Book Analysis: The Science of Muddling Through

A Summary of: The Science of â€Å"Muddling Through† By Charles E. Lindblom Public Administration Review, Vol. XIX, No. 2 (Spring, 1959), 79-88 I. Introduction This article discusses two different strategies for comparing policies. The first strategy, Lindblom entitles Root, or Rational-Comprehensive Lindblom refers to the second strategy as Branch, or Successive Limited Comparisons. After a brief explanation of the two systems, he goes on to argue the superiority of the Branch system over the more commonly discussed Root system II. RootThe Root approach, or Rational-Comprehensive, is best utilized for more simple problems, according to Lindblom, due to the necessitation of massive intellectual capacities and sources of information. He states that this approach is generally not correct for policy analysis, as time and money are restrictions in these scenarios. He also states that public agencies are effectively instructed not to practice the root method, due to political or le gal constraints Ironically, the common literature tends to preach formalization of this method. This leads to many practitioners acting against the philosophy commonly published.Lindblom lists the characteristics of the Root approach as the following:Clarification of values or objectives distinct from and usually prerequisite to empirical analysis of alternative policies.Policy-formulation is therefore approached through means-end analysis: First, the ends are isolated, then the means to achieve them are sought.The test of a â€Å"good† policy is that it can be shown to be the most appropriate means to desired ends.Analysis is comprehensive; every important relevant factor is taken into account.Theory is often heavily relied upon.As this theory is often discussed, Lindblom assumes it is familiar to the reader and shifts his focus to explaining and clarifying the alternative. Most of the article revolves around the Branch approach, or Successive Limited Comparisons. III. Branc h The Branch Approach, or Successive Limited Comparisons is the approach Lindblom claims most administrators use for their approach to understanding complex problems. Lindblom assigns the following characteristics to the Branch approach:Selection of value goals and empirical analysis of the needed action are not distinct from one another but are closely intertwined. Since means and ends are not distinct, means-end analysis is often inappropriate or limited.The test of a â€Å"good† policy is typically that various analysts find themselves directly agreeing on a policy (without their agreeing that it is the most appropriate means to an agreed objective).Analysis is drastically limited:Important possible outcomes are neglected.Important alternative potential policies are neglected.Important affected values are neglected.A succession of comparisons greatly reduces or eliminates reliance on theory.The Branch approach could be illustrated as continually building out from the curre nt situation, slowly, by small degrees, one step at a time. Lindblom then elaborates on the Branch approach throughout the remainder of the article. a. Intertwining Evaluation and Empirical Analysis In this section, Lindblom explains how the Root method breaks down its handling of objectives and values. He states that clarifying values prior to investigating alternative policies produces several problems. The first problem is that citizens, congressmen, and public administrators frequently disagree on many critical values.Second, even when an administrator opts to choose his own value set for guidance, he often will not know how to rank conflicting criterion. A third problem arises concurrent to the previous two â€Å"Social objectives do not always have the same relative values. † These common problems often lead administrators to ask a question like the following: â€Å"Given the degree to which we are or are not already achieving the values of good public relations, is it worth sacrificing a little speed for a happier clientele, or is it better to risk offending the clientele so hat we can get on with our work? †The answer, of course, varies according to the situation. The particular difficulty with values is the issue with attempting to state marginal objectives in forms other than particular policies. This leaves administrators attempting to choose between policies that offer different marginal combinations of values. Lindblom closes this argument with two summarizing points. First, for complex problems, the Root system is impossible and irrelevant, while the Branch method is possible and relevant.The Branch method is possible because the administrator does not need to attempt to analyze any values except those where the alternative policies differ, and this differentiation is only notable marginally. This drastically reduces the need for collecting information on values or objectives, which keeps the capacity for comparing values within rea son. b. Relations Between Means and Ends Generally, and according to the Root method, decision-making is considered to be a means-ends relationship.The means are to be evaluated and selected depending upon the ends which is selected independently and before choosing the means. But this is difficult unless the values have been agreed upon and are stable at the margin. This relationship between the means and the ends does not exist with the branch method, as both are chosen simultaneously. c. The Test of â€Å"Good† Policy Under the Root method, a decision can be considered correct if it can be shown to attain some specified objective. This objective must be defined beyond just describing the actual decision.If administrators cannot agree on the objectives, the Root method offers no test For the Branch method, the test is agreement on the actual policy, which may be possible even when agreement on values has proven impossible. Different ideologies can agree on different policie s, even if the agreement is based on different reasoning. Lindblom states that â€Å"agreement on policy thus becomes the only practicable test of the policy’s correctness. † The Branch method relies upon agreement whenever possible. d. Non-Comprehensive Analysis It is impossible to take every important aspect of a problem into onsideration unless the problem is very narrowly defined, therefore limiting analysis. Simplification of complex problems is imperative.Lindblom illustrates that under the Root method, simplification is achieved systematically through limitation of policy comparisons to those policies that differ in relatively small degree from policies presently in effect. It is only necessary to study the aspects in which the alternatives and their consequences differ from the current norm. This limitation reduces the alternatives under consideration and simplifies the investigation of each of these alternatives.It only becomes necessary to study the respects in which the proposed alternative and its consequences differ from that norm. i. Relevance as Well as Realism In the west, policy analysts tend to limit their analysis to marginal differences in policies that are chosen to differ incrementally. Democracies tend to change policies incrementally. By simplifying the policy by limiting the focus to slight deviations, the most value is made of available information. â€Å"Non-incremental policy proposals are therefore typically not only politically irrelevant, but also unpredictable. †Another way to simplify analysis is by ignoring important potential consequences of the possible policies, and also ignoring the values associated with those neglected consequences. Even if the exclusions are made at random, the policies may be formulated more intelligently than by attempting to achieve a comprehensiveness which is too extensive. ii. Achieving a Degree of Comprehensiveness The potential for losing important values is present in any o rganization. The benefit of a hypothetical division of labor is that every important value has its own watchdog; these watchdogs can guard their respective interests in two ways.First, they may redress damages done by other agencies. Second, they may anticipate and avoid injury before it happens. In the United States, no part of government attempts comprehensive policy overviews on things such as income distribution, yet a policy evolves. This incremental policy-making pattern fits with the multiple pressure pattern. When this particular type of policy-making model is followed, it is easier for one group to anticipate the moves of another group. It is also easier for these groups to make adjustments for injuries already accomplished.Administrative coordination occurs as each of these agencies adjusts its policies according to the concerns of the other agencies in a fragmented form of decision-making. Branch method exclusions are deliberate and systematic, yet it does not necessarily disregard long-run considerations. Sometimes the only way long-run objectives can be given enough attention is through neglecting the short-term considerations. e. Succession of Comparisons The last element concerns the comparisons. These comparisons proceed in a chronological order. When the policy maker uses a succession of incremental changes, serious lasting mistakes can be avoided.First, he learns from past sequences of policy steps, and gains knowledge of the probable consequences of similar steps. Second, he can avoid big jumps that may require predictions he does not possess the knowledge to adequately make. This is because he never expects his policy to be the final resolution. Third, he is able to test his previous predictions as he slowly moves on to the proceeding steps. Fourth, past errors can be fixed relatively quickly. For policy-making purposes, the analyst need only know the consequences of each of the policy aspects as they differ from the others. iii. Theorists and PractitionersThe Branch system explains why administrators often feel that outside experts are not helpful and would rather work off of gut instinct than following the advice proposed by theorists. Lindblom gives two reasons why theory can have limited applicability in policy-making. First, it is greedy for facts and can be construed only through a great collection of observations. Second, it is generally insufficiently precise for application to a policy process that moves through small changes. Only in restricted areas is economic theory precise enough to become particularly helpful when resolving policy questions. v. Successive Comparison as a System Lindblom concludes that the Branch system is indeed a legitimate system, despite its imperfections.He reminds the reader that the Branch method lacks a built-in safeguard for all relevant values, and it may lead the decision-maker to overlook potential policies simply because they are not suggested. One of the benefits of clarify ing this method is â€Å"the light it throws on the suspicion an administrator sometimes entertains that a consultant or adviser is not speaking relevantly and responsibly when in fact by all ordinary objective evidence he is. While much of organization theory argues the virtues of common values and agreed organizational objectives, for complex problems in which the root method is inapplicable, agencies will want among their own personnel two types of diversification: administrators whose thinking is organized by reference to policy chains other than those familiar to most members of the organization and, even more commonly, administrators whose professional or personal values or interests create diversity of view†¦ so that, even without a single agency, decision-making can be fragmented and parts of the agency can serve as watchdogs for other parts.IV. Conclusion Lindblom’s argument basically attempts to legitimize the decision-making processes that are already frequen tly in use. He points out a gap between the theory advocated by policy academics and the real-world problems faced by decision-makers. He explains how and why the current work-around is legitimate and worthy of acceptance. The Branch method, as he calls it, simply needs to be recognized as having merit. By pointing this out and attempting to define the Branch method and its attributes, he is opening the door for academics to begin theorizing on this method, as well.

