How much is John Proctor responsible for his own death Essay

â€Å"The Crucible† is set in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts. It is written by Arthur Millar in the early 50’s. It follows the lives of a gang of teenage girls, meddling with witchcraft. Stifled by the crushing pity of their elders they end up doing strange things in the woods. The chief of the group of young ladies is a girl called Abigail Williams-her innocence lost in the bed f John Proctor, a married farmer who is the soul of the play. Suddenly the devil is let loose in Salem. The girls are discovered, spurred on by their terrified accusations and the entire village is consumed by cries of witchcraft. One by one, the blameless victims of mass hysteria are torn from their homes until, inexorably, Abigail’s vengeance is turned on Proctors wife. A timeless tale of truth on trial, the Crucible relentlessly a suspenseful drama of collective evil and personal conscience. It’s centre is a vastly moving story of guilt, love and redemption. Proctor is responsible for his own death in many ways, the main reason is infidelity in relation to Abby. The other contributing factors are morality, pride, religion, law and local grievances. This is the first time we see Proctor and Abby interact with each other, â€Å"Since Proctors entrance, Abigail has stood as though on tiptoe, absorbing his presence, wide eyed. He glanced at her then goes to Betty on the bed†(pg 17) We can tell the mood in the room instantly, Abby is stood there staring at him on tiptoes, indicating her need to attract him by making herself taller, as it is believed height is the figure of beauty. Where as Proctor is quite dismissive, and shows that he doesn’t want to be acknowledged by her by glancing at her and appearing quite cold and clinical. The issue of infidelity plays a major part in the lead up to Proctors death. As Abby is envious of Elizabeth and is also quite resentfully bitter towards her, regarding how Abby was thrown out of the household because of her entanglement with John. In this quotation Abby is clueing the audience in to her past affair with him, â€Å"I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretence Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! † For Proctor, we quickly realise their relationship belongs to the past-while he may still be attracted to her, he is desperately trying to put the incident behind him. Abby, on the other hand, has no such sense of closure as this quote makes clear. As she begs him to come back to her, her anger over flows, and we see the roots of what becomes her targeted, destructive romp through Salem. We also see in this quotation a fierce loathing of the entire town. â€Å"I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons†¦.. † Abigail hates Salem and in the course of â€Å"The Crucible†, she makes Salem pay. The adultery is a matter of morality, whether behaviour like this should be accepted in society or if it thought as on a negative note. Elizabeth finds out about it and time is needed to mend the relationship as the scab hasn’t not yet formed. Abby still has a flame for left for Proctor and is determined to win him over by accusing his wife of witchcraft, but Proctor gets in the middle of the feud and the tables turn and he, himself is accused of being in league with the devil. Another aspect of the build up to Proctors death is his pride. This is the human defence system coming into action, when we are threatened we feel we must create a certain image to gain respect and most of the time it works, the problem that Proctor faces is if he can sustain his pride. Proctor is a very honest, upright and bluntly spoken person and hates hypocrisy, he is also a good man, but one with a secret, his fatal flaw. In Act four, Proctor utters these lines when he is wrestling with his conscience over whether to confess to witchcraft and thereby save himself . â€Å"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave my name! † (pg 115) The judges and Hale have almost convinced him to sign his life over to them, but the last stumbling block is his signature on the confession, which he cannot bring himself to give. In a way this unwillingness reflects his desire not to dishonour his fellow prisoners: as he would not be able to live with himself knowing that other innocent people died while he quaked at deaths floor and fled. More importantly, it illustrates his obsession with his good name as reputation is tremendously important in Salem. Religion is another contributing factor to Proctors death, as Salem is quite sacramentally run . You are judged if you are not a follower of the faith, which today would be frowned at. Pride and religion link together as; if Proctor didn’t have as much self-esteem, would he be civil to the clergy men and have an advantage in the situation? It would be deceitful yet it would help in this predicament, the only person who seemed to be on Proctors side of the court was Reverend John Hale. He was a stranger to the town and did not know of Proctors resilient character, and so he thought Proctor was in need of help and is on his side. Proctor: â€Å"There be no love for Satan in this house, Mister. â€Å"(pg 55) Hale: â€Å"I pray it, I pray it dearly. (he looks to both of them, an attempt at a smile on his face) Well, then-I’ll bid you good night. † By saying this it indicates that Hale understands Proctor’s problems, which is the accusation that Proctors household is in league with Satan. The law plays a big part in the lead up to Proctors death, as they have the authority to choose what the morally correct verdict is on the case. Law is linked in with religion as members of the clergy are judges, which shouldn’t really happen as they are biased on their answers due to religious beliefs. Parris is the main distributor of opinions, and always has a word to say on the matter. He seems to bring his religion up on quite a few occasions, as that is his speciality and strength so he knows he can out smart Proctor by discussing this. â€Å"Such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month! â€Å"(pg 72) he is trying to imply that Proctor is a bad person which is prominently a disadvantage on Proctors name, which is an underserved judgement. Overall, â€Å"The Crucible† is quite a deep and meaningful play, even though the play itself has very few examples of symbolism beyond the typical witchcraft symbols (rats, toads, bats etc) the entire play is meant to be symbols with witch trials standing in for the anti-communists â€Å"witch hunts† of the 1950’s. Proctor is the protagonist, one of the chief contenders where as Abby is the antagonist, his opponent. I think the main issue that lead to his death was in the name of Abigail Williams. If Proctor didn’t get involved with Abby, then the finger wouldn’t have been pointed at him and his wife, it would have been directed at someone else perhaps even Parris, her own blood and flesh. Abigail strikes me as a very misleading character, at the start I got the impression she was just a girl who had made a mistake and was sorry for it, but as the play unfolded her character had a dark, malicious side it to it that was sharp and uneasy. The tone of the play is quite serious and compressed, as the language is almost quite biblical. The way they use â€Å"goody† for the name of their women and â€Å"mister† for their men is unusual and creates a flavour of period. It gives a sense that church dominates their lives. Proctor decided to die for Salem, in doing so he had finally purged his guilt, his wife said.

The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense by Ernest Van Den Haag

The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense by Ernest Van Den Haag In The Ultimate Punishment, Van Den Haag talks about the death penalty in the United States and takes the stance that it is morally justifiable and sometimes needs to be a punishment that is used to gain retribution. He states, â€Å"It ends the existence of those punished, instead of temporarily imprisoning them. † A murderer has taken away the lives of other people, as well as punishing the family members indirectly causing them pain. Therefore not only is this retribution to the person who was killed, but also to the people that the victim was survived by.The first section of this article is about distribution of equality. Van Den Haag states, â€Å"The ideal of justice demands that justice be equally distributed, not that it be replaced by equality. Justice requires that as many of the guilty as possible be punished, regardless of whether others have avoided punishment. † In other words justice to him is the idea that everyone will ‘get what they deserve’ or ‘an eye for an eye’ type of treatment. And even if somehow others have slipped through the cracks that doesn’t mean we should let more people do it too.Also that just because a few people have been wrongfully murdered it is part of the better good because of the number of people that have been rightfully convicted. Deterrence is also a big part of his views on the death penalty. â€Å"I believe the death penalty, because of its finality, is more feared than imprisonment, and deters some prospective murders not deterred by the threat of imprisonment. † Therefore if one person’s life is saved by the deterrence factor of a potential murderer not killing due to being afraid of the death penalty it is well worth it.Justice is also brought up in the last section of his article. Ernest believes that if you decide to commit the crime and still knowingly commit it when you know your consequences then why would you not be forced to suffer them? The following quote from Van Den Haag sums up his thoughts on the topic in one line, â€Å"By murdering, the murderer has so dehumanized himself that he cannot remain among the living. The social recognition of his self-degradation is the punitive essence of execution.

Methodology Components Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Methodology Components - Essay Example As a research procedure, the school is organized by use of learning methods that have resulted in improved performance in the school (Fullan, 2000). Action research approach should be adopted during the study. The researcher can use both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to achieve the objectives. Experimental method is appropriate where the researcher can easily interact with the respondents. Two possible methods to be used in data collection are observation and interview (Tompkins, 1998). The researcher should carry out cross data validity to ensure that the information to be gathered is correct. Information can also be collected by data triangulation. Random grouping of the students and treating them equally in the English lesson should be done. The students should come from the same school faculty, experienced same socio-economic environment, same educational backgrounds and educational opportunities, accessed same teaching materials and should have equally attended same curriculum classes. The differences are the groups formed and the teaching model used. Teachers who are supposed to use cooperative learning techniques are taken through training so that they can impart right information to students who will go through the experiment. Teachers who will not use the cooperative learning methods are not supposed to attend this training. Data collection and procedures should be done in three phases and should not last more than two months. At the initial stages, the researcher conducts the pre-test to ascertain students’ attitudes and their educational experiences. Students’ attitude and their achievements in the subject in the past can be collected in form of questionnaires. After pre-test, treatment step for more five weeks follows. The teachers who went through the training on cooperative learning should

Final Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 10

Final - Essay Example Fats are digested in the small intestine. An enzyme known as lipase breaks down fat into fatty acids and glycerol. Peptidases complete the digestion of proteins by turning polypeptides into amino acids. Although they are active in the small intestine,most enzymes are produced by the pancreas. The pancreas produces the amalyze, trypsin and lipase. The gastric glands produce pepsin.The wall of the small intestine produces maltase, sucrose and peptides. The thick and muscular stomach wall contains nearly 35 million gastric glands (Roberts and Ingram, 2001). The gastric glands produce a fluid known as gastric juice, which contains pepsin. The amalyse in the mouth cavity is produced by gastric glands while that found in the small intestine is produced by the pancreas. Pepsin works best in acidic conditions. The gastric juice contains hydrochloric acid, an enzyme that works best in the stomach. Trypsin is active in the small intestine. Enzyme amalayse is active in the mouth cavity and the small intestine. Peptidases and lipase are active in the small intestine. A chromosome is a long, continuous strand of DNA that contains RNA and a number of different associated proteins. The four types alterations to a chromosome structure are inversion, deletion, duplication, and translocation. Deletion is the loss of a nucleotide from a gene by mutation.It is the loss of a fragment of a chromosome. An example of deletion of chromosomes is the Cri du Chat which is caused by a missing part in the #5 chromosome. Duplication is the repetition of a part of a chromosome as a result of fusion of a fragment of a homologous chromosome. It is a result of an error in meiosis or mutagens. An example of duplication is the Pallister an syndrome part of the #12 chromosome is duplicated. Inversion is a change in chromosome as a result of a reattachment of a fragment chromosome to the original

