Saturday, August 31, 2019
What Do You Look Forward?
I look forward to getting the best out of this program and come out a better nurse equipped and seasoned with sound knowledge and skills necessary to meet up with challenges in the healthcare system. However my greatest fear is time management Time management is very important in any area of life as success and failures are built upon it. It is my fear here as I have to juggle School, Work, family at the same time and meet up with the demands of each, allotting quality time to each section.Language barrier on the other hand possess a little bit of challenge to me as I have to advance my writings from undergraduate level to graduate level. My plan to overcome this fear is to be organized from day one which entails knowing my schedule, plan and stream line my activities via time table format. Make effort to follow my time table, remove procrastination from it but allow flexible time for any unforeseen circumstances that might come up along the way.Specific educational experience I enco untered was when I started school here in a traditional class room, it was very difficult for me to comprehend what my instructors was teaching and also for them to understand me because of my accent. My fear was how to succeed in my education when I donââ¬â¢t understand the classroom lectures. I am even too afraid to ask questions fearing that they will not understand me or even laugh at me. I am fine studying my textbook at home but it is not enough as major and important points are highlighted in the lecture notes.So my first step in addressing this fear was to meet with my instructors after class and tell them my problem. Second step was to use the learning resources available at the college and attended series of passport classes for international students. This tutoring classes and one on one session with most of my instructors took all my spare and family time but it did pay off at the end of the semester with good grades. These resources helped me to overcome my fear, und erstand my instructors, and ask questions in class, improved on note taking skills and above all good grades. Read also: Time Management ââ¬â Work File
Friday, August 30, 2019
Case Study: What Is Up with Wall Street?
NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Learner: Demetrice S. Campbell | | MGT7019-8| Douglas Buck| | | Ethics in Business| #3 Paper- Case study: What is Up With Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray| | | Academic Integrity: All work submitted in each course must be the Learnerââ¬â¢s own. This includes all assignments, exams, term papers, and other projects required by the faculty mentor.The known submission of another personââ¬â¢s work represented as that of the Learnerââ¬â¢s without properly citing the source of the work will be considered plagiarism and will result in an unsatisfactory grade for the work submitted or for the entire course, and may result in academic dismissal. ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â- ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â- ââ¬âââ¬ââ â¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â- Faculty Use Only ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â- ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â- ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â- lt;Faculty Name> Running Head: What Is Up with Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray What is up with Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray Demetrice S. Campbell Ethics in Business November 11, 2012 Abstract Case Study of Goldman Sachs What is up with Wall Street? The Goldman Standard and Shades of Gray was a case study focused on the company Goldman Sachs and the unfolding of a horrible decision that affected the economic structure of our bank ing system, stock shares, and the government.Their strategies to make a more successful business, ended with them being greedy for more money and success. These strategies lead to questions of their ethical standards in their business practices. The company was founded by Marcus Goldman and Samuel Sachs in 1869 (Jennings, 2012). The company was supposed to provide loans to small businesses, but instead Goldman wanted to do investments. Greed caused the company to turn a blind eye to what was really going on and this resulted in several downfalls for the company and others involved.The 1929 market crash was one result of the companyââ¬â¢s practices. Rather than doing what was right, Goldman and Sachs just carried on running into many walls. The problem to be investigated is the ethical standards of the company in relation to their investors and the price they pay. Introduction The problem to be investigated here is the ethical standards of the company in relation to their investor s and the price they pay. In the corporate world, business ethics are very important and can be costly. Sometimes ethics can be over looked to motivate people.Ethics should be important elements of our day to day functions. It is important to realize the importance of business ethics if you want your business to grow. This could have a positive or negative impact on the productivity of the company. Business ethics are made up of a lot of subjective topics. Some people think that business ethics are comparative. There are many things that businesses take part in that can be seen as gray area. Gray areas are situations in which the rules are not clear, or you are not sure what is right or wrong.Key items include lying and false representation. Goldman may have committed both these behaviors just to have greed and a successful company. Things that Goldman did that would be in the gray area include: a. Sophisticated Investorââ¬âby definition, it is to escape full disclosure to its c lients. Goldman made offerings to sophisticated investors, but failed to tell the whole story and their position in the investment or the market. Since then, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act has better clarified the definition to prevent firms from withholding information b.Analysts and two opinionsââ¬âHe failed to follow the rules on the consistency between the analystsââ¬â¢ internal conversations and their communications and the external recommendations of the SEC rules require because it was for a particular group as strategists. The rules did not apply if their name did not have the word analyst in it. c. Auction rate securitiesââ¬âit took state law to come up with a settlement of these problems. The SEC had difficulties applying regulations and laws to this behavior of bidding up the price and then not buying.The clients were not aware that Goldman was bidding on the securities. Goldmanââ¬â¢s response as well as some others was that there was always investmen t houses bidding in such auctions. d. IPO allocation and structure of the marketââ¬âthis also was eventually settled, but not without the insistent small fines and new rules on IPO allocations and agreements between the clients on second-wave agreements to buy more. e. IPO profitability changes prior to IPOââ¬âGoldman failed to share that the steady drift from three years of profit to one year then down to one quarter.This was sort of a unique legal problem in regards to the profitability standard to one quarter because the financials were available on the dot-coms for the investors to see. Nothing was being disclosed. f. Partnership to corporation structureââ¬âWhen Goldman decided to change from partnership to a corporation, this shielded them from being liable, where as being the principals, you put it all on the line. The move to a corporation with limited liability resulted in riskier practices taken by the firm.Goldman was guilty creating a company and buying 90 per cent of the shares with its own money. This practice made the public want in on the deal not knowing they were being misled. This allowed him to sell the shares he bought for more money; while he buys more shares on the secondary market and causes the share prices to increase. He then turned around and used his money to create another corporation. (Jennings, 2012) Goldman was also engaged in laddering, which is an agreement between Goldman and its best clients for the distribution of a portion of the IPO at a reestablished price.However, under a laddering arrangement, those clients also had to agree to purchase a certain number of shares later during the IPO rollout at a price of $10 to $15 higher. (Jennings, 2012) Goldman also participated in auction-rate markets. He gave loans to executive members in exchange for shares. Many of the issues included the nondisclosure of facts that an investor would have deemed very important in making their investment decisions. Goldman and Sachs w ere guilty of false impression, simply because the investors were not aware of their position in the market.There is also the point of moral vulnerability and how allowing AIG to be bailed out provided a cover for Mr. Goldman and his sneaky business practices. Then there is the ââ¬Å"too big to failâ⬠issue, this is important because the investors were the one who lost money, not Goldman. He was protected. The front page of the newspaper test was a winner in this case because the headlines did not prove to be flattering for Goldman. The Senatorââ¬â¢s questions reflected the struggle of the people who were trying to understand how and what Mr.Goldman had done complied to the law, but still come across as a deceptive practice. The law is only one part of the ethical analysis. Goldman failed to think through the consequences of additional regulations, the fines that would be involved, and the clients because of the perception that he could not be trusted and may not always be acting in the best interest of the client. There areas affected by the Goldman model and gray areas include: investors, the market, the U. S. conomy and the global economy, AIG, AIG investors, employees of AIG and other companies and investment banks that had to be dissolved or acquired or reduced in size, employees of dot-coms, beneficiaries of donations by companies and investment bankers, nonprofits also were affected because they had their endowment funds invested, real estate markets because of the impact in value, all those affected by a slump in the real estate market including real estate agents and brokers, contractors, furniture and window covering companies, decorators, landscapers. A little of everything was affected by these strategies and gray areas.Some of the people that were effect by Goldmanââ¬â¢s decisions were his clients as well as some of the top employees, such as Lloyd Blankfein. (Jennings, 2012) Investors thought they were going to receive money on their purchase. No employee or officer should take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts, or any other illegal trade practice. (Jennings, 2012) The main factors that contributed to the way that the employees, executives, traders, and advisers made their decisions were money and political power.The idea of being ââ¬Å"Filthy rich by 40,â⬠and the enticement is what produced so many millionaires so early in their lives. Many companies are cutting back on their financial-incentive programs, but there are many things that can be used to motivate employees. Goldman worked ââ¬Å"toes to the lineâ⬠culture, always looking to find the next big loophole available. The culture was also, ââ¬Å"If it is legal, then it is ethicalâ⬠; which is not always the case. (Jennings, 2012) Goldmanââ¬â¢s behaviors are a typical image of Carrââ¬â¢s theories. (Jennings, 2012) Could it be bluffing of Goldman to not reveal their positions or were they just tricking innocent people?Not everybody is aware and knowledgeable of the rules of the Wall Street. The larger investment bankers clearly were aware because of their own involvement in IPOs to auction securities to their structuring of the CDOs. However, these investments made their way to the retail level where the knowledge base was nonexistent. Goldman and others believed them to be sophisticated investors by definition and it was unnecessary to share. However, that definition has now changed and more disclosure is required because they obviously did not understand the double positions.This is saying that the culture that existed at Goldman before will stay the same. The drive to be successful and the fact that Goldman does not feel that its client base will be affected is why things will go on as business as usual. In other words, Goldman emerges with a fine but little remorse and a plan to go forward with the status quo. It does not seem as if any lessons were learned. Compare & Contrast Senator Collins has made clear that there was no legal fiduciary duty, but she questioned whether Goldman needed to act in its clientsââ¬â¢ best interests as an issue of good business practice.The discussion states, Goldman struggled with that answer and could only come to the conclusion that it was ââ¬Å"an interesting idea. â⬠Goldman had a mentality that only the strong can survive in the markets. However, he did not take into account that with new regulations and the changes in the market; he could no longer engage in those legally gray areas and would be obligated to compete on a different foundation other than his normal loopholes Conclusion Business ethics are very important to have but sometimes they can conflict with personal ethics.Owning a business can be a risky task. You have to make the decision of what is more important to you, is it the money that drives you or the will to do what is right and ethical. Goldman was not producing but he trick the investors into giving money without every showing anything. This is a very common thing that most investors never realize until they have lost millions of dollars. References Jennings, M. (2012). Business ethics: Case studies and selected readings. (7thà Ed. ). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
