberg felt this analysis was a useful was of putting various projects on a common ground for purposes of relative evaluation.Lastly, management included a fully allocated basis of the project in their projections. They recognized that individu al decisions to expand inevitably add to a higher overhead base and therefore an increase to the costs and investment base were added. Overhead expenses included manufacturing costs plus selling and general and administrative costs on a per unit basis equivalent to Jell-O. Overhead capital also included a share of the distribution system assets. AnalysisUpon review of management’s case, we broke down the relevant cash flows separately according to test-market expenses, overhead expenses, erosion of Jell-O contribution margin and allocation of charges for the use of excess agglomerator capacity. The four capital budgeting techniques appropriate for review are NPV, IRR, ARR and payback period. The accounting for test-market expense yielded the following results: Exhibit 1| Net Present Value| $671. 98 | Internal Rate of Return| 24. 73%| Average Rate of Return| 216. 34%| Payback Period. | 5. 4 years| The accounting for overhead expense yielded the following results: Exhibit 2| Ne t Present Value| $704. 30| Internal Rate of Return| 28. 83%| Average Rate of Return| 207. 70%| Payback Period. | 4. 55 years| The accounting for erosion of Jell-O sales yielded the following results: Exhibit 3| Net Present Value| $182. 33| Internal Rate of Return| 14. 63%| Average Rate of Return| 125. 62%| Payback Period. | 6. 39 years| The accounting for including the excess capacity expense yields the following results: Exhibit 4| Net Present Value| $375. 5| Internal Rate of Return| 16. 11%| Average Rate of Return| 71. 55%| Payback Period. | 5. 80 years| After review of the independent costs, we found that each one produces a positive NPV, an IRR above the discount rate and a payback period within the required ten years. However, it is unrealistic to consider these on an independent basis. For our realistic case, we included overhead expenses and the excess cost of capacity for the agglomerator. We did not include the erosion of Jell-O sales and the test market expense, as this is a sunk cost.Under these circumstances we produced the following results: Exhibit 6| Net Present Value| $350. 32| Internal Rate of Return| 15. 98%| Average Rate of Return| 58. 91%| Payback Period. | 5. 74 years| In this analysis, we included the overhead expense for 1972-1977 because as the project begins to gain a foothold in the market it will acquire a larger market share and will become a larger portion of General Foods’ overall dessert sales. Also, the agglomerator and excess capacity was charged as an incremental investment, which brought the initial investment to $653,000.Since 70% of the initial $200,000 was depreciated over the 10-year period, we applied the straight-line depreciation method to compute 70% of $453,000 that added an extra $32,000 of depreciation to each year. We did not include the erosion of Jell-O sales because an external competitor could easily acquire the 20% of market share currently held by Jell-O in the future. This would take away profit that would hinder Jell-O regardless of whether it is internal or external. Since we also believe this a mature market, it is a cost that seems to be irrelevant in this analysis.We did not include the test market expense as well since this was a sunk cost. It did not seem logical to include, because it was almost double the value of the initial investment of $200,000 and roughly half of our adjusted initial investment of $653,000. Since General Foods has a limited amount of product lines in the dessert market, the test market expense should not be accounted for. Conclusion Under our assumptions, we conclude that General Foods should accept the project due to its positive NPV, IRR above discount rate and the attractive payback period within six years (exhibit 6).When compared to Crosby Sanberg’s view (exhibit 5), which resulted in a negative NPV of -$575. 32, IRR of . 28% and a payback period of just about 10 years, our assumptions lead to a more accurate portrayal of the Super Pro ject. Although we do recommend that General Foods take on the Project, they must be cognizant of increasing test expenses and the initial impact that the addition of Super will have on Jell-O sales. The benefits will be an increase in overall sales for the company, and the chance for General Foods to become a leading producer in the dessert market.

Gary Klein and William Glasser Doctors Essay

Psychology, according to Webster’s Dictionary is the study of mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity.   This is a wide open field, with hundreds of theories and practices. It’s daunting to compare them and utilize their benefits to an individual.   Psychologists based on patients needs have to decide what specific therapy would be advisable to use; some even develop they’re own therapy methods.   Two such doctors, Gary Klein and William Glasser did just that; researched developed and put into fruition they’re own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gary Klein received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in l969.   He was an Associate Professor of Psychology at Oakland University, California, from l970 to l974.   Klein worked as a research psychologist for the United States Air Force from l974 to 1978.   He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, has written over seventy papers and authored several books.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Klein, is Chief Scientist of the Klein Association, a group he established in l978, â€Å"to understand how to improve decision making in individuals and teams.†Ã‚   He is one of the founder’s n the field of â€Å"naturalistic decision making.†Ã‚   Dr. Klein’s extensive work on recognition decision making includes the design of new systems and interfaces, and decision training programs.   He has determined, through research that effective decision making is problem detection, option generation, and sense make planning and re-planning.  He and his associates use CTA methods to study decision making in more than â€Å"60 domains, including firefighting, command and control, software troubleshooting,   healthcare, and consumer purchasing.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cognitive learning requires a different concept of the learning process. It depends profoundly on mental models, which is a â€Å"cluster of fundamental beliefs about how things happen.† We need to â€Å"revise our belief system as experience shows the inadequacy of our current ways of thinking,† Dr. Klein states (iscram.org).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Klein’s books detail his theories and highlight his research projects, they also provide the tools needed for individuals to practice competent decision making.   His most popular book is the â€Å"Source of Power,† published in l999.   This book discusses the theory Dr. Klein and his associates developed called, â€Å"naturalistic decision-making.† It essentially lends validity of scientific research to techniques that most of us use every day; intuition, â€Å"which is based on the rapid (perhaps even subconscious) interpretation of perceptual cues;† there’s mental simulation, â€Å"a finely honed method of visualization,† storytelling, and metaphor, which â€Å"enable decision -makers to devise meaningful frameworks and compare present situations to previous events.