The Testosterone And Suicide Health And Social Care Essay

Testosterone is produced from cholesterin in the Leydig cells in the testicle. Testosterone synthesis in the foetal human testicle begins during the 6th hebdomad of gestation. Leydig cell distinction and the initial early testosterone production in the foetal testicle are independent of luteinizing endocrine ( LH ) ( 5, 6, 7 ) . During testicle development production of testosterone occurs under the influence of LH which is produced by the pituitary secretory organ. Synthesis and release of LH is regulated by the hypothalamus through gonadotropin-releasing endocrine ( GnRH ) and inhibited by testosterone via a negative feedback cringle ( 8 ) . Testosterone is metabolized in some tissues to a more active metabolite, 5I ±-dihydrotestosterone. Testosterone is present in the blood as free ( unbound ) testosterone, albumin edge and sex hormone-binding globulin ( SHGB ) -bound testosterone ( 5-8 ) . Testosterone is a C19 steA ¬roid with an unsaturated bond between C-4 and C-5, a ketone group in C-3 and a hydroxyl group in the B place at C-17. It is largely produced in the tesA ¬tes of males and the ovaries of females, although little sums of testosterone are produced by the adrenal secretory organs. Testosterone is found in mammals and other craniates. Blood testosterone degrees are much greater in males than in females: an grownup male organic structure produces about ten-times more testosterone than an big female organic structure. Females are more sensitive to testosterone than males. Testosterone regulates male sexual development and affects musculus strength, degrees of red blood cells, bone denseness, sense of wellbeing and sexual and generative map in both males and females. SHBG concentrations may be decreased or increased in many often observed medical conditions. In clinical pattern, alterations in SBHG are critically of import to see in the diagnosing of male hypogonadism. Because plasma entire testosterone concentrations are affected by changes in SHBG degrees, precise measurings of free or bioavailable testosterone are necessary to measure the sufficiency of Leydig cell map, to clear up whether a patient is hypogonadal, and to supervise the testosterone replacing intervention in patients with alterations in go arounding SHBG concentrations. Testosterone and self-destruction Multiple surveies suggest that testosterone plays a function in the ordinance of temper and behaviour. The research surveies of the relationship between testosterone and self-destructive behaviour produced variable consequences ( 9-14 ) . Some ( 10-13 ) but non all ( 14,15 ) probes of the relationship between testosterone and suicidality found assoA ¬ciations between testosterone and self-destructive behaviour. Tripodianakis et Al. compared plasma testosterone concentrations in work forces after a suicide effort with testosterone degrees in healthy work forces of the same age ( 10 ) . The writers found that the self-destruction triers had lower testosterone degrees compared with controls, and that the triers who used violent methods had lower plasma testosterone concentrations compared with the nonviolent triers. Markianos et Al. examined plasma testosterone degrees in a group of male psychiatric patients who had attempted to perpetrate self-destruction by leaping, in a group of male topics who were hospitalized after accidentally falling from a high tallness and in healthy controls ( 11 ) . Both accident and suicide effort patients had lower testosterone degrees compared with the control group, and at that place was a tendency towards lower testosterone degrees in self-destruction triers compared with the accident group. We have late examined whether there is a relation between plasma test osterone degrees and clinical parametric quantities in bipolar self-destruction triers and found that testosterone degrees positively correlated with the figure of frenzied episodes and the figure of suicide efforts ( 12 ) . Some other observations have shown that testosterone/anabolic androgenic steroids may play a function in the pathophysiology of suicidality ( 13 ) . A recent survey found no difference between male self-destruction triers and male controls with respect to plasma testosterone degrees ( 14 ) . A survey of associations between neuroactive steroids and suicidality in military veterans with posttraumatic emphasis upset besides found no association between serum testosterone degrees and a history of a suicide effort ( 15 ) . Disappointment over rejections at efforts for sexual interactions has been cited several decennaries ago as an of import trigger for self-destruction ( 16 ) . Impending divorce, matrimonial troubles, menace of losing a love spouse and rejection by a loved one were besides regarded as motivations for self-destruction for many old ages ( 17 ) . It has been observed that rejection of sexual intercourse was frequently associated with male self-destructions and self-destructive ideation ( 18 ) . A nexus between testosterone and the neurobiology of self-destructive behaviour may be related to ( 9 ) : a ) A direct consequence of testosterone on suicidality via certain encephalon mechanisms ; and/or B ) A testosterone consequence on aggression and, accordingly, suicidality ; and/or degree Celsius ) A testosterone consequence on temper and, accordingly, suicidality ; and/or vitamin D ) A testosterone consequence on knowledge and, accordingly, suicidality. Testosterone and self-destructive behaviour in striplings and immature grownups Suicide and testosterone/anabolic androgenic steroids At least one survey has demonstrated a relation between high degrees of testosterone and self-destruction in immature people ( 19 ) . Twenty-nine topics ( 17 self-destructions, 12 sudden deceases ) in the ages 23 to 45 old ages were included in the survey. Analysis indicated no important difference in ages between the two groups of topics ( suicide M = 33.35 yr. , sudden decease M = 35.67 yr. ) . There was a important difference in the average testosterone degree ( P & lt ; 0.007 ) between victims of self-destruction ( M = 376.41?183.64 ng/ml ) and victims of sudden decease ( M= 241.83?117.3 ng/ml ) . Eight instances of self-destruction, in 21- to 33-year-old males, with a history of current or recent usage of anabolic androgenic steroids ( AAS ) have been described in a instance series study ( 20 ) . Five self-destructions were committed during current usage of AAS, and two following 2 and 6 months after AAS backdown. The writers suggested that long-run usage of AAS may lend to completed self-destruction in predisposed individuals. A possible function of aggression A important figure of surveies suggest that high testosterone degrees are associated with aggression ( 9 ) . It has been shown that violent individuals have higher plasma, spit and CSF testosterone degrees compared to non-violent controls ( 21-23 ) . For illustration, in a survey of unprompted wrongdoers with alcohol addiction and antisocial personality upset, higher CSF testosterone degrees were observed compared to healthy controls ( 24 ) . The writers proposed that high CSF testosterone degrees may be associated with aggressiveness or interpersonal force. In the same paper, the writers reviewed the scientific literature on the nexus of testosterone to aggression in worlds, and proposed that both a insistent form of aggressive behaviour get downing early in life, and a insistent form of aggressive behaviour under the consequence of intoxicant are associated with increased degrees of testosterone. Research workers have observed that persons having testosterone are more likely to hol d an aggressive reaction to comprehend menaces than topics having placebo ( 25-27 ) . Fluctuations of testosterone concentration may be associated with aggression and temper alterations in striplings ( 28-30 ) . Salivary testosterone concentrations were evaluated in 40 kids, aged 7-14 old ages ( 37 male childs and three misss ) , with a history of aggressive behaviours and an association between higher testosterone degrees and aggressive behaviours was observed ( 29 ) . In another survey of stripling males, higher testosterone degrees were associated with aggravated verbal and physical aggression, a determination proposing that reactive unprompted aggression is correlated with higher testosterone degrees ( 30 ) . Fifty-eight healthy 15-17 twelvemonth old male childs, public school pupils participated in this survey. A high degree of testosterone led to an amplified preparedness to react energetically and forcefully to aggravations and menaces. Testosterone besides had an indirect and less strong consequence on another aggression dimension: high plasma concentrations o f testosterone made the male childs less patient and more cranky, which in bend intensified their sensitivity to prosecute in aggressive-destructive behaviour. The fact that higher testosterone degrees were associated with aggravated verbal and physical aggression suggests that reactive unprompted aggression correlatives with higher testosterone degrees. Therefore, aggression may medicate the consequence of high testosterone degrees on self-destructive behaviour in striplings and immature grownups. Not all surveies have observed differences in testosterone degrees between aggressive and unaggressive male childs ( 31 ) . A survey of 4-10 twelvemonth olds found no grounds of a relationship between testosterone degrees and aggressive behaviours. This indicated that such a relationship may be nonexistent in prepubescent kids. Animal theoretical accounts have contributed of import informations sing the effects of anabolic androgenic steroid ( AAS ) usage on aggression ( 32,33 ) . For illustration, surveies in gnawers confirmed that exposure to the AASs testosterone and Durabolin additions aggression. A side consequence of AAS usage reported in worlds is â€Å" roid fury, † a province of unselective and motiveless aggression. It has besides been observed that pubertal rats having AASs respond suitably to societal cues and they are more aggressive toward integral males than are eunuchs. Testosterone-treated male rats are most aggressive in their place coop. Probably, adolescent AAS exposure may increase aggressive behaviours. Some writers have postulated that there are significant similarities between aggression against the ego and aggression against others, based on the clinical and epidemiological observations that some suicide triers may portion personality traits with violent felons ( 34 ) . We have besides observed an association between aggression and self-destructive behaviour in our surveies ( 35,36 ) . For illustration, we have observed that a history of suicide effort in bipolar upset is associated with lifetime aggressive traits ( 35 ) . We have besides shown that the higher prevalence of suicide triers among down patients with a history of alcohol addiction compared to down patients without a history of alcohol addiction was related to higher aggression tonss in the group with alcohol addiction ( 36 ) . In drumhead, high testosterone degrees may be associated with self-destructive behaviour in striplings and immature grownups. This consequence of testosterone on suicidality in striplings and immature grownups may be mediated by testosterone-related elevated aggression. It is besides possible that in immature people, high testosterone degrees are straight linked to suicidality via certain encephalon mechanisms. Testosterone and self-destructive behaviour in older work forces Testosterone lack or hypotestosteronemia is a normally known hormonal alteration associated with male aging ( 37-39 ) . The prevalence of testosterone lack may be every bit high as 30 % in work forces aged 40-79 old ages ( 40,41 ) . In up to 12 % of affected work forces, hypotestosteronemia can be associated with clinical symptoms ( 40,41 ) . Age-related plasma testosterone lessening is a consequence of different biological changes such as primary structural gonadal harm, age-related degenerative alterations of the pituitary secretory organ, inadequacies of the neurohypothalamic system, and primary peripheral metabolic abnormalcies such as the age-associated addition in the concentration of serum sex endocrine adhering globulin ( SHBG ) , with a attendant lessening in free testosterone ( 39 ) . In the aging adult male, there is about a 1-2 % lessening of entire testosterone degrees per twelvemonth with a more rapid bead in free testosterone degrees because of a attendant addition in SHBG with aging. Because of this gradual lessening in testosterone degrees the androgen lack of the aged adult male is defined as partial androgen lack of the aging male ( PADAM ) or late oncoming hypogonadism ( LOH ) . Symptoms of testosterone lack in work forces include sexual symptoms ( such as reduced erectile map and lessened libido ) , reduced musculus and increased fat mass, and reduced bone denseness among others. It is ill-defined whether aging is to be considered as the lone variable linked to age-related testosterone lessening. Assorted facets such as familial factors, chronic diseases, medicines, fleshiness, and the life style may impact the testosterone metamorphosis ( 37,42-44 ) . Decreased testosterone degrees are associated with depressive symptoms, hapless cognitive map and Alzheimer ‘s disease ( 9,45-48 ) . In fact, increased incidence of hypogonadism is observed in work forces with major depression ( 9,47 ) . Depressed work forces often have low plasma or serum testosterone ( 9,48 ) . Testosterone has mood-enhancing belongingss and antidepressant effects in work forces ( 9,49-51 ) . Testosterone replacing efficaciously improves temper. Testosterone users sometimes develop frenzied or hypomanic symptoms during testosterone usage and depressive symptoms during testosterone backdown ( 52-55 ) . In gnawers, testosterone has antidepressant effects in elderly male mice and protective effects against the development of depression-like behaviours in rats ( 56,57 ) . A recent survey found a testosterone-dependent ordinance of hippocampal ERK2 look which suggests that ERK2 signaling within the dentate gyrus country of the hippocampus is a critical go-between of the antidepressant belongingss of testosterone ( 58 ) . Experimental surveies suggest that testosterone has neuroprotective effects ( 59 ) . However, in intercession clinical research on aged work forces, testosterone replacing had a good influence on temper merely if work forces had clearly subnormal testosterone degrees ( 60 ) . It is of import note that sexual disfunction can hold a major consequence on the quality of life and emotional wellbeing ( 61,62 ) . The consequences of placebo-controlled randomised surveies of the effects of testosterone on the quality of life and down temper have been inconsistent and frequently the quality of life as assessed by different questionnaires did non better significantly ( 63 ) . Higher blood degrees of testosterone are associated with better cognitive operation, particularly in older work forces ( 45,46 ) . For illustration, greater serum degrees of testosterone late in life predict a lower hazard of future Alzheimer ‘s disease development in older work forces ( 45 ) . Higher blood testosterone degrees are associated with better visuospatial abilities, semantic memory and episodic memory in work forces, with larger positive consequence with increasing age ( 46 ) . Both depression and cognitive damage are associated with self-destructive behaviour ( 64-67 ) . At least 60 % of persons who commit suicide suffer from depression. Hence, depression and cognitive damage may medicate the consequence of testosterone lack on suicidality in older work forces. This suggests that the intervention of hypogonadism in older work forces may better temper and knowledge, and accordingly, cut down self-destructive behaviour. Decision In drumhead, it is sensible to suggest that self-destructive behaviour in immature work forces is associated with high testosterone degrees while suicidality in older work forces is associated with reduced testosterone secernment. This indicates that the effects of testosterone on suicidality in work forces should be studied individually in immature and old persons. It is likely that plasma and salivary testosterone checks can assist in placing paediatric and grownup patients that would react best to certain interventions. Further surveies of the function of testosterone in the pathophysiology of psychiatric upsets and self-destructive behaviour are merited.

