Free Trade and Fair Trade Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Free Trade and Fair Trade - Research Paper Example ng trade and therefore facilitating economic growth and development while fair trade aims at empowering the disadvantaged groups and helping them to improve their living standards. The two concepts also differ in the individuals that they benefit because while free trade benefits established traders in the global market such as multinational corporations, fair trade benefits marginalized economic players, especially in less developed countries. The scope of the two concepts also identifies antagonizing effects. While liberalization such as lowering of tariffs and elimination of trade barriers characterize free trade, fair trade identifies restrictions that may aim at restricting entry of more efficient prayers in a given market segment (Fair Trade Resource 1). Free trade identifies eliminated regulations and restriction in a market with the aim of promoting trade and economic activities while fair trade involves establishment of restrictions and regulations with the aim of protecting a marginalized group in a market. Fair Trade Resource. â€Å"How does fair trade differ from free trade?† Free Trade Resource. N.d. Web. February 4, 2014.

Transformational leadership Essay Example for Free

Transformational leadership Essay Does Academic Leaders influence Staffs’ Commitment to Service Quality in Malaysia? This paper discussed the relationship between leadership style of transformational and the commitment to service quality among academic staffs in public and private Malaysian Universities. It has been argued that excellent service quality performance is one of the key factors in building niche and having competitive edge that separates one from its competitors nationally and globally. Total useable questionnaires were 387 with a response rate of 36 percent. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership style and commitment to service quality among academic staff at the Malaysian universities. This study implies to the policy makers and academic leaders at the universities that they should focus in developing their academic staff, by tapping their potentials, inspiring them, promoting collaboration, motivating and reinforcing positive attitudes towards commitment to service quality. Future study should consider alternative modes of enquires such as employing the longitudinal method of data collection design and a nationwide survey covering samples from the whole population of the higher institutions of learning in Malaysia that would be more significant in making generalizations . Keywords: Service quality, Transformational Leadership, Commitment to Service Quality, Malaysia 1. Introduction Existing literature on education indicates a motion towards â€Å"educational excellence† which is about world class branding, marketable academic programmes, research activities and facilities in attracting and retaining foreign and local students (Isahak, 2007), but how does one compete to be different?Governing bodies, in Malaysia such as the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) provide accreditation to quality programmes that fulfill certain standards. But how do Malaysian Universities attempt to remain competitive and maintain a sustainable growth in this volatile environment where programmes seen to be globally homogeneous in nature, competitive in terms of pricing, and significant in location and branding? Hudson et al. (2004) argued that excellent service quality performance is one of the key factors in building market niche and a competitive edge that separates one from its competitors. Sim and Idrus (2004), Jusoh et al. (2004), and Sahney et al, (2008) concurred and uphold the notion that commitment from the academic staff in the education sector to the overall organizational goal such as in the delivery of high service quality is a better strategy as in the case of customer retention and satisfaction. Unfortunately, not much attention has been given to the issue of commitment to service quality among the academic staff in the higher education sector. There is an increasing thought supporting the idea that students‟ evaluation of service quality in the Malaysian universities is to a large extent influenced by the way they are treated by the customer contact employee notably the academic staff (Hasan et al., 2008; Ismail Abiddin, 2009). Past researches have also suggested that some universities in Malaysia were losing students because their standard of service quality was not up to the expectation of the students (Jain et al., 2004; Firdaus, 2006; Latif et al., 2009). It was reported that the level of service quality in the Malaysian universities was just mediocre (Jusoh et al. 2004; Sim Idrus, 2004; Hasan et al., 2008, Ismail Abiddin, 2009). This arises concern in the way the students‟ are being treated or handled. The implication of these students‟ withdrawals may not only be costly to the students‟ potential success in their career but also to the universities‟ reputation, operational and manpower costs (Curry, 2001). But  the greatest loss of all will be in terms of potential knowledge workers to the nation. Studies on „commitment to service quality‟ are important and necessary but unfortunately there is still little progress in research in this area. Embracing commitment to service quality is mainly to bring about financial growth and an image of sustainability to service organisations. Many questions about what really motivates commitment to service quality among academic staff remains unanswered, particularly in the context of education. Past leadership literatures have associated transformational leaders to