† Dr. Klein tells us that  no one is born with an inherent â€Å"mastery† of these techniques, but we are all born with the â€Å"capability† to develop them through experience. His book titled â€Å"Working Minds: A Practitioner’s Guide to Cognitive Task Analysis, in 2006, co-authored with   Beth Cramdall and Robert Hoffman, depicts how to collect data about cognitive processes and events; how to analyze CTA, and communicate findings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"The Power of Intuition,† written in 2004 demonstrates that the expertise to recognize patterns and other cues that enables us, intuitively – to make right decisions, is a natural extension of experience.   Klien defines a three tiered process called the â€Å"Exceleration Program.†Ã‚   Readers are provided with the tools needed to help make â€Å"tough choices, notice potential problems, manage uncertainty, and size up situations quickly.† He professes how to communicate these decisions more effectively, how to coach others in the â€Å"art of intuition,† and recognize an â€Å"over dependence† on information technology (librarything.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Dr. Klein is most known for his theory of Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) the movement originated at a conference in Dayton, Ohio in l989, which resulted in a book with Caroline Zsambok, aptly titled â€Å"Naturalistic Decision Making,† in l996.   This book describes in detail there theory, and also put it in simple layman’s words; â€Å"naturalistic decision making, (NDW) is the way people use their experiences to make decisions.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Naturalistic Decision Making framework focuses on cognitive functions, such as decision making, sensemaking, situational awareness, planning – which emerge in natural settings and take forms that are not easily replicated in the laboratory; basically  real life situations and observations are used. NDM s components show experts how to make decisions in the real world using descriptive methods, stresses, and time pressures. Other related research areas include; behavioral decision theory, judgment decision making and organizational decision making (2).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The forms of NDM are: Recognition primed decision making.   Related theories methods: critical decision method, exploration based theory, and image theory.   NDM and teams are the most used aspect of this theory, based on studying teams in their natural environment – real teams performing real tasks in real settings.   Also, contextual focus as opposed to more general and abstract (9).   To break NDM down to the core, it is a method of making decision’s using real situations, not hypotheses.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Work Cited everything2com. â€Å"William Glasser.† 2 Mar 2002. 1 May 2008 http://everything2.com/   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   e2node/William%2520Glasser Glasser,William. â€Å"The Glasser Approach.† The William Glasser Insitute. 1 May 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://wglasser.com iscram.org. â€Å"Gary Klein.†   ISCRAM Community.   28 Nov 2007. 30 April 2008. http://   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   www.iscram.org/index.php?option=content&tast=view&id=1984&Itemid=2 librarything.com. â€Å"Descriptions.†   Library Thing. 1 May 2008 http://www.librarything.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   com/work/61019/descriptions/ ocw.mit.edu. â€Å"Naturalistic Decision Making.† 2 May 2008. http://ocw.mit.edu

Free Essays on Every Breath You Take

Thesis Statement Monitoring and surveillance in the workplace is virtually unregulated in the United States. Equitable company policies or â€Å"fair use† policies regarding the use of electronic media and better communication of these policies can resolve the possibility of unnecessary or unwarranted monitoring. It is my position that employees have little to no rights in the workplace and this inequity can be resolved with a sound â€Å"fair use† policy. Introduction â€Å"Employers want to be sure their employees are doing a good job, but employees don’t want their every sneeze or trip to the water cooler logged. That’s the essential conflict of workplace monitoring† (â€Å"Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy,† 2002, para. 1). The right to privacy is one of the foundation blocks upon which America was built, and it is echoed in the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Employee privacy is perceived to be one of the key issues in the workplace, and employers are viewed as frequently infringing upon the rights of their employees. The prevalence of employer invasions of employee privacy is not isolated to the workplace. In some instances, employers monitor the nature of co-workers’ off-duty activities, and many companies routinely perform background checks. â€Å"In O’Connor v. Ortega the United States Supreme Court held that a public employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning his or her office desk and filing cabinets. However, â€Å"a public employer may search an employee’s desk or drawers either for non-investigatory work-related purposes or for investigations of work-related conduct, so long as the search is conducted in a reasonable manner† (Anton and Ward, 1998, p. 898, para. 4). This means that suspicious activities, real or imagined in the eyes of the employer, are areas, which will enable employee’s privacy rights to be infringed upon. The ... Free Essays on Every Breath You Take Free Essays on Every Breath You Take Thesis Statement Monitoring and surveillance in the workplace is virtually unregulated in the United States. Equitable company policies or â€Å"fair use† policies regarding the use of electronic media and better communication of these policies can resolve the possibility of unnecessary or unwarranted monitoring. It is my position that employees have little to no rights in the workplace and this inequity can be resolved with a sound â€Å"fair use† policy. Introduction â€Å"Employers want to be sure their employees are doing a good job, but employees don’t want their every sneeze or trip to the water cooler logged. That’s the essential conflict of workplace monitoring† (â€Å"Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy,† 2002, para. 1). The right to privacy is one of the foundation blocks upon which America was built, and it is echoed in the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Employee privacy is perceived to be one of the key issues in the workplace, and employers are viewed as frequently infringing upon the rights of their employees. The prevalence of employer invasions of employee privacy is not isolated to the workplace. In some instances, employers monitor the nature of co-workers’ off-duty activities, and many companies routinely perform background checks. â€Å"In O’Connor v. Ortega the United States Supreme Court held that a public employee has a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning his or her office desk and filing cabinets. However, â€Å"a public employer may search an employee’s desk or drawers either for non-investigatory work-related purposes or for investigations of work-related conduct, so long as the search is conducted in a reasonable manner† (Anton and Ward, 1998, p. 898, para. 4). This means that suspicious activities, real or imagined in the eyes of the employer, are areas, which will enable employee’s privacy rights to be infringed upon. The ...