Case Study for Emotional & Retional Manager Essay

In philosophy, rationality is the characteristic of any action, belief, or desire, that makes their choice a necessity. It is a normative concept of reasoning in the sense that rational people should derive conclusions in a consistent way given the information at disposal. It refers to the conformity of one’s beliefs with one’s reasons to believe, or with one’s actions with one’s reasons for action. However, the term â€Å"rationality† tends to be used differently in different disciplines, including specialized discussions of economics, sociology, psychology, and political science. A rational decision is one that is not just reasoned, but is also optimal for achieving a goal or solving a problem. Rational Manager Character analysis: Irrational and illogical management causes untold losses every year all over the world. Managers are paid to make logical, financially viable decisions and solve problems using good judgment to facilitate the smooth flow of the operation. Reasoning is an important process, which anyone can acquire by a short formal education. It is one of the most important factors in making rational decisions. The absence of conscientious, systematic problem analysis and decision making causes inefficiency and waste of resources. It also results in failure to set clear objectives and performance standards. Successful managers plan their meeting for optimal productivity. Meetings must be well organized and controlled; deviations from the agenda must not be tolerated. Operational meetings must be planned to inform rank and file. Suggestions must be solicited and duly studied. The definition of problem is â€Å"an unwanted effect, something to be corrected or removed†, that which cannot be solved before establishing its cause. Every problem, almost always, has only one cause. Problem solving must follow a logical process and careful analysis. It requires skill to apply theory to practice. A correct decision in one operation may prove to be less effective, even incorrect in another. The decision maker must be fully familiar with the operation, problem area and employees involved. Only correct and relevant information must be used in decision-making. Good managers always evaluate daily, the effectiveness of their decision to make corrections. Often, managers make the most convenient, but poor and costly decisions. Poor decisions may appear to solve a problem, but eventually the problem will reappear with more devastating repercussions. Young, inexperienced managers rely on technology, and conveniently forget (ignore) the importance of human factors like service standard, product quality, plate presentation and guest satisfaction, all of which cannot be quantified and must be fine-tuned constantly. A manager must know precisely the level of performance of all employees. In very large operations, general managers rely on division managers to make decisions on their behalf, and then provide guidance when incorrect reasoning was employed. Correct decisions can be made based only on facts. Problem solving and analysis are two entirely different processes. A problem indicates deviation from the standard, and usually a change of some kind causes it. In order to analyses a problem, seven steps are required: †¢ Established standards †¢ A problem is caused by a deviation from the standard †¢ The deviation must be identified, accurately located and described †¢ There is always something distinguishing about the deviation from the standard †¢ The cause of the problem is an unwanted change †¢ Possible causes are deduced from changes established †¢ The deviation(s) explains the cause(s) A problem may have several solutions. The decision maker must select the best which is linked to the scope of his/her experience. Here are the steps required to make a good decisions; Establish objectives, Classify objectives and prioritize Develop alternatives, Evaluate alternatives against objectives Select the best alternative Test alternatives (if possible) for possible adverse consequences Control adverse effects by taking affirmative action. Managers require standards to follow. If unavailable, they must develop them and seek the approval of their superior. Each problem must be solved individually. Several problems (related or not) cannot be solved simultaneously, and jumping from one to another may be an exercise in futility. If several problems exist, all must be prioritized and solved in sequence. Vaguely described and/or perceived problems cannot be solved satisfactorily. A common mistake is jumping to conclusions. Incorrect identification of a problem leads to wrong decisions, and eventually to a major crisis. Managers must be able to anticipate potential problems; promoting a line worker to a supervisory position requires due diligence. The background of the individual must be checked thoroughly, and his/her decision making skills verified before the promotion. RATIONAL VERSUS EMOTIONAL DECISION MAKING (3) Human brain researchers have determined that the more that is on one’s mind, then the more likely one will make an emotional decision rather than a rational one. Could this provide an explanation why so many decisions by managers and employees continue to seem irrational? As background, the brain researchers conducted an experiment asking people to memorize a series of numbers in sequence ranging from two to seven numbers. After given their numbers all the individuals had to do was walk down the hall to a room and write the numbers down. But there was a catch. As the subjects walked down the hall another researcher interrupted them and offered a gift for participating of either a piece of chocolate cake or an attractive bowl of fruit. The results were surprising (and very statistically significant). Those with the least numbers to memorize chose the fruit whereas those with more numbers chose the cake. Why is this? The brain researchers have observed that the human brain has two parts: a rational deliberate section and an emotional one. The competition between the two is fierce. When the mind load is light, as with those people tasked to memorize only two numbers, their judicious mind ruled the healthy fruit was more appropriate than the high calorie cake. In contrast, when the brain is more filled with items, emotion wins over reason. Let’s put this finding into the context of today’s work world. How many managers are constantly juggling many priorities? All of them. You are too. For example, should I first reply to that e-mail, edit and finalize that paper due, phone that colleague, read that blog or twitter, or analyze that report? When one has these types of â€Å"to-do† items, as a decision is thrust upon them, it is not surprising the choice is an emotional one? As examples, our largest customer just requested a special service. Should we charge them for it? Our most unreliable supplier just missed another due date. Should we replace them with another supplier? You could debate each of those decisions either way. But if your mind is distracted with a dozen other priorities and no time to debate, it is conceivable the emotional brain section might overrule the rational one. Decisions deserve analysis. The margin for error is thinner these days, and what we deal with daily is more complex than a decade ago. The tools for business analytics have now become available for even the casual user. Read my article Why Will Business Analytics Be the Next Competitive Edge? If organizations delay becoming a culture for analytics and metrics then the quality of their decisions will jeopardized. Case Study:This case was happened in 2002 in one of Egyptian military factory, the production sector took a decision to buy a certain production machine for producing a very complicated work piece, and this work piece will be used in a military device. This machine is very expensive and also very accurate, so the chairman had to be sure that this machine will be suitable for the required work piece and also will achieve the accuracy required, in order to do so, the chairman stipulated a strange condition in the contract of the machine to accept it from the seller, this condition simply is the factory will never transfer the money of the machine to the seller unless the machine not only delivered and installed but also after producing the first required work piece, and this produced work piece must be applied to measuring tests and pass through quality control procedures which is according to the German Standards (DIN). The chairman asked the quality control manager to construct a full plan to apply the measuring tests, that plan must illustrate the team, equipments used, strategy and measuring operations, once the quality control manager got the order he called for   meeting to make a discussions with the sector’s member about the required plan and to take their opinion about who will be in this team. Also the quality control manager had to determine a team leader for this mission, he had two choices, first one is an old engineer working in the quality control sector for many years and has very good and strong connections to all people in the quality control sector, second one is young engineer worked for just two years in the quality control sector but on the other hand he considered expert due to his advanced studies in the university in these type of tests and measurements. The quality control manager chose the old engineer to be the team leader. After submission the plan to the chairman to confirm, he accepted the plan but he changed the team leader and chose the young engineer due to his background knowledge. The quality control manager was very surprised and tries to change the chairman’s mind but he could not. The quality control manager called for another meeting for the sector in order to explain the reasons of changing the team leader and also to convince the team members accepting the new leader. Analysis In this case study we are obviously about two different manager styles. The chairman consider rational manager by the mean of word, he is always task oriented and focusing on how to achieve target whatever happened, this can be seen in how he made the deal with the machine seller, actually the above condition in the contract considered strange condition and not common at all in this type of business, but he did not care about what commonly used and also did not care about rules, he just want to make sure that the expensive machine he bought will do his work piece accurately. From another point of view he asked the quality control manager to construct the working plan for tests, this is to insure that the all process will be under control, where the decision of machine acceptance or rejection depends only on these tests. Also as he task oriented and always studding his option carefully he changed the team leader of the plan, as he believe that this is the way to achieve goal, and he did not care about team members, old team leader and also the quality control manager. On the other hand we have the quality control manager which considered emotional manager as seen, once he has been asked to construct the tests plan; immediately he called for a meeting to do so, also his way to determine the team leader; he used his intuition to avoid trouble in work may had been caused by the old engineer, he did not care about task accuracy, he did not care about how important was the mission and chose the old engineer just to be safe and away from troubles. Also when the chairman changed the team leader; he called for another meeting just to give excuses to the old team leader, and also to make a discussion with the team member to convince them with the new leader. CONCLUSION (2): The ancient philosophical debate about whether ethics is primarily a matter of reason or emotion has spilled over into psychology, where there is much current discussion about the nature of ethical thinking. But sufficiently rich theories of inference and emotion can clarify how moral judgments at their best should be both rational and emotional. How can we do the right thing? People are sometimes told: Be rational, not emotional. Such advice adopts the widespread assumption that reason and emotion are opposites. This opposition is particularly acute in ethics, where philosophers and psychologists have long debated the relative roles in ethical thinking of abstract inference and emotional intuitions. This debate concerns both the descriptive q Adjudicating this debate requires an evidence-based theory of emotions that mediates between two traditional theories: the cognitive appraisal view that takes emotions to be judgments about the accomplishment of one’s goals, and the phys iological perception view that takes emotions to be reactions to changes in one’s body. The cognitive appraisal view is compatible with the potential rationality of emotion, because the truth or falsity of judgments can be evaluated. On the other hand, the physiological perception view puts emotions on the non-rational side, since bodily reactions are not susceptible to reason. I have argued for a synthesis of the two views of emotion. The brain is capable of simultaneously performing both cognitive appraisal and bodily perception, and emotional consciousness results from this combination. If the integrated view is correct, we can see how emotions can be both rational, in being based at least sometimes on good judgments about how well a situation accomplishes appropriate goals, and visceral, providing motivations to act. Some emotions are beautifully rational, such as love for people who add great value to our lives, whereas other emotions can be irrational, such as attachment to abusive partners. Ethical judgments are often highly emotional, when people express their strong approval or disapproval of various acts. Whether they are also rational depends on whether the cognitive appraisal that is part of emotion is done well or badly. Emotional judgments can be flawed by many factors, such as ignorance about the actual consequences of actions and neglect of relevant goals, such as taking into account the needs and interests of all people affected. Adam Smith is sometimes taken as preaching a gospel of self-interest, but his work on moral sentiments emphasized the need for ethics to be based on sympathy for other people. Hence the emotions involved in ethical thinking can be rational when they are based on careful consideration of a full range of appropriate goals, including altruistic ones. Ideally, this consideration should mesh with a visceral reaction that provides a motivation to act well and correct injustices. Being good requires both thinking and feeling. Question about how people actually do think when they are making ethical judgments and the normative question of how they should think. References: {1} http://www.foodreference.com/html/artrationalmanager.html {2} http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hot-thought/201006/ethical-thinking-should-berational-and-emotional {3} http://smartdatacollective.com/garycokins/23935/rational-versus-emotional-decision-making

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Management - Essay Example Therefore the relationship between product-mix flexibility and capacity utilization is that the two factors are directly related. A higher degree of product-mix flexibility leads to a higher degree of capacity utilization. Because the company is able to vary output according to demand, idle capacity is minimized. As a result capacity utilization is maximized. By implementing the strategy of product-mix flexibility, the company is able to manufacturing a range of different products by using the same equipment. As a result the management is able to recoup the maximum return from the investment made in the equipment. In this manner the utilization rate of the production line is maximized. Thus product-mix flexibility is directly related to capacity utilization. Higher levels of product-mix flexibility reduce the production lines’ sensitivity to demand fluctuations. By implementing a flexible manufacturing system (FMS), the production line is able to maintain a mix of products tha t is able to adapt to any changes in the demand structure. In order to implement the strategy of product mix flexibility, the management has to introduce the technology of the flexible manufacturing system. The FMS facilitates the building of a production line that can produce a range of different products with minimal changes required in the same. ... This was the innovation introduced by Fiat’s management. By implementing the Robogate technology, Fiat aimed to create a flexible production system which would be able to achieve product-mix flexibility according to market demand. The technology was developed in-house. It was deployed in the spot-welding shop and was so named because the nine welding stations were called gates. The deployment of Robogate signaled Fiat’s quest for increasing production flexibility. The production limit for Robogate technology deployed at Rivalta and Cassino was set at 1400 cars per day. However it could vary the output levels between different models, Uno and Ritmo at Rivalta, Regata and Ritmo at Cassino. By allowing production managers to process a range of cars in a random sequence, the Robogate technology aimed to incorporate market-driven fluctuations into capacity utilization. However whether this innovation enabled the company to maximize capacity utilization is questioned by the a uthor in this article. The technology was certainly able to minimize the cycle-time of finishing but capacity utilization still fluctuated as before in the traditional system. The problem with implementing the technology was that the production philosophy was still defined according to the traditional system of cycle-time minimization rather than flexibility maximization. As a result, the Robogate technology failed to increase the rate of capacity utilization. But aside from that question, the superiority of the Robogate technology over other techniques was overwhelming. The Robogate itself was flexible. However because the platform and body welding lines upstream were still

Low Income Housing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Dissertation

Low Income Housing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example Objectives 1- To study the theory of post-occupancy evaluation, its emergence, and its importance. 2- Understanding the importance of POE for creating better houses for low income people. 3- To critically evaluate literature about international housing policies and compare them to housing policies in Saudi Arabia. 4- To assess a case study by using the post-occupancy evaluation of the: a- Functional aspect b- Social views c- Technical factors 5- Evaluate building performance taking account the feed back from the residents. Research Questions: To which extend are the users satisfied with current housing design? What is post-occupancy evaluation? Why is it important? How to apply it? How did it emerge? What are the international housing policies, and Saudi housing policies? What are the differences? How to assess a case study by using POE for Functional aspect, Social views and Technical factors? How to evaluate building performance taking account resident's feedback fr om? Research methodology Review literature: Define both the area and the nature of POE that enhances the understanding of the concept, the scope and the process of POE. Setting Aims and objectives. Develop questions. Select research respondents. Implementing the survey. Analyzing the data collected. Structure of the research Chapter 2: Introduction Aims Research question Objectives Methodology Chapter 2: what does POE mean? What is POE ? History and background of POE Uses of POE Process of POE Benefits of POE Chapter 3: International housing policies Housing policies in Saudi Arabia Housing policies in Saudi Arabia for low-income Chapter 4: General information of Saudi Arabia. General information of case study.... Low income housing is a main requirement of many developed and developing countries, conducting necessary studies about it and implementing policies in order to provide economical solutions to provide appropriate housing to millions of poor around the world Different organizations world wide have played an active role in the development of housing models for low income housing some of them which have succeeded in providing appropriate housing to low income people. In recent years the government of Saudi Arabia has started providing houses to needing families so a number of housing projects were built in different parts of the country. And Algazala is one of these projects provided for low income people and in this research Algazala project will be the case study which will be evaluated using POE (Post-occupancy evaluation), by implementing a questionnaire on the residents of Algazala project to identify the advantages and disadvantages of these houses. Algazala which is located in the region of Hael is one of the of many low income housing projects that the government of Saudi Arabia has built for needing people it was built in 2007 and it contains 254 housing units and two schools, two mosqes, a health centre and a community centre . History and Background of Post Occupancy Evaluation From the past few years, the area that gained more attention of business industry experts and researchers is about identifying the ways in which the building attributes affect its users.