organizational commitment, such as to service quality delivery (Jabnoun Rasasi, 2005); building relationships with customers (Liao Chuang, 2007); students engagement with schools (Leithwood Jantzi,1999) and towards school reforms (Geijsel et al., 2003). Nevertheless, empirical research on transformational leadership and commitment of academic staff to service quality is not extensive and in most past studies, their focus was on management or based on the analysis of the customer level. Individual focus, specifically on the study of academic staff is limited in developing countries, such as Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership style and the academic staff‟s commitment to service quality at Malaysian Universities. Based on the findings of this research, it is hope that it would also provide some information and understanding that will assist the leaders and policy makers of the Malaysian Universities as employers to realize the contributions of their academic staff in securing profitability and wealth through the commitment of good service quality. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Commitment to Service Quality Studies on the commitment to service quality in education literatures follow the same footpath as the general definition of affective commitment. Affective commitment is defined by Meyer and Allen (1991) as â€Å"an employee‟s emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization†. Commitment to service quality is defined and understood as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"conformity to a specification† (Martin 1986; Witt Steward, 1996; O‟Neil Palmer, 2004) and in achieving â€Å"excellence† (Peters Waterman, 1982). Clark et al. (2009) defined commitment to service quality as the â€Å"dedication of employees to render service quality and the willingness to go beyond what is expected of them†. Past findings have also established that employees who are committed to the organization will remain loyal and are inversely related to turnover (Hartline et al., 2000; Elmadag et al., 2008). In such conditions, employees were known to spend more time and energy in assisting the organization realize its goals and they also put their own self interest aside (Porter et al., 1973; Tsai, 2008; Sohail Shaikh, 2004; Yiing Ahmad, 2008). O‟Neil (2000) in his study in higher education concurred on the importance of internal customer commitment to service quality as a means of gaining competitive advantage. Satisfied external customers, for example the students, were reported to spread by â€Å"word of mouth recommendations†, which is a powerful tool in marketing (Cuthbert, 1996). 2.2. Transformational Leadership Leaderships can be of many facets and visages. They differ in effectiveness in terms of consequences of their actions towards internal and external stakeholders. Since organizations today are facing many challenges, there is a need for leaders in organizations to contribute not only in terms of knowledge or ideas but also in making right the decisions and responding to the changes (Horner, 1997; Christie, 2002). According to Bass and Avolio (1990), transformational leaders will focus on developing their followers by tapping them of their potentials, inspiring them, promoting collaboration, motivating them and by reinforcing positive behaviours. Bass (1990) argues that transformational leaders are pertinent especially during turbulent times when rapid changes and globalization takes place. Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al., (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) preferred to delineate transformational leadership based on five factors. They have adopted from Bass and Avolio‟s (1995, 1997) studies. The five components as suggested by Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al. (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) are: individualized considerations, intellectual stimulation, inspirational  motivation, idealized influence (attributes) and idealized influence (behavior). Table 1 below presents the five components. Table 1: Five components of Transformational Leadership Variables Individualized considerations Characteristics Leaders who recognize their followers‟ individual differences and will treat them individually. Intellectual stimulation Leaders, who encourage problem solving abilities and risks taking. They also encourage their followers to re-examine any problem first and not making assumptions unbeneficial to the organization. Inspirational motivation Leaders, who have the ability to inspire and stimulate followers to perform well in accordance to their ability by giving them some sense of purpose. Leaders, who display attributes of charismatic and competence. They are confident in facing and solving problems and showing their powers for positive benefits. Idealized Influence (attributes) Idealize Leaders, who exhibit charismatic behavior that comes with a high sense of morality. They are trustworthy, honest, high integrity and are set to Influence achieve their mission and purpose (behavior) Source: Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al. (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) In Malaysia, the study on transformational leadership styles is dominated in various business settings and in relation to diverse predictors such as job satisfaction ( Yusof Shah, 2008) and organizational commitment (Azman, Al-Banna, Zaidi, Hamran Hanim,2011). Yet, there is a lack of research done in exploring on the issue in relation to employee‟s commitment to service quality in education setting. In related studies by Lo, Ramayah and Min (2009) in manufacturing industry, they reported of a strong and positive relationship between