E-commerce Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E-commerce - Research Paper Example The second exercise is on the comparison of online prices across the four major supermarket chains across UK and the prices of all the items have been compared to understand whether certain supermarkets are generally cheaper than certain others. Tesco and Asda have been found to be in general cheaper than Sainsbury's and Waitrose although further research in this area would be required to provide any conclusive evidence in this matter. The report however can definitely suggest that considering the lowered prices of online goods, more consumers would prefer to buy goods online in the coming years and online or internet shopping will definitely become more successful in the future. The expenditure for the week given is at 51 which would be slightly higher than the normal expenditure as the DVD, and Women's shoes amounting to 20.99 + 17.99 that is 38.98 are extra items bought which are not usually bought every week. The usual or average weekly expenditure considering these items bought will only be at 12.02 although at this time it is above 50. The expenditure for this week involves goods and items as diverse as washing powder, soft drink, women's shoes, mixed vegetables, ice cream, DVD, and red wine. ... The report however can definitely suggest that considering the lowered prices of online goods, more consumers would prefer to buy goods online in the coming years and online or internet shopping will definitely become more successful in the future. Keywords: Market price, online price, supermarkets, internet shopping, listed items. I - Summary of expenditure showing item, brand, size and cost and comments on how this would differ from average or normal expenditure Item Date Brand Size Cost Monday Washing powder 16-10-06 Ariel 1 kg 1.47 Tuesday Women's shoes 17-10-06 M&S 5 20.99 Wednesday Soft Drink 18-10-06 Coca Cola 2ltr 2.18 Thursday Mixed Vegetables 19-10-06 Tesco 500g .90 Friday Vanilla ice cream 20-10-06 Walls 2ltr 2.64 Saturday Red wine 21-10--06 Marquez de chive 75cl 4.83 Sunday DVD 22-10-06 Sainsbury's n/a 17.99 Total: 51.00 The expenditure for the week given is at 51 which would be slightly higher than the normal expenditure as the DVD, and Women's shoes amounting to 20.99 + 17.99 that is 38.98 are extra items bought which are not usually bought every week. The usual or average weekly expenditure considering these items bought will only be at 12.02 although at this time it is above 50. The expenditure for this week involves goods and items as diverse as washing powder, soft drink, women's shoes, mixed vegetables, ice cream, DVD, and red wine. The DVD and women's shoes as we have identified are some of the items that I wouldn't usually buy and can be considered as 'extra items' for the week. However these items seem to have raised the expenditure dramatically. II - Summary of expenditure showing item, brand, size and cost for online

Answer to discussion board post Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer to discussion board post - Assignment Example ers aiming to effectively relay knowledge, it would be appropriate therefore, to assess the general or predominant learning styles of the students to provide the learning strategies that would maximize the students’ potentials to learn. This would also entail teaching applicable study skills like â€Å"active listening, reading comprehension, note taking, stress management, time management, test taking, and memorization† (Education Corner, 2011, par. 2), as needed. The strategies for applying study skills could be different depending on the subjects, such as English, science, history or mathematic classes since the subjects have diverse thrusts, learning objectives and focal points; but the study skills remain the same. For instance, English classes aim to develop students skills in grammar, writing, reading and comprehension which requires study skills that would develop proficiencies in these areas (note taking, reading comprehension, time management). On the other hand, for mathematics, skills could be apty developed through practice and provision of visual learning aids, such as flashcards, charts, or graphs, as needed. History requires a lot of reading and science subjects need both reading and applications, where active listening, note taking, time management and memorization would assist students in enhancing their potentials to learn. It is a matter of using the most appropriate strategy to apply the study skills deemed needed to impro ve learning and academic performance of

Innovation and Change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Innovation and Change - Assignment Example Analoui and Karami (2003, p. 25) defined SMEs as one that has only a small share of its concerned market and is managed in a personalized way by its owner or part-owner, but not through a medium of an elaborate management system. SMEs are not sufficiently large to get access to the capital market for publically issuing of securities.   Researchers used different constructs such as annual sales, number of employees, value added, value of assets, annual profits etc to define and explain SMEs. Out of these constructs, number of employees and annual sales are most often used to delimit the category of SMEs. For most researchers, a small to medium sized firm is one that employs no more than 250 persons and is having annual sales of not more than  £50 million (Analoui and Karami, 2003, p. 26).   According to OECD, SMEs are non-subsidiary and independent firms that employ less than a given number of people. The most frequent upper limit to categorize a SME is 250 employees (OECD, 2000 , p. 7). The Small Business Administration in the United States has fixed certain criteria to delimit the size of a SMEs. According to these criteria, SMEs are those that employ less than 500 people, although it may be as high as 1500 in some circumstances (Akcay and Soylemez, 2009, p. 215). Importance of SMEs to the economy  SMEs play significant role in the economy mainly because they represent a vast majority of all the firms in many economies in terms of absolute numbers. As Bhaird (2010, p. 2) noted, more than 99 percent of enterprises in the US.

Alan Firmin Ltd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Alan Firmin Ltd - Essay Example Another form of strategy may involve availability of large warehouses to take goods closer to customers. This assists in cutting down the cost of operation and subsequently increasing profits. Alan Firmin Ltd explains what mission, vision, goals, objectives, and core competencies are. In most companies, it is difficult to distinguish between missions and visions. However, the two have a difference if one does a proper analysis. While the mission focus on what the business intends to do currently, vision focus on future achievements. For instance. Alan Firmin Ltd has a main mission of delivery goods and services to the customers at the right time while mitigating environmental pollution. Its vision has been to ‘become a global transport and logistics company.’ however; vision is an extension of the main mission of the company. In most cases, companies may have missions but no vision (Fahey 1999, p.87). To achieve the mission of the company, objectives and goals become imp erative. Objectives objective ways or strategies, which the business must use to reach the mission of the business. Objectives are related to goals with only exception being that the latter are more refined and specific to the mission of the company. ... Question 2 Strategic planning is a long process involved in focusing on the overall assessment of the company. The main questions are ‘what needs to be done, why, to whom and when?’ the aim is to make the company more effective and competitive in the market. It is the process where rational objectives are highlighted to assist in achieving the mission and vision of the company. Question 3 The SWOT analysis and PESTEL are the most suitable planning techniques or tools used to achieve the strategies. In the first category, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the business are analyzed. Under this, the competitor analysis for instance can provide a company with strategies needed to make the business more competent. PESTEL involves the analysis of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors, which may affect a business. Question 4 The economic downturn has contributed to many challenges within the world of business. For th e 2007/2008 economic depression prompted many companies to downsize in order to reduce the cost of operation. On the other hand, companies had to reduce the scope of their businesses due to reduced revenue. However, companies should go beyond their normal business activities and include others that are closely related (Lorenzen 2006, p.56). The selected business activities however must reduce the cost of operation and increase the business revenue. For the purpose of this company, two main activities ought to be included within the strategic structure. Outsourcing and construction of large warehouses are the two main activities proposed. The two play an important role of providing the business with a competitive edge over its main competitors. The

