Im Not Scared Essay

â€Å"Poverty is the mother of crime. † (Marcus Aurelius) Contrary to the chrome yellow of the boundless wheat fields is the darkness of poverty in which the hamlet of Acqua Traverse is wreathed. Niccolo Ammanity consummately describes the pervasive poverty of the place â€Å"forgotten by God and man† throughout this enthralling novel â€Å"I’m not scared†. The villagers do not only fall victim to poverty, but also to the subsequent fears with which they are afflicted after committing the crime – kidnapping a boy of a wealthy family and holding him to ransom. Fears are correspondingly intertwined with the villagers; they play a tremendous role in the adults’ actions and motivations and become one of the primary themes of this novel. The most palpable fear of the adults in the novel is the fear of being apprehended and incarcerated as they have done such a sordid deed – kidnapping a boy. Therefore, extreme poverty and the yearning to get out of the current life from which the kidnap springs from can be deemed as the roots of the most significant fear in â€Å"I’m Not Scared†. In 1978 Acqua Traverse was so small that it was practically non-existent. † This statement of Michele, to some extent, depicts the penury which the villagers undergo. Apart from the formidable palace of the Scardaccione family, there are four drab little houses. The situation of Michele’s family is illustrative of the appalling poverty of the hamlet. To exemplify this, his father has to leave the house quite often to seek emplo yment in the North and that is where he meets Sergio – head of the â€Å"culprits†. The villagers have been so disenchanted with their quality of life of Acqua Traverse that they later allow their voraciousness for materials to override their sense of morality and societal values. All in all, the most significant fear – fear of being brought to justice – arises out of the extreme poverty that the villagers are confronting. The degree of fear amongst the villagers varies throughout the novel; sometimes fears appear vaguely, sometimes discernibly. Interestingly, the volatility of fear seems to parallel the intensity of the story; when fear reaches its peak, the novel enthrallingly absorbs the readers in its flow of events. Fears appeared from the first few pages of the novel: â€Å"At Acqua Traverse the grown-ups didn’t leave the houses till six in the evening. They shut themselves up indoors with the blinds drawn. † This suggests the villagers have already kidnapped Filippo and are striving to remain aloof from the outside world in the daytime and from justice, that is, they are aware that the deed they just did is morally erroneous. This awareness is metaphorically expressed through the rigors of the drought which the villagers are experiencing. The sun took away your breath, your strength, your desire to play, everything. And it was just unbearable at night. â€Å"Furthermore, the villagers’ fear that the poverty of Acqua Traverse has foreclosed the future of their children takes the form of maternal affection. â€Å"Mama curled up beside me and whispered in my ear, ‘when you grow up you must go away from here and never come back. ’ Even Mama – a passive pa rticipant in the kidnap – realizes the depraved things the adults are conspiring and does not want this trauma to afflict her children. There are some other less significant fears throughout the novel such as Papa’s fear towards the old man Sergio, Felice’s fear of the ferocity of Mama when she spares no effort to protect Michele, to name but a few. Fear reaches its climax when the helicopters comb the hamlet and its periphery for the boy. The villagers acknowledge they are on the verge of being apprehended by the police. â€Å"The grown-ups stayed at Salvatore’s house all evening†¦ They were shouting so loud that they woke us up. We had grown used to all sorts of things. Nocturnal meetings, noise, raised voices, broken plates, but now they were shouting too much. † Hence, it can be observed that notwithstanding the unceasing fluctuations of their degree, fears are omnipresent in every nook and cranny of Acqua Traverse. Dorothy Thompson once said: â€Å"The most destructive element in the human mind is fear. Fear creates aggressiveness. † Not only do fears render the villagers of Acqua Traverse more belligerent and inhumane, they also divest the villagers of their ability to think and act in a rational demeanor as an ordinary person normally does. Papa made the scissors sign with his fingers. ‘Two ears we’ll cut off. Two. ’ Papa who always treats his children with paternal affection and tenderness now turns out to be a vicious man ready to do harm to a child when the deal is not reached. The readers no longer see Papa saying â€Å"Don’t you kiss me, you’re all dirty. If you want to kiss your father, youà ¢â‚¬â„¢ve got to wash first†. A ruthless’ bogeyman’ that ‘comes out and takes the children away and sells them to gypsies’ appears in lieu (although at the end of the novel Papa somehow strives to redeem the physiological trauma he has caused to Michele). Perhaps Michele hopes that all these things are merely in a moment of aberration; unfortunately, after falling victim to poverty and its subsequent fears as mentioned above, the villagers have drastically turned into different people from whom they used to be. By way of contrast, Michele’s ways to overcome fears and to perceive surrounding things are seemingly rather constructive and far from naive. As the story intensifies, Michele’s fears are heightened and his innocence simultaneously irretrievably crumbles away; nonetheless, he succeeds in dealing with these fears more precociously and rationally, unlike the adults. To recapitulate, fear serves as one of the primary themes of the novel ‘I’m not Scared’; it originates in the indigence that the villagers of Acqua Traverse are going through and its degree varies throughout the story paralleling the intensity of the plot. Fears are also employed by Niccolo Ammanity to delineate the villagers’ state of mind and to bear stark contrast to the protagonist of the novel, Michele. The dubiously mundane life at Acqua Travers is none but a veneer; at night that veneer breaks and reveals a world of criminals, of inconceivably horrendous deeds, of ruptures of relationships and faiths and of inhumanity. And prevail in that world, fears †¦ Residual vestiges of affection and loyalty evaporates when ‘evil gleam’ => loyalty irrevocably and irreparably crumbles away => Michele opts for Filippo, for his sense of morality and justice in lieu of his father. Michele’s loyalty to his family manifests itself in a variety of ways: sister (take charge of his sister: hand in hand. We went home), submissiveness towards his mom, irately protect his mom when she is assaulted by Felice. His loyalty initially coerced him into unceasingly seeking palatable grounds for his parents not involving in the kidnap of Filippo. => his brother