Full Analysis of ACT Grammar Rules Which Are Most Important

Full Analysis of ACT Grammar Rules Which Are Most Important SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips When you are planning your study approach for ACT English, it’s important to know where your time is best spent. Which grammar rules are really the most important to learn? What can help you make the greatest improvement to your score? What kind of questions are on ACT English? ACT English is a passage based test. There are 5 multi-paragraph passages and 75 questions to go with them. The makers of the ACT break the test down into two main sections: Usage and Mechanics questions and Rhetorical Skills. Usage and Mechanics covers questions about punctuation (including internal and end of sentence punctuation and avoiding ambiguity), grammar and usage (including subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, verb formation, pronoun case, comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and idiomatic use), and sentence structure (including modifier placement and relationships between clauses). In the past, these questions have made up about 53% of the questions on the test. The second main category is Rhetorical Skills. These questions will ask about strategy (including understanding when to add or delete information and how to best revise writing for a certain audience), organization (including choosing effective openings, transitions, and conclusions), and style (including choosing correct words, tone, style, and avoiding wordiness). Also grouped with Rhetorical Skills are questions that ask about the author’s goal. These questions test your ability to recognize main ideas and understand what the passage is about, and understanding the scope of the passage. These questions usually compose about 47% of the questions on the test. Since the most recent updates to theACT, the test makers are not sticking as strictly to these percentages, butthey are still good guidelines. What concepts are tested? And why should you care? Almost as predictable as the question types are the grammar and style rules that ACT English will test you on. ACT English heavily favors a few main grammar and style rules, and lightly touches on a multitude of others. Why should this matter to you? This means that especially if you are aiming for a mid-range score, you should focus your studying on the main grammar and style rules that are covered. But if you are aiming for a high score, you should make sure you know all the concepts listed here. Since ACT English has so many questions, even concepts that appear a low percentage of the time will almost definitely be featuredand could affect your score. How did I find this out? I analyzed over 500 ACT English questions from seven official ACT tests that have been given in the past and wrote down the grammar and style concepts tested in each. Usually, it was easy to find the answer to a question just by knowing one style or grammar rule. But a couple of questions required knowledge of more than one rule. For these questions, I counted them for both concepts. And the winners are†¦ Usage and Mechanics For usage and mechanics questions, the overwhelming winner of the frequency test is correctly forming and joining sentences at 20.5% of the grammar questions. This covers all the concepts involved in understanding what a correct sentence is, including bothfragments and run-ons. This topic also covers correct use of semicolons in joining sentences. Not far behind in second place are questions dealing with correct uses of commas, dashes, and colons. These questions make up 17.7% of the grammar questions. Following in third and fourth places are correctly used non-essential clauses and relative pronouns with 10.2% of the questions, and correct verb tense and form, with 9.6% of the grammar questions. This topic involves, among other things, knowing what tense is necessary, and forming the tenses correctly. So, if you master these four concepts, you will have all the information you need to answer almost 60% of the grammar questions on ACT English. Here is the full breakdown This is my analysis of the most commonly-tested grammar concepts on ACT English, along with brief explanations of what each grammar rule means. #1: Correct Sentence Formation: 20.5% Recognizing fragments Recognizing run-ons, including comma splices Joining sentences correctly Incorrectly used semicolons #2: Use of commas, dashes, and colons: 17.7% No comma between subject and verb No comma before or after preposition When to use commas to separate adjectives No comma between adjective and noun Commas used after introductory words No commas between compound subjects or compound objects No commas around emphatic pronouns Colons used for a list or explanation Dashes used with non-essential clauses, as intro for a list, and with a deliberate pause #3: Correctly formed non-essential clauses andrelative pronouns: 10.2% Non-essential clause must be surrounded by commas Correct use of which vs. that; who vs. which; who vs. whom #4: Verb tense and form: 9.6% Correct and consistent tense usage When to use past tense instead of past participle Past participle needs a helping verb Incorrectly formed past participle Will vs. would When to use gerund and when to use infinitive #5: Misplaced and dangling modifiers and word placement: 9.2% Descriptive phrases must be next to the word they describe. Would a word make more sense elsewhere in the sentence? #6: Apostrophe use: 7.5% Correct formation of plural nouns Correct formation of possessive form of nouns Common contractions and their meanings (such as â€Å"it’s†) #6: Pronoun Use: 7.5% Consistent use of pronouns Pronoun-antecedent agreement (including singular or plural pronouns) Pronoun case Present and clear antecedents #8. Idioms: 5.1% Idiomatic use of prepositions #9: Parallel Structure and Word Pairs: 4.1% Use of matching prepositions Items in a list match Such as neither†¦nor, either†¦or, not only†¦but also, from†¦to, as†¦as #10: Subject-Verb Agreement: 3.8% Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs Subject – non-essential clause – verb construction Subject – prepositional phrase – verb construction Verb before subject #: Adjectives vs. Adverbs: 2.4% Adjectives are used to describe nouns Adverbs are used to describe adjectives, adverbs, and verbs Correct use of the comparative and superlative forms #: Comparison words: 2.4% Correct use of comparison words such as more/less than, less vs. fewer, much vs. many, and that of/those of Rhetorical Strategy These questions are based on making the passages more smooth and logical to read. As in the grammar section, the ACT heavily favors some rules over others. The big winners for Rhetorical Strategy are†¦ Logical transitions. Unsurprisingly, in a section all about making passages more logical, transitions reign supreme. Over 18% of the questions will test your ability to create logical bridges within and between sentences and paragraphs. In second place is adding information with 16.7%. These questions test your ability to see if new information is relevant to the paragraph in question, and also ask students to explain how the paragraphs are changed by the addition of new information. And tied in third with 15.5% each are conciseness and replacing and re-wording information. Similar to the concepts above, replacing information questions ask student to tell if information is relevant to the paragraph in question, and if not, to replace it with different information. Conciseness questions test students’ abilities to see when the author has been unnecessarily wordy. Repetitive words, circular talking, and the passive voice are all put to the test in these questions! Let’s break it down completely #1. Logical Transitions: 18.4% Includes transitions within sentences, between sentences, and between paragraphs Transition words make logical sense for context #2. Adding Information: 16.7% Determining if new information is relevant to paragraph Understanding why new information is relevant #3. Re-wording or Replacing Information: 15.5% Replacing a word or phrase to add a certain emphasis to the passage Replacing irrelevant information with relevant information #3. Conciseness: 15.5% No using repetitive words to describe something General wordiness No passive voice when active voice is also correct and shorter #5. Deleting Information: .7% Is information irrelevant? If so, delete it. What information would be lost if sentence were deleted? #6. Diction: 