My Mission Statement & Goal Plan Essay Example for Free

My Mission Statement Goal Plan Essay I may not convince the world that I can be the next Nobel Peace Prize winner. I may not persuade people to make me the next Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. Nor do I have any illusions of garnering millions of votes to become the next president of this country. But if I am to be given an opportunity to describe myself, all that I can honestly say is that, I am who I am. Thus, in an attempt to try and take a glimpse in defining the person I always see in front of the mirror, I have come to a resolution that the best thing to do is to find and understand my purpose in life. By doing so, I ponder to ask the question, why do I exist? In other words, my mission in life is quite an irony or for some, it may seem stupid or foolish. Simply put it, my mission in life is to find my mission life. Although many people may think that this statement is hilarious, I will respectfully beg to differ. There are millions of people living aimlessly spending every second of their time in confusion and uncertainty. And for me, this is a frightening reality and to a certain extent, it is a sad one as well. And I admit that I am afraid to be one of them. It is the fear of not knowing where I am, where am I going and what I want to do which has led me to set my life in constantly pursuing the truth behind my existence or purpose in this world. I believe that by doing so, can help me see even just an inch of the incomprehensible reality each person carries with him or her. In light of this, I have aimed to unravel my mission in life through a process of first understanding my short-term goals of knowing who I am and where I stand through the institution that I want to affect and influence my life. Then, I plan to venture into my long-term goals that reflect my dreams and ambitions not just a professional and a son but more importantly, as a person. Thus, in order to know and find one’s purpose in life, a person must first know and find who he is, where he is and where he wants to be. It has been said by Benjamin E. Mays that the tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching a person’s goal, the tragedy lies in having no goals to reach. To me, he makes perfect sense. Somehow, a person who has no goals, dreams or ambitions has nothing to hope for or to look forward to. I thus find it highly imperative to transfer to the University of Southern California as my primary short-goal. I know firsthand that life in this world is often measured by the amount of success, wealth and fame a person possesses. I am familiar with the University of Southern California. I believe that if I am to be given the opportunity to study in such a distinguished institution, such an achievement tells me that I will never find myself wanting to be more successful, wealthier and famous than I already am. Transferring to the University of Southern California reflects a bigger picture of my goal of constant growth and development. In this moment in my life, I know that the best thing to do is to further my knowledge and skills. Entering this institution is the wisest way of preparing myself for what the world will be showing and throwing at me. And I have to confess that I am afraid to take this step. Amidst all that have been happening in my life, I sometimes think that I have made a shadowy acquaintance, and its name is fear. But I have learned not to stand down anymore in the face of adversity. There is always the fear of not being good enough or failing. But I believe that my greatest fear is merely fear itself. And for me to overcome this, I have to keep walking and moving despite being afraid. People will constantly judge and criticize me. I know this and I have learned to live with it. I honestly get affected because I am a sincere person. I dedicate and commit myself to something I really believe in wholeheartedly. My friends and family will attest to this fact. I can guarantee that I am a person of principle with an unwavering confidence and an incomparable determination. I am absolutely confident that I can bring the person that I am to the University of Southern California. By transferring to this university, I have realized that I also have to achieve the goal of convincing other people that I want it and that I deserve it. If this is a business proposal then let me assure everyone that I am good investment. I believe in who I am and what I can do. All that I am asking for is for you to believe in me. In essence, my short-term goals are all about realigning my path not just on a good one, but more importantly, on the right one. My short-term goals can briefly show who I am based on what I have already been through. My short-term goals are the remaining few years before I venture into the real world. Furthermore, my short-term goals portray my desire to take a step and revolutionize who I am right now in becoming someone I hope to be. During the vast reign of the Roman Empire, a great man by the name of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus once said, â€Å"A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions. † I somehow feel that ambitions can thoroughly define a person but at the same time, it can also break the person. Somewhere in life’s journey, a person will have to face the â€Å"non-negotiable† realities in their lives. These are the things that tend to be so difficult and even impossible to change. I have thus made my long-term goals into something practical and achievable for me. I have envisioned myself in about less than ten years as someone who runs his own business while also helping my father run his. I find my long-term goals to be realistic and honest. I do not have grand dreams of eradicating poverty or creating some out-of-this-world idea that will save us from global warming. I want to keep my feet firmly on the ground. But this does not mean that my long-term goals are plain, simple and self-serving. As matter of fact, I expect them to be challenging, tricky and risky. Running and having my own business is no walk in the park. In this modern age, the competition is so tight and the stakes are roughly high that being good falls short by a mile. This does not even include the fact that I will also be greatly involved in my father’s business. But I want to take this risk. How can people discover new lands if they cannot lose sight of the shore? If I am to venture into this, I need to be cutting-edge and have an innovative mind. This is why the link between my short-term goals and my long-term goals is very significant. I want to take it step by step without any shortcuts. Each stage in my life is a learning process where I grow and develop myself for my future. Most people describe who they are but what they have. Still, others know who they are by how they are described by other people. I for one believe that what I have and how others perceive me are just parts of who I am as a whole. I believe that the person who best knows who I am is myself. People may see me in terms of things I have or from their own point-of-views. But I can never be half the person that they say I am if I do not know and accept what I think and see that I am. This is why my short-term and long-term goals are all starting points to initiate my true purpose in life. Through these goals, I may somehow find a semblance or clue of what I truly want out of my life. Through these goals, I can find who I am. As Lao Tzu has said, â€Å"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing the self is enlightenment. † Simply put it, through acting upon my goals, I intend to find something that will grab my attention and interest that will make me dedicate my life to it. Some will spend their entire lives looking and searching, while others may spend their lives staring at a distance unable to move and make a difference. In the greater scheme of things, I like to believe that it is not about reaching or achieving that which I have set for myself but rather, it is all about how I get there that really counts. How wonderful it is if I can do the things people say I cannot. This is largely founded on the inescapable reality that obstacles will appear every now and then. As for me, the greatest obstacle and weakness I will ever face are being idealistic and fear, respectively. As mentioned earlier, there is always the constant fear of not being good enough or failing. In addition, although being idealistic is not really a bad thing, it also comes with a heavy baggage. By being idealistic, I tend to ignore the reality presented. There is a fine line separating what is in theory and what is in practice. Somehow and some time, this reality will slap me in the face. There is the need to be practical which I fall short of a lot of times. I do believe that there are three types of people in this world: those who ask what happened, those who watch things happen and those who make things happen. I have stopped asking what happened being blind and deaf to the realities of life. I have stopped watching things happen from the sidelines being apathetic to the things happening right before my very eyes. I have thus decided to change and to make things happen. I try to stop making excuses. I do not need an excuse to live but rather, I need a reason to live. And dedicating my life in search for my purpose is something I believe is worthwhile. It is about time to go beyond myself and offer who I am not what I have. If there is one thing I have learned and will never forget from this class is that achieving my goals or aspirations in life is neither an overnight phenomenon nor a magical trick that can easily be pulled instantly out of the hat. Dedicating myself to something I hold dear is always a process. It is an on-going process of continuous learning, understanding and growth as a student, as a son and as a person. These goals may not happen today, tomorrow, next week or next year. The important thing is that it does not start next year, next month, next week or tomorrow but rather, it starts today.

High School vs. College Essay Example for Free

High School vs. College Essay Stepping stones are like the baby steps into something greater, like high school and college. In high school, everyone says to focus yourself more into, because high school is the place to gain the knowledge that is nearly identical to the â€Å"actual world†. College, on the other hand, is when both the teachers and students can both relate to how the real world would function. So high school is the part of the baby steps that reach into college and as well as the real world. Although high school and college reading and writing become different, they also have some similarities, but in the end they’re both really important to everything that happens in people’s everyday lives. In my four years of being in high school English, I can say that it’s already really different from college. The reading in high school was always given and there were times that it included self-reading, but it was because we were given questions to answer. Other times, it was because we had to do journals on each chapter of the book; main idea, summaries, character changes, etc. Overall, it was really easy, because the teachers would do at least half of the work for you and then you would be given the rest as homework, as long as you don’t procrastinate. Being a freshman is college, it’s scary, because you hear stories from people saying how easy or hard it is being in college. There’s more self-reading that has to be done and during that time, you also have the process of taking notes and writing small responses when needed to on your own. It’s all about the independency and responsibility that any adult would have when entering through college. As much as I love the subject English, I was never a huge fan of writing, whether I’m in high school or college. The writing processes that happened in high school were usually the same. We would read something that the teacher had given to us, take notes, and from those notes, we would have had to write some form of paper or short response. All the information about the book and paper were given to us, made it that much easier to know what to write about and what the paper was required to have by the teacher. College is a whole new environment for those who are entering and sometimes it can take a while to get acquainted with everything. College is one of those things. The writing in college is very different, because the professors want something to be originally different form each student, rather than having to read all the class articles and they all end up sounding the same. Everything is different, because the formats that we have always stuck to throughout elementary and improved during high school is almost not needed in college. All those five paragraph essays won’t even be considered as an essay anymore, but if there are more paragraphs and as long as the topic is straight through, then that’s an essay. Reading and writing are really important things to be learned, because that’s basically what the whole world consists of; letters and words and paragraphs. You can’t learn how to write if you don’t how to read or else you wouldn’t know the meaning of those words and the sentence itself. The same concept goes for reading. Be glad that you know how to do both of these things, because some people aren’t as fortunate as we are. Where they come from, education is given differently, which doesn’t allow â€Å"everyone† to be able to have the same education as others. This is also another reason why some families travel to a country so that their children can have a better future than the parents or their families have had before them. This allows the not only the children new expectations, but also gives the families some new experiences as they travel through this journey. Writing and reading are two very important skills that are called Communication. For example, my major is Philosophy – Pre law. In pre-law it’s all about the debates and knowing how to communicate. Without these two main factors, then you wouldn’t be able to converse with others and be able to exchange ideas, because then how would you be able to learn and increase your knowledge to be able to win the debates? This is the main reason of why reading and writing are very important to all of us. Everyone has heard other people tell them that you must always prepare yourself when entering into the â€Å"real world†. Where we are at right now, whether it be high school or college, are considered as baby steps into reaching new experiences. First, there is high school, where we go to school and we gain more knowledge that is nearly identical to what we would be experiencing soon in the future. Then onto the next stepping stone, college, where it is the place that we can actually apply all those abilities that we learned before and into a place that the world would function similarly. So all in the end, it’s really important and maybe even critical that we all learn and know how to read and write since the entire world in made of mainly these two main factors.