Duty of Care Definitions Essay

1.1 Define the meaning â€Å"Duty of Care† A. The term duty of care is the responsibility of caring for another person who may well be vulnerable which includes those who are young or old, ill or unfit mentally to care for themselves and requires another person to assist. This includes looking after the person`s hygiene, cleanliness, safety, meals, transportation, medication or physical needs. Duty of care requires all staff to ensure that all the people we work with are safe and that we abide by relevant legislation and follow care plans, and inform the office of any changes to medication so everyone can keep up the constant care. Duty of care is the legal duty to take reasonable care so that others aren’t harmed and involves identifying risks and taking reasonable care in your response to these risks. Organisations should always ensure that they consult legal and legislative requirements when developing and maintaining their duty of care frameworks and consider working along guidelines. 1.2 How does duty of care affe ct your work role? A. Duty of care is the obligation you have to exercise a level of care towards an individual as in reasonable in all the circumstances to avoid injury to that individual or to his or hers property. 2.1 What dilemmas might arise between duty of care and the rights of your customers? A. Equipment – client’s may refuse to use hoist`s and stand aids at they have had bad experience in the past with using them, which could affect clients hygiene, physical needs and means that staff can`t do their job to a high standard, we would take note of what the clients have said and ring the manager to come up with another solution. All equipment must be in date and checked regularly before use. Training must be up to date and if it isn`t you should not put yourself or clients at risk of danger. All carers should not attempt to do things outside of training or job descriptions, and CRBS needs to be updated every year. Risk assessments and care plans are important and should be followed at all times and updated regularly, all concerns and changes to be reported to manager and documented. Protective clothing is to be worn at all times to reduce the risk of infections and cross contamination. 2.2 Where would you get additional support and advice about resolving the above dilemmas? A. I would get additional support and advice by attending training courses i.e. moving and handling, health and safety, also by speaking to my manager or supervisor, reading books and trying to find out as much information I need. 3.1 How would you respond to complaints? A. I would acknowledge the complaint, and then try to resolve the complaint directly with the complainant, and be aware of differing views of what happened and what was said, also reassure the complainant and have a complaint handling mechanism already in place. Every complaint is different, so the approach to resolving it will differ, depending on the nature of the complaint and the seriousness and the complexity. 3.2 What is the agreed procedure for dealing with complaints? A. The agreed procedure for dealing with complaints is that our company will always deal with any complaints in a professional and positive way and where appropriate will advise the people concerned of any actions and outcomes of any complaint out company will help you in any way they can to advise us of our reasons for dissatisfaction. If I am unwilling or unable to them my manager will have further meetings on how to achieve the best out of you, and if needed further training. CT296 1.1 Identify the standards which influence the way adult social care jobs are carried out? A. The standards that influence the way adult social care job roles are carried out are firstly Codes of practice which set out criteria which providers are assessed by. They also describe the standards of conduct and practice that workers must carry out their activities and ensure that what they do is competent and consistent with the values of their employer. Minimum standards are a set of standards which all care homes must meet and in order to operate and be registered as a care home if working in a care home. National occupational standards (NOS) define the skills, knowledge and understanding needed by individuals to carry out their job. 1.2 Why is it important to reflect on the way you work? How does this help you to develop your knowledge and skills? A. Reflecting on work activities is an important way to develop knowledge and skill because is allow you to identify anything that needs to be developed, you are also able to evaluate on the things that went wrong and what went ri ght, and able to learn lessons from that also to enable you to be a better carer. It also helps your fellow colleagues as they are able to learn from your mistakes and then the same thing will not happen to them also and vice versa. When you have evaluated you are then able to know the things which are needed in order to make your home care a much safer and nice place to stay. 1.3 How can you ensure your own attitudes and belief do not obstruct the quality of your work? A. There are many ways to ensure that personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work, firstly you have training which is updated every 3 months which will clearly outline what is accepted and what is not. You may also have supervision which you will be given by a manager or supervisor to assess your performance. Also the code of practice describes the acceptable behaviour. Policies are also a great way I which providers are outlined how to and not to allow attitudes and behaviours to obstruct the quality of work and what will happen if provider allows this to happen. 2.1 Think of a recent learning activity you have completed, how did it improve your knowledge, skills and understanding? A. I recently attended an up to date learning activity for moving and handling. It improved my knowledge, skills and understanding. There are so many different ways of moving people, by using different equipment, which I was put into a hoist myself just to see and feel how an elderly person would feel, and how easily they can become distressed. It gave me a very clear understanding and knowledge of how things can be done differently and I could also share my knowledge to other team members. 2.2 How does reflecting a situation assisted you to improve your knowledge skill and understanding? A. Reflecting on situations is a stage where I can identify my learning and development needs. To reflect and think about what I have done, and how I did it, and how I could possibly do it better or differently for the future. 2.3 How has gaining feedback from others developed your knowledge, skills and understanding? A. My manager has received feedback from other colleagues who have â€Å"shadowed† me on service users visits. She has given me feedback on my performance and highlighted future training events that I may find beneficial. I have received compliments from service users on the standard of care I deliver, and my polite attitude. I have received verbal feedback from my manager on my willingness to undertake extra shifts, and how I am an effective member of the team. 3.1 What is meant by â€Å"Personal Development Plan† ? A. A personal development plan is set out by an individual for them to follow in order to better themselves whether it be to gain more qualifications or progress in their work i.e. promotion etc. 3.2 Who might be involved in the personal development plan progress? A. Anyone you feel could help you with your person development i.e. your manager, colleagues, tutors, family and friends, mainly anyone you feel you can rely on for support and guidance. 3.3 Where can you get support for your learning and development? A. There are many people and places where you can get support for learning and development, i.e. attending courses, speaking to colleagues, your manager or supervisor, reading books and using the internet, and also friends and family members. 3.4 What are the benefits of using a personal development plan to identify on going improvements in own knowledge and understanding? A. The benefits of using a personal development plan is to gain a clearer focus to my learning. Helping to keep myself motivated, also gives me a better understanding of how I learn and how to improve my performance, also more enjoyment and less stress from learning as I become consciously skilled, make more aware of how to apply your learning of new problems, also reflective thinking skills that can strengthen my performance. 1.1 What is meant by Diversity A. Is an understanding that every person is unique and treating people as individuals? Equality A. Means treating everyone equally regardless of their colour, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, etc. It is different to treating people the same different people have different needs, so individuality should be taken into account. Inclusion A. Full of active participation, feeling respected, feeling a sense of belonging, being valued for who you are. Discrimination A. Unfair or unequal treatment of an individual or group on the grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion, belief’s or sexual orientation, being treated less favourable that someone else in the same situation, being treated unfairly. 1.2 How can direct and indirect discrimination occur in the workplace? A. Direct discrimination can occur in the workplace because they may be being treated less favourable or treated differently because of their gender, age, race disability, sexuality or religion. Indirect discrimination can or may take place when a rule or policy that applies equally to everybody is more restrictive for people from a certain group, i.e. if a company give information about its policies and procedures only in English. 1.3 How can practices that support equality, diversity and inclusion reduce the risk of discrimination? A. By supporting a person`s equality you are treating them as equal and including them in all activities, you will be reducing the likelihood of discrimination. 2.1 List key legislation and codes of practice relating to diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination in adult social care settings? A. Equality Act, Human rights Act, GSCC = The General Social Care Council. These are some to the rules that apply to all care workers. 2.2 How can you interact with someone in an inclusive way? A. You can interact with someone in an inclusive way, by respect for their beliefs, and preferences of the individual receiving the care. Promoting independence involvement of the individual, receiving care produce a written report of the activity which, is based on the plan this should be completed prior to the activity taking place. Is verified by the supervisor/manager as an authentic record of what actually took place, and demonstrates ability to manage the materials and resources to carry out the fulfilment of the aims and objectives as specified in a plan. 2.3 How might discrimination be challenged in a adult social care settings? A. This depends if the carer or service user who discriminates. If the carer then as an employee I’d raise the issue with my supervisor without waiting for a supervision meeting. They would be duty bound to take the issue on, however if you’re on good terms with the employee you could speak on friendly terms asking if they knew they were discriminating. Give them a chance to see the problem. 3.1 Identify source of information, advice and support about diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination? A. There are a variety of different methods of getting information on diversity, equality, inclusion, you can access web sites that list all of the current legations in place to protect the right of individuals, you can also obtain leaflets to give to service user, to inform them of their rights, also your line manager, your organisations, policies and procedures, your colleagues, books, articles, and care quality commission, skills for care. 3.2 How and when would you access support on the above? A. I would access support on the above when a service user feels that they need as much information as they require it at that time, and get help with all difficulties the may come across.

Dostoyevsky Notes from the Underground and Nietsche Essay

Nietzsche raised in his philosophy a number of basic concepts that contribute to deeper understanding of the spiritual essence of the person, and the changes taking place in society and in history. One of these concepts is resentment. For the first time this concept was introduced in the paper â€Å"The Genealogy of Morals. â€Å"Study of resentment as a specific manifestation of the ethical-philosophical thought can clarify the causes of conflicts of interest on a personal and social level. Different ways of assessing the validity leads to misunderstanding and conflict of interests between social groups. Resentment (Fr. â€Å"ressentiment†) – a concept that has special meaning for the genealogical method of Nietzsche. In Nietzsche’s phylosophy ressentiment is presented as a driving force in the formation and structuring of moral values. He describes it as a vague atmosphere of hostility, followed by the appearance of hatred and anger, that is ressentiment – a psychological self-poisoning, which manifests itself in rancour and revenge, hatred, rage, envy. However, taken separately, all these factors have not yet formed itself ressentiment, for its existance is required the feeling of powerlessness Accoring to Nietzsche everyone has a type of morality that is most consistent with their nature. From this position, Nietzsche displays the history of morality – first of all Masters morality(powerful people), and then the winning morality,the morality of slaves (won not by force, but by the number). If any morality begins: say â€Å"yes† to life, the morality of slaves says â€Å"No† to everything external. This appeal outside, instead of turning to oneself, is precisely, according to Nietzsche, the expression of ressentiment: for its occurrence slave morality always needs confront and external world, that is, to operate it needs external stimulus, â€Å"its actions are fundamentally reactions† Nietzsche notes that the man of aristocratic morality is full of trust and openness with himself, his happiness is in operation. The man, characterized by ressentiment, is incapable of openness, innocence, honesty with himself. The†man of ressentiment† invents for himself an â€Å"evil enemy† and, on this basis, considers himself â€Å"good. The initial focus of hatred is gradually blurred by the uncertainty of the process of objectification. Ressentiment is more shown in the vengeance that is less focused on any particular object. Thus, ressentiment forms the pure idea of vengeance, it best â€Å"grows† where there is dissatisfaction with the persons position in the hierarchy of values. From here there are two forms of ressentiment: revenge directed at the other, that it is the others fault i that ‘I am not him’,and self-directed, self-poisoning revenge. The first form refers to – the slave revolt in morality Slave morality is presented in a person in kind of a second person, who is constantly unhappy with the first, gives him the consciousness of guilt, and dooms him to constant doubts, indecision, sufferings. Morality cuts the man into two parts so that he identifies himself with one part, loves her more than the other. The slave is doomed to constant digging in himself, to calm, appease, to deceive the beast and then trick himself into attaining peace, â€Å"peace of soul†. All of its basic properties and, most importantly, its total, expressed in impotent rage of ressentiment are express in the spirit and served in the living conditions of the slaves. It is a product of the slave revolt in the sole form on which all slaves are capable of. Only the moralising slave will push forward the qualities that can easy his painful existence – compassion, patience, meekness, etc. Only he will come up with the idea of putting into the category of evil everything powerful, dangerous, threatening, strong and rich. Only a slave will equate the terms â€Å"good† and â€Å"bad,† â€Å"stupid†. Only he will praise the freedom and thirst for pleasure, happiness, combined with a sense of freedom. Only a slave would guess to combine morality with the utility. And only he, of course, can and needs to change everything in such a way that when he is thrown away from the society,and is in the lowest point of his existence, he still finds meanness to perceived that as a source of dignity and hope. In Dostoevsky’s †Notes from underground† we can see the main character as the role of the slave. He feels resentment towards the world, towards himself. He dedicates years of his life planning the perfect revenge. His feeling of resentment is so strong that it is leading,controlling his life,his decisions and actions. Technically he has no actions,only reactions to exterior actions. In the scene with the officer, we see how after the officer doesn’t notice him, he does everything possible to be noticed, and not only noticed but also to be on the same level as the officer. The underground man feels inferior, he feels that nobody acknowledges his intelligence,he feels like nobody,like a slave. He starts feeling resentment after he had not been noticed by the officer,and since that moment revenge becomes his main goal. Rather than challenging the officer,the underground man becomes obsessed with the idea of revenge. But he never gets to have revenge, he only imagines it. One day, he finally succeeds in walking straight into the officer, but the officer does not even seem to notice. The underground man still counts it as revenge, but a revenge only in his imagination,in his own world. Everything that happened to him were in his own imagination, he had an imaginary enemy,and an imaginary revenge,nothing in his life was real and everything was led my resentment. For example the officer was never his enemy,he didn’t even know that the underground man existed,because the underground man had such a strong power of resentment,he thought that everybody around him,especially his oppressors were his enemies.