Consumer Phsychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Consumer Phsychology - Essay Example The starting point towards this is through the stimulus-response model of buyer behaviour which involves examining the marketing and other stimuli in the consumer's black box that translates into buyer responses (Kotler & Armstrong, 2001) Through ethnicity and religion, individuals acquire beliefs and attitudes which affect buying behaviour. Beliefs shape the product and brand images which either attract or repel people to buy. If some of the beliefs are wrong, sales will decline such that marketers are quick to spot any kind of misconceptions to prevent this from happening. On the other hand, attitudes refer to the regular evaluation of an individual's feelings and tendencies such that people are put into either liking or disliking the product (Kotler & Armstrong, 2001). Even though attitudes encompass feelings or emotions, they are still different concepts because the former encompasses other concepts as well besides feelings. Moreover, attitudes are found to possess both cognitive and emotive elements (Nwankwo, 1998)). Attitudes are difficult to change such that products and services fit in the common, existing emotions rather than change attitudes. Religious groups also provide important influences on consumer behavior. Many Seventh Day Adventists limit their purchases of meat and are targets for vegetable-based foods. The Jewish subculture desires products with kosher certification as do other subcultures who prefer to buy kosher chicken and hot dogs. Subcultural analysis allows marketers to focus on significant market segments. Marketing to the singles market or an ethnic group must avoid stereotyping and being condescending to that group (Burton, 1996). Analysis of the subgroup, its beliefs, values, and norms can help marketers develop appropriate strategies and seek out market opportunities. Although the singles market overlaps inasmuch as some singles are elderly, the focus can be directed to those people who are under the age of forty. Attention to this market is important because their distinctive lifestyles qualify them as a substantial subcultural group. The consumer may use extended, limited, or routine decision making. Extended consumer decision making occurs when considerable time is expended on information search and evaluation of alternatives (Delener, 1994). When purchases are made infrequently and the consumer has little experience with the product, extended decision making is likely to take place. Limited consumer decision making UK Consumer Behavior Today's UK market is characterised by highly competitive organisations which are all vying for consumer's loyalty. Firms are faced with the challenge to maintain their own competitive edge to be able to survive and be successful (Lindridge, 2005). Strategies are carefully planned and executed to gain the ultimate goal of all: company growth. However, external factors are not the only elements which influence growth. There are also internal factors, components working within the organisation which shape the direction of the company. Despite the economic and technological conditions that make it possible now to promote products and services in a larger consumer market, there are other factors that still need to be considered for a business organisation reach out easier to their target market. Looking into the characteristics and

Why Television Shows Should Not Be Allowed to Use Obscene Language Essay

Why Television Shows Should Not Be Allowed to Use Obscene Language - Essay Example The family may be comprised of a father; mother and two children aged 8 and 11 years respectively. The television program will not be enjoyable at all to watch since the mother and the father will be feeling uncomfortable when some words are spoken. At times, the child might even ask their parents about the meaning of some words that are really embarrassing even to mention. The parents end up being tongue tied since they do not how to explain it since the word are really embarrassing. On the other hand, the use of obscene language in our television shows usually contribute to deviant behaviors in people both the adults and children. The children are the ones that are affected more by the obscene language since they tend to speak some of the words that were used in the show to their peers. When such a situation comes, it becomes very hard to control the behavior of such children since they are imitating what grown up are seeing in television programs. Even if their parent would like to correct their children’s behavior by telling them not to use such words, they would not listen as they would argue that if these words are used in television by even grown-ups, why should we not use it. This becomes the point of discussion between the children and their parent in the course of correcting children behaviors.

Crop Insurance Proposal Could Cost U.S. Billions PowerPoint Presentation

Crop Insurance Proposal Could Cost U.S. Billions - PowerPoint Presentation Example Yet other farmers reflect that they should produce enough crop that is actually capable of supporting subsides since the crop market thrives because of subsidies itself. In order to compete in the international arena, the plains of Dakota and Montana are slowly being converted to crop fields while they once were the abode of birds. There is a gigantic increase in the prices of the land while the grasslands are being transformed to fields. The real estate business is thriving leaps and bounds, since, everyone is eager to purchase the land for farming. Farmers are guaranteed a profit even though the land is not so fertile and there is a definite risk of loss. It is also true that the government shows neutral approaches regarding taking the risk while the farmers prefer to be risk averse (Dinar 1994).According to a Government Accountability Office, the costs of the crop insurance programme have augmented since the raise in the value of the crops. Despite the cost issues attached to the insurance programme, it is still widely appreciated by the masses of

Protecting refugee women from the sexual violence in refugee camps Essay

Protecting refugee women from the sexual violence in refugee camps (sexual violence against refugee women) - Essay Example Female refugees in this position seek political asylum. Refugee and aid agencies should ensure bringing justice to victims and bringing to book the perpetrators of sexual violence (Parrot, & Cummings, 2008). In the face of conflict, there is a disruption of families and women have to protect their families. When families disperse, separations of children from their families occur. In the process of conflict arising, women face sexual abuse from those in power, sexual bartering, and abduction by those in conflict and mass rape. Fleeing women face sexual attacks by bandits, border guards, and pirates. While in the asylum country, they have to endure sexual coercion from locals and those in authority, as well as prostitution for survival (Alfredson 2009, p. 154). Regardless of the age of a victim, sexual violence strips off a woman’s self-worth and dignity. In the refugee camps, the women are at risk and easy target to sexual violence from the military, residents, migration officials, and police. Their vulnerability is because of the dependency created in refugee camps. From a Report on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1998), women are vulnerable because there is no work, or the systems do not ensure that everyone has access to his or her rations. The women are also in danger while escaping heir war-torn countries. They become prey to smugglers and border guards who extort sexual favours from them to allow them entry into the host country. These women do not report the cases to authorities because of the stigma associated with sexual violence and fear of the authorities in power. When  invading  a  section  of  victims  body  with a  sexual  organ, or  anal  or  any  genital  opening  of  the  victim  using  an  object  or  any  other  part  of  the  body.  This  would  include  by  force, in coercion, threatening  to  use  force, in a