transformational leadership style and employees‟ continuance organizational commitment. This view was further supported by Boon and Arumugam (2006) in their study in semiconductor setting in Malaysia. They studied the influence of corporate culture on organizational commitment and found that in a corporate culture that placed emphasis in teamwork, communication, training and development and rewards, employees in return have indicated a significantly higher commitment to the organization goals. Past study by Kasim (2010) had attempted to explore the relationship of transformational leadership on the issue of gender among the deans, deputy deans and heads of department at the higher institutions in Malaysia. It was found that there was no significant relationship between gender and leadership style of transformational. However, in this turbulent and ever changing environment, transformational leaders are much needed, especially when the educational leaders were experiencing threats of mergers or a total collapse and thus there in need of drastic changes in order to survive. 3. Research Model and Hypothesis The proposed research model is depicted in Figure 3.1 below. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT TO SERVICE QUALITY Figure 3.1 : Conceptual Framework The hypothesized relationship between the dependent and independent variables is developed in the following paragraph. Due to their charismatic and visionary nature, transformational leaders tend to foster strong feelings of emotional attachments to the organization, team mates and superior‟s so much so that they are willing to â€Å"transcend their own self interest† for the organization and become partners (Narimawati, 2007). Employees who were under transformational leaders were also seen to exhibit a high sense of commitment in service organization (Emery Barker; 2007; Nguni et al.; 2006; McGuire Kennerly, 2006; Chen, 2004). As a result, the likelihood that transformational leadership styles would prompt high commitments especially when followers are made to realize that commitment to service quality will give their organization the competitive edge over other competitors and meet their customers‟ satisfaction. Based on this assumption, the following hypothesis is postulated: H1a: There is a significant positive relationship between transformational leadership style and the academic staff‟s commitment to service quality 4. Methodology and Research Design 4.1 Research Design This study was designed to investigate the relationship between independent variable of transformational leadership styles and dependent variable of commitment to service. The relevant units of analysis in this study focused on the academic staff in selected universities in Malaysia. Their perception of their immediate superiors such as the deans or heads of department or heads of schools were closely studied to identify their commitment to service quality. A quantitative cross sectional survey research was employed in this study. The survey was conducted on both public and private universities in Malaysia. Approximately 1076 questionnaires were sent out with a total of 387 responses. Overall the response rate was 36 percent which was slightly better than what was reported generally in the Malaysian context (Othman et al., 2001). To ensure similarity in characteristics, the  sample of respondent chosen was based on the following: i) a minimum academic staff‟s population of more than 150; and ii) the minimum number of ten (10) years of operation. Basically, universities were chosen due to geographical convenience for accessibility to the respondents. Past researches in the education context for examples: Arokiasamy et al. (2007), Noordin and Jusoff (2009) and Santhapparaj and Alam (2005) have also drawn most of their samples on the same basis and therefore have supported in terms of external validity of generalization of the findings (Ariffin,2006, Sakeran, 2005). 4.2 Survey Instrument The questionnaire for the study consists of three (3) sections meant to capture the variables related to the leadership style, commitment to service quality and also the demographic section related to the academic staff. Transformational leadership was measured by using 20 items adapted from a later version of MLQ instrument commonly known as MLQ 5x-short-forms. Although the factors that measure transformational leadership styles were distinctive, in this study a single dimensional construct for transformational style was adopted. This is in line with past empirical studies by Walumbwa et al. (2004, 2005) on transformational leadership construct. A recent modified version by Clark et al. (2009) was adapted in this study. A slight modification was made in order to complement the study context for measures for commitment to service quality items. Nine (9) items to measure the variable were selected. The items for both scale were measured on a 5-Point Likert-type scale, anchored by 1, â€Å"strongly disagree† through to 5, â€Å"strongly agree. To assess the reliability of the measurement items of all the variables, the researcher undertook Cronbach‟s Alpha coefficient analysis to test the reliability of the instruments. The instrument was tested for internal reliability and the following Table 2 demonstrates the scales generated. Table 2: Overall Internal Reliability Variables Transformational Leadership Style Commitment to service quality Reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha) 0.916 0.841 The reliability tests indicate an excellent reliability for all its components with a coefficient alpha of above 0.7 exceeding the minimum acceptable level as suggested by Nunnally and Berstein (1994). In order to ascertain that all the measurements in this study exhibits some degree of validity, content validity was conducted (Davis Consenza, 1988) in the pre-tested stage by soliciting the expert opinions of two professors from a university. After necessary modifications, the scale was also pre-tested to a set of respondents similar to the population as suggested by Davis and Consenza (1988). 