8.4% Commonly confused words, such as then/than, have/of #7. Sentence Order/Placement and Paragraph Organization: 6.7% Does the placement of a sentence make sense in context? Does one sentence/paragraph logically follow from the last? Does a new paragraph start with a shift in topic? #8. Writer’s Goal: 5.4% Recognizing main ideas in the passage Recognizing specific and general passages #9. Formality: 1.5% Is the phrasing of an answer too casual or formal to match the rest of the sentence? So What Would a Perfect Test Look Like? If you took the ACT English and it broke down exactly according to these statistics, here is what you would expect to see: 8 questions on Forming Correct Sentences 7 questions on Commas, Dashes, and Colons 7 questions on Logical Transitions 6 questions on Adding Information 5 questions on Replacing or Re-wording Information 5 questions on Conciseness 4 questions on Verb Tense and Form 4 questions on Deleting Information 4 questions on Non-essential Clauses and Relative Pronouns 4 questions on Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers and Word Placement 3 questions on Diction 3 questions on Apostrophe Use 3 questions on Pronouns 2 questions on Idioms 2 questions on Parallel Structure and Word Pairs 2 questions on Sentence Order/Paragraph Organization 2 questions on Author Goal/Intent 1 question on Subject-Verb Agreement 1 question on Adjectives vs. Adverbs 1 question on Comparison Words 1 question on Formality †¦.for a total of 75 questions. Of course, it’s unlikely that any test will exactly follow these statistics, so don’t be surprised if you see a few extra (or fewer) questions of a certain type! How Should You Use This Information? Now that you know exactly what you can expect to find on ACT English, use this information to guide your studying. Here’s a study plan that will help you make the most of your study time to give you the best chance of improving your score. Take a diagnostic test. To do this, you should take a real ACT English test, because it’s best to work with realistic questions. You can find official ACT tests online, or you can get them from The Real ACT Prep Guide. After taking the test, score it to see how you've done. For every question that you either got incorrect or had to guess on, make a note of why you got it wrong, and what grammar concept it is testing. Compare your list of grammar mistakes with the â€Å"Perfect Test† list above. Which of your mistakes appears highest on the list? Focus your studying on the concept that is highest on the list. You’re likely to see that kind of question the most, and so mastering that grammar concept will give you the chance to improve your score by a few points. When you feel confident that you have mastered the highest concept on the list, move on to the next one. Keep working your way down the list. As you’re taking these steps, you should also consider what your target ACT score is. For example, if you're just looking to boost a mid-range score (around a 20) a bit higher (a 24), you’ll want to focus on the first 10 – 12 grammar concepts. If you can get these concepts down, you’ll have a great chance of hitting your target score, and you won’t need to worry about many of the less-frequently-tested concepts. On the other hand, if you're aiming for a high or perfect score, you should pay attention to every grammar and rhetorical point on the list. Missing even a few points could hurt your chances of getting the score you want. What’s Next? Now you know exactly what is on ACT English. Use the above links to master each topic. Know the concepts, but unsure of how to attack the questions? Read the best way to approach ACT English passages. Before you get studying, read our top 5 secrets to mastering the ACT English. Not sure if ACT English is for you? Read our comparison of ACT English and SAT Writing to see which is the best fit! Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this English lesson, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. 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Steve jobs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Steve jobs - Essay Example While the later part will indicate how his life influenced mine in particular. Steve Jobs, the man and the innovator, was of a very buoyant character. Upon research, we realize that Job’s life was like a roller coaster ride in most meanings. He started out as a college dropout, who did not have the financial means to support education, worked his way up and became immortal. Baig and Aamir (2013) encapsulate Jobs’ desire, motivation and also his diligence, to rise from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of corporate success, in the following words, ‘In 1976, before Co-founding Apple Inc., Steve Job’s worked at Atari.’ He teamed up with his friend Steve Wozniak to establish the company that went on to be named Apple Computer. Apple computers, an essential part of many peoples' lives today; was initially an idea conceived in Jobs' garage. Having fallen out with his first financier, Jobs was forced to seek capital elsewhere. Following the success of Apple II in 1977, Wozniak left the project to go back to university while Jobs was fired by Scully (CEO at the time) from the company he had created from scratch Exploring alternatives every time he met a dead end, Jobs never let his circumstances hinder his ambitions. He was fired from his own company yet evolved as per the requirements and founded the production house which gave us the block buster Toy Story trilogy. "While Jobs was away from Apple, he founded NeXT Computer and developed Pixar out of the Computer Graphics." (Webster, 2013) Not only did Jobs completely revolutionize the world's perspective on household use of technology, but also made it much simpler and user friendly. This view is endorsed by Aziz (2013) as he states, ‘His vision for the next generation computer was so far ahead that it was mind boggling for everyone.’ There was a time when, in order to use a computer, you had to be a computer genius; not anymore.Jobs’ Graphical User Interface made sure that folders looked like folders and files like files, making computers viable for people other than brain surgeons and rocket scientists, with no need of coding knowledge (Webster, 2013). This transition of computers, from being a novelty, exclusive only to the smartest minds, was truly the hallmark of Jobs’ innovation. Who else better to personify his yearning for change, transition and the evolution of technology, than Jobs himself. As he’s cited by Anderson (2011), â€Å"Here’s to the crazy ones, the rebels, the troublemakers, the ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.† After 1991 Microsoft's Windows was rising fast while Apple went into decline as managerial politics caused disturbances. ‘Jobs was invited back to Apple when the company was in trouble having lost huge market shares roughly from 1 2 per cent of PC use in countries where Macs were available, to fewer than 3 per cent.’ (Webster, 2013). Although Jobs was reluctant at first, he accepted the offer under certain conditions and went on to make Apple an example of glowing success as we see it today. Spinelli Jr. (2011) summarizes Jobs’ second-coming in the following words, ‘He knew how to think constructively about hardware and software, beautiful design and great function, the new ways to provide

UK LAW problem question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

UK LAW problem question - Essay Example where a charging authority serve notice under regulation 13(6) that they do not accept that a ground on which representations were made under that regulation has been established, the person making those representations may appeal to an adjudicator against the charging authoritys decision before  -   Held: that regulation 16(2) permitted an adjudicator to direct the cancellation of a penalty charge notice where the recipient had failed to establish one of the grounds specified in regulation 13(3)(a) to (f) but there were other reasons for mitigating the penalty or totally relieving the recipient of the penalty. 1. Under the Road User Charging (Enforcement and Adjudication) (London) Regulations 2001,while applying the relevant grounds under reg. 13 Mr. Vere may be able to plead that due to his extenuating circumstances (daughter’s ill health etc) no penalty charge should be payable by him (reg.13(c)) or that the amount that he has been charged exceeds the amount applicable in the circumstances of the case( reg. 13 (e).However it seems that he has a better chance of making this a case of mitigating circumstances under reg.13(c). Nevertheless as the facts of the case indicate he has infact done this without any success and the TFL has already rejected his representations as to his mitigating circumstances. 2. In such a case Regulation 16 will preside and allow his appeal to be heard by an adjudicator. This provision provides a flexible way out from the stringent TFL Regulations and case law suggests that the office of the adjudicator has used his authority in the past to direct the cancellation of a penalty charge notice even where the appellant failed to establish any of the grounds under 13(3).The position for Mr. Vere is not quite clear here though as he has been refused the mandate to represent his daughter’s ill health as a ground

