Analysis on America’s Ice Age video

â€Å"America's Ice Age† video taught me a lot of things I would not even begin to think about. I would never think that ice helped shape the continents, let alone the world. It also taught me that many of our Earth's past history Is found In deferent forms of core taken from the Earth over years and years. I am simply amused by how these clients and geologist examine rocks, landscape, cores, Ice, air pockets Inside of cores, and temperatures to peel back the layers of our past history here on Earth.When watching the last video, â€Å"Chasing Ice,† I got to see more of an explore side of Ice. With watching â€Å"America's Ice Age† I get to see more of the scientific side of things. How scientist can look at Ice with mysterious marks and see evidence of past floods, or how they can look at mysterious markings In rocks and see the movement and deletion of a past iceberg Is Incredible. It makes you think what every day ordinary people like myself, overlook.I will sa y since I have started this class I look at the trees, the sky, and landscape of my own community differently. I constantly find myself thinking of the unbelievable way our world was formed. I might not completely and Lully understand it all yet, but it is definitely pulling my mind and thoughts in a different direction. It is almost unbelievable that ice had more impact on our Earth's shape and the shape of our continents more than anything. But after watching this video, it all starts to make sense.The overbearing power of the icebergs shifting across the world, moving rocks, and the melting that at some point covered land, separating continents, and eventually shaping our world was something I would never think to of happened. Some of these icebergs and glaciers that distorted the shape of the Earth ere calculated to weigh almost 68,000 trillion ton. Just imagine how heavy and powerful that is. This ice then making up our oceans, lakes, and rivers is all new information to me, an d astonishing new information to say the least.So far, from all the video, reading, and class discussions I am beginning to feel more and more confident when talking about science and geology. My husband Is the smartest and most knowledgeable person I have ever meet. He seriously knows everything,(not that I would ever admit that to him) but to be able to tell him facts on owe our Earths was made and formed, Information that he had never known, just brings a whole new confident person out of me.Like Eve said In previous reflection papers, I have never been able to grasp science and geology but this class Is gang me hope that I can finally understand the power of our Earth. Analysis on America's Ice Age video By Sedation It also taught me that many of our Earth's past history is found in different forms of scientist and geologist examine rocks, landscape, cores, ice, air pockets inside of ice. With watching â€Å"America's Ice Age† I get to see more of the scientific side of t hings.How scientist can look at ice with mysterious marks and see evidence of past floods, or how they can look at mysterious markings in rocks and see the movement and direction of a past iceberg is incredible. It makes you think what every day ordinary more and more confident when talking about science and geology. My husband is the how our Earths was made and formed, information that he had never known, Just brings a whole new confident person out of me. Like Eve said in previous reflection papers, I have never been able to grasp science and geology but this class is giving

Problem-Posing Vignette

Understanding the Dynamics of Culture Shock as a Tool for Vignette ReflectionAfter I finished my Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, I taught for one year in primary school. After which, I taught in the King Saud University which relatively offers better income than my previous work. In order to upgrade my educational skills, I went to the University of Wollongong in Australia to take Masters of Education in Educational Leadership. However, since my arrival in the said university, unexpected things came up. These â€Å"unexpected† things I classified as â€Å"problems† since they were disrupting my psyche (ability to understand why things happen in such a way) and to an extent my studies. These problems ranged from the difficulty of learning English to the so-called culture shock.Useful paragraph to set the sceneBut the problem of learning English could be resolved through a thorough study of the language. This was not the case when it comes to culture shock. For one, u nderstanding culture shock would involve a clear understanding of the cultures that the students in the university belong.Identification of a couple of problemsWhen I took a taxi from the Sydney airport to my place of stay, I noticed that driving was done on the other side of the road unlike in Saudi Arabia. I really thought that I could not drive in Australia, but in due time I was able to do so. Added to that, I also noticed that many people in Australia liked to walk, unlike in Saudi, where all people have cars to use. It was pretty odd for a developed nation not to require its citizens to use cars as a mode of transportation. Maybe it was the preference of most of the people in Australia to walk than use car as a mode of transportation. Whatever the case, I was bound to examine the dynamics of this odd experience.Detail of experienceWith regard to the issue of gender, in Saudi Arabia, it is the norm that boys cannot study together with girls. In Australia, especially in the univ ersity, boys and girls are usually involved in group studies, that is, boys and girls can study together without the restriction of law or custom. One of the â€Å"greatest† culture shock that I experienced was the time when girl students of the university (my classmates) study with me. Corollary to that, I also noticed that in Australia, women can teach men on a wide variety of subjects which is generally prohibited in Saudi Arabia.Hence, there were many times that women were teaching me; some were connected to my subjects, others issues essential to my field of specialization. Lastly, I really thought that books in Australia are much cheaper than in Saudi Arabia. But such was not the case. Books in Australia are actually more expensive compared with the books in Saudi Arabia. I was really caught up on this experience since Australia being a developed country can afford its citizens cheap books, but it was not the case (thinking that since Australia encourages promotes educa tion at all levels, it necessarily follows that it will provide cheap educational materials). More detail of experienceNow, my primary concern was to how to adapt or at least understand the justification of my experience. Since I came from a different cultural setting, it was hard for me in the start to cope up with the habits and customs of the Australian people. For an ordinary Australian or European, this is not really a problem since their cultural settings are almost similar. In Europe, boys are usually mixed with girls during study periods.I do not know about the prices of books in Europe, but certainly it would not be a problem for the Europeans if the books in an Australian university are cheaper or more expensive than the books in a European university. Walking as a preferred mode of transportation was not really a big deal for Europeans or Asians perhaps. Most of them usually walk as in the case of major European or Asian cities. But in Saudi Arabia, things are quite diffe rent. There are laws that prohibit boys from studying with girls. Girls are also prohibited from teaching boys, and with regard to walking, the Saudi government advises its citizens to use car as mode of transportation.Initially, I had this fear that I might not be able to interact effectively with the students of the university because I belong to a different ethnicity, but because of continued acquaintance with the students, gradually I was able to understand the justifications of the cultural setting to which I am now seating. It was really odd for me that because of continued interaction with them, the culture shock that I experienced when I first came in Australia was melting away. Indeed, almost all of the â€Å"culture shocks† were for me just common events here in Australia. Now, there are definitely reasons or justifications for events that what meets the eye in the first instance. First, it is the perception of â€Å"oddness†, and then there is understanding. I was able to conclude that continuous interaction with people who came from different ethnicities or cultural settings can help reduce culture shock.The more one interacts and talk to people, the more one understands the concerns of those people. Nonetheless, if biases are removed in the daily interaction with people in the university, one cannot discern the true meaning of the cultural setting presented to you. As such, without much effort, my culture shock was gradually reduced. I just noticed that I was beginning to understand the dynamics of the events that I previously experienced. Reflecting on the past also helped me assessed my understanding of the issues presented to me. Thus what I did not really understand in the past was tested through real-life interaction. Thus, the things or situation I termed as â€Å"culture shock† were becoming common things for me. Now there are two questions that should be presented: â€Å"How do I absorb â€Å"culture shock†? an d â€Å"How can I help my friends or anyone who wants to reduce the effect of culture shock?†

How does John Boyne use the character of Shmuel to show the suffering of Jewish people under the Nazis? Essay

There are many quotes in the book ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ that show how the Jews were treated under Nazi control, through Bruno’s friend from the other side of the fence. However, the author does this in a clever and unique way; through his clothes. An example of this is found on page one hundred and six in chapter ten, where Shmuel â€Å"wore the same striped pyjamas that all the other people on that side of the fence wore, and a striped clothed cap on his head. † This tells the reader that he is not seen as an individual at the concentration camp, but as part of a group with no personal identity as he is identical to everyone else. John Boyne then goes on to say â€Å"He wasn’t wearing any shoes or socks and his feet were rather dirty. On his arm he wore an armband with a star on it. †, hinting that Shmuel is spending this period of his life in poor conditions due to the fact that he is a Jew. The reader isn’t only informed of his religion from the concentration camp, but also because he is wearing the Star of David, which identifies himfromotherfaiths. In chapter nineteen on page two hundred and five, Bruno planned to join his friend on the other side of the fence before going home to Berlin. However, before he had a chance to crawl under the fence, Shmuel â€Å"pointed at Bruno’s feet and the heavy boots he had taken from the house. â€Å"You’ll have to leave them behind too,† he said. † Although at first this simply reveals that Shmuel isn’t allowed to wear any footwear, it also shows that the Jews have no choice in what to wear, which leads the reader to believe they have no choice in anything they do at all and they are under control. This also creates an aspect of sympathy as the reader wishes to help the innocent mistreated victims when all that separates them and Bruno, who has a wonderful life, is a fence. The final most important thing that we learn about the Jews in the novel from the moment we meet Schmuel is how much their lives have changed due to their faith and how it affects them. This is shown on page one hundred and twenty seven where Bruno is told by his friend that every time him, his family and his Mother â€Å"left the house, she told us we had to wear one of these armbands. † The reader can see how big of a deal being Jewish was at the time, even before he arrived at the camp, and how the people of the religion couldn’t live a normal life like everyone else. It shows how he was forced to show who he was and wasn’t able to be seen in public without labelling himself for everyone to see, as if being different was something to be ashamed of. It also tells the story of why he has been taken to the concentration camp as we know what the armband was for, whereas Shmuel does not. When Bruno first saw Shmuel he was looking down into the dirt in total solitude and Bruno even states that he ‘had never seen a skinnier or sadder boy in his life. ’ You can also tell that he is a very ill, the quote ‘ his skin was almost the colour of grey’ tells us that the Jews receive little food from the camp explaining his needs for food later on in the book and that he may have been kept in dark,crowded areas. Grey is also known to be associated with near-death or depression adding to his negative appearance. We also learn that he is a very scared indiviual as thoughout the book he shows fear towards the soilders especially Lieutenant Kolter from quotes such as ‘there aren’t any good soliders’ and ‘if they catch me I’ll be in trouble’ showing that the Jews must be treated terribly by the soldiers even resulting in some of the bruises recived by Schmuel mentioned in the book. The one quote that I liked was the hope that Shmuel had of getting out one day. This was on page 179,chapter 16 after Bruno had said about playing or exploring, and he’s never had a friend that he hasn’t played with before. Shmuel then said â€Å"maybe someday we will, if they ever let us out† which I thought brought a sense of pity on Shmuel from a reader’s point of view, as he and the rest of the Jews, are still hoping that one day they will let him out or they’ll be able to get out. At the time this must have been really difficult to keep thinking, because of the way they treated all the people on that side of the fence. But that was maybe one of the things that helped them pass the time, thinking about being let out, and living with their family again and seeing some old friends.