Take-Home Final Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Take-Home Final - Assignment Example The species had a pelvis that demonstrated its join tree-climbing and bipedal movement adaptations. Its skeleton reproduces a human-African primate common ancestor, which does not appear like a chimpanzee (Lieberman 34). The scientists discovered the fossils next to faunal remains that indicated this species inhabited wooded surroundings. Scientists have established that Australopithecus afarensis grew fast to reach maturity earlier as compared to modern humans. This species displays characteristics that are similar to humans and apes. Australopithecus afarensis had a flat nose, projecting lower jaws, as well as a small brain, which is approximately a third of a modern human’s brain (Lieberman 48). The species had adaptations that enabled it to live on trees along with the ground. First, Australopithecus afarensis and modern Homo sapiens have a body that stands on two legs. Second, both these species had the ability to walk upright. Third, Australopithecus afarensis along with modern humans possess straight fingers (Lieberman 48). Modern humans can implement alterations in their brain sizes and organization, which was an adaptation from Australopithecus afarensis to adjust behavior patterns and ways of life. This approach is necessary because the exceptional brain improvement makes a significant contribution to mental abilities related to individual knowledge (Lieberman 48). According to scientific discoveries concerning Homo erectus, the species had body proportions that were similar to modern humans. Homo erectus possessed lengthened legs with shorter arms, which are significant adaptations that enabled them to live on land. Their adaptations explain their capability to walk and run for longer distances that were efficient in hunting and gathering (Lieberman 68). This species has been linked to originality of stone tool technologies like hand axes. Modern humans inherited body

Unilever's and Nestle's International Marketing Strategies Article

Unilever's and Nestle's International Marketing Strategies - Article Example These two companies employ different marketing strategies and marketing mix for their products in the international market to elicit desired feedback from their target markets. Unilever has a well-designed logo and a slogan ‘feel good, look good and get more out of life’. Unilever’s mission according to the slogan is to add vim to life. In Bangladesh, Unilever has attained a competitive advantage over the other companies in the market (Ma’arif, 2007). According to Webster (Webster, 1995), Price is a vital component in the marketing strategy of any marketer as it interacts with all the other elements of the marketing mix to establish the effectiveness of each one of them. Nestle does not primarily concentrate on the pricing policies of its competitors but has its own techniques of pricing. They consider the demand of the product and the prevailing economic conditions to determine the purchasing power of the consumers thus all the prices are within the customer’s purchasing power. Nestle has also ensured that all the products that are consumed on daily basis have a minimum price to attract more customers and also offers discounts to its regular customers. Unilever, on the other hand, considers the pricing policies of its competitors and employs a skimming pricing strategy where they introduce their products at a high price and gradually lowers them over time (Ma’arif, 2007). Selection of a right place where the consumer wants to be is crucial for the success of any organization. Capturing the consumer and making it easy for him/her to purchase the product is the main objective of an effective distribution or place strategy (Webster, 1995). Unilever and Nestle ensure that all its products are available at every corner of the world. Nestle has catered for the market of Gujarat effectively by providing its products in every corner.

Report on the analysis of the workplace behavior of Western Sydney Essay

Report on the analysis of the workplace behavior of Western Sydney - Essay Example Therefore the promotion of Carlene is appropriate. This therefore means that Carlene has a duty of meeting the requirements of Western Sydney, which is something she has proven to be capable of right from her position at the middle rank. Although Western Sydney is the main revenue generator for the group, it is worthwhile for them to put Carlene there as the CEO since she has the qualities necessary to steer the company to meet the requirements they have. Her one-month work at Western Sydney was a good point to get her to familiarize herself with the work environment and make changes as and when necessary. Carlene's identification of the stagnation and the traditionalist approach used by the Western Sydney was her justification for the alteration of the subsidiary's strategy from a conservative one to a more profitable business model that will generate profits. This is therefore the impetus for the need to change certain structures in different departments of Western Sydney, includin g the Operations Department where it can be logically inferred that the Operations Manager is maintaining a very traditionalist and authoritative structure which supports the stagnation identified by Carlene. There is therefore the need for the MD to give Carlene all the necessary support to attain this to ensure that Western Sydney, the cash cow of the group remains productive into the future. In the confrontation between the Operations Manager and the junior staff member, Carlene was using the mild form of disciplinary action in organizations, counseling to try to assert the fact that the Operations Manager went too far by physically assaulting the junior staff member. Assertive behavior is where an individual tries to justify,... The Operations Manager is undoubtedly a very experienced individual in what he does. He seem to have the competencies necessary to move the company to its strategic destination. All other individuals working at the company this therefore makes him a rare individual and a vital part of any progressive activity that they would be involved in. Such an individual needs to be included in the strategy of the organization even if he has some excesses as this operations manager seem to have. The Operations Manager seem to be in independent minded individual who always wants to do things according to a given plan or target. This is evident in the fact that the previous CEO stated that he is able to work within budget and meet targets. This presents the OM as a traditionalist who always works according to laid down principles and procedures. He appears to be a disciplined person and a disciplinarian who treasures authoritative systems and structures.

Individual news article analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual news article analysis - Essay Example As a direct result of these dynamic shifts, the manner in which marketing has taken place and the manner through which firms seek to reach their clients has also changed precipitously from what it was merely a few years ago (Jones et al. 691). Accordingly, the following analysis will seek to detail the ways in which technological change has not only shifted the means of marketing and integration, but has fundamentally changed the ways that businesses promote themselves and engage with the consumers in the market (Holmes et al. 124). The article points to the fact that many firms have been unduely tempted to step away from traditional approaches and have begun to chase the allure of cheap and omnipresent forms of internet advertising; to include those linked to social media marketing. Although this can most certainly be an effective approach in engaging certain key demographics, the author warns that it must not supplant the approach that it utilized within the many other forms of mar keting that have for so long helped to define the means by which businesses integrate with the consumers. ... mail, the communication platform that the mobile device now offers allows for a much greater degree of efficiency even if the individual in question is not within range of a Wi-Fi signal and/or within range of traditional desktop PC and keyboard (Hortinha et al. 28). Further, perhaps the greatest shift that can be noted outside of the sheer ease of communication that these devices have been able to provide is the fact that mobile marketing has been able to pervade the environment and can be exhibited to the individual upon nearly each and every website that is viewed in a mobile platform or even as advertisements that are provided within the applications that each of us have become so reliant upon (Ballve 1). With respect to the way in which the individual or the firm should integrate with the information that has thus far been presented, it must be understood that the zeitgeist of the era demands a closer attention is paid to mobile computing and the manner in which it can be utiliz ed to garner further levels of profitability for the industry/business in question. From the personal standpoint, little if anything has changed with regards to communication over the mobile platform in the past 5-10 years (Vasilchenko & Moorish 89). Once mobile devices became internet enabled and were functionally able to send emails/MMS messages as well as search the web, few innovations have come along to shift the dynamic of personal communication. However, with that being said, it must be understood that the greatest shift that has been felt with regards to mobile computing has been with respect to the way in which businesses seek to leverage these platforms as a means of reaching out to the consumer. One need look no further than a major car manufacturer’s television advertisement

Test for Effectiveness of Appetite-Reducing Drug Essay

Test for Effectiveness of Appetite-Reducing Drug - Essay Example Describe the four different threats to internal validity [intact groups, extraneous variables, subject loss, and expectancies]. How do these threats apply to the following study? There are four threats to internal validity in experiments. The assignment of intact groups, rather than individuals, compromises the randomness of the sample and therefore skews the results. The presence of extraneous variables confounds the findings and renders them uninterpretable. Subject loss due to any one particular condition more than others renders some subjects unable to continue. Finally expectations held by either the subjects or experimenters, or both, tend to affect their conduct during the experiment which may affect the results. Internal validity is compromised in this experiment. The biggest threat to the experiment’s internal validity is the presence of expectations of the experimenter which may create a bias in the results obtained. In the given situation, the experimenter is not bl ind as to who among the students are given the placebo, the tested drug, and the new experimental drug. While it is mentioned that the experimenter is determined to remain unbiased, this is not enough as psychological bias may be unintended but nevertheless present in the results. External validity does not seem to be an issue here, because the sample chosen was randomly selected and therefore may be assumed to represent the relevant population of KU students. Also, since all groups are given the same examination that covers the contents of the full ten week course, and no other variable had been varied except the test variable (the experimental drug), then chance variables... The objective of the experiment to be designed should determine whether or not the experimental drug is effective in reducing the appetite of the individual ingesting it. Â   The procedure would involve administering the drug to the test group and monitoring the progress in the food consumption (proxied by the relative change in weight of the subjects) Â  of the test group against a control group. Â  In order for the control group to be blind to which group they belonged, they will be given placebos which are known to have no effects on the appetite. The experimental method to be used would be the independent group design, the alternative to the repeated measures design group. Â  Repeated measures design is not applicable to this assignment because for repeated measures, the same subjects repeatedly undergo all the procedures at intervals, and reactions to the test condition are observed when the condition is applied and when it is withdrawn. Â  This will not do because the succ essful administration of the drug would presumably include a weight loss, and repeated treatment (to reduce appetite) may reasonably cause a drop in weight. The loss in weight would be a permanent change to the subject, whether as a result of the treatment or not, and withdrawal of the treatment does not necessarily cause a reversal to pre-treatment conditions. It therefore defies the reason for the alternate application and removal of treatment. Â  Furthermore, it is ethically questionable to withdraw a treatment.

