Monday, December 30, 2019

In Hume’S Writings, The Treatise And Enquiry, He Makes

In Hume’s writings, the Treatise and Enquiry, he makes an attempt to reform philosophy, claiming that philosophical systems prior to his own work had â€Å"convinced him philosophy was in a sorry state and in dire need of reform† (4 Stanford). One of Hume’s motivations for writing his own works is that ancient philosophers and natural philosophers both had made errors in developing theories Hume felt were entirely too hypothetical (4 Stanford). He claimed that these philosophers had made claims â€Å"based on speculation and invention rather than experience and observation† (4 Stanford). Additionally, Hume was an advocate for natural philosophy, arguing that it wasn’t as speculative as the philosophy of the ancients. In Hume’s Enquiry, he discusses†¦show more content†¦Hume’s claim that the only semblance of causation we’re able to discover is that one idea or thing follows from another, fails to recognize that we disco ver necessary causation through simple experiences almost daily. While it may be the case that we truly cannot see the connection between why we can move our limbs, but cannot alter the state of some organs or control their actions through experience alone, we can discover the causal relationship between other things. Hume argues that â€Å"while the impulse of one billiard ball is attended with motion in the second[,] this is the whole that appears to the outward senses† (Hume 558). His claim is that â€Å"the mind feels no sentiment or inward impression from this succession of objects† and that as a result, there is nothing derived from the experience that suggests â€Å"the idea of power or necessary connection† (Hume 558). However, that which we perceive with our outward senses does allow us to derive a necessary connection between ideas or things. We are able to observe that the necessary connection allowing the billiard ball to move is that another object interferes and causes its motion. We know this through experience because we consistently perceive another object interfering and causing the effect of the ball’s motion. In this sense, we can perceive many necessary connections, as the same is true with cuttingShow MoreRelated Humes Wide Construal of the Virtues Essay3865 Words   |  16 PagesHumes Wide Construal of the Virtues ABSTRACT: The term virtue has traditionally been used to designate morally good character traits such as benevolence, charity, honesty, wisdom, and honor. Although ethicists do not commonly offer a definitive list of virtues, the number of virtues discussed is often short and their moral significance is clear. Humes analysis of the virtues departs from this tradition both in terms of the quantity of virtues discussed and their obvious moral significanceRead MoreImmanuel Kant And Kant On Morality1097 Words   |  5 Pagescontains both â€Å"the Doctrine of Right† and â€Å"the Doctrine of Virtue.† He also had some other works of importance to his moral philosophy including the Critique of the Power of Judgment (1790), Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (1793), and Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798). Here are some of Hume’s main ethical writings, A Treatise on Human Nature (1739–40), especially books two and three, and in An Enqui ry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751). Also relevant to Hume sRead MoreIdealism And Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius1584 Words   |  7 Pagesof fiction titled â€Å"Tlà ¶n, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius† grapples with many philosophic issues. In the main, this short story deals with the philosophic notion of subjective idealism as posed by George Berkeley’s Treatise Concerning Principles of Human Knowledge. Within this essay I argue that, while he acknowledges the presumed irrefutability of Berkeley’s argument, Borges’ â€Å"Tlà ¶n, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius† aims to disparage both totalitarianism and Berkeleyan idealism by drawing an analogy between the two viaRead MoreJurisprudential Theories on IPR13115 Words   |  53 Pages According to Article 27 of the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.[32]  Although the relationship between intellectual property and  human rights  is a complex one,[33]  there are moral arguments for intellectual property. The arguments that justify intellectual property fall into three major categories. Personality theorists believeRead MoreBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 Pagesthis sensation, although he thought that primary qualities such as shape, size, number, were really in objects. 2. How can physical objects such as chairs and tables, or even physiological processes in the brain, give rise to mental items such as ideas? This is part of what became known as the mind-body problem. 3. If all the contents of awareness are ideas, how can we know that anything exists apart from ideas? Descartes tried to address the last problem by reason. He began, echoing Parmenides

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Feminine Oppression in The Yellow Wallpaper - 1589 Words

Women have always struggled to gain attention from men as well as equality with them. Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper has a dominant theme of feminine oppression. It is a symbolic work of literature because women in the era in which this story was published were treated in much the same way as the narrator was on a daily basis. Male dictatorship over women is rampant within the illness and treatment of the unnamed narrator, the characters in the story, and the many symbols that serve to confine the main character. They all work fluidly together to create a more tangible conclusion. A stand had to be made in order for women to achieve equality with men. Standing up to a man, however, was not permissible in nineteenth†¦show more content†¦The capability has always been there, the acknowledgement of that fact, however, has not. Women were confined by religious, political, and legislative restraints (Scott 15) during the early nineteenth century which deprived mar ried women of the right to own or inherit property, earn wages, or will goods (Scott 15). The mid nineteenth century was a turning point for women, as this was when they started standing up for their own rights. However, it was a difficult and extended process. In The Yellow Wallpaper, it is evident that even later in the nineteenth century, women did not command the respect that they deserved. John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage (Gilman 70.) No self respecting woman in the twentieth century would find it permissible for her husband to belittle her thoughts in such a derogatory manner. It was accepted behavior, however, when this short story was written. In fact, she later writes that she has become a little afraid of John(Gilman 79.) A romantic relationship should be an equal partnership, both members giving and taking proportionately. Like most other men in the late nineteenth century, John is uninterested in being his wifes equivalent. John has complete ascendancy over the unnamed narrator, because if being her husband were not enough, he is also her doctor. Doctors are creditable individuals, and the treatments they prescribe are followed closely. In theShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Yellow Wallpaper1060 Words   |  5 PagesYellow Walls A Prison Make Within the very first lines of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper,† the modern reader is slapped in the face with this off-handed remark, â€Å"John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage,† (792). Although the readers of today might not expect such belittlement in marriage, Gilman must have known that her contemporary readers would. Gilman published â€Å"The Yellow Wall-paper† in 1892, a time when all American women were expected to adhere to strictRead MoreAn Analysis Of Charlotte Gilman s The Yellow Wallpaper Essay1624 Words   |  7 PagesPublished in 1892, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† may be approached as an American example of the female Gothic, a literary genre pioneered by English writers such as Horace Walpole and Ann Radcliffe. According to the book â€Å"Loving with a Vengeance: Mass Produced Fantasies for Women,† author Tania Modleski points out that texts belonging to this genre typically focus on female protagonists who find themselves in romantic relationships with men that eventually come to oppress themRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper : Relationship Between Male And Female Essay1372 Words   |  6 PagesSpogmay THE YELLOW WALLPAPER In the text â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† the relationship between male and female reveal the way women were governed by men and other male influences in the 19th century. The protagonist is nameless, giving her no identity, while the male/husband has a name in the story. In the Y.W the protagonist tries to play the role of a good domestic wife and submit to what her husband John says. There are times where she disagrees with John, for example when the protagonist disagreesRead MoreFemale Oppression By Emily Dickinson And Charlotte Perkins Gilman1729 Words   |  7 PagesThroughout the history of American Literature there has been a common theme of male oppression. Especially towards the end of the 19th century, before the first wave of feminism, women were faced with an unshakeable social prison. Husband, home and children were the only life they knew, many encouraged not to work. That being said, many female writers at the time, including Emily Dickinson and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, were determined to examine the mind behind the American woman, through the lensRead MoreSymbolism In The Yellow Wallpaper, By Charlotte Perkins Gilman785 Words   |  4 PagesMolly Melching once said â€Å"to change society, we first must change minds.† In the story of â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, she tells a haunting and feminist masterpiece of a marriage in which both the narrator and her husband are trapped in their assigned roles. The story focuses on the narrators condition as she slowly loses sense of reality, being misunderstood and misdiagnosed by her husband who believes that the best treatment is to confine herself to her room andRead MoreCharlotte Perkins Gilman s The Yellow Wallpaper1343 Words   |  6 PagesDespite living in a confined room, the narrator of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† finds a way to break free, become an entirely new person, and explore the evils and un fairness holding her back in society. This demonstrates that those who are oppressed can overcome their oppressors but cannot belong in the same structure after realizing the negative impact on not only themselves, but also on society as a whole. The narrator is forced to suppress her true feelings until she violentlyRead MoreOn Feminism and ‘the Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Gilman1876 Words   |  8 PagesOn Feminism and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Gilman On the poets forum Feminism is based on the assumption that women have the same human, political and social rights as men, furthermore, that women should have the same opportunities as men in their personal choices regarding careers, politics and expression. A feminist text states the author’s agenda for women in society as they relate to oppression by a patriarchal power structure and the subsequent formation of social ‘standards’Read MoreThe Effects Of Postpartum Depression In The Yellow Wallpaper1273 Words   |  6 PagesCharlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†, is a short story, published in the late 1800s, about one woman’s descent to madness. Finding herself plagued with postpartum depression after the birth of her son, the narrator’s ailment is overlooked by everyone around her. Her husband, â€Å"...a physician of high standing..† (Gilman) describes the narrator’s illness as â€Å"temporary nervous depression...a slig ht hysterical tendency.† Her brother and male doctor, also agree with this diagnosis and becauseRead MoreThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman1116 Words   |  5 PagesThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† written by Charlotte Gilman is a chilling portrayal of a woman’s downward spiral towards madness after undergoing treatment for postpartum depression in the 1800’s. The narrator, whose name remains nameless, represents the hundreds of middle to upper- class women who were diagnosed with â€Å"hysteria† and prescribed a â€Å"rest† treatment. Although Gilman’s story was a heroic attempt to â€Å"save people from being driven crazy† (GilmanRead MoreSafe, A Film Directed By Todd Haynes, And Charlotte Perkins Gilman s `` The Yellow Wallpaper ``1744 Words   |  7 Pageslife. In Safe, a film directed by Todd Haynes, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† ostensibly perfectly normal women completely lose control of their lives to illness and madness. Their lack of purpose and lack of identity causes each woman to feel as though their life is meaningless. They are trapped by social expectations in their dull, hollow lives to be fragile, feminine, and functionless, like porcelain dolls sitting on a shelf. Stripped of any real responsibility

