Saturday, August 31, 2019

The Theory and Medical Treatment of ADHD

For the past several decades the terms learning disorders, learning dysfunctions, learning disabilities, learning differences, and attention-deficit disorders have made the rounds in the educational, medical, and psychological journals. The concepts have been studied routinely and thoroughly with similar and distinct differences. Some theoreticians and educators include the concepts of dyslexia, hyperactivity, interrupted concentration, anxiety, perceptual dysfunction, and a host of other variables as belonging to the definition of what should be called a learning puzzle rather than a dysfunction. If the perception of a piece is placed before the recognition of the whole, then treatment is item specific and not supportive of the entire structure. In other words, learning, and the process whereby it is completed or interrupted, must be viewed in relation to the whole structure rather than identified by its parts. The learning puzzle can be properly described as an intricate formation of a human's neurological, physiological, psychological, and sociological systems (parts) blended together to produce a healthy functioning individual (whole). The â€Å"act† of learning is accomplished optimally when all parts of the puzzle are functioning without interruption. However, when learning is interrupted through external or internal stimuli the puzzle cannot be completed and negative results occur. The lack of puzzle completion is brought about both environmentally and medically. For example: A lack of educational opportunity, poor self esteem, and even peer pressure (environmental leaning interruption) can help to erode the puzzle structure and produce a dysfunctional situation in the learning process (Jourard, 1959). Similarly, should there exist a malfunction in the body (medical part) disruption in learning can occur as well; thus preventing the puzzle from becoming complete. The focus, therefore, of this paper will be to report on that which causes learning to be disrupted through a medical variable (hyperactivity) and the treatment that can be applied to permit learning to take place on a much more normal basis. The literature is replete with references to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and the learning consequences. Generally speaking AD/HD is characterized by developmentally inappropriate impulsivity, attention, and hyperactivity. It is a neurological disorder (DSM-IV-TR, 2000; Breggin, 2000) that has serious consequences including school failure, problems with relationships, conduct disorder, substantive abuse and job failure (Bagwell, 2001; Cepeda, 2000). More specifically AD/HD refers to a family of related chronic neurobiological disorders that interfere with an individual's capacity to regulate activity level (hyperactivity), inhibit behavior (impulsivity), and attend to tasks (inattention) in developmentally appropriate ways. Treatment for the disorder runs the gambit from behavioral therapy (Rabiner, 2003), to herbal remedies (Chan, 2000), to medication (Biederman, 1999). For the most part the drugs used to treat AD/HD are those, which must be prescribed by a physician. Regardless of the drug prescribed the most effective way to treat AD/HD is to use a combination of drugs and therapy. The most common, as well as most familiar, prescriptive medications used for the treatment of AD/HD in children are those stimulants known as methylphenidates (Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate-ER) and amphetamines (Dexedrine, Dexedrine Spansules, Adderall. (Breggin, 1998; Watkins and Brynes, 1999). However, administering these particular drugs to AD/HD children reportedly has some rather severe ramifications such as drug dependency, changing brain chemistry, suppressing appetite, and disrupting the growth hormone. Stimulant medications commonly used to decrease distractibility by increasing focus and concentration, are Ritalin, Dexedrine and Cylert. The general misconception is that this type of medication is used to control hyperactivity. However, the decrease in observable hyperactivity is actually the result of increased ability to concentrate. On the other hand there are even some researchers and practitioners who believe that Ritalin can also lead the way to the use of other narcotics and drugs as the child gets older. Yet there are those who believe that even though the use of Ritalin should be discontinued, they believe the AD/HD child can be placed in a more compliant or submissive state with medications that will permit the child to gain control over the disruptive behavior and learn more (Pelham, Carlson, Sams, Vallano, Dixon, & Hoza, 1993; Runnheim et al. 1996; Barkley, R. A. ,1990). Just because an AD/HD child may have a positive reaction to medication is not indicative that medication is all that is required to produce the desired learning and behavioral results. The medications do not cure the disorder; they only control the symptoms while the medication is in the system. Knowing that medications may help a child pay better attention they do not improve the child's academic skills or increase the child's knowledge. What is most often recommended for lasting improvement is to combine a medical management program with other treatment modalities such as behavioral therapy, emotional support, and parental and educational involvement. The concern today is that everyone is looking for a miracle cure for AD/HD children. Successful treatment of AD/HD requires specifically dealing with several problems in terms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention, and poor motivation. In fact the more the treatment digresses from the aforementioned performance points, the less successful the treatment becomes. Knowing that proper nutrition, exercise and a healthy lifestyle is important for everyone, including ADHD children, there is extremely little scientific evidence that any homeopathic or herbal preparations will lessen or eliminate the symptoms of AD/HD in children. In addition there is little evidence as well treating an AD/HD child with vitamin and mineral supplements, biofeedback, or acupuncture will have any long-lasting affect. The life of an AD/HD child can only change for the better through a combination of careful assessment, proper counseling, family involvement, and appropriate medical treatment.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Catholic Church In Ireland Essay