5. Findings/ Discussion. Tables 3 below summarize the demographic profiles of the respondents. The sample also indicates that female respondents represented a slightly higher percentage of total samples (59%) when compared to the male respondents (41%). The majority of the respondents possessed Master degrees or others of similar level (71%) while 29 percent had completed their doctorate degree. Majority of the respondents were middle age of between 30 to 40 years of age (43%) followed by those between 40 to 50 years old (25%). About 18 percent of the academicians were younger of age of between 20-30 years. With reference to their experience in teaching, the sample showed a balance between those who had teaching experience of between 1 to 5 years (33%) and 5 to 10 years (28%).More than 47 percent of the respondents were from business faculty followed by faculty of information technology (12%). Table 3: Summary of Respondents’ Profile Variables Gender Frequency Percent Doctorate 113 29.20 274 70.80 20 30 Years 69 17.83 168 43.41 97 25.07 50 and above 53 13.69 1

Sharks :: Papers

INTRODUCTION Although sharks belong to the class Chondrichtyes, there are many different types. Sharks arose about 350 million years ago and have remained virtually unchanged for the past 70 million years and still comprise a dominant group. It is thought that sharks almost certainly evolved from placoderms, a group of primitive jawed fishes. It took a long series of successful and unsuccessful mutations with fin, jaw positions etc to give us all the different designs of sharks around today. When asked to draw a shark, most people would draw a shape along the lines of the whaler shark family, tigers or a mackeral shark such as a porbeagle. However many people do not realize the sheer diversity in the shape of sharks, or that rays are really sharks. Seldom does such an animal inspire such a variety of emotions reflecting a mixture of fascination, awe and fear. Sharks have occasionally exacted a terrible price from humans who have trespassed on their territory. No better understood than the ocean t hat they inhabit, these creatures should be regarded in the same way as lions, tigers, and bears: as dangerous, predatory but nonetheless magnificent animals. Different Types of Sharks Living sharks are divided into eight major orders, each easily recognizable by certain external characteristics. Each order contains one or more smaller groups, or families. In all there are 30 families of sharks and they contain the 350 or more different kinds or species of sharks. The eight major orders of sharks include the Squantiformes, Pristiophormes, Squaliformes, Hexanchiformes, Carcharhiniformes, Lamniformes, Orectolobiformes, and the Heterodotiformes. The orders have distinguishing characteristics that fit in each. The Squantiformes normally have flat bodies that are ray-like with mottled dorsal surfaces. These sharks have a short terminal mouth, which is armed with small impaling teeth. They also have a caudal fin, which has a lower lobe that is longer than the upper lobe. Their pectoral fi ns extend forward over the ventrally directed gills. The Pristiophormes have more of an elongated snout, which is saw-like and edged with slender, needle-sharp lateral teeth. They have two dorsal fins and no anal fin. They use short transverse mouths and small cuspidate holding teeth in both jaws. Squaliformes have no anal fin as well, but their snout is not elongated, but is somewhat long. Many have powerful cutting teeth in both jaws. In some species these razor sharp teeth are in the lower jaw only and the upper teeth serve to hold the food.

3M Case Study

3M CASE STUDY Q1) Conservative Approach: Three Product Concepts * Mandate from management * Should not risk new process; Dunlop may use â€Å"revolution† against new method * Need to validate method at least once before basing major strategic decisions on it. * Not enough data yet to make such a drastic recommendation * Three concepts appear very promising and are enough of a â€Å"success† already. Radical Approach: New Business Unit Strategy * Team was charged with finding breakthroughs; Medical-Surgical business needs growth * Team is empowered and should report all relevant information. Fits the defiant 3M culture * Fits 3M’s new strategic mission even though Dunlop does not buy into it. Q2) Incrementalism worked well because it†¦ Has allowed for leveraging pre-existing product platforms such as Post-it notes and Scotch brand tape can reduce development costs while exploiting 3M’S pre-existing marketing channels and relationship. . . . Q3) Traditi onal 3M Development Process * Developers, in recent decades, lack direct contact with customers * Developers are not directly accountable for understanding customer’s needs. Marketing research is outsourced to third parties or â€Å"thrown over the wall† * Traditional methods are linear and tend to support primarily incremental innovations Lead User Research Process * Puts developers in direct contact with users * Focus on a few individuals (Lead Users and lead use experts) with extremely rich need and solution-specific information In lead user research, a considerable amount of time is spent in people networking in order to find the right ‘lead users’ to work with, as opposed to traditional market research methods which only collect information from users who are at