The Boy at the Window
The Boy at the Window is a poignant poem written by Richard Wilber. According to a statement made by Wilber, it was inspired by his five year old son being concerned about the possible danger his newly completed snowman was in due to a pending storm. Poetry is often recognized for its ability to evoke strong feelings in the reader and the beautifully innocent nature of Boy at the Window exemplifies this magnificently with skillful use of personification and beautiful use of metaphors. The story starts with painting a bleak and very serious over tone, seemingly from the overly dramatic perspective of a young boy as told by an omniscient outside perspective. The dire aspect of the snowmanââ¬â¢s situation being a wholly terrifying experience to him, as seen in lines three and four of the first stanza, ââ¬Å"The small boy weeps to hear the wind prepare/ A night of gnashings and enormous moan. â⬠It is apparent that, to this boy, this is a huge menacing storm blowing in and threatening his snowman. It is further defined in the use of personification to describe the prediction of the storms violence, gnashing and moaning, both human qualities with tendencies of use in both pain and anger. Gnashing specifically paints an intense image of something being grinded between two forces until destroyed is extremely impacting. The line following in the poem is a description of the snowmanââ¬â¢s facial aspects as seen by this young man, showing a desperation and betrayal as compared to the biblical story of a God- forsaken Adam looking into Eden for the last time. It adds a touching depth to the fear that this young man is in grips of and it is representative of the emotional transfer to the snowman in a young boys mind. The second stanza is written from the snowmanââ¬â¢s perspective, which as a statement in its self shows personification. I find that the fact that the snowman experiences feelings in a very heartfelt way, showing a warmth of humanity and empathy. These traits come into a clear light in the 13 and 14th lines of the poem: He melts enough to drop from one soft eye/a trickle of the purest rain, a tear. This shows the depth of humanity portrayed in the snow man and the tasteful use of it within the story. The writing in the poem is elegant and beautiful, using a rhyme scheme and the occasional assonance to keep the flow while not maintaining a strict adherence to a set pattern, throughout the poem there are moments of striking imagery and powerful emotionally gripping perspectives which adds to the innocence of the childââ¬â¢s perspective and the humanity shown in the snowman; it is, in short, great writing. Great poetry is able to evoke strong feelings in the reader, making them think beyond the words on a page and take the images painted with the writers craft into their imagination and heart. The book says, ââ¬Å"it is more accurate to say that poetry is an evocative response to ordinary life experience (Clungston, 2010)â⬠. I think watching empathy grow in a childââ¬â¢s eyes and the personification of a snowman combine to paints a beautiful picture of the innocence of youth and the amazing experiences of watching someone slowly mature and grow before your very eyes. Reference Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education,Inc retrieved XX/XX/XXfrom https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/sections/sec9. 2 Wilbur, Richard (1952), Boy at the Window, Things of this World, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Community -oriented plan of care Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2
Community -oriented plan of care - Assignment Example They can also learn to include all the coworkers and to involve the family members to help build support systems. The worksite can also learn to change Policy and Environmental approaches to making proper healthy choices for their employees and their families. In this part they will learn how to change food choices in the cafeteria and/or in the vending machines. They can also learn how to initiate on-site exercise facilities. In learning anything one must have the motivation to learn and to participate in the learning. What is motivation? It describes the forces acting on or within ways to maintain certain behaviors. It would depend on the readiness to learn. In learning about how to motivate workers to improve their health status in dealing with Heart Disease they learn about the necessary reinforcers, to see if their needs are still being met, to learn what experiences are causing the problem and how to change it, and also to see if they can identify the causes of the problem they are having. Are we motivated to make the necessary changes to improve life. (Redman, 1993) In working in sociocultural factors and heart disease and in forming learning activities one must learn about the formal and informal channels of communication between health programs and the community. We must learn about the barriers that may be the result of differences in cultural beliefs and practices. In writing this care plan for heart disease the community will learn how to make changes in their diets and exercise programs. They will learn how to check their blood pressure and to plan an exercise program that fits with their lifestyles. They will learn what will motivate workers to make the changes they are needed to improve their
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Analyzing consumption trends between consumption theories Essay
Analyzing consumption trends between consumption theories - Essay Example It can be stated as a matter of fact that these two theories, relative to the concept of consumer consumption, was introduced at a wide difference of nearly four decades and certainly focuses on distinct assumptions which often tends to contradict each othersââ¬â¢ view point. As in the case of Veblen approach, consumers are termed to have no such influence on the price of the commodity; whereas, in the neo-classical theory, customers are considered as one of the major catalysts to influence the commodity price (Himmelweit & et. al., 2001). The concept of consumer consumption is often demonstrated as the pattern of expenditure made by the consumers in exchange of a particular commodity. It is further stated by economists that consumer consumption or the decision taken by the consumers to buy a commodity depends on the price of the product or the services rendered, their requirement or individual preferences, the availability of the product and quality of the commodity served among others. Thus, it may vary according to the changes occurring in relation to any of these variables (Lee & et. al., 2009; Himmelweit & et. al., 2001). However, as mentioned in the theory of ââ¬Ëconsumer sovereigntyââ¬â¢ by the neo-classical approach, individual preferences, amid the other factors tend to be one of the strongest influencing factors of consumer consumption. This theory further depicts that these preferences are endogenous in nature and thus tends to be highly influenced by the external factors such as choices favored by the society (King & et. al., 2006; Oââ¬â¢Hara & Stagl, 2002). Based on these assumptions, according to the consumer consumption behavior demonstrated by neo-classical theory, the buyers are termed to be one of the major drivers of price change that subsequently leads to change in quantity. The theory further assumes that price and demand for a particular commodity is conversely related which depicts the equilibrium to be as
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW - Essay Example In order to give Dicky proper legal advice, it would be in order to understand the exact terms and conditions that his employment or engagement with Smythe and Dickinson stated. The importance of this contractual agreement would be to know if Dickyââ¬â¢s terms of employment terms provision spelled out agreements on whether the company was either the sole owner or joint owner of any work produced in course of employment (Sumpter 2006, p.77).. This is because section 11 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act states the criteria for ascertaining the ownership of any copyright material and provides that any work produced in the course of employment belong to the employer who is deemed as the first owner. In the event that there are no such terms or regulations, Dicky will be perfectly be in a right position to fully own the work. Under the copyright laws in England, there are certain qualifications that one has to fulfil before they are fully covered or protected by the law on copy right. First, a person must be a citizen of Britain based on the qualifications that are set by the British Nationality Act 1981 (Ross 2008, p.46). The other requirement is originality, it has to be ascertained that without doubt the work (Valuation Guidelnes) was his (Dickyââ¬â¢s) own expression of ideas and invention to be the first owner under Copyright, Designs and Patents Act S.11(1). This is of interest, as it will help in understanding the actual position of the nature of the legal position from which the company is claiming rights. Dicky can argue that the company has no copyrights over any of his productions when he undertakes it independently even if employed by Smythe and Dickinson. The other requirement to gain copyright is fixation, as was held in the Merchandising Corp v Harpbond (1983), for instance the work has to be in a material form of which the valuation guidelines are in print and Dickyââ¬â¢s Antiques is in a DVD. Having ascertained Dickys terms of employm ent, citizenship, fixation and originality such that the Valuation Guidelines were his creative creation work; Dicky should understand the rights that a copyright holder have in relation to that particular original idea, which is automatic in UK upon meeting copyright requirements. Section 16 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act gives the copyright holder the right to copy the work and issue it to the public as well as broadcasting the work in a cable service program (McCombs 2011, p.21). All copyrighted material must possess originality as proposed in the case of University of London Press v University Tutorial Press (1916) 2 CH 601. This case discussed the doctrine known as sweat of the brow doctrine and if the word ââ¬Å"originalâ⬠is taken to refer to the originality of an expression for a certain piece of work to gain copyright protection (Harms 2008, p.133). The concept of originality tries to evaluate the relationship between the author of a particular piece of wor k and his work and is essential for a piece of work to gain copyright protection in England. This is expressly provided for under Section 1(1) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, s.1(1) and involves judicial reasoning and logic in the solution of cases. In order for Dicky to succeed in his defence, he must
Monday, August 26, 2019
The Taika Reform Edicts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
The Taika Reform Edicts - Essay Example During this time, the empire experienced great concord with less fractiousness among the people. After a period, common clan names such as Omi, Muraji and Uji took over the titles of Gods and emperors. ââ¬Å"In recent times, however, the names, first of the Gods, and then of the Emperors, have in some cases been separated (from their proper application) and converted into theà Ujià of Omi orà Muraji, [common clan names in Japan]â⬠This separation resulted to some consequences and strong partisan bias among the people in the entire country. The monarchy system was centralized, and the clans seem to be an obstacle to this system hence pushing for decentralization of the ruling system in the Japanese state. This decentralization is in the form of selfish interests by the clans. The minds of people have become unsettled, which has made the government unable to carry on with its functions. Japanese elites such as Muraji 12, Omi 11, Kuni no Moyakko 2 and Tomo no Miyakko 5 came up with a set of their own vassals (Varley, 2003). These vassals have been compelled to labor at their arbitrary pleasure (Varley, 2003). Moreover, the seas, hills, ponds, rice fields, woods and plains have been cut off and assigned them to their provinces and to themselves (Varley, 2003).. This has resulted to some kind of contest among the elites and the leaders. It is evident also that the elites have gone further to make people pay taxes to them instead of the government. They first take their share and later take the leftovers to the central government. The Japanese state had few people, in regards to the whole population, and instead of benefiting from their own land and resources; they are cut off and sold to them at high prices. The resources that had been shared by the clans are regulated, and an elderman appointed in each ward. In addition, the population is registered and re-granting of land distribution provided to the
Sunday, August 25, 2019
History Of Quality Management As It Relates To The US Air Force Research Paper
