Financial and non-financial implications of Winston Barkwith’s proposal Essay

Introduction: For my analysis I simplified ‘normative investment process’ model (original source: Pike and Dobbins, 1986), which I would like to use to determine the future viability of the project plan put forward by Winston. The basic idea which underlies the model is that the process of capital investment can be considered to flow from strategic planning through to search for investment opportunities to meet that plan. The opportunities are screened and defined for the subsequent analysis by management. If the project is sanctioned then the investment is made, making sure that there are no cost overruns. Once a project has been commissioned and running for a time it is useful to assess whether it is meeting the expectation promised at the evaluation stage. Audit technique can be used at latter stages to ensure appropriate control. In order to evaluate Winston’s proposal I used in depth qualitative cost-benefit analysis and also numerical techniques, such as cash flow forecast and payback (see Appendix 1). Main body of the report: 1) Strategic plan. Strategic plan of the North West Trust for the Protection of Wildlife is very well reflected in the aims of that organisation, which state the following: â€Å"h to encourage farming practices in the region which will not endanger local animal life; â€Å"h to enable the region’s residents to enjoy the local countryside; â€Å"h to educate the region’s young people on how to look after and enjoy the local countryside and wildlife. 2) Search, Screen and definition of investment opportunities. There are two projects put forward before the committee. One of which is the proposal made by the newly elected chairman of the committee, which involves reorganising Moult Hall property into quad biking course. On the other hand, there is a proposal made by Jonathan and Ingrid, who are senior members of the committee. Their idea is to restructure Moult Hall. This would allow young and disadvantaged members of society access to the property. 3) Evaluation of investment opportunities. In this section of my work I would like to concentrate on the cost-benefit analysis of Winston Barkwith project, because it is one which is most contradictory to organizational aims and raises most concern among the members of the Trust’s committee. I mentioned the word contradictory because according to the opinion of many leading financists capital investment decisions should allocate resources within the organisation to offer the best potential for meeting its objectives. Benefits: As understood by me, the idea of financing profit oriented recreational facility is a relatively new one for the organisation. Therefore, the estimates of future profits and cash flows can’t be made using the past experience as a guide. Consequently, form financial point of view they are going to be subjects to greater risk by being the product of forecasts and estimates. The riskier the project the more return the company is likely to require. In the case of Winston’s proposal we can consider the venture as a diversification, which is usually associated with required return of at least 30%. Although no discount factors are given, the nominal figures predicting amazing cash inflow, which can be used to finance other projects. Use of money from the venture could give the organisation opportunity to help more people than they currently do. Dramatic increase in the capital inflow may  give the Trust prospect to achieve much wider objectives than its original ones, e.g. go nation-wide, create or support government lobby, international ventures, etc. There are other, mainly non-financial, advantages of the proposal as well, such as possible boost to the local economy. Organising of quad biking courses will create money inflow into the local economy, which will be magnified by the positive multiplier effect with the end result being increase in wealth for the local community. Let me demonstrate, employees and sub-contractors paid by the owners of Moult Hall are likely to be spending significant proportion of their incomes in the nearby area, which in turn means increases in revenue for the local businesses. Increase in revenue for businesses is likely to result in greater variety, create jobs and allow for more taxes to be collected by the local council, which than can be spend on such public programmes as support of elderly and disadvantaged members of the local community. Another benefit to the local economy which is likely to occur is an improvement in infrastructure. Improved infrastructure should breathe life into the local community; make Moult Hall’s and the Trust’s facilities more accessible. By accepting Winston’s project the Trust could gain invaluable City contacts. If the situation arises the Trust is likely to be in a better position to raise additional funds. Also, the customer segment the proposal is aiming for are extremely wealthy individuals, they are CEO’s (Chief Executive Officer) of large corporations. By cleverly promoting itself the Trust can attract some very influential beneficiaries or even become sponsored by one of the companies. It is not an unrealistic thought, since in the UK many companies which finance charitable organisations often get tax breaks from the government. To add more weight to my arguments in favour of Winston Barkwith proposal I would like to bring forward idea which belongs to one of the leading economic thinkers of the modern era. Milton Friedman of University of  Chicago holds the view that all businesses should use the resources available to them as efficiently as possible. Friedman argues that making the highest possible profit creates maximum possible wealth to the benefit of the whole society. Costs: A good starting point would be the issue of finance. It may be difficult to find finance capital for such a risky venture. It is unlikely that the Trust will have extra four hundred thousands to spend on the project with such a degree of risk. It is a new to the organisation business, there is a high chance of failure. Few of the possible reasons can be overstated or unrealistic customer figures; it may be illegal to destroy woodlands in the area. Also, the Trust, more likely than not, will have to apply for the planning permission for the stable conversion and the petrol tank installation, etc. To continue I would like to remind that organizational aims are the long-term intentions of the organisation to develop in a certain way. Their purpose is to create a common vision which everyone in the organisation should work towards achieving. They use the language intended to motivate within the firm and to convince those outside it of the company’s sincerity and commitment. By accepting Winston’s proposal the Trust will be acting against its stated aims. If the Trust will decide in favour of quad biking facility it will have serious detrimental effect on the local wildlife and farming practices. It will be especially harmful for the re-introduction of red kites project, which is supported by the Trust. An organisation’s aims should establish which stakeholder needs will be identified and considered when strategic policy is developed. Balancing the interests of stakeholders can be extremely difficult, if the aims of some of these groups conflict. The decision to continue with Winston’s proposal would undermine interests of existing stakeholders of the business, people who donated their money for the Trust to accomplish its organisational objectives. The trust is a charitable organisation. Its ethical behaviour is its unique selling point (USP). It will be really difficult to continue it’s fund raising activities if its existing beneficiaries will be thinking that their money invested into some profitable business ventures. On the finance side the organisation may loose more than it gains, since it is currently receiving eight hundred thousands from donations only. Bad publicity may outset revenue from the project (800k vs. 750k). The committee consists of people who look like they have strong ethical values. Introduction of unethical policy, which Winston’s proposal is, can create divisions within the organisation. One can even argue that by accepting the project the committee members would act in direct contradiction to morals which motivated the founder of the Wildlife Trust Doreen Barkwith. Conclusion: To a large extent but not entirely the proposal made by Jonathan and Ingrid is a better option for the organisations long-term growth and objectives. However, the Winston’s proposal no doubt is a more financially sound one. Nevertheless, one needs to remember that ethics are the moral principles that should underpin decision-making. An ethical decision means doing what is morally right; it is not a matter of scientifically calculating costs and benefits. A decision made on ethical grounds might reject the most profitable solution in favour of one of greater benefit to society as well the firm. On the other hand, we all have different world views and different interpretations of what is beneficial for society. Therefore, I would suggest a more democratic approach to the decision making or find a human solution, such as to use less noisy vehicles, go with a different proposal or even building indoor track course.