Effective Teamwork Questionnaire Essay Example for Free

Effective Teamwork Questionnaire Essay Answer each question in 200 to 300 words, using specific information from the text, â€Å"Helping Annie†, â€Å"Team Building†, and â€Å"Building a Team of Talent† videos, and your research and experience. 1. What are the characteristics of effective teams? How will you ensure your collaborative team works effectively? Effective team are important, and their functions crucial to their success. I have found that clear goals, relaxed environment, open communication, and freedom to express ideas and feelings are great ways to ensure success. In the video â€Å"Helping Annie†, the dynamics of the team were lost due to lack of information, who was right and who could be trustworthy. When team members meet, they should feel as though they blend in with the group. They should feel a commitment to the goals and achievements to the group. What I know about groups are, that having valued diversity, defined roles, balanced participation, and cooperative relationships help with moving the group to a positive outcome. As a participative leader, as it is said in our eBook Working In Groups, â€Å"there is a balance of primary roles and when team members know their roles, work to their strengths, and actively manage weaknesses.† (Engleberg, 2013, p. 55). I will commit myself to ensuring I respect commitments, consistent communication to the group, collaborate, and contribute to the group’s goals and ideas with valuable information that helps in the decisions. I will also be aware of the group’s diversity, talents and dynamics. I bring knowledge of how to deal with problems, planning techniques and ways to improve myself within the group. 2. How will you deal with behavior that hurts your team’s objectives? With conflict in a group environment, I would handle it with respect, recognition, focused on accountability and be aware of unfulfilled needs of that particular team member. I would not reward the difficult behavior nor would I encourage the disruptive behavior. I believe that if you ignore it or â€Å"sweep it under the mat† it takes time, energy away from the group, and I  would want the group to resolve it quickly. I would make sure that I/we do not citizen or â€Å"brand† that person as a trouble maker. I would work together with the group and the individual and encourage each other to focus on the group’s interests and not individual’s position. It is also important to look for opportunities that encourage and empower each team member in the group. I would express a sensitive listening ear to uncover the root of the problem. Listing out the objectives to the individual and the group and reminding them why we are here and how to accomplish them Practicing direct communications, body language and clarifying questions helps resolve the situation and gives the group clarity to the behavior. In dealing with behavior that is disruptive to the group can be a challenge in itself, however it can be resolved with patients and a good listener. 3. What are your proactive processes to keep a team member up to date if he or she misses a meeting? What are your backup plans if things are not working on your team? There are several great ways to keep a team member up to date. Develop and cultivate easy ways to stay connected with those that miss. Face-to-Face and computer-mediated communications are great ways to reconnect and share ideas, goals and feelings. Face-to-Face provide excellent results in effectiveness, comprehension, and gives opportunities to be educated on the use of technology. It builds up respect, inclusion and grows your professional relationship with the team member and group. Update through venues such as emails, skyping, this can be challenging to coordinate, this provides another source of information. This can save time, money and bring the meeting/information to others that live far away. When things do not work out as they are supposed to, I chose to take a moment and find out where things went areaway. Encourage others to share and discuss what happened and create new plans, goals that incorporate processes that help us stay on track. Back up plans help in always being prepared for when things don’t just right. When setting up your backup plans, tap into the group and find team members that have knowledge and expertise in planning. As I use this, it will set up the entire team in a supportive and positive atmosphere. 4. How will you use technology to support your team’s efforts? What are some  questions you should ask? Working with technology has made it easier to communicate, track the individuals / groups progress and increasing productivity. With using an assortment of media platforms such as emails, Skype, video conferencing,instant messaging, and facetalk. These software programs can assist in better group communication, making decisions, and discussing issues easily. I will educate, create a â€Å"how to† of resources that will include information on each media platform. I would bring the group together in collaboration to see where they are with technology and create a smaller group to assist in the training. As new technology is made available, have continued training and education of the group as to stay current with technology. As with new technology always assessing the software, cell phones, computers, servers and other products are current. This will produce a group that is collaborating, productive, which will benefit the company and group. Asking questions is a great way to understand and know your group. With technology, it is important to find out what media platforms the group are already using. I would also ask how can we stay on task with these different media platforms and which ones work best for the group. Stay consistent with the goal/ objective and have a group that through technology use, becomes one unit! 5. Is your team more task-focused or relationship-focused? Why? What are the implications to your team? I find that our group is a mixture of both task-focused and relationship-focused. I have seen just in the last class that we all want to succeed and grow from each others experience. With having the mixture of the two, the work is defined, and roles expected. There are structures in place; a plan devised and we are organized to meet our tasks. As the group continues to work together, there is a supportive, motivating, and collaborating group. We are concerned with each person ideas, thoughts and actions. With these two types of people in the group, we can be productive, accomplish a lot and have a good time in doing it. Although with task-focused or relationship-focused, set up activities and follow up and follow through. With tasks, you can do it with encouragement and empower each team member to always do their best. Through the recommendations from our text this week, have an agenda, plan out your tasks, involve each team member, listen, and encourage them. By engaging  your team, you can meet the challenges of business head on and with seasoned team members involved you can pull from their experiences and knowledge. They will become confident, learning new skills and lead successful change. REFERENCES Engleberg, Isa. (2013). WorkinWorking in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies, Sixth Edition, by Isa N. Engleberg and Dianna R. Wynn. Published by Pearson.g in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies, Sixth Edition, by Isa N. Engleberg and Dianna R. Wynn. Published by Pearson. (6th ed.). : Pearson.