The role of Catholic Church in the development of the education system in the nineteenth century Ireland.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catholic Church in Ireland was known as Romans Catholic Churches. The church was headed by a pope. In Ireland the Catholic Church was organised in dioceses and parishes, which was headed by the archbishops, bishops and priests. The catholic church of Ireland had various religious orders among which were fathers of the Holy Ghost, Vincentians Capuchins, and Augustinians among others and all of their either participated in offering missions or teaching. In Ireland, there were priests’ societies and they were in various countries, with missionary society of St. Columbia being located in country math, and St. Patrick’s missionary sociated situated in country Wicklow.[1] In Ireland there was the freedom of religion, and this was after the redrafting of the Ireland constitution in 1937 and it was then when the special position which was kept aside specifically for religion was abolished. During this period, there were many churches in Ireland, and thus by considering catholic church, it does not mean that this was the only church. Other churches in Ireland included the Presbyterian, Eastern Orthodox, and Salvation Army among others. Ireland is one of the places with oldest history of churches and Christianity in general. Ireland had the first missionary from France in year 431 and he was known as palladius, because the Irish believed in Christ, the pope saw it necessary to send this missionary to the Ireland in order to continue spreading the gospel. The achievement of palladius was termed by some people as a failure but due to his ability to come up with some churches in laigin, others see that the palladius visit was a success because he was able to start his mission. EDUCATION IN IRELAND In Ireland, religion as well as the practices associated with religion are considered very important and are adhered to the dot. Ireland having the various Christian groups, the majority of the Irish population are known to be Catholics from Rome.[2] The Irish people are united and respect everyone’s religion. This is a very good consideration that promotes education, and lack of the respect can cause a lot of negative impact in the education system. In Ireland, and apart from Christians, there are also Bahais Islamic, Hindus, Buddhists, and people who had the Jewish faith, but all these people lived together as a society united by the respect they had for each other’s religion. This contributed a lot to the provision of education to the Irish people.[3]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Irish people liked being education, and traditionally the adored and honoured education. Despite their differences in terms of religion, they ensured that their children had access to education while still in his or her early childhood. This was enforced by all people and to facilitate education to all children, this was indicated in their constitution. To further enhance this, many education institutions provided free education to the Irish children in various education levels. The Irish education was divided into levels and to facilitate graduation from one level to another, the children were expected to have passed in their previous level. These levels started from the primary level, which admitted young children of about six years and then the secondary level which came as a result of passing the primary level. The third level was the level of higher education where the education attained in the first two levels was furthered, courses and technical training was offered in this level as well as the degrees and post graduate levels of education.   Ireland thus was among the countries which are recognised to have participated fully in education and with a high number of students enrolling and completing their education to even the higher education level. This has made their graduates to be recognised internationally with many countries and companies employing the graduates in their organisations and companies. This shows that the country produces high qualified and competent graduates. Catholic Church in the development of the education system in the nineteenth century. Catholic Church was of great implication in the development of education system in Ireland in the nineteenth century. Bearing in mind that in Ireland education is compulsory the Catholic Church played a big role in ensuring that this education was compulsory to al children despite their family’s financial status. The catholic churches came up with mass education system in Ireland. This was as a result of the contribution of the catholic missionaries in the valuing of the mass education. [4]They knew with this, many children could have access to the education with an equal provision of this education to all children considering nothing else, but just the need for the education to all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catholics constructed schools which were headed by Catholics leaders and teachers. Among these schools were the elementary schools where the head inspector was a catholic dean and local inspector a priest. The school also have committee and teachers who were Catholics. These types of schools never mixed students in terms of sexes and the children thus could be easily protected. The normal schools were headed by priest as the president and teachers had to be Catholics. These schools were involved with teaching and training teachers. These schools were very important in the development of the Irish education because they enhance qualified teachers available to educate the small children and the youths in their other schools.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catholic Church saw the great need of religious education to both children and youth who live in the community[5]. They believed that children who get the religious education are at a better position in their society since the education guides the maturing child mind in a way which a child can know what is expected from him or her, in relating with other people in the society, and in the moral understanding. The catholic schools for children ensure that the children are taught and learn on how to have devotion and how to work. This is enhanced by creating time for devotions and time for communal work, thus ensuring that all children participates in these work and learning on how to do various works, in various situations and within a limited time. This helps the children to be able to have devotions in their future lives and also to fit in the society which requires industrious or rather hard and actively working individuals. The school’s equipped children with the knowledge and understanding inculcating obedience to parents and people in authority. This helped the children to understand the roles of the authority and what is expected from them by the parents and the people in authority. This enhanced respect to all people in the society in which the children lived. Children grew up being honest to all people in the society and intelligently. From this we can see that the catholic churches contributed a lot in the education during the nineteenth century since their schools were foundations which not only provided education which was compulsory, to all children, but also had the best for the children, facilitating easy relationship among the children, and also with other people in the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The catholic churches had various teaching orders. They could use school, or even arrange for camps. All these were targeting at providing religious education and other form of education of children and youths. The catholic churches provided training for the youth concerning the religion principles. These principles gave the youth the best in regard to the religion. This helped the youth to have clear vision on what they are expected do in the society, and also training them to how to be morally upright. Ireland just like any other society had moral values and there was the standard which every Irish was expected to live in. The Catholic Church thus took the initiative to prepare the youths with these expectations, and this helped the youth to cope with life. The catholic churches gave this to the youth, by holding youth seminars, and youth discussions where many youths, were assembled and the catholic teachers and other catholic individuals were used to teach the youths.[6] This had great impact in the society, because the youth could learn a lot from these training on top of their classroom. The education which these catholic churches gave to children and youths also inhibited differentism, and Ireland being a large country with many people and of different religion, these children and youths could use the knowledge acquired from this training take each other in the society in a similar manner, and this helped a lot in maintaining unity and peace among the people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The catholic churches had a different way of contributing to the education of their country’s people. With this I mean the catholic churches ensured that education was free to all children by paying taxes. The tax income was used to manage and maintain the needs and requirements of the free education. This was because many children were getting their education in public schools as compared to the catholic schools, and with this high number of the children thus promoting the children’s education.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For the catholic schools, the catholic churches gave volunteer was as part of their contribution to their schools. By doing this, the financial requirements of the catholic schools were minimised and the money which they saved from the minimised use of finances was used to help the public schools. The volunteer work in their church schools was given to specifically approved schools, and these schools had a better chance of enrolling more students thus ensuring education to all children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The catholic churches ensured that the books which were used by the catholic teachers to educate children were selected by the priest and also ensured that the books have what was good and right for the children. This was done to ensure that the children engaged in reading books which could enable them to develop good morals, and achieve the best knowledge. The catholic churches, volunteers were also willing to provide their personnel, materials and time for the sake of education of the children.[7] The manager of the catholic churches and catholic schools created a chance for interschool activities, whereby the pupils in the catholic schools could interact with pupils from protestant schools and other public schools. This played a big role in enhancing the pupils’ relationships and doing of field work in a joint manner. The pupils could be able to learn new ideas and get extra knowledge as a result of combining the new ideas with the ones they already had. From this joint fieldwork, the pupils were able to pick some challenges from other schools, and at the same time being in a state of learning their strength and weaknesses, which would help them in analysing and rectifying where they had the wrong move or ideas. This learning as a result of joint fieldwork was based on the pupils of both catholic schools and any other participating schools, thus from the wide range of participating schools, children got extra education. Catholic schools were looked upon by the society. The catholic churches were involved with practicing degree of control in civil society. The churches ensure that they practices what was up to their region and this is what they tried to put in the pupils minds. The catholic churches were one of the agents who participated in introduction of new integrated education, as they considered the involvement of children from different backgrounds in terms of religion to have impact on the learning of the pupils.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Later during the nineteenth century a philosophy requiring man to have equal supremacy with state was invented. This never discouraged the Catholic Church in its attempt to provide education to all children. Due to the development in industries, it happened that various machines were to be used in the industries.[8] To operate these machines, the operators were required to have training in all the machine operating procedures. This was based in the states’ side and this means the Catholic Church experienced challenges as quite large of the students had to shift in order to achieve this. The Catholic Church was the primary agent in provision of education and with this, the church aimed at providing the best not considering other factors. Many were times when the Catholic Church went short of funds to finance the education. This was usually a challenge but the Catholic Church never gave up, but rather went ahead to volunteering and offering whatever they could get. This was usually a challenge because other public schools used to get some funds from the government, unlike the Catholic Church, but they kept moving on in providing education despite all this.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catholic Church teachers operated in teaching children in seasons. This was because during winters, the pupils were not usually in sessions.[9] The Catholic Church teachers ensured they provided education, by moving from one place to another either within one parish, or across many of them, and sometimes even from place to place, searching for pupils to teach once they got enough number of pupils to teach, they taught as long as their strength, willingness and time was being utilised in a way to benefit a pupil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many of the pupils came from poor backgrounds and despite the lack of money and buildings to use as a place to call a school, the Catholic Church teachers ensured they went along teaching pupils and making Ireland to have more educated people as when comparing to the bordering countries.[10]When the churches gave free catholic schools, and mostly in urban areas the pupils and teachers used the churches as the venue for their education and the teachers got salary from funds generated from parochial, and this ensured that they taught pupils without being harassed by the government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Later a national education system was introduced after a debate in parliament. This ensured that pupil from poor backgrounds. This education focused on providing separating religious education and enhancing literacy and morals. This wanted to abolish the favours related to religions and all Christians without considering their denomination were considered when making the application to the schools. However some funds were required for maintenance of school the teaching staff’s salary and in order to buy books.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The mode of teaching was different from the teaching done in the catholic churches, because for this national education system, a week was divided in order to facilitate the teaching of literacy and moral and this was done in the five days of a week, and the other two days the religion education was taught. This ensured separate teaching of both the religion education and the moral and literacy education they later considered to offer religion advices every day after the normal moral and literacy classes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Several churches objected this form of education. The first to refuse were the Presbyterians who opted to have their children having their education based on their denomination. This brought some disputes and later it was passed that there was a freedom for the religious education to be taught on regular bases just like the moral and literacy education. For the children of the parents who felt their children needed it, and the freedom of parents who felt their children do not required the religious instructions to be picking their children before the instructions starts. The Catholic Church then joined in refusing and argued that their children needed religious education in equal proportions to moral and literacy education. The Catholics were not up to the claims which authorised established church to have the power to manage the schools, and the fact that bible scriptures were not to be included in the times when general instructions were being taught to children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catholic Church continued to give trial to its mode of education despite the fact that providing the building for the children being education was limited and the government who were against the idea. The financial status of the Irish people also kept giving the Catholic Church challenges since it was always poor to support their children’s education. The Catholics objected the national education system because the commissioners ensured that they benefited from the states funds without really caring about the many places with the fund deficiency and which can be helped by providing these funds. The Catholics felt very bad because of this. However they had nothing better to do than objecting from the public side because even the ratio of the Catholics representing them was very low, and due to this, they always have not voice in the commission. The ration contrasted with the actual ration of the catholic in the total population, because Catholics were the majority in entire Ireland population.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Catholics held their point that they needed their schools having the religious instructions available for their children. This was because some of the scriptures which appeared in text books used by the children and teachers in class were neither valid, nor recognised by the Catholics and their authorities and these books had a lot of the Ireland culture and tradition as the only reference.[11] The Catholics objected this arguing that a good education system need to provide knowledge and intelligence to a pupil, as well as giving the instruction concerning religion which enhanced moral development of children and better relationship of the children and other people in the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the proposal of the new education system, there was to be a school of teachers where training of the teachers who would teach the pupils was to be done. The proposal indicated that the institution would be the only recognised training institution, a teacher from any other training institution would be considered not qualified and not having competency in teaching, hence not allowed to teach in Ireland. This acted as a provocation to the Catholics who objected furiously and they were denied the request to have a catholic appointed to on behalf of the catholic teachers’ religious training. This resulted to very few Catholics enrolling in the training school, and the managers of the Catholic schools decided not to accept some few places which were being given to their teachers in the training college.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most of the managers in the schools were not quality but the proposal insisted on training teachers specifically at the proposed training school, and most of the trainers of the trainees were not professionals, and they targeted on training about philosophy and theology since majority of them were priests. In Ireland the primary schools have higher population as compared to secondary schools and universities. Just as there are many issues left un sorted in primary education same case applies to secondary schools which have fewer population and thus less schools. Comparing the Catholic Church influence, there was a chance for Trinity College and two universities to be found, and this shows how the education system under the Catholic Church was more organised and with a focus compared to the National education system.[12] To conclude, the Catholic Church contributed a lot in the education development in Ireland in the nineteenth century and it’s good to credit the Catholics effort and devotion for the Irish people education. The catholic teachers and other Catholics individuals who committed themselves in generous provision of education to all children not considering their financial background. It’s through the hard struggle of the Catholic Church that the education of Irish people became a success.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   References Bruce F., Biever, Religion Culture Values, Ayer United State 1976. Christ, L, Sherry, E, American Catholism, Appleton-century-croft, London, 1961. Coolahan, J, Irish Education History and Structure. Institute of Public Administration United State, 1981. Hansard, C, Parliamentary debates, T.C Hansard, Great Britain, 1824. Herbermann G, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Encyclopaedia Press, United State, 1913. Lowe,R,History of education,Routledge,United States,2000. Maguire, F, Nineteenth-century Catholic Education, Library Ireland, 1868, Retrieved on 15 March 2008,http://www.libraryireland.com/Maguire/XXVI-1.php. MCDowell, B, Ireland church in 1869-1969, Routlege, United States, 1975. Murphy D, History of Irish Emigrant and Missionary Education, Four Courts Press, Ireland, 2000. Thomas A, Catholic Church and Secondary School Curriculum in Ireland. Peter Land, New York, 1999 vol 5 William B, History of Western Education. Black, United State, 1947 Wiseman, N, Dubling review, Burns and Oates, London, 1961 [1] Thomas A, Catholic Church and Secondary School Curriculum in Ireland. Peter Land, New York, 1999 vol 5 [2] Lowe, R, History of education, Routledge, United States, 2000. [3] William B, History of Western Education. Black, United State, 1947. [4] Murphy D, History of Irish Emigrant and Missionary Education, Four Courts Press, Ireland, 2000. [5] Maguire, F, Nineteenth-century Catholic Education, Library Ireland, 1868, Retrieved on 15 March 2008,http://www.libraryireland.com/Maguire/XXVI-1.php [6] McDowell, B, Ireland church in 1869-1969, Routlege, United States, 1975 [7]Herbermann G, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Encyclopaedia Press, United State, 1913 [8] Hansard, C, Parliamentary debates, T.C Hansard, Great Britain, 1824. [9] Coolahan, J, Irish Education History and Structure. Institute of Public Administration United State, 1981. [10] Christ, L, Sherry, E, American Catholism, Appleton-century-croft, London, 1961 [11] Wiseman, N, Dubling review, Burns and Oates, London, 1961 [12] Bruce F., Biever, Religion Culture Values, Ayer United State 1976.   