Enterprise resource planning

Today, success is determined by what you now about your projects and when you know it Your crews in the field may have all the high-tech tools and state-of-the-art equipment they need – but when information determines success, your management team needs to be similarly equipped. Unfortunately, many construction companies struggle with ion integrated, multiple-vendor legacy systems that provide untimely, inaccurate information and make it difficult to adapt to changing business requirements. In the age of information technology companies can take advantages of IT in terms of Hardware and Software. Companies use various standalone systems o maintain the business process and operation by scatter and loosely coupled application.These scattered and legacy applications are not integrated with each other and there is no easy way to integrate them in a better way to easily maintain and get a high level output. To maintain this application required high amount of man power and cost. To integrate branches, department, process and business vertical in a wide area network required an integrated application. ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning is enterprise wide information system which consolidates information from various functions/departments of an organization. Multi state company like HOC it is required to implement an application which can integrate their all business process to improve their operation, procurement, resource management, cost control, timely report, accounting.Previously HOC uses various small applications to manage their business and operation like payroll system, accounting system, procurement system, tender system, attendance system, MIS system. This application is not integrated and all different branches, worksheet offices use their own application and to get output and error free reports in a central location is required very large time. HOC decided to implement ERP system to overcome above problem and reduce operation time to contro l their business in better way and get competitive age over their competitor. HOC studies different ERP vendor and decided to Implement SAP ERR system for their construction business.HOC compare various ERP vendor however select SAP for their excellent track record for most successful ERP implementation and their times tested solution for Engineering, Construction & Operations. HOC decided to implement SAP for Engineering, Construction & Operations (SAP for SEC&O) solution portfolio to help ensure their business success in J&K site. Founded in 1926, HOC is Indian's premier company, specializing in large- scale civil Engineering projects and developing construction technologies. The company is reputed for its technical prowess, evident in the several marquee projects it has executed over the past eight decades. It was the first construction company in the country to receive ISO 9001, ISO 14001 , and SHOOS 1 8001 certifications for its quality, environmental and occupational health an d safety management systems.With a strong order book of INNER 188 ban at FYI end (and INNER 44 ban of Al projects) it is likely to chart a strong growth trajectory going ahead. The company undertakes projects in the power (hydro and nuclear), water supply & irrigation, and transportation (roads, bridges, metro rails etc. ) segments. In addition, the company has recently entered the metals space. Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. (HOC) is an 80-year-old organization with a track record in executing complex infrastructure projects across various sectors. HOC has undertaken challenging projects across India in widely divergent areas such as power, roads and bridges, dams, buildings, and environmental projects HOC Group of companies HOC Real Estate (HERE) Real estate development arm HOC LtdEngineering and construction arm HOC Infrastructure Asset ownership subsidiary HOC is a leading civil engineering and construction company, engaged primarily in the Construction of Hyde and power projec ts, irrigation, water supply, urban infrastructure and Transportation projects. It is developing Lavas, an ambitious project aimed at creating a hill city near Iambi and Puny. Apart from this, it is also involved in some other real estate development projects. HOC is also making inroads in the asset ownership space with entry into the roads space and has plans to build its BOOT portfolio significantly going ahead. Most of its customers are central government bodies/public sector units like NOAH, NP, UNPIN and State governments like Andorra Pradesh, Gujarat, K and Maharajah's. It has also worked on Hyde power projects in other counties like Bhutan.A snapshot of the work done by the company in various segments is given below: Hyde power: HOC has built over 25% of Indian's installed Hyde power capacity. It has been involved in two out of Indian's five largest underground power houses and five out of Indian's top 10 highest concrete dams. It is currently executing Indian's largest EPIC Hyde power project, the Shanghaiing yodel power plant. Hack's major achievements in this segment are: Building Indian's first major underground power house at Maintain (Briar) in 1954; the first of its kind in South East Asia. Tunneling work of over 90 km in the Himalayas; maximum tunneling work ever done by any construction company in the world.Construction of head race tunnel and surge shaft at the Nathan Karri Hyde plant, the largest underground Hyde power project in India. This plant has the largest and longest head race tunnel, the largest desisting chambers, the deepest and largest surge shaft, and the largest underground power complex. Nuclear power: HOC is the leader in nuclear power plant construction in India and has been associated with over 50% of the country's operational nuclear power capacity. The company has recently worked on Sais's largest nuclear power plant in Katmandu (ex. 000 MM) which is also Indian's first light water reactor (LOWER). Shanghaiing Hyde project in Jam and Kashmir.Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HOC), Indian's leading construction and infrastructure company in joint venture with Halcyon Group Ltd. U. K. (Halcyon) has been awarded the prestigious and challenging 330 MM Shanghaiing hydro-electric project by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NP). The contract is on turnkey basis and valued at approximately INNER 2726. 