History Of Quality Management As It Relates To The US Air Force - Research Paper Example TQM is an approach that can enhance the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of a whole organization that requires planning, organizing and understanding each activity (Oââ¬â¢Neill & Sohal, 1999). TQM has been applied to all industries with the focus on quality improvement or achieving overall customer satisfaction. TQM in the US Air Force has its own significance and has been in practice for several decades. As the Federal government realized the need for a smaller military force due to decreasing military threat from the former Soviet Union, the financial support to the military was reduced (Sanchez, 1997). This necessitated the reduction in the size of personnel from each service as well as eliminating many weapon systems. With the reduced number of airmen, seamen and soldiers the need for efficiency became paramount (Moser & Bailey, 1997). TQM training was instituted in all branches of the armed forces and extended to the US defense industries as well. This paper res earches how the application and utility of TQM has evolved and whether it has been able to enhance efficiency in the US Air Force.TQM has further been defined as a process of continuous improvement (Gonsalves, 2002) where continued effort is exerted by everyone in the organization to understand, meet and exceed customer expectations through quality enhancement (Hoang, 2009) where quality includes characteristics such as performance, features, durability, aesthetics and service quality (Lian, 2001). Ho, Duffy and Shih (1999) emphasize that continuous improvement, customer focus, and teamwork form the core of TQM philosophy. TQM is a holistic concept wherein all members of the organization participate in planning and implementing continuous quality improvement (Sanchez, 1997). Deming stated that to achieve success through TQM the managers must whole-heartedly believe in the philosophy and create an environment for the process to function (Dââ¬â¢Ron, 1998). Deming also offered sugge stions for the managers to change their traditional mindset which included leadership, training, breaking down the barriers, not focusing on price alone, eliminating quotas and most importantly they should adopt the TQM principles. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) was established by Congress in 1987 to stimulate competition in the US businesses. This is a prestigious award for excellence and quality achievement in the United States. This award was meant to recognize organizations that have outstanding processes and practices, and that focus on continuous improvement and where the practice is measureable. The MBNQA is basically a business review, a formal process to review how the business operates. Its implementation requires visionary leadership, social responsibility, focus on future, focus on results, managing for innovation and valuing employees and other stakeholders (Baldridge Award, 2005). The award is given to organizations that demonstrate exemplary achie vements across seven dimensions - leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, human resources focus, process management, and business results.
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Biography on Christian Andreas Doppler & The Doppler Effect Term Paper
Biography on Christian Andreas Doppler & The Doppler Effect - Term Paper Example Doppler started teaching temporarily at the University of Vienna after two years at the University. It was at this time that he published his first four mathematics papers. For several years, he tried to apply for a permanent teaching position in various schools, universities, and colleges (Maulik, 2005). All this while he was supporting himself by working as a bookkeeper at a local cotton spinning mill. Life became too hard for him as he was not getting the permanent job he wanted, so he decided to pack and go look for better pastures in America (Kinsella and Pertoff, 2004). However, just before he left, he received a job offer in Prague at the Technical Secondary School. However, he soon found himself bored and yearning for something that was more exciting than elementary mathematics. He, therefore, applied for a job as a teacher of higher mathematics. In the meantime, he did not let his mathematical skills rust away. He ensured that his mathematics skills were always sharp by doing part-time work at the Vienna Polytechnic Institute (Coman, 2004). Doppler did not have to wait for long before a major job opportunity presented itself to him. While working as a part-timer at the Vienna Polytechnic, the position of Geometry and Mathematics Professor became vacant and he applied for it, confident that he would get the job. Getting the job, however, was not as smooth a ride as Doppler had hoped it would be. He had to fight off competition from several other top contenders (Baxter, Allan, and Morley, 1999). This situation affected him and he began to experience poor health. The strain of teaching added to his health woes. Soon his students were complaining about his tests which they said were too unfair and harsh. He eventually asked for sick leave, and it is during this time of rest that Doppler presented one of his most famous papers.
Friday, August 23, 2019
Strategic management Link between strategic planning and performance Essay
Strategic management Link between strategic planning and performance - Essay Example Here strategic planning is used as a term to illustrate an organisational decision-making process, which can be generally defined as the process of realising the mission, primary goals, tactics, and approaches that govern the attainment and allocation of resources to accomplish organisational objectives (Pearce et al., 1987, p. 658). The major intention of this essay is to contribute new pragmatic evidence on the connection between strategic planning and performance, and to reflect on the effect of a set of related variables on this association. Mintzberg and Lampel, (1999, pp. 21-30) indicate that the term formal strategic planning is an intention to express that an organisation's strategic planning overall process entails apparent systematic procedures used to increase the participation and commitment of those chief stakeholders influenced by the plan. Study on the association between strategic planning and firm's performance has proved indecisive. From the early researches it is revealed that strategic planning improved performance (Herold, 1972, p. 94). However, later studies revealed that there was no patent systematic relationship between them (Shrader et al., 1984, pp. 149-171). Bresser and Bishop (1983) argued that if strategic planning bring in firmness and supports excessive bureaucracy then it might be called as dysfunctional. Despite the sustained significance of performance aim... 101-109) has mentioned that concentration has not been given to strategic planning and performance in experiential study. According to Greenley (1994), primarily, it should enhance the organisation's performance. The basic conjecture of strategic management emphasises on the planning of a task, aims and targets, of which organisation performance is a component, the practice of strategies to achieve these aims and targets, and control to guarantee that the targets are accomplished. Second, the intention of strategic planning is to increase the value of management all over an organisation. As a result this could bring about indirect perfection in performance, although its effectiveness may, certainly, be lost in the intricacy of variables with the likelihood to influence performance. However, managers may understand that it adds to effectiveness, giving them a sentiment of confidence and control. Strategic planning may therefore be useful as a process of management, in spite of the performance attained. In fact, the entire concentration of strategic management evolves around the accomplishment of objectiv es, which correspond to ambitions for future performance. Boyd (1991, p. 355) defines that strategic planning is a mean to run environmental turmoil, which has been adopted by numerous organisations. In addition, formal strategic planning is an unending managerial process, with a number of elements, embracing establishment of objectives and creation and assessment of strategies. A useful strategic planning system creates a link between long-range strategic objectives with both mid-range and functional plans. Planners gather data, estimate, and frame out and build alternative future scenarios. Ostensibly, such activities permit organisations to
Thursday, August 22, 2019
African American Gay Rights Essay Example for Free
African American Gay Rights Essay I cannot begin to argue about African American/Hispanic LGBT, living in New York City and their civil rights without remembering the public outcry against black civil rights. Although the focus of this paper is on African American/Hispanic LGBT living in New York City and Their Rights to Marriage I have decided to start my paper of by discussing the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The civil rights movement of the 1960s and the continuing struggle against race-based discrimination were rooted in the struggle against slavery. As early as the eighteen hundreds the United States legislative had laws known as segregation laws that limited certain freedom to them. They had to live in separate neighborhood, attend separate schools, drive in the back of public buses verses in the front where Whites were; African American would not dare go against these laws back then because if and when they did, they were unjustly imprisoned, beaten lynched and more for just trying to exercise human rights. In the 1960s African Americans led a fight to remove the legally codified vestiges of slavery from our constitution and from state and local laws. Most repulsive among these, were Jim Crow laws that required racial segregation; African Americans had to endure all these things until The Civil Rights Movement. The modern concept of civil rights was pioneered by African Americans in their long struggle to become full citizens of the United States. From the Civil Rights Movement to the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to May 17, 2004, the LGBTQ movement has made some tremendous gains into mainstream society, a reality that has not been afforded to African Americans. The African American Civil Rights Movement gave birth to many other civil rights movements in the 1960s. African Americans not only made new law, their success gave new hope. Among the many efforts sparked by the African American Civil Rights Movements were the efforts to end discrimination against women, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans, people with disabilities and lesbians and gays. Some African American still has one more river to cross because now African American LGBT are fighting a new civil war, the fight for same sex marriage; the right to be legally married. Currently, marriage has two distinct components: civil marriage and the religious ritual of marriage. Mixed-gender couples can have a civil marriage without the religious ceremony/ritual. Couples can have a religious ceremony/ritual, without a civil marriage. Some couples can choose both. However, to receive the legal protections of marriage, a couple must have a civil marriage, which is the only marriage that can be addressed by courts or legislatures. The LBGT believe that the rights and legal protections of civil marriage that are given to mixed-gender couples and families should also be extended to couples and families who are headed by same-gender couples. These include the rights of survivorship, inheritance, insurance, joint income tax filing, and a myriad of rights that many mixed-gender couples take for granted. For African American LGBT, state regulation has been particularly harsh. State sodomy law has had a way of preventing LGBT from acquiring some of the rights they are entitle to. Today, fewer than half the state has sodomy laws. LGBT recognizes New York City for being the birth place for many modern gay movements; however, New York has not yet passed any law giving LGBT legal protection and political support, (right to marriage being on of them). New York State gay rights bill, first introduced in 1971, still has not become law. While other states, like Vermont has established civil unions for LGBT, New York has not. Andy Humm writes that the biggest gay-related debate throughout the country right now is over government sanction of same-sex elationships. Vermont has gone the furthest, establishing civil unions for gay couples that confer almost all of the rights to which a married man and woman are entitled, though stopping short of full legal marriage. New Yorkers may travel to Vermont for the civil ceremony as of July 1, but there is some question as to what legal weight it will carry back home. The federal government enacted the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996 when it looked as if Hawaii might give same-sex couples marriage licenses. It barred federal recognition of legal same-sex marriages performed in any state and gave the other states the right not to honor such a contract. Thirty-two states have passed laws barring recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states, even though no state or nation allows gay couples to obtain a marriage license. (Holland will likely be the first in 2001. ) A New York version of the Defense of Marriage Act is pending in Albany, but has not had a vote in either chamber. Bibliography Diane Silver et al. , The New Civil War: The Lesbian and Gay Struggle For Civil Rights (New York; New York:1997), 25-26 Andy Humm, The State of gay rights in New York, Available http://www. gothamgazette. com/iotw/gayrights/ (Accessed May 16, 2005).
