Stakeholder Influences Hsm/270 - 1600 Words

1515 Paper (A+) Stakeholder Influences People often think of stakeholders as people with a monetary stake in an organization, but not necessarily true anymore. In the past, people considered stakeholders the people with a financial stake in the organization that would receive profits from the success of the business. Today stakeholders cover a much broader spectrum of people such as funders, administration, staff, volunteers, community, and the target population (Yuen/Terao, 2003). Each group of stakeholders has his or her influence on the program plan as well as the success of a human service organization and programs services (Yuen/Terao, 2003). The owner, operators also known as shareholders founded the organization for a specific†¦show more content†¦The PEACE agency must have a well-organized and researched program plan that results in a positive outcome as well as positive benefits on the target population and community (Yuen/Terao, 2003). With a program plan not well planned, the agency will fail to have positive impacts on the target population and community and Peace could lose community support and funding (Yuen/Terao, 2003). The funding institution with grants the PEACE agency is eligible for is â€Å"The National Foundation’s funding program† (Yuen/Terao, 2003, p. Appendix B). The funding institution strives to accomplish positive outcomes that benefit the community (Yuen/Terao, 2003, p. Appendix B). First, â€Å"promote the well-being of young men, women, and children whose lives have been affected by domestic violence, and to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence through increased service provision, education, and awareness† (Yuen/Terao, 2003, p. Appendix B). Second, â€Å"improve the quality of life of families with a member or members in prison, through the provision of services responsive to their needs† (Yuen/Terao, 2003, p. Appendix B). Third, â€Å"provide young people who are or have been involved with the criminal justice system with a rehabilitation program designed to obtain the skills, confidence, and personal support networks to enable them to lead fulfill ed and successful lives† (Yuen/Terao, 2003, p. Appendix B). The National Foundation will have a direct impact on the program plan because the PEACE agencyShow MoreRelatedStakeholder Influences on Programs Week 7 Hsm/270 Essay1105 Words   |  5 PagesStakeholder Influences on Programs In the field of Human Services, there are many details that must never be overlooked, there are many variables that must not ever be ignored, and there are many expectations from stakeholders that most definitely must be entertained by all staff and participants who are involved with a program. One may immediately assume when they hear the word stakeholder that it refers to the financial institution that has granted them the funding that made their program

Video Games And Its Effect On Society - 867 Words

Video games over the years have developed into graphic bloody sources of ideas for adolescents. The games kids play today has large physiological effects that can really mess with one s mind. Violent video games have a long history of provoking aggressive behavior which can ultimately lead to people getting hurt. The realism gives the players more power by making them immune to the reality of the situation. Video games have a huge influence over their audience. The influence they have is very evident when it comes to the school yard. 60% of kids who play M-rated video games report to have hit someone or have some kind of violent confrontation as opposed to those who do not play those types of games. A study published in Psychology of Popular Media Couture states that 90% of pediatricians agree that violent video games increases aggression and 98% agree that overexposure to the games heightens the aggression. The games that are most popular today usually have something to do with wa r or killing someone somehow. They give players a chance to use guns, axes, chainsaws, knives, and other weapons to fulfill their task. The games are so realistic that they enhance the learning of those violent behaviors. There are cases like where two teenage boys killed a driver and told the police they got the idea from the game Grand Theft Auto. Games like this do not only give ideas, but they also give the skill to execute those ideas. In the past, video games have been used to train U.SShow MoreRelatedVideo Games And Its Effects On Society1463 Words   |  6 Pages Movies, video games, music and television shows come in different genres. However, depending on age in regards to youth not just anyone is allowed to: watch certain movies, buy just any video game, listen to any music or watch any tv show. Sometimes they can see certain movies with a parent or guardian. Seeing violence in excess causes violent acts to take place in society because it gives ideas to viewers or listeners especially those who are young. This the reason there are ratings for mediaRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Society1274 Words   |  6 PagesViolence in video games can affect ones mindset in so many different ways, where we don’t even realize it. For example playing â€Å"Grand Theft Auto† for a few hours will change your mindset. Even though it wouldn’t be in a tremendous way, but for a few minutes your mindset will think, â€Å"This game is so much fun, I want to steal cars, have police chase me, shoot at people, even steal helicopters †. According to Social scientists in the New York Times, Many studies have shown that this is becoming a majorRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effect On Society Essay1380 Words   |  6 Pagesthe 1970’s, video games in America have been controversial. Currently around 97% of America s children play video games in some form; from home consoles such as Xbox, to personal computers and mobile games on smartphones, even in an educational form, video games are nearly everywhere and bringing in big money. Around $21 billion is being funneled into a domestic video game industry. But what are these kids viewing when playing video games and how does that affect their role in society? A commonRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effect On Society1525 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The reason why people find it so enjoyable is that games are usually the right degree of challenging and the player takes an active role (unlike watching television) so there is an incentive to achieve† (Gee) . Ever since video games were invented there was an immediate attachment and an unwillingness to release them. They present chances to accomplish things one may not be able to do in their life, and provides an escape from reality. Video games also imprint and teach new skills to the gamers whoRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effect On Society980 Words   |  4 PagesAs a growing medium, video games are often associated with various negative connotations that have obfuscated its positive contributions made to society. As a result, the general public is unaware of how video games have shaped modern-day, some even consider it a meaningless teenager pastime, but this is distant from reality. Video games are important to society at large because they do not serve for entertainment purposes only, they are a major force in the economy, scientific research, and militaryRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effects On Society1588 Words   |  7 PagesSince the creation of Spacewar in spring of 1962, vi deo games have dramatically improved along with technology. It has become the most popular way of entertainment in modern civilization, but it also has become a subject of public concern regarding to its negative effects on peoples psychological and physical problems, especially in children and teens. Video games are now recognized by a study as an addiction according to the journal Psychological Science: â€Å"Researchers used data on 1,200 childrenRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effects On Society2285 Words   |  10 PagesFrom the inception of Pong to the latest chapter of the video game series Assassin’s Creed, virtual gaming has been scorned and shunned as a detriment to society. Older generations speculate that incessant gaming in young children insinuates violence, antipathy, lack of creative initiative, and develops an unhealthy isolation from the real world. However, in recent years, these postulates have been put to the test; a number of scientists have conducted ex perimentation in order to discover whetherRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Game On Society1466 Words   |  6 PagesFor generations games have been an important part of our culture. Many of these games center on war and strategic tactics. Boys and girls have played soldier, Cowboys and Indians, Monopoly, or Chess . Through games such as these the future men and women of society learned strategy and the consequences of controlling and restraining themselves because their actions had consequences. However with the invention of the computer high definition graphics, these games, and many others have been createdRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On The Society859 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to a U.S Study by Rideout Et Al (As Cited in Anderson Bushman 2001.a), the popularity of video games is rapidly increasing. In a U.S study by Butchman Funk (As Cited in Anderson Bushman 2001.b), Around 60 percent of 4th grade girls prefer violent games and about 3 out of every 4 boys with a similar age also prefer ferocious ones. This essay will argue that violence in video games should be censored. For the purpose of this essay, violence can be defined as the physical force intendedRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effect On Society1298 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction During the advent of video games, the world was taken by storm, as this new type of entertainment caught the attention and imagination of the populace; but as this attention grew, concern and scrutiny weren’t far behind. Controversy finally got its chance in the 1990s, when games finally upgraded to 16-bit, giving them the ability to depict realistic blood and gore in games like Moral Kombat; which was criticized for excessive violence, a reason Congress used to create the Entertainment

The Different Ways We Evaluate People Free Essays

Evaluation and Judgment Checkpoint Evaluation and Judgment Checkpoint Question One: What are the different ways in which we evaluate people? When we meet someone for the first time, we notice a number of surface characteristics—clothes, gestures, manner of speaking, tone of voice, appearance, and so on. Then, drawing on these cues, we assign the person a ready-made category. Associated with each category is a schema (plural: schemata), which, is a set of beliefs or expectations about something (in this case, people) that is based on past experience and is presumed to apply to all members of that category (Fiske Taylor, 1991). We will write a custom essay sample on The Different Ways We Evaluate People or any similar topic only for you Order Now Schemata serve a number of important functions (Gilbert, 1998). First, they allow us to make inferences about other people. We assume, for example, that a friendly person is likely to be good-natured, to accept a social invitation from us, or to do us a small favor. Second, schemata play a crucial role in how we interpret and remember information. Schemata can also lure us into â€Å"remembering† things about people that we never actually observed. Most of us associate the traits of shyness, quietness, and preoccupation with one’s own thoughts with the schema introvert. Question Two: How do these factors play a role in our expectations of other people? Over time, as we continue to interact with people, we add new information about them to our mental files. However, our later experiences generally do not influence us nearly so much as our earliest impressions. This is known as the primacy effect. According to Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor (1991), they point out that human thinkers are â€Å"cognitive misers. † Instead of exerting ourselves to interpret every detail we learn about a person, we are stingy with our mental efforts. Once we have formed an impression about someone, we tend to keep it, even if our first impressions were formed by jumping to conclusions or through prejudice (Fiske, 1995). Thus, if you already like a new acquaintance, you may excuse a flaw or vice you discover later on. Conversely, if someone has made an early bad impression on you, you may refuse to believe subsequent evidence of that person’s good qualities. Moreover, first impressions can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. A stereotype is a set of characteristics believed to be shared by all members of a social category. Question Three: What are the disadvantages of these expectations? A stereotype is a special kind of schema that may be based on almost any distinguishing feature, but is most often applied to sex, race, occupation, physical appearance, place of residence, and membership in a group or organization (Hilton Von Hipple, 1996). When our first impressions of people are governed by a stereotype, we tend to infer things about them solely on the basis of their social category and to ignore facts about individual traits that are inconsistent with the stereotype. As a result, we may remember things about them selectively or inaccurately, thereby perpetuating our initial stereotype. For example, with a quick glance at almost anyone, you can classify that person as male or female. Once you have so categorized the person, you may rely more on your stereotype of that gender than on your own perceptions during further interactions with the person. Stereotypes can easily become the basis for self-fulfilling prophecies. References Morris, C. Maisto, A. (2005) Social Psychology. Retrieved November 13, 2009, from The Psychology of Science, Axia College e-Resource. How to cite The Different Ways We Evaluate People, Papers