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Night Creature Blue Moon Chapter 18 Free Essays

string(20) " I stifled a curse\." We climbed into my car and I picked up the radio. â€Å"Three Adam One is ten-eight on that ten-eleven. I need a location. We will write a custom essay sample on Night Creature: Blue Moon Chapter 18 or any similar topic only for you Order Now † â€Å"Judas Priest, girl, where have you been?† Zee’s voice, already scratchy from a lifetime of cigarettes, had become even rougher with anger. â€Å"At home. Off duty.† I glanced at my watch. â€Å"Why are you on the radio now anyway?† â€Å"The shit has hit the fan around here. I got rid of the dingbat on second. She couldn’t handle it.† I sighed. Dispatchers came and went with regularity in most departments. The job did not pay enough to offset the high level of stress. But in ours, thanks to Zee’s vile tongue and perfectionist nature, we went through them quicker than dogs went through dog food. â€Å"Head to Three-one-five Cooper Court.† â€Å"Anyone on-scene?† â€Å"Brad. He’s been ordered to secure only, then wait for you.† Brad was on early, too. We must really be strapped. â€Å"I assume creepy crawly found you.† I shot a glance at Mandenauer, but he continued to stare through the windshield as if he couldn’t hear every word that was said. â€Å"He’s right next to me.† â€Å"Good. Ask him the details.† Zee clicked off. I replaced the receiver, cleared my throat. â€Å"Urn†¦ she’s not – â€Å" â€Å"Nice?† He raised a brow. â€Å"For want of a better word.† â€Å"Do not worry, Jessie. I have dealt with far worse than Zelda Hupmen in my life.† Considering his life span, I had no doubt he was right. I nodded and moved on. â€Å"What happened?† â€Å"A wolf went through the window of a residence.† I frowned. Cooper Court might be at the edge of town, but it was still town. A new subdivision complete with minivans, bicycles, and kids. I hit the lights and the siren. â€Å"Then what?† â€Å"The wolf was injured from the glass and no doubt disoriented. It ran around the house, and when the owner tried to direct it outside, the animal bit him, then left through the hole in the window.† â€Å"Obviously this is one of our special wolves.† He shot me a quick, unreadable glance. â€Å"Why obviously?† â€Å"Wolves don’t come near people. They particularly don’t come into town, or dive through windows in the middle of suburbia. The only known wolf attacks on people have been by rabid wolves or wolf-dog hybrids.† I wasn’t sure, but I thought his gaze became a bit more interested. â€Å"You’ve been doing research, Officer.† â€Å"You’d be amazed at what I’ve learned,† I muttered, thinking about Cadotte and his werewolf army. But I wasn’t going to share that little delusion with Manden-auer. Not when he’d finally stopped treating me like some kid who didn’t know her job. I killed the siren several blocks from Cooper Court. No reason to wake the entire neighborhood. Unfortunately, that had already been done. As we turned into the small subdivision at the edge of town, an electric halo pressed against the night sky. Every house blazed like a Christmas tree; every yard light blared. People milled about on their lawns, in the street, in various states of dress and undress. I had to slow to a crawl to avoid rolling over a citizen. â€Å"Hell.† I shut off the revolving red dome and ignored the questions people shouted as we passed. There would be no keeping this quiet any longer. Brad had done a good job with the scene. He’d taped off the entire yard and stood in front of the door. A few other summer cops formed a loose circle at the perimeter. My estimation of Brad’s intelligence climbed several notches. The house was like a hundred others in Miniwa – a ranch that resembled a log cabin – except this one sported a great big hole where the front window ought to be. Glass sprinkled across the bushes and sidewalk, catching the lights and shining like icicles on a moonlit night. But there was no moon – or rather there was, but it was hidden behind thick, smoky clouds. Not a glimpse could be seen; not a star lit the sky. I pulled into the driveway and we got out of the car, leaving our weapons behind. Though with Mandenauer wearing enough ammo to start a small war, I’m sure we made quite an impression on the nightly news cameraman, whom I saw filming us from the street. â€Å"Jessie, thank God!† Brad was glad to see me. Things must be worse than I thought. I pointed to Mandenauer, who muttered, â€Å"We’ve met.† Well, that saved me from being polite. My favorite way to work. â€Å"What happened?† Brad glanced at the street. I followed his gaze. People lined the yellow border tape, practically hanging over it in their eagerness to hear what we were saying. The television camera was trained right on us, and the reporter watched our mouths with an eagle eye. I’d bet my next doughnut she could read lips. All three of us stepped inside. Considering the fiasco at the medical examiner’s office, I was surprised the press hadn’t been more avidly on my ass – or at least Clyde’s. But without the bodies there wasn’t much of a story beyond that. After tonight, there would be. The low rumble of voices from the living room drew my attention. â€Å"Who’s that?† â€Å"The victim and his wife.† My estimation of Brad’s brains plummeted. â€Å"He hasn’t been sent to the hospital?† â€Å"He refused.† Mandenauer and I exchanged glances. I raced him to the living room. Pale and blond, the victim was perhaps six-foot-four, though it was hard to tell since he was sitting down. He must have weighed 240. I didn’t see an ounce of fat on him. He could have throttled the wolf with his bare hands. Maybe he’d tried, since his hand had been bitten. Just like Karen Larson’s. His wife was as small as he was large. Why was it that huge guys always ended up marrying tiny women? I’d think they’d be afraid of breaking them, or maybe that was part of the appeal. I cleared my throat and they both glanced up. I stifled a curse. You read "Night Creature: Blue Moon Chapter 18" in category "Essay examples" The wife was Prescott Bozeman’s secretary. Her eyes narrowed. â€Å"You,† she spat. â€Å"You, too. How†¦ odd.† And it was. Not that the size of the town precluded running into people more often than I liked. But coincidences always bugged the hell out of me. â€Å"Get an ambulance out here, Brad.† â€Å"No, II’m tine,† the man said. He was pale, sweating. If he hadn’t been in such good shape, I’d worry that he was going to have a heart attack right in front of us all. He still might. â€Å"He doesn’t like doctors.† The wife rolled her eyes. â€Å"Mr†¦ † I let my voice trail off hopefully. He didn’t answer, and I raised an eyebrow at itty-bitty snot-nosed bitch. â€Å"Gerard,† she supplied, though I could tell she didn’t want me to know their name. As if I’d start calling her up and asking her to come out and play. â€Å"Mel Gerard, and I’m Cherry.† Of course she was. I managed to keep any snide comments to myself and get on with business. â€Å"Mr. Gerard, you’ll need to go to the hospital and have a rabies vaccine.† â€Å"Vaccine?† His voice raised to a near hysterical pitch on the end of the word. I frowned. â€Å"Big manly man is afraid of shots.† Cherry patted Mel on the hand that wasn’t wrapped in gauze. â€Å"D-don’t want a shot.† He was more coherent than Karen Larson had been when I talked to her. Still, I remembered what Karen had been doing less than five hours after she was bitten. From the size of Mel, he could do a lot more damage. We needed to get him a vaccine and quick. â€Å"He needs the medicine, Cherry.† â€Å"No. He’ll be all right. Mel’s never been sick a day in his life.† â€Å"We’re dealing with something worse than the flu.† Her face went mulish and I sighed, then threw up my hands. She wasn’t going to listen to me. â€Å"It is for the best,† Mandenauer murmured, moving in closer, talking low, keeping calm. â€Å"He must take the medicine. What can it hurt?† Mel had lost interest in the conversation. His eyes were half-closed. He leaned on Cherry so heavily she was pressed into the arm of the couch. In the distance, the wail of a siren announced that Brad had done as I asked. â€Å"I suppose that’s true,† Cherry said quietly. â€Å"A little old vaccine can’t hurt Mel now.† â€Å"Right.† I knelt in front of Mel. â€Å"1 just need to ask him a few quick questions.† â€Å"Jessie, we must go,† Mandenauer pressed. â€Å"We will.† I knew better than to walk away before interviewing the victim. Look what had happened the last time. â€Å"Now,† he snapped. â€Å"The animal flees farther and farther into the night.† I glanced over my shoulder. â€Å"What kind of wolf hunter are you if you can’t find him?† â€Å"It is better if we go immediately.† I sighed. While we’d been arguing, Mel had fallen asleep on his wife’s shoulder. From the glare Cherry was giving me, she didn’t plan on letting me wake him. I got to my feet. â€Å"Fine. Let’s go.† â€Å"I did an initial interview.† Brad hovered in the doorway. â€Å"You what?† My voice was deceptively calm. What I wanted to do was rip into Brad the way the wolf had ripped into Mel. Brad was a summer cop – muscle and no brain – he wasn’t trained to do anything but stand there and follow orders. Color spread from Brad’s collar to the hairline. He cleared his throat, shuffled his feet, fumbled in his pocket for a notebook, and practically threw it in my face. â€Å"He was talking, rambling really, so I wrote it down, asked him a few things.† â€Å"You were supposed to secure the scene. That’s all.† â€Å"So I should ignore a victim’s testimony? I’m not quite that stupid.† Sometimes I wondered. But in this case Brad had done the right thing. I hoped. If what he’d written down wasn’t gibberish. â€Å"Did you hear any of this?† I asked Cherry. â€Å"She arrived after I did,† Brad said. Cherry shrugged and nodded. â€Å"Jessie.† Mandenauer stood at the window. Something in his voice made me join him. There, behind the crowd that still peered in our direction, stood the big, black wolf. I could swear the thing was staring right at me, and as he did, the totem I’d forgotten shifted and slid across my chest. I gasped. The sound seemed to break the inertia. As we watched, the wolf melted into the trees. â€Å"Did you see that?† Mandenauer asked. But I was already heading for the front door. We nearly ran into the EMTs as we left the house. I paused to tell them what had happened and what needed to happen. I stressed the latter. â€Å"This guy needs that vaccine,† I insisted. â€Å"Make sure he doesn’t go home without it.† They nodded, but I had my doubts. This was still America, last time I checked, and Mel didn’t have to accept the vaccine if he didn’t want to. I only hoped that Cherry was as bitchy with him as she had been with me. I had a feeling she would be. Mandenauer and I retrieved our rifles. He glanced at the crowd, then jerked his head toward the back of the house. â€Å"We will take the long way around.† He frowned at my gun. â€Å"What is that?† â€Å"A Winchester.† â€Å"Where is the one I brought to you?† â€Å"At my apartment. I like my own gun. I missed that wolf last night. I won’t with this.† I raised my rifle. He contemplated me for a moment, then shook his head. â€Å"As you say†¦ whatever.† He continued around the side of the house. The forest had spread into the backyard, as forests will. The lack of moonlight, the heavy cover of the branches, contributed to a near complete darkness. â€Å"Here.† Mandenauer threw me a bandolier of bullets. Once again, I had to catch them or eat them. â€Å"Could you stop doing that?† I asked. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Throwing things at me.† I looped the bandolier over my shoulder. â€Å"Besides, I like my own ammo.† I shook the box I’d taken from the safe. Bullets rattled, their number a comforting weight in my palm. â€Å"Mine are better.† I frowned. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"They were made for wolves.† â€Å"Let me guess.† I fingered the shiny bullets in the bandolier. At least they were the right caliber. â€Å"Silver?† I expected him to scoff, if not laugh. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head. He opened his mouth to say†¦ I’m not sure what†¦ and a long, mournful howl split the darkness, so close both of us jumped. Mandenauer headed into the forest. I was right on his heels. With no moon to light the trail, we were forced to use a flashlight. Flecks of blood on the dirt, a bush, a branch revealed the wolf that had bitten Mel must have been cut by the window glass. But were the black wolf and the kamikaze one and the same? I had no idea. The thought that we were following one wolf, with another following us, made me twitchy, and I longed for a nice, safe tree stand. Mandenauer was another story. His step was spry. He was damn near skipping. I could feel the excitement rolling off him like a vapor. He stopped dead on the trail and I nearly bumped into his back. â€Å"What?† I whispered. Mandenauer stiffened, then slashed his hand across his neck in a violent gesture. I lifted one hand in surrender. Okay, okay, I’ll shut up. I lowered my hand and spread it open and out indicating the question I’d already asked: What? He flicked a long, bony finger to the left, then to the right. The trail split here. He knelt and so did I. When he turned the light to the right, splatters of blood shone in a black wavering line across the dirt and leaves. He sniffed once, twice, then moved the beam to the left. A large, fresh pile of feces sat in the center of that trail. Hmm. That appeared to be the wolf equivalent of â€Å"Na, na, na, na, na.