the center of the target market Developers learn from users outside traditional business focus * -picked up from a market that is either loosely related or even unrelated to the target market as in the case with the makeup artist they use in the 3M lead user research group * Pushes developers toward leading edge with radical new concepts * Can be complement with traditional market research techniques (during validation) * Use traditional market research to check validity of research Lead users vs Leading-edge customersAs opposed to leading edge customers who provide need- related information, lead users provide need & solution information as they have innovated themselves. In traditional methods, marketers only seek to identify the problem, not necessarily the solution Companies may carry out focus groups and analyze customer complaints to find the issues. Later product developers analyze this research and use their own ideas to find possible solutions for a new product.Conversely, lead user research methods collect data on both the problem and the available solutions from markets that have similar needs. The development team then uses the ideas that were found in these markets and comes up with a set of possible new product ideas that suit the company’s needs based on ideas from the lead users and expertise†¦ meeting a real customer need Lead users can be found in target or analogous markets. Lead use experts in a target market are often useful in identifying †¦ Q4)Stakeholders| Incentives/Motives| Methods| Senior Management| Financial results| Demonstrate how breakthrough products can affect bottom line. Evidence from other firms. Allow senior managers to take credit for new innovation strategy| Middle Management| Employee ProductivityMotivationProject performance| Seminars, pilot studiesSenior management involvementRegular updates of progress| ScientistsEngineers| Ease or workEmpowermentFlexibilityInteresting work| Interaction with previous usersShare excitement and praise efforts. Trust them. |

Pericles Funeral Speech and Jefferson Declaration of Independence Essay

September 11, 2001, two planes crash into the World Trade Center, people diving out windows to their deaths, a plane crashes into the Pentagon, hijackers overtaken by passengers and crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. December 2003, mass graves uncovered in Iraq, compliments of Saddam Husayn. May, 2004, a web page shows terrorists cutting off the head of Nick Berg. August 2004, over 350 children are executed by terrorists in a school in Russia. Democracy is being threatened by enigmatic zealots all over the world. The United States have fought for Democracy as far back as the Revolutionary War, and both World Wars. Once again our military is being asked to make the ultimate sacrifice in the attack on democracy against these zealots. Fighting for democracy has been the cause of wars since the days of Pericles. Pericles states that â€Å"Our constitution does not seek to copy the laws of our neighbors; we are an example to others, not imitators of them†. During his time there was usually one ruler that had the power over life and death, the mass of people did not matter. In Athens this was far from the case. Athens created its own government, one that was for the people, and benefited the people. Pericles said with conviction, â€Å"As far as public life is concerned, we live as free men†. The people of Athens had a government that supported them; they were all equal in the eyes of the government. The city of Athens stood by itself; it needed no others to help it. She left her gates open to all and did not concern herself with excluding foreigners. Her military stood alone. Athens never advanced into another territory with Allies; she did it alone. He also marvels in the fact that Athens does not live for the fear of war. He states that they live free, but are always ready if in danger. He even goes so far to say that his enemies are happy with a victory over a small part of the army. Pericles praises Athens for her form of government – democracy – because it is only in a democracy that citizens are encouraged to contribute and participate in self-rule. Democracy brings equality, merit brings public success, social and economic mobility is encouraged, and the law protects all: â€Å"We alone consider the man who refuses to take part in city affairs useless,† Pericles announces. And he gets in a  dig at Sparta by proudly proclaiming that â€Å"rather than look upon discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it is an indispensable preliminary to any wise action at all.† Pericles encourages his audience â€Å"to realize the greatness of Athens† and enjoy everything the city has to offer: â€Å"Further, we provide many ways to refresh the mind from the burdens of business. We hold contests and offer sacrifices all the year round, and the elegance of our private establishments forms a daily source of pleasure and helps to drive away sorrow. The magnitude of our city draws the produce of the world into our harbor, so that to the Athenian the fruits of other countries are as familiar a luxury as those of his own.