Benefits of Informal Communication on Team Performance

Benefits of Informal Communication on Team Performance Organising and Managing for Performance Table of Contents (Jump to) Abstract What is informal communication? Does Gossip motivate? Rumour vs Gossips Does Informal Communication Helps in Team Building? Negatives Consequences of Informal Communication: Personal Experience on informal communication in my organisation Benefits or consequences of Gossips How team members and managers can use informal communication? Between work peers in general Between supervisors/managers and subordinates Conclusion Insights of informal communication- Motivation for team building and Managerial decision-making? Abstract In an organization, team building is a challenging task. It takes lot of time and money to get a team to coordinate for the success of the organization. But can we make a successful team in an organization thorough the informal communication? Does informal communication motivate the team member and increase the efficiency of the work? Does informal communication plays major role in organization decision making? This case study is all about does informal communication has been used as the effective tool in the organization for building the team. What is informal communication? Informal communication can also be known as Grapevine communication, Gossip. Informal communication has received the importance in relation to its role for both the Individuals and groups, which includes the issues of social comparison, identity, and reputation ( Dunbar, 1996, cited in Michelson,G et.al 2010).This is the easiest way to circulate the information among the employees in the organisation. This type of communication does not have any standard format; it can be through any medium among the employees in an organisation such as email, mobile phone, social network and word of mouth. 70 to 80 % of the communication in an organisation is through the informal communication. This influence of gossip among the peers in an organisation is very high. This form of communication can be helpful to one group and same can be harmful to other group. (Beersma B Van Kleef G A, 2012) In addition to its diffusion across different disciplinary areas, gossip also connects well with extant theoretical perspectives. For example, social exchange theory, attribution theory, cognitive dissonance, uncertainty reduction theory, it can all be invoked to explain why and how individuals might engage in gossip and deal with internal conflict about participating in gossip. (Michelson,G et.al 2010) Does Gossip motivate? In an organisation, gossip also plays as one of the motivational factor among the employees. â€Å"Work motivation is a set of energetic forces that originate within as well as beyond an individuals being. It is a psychological process resulting from the reciprocal interaction between the individual and the environment that affects a persons choices, effort, and persistence.† Latham Ernst (2006, p.181) Gossip is a kind of storytelling which engage the people to ask the scope of questions: what gossips about other, who to whom, what, how, and why and also explores where and when gossip might occur? This form of communication is unmanaged and no records in the organisation. This way of communication is through word of mouth or written text which shows the opinions, emotions, beliefs and attitudes about the person organisational life and work experience. Therefore it will be usually talked within the small group with whom the gossiper trust, which helps in improving the group dynamics. A gossip also plays a vital role in maintaining the relationships among the individuals in the team in which it influence about who gossips to whom and what subject and what the effects on the individual or group. In some situation, gossips are accepted as the exchange of information among the individuals which can be used as the attention seeking, creating the self-image and promoting the self-interest through social comparing. (Ben-Ze’ev, 1994 cited in Michelson,G et.al 2010). Rumour vs Gossips Rumour research suggests that rumours (a related type of communication), which are transmitted through gossip, are more likely to occur when anxious individuals find themselves in conditions of environmental ambiguity. Situations of organizational change are often used to illustrate how such environmental uncertainty shapes the frequency and nature of both rumour and gossip. Rumor and gossip are interrelated yet conceptually different as illustrated by the following metaphor: Rumours are speculations that arise to fill knowledge gaps or discrepancies. Additionally, it is suggested that rumours are motivated by a desire for meaning and sense making, whereas gossip seems to be motivated primarily by ego and individual status needs. This function differentiates rumour from gossip, which is meant primarily to entertain or convey mores. Gossip is a tasty hors d’oeuvre savoured at a cocktail party; rumour is a morsel hungrily eaten amid an information famine. (DiFonzo, Bordia, Rosn ow, 1994, p. 52 cited in Michelson, G. et.al 2010). Does Informal Communication Helps in Team Building? Through Formal communication, all the data’s and information will be recorded in an organisation and it will be tough for the employee to talk about his team member through this medium, where one will feel unsecured. To get to know each other in the team better and create the bonding among the team members, most of the organisations arrange the weekend trip or party for their employees. In which people from different cultures join together to social life, which helps to break the barrier among the employees position in the organisation. Negatives Consequences of Informal Communication: Gossip can also be destructive in the workplace. To add more features to the gossip, it has been featured within the organizational and management literature in any of the two ways mentioned below (a) coincidental to the mainstream disciplines and domains, materializing as a by-product (and even waste product) of inquiry into, for example, organizational culture, storytelling, and conflict or (b) as mentioned in the â€Å"popular management† literature, in which it is assumed that informal communication is not ethical to the work morale and productivity and it should not be encouraged in the work culture and therefore it is a problem to be managed in the organisation. (G Michelson et.al 2010) The popular management perspective to some extent exemplifies a view of gossip associated with negative, pejorative, and trivial assumptions, sometimes seen as â€Å"women’s talk,† inauthentic discourse, to be discouraged or banned (Emler, 1994; Jones, 1980 cited in Michelson,G. et.al 2010) Personal Experience on informal communication in my organisation Few years back in my organisation, MSN technologies, located in Chennai, India, in which I was leading the team of 8 members for a particular e-books conversion projects. My organisation, where we are IT and ITES solution provider. We also develop web tools and publication tools, eBooks conversion, digitalization process for the publication companies. This was my first experience in leading the operation team. I was also the managing partner of the company which gives me more responsibility in handling the team. This project was around 6 months and I went to various phase in building up the team in this 6 months. We recruited and trained the team. We use to communicate with all the 8 members very formally through the mail and group meeting. In which I used to communicate with the client end for the queries and project delivery on day today basis. My team: My team consists of 8 people (Three men and Five Women) from different educational background, different states of India with different culture and Language. All eight members were new to the organisation. As this is the newly started company. So it’s always challenging to work with the people from different work culture and challenging to lead the group of team as well. Phase 1: At the Initial stage of the project, I allotted the work to the group and getting the hourly updates from them and I was working with the team as well but still I couldn’t able to get the quality expected by the client and I was in the verge of losing the project and business. In which my company will face the huge lose. I use to show the frustration and anger towards the team and I can’t able to find where the mistake is going on. We use to have 15 minutes of meeting every 4 hours in a day to get the feedback for the project. But in meeting most of the time only I will be giving the instructions and commanding the group. But still I couldn’t able to find the improvement in the project. But I could sense the some sort of tension and unrest going around the team and the organisation. Most work relationships involve two different types of interaction task-related and social-interpersonal exchange. Better social relations result in more cooperation, better communication, and greater effectiveness. Managers and supervisors have to look after both task performance and the welfare of subordinates (Argyle, 1972 cited in Henderson M et.al, 1986 ). Statement from Managing Director, Dilip Prabhakar, MSN Technologies, â€Å" It was the first project from one the Top Publishing company, and the whole operation team is new to the company and he (Krish) got the major role to play in successful completion of the project. But our management was not satisfied with the working style and the way he was managing the team. He (Krish) said that, there is the unrest among the employee in allocating and completing the day-to-day task and team members are not comfortable to each other, in which the team communication was poor. So we decided for the team outing to improve the team stability and to get to know each other well. So that the bonding will be strong among the team members to work for our organisation.† Group Outing: I organised the group outing on the weekend to make my team to free themselves from the office environment. We conducted lot of group tasks and getting to know the strength and weakness of every individual. At the end the team outing, team members came to know each other well and all having the different views on organisation and sharing lot of personal experience and helping each other in all the tasks. This group meeting outside the office breaks the barrier among the group. I took time to talk with each member of the group and now we came to know the strength, personal life of each member of the team. I came to know the individual problems of the team members facing in the company. There were few gossips going around the office. This helps me to know about the group strength. Phase 2: I was trying to make change in my approach towards the team. I came to understand the strength and weaknesses of the individuals and personal characteristics among the each member in the group. So I tried to allocate the work among the group in which each individual are comfortable and easy to work. We played one of the games in team outing in which each member as to select the individual partner in the team to play that particular game, this makes easier for me to know about each member, with whom each one is more comfortable to work with. So I divided the operation team into three team such as Coding team, proofreading, and QC team in which I selected the team members in which each one is more comfortable to work. This change in the operations and task allocation among the team members helps the productivity of the project. This change paid off and the result was really satisfying by the organisation. Statement from Pradeep, One of the Coding team member from my organisation,† Working with this organisation for the first few weeks was very difficult, as the entire team is new and we were given less information about the project and not sure about the task allocation to each other which makes us more difficult to understand our work. Initially, I was not feeling comfortable with my group as we had a fear factor among each person to convey the discomfort to the organisation. I also heard few gossips from the other employees about the team leader and other management members in the organisation. But our First team outing gives me the opportunity to break the fear factor and makes me easy to talk to my manager without any formal mail communication and it also gives me the opportunity to know about the each member of the team. After our first team outing, I could also feel the change in the management style in handling our group.† Benefits or consequences of Gossips Gossips encourage the development of social network among the team members and it also allows employees to understand and predict their boss personal characteristics and behaviour. This also helps the organisation to grow and used to ruin the competitors’ reputations. (Doyle, 2000, p. 8 cited in Michelson, G. Et.Al. 2010) There are many number of ways in which the informal communication can be more significant in an organisation, group and individuals. One of the major factors of informal communication is its ability to provide more context-relevant information and through this medium of communication individuals relieve feelings of tension and anxiety, especially during the periods of organisational change. Gossip helps in shaping and reshaping the meaning and enables the organisation culture and learning. Gossips can give voice and power to individuals in the organisation. (Ogasawara, 1998 cited in Michelson, G. Et.Al. 2010), for example, showed how women clerical workers in Japan were able to exercise some power over their male managers by virtue of their ability to influence the reputations of these managers through their gossip. Reputation was regarded as important by the managers because it had an impact on their future promotion prospects. How team members and managers can use informal communication? Organisation doesn’t have any rules for informal communication, however there should be rules among the team mates, supervisors and subordinates, in which cooperation, help and fairness should be strongly applied among team mates, and also supervisors should have the rules about consideration and skilful use of power, rules about using initiative and accepting orders and criticism to subordinates. (Henderson, M. and Argyle, M., 1986) Between work peers in general There should be rules about equity and fairness in dividing the rewards if each member is seeking financial or other rewards for himself. Colleagues or peers, who are working in the organisation, may also be seen as friends. Individuals may often in need of advice and help. Work mate should always provide help to each other whenever it is needed so that work groups are more effective. If people do not sustain the positive relationships among others, that are to keep friendly terms on with one another, then cooperation in work groups is likely to fail. There also develop strong common interest. Its important factor for members in the team to be loyal to the group during the tough phase like even if it goes against the management directions in case of the output result. (e.g. Goldthorpe, Lockwood, Bechhofer and Platt, 1968 cited in Henderson, M. and Argyle, M., 1986). Between supervisors/managers and subordinates The manager or supervisor’s main role in an organisation is to manage and supervise effectively, which involves giving the proper guidance and instructions to his subordinates and organise the work effectively. Manager or Supervisor should also look after the welfare of his team mates Supervisors will be giving orders and subordinates are expected to carry their orders The manner of giving directions varies from authoritarian to democratic/ persuasive. There appears to be no general rule about this, since the preferred and most effective style varies with size of group, urgency of decisions, culture, and other variables. (Henderson, M. and Argyle, M., 1986) Conclusion: Informal communication can be used as one of the effective tool by the manager for decision making in an organisation and for building the team and it also motivates among the individuals in the team. However, this also has negative impact on the organisation if it is not used in proper way by the team members in the organisation. Individuals may also follow from set of rules by themselves to have a healthy gossips and growth in the organisation. Bibliography Beersma, B. And Van Kleef, G.A. 2012.Why People Gossip: An Empirical Analysis Of Social Motives, Antecedents, And Consequences.Journal Of Applied Social Psychology. [Online]. 42(11), 2640-2670. [Accessed on 24th December 2013].Available From: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com Baker, J. S. And Jones, M. A. 1996. Poison Grapevine: How Destructive Are Gossip And Rumor In The Workplace? Human Resource Development. [Online] Quarterly, 7, 75–86. [Accessed on 24th December 2013]. Available From: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com Baumeister, R. F. Et.Al. 2004. Gossip As Cultural Learning. Review Of General Psychology. [Online] 8, 111–121. [Accessed on 27th December 2013]. Available from: http://ovidsp.uk.ovid.com/ Baumeister, R. F. And Leary, M. R. 1995. The Need To Belong: Desire For Interpersonal Attachments As A Fundamental Human Motivation. Psychological Bulletin [Online] 117, 497–529. [Accessed on 24th December 2013]. Available From: http://ovidsp.uk.ovid.com/ Beersma, B. And Van Kleef, G. A. 2011. How The Grapevine Keeps You In Line: Gossip Increases Contributions To The Group. Social Psychological And Personality Science. [Online]. 2, 642–649. Available from: http://spp.sagepub.com/ Dunbar, R. I. M. 2004. Gossip In An Evolutionary Perspective. Review Of General Psychology. [Online]. 8, 100–110. Accessed on 27th December 2013 Available From: http://ovidsp.uk.ovid.com/ Dunbar, R. I. M. Et. Al. 1997. Human Conversational Behaviour. Human Nature [Online] 8, 231–246. Accessed on 3rd January 2013. Available from http://link.springer.com/ Filev, A. 2013. Virtual Watercooler Breaks: The Value of Informal Communication in Remote Teams [Online]. [Accessed on 27th December 2013 ]. Available From: http://www.wrike.com/projectmanagement/07/31/2013/Virtual-Watercooler-Breaks-The-Value-Informal-Communication-Remote-Teams Henderson, M. And Argyle, M. 1986. The Informal Rules Of Working Relationships. Journal of Occupational Behaviour. [Online] 7, 259–275. [Accessed on 27th December 2013]. Available from http://www.jstor.org Michelson, G. Et.al. 2010. Gossip In Organizations: Contexts, Consequences, And Controversies. Group And Organization Management. [Online] 35. 371–390 [Accessed on 29th December 2013]. http://gom.sagepub.com/ Noon, M. And Delbridge, R. (1993). News From Behind My Hand: Gossip In Organizations. Organization Studies. [Online]. 14, 23–36. [Accessed on 27th December 2013] Available from https://www.proquest.com/ Stirling, R. B. 1956). Some Psychological Mechanisms Operative In Gossip. Social Forces. [Online] 34, 262–267. http://0-web.ebscohost.com.wam.leeds.ac.uk