Hotel and Hospitality Management Restaurant

Question: Discuss about theHotel and Hospitality Managementfor Restaurant. Answer: Introduction The aim of the paper is to present a report on food and beverage operations in a restaurant. Through an in depth analysis, the aim is to give a comprehensive insight into the multifaceted nature of opening a restaurant. For this purpose, the restaurant that would be chosen in Australia is Guzmen Y Gomez. A restaurant needs proper management to work efficiently. The paper would lay emphasis on the importance of product differentiation, cost management, and staff management strategies adopted by restaurants and food chains in this industry. Moreover, the aim is to get a detailed understanding of the emerging and current trends and technologies that help to shape the industry. A number of tools and theories would be employed in the paper to carry out a detailed analysis such as PESTLE Analysis, Porters Five Forces and VRIO theory. Also, the tangible and intangible nature of the food and beverage industry shall be identified. The food and beverage industry in Australia includes categorie s like grains, meat, dairy, seafood, horticulture, confectioneries, and beverages. The industry provides a diverse range of products to the food and retail services. There is a lot of flexibility in the food and beverage sector in Australia and is a great contributor of the Australian economy. Australia has the reputation of providing clean and healthy food products to its citizens. Food and Beverage Management Functions Concept The food and beverage operations comprise the internal functions of an organization. Management functions involve organizing, planning, recruiting and training the staff. Managers in the food and beverage sector need to manage the day to day operations that undertake in a hotel or restaurant. It is the job of the manager to provide excellent internal and external customer service. The food and beverage operations environment has basically two functions- management and operations. Both these functions are necessary and strive to achieve operational objectives. The management function involves organizing, planning, controlling, and leading an organization. On the other hand, operational function deals with the input, transformation, and output. In short, it follows the system approach model. Costing Food and beverage costing structure depends on different pricing strategies of the foods as well s the cost of maintaining the hotel operations. The restaurant specializes in Tex-Mex dishes such as nachos, burritos, quesadillas and taco. The costing of hotel operations depends on the profitability of the hotel. Costing is an important management function of a restaurant that falls under food and beverage management operations. Maintenance of cost on adopting different types of strategies by the strategic department of the company is included in the cost management functions (Grekova et al., 2014). Lowering the cost of different functions of hotels will result into higher profitability. Strategy Strategies of food and beverage management operations can include various types of strategies that include the management of the operations. Different departments of a company have to run smoothly if the company has to work in a focused way. The management department of the company has to undertake different long term and short-term strategies that are focused on the current scenario of the market and the company. The HR functions as well as the strategic management department have to formulate the strategies that are related to the organizational goals (Wu et al., 2013). However, organizational goals are related to the market conditions of the country. Marketing Marketing strategies of the sector including the company must adopt different traditional methods of marketing as well as the digital media marketing. The restaurant chain also focus on excellent customer service as Word of Mouth (WOM) promotion will come from the mouth of the satisfied guests of the restaurant. It goes with other companies of food and beverage companies. If the consumers are satisfied with the products served by the companies then they will say it to their relatives and peers (Dora et al., 2013). Appropriate selection of both traditional legacy media and digital media is essential for formulating effective marketing strategy. Key Skills and Resources in Food and Beverage Operations Many skills and resources are required in managing food and beverage operations. Food service managers maintain the operation of the restaurant. However, food service managers must have in depth knowledge about different types of incidents inside the restaurant. Decisions are to be made based on the different aspects of hotel management operations. The knowledge of administration, management, personal and customer service, training and education, processing and production, food production, sales and marketing, telecommunications, psychology and leadership are required for managing the operations of food and beverage sector (Grekova et al., 2016). Apart from that, many skills are necessary for the maintenance of the different operations of food and beverage. Skills and resources of the company imply the human capital resources of the employees present in it. Human capital is a popular concept that is focused on different concepts of the operations of the company. The restaurant must put emphasize on the skills and attributes of the company that are considered as the most valuable assets of the company (Hurrell Scholarios, 2014). The different levels of management have different responsibilities regarding managing various aspects of the company. Key skills and resources include mostly the intangible resources of the company i.e. the skills and assets of the employees who are responsible for managing the business operations. The companys physical assets are also responsible for the management of different operational procedures. More is the income of the company stronger will be the operations of the food and beverage companies . However, the company is putting stress on the different human capital skills of the company. The skills of the employees include service orientation, critical thinking, time management, social perceptiveness, active listening, reading comprehension, operations analysis, learning strategies, system analysis, management of financial and material resources, systems evaluation, operation monitoring, quality control analysis, persuasion and instructing (Graham Potter, 2015). The above-mentioned skills are essential for managing different levels of operations of the company in the food and beverage sector in a perfect manner. Managers possessing these skills and knowledge must be having good leadership and decision-making power that will result in formulating strategies in different sectors of operations for the restaurant chain effectively. PESTLE Analysis Political- The season of national elections can affect the food and restaurant industry negatively. This is more prominent when it comes to selling liquor. Childhood obesity, menu labeling, diseases related to diet, allergen concerns, and food regulations and safety are some of the issues that affect the food and beverage industry largely. There may also be taxing issues (Ab Talib et al., 2014). Economical- The Australian food and beverage sector is a great contributor to the economy of Australia. This sector provides employment to the citizens of the country. However, the output generated from this sector saw a decline in the year 2012. Moreover, the input cost of the industry is rising. The income and GDP of Australia is quite high. Social- The opportunities in the food and beverage sector in Australia is rising. There is a growth in the demand of food both nationally as well as globally. An increase in the demand of high quality products and rise of the middle classes has been a positive impact on the industry. The high level of income of Australian people prompts them to buy healthier food than cheap street food (Gregoric, 2014). Technological- Growth in technology in the modern times has changed the mode of working in the food and beverage industry. People nowadays, especially the young generation rely heavily on internet and online shopping. They prefer to order food online rather than going to a restaurant due to crunch of time. Thus, more development in the delivery system would help this industry to develop as well. Legal- The Food Safety Standards of Australia lays great emphasis on the quality and nutrition value of the food. The government has imposed various safety regulations and the hotels and restaurants must comply with those regulations. The aim is to provide a safe, healthy, and hygienic food to the people and lower the incidents of food poisoning and illness. Food businesses in Australia need to comply with the food regulations act of the Australian government. Moreover, restaurants and bars selling liquor must get authentic license from the government (O'Kane, 2012). Environmental- The waste generated from the hotels and restaurants may have a severe impact on the environment if not disposed properly. To provide an environmentally healthy service, the use of plastics for packaging must be minimized. More environment friendly practices must be implemented. Porters Five Forces The Porters Five Forces tool is a very powerful tool to understand and assess the position and power of a business. It helps a company to understand the competitive strength and weakness. Threat of New Entrants- Australia has proven to be an attractive place for setting up new business as Australia has very few entry barriers. The existing companies may thus face the threat of new entrants. Since the Australian market yields high returns and less loss, the market is prone to attract businesses from all over the world. However, a large number of firms may decrease the profitability for all. This can be reduced by blocking new firms to enter the market through incumbents (Dobbs, 2014). Threat of Substitutes- Existence of products on large scale increases the competition. Customers often switch to alternatives when they find a product of better quality. The threat of substitutes is high as there are many other competitors of Guzmen Y Gomez in the Australian market. Bargaining power of Buyers- Buyers in Australia have the power to switch companies as they have a lot of options. They may prefer one restaurant or hotel or bar over another. This makes the power of the power of the customers very high. In short, they have high bargaining power. The bargaining power of the buyers depends on the availability of information to the buyers, differential advantage, and the customer value (Porter Heppelmann, 2014). Bargaining power of Suppliers- The relation of the suppliers with the restaurant is very good. This helps the industry to grow. The suppliers comprise the raw material providers, labor, and services. The bargaining power of the suppliers is low which helps the industry to grow. Industry rivalry- Industry rivalry is one of the major determinants of the success of a company. The Australian food and beverage industry has a number of hotels and restaurants. This increases the competition between the companies. There is rivalry on different areas such as in the level of expenditure in advertisement, degree of transparency, and the competitive strategy of a company (McLay, 2014). VRIO Theories VRIO framework is a theoretical tool that is used to analyze the internal capabilities and resources of the firm in order to find a sustainable competitive advantage of the company in the industry. It is a tool for measuring the internal environment of the company. Full form of VRIO model is valuable, rarity, imitate, organized and sustained competitive advantage. Valuable: It refers to the resources that are responsible for creating value to the organization. The internal resources will be valuable when they are used in increasing perceived customers value in the market. It can be done while increasing product differentiation or decreasing the price of the food items (Killen et al., 2012). Rare: The internal resources of the company must be rare so that other competitors cannot imitate their strategies and resources. The resources will act as a competitive advantage to the company in the marketplace. On the other hand, when the competitors use same type of resources then it will lead to competitive parity. However, selecting rarity among the commonly used resources is the secret of success of the company in the competitive marketplace (Rothaermel, 2015). Costly to Imitate: The resources of the restaurant should be portrayed in a way so that competitors cannot imitate it. The different types of complexities a company can face while imitating ones strategies and resources to it. They are casual ambiguity, historical conditions and social complexity (Knott, 2015). Organized in capturing value: The restaurant will capture the value of the strategies and resources, when the other four factors will be successful. The restaurant must organize their management processes, systems, organizational structure, policies and organizational culture fully in order to realize the potentiality of valuable, rarity and imitation costs of its capabilities and resources (Pesic et al., 2013). Critical Reflection on Tangible and Intangible Nature of Food and Beverage Operations In the hospitality industry, both tangible and non tangible services are highly important. The entire industry of hospitality is based on the tangible and intangible services. To be successful a hotel or restaurant or bar must have both tangible and intangible services. It is the both these services that make the experience of the customers worth remembering. These services refer to both the physical services and the interpersonal contact between the service providers and the customers. The tangible elements comprise the food that is presented to the customers. The goods including the nature and style of the crockery, glassware, napkins, linen, and cutlery are a part of the total experience (Davis et al., 2013). The menu is also a part of the tangible services for it is because of the menu that the customers are able to gain knowledge about the food they are going to have. It gives them a partial idea about the experience they are going to have. The customers get information through verbal or visual description of the meals or dishes that are available. The machine process is also a part of the total experience. This includes every tool and machine that is used to prepare a food item. This may include coffee machine, gas oven, vending machine, etc (Tamwatin et al., 2015). The action and services of the staff in a restaurant are of crucial importance and form a part of the intangible services. The intangible services comprise the overall environment offered by a restaurant or hotel. Every place has its own aesthetic appeal which is created by the furniture, dcor, and fittings (Giritlioglu et al., 2014). The warm and friendly feel of the restaurant determines the hospitality of a place. One place may give a customer a warm and amiable experience while another may give a cold feeling to its customers. Hence it is very important to establish appropriate furnish and dcor so that the customers get a warm and friendly feeling. This makes the experience of the customers far better. The cleanliness and brightness of the environment is also very crucial for a better experience. The organization of the service process is also considered a tangible process (Mari? et al., 2016). Conclusion The report is on the analysis of food and beverage sector of Australia. Different sectors of the industry in analyzed by considering an example of a restaurant based in Australia. The restaurant has its different branches not only in Australia but also in other parts of the world. However, different parts of the management functions are analyzed in terms of various theoretical frameworks such as VRIO framework, Porters five forces, PESTEL Analysis, etc. These theoretical frameworks explain both the internal environment as well as external environment of the food and beverage sector i.e. in terms of the restaurant in Australia. Apart from that, there are many strategic optional and key skills and resources are mentioned in details along with their key roles while developing different sections of management and different operations of the restaurant. The importance of the human capital resources are mentioned in the report so that the restaurant can identify them and use them properly in required places so that they can get effective results out from it. However, the sector must follow the recent consumer trends that will help them to attract different segments of customers in the country. Innovation will help the company not only to increase the segment of customers but also for the increase of profitability of the company. References Ab Talib, M. S., Hamid, A. B. A., Zulfakar, M. H., Jeeva, A. S. (2014). Halal logistics PEST analysis: the Malaysia perspectives.Asian Social Science,10(14), 119. Davis, B., Lockwood, A., Pantelidis, I., Alcott, P. (2013).Food and beverage management. Routledge. Dora, M., Kumar, M., Van Goubergen, D., Molnar, A., Gellynck, X. (2013). Food quality management system: Reviewing assessment strategies and a feasibility study for European food small and medium-sized enterprises.Food control,31(2), 607-616. Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness Review,24(1), 32-45. Giritlioglu, I., Jones, E., Avcikurt, C. (2014). Measuring food and beverage service quality in spa hotels: A case study in Bal?kesir, Turkey.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,26(2), 183-204. Graham, S., Potter, A. (2015). Environmental operations management and its links with proactivity and performance: A study of the UK food industry.International Journal of Production Economics,170, 146-159. Gregoric, M. (2014, January). PESTEL analysis of tourism destinations in the perspective of business tourism (MICE). InFaculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Opatija. Biennial International Congress. Tourism Hospitality Industry(p. 551). University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism Hospitality Management. Grekova, K., Bremmers, H. J., Trienekens, J. H., Kemp, R. G. M., Omta, S. W. F. (2014). Extending environmental management beyond the firm boundaries: An empirical study of Dutch food and beverage firms.International Journal of Production Economics,152, 174-187. Grekova, K., Calantone, R. J., Bremmers, H. J., Trienekens, J. H., Omta, S. W. F. (2016). How environmental collaboration with suppliers and customers influences firm performance: evidence from Dutch food and beverage processors.Journal of Cleaner Production,112, 1861-1871. Hurrell, S. A., Scholarios, D. (2014). The People Make the Brand Reducing Social Skills Gaps Through Person-Brand Fit and Human Resource Management Practices.Journal of Service Research,17(1), 54-67. Killen, C. P., Jugdev, K., Drouin, N., Petit, Y. (2012). Advancing project and portfolio management research: Applying strategic management theories.International Journal of Project Management,30(5), 525-538. Knott, P. J. (2015). Does VRIO help managers evaluate a firms resources?.Management Decision,53(8), 1806-1822. Mari?, D., Marinkovi?, V., Mari?, R., Dimitrovski, D. (2016). Analysis of Tangible and Intangible Hotel Service Quality Components.Industrija,44(1). McLay, A. (2014). Re-reengineering the dream: agility as competitive adaptability.International Journal of Agile Systems and Management,7(2), 101-115. O'Kane, G. (2012). What is the real cost of our food? Implications for the environment, society and public health nutrition.Public Health Nutrition,15(02), 268-276. Pesic, M. A., Milic, V. J., Stankovic, J. (2013). Application Of Vrio Framework For Analyzing Human Resourcesrole In Providing Competitive Advantage.Tourism Management Studies, 575-586. Porter, M. E., Heppelmann, J. E. (2014). How smart, connected products are transforming competition.Harvard Business Review,92(11), 64-88. Rothaermel, F. T. (2015).Strategic management. McGraw-Hill. Tamwatin, U., Trimetsoontorn, J., Fongsuwan, W. (2015). The effect of tangible and intangible service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty: a SEM approach towards a five-star hotel in Thailand.Journal for Global Business Advancement,8(4), 399-419. Wu, P. H., Huang, C. Y., Chou, C. K. (2014). Service expectation, perceived service quality, and customer satisfaction in food and beverage industry.International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online),7(1), 171.