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Catherines changing appearance Essay Example for Free
Catherines changing appearance Essay A View from the Bridge was set in America in the 1950s. Arthur Miller was inspired to write the play when he was working as a longshoreman at Brooklyn shipyard to earn money for his college fees. He heard a story that men were coming over from Italy to work illegally and were being betrayed. At this time Italy was a very poor country with not many jobs to go around therefore many Italians were trying their luck in America, they became known as Italian Americans. However to become and American citizen they would need a green card which became difficult to get hold of because there was a limited amount of them. The Carbone family Eddie, his wife Beatrice and her orphaned niece Catherine, who is 17, are first generation Americans of Italian origin, they are a working class family. Eddie works as a longshoreman at Brooklyn shipyards; they live nearby in Red Hook, a poor area of Brooklyn which is described by Alfieri as a slum. This is where the play is set. The Carbone family take in two illegal immigrants, who are Beatrices Italian cousins. Before the cousins arrival we can see that Eddie and Catherine have a strong bond between them. Eddie arrived home from work and is confronted with Catherines changing appearance, Almost in tears because he disapproves. This suggests that Eddie is overprotective towards Catherine and may imply that he does not want her to grow up or gain independence. This also shows that Catherine cares about Eddies opinion of her; it tells the reader they are close and that Catherine may act younger than her age. Miller establishes Eddie as a caring character. This is apparent when Catherine and Beatrice have just told him about the job. Its not wonderful. Youll never get nowheres unless you finish school. This implies he cares about Catherine and always will which may be a problem later on in the play because Catherine will want to go her own way, however it could also portray that he will support Catherine to do her best. We can tell that Eddie is a well respected member of the community and that he is admired by his niece. This is visible when Eddie realises he left a cigar in his other coat. Stay there! Ill get it for you. This implies that Catherine only wants to do what Eddie approves of which could end up being a problem because there will be things that Eddie will disagree with when Catherine gains independence that could cause conflict and overprotective behaviour. It also shows she only wants to please Eddie. It tells the reader that she respects him by rushing around for him. Eddie provides a warm welcome to both cousins upon their arrival however he is more reserved towards Rodolfo. He appears to take a shine to Marco, this is apparent when Eddie opens the door to the cousins. Come on in (he shakes Marcos hand.) This shows that he welcoming both cousins however the fact that he only shook Marcos hand may indicate that he is wary of Rodolfo because of his appearance after all they have not had a conversation yet. Eddie is also welcoming when he takes the cousins bags. Exits into bedroom with their bags. This shows that he is trying to please the guests and make them feel welcome; he also wants to make Beatrice happy by pleasing the cousins, Eddie almost mirrors Catherines actions towards him. Miller uses precise language and stage directions to show that Catherine is eager to learn more about the cousins this is apparent when Miller uses stage directions such as wondrously and enthralled. Miller may also be trying to show that she likes one of the cousins in a sexual manner. Eddies jealousy is becoming more apparent, what are the high heels for Garbo? This implies that she may be trying to impress Rodolfo because she is attracted to him. By comparing his niece to Garbo he is showing that he may not be happy with her getting attention from other men, he may also be trying to embarrass and humiliate Catherine as she tries to impress, and this creates an awkward atmosphere. As the play progresses Eddies hostility towards Rodolfo develops. Catherine is pouring sugar into Rodolfos cup. His face puffed with trouble. This could tell the reader that Eddie is jealous that Rodolfo is getting attention from Catherine; this also implies that Eddie dislikes Rodolfo. Eddie is telling Beatrice that he dislikes Rodolfo and that he doesnt think he is right. Eddie seems to be spurred on when his friends laugh about Rodolfos femininity. And with that wacky hair; hes like a chorus girl or sumpm. This indicates that Eddie thinks Rodolfo is a homosexual because of his appearance and the things he does. Singing, cooking and dress making were addressed as womans skills in the 1950s therefore Eddie was using these against Rodolfo to argue that he was homosexual. Eddies reason for trying to prove Rodolfos sexuality may be because he truly thinks that Rodolfo may be homosexual and may just be using Catherine to gain American citizenship. However another interpretation could be that Eddie is simply trying to split Rodolfo and Catherine up because he has sexual feelings towards Catherine. To do this he tries to convince Catherine that Rodolfo is just using her to be an American citizen and doesnt love her. We know this when Eddie says Katie, hes only bowin to his passport. It also implies that Eddie may be trying to put her off him because of his own dislike of Rodolfo; this could be because he is jealous that Catherine is attracted to Rodolfo.
Healthcare Industry In Malaysia
Healthcare Industry In Malaysia Healthcare industry in Malaysia is divided into private and public sectors. Malaysian society places importance on the expansion and development of healthcare industry. With a rising and aging population in Malaysia, the Government wishes to improve many areas in healthcare industry including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion in polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth. Telehealth is the delivery and communicate of health-related services and information via telecommunications. It could be as simple as two healthcare professionals discussing patients condition over the telephone. It also may as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different country. Over last few years, we have increased our efforts to improve the telehealth systems. Besides that, telehealth also will help in access to specialty services for rural patients and allows the patient to stay in their own community rather than traveling. This is parallel with our mission and objective of deliver quality healthcare services to our customers efficiently. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues. It defines both formal and informal rules which a hospital must operate. Some examples of political issue are tax policy, employment laws and medical tourism. Medical tourism in Malaysia ranks among the best in the world and most private hospitals in the country have internationally recognized quality and standards in medical tourism. In our country, the growth rate of medical tourism is growing rapidly because of low-cost advantage and the improvement of new high-quality healthcare service providers compare to some foreign hospital. The healthcare sector in Malaysia is highly regulated by the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act and regulatory approval is required to set up a private hospital. It regulates all private healthcare facilities and services in our country. Under this act, we must get the approval before a new private healthcare facility can be established. Government set the strict rules on the quality of care and safety on patient to ensure that fairness and honesty in providing health care to patients. The objectives of the rules are same with our objective of to provide quality healthcare service with fairness, honesty and sincerity for patients. Political and government rules may affect any business either positively or negatively. So, the changing of government rule or regulation in healthcare industry may cause some threats on KPJ as we are part of it. Actually, it is considered as a threat for KPJ as it may require us to change our business strategy due to changing of regulations. It may affect negatively on the entire industry as well as KPJ healthcare. In budget 2012, government has assigned around RM15 billion for operating expenditure. Simultaneously, they allocated RM1.8 billion for development expenditure. With the allocation financial support by government, the health industry in our country will be enjoying the benefits. Therefore, our healthcare industry will become energetic by improving the facility or equipment within hospitals. Eventually it will increase the level of customer satisfaction as we can provide better quality healthcare services and our profitability will be improved. Economic Economic conditions for a country are mainly influenced by political and government policies. This mean that any decision made by government will indirectly affect the economic conditions of the whole country. The economic growth in Malaysia has dropped significantly and KPJ should be aware of this factor. This is because economic condition will affect KPJ in terms of operation and profitability. Customer disposable income and purchasing power will decrease as economic is not performing well. During economic crisis, inevitably most of the customer may try to cut down some expenses on healthcare such as medical checkup. Instead of choosing a best healthcare provider, customer now which is price sensitive will more prefer on public hospital that able to provide services to customer with lower price. Therefore, it is important for KPJ in setting an appropriate and lower price to gain market share. During the economy crisis, it is usual for the KPJs shareholder to divest their entire share because they may refuse to take any risk of losing their money. When there is having substantial shareholder divesting their share, KPJ may lack of capital available to expand the business and it will difficult for KPJ to invest in new technologies which can help to treat patients. Due to insufficient of capital, KPJ may losses competitive advantages compared to competitors. In order to gain a competitive advantage that could gain a confidence to all the investors, KPJ need to evaluate the cost and benefit for all the expenses and to cut down the unnecessary overhead and expenses such as personnel cost at the same time, which could result in layoffs. However, layoff employee will lead healthcare professionals who are already lack of time to do their work to be overworked since they will be expected to do more work compared to before. Therefore, healthcare professionals will spend less of time and care for more patients than ever. Due to this, healthcare professionals may become negligent in some important part and medical error, which can result in an increase in malpractice lawsuits. Inflation in Malaysia is affecting the overall cost for KPJ. This is because inflation will push up the material price and also price of buying the medical equipment. Other than that, employees for KPJ will try to negotiate for higher salary. All these factors will increase the cost of KPJ in running their business activities. Therefore, KPJ profit margin will be lower as KPJ needs to generate more income in paying additional expense. Competitive Rivalry Previously, private practice was just in general practice and there are only have limited number of specialists. But over the years, there have some changes in healthcare industry structure. Not like previously which hospitality business is mainly from governmental hospital. Today, there is increasingly growing of profit oriented private hospitals. There are a few private hospital which opens in major town and cities in our country. Growth in the industry and increasing number of competitors will inevitably increase the competition for KPJ. However, due to the limitation of 20km distance requirement between private hospitals recommended by Ministry of Health, direct competition among private healthcare groups is becoming not so significant. Thus, even though there are numbers of private healthcare groups competing each other in Malaysia, the rivalry among existing firms is considered medium. Although 20 km zoning is restricting the competition, rivalry is still remains important factors to be considered by KPJ. This is because aggressive expansion and competition from existing players such as Parkway and Columbia Asia may hurt KPJ by affecting profitability and also the market share for KPJ. Therefore, it is important for KPJ to develop a better strategy to gain more competitive advantages against rivals. It is lack of differentiation of KPJ because KPJ and others hospital is providing similar treatment or services to patient. This will be a threat for KPJ as low differentiation cause patient to have low switching cost. Patient may easily switch to others hospital which they want or they feel confidence with it. Nevertheless, low differentiation also means patient will be more priorities on the price of the treatment or services. There will be creating