49 core. The HOC-Halcyon Consortium will have a share in the ratio of 98:2 respectively. The Shanghaiing Hydroelectric Project is located on river Shanghaiing, a tributary of river Shells, in Brutally district of Jam and Kashmir. The project involves the construction of a mom high concrete faced rock fill dam, 23. Km of head race tunnel and an underground powerhouse. A maximum gross head of 665 m is proposed to be utilized to generate 1350 Million Units of energy, in a 90% dependable year with an installed capacity of ex. 10 MM. This is an EPIC contract where HOC will be responsible for Engi neering, Procurement and Construction of all items including civil and associated infrastructure works; supply, installation, testing and commissioning of all electromechanical plant and machinery and hydro-mechanical components including generating units. The project will be completed and commissioned in an estimated 84 months. HOC has contributed significantly in the infrastructure development of Jam and Kashmir.It has built the state's largest hydro-electric power project – the Salad Dam and is currently also developing five other infrastructure projects. This includes three Hyde power projects biz. Caught HEAP (in Cargill), Amino Baggy HEAP (in Lee) and URI HEAP in addition to the historic 84 km McHugh Road and the Principal Tunnels of the Dumper-Agrarians-Brutally rail link. HOC has also constructed Bhutan largest hydroelectric power project at Tall. Problems facing construction industry is not new but probably thousands of years old probably ever since they started buil ding the pyramids. What are so different now are the tools and techniques that can be utilized to get the best usage of its resources and materials and equipment's.Construction is a employ array of interdependent activities that some would say is at best organized chaos. The very nature of construction introduces challenges typically not encountered in other industries. For example, construction differs widely from other industries more so as ; Each project is unique ; Often involves remote sites with various access problems ; the process is not as predictable ; Difficulty in applying automation ; There is high potential for encountering unforeseen conditions ; Costs can Vary according to conditions ; Difficult to manage and supply utilities and other resources. ; Technical innovations are adopted slower. ; Success is dependent upon the quality of its people. Very custom-oriented ; Product can be of mind-boggling size, cost, and complexity ; the work is not performed in controlled c onditions, therefore highly impacted by weather and other environmental conditions All this poses a unique set of challenges as illustrated below. As seen in the figure it is a Herculean task to co-ordinate and integrates all these challenges into one solution. Let's look into some of the major problems in construction companies who do not have or have partial IT infrastructure. 1. No electronic tracking of tasks. The project manager needs to produce manual daily production report. 2. Budget and controls done using legacy spreadsheets and this is most time consuming task and the employee is overloaded. 3. Each project has its own independent method of encoding. 4. Off-Site locations are not as organized as desired. 5.Material and Equipment usage are hard to track; there is very little writing on site. 6. The project managers do status reports but lack critical information such as a. Inventory information b. Budgetary information 7. Due to disorientation there is little time for foll ow up. 8. There is no process for Payment follow ups. Reminders of important issues like raising invoices. ; status report. Petty cash request and reporting Beneficial weekly Evaluating the performance of the project manager. 9. Ineffective system to incorporate fixed assets into the company books. 10. No clear process to accurately track inventory at multiple sites. 11 . Invoices are not raised frequently enough thus contributing to a cash flow problem.All these issues make the construction projects highly complex and cumbersome to track and control. If we have to successfully manage these complex projects its all the more important the work progress and the sources utilized are measurable. The success of a project will be judged by meeting the criteria of cost, time, safety, resource allocation, and quality as defined during the planning and budgeting of the project. The purpose of the ERP will be to measure the progress continually at every step of the project so as to achieve go als and objectives through the planned usage of resources that meet the project's quality, cost, time, scope, and safety requirements.

Functional Behaviour Analysis educ6162 Case Study

Functional Behaviour Analysis educ6162 - Case Study Example Self expression can also make a child behave in a certain way in order to make her independence very clear. The child can also be in need of some tangible rewards like money which makes her feel good. In order to be accepted, a child might behave in a certain way so as to impress her peers or adults. A child’s behavior can be in form of revenge in order to get back at others whether it was real or imagined. Finally, a child...’s behavior is way of escaping from a particular activity or group (Cooper.J.T., and Heward,W 2007). Functional behavior assessment Summary Statements for each Major Trigger and/or Consequence Distant Setting Event Immediate Antecedent (Trigger) Problem Behaviour Maintaining Consequence Function 1 lonely Ignoring the child Sucking and chewing on toys Help her obtain peer attention attention 2 ignored by peers Failing to get a desired object that is visible but out of reach Pulling hair bows and clips Tell her no any time she pulls it and engage her in other activities Acceptance or affiliation 3 change of activity Interrupting the child from an event Pulling away and or dropping on the floor Leave her alone Control 4 There are a lot of people in the room Giving an event that is not preferred by child Leaving designated areas When she walks away appreciate her Escape or avoidance (Briggs, 1993) Support Planning Chart 1 Triggers Behaviours Consequences Ignoring the child Function: attention sucking and chewing toys Interacting with the child She can cause harm to herself Preventions New Skills New Responses Universal Providing her with the right materials for playing teaching her and providing a number of rules for her to follow providing her with engaging activities to avoid being lonely secondary being a role model to the child Inputting the right behaviour to the child To Challenging Behaviour if she stops, praise and if not tell her that the object can cause her harm To New Skills Teach her on how to seek attention appropri ately plan to ignore her not to ignore her when she needs attention social reinforcement teach her appropriate social skills Support Planning Chart 2 Triggers Behaviors Consequences Being ignored by her peers Function: acceptance or affiliation pulling hair bows and clips Her peers talk negatively about her Preventions New Skills New Responses Universal providing her with clear directions when she requires something help her communicate well especially that she suffers from language delay and disability secondary I being a role model to the child is important Ii doing a rehearsal with the child on what is supposed to be done To Challenging Behaviour If sashi responds by requesting the clip praise her if she