† Mandenauer’s hand tightened on his rifle. He glanced at me and for the first time I saw true emotion in his eyes. He was furious. He jabbed a finger at himself, then pointed down the trail to the left. He pointed me to the trail on the right. I frowned and shook my head. Separate? That sounded like a really, really bad idea. He held up two fingers. Pointed again to the divergent trails. Two of them, two of us. He lifted his rifle. We had the guns. True. So why wasn’t I impressed? In the end, I went to the right and Mandenauer to the left. Through sign language – every time I tried to whisper, he made that creepy throat-slashing movement – I understood we were to meet in an hour back at the house. If one of us found a wolf, he or she should shoot it. The other would hear the shot and follow the sound. I was to use his bullets in my gun. What the hell? Silver killed as good as lead. In this case, perhaps even better. I used the small penlight I kept in the glove compartment and let Mandenauer keep the blaring city-issue flashlight. Even if he moved like he was fifty, he was still eighty, and so were his eyes. As a result I progressed more slowly than he did, stopping often to ascertain the blood still trailed ahead of me. It wasn’t long before any trace of Mandenauer – both sound and sight – disappeared. I was truly alone, and for the first time in my life I didn’t like it. I’d walked these woods at all hours of the day and the night. I’d never felt uneasy, watched, exposed. Tonight I felt all of those things, as well as†¦ A branch broke behind me. I spun around. Nothing was there. Nothing that I could see, anyway. â€Å"You are not being stalked.† I’d hoped the sound of my own voice would calm me. Instead, it was louder than a gunshot and only served to make my heart beat even faster. Now that I’d started talking to myself, could complete insanity be far behind? Next thing I knew, I’d be believing in Cadotte’s werewolves. Crunch. I let my eyes wander over the forest. A shadow cut between two trees – more man-sized than wolf-. I shook my head. Closed my eyes, opened them again. Nothing was there. I was letting my imagination run away with me, and I had no one to blame but myself if I became too distracted by fairy tales to see a real-live big bad wolf creeping up on me. I tightened my grip on the rifle and continued down the path. But the thought of Cadotte could not be banished as easily as that. He invaded my mind even though I tried to push him back out. When would I see him again? What would happen when I did? I gave a mental snort. I knew the answer to the latter, if not the former. We’d end up in bed – sooner rather than later. It was a given. The shadow flickered again at the corner of my eye. I flashed the light across the shrubbery as an opossum skittered away from the beam. The breeze picked up, making the trees whisper. No wonder I was seeing shadows. The forest was full of them. Then I smelled it – a scent I’d become quite familiar with in the past few days. Leaves, wind, wildness. â€Å"Will?† My voice carried in the night. From far down the trail came the howl of a wolf. The hair on the back of my neck rose, causing me to shiver even though the temperature stood at near sixty-five degrees. Another wolf answered the first – from the left, off where Mandenauer must be by now. I don’t know why I started running. I only know that when the gunshot ended the sorrowful serenade, I tripped and fell to my knees. Thank goodness for safeties on guns. I could have blown my head off being so careless. As it was, my knee hit a rock, and I writhed around on the trail awhile cursing. If a wolf had truly been after me, now would have been the perfect time to finish me off. Instead, I lay there until the pain receded enough for me to catch my breath. Then I got to my feet and followed the sound of that gunshot. How to cite Night Creature: Blue Moon Chapter 18, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Human Resource Management In Health And Social Care †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Human Resource Management In Health And Social Care. Answer: Introduction In the present business scenario, the competitiveness in every business sectors is on an increasing trend. In the recent years, one of the promising and potential sectors are being much concentrated is the health sectors (Kickbusch and Gleicher 2012). Around the world, health sectors including hospitals are garnering huge investments both from the private as well as the governments. However, similar to the other business sectors, health sectors are also rapidly evolving. Hospitals are implementing change management in their own way to adjust with the changing scenario and to enhance the organizational performance (Swayne, Duncan and Ginter 2012). Change can be led by the internal organizational modification or by innovation. Internal and external forces are the main drivers to push the change management in the hospitals. Fuda hospital is one of the prominent private hospitals in China. They are specialized in the treatment of cancer. They entered the health business when the majority of the health organizations in China were government owned or controlled by them. Being a private player, they came up with different approach in providing the health service to the patients. However, in the recent time, they are going through a few change management processes in order to enhance their internal management. In the process of implementation of the change management, human resource management has been played an important role. This report will discuss about the issue being identified in Fuda hospital as well as the change management that has been implemented to overcome the issue. The external and internal force associated with the issue will also be discussed here in this report. Recommendations will be given to enhance the effectiveness of the change management in the future. Role of HRM in the change management Healthcare sector is one of those sectors which are directly dealing with the end customers. Moreover, the healths of the patients are being attached with the welfare of the organizations. Thus, effective management of the human resource plays an important role in delivering desired output. In the case of change management, effective management of the human resources will help to implement the policies in the internal organization more effectively and smoothly. The first role of the human resource management in the change management starts with the recruitment policies (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). It is the responsibility of the human resource manager to aware the newly employed employees about the change through which the organization is going. They should be motivated to come up with suggestions and opinions regarding the change. Moreover the newly employed employees should be well trained along with the existing employees in order to effectively aware them about the organizational culture and vision. It will help them in having the clear idea about the change going to be implemented in the organization. Employee motivation and engagement is another important criterion to be considered by the human resource managers in order to effectively implement the change management (Anitha 2014). It will help them to enhance the approval and rate of consensus among the employees regarding the new practices and policies to be implemented in the organization. The more the employees will be involved in their workplace, the more they will feel comfortable with the change in the organization. Be promoting various employee welfare schemes, human resource manager helps in enhancing the performance and job satisfaction of the employees. It is the responsibility of the human resource manager to determine the requirement of the skills and qualifications from the employees which are required for the change management. Accordingly, the existing employees should be given skill development training and the newly employed employees should be selected on the required criterion. It will help the organization in having the right workforce in the organization to face the challenges after the implementation of the change management. In the case of Fuda hospital, human resource management played an important role in effectively implementing the change management in the organization (Hayes 2014). As earlier discussed, health sector is associated with providing health service to the patients. Thus, due to effective human resource management, the job satisfaction of the employees are being effectively maintained which eventually helps in delivering in better customer satisfaction. Thus, more motivated will be the employees, the mor e will be the motivation level of the employees, the more will be the effective service being offered to the customers. Issues identified with Fuda hospital The effectiveness of the staff in the operation theatre is being negatively affected due to the reason that they are facing risk in handling the sharp instruments being used in the operation. The dull or transparent color of the dish is responsible for the inconvenience for the staff. Thus, it is being recommended that the dish and container in the operation theatre should have loud and bright color in order to increase their visibility (Fudahospital.com 2017). It will help to reduce the chance of injury from the sharp instruments. However, several resistance forces came to effect against the recommendations. According to the employees who are against the change, are having the opinion that the effectiveness of inducting bright colors will have no beneficial effects. They are not sure about the chance of its success. According to them, induction of the bright color will only be possible if they are being purchased as a new set. This will involve cost. In addition, some members are al so of the opinion that the bright color will further affect their vision which will also create risk in the operation theatre (Fudahospital.com 2017). Analysis of the change management To analyze the effective change management to overcome the issue in Fuda hospital, Force Field analysis will be used. According to this theory, positive and negative forces are the two forces which are always being active during the implementation of the change management. Thus, effective management of the two forces will help to enhance the productivity of the change management. The first step in the force field model is to define the goal or objective of the change to be implemented. It should be well communicated to all the internal stakeholders and also aware them about the need for the change (Brewster et al. 2017). The next step is to identify the positive and negative forces in the change management. It is the responsibility of the human resource manager or the project manager to identify the positive or driving forces for the change. They should also determine the requirement of the driving forces to gain an understanding about the relevancy of the change to be implemented. I n addition, the negative forces also to be determined in order to identify their issues which may be relevant. Thus, analyzing the positive and negative forces will help to understand that whether the change should be implemented or not. The concerned executives should also aware about the implications of the change management in the organization. The next step is to analyze the forces on the basis of their scoring and implement the change management accordingly (Cooke and Bartram 2015) Linking to HRM theory Management is a crucial aspect in all of the companies and organizations, in order to achieve success. For the achievement of this success, efficient and judicious utilization of the resources are needed. All these are applicable for the fields including health and safety. The following section develops a theoretical perspective towards the role of HR in mitigating the risks of using sharp instruments. David Ulrichs HR model sheds light on the equal distribution of tasks between the managers and the employees. This is possible only if there is a proper strategic vision towards the execution of the tasks (Popescu 2015). As a matter of specification, the theory enhances the clarity of the readers regarding the ways and means of utilizing the organizational resources in Fuda Hospital. Effective adherence to the propositions of this theory helps the hospital personnel to entrust the staffs with their respective responsibilities. Heres not all, after allocation, the managers need to apply effective monitoring technique for assessing the performance of the staffs. Lackadaisical attitude in this direction aggravates the life risk of the patients (Wager, Lee, and Glaser 2017). This is due to the exposure of misutilization of the instruments by the staffs. Along with this, motivation theory is also appropriate in this discussion. Motivation generates an urge among the employees to reveal better performance. Motivating the employees about the judicious utilization of the equipments minimizes the risk factors of the patients. Countering this, it is the eagerness and willingness of the employees for making judicious usage of the sharp instruments. Herein, the provision of motivation and encouragement by the senior and the experienced doctors is only a medium for the professional development of the employees and the wellbeing of the patients (Schaufeli and Taris 2014). The color issue of the kidney dish reflects the negligence of the staffs in terms of providing