Procrastination :: essays research papers

Procrastination What does procrastination mean? Is it the stereotypical meaning of laziness? And this word, â€Å"procrastinate† has over time become derogatory and insulting. It has also been applied to the newest generation of the world. I have heard many comments from older folks that, â€Å"those teenagers are so lazy, they wait till the last minute to do anything.† But as Dennis Sell comments in the teenager’s defense, â€Å"It isn’t procrastination if you intend to do it.† I hope that this doesn’t become a question on the future resume. â€Å"Do you procrastinate, please check yes or no.† A wonderful lot of people would be out of the job; very talented people that just have a time trying to become â€Å"perfect.† Procrastination is a way of life and a person has to be good at it to play the â€Å"lazy† game.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What does procrastination really mean? I’ve adopted a quote that now guides my everyday life; â€Å"My work is best when I am under pressure.† Most of my better essays are written in the ten minutes I have before my next class period when it’s due. Sorry Mr. Bush and Mrs. Swafford, and any other teacher that have been subjected to my messy rushed handwriting (not that Mr. Bush minds, I’m still failing his class. And his e-mail address is†¦ just kidding). Procrastination is character building. The rare few who can handle the pressure often have rushed lives, or many deadlines, whichever applies, but the point is that they can handle the pressure that procrastination gives and they come on top. My father designs computer boards and his superiors are often changing what they want the board to do, but my dad can handle those people and their strict deadlines that are ludicrous because of the little time given. But because he procrastin ated in high school, he knows what to do and how to control himself in these situations. He hasn’t thrown himself off a cliff yet after about ten years of the strenuous work, that has to count for something.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Procrastination is like many other things. It has its good and bad points, just like eating. A person must eat to live, but it makes people gain weight and there is a surplus of obese people in our nation, yet is also saves many lives a day like in Ethiopia. Procrastination can make or break a person. One can either handle the pressure or the person breaks completely.

Everyone Is Capable of Becoming a Lifelong Learner Essay -- Educationa

Every person has the ability to become a lifelong learner. The most important factor to becoming a lifelong learner comes from the direct influence of mentors and guardians that care for children throughout their developmental years. Together, they figure out the best plan of action to teach each individual student how to be better learners in hopes that the influence of lifelong learning habits will be incorporated into their worldviews when they become adults. There are some people in society who believe that the developmentally disabled person is unable to become a lifelong learner due to their disabilities. Over the last century, research on early intervention educational programs proves these unjustified beliefs wrong. These programs and services provided to the young exceptional learning community are making it possible for students to achieve their academic goals at the same level as their general education peers. This particular type of disability is caused by birth defects. Birth defects cause serious problems within a person’s physical make up and usually affect multiple body part systems. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2011) talks about specific developmental delays like nervous system disabilities (Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders), sensory related disabilities (Congenital Rubella, Williams Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome), metabolic disorders (Phenylketonur ia, Hypothyroidism), and degenerative disorders (Rett Syndrome). Many of these developmentally delayed disorders are incurable but there are supportive programs in existence to help treat the negative effects caused by these disorders. Since the root of the disability is unable to be fixed, docto... ...-intervention.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Developmental Disabilities. Retrieved on May 8, 2012 from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/resources.htm Office for Civil Rights. (2011). Transition of Students With Disabilities To Postsecondary Education: A Guide for High School Educators. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved on May 8, 2012 from: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transitionguide.html Ripley, S. (2008). Intervention: The Earlier, The Better. Excelligence Learning Corporation. Retrieved on May 8, 2012 from: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=122 The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2011). Developmental Disabilities. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved on May 8, 2012 from: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/developmental_disabilities.cfm

Pakistan Banks Ratios

What factors should Amerada management consider when evaluating the reposed strategy? . Calculate Marinade's debt-to-value ratio using both the book value and market value of the firm's equity. How does Marinade's debt-to-value ratio compare to that of other discount brokerage and investment service companies in Exhibit 4? In general terms, how does leverage affect the rockiness of a firm's equity? 3. Amerada has a short history of trading, so its beta cannot be computed precisely using its own historical data.Exhibit 4 provides some choices for comparable firms. Which of these firms do you think are appropriate to use as comparable to determine the beta of Marinade's planned advertising and technology investments? Why? 4. Using the stock price and return data in Exhibits 5 and 6, estimate the CAMP beta and Fame-French factor sensitivities for the stocks of comparable firms. 5. Estimate the weighted-average cost of capital for Marinade's proposed expansion. What risked rate do you us e?Are the cost-of-capital estimates similar using the CAMP and Fame-French three-factor models? Guidelines You may work on the case in groups of 3 or 4 students. Please hand-in one write-up per group. All members of the group should be prepared to discuss the case in class. State clearly any assumptions you make and provide enough information so that a reader can follow your analysis. I would expect the case write-up to be two to three pages plus supporting tables.

Carrefour

France's Carrefour relies on the key strengths of supplier contacts and customer knowledge when developing and implementing marketing strategy. Carrefour has ‚Â ¬108 billion in yearly turnover and operates 1,530 hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount stores and convenience stores in 33 countries. Even though retailing is an intensely competitive industry, Carrefour's marketers have used these global strengths to great advantage when preparing marketing plans to address various opportunities and threats in Europe, Latin America and Asia.For example, a few months after Carrefour moved its global sourcing office to Thailand, executives became aware that local farmers were producing a surplus of fruits such as durian and mangosteens. In the past, these fruits had sold well in the 34 Thai Carrefour stores as well as in the chain's outlets in Taiwan, China and Indonesia. Identifying this as a marketing opportunity, Carrefour's marketing director in Thailand arranged to buy hundreds of additional tonnes of local fruits and created a plan to encourage he European stores to stock the fruits as a taste of Thailand at an attractive price.Depending on the country, as much as 90-95 per cent of merchandise stocked in Carrefour stores is purchased from local suppliers. The purpose is to make the most of the opportunity by establishing mutually beneficial connections with local suppliers for the long term. When Carrefour's marketers analyze the internal environment, they examine the results of previous marketing programmes across the entire chain and in individual stores. They have grouped the customer base of 14 illion households worldwide into 60,000 customer segments for more relevant marketing attention.With deep analysis, they can target more precisely and measure the return on investment for each programme in the marketing plan. Carrefour also acts quickly when analyses point to unusual challenges or opportunities. For example, Just a few months after opening hyperm arkets in Moscow and Krasnodar, the retailer decided to stop expansion in Russia and sell the new stores because difficult economic circumstances had reduced short-term growth opportunities.