Discussion Forum Post Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion Forum Post - Assignment Example Human nature and the tendency to change can be viewed from two dimensions, which include norms and lifestyle. Human nature is not independent of other influences because, in the absence of external factors, human nature can be said to be fixed. Cultural issues, norms and way of life determine to a great extent human behavior, attitude and the nature of interactions. A number of issues arise in so far as the study of the nodes is concerned. Study of the nudes, especially as depicted in the artwork symbolizes the human beauty and the inherent qualities posed by either gender (Powers 80). Consequently, nudity demonstrates various aspects of human life, such as energy and emotions manifested by the posture and the interventions depicted by the nudes (Powers 89). Nudity simply brings out the inner human into display and provides a broad basis over which a number of issues can be

How can each of the five SLEPT macro-environment factors directly Essay

How can each of the five SLEPT macro-environment factors directly drive the content and services provided by a website - Essay Example It is through use of electronic means of communication that a lot of information reaches the target group not only in a local region but all over the world. SLEPT which stands for Social, legal, Economic, Political and Technological factors can directly propel the services and content provided by website (Tajes & Ortiz 2005). These factors are the micro-environment factors that influence any type of business. The business organization must conform to the changing trends of these factors to survive the harsh and competitive market. For instance when website owners develop keen interest in these micro-environmental factors they will definitely win the attention and trust of the many online customers they come across the internet. Each SLAPT factor drives the website services and content differently. Social factors such carry a lot of weight when it comes to the customer trend of purchasing products and utilizing services. In most cases social factors refer to alterations in society that can either promote or hinder a certain business. These changes include population, age and customer lifestyles. These demographic factors affect the buying design. Aware of these vital considerations, the website owners can take advantage of the type of customers using the internet services by advertising services and goods that draw the attention of these special users of internet (Tajes & Ortiz 2005). Legal factors form the second category of micro-environmental elements that boost website content and services. These factors relate to alterations in policies and regulations that surround commercial activities. Any business enterprise must carefully consider current laws and ordinances that must be practiced to keep the business legal (Tajes & Ortiz 2005). For example website owners must consider paying tax to smoothly run their businesses. Strict observation of taxation laws will always strengthen the image of the website content and services. Most

The Power of the U.S. Supreme Court WK6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Power of the U.S. Supreme Court WK6 - Essay Example Consequently, the U.S. courts interpret the United States Congress inspired laws. The court’s decision includes preventing the police officers from forcibly and illegally conducting illegal search evidences and forcing self-incriminating confessions. The federal courts should accept the concept that the United States Congress’ constitution ensures the police officers should not abuse the citizen’s rights against illegal searches and illegally obtained evidences and confessions. The Miranda law continues to be one of the significant victories for the rights of suspects, a stunning win of the U.S. Supreme Court over Congress. The Courts’ interpretation and implementation of the constitution includes making decisions on the 2000 United States presidential elections, abortion, affirmation action, as well as elimination of school segregation policies. Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s Dickerson decision has implications for the federal exclusion rule. The Dickerson case affirmed the constitutionality or legality of the Miranda Doctrine1, enforcing the fourth Amendment. Dickerson filed a complaint stating a police officer DiFilippo attached a GPRS tracking device under his car, without permission, to track the travels of the suspected drug dealer, Dickerson. The rule states that all evidence taken without a search warrant, including the Dickerson drug evidences, illegally violated the suspect’s Miranda rights to self-incrimination (http://w.info.com/) In addition to the above discussion, The United States Congress can modify the laws that do not conflict with constitutional provisions2. The Circuit court incorporates Professor Cassell’s insistence that Miranda Rights reduces conviction of voluntary confessors by stating the United States Congress’ Act 3501 expressly overrides the Miranda Doctrine by focusing on the overall situation, not the Miranda Doctrine (https://wsws.org/). In short, the victim’s voluntary confession,