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Risk Assesment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Risk Assesment - Essay Example If the 100, 000 people were financially well off, they would have left the city before the storm. In addition, if the number were small, say less than 5,000, the government would use its resources to evacuate them. There is a high association between poverty and crime. From a sociological perspective, the poor are more prone to criminal activities such as stealing and looting whenever such a chance occurs. Bearing in mind that the people left behind were the poor, this theory holds true as they participated in the looting in the city. Additionally, the high number of the affected delayed the recovery process, as the government had to wait for the storm to end before implementing any program. There was a large population of the sick, injured, homeless, and psychologically tortured residents. For this reason, it required more resources to provide rehabilitation facilities, medical services, and housing. As a result, the recovery process was slow compared to a situation where the number of victims was manageable, and the affected had personal resources to assist in various projects such as housing and

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Calibration of Glassware Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Calibration of Glassware - Lab Report Example Get rid of all the water in the canonical flask. All the other volumes of water marks in canonical flask will be measured by the balances that read to  ±0.0001 g for this experiment. The only exception will be the calibration of 100 mL volumetric flask mark. For that mark, one should use the balances that read to  ±0.001 g because they can handle heavier weights. The estimated uncertainties are weight of water, error in sighting the level of the water, density of water and error in temperature reading. So as to avoid introducing random and systematic errors in measurements, it is essential to calibrate them. Volumetric glassware is manufactured to specific standards, but it is not all identical and the manufacturing tolerances are not as strict as you may require for certain Lab measurements. Indeed, small variations often occur from one piece of glassware to the next. It is possible to correct for systematic errors in the calibration markings, and such corrections are necessary for the most accurate analytical work. Volumetric measurements are affected by two main systematic errors; parallax and temperature. The volume that a certain liquid occupies varies with temperature. Even the volume of the apparatus holding the liquid is also affected by the temperature. 21 degrees Celsius has been taken as normal room temperature for calibration. This table contains as many as 50 trials in order to get more reliable estimation of the measurement uncertainties. The data value was arrived at by conducting a minimum of three trials to obtain a suitable calibration. All the findings were recorded in the format above. To improve on proper measurement of volumes, manual calibration of apparatus should be done regularly. To also improve on their performance, volumetric flasks, which are usually colorless, they might be amber-colored so as to handle most light-sensitive

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The ten faces of innovation IDEO's Strategies for defeating the Essay

The ten faces of innovation IDEO's Strategies for defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization Thomas Kelley, Jonathan - Essay Example Kelley does so by describing the way in which an innovation team can be built and function, providing numerous examples of application of these concepts. The introduction sets the scene by singling out the "devil's advocate approach" as the worst enemy of innovation, before defining three groups of roles, or "personas" which typically constitute a successful innovation-oriented activity. In a manner reminiscent of other team role models defined in organizational behavior, Kelley names the groups "learning", "organizing" and "building" personas. It is the learning group, which is the focus of the first three chapters. First the Anthropologist's role is discussed, where the key to beginning successful innovation is un-blinkered perception of how people behave. The theme continues with the Experimenter, whose accelerated failure allows for faster progress towards the goal, before closing with the Cross-Pollinator, adept at applying concepts from one area to a completely different one. Following this is the organizing group, again with one role per chapter. The Hurdler is the problem-solver, the Collaborator brings people together for a result and the Director sets the pace, the direction and the goals. The chapter on the last group, "building", open wi... The Caregiver is tasked with making it easier for the customer to transition to a new innovative context and the Storyteller, the final persona, enhances the motivation and the bonding of the team to produce real and useful innovation. The book closes with a final chapter with some general pointers on succeeding in innovation. The strength of the book lies in the very attainable possibility of replicating the innovation system that it describes. Kelley expresses the concepts and methods in terms that are related to everyday business life and does not make any excessive demand on the reader's intellect. The "cookbook" approach also allows readers to review their own organizations and to pinpoint any particular areas of weakness or malfunction. In a sense, the strength of the book is also its weakness: managing 10 different role models in a fast-moving business environment is a complex task and requires considerable energy. A section on a minimalist approach with ease of application would have been welcome, all the more so in that chapters on some roles (Director for example) appear to have been "padded" with more generic material. In addition, the transversal or underlying nature of certain personas notably in the organizing group could be further developed to enhance practical application. However Kelley makes a valid contribution to business in general with a workable innovation system underpinned by his own real experience. In the field of organizational behavior in particular, Kelley contributes at a micro-organizational level, mostly by charting the development of individual contributor roles, but also to some extent

Monday, August 26, 2019

Analysis of Clinton article America's Pacific Century Essay

Analysis of Clinton article America's Pacific Century - Essay Example All in all, whether the US will be at the center of the action is very much dependent on strategy. The basic assumption when it comes to national perspectives is that each and every state will have its interests that are to be pursued. Colonel Arthur Lykke proposes a three element approach when formulating a strategy (Bartholomees 3). This can be summarized as the end, ways and means approach. Strategy serves to control its surrounding instead of reacting to it. It enables the use of power in either a persuasive or coercive manner to achieve set goals. Based on the USAWC Strategy Formulation Framework, Clinton seems to be on the right track. The ideas articulated in the article are in line with the core national interests of the nation (Bartholomees 399) namely; security, stability, promotion of values and economic wellness. Clinton recognizes the need to invest the US resources wisely over the next ten years as this will have a great bearing the future of the nation as a world power (Clinton 1). She clearly states the strategic vision of the Obama administration as being guided by three principles. These are; maintaining political consensus, quickly adapting into the newly formed alliances and guaranteeing defense for new allies. The importance of the region is greatly emphasized. Clinton first points out that the US needs to reposition and not withdraw from the region as is proposed by some in the political scene. She highlights the market potential in Asia for American businesses as one of the key reasons to reposition. She also reiterates that the key to stability and security at home is the stability of areas abroad. The open markets in Asia are seen as an opportunity to invest, conduct trade and access latest technologies. These markets are also portrayed as being important to recovery of the US economy. Given the economic crisis that the nation went through a while back, it would be unwise not to seize the available opportunity for a speedy recovery. Cli nton advocates for a symbiotic relationship between Asia and the US. This proposal underlies the idea that both the US and Asia-Pacific need each other in order to progress well to the future. The article also distinctively identifies the national interests of the country. The most important is the issue of security. Several ways have been proposed on how to implement the strategy. Clinton first calls for application of a forward deployed diplomacy. In this case diplomatic assets are used to achieve partnership. Six key aspects have been forwarded as the basis for this approach. They are; the strengthening of security alliances; intensifying the work relationships with the emerging powers, this includes China; interacting with multilateral organizations in the region; expansion of investment and trading activities; establishing military presence; and championing for democracy and application of human rights in partner countries. There are several alliance treaties that exist with Co untries such as Japan, Australia, Thailand, South Korea and the Philippines. The countries have been identified as a fulcrum to the strategies that the US plans to apply in the Asia-Pacific region. Though the treaties have proven to be beneficial to the US, Clinton calls for the update of the treaties to make them more relevant to the current times. The alliance with Japan is

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Solid State Hard drive Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Solid State Hard drive - Research Paper Example Thus, it offers faster access time than a disk since the data can be randomly accessed and does not depend upon a read/write interface head synchronizing with a moving disk. In addition, it also offers better material flexibility to physical vibration, noise and excessive temperature change/variation. However, there is a problem with it that is its higher cost per MB of storage (StorageSearch) and (Crothers). Kyrnin (2009) states that fundamental principle of solid state drive’s working is that there should be no circulating or moving disk parts. In other words, these disks have no moving heads or spinning platters. Additionally, in solid state hard drive data is spread over numerous word length pieces and stored in memory. In addition, the data from the hard drive is accessed instantly using a technique unique system-wide addresses searching. Moreover, this action has been employed in computer RAM (Random Access Memory) for several years, however for a long time it was too costly for companies that manufacture SSD (Kyrnin). According to Rankin (2009), the solid state disks employ either SDRAM (volatile and non-volatile storage respectively) or NAND flash. Though, NAND flash is acknowledged as the NAND-gate technology that is widely used in USB flash drives as well as in a lot of different memory cards. Additionally, the NAND flash is based on the drives that are persistent as well as are able to successfully replicate a hard disk drive. On the other hand, SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory) is a volatile memory and needs an additional power source if it is to function separately from a computer (Rankin). According to Kyrnin (2009), the solid state hard drive basically looks similar to the traditional hard drive and has no apparent difference from traditional hard drive. On the other hand, the new solid state hard