Financial crisis and the dilemma of business ethics by focusing on the Essay

Financial crisis and the dilemma of business ethics by focusing on the element of trust - Essay Example Full Lang and Jagtiani (295-316 indicate that the desire to avoid a financial crisis is one reason that the economists tolerated ongoing financial crisis for years and continues to play its role by shifting the level trust of individuals. Meanwhile, financial crisis was caused by increase in government purchases and the massive mobilization of the resource caused by lack of corporate governance. Failure of corporate governance caused many banking institutions to lack transparency and accountability that caused the turndown of the economy. As result, the risk management and financial firms were functioning without any regulatory mechanism due to the failure of corporate governance responsibility. Prassas (40-44) claims that the reason for the crisis was caused by the distortions and incentives caused by the poor regulatory mechanism that affected the individual mortgage because banks changed the balance sheet mortgage securitization. Reinhart and Rogoff (1676-1706) claim that the investors and mortgage rating agencies failed to accurately price the risk attached with the mortgage products that resulted in the financial crisis. The reason for the current financial crisis is as result of prolonged credit expansion in most of countries that caused the increase in cyclical fluctuations in the economy market. In additional, the extravagant lending of banks that allowed greedy borrowers to purchase overpriced properties that they could not afford was one reason for financial crisis. Therefore, when these borrowers were unable to pay back their mortgage, the delinquency and foreclosures rates would not be avoided by lenders. As result, this affected the mortgage market that lead to the failure of fundamental organizations like Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to Akay (260-273), this demand led to effect on the various metropolitan places that violated the microeconomic

Employee Relations Analysis of UK Airline

Employee Relations Analysis of UK Airline 2.2.1 An overview of employee relations Employee relations is a term which is now frequently used but very ambiguously defined. It is usually regarded as the substitution of industrial relations. Although many professional bodies such as CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), and many of the recent textbook authors such as Blyton and Turnbull (1998), Farnham (2000), Gennard and Judge (1999), and Hollinshead et al. (2003) considered that there are still some differences between employee relations and industrial relations in context and emphasis, it seems that the term employee relations is still indistinguishable from industrial relations in their articles and books (Rose, 2008). Industrial relations issues actually turned up since the Industrial Revolution in the UK. However, it did not emerge as a recognized field of study and area of vocational practice in industry until approximately 1920, appearing first in the United States (Kaufman, 2004). In the United Kingdom, where the birthplace of industrial relations, it did not became a academic research subject until a decade later and did not get a mainstream position until after the Second World War. This disparate pattern of the term in the US and UK was caused by several factors, such as their different university systems, different management and labour market status, etc (Kaufman, 2004). Kaufman (2004) defined the post war period until the end of 1970s as the golden age of industrial relations, when the term gained rising academic visibility and enhance its influence on national labour policy. After the golden age, a cold climate period emerged, which can also be recognized as the beginning of the shift from industrial relations to employee relations. The shift was resulted in by several influences. Since the early 1980s, an obvious decline in trade union recognition arose at workplace (Salamon, 2000).Kessler and Bayliss (1998) summarized three major factors that resulted in these new departures. The first factor was the political environment of this period. During the period of the Conservative government (from 1979 to 1997), a series of steps were taken to limit the scope of trade union action, set new rules for trade union operations and enhance the role of management, because the government treated trade unions as an institutional impediment, which are harmful or at least unnecessary, to the operation of free markets (Legge, 1995). The marginalization of trade unions enhance the power of employers and gave them more flexibility to deal with employees more directly, so that they could achieve the business goals based on their own value systems without the hindrance of powerful collective bargaining from unions (Hollinshead et al., 2003). The second factor was economic changes. With the development of economic globalization, competition became fiercer in both the product market and the labour market. The decrease in manufacturing industry leaded to the high levels of unemployment. In addition, the great post war recessions were another reason, which raised unemployment dramatically. The third was change in management policies. As a result of fiercer product market competition, organizations began to realize that only hold the technology advantage is no long enough to maintain their competitive advantage. Employers sought to achieve higher level of employees productivity than the past to improve the organizational performance. In addition, non-unionism not only changed the balance of bargaining power between employees and employers, but also individualistic issue within employee relations, although this result is not the object of Conservative legislation. Besides these factors mentioned above, Hollinshead et al. (2003) additionally insisted the social-demographic factors, which refer to higher education levels, woke life balance, and the increase number of women and part timer in labour market, and technological factors, which refer to flexible working time, knowledge workers and computerisation of routine jobs. Because of those different situations, the professional party and textbook authors mentioned above tried to define the new boundary for the term employee relations so that it can be distinguished from the traditional industrial relations. Based on a series of interviews and surveys with human resource practitioners and employee relations managers, CIPD defined employee relations to be a more comprehensive employment relationship than the traditional industrial relations. As CIPD indicated, employee relations emphasizes more particularly on direct communication, managing organisational change and involving and motivating staff, while industrial relations is a narrower conception which just refer to the relationship between employers and collective employees (CIPD, 2005). However, the definition made by CIPD just reflected the perspective of employers. Gennard and Judge (1999) argued that comparing with the CIPDs perspective, the academic discussions require the plurality of perspective on issues and themes. Therefore, they defined employee relations as: a study of managing employees both as individuals and as a collective group, with the priority given to the individual as opposed to the collective relationship varying between companies depending on the values of their management. (Gennard and Judge, 1999) They emphasized the importance of acquiring employee relations knowledge and skills in unionised environments as well as non-union environment. In addition, they