† What Pericles talks about in his speech is almost dimmed in importance by how he delivers the message. It is Pericles’ rhetoric that makes this speech famous and the model for so many others in the course of history. Throughout his speech, Pericles holds up glory as the incentive for men to rush to battle for their freedom: Athens is a glorious city because of the sacrifices of previous generations of men, and this generation, too, must shoulder its burden. And while fighting for your country can help bring about a victory, it also has the benefit of bringing you personal glory, something Pericles believes can be gained in no other way than by dying for your country: â€Å"Realize for yourself the power of Athens, and feed your eyes upon her day after day, till you become her devoted lover. Then, when all her greatness breaks upon you, reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty and a keen feeling of honor in action that men were enabled to win all this, and that no personal failure in an enterprise could make them consent to deprive their country of their valor, but they laid it at her feet as the most glorious contribution they could offer. By this mutual offering of their lives made by them all, they each of them individually received that renown which never grows old. For a sepulcher they have won not so much that tomb in which their bones are here deposited, but that noblest of shrines wherein their glory is laid up to be eternally remembered upon every occasion on which deed or story shall fall for its commemoration. For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb.† Pericles’ speech is certainly persuasive. Its passion is based in reality. It is a powerful to see a nation mourn its war dead. In the end Pericles  accomplishes his goal to inspire a city in mass mourning for its lost warriors. Woodrow Wilson was faced with a call to arms when in 1917 he proclaimed American entrance into World War I a crusade to make the world â€Å"safe for democracy.† Pericles, in his funeral oration, talks of valor as being very honorable. He comments that â€Å"Choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting† is a bold and courageous act and it deserves praise and glory. He says the soldiers â€Å"fled only from dishonor, but met danger face to face†. Abraham Lincoln was faced with a similar task. The Gettysburg Address was delivered on November 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Lincoln’s speech is more humble than Pericles, but just as passionate. He is careful in not mentioning either side of the war; he only speaks of the nation as a whole. â€Å"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether the nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as the final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live.† Lincoln pays tribute to not only the Union army, but the Confederate as well, by saying â€Å"The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.† There are obvious parallels between Pericles’ and Lincoln’s speeches. They both set out to accomplish the same thing just in different ways. Another famous writer and scholar with a similar view of Athenian society, Sophocles, chose to voice his opinion through playwright. Specifically in his two great tragedies Oedipus the King and Antigone. Pericles and Sophocles, although coming from different ends of the spectrum (the aforementioned oratory or rhetoric and the latter fictional), both consider the individual and the state in their works and come to similar conclusions with some exceptions. Pericles expresses his views in his â€Å"Funeral Oration†,  where he boasts of the great qualities of Athens, its citizens and soldiers. Sophocles injects his thoughts and ideas into his two masterpieces, Oedipus the King and Antigone. In the following paper, I will compare the men’s ideas and views on the subject of the individual and the state. In particular, their thoughts on the importance of military excellence, honor, courage, and views on women. Both men considered loyalty in battle and involvement in public matters very important. According to Pericles, military achievements and honor make up for anything wrong one does as a citizen (for example, refusing to take part in city affairs). The Greeks obviously looked upon excellence in the military very highly. of all our neighbors, we alone consider the man who refuses to take part in city affairs as useless†¦.For there is justice in the claim that steadfastness in his nation’s battles provides a cloak to cover a man’s other imperfections; the good action blots out the bad, and his merit as a citizen more than outweighs his faults as an individual (Pericles 58-59, 60). Sophocles expresses similar views on the matter in his play Antigo ne, Creon talks of loyalty to the state as having utter importance: As I see it, whoever assumes the task, the awesome task of setting the city’s course, and refuses to adopt the soundest policies but fearing someone, keeps his lips locked tight, he’s utterly worthless†¦.But whoever proves his loyalty to the state – I’ll prize that man in death as well as life (Antigone 48-49). Creon backs up his words with actions. He goes on to talk of Eteocles and Polynices, the two sons of Oedipus: Eteocles will be given a proper burial, since he went down fighting for Thebes, being loyal to his city; Polynices, on the other hand, committed treason and went against everything Creon stands for and believes in, therefore â€Å"he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs to tear, an obscenity for the citizens to behold! These are my principles. Never at my hands will the traitor be honored above the patriot† (Antigone 49). As examined, patriotism was held very highly by the Greeks, as seen in Pericles’s oration and Sophocles’s plays we again come across an intersection in both statesmen’s ideas, this time on the subject of courage. Pericles, in his funeral oration, talks of valor as being very honorable. He comments that â€Å"Choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting† (Pericles 60) is a bold and co urageous act and it deserves praise and glory. He says the soldiers â€Å"fled only from  dishonor, but met danger face to face† (Pericles 60). Do these characteristics bring anyone we know to mind? The answer is yes, and two people come to mind: Antigone and Oedipus. Sophocles’s heroin (Antigone) is the ultimate example of the subject Pericles discusses. True, Antigone was not a soldier, but she went against her uncle’s beliefs and commands, and did what was right according to the gods. In burying her brother and then announcing her actions to the world, she â€Å"fled only from dishonor, but met danger face to face.