History HW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

History HW - Essay Example Republicans maintained that the leaders must be kept out of their political power after the war. The northerners maintained that the southern states were not to be allowed in the congress until after they had totally removed slavery out of their states. Seeing this Lincoln offered amnesty to all the whites in the south apart from those high rank officials who had stimulated the war. He also came up with a reconstruction plan to entice the southerners from their rebellion. Southern leaders, who had not been given amnesty, rejected the reconstruction laws and replaced it with another bill. This bill was known as the Wade-Davis bill and it was passed in the house after voting it in. however Lincoln refused to sign the bill after it had been passed and this made the two senators mad and prompted them to stop the reconstruction laws. Soon after, Lincoln was assassinated and this led to the rebellion from the south over his death. His successor Johnson passed three important amendments; these included the 13th amendments that abolished slavery, the 14th amendments which allowed every person born and raised in the US to be a US citizen. The 1th amendment allowed every citizen to vote. The other reconstruction that was done is the military reconstruction. In this reconstruction, the southern army was reconstructed and new leaders appointed to serve as army leaders. This was done to remove the old army leaders who had brought the fighting. Taxing reconstruction was also a major change in the reconstruction. In the past property was given value by their owners and they took the taxes themselves to the authorities, however this changed after the reconstruction of the new taxing laws. Most of the southerners were against the reconstruction laws because they felt that these laws were meant to punish them due to their resistance. This made them to oppose the laws and in turn refuse to follow the orders. The upper south soon agreed to end the opposition to the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Markets & Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Markets & Marketing - Essay Example A Market is the demographic and/or geographic group or groups of buyers for products and services on offer. It may be limited to a small area or may be worldwide but that is dependant on the type of product or service on offer. But a market can be defined only through the Marketing effort that is put in to exploit this market. The potential market may be larger but the market for a product or service is the targeted market for which it makes this effort. Using different methods, Marketing determines the size of the market that is being approached but this has to be a controlled exercise otherwise the effort will be aimless. Usually this data is drawn from valued sources such as the U.S. Postal Service Deliverable address counts, Equifax TotalSourceâ„ ¢ consumer database household counts, as well as state and local agencies. Some important databases are: National Change of Address (NCOA) is a database owned and updated by the United States Postal Service (USPS) It containing approximately 160 Million permanent address records filed with the USPS over the last 48 months. (NCOA) ï‚ · Mail Preference Service (MPS)  -   This list is managed by the Direct Marketing Association and lists people who have opted not to receive advertisements through mails. ï‚ · Deceased Master File Suppression  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ This list flags addresses whose primary residents have died. With this data it is possible to segment the market and subsequently to determine the target customers for the organization’s products. Once this data is available, the serious exercise of Segmentation begins. Markets are heterogeneous and are created by reasons of different values, needs wants, constraints, beliefs and incentives. Customers differ in their values and perceptions and want to purchase things that have value for them. Value is not just the monetary part, but also the usefulness and emotions that with go with it. The need and want play a great role in

Friday, August 23, 2019

Emergency Response Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emergency Response Plan - Assignment Example The purpose of this program is to ensure that the emergency response is always efficient so as to manage the disasters. Conversely, the program aims at minimizing potential risks or danger to the individuals, staff, residents, visitors, and volunteers. Nonetheless, the purpose of this program is to ensure that all operations are in a state of continuity so as to effectively mitigate the risks. Moreover, an emergency response plan is never complete without clear objectives (Gandy et al., 2014). In this case, the response plan primarily aims at providing directions and outlining processes that are necessary for managing personnel, facilities, equipment and all resources during the emergency. Besides, the plan aims at minimizing the potential impacts of the disaster through maintenance of operational standards in readiness, preparedness, and awareness of the emergency situation. Though least important, the plan aims at laying the foundation for developing training programs relating to e mergency response management. The report in particular strives to develop an emergency response plan for severe storms or thunderstorms as one of the frequent disaster situations. Damages that tropical storms and tornadoes leave on the facilities they strike are enough to call for a detailed emergency response plan that can help in mitigating immediate and residual effects of such natural disasters.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Hunger Games Essay Example for Free

The Hunger Games Essay In this Action-Drama Feature novel, Katniss Everdeen, A victor from the first novel the hunger games. Has fought her way through death itself. In which brings us to part two and when she fights to the death and becomes victor. Her worst enemy president Snow gets really angry with her. n the first hunger games when Katniss was in the arena she started a small rebellion by getting some poisonous berries with herself and her partner Peeta Mellark decided they where going to eat them some poisnious berrys so they wouldn’t have to kill each other while they was interupped by the government. Little did they know Katniss and Peeta was starting a rebeillon which brings us to novel three! The Mocking Jay Katniss is in the lost district 13. District 13 capture Katniss and 2 other tributes that was in the Hunger Games But instead of imprisoned them they decide to Make Katniss the Leader of the army, Beetus as the weapons designer Leader, rewarded Finnick with his own army, Gail Was Katniss assistance but while these tributes try to plan there attack on the capitol, the capitol is torturing the other people from districts all over except district two Because of the alliance there so Katniss Has to come up with a scheme to help those in need while bringing the government down so they can have the total freedom they been fighting the government for decades now. This is a great novel for readers at above reading average also for people who like drama intense action and a little love story here and there. I also enjoy reading part of this book except it takes an awfully long time to get to the point of what they are trying to say or explain but other than that it was a good story that enjoy.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Management Commitment And Participation Of The People Marketing Essay

Management Commitment And Participation Of The People Marketing Essay The firm applied advanced of human resources and for Social Policy;  the management style is based on management commitment and participation of the people. In addition, the company had a responsible corporate citizen, committed to the government, shareholders, customers, communities and consumers. Environmental objections are committed to business practices and taking into account the need to conserve natural resources and save energy is environmentally friendly. For example, guarantee that all products manufactured, imported and distributed  by Nestle Malaysia are certified HALAL by authorized Islamic certification bodies. Perhaps, Company shares through achieving sustainable and profitable long-term growth has been delivered. This brand has a wide area. Branding strategy is corporate. Part of the branding strategy is the brand plan for each product. This is an integrated strategy. The brands of Nestle area key power but the executive levels are very aware today that brands alo ne are not enough to win. From its beginning, Nestle developed its commerce globally and became aware of the  truth that food products have to be  closely connected to restricted  eating and  social custom. That is why Nestle form the very start has always shown reverence for various cultures and traditions. Nestle activities to complete self as much as feasible into the cultures and  traditions where it  is present, adding also to  the local setting its  own set of values. so, Nestle embrace cultural and social diversity and does not discriminate on the basis of origin, nationality, religion, race, gender or age. Also, Nestle believes that is activities can only be of long term benefit to the company if they are the same time useful to the local community. exactly, the environment is changing very quickly and in particular customers are looking for answer  to their concerns. To our view, global thinking and strategies can best be expressed through local action and commitment as showed as Nestle Malaysia. And of course, Nestle practical think globally act locally as well as thinking out of the box idea in their product and distribution with the help of strategic global marketing. Milo, a brand of chocolate/malt powder beverage of Nestle, which is once known in the past as number one brand in customers mind in Thailand. But nowadays Milo is not that well perceived as before but another manager, Oval tine, had triumph the position and become market leader in the segment. With the character of Nestlà © that employ general marketing strategy such as cost direction in business, the company is currently struggling hard time finding the competitive advantage for Milo, when it comes to face to face with its main rival, Oval tine. The main goal of this marketing plan is to provide marketing strategies, Explain and predict sales Milo become the market leader in Thailand. Models and concepts of modeling, SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces analysis is being conducted to assist in the analysis of external factors. Product Milo the energy drink nestled into the Indian market in 1996. The responsibility of launching the drink in a market dominated by time tested Bourn vita and Boost was no easy task for Nestle. As the fifth player in the market for a coffee drink. , the drink was up against Bourn vita which had an enviable market share of 40% and SmithKline Beecham, a strong contender, especially in the south. After creating the worlds number one energy drink Milo and taste benefits, the attention shifted to presenting its emotional benefits too. Focus now on rebuilding brand image of a delicious energy drink into the extra energy to winning. New Milo is for active, growing children its energy releasing B vitamins give them the extra energy, vitality and stamina that make them winners. Milo, the chocolate milk beverage targeted essentially at teenagers in the urban marketplace is the fastest selling product here. The only surprise to find that rather than being grand children, senior citizens want to ma ke it your everyday bottle. Place Distribution is the most important thing next to sales. Sales are not possible if the distribution network is not effective. If product is not available in the market at the right place at the right time and the customer may lose a great product that can change it. Price The firm has several options for addressing the price. Domestically Nestlà ©s Milo manufactured finished products may be force to switch to offshore sourcing of certain component to keep costs and prices competitive. Another factor has been audited by the distribution in target markets. An extension or ethnocentric pricing policy describe that the per-unit price of an item to be the same no matter where in the world the buyer is situated. Nestlà ©s executive level monitor consciously on the freight and import duties according to the Malaysia market. Compliance or polycentric pricing policy allows the subsidiary or affiliate managers or independent distributors to create whatever price they feel is in very good condition. Price strategy Price strategy is a basic, long-term pricing framework, which establishes the initial price for a product and the intended direction for price movements over the product life cycle. The third type of pricing strategy is to manipulate prices, the pricing and the pricing is made available.  Malaysia, Nestle Milo current practice is that the market penetration pricing to charge relatively low price for a product where Nestle (Milo) initially as a way to reach a mass market. Choose the price strategy When Nestle Milo has decided the product price, they will choose a good pricing strategy that will give them direction of price movements over the Product Life Cycle. Nestle Milo are knowledgeable about higher prices. If the higher prices, they have to produce a good quality of Milo. In addition, competitors may affect pricing strategy. For example, if Nestle Milo introduces a new product that same with competitors, the price will be restricted and close to the price of competitors. But Nestle Milo able to differentiate and convince consumers they can set a higher price for the product. Promotion Using the consumer insight that mothers are driven by a need to support their sons hard work and help them succeed when under pressure, the agency launched an impressive ad campaign. The study showed that the campaign needs to Milo as a drink with two strong power delivery and taste perception. Thus a strategy was adopted wherein the agency targeted children belonging to the age group of 7-12 years and through them their mothers. The strategy worked and led to a 40% volume growth, with the market share growing to 8.8%. The agency came up with commercials addressed to children as the target audience and mothers as the secondary audience. The campaign proved to be successful with the drink emerging as the No. 2 brand in 3 out of 4 zones, and its market share growing to an impressive 11.4%. Not satisfied, the agency undertook another research, which revealed two issues that needed to be addressed immediately. Firstly the pester power, which in this category was not very high and secondl y, the fact that Milo s brand promise of winning was unfortunately being perceived as an advertising/ marketing claim. Hence Nestle embarked into yet another campaign, this time with the intention of improving the brand image by overcoming a mothers apprehensions and getting her to subscribe to the brand promise. Other than that it takes an active part in the sponsorship of sports event at both school colleges, they also distribute T-Shirts having Milo logo and other such apparel. This helps company to promote their product as well as build their Brand Awareness. Promotion Recommendation To make Milo being well-known all over the country, they should make a lot of  promotions which is dissimilar with the promotions that they have done before.Afterwehave  been  through  the  discussion,  we  have  all  agreed  that  Milo  can  wider  their  promotion by making a contest or a lucky draw. They just need to put a lucky number  behind the packaging and the end of the month, the will pick a lucky number and the lucky customer can redeem their price at the nearest Milos branch. Besides that, Milo can make a different packaging style. They should combine all their products in one pack that include mini pack of Milo powder, Milo energy bar, Milo fuse, and so much more. By doing this style of packaging, Milo can make all your delicious product promotion to a customer so that they are able to try all the products produced by Milo . If they interested with one or all the product, for sure they will but it again and again. This will increase the profit. .