Identify the artifacts produced on the images during CT scans Essay

Identify the artifacts produced on the images during CT scans. Describe the - Essay Example Several strategies have been developed to prevent artifacts. In this article, different artifacts in CT imaging and various techniques to prevent then will be elaborated. Different researchers have classified artifacts in different manner. While some experts have classified artifacts based on appearance, like ring artifacts, shading artifacts and streak artifacts (Goldman, 2007, 222), others have classified them based on the causes (Yazdi and Beaulieu, 2008, 135). In this articles, classification by Yazdi and Beaulieu (2008, 135) will be used. Patient-based artifacts occur because of some attributes in the body of the patients. The most common patient-based artifacts are metallic artifacts. These artifacts occur due to presence of irremovable metals in the body of the patient like hip prosthesis, dental filling, fracture fixation rods, cardiac prosthesis, chemotherapy ports and surgical clips. Metallic artifacts appear like streaks on images. They occur because of improper and inaccurate correction of beam hardening within the back projection that is filtered. As such, metals absorb photons heavily and cause overestimation of activity in the metallic region. This is the reason why patients are asked to remove all metallic objects in their body prior to entering the scan room. Several techniques have been developed to prevent on minimize metallic artifacts in CT images (Yazdi and Beaulieu, 2008, 136). One such strategy is to disregard data related to projections from metal objects and reconstruct image only based on projec tion data from non-corrupted regions. However, this method is very costly for regular scans and convergence problems occur frequently. Another strategy is to reconstruct images by manually identifying the missing projections and replacing them with non-missing projections of the surrounding areas. This method is known as projection-interpolation method. Other strategies to

Sleep in ICU setting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sleep in ICU setting - Research Paper Example From the results that were obtained from the patients, the study brought out the fact that quality of perceived ICU perceived sleep in ICU was poorer than the baseline sleep that the patients obtained from home. Perceived quality of sleep and sleeping during the day did not change during the time the patients were in the ICU and there was no difference in the environment stimuli (Randall, 2000). The study was designed to determine the quality of life mostly the physical functions of those that survive in the ICU during the early processes of recovery. The study is was also to describe the former critically harsh patients finished instruments on the general health and the life quality in the initial six months of their recovery (Lane, 1989). The method that was used in the study is that which involved response to a designed questionnaire and questions about the problems. From the study, it was found out that the survivors of critical illness and hospitalization in the ICU recover well despite feeling important control and disturbed sleep at the time they recover. The study was designed to analyze patients who had a past or are currently diagnosed with cancer and were consequently admitted in the ICU to enable characterization of the symptoms that are experience of a cohort of ICU patients at high risk of experiencing hospital deaths. The method used in the study involved analysis of patients’ self-reports of the one hundred cancer patients that were sampled after getting treated in medical ICU. The results that were obtained from the cancer patients showed that there were common distressing symptoms in the patients when they are in the ICU and they were also found to be at significant levels of severity. The results that were obtained also suggested that there should be strategies in the use of ICU therapies. The study was designed to investigate lack of adequate

Minimalism and Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Minimalism and Music - Essay Example The cultural milieu of the first wave of minimalist composers all born in the mid 1930s in the United States was one marked by social upheaval, political revolution, and a new sense of global awareness and connection after the isolationist 50's. This sense of a world stage in which the United States and the Soviet Union were the two antipodes invited an influx of ideas and cultural artifacts from the rest of the world. The late 50's and early 60's saw a massive increase in the number of colleges and universities and the subsequent rise in attendance of those institutions. This academic boom laid the groundwork for the ideological struggles that would precipitate politically, culturally, and artistically. As such, minimalism owes more to non-Western music, jazz and rock than to 20th-century Modernism or any other Western art music, at least that since the Baroque period (Potter "Minimalism"). While their modernist predecessors and their electronic and electro-acoustic contemporaries w ere interested in withdrawal, socially and musically as evidenced by Milton Babbit's statement, "the composer would do himself and his music an immediate and eventual service by total, resolute, and voluntary withdrawal from this public world into one of private performance and electronic media, with its very real possibility of complete elimination of the public and social aspects of composition" . That particular quotation of Babbit's was present in his controversial essay, "Who Cares If you Listen," Steve Reich. believed quite the opposite and suggested that the work that he, Terry Riley and Philip Glass were doing was interested in the public reaction and interested in connecting with a more mainstream approach (Schwarz, 375). The second wave of minimalist composers came later in the 80's and 90's under the rubric of "holy minimalism." This trio of composers included: Henyrk Gorecki, Arvo Part, and John Taverner. Their milieu is also suggestive of a multi-culturally infused, cosmopolitan attitude towards music, with an interest in connecting with the people around them. However, in addition to this cultural context, there is a religious or transcendent impulse in their music that is not necessarily present in the work of Riley, Glass or Reich. This transcendent impulse is also indicative of the opportunity to connect with an audience in a mainstream way, by the utilization of religious imagery perhaps common to many. Stylistically, Minimalism is a response to serialism, free atonality, and aleatory styles of John Cage and other post-war avant-garde musicians (Schwarz, 375). It

Everyday Learning vs. Scientific Learning Essay Example for Free

Everyday Learning vs. Scientific Learning Essay There are many tasks that a child learns in their early life. Some of which include learning how to crawl, then walk and learning how to talk. I think a child learning how to talk and communicate is very important. That alone will shape them and how well they will communicate later in their life. Our system of language and the process of communication are closely linked. Communication can be described as any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about that persons needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms and may occur through spoken or other modes. Children learn communication from their parents. Communication is not something that can be studied; it is something that people have to learn by doing. As a parent, good communication needs to be emphasized as they are talking and listening to the child. A child can tell when a parent is not really listening to them, and this can create a big problem in the relationship. Children who feel misunderstood or feel like they arent being listened to will start to hold their feelings inside. This is the exact opposite of what good communication should be. Communication is necessary for everything we do in life and we learn it while we are children. The communication skills learned by children from their families will stick with them throughout their lives. In order to have a society of good communicators, it needs to start in the home. Parents need to start communicating with their children and need to show them how to communicate with others. This is a skill that will be valued all throughout life and is something that shouldnt be ignored. The skill of communication will be valued in every relationship throughout life. It is a necessity.