David Humes believes,case of Larry McAfee, Elizabeth Bouvia's battle Essay

David Humes believes,case of Larry McAfee, Elizabeth Bouvia's battle - Essay Example The researcher states that the Christian view of voluntary death is associated with martyrdom, as reinforced by Christ’s death to save mankind from sin. The Christian view of voluntary death, is then, always acceptable if it for the sake of other people. Although, another view is that it is unacceptable since it clashes with the act of providing care and aid to people who needs it and in placing faith of God’s will to allow a person to live or die. Humes, on the other hand, believes in the utilitarian purpose of voluntary death, like retiring oneself due to an incurable disease or old age. He argues that it is not an affront to God since it is for a general good to stop the one’s irreversible suffering from going on, such as in the case of incurable diseases. Judge Johnson ruled to grant McAfee his request to turn off his life support. The researcher doesn’t agree with this decision since he believes the court only looked at his condition but not his livin g conditions. The author believes it is okay to do this as long as there is enough evidence that there is nowhere to go but death. He believes that if there is irreversible suffering, then it is okay to decide one’s death. It would be no more than stopping your own suffering as well as the people suffering from the people around you. The suicide tourist, the author believes, is the society’s way to release these people from suffering although it is important to consider their conditions first before doing it if they really have nowhere to go death or it is just they lost hope.

What are your solutions to stop rapes on Natives American women and Thesis

What are your solutions to stop rapes on Natives American women and women in Easter part of Democratic Republic of Congo - Thesis Example There is a direct correlation between the local levels of sexual violence growth, decrease of social and living standards and also a growing number of crimes committed by the local authorities and militia. Key words: sexual violence, rape, local authorities, military and political conflicts. The violence and rape in the Eastern Congo The violence and rape toward modern women is one of the most crucial problems in the modern globalized world. Both women from developed and developing countries are subjected to aggressive behaviors and attitudes. This research project is focused on the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and women’s rape in the country, as well as the growing number of rape victims in America among indigenous women. There are numerous risk factors, which may occur in the result of rape. These are: widowhood, husband abandonment, gang rape, and having a child from (Jackson, 2006). The above-mentioned facts may lead to social rejection of a r aped woman. Therefore, rape is positioned not only as a moral and physical infliction, but also as a socially destroying factor. A decade of fighting in the eastern part of Congo resulted in undermining of the country’s infrastructure, economical and development indicators decrease et cetera. Genocide in Rwanda was another intimidating factor for the people living in Congo (Wakabi, 2007). There was no stability in the country at all and there was a need to take appropriate measures in order to identify preventive strategies against further collapse of the country. From the beginning of the conflict, more than 200, 000 cases of sexual assault were registered. In accordance with the modern data, 40% of women and 24% of men witnessed sexual violence (Autesserre, 2006). Taking into account data of Focus Group Design and Sample Selection Survivors of violence, researchers appealed for the local hospitals in the search for appropriate data and potential possibility of negotiation w ith the victims of violence and rape. In accordance with data provided about the group in Kiswahili, two-thirds of women (68.9%) experienced gang rape (rape by more than one assailant on the same occasion) and 46% of women reported being abducted (they were raped for more than one day) by their assailants (Hanlon, 2008). Uniformed attackers raped more women and were suspected of gang rape, instead of non-uniform assailants. Moreover, these women experienced not only physical and psychological impact, but were also rejected by their families and communities. They had to look for a place to live and where to go in case their community rejected from their presence. They were stigmatized in their communities and very often people pointed at these women by their fingers. It is evident that a woman experienced a feeling of shame and humiliation when witnessing such kind of social malpractice. Husbands of women were described by the victims of rape in the following way: â€Å"They repudia te us. They know that we have been raped and that we have been infected. So to save their lives they abandon us† (Grewal, 2010). There are no enough opportunities for taking care of women, who were inflicted in the process of rape. These women are always positioned as victims, which have no way back. They do not have enough opportunities to live their previous lives, because the illnesses they have and many other intimidating factors they experience are degrading their lives. Rapes of indigenous women in America The number of indigenous women raped in the in the US is 2.5 times larger to a general population of women in America. Indigenous population has always been marginalized and they lacked of their rights and they have never been sound member of any society.

Causes and Effects of Divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects of Divorce - Essay Example Most of the marriage counselors highlight excessive intolerance, high temperaments, and poor communication to be the major causes of a failed marriage which are discussed in this paper along with the broad range of socioeconomic and psychological effects produced on both men and women by a failed marriage. Research done on poorly working marital relationships between husbands and wives presents the fact that women are emotionally much better groomed than men and they think that emotional handling is hugely important for appropriate maintenance of the marriage. They like to talk things over with their husbands and naturally demand suitable responses from them as well. On the other hand, most of the husbands are found completely oblivious to the difference in the emotional realities existing between men and women. Though, they do communicate with their wives at the beginning of the marriage as a way of maintaining a sense of closeness with their wives, they become less and less communi cative with the passing time due to which the wives helplessly develop an inner void that is completely inescapable. The growing silence on the part of husbands also leads the wives to develop fake illusions like they may have lost charm due to which their men no more find them attractive and worth talking-to. Obviously, women squabble about the state of their marriages much passionately than men so and as they are more vocal about various problems which they encounter, the reduced responsiveness of their men proves to be an infuriating culprit which causes divorce. Incompatibility between partners, in terms of emotional and intellectual grooming, is also a major cause of divorce. Abusive relationship between husband and wife also leads them to destroy each other’s mental well being which leads them to initiate divorce settlement. (Rowd). Zero tolerance on either side leads both partners to the decision that there is no way out except divorce which would prove to be a dead lo ck to the violent fights. Coming to the economic pressures exerted by divorce, it is mentioned in (EFFECTS OF DIVORCE) that women experience a severe drop in their standard of living after the divorce is finalized and in contrast, men enjoy a rise in their living standards after getting divorced. This is because the kind of emotional trauma experienced by women after divorce is much more detrimental than the trauma faced by their ex-spouses, as men are less emotional, more practical, and more able of handling their lives after getting divorced. In most of the cases, women are reduced to depend on alimony, which is the court-ordered financial support given by one spouse to another for a particular time period. (Melamed) specifies that aggravated depression is one of the major psychological effects produced as a result of divorce on both men and women. The social stigma experienced by women after divorce also produces troublesome repercussions for them, particularly in more convention al countries where contrastingly, many men draw sympathy and compassion towards themselves from the surrounding social network of people after getting divorced. That is why men feel more confident than women to remarry and escape the social

Quality Management and Accountability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Quality Management and Accountability - Essay Example Key to the success of the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) programs are seven characteristics namely, the amount of influence exerted by the change agents, their responsibility and autonomy in specific areas of assignments, space for innovative ideas, adaptability to change, satisfaction, teamwork and shared vision coupled with a benchmarking criterion towards the objectives (Weeks, Helms & Ettkin, 1995). These characteristics rest upon a common a propellant perception of agents concerning the needed change. The new millennium heralded a phase of new challenges in many sectors, and so healthcare organizations haven’t been spared either. With the expectation of taming escalating costs, pressures to modernize, harmonize and reconcile quality with the former have force their way to accreditation boards, the media and concerned agencies. Embracing partnerships becomes unavoidable under these circumstances. Quality improvement, therefore, becomes more of a â€Å"te am sport† that engages individual centered processes into a comprised common vision. Precisely, teams are collaborative integral components of quality improvement efforts involving persons operating either from the same or different disciplines but with a shared vision of optimizing patient-service outcomes (Ovretveit, 1999). Notably, success within healthcare organizations operates more or less like powerful sport cars whose quick movements depends on the engine inexistence and the control mechanics applied. Employee engagement is the hallmark of connectivity within any organization. An engaged personnel gives an organization the power it so requires to make tangible moves towards its mission with an accelerated propensity in compared to those of the competitors. From the top management down the apex of leadership role, a synergetic approach with results concerning the work load only comes with prior and proper understanding and agreement on the course taken (Weeks, Helms & E ttkin, 1995). Accordingly, success comes with assured, climatic readiness for change. The relationship between physicians directly responsible for matters of healthcare and hospital executives charged with administrative responsibilities spanning from regulatory obligations to resource control is critical to any aspect of quality improvement process. The real enemy to the process of change lies in a dysfunctional healthcare system (Fawcett, et al., 1995). As mentioned above, there needs to be commonality in values and concerns share by both physicians and healthcare executives as the basic framework for successful communication bridging the hierarchical gap towards a collaborative, as opposed to confrontational/competitive relationship (Bero, et al., 1998). A functional workforce-engagement criterion holds the key to clinical priorities with regards to useful new technologies required as well as essentiality of scientific methodologies in tandem with evidence-based decision making. Further, understanding and agreement are important planning, implementation, and assessment tools. According to the case study done by Weeks, Helms, and Ettkin (1995), the degree of understanding and agreement of the course taken by healthcare entities lacks uniformity with wide discrepancies over perceptive responses touching on matters of change. Whereas the need for change is plausible in the responses from the executive wing

Analysis of the song LONELY by NANA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of the song LONELY by NANA - Essay Example However, notwithstanding the fact that there is a greater correlation between science and the precursors of loneliness, much can be said about loneliness being relative to how one person views of life according to certain situations normally occurring to a particular stage in life. This is common in the show business industry, where we hear stories about people feeling lonely and being hooked to drugs as a means to overcome or forget about their personal issues. They become dependent to the means that makes them forget about the reasons why they become lonely. Whether this is by means of constructive measures which in effect keep them from thinking about how lonely they are through busy schedules and several projects or through destructive means, like drug addiction, in a way does not actually address the main issue but rather avoid it. This paper will illustrate the means of how artist sometimes resort to incongruent means to address their dilemmas. The artifact that is chosen for a pentadic criticism is entitled lonely, a song written by Nana. In this song, it describes the drama of human emotions which according to Kenneth Burke, the critical technique called dramatism is founded by motives of human action whether in fiction or real life experience (Burke. 1969). He furthered that we may be able to find out the motives of the actors by for the "particular type of motivation in action and discourse" (Ibid). Thus under this artifact, the act is the loneliness which defines the vulnerability to drug addiction in the music industry, the scene is the life and career of an artist that is so vulnerable to such dilemma, the agency is the resort of drug addiction and dependence in order for the person to avoid loneliness which in turn causes the agent to give in to the vulnerability making him do deterrent things that he will regret in the end, the agent is the actors/singer in the show business industry who becomes the victim of vuln erability, and the finally the purpose is to depict the negative consequence of allowing vulnerability to rule above logic, it is also a cry for help, understanding and desperation that is conveyed through the art of music. It is also a warning for others to avoid. There have been many others in the music business who dies because of drug overdose, to name a few is quiet unfair, what is important to point is the fact that these many others have been at one point in their life become vulnerable to loneliness and have found the incongruent notion of the ease and comfort that drugs can give. Little did they realize that the more they resort to such as an aid, the more it will become difficult for them to detach from their addiction. Drugs can be another precursor of loneliness, even if the agent does not employ the use of such for personal consumption, like for instance in the case of peddling, pushing or trafficking drugs that when the authorities bust them for such an illegal act would cost them their freedom which will take away at least 5 years of their life in exchange for imprisonment. During which time the offender will serve the five years inside the cold and dark jail facility, away from their loved one and