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making Introduction This chapter introduces the reader to the broader context of the research area with an overview of decision making in cross cultural MA. The purpose is followed by the problem area and research question which will lead the readers through the thesis. Background Decision making is a process that managers face of diverging to explore the probable options and then converging on solutions. As Pratt points out, there is clearly a distinction between what an individual thinks(personality)and the way an individual thinks(cognitive style) (1980). The process is made even more complex when the companies are dealing in decision making in an arena of Merger and Acquisition. Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) have become the dominant mode of growth for firms seeking competitive advantage in an increasingly complex and global business economy(Adler, 1997).Cross-border merger and acquisition has continued to increase at a torrid pace during the last decade and half, to the point that it has become a major strategic tool for growth of multinational cormporations(Cartwright and Cooper,1993). Therefore it is essential for companies to pay attention to the analysis, strategy and planning behind its decision making. The management extent becomes much vast when it comes to different cultures both on the national and even greater on cross border level. The manager chances of successfully dealing with the rapid changes reduces to an extent. Multinational corporations require to hold a varied set of routines if they are to be renouned in a diverse world. Routines and repertotoires are often dependent on the multinational corporations unique institutional and cultural environment, and are therefore not imitated easily by other firms (Barney,1986). As multinational companies increasingly acquire targets in more culturally distant countries, they face new challenges in manageing their external environment (Moren,1980). Along side these encounters it is also important to understand the relation between national cultural distance and cross-border MA performance while devising strategic decisions. The difficulties in MAs are seen due to the lack of strategic decisions makingmade by organization. Managers end up having unrealistic expectations of probable synergies and fail to cope with multiple complexities. Companies now a days publish their cultural norms and values which might not be the real culture of the organization. Anthropoligists have researched that the undertaking of knowledge about a particular organisation culture does not always begin by inquiring the members themselves to identify the particular trait. In reality the cultural norms are recognised by understanding the profundity of cultural influences that are carried out in an interval within an organization. This necessitates to have an insightful long term observation and the foundation of norms,disciplines and new problem solving strategies. The decision-making paradigms have seen to occur in many fields, including management theory, psychology, information systems, management science, and operations research. It is also a fundamental activity of all management, and research and literature concerning decision-making processes.(Stewart, 2003) Problem Companies are equipped to make better decisions if they are more sensitive to cultural differences in a cross-cultural environment. Effective decision-making can enable smootherwork place relationship within and across the border MA, if managers are attuned to cross-culture management. Contextually how do organizations make decisions in a cross-cultural aquisiton is a critical research question in the study of administrative process. Researchers have paid little attention to complexities of decision making, in cross-cultural MAs. Previous research is more concentrated on routine operational decisions that are more available to quantitative analysis and particular descriptions.(Mintzberg, 1999) Additionally other important research questions, especially related to thinking or cognition are prevailing in the dynamic research of decision making, such as; how individuals get benefit from cultural diversity learning, and how do individuals think (Mitchell et al., 2002) and make different decisions. These emerging notions defined our research questions of this thesis. Consequently, we have formulated our research problem in the following questions: 1. What are the cross-cultural difficulties affecting decision-making in the aquired firm? 2. How does these cross-cultural difficulties influence the decision-making of acquired firm? Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to study the influence of cross-cultural implications of MAs on Decsion-Making. Delimitations The study is only concerned with the decision-making process in a cross-cultural acquisition and there is a less emphasis is on the cognitive factors of decision-making but the influence of cross-cultural implications on decision-making behavior in general. Due to time constraint, one case company is used for this analysis consequently the results limit to this Company A only. Moreover, the Company A has agreed to co-operate with an anonymous status of itself and its employees. This also set boundaries to the scope of our analysis and presentation. Further, this research has been conducted on a local Swedish company acquired by an Austiran firm, so analysis and conclusions will be restricted to information obtained locally. As a result, the analysis of Austrian work behavior is also subjective from Swedish employees perspective. Definitions To better understand the research, definitions are presented below to avoid misinterpretation of key concepts used in our study. Decision-making Cross-cultural Company A- It is a company based in Sweden. But has agreed to participate in our research on complete anonymity of itself and its participants and therefore will be refered to as Company A throughout the paper. Its formerly a Swedish organization which was acquired by an Austrian company in year 2000. (More information on Company A and its relevance to our study is mentioned in the Method) 1.6 Disposition The disposition of this thesis will be as follows: This chapter critiques the study and makes suggestions for future research. To fulfill the purpose of this thesis this section answers the research questions. This chapter covers analysis of the empirical findings in connection with theory and results. This chapter present result from the qualitative interviews conducted in Company A. This chapter presents theories within the field of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisitions. This discusses the procedure of collecting data and interviews as our instrument. Reliability, validity and generalizability of the study are also discussed here. Frame of Reference The section will present the previous research and studies in the areas of decision making and Mergers and Acquisitions integration. Further in reference to existent literature this section will discuss the decision making process in MAs. A brief summary of the whole frame of reference is presented at the end of the section in order to make a link with our research questions and to provide a base and guidance for the creation of themes for our empirical data. Frame of Reference Recently, a considerable amount of management research has been developed that focuses on the cultural perspective of international acquisition performance. (Arikan,2004; Rottig and Reu,2005) Researchers argue that a lack of national cultural fit may lead to cultural clashes between the involved workforces (Larsson and Risberg,1998). This may lower employee commitment and cooperation (Cartwright and Cooper,1996), and complicate the post-acquisition integration process (Very and Schweiger,2001) Some studies exposed a negative impact of cultural distance on the performance of international acquisitions (Datta and Puia, 1995, Olie, 1994, Uhlenbruck, 2004), while others identified a positive relationship (Doukas and Travlos, 1988, Morosini, Shane and Singh, 1998). Still other studies indicate that cultural distance either has no direct effect on international acquisition performance (Markides and Ittner, 1994) or is one of the least significant variables affecting performance (Kanter and Corn, 1994). These contradicting views developed the interest in the knowing how much of the cultural differences involved in the decision making in MA. This paper provides a descriptive framework that addresses the complexity of the decision making process of consequences of culture for international acquisition performance. Decsion-making Cross-cultural MAs Methodology A way of gathering knowledge about the social world is the methodology notion refered to by Stauss and Corbin (1998). The specific research methodology we are inspired by for this research is the grounded theory which is consummated by qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. To study the implications that emerge out of a cross-cultural acquisition and its influence on decision making process, we want to take advantage of the theoretical fundamentals and researches that have already been done in the realm of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisition implications. We also want to take that knowledge further through this chosen method by taking into account the case of Company A which was acquired by an Austian firm and has realized decision-making differences between the two units after the cross border Acquisition . 3.2 Research Method Determining the why and how of decision-making in a cross cultural contxt of an acquired frm can be done by finding the first-hand experiences of employees in Company A. To serve the purpose of our study we chose interviews as the primary source of data collection. We felt that person-to-person interaction with semi structured questions will be best in acquiring information. Moreover, considering the characteristcs of our investigation and that all the employees could be reached within a close proximity and in a single premise, the interview schedule was chosen instead of a questionnaire. Since culture can be a sensitive topic and the interviewees could be reluctant in answering, we ensured anonymity at the start of the interview process to make them comfortable as also stated by Kumar, Ranjit (1996). Through primary data we know the reasons behind a certain management decision. Most appropriate way of learning about opinions and behavior that are relative to culture is by asking que stions directly to people involved. (Ghauri Gronhaug, 2010) Information on the Austrian acquisition of a Swedish firm, as Ghauri and Gronhaug also states can only be gathered by asking people who have been involved or have observed the process i.e. of acquisition. Research problems which are focused on uncovering a persons experience or behavior and understand a phenomenon which we know little about are an example of qualitative research(Ghauri, 2004; Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). Such is the nature of our decision-making and cross-cultural research which includes social and behavioral sciences. The Choice of Research Method The approach is to use use a qualitative research methodolgy of investigation, data collection and analysis. Decision-making is not a fixed and static state to measure and its a cognitive process, besides it is not a steady state phenomenon and changes erratically with time and environment as described by Mintzberg(1997). Quantitative research emphasizes on the quantification of data collection and analysis as argued by Bryman and Bell (2007) and observe social world as an external and objective reality. Holloway (1997) advocated of qualitative research for capturing the way the individuals experience, interpret and make sense of their environment. Bearing this in mind and our focus of discovering and understanding the role of cross-cultural factors in decision-making, we were convinced to use this method. Consequently the choice of our research method, is qualitative and the purpose of the research inquiry is behavioral and therefore interconnected, therefore provides a basis for quantitative analysis. The qualitative study Our approach is purely qualitative. Auerbach (2003) claims that qualitative research involves analyzing and interpreting texts and interviews among others, in order to investigate specific patterns, i.e. examining decision-making amidst cross-cultural challenges in an acquisition. Interviews Interviewing is the most widely utilized method in qualitative approach of investigation, as stated by Bryman and Bell (2007) and this instrument suits appropriately to find answers to our research questions, .i.e. decision-making under the implications of a cross-cultural acquisition. The technique and construction is very important in the formulation of interviews. The interviews can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured (Saunders et al. 2007). As we were more interested in theory of a particular reality Wengraf (2001) instead of the numerical data, we chose to settle on semi-structured interviews. We were very particular in formulating the questions as two cover both aspects of cross-cultural implications and decision-making. On request by the contact person at Company A, we got interview questions reviewed for improvement from our tutor before presenting it to the company. The interview questions were then sent out to the contact person to be distributed to the interviewees in advance. Sampling The choice of subjects that were needed to be investigated for our research questions was crucial. Collins, Onwuegbuzie and Jiao (2006) stated that researchers should decide sample size in both quantitative and qualitative studies. In the sample from Company A, we were looking for all the people cooperating with Austrian counterpart and are making some forms of decisions. It was kind of our contact person at the company, after explaining our research necessity, he arranged ten people from mangers to engineers who were in some way cooperating with their cross border counterpart. Considering this we used purposive sampling technique which as mentioned by Maxell(1997) is used in qualitative studies to select e.g., individuals or institutions based on specific purpose. Data Collection The research design directed us on the empirical data. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews using open ended questions. This permitted us to probe relevant issues which emerged during the interview. We aimed at making the data reliable, to ensure this we recorded the interviews upon permission and also took notes to reduce the chance of misinterpretation. In an attempt to motivate the respondents to co-operate with us and obtain factual data with their trust we ensured the anonymity and confidentiality of responses. We skipped a few questions in two interviews due to shortage of time. We completed a total of ten interviews in a session of three days with an allotted time of thirty minutes each. Reliability and Credibility A reliable and credible data is vital for an authentic research. Throughout our study we took measures to ensure this. During the interviews we did not rely on perceptions which affects the accuracy of our observations and used constant probing to have clear answers. We remained unprejudiced and flexible to have reliable working data. Respondents sometimes perceive risks and may believe interviews to be jeopardizing their emotions and privacy as accounted by McCracken (1988). Knowing this, we assured the interviewees about the privacy and academic purpose of interviews. So they were at comfort in providing information conveniently. To avoid potential bias of our preconceived notions and theories we transcribed only what the interviews said, which we stored in the form of recordings and written notes taken at the time of the interview. We calim to have a plausible study, considering all the measures we took responsibly in terms of organizing and conducting the interviews. Qualitative Data Analysis Our analysis was exploratory as asserted by Creswell et al. (2003) with a focus on understanding the influence of cross-cultural difficulties on decision-making by employees in an acquired firm. Like in most of the qualitative analysis we refer to the inductive approach, as claimed by Bryman and Burgess (1994). Raw data was in the form of interview recordings and our notes taken during the interviews. We read the data vigilantly too derive concepts, themes, or a model which is common in qualitative data analyses, especially grounded theory (Strauss Corbin, 1990). In consistency with Strauss and Corbins (1990), our inductive analysis began with an area of study, which was to investigate the influence of cross-cultural factors on decision-making, and let the theory to develop from data. The analysis was organized as follows: Interview description: To begin with, we recorded all the interviews and took notes during the interview. We read the transcripts many times to get familiar with descriptions. Identifying discourses and theme generation: After identifying the accounts from the data, we recognized relevant discourses from the transcribed interviews, and excluded other irrelevant description. Following this we observed the core information and concluded some patterns of behavior/ theme. Later, formed categories with summary of data sets as behavioral, structural and interaction and communication to do a quality analysis and conclusion. Discussion: In this section we explored the meanings explicitly or implicitly included in our empirical findings and looked for links of cross-cultural difficulties and decision-making. We also put forward suggestions of future research in this clause. Empirical Data The Interviewees Total number of ten interviews that conducted, ee found that from technical engineers to line managers including logistics, project and bid manager everyone is cooperating with Austrian counterpart in one way or another after the acquisition. Consequently, employees at different levels of the organization are all involved in some kind of decision-making that accounts for the cross-cultural differences after the acquisition. Following are some themes that we identified that will be of assistance in developing the analysis. Employees organizational behavioural Swedes in an organization generally work in groups and are independent individuals at the same time. They also have a freedom to express views, owing to a less heirarchical system. Mutual agreement, consensus, structure and logical reasoning is very important to them for which they have a lot of meetings and discsussions. This also refers ot the notion of collective decision-making as explained by Melaville, Blank, and Asayesh (1993). Swedes are solution-oriented and are usually calm. The essence of usual Swedes vs. Austrian behavior was narrated by Interviewee 5 as: There is a great difference in the decision-making process. In Sweden everyone should agree and we ask a lot of people of what everyone think. Then we make decision after hearing all the opinions. And its opposite in Austira, you do not ask the employees if you are working as a manager. I think you are seen as a weak leader if you ask people of what they think. Its positive and negative in both ways I think Swedish way is better for working in a team and but in Austira you really make the decision and you come forward. Austrians on the other hand dont have much freedom of expression due to a heirarchical system in the acquired firm view. Another common view observed was that Managers in Austria alone make decisions and value of consensus is less there. Austrains are social and build relationships. A lot more emotion is involed than facts in their reasoning. Moreover, Austrians are problem-oriented and get usually stressed under a problem. This observation can be futher emphasized by few statements of the interviewees. They have a lot more emotions and we like to base our decisions on facts. , Interviewee 2 said. They have much hierarchy. More power distance. There is a very large distance between the manger and the individual member in the group. Interview 4 affirmed. Decision-making process structure The decision-making process depends on the type of decision. If its a higher stake decision, the process is followed through formal procedures of contracts and agreements compared to daily operational level decisions which are simple. In Swedish unit agreement has to be reached through consensus whereas in Austrian unit, managers give a decision which is to be followed. More decision-making authority lies with managers in Austria than Swedish ones who work more as asupport function. Interaction Communication between units Cooperation at the technical or the lower level works well. At the management level cooperation is difficult where decision making takes longer. Some employees expressed that even with electronic facilities available communication across the border is difficult. Employees cooperating for a longer period developed relationships of trust which helps in cooperation amidst the cross-cultutral differences It doesnt work well when we cant sit together and discuss, makes harder to communicate over cross borders even though facilities are provided like skype ,video conferences, but it kills the team spirit as its not the same as for sitting together Interviewee 5 recalled. On a practical point, the interaction between units is informal. But it depends on the type of decision aswell, i.e. starting a project, would follow a formal procedure of interaction. Project mangers have a closer contact compared to the rest. Informal day to day technical decisions are handled on a daily basis. Its is also hard to predict a response to an interaction from across the border, some interviewees responded. Through data it was also understood that is easier to agree on factual information, which all can straightforwardly agree to. Language barrier has seem to affect the agreeability due to misinterpretations sometime. The technical side of the decisions are easier to agree on, compared to the decisions made at management level i.e. commercial issues. This can be analysed from the figure  [1]  below. The tactical decisions have been observed to have most complications whereas operational decisions are easier. decisionmaking_intro.gif Additionally, we comprehended from suggestions put forward by the respondents that, early in the process of post-acquisition integration, communication on the differences in national and company culture can facilitate decision-making. Understanding of adapting to a culture is important. Performace indicators and clarity on who makes which decisions will also assist. Additionally, diversity courses and communication on how to work together has helped in the past and can also facilitate later on. An interesting point observed by an interviewee during a diversity course; One thing I learned from that cultural diversity course is that people is Austria are more problem oriented and here in Sweden we are soultuion oriented and that affects how we are able to communicate and cooperate. Analysis Analysis Unfortunately a lot of merger and acquisitions fail to achieve their hoped objectives. Solutions are of course complex. MA are different along a number of dimensions. Companies fail to realize a blind spot, by keeping their focus mainly on costs, they minimize or defer until too late the human and cultural dimensions of blending two entities into unified growth-oriented business. In any case organization is generally a collection of people sharing a common vision, one or more location and resources such as money, equipment, and similar processes. Still much of the business management persists in believing that the latter is the most important issue, while people are only sort of the less important side of the scenario. The Challenge of Urgent Realization Clearly there is an urgent need to realize, rationalize, restructure and eliminated duplication the first weeks and months of post-merger integration. Nonetheless rationalization only escalates of the new organization making it a greater value to its shareholders. It is one thing to design a new structure and relationship on paper and quite another to bring them to life. No matter how visionary and driven the leaders are the financier, quickly learns that the synergy cannot be generated merely from above or realize and reacting by reducing headcount or vice versa. Synergy requires the commitment and involvement of the entire organizations. That is the most challenging part. Most mergers are seen of confusion, panic, uncertainty, distraction, limitation and dehumanization. The process is painful and the results are costly. When knowledge capital is vanished due to the turnover of key individuals during an MA, when pride in the company and pride in ones work is not appreciated through ill treatment at the hands of merger managers, when innovations are abandoned in favor of outdated practices just because one group is considered the boss and the new one reasoned expendable, the network that make the organization work break down and fall apart. When employees stop caring, they lose interest and motivation in improving the business processes. If they are not asked for their opinions, they have no means or enthusiasm to inform the new system designers the unrevealed secrets of success. When selection processes do not seem to be reasonable and rational, dynamic management does not step into position they take on new challenges elsewhere. These are not the circ umstances which synergistic growth is likely. Fortunately, the situation can be turned around. The MA can become an opportunity for people to learn, grow and have a voice. Shared visioning activities and cross company MA project teams can provide opportunities to meet new people and gain new perspectives and skills. The problem with the acquired organization is that the managers must rearrange strategy, organizational structure, work on staffing of employees, make changes to systems and culture, all on top of the day to day business performances. They feel the pressure to quickly perform and harmonize the decisions by reaching the performance in the changed worked environment. So they do this by restructuring to create economies of scale, streamlining operations, focusing on product and market synergies while eliminating noncore businesses. During the same time they might be looking for the next merger or acquisition opportunity. This does not allow them the time and effort to ensure a synergistic and sustainable basis of people and operations to support the growth. However for continued growth, building a foundation is the key to sustainable success because it defines how the work of creating the new organization will be continued. Regrettably most post MA implementation plans seems to assume that if the financial priorities are comprehensively addressed the human foundation will take care of itself. The synergy created by a successful MA Conclusions Discussion References Auerbach, Carl F. (2003). Qualitative Data : An Introduction to Coding and Analysis; New York, NY, USA: New York University Press. Bryman A., and Bell E. (2007). Business Research Methods Oxford University Press. Denzin, Norman K., and Lincoln, Yvonna S.(2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Second Edition. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. Holloway, I. (1997). Basic concepts for qualitative research. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Kumar, Ranjit (1999). Research Methodolgy: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage publications. Regnà ©r, P., (1999). Strategy Creation and Change in Complexity Adaptive and Creative Learning Dynamics in the Firm. Stockholm: Gotab. Richards, Lyn and Morse, Janice, M. (2007). Users Guide to Qualitative Methods.(Second Edition). Sage publications. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, (2007). Research Methods for Business Students, UK, Prentice Hall. Smith, J.A., and Osborn M. (2008). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. In Smith J. A. (Eds.) Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods (2nd Edition). Sage Publication. Strauss, A. L.,and Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. (2nd Eds.). SAGE Publikation. Thomas, Susan, J. (1999). Designing surveys that work Sage Publication. Wengraf, Tom, (2001). Qualitative research interviewing. Sage Publication. Yin, R. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). CA: Sage Publications Reference: Pratt, J. The effects of personality on a subjects information process: A comment. The AccountingReview, 1980, 55, 501-506. Adler, N. J., Re-entry: Managing Cross-cultural Transitions, Group and Organization Studies, 6 (1981), 341-356. Cartwright, S. and C. L. Cooper, The Role of Culture Compatibility in Successful Organizational Marriage, Acad. Management Exec- utive, 7 (1993), 57-70. Barney, Jay B. 1986. Organizational cul- ture: Can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage?. Academy of Management Review, 11(3): 656-65. Arikan, A.M. (2004) Cross-border mergers and acquisitions: What have we learned? in Punnett, B. J. Shenkar, Oded, editors (eds.) Handbook for International Management Research, The University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. Rottig, D. Reus, T.H. (2005) The impact of culture on mergers and acquisitions: 25 years of research, Paper presented at annual meeting of the Southern Management Association, Charleston, SC. Larsson, R. Risberg, A. (1998) Cultural awareness and national versus corporate barriers to acculturation, in Gertsen, Martine Cardel, Soderberg, Anne-Marie Torp, Jens Erik, editors (eds.) Cultural Dimensions of International Mergers and Acquisitions: Berlin. Cartwright, S. Cooper, C.L. (1996) Managing Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: Integrating People and Cultures, 2nd ed, Reed Elsevier: Oxford. Very, P. Schweiger, D.M. (2001) The acquisition process as a learning process: Evidence from a study of critical problems and solutions in domestic and cross-border deals, Journal of World Business, 36(1): 11-31. Datta, D.K. Puia, G. (1995) Cross-border acquisitions: An examination of the influence of relatedness and cultural fit on shareholder value creation in U.S. acquiring firms, Management International Review, 35(4): 337-59. Olie, R. (1994) Shades of culture and institutions in international mergers, Organization Studies, 15(3): 381-405. Uhlenbruck, K. (2004) Developing acquired foreign subsidiaries: the experience of MNEs in transition economies, Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 109-23. Doukas, J. Travlos, N.G. (1988) The effect of corporate multinationalism on shareholders wealth: Evidence from international acquisitions, Journal of Finance, 43(5): 1161-75. Morosini, P., Shane, S. Singh, H. (1998) National cultural distance and cross-border acquisition performance, Journal of International Business Studies, 29(1): 137-58. Markides, C.C. Ittner, C.D. (1994) Shareholder benefits from corporate international diversification: Ev