Hinduism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hinduism - Essay Example Hindu system characterizes an evolution of a higher form through a number of convictions derived from other religions or philosophies that reflect similar school of thoughts. Thus, its progress from within the original culture to the mainstream almost any type of believer may access though without obligations of adherence comes from being sensible to a ‘faith’ that tends to converge to mutual discernment of a single god yet not abolishing the probability that deities established by other profound concepts with historical basis may exist as well. Why is Hinduism so useful and attractive in the quest for higher consciousness? Hinduism becomes all the more attractive and beneficial in achieving higher degree of consciousness due primarily to the religious practices taught to be carried out with deep solemnity and reverence besides customary treatment. To the awareness of majority including non-believers, the Hindu approach of seeking spiritual enlightenment such as the esse nce found in ‘karma’ and ‘samsara’ or the continuum manifested in the cycle of action, reaction, birth, death, and rebirth meditatively educates and refreshes an individual.

Those Silly Magazine Advice Essay Example for Free

Those Silly Magazine Advice Essay A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large gathering. All of their friends and family came to witness the lovely ceremony and partake of the festivities and celebration. A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a proposal that they would read a magazine for couples, for their marriage to be strengthened. The next morning, they decided they would share each other’s listed annoyances. As the wife started reading her list, her husband was crying. When it was the man’s turn, the wife was touched because he don’t have anything in his list. In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light, and promise. Reference: Kong, Francis J. (2003). The Early Bird Catches the Worm but the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese: Those Silly Magazine Advice. Philippines: Success Options Inc. In a major university a professor of economics gave a tst to his class. The test had several sections of questions, each of which contained three categories. He instructed the students to choose one question from each section. The first category in each section was worth 50 points. The second category was not quite as hard as worth 4 points. The third category, the easiest, was worth only 30 points. When the students had taken the test and turned in the papers, the students who had chosen the hardest questions, or the 50-point questions, were given A’s. The students who had chosen the 40-point questions were given B’s, and those who chose the 30-point questions, or the easiest questions, were given C’s. Whether or not their answers were correct was not considered. The students were confused and asked the professor how he had graded the exam. The professor leaned back and with a smile explained, â€Å"I wasn’t testing your knowledge. I was testing your aim.† Reference: Kong, Francis J. (2003). The Early Bird Catches the Worm but the Second Mouse Gets the Cheese: Testing Your Aim. Philippines: Success Options Inc.

Consumerism and Fashion in Singapore

Consumerism and Fashion in Singapore Everlasting consumerism has shaped the way 21st century landscape looks like. It creates unlimited demand of products and stores in any possible space. Retail design is responsible to convert this possible space into a consumerism space. It is where people encounter strong force to see and buy products. A perfect example to show evidence exists in fashion world. There is strong indication of tense competition happens between clothing manufacture to win the market. In relation to that, the store has become one key aspect or rather a strong statement to create brand awareness among public. The question arise is how, in a relatively over-saturated market, a store can be possibly designed to convey strong message to draw the crowd of consumerism into the space. 1.1. Consumerism Today The idea of consuming has changed over the past decades. Back to the early human civilization period, most of the activities were needs-driven actions. Earlier, as hunter gatherer, human hunted animals to be able to eat. Followed by agricultural period, farming and plant cultivation were done to produce their food. Consuming was a mere activity that must be done in order to survive. In Industrial and technological age, the way people consume things has changed. As more diverse product being produced and diverse ways of distribution being invented, there are pleasure factors of consuming in form of choices. People find excitement in choosing what they want to consume. This leads to modern consumerism where the concept of consuming goes beyond the needs of survival. 1.2. Shopping as Modern Consumerism Shopping is the 21st centurys representation of human consumerism. People find delights surrounded by range of different shops and brands. To be able to choose and compares is the highlight of modern life consumerism. In forms of choosing, buying, and using, shopping has catered these needs. Shopping can be seen as in a positive way of fulfilling peoples needs and wants. But apparently, it has developed so fast, in terms of activity, space, and products. And over the past decades, it becomes major aspect in human life. Museums, libraries, airports, hospitals, and schools are becoming increasingly indistinguishable from shopping. Their adoption of retail for survival has unleashed an enormous wave of commercial entrapment that has transformed museumgoers, researchers, travelers, patients, and students into customers (Koolhaas cited in Luna, 2005, p.26) Shopping is arguably the most universal activity nowadays. The way designer design space has to follow this idea as well. Space has to be designed in such a way to accommodate this, to enable people to shop anywhere, anytime. 1.3. The Existence of Fashion Retail Fashion retail perhaps is the best example to portray the modern consumerism. It shows how people eagerly choose what they wear under the spotlight of diverse fashion brands. If the case is taken to a higher level, it demonstrates obviously how people decisions are led by choice instead of needs. High class fashion brands such as LMVH, Gucci, and Prada exist to serve beyond peoples demand of clothing. They meet peoples desire for choices for range of luxury products. 1.4. Fashion of Singapore Singapore cityscape pictures clearly the existence of international fashion brands. They, indeed, has become one strong attraction point of Singapore for both local costumers and tourists. Singapore is one of the main competition arenas for these giant fashion brands in Asia. To be able to meet customers demand, every brand has to come up with high-end design for its retail. Design and technologies are optimized in its use to boost the shopping experience that lead to brand awareness. All these things have to be done so that people will choose certain brand and not others. Orchard Road is a good example depicting the competition among these brands. Interior design, facade treatment, display technologies are being optimized to attract pedestrians along the road. 2. Retail Rebirth People find pleasures in choosing what they want. Retail has two different approaches in response to the demand. Firstly, they must be able to provide a range of products for customers to choose. Secondly, the retail itself subject to competition. That means it is also considered one of so many choices in the market. In this matter, the retail has to prove to the market that it is worth chosen. The brand, the products, and the store has to work together to stand out and creates strong awareness in the marketplace. Retail has to rebirth, leaving old conservative way of promoting brands, and creating fresh interaction between products and customers. 2.1. Brand Manifestation With a strong competition in the fashion market, a strong distinctive image of a brand is required to create public awareness. The case is not only competition among products but also continues to the environment where the products being promoted. At this stage, a store has become key tool for the brand to create its images. A flagship store is designed to represents the identity of the brand indeed. For new customers, the store become the first things that attracts them before they go further down to the products being offered or even before they see the window displays. 2.1.1. Design for the Brands Architecture and interior design are responsible to create environment to deliver products to customers. Fashion retail, regardless of style, trends, or brand identity, should be able to create customer awareness and stimulate them to come and choose it instead of other shops. This is the fundamental function of retail design before it goes down into a deeper and more specific case-based function. On higher level, the architect or interior designer must understand the nature of fabric and how individual fashion designer, that is being represented, has their personal technique to treat it. This unique quality is the one that gives character to a brand. The character, then, must be translated into the space in order to create strong statement of the brand. 2.1.2. Emphasizing Character In order to be distinctive in an over-crowded market, a strong character of the brand is required. This character is projected from the way the brand carry itself to the market. It consists of range of products and service being offered, and the environment of where the commercial activities take place. Retail design has to be able to create the atmosphere that bridge customers and products. The store acts as a package and shelter, literally and metaphorically, to the brand. The character will only be emphasized if there is unity between the brand, the product, and the store. 2.1.3. Characterizing Structure A store as a physical shelter might be more than enough to envelope the commercial activity happening under it. But in fashion world, it goes further than functionality. More than just a place to display the product and providing circulation for people to walk and browse the product, the retail has to relate itself to the product and the company philosophy. In other words, the store has to establish relation, in form and purpose, with the clothes. The physical structure, that provide commercial environment, has to blend in with the clothes and create overall unity. Only by this way, the customer will see the bigger picture of the brand, and not loose pieces of the brands. One ideal example of harmony between brand and store is shown in Calvin Klein store located in Avenue Montaigne, Paris. Its store, designed by John Pawson in 2002, made a good illustration of how the character of the clothes -especially the early Calvin Kleins work- has been translated into the retail space. (Klein) has said It s important not to confuse simplicity with uninteresting, and executes his simplified, refined, sportswear-based shapes in luxurious natural fibers, (Stegemeyer, 2004, p.130) It is the idea of simplicity that is consistently conveyed through the brand, products, and store. Straight lines and clear space sequences brings out the clarity of the clothes, creating a clean and subtle ambiance of the store. The desired simplicity atmosphere is reinforced through neutral colour that is achieved by materials and lighting installation. 2.2. Design Distinction A character manifestation to a space is inevitability essentials to create strong brand awareness. However, regardless of the brand that is being represented, fashion store can be distinctive by itself. It is a second step after establishing strong representation of the brand. This is about different approach from the experience side, exploring the interaction between products and customers in a conducive controlled environment. In other word, it redefines the way people shop inside a store, creating a fresh shopping experience. 2.2.1. New Fashion Stores Fundamental With Singapore landscape that has been over-crowded with shopping malls and retail stores, the creation of retail store should be more carefully considered. When the market is driven by consumerism, the rate of retail formation will continue to rise up. However, any retail creation should consider avoiding similar addition to the existing scene that might create saturation to market. It is a strategy to evade the similarity and, at the same time, open up a chance to stand out in the marketplace. To address the issues, the store must cater certain factors in its design approach in spite of the brand it conveys. 2.2.2. Flexible Frequent Space Retails should be able to update themselves frequently. It has to be able to adapt to new products, seasonality, and customer trends. There is a high level of experimentation in retail design. It relates to fashion, and fashion changes constantly, is surprising and wants to create experiences (de Wild, 2009, p.14) In advance level, apart from the temporary things, it has to change in order to create different interaction between customers and product in each encounter. In other word it needs to shift, not just in terms of layout, but in a bigger store scheme. By applying this concept, it is not only the window displays that change every time new products are launched, but the whole store represent the display that able to change entirely. The idea can be achieved by applying modular system for the furniture, placing digital multimedia interface, using less heavy fixed display furniture, and installing replaceable lighting systems. 2.2.3. Centre of Social Activities The new concept of retail store is not merely about catering commercial activities -selling, advertising, and buying. It is to incorporate retail space and communal space to be a social meeting point. With the global trend of privatization, I think we are most interested in the idea of shopping as a new kind of public space. How can we enrich these experiences? Can we bring new content, information, ideas and visual experiences to shopping in a thoughtful and dynamic way? (Seller, 2009, p. 23) The idea is to facilitate people do many other inspiring activities in their shopping time. This idea can be done by open-space concept store, creation of different communal spaces inside the store, and even distribution between product display and decorative items -plants, resting furniture, etc. The ideal integration of social space and commercial space is when people are able to rest and relief without any pressure to buy while they are unconsciously take pleasure in the products and tempted to buy. 2.2.4. Cultural Relevance Local relevancy is important to make a store appears hospitable. Establishing relation with the local culture is crucial to relate the global brand to smaller local market. Selling products is not about bombarding potential customers with the global products. Instead, it has to be relevant to the context and understand local customers. This can be manifested through adaptive re-use of local landmark as retail space, renovation of historical aged building, and design fusion between brand character and local culture. The new concept store is about being able to combine the attractiveness of the brand with local taste to create strong invitation and also sense of belonging to customers. The design approach mentioned above can be applied into a store regardless of brands and products. The purpose is to create new way of shopping. Back to the statement earlier where people find satisfaction to be able to choose, it is how the choosing activity can be more valuable and rich in experience. When this approach merged with the brand character, it becomes a holistic package that convey strongly to the marketplace. The mission is accomplished when people find delight in choosing and be able to trustfully choose the brand. 3. Conclusion The consumerism-driven market will make people enthusiastically choose the products they want. With an over-saturated market in Singapore, an unconventional design is required to for a fashion retail to be distinctive and thus, win the market. Firstly, the store has to manifest the brand that it represents. The store design must convey the brand and products philosophy to create holistic picture and strong brand awareness. Secondly, in terms experience, it must create refreshing and enriching way of shopping. In attempt to achieve the experience, store needs to be designed with consideration of three approaches (flexible frequent space, center of social activities, and cultural relevance). The new retail store requires constant changing in order to provide up to date shopping experience for customers. A store has to be a social assembly more than a commercial place, providing a tranquil customer-oriented atmosphere. Additionally, it is necessary for a store to have a connection with local context and create a sense of belonging in customers mind. Bibliography Antonini, Alessandra. 2008. Design Boutiques. Barcelona: Links Design Council, 2009. Retail Design. [Online] (Updated 26 Oct 2008) Available at: http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/About-Design/Design-Disciplines/Retail-Design/ [Accessed 17 January 2010] de Wild, Femke. 2009. Retail Future. FRAME. Issue 69, Jul/Aug, p.14. EnterpriseOne, 2009. Recent Retail Trends Future Developments. [Online] (Updated 01 Jan 2010) Available at: http://www.business.gov.sg/EN/Industries/Retail/StatisticsNTrends/FactsFiguresNTrends/retail_overview_trends.htm [Accessed 12 January 2010] Harvard Design School. 2001. The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping. Cambridge: Taschen Pawson, John. Calvin Klein Store Paris [Photographs][Online] Available at: http://www.johnpawson.com/architecture/stores/calvinklein/paris [Accessed 5 April 2010] Luna, Ian. 2005. Retail. Architecture + Shopping. New York: Rizzoli Manuelli, Sara. 2006. Design for Shopping. London: Laurence King Mostaedi, Arian. 2004. Cool Shops. Singapore: Page One Pawley, Martin. 2000. Fashion + Architecture. London: Wiley-Academy Riewoldt, Otto. 2000. Retail Design. London: Page One 2002. Brandscaping. Berlin: Birkhauser Sellers, Susan. 2009. 24, Inc on interview with Idn. Idn vol 15 number 6, pp.22-23. Singapore Department of Statistic. 2009. Yearbook of Statistics Singapore. Statistics Singapore [Internet] (Updated 13 Aug 2009) Available at: www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/yos09/yos2009.pdf [Accessed 10 January 2010]. Stegemeyer, Anne. 2004. Who s Who in Fashion. New York: Fairchild Publication.