Strategy Forumlation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategy Forumlation - Research Paper Example Such a mission tends to be at the retailer’s core of existence. Additionally, there is a possibility of variance in other retail strategy, over time it’s paramount to analyze objectives regarding the context of the intended market, identify possible options, obtain and perform resources allocation, and generate implementation plan. It is also important to monitor progress, as well as performing the necessary controls (Girijesh, 2009). While defining purpose or mission of the organization, the retailer presents what he/she intends to accomplish; the purpose should concentrate on the chosen markets within which the retailer intends to operate. Other aspects of concerns regard the commodities to be offered, the target customers, and the geographical location of the organization. Consequently, a situation analysis should be conducted, where the retailer, inwardly seeks to understand the strengths, as well as the weaknesses of the organization (Girijesh, 2009). Outwardly, the retailer should analyze the existing opportunities as well as threats. Such analysis assists in determining the firm’s position strengths, and weaknesses. It is also profound to put into consideration all available alternatives, which would help the retailer tap a given market. Such alternatives include: diversification, market penetration, retail format development, or market development. The two significant aspects of retailers include the market performance as well as the financial performance. While setting the objectives, one has to bear in mind, the market share, profitability targets, sales volume target, returns on investment, and liquidity targets. The resources required by a retailer include the financial resources and human resources. Human resource should reflect consistency with the organization’s overall strategy. The human resource focuses on selecting, recruiting, training, motivating, and

Nuclear power stations based on fission of uranium Essay

Nuclear power stations based on fission of uranium - Essay Example The process of splitting the nuclei is known as fission reaction which distinguishes nuclear power stations from ordinary power generators. Uranium is a non-renewable resource which means that once all the uranium present inside the earth’s crust is used then it cannot be reproduced. Nuclear fission is basically a chain reaction i.e. once the chemical composition of uranium nuclei starts to break then reaction continues until all the uranium material is used by the reactors (Nuclear Fission, 2013). This chain reaction is built and processed under high supervision because if the reaction goes out of control then it will turn in to a nuclear bomb. Hence the primary responsibility of power stations is to keep the process under control in order to avoid destructive consequences. The overall process of splitting the nuclei and converting them into small parts is also known as radioactive decay. Nuclear power stations play a vital role in production of heat and energy which are bene ficial to generate electricity on comparatively larger scale. However, the overall process of fission reactions has numerous environmental hazards in terms of waste products which are significantly harmful for future human generations. Moreover, protecting the nuclear plant incurs huge costs while still bring a threat of nuclear explosion (Nuclear Fission, 2013). Physical Principles of Power Generation The nuclear fission reaction starts with the mere activity of neutrons. When a neutron is fused with another heavy nucleus i.e. Uranium-235, then the uranium nucleus captures the neutron in order to form a compound nucleus (Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, 2012). That is: When Uranium-235 is kept as a thermal reactor in the nuclear plant then collision with the new neutron increases the overall energy of the reactor. Hence the total energy is equally distributed among 236 neutrons and protons which make the nucleus comparatively unstable. Consequently the heavy nucleus is broken down into smaller nuclei while producing huge amount of energy. Around 85% of the released energy is categorized as kinetic energy which is then converted in to heat. Nuclear Fission Reaction also produces certain by-products including Barium (Ba), Strontium (Sr), Caesium (Cs), Krypton (Kr), Xenon (Xe) etc. Approximately 6% heat is produced due to the formation of these fission by-products (Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, 2012). The following equation explains the formation of Barium during the Nuclear Fission Reaction. With the split of nucleus two or three other neutrons are produced which again fuse with the heavy nucleus of uranium while splitting the nuclei and producing immense energy. Hence in this way the chain reaction is carried in the nuclear reactor. As more and more neutrons are produced more energy is generated and therefore the reaction is restricted to take place under high observation and controlled equipment (Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy, 2012). Fo llowing is the Graphic Representation of the Nuclear Reaction Using Uranium Controlling Mechanism of Nuclear Fission Reaction As discussed above that the uncontrollable nuclear fission can turn into a nuclear bomb therefore it is highly significant to make extensive security measures so as to control the activity of neut

Sonoco HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sonoco HR - Essay Example The industry’s shift towards a more involved supplier that offers end to end packaging solutions made it hard for SONOCO to compete directly with its competitors until serious change are implemented in the company. In response SONOCOs leadership implemented strategies designed to control cost that is juxtaposed to its new business model of generating top line growth. The strategy involves retooling its consumer packaging divisions to meet the large demands of clients that is sensitive to consumer taste or preferences. The new business model practically granted more autonomy to the General Managers of each division in terms of managing his or her own talent pool despite the new business model’s demand for more cross functional cooperation to respond to the dynamic customer needs. SONOCOs corporate culture is family-oriented, paternalistic, collaborative, and team oriented. Due to its long profitable history the company in its entirety tolerates underperformance so long a s the company can afford it. But the employees are also extremely loyal to the company with majority of them enjoying tenures of more than 20 years. The company’s employees pride themselves of being able to set the phase in the packaging industry. The Issues Cindy Hartley was hired to assist SONOCO to support the strategies of DeLoach the company’s CEO that is aimed at: (1) increasing GMs accountability for talent management; (2) distribute HR talent and support more evenly across the company’s divisions and make HR systems and process consistent; and (3) to optimize HR’s ability to provide customize strategic support to the GMs businesses. These priority areas are designed to align the organization with the dynamic demands of the packaging industry. After conducting a comprehensive assessment of SONOCO’s HR needs, Hartley identified three priorities that she needs to resolve at once to respond to the challenge posed by DeLoach. First, the mechanic al and arbitrary compensation and performance-management systems needed to be linked and made consistent and more accurately reflective of employee contributions to company performance. Second, the company needed to create an employee-development process to refine employees’ skill and to identify and develop deficient skills. Third, develop succession planning to identify and prepare the next generation of leaders was urgent. It would be prudent to ensure that whatever changes and initiatives that will be implemented by the organization it will also change the corporate culture and psyche of SONOCO to sustain its continuous implementation (Devero, 2007). The onus should be geared towards continuous improvement through iterative compliance to dynamic policies and procedure of a learning organization (Senge, 2006). The transformation should also be complete that it will positively influence or impact the correct core values of the organization (Whiteley & Whiteley, 2006). Analy sis of the issues SONOCOs steady growth through acquisition of other companies over the years has contributed to the redundancy of several departments across divisions when the acquired companies were eventually consolidated to their respective divisions (DePamphilis, 2009). One of these departments is the HR department. Operational imperatives or requirements that call for expedient filling of positions to meet orders from customers also contributed to

Gender Roles Exploited with Humor Essay Example for Free

Gender Roles Exploited with Humor Essay The use of gender roles and stereotypes in commercials has slowly become more of an issue as men and women’s true societal roles have undoubtedly changed over time. The push for women’s equality over the past 50 years has been progressing each and every year, and rightly so. As women have become more self-sufficient in their everyday lives, their dependency from males and gender stereotypes have been changing drastically. These social changes have also sparked the progression of gender roles in advertisement and how men and women are presented to the public through television. Recently, many commercials have made drastic efforts in order to present more equal gender roles by trying to eliminate some of the stereotypes that have been part of our society for years. However, despite many of the progressions that have been made, commercials tend to revert back to some of the old stereotypes and perceived gender roles in order to create humor. One type of humor that has been prevalent in many recent commercials is the exploitation of gender stereotypes in an attempt to make a mockery of certain socially acceptable gender roles and actions, while at the same time displaying some of the characteristics that are not accepted by society. The humor in these types of commercials comes through the comparison of the same actions performed by both men and women, but one of the genders looks ridiculous performing these actions, despite the fact that they are the same. This type of marketing technique tends to cause a disproportion of equality between the two genders, because it is displaying how the actions of one gender are accepted by society, while similar actions by the other gender just appear to be unreasonable. In order to create a comedic effect in their commercials, many companies have started to disregard the progression for equality in gender roles and have started to display some of the same old gender stereotypes that w e, as a society, have tried to separate from. Through my exploration of Snickers and Heineken commercials, I was able to outline a very particular style of comedy that affected both genders in negative ways. Two very well known brands, Heineken and Snickers, have started to show men displaying some of the female stereotypes we have seen in other commercials. Now, some might say that this is a good thing because it is trying to blur the line between the two stereotypes and show that men can experience some of the same things that women do. However, I see this as quite the opposite. It seems that use of men displaying female stereotypes is, in a sense, making fun of the women. While the brands have achieved their ultimate goal of providing a humorous commercial, this humor comes at the expense of us laughing at how ridiculous the men appear when they are acting out some of the women stereotypes. To get a better understanding of how the commercials are creating this style of satire, lets take a closer look at some examples from Heineken. In a Heineken commercial from 2009, the scene starts out inside a home, and the women of the house leads a group of her five girl friends through the living room, the kitchen, her bedroom, and eventually they arrive outside of a closet. The woman proceeds to proudly open up the closet doors, unveiling shelves full of shoes and clothes, with a table in the middle full of shimmering jewelry. All of the woman’s friends go absolutely crazy and begin jumping up and down while simultaneously releasing screams of excitement. As the excitement begins to die down, they hear faint cries of excitement coming from across the house. The scene then immediately switches over to the men’s closet, a walk-in freezer, full of Heineken beer. All of the men appear to be imitating the women’s excitement that was displayed moments earlier, with slight exaggeration, as one of the men begins to shed a tear. The two stereotypes displayed in this commercial were pretty clear. It shows men getting overly excited about a room full of beer, while women are getting excited over a room full of shoes and jewelry. These stereotypes are not what make the commercial offensive to any one of the particular genders though. When the audience sees men getting excited over beer as much as women get excited over shoes it tends to expose the ridiculousness in the actions of women because people are thinking â€Å"wow†¦imagine if men got as excited over beer as women got over shoes†¦that would be stupid†. This train of thought is what starts to draw the lines between men and women and how one gender’s actions can be accepted by society, but similar actions from the other cannot. It suggests that men should remain calm, cool, and collective at all times unless they want it to be viewed as a joke. On the reverse side, it suggests to women that their actions are only acceptable because they’re girls, and that if men were to do the same thing, it would appear ridiculous. The next commercial I looked at was a Snickers Super Bowl commercial from 2010. The commercial shows three men working at a construction site, all of the sudden one of the men transforms from a man in work boots and a hardhat, into a women with nice clothes and heels, while still standing in the middle of the construction site. After this transformation the â€Å"woman† begins to complain about the work and how hot it is outside. The two men look at the women with a disgusted look on their face and advise her to â€Å"eat a Snickers†¦you turn into a diva when you’re hungry†. The woman gets tossed a Snickers bar from one of the men, takes a bite, and suddenly transforms back into his original character as a construction worker. This commercial displays one of the very old and outdated stereotypes of women not being able to perform laborious tasks. When the man turns into a woman, he begins to start complaining about the hard work and the hot weather. This commercial again exposes how unacceptable it would be if a man were to act like a woman on the job. In contrast, it also tries to show how out of place a woman would look on a construction site by placing a nicely dressed woman in the middle of the dirt filled construction area. It attempts to show how men are expected to be tough and free of complaints, unless they want to be ridiculed by their co-workers with words such as â€Å"diva†. The commercial implies that as soon as men start to complain about work or being tired, they are immediately labeled as having female characteristics due to our current stereotypical views on gender roles and actions. Through these commercials I have discussed above, it is clear that some of the new tactics for adding humor to commercials has become a sort of mockery of the stereotypes between men and women. Heineken and Snickers have both tried to show scenarios in which we see men behaving like women in an attempt to show how ridiculous it would be if males were to exhibit some of the same social stereotypes we associate with women. By doing this, the two commercials begin to draw a line between the actions and characteristics that are acceptable for women, but not for men. These marketing schemes are detrimental because they provide a clear example of how society can accept the actions of one gender, but when the other gender performs some of the same actions it becomes humorous satire. I think that a comedic commercial without gender stereotypes would appear much more sophisticated and would be better received by the public. I hope that advertising agencies will begin to realize this and that future commercials will appear both humorous and professional.