Torture, Should It Be Allowed or Not free essay sample

According to Human Rights Watch in the following countries: China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, and Uzbekistan have documented the use of torture in two thousand and four and two thousand and five. In a recent poll Fifty Three percent of Americans believe that all torture should be abolished, with thirty one percent of those polled believing it should be allowed but with limits, and seven percent of those polled believing it should be allowed without limits. In a world full of lies and vulgarity, where people are capable of things so inhuman, torturing should not be allowed. Torture is often used to punish, to obtain information or a confession, to take revenge on a person or persons or create terror and fear within a population. Some of the most common methods of physical torture include beating, electric shocks, stretching, submersion, suffocation, burns, rape and sexual assault. We will write a custom essay sample on Torture, Should It Be Allowed or Not or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Psychological forms of torture and ill-treatment, which very often have the most long-lasting consequences for victims, commonly include: isolation, threats, humiliation, mock executions, mock amputations, and witnessing the torture of others. The use Lopez 2 of torture is dishonorable. It corrupts and degrades the state which uses it and the legal system which accepts it (Hoffman). Some societies have used torture to suppress independent thought and convert people to right-thinking. The individual is tortured until they abandon their own views and beliefs and adopt those of the torturers. The victim ceases to be an end in themselves but becomes just another means to support the regime of the torturer. Many people believe that it should not be legal for regular purposes, such as investigating domestic crimes, but for international security and our protection from extremists, they also believe that there are times when it will be necessary to act in otherwise distasteful ways. Many think it could be the only way we have to obtain information, because we all â€Å"know† that if we were in some other country, they would do it to us also. They believe that there are some cases between life and death, and continuing or ending a war, that choosing torture or no torture would dictate. However, this argument is invalid because anyone being tortured can lie about what they are stating in order to stop the torture from continuing. Torture is an ineffective interrogation tool because it may produce false information since under torture a prisoner will eventually say anything to stop the pain regardless of whether it is true. In which case, because of this the interrogator can never be sure that they are getting the truth and will never know when to stop. Any form of torture or cruel and unusual punishment should never be legal, in any situation. It is no one’s given right to purposely neither physically nor emotionally hurt another being. For one, a suspect is just that: a suspect. A suspect is a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offense, but without certain exact proof. For all the authorities know, the person being subjected to torture and abuse could very well be innocent. Humans are not infallible and Lopez 3 somewhere down the line, innocent people will be physically and mentally abused, and possibly permanently injured or killed (Thomas). Even people who have been proved to be guilty of a crime should not be tortured, as it goes against all morals and human rights. When an abuser tortures someone, the abuser becomes a criminal themselves. Even when people call it enhanced interrogation, this is just the politically correct term for torture (Kirk). Even if torture was legal, it has been proven that torture is very ineffective in producing information, and often results in suspects making false statements in order to stop their torture. It is easy to say that torture should be allowed when people remain ignorant and unexposed to the subject and how it works. Torture is no joke and is extremely brutal, for many people it remains adhered in their minds forever. For example, in the case of Abu Omar, he was, as he describes, spreading his arms in a crucifixion position, he was tied to a metal door as shocks were administered to his nipples and genitals. His legs still tremble as he describes how he was twice raped. He mentions, almost casually, the hearing loss in his left ear from the beatings, and how he still wakes up at night screaming, takes tranquilizers, finds it hard to concentrate, and has unspecified problems with his wife at home. He is, in short, a broken man (Bergen). Omar was an innocent man, though to be involved in terrorism, sent from the United States of America into Egypt to get tortured, since it would be â€Å"illegal† to do it in the US. In the fall of 2003, Abu Omar was taken to another prison; it was here that he was crucified and raped by the guards. After seven more months of torture, a Cairo court found there was no evidence that Abu Omar was involved in terrorism and ordered him freed. He was told not to contact anyone in Italy—including his wife—and not to speak to the press or human rights groups. Lopez 4 Above all, he was not to tell anyone what had happened. Like Omar, there are many more out there living with this penalty that they don’t deserve. â€Å"I believe strongly that torture is not moral, legal or effective. † Guantanamo is â€Å"a damaging symbol to the world†¦ a rallying cry for terrorist recruitment and harmful to our national security, so closing it is important for our national security. † Admiral Dennis Blair, from the Witness against torture committee stated when asked about the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a detainment and interrogation facility of the United States military located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. These committees exist in order to protect the rights of all of the innocent people like Abu Omar and exist within the United States with plenty of supporters all around. Ultimately, I believe torture should not be legal. Torture is a notoriously ineffective method of eliciting valid information, and the use of torture demeans the torturer even more than it punishes the victim of that abuse. Endorsing the use of torture by the State only gives it the stamp of validity and makes it more likely that innocents will suffer the infliction of torture including those we seek to protect through its implementation (Berkowitz). It dehumanizes people by treating them as pawns to be manipulated through their pain, it treats the victim as a thing, not as a person with all the value that we associate with persons, and it violates the rights and human dignity of the victim, including the legal right to remain silent when questioned. Torture is an inhuman and ineffective means of gaining information. Lopez 5 Works cited Berkowitz, Roger. Why We Must Judge. Democracy. Fall 2010: 56. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr 2013. Bergen, Peter. The Body Snatchers. Mother Jones Vol. 33, No. 2. Mar/Apr 2008: 58-61. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 23 May 2013. Kirk, Robin. The Body in Pain. Sojourners. Jul 2011: 22. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr 2013 McCarthy, Andrew C. Torture: Thinking About the Unthinkable. Commentary. July/Aug. 2004: 17. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr 2013. Sands, Philippe. The Green Light. Vanity Fair No. 573. May 2008: 218+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr 2013. Thomas, Dorothy Q. , and others. Bringing Human Rights Home: Into the Bright Sunshine. American Prospect Vol. 15, No. 10. Oct. 2004: A1+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Apr 2013.