UK Social Enterprises for Sustainability

UK Social Enterprises for Sustainability Abstract Social enterprise is a dynamic and sustainable business model of choice which is able to bring social, economic and environmental benefits to the UK. It operates across all sectors of the economy, serving individuals in the private, public and third sectors. Through out this research will identify the increase levels of understanding of the role and value of Social Enterprise, given that a lack of understanding of the role and value of social enterprises was cited as a major barrier to the acceleration of the use of the business model. I will further state that social enterprises compete in the marketplace like any other business, but they use their business skills to achieve social aims. The purpose of this research will identify the key barriers faced by Social Enterprise and explore how these barriers have/could potentially be overcome to achieve sustainability. There is also a need to recognise that some social enterprise activity will need an element of finance through public fu nds, particularly because they are operating in areas of market failure or a non-commercial market such as providing services to vulnerable people, including supported employment in many cases. This paper is intended to create an environment which will lead to opportunities for social enterprise to grow successfully in the future. Chapter 1: Introduction A brief overview of social enterprise is introduced in the first chapter. Then, the purpose of the study will be next discussed which will end with a specific research question. In the end of this chapter the contribution of this research and limitation of the study are also presented. 1.1 A Brief Overview of Social Enterprise Social enterprises are organisations that supply goods and services as part of the social economy sector; this group constitutes a collection of organisations that exist between the traditionally private and public sectors and has a stronger relationship with the Community and Non-profit sector. This sector has a key role to play in achieving many of its goals, including overcoming social injustice and exclusion Todays completive business world defining social enterprise is a challenging task, according to OECD (1999, p.10) â€Å"there is no universal, commonly accepted definition of Social Enterprise.† However, the OECD (1999, p.10) has defined social enterprise as: â€Å"any private activity conducted in the public interest, organised with an entrepreneurial strategy but whose main purpose is not the maximisation of profit but the accomplishment of certain economic and social goals, and which has a capacity of bringing innovative solutions to the problems of social exclusion and unemployment†. Social enterprises are becoming a recognised part of the local and national economy in the UK, and the organisations operating in this sector are aware that becoming sustainable businesses is the path to independence both financially and in mission. However, social enterprises, in common with many small businesses, find growth difficult, and this could impact negatively on their sustainability. These should be supported and encouraged to grow both as a sector and as individual organizations so as to become more sustainable organizations. 1.2 Purpose of the Study My paper has been developed to explore how the term social enterprise has acquired meaning in England and to illustrate how practitioners, policymakers and academics influence each other in the development of new sustainable ideas, given that a lack of understanding of the role and significance of social enterprises was cited as a major barrier to the acceleration of the use of this business model. These challenges come in many forms. Some are the same as those affecting any other business including access to business support and finance, a lack of affordable premises and finding skilled staff. However, social enterprises also face one huge barrier that seriously affects their ability to assume a position within the market. That barrier is a lack of understanding of how social enterprises work and of their potential value. This lack of understanding exists across the public, private and voluntary and community sectors. The confusion and conflict about what the model could or should be for results all too often in misrepresentation and exaggeration of its potential, fragmentation in the provision of support and real and perceived barriers to accessing contracts and mainstream funding opportunities. So my dissertation will identify the key barriers faced by Social Enterprise and explore how these barriers have/could potentially be overcome in order to achieve sustainability. It examines critical incidents that have shaped the meaning of social enterprise in England and reflects on these incidents to draw conclusions about the future sustainable development of social enterprise practice. Through out this paper I will also examine the potential conditions for the growth of social enterprise through a set of outline scenarios. The aim is to inform both policy-making and the wider debate about social enterprise: what its potential might be and how that potential can be realised in different settings. So my research question is: To explore how the social enterprise is potential for sustainability in the UK. 1.3 Limitations of the Study: During conducting the research I came across certain limitations and among them the foremost one is time constrain. The interviewed person could not provide all necessary information due to lack of time. The research timeline also reveals that time constrain was actually a barrier as there was plenty to find about this research topic. A huge portion of the report is based on primary data collected through interviews which is very lengthy process. The key point here is that social enterprise cannot be identified solely by legal form or pre-set categories. Social enterprises can often see themselves as belonging to more than one category, leading to problems of double counting. For example, a social enterprise may be a charity registered with the Charities Commission or an ‘exempt charity which is also an Industrial and Provident Society. There is also much variation in the categories which have been used in studies to date, making aggregation and comparison very difficult. 1.4 Structure of the Report: This research is divided into five chapters: the first chapter is an introduction with purpose and limitation of the study. In the second chapter, literature based review of definitions of social enterprise, roots of social enterprise, discussion relevant to the sustainability of social enterprise, the nature of their contribution and their sponsors and sources of funding. The third summarises the background information of social enterprise in the UK and the fourth and fifth chapter contain the methodology and the summary of the main findings of the study with implications for policy. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter will give an overview of literature and models that are related to the research problem presented in the previous chapter. This chapter will introduce the roots and concepts of social enterprise in order to give a clear idea about the research area. 2.1 Roots of social enterprise Scott specified (Market, Schmarket : Building the Post-Capitalist Society,2006, p50) â€Å"The roots of social enterprises and community enterprise overall can be found in the mutual, self help and co-operative sector which goes back, in the UK, at least to the Fenwick Weavers in Ayrshire 1769 and Dr William King of Brighton in the 1820s (Trimingham, 2007), with earlier antecedents.† Within the development of this movement there has always been an important strand which has focused on the local community-based nature of these organisations and also on the economic development of poorer communities including the need to maintain paid work. For example between the two world wars, local community activists such as Harry Cowley campaigned for housing and work for returning service people and support for small local businesses. He organised marches to demand public works ‘job creation programmes from the local council for unemployed people with some success. 2.3 General Discussion on Social Enterprise Social Enterprises combine the need to be successful businesses with social aims. This is a competitive business, owned and trading for a social purpose. They seek to succeed as businesses by establishing a market share and making a profit and emphasise the long-term benefits for employees, consumers and the community. Bob Doherty and John Thompson mentioned in the journal ‘The diverse world of social enterprise stories (p.362) that social enterprises are organizations which are seeking business solutions to social crisis. These are needed to be differentiated from other socially-oriented organizations. These also need to take initiatives that can promote to communities but which are not wanting or seeking to be â€Å"businesses†. In this esteem these latter organizations remain dependent on endowments and donations rather than build up true paying customers. According to DTI report A Progress Report on Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success (2003, p.6), social enterprise is such a business which reinvests its surpluses in the business or in the community rather than increases profit for shareholders or owners. Peter Drucker argues that social entrepreneurs â€Å"change the performance capacity of society† (Gendron, 1996, p. 37) while Henton et al. (1997: p.1) speak of ‘civic entrepreneurs as â€Å"a new generation of leaders who forge new, powerfully productive linkages at the intersection of business, government, education and community† . Ali B. Somers (Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises, p.46) stated â€Å"Social enterprise emphasise creating social and/or environmental value at all stages of their production process, as an intrinsic part of their identity†. Figure:1 describes the production process of social enterprise. Inputs Production Process Outputs: Goods and Services Labour Employee/ Client Raw Materials: from Environmental Sources Can Include: Democratic Governance or training for employee/ client Base Goods and services sold to market: Economic Profit, Social Profit and Environmental Profit Economic Profit flows back to Social Enterprise and Ethical Investors Social and Environmental profit flow to Community Indicates environmental and social motives affect production Figure: 1 Production of Social Enterprise Source: Somers, A.B., 2005. Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), p.46 2.4 Discussion Relevant to the Sustainability of Social Enterprise There has been an unprecedented wave of growth in Social Entrepreneurship globally over the last ten years (Bornstein 2004, pp.3-6). For Example, as part of the 2004 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report a survey was conducted of social entrepreneurship activity in the UK; these data suggested that new ‘social start-ups are emerging at a faster ate than more conventional, commercial ventures (Harding and Cowling, 2004, p.5) There are three sides to sustainability in business activity: environment, economy and community. When aiming for sustainable practice all three factors must be given equal consideration from a local through to a global level. Environment Ensuring that business engages in the proper and careful use of finite resources and the management of waste so as to minimize the negative and maximize the positive impact of human activity. Economy Ensuring that business is financially viable, engages in good employment practice and is of benefit to the economy as a whole. Community Ensuring that business is overall of benefit to communities, their culture heritage and does not endanger them. Figure2: Sustainable Social Enterprise Schulyer (1998: p.3) describes social entrepreneurs as â€Å"individuals who have a vision for social change and who have the financial resources to support their ideas.who exhibit all the skills of successful business people as well as a powerful desire for social change† Greater flexibility in the use of public resources to respond to innovative community proposals, and venture investments from foundations and the private sector could be used to stimulate innovation in areas thought to be too risky for government as the sole investor. As Catford (1998, p. 96) argues that â€Å"social entrepreneurswill only flourish if they are supported by the right environment, which will be created largely by governments together with the private sector†. Social Enterprise seeks surplus generation in order to achieve financial sustainability. The need to financial sustainability is fundamental to social enterprises. Emphasizing financial sustainability in addition to profit distribution becomes a way to account for all activities the organization engages in, including advocacy and in support of bono work. Sacrificing one cause and effect chain for another can have significant implications for both the quality of work and social enterprises financial sustainability. Profit Distribution (Increase Income) Increase Revenue Use Resource Efficiently Trading Revenue Non Trading Revenue Manage Cost Track Advocacy Financial: Promote Sustainability of organization Social: Increase value to target community Whilst many may rely on combination of grant and trading income, ultimately, if an organisation is not financially sustainable, it cannot deliver its social and environmental impact. Fig3. shows how the profit of social organisation is distributed to the organization itself and community. Figure: 3 Financial Sustainability Source: Somers, A.B., 2005. Shaping the balanced scorecard for use in UK social enterprises. Social Enterprise Journal, 1(1), p.50 2.5 Policy Reform and Good Governance DTI report A Progress Report onSocial Enterprise: A Strategy for Success (2003, p.6) describes the three key goals for government as creating an enabling environment, making social enterprises better businesses and establishing the value of social enterprise. The danger in not supporting social entrepreneurship is obvious to Reis (1999: p. 4) who calls for systematic intervention to accelerate and improve philanthropic efforts. Without this he argues that substantial numbers of potential donors and social entrepreneurs could be â€Å"discouraged, turned-off, and lost from philanthropy and social change work†. So, in recent years, the boundaries between the private sectors (in term of market thinking and managerial practices) have impacted the public and voluntary sectors and started to blur traditional distinctions between them (Bull, 2006, 2007). The emergence of radical business alternatives with a strong social orientation, democratic organisation, and positive attitude to profitable trading has led to formal recognition and academic scrutiny (Seanor, Bull and Ridley-Duff, 2007). Brown, H and Murphy, E (2003: p.57) mentioned on Bank of England report that â€Å"Social enterprises, like all businesses, need access to a range of financial products appropriate to their activity