Violence Against Women in India

Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have a special place in annals of crimes against women in India in recent times. If we are to take a look at the statistics provided by the National Crime Records Bureau, Andhra Pradesh has figured consistently in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as the state with highest incidences of crime against women; and Delhi, similarly has figured as the city with highest incidences of crime against women in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Let me restate the figures and illustrate just a few preliminary findings.Andhra Pradesh: Collated statistics for 2008-2010 A total of 76, 924 incidents of crime against women have been recorded from 2008-2010. This is the highest in India for a state and Andhra Pradesh topped this dubious list each consecutive year for three years till 2010. 2011 statistics are awaited. As per categories of crime, crime against women constitutes the second or third largest category in crimes in Andhra Pradesh. A total of 3,807 cases of rape have been recorded fo r the same period, which constitutes 4. 4% of total incidence of crime against women. A total of 14,511 cases of molestation have been recorded for the same period, which constitutes 18. 86% of total incidence of crime against women. A total of 11,633 cases of sexual harassment (eve-teasing) have been recorded for the same period, which constitutes 15. 12% of total incidence of crime against women. Rapes, molestations and sexual harassment (eve-teasing) constituted 38. 93% of crimes against women in Andhra Pradesh in 2008-2010.Women in the age group of 18-30 years were most vulnerable to rape, followed by the women in age group of 14-18 years. In all the 3,807 rape cases that had been recorded in Andhra Pradesh between 2008-2010, the offenders were known to the victims. The picture in Karnataka is better, with 18. 2% of married women in this age group being subjected to physical violence, 3. 2% to sexual assault and 6. 9% to emotional domestic violence. But the Bihar story is horrif ying where the percentage of physical violence is as high as 56%.Tamil Nadu is at a close second with 40. 2%. The number of cases registered under Protection of Women From Domestic Violence (DV) Act, 2005, has increased to 7,802 in 2009 from 5,643 in 2008. Andhra Pradesh registered 2,710 cases under the DV act, the highest in any state in 2009. The NFHS-3 has further stated: â€Å"81% of married women between 15 and 49 years, who have experienced physical or sexual violence from husbands, have for the first time faced it within five years of marriage. † Being slapped is the most common form of physical violence that married women experience. Of 35% married women subjected to any form of physical violence, 97% were slapped and 1% of them experienced life- threatening violence in the form of being choked or burned or being threatened or attacked with a weapon,† the study said. Union minister for women and child welfare Krishna Tirath recently proposed the idea of training first-class judicial and metropolitan magistrates on how to deal with cases filed under Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

Proton

* 1. INTRODUCTIONPerusahaan Otomobil Nasional Berhad (PROTON) wasincorporated in May 7, 1983 to manufacture, assembleand sell motor vehicles and related products, includingaccessories, spare parts and other components. PROTON produced Malaysias first car, the ProtonSaga, commercially launched on July 9, 1985 by formerMalaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. MahathirMohamed, who had originally conceived the idea of aMalaysian cars. Toyota Motor Corporation is the market leader inautomotive industry and the worlds largest motorvehicle manufacturing groups.It sell about 7,234,439unit of all type of vehicles in 2009. * 2. BENCHMARKPROTON benchmark is based on Toyota Motor Corporation . ToyotaMotor, the worlds largest automotive manufacturer (overtaking GM in2008), designs and manufactures a diverse product line-up that rangesfrom subcompacts to luxury and sports vehicles toSUVs, trucks, minivans, and buses. Its vehicles are produced either withcombustion or hybrid engines, as with the Prius. To yotas subsidiaries alsomanufacture vehicles: Daihatsu Motor produces mini-vehicles, while HinoMotors produces trucks and buses.Additionally, Toyota makes automotiveparts for its own use and for sale to others. Popular models include theCamry, Corolla, Land Cruiser, and luxury Lexus line, as well as the Tundratruck. In Asia, they generates almost 40% of sales. * 3. VISION†¢ They strive to become a successful Malaysian Automotive Manufacturer globally by being customer oriented and producing competitively priced and innovative quality products. * 4. MISSIONOur Company history is one of the remarkable achievements ofwhich we are proud(1) of.In our pride lies the vital energy thatdrives us forward and forces us to take on new challenges. Notonly our customers but also our business associates andshareholders need to trust our ability and rely(2) on us todeliver on our promise of quality. We continually strive toexpand our knowledge(3), skills and expertise in order to findbetter sol utions and produce better results. As a nationalproject, Proton is also committed to lead in the acquisition ofintellectual capability in design and technology(4), which willpropel the nation to achieve the status of an industrialisednation.With people as our primary focus, we are committed tobuilding a friendly organisation, sensitivity to customers needswith clear communications leading to mutual understandingand care(5). * 5. CHARACTERISTIC OF MISSION 1. Philosophy †¢ Proud 2. Self – 5. Customers concept †¢ Caring †¢ Reliable Mission element 4. Employees 3. Technology †¢ Knowledgeable †¢ New technology * 6. OPPORTUNITIES†¢ Replacement model make an increasing sales about 40. 7%. †¢ Joint venture with other company. †¢ The development of concept car(Nissan)†¢ Rising oversea demand about 20. % * 7. THREATS†¢ Global financial crisis effect the vehicle sales are tipped to fall 12. 4 per cent in 2009. †¢ New product from ot her companies with better technology. †¢ Gas price up almost 30%. †¢ Local competitor, Perodua or Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua has surpassed Proton in sales. * 8. The External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix WEIGHTED OPPORTUNITIES WEIGHT RATING SCOREReplacement model make anincreasing sales about 40. 7% 0. 08 1 0. 08Joint venture with other company 0. 2 2 0. 4The development of conceptcar(Nissan) 0. 09 3 0. 7Rising oversea demand about 20. 7% 0. 12 4 0. 48 * 9. WEIGHTED THREAT WEIGHT RATING SCORE Local competitor, Perodua orPerusahaan Otomobil Kedua hassurpassed Proton in sales. 0. 23 3 0. 69Gas price up almost 30%. 0. 08 2 0. 08Global financial crisis effect the vehiclesales are tipped to fall 12. 4 per cent in2009. 0. 08 4 0. 32New product from other companieswith better technology. 0. 12 3 0. 36 Total 1. 0 2. 68 * 10. STRENGTH†¢ Strong R&D (R3)†¢ Revenue per employee. †¢ Government Linked Company (GLC)†¢ Employee morale is excellence. The market share of 56. 9% in the industry. * 11. WEAKNESSES†¢ Quality of product is still lower compare to competitor product. †¢ Employee is lacked of technical skill. †¢ Had suffered a net loss of RM60. 1mil for its third quarter ended Dec 31 because of restructuring expenses incurred by its sports car division, Lotus Group International Ltd. * 12. SWOT MATRIX Click this * 13. BCG MATRIX FOR PROTON BHD * 14. †¢ From this graph, it shows that the Proton Bhd. market share was about 25% and industry sales growth rate is -5%.From the result, we consider of three types of strategies which is divestiture, product development and market penetration. * 15. DOGS STRATEGY1. Divestiture. 2. Product Development. 3. Market Penetration. * 16. DIVESTITURE†¢ By using this strategy, the company should focus more on their core business only because of it is in DOGS requirement. Divestiture often is used to raise capital for further strategy acquisition or investment. For example proton must reduce the production of Proton Juara and Tiara because the car demand is low and difficult to find spare part and make up the car.The reason is longer proton produce the car the inventory turnover will be higher. * 17. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT†¢ In this strategy, our company needs to gain endeavor to incorporate select technologies and manufacturing expertise such as from Nissan Motor Co. that could lead to potential cost savings in capital expenditure and research and development (R&D) for the national carmaker. * 18. MARKET PENETRATION†¢ In this stage, Proton must consider getting a third party to use its plant for a long-term planning for better utilization of plant capacity. Proton can go and get technology from a small company as many big companies in South Korea, Japan and Europe were using them to design their cars. * 19. BALANCE SCORECARD FRAMEWORKStrategies Priorities Goal Target StrategyFinancial Increasing sales of New Focus on developing proton product demographica l country. areasCustomer Attract more people to Young and the Made sporty car model buy proton car middle age people that can attract customersManager / Increase Working Potential worker Send them oversea toEmployee performance strengthen skill and expertise

CORPORATE AND GLOBAL STRATEGY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

CORPORATE AND GLOBAL STRATEGY - Essay Example Nevertheless the strategy of a company needs to be reviewed after a certain interval of time, so that the current strategies meet the changing needs of the customers and matches the changing business environment. By practising this, the probability of a firm to get success in the market place increases to a large extent (Stonehouse and Houston, 2012, p.1). In this context of the study, HSBC has been chosen as the organization. The study revealed that the emerging markets and opening up of the world economy has allowed the company to carry out international expansion. HSBC always follows foreign direct investment strategy to operate in international markets. The external environmental analysis clearly highlighted that in most of the countries where HSBC operates have stable political environment and therefore do not have any operational constraints. In order to gain competitive advantage HSBC uses a mixture of differentiation and cost leadership strategy to operate in the market. Howe ver it is recommended that the company should also focus on employing focus strategy, which will allow them to cater to niche segment as well. Introduction HSBC Holdings Plc or commonly known as HSBC, is a UK based multinational financial and banking organization. HSBC Holdings plc was established in the year 1991 by Sir Thomas Sutherland. However the origin of HSBC bank dates back to 1865, when the branches were opened in Shanghai and Hong Kong (Stadler, 2011, p.189). It is presently headquartered at Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. HSBC is mainly involved in providing commercial banking services, wealth management, retail banking, investment banking services and also global private banking. It is one of the largest financial services and banking organization of the world. The products of the company include various type of loans, current and savings account, insurance, credit cards, fixed deposits, investment services and advisory services. Furthermore HSBC also has strong pr esence in sectors such as resources and energy, and research & analysis (Hsbcnet, n.d.). According to the list of Forbes magazine 2012, the company was the sixth largest publicly traded company and third largest bank of the world. HSBC Holdings plc was established in the year 1991 by Sir Thomas Sutherland. However the origin of HSBC bank dates back to 1865, when the branches were opened in Shanghai and Hong Kong. The company has presence in 84 countries of the world and is listed in the Bermuda, London, New York, Hong Kong and Paris stock exchanges. HSBC comprises of around 6900 offices throughout the areas of its operations (Hsbcservicedelivery, n.d.). The major competitors include Barclays bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and J P Morgan Chase among others. The report will primarily highlight the corporate level and business level strategies of HSBC. In the course of the study, internal as well as external analysis of the organization will be carried. In this context analysi s tools such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s 5 forces, and value chain will be employed. Depending on the outcome, few recommendations will be also presented. Finally the report will conclude by highlighting the important and critical issues of the study. Corporate Strategy Corporate strategy can be referred to as the guide of decision making which is responsible for determining and revealing the purpose and objective of the organization. Furthermore a corporate strategy also highlights plans and policies by which the organization will be able to achieve those goals. HSBC is considered as one of the largest publicly traded company and is trying to expand their business in those countries, where they did not started the operations. However in every aspect