Culture and Leadership in a safe Industrial Environment

Culture and Leadership in a safe Industrial Environment Abstract The purpose of this paper was to discuss the role of culture, management leadership, and employee involvement in the process of improving safety in an industrial environment. In this regard, the discussion focused on the development and implementation of an improved environment, health, and safety (EHS) program at GE Aviation. The main goal of the EHS program was to develop measures for protecting the company’s employees from any harm as they work in various manufacturing plants.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Culture and Leadership in a safe Industrial Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The program was also established to enable the company to reduce its ecological footprint. The elements of the company’s culture that facilitated the development of the program included visible leadership, accountability, responsibility, and collaboration between staff and management. Management lead ership facilitated access to the resources and motivation that was required to develop the program. Employee involvement, on the other hand, enabled the company to avert resistance and to utilize the expertise of its staff to develop the program. Introduction The health and safety of workers determine the continued success of any business. Occupational health and safety can be improved through effective management leadership and employee involvement. Effective management involves â€Å"securing the health, safety, and welfare of all staff by reducing risks and ensuring protection from injuries/ harm arising out of work-related activities†. An effective management leadership should provide the motivation and the resources that are needed to improve safety at the workplace. Employee involvement, on the other hand, involves creating an enabling environment in which workers nurture and demonstrate their commitment to health and safety. This paper will focus on the role of managem ent leadership and employee involvement in promoting a safe industrial environment in the aviation industry. Specifically, it will discuss the application of organizational culture, management leadership, and employee involvement to develop an environment, health, and safety (EHS) program at General Electric (GE) Aviation. Employees who were Involved in the Program General Electric Aviation is the â€Å"world’s leading producer of jet engines for commercial and military aircrafts† (GE Aviation, 2014). The company also provides repair and maintenance services for jet engines. In this regard, the production processes of the company are characterized with several health hazards that are likely to endanger the lives of its employees.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, the company decided to enhance the safety of its employees by developing an improved environment, health, and safety program. Apart from reducing occupational safety risks, the program also enables the company to reduce its ecological footprint. The EHS program was developed by a team of 1,000 health and safety professionals (GE Aviation, 2014). The professionals were drawn from various departments in over 500 manufacturing plants that are owned by the company. The role of the professional team was to assess the company’s safety standards and to develop improved measures for reducing exposure to health hazards at the workplace. The company’s management supported the professional team by helping them to define the goals, values, and expectations of the EHS program (GE Aviation, 2014). The management also provided the resources that the professional team required to develop the EHS program. The company’s employees also participated in the development of the EHS program by helping to identify health hazards and suggesting measures that could be tak en to address safety risks. However, the contract workers did not actively participate in the development of the program since most of them worked for the company for less than six months. What the EHS Program was Set Up to Accomplish The EHS program was developed to achieve the following objectives. First, the program was expected to promote a â€Å"culture of operational safety ownership† (GE Aviation, 2014). In particular, the company intended to utilize the EHS program to integrate operational safety ownership in its organizational culture. In this regard, the responsibility of ensuring safety at the workplace was to be accepted as a value that every employee indentified with. Second, the program was expected to develop a framework for reducing or eliminating employees’ exposure to the health/ safety risks associated with chemical operations (GE Aviation, 2014). Specifically, the program was expected to develop solutions that would enable the company to adopt safe operations through strategies such as re-engineering processes and using protective devices. Third, the EHS was set up to enable the company to reduce the accidents and injuries that occur due to human error. The company believes that employees will always make mistakes that are likely to cause injury at the workplace (GE Aviation, 2014). Consequently, the EHS program focused on redesigning the manufacturing processes that often led to human error at the workplace. Fourth, the EHS was developed to improve employee involvement in improving safety at the workplace.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Culture and Leadership in a safe Industrial Environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Employees are likely to support a health and safety program that they helped to develop (OSHA, 2014). This explains the company’s decision to involve all its employees in the development of the program. Finally, the EHS program was expected to facilitate organizational learning. It was expected to enable the company to learn from any health or safety incident that would occur in future. The main accomplishment of the EHS program is the health and safety intelligence system that has since been developed to improve compliance with safety requirements. The intelligence system was developed as a web-based software that uses a checklist of 680 questions to assess the company’s compliance with various safety standards (GE Aviation, 2014). It also provides suggestions for improving safety in various manufacturing operations. Where the Program was Developed The EHS program was developed in an institutional setting that promotes a collaborative approach to addressing occupational safety risks. The company believes that managers and employees must collaborate in order to develop effective solutions to the safety challenges that it faces. Accordingly, the company promotes employee involvement by obtaining feedbac k from workers in every department concerning its commitment to safety (GE Aviation, 2014). The feedbacks are often obtained through perception surveys that enable the company to receive suggestions from its employees on how to improve safety. Employees are also involved in conducting site inspections and analyzing routine hazards in order to develop safe work practices. Employee involvement facilitated the development of the EHS program in several ways. To begin with, staff involvement enabled the health and safety professionals to incorporate the expectations of the employees in the goals and objectives of the EHS program. In addition, the values of the program were based on the employees’ needs for safety at the workplace (GE Aviation, 2014). As a result, the employees supported the development and implementation of the program. In this case, employee involvement enabled the company to avoid staff resistance during the development and implementation of the EHS program. In addition, employee involvement promoted the culture of operational safety ownership. This was achieved by improving employees’ commitment to enhancing their safety and that of their colleagues. The success of GE Aviation’s EHS program can also be attributed to the fact that it was developed in an institutional setting that promoted the culture of responsibility and accountability. Accountability leads to a safe industrial environment by enabling companies to measure the performance of managers based on predetermined health/ safety goals and standards.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An effective accountability model must have established performance standards, evaluation system, and the resources that managers need to meet their targets. Moreover, it must be applicable at all levels and provide incentives that promote high performance. Accordingly, GE Aviation’s operations managers bear the greatest responsibility of improving the safety of its staff. The company’s culture of responsibility and accountability enabled the health and safety professionals to develop appropriate goals that each operations manager had to achieve in order to improve the safety of employees (GE Aviation, 2014). The managers were evaluated and rewarded based on the extent to which they achieved their health and safety goals. As a result, the managers focused on inspiring employees to internalize the values of the EHS program. However, delegating too much responsibility to operations managers negatively affected the company’s commitment to promote a culture of occup ational safety ownership. In particular, the employees perceived occupational safety as the responsibility of the managers rather than every worker in the company. Undoubtedly, ownership of the process of improving safety can only be enhanced if responsibilities are distributed equally among employees. Visible leadership is also an important element of GE Aviation’s organizational culture that facilitated the development of the EHS program. Visible leadership involves leading by example and participating actively in safety and health committees at the workplace (OSHA, 2014). Accordingly, the company’s management focused on developing the EHS program without undercutting the authority of the operations managers to steer the program. The operations managers retained the authority to make key decisions concerning the implementation of the program. This devolved system of making decisions enabled the company’s leadership to involve as many employees as possible in d ecision-making processes through consultations between operations managers and their juniors. When the Program was Developed The program’s development life cycle lasted for a period of eighteen months. Origination was the first stage in the development of the EHS program. At this stage, the company’s CEO having recognized the business case for improving employee safety, proposed the idea of developing a comprehensive EHS program (GE Aviation, 2014). The focus of the origination stage was to win employees’ support for the idea of developing an improved EHS program. In this regard, effective management leadership enabled the company’s CEO to create a sense of urgency for change within the company. The CEO focused on inspiring and motivating the employees at various levels to support the proposed EHS program. Having won the support of key change agents within the company, the management officially initiated the process of developing the new EHS program. An E HS program manager was selected to lead the process of overhauling the company’s