the price competition among existing rivals to attract customers. Therefore, setting lower price on the services provided might earn better competitive advantages against rivals. Moreover, customer service is also an important area which KPJ competing with rivals. Customers will be more prefer to a hospital which able to provide better quality and customer services. Hospital which able to provide speedy and innovative methods in fulfilling customer needs will be the sources of competitive advantages. Besides that, technology for healthcare industry is also the factor which KPJ need to consider. This is because of medical advances and specialty services have been driving a strong trend towards private hospitals specializations with more of the industry players are developing a significant competition for niche areas of expertise such as coronary care, eye surgery, mental health care and maternity admissions. It is will be good if KPJ developing a niche areas which distinguish itself with other existing competitors. As KPJ can build up a good reputation in particular area, customer loyalty can be retained and hence KPJ might not need to lower down the cost to attract customer. Last but not least, intensity of competition between KPJ and others hospital will affecting the profitability and market share of KPJ. Therefore, KPJ should develop and identify a good strategy in order to create sustainable competitive advantage in order to compete with existing rivals. Social Nowadays, awareness of social on healthcare is raised compared to past as a result of the rising in income and education level of citizens. This will lead to the increases in the demand of good quality healthcare services provided. This will enhanced the development of healthcare industry and therefore increase our industry profitability as well as our KPJ profitability. Hence, our KPJ mission of provide quality healthcare services to customer may be achieved with the development of healthcare industry. As there are more and more people having the high level of education, they will more concern on the issues of their body health as they have more knowledge. They also will try to accept the treatment for their healthcare problem as fast as possible due to the awareness on health issue. For example, they will constantly go to hospital either by themselves or bring their family for body check to ensure that they are under a health condition. Besides that, the increases in the income level of society will make them move toward good quality of healthcare services provided. The stable of economic growth in the country will enhanced the income level of society. That will enable them feel more affordable to spend in private healthcare services which are able to provide more quality healthcare services compare to public healthcare services and this directly drive the society move to private healthcare services. Increases in the percentage of getting some disease in the society also have impact on the development of healthcare services. Drug abuse and drug addiction issues are posing a big problem in Malaysia, there are increases in abuse of a drug called Ecstasy by Chinese teenagers and youths and this will lead to the increases of HIV/AIDS in the country. The increases of the number of foreign workers that come from rural areas or poor countries will bring diseases like tuberculosis, bride flu or dengue fever to Malaysia. Then, stressful lifestyle like the pressures arise in the work place will cause high-blood pressure and the risk of getting hearth attack will increases. Besides, the bad habit in the consumption of foods such as alcohol and tobacco will increase the risk of chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. The recent reports of National Health and Morbidity survey show that 15% of Malaysians are obese which increases 1% from year 2006 to 2010. A lmost half of adult Malaysians are overweight. Besides that, breast cancer is one of the main reasons of death in Malaysia as it is common type of diseases among women according to the National Cancer Registry Malaysia, 2002. These factors will give positive impact to the healthcare sector in Malaysia. Furthermore, growing in ageing population in Malaysia also will help in drive the healthcare sector in Malaysia. Malaysias population grow at 2% p.a. and the percentage of the population over 65 years old is expected to rise from 5% to 8% from 2010-2020 regarding to Global Demographics. The growing of older proportion in the population means that there will be increase in age-related disorders like Alzheimers, high blood pressure and heart-related ailment which require long term treatment and rehabilitation Reasonably, all these factors can be considered as big opportunities of expansion for healthcare industries such as KPJ which has the mission of provide quality healthcare services to customer. In order to achieve the mission, KPJ with its goal of providing healthcare services with fairness, honesty and sincerity should be done so that they can expand their services more widely as demand of quality healthcare services seen to be increases in future. Technology Technologicalfactor is very important for all type of business, including our healthcare industries. Greater awareness about the technology will help KPJ improve theirefficiency of business operation and quick response to the changing environment.Healthcare industry needs technology to help them carry out their operation activities more efficiently and effectively. Advancement in IT is enabling KPJ to improve the quality of medical activities provided by them. Healthcare industry need to make a lot of medical records about their patients information.Ifit is done by paper record, there are not much storage place to store all the information and will increase the rate of missing important information. To resolve this problem KPJ has adopted the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to reduce the administrative work and error. This is a digital record which can help KPJ to hold all the detail information about their patients and patients medical history in the system. When a patient enters this system, information can be easily searched by the officer compared to paper work. KPJ will then be more efficient in making the diagnostic and therapeutic decision to reduce the unnecessary work and wasted time. Properly managing the patients medical history is very important.If a mistake occurs, it will lead KPJ to make wrong decision in medical treatment for th e patient.It may also threaten the life of their patient. Other than that, KPJ needs the IT system to help them to enhance in the internal process by establishing an internal network system. IT can act as a mechanism of communication between nurse, doctor and other people who are qualified to access the information system to get the necessary information and information is always updated by using internet. These also help to improve activities of exchanged information between stakeholders. For example, announcement make by internal hierarchy can be quickly received by worker within KPJ by using the internal network system. In addition, doctors can easily place their orders to the nurse, the nurse can then respond quickly to the order and without error due to written order being clearer than oral order. KPJ required a lot of medical facilities to help them in the process of providing the medical services, the required facilities include MRI scanner, CT Scanning. Without the high technology medical facilities, KPJ may not be able to provide a good care service to patient, because recently medical service has become more reliant on the technology. A good medical facility may help to reduce the time of medical treatment. Technology factor plays an important role in the healthcare industry.So, KPJ should invest more in the RD to enhance their medical skill and also help them easily change the administrative work to reduce the mistake and error occur that will affect the reputation of their company. Porter five forces Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is the possibility that a new firm will enter the industry. It is a threat for existing business as new entrants will affect the business and inevitably cause existing business to lose profit or market share. Nowadays, there are many potential investors trying to invest in healthcare service, thus, causing existing business intheindustrytoface the threat of the new entry.Inorder to exclude new competitors, it needs to create a barrier to the entry. However, KPJ may not have to face the new competitor come in because it is hard for a new healthcare business to enter the industry due to the high initial cost. Before starting the healthcare business, it requires to do necessary research, intensive planning and require a huge amount of initial capital to purchase the facilities, research and development, specialist equipment in order to operate the business. Besides that, to be a medical tourism hub Malaysia has to set a goal requiring all the institutions to u se medical devices and procedures. Comparing the other industry and healthcare industry, normally the barriers to enter in healthcare industry are quite high.Itis because of restrictions by government policy. From the past to the present, all the private medical facilities in Malaysia need to get approval to be granted under the Private Health Facilities and Services Act 1998 before they can be established and must be compliant to a regulatory body working closely with the Ministry of Health who monitors, regulates and coordinates these hospitals. Moreover, it is heavily government regulated, which is zoning for healthcare industry. The act requires having a minimum distance of 20km between the existing healthcare industries. This means that when one decides to open a new healthcare business, it must make sure there are no other healthcare businesses within the 20 km area. Some more, to prevent the new competitor to enter the market, government restrict the hospital to acquire the healthcare technology, without the sp ecialist equipment that is hard for the private healthcare to survive in the future. Shortage of doctors is also a factor which is creating the high barriers of entry. When potential competitors come in, they must make sure they have enough medical practitioner and doctor to carry the routine task. This is because if they dont have all those qualified staff, they might face difficulties in providing services to patients. Moreover, potential customer will only choose to go for a hospital which has specialist in particular areas. Therefore, shortage of specialist doctors will also cause that hospital to lose marketshare. Difficulty in securing private specialists will be the barrier for entry to all the new competitors. As the supply of private specialist is limited, hospital groups with a strong reputation will have better advantage in attracting potential specialist against the new hospital. Record of patient is a valuable asset for the healthcare industry it can create a barrier to entry. KPJ have records of patients who have come before and maintained the medical records in one system.This system enables the doctors to have knowledge of their patients medical history. Because all the patients records are already exists in the hospital, therefore, it will cause inconvenient for patients to regurgitate their medical history to a new doctor. Therefore, it will be hard for the new entrant to compete with the existing healthcare industry. Threat of substitute Threat of substitute means that consumer are available to buy another product or service that can provide similar benefit to replace our industrys product. Product demand will be affected by price change of substitute product and service. Therefore, threat of substitute for healthcare industry is considered to be low. The threat of substitute for private healthcare provider will be the non-profit healthcare provider. Private health care is normally charge higher medical fees compared to public hospital. Because of this, some people might not be able to pay for the expensive fees. KPJ is a private healthcare provider that provides a lot of medical service and use medical facilities to enhance their medical skill. Purchases of the medical facilities are considered very expensive because it is high technology equipment designed by professional person and to develop it will use many resources to carry out the necessary research and development activities. For non-profit healthcare provider, most of the funds is come from sponsor, therefore it may be lack of capital to acquire the facilities and equipment. Private healthcare as a profit-oriented company will be easier in raising capital, so private healthcare service will have better competitive advantages against non-profit organization as they is own ing the higher technology equipment and medical facilities. Second threat for KPJ is the Public healthcare provider which is supported by government. People often choose the private healthcare providereven when the service provided will be more expensive is because the services providedis more efficient than public where patient needs to wait for a long