and stage of development† An HM Treasury report on Enterpriseand Social Exclusion (1999, p 108) came to the conclusion, arguing that social enterprise was â€Å"less understood and rarely promoted in a consistent way by the existing infrastructure for business support†. Thompson et al. (2000: p. 328) describe â€Å"people who realize where there is an opportunity to satisfy some unmet need that the state welfare system will not or cannot meet, and who gather together the necessary resources (generally people, often volunteers, money and premises) and use these to ‘make a difference†. It is more useful to consider and develop social enterprise capabilities rather than skills and capacity building. The fact that social enterprises need to combine commercial objectives with social mission as well as internal governance, means that a â€Å"capabilities approach† is more comprehensive. This is a useful way of recognising factors additional to individual skills that inter-play to determine the effectiveness and impact of a specific enterprise. It also moves away from limited considerations of a key person or group within the organisation, and their specific skills, towards a more holistic view of what the organisation is capable of doing, irrespective of the location of particular skills. Laville and Nyssens (2001: p 325) argue that while the origins of social enterprises are based in reciprocity and thus form part of the third system, their strength is based in their ability to tap into all three economic principles and systems. They are different from private enterprise in that their goal is not the maximization of profit to benefit owners, although they do develop market activities and generate profits. They are also different from the public sector in that they are independent from direct control by public authorities. But they benefit to a greater or lesser extent from public subsidy. Thus they mobilize market relations to sell services or goods, and can use redistributive relations by utilizing government funding to finance their services. Their long-term sustainability depends on their ability to ‘continuously hybridise the three poles of the economy so as to serve the project. Their complementary use of monetary and non-monetary relations guarantees auto nomy of service based on their connections within communities and economic viability. This view of social enterprises offers an insight into their complexity in terms of the roles they must juggle and of the many forms from cooperatives, community enterprises, social firms, fair-trade companies and more that they take. Dees (1998: p.4) identifies five criteria that social entrepreneurs possess: adopting a mission to create and sustain social value; recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission; engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation and learning; acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand; and exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and to the outcomes created. Catford (1998, p.97) who articulates the issues and one possible solution most eloquently: â€Å"Traditional welfare-state approaches are in decline globally, and in response new ways of creating healthy and sustainable communities are required. This challenges our social, economic and political systems to respond with new, creative and effective environments that support and reward change. From the evidence available, current examples of social entrepreneurship offer exciting new ways of realizing the potential of individuals and communitiesinto the 21st century†. The Progress Report on Social Enterprise: A Strategy for Success(2003, p.68) concludes that there is little hard evidence to demonstrate the impact and added value of social enterprise. The report points out that one of the reasons for the lack of statistical evidence is that social enterprises create a range of social and environmental impacts, beyond their financial return (the ‘double or the ‘triple bottom line) that are hard to measure (even by the social enterprises themselves). Limited information on their social and environmental, as well as financial, impact also means that policy makers, business support providers and finance providers find it difficult to assess the value of targeting social enterprises or of including them in their activities. 2.6 Concluding Remarks Academic writing about modern social entrepreneurship skills is relatively limited, compared to mainstream business or charities. The concept of ‘social enterprise has been rapidly emerging in the private, public and non-profit sectors over the last few years. Currently, the non-profit sector is facing increasing demands for improved effectiveness and sustainability in light of diminishing funding from traditional sources and increased competition for these scarce resources. At the same time, the increasing concentration of wealth in the private sector is promoting calls for increased corporate social responsibility and more proactive responses to complex social problems, while governments at all levels are struggling with multiple demands on public funds. Chapter 3: Background Information of Social Enterprise This chapter will give the idea about the social enterprise types and size in the UK along with the impact, barriers and sources of fund in this organizations. Social Enterprise in the UK The UK government has been at the front position of enabling and encouraging the increase of social enterprises as part of both welfare services delivery and community regeneration at the policy level. The impacts and influence of public, private, and citizen are empirically proven and exhibit that these conventional sectors of society are playing a part in re-evaluating the value creation opportunities offered by market (or quasi-market) mechanisms. [Brief overview of types] According to the UK policy-making community, social enterprises play a vital role in the creation of economic and social value. It has been claimed that, there were some 15,000 social enterprises in the UK SBS(2005, pp.1-2), accounting for around 1.2% of all employing enterprises in the UK. These social enterprises generate around  £18 billion in annual turnover and employ over 775,000 people (475,000 paid employees and 300,000 volunteer staff). Governments Survey and existing data for the social enterprise sector estimated that there are at least 55,000 social enterprises in the UK, with a combined turnover of  £27billion per year which is raised to over  £800 million from the preceding year. This corresponds to 2% of the UKs GDP . The number of registered charities rose from around 120,000 in 1995 to more than 164,000 in 2005, and there are also hundreds of thousands of small community groups. According to Government estimates, social enterprises account for 5% of all businesses with employees and contribute approximately  £8.4billion to GDP (HM Treasury and Cabinet Office, 2006, p.29), around 0.7% of the total economy. The data obtained from the cabinet office website in social sector showed that in the year 2003/04, 56% of third sector organisations reported an increase in activity in the previous year, and 67% of them expected activity to grow in the next three years. Positive aspects of social enterprise: Social enterprise is a varied activity and can include a range of organisations working on different scales and at different levels of trading. Some work at community level, while others work nationally. They can work in public services or commercial markets. They often work in the most disadvantaged areas and work with the most disadvantaged groups. Some organisations work only as a social enterprise while in other organisations social enterprise is often a part of their activity. This most commonly applies in a voluntary organisation or a housing association. According to Bob Doherty and John Thompson (The diverse world of social enterprise stories, p.362) the common characteristics for a Social Enterprise are: They have a social rationale and yields and surpluses are not shared out to shareholders. Reinvested profit can be used to provide training and development opportunities for staff. They use assets and capital to generate community benefit. They pursue this with (at least in part) trade in a market place. Members or employees can also take part in decision making. The enterprise is responsible to both its members and a wider society. Citizenship participation and volunteering are encouraged within the local community The social enterprise model could create new forms of entrepreneurship and employment within a community The model is ideally placed to meet new needs within a community, if supported sufficiently at start up Social Enterprises can offer goods and services to poor and disenfranchised communities The potential of a profits and revenue stream could liberate organisations from the tyranny of fundraising and grant applications Organisations could flourish effectively and creatively under this model There is either a double or triple-bottom line concept. The assumption is that the most effective social enterprises exhibit healthy financial and social returns rather than high profits in one and lower profits in the other. Social enterprise makes an important contribution to the social, economic and environmental development of Scotland. This can be summarised as follows. Fig 4: Beneficiaries of Social Enterprise Source: Social enterprise is extremely varied but, importantly, it works in a number of key priority areas for the UK economy- these include: employment and training; childcare; health; adult care services; recycling; renewable energy; transport; financial inclusion; community regeneration; and rural development. In particular, social enterprise contributes to regenerating our most deprived communities in both urban and rural areas. It often works with the people who have least opportunity in our society, including those outside the labour market, and so it has a major role to play in developing employability and supported employment and ensuring equal opportunities to those people. Social enterprise can add value to many of its activities by focusing on social, economic and environmental benefits, importantly linking these aims in a positive way, which in other business models may sometimes cause conflict. Social enterprise can offer goods and services to its customers in a flexible and innovative way. It can focus on their needs to deliver better public services. Often this is in areas where the market has failed areas where the private sector does not want to go. Social enterprise can make sure resources give value for money where a public-sector contract is needed for the activity. This includes working with very marginalised groups, where the enterprise activity helps reduce the amount of public funding needed. Through encouraging social entrepreneurship in communities, levels of public subsidy and grant dependency can be reduced. Barriers of social enterprise â€Å"†¦often have boards of directors or trustees who come from a voluntary sector rather than a business background. This can lead to a lack of business focus and prevent social enterprise from truly reaching their potential (DTI 2002, p.62) Several challenges remain before the full potential of the third sector can be realised. First, the Government must carry through its commitment to provide a constructive partnership with the sector and resist the temptation to treat it as one of the instruments for the marketisation of the Welfare State. Amicus, a trade union with workers in the public, private and third sectors, is concerned that an expansion of the third sector will be a ‘stepping stone to the privitisation of the public sector (Maskell quoted in Little, 2007, p.31). Second, the majority of third sector organisations are small and under-capitalised and they are constrained in the growth aspirations by limited access to capital (Bank of England, 2003; SQW, 2007). Insufficient capital can lead to either under-investment, or a re-orientation towards market objectives in order to obtain finance, and the consequent re-prioritisation of economic over social and environmental outcomes. To enable third sector organisations to maintain the balance between economic, social and environmental outcomes, the Government must ensure that a pragmatic and realistic assessment of the financial costs of service delivery is incorporated into their policies and strategies (HM Treasury, 2006).Third, a curse of successful activities in the third sector is that they themselves are prone to being privatised and consequently turned into capitalist ventures that adopt orthodox business practices, as has been the case with the demutualisation of the Building Society movement in the UK. According to UK Government and various literatures review shows that there are mainly four significant barriers to accessing appropriate business support and finance for social enterprises throughout the region. 1. Cultural barriers between those setting up social enterprises and mainstream business advisors. 2. Lack of clarity about where to access business support at the local level, largely due to the huge diversity of routes into starting up social enterprises. 3. Limited numbers of accredited technical specialists in key business advice areas where social enterprises require specialist support, for example on legal structure, potential investors or taxation. 4. Limited sources of affordable equity and loan finance of all sizes. All of these barriers inhibit the use of available business support by social enterprise. Many of the issues are cultural, but there are also skills issues, with mainstream business advice agencies not being adequately equipped to address more technical aspects of social enterprise business development. Specialists do exist within the region but many of them are funded through short-term grant finance. This enables the free provision of services but a lack of long-term sustainability for the advice services themselves. To grow and develop social enterprise in UK, we must tackle a range of challenges and issues which have been highlighted by the research and consultation carried out to develop this strategy. Tackling these challenges, which are summarised into five key areas in this chapter, will be a major part of this strategy: Use of the social enterprise business model. Business opportunities. Finance and investment. Business support for social enterprise. Raising the profile and demonstrating value. Sources of Finance The key factor in an enterprises development is access to appropriate sources of finance. Social enterprises are more likely than SMEs to have been rejected for finance, although the majority of those rejected by one lender appear subsequently to be successful with another. In addition, a large minority of social enterprises perceive access to external finance as a major barrier to expansion, including some of those that have successfully accessed finance in the past. While there is no one, clear reason to account for the higher rejection rates among social enterprises than SMEs, this report explores possible contributory factors, which