health and safety system (GE Aviation, 2014). After the initiation, the management proceeded to the planning stage where detailed plans for developing the program were developed. At this stage, effective management leadership enabled the company’s managers to determine the program’s scope, goals, costs, risks, and opportunities (GE Aviation, 2014). Employees were actively involved at this stage in various activities such as cost benefit analysis, reviewing existing safety standards, and making suggestions on the processes that needed re-engineering to improve safety. The rationale of this strategy is that employee involvement leads to high staff commitment and motivation, which in turn improves participation in health and safety promotion initiatives. The feedback from employees enabled the management to identify the solutions that had to be implemented to improve safety. In additio n, the employees provided valuable insights that enabled the company to provide adequate resources for the program. Having developed the plans, the management proceeded to the execution stage where key deliverables were managed. The key deliverables included budgets, implementation schedules, and plans that defined the strategies that were expected to improve safety. At this stage, the focus of the company’s management leadership was to provide the technical expertise that was required to develop and implement the program (GE Aviation, 2014). Consequently, the team of health and safety professionals concentrated on implementing the solutions that had been identified to improve safety. Employees’ involvement at this stage included provision of supportive services such as reviewing budgets, as well as, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation process. In the last stage, the new EHS program was adopted by the company’s management. Currently, the employees an d the management are actively involved in implementing the requirements of the program and reviewing its effectiveness on a regular basis. This is important because reviewing health and safety programs through employee involvement enables managers to address emerging health and safety risks at the workplace in time (AHMP, 2014). Why the EHS Program Came About The EHS program came about due to the following reasons. First, the management of GE Aviation had a goal of reducing occupational hazards in order to improve the safety of its employees. Health and safety conditions are important elements of the industrial environment since they determine the productivity of workers (NOISH, 2014). Employees who feel unsafe are likely to leave the company in order to avoid endangering their lives. Thus, GE Aviation’s management adopted the EHS program to reduce labor turnover and to increase the productivity of its workforce. Second, the EHS program was adopted to help the company to comp ly with the regulations concerning safety in an industrial environment. The program was expected to enable the company to identify viable strategies for achieving or exceeding the workplace safety standards set by organizations such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Compliance with occupational safety and health regulations helps companies to avoid penalties and cancelation of their licenses due to poor or unsafe work conditions (OSHA, 2014). Thus, GE Aviation had to establish a new EHS program to help it comply with regulations. Third, the company intended to reduce its impact on the environment through the EHS program. This goal was to be achieved by re-engineering various manufacturing processes in order to reduce the amount of toxic substances that the company discharged to the ambient environment. As a result, the company would reduce the exposure of its employees to toxic substances that are harmful to health. Moreover, the company would be able to reduc e its level of pollution (GE Aviation, 2014). Reducing the level of pollution and improving employees’ safety was expected to improve the company’s image in the countries that it operates in. Furthermore, reducing pollution would enable the company to attain its objective of achieving sustainable production of jet engines. How the EHS Program Functioned Politically, Technically, and Financially Politically, the EHS received adequate support in various departments within the company. The employees welcomed the idea of developing an improved EHS system because it would improve their wellbeing. However, there were divisions at departmental committees on how the EHS program was supposed to be implemented. For instance, the finance committee did not agree with the initial budgetary allocation. According to the finance committee, the EHS program did not deserve a significant budgetary allocation since it did not directly lead to generation of revenues (GE Aviation, 2014). De spite the differences in opinions in various committees, the EHS manager and his team managed to solicit adequate support and resources to develop and implement the program in time. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the company’s management leadership in the process of developing the new EHS program. The technical aspect of the EHS program did not encounter a lot of challenges. At the onset, the company’s management had a clear understanding of the expertise that was needed to develop and implement the program. Consequently, the management employed a team of 1,000 professionals who were qualified in various disciplines to steer the development of the EHS program (GE Aviation, 2014). High employee involvement also enabled the company to utilize the expertise and experiences of its staff who were not directly involved in the development of the program. The financial performance of the EHS program was average. The management intended to implement the program within t he set budgetary allocations. However, there were cost overruns due to minor changes in the original plans (GE Aviation, 2014). For instance, the training of operations managers took longer than was expected, thereby increasing the costs. Nonetheless, the cost overruns were not significantly. Conclusion GE Aviation developed a new EHS program to improve the safety of its employees who work in over 500 manufacturing plants. The main factor that led to the adoption of the new program was the need to improve productivity and to reduce labor turnover by creating a safe working environment. In this regard, the goals of the program included creating a culture of accountability among operations managers, reducing human error, and improving employee involvement in implementing safety measures. In addition, the program was expected to enable the company to learn from future incidents in order to improve its health and safety conditions. The success of the program is mainly attributed to effe ctive management leadership and high employee involvement. The company’s management participated in the development of the program by providing the required resources, setting goals, and soliciting employees’ support. Employee involvement enabled the management to avoid resistance from workers during the implementation of the program. Additionally, the employees collaborated with the management to complete various tasks such as identifying health hazards and suggesting solutions to address them. References AHMP. (2014). Regulatory and management perspectives. Web. GE Aviation. (2014). GE citizenship. Web. Gravel, S., Rheaume, J., Legendre, G. (2011). Strategies to develop and maintain occupational health and safety measures in small businesses employing immigrant workers in metropolitan Montreal. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 4(2), 164-178. Griffith, A., Bhutto, K. (2008). Improving environemental performance through integrated management syst ems (IMS) in the UK. International Journal of Environmental Quality Management, 19(5), 565-578. Leman, A., Yusof, M., Jung, W. (2010). Environmental quality index (EQI) for industrial ventilation and occupational safety and health evaluation in manufacturing plant. Asian Journal on Quality, 11(3), 210-222. NOISH. (2014). Hazards and exposures. Web. OSHA. (2014). Regulations. Web. Zwetsloot, G., Scheppingen, A., Dijkman, A. (2010). The organizational benefits of investing in workplace healthand safety. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 3(2), 143-159.

Functionalism Philosophy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Functionalism Philosophy - Term Paper Example Functionalists have been known to treat terms related to mental states as a mental state functional characterization which differs from input and output terms. Therefore in a (simplified Turing –machine assumption of the theory,) mental states are associated with the states of the Turing-machine, which own on their own are clearly defined by a machine table which mentions outputs and outputs that are explored nonmentalistically. Additionally functionalism empathizes that characterization of mental states ought to include descriptions of outputs and inputs in both its non-machine and machine versions. The variation between Psychofunctionalism and Functionalism brings forth a difference in specifying outputs and inputs. Functionalists are restricted to specification of outputs and inputs that constitutes common-sense knowledge; Psychofunctionalists are not bound by such restrictions. Whereas both sides lay emphasis on physical specification outputs and inputs, Functionalists are keen on classifications that are externally observable. Psychofunctionalists, have the alternative to specify outputs and inputs in terms of internal parameters. ... Even if both the Functionalists and Psychofunctionalism emphasize on physical, or nonmental-specification over inputs and outputs, the requirement by Functionalists remains the externally observable classifications, for example, inputs whose characteristics assume the terms of the present objects within the organisms vicinity, expressed in body parts’ movements. On the other hand, Psychofunctionalists are at liberty to present a specification between inputs and outputs, assuming the internal parameters’ terms; for example, signals in input, as well as output neurons. One problem of the input and output is that it is depended on the premise that outputs and inputs can be distinguished by neural impulse descriptions. The fallacy with such approach is that it is chauvinistic because organisms that do not posses neurons are precluded from having functional descriptions. One way to avoid chauvinism associated with inputs and outputs is by characterizing outputs and inputs si mply as just outputs and inputs. Other functionalists insist that descriptions of output and input be non-mental. The very version of functionalism, however, fails to tack down functional descriptions at the most important point with descriptions of outputs and inputs that are relatively specific. Instead this form of functionalism merely specifies inputs, states and outputs only by insisting that they be outputs, inputs and states. The problem with this form of functionalism is that it is exceedingly liberal. There is therefore the need of specifying, when one describes outputs and inputs so as to avoid liberalism, but general enough to steer clear from chauvinism. Block however has preservations concerning the existence of such a description.