quality treatment to the patients. The unhygienic condition of the kidney dish contradicts the aspect of effective and judicious utilization of the organizational resources. Herein, the individual roles of the hospital staffs are nullified, which aggravates the health issues of the patients. Not cleaning the equipments regularly reflects the careless attitude of the staffs regarding the transfer of the sharp instruments into the other tables. If this comes in contact of the patient, it proves harmful in terms of their treatment. Countering this, it is the role of the HR, which is nullified in terms of proving incapable to regulate the performance of the employees in using the organizational resources in an efficient and effective manner (Glasby and Dickinson 2014). Critical evaluation of the situation At the first place, sharp instruments must not be kept open in the hospital premises. This aggravates the risk factors of the patients. Even in the operation tables, the sharp instruments need to be kept cautiously as one wrong step might compel the patients to encounter tragic death. As a matter of specification, using the wrong instrument for operation questions the experience and capability of the doctors and nurses, who have been entrusted with the charge of operation (Kim, Farmer and Porter 2013). Table transfer is a common issue in the hospitals. Asking the other department for lending the table of equipments is natural and obvious in the hospitals including Fuda hospital. However, transfer of the table consisting of sharp instruments is the lack of conscious approach towards the performance of the employees. Lackadaisical attitude in these activities increases chaos, which interrogates the role of the HR, as he is the one, who is responsible for the utilization of the organizational resources. Sharp equipments and injury are complementary to each other. If the negligent attitude of the staffs is placed as a medium between these two aspects, the intensity of injury is increased. Viewing it from the other perspective, open exposure of the sharp equipments possesses an inevitable relationship with injury unless the patients are cautious of the steps that they are taking (Campbell et al. 2013). Countering this, the tag patient is only applicable for the persons, who for some disease or illness lack the basic understanding of the things, which acts as an obstacle in their way. In this respect, it is less likely that they would be cautious about the sharp instruments. Yellow color of the kidney dish, on one hand, can be considered as the unhygienic condition. In view of this connotation, the role of the HR is not at all appropriate in terms of ensuring the benefit of the patients. On the other hand, the yellow color also indicates brightness, which possesses flexibility for the staffs to be aware of the instruments that they are placing in the dish (Dickinson and O'Flynn 2016). Considering the equipment as dish is inappropriate, as there is no food item being served. Instead, if it is called tray, it would have been appropriate in terms of the equipments, which are placed. Placement of the things in the tray needs creative presentation for luring the guests. However, in this context, prioritizing the equipments according to the needs is important for providing the patients with the treatment and care for their speedy recovery. Viewing it from the change perspective, the yellow color of the kidney dish is justified. This is in reference to the enhancement of the visibility of the employees regarding the equipments, which are placed in the dish (Cherry and Jacob 2016). This cautiousness alters the approach of the staffs towards delivering quality care to the patients. Moreover, this cautiousness is needed in terms of all round development of their own self as well as the recovery of the patients from the sufferings and ailments. Rejection of the offer is also justified as the proposed steps do not go without the difference of opinions among the employees. However, in terms of the organizational decorum and harmony, these conflicts stain the workplace sanctity, which makes the hope of the wellbeing of the patients a distant hope (Valentine et al. 2015). This situation arises, when the staffs maintain consistency in not taking immediate steps for achieving effective resolutions for the workplace problems. On the contrary, organizing frequent discussions open forums and meetings makes the personnel aware of the issues, which the employees are encountering while executing the allocated tasks. Inclusion of the line managers into the speculation of the role of HR in the utilizing of sharp instruments broadens the discussion area of Human resource management. As a matter of specification, line managers are the main person, who is responsible for the products and equipments, which play an important role in providing quality treatment to the patients (Shortell 2013). Identification and justifying success Setting short term goals helps Fuda Hospital personnel to improve their focus on the business activities. Moreover, it enhances their confidence in terms of undertaking challenging tasks, which acts as an agent in terms of their professional development. Herein, evaluation plays an important position in terms of assessing the effectiveness and appropriateness of the undertaken steps in terms of the identified and the specified requirements (Aveyard 2014). Maintenance of frequency in this evaluation is additional assistance in terms of upgrading the standard and quality of the performance. Performing one task and conducting evaluation acts as a wise step for the hospital staffs to estimate their progress in terms of achieving success. The thought of achieving success is necessary, but not by putting the needs and requirements of the patients in the second place. The methods to adopt success are validated, when Fuda Hospital staffs reveal conscious approach towards the ways and methods adopted to carry out the business activities. When the staffs attain the maturity to think about this, their employment itself is validated, which adds value to the aspect of change management. This maturity is crucial in terms of attaining professionalism, which helps in achieving customer satisfaction to a great extent (Patel et al. 2013). Absence of this maturity attaches an interrogative parameter to the roles of HR and the line manager in terms of the efficient and effective utilization of the organizational resources. Viewing it from the other perspective, this maturity or rationality makes the hospital staffs an agent in providing the patients with an escape to the patients from their sufferings and ailments. This rationality sets a good example of the personnel in the minds of the patients and their family. This approachability omits the interrogation a nd affirms the role exerted by the managers and the staffs for treating the sufferings of the patients (Dent and Whitehead 2013). Improvement and recommendations Identification of the areas to modify is the primary step towards altering the business scenario. This can be done through the means of adopting the means of survey and feedback from the stakeholders and shareholders. Effective consideration of the responses of the stakeholders and shareholders would make Fuda Hospital staffs aware of the areas, which needs change. Along with this, the managers need to sit in meeting with the board of directors for making plans regarding making effective advancements with the identified requirements. Involvement of the employees in these meetings would bestow a number of solutions on the management of the hospital. As a sequential step, the best appropriate change needs to be selected for enhancing the productivity. After this, evaluation needs to be done for assessing the appropriateness of the selected yellowish kidney dish in terms of providing quality treatment to the patients. Mere assessment of the equipment would not serve the purpose, the employees need to be provided with training regarding the effective and judicious utilization of the equipment for achieving success. Apart from this, after buying the dish, if it is registered, the hospital authorities would be safeguarded from the risks related to the equipment. Along with this, it would validate the resources, which is noteworthy of the HR in terms of revealing cautious and conscious attitude towards the business activities, especially the delivery of quality treatment to the patients. The most important thing is to conduct open forums and discussions, which would reduce the conflicts, discriminations and harassments in the internal environment of the hospital. These discussions act as a wider platform for the employees and the managers to voice out their opinions before the higher authorities. Herein lays the appropriateness of the word open, which is devoid of any concealment regarding the doubts related to the efficient execution of the business activities. Countering this, the first priority is to set up strategies for progressing with the projects in hand in an efficient and effective manner. Inclusion of the relevant activities in these strategies would help the personnel to achieve successful completion of the tasks with the stipulated time. Therefore time management is one of the crucial recommendations in order to provide the patients with the needed care and treatment. For adopting the best yellow colored kidney dish, the marketing personnel need to conduct market research. This research would enhance the awareness of the ersonnel in terms of the equipments, which are in demand within the market. Evaluation after the selection would help the personnel to estimate the progress in terms of the identified and specified objectives. Systematizing the tasks in this manner would help the hospital to expose their Samaritan side in terms of providing a proper recovery to the patients. References Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance.International journal of productivity and performance management. Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Aveyard, H., 2014.Doing a literature review in health and social care: A practical guide. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Brewster, C., Hegewisch, A., Mayne, L. and Tregaskis, O., 2017. Employee communication and participation.Policy and Practice in European Human Resource Management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield Survey, p.154. Campbell, J., Buchan, J., Cometto, G., David, B., Dussault, G., Fogstad, H., Fronteira, I., Lozano, R., Nyonator, F., Pablos-Mndez, A. and Quain, E.E., 2013. Human resources for health and universal health coverage: fostering equity and effective coverage.Bulletin of the World Health Organization,91(11), pp.853-863. Cherry, B. and Jacob, S.R., 2016.Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, management. Elsevier Health Sciences. Cooke, F.L. and Bartram, T., 2015. Guest editors introduction: human resource management in health care and elderly care: current challenges and toward a research agenda.Human Resource Management,54(5), pp.711-735. Dent, M. and Whitehead, S. eds., 2013.Managing professional identities: Knowledge, performativities and the'new'professional(Vol. 19). Routledge. Dickinson, H. and O'Flynn, J., 2016.Evaluating outcomes in health and social care. Policy Press. Fudahospital.com (2017). Guangzhou Fuda cancer Hospital. Available at: https://www.fudahospital.com/en_asp_new/ [Accessed on 7th August 2017] Glasby, J. and Dickinson, H., 2014.Partnership working in health and social care: what is integrated care and how can we deliver it?. Policy Press. Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M. and Davis, D. eds., 2013.Improving patient care: the implementation of change in health care. John Wiley Sons. Hayes, J., 2014.The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan. Kickbusch, I. and Gleicher, D., 2012.Governance for health in the 21st century. Geneva: World Health Organization. Kim, J.Y., Farmer, P. and Porter, M.E., 2013. Redefining global health-care delivery.The Lancet,382(9897), pp.1060-1069. Langabeer II, J.R. and Helton, J., 2015.Health care operations management. Jones Bartlett Publishers. McMichael, A.J., 2013. Globalization, climate change, and human health.New England Journal of Medicine,368(14), pp.1335-1343. Patel, V., Belkin, G.S., Chockalingam, A., Cooper, J., Saxena, S. and Untzer, J., 2013. Grand challenges: integrating mental health services into priority health care platforms.PloS medicine,10(5), p.e1001448. Popescu, G.H., 2015. Sustainability, public health, and quality of care.American Journal of Medical Research,2(2), pp.211-211. Schaufeli, W.B. and Taris, T.W., 2014. A critical review of the Job Demands-Resources Model: Implications for improving work and health. InBridging occupational, organizational and public health(pp. 43-68). Springer Netherlands. Shortell, S.M., 2013. Bridging the divide between health and health care.Jama,309(11), pp.1121-1122. Swayne, L.E., Duncan, W.J. and Ginter, P.M., 2012.Strategic management of health care organizations. John Wiley Sons. Valentine, M.A., Nembhard, I.M. and Edmondson, A.C., 2015. Measuring teamwork in health care settings: a review of survey instruments.Medical care,53(4), pp.e16-e30. Wager, K.A., Lee, F.W. and Glaser, J.P., 2017.Health care information systems: a practical approach for health care management. John Wiley Sons.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Global Trends in Hospitality Essay Example