The Brief Introduction Of Globalization Cultural Studies Essay

The Brief Introduction Of Globalization Cultural Studies Essay Globalization is something that has been with the human race ever since the world has begun. From local to global, we could attribute this to the result of human innovation and technological progress. Globalization from the word global means spreading throughout the world, in other words spreading world-wide. The aims of having a globalized community is to have interdependence of the entire world and its people from each other with concern for the rest of the world at the expense of national self-development and self-interests. Globalization became world-wide popular about 1992, when most people talked about it mainly in the field of economy. But today, it has been spoken of as a fashion word, and it attracts much attention from he academic scholars. The reason is that globalization has been an unstoppable world trend which changes the whole world so greatly that no countries and nations can be separated from it. But what is globalization? Before answering this question, we have to admit that there is no universal definition about it. This is because the concept of globalization doesnt come into the form at the very beginning in human history. It develops into the present being through a long historical process. Widely speaking, it refers to the exchanges and utilizations among different resources and production factors, and the interactions, conformity and coordination of human activities and their achievement. Therefore, it includes at least two essential factors: firstly, the activity in space must overstep one area or one nation, at the same time it has to show the trend of continuing development. Secondly, the participants should be related to each other, not being isolated. B, The constitution of globalization ¼Ã¢â‚¬ º Besides, the constitution of globalization involves many fields of human society, including economy, politics, culture, ideology and so on.. Dating back the history of globalization, it began from the economic expansion, and it was Europeans that lift the curtain of globalization when they established colonies beyond their own counties. And then follow the expansion of culture, civilization, region or ideology, etc. 2 Some main features of globalization and the according reasons of them. A, Integration of world economy First of all, globalization is mainly drived by the profit of economy. From the above introduction, we know that globalization started by the expansion of colony, from which colonists gained a lot of money , in other words, they build their treasure by doing so. Therefore , today the integration of world economy is regarded as the foundation, main cause, motivation and symbol of globalization. It is first shown by the internationalization of manufacturing systems. The world production has undergone a historical transformation since the 2oth century, under the influence of development of technology and the promotion of technological revolution as well as the application of mass production factors. Many big companies of developed countries build their companies or factories in overseas countries where they could make full use of the native labor force and other resources by paying lower cost. Whereby the could form huge multinational corporation which greatly promotes international pro duction. Economic integration through trade, migration, capital flows and communication flows has been officially around since 1870. This new concept could noticeably profit if based on D. Ricardo economic theory of comparative advantage. The latter theory states that each country should produce those products/services, which they can produce/provide with the lowest opportunity cost and total production cost. Hence, allowing all countries to produce and trade in the most efficient way so that the highest attainable welfare for all countries is reached. Nowadays, multinational coporations have overspreaded among more than160 countries in the world. They take 40 percents of the whole worlds total output value; 90 percents of the world market shares, 80 percents international economic trade, 90 percents of the international technological trade. In 1996, the number of the multinational corperations reached over 44000. They invested their capitals to overseas to make s greater profit. With the furthering opening of the market and the expansion of the trade scale, the world manpower and material and technological resources are all absorbed into the world production systems, in which they are interdependent and impartible with each other. Besides, a huge mount of financial capital move at a high speed in the range of whole word. Since the World War11, drived by the market demands and investing interest, a large mount of money has been use beyond the issuing countries. With the exploration of overseas business and production and development of technologies, financial capital finally broke from the constraintion of national boundaries and practical tools which made become real international citizens. A study shows that the current financial capital market in the world has reached 35000 billion dollars, and the overseas capital reached more than 1000 billion dollars. The sum of international financial capital is not only large in amount but also move at a fast speed. Owing to the modern science and technology, the treasure activity with a huge sum of money can be conducted by a call or whatever fast means. With the huge treasure accumulation high movement of the international financial capital, the pace of the integratio n of world economy has highly been accelerated. Whats more , the formation of world market also offers a good environment for the integration of world economy. World market refers to place which provides a room for world- wide exchange of products, servers and technologies. It originally started between the 16th century and the 18th century and underwent a fast development in the 19th century, and came into the form in 1970s. The current world market is a veritable global universal market, whose main symbols shown in the way the sharp expansion of the exchange scale, the unification of the market rules and the expansion of market capacity and overseas business. Globalization, no matter as a phenomenon or an economic trend, deeply affects every country in the world. Economies of every country are becoming more related. They infiltrate, influence and depend on each other more and more. Globalization has become an inevitable fact and trend that will not change with peoples will. It brings challenge as well as opportunity to each country. Every country are active to get into the way of globalization by adjusting their economic and diplomatic polices. B, Integration of world culture; Culture and economy interdependently support each other, because they often develop hand in hand. With the global application of production factors, global capital flows and the formation of world market, different cultures from various nations and areas are surely to exchange, conflict and integrate each other in the range of globe. The conflict and collision of different cultures help to speed up the metabolism of a new culture and form a mechanism for developing the superior and weeding out the inferior and initiate the ideological trend of parochial nationalism and cultural hegemony but cannot result in the homogeny and unification of the cultures, which is bound to result in a harmonious situation through such conflict and integration and finally reaches a state where balance is kept. The reason for this phenomenon lies in that the cultures reserved through a long history reflect the thought, ideology, ways of thinking and living of humans. They bear some unusual values and the existence of themselves has certain special meaning. It is of the same importance to keep cultures in diversity as we do to different biology, because the diversity of culture lays an essential foundation for the sustainable and sound development of human society. People with the competence thinking rationally and reflections are surely to realize that the ruin of the diversity of culture means to the ruin of our humans spiritual home and the cultural resources , which could push human beings to an abyss of unsustainable existence and development. Therefore, it is vital important for us to carefully protect our cultures in diversity as we do to animals and plants and keep them from ruin. The integration of global culture refers to different cultures coexist and intergrow harmoniously under the same sky. As an important content and symbol of globalization, culture is the magnification of the integration of globalization in all directions. Geographically speaking, it includes the conformity of the west and east cultures; seeing from national perspective, it includes the integration of the cultures of both native and foreign areas; considering form different levels, it includes the integration of both individual and collective cultures, and folk and official as well as academic cultures; viewing from the essence of culture it includes the integration of the scientific culture and the literary culture; from the connotation of culture perspective it also includes those aspects on sense of value, ways of thinking, structure of knowledge in different counties and areas. All these aspects provide a vital foundation for the integration of global culture, and it also serve as an important precondition of the realization of economic globalization. However, Globalization is sword with two blades. For one thing, it helped to highlight a nations culture, draw on the srength of other cultures and contribute the cultural diversity. For another, some small countries native culture are being challenged. Their distinctive cultures are driven towards extinction. For them, to preserve national identity is a must. Anyhow, it is an unavoidable for a country to take part in globalization. or else, it will be kicked out of world competition sooner or later. So, what merits our special attention is how to keep and promote native culture under globalization. The priority is to enhance the cultural awareness of native people, make them cherish and glory in ones countrys culture. When the native people take initiative to protect and promote their own culture, no matter what influence globalization exerts, native culture will not be replaced. Inclusion, globalization has gi ven rise to a greater sense of nationalism in many countries and therefore has helped people to realise and protect their own national identity including their culture from these outside forces. Therefore although globalization is changing the way a lot of us behave/eat/dress and even speak it has also helped to highlight aspects of our own cultures. C, Intergrowth of world ecology; Human activity is an exchange of material, energy, and information process with the natural world which can result in intensive ecological effects. With the speeding up of the integration of world economy, humans production scale and consuming ability are largely expanded and increased, which has seriously affected the ecological environment on the earth and it has greatly changed the world from its content to its magnification. ecological integration refers to the intergrowth of human and nature to reach a common prosperity in the same ecological system. And it also means that the whole humans existence and future development deeply rely on the quality of our ecological environment. However, the improvement of the environment condition requires our human being to raise our consciousness of protecting it and demands our common efforts to reserve it. As an important part of the globalization, the intergrowth of world ecology is mainly shown by the flowing aspects: Firstly, human beings and all living things coexist on the same planet, in other words , we share the same living space. We are just a part of this world, and existence and development deeply rely on the other parts of the world. People from different nations and areas are interdependent each other, and the world is our common home for all of us. We all have the obligation to take care of the ecological environment so as to get the room for a better future