Cereal Promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cereal Promotion - Essay Example Before launching promotion campaign, it can be rather useful to make analysis of already existing advertisements. With this aim, we are going to research three randomly taken print ads of Cheerios. They are the following: Ad #1: This advertisement emphasizes appropriateness and conveniences of Cheerios products made particularly for children. The stated ad tells that cereals are useful and healthy, proving it by mentioning that four out of five pediatricians choose exactly Cheerios. Also this print advertisement explains that ring-shaped flakes are very comfortable for kids to grab them, that is why, parents will not have any problems with feeding their children. Ad manages to attract people’s attention with a catchy headline and relevant picture. However, there is rather cumbersome text that can be shortened without any damage to the main idea of the print ad. Ad #2: This advertisement attracts potential consumers’ attention with big and memorable headline that contain s a piece of propagandized product, which makes it more special and acceptable. In addition, the company emphasizes the influence of cereals on heart diseases. Provided text is very informative and appropriate.

Organisations and management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisations and management - Essay Example There is a widespread denial of slavery in management studies, which primarily focus on victims thereby ignoring the role of enterprises and managers in the most atrocious human rights abuses in modern management practice. This article proposes that management research should play a role in explaining why slavery persists in modern day business practices even in the presence of rules, norms, and practices that are meant to discourage it. This article develops a model of modern day slavery as a management practice, which highlights the manner in which modern day organizations succeed in exploiting certain competitive as well as institutional conditions that generate slavery. Similarly, this theory reveals how companies insulate themselves against all forms of institutional pressures that discourage slavery while shaping or sustaining those conditions that promote slavery or prevent it. The evolution of slavery from a formally sanctioned practice to a criminalized practice bound to the informal economy has enhanced the ambiguity and dynamism of slavery in modern business practice, thereby posing challenges for its definition; a precise definition of modern slavery distinguishes it as â€Å"the exercise of ‘powers attaching to the right of ownership’† (Crane, 2013). Modern slaves are compelled to work by threats and they are owned or manipulated by their employer by use of mental, physical as well as threatened abuse; similarly, modern slaves are dehumanized and treated as property besides being physically constrained in their movements and being economically exploited through underpayment. Despite the many forms of slavery and the various business models through which it can be deployed, slavery is essentially an attempt to illegitimately underprice labor, thus, establishing the illegitimate practices through which enterprises achieve underpricing and survival is essential in understanding modern