also treaded the relative balance of bargaining power between the buyers and sellers of labour services as one of the most important employee relations concepts. Similarly, Farnham (2000) also insisted that the essence of employee relations is paid employment or the pay work bargain between employers and employees. As Farnham, Gennard and Judge all emphasized upon individual aspects of the employment relationship more than collective aspects, Blyton and Turnbull (1999) considered that industrial relations was included in employee relations. They summarized that the particular industrial relations is only about trade unions and strikes. On the other hand, they viewed that employee relations is not only about the collective relationships, but also about the relationship between individual employees and employers. However, the collective aspects of relationship between employees and employers are still their focus point in the field. No matter how many differences these party and authors summarized between industrial relations and employee relations, there is still no significant distinction between these two terms. As Rose summarized (2008), employee relations become more mainstream than industrial relations may be just because it is considered as a more acceptable term than industrial relations as it averts the negative undermeaning associated with industrial relations. Like Edwards argued in 1995: In order to survive, industrial relations needs to change its focus to employment relations, examining not just institutions but how the employment relationship operates in practice, and exploring the outcomes for efficiency and equity. To sum up, employee relations is the outcome of changing contemporary industrial relations influenced by many external factors such as economic environment, development of technology, political steps, etc. It refers to not only the collective aspects of relations between workforce and management, but also the individual aspects of the relationship. 2.2.2 The importance of employee relations to airline industry Belobaba et al. (2009) indicate that the employee relations is particularly important in the airline industry. First of all, the fundamental reason for the significant position of employee relations in the airline industry is its service-intensive nature. Airline industry is labour intensive industry; therefore its proportion of labour costs to total costs is very high. Figure 2.1 European airline labour and fuel cost shares (%) of total operation costs: 2001 to 2008 Source: ITAT (Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, 2010) Although the research made by ITAT indicates a slight decrease of labour cost from 2003 to 2008, it still in a large share of total operating costs. According to Rodrigue et al (2009), the percentage of labour cost in the operating costs of the airline industry in the world was approximately 35%, which illuminated about 75% of all non-fixed costs. Figure 2.2 Operating Expenses of the Airline Industry (2004) Source: ATA Annual Report 2005 (Rodrigue et al, 2009) Second, with the high level of union representation in this industry, employees can affect the performance level of airlines significantly. Those effects can be positive and also negative. For example, in adversarial employee relations environment, no matter achieve agreement or not in collective bargaining, it will result in higher costs and less operating flexibility (Gittell et al., 2004) for companies. If collective agreement can be achieved, higher wages should be paid for employees and companies layoff plan may be restricted to improve employment security of employees. If collective agreement cannot be achieved, additional costs might be leaved to companies through collective dispute such as strikes, go-slows, etc. On the other hand, employees also play important roles in adding values for companies. They can reduce companies unit costs through their coordinated and committed efforts and their productivity-enhancing ideas (Gittell et al., 2004). In addition, they can provide hi gh quality service to customers which can be seen as a competitive advantage in contemporary airline industry. Therefore, the status of employee relations within airlines can significantly affect their costs, their financial performance, and the achievement of their business goals. 2.2.3 New perspective of employee relations within contemporary airlines in the UK In the UK, airline industry has a tradition of adversarial employment relations (Marchington et al., 2004). Most airlines within UK accept the existence of trade unions; however, generally have bad relationships with them. Layoffs and wages cut are usually the first strategy used to improving financial performance and avoiding crisis during an economic recession (Rodrigue et al, 2009). However, reducing labour costs is not the only way to get competitive advantage and achieve better financial performance. According to Legge (1995), employee relations actually do not need to be so adversarial even in labour intensive industries. She argued that even companies choose to be more competitive on costs, they can still achieve this aim by increasing the productivity of their capital assets rather than by reducing labour costs. Similarity, Batt (2000) considered that comparing with reducing labour costs, investing in better employee relations could gain a greater return. Hence, like Gittell and Bamber (2010) summarized, although reducing labour costs are the focus of an service sector companys competitive strategy, their costs can be cut down not only by cutting wages and benefits, but also by increasing labour productivity. Management style in employee relations Different authors summarized different types of management styles in employee relations under different systematization. 2.3.1 The unitary theory and the pluralist theory Fox (1966) identified unitary perspective and pluralist perspective based on different general control and direction of labour. There are three main differences between these two perspectives: 1. Management acceptance and recognition of trade unions 2. Views about managerial prerogatives and employee participation 3. The perceived legitimacy of, and reactions to, conflict at work. (Blyton and Turnbull, 1998) Hollinshead et al (2003) indicated that unitary perspective of employee relations essentially treats employee relations as a harmonious relationship between employers and employees. The unitary perspective emphasize that there is a common goal between employees and employer. This common goal can avoid the potential source of conflict and hold employees and employer together to strive for their common objectives. Because of the harmonious relationship within a unitary employee relations environment, there is no need for a third party on behalf of either employees or employers to participate in bargaining process (Hollinshead et al, 2003). Therefore, trade unions are not necessary for both employers and employees. In other words, the labour market is depicted as a natural structure composed of an omnipotent management backed up by the state and of labour dependent on those two parties for its well-being (Gospel, 1992). However, the high level of consensus between employees and employers not always exists, even it does, it is hard to be maintained. The assumption is not reasonable in most application. Employees may accept a series of organizational objectives at the very beginning, but it is unlikely to maintain the long-term cooperation of a workforce (Hollinshead et al, 2003). The failure of the assumption reflects some weaknesses of the unitary theory that is summarized by Hollinshead et al (2003). First, it ignores the existence of differing interests between employees and employers. Second, conflict between employees and employer were considered as deviance (Palmer, 1983). The only way to deal with the conflict is dismissal or the law. Third, with more developed management techniques, many practitioners indicate that ignoring employees interests could result in more intense conflict. Although the unitary perspective can be seen as the earliest theory used to describe employee relations, it refers to many contemporary management ideas related to corporate culture and human resource management (Farnham and Pimlott, 1995). Hence, many employers nowadays still adopt this perspective as good business sense. Comparing with unitary theory, pluralist theory is a perspective that can more accurately reflect the employee relations