Changes in the Worldview

Changes in the Worldview WHAT IS WORLDVIEW? In basic terms world view is a concept where a person/individual or a group or a culture reacts or interacts with the world using different ideas and frameworks. Worldviews forms social values and these values create social or individual behavior. These behaviors further create different cultures. So, basically worldview of a particular culture may be different from another culture. Worldview has changed during the past a lot of times. During the premodern era the worldview had a metaphysical concept meaning the era was focused on spiritual beliefs and as the era changed, then came the modern era. As the beliefs changed in modern era so did the worldview. During the modern era society started changing their believes and dropped the idea of spiritual beliefs to humanity, here and now and physical reality. Then came the era which we call postmodern era which is the system of thoughts and beliefs being accepted and embraced after the modern age and it focused on humanism, science educat ion etc. There were a lot of changes in the western worldview over time as there are a lot of factors that help the worldview to change, for example: Social systems Political and economic system Culture The change in the western worldview could be categorized in 3 eras, the pre-modern era, the modern era and the post-modern era. There were a timely change in the worldview of how the society thinks and what does it accept which led to the change in worldviews. According to one author Christianity changed the pagan word because Christians were faithful and were even willing to die for their beliefs and morality. And thus, even Constantine legalized Christianity in AD 313. Once it was legalized chritians started following their beliefs, one of which was human being were create by the image of god. After the middle age, it was the beginning of the era what we call renaissance. It basically started when European scholar discovered classic documents and new idea to look at the world. Few events such as the Black death also brought changes to the worldview, people start believing that the cause was a result of the alignment of planets and some believes that it was a punishment of god and those who survived had a chance to leave their farmland and move to cities which in todays era we call urbanization. After the renaissance or modern era came the modernism and it rejected the post-modernism as it failed to answer humanities most troublesome problems. The objective of ethics according the Christian ethic is that few standards are visible throughout human attitude towards morality. Even though secular philosophers treat all moral ethics as relative, even they have some ethical values such as love, justice and courage. The basic importance of ethics to worldview is that ethics always comes with philosophies and philosophies are shaped by the worldview. So, to create ethics we use philosophies and to shape philosophies we need to understand the worldview. The solution for humans ethical dilemmas can affect ones worldview. The human in todays world are left with two choices between two evils: Believe at least some people will believes the values at judgments to be objective Or no one believe it. Selecting the second option means debunking all the moral and ethical values which is a new point of view and lead to a new worldview. The common aspect between the book and the articles is that all the author are conveying a message about worldview, morals and ethics and the transition of one worldview to another over a period. The ways of conveying the message are different but few things are similar between the book and the article which are morality, ethics etc. C.S Lewis in his book The Abolition of Man has a bit different approach to explain this concept. He uses human and nature to explain the worldview and ethics. He also explains the concept of Tao, a Chinese word for the realm of objective value as the basis for traditional morality. (Lewis, 1943) References Lewis, C. S. (1986). The abolition of man, or, Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools. Retrieved January 16, 2017 Christian Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2017, from http://www.allaboutworldview.org/christian-ethics.html Zacharia, R. (2016, December 20). The Death of Truth and a Postmortem. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from http://rzim.org/global-blog/the-death-of-truth-and-a-postmortem/ Anderson, K. (2016, August 07). Worldviews Through History Compared to a Christian View. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from www.probe.org/worldviews-through-history/ Smilde, A. (2015, June 3). LEWISIANA: Summary of C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man. Retrieved January 16, 2017, from http://lewisiana.nl/abolsum/index.html

Billy Budd :: essays papers

Billy Budd Today’s society as well as the majority of our schools can definitely improve on how it encourages creativity and individuality in today’s youth. A lot of the time, it’s hard to do this, but with smaller classrooms, more qualified and devoted teachers, and more cooperation from the students, everyone’s needs could be met, and students would receive a better education. Many of today’s schools have no tolerance for anything that may go against the â€Å"norm.† Schools today can allow for individuality and differences in students, but they either choose not to or are not aware that anything is wrong with the way they do things. In Melville’s, Billy Budd, there are examples of this stifling of individuality. The crew members on board the â€Å"Avenger† are made to all conform and follow orders without question. Through Claggart, the men’s individuality and rights as people are taken away through fear. No matter what anyo ne is trying to accomplish, satisfying everyone is almost always impossible. It is no different in today’s school system, satisfying everyone is difficult. Students are not allowed to express themselves as freely as they should. This is not the case in all schools, but it is Especially since incidents like those at Columbine High School, schools now view acts of individuality and creativeness as those of malicious intent. There is a kind of intolerance for those who act differently from the majority. Ever since the two boys from Columbine murdered their classmates, everyone has been extremely cautious about everything from actual death threats, to mere heated discussion between classmates. It is almost to a point of overkill. How much regulation is too much regulation? In order for schools to be able to accommodate for everyone and their individual needs, they must first not punish students for being different from the majority. After there is an acknowledgment of the individuality of students, then you can start to help them learn better and on their own levels. If a student has no aspirations whatsoever to go to college, then after some persuasion for them to reconsider, they should not be expected to complete and be graded on the same set of requirements as other students. If a person is not as â€Å"capable†, or rather does not choose to use their abilities to their fullest, then they should be graded on what they are able to do, not what other people are capable of and what they are expected to be capable of.