Contact Lens Case Study Analysis

Contact Lens Case Study Analysis Contact lenses Contact lenses are a suitable substitute for correcting vision in a number of scenarios. There are hundreds of different contact lens types out there in today’s market with the figure growing extensively every year. With the advancement of research and technology, manufactures are always attempting to better their own product lines to suit a variety of needs a person may have, whilst also attempting to 1-up their competitors. The patient we are attempting to fit with lenses has never worn them before so as far as options go, we are open to explore different lens types and materials amounting to 100s of different combinations. She is a nurse who works long shifts in a hospital and desires fulltime CL wear of up to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. To do this, we must assess each aspect of the test and result and cater lens choice to match intended wear time and to also correct her vision for both distance and near. The prescription that we have been presented with is a high myopic prescription so we need to compensate for the change in distance as the contact lens will sit on the cornea and not 12mm away. The compensated contact lens prescription equates to: Soft lenses come in many forms and for this patient, a silicone hydrogel (SiH) lens material would be the one to choose due to its high oxygen transmission (Dk/T) levels, much higher than hydrogel, like the SiH AirOptix Aqua, [Dk 138, 33% water, 8.6 base curve, 14.mm diameter, (AIR OPTIX ® AQUA Contact Lens, no date)] lens vs. the Frequency 55, [Dk 21, 55% water, (Frequency 55 aspheric | CooperVision UK, no date)] hydrogel lens. The Dk/T should be at a level where enough oxygen is passing through to the cornea, avoiding hypoxic conditions and preventing neovascularisation and oedema of the cornea which can lead to permanent corneal damage. SiH lenses however are not as comfortable as regular hydrogel materials due to the rubbery nature of the lens, and also the lenses hold less moisture compared to regular hydrogel. Silicone is not a wettable material so corneal hydration is an issue. (Sweeney, 2004, pp. 3 – 3). Manufacturers combat this by incorporating technology into the lens such as AquaGen found in Clarity 1 day toric [Dk 57, Water 56%, 8.6mm base curve, 14.3mm diameter (SAUFLON, no date)] .This allows the lens to stay hydrated and increase overall comfort wear-time, something extremely important for this nurse. Soft lenses drape over the cornea and range between 13.8mm-14.5mm sizes in order to cater for the patient’s measurements. A well fitted soft lens will ensure that the lens has corneal coverage in all directions of gaze. The lens should have movement of at least 1/4mm when blinking, not more because of the variable vision it will cause, or less as it will cause discomfort and should also allow adequate exchange of tears behind the lens to allow debris removal (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 227-227). Rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses are much more complex to fit than soft lenses They are tailor made to the patient’s prescription and measurements such as horizontal iris diameter (HVID) and pupil size. RGPs are smaller than soft lenses and smaller in diameter than the cornea itself, with diameters ranging from 8mm to 11mm. RGPs float on the tear film and can create a lens made out of tears. (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 137 – 139) Practitioners need to take this tear lens into account as it can negate the need for toric lenses or require prescription adjustments through over-refraction (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 137 – 139). RGPs offer superior clarity than their softer counterparts and are much more durable and longer lasting, however are mostly overlooked in modern times (outside of therapeutics) due to the patient’s impatience of adapting to the initial uncomfortable fitting. RGPs are also easier to lose as they can pop out of the eye much easier and are more difficult to completely cleanse, something important for this nurse considering her working environment. Assessing her slit-lamp examination results such as her tear break up time (TBUT) and tear prism, I would be looking at a lens that plentiful hydration to the cornea. This is because her TBUT of less than 10 seconds at 7 seconds and her tear prism of 0.2 mm indicate that she suffers from dry eyes (Dryeyesmedical, no date). Having dry eyes and not addressing the issue will result in significantly reduced wear time due to great increase in discomfort. High water content lenses; whilst more comfortable than most other lenses at first, deteriorate in comfort as the day progresses due to evaporation (Efron, 2012, pp. 87 – 87). These lenses then proceed to draw water from the next available source being the tear film through osmosis will cause discomfort for this nurse as she does suffer from dry eyes, reducing wear time considerably. Her TBUT and tear prism will influence the lens choice as she does intend full time lens wear, such as a SiH lens like the Acuvue Oasys toric lens [Dk 147, Water 38%, 8.4mm base curve, 14.3mm diameter, (JJvisioncare, no date)] or a RGP lens. The astigmatism present in her prescription will necessitate toric lenses which allow practitioners to correct astigmatism. Most popular toric lenses available on the market such as the Biofinity toric lens corrects astigmatism only up to a maximum of -2.25DC and the axis is only correctable to the nearest 10 ° meaning that contact lens practitioners must sometimes compromise the vision slightly when the prescription is unavailable in exact power and axis specifications such as this nurse (Ruben and editor., 1978, pp. 212 – 213), where an axis of 180 ° would need to be given for both lenses. An ideal lens for this nurse such as the Clarity 1day toric employs prism ballast which places 1-1.5Δ of base down prism at the base of the lens for stability. Stability of the lens reduces lens rotation and ensures toric lenses stay on axis. This does increase lens thickness and causes a reduction of Dk/T at the base of the lens, increasing risk of hypoxia at the zone (Efron, 2012, pp. 221 – 221). Acuvue Oasys toric lenses employ peri ballast aka accelerated stabilisation designs which have 4 stability zones. This design is claimed to provide more rapid settling on the cornea; within 1 minute, and achieve correct orientation within 5 ° of the anticipated position in 90% of cases (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 266 – 266) Prism Peri ballast designs (Methods of Stabilisation | Optometry by Catherine Care, no date) RGP lenses would be a serious candidate due to her corneal astigmatism (K) readings gained from the keratometer. Her measurements gained were: RE: [emailprotected] [emailprotected] LE: [emailprotected] [emailprotected] Every 0.05 of difference between the 2 readings gained by each eye corresponds to 0.25DC, so comparing her corneal astigmatism to prescription, we can deduce that the difference equates to -0.75DC in her right eye and -1.25DC in her left eye. This means that when the lens is fitted on the flattest K, the difference between the K readings will create a negative powered tear lens that will correct the astigmatism completely in both eyes for his nurse, negating the need for toric lenses (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 137 – 139). Multifocal contact lenses are an excellent way to correct presbyopia and exist both in soft and hard lens designs. Simultaneous designs such as concentric ring multifocals (MF) are fairly common such as the Oasys for presbyopia lens, [Dk 147, Water 38%, 8.4mm base curve, 14.3mm diameter, (JJvisioncare, no date)] which provides both distance and near vision in one lens. They do this based on pupil size and often are split up between centre distance (CD) lenses for the dominant eye in most cases and centre near (CN) lenses for the other eye. Depending on the level of illumination, a certain working distance will be favoured over the other as the concentric rings are positioned at intervals which the pupil size will coincide with. This MF design does increase the amount of glare experienced by the patient due to the rings and can also decrease contrast sensitivity due to superimposed retinal image sizes if CD and CN are given (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 277 – 282). I would not recommend a MF soft lens for this patient as it will not correct her astigmatism. Daily MF toric lenses do not currently exist, however monthly soft MF toric lenses do exist with one lens type being the Proclear multifocal, a hydrogel lens with low Dk and high water content [Dk 42, 62% water content, (Coopervision, no date)] something definitely less than ideal for our patient’s desired wear schedule. Bifocal RGP lenses exist providing excellent distance and near vision and use the lenses movement on the cornea. The lens moves up as the eye rotates down, bringing the segment into the pupil’s path and allowing the patient to read. As the eye rotates back up, the lens moves down and the segment moves out of the pupils path and distance vision is restored. (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 277 – 282) RGP bifocals such as the Boston Multivison lens would be an excellent choice for this patient if she were to adapt to them due to correcting astigmatism through the tear lens, allowing her to see distance and reading in one package and allowing plenty of oxygen to pass through the lens. Another successful form of CL correction for presbyopia is monovision (MV), in which one eye is optimally corrected for distance acuity and the other is corrected for near vision (Weissman, 2006, pp. 20 – 20). MV does not compromise lens fitting options and is a highly versatile option and is the least complicated method of dealing with. The distance prescription would be worn in the dominant eye and the reading prescription would be worn in the non-dominant eye, with the brain suppressing images from one eye depending on the working distance. The issue with MV however is that stereopsis is lost as binocular vision is not being utilised. This can be an issue for this nurse if she is required to carry out tasks that require accurate judgement of depth like administering an injection to a patient or driving. If the concept is thoroughly explained initially, there is a much higher chance of acceptance of MV and seeing that she hasn’t worn CLs before, she is very likely to adapt. (Gasson and Morris, 2010, pp. 277 – 282) The other alternative to this would be just to correct her distance prescription with contact lenses and to give her a separate pair of +1.75DS reading spectacles which although a viable solution, can be inconvenient for her and defeats the purpose of replacing glasses with full time CL wear. Some special advice for this patient would include managing her grade 1 blepharitis, which in its current state will not impact lens choice or length of wear if managed correctly. I would advise her to apply hot compresses to her lids and recommend a gel like Blephagel in order to accelerate debris clearance. I would advise her against using baby shampoo which is a surfactant, as it will break lipids in her tear film and will further detriment her dry eyes. I would advise her to administer artificial tears into her eyes which are CL compatible in order to maintain extended comfort all day. I would advise her to thoroughly clean her lenses daily if choosing a non daily lens by rubbing and rinsing in preservative free multipurpose solution, or alternatively recommend peroxide solution and let the lenses fully be cleansed without the need to rub and rinse. My overall recommendation after all things considered would be to fit this patient with the soft bi-monthly Acuvue Oasys toric lens with HydraClear technology to permanently lock a high volume of wetting agent inside the contact lens (JJvisioncare, no date). I would utilise monovision with distance dominance to correct for presbyopia, thoroughly explaining to her the mechanics of monovision and what to expect, as not to be overwhelmed by loss of stereopsis and to increase the overall likelihood of acceptance. I’d also tell her to take precaution if driving. My reasoning for this is heavily based off her wearing schedule in tandem with her dry eyes and her working environment. In order to achieve the wear schedule that she desires, it is extremely important that the lens has a high Dk/T lens in order to prevent hypoxic conditions and a high wettability in order to maintain corneal hydration, minimising discomfort and thus allowing said wear schedule taking into account her dry eyes. She is a nurse so automatically this puts her at a higher risk of infection, hence a lens more frequently replaced would be ideal to prevent deposit build up from affecting her too much and overall decrease the risk of infection. I would recommend her the peroxide solution to further clean the lenses and to decrease the risk of infection and to apply artificial tears for extra comfort. 2199 words Bibliography AIR OPTIX ® AQUA Contact Lens(no date) Available at: http://www.airoptix.com/contact-lenses/aqua.shtml (Accessed: 28 April 2015) CooperVision (no date)Proclear multifocal toric. Available at: http://coopervision.com/practitioner/our-products/proclear-family/proclear-multifocal-toric (Accessed: 25 April 2015) Efron, N. (2012) Contact lens complications. Third edn. Edinburgh: Saunders (W.B.) Co Frequency 55 aspheric | CooperVision UK(no date) Available at: http://coopervision.co.uk/contact-lenses/frequency-55-aspheric (Accessed: 28 April 2015) Gasson, A. and Morris, J. (2010) The contact lens manual: a practical guide to fitting. Edinburgh: Elsevier Health Sciences JJvisioncare (no date)ACUVUE ® OASYS ® for ASTIGMATISM. Available at: https://www.jnjvisioncare.co.uk/contact-lenses/all-acuvue-brand-contact-lenses/toric/acuvue-oasys-for-astigmatism (Accessed: 25 April 2015) JJvisioncare (no date)ACUVUE ® OASYS ® for PRESBYOPIA | Johnson and Johnson Vision Care. Available at: https://www.jnjvisioncare.co.uk/contact-lenses/all-acuvue-brand-contact-lenses/multifocal/acuvue-oasys-for-presbyopia (Accessed: 25 April 2015) MEDICAL, D. E. (no date) Diagnostic tests. Available at: http://www.dryeyesmedical.com/diagnosis/diagnostic-tests.html (Accessed: 25 April 2015) Methods of Stabilisation | Optometry by Catherine Care (no date) Available at: http://optometry.catherinecaregroup.com/method-of-stabilisation/ (Accessed: 29 April 2015) Ruben, M. and editor. (1978) Soft contact lenses: clinical and applied technology. New York: John Wiley SAUFLON (no date)Clariti ® 1day toric. Available at: http://www.sauflon.co.uk/eye-care-professionals/products/clariti-1day-toric (Accessed: 25 April 2015) Sweeney, D. F. (2004) Silicone hydrogels: continuous-wear contact lenses. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Weissman, B. A. (2006) OPTOMETRIC CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINE CARE OF THE CONTACT LENS PATIENT. 2nd edn. St. Louis, MO: American Optometric Association

Valley Winery Case Essay examples -- essays research papers

The Valley Winery-Case 1.1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is the management of Valley Winery doing an acceptable job of hiring and training qualified employees?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Management is the foundation of a company. They are the ones that make decisions which could make or break a company. They personify how the company and employees should act. If one is driven towards perfection in sales, many other important areas of the business could be overlooked. For example, maintenance of long term relationships with buyers would be overlooked. If management is pushing the sales reps to just go after the sale at any cost, reps could be looked at as unethical and even too pushy. Valley Winery management encourages reps to lie about how many cases of wine are sold to buyers. This is unethical and puffery. Pushing these sales reps to call their ethics into question, what does that say about management?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pat Waller, employee of Valley Winery, was recently promoted to sales manager of the San Francisco region’s chain division. When he arrived, he was shocked to find that such a successful division had such a horrible turnover rate. How was the San Francisco division of Valley Winery obtaining their sales goals? He began to investigate and found many problems that were mainly stemming from management. The hiring process of Valley Winery needs to be revised. Mike Wehner, personnel manager for the San Francisco division, believes that employment agencies provide the most qualified applicants. If this is true, would the turnover rate be near 100 percent? According†¦., employees acquired from employment agencies yield high turnover rates. Top management places too much of an emphasis on youth and physical attributes. Sales representatives of Valley Winery should be groomed and well kept. However, youthfulness and physical attributes should not outweigh quali fications for the job at hand. Looks are important but qualifications and experience would not be overlooked. Businesses have an image they would like their representatives to project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once qualified sales representatives have been hired, proper training should be enforced. The Valley Winery new recruits are not given a true portrayal of everything their new sales job entails. During the hiring process, a sales hopeful is sent into the field for ... ...p;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -Professional Growth All of these factors can lead to or be affected by negative affectivity. This figure describes how negative affectivity can affect a person’s productivity. Negative affectivity is the state of mind a person gets in if experiencing a tumultuous work environment. Individuals that experience high negative affectivity have a negative outlook towards their job and themselves. Motivation among employees of Valley Winery is non existent. One of the top producing sales representatives, Bill Murphy, was receiving phone calls as late as ten thirty at night. These calls were routine and the objectives could be accomplished by email. Phone calls this late hurts morale and disposition of the sales force. The proposed mentoring program being developed by management and human resources will help remedy this problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Putting the new hiring criteria in effect at Valley Winery should create a reduction in employee loss. By retaining new employees and hiring the correct representative, training costs should be significantly downsized.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Ainsworth Strange Situation Studies