development. Although we are born to have the right to make full use our space and land where we live and belong to, we have no right infiltrate that of others, not mention to the ruin of the whole ecological space that belong to all human beings. Secondly, the ecological resources are possessed by all human beings. It includes such factors as air, water, sunshine, land, temperature and so on, which are absolutely indispensable for people to live on this planet, which also change the peoples activities and enable them to make a large amount of achievement by taking advantage of them. Seeing from the present condition, the serious pollution of environment is caused by people partially persrue economic growth and leading a consuming lifestyle , but concerning the pollution-maker, it is some individual coporations who make huge profit at the cost of environment that are main responsible for such matter. As peoples environmental protection consciousness gradually raise, they begin to take actions to fight against pollution, defend and maintain their environmental right, and ask to punish those who contribute to environmental pollution. Their behaviors lead to the formatiom of a trend of environmental protection. Thirdly, the global resources are shared by people around the word. Humans as a part of living things, we cannot do without consuming different resources offered by the nature. However, the resources on the earth are not inexhaustible, besides they belong to everybody, so they should be allotted fairly among people of different areas and generations. Therefore, any country and any generation shouldnt meet its own interest at the cost of that of other countries and generations. We dont have the right to impair the interest and potential development of others or our future generation. Peoples idea about sharing resources among areas and generations leads to the raising consciousness of defending their right in sharing the common resources in the range of globe, which helps to lay a theoretical basis for the application of a sustainable development. At the fourth place, human beings are confronted with the same problems and disasters. We have no choices but to live in the same ecological environment on this planet. We are faced with the same disasters as severe air pollution, deterioration of water quality, desertification, acid rain, ozone hole, etc. All these problems have seriously affected peoples living environment and their life quality. According to the study of the World Health Centre and American Disease Controlling Centre, each year, air pollution has made a negative effect on peoples heath of about 4-5 billion, and 40% of the world populations deaths are caused by air pollution and other environmental problems. Their conclusion is that humans activities improper behaviors on the earth are ruining themselves. At the fifth place, all human beings are responsible for the ecological environment. Human could do nothing without the support of earth, which provides essential materials for us. Since many of environmental problems that the earth facing are caused by human activities, thus to resolve such issues, it needs the common efforts of all people around the world. As a member of the world society, we have the full reasons to take part in the social activities to protect our common ecological environment, to keep the global ecology in balance and to beautify our common homeland. D, Mutual recognition of people in the world; Men are the center and main part in the process of globalization, so the development of globalization is out of mens sense of global view and the increase of their mutual understanding each other in certain degree. However, on the other hand, the essence and magnification of globalization stimulate mens practice and enhance the mutual recognition and understanding. In other words, peoples mutual recognition around the world can both be regarded the cause and precondition of globalization as well as the content and magnification of it. These two aspects are interdependent and mutual reliant in the process of globalization. But what does peoples mutual recognition refer to? It means that peoples mutual understanding and recognition of different countries and areas air highly increased. The interaction of their sense of value and way of thinking are also strengthened. The reason for this firstly is due to the expansion of the communication scale and the acceleration of human source exchange. Todays world is a widely opened society, with more and more people participating in such activities in business, economic trade, cultural exchange, and touring, etc, which take place in different countries and regions. The all-direction exchanges and interaction are sure to strengthen a better communication and understanding. However, Globalization itself is a process that is completely ,uncertain and keep changing, which make it hard for people to come to consist in views of globalization because of different knowledge background, even we have had lots of consistent conclusion. Difference in knowledge and value orientation may cause different ideology, even inside of capitalism and socialism. All that difference come out all kinds of globalization theories with different ideology. Theory comes from real world and will serve the real world, so those different globalization theories will also affect the globalizations natural progress. Thats the ideological problem during the process of globalization, itself or implied. But such ideology difference doesnt hold the main trend of mutual complementation by frequent contact under the help of modern communication tools. The communication and understanding between people in different region are transformed via the way of information exchange. Under the help of the modern communication technology and the increase of the input information, people can have a better international view toward the world. Nowadays, we have entered a society of knowledge economy, the main feature of such society is shown by taking information technology as the essential technology, and treating information industry as the leading industry. By the end of 1998,over 100 million computers had put into use by internet, and more than 500 million people become net citizens, the main page of internet amounted to over 130 million with the sharply increasing trend by 100 thousand pages and 20 million new words around the world each year. As for other communication means, such newspapers, it increases 5 times as fast as the previous year, and list will go on. The highly developed communication technology and information industry has fa cilitated the communication of people around the world and provided a sound precondition for a better interaction. Peoples mutual recognition is firstly shown by the increase of the level of peoples recognition of the present mutual understanding. Before the modern times, owing to the backwardness of communication means, people of different counties and nations were isolated from each other, so communication between people in sun situation seldom happened, not mention to mutual understanding. Nowadays, people of different areas can get contact with each other in a more direct way, under the help of modern communication technology, by a close intercourse. The popularization and attachment to the education of the world history and world geography greatly strengthen peoples understanding of the world theoretically. At the same time, the modern technology of media and the development of traffic tools has shortened the distance of people in different areas and deepened the communication between people living far away. Peoples mutual recognition is also shown by the emulation and assimilation of their way of thinking and behaving. For example, people tend to pursue a more proper and sound lifestyle. They are likely to leading a life in which they could realize their value. In the production field, the industry means begins to mode from extensive form into intensive form in order to reach a more environmental growth and a sustainable development. In the way thinking, people are likely to change from a closed way to a more open way, from reserved manner to a more original manner, and unilateral to multilateral. Besides, peoples mutual recognition is also shown in the way of infiltration and assimilation of peoples sense of value. The sense of value is the essential part of human culture as well as the guidance of peoples action. The trend of globalization can be accepted by the people around the world, because they share some common concepts such as in culture, politics, way of economic development and especially in the way of thinking. Its hard to imagine if people dont share the simmilar ideology on these aspects, what the world be like. 3 Summary In conclusion, with the rapid development of globalization, we are living in a global village, and it has allowed a better communication flow amongst More Developed Countries (MDCs) and Less Developed Countries (LDCs). It has enabled trade to grow, capital and education flows to increase and a better allocation of resources to be met around the world. There are many gains from globalization for companies around the world, some Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) that locate themselves in LDCs bring along growth and development, like for example employment, technology knowledge, profit reinvestment among other factors to host countries. Nevertheless, there are several negative aspects about globalization as well. For instance, MDCs have a tendency to profit from globalization in various ways when negotiating with LDCs. MNEs that go to LDCs for example, gain from cheaper labor force, cheaper land and tax rates. In the end however, some MNEs end up negatively affecting the host countrys economy by taking all profits back home, socially, by polluting the environment and finally also politically by paying bribes to the local governments to reduce tax rates or other fees. In spite of its controversial position in different regions, some countries like the Asian tigers or the Asian New Industrial Countries (NICs) have gained incredibly from globalization in the past 30 years. Other continents however, have proved themselves not yet ready for such a change. An example of the latter is Africa and South America, where due to different factors like corruption, low education level, weak political policies and poor transport infrastructure globalization hasnt been able to benefit them in a high rate like in Asian. It is therefore up to each county to decide and control Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and gain from it or not. Summing all of the above, globalization is a long time process of in the humans history. Though we couldnt give a definite definition to it, observing from it main constitutions and the features of them, we can have a overall idea about it. It features is firstly shown in the economic field, because the globalization is basis on the development economy which provide the essential precondition for globalization. Then follows the feature in culture. Culture is the carrier of any human civilization, therefore it is another important constitution of globalization. Just like the integration of world economy, people can also benefit from the integration by learning from each other. However, while we bear the diversity of different cultures we should also keep our nationalism. We also talked about the intergrowth of global ecology, because ecological system is very vital for human beings existence. It provides the basic material for our life, in other words, without the support of ecology, we can do nothing. While we are enjoying various resources that the nature offers to us, we also have to bear the obligations to preserve it from ruin. At last this paper also mentioned the mutual recognition of people involved in the globalization, because this is another precondition of globalization, as well as an important factor for mutual understanding. With the mutual recognition and understanding globalization can be achieved and can have a better development. It is true that there may be some negative effects of globalization, however, with its more merits , we have to admit that the trend of this tide will continue.