time. Private industry is more focused on efficiency and effectiveness todeliver the service to customer, so private healthcare provider will employ more doctors and nurses to carry out the service that are of quality. Another substitute for private healthcare could be the acupuncture, massage and spa, many old people are more reliant on and believed in this traditional service, but it is lacking of proves by science and not so safe. Many traditional servicesare promoted as an entertainment service rather than serious medical service that is provided in legal healthcare company. Sometimes the services provided can be illegal and may be a threat to the patients health. For nowadaysmany people are knowledgeable, they will refuse the traditional medical and chose the more scientific service and that relates to high technology, so the threat for this traditional services is considered low. In healthcare industry, technology acts as a strong substitute to their service, such as e-health. E-health brings a lot of convenient to the patient that are busy and people that lack easy access to hospital; they will be helped by telemedicine. For example,the success story of e-farmasi in Malaysia, computerizing Medical Claims in Korea, and others. Due to insufficient development, this threat to hospital will be low. Therefore, threat of substitute on the private healthcare will be very low. But KPJ still need to plan out the strategies to face the threat of substitute due to economic and environment change that will affect the profit of KPJ. Bargaining Power of Buyers Customer is one of the sources of profit for a business. It is important for a business to understand what customer needs, and their position in bargaining with our business. Bargaining power of customers is considered to be high for healthcare industry. This is because there is having many medical centers in Malaysia. Customer will have the freedom to choose whatever healthcare company and doctors which they feel confidence with. High power of customer will be a threat for the business as it will be increase competitive intensity in the industry. Most of the hospital in Malaysia is providing similar treatment or services to the patient. This means that it will have a low differentiation between hospitals. Therefore, switching cost for customer will be low and hence customer can easily switch between alternatives healthcare company to get a better deal. Buyers income is also the factors which affecting the bargaining power of buyers. If their income is low, probably they will be more preferred on public hospital as public hospital will able to provide services to patient with lower prices. However, if some of the customer who is having higher income, they tend to be low price sensitive. They will more prefer on the best healthcare providers which can deliver better services to them instead of looking at the price. This group of customer will switch to other healthcare providers when they not satisfy with the services provided. Since KPJ is providing healthcare services to people who are struggling with life-threatening diseases, reputation for KPJ will be an important factor to be considered. In addition, buyers is now aware of alternative supplier and information of healthcare is freely available for the public, therefore KPJ need take care their performance and also quality which deliver to patients. Once patients recognize that KPJ performance is not good or poor quality of services, it will cause patient to switch to other healthcare providers which is more reputable in terms of quality and performance. Availability of substitute for healthcare industry will affect customer power in bargaining with KPJ. As there are having substitutes which is public healthcare, acupuncture, massage and spa. Customer may try to switch for substitute as this will be their alternative methods if they dont want to go for private hospital. Therefore, in order to protect against substitute, it is important for KPJ creating and highlight the value and let customers to know the differences between their services and the others. Bargaining power of supplier Suppliers is playing an important roles in a business. They is the person who supplying all the materials, services and things which required by an industry. KPJ is relying on many different types of supplier which support biotechnology development, drugs development, supplying medical equipment, and also specialist doctor. Suppliers who supply medical equipment are considered as important suppliers for KPJ. Medical equipment is indispensable as KPJ is using all the medical equipment in their daily job activities. However, technology advancement has made a lot of changes for medical equipment. There are a lot of new and updated medical equipment which come with better features. All these latest equipment will helps KPJ to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in carry out their routine job. However, there are having limited sources of supplier in supplying all these medical equipment, which creating limited opportunities for KPJ to buy the equipment. There are many buyers for all those medical equipments but only a few dominant suppliers. Due to this, suppliers may have substantial amount of power in negotiating with KPJ in terms of pricing and supply conditions. Supplier may set higher price but there is no room for KPJ to negotiate with suppliers. Medical practitioner is also one of the suppliers for KPJ. KPJ needs qualified nurses and specialist doctors to treat their patients. Therefore, bargaining power of medical practitioner is considered high. Having a group of qualified employees will be the sources of competitive advantage for KPJ against competitor. However, there is shortage of specialist doctors in Malaysia. This will cause the competition among hospital in employing qualified specialist. Most of hospital will try their best to award the specialist by offering higher salary, bonuses. If KPJ choose not to be competitive against the competitors, medical practitioner will search other healthcare industry to work. Hence, specialists doctors will be in the best position in negotiate the working conditions and also the pay structures. In terms of drugs development, KPJ is rely on a few supplier which provide them with specialized tools, materials, and equipment that they need to develop their products. Special tools to develop the drugs will be quite technical and lack of substitute products. This mean it will be high switching cost for KPJ to use another suppliers. If suppliers stop supplying, KPJ will face difficulties in their development progress. Therefore, supplier for all those special tools, materials will carry a higher power in negotiate a better price or delivery conditions. Overall, the supplier power is considered to be high as KPJ is relying on a few major suppliers to supply the things which KPJ needed in their daily job. Therefore, it is important for KPJ to maintain a good relationship with all suppliers to ensure the business process goes smoothly. Factor conditions Basic factor for KPJ is capital availability, KPJ has enough profit to contribute for their capital for internationalize or globalize their business. KPJ earned its à ¬Ã rst annual billion-ringgit turnover in year 2007, with revenue totalling RM1.11 billion in that year. KPJ continued in achieve their new revenuerecords in subsequent years. Which are rising to RM1.27 billion, RM1.46 billion and RM1.65 billion in year 2008, 2009 and 2010respectively. KPJ achieved a new recordin 2011 with total revenue of RM1.91 billion and pre-tax proà ¬Ã t of RM204.60 million. In basic factors for medical tourism of KPJ, medical tourism products are better to located in warm, pleasant environments like Malaysia. Therefore, the basic factorswhich include ideal climatic conditions, natural resources and geographic location, are an advantage for medical tourism in KPJ especially for those visitors from colder climates. In addition to these basic factors, there are advanced factors about skill labour In our country.KPJ healthcare had 750 medical consultants, which equals to a 7% share of private doctors in Malaysia and 47% of the countrys medical personnel and professional.This is because of the better paid of salary. Another advanced factor is KPJ are driven by innovation and technological advancement.There is a strong regulatory and hospital and healthcare infrastructure in KPJ. KPJ continues to invest in the latest equipment with state of-the-art medical technology.This type of technology will help in provide positive patient experience as well as to enhance medical and surgical outcomes. Last advanced factor is we are assisted in the development of medical tourism. These include the world-wide web resources for the communication and marketing of the medical tourism product internationally. In terms of quality, it can be said that there is just little difference in the medical tourism services offered in the advanced western countries and those in the eastern or developing countries like KPJ in Malaysia. But the attractive work conditions and higher salary has helped to staff ourKPJ hospitals with well-qualified people. Therefore, the quality of such healthcare services are equivalent and the services may better compare to the hospitals in developed countries. Demand conditions Demand conditions are one of the important factors for KPJ in order to gain competitive advantage within the industry. Demands in home country enable KPJ has a better understanding in the needs and desires of the customers thus can response faster to take advantage before the foreign competitors. Therefore, KPJ need to continue to improve competitiveness through innovation and high quality services. Malaysia is one of the fastest-growing nations in Asia although our country has a small population of only 29m.Malaysias population has grew from 23.5m to 29m from 2000-2010 with a CAGR of 2.2%. KPJ need to increases the quality of services provide like shorten the waiting time for patients, provide comfortable place for patients to stay like hygiene condition to meet the increases in demand. Besides that, KPJ need to continue to invest in the latest equipment with state of-the-art medical technology in its effort to provide positive patient experience as well as to enhance medical and surgical outcomes in order to retain as well as attract more customers and strong the position of KPJ in private healthcare industry. Then, the development of health tourism is contributing to curative services by private healthcare services providers. For instance, 450,000 foreign patients obtained treatment from private hospitals for various illnesses as well as utilized diagnostic and therapeut
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Importance of Rice and the Varieties Worldwide :: Essays Papers
Importance of Rice and the Varieties Worldwide Rice (oryza sativa) is the staple food for about one half of the worldââ¬â¢s population. This grain has origins going back to about 3000 B.C in India, and grew along the rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates circumscribing the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia. Rice is the staple food of East and Central Asia, the islands of the western Pacific and much of Latin America. These eastern nations are today the main rice-producing countries; places such as China, India, Japan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Burma. Rice is much more than a grain; it has fueled economies, been subject to science, and traveled the globe due to world trade. Rice is found all over the world and in thousands of varieties; there are more than 8,000 varieties found in India alone where it all originated, and in one of the smaller rice-producing countries, the Philippines, there are about 3,500 varieties. Some of these well known varieties include basmati (India), sushi rice (Japan) and jasmine rice (Thailand) each having a different consistency and flavor. Basmati rice is very aromatic, both in its dry state and cooked. It has an exotic smell that is very distinct compared to other varieties. Sushi rice is known for its consistency; it very sticky, which is beneficial when making sushi. Jasmine rice, as seen on the plate, is also aromatic but it has a different smell. It has a more floral smell to it, hence the name Jasmine rice. There are other varieties of wild rice which is altogether a different species (Zizania aquatica). This species is grown in western nations such as the United States and has become a delicacy in markets. It fueled the diets of Native Americans in parts of the Midwest United States. Rice comes in different colors, shapes, lengths, and is grown in different conditions. The harvested rice, which still has the husk around the grain, comes in several different colors including, white, brown, amber, red or black. Some of these varieties are long and slender, while others are short and thick. The Process of Growing and Harvesting Rice Rice is grown in tropical, semi tropical and temperate regions; mostly in coastal plains, tidal deltas, and river basins. There needs to be a supply of freshwater because the land needs to be submerged under water.