Ainsworth Strange Situation Studies The Strange Situation procedure, developed by American psychologist Mary Ainsworth, is widely used in child development research. Much research in psychology has focused on how forms of attachment differ between infants. For example, Schaffer and Emerson (1964) discovered what appeared to be innate differences in sociability in babies; some babies preferred cuddling more than others, from very early on, before much interaction had occurred to cause such differences. It’s easy enough to know when you are attached to someone because you know how you feel when you are apart from that person, and, being an adult, you can put your feelings into words and describe how it feels. However, most attachment research is carried out using infants and young children, so psychologists have to devise subtle ways of researching attachment, involving the observational method. Using the Strange Situation procedure, many researchers have studied the development of child attachment to the mother and other caregivers. However, there continues to be much debate about the origins of the child's reaction in the Strange Situation, and about what factors influence the development of an infant's attachment relationships. The security of attachment in one- to two-year-olds was investigated by Ainsworth and Bell (1970) in the ‘_strange situation_' study, in order to determine the nature of attachment behaviours and types of attachment. Ainsworth (1970) developed an experimental procedure in order to observe the variety of attachment forms exhibited between caregivers and infants. The experiment is set up in a small room with one way glass so the behaviour of the infant can be observed. Infants were aged between 12 and 18 months. The sample comprised about 100 middle class American families. The procedure, known as the ‘_Strange Situation_’, was conducted by observing the behaviour of the caregiver and the infant in a series of seven 3-minute episodes, as follows: (1) Parent and infant alone. (2) Stranger joins parent and infant. (3) Parent leaves infant and stranger alone. (4) Parent returns and stranger leaves. (5) Parent leaves; infant left completely alone. 6) Stranger returns. (7) Parent returns and stranger leaves. Psychologist Mary Ainsworth devised an assessment technique called the Strange Situation Classification (SSC) in order to investigate how attachments might vary between children. The goal of the Strange Situation procedure was to provide an environment that would arouse in the infant both the motivation to explore and the urge to seek security. An observer (often a researcher or therapist) takes a mother and her child (usually around the age of 12 months) to an unfamiliar room containing toys. A series of eight separations and reunions are staged involving mild, but cumulative, stress for the infant. Separation in such an unfamiliar setting would also likely activate the child's attachmentsystem and allow for a direct test of its functioning. Although no single behaviour can be used to assess the quality of the infant's attachment to the caregiver, the pattern of the infant's responses to the changing situation is of interest to psychologists. The validation of the procedure and its scoring method were grounded in the naturalistic observation of the child's exploration, crying, and proximity-seeking in the home. Ainsworth's research revealed key individual differences among children, demonstrated by the child's reaction to the mother's return. Ainsworth categorised these responses into three major types: Anxious/avoidant—the child may not be distressed at the mother's departure and may avoid or turn away from her on her return; Securely attached—the child is distressed by the mother's departure and easily soothed by her on her return; Anxious/resistant—the child may stay extremely close to the mother during the first few minutes and become highly distressed at her departure. When she returns, the child will simultaneously seek both comfort and distance from the mother. The child's behaviour will be characterised by crying and reaching to be held and then attempting to leave once picked up. Strengths The strange situation classification has become the accepted methodology worldwide for measuring attachment (re: Van Ijzendoorn and Kroonenberg, 1988) Ainsworth, M. Infancy in Uganda: Infant Care and the Growth of Love. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967. Periodicals Spock, Benjamin. â€Å"Mommy, Don't Go! † Parenting 10, June-July 1996, pp. 86+. Weaknesses In addition, some research has shown that the same child may show different attachment behaviours on different occasions. Children's attachments may change, perhaps because of changes in the child's circumstances, so a securely attached child may appear insecurely attached if the mother becomes ill or the family circumstances change. The strange situation has also been criticised on ethica grounds. Because the child is put under stress (separation and stranger anxiety), the study has broken the ethical guideline protection of participants. The sample is biased -100 middle class American families. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise the findings outside of America and to working class families. Finally, the observational study has been criticised for having low ecological validity. Because the child is place in a strange and artificial environment, due to the the procedure of the mother and stranger following a predetermined script.

Free Essays on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X ultimately became towering icons of contemporary African-American culture and had a great influence on black Americans. However, their approach to the civil rights movement was different in many ways. King had a positive attitude believing that through peaceful demonstrations and arguments, blacks will be able to someday achieve full equality with whites. Malcolm X's pessimistic belief was that equality is impossible because whites have no moral conscience. King basically adopted on an integrationalist philosophy, whereby he felt that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. Malcolm X, however, promoted nationalist and separatist doctrines. For most of his life, he believed that only through revolution and force could blacks attain their rightful place in society. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both contributed to the Civil Rights movement in different ways because they had different philosophies and cours! es of action, however King’s ideas were more beneficial to the movement. Both X and King spread their message through powerful, hard-hitting speeches. Nevertheless, their intentions were delivered in different styles and purposes. King was basically a peaceful leader who urged non-violence to his followers. He led nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham and in other places because he believed that â€Å" the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative†. King also spread his nonviolent direct-action program to other states of the US as well. He believed that â€Å"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere†¦ whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly†. Martin Luther King believed it was his duty to stop the injustice, and therefore was â€Å"compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond [his] home town†. Unlike Malcolm X’s demonstrations, all of King’s we... Free Essays on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Free Essays on Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X ultimately became towering icons of contemporary African-American culture and had a great influence on black Americans. However, their approach to the civil rights movement was different in many ways. King had a positive attitude believing that through peaceful demonstrations and arguments, blacks will be able to someday achieve full equality with whites. Malcolm X's pessimistic belief was that equality is impossible because whites have no moral conscience. King basically adopted on an integrationalist philosophy, whereby he felt that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. Malcolm X, however, promoted nationalist and separatist doctrines. For most of his life, he believed that only through revolution and force could blacks attain their rightful place in society. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both contributed to the Civil Rights movement in different ways because they had different philosophies and cours! es of action, however King’s ideas were more beneficial to the movement. Both X and King spread their message through powerful, hard-hitting speeches. Nevertheless, their intentions were delivered in different styles and purposes. King was basically a peaceful leader who urged non-violence to his followers. He led nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham and in other places because he believed that â€Å" the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative†. King also spread his nonviolent direct-action program to other states of the US as well. He believed that â€Å"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere†¦ whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly†. Martin Luther King believed it was his duty to stop the injustice, and therefore was â€Å"compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond [his] home town†. Unlike Malcolm X’s demonstrations, all of King’s we...

Essay on Yolo or Carpe Diem

Essay on Yolo or Carpe Diem â€Å"Yolo† is a popular acronym used these days as a take on â€Å"Carpe Diem,† or seize the day. It stands for â€Å"You Only Live Once.† It has implications of it being okay to make stupid mistakes because each and every one of us lives once, we think. Life is short, we all know that, and we – well, most of us – want to live life to the utmost fullest, in turn getting everything we can out of life. After all, it is a wonderful, beautiful gift: Life. But we didn’t ask for it. As a matter of fact, it takes some people a lifetime to figure what it means to be alive. â€Å"Yolo† may be a term used by the youngsters of today, as heard in songs by Adam Levine and Drake, but it carries meanings and implications that are universal and everlasting. The phrase is too often used by the hipsters of today in the United States to make excuses for their dumb mistakes. The phrase will never catch on and be used ubiquitously by the American people – or other nationalities, either – because it is cumbersome to say and even harder to care about and remember. To the ordinary person, it sounds like some frozen yogurt brand nobody wants to try, or some variation of the color yellow. But the acronym has good intentions. â€Å"You Only Live Once† reminds one of a hopeful youth, of seeing and wanting the best in life, of seizing the day because tomorrow is not promised – nor is even the next moment. Nonetheless, the wrong people seem to be using the term. They are the slackers who don’t take blame for their impulsive, risky decisions, and then when the problems arise from the decisions, they blame it on â€Å"You Only Live Once.† But it’s just one more way to enable these kinds of behaviors where judgment is lacked. Also, the mentality attached to this word provides people more reasons not to blame themselves for when they make a monumental mistake. They blame it on â€Å"Life† and not their own erroneous decision. What does this create? A bunch of cultures which don’t hold themselves accountable for their actions. SAMPLE ESSAY ABOUT HAPPINESS So this â€Å"Yolo† mentality is not so cut and dry. It is good and bad. It is both a hindrance and an empowering philosophy, depending on the person using it and how they use it. But it is being used nonetheless. Most people want to get all they can out of life, and so, in this case, it is quite motivating. â€Å"Yolo† can be inspirational to those trying new things – who want to take calculated risks, meet new people, take exciting trips, etc. It can mean understanding what it means to be born to die – and in between, there are opportunities to make the most out of this crazy life. In between birth and death, there is of course suffering, problems, the death of others, bad people and bad experiences – but there is also love and hope and family and beauty. Unfortunately, this â€Å"Yolo† philosophy does not seem to focus on the most optimistic aspects of life. It seems more that this philosophy only provides excuses for young rich kids to account for their immature, impulsive, selfish actions. The phrase will never be used by the masses like â€Å"Carpe Diem.† It is one more excuse for spoiled American kids to put off growing up and becoming responsible, productive adults. It is really quite a pathetic, irritating notion to people who don’t have the luxury of staying children their entire lives, putting off adulthood because it doesn’t suit them. â€Å"Yolo† is an irritating acronym, one that is not only confusing to most people but one that will just never catch on. Only the young hipsters will use it, and they are not â€Å"mainstream† anyway.