Global Trends in Hospitality Essay Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 Operational issues and trends in the hospitality industry Peter Jones School of Management Studies for the Service Sector, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK Abstract This article makes some predictions about the future by considering operational issues in the rst part of the next century. Hospitality operations management is considered at two levels * the rm level at which strategic operations management takes place; and the unit level. It is proposed, using a model developed by Jones (1999, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality management), there are seven strategic concerns: location, integration, a$liation, conguration, organisation, implementation and adaptation. For unit operations management the framework of analysis is based on Lockwood and Jones (1989, The Management of Hotel Operations). This identies seven key result areas: assets, employees, capacity (or customers), productivity, service, income (or control), and quality. Using these frameworks an assessment is made of current issues and trends in hospitality operations management, leading to a prioritisation of possible future outcomes. 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Operations management; Assets; Employees; Capacity; Productivity; Service; Quality 1. Introduction Have you ever looked at an impressionist painting? From a distance one is able to see the picture, appreciate its composition and enjoy its subtle realism. Move closer and it becomes apparent that it is made up of thousands of tiny dots, each of which is di! erent. We will write a custom essay sample on Global Trends in Hospitality specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Global Trends in Hospitality specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Global Trends in Hospitality specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And really close up, there is no clear picture * just a chaotic jumble of colour. The global hospitality industry is like that. It is easy to assume that the industry is homogeneous and there are clear worldwide trends of relevance to hospitality operators everywhere. In reality, the industry is incredibly diverse and complex, which makes identifying common issues and future trends extremely di$cult. For instance, there is the development of global brands such as McDonalds. But this chains 18,000 restaurants needs to be placed in the context of the 8 million 0278-4319/99/$ see front matter 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 2 7 8 4 3 1 9 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 4 7 X 428 P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 restaurants world-wide (IHRA, 1999), of which 206 thousand are in one country * China. There is also the world-wide growth of international hotels chains, but this is varies widely from region to region, and even within regions. For instance, `some 70% of new hotel development (approximately 27,000 new rooms) in Latin America over the next few years is concentrated in two countries * Mexico and Brazila and `the number of hotels in Dubai (a tiny Gulf state) has grown from 48 in 1988 to 255 by mid-1998. This is estimated to represent around 40% of the total hotel supply of the Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman)a (BDO Hospitality Consulting, 1998). 2. Analytical framework In order to cope with such diversity and complexity, this article is structured around two analytical frameworks developed by Jones and Lockwood (1996) illustrated in Fig. 1. This comprises two systems, the management system and the technological system, congured as a hierarchy of three levels. The discipline of management is well established, but continues to evolve; whilst the technological system is in continuous adaptation as it responds to changes in consumer taste and Fig. 1. Model of Operations Managem (Jones and Lockwood, 1996). P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 429 demand, new product development, direct and indirect competition, advances in technology, and the many other factors which in#uence the growth and sustainability of any business concept. This review of issues and trends is concerned with two levels * the strategic (or rm) level, and the unit (i. . hotel, restaurant or operations) level. Jones (1999) has proposed that strategic operations (not to be confused with business strategy) can be considered as seven inter-related activities. These are: location, integration, a$liation, conguration, organisation, implementation and adaptation. Location is a key strategic decision with operational implications, long recognised within the industry and immortalised by Conrad Hiltons famous quote. Integration refers to the extent to which the hospitality rm owns and controls some or all of the resources it needs to operate its business. Some sectors, in some countries, have historically been highly integrated, such as pubs in the UK. Azliation relates to the choice of business format (direct ownership, franchising, management contracts, consortia) adopted by the hospitality rm. In the hotel sector, there are signicant di! erences with regards to format from one region to another. In the USA, 65% of hotels are franchised, in the UK 85% are directly owned and managed, whilst in Asia 65% are on management contracts (Kleinwort Benson, 1996). In foodservice, franchising in the restaurant industry and management contracting in employee feeding are highly signicant. Conxguration refers to how the rm designs or conxgures its product, technology and `hard systemsa; whilst organisation applies to the human activity or `softa systems within the rm, especially in relation to the operations function. Key strategic decisions in the rst of these relate to product and process choice, the degree of automation, and role of I. T. ; and in the second to issues of authority, formalisation, centralisation of function and so on. Implementation relates to how rms develop and operate systems designed to give them feedback on operational performance, such as nancial control systems and quality management systems. Finally, adaptation identies that rms need to respond to changes in their environment and they need ways in which they can adapt, specically how rms conduct research and development and innovate. At the operations management (OM) level, i. e. unit level, an output-based model of seven key result areas (KRAs) for the management of the service delivery system is used as the analytical framework, derived from Lockwood and Jones (1989) and Jones and Merricks (1986). The KRAs that have to be managed are assets, employees, capacity (or customers), productivity, service, income (or control), and quality. This model proposes the concept that within each area there are a range of alternative operational policies and procedures that might be adopted to re#ect the type of hospitality business, its size, and its technology. For instance, yield management is an approach to managing capacity in hotels, especially large, chain properties (Jarvis et al. , 1998); quality control is applied largely in quick service restaurants, whereas total quality management has been applied to a few hotels, such as Ritz Carlton. In the context of this article therefore there are two major OM issues. First, will hospitality rms switch from their existing, traditional approaches to managing the KRAs to other more contemporary approaches? Second, will any completely new ways for managing these KRAs emerge in the future? 430 P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 3. The international hospitality industry It has been argued that the hospitality industry, i. e. a single entity, does not exist. There are, and will continue to be, signicant structural di! erences between the hospitality industries in di! erent countries. Such structural di! erences are legal, nancial and economic. A countrys laws a! ct the ownership, size and operation of hospitality businesses. For instance, the German legal framework is the main reason that hotels are operated on leases, more than in any other European country (Kleinwort Benson, 1996). Finance a! ects the hospitality business in terms of the availability of capital for investment, the relative return from hospitality operations within a c ountrys economy, implications of taxation and other overheads, and so on. Whilst the USA throughout the 1990s has experienced unprecedented economic growth, the UK had a recession in the early 1990s, and the signs in Euroland for 1999 are very mixed. Finally, the structure of a countrys economy a! ects the size and scope of di! erent types of hospitality business. Slattery and Johnson (1993) have suggested that hotel infrastructure development is directly linked to the structure of an economy * as service overtakes manufacturing, growing business demand stimulates hotel development. But there are other factors too, related to demand and supply. For instance, Mediterranean countries have coastal, resort hotels designed and operated for longstay (one week plus) tourists. This is now changing * `Spanish hotels are experiencing signicant changes in both demand and supply.. [so that] there is a transition towards a more diversied tourism producta (BDO Hospitality Consulting, 1999). Likewise brand penetration by the industrys high prole global players may be international, but with a highly regional orientation. Cendant is currently the worlds largest hotel chain, but over 90% of its properties are in North America. ACCOR too is a global chain, but a high proportion of its operations are in France and Europe. In the future such structural di! erences between countries will be reduced. Within Europe the creation of a single monetary area will systematically remove wage and price di! erentials. Similar political and monetary alignments may appear in other regions of the world. European Monetary Union and competitive pressures may also stimulate a great deal of merger and acquisition activity as companies seek to achieve regional scale economies and drive out competitors. The following discussion of trends in strategic and unit-level operations management must be placed in this context. Change will not the same in all sectors and in all parts of the world. 4. Strategic operations management 4. 1. Location The strategic issue of location can be divided into two main aspects, that of where generally to locate a hospitality operation and then the specic issue of selecting suitable sites. In the hospitality industry, the key factor in the location decision is demand. In simple terms, operations are located where demand is highest, and sited so P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 431 that such demand can easily access the provision. Strategic success derives from matching the type and size of the business with the site available. The factors that in#uence location in the accommodation and foodservice sectors re di! erent. Hotels are primarily located near where people are travelling or at destinations, which requires them to stay away from home. In the days of horse-drawn vehicles or stage-coaches, inns developed near main routes; with the railways came station hotels and resort hotels; with paved highways and the motor car came motels and business hotels; and with air travel the airport hotel. Foodservice operations feed the traveller, but they also exist in locations where people congregate for a variety of reasons * to shop (shopping malls and centres), work (employee feeding), learn (schools and universities), and so on. In mature markets, all locations have been penetrated by the major brands and suitable sites are di$cult to acquire. There is some evidence that consumer demand in such markets is driven less by situation but by destination or experience. For instance, Club Med has kept their existing locations but transformed their concept to appeal less to couples and more to families with young children. The shift to all-inclusive provision, especially in resort properties with extensive sporting facilities and linked to time share, has made these hotels destinations in their own right. In the hotel sector, another trend is for sites to have a multiple use, i. e. more than one brand is colocated on the same site. For instance, ACCOR have developed a property in Paris which is shared by a Novotel, their mid-market brand, and a budget Formula 1 hotel. Whitbread Hotels in converting Londons County Hall, the former administrative centre of the capital, has created a Marriott ve-star property on the side of the building which overlooks the Thames, and a budget Travel Inn on the non-river side. In the foodservice sector, the trends is towards `micro-unitsa and sites in `host environmentsa. Because conventional, high tra$c sites have been lled, operators have developed smaller units, such as carts and kiosks, designed to go in secondary locations. Often, such units are sited not as stand alone operations, but within another operating business, such as a sports arena, cinema, lling station, supermarket, or any other venue with high customer throughput. In the USA, a signicant proportion of restaurant sales are take-out or home delivery meals. This is a growing trend in Europe. The rules of the game in this sector are also likely to change, with major pizza chains in concentrated urban areas attempting to reduce delivery times from what was the industry standard of 30 min down to less than ten by creating mobile hot storage or even hot production vehicles. In developing markets, locational decisions are di! erent between hotels and restaurants. Hotels tend to be developed in major urban or resort areas, irrespective of their geographic dispersion. Restaurant development tends to be regionlised, with one area being developed before moving on to the next. This is because hotel chains advertise nationally and internationally, whilst restaurant chains, especially the quick This is somewhat ironic. Ray Kroc writes in his autobiography that when a team of his executives suggested building small scale units, to be called MiniMacs he was `so damned mad I was ready to let those three guys have it with my canea. Their failing was to think small! 432 P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 ervice chains, use regional and national television promotions. This clearly has implications for the strategic issue of organisation (see below). 4. 