within larger and more complex employment environment. The pluralist theory acknowledged that there is a limited level of conflicting interests between employees and employers, so that all parties within organization need to work together to achieve a consensus (Hollinshead et al, 2003). Like Trades Union Congress (TUC, the umbrella organisation of the trade union movement) described in a policy document published in 1997: The theme of this statement is partnership, a recognition that trade unions must not be seen as part of Britains problems. At the workplace social partnership means employers and trade unions working together to achieve common goals such as fairness and competitiveness; it is recognition that, although they have different constituencies; it is a recognition that although they have different interests, they can serve these best by making common cause wherever possible. (TUC, 1997) The implication of using this analysis was, unlike unitary theory, which it drew from accounts based upon a political heritage in democratic theory that portrayed decision making as a process of reconciling the different claims made by a variety of competing groups. In other words, it acknowledged the existence of a variety of competing interest groups, but in addition it accepted this variety as legitimated and normal. The existence of conflict was allowed for, and to an extent encouraged. What the theory appears to offer is an account of the nature of industrial relations which achieves greater realism by reflecting the political realities of the situation at that time. This is hardly surprising when the details of that historical period are considered, along with the level of trade union activity and the incidence of industrial disputes in evidence at that time. Conflict was very much the norm (Bassett, 1987). Once again, the theory also established based on a series of assumptions that are hardly recognized in practice. 2.3.2 The individualism and the collectivism Purcell (1987) considered that although Foxs unitary and pluralist theory had a major influence in the beginning of management style issue, the conceptions actually had a lot of limitations in practice. First, both unitary frame and pluralist frame have a number of variations. For example, both organizations those are essentially exploitive of labour and organizations those value the loyalty and commitment of employees are contained within the unitary frame, however, their management style are almost extremes. Similarly, organizations within pluralist frame also need to be sub divided through different kinds of variations. In addition, because of their mutually exclusive feature, these two perspectives seem do not useful as a framework of management style in employee relations. Third, it is often unclear in the way the terms have been used subsequently whether they related to managements beliefs and policies toward trade unions or, in addition, cover direct relations with employees. Therefore, he identified individualism and collectivism as two dimensions of management style of employee relations. Individualism dimension refers to the extent to which the firm gives credence to the feelings and sentiments of each employee and seeks to develop and encourage each employees capacity and role at work. Firms which have individualistically centred policies are thus expected to emphasize employees as a resource and be concerned with developing and nurturing each persons talents and worth. Payment systems might emphasize merit elements and make use of appraisal and assessment techniques designed to distinguish the contribution of each employee in anything from attitudes to attributes, as one firm puts it, The line managers role in managing people is likely to be emphasized, irrespective of whether the manager is in a production, sales, finance or a personnel position. Attitude surveys may well be used regularly since such organizations are keen to assess the efficacy of their policies. Communication systems are likely to be extensive and developed through a variety of media from newspapers and videos to the personal contact between the managers, the individual and small groups of employees. Collectivism is the second dimension of management style that concerns the extent to which the organization recognizes the right of employees to have a say in those aspects of management decision-making which concern them. There are a number of ways to distinguish it from the first one. One possibility is to use a test of trade union recognition for the determination of pay and conditions through collective bargaining. However, this is not of itself sufficient since in so doing we make assumptions about the nature of the relationship between the firm and the union and exclude organizations where employees participate in decision-making through non-union structures. A focus on industrial democracy might be more helpful since it would allow for a variety of methods by which managers become to a greater or lesser extent accountable for their actions to employees, and where staff have some say in decision making. The only problem is that there is no agreed definition of industrial democracy. Purcell and Grays category of management style The category developed by Purcell and Gray in 1986 is one of the most popular typologies of management style (Torrington et al, 2008). Comparing with the typologies mentioned above, it is more comprehensive. Purcell and Gray (1986) defined five types of management styles in employee relations, which are traditional style, Sophisticated human relations style, consultative style, constitutional style, and standard modern style. The traditional style considers labour as a factor of production and employee subordination is assumed to be part of the natural order of the employment relationship. Usually, trade unions are not accepted in this style. This style is mainly adopted by small owner managed companies. In addition, the product market often highly competitive, emphasis on cost control. Grunwick processing laboratories Ltd, Port of Tilbury are typical case adopting this management style. The sophisticated human relations style view employees as the companys most valuable resource. Comparing with the other companies in the same industry, this kind of company usually par employees more above average pay. The aim is to inculcate employee loyalty, commitment and dependency. Companies choose this management style seek to make it unnecessary or unattractive for staff to unionise. This style is usually adopted by large, American owned, single industry, financially successful organizations with a high market share in growth industries. IBM and Marks Spencer are typical cases adopting this management style. The consultative style is similar to the sophisticated human relations companies except that unions are recognised. An attempt is made to build constructive relationships with the trade unions and incorporate them into the organizational fabric. Emphasis is also placed on techniques designed to enhance individual employee commitment to the firm and the need to change. This style is often adopted by British or Japanese owned single industry companies that are large and economically successful, often with a high market share. Companies with relatively low labour costs often adopt this style. Esso and Cadbury Schweppes are typical cases adopting this management style. The Constitutional style have been recognised for some time and accepted as inevitable. Employee relations policies centre on the need for stability, control and the institutionalisation of conflict. Management prerogatives are defended through highly specific collective agreements. The importance of management control is emphasised with the aim of minimising or neutralising union constraints on both operational (line) and strategic (corporate) management. This style is often adopted by single industry companies with mass production or large batch production requiring a large unit size of operation. Labour costs form in these companies indicates a significant proportion of total costs. The product market conditions are often highly competitive. Ford is a typical case adopting this management style. The standard modern style refers to pragmatic employee relations and trade unions are recognised within organizations. Employee relations are viewed as the responsibility of operational management. The importance attached to employee relation policies changes in the light of circumstances. There can be marked differences of approach between establishments or divisions and between various levels of the hierarchy. This style is often adopted by conglomerate, multiproduct companies that have grown through acquisition and diversification, especially in the engineering and heavy manufacturing industries with long traditions of unionisation. General Electrical Co., and British airways are typical cases adopting this management style. 