Monday, August 19, 2019
1970s Religion and Policies for Today :: Essays Papers
1970s Religion and Policies for Today I vividly remember sitting in my ninth grade world history class, only six short years ago, when my teacher announced that next week we would begin a four week study on world religions. A nervous murmur swept through thirty students, all thinking the same thought, ââ¬Å"oh no, here we go again.â⬠Why is religion in our preparatory schools such a touchy topic? Teachers would rather not address religion or they carefully tip-toeing around the topic? While attending Big Bear High School (a typical southern California school with about 1,000 students) I learned a lot about how religion is taught and how religious issues are handled. Raised in a Christian home, having my father teaching at the same school I attended, and practicing Christianity my entire life, I watched carefully throughout my high school education to see how my teachers would deal with the world and U.S. religions that play an enormous role in the history of our world and country. I am primarily interested in how religion was taught in the early 1970s. Including: what religions were covered, how they were integrated into the text, and the values of the religion that were presented. With my interest in possibly majoring in religious studies I feel that I have an excellent understanding of how religion is taught in our high schools today, but I donââ¬â¢t have a thorough understanding of what it was like to grow up in school in the 1970s and go through school. How was religion presented in the textbooks of schools in the 1970s? My primary goal of this paper is to further my understanding of religion in high schools of the 1970s. Then I would like to further my study by looking at newer documents and regulations that are in place now to govern religion that is taught and expressed in our schools today. What I expect to find is that religion was taught similarly in the 70s without all the newer policies and guidelines of today. Lastly I would like to look at how these policies and regulations in our public schools are affecting our students.
Sunday, August 18, 2019
The Funding of Making Chemical and Biological Weapons :: Chemical Biological Weapons War Essays
The Funding of Making Chemical and Biological Weapons Will the human race still be in existence in fifty more years? Although likely, there is a very real possibility that we will not be here. For example, after the Gulf War, we found Saddam Hussein stockpiling Weapons of Mass Destruction. Did you know that he had enough weapons to kill every single human, dog, and cow on the face of the earth? When I found that out, I thought it was very interesting, so I decided to do a report on it. If you keep reading, youââ¬â¢ll find out what Iââ¬â¢ve found out. Who funds the making of chemical or biological weapons? The answer is many people. Howeverâ⬠¦ the government is the main source of money. For example, they make labs built to find defenses against new chemical or biological weapons. The catch is that in order to find new defenses, they must first build new weapons. That brings us to terrorists. Government officials make the information on how to make these weapons of mass destruction too accessible to terrorists, which eventually results in successful terrorists attacks that injure or harm many people. An example of this was in the spring of 1995 when a Japanese mafia gang set off sarin gas and killed 12 people in a subway, while injuring over fifty. Now, you might be asking yourself, whatââ¬â¢s the difference between chemical and biological warfare? Some major differences are when each has been used in history and / or what makes up a chemical or biological weapon. First, thereââ¬â¢s the obvious difference of what makes up a chemical or biological weapon. Chemical weapons use chemical agents while biological weapons use bacteria from the earth and weaponizes the bacteria. While biological weapons have never been used for a modern war, they were once a very common weapon. You see, biological weapons were used for centuries in such ways as throwing dead bodies into their enemiesââ¬â¢ water supply to sabotage it. Chemical weapons were never used in ancient times, as they didnââ¬â¢t have the technology. They have however found much use in our modern world. In fact, during World War I, chemical weapons found more use than ever before. The main weapon was mustard gas, it was responsible for two percent of the total deaths during that period. The next time chemical warfare was used on a large scale was during the Vietnam War. The Funding of Making Chemical and Biological Weapons :: Chemical Biological Weapons War Essays The Funding of Making Chemical and Biological Weapons Will the human race still be in existence in fifty more years? Although likely, there is a very real possibility that we will not be here. For example, after the Gulf War, we found Saddam Hussein stockpiling Weapons of Mass Destruction. Did you know that he had enough weapons to kill every single human, dog, and cow on the face of the earth? When I found that out, I thought it was very interesting, so I decided to do a report on it. If you keep reading, youââ¬â¢ll find out what Iââ¬â¢ve found out. Who funds the making of chemical or biological weapons? The answer is many people. Howeverâ⬠¦ the government is the main source of money. For example, they make labs built to find defenses against new chemical or biological weapons. The catch is that in order to find new defenses, they must first build new weapons. That brings us to terrorists. Government officials make the information on how to make these weapons of mass destruction too accessible to terrorists, which eventually results in successful terrorists attacks that injure or harm many people. An example of this was in the spring of 1995 when a Japanese mafia gang set off sarin gas and killed 12 people in a subway, while injuring over fifty. Now, you might be asking yourself, whatââ¬â¢s the difference between chemical and biological warfare? Some major differences are when each has been used in history and / or what makes up a chemical or biological weapon. First, thereââ¬â¢s the obvious difference of what makes up a chemical or biological weapon. Chemical weapons use chemical agents while biological weapons use bacteria from the earth and weaponizes the bacteria. While biological weapons have never been used for a modern war, they were once a very common weapon. You see, biological weapons were used for centuries in such ways as throwing dead bodies into their enemiesââ¬â¢ water supply to sabotage it. Chemical weapons were never used in ancient times, as they didnââ¬â¢t have the technology. They have however found much use in our modern world. In fact, during World War I, chemical weapons found more use than ever before. The main weapon was mustard gas, it was responsible for two percent of the total deaths during that period. The next time chemical warfare was used on a large scale was during the Vietnam War.