An Analysis of Brooks First Fight.Then Fiddle Essay -- First Fight.Th

An Analysis of Brooks' First Fight.Then Fiddle  Ã‚   Gwendolyn Brooks' "First fight. Then Fiddle." initially seems to argue for the necessity of brutal war in order to create a space for the pursuit of beautiful art. The poem is more complex, however, because it also implies both that war cannot protect art and that art should not justify war. Yet if Brooks seems, paradoxically, to argue against art within a work of art, she does so in order create an artwork that by its very recognition of art's costs would justify itself. Brooks initially seems to argue for the necessity of war in order to create a safe space for artistic creation. She suggests this idea quite forcefully in the paired short sentences that open the poem: "First fight. Then fiddle." One must fight before fiddling for two reasons. First, playing the violin would be a foolish distraction if an enemy were threatening one's safety; it would be, as the phrase goes, "fiddling while Rome burns." Second, fighting the war first would prepare a safe and prosperous place where one could reasonably pursue the pleasures of music. One has to "civilize a space / Wherein to play your violin with grace." It should be noted further that while Brooks writes about securing a "civilized" place to play the violin, she seems clearly to be using this playing as an image for art in general, as her more expansive references to "beauty" or "harmony" suggest. Nonetheless, much that Brooks writes about the necessity to fight before fiddling indicates the she does not support this idea, at least not fully. For example, Brooks describes making beautiful music as being "remote / A while" from "malice and murdering." In addition to the negative way Brooks describes war in this line, ... ...ultural prestige of violin playing. Indeed, as an emblem of Western civility (one thinks of Renaissance sonnets), the sonnet might be involved in the very justification of the destruction of other less "civilized" peoples that the poem condemns. One might wonder why Brooks produces poetry, especially the sonnet, if she also condemns it. I would suggest that by critically reckoning the costs of sonnet-making Brooks brings to her poetry a self-awareness that might justify it after all. She creates a poetry that, like the violin playing she invokes, sounds with "hurting love." This "hurting love" reminds us of those who may have been hurt in the name of the love for poetry. But in giving recognition to that hurt, it also fulfills a promise of poetry: to be more than a superficial social "grace," to teach us something we first did not, or did not wish to, see.   