Language of the land :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Traditional African art plays a major part in the African society. Most ceremonies and activities cannot function without visual art. Such ceremonies include singing, dancing, storytelling, spiritual dreams, and relationships with the opposite sex. According to James Stephenson, â€Å"art is a way to express trust in your own words†¦drawn to create a symbol that is pulled out of you.† He believes art, or literature should illustrate the lifestyles or problems of a certain group of people. In the book Language of the Land, James Stephenson discusses about the Hadzabe tribe. James Stephenson uses many glimpse of art, or literature to portray African art.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are three basic themes of African art. The first is the realism among the people of the bush. Most African tribes, particularly the Hadzabe, embellish the details when they are telling stories. This embellishment is done to create the mood of the story. For example, when Jemsi is at Mama Ramadan, he describes the cowgirl as a â€Å"superstar flying in spaceships filled with thousands of male lovers† (Language of the Land pg.67). Then some of the other Hadzabe says, â€Å"the cowgirl was their girlfriend† (Language of the Land pg.67). When Jemsi says he is making it up, all the Hadzabe start telling there own exaggerated stories. This proves that their art of story telling engages your mind, feelings, and body. Another similar example of how Jemsi captures the minds of the Hadzabe is when he talks about â€Å"the bear†¦its claws are the size of Sitoti’s arms, it is fast as the lion. It can cut trees down with its claws, and hunts, e ats men. Sometimes it will come into camp the camp, and sleep next to you. Then if you wake and move; it will kill you, or do the jiggi-jiggi with you† (Language of the Land pg.117). This just shows how gullible the tribesmen are toward each other’s stories. This type of visual or spoken art describes the Africans ability to over express the idea to the extreme.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second theme of African art is the problematic relationships between the sexes. The Hadzabe are shown as the type of people who would use harmless devices to deal with the problems and issues concerning the relations between the sexes. For example, when Sitoti was telling one of his stories of how he scared Swahili girls by â€Å"wading up like a slow moving crocodile †¦[and leap] at the women washing their clothes† (Language of the Land pg.