UN Raises Aid Appeal for Pakistani Quake Victims in Race Against Time Essay

UN Raises Aid Appeal for Pakistani Quake Victims in Race Against Time - Essay Example As the paper declares relief agencies are trying to rush shelter and medical treatment to villages in the mountainous region before they are cut off by winter snow within around three weeks. The Red Cross warned in a statement on Wednesday that thousands of the most vulnerable survivors in remote villages could die of exposure if they are left without care or shelter in the freezing cold of the Himalayan foothills. This discussion stresses that the UN has been struggling to fill its current appeal of $312 million for emergency assistance over six months and says that the shortage is slowing the relief effort. Pakistan's Senate chairman, Muhammad Soomro, and minister for economic affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, are expected to outline the extent of destruction of life and property in Pakistan caused by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake. The quake devastated an area of more than 28,000 square kilometers (11,000 square miles), depriving more than 1.1 million people of their jobs and reducing thousands of schools and hospitals to rubble, according to Pakistani officials. Byrs said that the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), which is delivering urgently needed tents for about 3.3 million homeless people in Pakistani Kashmir, and the World Food Program, which provides food rations, were short of funding. Bad weather has been forecast in the region this week, while snowfall is expected to ground most of the 100 or so h elicopters ferrying help to isolated villages in the region by the middle of next month, according to the UN.

Jaguar Cars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Jaguar Cars - Essay Example Product: Jaguar car is the product in this case. The new XK is available as either Coupe or Convertible, with the option of a normally aspirated 4.2 litre V8 engine or as the Supercharged R version. The XK 4.2L V8 Coup is a 6-Speed automatic car with acceleration 0-60 mph in 5.9 sec with a top speed of 155-250 Kmph. Its fuel efficiency is around 17 kmpl. The company proudly pronounces that Jaguar is dramatically beautiful, powerful and luxurious car. Its available in different variants like Coupe or Convertible, 4.2 litre V8 XK or Supercharged XKR. Ford focuses on its exhilarating lines and muscular intent in next-generation lightweight aluminium to attract the young consumer. Its interior too is designed quite aesthetically. A cockpit designed around the driver - intuitive controls, inspired by a sporting pedigree and tailored to respond precisely on demand. The XK features a host of intelligent technologies, each engineered to empower the driver and enhance the pleasure of driving. Jaguar has axed its S-Type model and replaced it with a new sports saloon called the XF. Place: The Ford Europe and Premier Automotive Group (PAG) recorded strong revenue growth in fiscal 2005. The Ford Europe and PAG primarily include the sale of Fordbrand vehicles in Europe and Turkey as well as sale of PAG brand vehicles. Jaguar form an important component of this brand identity together with Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Revenues from Ford Europe and PAG reached $60,258 million in 2005, up 11.3% over 2004. Ford Europe and PAG accounted for 34% of total revenues. Growing Ford Europe and PAG has enabled the company to offset revenue decline in the Americas division. Therefore Ford strategically placed its Jaguar brand in UK and other EU nations. From the financial figures so far it appears that Ford's strategy has worked well. In fact, Jaguar pitted couple of its models against BMW, but The S-Type, which was launched as a direct competitor to the BMW 5-Series in 1999 was widely criticized for being overly conservative, and the model is now ready for being discon tinued. Price: The car is competitively priced. The base end 4.2 litre V8 Coup is available with a price tag of 59,995.00. In the fourth quarter of 2006 Ford suffered some losses owing to ending of its employee-discount pricing incentives, rising gas prices, and rising interest rates. Now a days the pricing strategy is also influenced by the growing trend of users purchasing used SUVs. Fuel economy plays a major role in deciding the price factor and attraction for the customers. Promotion: Marketing communication in turn helps a company in building a brand, creating brand loyalties, increase in sales, cutting costs, etc. UK market is a very diverse market in general which caters to customers/ consumers from different walks of life, different cultures, ethnic groups and age groups. In today's market driven economy concept, the art of communication to existing consumers as well as prospective consumers takes a great deal out of the managerial brain storming sessions. Jaguar launched a wide ranging online and mobile campaign in September 2006 for its new XKR sports car, which was officially unveiled at The London Motor Show. Interactive marketing took the lead for the car's launch, with cinema and press advertisement backing up. There were

Analyse the role of peer and self-assessment in the assessment process Essay

Analyse the role of peer and self-assessment in the assessment process - Essay Example In case of weakness, they learn from their mistakes and study how to tame or counter them. This learning method helps to remove the notion that learning is just a passive process where students listen to someone and get what he says. Here one listens to themselves and their peers. This process makes students more involved in the learning process. The more involved they are, the more effective the learning process is. David klob defines self-assessment learning as a process a spiral learning way, which takes into consideration all the fundamentals of learning. These are thinking, reflecting, experiencing, and acting. This makes it very effective (Lippincott, J. 1999, 67). This learning method also helps one to know the requirements that they need in order to achieve a certain goal. Having known their strengths and weakness, this is easier since they know the target they have to set for certain disciplines. They tend to know their expectations, and how to achieve them. Self-assessment can be used in two ways. It can be used in a summative or formative way. In most cases, it is used formatively. In formative ones, peer sets their standards for them; whereas, summative mostly includes the use of group work to set ones target (Catherine. 2011, 25). Lippincott, J. K., 1999. Collaboration Between Librarians And Information Technologists A Case Study Employing Kolbs Experiential Learning Theory, Thesis (Ph. D.)--University Of Maryland at College

The concept of Open Markets and Closed Borders. HLSs311 Forum 2 Assignment

The concept of Open Markets and Closed Borders. HLSs311 Forum 2 - Assignment Example Keeping the borders closed would also cause huge inconveniences from people travelling in and out of the country. Such interventions may have far-reaching effects on the country’s economy. Even if the borders present an opportunity for terrorists and other illegal activities, such as illegal immigration, the country cannot afford to keep the borders closed. This may explain the reason the DHS has increased its presence along the border to secure legitimate travel and trade (Department of Homeland Security, 2011). Business organizations in the United States target numerous foreign markets that may require constant travels across border. If such activities are restrained, such organizations may incur huge losses. Therefore, the government should continue with its efforts aimed at securing the border without necessarily closing it. The ‘need to share’ should replace the ‘need to know’ as reflected in the 9/11 commission report. According to the report, the United States may have been attacked owing to policy issues. Before 9/11, the United States did not consider terrorism as an overriding national security issue (The 9/11 Commission, 2004). This ideology is a reflection that even if the country understood that terrorism was a threat to security, it underestimated the potential consequences. If information regarding the growth of Islamic extremism was available to security agencies. In fact, the commission asserted that the 9/11 attack was more of a shock than a surprise. The FBI also manifested its weaknesses in terms of its capability to link information collected by its agents to identify threats to the national security (The 9/11 commission, 2004). The commission also revealed that the country’s security agencies failed to manage information from the unique challenges of th e 21st century. This is an indication that, the country’s security agencies could have identified

Small Business Enterprise Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Small Business Enterprise - Case Study Example Good reputation and experience in the industry. Dues to already established positive reputation, further expansion of business involves less risks. Moreover, the managers have experience in the industry, while lack of experience is one of the top reasons of small business failure (Holmes, S. Haswell, S. 1989). High quality of products served. The major reason of coffee shop success is the high quality of food served that results in positive reputation and word of mouth spread of information about services and products offered. While, undoubtedly, there is a vast number of factors that have a positive influence on business functioning, the coffee shop has significant drawbacks that should be particularly considered when planning expansion. Poor marketing campaign. The business has to concentrate on development of the marketing mix alongside with research of the target audience needs. The issue is particularly relevant due to the fact that the target audience of the gift shop is mainly tourists; consequently, word of mouth recommendations are not sufficient enough. The variety of products offered at the gift shop should also be considered in relation to the target audience needs, perhaps, the products list offered should be expanded. Poor labor specialization. Bob and Jane are the only two employees of the business. While their day to day duties involve simple serving work, obviously, the personnel are too qualified for this type of work. By hiring helpers that would serve at the coffee and gift shop, the managers could devote more time to marketing and planning of their business, thus, the efficiency of the business would grow. This issue is particularly relevant when considering business expansion. In order to neutralize the negative effects of business weaknesses, the identified strengths should be matched against weaknesses and on the base of the received outcome further planning should be implemented (Bannock, G. 2005). The effect of poor marketing campaign can be neutralized by further development of positive reputation of the business in the industry alongside with conducting marketing research in access of funds available in terms of the geographic location of the business. Poor labor specialization can be matched against high quality of products served alongside with positive reputation of the business in the industry, since expansion of the business will most likely result in diminished contacts with clients (Bitner, L. Powell, J. 1987). Part II: Existing Business Improvement and Expansion Consequently, the business should concentrate on development of the marketing mix applicable in the present situation alongside with marketing planning and labor specialization that should be considered in terms of business expansion. While development of the marketing mix and marketing campaign as well as research of the present market should be outsourced to the third party, e. g. marketing agency, such issues as financial planning and staffing should be directly solved by the management. Marketing and promotion is crucial to any business. Development of

Imperialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Imperialism - Essay Example Indeed, a critical analysis of available facts indicates that imperial expansion was initially motivated by economic considerations but soon assumed a political rationale. Imperialism was initiated by economic imperatives. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number of British and European companies had begun to expand abroad, chief amongst which was the East India Company (Penrose, 1975). These companies, all of whom represented the economic interest of the British and European elite and ruling classes, were eventually confronted by local and national resistance to their interests. In order to secure the interests of these companies and, in turn, that of the governing elite, Britain initiated the phenomenon of colonialism (Penrose, 1975). Through the economic, political and military domination of foreign territories, Britain position itself to secure and promote the interests of the companies in question. Just as imperialism was instigated by economic imperatives, expansion into Africa was motivated by the bid for economic growth and the accumulation of wealth.