2. Integration Integration is largely concerned with the management of the so-called supply or value chain. With regards to the supply chain, the accommodation sector and the foodservice sector have quite di! erent characteristics. Accommodation provision is largely an assembly operation (ser vicing of rooms) with most materials processing (laundering linen, etc. ) being carried out by a supplier. Foodservice on the other hand can range from being largely an assembly operation (with meal items being largely prepared o! site) to a full-blown production facility in which meals are processed from raw ingredients. There is also a signicant di! erence in the relative cost structures of these two sectors with respect to such processed consumables * low in the accommodation sector (less than 10%), high in the foodservice sector (25}40%). In many industries and for many rms, especially in manufacturing, supply chain management has been a key to success. In the hotel sector, the focus has been on integration of the reservations process through a network of providers * in-unit, in-rm central reservations, airlines, travel agencies and a number of other sources. The development of global distribution systems (GDS) which integrates these agents along with in-house management tools such as yield management and property management is likely to create competitive advantage for chains who harness the opportunities o! ered by both GDS and the disintermediation derived from the internet (Connolly et al. , 1998). But in other respects the hospitality industry has largely been unconcerned with supply chain issues. This is because as a service based-business, in-bound supply logistics are relatively straight forward * a combination of accurate forecasting, sound purchasing practices and good supplier relationships; whilst out-bound logistics are non-existent, because the customer consumes the output on site. The exception to this is #ight catering, which has produced meals on a scale much greater than most foodservice operations * up to 20,000 meals a day. This kind of vertical integration is however growing in importance. In hotels, there is an increase in outsourcing provision to specialist suppliers of services such as cleaning, in-room entertainment, and large-scale catering. One sector that has transformed itself through its e! ective harnessing of supply chain logistics is licensed retailing in the UK. The traditional pub, tied to a brewery, used to be largely concerned with wet or drink sales. In the space of the last ten years, fuelled by increased competition resulting from deregulation, pubs have become sophisticated concepts providing drinks, meals and entertainment to clearly identied market segments. Appropriate menu items and consistent standards of food provision have been delivered through working with food manufacturers and developing logistic support, rather than in-house production. Something the fast food chains have been doing for many years. The other major form of integration in the industry is horizontal integration, operating a portfolio of similar businesses at the same stage of production. Marvin P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 433 Cetron (IHRA 1999) argues that `in one industry after another, the big get bigger, or take over of other similar rms. Such activity has been onsiderable since the 1970s, thanks to economies of scale. The small prosper by providing high levels of service in niche markets. The middle-size, lacking either advantage, are either squeezed out or taken over. [This trend] is particularly strong in the hotel industry, and is seen in restaurantsa. Thus early in 1999 in the UK alone Friendly Hotels had taken over Lyric Hotels, Re gal Hotels had acquired County Hotels, Bass had acquired Stakis to reposition with its Hilton brand, and Whitbread (the Marriott corporate franchisee in the UK) was rumoured to be bidding for both Swallow Hotels and DeVere Hotels. But all this activity pales into insignicance when compared with the C2 billion takeover of Inter-Continental Hotels by Bass. In Europe, there has been similar industry concentration in the contract foodservice sector. 4. 3. Azliation Potentially a more important concern for the hospitality industry is not control over inbound and outbound resource processes, but over the resource of physical infrastructure, that is the issue of a$liation. Many hospitality rms do not own the site or building in which `theira hotel or restaurant is operated. Instead they `owna the concept, the brand and the operational characteristics and procedures of that brand. In some cases they directly manage the delivery of that through a management contract; in others they assign to others the management through a franchise agreement. Those independent operators that are not large chains, in order to compete and achieve the same kind of scale economies, have banded together to form consortia. Broadly speaking franchising has been very strong in chain restaurants and hotels in the US; management contracts are the foundation of the employee feeding sector, in#ight catering and hotels outside the USA and Europe; and consortia are mainly in the hotel sector. In the future, this will continue to be the case but we are likely to see an increase in hotel franchising; penetration of foodservice management contracts into hotels; the creation of restaurant consortia; and an increase in plural forms (Bradach, 1998), that is a combination of business formats within the same brand or organisation. Increasing complexity will be a feature of this strategic area in the years to come. As studies of hotel management contracts (Eyster, 1993) have shown, as power has shifted within maturing markets from the brand operators to the owners, more complex forms of agreement which require operators sharing more of the risk have evolved. Today, it is possible for a hotel to be partly owned by a developer and by a management contract company, to be managed by that contractor, who is a franchisee of a hotel brand. The same is true in the contract foodservice sector. Many contracts used to be based on the cost-plus concept, today most are performance related in some way. Contractors have also penetrated many more sectors than in the past. The current trend is for them to take over the food and beverage provision in the lodging sector; hotels having already experimented, during the 1990s, with inviting high prole restaurateurs to run their hotel restaurants, with greater or lesser degrees of success. 434 P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 . 4. Conxguration Over the last 30 years it has been argued that service operations in general (Levitt, 1976; Schmenner, 1986), and hospitality operations specically (Jones, 1988), have been subject to three major trends * production-lining, decoupling, and increased customer participation. In e! ect these three trends are all aspects of conguration. The traditional conguration of a hospitality business has been an autonomous, stand-alone, low- tech operation * in other words, the typical independent hotel or restaurant. It should be remembered that the chains, with their branded and standardised conguration are a fairly recent phenomenon. Kemmons Wilson opened the rst Holiday Inn in 1952 and when Ray Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers in 1961, that chain only had 200 `storesa. McDonalds is the classic example of production-lining, cited by Levitt (1976). In 1948 the McDonald brothers reduced their menu to seven items, standardised the hamburger and its ingredients, automated as many activities as possible, and broke down the production process into a series of separate, standardised tasks performed by di! rent people (just as Henry Ford had done for the motor car 35 years earlier). Since then, new technologies such as cook-freeze, cook-chill and sous-vide have further facilitated the industrialisation of processes. Such systems are often `decoupleda, that is back-of-house operations are separated from front-of-house, both in time and place. This has always been the case for #ight catering, with m eals prepared on the ground and served in the air. It is how the British pub sector has most dramatically changed, it is now common in contract foodservice for this to be the case, and increasingly common in the restaurant sector. These three trends have been less prevalent in the hotel sector, as the nature of the core product * an overnight stay * is not easily automated. The most signicant change has been in the information-processing element of the hotel product (reservations, check-in and so on), which has been revolutionised by the computer. This has enabled the decoupling of the reservations function into central reservations o$ces. Other aspects of hotel conguration have changed and will continue to change. New build hotels, especially those in the budget sector, do not have restaurants. For instance, 40% of American hotels and 30% of French hotels have no restaurant compared with 10% in the UK (McKinsey Global Institute, 1998). On the other hand, leisure facilities are increasingly being added to hotel properties especially where there is a strong local market for leisure club membership. Historically, hotel design has frequently seen common major design faults, which include underprovision of administrative space, too little bulk storage, misalignment of kitchen space with dining areas, poor relationships between accommodation (`drya) and leisure (`weta) space, and not enough operational space on accommoda- The very rst long distance commercial passenger airline, Transcontinental Air Transport, was formed in 1929 in the USA. Even in its rst year of operation it had #ight attendants, served meals and showed in #ight movies! Meals were served despite the fact that planes were unpressurised and unventilated so that typically three quarters of passengers were airsick (Bryson, 1994). P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 435 tion #oors. Modern hotel design, such as the way Marriott developed the Courtyard concept, has overcome these problems and in the future new build hotels are more likely to be well designed from an operations perspective. New build hotels in mature markets are likely to be designed to ll product/market niches that have not yet been exploited. There are ve basic criteria: location (see above), market segment, room design, grade, and type of stay. The Holiday Inn concept was originally designed as a roadside property, serving the travelling leisure segment, with a standard room, in the middle price range, used mainly for overnight stays. Since then a number of other congurations have been developed including city centre business hotels, budget hotels, country house or resort hotels, courtyard concepts, and most recently all suite properties. In the future, there may be entirely new congurations. For instance, the rst ever hotel designed exclusively for children has been opened in London; in Japan `capsule hotelsa have been built for budgetconscious commuters too tired to go home; Sleepers is a hotel in Cambridge, UK, specially designed for back-packers; and hotels designed for the so-called grey panther market are being developed, designed for reasonably priced long stays in get away from it all locations. Within these basic product/market niches there is scope for enormous variation in the detailed design of facilities and services. Marriott when conducting market research for the Courtyard concept identied 48 di! erent elements, with a total of 160 di! erent variables. Elements included building shape, room size, vending service, type of check-in, and so on. An example of the variables within an element is laundry service: there could be none, client drop o! and pick-up, self-service, or valet pick-up and drop o!. As hotel chains develop internationally, they are likely to ensure that these basic elements are consistent across the world, but allow for di! rence in the specic variables to take account of local expectations. For instance, in the UK, American chains had to adjust full room service provision to re#ect the British practice of having tea making facilities in the room. Construction is also likely to be subject to a number of trends. Pre-fabricated building has been used in some countries for a number of years, notably for budget properties in France. However, in many countries it is little used. Howev er, Cendant plans to construct 30 new properties over the next ve years using this approach. Although `relatively rare in the United States, [it] is gaining in popularity due to its ability to control both cost and qualitya (Lister, 1998a). ACCOR in Europe and Forte Posthouse in the UK have also used this technology. Posthouse have used it to extend existing properties since the unit cost is marginally lower, but more importantly there is less on-site disruption caused by adding `podsa i. e. bedrooms in their nished state. Environmental issues will also a! ect construction. Environmentally, friendly hotels and operating procedures are relatively common especially in Europe, for instance the ACCOR chain has a Director of Environment. Sources of capital, such as banks, encourage this practice through lower interest rates, especially in Scandinavia. The Intercontinental hotel chain incorporates environmental management as one of the ways in which its managers performance is assessed. In Australia the new Eco Beach property in Western Australia and the Eco-hotel under construction in Sydney, are leading examples of this kind of development. It is claimed that the rst `environ- 436 P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 mentally smarta hotel in the United States is the Sheraton Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia (Lister, 1998b). It is likely that there will increasing pressure to meet environmental standards. A number of major international corporations, such as Nike, Volvo and BP, have instituted green purchasing policies which requires their suppliers * including hotel companies * to have environmental policies in place. Currently, the International Hotels Environment Initiative (IHEI) in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is working on a benchmarking scheme which will identify the hotels chains level of performance in this area. The United States Agency for International Development has sponsored Green Globe certication, designed to recognise environmentally sensitive hotels and Australia is about to launch the Green Gum Tree classication scheme. In addition, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in 1999 is focusing on the tourism industry. 4. 5. Organisation If Cesar Ritz or any other famous hotelier of the nineteenth century were to be reincarnated, they could walk into any of the worlds top luxury hotels and recognise how work was organised, what jobs workers were engaged in, and the way hotel business was conducted. At a unit level, both in hotels and foodservice, organisational form and behaviour has changed little. The most signicant change has been the growth of large chains and the creation of the multi-unit manager. The challenge for senior management is how to manage large numbers of units geographically dispersed over a wide area, so-called multi-unit management. Multiunit management has been described as a `late twentieth century phenomenona (Jones, 1998). A number of new corporate roles are emerging concerned with the operations function. These include environmental managers as discussed above; loss prevention management teams which aim to provide an integrated approach to a wide range of issues such as security, health and safety; procurement and logistics specialists; and special projects directors who are tasked to tackle long-term, complex issues such as quality, productivity or innovation across the chain. Most large, international hospitality rms have been organised as classic functional organisations. This means formal systems, a high level of centralisation, clear hierarchies and relatively small spans of control. But chains are making dynamic changes to their organisation. All kinds of organisational innovation are being introduced. Authority is being delegated down to unit level management and below through empowerment (in some hotel and restaurant chains); merger and acquisitions create organisational turmoil as di! rent cultures clash; organisations are being `downsizeda or delayered to create #at hierarchies; unit management is being reorganised to be replaced by GMs responsible for three or four properties (in Forte Hotels); area managers are changing from controllers of standards into business development advisors (especially in UK pub chains); and so on. Such change is also being in#uenced by the development of intranets which greatly facilitates administrative processes wit hin the chain organisation. Radisson claim their intranet has improved productivity by 18%. P. Jones / Hospitality Management 18 (1999) 427}442 437 The organisational changes being taken by big companies has interesting implications for SMEs. Downsizing has resulted in large numbers of highly professional middle managers being made redundant. Many have used their lump sum redundancy payments to invest in their own hotel or foodservice business. This injection of professional expertise has resulted in considerable improvement in the provision made by small operators, which have traditionally lagged behind the major chains. 4. 6. Implementation The kind of organisational change and experimentation described above clearly has implications for how the operations strategy is implemented. The traditional functional organisation means that strategy is implemented on a command and control basis. Operating policies, procedures and standards are set centrally, and the operations management team, of typically regional directors, area managers, and unit managers are required to ensure these are carried through. Management is supported by systems, such as the management information system which monitors nancial performance and some kind of quality programme, usually based around mystery shopping, guest comment cards and customer surveys, which monitors customer satisfaction. This model is similar whether the chain operates its own units or operates on a franchise basis (see