Saturday, August 17, 2019
International and Domestic Marketing Comparison Essay
In todayââ¬â¢s world, business is commonly acknowledged as international and the general expectation is for this to continue into the foreseeable future. As the world continues to venture into global markets, not limiting business transactions to domestic markets, it is important to understand the similarities and differences of conducting business in those markets. The success of businesses in domestic and international markets is dependent on the accuracy and thoroughness of the marketing within the respective markets. With that in mind, this paper will compare and contrast international and domestic marketing with the use of selected international country, Germany, versus the United States. Domestic versus International Marketing Analyzing domestic and international businesses within the private and public sectors, the most common objective is successfully to function in order to continue operations. Although they share the same ultimate goals, international and domestic marketing are quite different. Generally, nation-states differ in the following areas:â⬠¢Unique governing systemsâ⬠¢Laws and regulationsâ⬠¢Currenciesâ⬠¢Taxes and dutiesâ⬠¢CultureBusinesses venturing into the international market must understand such differences along with recognizing similarities in buyer behaviors as they differ from country to country. Specific to Germany, a successful business venture must fully comprehend the foreign environment in order to effectively market a product or service. German vs. U.S. Culture One of the most important factors that have a major impact on marketing in Germany is culture. Germanyââ¬â¢s culture includes a long history of musical talent and interest which has continued even in modern culture (ThinkQuest, 1999). Germany ranks as the 5th largest market globally in music record sales and is heavily influenced by television (ThinkQuest, 1999). Germanyââ¬â¢s television market encompasses over 34 million households and is by far the largest market in Europe (ThinkQuest, 1999). Television viewers have options for cable or satellite and can choose from a variety of free-to-view public and commercial channels (ThinkQuest, 1999). Another major aspect of German culture is sports; two of the most popular being different types of motor racing and soccer (ThinkQuest, 1999). Practicalityà is a very common characteristic of most Germans that would lead marketers to focus on introducing products and services with a clear purpose and value (ThinkQuest, 1999). U.S. culture, on the other hand, is quite different from German culture. Inspired by a combination of European ideals combined with domestic originality, U.S. culture encompasses traditions, ideals, beliefs, customs, arts, and innovation (USA Study Guide, 2007). Much of U.S. culture was not uniquely derived, but imported through colonization and immigration (USA Study Guide, 2007). America has a strong focus centered on civil liberties, national holidays, U.S. sports, and innovation of arts and entertainment. National holidays such as Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years are celebrated across the country and many different businesses take advantage of such times to offer sale prices on products and services enticing customer purchases. Some of the most favorite sports include American football, basketball, and baseball, and Americans are known to spend lost of money during these events. The U.S. is an enormous exporter of entertainment including news, movie, and music. Different types of entertainment are communicated through a variety of venues including television which ranks as on of the top mass media of the U.S. (USA Study Guide, 2007). Statistics show that 97% of Americans own at least 1 television and most have at least three in their household (USA Study Guide, 2007). Advertising in America is much different from Germany, rather than the focus being on practicality, successful marketing in the U.S. highlights the trendiest fashions and creates an image that one just has to have a certain product. U.S. culture is ever-changing; it is not static, as the country is known as the largest melting pot in the world, and as new cultures migrate into the U.S. accepted by the majority, the culture continues to evolve. German vs. U.S Laws and Regulations In order to tap into the German international market, it is essential for a business to have a clarified understanding of the laws and regulations that govern marketing and advertising. Marketing and advertising in Germany is governed by very strict laws. In Germany advertising is defined by different typesà including:â⬠¢Product Placementâ⬠¢Permanent Advertising Programsâ⬠¢Teleshopping/Radio shopping(Zitierung, 1996)For example, in Germany, the most popular television stations are ââ¬Å"Anstalten à ¶ffentlichen Rechts,â⬠which means that they are not allowed to receive a profit (Zitierung, 1996). Such television stations are independent; therefore, government officials cannot directly influence their decisions (Zitierung, 1996). The top managers are appointed by councils who represent major groups within their society including popular political parties, churches, specific businesses, and unions (Zitierung, 1996). In this case, laws in place prescribe their purpose and internal structure (Zitierung, 1996). Operations are financed through monthly fees acquired from individuals who own either a radio or television (Zitierung, 1996). Financing through television or radio license fee is not permitted. Advertising is restricted to certain times of the day and never interrupts movies or news shows (Zitierung, 1996). Advertising on public television channels may not exceed 20 minutes during the workday, and on private channels may not exceed 20% of daily transmission time (Zitierung, 1996). Marketing and advertising in the U.S., although it is governed by laws and regulations, is much easier than advertising in Germany. Although much of the communication to Americans is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), laws and regulations are more specific to content of ads, antitrust laws, and intellectual property including copyrights and trademarks (HG.org, 2009). In comparison to governing laws in Germany, advertising on television, for example, is done more freely and frequently in the U.S. There are no strict guidelines that dedicate a small portion of time throughout the day for advertising, thus movies, news programs, and television shows are frequently interrupted for the sole purpose of advertising (HG.org, 2009). In fact, many advertising campaigns purchase prime time spots to run commercials for their product during the most popular television shows and sports games such as during NFL games and American Idol to name a few. German vs. U.S. Economy Germanyââ¬â¢s economy is one that is heavily export-oriented, the country is the worldââ¬â¢s leading exporter of merchandise,à and thus this is a key element in German macroeconomic expansion (ThinkQuest, 1999). Germanyââ¬â¢s currency is the Euro and its monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt Germany (ThinkQuest, 1999). Germanyââ¬â¢s financial system is not driven by the stock market; in fact, it is a financial system that is bank oriented. Employment is deregulated in Germany; the unemployment rate is a continuous problem, along with bureaucracy regulations that cause burdens on new and incumbent businesses (ThinkQuest, 1999). Agriculture is extremely productive in Germany; the country domestically produces over 90% of its needed nutrition and is known for its high level of industrialization (ThinkQuest, 1999). The U.S. economy differs greatly from the structure of the German economy. It is the largest national economy in the world maintaining a stable GDP growth rate and continued low unemployment rate (United States Department of Labor, 2009). The U.S. is one of the most significant nations in the world of international trade; the country leads the world in exports year over year while simultaneously remaining one of the top three exporters of goods (United States Department of Labor, 2009). U.S. currency is the American dollar and its banking system relies heavily on the stock market. The U.S. has major economic concerns as it related to external debt because as baby boomers are beginning to retire and collect Social Security, monies are running low (United States Department of Labor, 2009). ConclusionIn conclusion, Germany is quite different from the United States in terms of how the country operates including the government of marketing and advertising. An individual traveling from his home country to do business in a foreign country must conduct extensive market research prior to developing a marketing and advertising plan. It is essential to understand the different aspects of the country in order to effectively position and market a product or service. Doing business in a foreign country involves many different variables and more complexity than doing business at home. Success is dependent on the accuracy of market research and the companyââ¬â¢s ability to manage from a local perspective with the absolute correct marketing mix. References HG.org. (2009). Advertising, Marketing & Promotion Law ââ¬â Guide to Advertising, Marketing & Promotion Law. Retrieved June 16, 2009 from http://www.hg.org/advert.html. ThinkQuest (1999). German Culture. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from http://www.tlc.kherson.ua/~alex/germanculture.htm. United States Department of Labor (2009). Economy at a Glance. Retrieved June 16, 2009 from http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.us.htm. USA Study Guide (2007). The international student guide to education and study in the USA. Retrieved June 15, 2009 from http://www.usastudyguide.com/americanculture.htmZitierung, Autor (1996). German Broadcast Advertising Law. Online Journal Recht. Retrieved June 16, 2009, from http://www.ojr.de/index.html?/1996/36.htm.
Friday, August 16, 2019
Perfection Definition Essay
Too often we aim for perfection and berate ourselves when we fall short. Some of us avoid that humiliation by simply giving up. I donââ¬â¢t want you to give up. I want you to aim high, certainly, but donââ¬â¢t stop simply because you didnââ¬â¢t achieve perfection. There are two points I will make tonight. Firstly, perfection for us mere mortals is by its very nature impossible to achieve. Secondly, to achieve perfection is not actually a desirable thing. Firstly, why is perfection impossible? Perfection ââ¬â being correct in every detail ââ¬â escapes our practical attempts to achieve it. Firstly ââ¬â much like beauty ââ¬â perfection is in the eye of the beholder. One manââ¬â¢s perception of the perfect meal is only fit for pigs in the view of another. Notions of perfection are therefore relative ââ¬â relative to the individual, to their culture, to their notions of ââ¬Ërightââ¬â¢ and ââ¬Ëwrongââ¬â¢. Thus, perfection defeats any notion of an objective definition. As well, we humans are not created for perfection, we are created to survive. Humans learn by making mistakes and surviving. It simply does not make sense to be a race that seeks to perfect a single thing whilst all else goes to pot. We do have feet of clay and so every thing we do carries that fatal flaw in its making. Consider the very highest works of art. The Mona Lisa ââ¬â often considered a towering achievement of art ââ¬â was painted by Leonardo da Vinci over the course of 17 years, and it only came to its current state when he died. So clearly that painting is not perfection. Consider also the dangers and rigours of the space race and its complete intolerance of imperfection. Billions upon billions have been spent in the space race, and yet, despite monumental effort, despite the worldââ¬â¢s brightest minds and most developed systems, tiny flaws come into the machinery that powers the astronauts aloft, and when that occurs, people die in disasters such as the Columbia and Challenger disasters. Perfection requires far too much work and is unattainable. We cannot define perfection objectively, and in any case as flawed and frail humans our creations must also be imperfect. Perfection is impossible. Secondly, even if perfection were possible, would it be good for us? As we know, George Douglas Duke of Argyll said, ââ¬Å"Every advance has a new horizon.â⬠Even the very best, having achieved the highest levels of excellence that humans are capable of eventually see their high water mark eclipsed by competitors or, sometimes, by themselves. Nadia Comaneci obtained perfect scores in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, only to have those performances surpassed by later athletes. If perfection were achieved, we would, perversely, stagnate and fail. As humans, we need to progress and grow, to strive to achieve and to fly above our flawed nature. The myth of progress, of ââ¬Ëhigher, faster, betterââ¬â¢, caresses the ego of each of us to exceed the performance of those that went before. Were it not possible ââ¬â were perfection attained ââ¬â we would not strive with our own personal arrogance to better our betters and succeed. Perfection would become a straitjacket colouring our world with the blandness of mediocrity, where our will to succeed would be sapped by the knowledge that we can do no better. Perfection is not desirable. Now consider the original question. Who needs perfection? The simple answer is that no-one needs perfection. Perfection is not possible due to our flawed and fragile natures, and in any event we cannot agree what perfection is. Perfection is also not desirable, as knowing that we can do no better than our predecessors removes our desire to strive to succeed. In fact we need imperfection. We need to see an opportunity to better the world, to break new grounds of excellence. We need to set the challenge, to stake our claim in the ground and ask all before us to better that mark of excellence. In doing so we must recognise that what we have done is not perfect, and that what we have done contains flaws. Imperfection allows us to advance our small corner of the world, and it allows us to challenge our successors to build upon our work. There is nothing perfect in this world, but the world can be made better by our own actions. Ladies and gentlemen, perfection is neither possible nor desirable. Who needs perfection? No-one needs perfection. There will always be a flaw, some minute imperfection, that will allow us to advance. In that imperfection there is hope. As men with feet of clay, should you aim for perfection, you will assuredly fail in that endeavour. That is no reason to abandon the task, though, as you will leave the world in a better state than before you took up your tools. Stand firm, stand proud, and say ââ¬Å"no-one needs perfectionâ⬠.
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