Initial Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Initial Report - Essay Example In this context, mathematics and especially algebra are regarded as having a significant role in the development of all aspects of human life mostly because of their use in several other sciences like physics, chemistry, medicine, astronomy and so on. In fact algebra is considered to be among the first sciences developed by human. Findings from ancient civilizations have proved the use of algebra in ancient times as a basic tool of commerce and astronomy. Through the years, the use of algebra has been extended to all industrial sectors. One of the periods that have been characterized by radical changes in sciences (including algebra) is Renaissance. During this period, the development of algebra reached extremely high levels offering the appropriate framework for the improvement of all other sciences related with algebra either directly or indirectly. This project has been divided in two main parts. In this context, in Chapter One all the details related with the choice of the subject (such as the statement of the problem, the research methodology and the reasons for choice of the project) are presented. The project is mainly developed in Chapter Two which has been divided into sub-sections in order to cover more effectively the issue under examination. In this context, in Chapter Two all particular aspects of algebra – as part of modern science - are presented while a short reference is made to the history of algebra in the pre-Renaissance period. Also, in Chapter Two the history of algebra after the Renaissance is analytically explained making primarily a short reference to the influence of Renaissance in algebra as it has been evaluated by historians of the particular period. Finally, in Chapter Three Conclusions and Recommendations on the subject under examination are made taking into account the characteristics of alg ebra as developed through

The Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body Essay Introduction Today, alcohol is one of the most common substances that people abuse. It is an addictive drink that has become a popular way of having a good time or relaxing in social gatherings. It is among the most commonly used psychoactive drugs. Alcohol is a popular social phenomenon, yet most societies forget its effects on their bodies. Research has carried out in the recent years on the effects that alcohol consumption is having on people. The resulting data has been extremely negative. The introduction of Alco pops, led to a substantial increase in the youth population drinking alcoholic beverages. On average, young people start drinking at approximately age thirteen. Parental and peer influences are a major factor in these early habits. Before the legal age of 21; almost seventy percent of people manage to get away with at least one alcoholic drink. This increases the probability of adolescent consumption in the future. Alcohol, specifically ethanol, depresses the central nervous system and it has many side-effects. Cell membranes in the human body have high permeability to alcohol, so alcohol diffuses into nearly every biological tissue of the body once it gets into the blood stream (Dasgupta 2011, pg.88). It starts affecting the body and mind from the second one sips it. After taking it for a while, one starts feeling more sociable, but drinking too much makes basic human functions like walking or talking harder. One might start saying things they don’t mean and behave out of character. Some of the effects of alcohol disappear overnight, while others stay longer or become permanent. Other effects are impaired judgment, addiction, poor mental health, hormonal change and withdraw as a result of deciding to quit. Alcohol affects most important organs within the human body. Alcohol interacts with the gamma amino butyric acid receptors located in the brain. These receptors are the center of inhibitory neurotransmission in the human body and is synthesized from glutamic acid (Miller 2006, pg. 23). First and foremost, it depresses the brain tissue, the nervous system and destroys brain cells. The problem with destroying brain cells is that, once lost they cannot be regenerated. Excessive drinking over a long period of time may cause severe problems to one’s memory and cognition. Alcohol affects parts of the brain like the cerebral cortex; limbic system; cerebellum and the hypothalamus. The cerebral cortex is the center of voluntary muscle movement and it processes one’s thoughts and senses. Once inhabited by alcohol, it slows down our bodies on reaction time and impairs judgment. This makes an intoxicated person more talkative and confident. Also in the cerebral cortex, alcohol increases the pain threshold. It affects the hippocampus as it impairs memory and causes inflated feelings (Miller 2006, pg. 48). The limbic system controls emotions and memory. Alcoholic effects on the limbic system occur when the intoxicated person endures memory loss and uncontrolled emotional outbursts. The cerebellum controls the body’s muscular movements. When it is affected by alcohol there is involuntary muscle movement and incoordination. The hypothalamus controls the body’s automatic functions and release of hormones. Alcohol affects the hypothalamus through sexual performance and arousal (Brigg 2010, pg. 71). An intoxicated person is more sexually aroused, though the performance is not as normal. The liver can fairly process alcohol safely when the drinking is moderate. Heavy drinking however, overtaxes the liver causing serious damage. A fatty liver is one of the first stages of liver destruction among heavy drinkers. It interferes with oxygen distribution and nutrition of the liver’s cells (Horsley 2008, pg. 94). Persistence of this condition causes the liver cells to die and form fibrous scar tissues. This is the second stage of the deterioration of the liver. Part of the liver cells may regenerate with proper nutrition and abstinence. However during the last stages of deterioration the damage to the liver cells is irreversible. Alcohol abuse is a major contributing factor in cancers, including mouth cancer and liver cancer, which are both on the increase. Alcohol comes second to smoking as risk factors for digestive tract and oral cancers. Research suggests that this happens since alcohol breaks down into a substance called acetaldehyde. This substance then binds to proteins in the mouth triggering an inflammatory response from the body. In severe cases, cancerous cells eventually develop. Alcohol alters the chemistry within the brain and increases depression risk. It is associated with various mental health problems. People suffering from either anxiety or depression are twice likely to be heavy or addicted drinkers. Extreme drinking levels may often cause psychosis. This is a severe mental illness that causes development of hallucinations and delusions of persecution. Psychotic symptoms may also occur when heavy drinkers suddenly decide to stop drinking and as a result develop a condition referred to as ‘delirium tremens’. Moderate drinking does not suppress food intake. It may actually increase appetite. Heavy alcohol consumption has an opposite effect. It causes euphoria, which leads to lack of appetite. As a result, heavy drinkers often eat poorly and get malnourished. Alcohol contains seven calories per gram thus is rich in energy. However, just like fat or pure sugar, these calories lack nutrients. The more calories consumed in alcohol make it hard for the drinker to eat enough food to get enough nutrients. Worse still, alcohol abuse displaces calories from required nutrients and interferes with metabolism of nutrients in the body. This damages the liver, the digestive system and most every bodily organ. Alcohol irritates and disturbs the stomach. Therefore, heavy drinking may easily cause nausea, diarrhea and also sickness. Alcohol also has a dehydrating effect (Newell 2004, pg. 39). This is one reason why heavy drinking may lead to a severe pounding headache the next morning. Hydration also determines the extent of a hangover. After drinking heavily, unconsciousness may occur and extreme consumption levels often lead to alcohol poisoning. Death can also occur in a situation where alcohol concentration within the blood stream is more than the blood. Alcohol may also cause death when there is asphyxiation from vomit (Haven 2001, pg.43). Drinking too much alcohol is not good for your skin either. It causes dark circles under a person’s eyes and bloating. It also dries out the human skin and may lead to premature aging and wrinkling. Drinking heavily may cause acne rosacea (Taylor 2000, pg. 70). This is a skin disorder which starts with likelihood to blush and flush and eventually progresses to facial disfiguration known as rhinophyma. Conclusion Use of alcohol is a great, enjoyable and safe experience if used moderately and with caution. If one does decide to drink they should drink slowly and responsibly. A drinking person should always consume alcohol with food. A person should drink no more than one drink in an hour. Consuming plenty of water in between drinks is also very important and helpful. Pregnant women should not drink and also one should not drive under any alcoholic influence whatsoever. Mild and moderate alcohol use benefits the coronary system (Newell 2004, pg. 98). Generally, for healthy people, moderate alcohol is considered as one drink a day for women and around less than three drinks a day for men. This is considered the maximum advised amount of alcohol consumption. Healthy people refer to those women who are not pregnant, people who are not addicted to alcohol and without any pre-existing medical conditions. However, the quantity of alcohol safely consumed by an individual is highly personal and dependent on genetics, family history, sex, weight and age (Taylor 2000, pg. 79). References Brigg, J. 2010. The Practitioner, Volume 5. California: University of California. Dasgupta, A. 2011. The Science of Drinking: How Alcohol Affects Your Body and Mind. Boston: Rowman Littlefield. Haven Emerson, G. N. 2001. Alcohol and Man. New York: Ayer Publishing. Henry Newell Martin, H. C. 2004. The human body: a beginners text-book of anatomy, physiology and hygiene : with directions for illustrating important facts of mans anatomy from that of the lower animals, and with special references to the effects of alcoholic and other stimulants, and. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Horsley, S. V. 2008. Alcohol and the human body . London: Macmillan. Miller, M. W. 2006. Brain Development: Normal Processes And the Effects of Alcohol And Nicotine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Taylor, B. 2000. Everything You Need to Know About Alcohol. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.