Monday, November 25, 2019

Great Depression Essays - Systemic Risk, Financial Crises

Great Depression Essays - Systemic Risk, Financial Crises Great Depression The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in U.S. history, and one which spread to virtually all of the industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. Many factors played a role in bringing about the depression; however, the main cause for the Great Depression was the combination of the greatly unequal distribution of wealth throughout the 1920's, and the extensive stockmarket speculation that took place during the latter part that same decade. The lack of distribution of wealth in the 1920's existed on many levels. Money was distributed in equally between the rich and the middle-class, between industry and agriculture within the United States, and between the U.S. and Europe. This imbalance of wealth created an unstable economy. The stock market was kept artificially high, but eventually lead to large market crashes. These market crashes, combined with the lack of distribution of wealth, caused the American economy to capsize. The roaring twenties was an era when our country prospered tremendously. The nation's total realized income rose from $74.3 billion in 1923 to $89 billion in 1929. However, the rewards of the Coolidge Prosperity of the 1920's were not shared evenly among all Americans. In 1929 the top 0.1% of Americans controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings at all. Automotive industry mogul Henry Ford is one example of the unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class. Henry Ford reported a personal income of $14 million in the same year that the average persons income was $750. By present day standards Mr. Ford would be earning over $345 million a year! This lack of distribution of income between the rich and the middle class grew throughout the 1920's. A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout the 1920s. From 1923-1929 the average output per worker increased 32%. During that same period of time average wages for manufacturing jobs increased only 8%. As production costs fell quickly, wages rose slowly, and prices remained constant, the bulk benefit of the increased productivity went into corporate profits. The federal government also contributed to the growing gap between the rich and middle-class. Calvin Coolidge's administration favored business. An example of legislation to this purpose is the Revenue Act of 1926, which greatly reduced federal income and inheritance taxes. Andrew Mellon was the main force behind these and other tax cuts throughout the 1920's. Because of these tax cuts a man with a million-dollar annual income had his federal taxes reduced from $600,000 to $200,000. Even the Supreme Court played a role in expanding the gap between the socioeconomic classes. In the1923 case Adkins v. Children's Hospital, the Supreme Court ruled minimum-wage legislation unconstitutional. The large and growing difference of wealth between the well-to-do and the middle-income citizens made the U.S. economy unstable. For an economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. Essentially what happened in the 1920's was that there was an oversupply of goods. It was not that the surplus products were not wanted, but rather that those who needed the products could not afford more, while the wealthy were satisfied by spending only a small portion of their income. Three quarters of the U.S. population would spend essentially all of their yearly incomes to purchase goods such as food, clothes, radios, and cars. These were the poor and middle class. Families with incomes around, or usually less than, $2,500 a year. While the wealthy too purchased consumer goods, a family earning $100,000 could not be expected to eat 40 times more than a family that only earned $2,500 a year. Through the imbalance the U.S. came to rely upon two things in order for the economy to remain on an even level: credit sales, or investment from the rich. One obvious solution to the problem of the vast majority of the population not having enough money to satisfy all their needs was to let those who wanted goods buy products on credit. The concept of buying now and paying later caught on quickly. By the end of the 1920's 60% of cars and 80% of radios were bought on installment credit. Between 1925 and 1929 the total amount of outstanding installment credit more than doubled. This strategy created a non realistic demand for products which people could not usually afford. People could no longer use their regular wages to

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Modivication of ELP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Modivication of ELP - Essay Example The main reason for choosing the computer network and communication technology specialization is hone my technical acumen, as this will qualify me to attain a future high scientific position in this field. The world now is taking a significant technological leap that requires more professional workers and developers. I am ready to meet the requirements of this Digital Age. Through further study and perseverance I will convert the theoretical academic knowledge into practical scientific applications in the area of communications technology. Study at Coventry University allows one to coexist and identify with a wide-array of students and cultures. There are many things that can be gathered from experiencing this multicultural perspective. I’ve found one of the most relevant application of the Coventry community occurs in collaborative activities, where students share scientific specializations, construct reports, create the projects, and present the findings. The multi-varied cultures, languages, religions, and traditions Coventry university cultivates is truly inspiring. Coventry university characterizes development in all fields, matching global business development to contemporary teaching methods. In the final year of my specialization module (mobile and Wireless), the class visited the BT company to support students practical study and experience. There are several positive factors will help me gain enough familiarity with information about network and communication technology. These factors have motivated me to complete my postgraduate degree study at Coventry university. - My driving force to success is the working collaboratively on study topics and meeting with other students; I also plan to consult with the school’s teachers who have relevant experience in my specialty. - I have the required expertise to utilize the laboratory equipments, particularly those related

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 100

Assignment Example In the Andean groups extended their kingdom by creating an overarching political state and integrating its empire into a single order to secure its subjects and increase area for natural resources. The Anasazi, Mesoamerica, developed an economy on beans, squash, and maize. Their success in adapting these crops allowed the formation of large villages and resulted into vast cultural life in underground buildings known as kivas. Inca constructed roads that facilitated military troop movements, trade, and administration. Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization; it was the located in the Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia was located at convergence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers that produced fertile soils; hence, irrigation was practiced. Sumerian came up with cuneiform script for communication. Egyptians started an agricultural economy with centralized society. Egyptian states had urban development and monarchies. Egyptians are recognized for surgery, barge transport, and mathematics. In addition, they are widely known as their pyramids. The Harappan civilization is credited with the introduction of decimal fractions. Small societies were nomadic in nature while vast empires settled along riverbanks on the same land hence showed the concept of ownership. Large empires increased their security since they were located at the same point from other small societies. Large empires encouraged specialization for example artisan, craftsmen, traders, and farmers who produce surpluses; small communities did not support these activities. Governments came in place to maintain specialized labor and surpluses production in agriculture, and to maintain the new culture. The government provided services like roads to the merchants, unified people in villages. These governments started taxing in form of surplus from farmers. Belief systems were created in order to bring order into the society because of political

Monday, November 18, 2019

Dealing with Moral Issues in Health Care Assignment

Dealing with Moral Issues in Health Care - Assignment Example As the report stresses  there was a belief that spirits cure diseases, which are caused as a result of divine punishment. Although, this concept is no longer accepted in the modern world, some of the religious beliefs and ideologies are observed to still hamper the moral issues in health care, wherein spirituality persists in contrast to morality. Some Muslim patients still convey strong religious or cultural issues about ‘modesty’, especially when being treated by the opposite sex, as commonly observed among the followers of Buddhism, Hinduism and Judaism.  From the discussion it is clear that  a major proportion of Buddhists and Hindus can be observed as very rigidly ‘vegetarian’. For such patients, medicines produced from animals, is very much likely to cause problems, owing to the fact that such practices might be considered contradictory to their religious beliefs. The ‘dietary’ problem is also very much likely for Muslims and Jews, a s they refuse to accept pork or gelatin in their medicines. The Muslim patients may also question about alcohol based medicines and hand-rubs, which is strictly prohibited in their religion.  Suggestively, religious concepts, hampering the moral issues in health care can be minimized or even made negligible by adapting certain changes in actions and thoughts of patients, motivating them to become more flexible and rational towards medication.  Social media networks can also be major tool to generate awareness among patients and deal with the above discussed moral issues.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Evolution Of Rhetoric In The Electronic Age