Participant Analysis of Charity Walk

Participant Analysis of Charity Walk Service Learning Project: 2014 Dalton Walk to End Alzheimer’s Experience Carrie Hatcher I decided to work with the Alzheimer’s Association for my service learning project because it is an organization that has made a huge difference in the local community where I live and also my family has been touched by Alzheimer’s in the past. I wanted to work with an organization that strives to make not only a difference in the lives of people who suffer from Alzheimer’s but also in the lives of the caregivers of the patients. I really like the moto that is used for the walk â€Å"everyone has a reason to walk† and that to me is true. Everyone knows of someone that is affected in some way by Alzheimer’s disease. Even if you have not been personally affected by Alzheimer’s you know someone who has or someone who is a caregiver to a patient with Alzheimer’s. My goal with this project was to show how far people are willing to travel, from where they live, to participate in the 2014 Dalton Walk to End Alzheimer’s. After talking with the director of the Alzheimer’s office I found out that they were also interested in finding out some other demographics about their walkers so I also have included within the project factors to look at such as the male to female ratio of the walk participants as well as the ages of the walk participant’s. To complete this project I worked as a volunteer for the walk and administered a survey as the walkers signed in that collected demographics such as the home zip code, age of the walker and if the walker was male or female. The three mile walk took place on September 27th and the starting point for the 2014 Dalton Walk to End Alzheimer’s was the parking lot of the historic Dalton Depot. The streets of downtown Dalton were blocked for the walk and the walk was escorted by the local Dalton city police department through the streets in town. My work as a volunteer started hours before the walk actually started. I arrived early to work with the other volunteers to help set up various tables and help with other set up duties before the walkers started to arrive. When the walkers started arriving I started collecting my data for my project through the use of the survey at the sign in table. I am glad that I decided to go with using a survey to collect data instead of walking around with a clip board like I had thought about doing because I soon realized that the walk becomes very hectic and chaotic once the walkers start arriving. If I had not used a survey to collect the data from each walker as they signed in then I feel confident that I would have missed a lot of the walkers and would not have been able to collect accurate and complete data. After the registration and sign in was complete and the demographic data had been collected I continued to work as a volun teer at the silent auction table. Working the silent auction table was a new experience for me. Trying to help keep track of the walker’s bids was challenging but fun at the same time. The silent auction was a very successful part of the walk this year. The Silent auction alone brought in over $800 for the Alzheimer’s Association. The walk was more like a block party than a walk to raise money and awareness of Alzheimer’s disease. There was live entertainment, a bake sale, silent auction and a BBQ lunch was sold by the Dalton Depot restaurant with the proceeds going to the Alzheimer’s Association. There was also a special appearance by the 2009 Miss Tennessee, Stefanie Wittler. Different vendors were also on hand to help raise awareness of the resources available to the caregivers of the patients with Alzheimer’s. There was one accident at the walk and after talking with the director of the walk I found out that the accident was the first one to ha ppen at a walk for as long as she had been the director. After the walk I also helped with the clean-up of the area and the breakdown of the tables and decorations. I also helped to deliver the walk materials back to the local office in Dalton and continued to work in the office helping the staff count and sort the money that was collected and verifying donations that were received. In all on the day of the walk I volunteered 8 hours and then spent an additional 5 hours going through the survey’s and analyzing the data collected and creating a map showing the cities that people traveled from to participate in the Dalton Walk to End Alzheimer’s and then creating a report to give to the Alzheimer’s office. I discovered some interesting facts and observations from the data that I collected and the Alzheimer’s office was interested as well. The total number of the walkers at the 2014 Dalton Walk to End Alzheimer’s was 227 and out of that number 32 were volunteers that devoted their day to help make the walk a success. The walk was dominated by females as the total number of walkers that were male numbered 52 whereas the total numbers of females were 175. So the male to female ratio of the walkers was 1:3 or three female walkers for every one male walker registered in the walk. I found this fact interesting that the majority of the walkers were female and that more males were not interested in participating in the walk. Out of the 227 walk participants 179 were adults and 48 were children. The average age of the walkers was 38 years old with the oldest walker being 83 years old and the youngest walker being 2 years old. I enjoyed seeing the youngest and smallest walker that even though was unregistered brought a lot of joy and excitement to the walk. She was 2 months old and came with her mom in her very own tiny walk tee shirt. I found out from the surveys that the person that traveled the farthest to participate in the walk came from Cumming, Georgia which is 86.44 miles from Dalton, Georgia. Also, the average miles that people traveled from their home zip code to participate in the walk was 39 miles. At the end of this report I have included three tables from the survey data that show walk participants zip codes and mileage traveled, the number of male and female walkers and the ages of the walk participants. I have also included the map that shows the cities that people traveled from to participate in the walk. I enjoyed this volunteer experience and I feel that it taught me a lot about the demographics and hard work of hosting fund raising walks. I already knew what services the Alzheimer’s Association provided but I did not realize how much work went into each fundraiser that they do. You would think that when you hear of a fund raising walk that it would not take a lot of work to coordinate and host the walk to be able collect the donations. I was wrong! To hold one of these walks there is an amazing effort put forth not only by the staff of the Alzheimer’s Association but also by the board of trustees and the numerous volunteers that devote their day and sacrifice their time to help make this walk a success. When you think of volunteers for an event you think of someone who is just giving of their time and not personally connected to the event. However, the majority of the volunteers that I encountered at the 2014 Dalton Walk to End Alzheimer’s devote not only their time but also have a personal connection to the Alzheimer’s Association as well. They truly believe in the Alzheimer’s Association and want to be a part of making a difference in the lives of the patients with Alzheimer’s as well as helping the caregivers of the patients to cope with the day to day struggles that they encounter as the Alzheimer’s disease progresses within their loved ones. This service learning project was a wonderful and enjoyable experience for me and it helped to open my eyes and helped me to realize how much work, dedication, sacrifice and love goes into coordinating, participating and hosting a fund raising walk that is truly successful in more ways that just monetary. Acworth, Georgia (58.25miles) 7 Adairsville, Georgia (32.21 miles) 3 Ball Ground, Georgia (55.24 miles) 4 Calhoun, Georgia (21.47 miles) 11 Canton, Georgia (63.82 miles) 8 Chatsworth, Georgia (12.72 miles) 17 Chattanooga, Tennessee (32.55 miles) 4 Chickamauga, Georgia (27.56 miles) 6 Cohutta, Georgia (15.10 miles) 7 Collegedale, Tennessee (36.08 miles) 1 Cumming, Georgia (86.44 miles) 1 Dalton, Georgia (0 miles) 94 Ellijay, Georgia (36.88 miles) 4 Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia (24.49 miles) 14 Jasper, Georgia (48.86 miles) 8 LaFayette, Georgia (27.06 miles) 2 Marietta, Georgia (71.88 miles) 1 Mineral Bluff, Georgia (59.08 miles) 2 Oolewah, Tennessee (26.96 miles) 1 Ringgold, Georgia (15.66 miles) 10 Rock Springs, Georgia (20.99 miles) 2 Rome, Georgia (48.05 miles) 4 Rossville, Georgia (26.89 miles) 5 Sugar Valley, Georgia (20.68 miles) 1 Summerville, Georgia (39.94 miles) 2 Talking Rock, Georgia (42.96 miles) 5 Woodstock, Georgia (71.73 miles) 3 Table 1: Walk participants zip codes and distances in parenthesis from each city to Dalton, Georgia Female 175 Male 52 Table 2: Gender of walk participants 0-10 years of age 19 11-20 years of age 29 21-30 years of age 49 31-40 years of age 38 41-50 years of age 43 51-60 years of age 25 61-70 years of age 21 71-80 years of age 2 81-90 years of age 1 Table 3: Age of walk participants 1