Analysis of Patrick Henrys Speech to the Virginia Convention

â€Å"Give me liberty or give me death!† This statement from Patrick Henry’s â€Å"Speech to the Virginia Convention,† delivered to the House of Burgesses, has been quoted by many, becoming almost clichà ©. However, the declaration is truly understood by a select few. The unjust Stamp Act passed by the British crown in 1765, brought fame and notoriety to Henry as he spoke out against the unjust taxation without representation. Ten years later on the eve of revolution, Henry calls upon the Colonial government of which he is part, to act for the betterment of the people. Patrick Henry attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on their patriotism and pride as leaders of colonial America. Throughout his speech, Henry justifies his argument for going to war, by logically explaining himself to the leaders of the American colonies. Obviously â€Å"men often see the same subject in different light.† Therefore, Patrick Henry uses this in a step-by-step explanation of why he believes that the colonies should join together in revolt. He states, because men have different views, he wishes to express his own, without â€Å"be[ing] thought disrespectful,† to anyone in the House. This shows his call on logos, because he logically goes through a process of explaining why his opinion even matters to the House. Continuing, he asserts that because he has an outlook on the topic, he therefore should express that viewpoint, or he would consider himself, â€Å"guilty of treason.† He believes he would be hurting his country by not standing to assist it in the way he sees best fit. In addition to the previous example, as Henry is speaking, he asks, â€Å"What... ...e colonial leaders, by stating he is ready to die for his cause. This would make the members of the house introspective and look into their hearts to see if they are ready to die for their cause. Henry excites fear by stating he is so passionately ready to sacrifice for his country. This play towards pathos, or appealing to the audience’s emotions, is an effective way of trying to convince the House to go to war against Britain. This pathos combined with the logic of Henry’s speech, makes for a convincing argument. Logically taking the house step by step from stating that because he has an outlook on their situation, he should express it to them, to stating his argument before the House, to saying that lacking freedom is worse then death, then taking it full circle pronouncing he would prefer to be â€Å"give[n] death† then to have his freedom taken away by the British.

Rumors Essay -- essays research papers

Rumor   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rumors can be passed easily and are spread on an everyday basis. A rumor is like gossip; some of it true or untrue, and it is passed around by word of mouth. Most rumors start off being true, then when it is being passed from one person to the other, it starts becoming untrue because some people forget details, add new information in, or just change the whole story around. In the rumor experiment conducted in class, a story was told to one person out of four. The first person had to repeat the same story to the next person who of course was waiting outside of the classroom, until it got to the fourth person. The story that the fourth person ended up with was extremely dissimilar from what was initially told to the first person. This is a prime example of how rumors change while they are being said from one person to the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were two rumors in the experiment conducted for the rumor assignment. Both rumors were very different in context but both proved the same thing in the end. Rumor number one was first told to the first individual who was standing outside of the classroom with three other students. Person one listened as the professor said the rumor, and then they had to remember it, and tell the next person (person two) outside the classroom this rumor. The central theme of rumor one was there were two men on the subway who started arguing while many people watched near by.   Ã‚  Ã‚   ...

Religious Concerns during Colonial Period Essay -- essays research pap

â€Å"Throughout the colonial period, economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns.† According to this statement, both economic and religious reasons contributed to the founding of the thirteen colonies by the British in North America. The many people who settled in New England came there in search of religious freedom. Their hope was to escape the religious persecution they were facing in England, worship freely, and have the opportunity to choose which religion they wanted to take part in. The Southern colonies were developed for economic motives. They had goals for mercantilism and increasing the prosperity of England. Finally, the Middle colonies were founded upon diverse religions because their primary focus and purpose was to make money or to populate the country. Overall, every colony was colonized due to specific reasons or concerns. However, England’s religious conflicts had grown full-blown, resulting in the colonization of nearly all the American colonies. During the religious upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, one group of radical Protestants was known as Puritans because they wanted to â€Å"purify† the established Church of England. Essentially, their program called for a more complete protestantization of the national church, particularly insofar as church responsibility for individual conduct was concerned. Their reformist ideas threatened to divide the people and to undermine royal authorit...

The disvantage and advantage of globalization

Globalization describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication, transportation, and trade. † (Globalization, 2010). Nowadays, small business has to compete against multinational companies face to face as globalization becomes an irreversible momentum. In some case, small business have no need to against the large companies because they focus on different scale until the small companies grow up.However, I agree that small business in IT industries cannot compete against multinational companies when small companies become threats to the lager ones. In this essay, I will explain why small business still exist today and compare their advantages to multinational companies in the sector of financial strengths and productivity advantages. Small business still exists now because they have unique features, especially they focus on the lower market. It is no need for them to compete against the mul tinational companies Sometimes. Hey sever the specific communities. Such as they are willing to run their small business in some small illegal and remote area where multinational firms do not pay attention to. Enclave, K. (2002) argued that small business have to overcome these rules: â€Å"†¦ Information technology (IT) powerless crowd out product development Initiatives†¦ † It Is clearly that overcoming these sales abstract is difficult but not impossible. Small business has its own advantages because it can use convenient and easy solutions to common business problems.However, low price is the most popular strategy for small business to make profits and attract customers' attention. Small business spends less none on advanced Invention. Comparing Dell Company mentioned by Enclave (2002) that if they want to enlarge their popularity they have prepackaged solutions to meet unique buyer's need. They set up specific system to solve these problems to keep In touch wit h their customers. As a result, they have to Invest more money to the stuff. In order to maintain their cost, they have to raise the selling price. That Is the major reason why small business can exist at present.But after small companies changes into large ones, multinational firms consider those companies as a threat, in order to hold their markets share, which will acquire or knock down small business before they growth. Multinational corporations have financial strength support them to enlarge their market share. As a result, it is relatively easy for them to meet the customers' need and enhance their reputation. Large companies are willing to spend money on observations about what people really need and want to buy. They invest amount of money In advertising their products.For example, IBM personal computer business was acquired by Chinese famous personal computer brand Leno, and hen, spend almost one million hired Chinese famous movie star Jingle Xx as their spokeswomen. Not o nly this, Leno company invest large deal of money to sponsor many activities on television and radio to enhance its popularity. As for small business, they will be asked for achieve their customers' need and have large fund to broaden kinds of products claimed by Enclave (2002). Preston (2010) cited Bob Evans 1 OFF than what you have. † It seems hard for small business to follow multinational companies.Small business have tight budget and less popular than large firms, asking over large companies market stocks is difficult for it. Small companies can still exist because of the scale they were chosen. Sheldon small firms are held in CAB, they chose to serve the limited people instead of making less money because much more large companies in there. Small business avoid compete against large firms directly. Multinationals companies have high productivity benefit from their advanced technology. High technology helps those firms make high profits and also help themselves a lot. The productivity advantage of foreign-owned firms is usually en as reflecting multinationals' technological advantage visa–visa domestic firms. † (Marksmen, 2002 cited by Grammar & G ¶erg, 2007). However, advanced technology plays vital role in processing high productivity. Consumers are more willing to pay more to buy those high quality productions, they believe this goods produced by large companies have quality assurance. Another example to support this argument is by Preston (2010) whose study compares the strategic IT companies in the world.He shows that IBM as a technology provider, grabbing consumer market by its innovation product named Smarter Planet. Some software companies in small scale sell some cheaper goods to make profit, but these products cannot run well in the long term. Consequently, people always spend a lot to repair them. Then, fewer people will purchase their products because of lacking of guarantee. It leads themselves face the big problem that b ankruptcy or acquired by large firms. Grammar (2007) quotes Balk (2001) who stated that different roles in different kinds of economies play various roles for productivity growth.To conclude, Multinational reparations have financial strength support them to enlarge their market share. For instance, improving popularity through advertisement and getting high productivity because of their advanced technology. In some cases, small business has no need to fight against multinational companies as they are focus on different market. When small business growing up, they would be take into consideration by large companies because those firms will reduce their market share. Whether small business should compete against multinational ones or not depend on what market they focus on.