Antitheatricalism and Jonsons Volpone Essay -- Jonson Volpone Essays

Antitheatricalism and Jonson's Volpone Crossdressing in England was mostly opposed by the Fundamentalist branch of the Protestant Church known as the Puritans. The Puritan dogma, much like the concept of transvestism, was constantly challenged. Puritans found resistance in the religious authorities of the Church of England and the English government. Before 1536, the Roman Catholic Church was unimpeded and always won over Puritan proposals regarding legislation. Without a cooperative political ear, the Puritans resorted to experimental spiritual expression by changing their social behavior and structuring. Due to these changes, a formidable way of attacking the theater's use of crossdressing was developed- public preaching and pamphlets. Other individuals and groups (like the Juvenalians) supported the moral and social reform movement by speaking and writing essays and books on the subject. Due to the nature the actor's role in Ben Jonson's Volpone, the play was also implicated in this moral battle. The ideology behind the Puritan protest was based on biblical sentiment and the patristic literary tradition of Roman writers like Tertullian and St. Augustine. The Puritan's religious banner for combatting gender transgression was Deuteronomy 22:5- 'The woman shall not wear that which pertains to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment' (Tiffany 58). In general, pagan myths were also associated with crossdressing. Puritans like William Pryne labeled these actors as "beastly male monsters" that "degenerate into women" (Tiffany 59). Further, the Puritans feared that men dressing as women caused the men in the audience to lust for real females and to form homoerotic desires for the male actors (the re... ...goal of the Antitheatrical movement in the Renaissance, was both supported and denounced by Jonson in various ways. However, the general perception is that Jonson (unlike Shakespeare) fueled the fires of degradation- implicating women with the weakness, lack of intelligence, and reason they were believed to exude. In the annals of theatrical history, Jonson's metadrama could be said to perpetuate this social stereotype. Nevertheless, Jonson's crossing of the gender line and sexual scenes like Volpone's "flashing" of Celia were enough to have religious, moral, and social commentators screaming blood murder. Two issues demand prominence in the play. While outwardly a play driven by blatant genderless controversy, the inward thematic, character-driven nature of Volpone suggests a conformity and adherence to the intellectual and theological moralism of the time.

Rahab

Rahab – women of the bible (a woman who Believed the truth) Rahab –â€Å" insolence†, or â€Å"fierceness†, or â€Å"broad†, or â€Å"spacious† The â€Å"Ra† part of her name comes from Egyptian idolatry, â€Å"Ra† the sun god, this is from â€Å"All the women of Bible † by Herbert Lockyer, Zondervan Publishers Rahab and the two spies are the main charactersin Joshua2. Rahab was a prostitute (her occupation). She lived, geographically and morally, on the edge of society. She lived at the time of the conquest of Canaan (the land northeast of Egypt, bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, Lebanon to the north was the Hittite Empire and Bashan, to the east were the nations of Ammon and the Ammorites, Moab, and Edom) by the Israelites Her house was located on the wall of the city and was strategically placed to lodge travelers. This was a prime location for her trade. Rahab had heard of the God of Israel and aced in faith. By hiding the spies she faced the risk of being killed if caught by the authorities. However rahab knew it would take a step of faith to get her out of her present predicament. She did not intend to perish with the rest of jericho. She knew that if she did nothing- this would lead to her destruction. No one an serve two masters. She made a conscious decision to act in faith on what she heard about God. Rahab was an ancestor of Jesus(Matthew1:1-6). Her faith brought her into an immense inheritance. From a prostitute to the linage of Jesus Christ. This is what faith can do. No matter your stand in life, rrespective of where you are or who you are a simply step of faith in Jesus Christ can turn your destiny around. â€Å"By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace† – Hebrews 11:31 The life of Rahab can be found in Joshua 2, Joshua 6, Hebrews 11:31 Matthew 1:5 James 2:25

The persistence Of Memory Salvador Dali

The movement began in the ass's in Paris by a man named Sigmund Freud. Surrealism is used in contemporary society with a lot of advertisement. It is used to influence someone even more in purchasing a product. Salvador Dali (5. 11 . 1904 – 1. 23. 1989) was born in Figures, Spain. He is a Spanish artist that was best known for his painting, â€Å"The Persistence of Memory. † His striking and bizarre images are what caught peoples eye. Many of his paintings reflect his love of Port Light in Spain.He as never limited to a specific style or media. The Persistence of Memory is a very popular and special piece of art. It was Dalais theory of softness† and hardness. † The strange monster that lies on the floor is used in many of his artworks. It has one eye closed with several eyelashes, suggesting that the monster is also in a dream like state. The clocks symbolize the passing of time in a dream. The orange clock is covered by ants. Dali used ants often to represe nt decay.In this portrait Dali uses indeed techniques for shaping and building objects. Warm and cool colors are used in this portrait. This also brings out the tones. The texture is quite smooth and clean. There are circles, rectangles, triangles, and many shapes throughout this painting. It has a nice feeling of space and balance which helps bring out the contrast, rhythm and harmony by sharing it around. There isn't really a focal point since there are things all over the place. The Persistence of memory has many interpretations.In act, Dali would actually purposely create his paintings to make it difficult for people to criticize. Maybe the meaning was simply making people imagine there in a dream when they experience this artwork. Salvador Dali painted in a way to capture the human mind into an illusion or dream like situation. According to today's society, he is relevant in the way of his ideas and creations, however irrelevant in his style and mind. His ideas and creations ar e very mind, his style and mind is quite old fashioned however still extraordinary. By shenanigan

International Oil and National Security Essay

When oil fueled the navies of both Britain and the United States in World War I, it began the tremendous impact oil would have on the world. When British and French forces were threatened with oil shortages, the US gave the much needed help. Without the same assistance, Germany had to shorten critical operations. Since military hardware were all dependent on oil for power it became important that their countries have access to oil. Britain had access to Middle East oil and the United States had the oil from the Caribbean. After the war, Britain and the United States continued to dominate the oil industry of the world. The US has 4 large oil companies and Britain has 2. From the experience of World War II, control of the oil production for use in the military explains the success of the US and the defeat of Germany and Japan. The US rebuilt Europe and Japan with the assurance of oil supply. US had enough Venezuelan oil for its needs, set its eyes on the oil-rich Middle East. Oil is also seen as an important commodity for industries. To ensure its access Britain acquired concession rights on the oil of Iran, but it was not enough. The governments of Latin America refused to allow foreign government’s participation in their oil industries. Excessive supply had to be jointly managed which paved the way for developing oil sources in Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait, as well as Mexico and Venezuela. The threat of war with Mexico and a crisis in Venezuela was defused with settlements and concessions. The lesson for the British was not ownership of oil reserves but control of sea routes that had more impact. A growing concern that US oil reserves are nearing depletion prompted oil companies to seek additional sources in order to serve domestic demand and supply foreign markets. They shifted their attention from the Caribbean to the Middle East. There has been a noted change in the structure of the global oil industry as well as in the triggers of consumption. The oil industry is important to national security, comes from non-renewable sources and oil reserves is dependent on the demand and supply of the commodity. The seven oil majors control 90% of oil reserves, produce 90% of oil, have a 75% refining capacity, and trade 90% of oil in the global market. In the middle of the 1950s there were small entrants, who challenged the majors, and who sold their oil at low prices. These pushed the world prices of oil downward. Oil consumption is a big part of the economy. Construction of highways and railways, purchase and registration of cars and trucks make America a great motoring nation and consequently a high gas-consuming public. Ever conscious of maintaining reserves the US relied heavily on oil imports to sustain its energy needs. As the Middle East has become its largest energy source, the US government is much concerned with maintaining the security and stability in the Middle East. Policy makers are looking for alternative, diversified and renewable fuel sources, efficient utilization and conservation measures to reduce the country’s dependence on oil imports taking into account their costs and benefits.