Top and Bottom Down Approaches in Research

Top and Bottom Down Approaches in Research 1.1 Introduction: The theoretical challenge of managed environments General works in the field of development studies or environmental management typically imitate structural, institutional and political economy analyses. This dissertation however focuses on the theoretical and methodological foundations of an actor-oriented, process-based and social constructionist form of analysis. It also aims to show the usefulness of such an approach for providing new insights into critical areas of empirical enquiry. In the introductory chapter I posed the dilemma confronting change managers and citizens with existing practices of environmental governance reform that are performing inconsistently. My starting point is the premise that experiences of decision-making over environmental management practices have not reflected the intent of smoother transitions and greater legitimacy that a turn to more participative approaches had promised. More democratic methods are not consistently producing more democratic outcomes, at least so are reports from practice warning. Instead, governance reform is experienced as frustrating struggles by actors brought together using ideals of collaborative practice that are frequently proving disappointing in application. The stories that this report recounts are indicative of the type of struggles and indeterminacies more and more encountered by policy actors in addressing issues of society-nature relations. It will be shown that the day-to-day tensions are not well expressed in the languages of social science or practitioners. Are there better ways to conceptualize these problems? Do we have language for this? To answer this, I will have to look for alternative ways to enter the subject and pose questions in different ways. A search for models of practice and theoretical foundations that may prove relevant to the rapidly changing contexts of managed environments encounters a rich literature that has engaged with the problems posed by the environmental pressures of population increase and technological development. However, as will be seen, existing conceptualisations encounter limits of abstraction. The implicit recognition of that has seen practitioners develop a wide range of approaches that are nearer to a recognition of actor perspectives in the field of environmental governance reform that more anthropological perspectives will highlight. A closer examination shows that abandoning abstraction in order to acknowledge the natural complexity of modern contexts in a post-modern time does not resolve the problem of constructively navigating changing knowledge systems. I therefore turn to post-structuralist thinking which allows me to give more attention to the social constructivist view and, in particul ar, to the co-constructed nature of knowledge, framing and subjectivities. The method that proves most promising to demonstrate and resolve the ambiguous nature of social knowledge is a dialectical approach to mapping the deliberative spaces of 21st century environmental governance reform. To do this work, perspectives from different disciplinary areas are brought together, including environmental sociology, environmental policy, anthropology, development studies, conservation management, political ecology and public policy. The discussion will seek to ‘ambiguate key notions in the society-nature literatures, that is, work with the ambiguity that becomes exposed when different scholarly worldviews are applied to core concepts of environmental governance. Working dialectically with the framings of theorists and practitioners means moving at different levels of extension, probing generalisation and rethinking subjects. This will show how ideas of nature, knowledge, community, and identity are central. The journey I will pursue in this chapter and effectively continue in the following transects key themes in the literature on environmental and development issues that I will not attempt to treat comprehensively a futile task even with the best of intentions but instead I want to trace insightful tensions and contours in the landscapes of academic, practitioners and subjective knowledges that shape the individual and institutional behaviour of social actors. By focussing on boundaries, and the conceptual or physical movement across these, I claim that I can show useful insights into the processes through which actors engage in participative, democratic spaces. By evoking a journey through the literature, I shadow the journey that I myself followed when I entered into and pursued this research, coming from a career as aid worker and encounter with the Great Barrier Island setting. Entering into academic reflection on social and political situations from that background opened perspectives that are not easily available to a researcher arriving from the outside or evaluating social processes with less reference to practical experience. At the same time, a positioning on the boundaries of the settings studied that my own background with the frequent geographic and career changes allowed, can be said to have greatly elevated my ‘hermeneutical horizon, opening up better appreciation of multiple, overlapping contexts. The aim of this chapter is to reveal a range of features and entry points into a number of settings that I gained access to, even if not comprehensively but certainly illustrative. I want to show that abstraction needs to adopt not only an actor-grounded and situated methodology but equally a more subjective theorisation, in order to give new meaning to abstraction. The literature I will bring into the discussion will help me elaborate how simultaneously seeking out top-down, bottom-up and reflective positions can give complementary insights into processes of actor engagement over environmental governance. The reason is that the political, social and cultural complexities that determine human-nature, and particularly society-nature, relations impose a need for multiple perspectives. In the following sections I will construct several positions located on metaphoric boundaries that offer perspective on subject areas and cultures of practice. To do that, I will open three views, or categories of view: one as a top-down view, which uses analytical thinking looking at overviews, comparisons and indicators to form structural explanations that underlie theory and practice. A second position approaches actors within a situation and is interested in narratives that convey the struggles and explanations present in a given situation, as they are seen from the bottom up. And with a view that is neither top-down, nor bottom-up, I want to emphasize a self-conscious, reflective treatment of knowledge and the co-construction of world views that deliberative practices can entail. 1.1.1 Case study or research intervention? The scholarly practitioner as participant in knowledge production Before I enter the subject area however, I must first clarify my point of entry into and positionality within the subject. In particular, the performative character of social science research needs to be acknowledged. Scientific inquiry is recognized as a social practice mediated contextually through symbolic means {Foucault, 2002; Pryke, Rose, Whatmore, 2003}. Sociological research has documented the extent to which science is as much a socio-cultural activity as a technical enterprise. The post-positivist challenge to the social sciences that was evoked by Fischer and quoted introductory chapter, derives from evidence that the elements of empirical inquiry from observation and hypothesis formation through data collection and explanation are grounded in often limited theoretical assumptions of the socio-cultural practices through which they are developed {Root, 1993}. Scientific explanations therefore have to be understood as explanations offered by specific communities of inquirers situated in particular places and times, so Fischer emphasizes (1998). These are discursive communities that are located alongside and intermeshed with other political communities in the social landscape. This draws attention to positioning researcher and science within the political communities that are present. Attention must be paid throughout the approach, engagement and interpretation of social situations to be reflective about the relation of the researcher to the subject. In my engagement with the actors within the settings I investigated, my approach and interest was shaped by all of my curriculum vitae but especially by my background as former aid worker. At least three specific aspects of this career were particularly significant in forming my approach to this study and, in particular, the lines of questioning that I adopted. For many years while working on behalf of large non-governmental aid organisations like Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), when I was often assigned as project planner in collaboration with medical or logistics experts with the task to research the humanitarian, political and security context in a particular setting to identify priority needs an organisation was able to address and to design the detailed aid interventions. I led needs assessment missions lasting 2 to 4 weeks to Georgia, Tajikistan, Congo, Burundi, Syria, Iraq, and Nepal among others,. The output would consist of reports documenting findings of data collection and interviews, verbal and written interpretation of implications for launching aid operations, and proposals to governmental donor agencies that complied to institutional requirements and priorities in order to maximise chances of gaining funding support. Essentially this was a research role with an action orientation. My primary role while working for these international aid organisations was project manager and/or country representative, positions that I held in Russia. Chechnya, Congo, Kenya, Lebanon, and Mauritania among others. Aid projects would be managed by a team of expatriates and local staff, often growing into large, well-resourced and formalised organisations with up to 50 staff. This required me to manage teams and situations with a view to producing outcomes, conforming to organisational policies. As head of usually one of the larger NGOs in a sector, I would frequently also act on behalf of a wider community of aid agencies that shared similar values and objectives in collaborating and representing interests to government counterparts. The emphasis on advocating for universal rights and principles on behalf of vulnerable and victims under threat was an important advocacy priority for organisations like Oxfam and MSF, and thus was a critical rationale for situating, maintaining, and promoting many aid activities. At the same time I would be representing associations that had explicitly defined visions and principles in an organisational environment and so I had to be very self-conscious about the philosophical distinctions between advocacy, religious, purely charitable, bilateral or inter-governmental agencies. In other words, through this work I had been sensitized to the subtleties of organisational culture and its relationship to operational policies. In general, as a project manager I shared an outcome orientation that allowed me to identify with the role of other project managers in comparable organisational settings, even outside the domain international aid. The reason I found myself in a ten-year career as aid worker was in part due to a long-standing interest in foreign settings and the extensive time I had already spent living abroad. The familiarity with different cultures from growing up in the Middle East, emigrating during school years to New Zealand and working in several European countries not only opened my appreciation of how cultures and societies are distinguished but also permitted me to acquire conversational fluency in eight languages. Overhearing the words our interpreter used to translate my speech into Arabic for a group of village elders in a Sahel village, or joking with Russian militia officers to be able to enter an ethnic enclave in the Caucasus, added diverse points of view that only first-hand knowledge can make relevant to other situations. The value of knowing how language and cultural upbringing can shape world views, understanding and humour is invaluable when attempting to reflect on other situations from a position that is neither entirely inside nor outside but on the boundary between cultures and places that are in (dialectical) relation. 1.1.1.1 Adopting an inside-out view: focus on protagonist, on the relationship between identity and subject. While it is tempting to examine a situation from the point of view of those with the power to affect it the change makers and potential audience for the research findings it can be critical to also adopt the point of view of less influential actors. An inside out view seeks to show how outside forces influence the nature of polity, rather than using the people in the area of interest to provide a background against which to set the actions of outsiders {see also Routledge, Pacific History as seen from the Pacific Islands, Pacific Studies Spring 1985}. This study, in other words, seeks to be not merely island-centred but islander-oriented. The perspective thus adopted is that of a scholarly practitioner. Bentz and Shapiro {, 1998 #1684} use this term to recognise that in the enterprise of knowledge generation and critical reflection, there is a two-way relationship. The role of the scholarly practitioner involves â€Å"using professional practice and knowledge as a resource for the formulation and production of scholarly knowledge as well as for evaluating, testing, applying, extending, or modifying existing knowledge† (p. 66). Bentz and Shapiro stress that this requires also an awareness of the limits of knowledge, and, I would add, the contested nature of knowledge. This recognition brings attention to the production of knowledge in environmental politics. 1.1.1.2 Social science must be conscious of its performative character: Reconnecting the researcher with the researched There are a number of research traditions that address the ontological gap between researcher and the researched. Action research for one, is a participatory methodology that seeks to produce knowledge that emerges from context of action as a collaborative project between researcher and the researched. It typically sees the researcher performing functional roles within groups working together on real world projects and tasks (Wadsworth, 1998). Participatory research finds many other outlets and emphasizes a philosophy of co-production or research, from the formulation of the question, through reflection on outcomes to the communication of findings (Cornwall Jewkes, 1995). A methodology that seeks to discard theoretical preconceptions completely is grounded theory. Theories are grounded in the groups observable experiences, but researchers add their own insight into why those experiences exist. It is a method formulated by Strauss and Corbin that categorizes empirically collected data to build a general theory to fit the data (Barney G. Glaser, 2004; B.G. Glaser Strauss, 1967; A. McCarthy, 1999). The investigator develops conceptual categories from the data and then makes new observations to develop these categories. Hypotheses are derived directly from the data, and may be tested against it. All conclusions must be grounded in and supported by the data. Their seminal work, The Development of Grounded Theory (1967), moved researchers past the hypothesis-testing uses of raw data into the hypothesis-generating potential of their observations. The approach has been steadily expanding its reach within academia through sociology and social anthropology an d, more recently into applied disciplines like nursing and educational research. Notwithstanding the uptake of grounded philosophy by researchers motivated to reconnect with the empirical subject, the lack of theorizing underlying this may be criticized by more ‘sophisticated theorists like Habermas, who I later want to bring into this discussion. For the German, the lack of critical framing that grounded theory represents is a crucial shortcoming that needs to be addressed methodologically. I will begin this by first discussing methodological treatment of settings and context. 