† Antigone questioned Creon and proudly stated she was the offender, and did not regret her actions. Oedipus, instead of giving in to fate, battled it for as long as he could until fate finally beat him. Although it seems that Sophocles writings parallel Pericles views on women’s inferiority, certain excerpts provide a basis that Sophocles’ views contradict those presented in the Funeral Oration. Pericles states, â€Å"if I must say anything on the subject of female excellence†¦.Great will be your glory in not falling short of your natural character; and greatest will be hers who is least talked of among the men whether for good or for bad† (Pericles 61-62). In an excerpt from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, it is seen that Oedipus gives great weight to Jocasta’s opinion. Oedipus compares stories with Jocasta on the death of the king. He listens to Jocasta’s side of the story, not putting her in a subordinate position or looking at her as inferior (Oedipus the King 23). In Summation, Pericles and Sophocles (although coming from different ends of the spectrum) both consider the individual and the state in their works and come to similar conclusions with some exceptions on the different aspects of the relationship. They both praise loyalty, involvement in state affairs, and honorable death. To note, in my research I found more expression of Sophocles’s views which correlate with Pericles’s in Antigone and not so much in Oedipus the King. All three of three of the pieces were written in times when the definition of freedom, independence, democracy were still new and not well defined in their respective societies. But still in each piece the message is similar and very clear. That message is that it is necessary and good for people to sacrifice themselves for their beliefs and the good of their society.

Materials of Logistics in Management Essay Essays

Materials of Logistics in Management Essay Essays Materials of Logistics in Management Essay Essay Materials of Logistics in Management Essay Essay The efficiency of any fabricating administration depends on the handiness of constituent parts and stuffs in the proper measure. quality. monetary value. scope and clip. Failure in any of these countries increases costs and decreases net income every bit surely as outmoded production methods or uneffective merchandising techniques. This simple but obvious point has merely late come to be decently understood. This book presents the rules. methods and schemes that represent the modern attack to stuffs direction in all sectors of the economic system. In analyzing concern operations. the phrase â€Å"Value-added concept1? is frequently used to characterize the difference between the cost of constituent stuffs and the merchandising monetary value of the finished merchandise. This difference in value represents the alone part of each administration to the production procedure. Many companies produce component parts and stuffs for other houses fabricating specialized merchandises Remanded by the clients. On an norm. a fabrication house buys somewhat more than half of the rupee value of its gross revenues. In other words. the value added is typically less than 50 per cent of its gross revenues. Conversely. the mean company purchases stuffs valued at more than half of what it sells. Therefore. a firm’s net income is to a big extent determined by how efficaciously it procures and manages these stuffs. The organizational attack known as stuffs direction has gained cogency in recent old ages. Production and operations directors found it necessary to develop an organized organic structure of cognition related to be aftering. acquisition and use of stuffs in the procedure of production and it has resulted in the subject known as â€Å"mate-rials management† . All activities involved in conveying stuffs into and through the works are combined under one caput known as â€Å"materials manager† . By giving the stuffs director overall authorization. duty is centralised to guarantee that the overall cost of stuffs is kept at the low’est possible degree. The basic principle for this organizational alteration is to get the better of the jobs of conflicting aims. For cample. purchase department’s concern to guarantee uninterrupted supply of component stuffs may conflict with he inventory control department’s objective to understate stock list degrees or the aim of transportation in full auto burden tonss. Today administrations view procurance as a professional activity including activities involved in obtaining stuffs at minimal cost. transporting them and supplying storage and traveling toward the production procedure. It besides includes economic analysis of supply ( i. e. . purchase economic sciences ) . demand and monetary values and the appraisal of international events that affect stuffs. * development of stuffs direction Historically. the five ‘M’s of fabrication houses viz. Men. Materials. Machines. Money and Methods have shifted their places from clip to clip in their comparative importance. In the early yearss of industrialisation. the focal point was on work forces ( labor ) as they were the chief beginning of productive power. Over a period of clip. the accent shifted towards machines. which became the chief beginning of industrial power after the Industrial Revolution. As the methods of