The Evolution Of Rhetoric In The Electronic Age The reason for this research paper is to discuss the future rhetoric of our new Electronic Generation. Rhetoric is an art of public speaking and, in our day and age, electronics play a major part. This paper will explain the rhetorical aspects of this potential transformation into an all electronic world. The information of this paper will explain the history of rhetoric and how we got to where we are today. It will also speak of some the major philosophers about this change in our new generation. Rhetoric is defined as the art or study of using language effectively and persuasively. From ancient Greece to the late nineteenth century, it was an essential part of Western education to teach public speakers and writers to persuade listeners to action with arguments. At the turn of the 20th century, there was a profound interest of rhetorical study began to grow in the organization of departments of rhetoric and speech at colleges and universities, as well as the development of national and international professional organizations. Some modern theorists believe that it was important to restore the interest of the study of rhetoric because of the renewed importance of language and persuasion in the progressively reconciled environment of the twentieth century and through the twenty-first century, with the media spotlight on the wide difference s and analyses of political rhetoric and its result s. With the expansion of marketing and of mass media such as photography, telegraphy, ra dio, and film, rhetoric is being more notably conveyed into peoples lives. In spite of its legacy as a moral way for persuasion, rhetoric has come to take on negative undertones. Through the years, generations have forgotten whats the real meaning of rhetoric is and has somehow implicate that this word is deceptive and untrustworthy. Today, rhetoric is greatly utilized by mass media in a derogatory manner, particularly when associated to public policies and politicians. Rhetoric as a systematic study was developed by a group of orators, educators, and advocates called Sophists. In the book, The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction by James Herrick, he states, Sophists employed paradoxes to shock their audiences, but also by this means to provoke debate and inquiry (Herrick, 2009). The Sophists outlook on rhetoric may very well have been the spark that ignited todays global misunderstanding on the meaning behind rhetoric. Sophists viewed rhetoric as a means that could unite pleasure with government. Sophists believed that words had the ability to medicate the audience. Although during this time when rhetoric was a skill with an increasingly expressive demand, it began to alter to a negative nuance as Platos criticisms grew more popular. The most primitive paradigm of rhetoric as a derogatory word can be followed back to Plato and his opinions about the Sophists. As one of Socrates renowned students, Plato often portrayed the Sophists as highly skillful writers who made the most of misleading language methods to persuade and influence audiences. Platos assumption on Sophism, also reiterated through the writings of Isocrates, was based on the gluttony, deception and the general lack of trust and apprehension for justice. Sophists could manipulate speech to make the worse situation appear better. The term Sophism continues to maintain the negative reputation in todays society. In Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured, author Susan Jarratt defines sophism as a derogatory term for a carefully crafted yet false argument aimed at deceiving someone (Jarratt, 1998). Sophism is also used today to describe rhetorical circumstances in which emotional demands may be emphasized over logical demands. Sophism and rhetoric have shared these negative connections into our modern era. As Christianity began to extend in the Middle Ages after the fall of the Roman Empire, societies started to connect rhetoric as expressive and fancy, but it was short of any knowledge or general idea. Due to the Church not believing expressiveness was an important aspect to communication and speech, rhetoric was diminished and viewed depreciatively. By the sixteenth century, rhetorics reputation had been revitalized, but some prominent scholars continued to pass judgment on rhetoric. Reformer Peter Ramus questioned rhetoric by stating that rhetoric was mainly a kind of verbal enhancement and as a result of little consequence. As Ramus praised dialectic and called rhetoric into question, rhetoric lost its theoretical influence, and was again viewed as nothing more than a stylistic, pessimistic speech tool. In his scheme of things, the five components of rhetoric no longer lived under the common heading of rhetoric. Instead, invention and disposition were determined to fall solely under the heading of dialectic, while style, delivery, and memory were all that stayed for rhetoric. In The Electronic Word: Technology, Democracy, and Arts written by Richard Lanham, he expresses that Ramus separated thought from language by developing a replica of education in which reason breaks free of speech (Lanham, 1993, pp. 157-158). Language bec ame an impartial tool for conveying the findings of other disciplines, and was no longer viewed as the basis of an art form that has been mastered by an educated person for its own sake. Another major contributor to the development of Western thinking about rhetoric is the great Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle was a student of Plato who famously set forth an extended treatise on rhetoric that is still repays careful study today. One of the most significant contributions of Aristotles approach was that he saw rhetoric as one of the three basic essentials of philosophy, in conjunction with logic and dialectic. In the opening words of Rhetoric authored by Aristotle, he asserts that rhetoric is the counterpart of dialectic (Aristotle Roberts, 1954, p. 30). Logic, according to Aristotle, is the area of philosophy concerned with ways of thinking to reach scientific assurance while dialectic and rhetoric are concerned with possibility and therefore is the parts of philosophy best suited to human affairs. Dialectic is an instrument for theoretical debate; it is a way for listeners to assess credible knowledge with the intention of learning. Rhetoric is an instrument for sensible debate; it is a way for convincing a common group of listeners using reliable knowledge to resolve practical issues. Dialectic and rhetoric together create a relationship for a method of persuasion derived from knowledge rather than playing on emotion. Today, modern scholars emphasize why rhetoric has taken on a derogatory connotation. They presume that there is a tendency to forget rhetorics past, which has damaged democracy by labeling all political speech as trickery, as well as unsuccessfully teaching the general public to vitally understand and make use of good speech. Richard Lanham (Lanham, 1993, pp. 243-246) disputed that the model of electronic words and texts has a natural potential to encourage democratic discourse and human thinking. Nevertheless, the source for Lanhams optimistic view of the digital age a perception that electronic textually makes no invidious distinctions between high and low culture, commercial and pure usage, talented or chance creation, visual or auditory stimulus, iconic or alphabetic information (Lanham, 1993, pp. 14) is besieged by some basic opposition which not only imply but reinforce all these oppositions. As Richard Lanham documented in his book, The Electronic Word, the presentation of w ords through the static textual display of print is quickly being replaced by the more fluid textual forms of the computer screen, which are radically altering our existing definitions of literacy. Lanham believes these new textual forms such as e-mail, network exchanges, and hypertext are changing our intellectual perception back to the root source of Western rhetoric: We can . . . think of electronic prose as moving back toward the world of oral rhetoric, where gestural symmetries were permitted and sound was omnipresent. Any prose text, by the very nature of the denial/expression tensions that create and animate it, oscillates back and forth between literate self-denial and oral permissiveness, but electronic text does so much more self-consciously, simply by the volatile nature of the written surface. A volatile surface invites us to intensify rather than subdue this oscillation, make it more rather than less self-conscious (Lanham, 1993). In addition, while some may feel the electronic explosion of inert textual structures serves to mark the death of the Western education, as demonstrated in the linear structures of print, Lanham believes it completes fairly the opposite and brings literacy more similar to another oscillation that Western thinking has always displayed. Reflecting the internal tension of elitism versus populism inherent in distinct ludic and resistance versions of postmodern theory, Lanhams digital rhetoric exemplifies an unsure oscillation between critical and aesthetic approaches to hypertext on one hand, and a more popular democratic appreciation of electronic media, the sub-cultural intertextuality of global culture, and hypermedia on the other. As Lanham exemplifies many of the hypermedia theorists and critics retained their privileged literary and critical assumptions, undermining claimed connections to the popular cultural extensions of electronic media. This is possibly because of the opposing and subjective ways in which an all-purpose hypermedia model alternates between focusing on designed interactive descriptions and the act of reading or reception as an essentially unintentional process, and (2) decreases human language and communication generally to the expressions of distinct images and information consequently also supporting an underlying conflict between print-age examples of language-use and the new and ever-present popular electronic culture. The integration of hypertext concept into a general hypermedia framework of electronic literacy is more than only a matter of describing hypermedia as hypertext extended to include electronic multimedia effects such as digitized sound and graphics. Postmodern literary models of meaning as a contingent product and play of open-ended narratives, language games, and reader-response clearly lent themselves to theorizing about hypertext. Such privileged models of textuality, reception, and aesthetic process or objects were implicitly at odds with the semiotic move to go from the subtle and intricate textual allusions of open-ended narratives mediated as verbal language-use to include the media of electronic popular culture in terms of language reduced to and even replaced by electronic imagery obsessed with the transitory fixations of human memory and desi re. The residual print assumptions of a convergence between the hypermedia model of electronic literacy and postmodern critical theories or practices is perhaps most effectively analyzed in terms of how points out, hypertext encourages both writers and readers to confront and work consciously and concretely with deconstruction, intertextuality, the decentering of the author, and the readers complicity with the construction of the text. In other words, the idea of hypertext effectively reinforces the postmodernist theories of such theorists as Barthes, Derrida, and Baudrillard that natural languages and other systems of representationespecially those involving electronic visual mediaare autonomous in relation to the diverse and contingent contexts of individual language users, specific language events, and discrete forms of verbal or visual representation. The twentieth century is perhaps the most exhilarating period in which to study rhetoric since the Middle Age. This has come about with the beginning of what is generally referred to as the New Rhetoric; the rediscovery of rhetorics epistemological significance and the critical role of persuasion and argument to our everyday lives. It is impossible to name all the causes for this new-found importance or all the contributors to the New Rhetoric, but among the most influential we must certainly consider I.A. Richards whose work on metaphor associated rhetoric to literary studies, Chaim Perelman, whose book The New Rhetoric is now a classic, Steven Toulmin, best known for his inquiries of argument, and possibly the most influential rhetorician of our era, Kenneth Burke. In teaching in the Middle Ages and years before, we have determined that rhetoric was a tool to teach students how to write good essays and, in other areas, it was a tool for persuasion. Rhetoric is widely used in business, politics, and technical writing. For example, the structure and style of letters, memos, speeches, and other kinds of documents follow the rhetorical standards. The old rhetoric dealt primarily with the structure and content of an essay or presentation. With New Rhetoric, rhetoric is given new limits. It now includes philosophy and sociology. It is no longer how to inscribe a good essay or speak a good speech, but how well we recognize communication and its influences on our lives. With the discovery of the World Wide Web (WWW), rhetoric had received a new, powerful field of its purpose. For the most part, rhetorical principles reveal its power in different kinds of Web projects. The five parts of the classical notion invention, arrangement, memory, delivery, and styleare one way we might start mediating about how to apply rhetorical ideas to writings in the twenty-first century and beyond. After all, literacy has undergone many changes in the pastfrom orality, to writing, to printand it will likely undergo many more, in ways we cannot even now imagine. We need to think about how computers and computer writing will impact the future of rhetoric, of composition and composition classes, and of literacy itself. Making hypertext documents on the WWW (World Wide Web) offers a wide range of freedom. The most astonishing difference in an electronic document is the skills to provide fairly instant access to the resources you gather during the invention process. To fully exploit the capabilities of hypertext, you should offer hypertext links that lead directly to the material you use in supporting your claims. Providing links to this material involves the audience in the invention process; your audience can have access to your primary materials and verify the validity of your evidence. Locating supporting information is greatly facilitated by search engines that can explore the Web for you, tracking down useful and relevant evidence to support your own presentations. In addition, many Web sites grant permission to use their digitized images. In an electronic document, there is no easy distinction between a beginning, middle, and an end. Determining a suitable arrangement for your electronic document depends on your creativity. Innovative arrangements are largely a matter of style can have powerful emotional appeal for an audience. Gorgias recognized the persuasive power of atypical uses of language, for changes in the usual order and meaning affected the audience. Today in the electronic age, Gorgias insights still remains true, but of course their submissions have expanded. Writing documents for the WWW creates an entirely new world, or cyberspace, one wide open to new ways of expression, and maybe meaning. An image, like a figure of speech can communicate meaning and provide your rhetorical principle. The same can be said for color. Color, like a trope, covers your meaning, provides your reason or at least it can. Of course, and image, and color has to provide a purpose but it must be suitable to the situation. Memory is fourth of the ancient standard of rhetoric. In the ancient law courts and assemblies, men were often called upon to deliver speeches without the help of written comments. The Greeks and Romans developed intricate memory systems that allowed them to give speeches precisely as it was written. Memory on the Web means some entirely different. Most people take it to mean the ways that readers can remember where they are and where they have been while they surf the net. In the days when text was written only to be conveyed verbally, the ability to persuasively delivery of a speech was one of the premier talents. Delivery is obviously related to the other standards, especially style, because your usefulness as an orator of text varying in large parts on the method of delivery that you chooses. In the hypertext world, delivery takes on some new obstacles. Were no longer certain who will be listening to our speech, nor are we positive that theyll even hear it the same way. The documents we generate are read by browsers, which decipher the HTML code for presenting on the monitor. Because each of these browsers maintains very different features, successful delivery is contingent on writing documents that predict the difference among browsers. Rhetoric, this art of persuasion, totally distorted our insight of the truth. Everything depends on the ability of speaker or writer to affectively captivate the audience using his or her credibility, detailed style, and compelling arguments. Anything can be shown as the truth. Due to this capability to alter anything to the truth the Rhetoric became an indispensable tool in the business communication. How to persuade people to purchase goods, services, ideasanything, that business word generates? How to encourage them that this is a necessity or this is the truth? It cannot be accomplished without rhetoric. The rhetorical theories had been altered by our highly technological age, but they did not modify in their real meaning. There is the truth that subsist in rhetoricits values itself. Rhetoric has not lost its inability in 21st century, but vice versa, we can observe that rhetorical theories reveal itself in any document individually from technology that was used for its establishing. On the one handRhetorical theories are used in todays writing, publishing, and electronic documents as a way of persuasion. On the other handrhetoric is no longer an essential humanist study of structure and content but a study on how and why we communicate and what we can learn from the methods of communication.