1.1.2 Accounting for context with mental models and ethnographic methods The cognitive patterns that underlie social behavior are not easily accessible to the researcher. Conceptualizing mental models that can account for communicative behavior in a way that relates to settings and context must represent basic notions of cognition such as ideology, knowledge and values. Ideologies in the sense used here, are general and abstract, principle based, axiomatic beliefs, while knowledge are the actual facts and beliefs held as true. Attitudes are taken to comprise opinion, beliefs, feelings, and intentions about specific issues, typically socially shared (see also Leiserowitz, Kates, Parris, 2006). A mental model then, is the categorical understanding constructed from ideologies, knowledge, and attitudes of specific contexts and situations. An accompanying notion is that of group knowledge as those social beliefs that which a group, or imagined community, holds to be true according to its own evaluation or verification (truth) criteria (eg science) and which can be doubted by outsiders. But such cultural, common ground knowledge is not challenged within groups, and is presupposed in public discourse, even when they are shifting as are the notions of conservation, environment and sustainability did that were discussed. 1.1.2.1 Context models as subjective representation To study context and its relation to subjective meanings, ethnographic approaches hold most promise as they work with subjective representation and group knowledge processes (e.g. Descola, 1996; Wolfe Yang, 1996). Such a view is also interested in how context structures social relations (communicative and interactional), social dynamics (group membership and interaction). But it also brings another interest relevant to the study of participation, of how cognition has a role in terms of framing goals, knowledge and other beliefs of participants in deliberation. The notion of context is used in scholarship as ambiguously as ‘environment is in wider discourses. To be able to treat it as an analytical object needs a basic model. By defining contexts and contextualization in terms of mental models and their role in discourse production and comprehension, this can account not only for the role of social representations such as attitudes and ideologies in discourse, but also allows a more subjective explanation of discourse and its variation in terms of personal mental models. The empirical studies will demonstrate this. Van Dijk (2001) sees context as a model of relevance that shapes actors opinions and actions. He recognizes that context is subjective and individual and with that is ideologically based and has coherence within group discourse. Thus, context models are subjective representations of social situation, including communicative events they define what is relevant. This makes an account of context critical for understanding participation. And subjective context framing may be ideologically biased. 1.1.2.2 Frames of referenceand the ‘black box of mental models The concept of frame of reference is also used commonly used to refer to the cognitive effect of contextual models (Swaffield, 1998). It describes and categorizes the attitudes displayed by individuals when discussing a management issue. The framing concepts in this study were defined as follows: A frame of reference is an analytical model of attitudes concerning a resource policy or management issue. A personal frame of reference refers to the attitudes expressed by an individual. A common frame of reference refers to the distinctive pattern of attitudes that is common to a number of individuals. However, there is no claim that the frame of reference as defined here represents cognitive processes. Rather, it is a model of the attitudes openly expressed by individuals when discussing an issue. A basic problem that remains, is that context, subjectivities and cognition remain inaccessible to a researcher. A ‘black box model of subjective context therefore lacks explanatory relevance. But as the subject of deliberation, context circumscribes the cognitive boundaries of actors ‘mentalities. For van Dijk (2001), the advantage of such an approach is that it accounts not only for the role of social representations, such as attitudes and ideologies in discourse, but also allows a more subjective explanation of discourse and its variation in terms of personal mental models. And since contexts are by definition unique and personal, context models of framings precisely allow an individual approach to contextualization to be combined with a more social one, in which shared representations, groups, and other societal aspects play a prominent role. 1.1.3 Boundaries: Locating and moving across by following, pushing or re-imagining phenomena ## I will begin with the premise that the totality of relations in a socio-ecological geography are meaningful, that is the relations between people, places and things. And that the inverse of relationships are distinctions that coalesce to form boundaries between categories and instances. This is worth emphasizing since the recognition that boundaries constrain meaning can draw attention to the contrived and therefore limiting nature of abstraction. How this premise will permit established abstraction and meanings to be questioned, fragmented and reassembled is the work that this chapter will begin and will be completed in the methodological chapter that follows. The first boundary to highlight and that can show what is meant by transgressing distinctions consists of the separation of human from non-human nature. Imagining environmental governance reform as regulating the entry of humans into nature and the export of non-human resources out of nature is counter-intuitive to any gardener. Fence lines, compost bins and patio seating all blur the boundaries. Self-identity for many derives from emotional attachments to home and garden, nurturing roles that a vegetable plot reinforces and status that manicured lawns or urban bio-diversity islands respectively can demonstrate. Thus the domain of interest should not be a non-human nature as an object of human intervention but instead a nature as a geography of human relations that are linked to an environment through diverse interests. This is a geography that is physically located in both the commons and in private property another paired abstraction that will prove to be divided by a blurred boundary. But this is also a geography that exists in the social imagination as social, cultural or political objects. The environment so seen can be conceived as the total of society-nature relations which relate to all material, subjective, cognitive, political, and other interests or dimensions. The challenge then becomes not in naming these complex relations but in thinking about them, in framing them. 1.1.4 Environmental governance as an adjustable lens [## develop] The first conceptual tool to prepare will thus be the notion of environmental governance as an adjustable lens. Rather than using the literature in an inevitably selective manner to stabilize the meaning of this concept at least for the duration of this discussion, I will adopt a counter-strategy of reinforcing the ambiguity of the notion and employing it with shifting meanings to approach the research problem from different scales, extension and perspectives. Environmental governance is a category of practices and ideas that are of interest to several perspectives. As a domain of practice it is the concern of academic text books (Durant, Fiorino, OLeary, 2004; Hempel, 1996; Kettl, 2002; Levy Newell, 2005) as much as ministerial policy statements {Ministry of the Environment 2000, 2003}, international donor policy, and publications of environmental agencies. In practice, actually relating good governance to ecological outcomes is near impossible. Choosing one arbitrary example from international experience, an in-depth evaluation of different forest management governance regimes in Madagascar showed how there were enormous difficulties in explaining the dynamics and assessing measures of sustainability and equity (McConnell Sweeney). The term of environmental governance can be encountered in a range of contexts. In a recent survey of issues in environmental policy and management Durant et al (ibid.) identify key topics in environmental governance as sustainability, the precautionary principle, common-pool resource theory, deliberative democracy, civic environmentalism, environmental justice, property rights, environmental conflict resolution, devolution, among others. This has introduced a range of perspectives from environmental economics, democratic theory, public policy, law, political science, and public administration. In effect, environmental governance does not so much represent a theoretical field or a professional discipline, but a theme of shared concerns in scholarship and applied practice. This chapter will consider how environmental governance can be re-approached by detaching it from the portfolio of resource managers and relocating it within a wider arena of development and democratic practices. In the development field the notion that the public, stakeholders or local people have an important role in environmental governance is emphasized. Environmental governance includes the structures (e.g. management regimes), organizational forms (e.g. farmer research teams, water user associations), processes (e.g. multi-stakeholder dialogue), actors and rules (e.g. negotiated access rights and boundaries) that determine how resources are managed at international, national and local levels. (International Development Research Centre) Aside from government agencies and development practitioners, scholars will also characterize contemporary environmental governanceas a â€Å"collaborative approach to policy formulation and implementation†(Durant et al., 2004, pp. 22-23). Environmental governance therefore is relevant to several different fields of interest to scholars and can be framed in several ways. In the first instance, environmental governance is political and so a subject of political inquiry. This opens up a diverse body of literature to employ in developing an approach to environmental governance. Another dimension that arises out of the political, and that the following discussion shows to be explicitly present, is deliberative democracy. But the most promising approach to begin to problematize environmental governance lies with the notion of development and its contemporary manifestation as sustainable development, particularly its application by foreign agents in local settings. Each of these dim ensions embodies unresolved tensions tensions that can also be encountered in many sites of social theory and practice which centre on epistemological concerns. It may also be useful to think in terms of environmental governance as a body of political theory, as Humphrey has done (2007), that has a central focus upon environmental concerns as these relate to democracy, justice, globalization, political economy, freedom, the welfare state, and other aspects of political life. This body of work is no longer as closely related to the environmental ethics and values of nature of a deep ecology, but is more integrated into mainstream political theory. For the purpose of this discussion, I will develop the notion of environmental governance as a conceptual tool to approach the research problem from different scales, extension and perspectives. The complementary notions of environmental governance offer entry points into related literatures and cultures of practice: Environmental Democracy, Environmental Reform, Environmental Collaboration, and Environmental Sustainability. Environmental governance can thus best be treated as both as assembly of practice and as a body of theory that is doing political work. To reconnect theory and practice will be the task of this chapter. 1.1.5 We are being ‘participated again: An incomplete typology of participative approaches There is an emerging consensus that the public need to be more involved in the processes of environmental decision making. From the international arena exemplified in documents such as Agenda 21 and the initiatives of the World Bank to national government policy initiatives, local policy and planning systems such as the New Zealand Resource Management Act, and in the discourses of actors including scientists and business groups, a role for public participation has been instituted (Davies, 2002). Implicit in the idea of participation is that the initiative lies with the reformers, the change-makers to approach the public with a project to respond to. From the perspective of an un-associated citizen, the prospect of another round of workshops and discussion groups events that have become familiar to many villagers in target zones of international aid the process is passive and invites the expression not surprisingly encountered in developing nations of ‘we are being participated again. The notion of taking part in environmental decision-making and in contrast to an authority taking top-down action is taken up by a wide range of terms and practices. Participation in the social science is an umbrella term including different means for the public to directly participate in political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision making then infers a level of proportionate decision making power and can take place along any realm of human social activity, including economic (e.g. participatory economics), political (e.g. participatory democracy), cultural (e.g. communalism) or familial (e.g. Feminism). In practice, the term participation applies to processes initiated by an agency seeking to initiate a project or introduce reform. It thus becomes critical to ask, who is invited to participate, and by whom. What regulatory requirements may apply, is there precedent, and what resources are available are only some of the parameters that the term participation by itself does not convey. In the government sector, at least in New Zealand, the word consultation is frequently used to describe a range of processes to engage with the community i.e. citizens and citizen associations. These range from the prescribed processes in the Local Government Act (2002) such as the special consultative procedure (section 83) to informal processes such as e-mail chat groups or anecdotal local knowledge. In this report, the term consultation will be used in a broad sense to include any form of government agency engagement with local communities, including activities carried out by an authority to inform itself of community views as well as specific consultation exercises. Collaboration is another category that carries the notion to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavour. The sense that will be used here, emphasises the absence of authority, a consensual decision making process with respect to an established domain. Dispute resolution is a related practice that seeks to reduce differences or to seek a solution when a conflict situation exists. When the services of a third party are utilized, this is often referred to as mediation. These categories denote some of the dimensions that structure relationships in public involvement: consultation as an exercise in information exchange, participation implying a direct input into deliberation over decisions linked to