production became more and more complex due to the increased client demand for sophisticated merchandises of high quality. there was greater demand of efficient direction to pull off the complex production systems. In the early 1920s. buying and keeping stock of stuffs was the duty of buying directors or â€Å"chief accountants of buying and stores† in many industries. During and instantly after World War II the focal point shifted on assorted maps associated with stuffs such as buying. receiving. inspecting. hive awaying. continuing. managing. publishing. accounting. transporting and disposing excess and disused stuffs. These maps grouped under one common caput known as stuffs director and the section responsible for all these activities came to be known as â€Å"materials direction department† . But the caput of stuffs direction section performed a staff map to back up the production section and had to describe to the production caput ( manager of production ) in the organisational hierarchy. The oil crisis of the 1970’s changed the precedences of industries all over the universe. The extortionate hiking in oil monetary values and the heavy budget allotments on oil made the industries to command their outgo on the inputs. chiefly stuffs of all sorts because of the big range to cut down the disbursals on stuffs. Since the beginning of twentieth century. stuffs have been acquiring more and more attending and will go on to make so in the hereafter besides. Now a yearss stuff has* become an of import and inevitable input of a production system since the cost of stuffs and cost on stuffs ( cost incurred in buying and hive awaying the stuffs ) put together history for 50 to 85 % of the production cost depending on the nature of the merchandise and the type of the production system. Modern fabrication administrations adopted systems attack to direction. which resulted in the incorporate stuffs direction construct. All maps related to stuffs such as stuffs be aftering. buying. storing and stock list control were integrated under stuffs direction map. The place of the caput of the incorporate stuffs direction section was elevated to be on par with caputs of other functional countries viz. production. finance and human resources. * importance of stuffs in fabrication administrations Materials are any trade goods used straight or indirectly in bring forthing a merchandise or service such as natural stuffs. constituent parts. assemblies and supplies. In the fabrication administrations. the of import inputs are referred to as 5 Ms viz. Men ( Labour ) . Machines. Money. Materials and Methods. The comparative importance among these five Multiple sclerosiss have shifted from clip to clip. In the beginning of industrialization the focal point was on machines. work forces ( labor ) and methods. but from around 1970 onwards the accent is on stuffs. Material is an of import and inevitable input Gb J production system since the cost of stuffs and cost on stuffs ( cost incurred in buying and hive awaying the stuffs ) put together history for 50 to 85’* of the production cost depending on the nature of the merchandise and the type of the production system * importance of stuffs direction Management of stuffs in most administrations is important to their success because the cost of buying. hive awaying. traveling and transporting stuffs account for over half of the product’s cost. Bettering productiveness is a important factor in confronting the challenge of competition and this involves driving down the cost of all facets of concern activities. Since there is maximal range of cost decrease in the country of stuffs. making the occupation of efficient and effectual direction of stuffs is seen as the key to higher productiveness.

Paradox essays

Paradox essays Scientists and the rest of the human race is finally beginning to realize that it has a tendency to try to destroy itself. Scientists are discovering that many of it's creations can and have caused the deaths of many individuals. Studies have shown that many mechanisms and improved materials, which make human chores easier, are now known to cause or could possibly cause mortality rates to increase. People should know about these potential dangers. The microwave, computers, tanning beds, and cellular phones are thought to be the cause of some of these untimely deaths. Also there are chemicals such as lead and asbestos that have and can lead to such casualties. But most of all, it is the use of nuclear reactors to generate power that has caused the destruction of lives. First, although a microwave is a very useful machine, and it helps in speeding up the cooking of food, a microwave can have harmful effects on babies. Mother's milk is sometimes stored in the refrigerator in order to feed a baby more easily. Since the milk is cold it must be heated so that the child will drink it. In laboratory tests bottles with breast milk that were microwaved had a 79% decrease in immunoglobulin-A antibodies, which fight against infection, and a 19% decrease in lysozymes, which help destroy bacteria. Destruction of these antibodies leaves the child at a greater risk of developing a deadly infection (Fraser 17). A smart decision should be made, people should not heat bottled milk in the microwave, and take time to warm the milk in hot water, a baby's life could depend on it. Computer monitors might be the cause of birth defects, miscarriages, and cancer. Computer monitors emit very-low-frequency (VLF) and electromagnetic fields (ELF). The emissions form a sphere around the terminal. A 1988 study indicated that there were twice as many women who worked around computers that miscarried than those who did not. Luckily some companies are now allowing ...