Monday, August 19, 2019

Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Essay

Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Billy is physically handicapped and goes to school on a bus that has to pick him up quite early, for he has to go to school an hour away from his home. When Billy is at school, he gets to be in classes with all sorts of children; some are in wheelchairs, like he is, but they are unable to move by themselves, and some can walk, but Billy has a hard time talking to some of those children because they are developmentally younger than he is. All his classmates are his friends, but they never come over to play after school because he lives so far away, and Billy does not have a lot in common with them. Billy likes to play basketball in his driveway and he loves to talk about the latest pop music. There is a school about four blocks away from his house, but professionals in the school system have recommended that Billy not be included in regular classrooms. People who know Billy well would describe him as funny, friendly, smart, and athletic. People who are in charge of making sure Billy h as the kind of education he deserves would describe him as having cerebral palsy, conductive hearing loss, and mild dyslexia. Were Billy included in the regular classroom at the school four blocks away, he would be known for who he is and not what he has; I believe the quality of his life would come rightfully before the quantity of adaptations he requires. Inclusion is realistic and necessary, and public schools should implement it as the next logical step in the process of helping students with disabilities. The basic building blocks for inclusion are bringing necessary support services to the student, being in the regular classroom, and being at a nearby school. These things are n... ...Many believe it is being functionally and physically able to perform tasks in everyday routines of one's life. This being accepted, teachers teach "life skills" to their students and believe they are providing special services. Can one really think his or her life is meaningful just because he or she has the ability to wash dishes or make a bed? Relationships are the basis of learning about and enjoying life. Most teachers agree that handicapped children have a right to improved quality of life, but by primarily teaching functional skills and doing so in segregated classrooms, they are seriously undermining that right. By including handicapped children in the regular classroom in public schools, the opportunity to build relationships exists, and it becomes possible to meet the seemingly unrealistic goals of belonging and providing a fair chance at a fulfilling life. Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Essay Students with Disabilities Must be Included in Public Schools Billy is physically handicapped and goes to school on a bus that has to pick him up quite early, for he has to go to school an hour away from his home. When Billy is at school, he gets to be in classes with all sorts of children; some are in wheelchairs, like he is, but they are unable to move by themselves, and some can walk, but Billy has a hard time talking to some of those children because they are developmentally younger than he is. All his classmates are his friends, but they never come over to play after school because he lives so far away, and Billy does not have a lot in common with them. Billy likes to play basketball in his driveway and he loves to talk about the latest pop music. There is a school about four blocks away from his house, but professionals in the school system have recommended that Billy not be included in regular classrooms. People who know Billy well would describe him as funny, friendly, smart, and athletic. People who are in charge of making sure Billy h as the kind of education he deserves would describe him as having cerebral palsy, conductive hearing loss, and mild dyslexia. Were Billy included in the regular classroom at the school four blocks away, he would be known for who he is and not what he has; I believe the quality of his life would come rightfully before the quantity of adaptations he requires. Inclusion is realistic and necessary, and public schools should implement it as the next logical step in the process of helping students with disabilities. The basic building blocks for inclusion are bringing necessary support services to the student, being in the regular classroom, and being at a nearby school. These things are n... ...Many believe it is being functionally and physically able to perform tasks in everyday routines of one's life. This being accepted, teachers teach "life skills" to their students and believe they are providing special services. Can one really think his or her life is meaningful just because he or she has the ability to wash dishes or make a bed? Relationships are the basis of learning about and enjoying life. Most teachers agree that handicapped children have a right to improved quality of life, but by primarily teaching functional skills and doing so in segregated classrooms, they are seriously undermining that right. By including handicapped children in the regular classroom in public schools, the opportunity to build relationships exists, and it becomes possible to meet the seemingly unrealistic goals of belonging and providing a fair chance at a fulfilling life.