Animal Farm Diary Entries :: Animal Farm Essays

Animal Farm Diary Entries Old major I am getting closer and closer to death. These last few years of my life have been haunted by terrible thoughts of REVOLUTION!!!! I need to tell the other animals about these thoughts. I don’t know what they will think. They may object to them greatly or they may see it as a way to be set free, but other animals will have different opinions. The cat is a household pet his life is good. He never has to do any work. He will not be keen. However there are animals like pigs that live for one purpose, to be killed. They will be keen. I will confront the animals soon. Snowball Old major rounded all the animals in the barn today. What he said shocked us all. He obviously had been thinking about it for a long time. He told each what our fate was; usually it was to be slaughtered. Instantly most of the animals realised that they should provoke this revolution or be killed. I am happy to help because it is inevitable Mr. Jones’ cold hands will slaughter me if I don’t help. Its just my mind is flooded with thoughts of what could go wrong. How would we get food? How would we run the farm? Won’t other people just come to claim the farm? So many things could go wrong but if we succeeded it would have a huge effect on not just this farm but on surrounding farms too. We could provoke these farms to follow our example. Soon animals would be seen as equals next to men. There’s even a possibility that we could be seen as superior. I say the revolution should happen and it will happen. Revolution is coming to Manor farm! Napoleon Today something happened, it was inevitable, it had to happen sometime. I knew it. Old Major gathered all the animals in the barn. He began to lay the foundations for a revolution. I admire him very much to have the courage to oppose Mr. Jones. I now am sure Mr. Jones’ rule will be other within the year. The animals want a revolution and they will get one. Revolution, I see it as a time when one person loses something and another gains something. I wish to be the one to gain. I have always been the runt in the litter, now I will become superior to everyone else. I know I can. Mr. Jones will die and I will live and my life will be great. It’s all because of revolution. People will die and I will benefit.

Ensure Technical and Academic Rigor of Programs :: Curriculum Education Careers Essays

Ensure Technical and Academic Rigor of Programs Effective career and technical education programs clearly articulate course outcomes and align content with national or state occupational skill standards. These standards, endorsed by business and industry, are designed to prepare students with skills that reflect job market requirements and address all aspects of the industry, not just skills required for single jobs. Curricula developed around these standards offer teachers a variety of strategies for improving standards in their classrooms. Ohio has developed a set of cluster guides based on the Integrated Technical and Academic Competencies (ITACS) that employers have identified as necessary for work: solving problems and thinking skillfully, communicating effectively, applying technology, and so forth. The curriculum for each of these cluster guides follows the same format. Each begins with a workplace scenario, engages students in a problem-solving approach to learning, and integrates technical and academic competencies from state and national standards. Through the scenarios outlined in the guides, students are led to construct knowledge by engaging in learning experiences and problem-solving activities that have value beyond the classroom (Vocational Instructional Materials Laboratory 1999). Projects that use the context of the workplace and the community to teach academic and technical skills offer another strategy for ensuring program rigor. Students learn best in the context of real life experiences. Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown, Delaware; William H. Turner Technical Arts High School in Miami; and Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professionals in Houston are three schools that combine rigorous academic coursework with career and technical education through hands-on activities set in real-world contexts (Roberts 1999). In this way, "students can combine what they're learning in the field or laboratory with basic writing, science, and math skills" (p. 22). "Curriculum integration, contextual and applied learning, tech prep, and team teaching have increased the academic rigor of career and technical education disciplines" (Lozada 1999, p. 16). Traditional instructional roles, however, do not support these strategies for applying academic and technical understandings to real-world problems. To involve students in learning experiences that are situated in certain physical and social contexts and require interaction with other people, teachers must assume the role of coach or mentor, encouraging students to create their own knowledge from experiences beyond the classroom. When CTE instruction supports what is known about intelligence, brain development, cognition and learning, it gives credence to initiatives that integrate academic education with career and technical education (Reese 2002). Ensure Technical and Academic Rigor of Programs :: Curriculum Education Careers Essays Ensure Technical and Academic Rigor of Programs Effective career and technical education programs clearly articulate course outcomes and align content with national or state occupational skill standards. These standards, endorsed by business and industry, are designed to prepare students with skills that reflect job market requirements and address all aspects of the industry, not just skills required for single jobs. Curricula developed around these standards offer teachers a variety of strategies for improving standards in their classrooms. Ohio has developed a set of cluster guides based on the Integrated Technical and Academic Competencies (ITACS) that employers have identified as necessary for work: solving problems and thinking skillfully, communicating effectively, applying technology, and so forth. The curriculum for each of these cluster guides follows the same format. Each begins with a workplace scenario, engages students in a problem-solving approach to learning, and integrates technical and academic competencies from state and national standards. Through the scenarios outlined in the guides, students are led to construct knowledge by engaging in learning experiences and problem-solving activities that have value beyond the classroom (Vocational Instructional Materials Laboratory 1999). Projects that use the context of the workplace and the community to teach academic and technical skills offer another strategy for ensuring program rigor. Students learn best in the context of real life experiences. Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown, Delaware; William H. Turner Technical Arts High School in Miami; and Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professionals in Houston are three schools that combine rigorous academic coursework with career and technical education through hands-on activities set in real-world contexts (Roberts 1999). In this way, "students can combine what they're learning in the field or laboratory with basic writing, science, and math skills" (p. 22). "Curriculum integration, contextual and applied learning, tech prep, and team teaching have increased the academic rigor of career and technical education disciplines" (Lozada 1999, p. 16). Traditional instructional roles, however, do not support these strategies for applying academic and technical understandings to real-world problems. To involve students in learning experiences that are situated in certain physical and social contexts and require interaction with other people, teachers must assume the role of coach or mentor, encouraging students to create their own knowledge from experiences beyond the classroom. When CTE instruction supports what is known about intelligence, brain development, cognition and learning, it gives credence to initiatives that integrate academic education with career and technical education (Reese 2002).

ITHotels in Europe :: Free Essay Writer

ITHotels in Europe Introduction The future, what is that. What will happen when the inhabitants of our globe start travelling and ask for connections to the world? Connections that will provide us with information about the world and the place we are visiting? What will happen when people ask for better evacuation alarms in our hotels and what will the digital TV give us. With a digital TV, we mean a television that is intelligent, the only thing we need to do is program the television and the digital electronic chip will figure out the rest for us. We will feed the TV with the information we want and it will automatically display them on the TV screen in a way that will be the best to you. It is in the specification that a single channel of digital television can have as many as 1,024 different programs, but they don't all have to be TV. It might be radio, computer signals or telephone signals. Can we in the hospitality industry offer all this? YES WE CAN. To remain competitive in business today, every organization needs to adopt new technology as it develops. As businesses become increasingly dependent on this new technology. Hotels called IT Hotels (information technology hotels) are under growing pressure to design and implement systems that provide greater business benefits. When a hotel adopts the new technology or Internet based-solutions, it has widespread implications throughout the organisation. The hotel might require a whole new set of skills to manage a completely new way of doing business. Whether the hotel implements an Extranet to integrate its supply chain or an Intranet to manage the flow of internal information, the new technology will create both opportunities and challenges for every IT-Hotel. The story behind IT-Hotels is their need for connections to the world and the publics’ demand for access to the world wherever they are. A certain amount of confusion has arisen over the meaning of an â€Å"IT Hotel†. Guests wonder what this means and in certain cases even â€Å"ordinary† hotels have called themselves IT-Hotels. The time when a well-furnished hotel room consisted only of a chair, a bed, a table and a lamp is over. For this reason the term IT-Hotels is here to give us a new meaning of what a well-furnished hotel room is. IT-Hotels will offer the hotel guests the means of using analogue connections, digital connection (ISDN) telephones and data communications, as well as network connections to the Intranet and Internet.