2.4 Employee involvement 2.4.1 The importance and necessity of employee involvement It is quite possible to run a successful business without involving employees in management activities to any meaningful extent, but the chances of sustained success are higher when employees are involved (Torrington et al, 2008). Objectives are more effectively and efficiently achieved if employees have some say in decision making, especially as it affects their own areas of work. Torrington and his colleagues summarized two main reasons for this phenomenon. On one hand, managers may be paid more than their staff, but that does not mean that they always know best. There is no fount of wisdom exclusive only to managers. Ultimately it is for managers to make decisions and to be held accountable, and these can be tough to make. But the chances that they will make the right decision are enhanced if they listen to the views of others and allow their own ideas to be subjected to a degree of scrutiny and constructive criticism. Moreover, involvement allows managers to tap into the ideas and suggestions of staff. The best new ideas often originate from people lower down organizational hierarchies, because they are closest to the operational coalface and often to customers. On the other hand, employees like being involved. They appreciate having their opinions listened to and acted upon, particularly in matters that directly concern their day to day activities. The chances of their being positively satisfied with their work are thus greatly improved if they are genuinely able to be involved. The knock on effects include lower staff turnover, lower levels of absence, the ability to attract more recruits and higher levels of performance. The effective management of change is especially enhanced by employee involvement because people are always happier to support what they helped to create. Types of employee involvement practices Hyman and Mason (1995) identify four categories of employee involvement: Downward communication to individual employees Downward communication to groups of employees Upward communication to individual employees Upward communication to groups of employees Downward communication from managers to employees is used to inform and educate employees so that they are more likely to endorse management initiatives and plans. Chapter three RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Introduction Based on Morse and Fields (1995) framework from the health sciences, Creswell et al (2007) summarized five main approaches used in qualitative research, which are narrative research, case study research, grounded theory, phenomenology research and participatory action research. In this dissertation, case study research methodology is used to explain how employee relations can affect the business performance of legacy airlines. background and definition Although some (Stake, 2005) stated that case study research is not a methodology but only a choice of the object of study, more experts considered it as a methodology, a comprehensive research strategy, and a type of design in qualitative research (Merrian,1998; Yin, 2003; Creswell et al, 2007). According to Yin (2003), a case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. Therefore, he (2003) indicated that the case study inquiry is mainly used to deal with the technically characteristic situation in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points, and as one result relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis. Likewise, Creswell et al (2007) summarized that case study research is: a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a bounded system (a case) or multiple bounded systems (cases) over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information (e.g., observations, interviews, audiovisual material, and documents and reports) and reports a case description and case-based themes. 3.3 Variants of case study research Qualitative case studies may be distinguished by the intent of case analysis. Three variations that exist in terms of the intent- the single instrumental case study, the collective or multiple-case study and the intrinsic case study (Creswell et al, 2007). In a single case-study the focus is on one issue or concern and a bounded case is selected to illustrate this issue (Stake, 1995). In a collective or multiple-case study, the focus is one issue but multiple cases are selected to illustrate this issue. Multiple case design uses the logic of replication as the procedures a re replicated for each case (Yin, 2003). Qualitative researchers are reluctant to generalize from one case to another as the contexts of the cases differ. However, to generalize, representative cases should be selected (Creswell et al, 2007). In an intrinsic case study, the focus is on the case itself e.g. studying a student having a difficulty (Stake, 1995). This paper examines the nature of employee relations (issue or concern) taking the example of an organization- British Airways PLC (case). Therefore it is a single instrumental case study. It explains how theories of employee relations have been applied in practice. 3.4 Case study techniques Many researchers such as Simons (1980), Yin (1984) and Stake (1995) have written about case study research and suggested techniques for conducting this research. They proposed the following steps- determine the research question, select the case and determine data gathering and analysis techniques, preparation and collection of data in the field, evaluate and analyze the data and prepare the report. I have followed these steps during my research. 3.3.1 Determining the research question To arrive at the research question a research focus has to be established along with a research object. In this research, the main focus is on managing employee relations in organizations. The research object can be a program, entity, a person or a group of person (Soy, 1997). Here, the research object is an organization (entity). In this study, I am primarily interested in determining how employee relations is dealt with in organizations. First, I have conducted a literature review that provides information on employee relations and helps to define the following questions: The employee relations status in British Airways, and How to deal with poor employee relations? 3.3.2 Select the case and determine data gathering and analysis techniques There are a number of organizations in the UK suffering from poor employee relations. One of these is the British Airways PLC (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002). British Airways is now getting bogged down in collective disputes from its employees. Foreman (1948) suggested three broad categories of data gathering techniques. First, personal documents includes all record yielding information concerning the pattern or functioning of the researchers own personal or social life. It may reflect a social situation to which the author is responsive to or his/her own behaviour (Foreman, 1948). Second, participation observation records includes all chronicles prepared by the analysts following assumption for purpose of investigation of member roles in the unit studied (Foreman, 1948). Third, person reports includes all forms written by persons not directly participating in or identified with, but seeking to organize or to interpret the experiences or history of some personal, group, class, ecological, or cultural unit (Foreman, 1948) 3.3.3 Preparation and collection of Data A case study research requires large amount of data from multiple sources. Systematic organization of data is important to prevent the researcher from becoming overwhelmed by the amount of data and to prevent the researcher from losing sight of the original research purpose and questions (Soy, 1997). Databases have to be prepared to assist with categorizing, sorting, storing, and retrieving data for analysis. It is essential to note down key problems and events, identify key people and revise the research design to address and add to the original set of res