measuring brain activity :: essays research papers

Measuring Brain Activity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of the noninvasive imaging methods estimate brain activity by changes in blood flow, oxygen consumption, glucose utilization, etc. Discuss the potential problems with using this type of indirect measure. The brain is the control center of the human body. It sends and receives millions of signals every second, day and night, in the form of hormones, nerve impulses, and chemical messengers. This exchange of information makes us move, eat, sleep, and think. Obstructions such as tumors can interrupt normal brain activity, leading to deficits of normal reasoning, motor control, or consciousness. Many of the signs of neural damage are easily recognizable by an outside observer, but since the actual cause of these problems are internal, the symptoms can be vague. The real deficits can affect the brain’s anatomy, or the way signals are processed. A physician can only determine the real cause by examining the brain internally to find irregularities, either in structure or in functioning. Since the brain is extremely fragile and difficult to access without risking further damage, imaging techniques are used frequently as a noninvasive method of visualizing the brain’s structure and activity. Today's technology provides many useful tools for studying the brain. But even with our highest technology out there we do not know everything definitely. We do have fallbacks at times and these fallbacks can lead to serious problems. The recent advances in non-invasive brain imaging, increased computational power, and advances in signal processing methods have heightened the research in this area. As we make progress in interpreting noninvasive brain signals in time we will begin to explore applications that go beyond treatment. But for now these noninvasive methods of estimating brain activity is still something to be cautious about since it only measures the brain’s blood, oxygen consumption, glucose utilization, and more. These measurements may not be accurate enough to figure out one person’s problem. The problem again might be internal and measuring only the obvious would not aid in figuring it all out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other problems with using these noninvasive imaging methods of only few changes of variables in the brain’s activity are that maybe the problem does not reside in the blood, oxygen intake, or glucose utilization. It may be in other factors that we do not observe that is causing the trouble. By being limited to these estimations of brain activity does not really make our effort of correcting the problem that successful.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Failure of Napoleon?s Russian Campaign :: essays research papers fc

Napoleon Bonaparte was seemingly invincible. Under his command, the Grande Armee had conquered much of Europe, and was viewed by others as an austere foe. Though despite all this, Napoleon made a fatal mistake: he entered Russia. Of the 600,000 troops that reached the Russian border, only 100,000 made it out (Moore, Online). Through the Russian Campaign the seemingly indomitable man of Napoleon began to crumble at the base, and after numerous fatal errors, the foundation fell. Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812 resulted in failure. Napoleon unleashed his armies to Russia in June of 1812. The initial reason for the start of the Russian Campaign was that of desertion (Bloy, Online). This became evident when Czar Alexander I of Russia left the Continental System. While hurting Britain’s economy, the Continental System also hurt Russia’s. Soon enough, Napoleon sent over 600,000 troops to Russia, hoping to straighten out the czar (Burnham, Online). The czar seemed not to be worried, and readily commanded two Russian armies to protect their country. The initial attacks against the Russians were relentless, and the two armies were readily overwhelmed. On June 24 the two Russian armies retreated, under the command of General Barclay de Tolly and General Bagration (Moore, Online). The Czar Alexander was cunning, and instead of directly confronting the Grande Armee, he would always retreat. This greatly irritated Napoleon, who pressed on further and further, deep into Russia (Sparknotes, Online). However, t his process of enticement and retreat seemed to be working, as the battle-hungry Napoleon kept on proceeding. Knowing that they could not win a fight by force, the Russians were cunning and traded space for time with the French. By this time, the Russians had developed the â€Å"scorched-earth† policy, which was the destruction of one’s own land (Burnham, Online). Whenever the Russians would retreat, they would burn all the land behind them. This greatly angered Napoleon, mainly because one of his most formidable strategies in war was using the land of the enemy for his own resources (PBS, Online). Napoleon had gravely underestimated the Russians. The gravest threat to the Russian forces was a direct, large-scale confrontation with Napoleon’s army, but such a colossal battle was surely inevitable. Despite the constant retreating, the Grande Army did engage the Russians in one significant conflict: the Battle of Borodino. The Russians, under the control of General Mikhail Kutusov, assembled massive defensive positions in await for Napoleon’s army.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Black Humor, Gallows Humor and Identity Crisis

Evensong's Mother Night, and then analyze the identity crises of certain characters of the story. As I have written, there are many similarities between black humor and gallows humor, and in order to make a distinction between them, first I would like to point out those features that are shared and typical of both of them. To create such humor, the writer always confronts rationality with the chaos of the universe and the notion of death.Both black humor and gallows humor function as a counterbalance which mitigates the seriousness of death, or a situation which eventually ends with death. In both cases the constraint of laughter Is rooted In the sense of Inertia, and In the acknowledgement of the Insensitivity of the universe to human reasoning. They are both based on a sense of defeat, because of which they cannot be triumphant satires, still they are comical for they reveal nonsense. Now that I have examined the common features of these two types of humor, I will proceed with the most salient difference between the two.In the case of black humor, the object of laughter applies to the laughing subject as well, while it is quite different with gallows humor, as the deader cannot identify with a condemned character who is waiting for his own death. Obviously, the reader hasn't experienced anything like that before, so the notion of impending death is unknown to them, that's why they cannot put themselves In the place of that character, they feel like an outside observer Instead. In Kurt Evensong's Mother Night there are many examples for both elements. The frame of the story takes place In an Israeli prison with the mall character, Howard W.Campbell Jar. Writing his memoirs In It. At the very beginning of the story, the reader Is Informed by the narrator, – who is Campbell himself – that Campbell is waiting for his trial for war crimes sixteen years after the end of the Second World War. His crimes which are as â€Å"ancient† as some stones in the prison wall, later turn out to be justified as Campbell was only serving the US as a spy, providing information for them during the war. Depicting him defenseless and miserable in his prison cell could provide a good foundation for gallows humor however, his death at the very end of the story has thing to do with it.It Is more like a serious and fatal result of his identity crisis, which I will touch upon later. But there are other parts of the story which actually contain black humor, for example the death of Sauerkraut who was a racist old man, â€Å"former Vice-Fundraiser of the German-American Bund,† The representation of his death Is quite factual and emotionless at the same time, and even his close friends and comrades react rather indifferently. After he drops dead they call for a more humorous. Epstein was Jewish, and I thought Jones or Kelley might say meeting to him about the way he was punching and poking Sauerkraut. But the two antique fascists were childi shly respectful and dependent. † The culmination of the comical events happens when the Black Fuehrer of Harlem arrives, who is the racist black chauffeur of Skyscraper's company. â€Å"Everything all right up here? † he said to Jones. Muff was up here so long. † â€Å"Not quite,' said Jones. â€Å"August Sauerkraut died. † The Black Fuehrer of Harlem took the news in stride. â€Å"All dying, all dying,† he said. â€Å"Who's goanna pick up the torch when everybody's dead?As I have said, Campbell story is a story about identity crisis Just like the whole novel, and the previously analyzed elements are there to soften the depressing effects of it. The term â€Å"identity crisis† was invented by Erik Erikson, a German psychologist who dealt with the development of the ego and that of the personality. According to him, identity crisis is the failure to achieve ego identity during adolescence however, we also use the term when we speak about the psychosocial state or condition of disorientation and role infusion caused by conflicting internal and external experiences, pressures, and expectations.In Mother Night the external effects are obviously caused by the Second World War, and for me, the representation of Campbell guards and their conversations are the most expressive parts of the story, and the best examples of identity crisis. When the narrator characterizes them, and when they tell how they took part and what their roles were in the war, it turns out that they should also be behind bars with Campbell. These people turned their backs on their fellow Monterrey, their fellow sufferers and what is more repellent, they betrayed their own being.There is a man, who tells us nostalgically about how he volunteered to be a member of the so called Condemnations. There is another one, who – despite the fact that he is Jewish – even became an AS member, and when Campbell shows him the transcript of one of his broad casts, he criticizes it for not being passionate and fervent enough. In the case of the second guard, he did what he did to avoid death, but the first guard cannot Justify his decision. When Campbell asks him why he joined the Condemnations, he simply cannot give an answer and tells the main character that there were other volunteers as well.The other guard, who Joined the AS says that he made his decision to avoid death, but at some points it seems that he even enjoyed his Job. â€Å"What an Aryan I made! † – says he. The Second World War and the survival instinct of these people compelled them to put on masks and do things which normally they would never do. And they did it for so long, that eventually they loud identify with their role, and this identification confused them and distorted their original identity.This is exactly what happens to the main character, Campbell as well. His ordeals start in Germany, where he is commissioned by an American soldier to spy fo r the U. S. As a Nazi playwright and from that point on, he is regarded as a Nazi by the whole world. Even though he is only acting, nobody knows who he really is and as a result, he becomes unsure about his own identity by the end of the story. There is a scene which takes place after the war ended, in which Campbell inverses with the agent, called Warrantee, who commissioned him. How else could I have survived? † as you did. † â€Å"You think I was a Nazi? † I said. â€Å"Certainly you were,† he said. â€Å"How else could a responsible historian classify you? † All in all, the moral of the story which is an admonition as well is worded by Bonnet at the beginning of the novel. It goes like this: â€Å"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be. † For me, it means that we should always be true to ourselves and stick to those values which we consider the best.