Erie Performance Polymers Essay

INTRODUCTION This case tells us about Stanley Wong, division manager for Erie Performance Polymers and general manger of Wuhan Erie Polymers joint venture who had received an approval for his transfer request to Gary, Indiana, USA, headquarters of Erie. He was given the task of recommending to the board, from a list of six candidates, a successor to his position. During his tenure Stanley Wong has tried to modernize the thought process of his mainly Chinese employees, at the same time being sensitive to the cultural differences, he tried to create an organisational culture which was a mix of both Chinese and western values. He must make sure that his successor is sensitive to the existent differences in culture and that he is well equipped to handle problems or conflicts which these differences might cause. NOMINATION OF SUCCESSOR (Q1) After considering the six candidates it can be said that all of them six have certain shortcomings and none can be considered ideal for the job, however Bruce Po would probably best suit this position since he possesses several important qualities required for succeeding in this position. Wright and Mischel (1987) have stated that predictable behaviour would be achieved when management practices would be congruent with national cultural values which according to Earley (1994) would further result in high performance. According to Perlmutter (1969) polycentric firms are those, which, by experience or by inclination of the top executive begin with the assumption that host country cultures are different and that foreigners are difficult to understand (p11). Perlmutter (1969) further states that local people know what is best for them and the part of the firm which is located in the host country should be as local in identity as possible. Bruce Po is a national manager and possess’ the advantage of having the knowledge of the local business scene (Scullion & Collings, 2006). Being fluent in Chinese and  having a good understanding of Chinese culture and traditions, he will be able to not only communicate and motivate his staff efficiently but also socialize and maintain good relations with government officials, which is required for this post. Governmental policies favour appointment of HCN managers (Dowling & Welch, 2004). Wilson, Bernadin and Russel (1998) have concluded that the failure rate of PCN managers is also high compared to HCN managers. Appointment of Po would satisfy the need to appoint a host country national (HCN) as the manager. Po has shown in the past that he is capable of making crucial decisions much needed for this managerial post. He is intelligent, committed and hardworking and will successfully be able to implement modern business techniques which he is currently learning. The current scenario requires a manager who can ensure that the subsidiary has a similar corporate culture and shares similar values of the main firm to maximise productivity using socialization must to assert control, much like a ‘bumble–bee’ (Harzing, 2001). Po lacks networking skills with the head quarters and might fail to assert the required amount of control. The Chinese have shared the tradition of respect for elders for many generations (Wales, 1946). Po, being only 32 years of age might not be able to command that respect from his colleagues. AREAS WHERE CROSS-CULTURAL CONFLICTS MAY ARISE AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO SOLVE THESE CHALLENGES (Q2) According to Choi and Beamisch (2004) conflicts could cause substantial problems to a company and cultural conflicts may further complicate the process. Large cultural differences would increase the difficulty for the involved groups to understand each other’s point of view. To get a better understanding of the cultural differences between the two nations lets take into account the research done by Hofstede (1984). Hofstede (1984) developed and named 5 dimensions, which best characterised a culture, enabling us to make a comparison between cultures. These five dimensions were individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and long-term orientation (Hofstede, 1984). Chinese differ substantially with respect to individualism, long term orientation and power distance when compared to the Americans (Geert-hofstede.com, 2014). These differences  could result in conflicts in the following areas:- Intercultural communication Problems often occur due to misunderstandings, which come up as a result of cultural differences in methods of negotiation and handling conflict (Adler, 1986; Adler and Graham, 1989). The Americans who are associated with individualism believe in confrontation while the collectivist Chinese try to avoid conflict and heated arguments (Hofstede, 1984). This could lead to misunderstandings when the two parties communicate. For example the Americans might think that silence from their Asian colleague is a sign of consent when actually it isn’t. The Chinese might misunderstand their American colleagues’ arguments and confrontation as lack of respect. Even in negotiation, which is the two sided exchange of signals between parties, people from different cultures interpret signals differently; negotiators might thus misread the signals or transmit an unmeant message. Thomas & Pondy (1977) have suggested that often ones words, facial expressions, body language and speech lead to attributions of intent that could cause conflict. Augsburger (1992) further stated that this phenomenon runs rampant in cross-cultural communication. Adoption of modern business practices Its observed that collectivist values are more suited for agrarian economy and are very different from the individualistic values which encourage more openness, conflict and innovation (Chen, Tjosvold and Pan, 2010). It is important for organisations to adopt modern business techniques in order to compete in emerging global market. Individualists are more up to date and endorse modern management ideas while collectivists don’t (Hofstede, 1984). These differences in individualistic and collectivist values of the two culture could lead to hindrance and conflict with regards to adopting modern business techniques (Inkeles and Smith, 1974). Selling price decisions Taking into consideration the fifth dimension, which is long-term orientation. The Chinese and the Americans have a different mindset when it comes to running a viable business. The Americans use long term strategies to achieve their goal while the Chinese aim for quick profits. The Chinese  focus on cutting edge prices and on getting in and out of the market fast. Discussing selling price and decisions on future prospects could lead to conflict escalation due to differences in ideology. Conflict management is vital in a joint venture but to prevent conflicts by clear initial agreements and open communication is preferred. Cultural distance has been defined as ‘†¦basic differences between cultures, such as value systems, beliefs, customs and rituals in addition to legal, political and economic systems’ (Cao, Hirschi and Deller, 2012, p. 167). According to Tung and Verbeke (2010) the first step in overcoming uncertainty and its consequences is managing this process with an understanding of cross cultural relations. Zhang, Y., Harwood, J. and Hummert, M. (2005) have stated that misunderstandings related to cultural differences can be avoided and performance can be improved by applying effective conflict management in the joint venture. Cultural awareness and cultural value systems must be put in place to overcome misunderstandings. This will help two parties to understand each other better (Tang and Ward, 2003). In a joint venture it is important that both groups understand each other’s point of view. This will lead to a mutual understanding between the parties enhancing trust and communication and reducing the chances of a conflict. Conflicts cannot always be averted, some need to be addressed. Conflict management approaches must be used to deal with these conflicts. Blake and mouton (1964) have stated two conflict management styles, the accommodating approach and the avoiding approach. The accommodating approach is when concern is shown for the other group. This conflict management method is appropriate due to the fact that reaching common objectives are in the best interest of the joint venture. Finally Conflict management is a skill that can be taught and developed. It must be taught to specialists in the human resources section. CHALLENGE IN ATTRACTING, RETAINING AND REWARDING INTERNATIONAL TALENT (Q3) Reiche (2007) states that retention of valuable employees is a critical strategy for HR managers and organisational leaders in order to survive in the long term and achieve competitive advantage in the global economy. Senior executive selection and retention is of prime importance since they are responsible for overall direction and scope of business activity. The  retention of intellectual capital is of growing strategic importance (Tymon, Stump and Doh, 2010) and there has been a growing interest among organisations, practitioners and academics (Scullion, Collings and Gunningle, 2007). Asian countries have particularly faced significant problems with respect to employee retention despite their economic growth in recent years (Barnett, 1995). It was important to choose a successor who could motivate his employees and encourage them to be a part of the organisation for longest possible time. Stanley would also have to take into consideration the candidates ethnicity, since to work and live in china might prove quite difficult for expatriates and they might end up leaving. Employee retention benefits both the organisation as well as the employee because organisational performance is a product of individual performance (Pfeffer and Sutton, 2006). In order to retain employees companies provide training and mentoring to their top employees which would help them broaden their skills (Groysberg, Nanda and Nohria, 2004). Wong’s challenge is to communicate clearly the possibilities for future training, development, and career progress which is a crucial part of a successful retention strategy (Lasserre and Ching, 1996) The successor must have good team work skills since it is observed that team work allows greater employee participation and increases organisations performance which influences motivation and satisfaction of employees (Nel et al 2002). This would lead to employee retention. Job satisfaction is very important in order to ensure that the successor retains his position for a long time. Autonomy, good relations with co-workers and working co nditions are factors which influence job satisfaction. In china it is very difficult to maintain good relations with co-workers if you cant communicate in Chinese. Managers who might not be able to speak Chinese might not be satisfied with the job since they would not be able to communicate and maintain relations with their co-workers. The reward system is strongly influenced by economic and social factors. According to Schhuster and Zingheim (1992) designing of the reward system must be done strategically in a way to reward results and behaviour, which are consistent with goals of the organisation. WEP must use the total reward approach, which takes into consideration the totality of extrinsic/intrinsic and transactional/relational rewards in reward design (Thompson, 2002). The challenge that Wong faces is to shape reward systems such that they balance  the needs and desires of HCNs, PCNs and TCNs (Fisher, Schoenfeldt and Shaw, 1999). He must make sure that he motivates his employees by ensuring that compensation is given to skilled e mployees who achieve their targets and make international business operations succeed (McNally, 1992). Harvey (1995) identified the problem that compensation was different for HCNs and expatriates. Often expatriates make more money than HCNs who might have a job of equal or more importance (Harvey, 1995). This might make the HCN employees feel like they are being treated unfairly (Fisher, Shoenfeldt and Shaw, 1999). Wong faces the challenge of trying to create a somewhat equal compensatory system. He must tailor rewards to fit the Chinese culture.(Westerman, Beekun, Daly and Vanka, 2009). Wong must consider the balance sheet approach, which facilitates mobility among expatriate staff in the most cost affective manner (Reynolds, 1995). This approach is considered expensive and complicated. Phillips and fox (2003) have stated that this is not an effective means of attracting and retaining the best expatriates. An alternative approach would be the going rate approach, which is primarily based on host country market pay rates (Dowling, Welch and Schuler, 1994). A good reward system could attract, retain and motivate employees. It is important for WEP to offer special benefits such as housing provision and cost of living allowances to attract expatriates. Benefits were found to be an important component in encouraging prospect expatriates to accept international assignments (Konopaske and Werner, 2005). Job applicants are attracted to organisations that fit with their personal values (Kristof, 1996). CONCLUSION To conclude we can say that Stanley Wong has numerous factors to take into consideration before nominating a successor. Neglecting cultural differences, dependency on the other partner and unresolved conflicts could lead to termination of the joint venture (Kemp, 1999). With a large increase in globalization rate over the years in order to create an environment in which workers are able to communicate and achieve common goals, it is important that multinational organizations learn to integrate diverse value systems and engage global work values (Rosenblatt, 2011; Erez and Drori, 2009; Ralston, Holt, Terpstra & Kai-cheng, 1997). REFERENCES Adler, N. (1986). International dimensions of organizational behavior. The International Executive, 28(1), 31-32. Adler, N. and Graham, J. (1989). Cross-Cultural Interaction: The International Comparison Fallacy?. J Int Bus Stud, 20(3),.515-537. Augsburger, D. (1992). Conflict mediation across cultures: Pathways and patterns. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox Press Barnett, R. (1995). Flexible benefits: Communication is the key, Benefits and Compensation International, 24(6), 25-28. Blake, R., & Mouton, J. (1964). The managerial grid: Key orientations for achieving production through people. 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Fisher, C., & Schoenfeldt, L. (1999). Human resource management (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Geert-hofstede.com,. (2014). United States – Geert Hofstede. Retrieved 28 November 2014, from http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html Groysberg, B., Nanda, A., & Nohria, N. (2004). The risky business of hiring stars. In Harvard Business Review (pp. 1-10). Boston, Mass.:Harvard Business Online. Harvey, M. (1995). The Impact of dual-career families on international relocations. Human Resource Management Review Studies, 5,223-244. Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences (p. 153). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications Harzing, A. (2001). Of bears, bumble-bees, and spiders: the role of expatriates in controlling foreign subsidiaries. Journal Of World Business, 36(4), 366-379. Inkeles, A., & Smith, D. (1974). Becoming modern: Individual change in six developing countries. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Kemp, M. (1999). Science in culture. Nature, 646-646. 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