Academic Definition and History of Emotional Intelligence

In 1985 Wayne Leon Payne, so a alumnus pupil at an alternate broad humanistic disciplines college in the USA, wrote a doctorial thesis which included the term â€Å" emotional intelligence † in the rubric. This seems to be the first academic usage of the term â€Å" emotional intelligence. † In following five old ages, no 1 else seems to hold used the term â€Å" emotional intelligence † in any academic documents. Then in 1990 the work of two American university professors, John Mayer and Peter Salovey, was published in two academic diary articles. Mayer, ( U. of New Hampshire ) , and Salovey ( Yale ) , were seeking to develop a manner of scientifically mensurating the difference between people ‘s ability in the country of emotions. They found that some people were better than others at things like placing their ain feelings, placing the feelings of others, and work outing jobs affecting emotional issues. The rubric of one of these documents was titled â€Å" Emotional Intelligence † . Since 1990 these professors have developed two trials to try to mensurate what they are naming our â€Å" emotional intelligence. † Because about all of their authorship has been done in the academic community, their names and their existent research findings are non widely known. Alternatively, the individual most normally associated with the term emotional intelligence is really a New York author and adviser named Daniel Goleman. In 1995 Goleman ‘s book came out under the rubric â€Å" Emotional Intelligence. † The book made it to the screen of Time Magazine in the USA and Goleman began looking on American telecasting shows such as Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue. He besides began a talking circuit to advance the book and the book became an international best marketer. It remained on the New York Times best-seller list for about one twelvemonth. In the book he collected, and frequently dramatized, a batch of information on the encephalon, emotions, and behaviour. On the Daniel Goleman page you can see notes and unfavorable judgments of the book. One thing Goleman has been criticized for is beliing what Salovey and Mayer meant by the term â€Å" emotional intelligence † . Annie Paul says Goleman â€Å" distorted their theoretical account in upseting ways. † John Mayer has been quoted as stating â€Å" Goleman has broadened the definition of emotional intelligence to such an extent that it no longer has any scientific significance or public-service corporation and is no longer a clear forecaster of result.Features of Emotional IntelligenceDaniel Goleman, an American psychologist, developed a model of five elements that define emotional intelligence: Self-Awareness: Peoples with high emotional intelligence are normally really self-conscious. They understand their emotions, and because of this, they do n't allow their feelings govern them. They ‘re confident – because they trust their intuition and do n't allow their emotions get out of control. They ‘re besides willing to take an honest expression at themselves. They know their strengths and failings, and they work on these countries so they can execute better. Many people believe that this self-awareness is the most of import portion of emotional intelligence. Self-Regulation: This is the ability to command emotions and urges. Peoples who self-regulate typically do n't let themselves to go excessively angry or covetous, and they do n't do unprompted, careless determinations. They think before they act. Features of self-regulation are thoughtfulness, comfort with alteration, unity, and the ability to state no. Motivation: Peoples with a high grade of emotional intelligence are normally motivated. They ‘re willing to postpone immediate consequences for long-run success. They ‘re extremely productive, love a challenge, and are really effectual in whatever they do. Empathy: This is possibly the second-most of import component of emotional intelligence. Empathy is the ability to place with and understand the wants, demands, and point of views of those around you. Peoples with empathy are good at acknowledging the feelings of others, even when those feelings may non be obvious. As a consequence, empathic people are normally first-class at pull offing relationships, hearing, and associating to others. They avoid pigeonholing and judging excessively rapidly, and they live their lives in a really unfastened, honorable manner. Social Skills: It ‘s normally easy to speak to and like people with good societal accomplishments, another mark of high emotional intelligence. Those with strong societal accomplishments are typically team participants. Rather than concentrate on their ain success foremost, they help others develop and reflect. They can pull off differences, are first-class communicators, and are Masterss at edifice and keeping relationships.Need of emotional intelligenceIt suggests that the footing for emotional intelligence is self awareness. This deals with how people perceive, appraise and show their ain emotions. And how they use emotions to ease and prioritize thought, using the emotions to help in opinion ( utilizing the information that emotions provide ) . In the workshop, we looked at labelling and apportioning their emotions to different parts of their organic structures, for illustration person said they got ‘butterflies in their tummy ‘ before they did a presentation. Other common emotions which have become associated with parts of the organic structure include a weightiness in the thorax, a ball in the pharynx and a weight on the shoulders. Bing able to separate between these many different emotions and feelings is a requirement for the other countries of EI. The 2nd demand is self direction which is about how people control their emotions instead than being at their caprice – utilizing feelings as a ‘resource ‘ . And we did a short exercising utilizing NLP ‘s resource anchoring to demo how participants could utilize an emotional province they had experience in one context and use it in another where it would be more utile than the province they usually experienced here. I think I managed to convert them that this is a ‘tool ‘ non a ‘trick ‘ , and like any other tools is n't per se good or bad but can be utile. The 3rd is societal consciousness – being tuned into others ‘ emotions, and the organizational clime. They key here is about being able to read other people and acquiring some external proof of this ability to be able to ticket melody it. We used a twosome of great trials which are freely available in the cyberspace: Simon Baron Cohen ‘s Reading the Mind in the Eyes quiz, and Paul Ekman ‘s Subtle Expression Training Tool and Micro Expression Training Tool. Fourth comes societal accomplishments, things like ‘visionary leading, influence, developing others, communicating, alteration contact action, struggle direction, constructing bonds, teamwork and coaction. But really unless people have good ego consciousness, self direction and societal consciousness, these societal accomplishments are improbable to hold much impact. Possibly the ground CEOs price reduction societal accomplishments is that they do n't see them bettering – and possibly the ground for this is that administrations have put excessively much focal point on societal accomplishments themselves, and non plenty on the other underpinning abilities.Equivalent at workForemans and leaders, in peculiar, need high EQ because they represent the organisation to the populace, they interact with the highest figure of people within and outside the organisation and they set the tone for employee morale, says Goleman. Leaderships with empathy are able to understand their employees? demands and supply them with constructive feedback, he says. Different occupations besides call for different types of emotional intelligence, Goleman says. For illustration, success in gross revenues requires the empathetic ability to estimate a client? s temper and the interpersonal accomplishment to make up one's mind when to flip a merchandise and when to maintain quiet. By comparing, success in painting or professional tennis requires a more single signifier of self-discipline and motive. And there are gender differences in emotional intelligence every bit good, says Stein. After administrating EQ appraisals to 4,500 work forces and 3,200 adult females, his organisation found that adult females score higher than work forces on steps of empathy and societal duty, but work forces outperform adult females on emphasis tolerance and assurance steps. In other words, says Stein, adult females and work forces are every bit as intelligent emotionally, but they? re strong in different countries.Importance of Emotional IntelligenceWhether we like it or non, our emotions are portion of what makes us human and they follow and influence us wherever we go – and that means they follow us to work. Effective direction of emotional intelligence is a strong forecaster of success in both our personal life and in the office. Research shows that the step of one ‘s emotional intelligence, frequently referred to as emotional quotient ( EQ ) , is twice every bit of import as tradi tional leading accomplishments for occupation public presentation in direction places. Those with high emotional intelligence are much more likely to present superior public presentation as compared to the norm participants, irrespective of industry. It is, possibly, slightly intuitive to understand that competences in EI affair for sales representative who depend on their ability to associate with and successfully connect and influence with others, but interestingly the informations for scientists and similar proficient professions besides points to EI as necessary for first-class public presentation – even more so than analytical thought. Goleman points out that the more complex the occupation, the more EI affairs. In complex functions, holding a high degree of analytical and proficient accomplishments are merely the threshold demand for people to execute aptly, intending these accomplishments are merely the entry point. A lack of EI hinders the usage of whatever threshold skills a individual may hold. Goleman adds, â€Å" In short, out-of-control emotions ca n do smart people stupid. † Emotional intelligence impacts many countries under the umbrella of organisational effectivity, such as in the countries of keeping and leading. Employee turnover rates can be really dearly-won to organisations and can deeply impact the bottom line. The top is that employees are more likely to remain with foremans who manage emotional intelligence. In other words, people do n't go forth occupations – they leave directors. Peoples with good foremans are four times less likely to go forth than are those with hapless foremans. EI is really of import in leading functions, as leaders need everyone to make their occupations every bit efficaciously as possible and this requires a high grade of interpersonal effectivity. Studies show that high EQ differentiates average from superior performing artists, which can be critical for leading places. The good intelligence is, unlike IQ, research surveies prove that emotional intelligence accomplishments can be taught and developed over clip. â€Å" Alternatively of being stuck with the manus they ‘d been cover, people can take stairss to heighten their emotional intelligence and do themselves more effectual in their work and personal lives. † More good intelligence is that most people ‘s EI increases with age and adulthood. For anyone who wants to further understand their emotional intelligence, EQ can be measured by a assortment of appraisals and development programs can be created to efficaciously assist better emotional intelligence and consequences.How to Better Your Emotional IntelligenceThe good intelligence is that emotional intelligence CAN be taught and developed. Many books and trials are available to assist you find your current EI, and place where you may necessitate to make some work. You can besides utilize these tips: Detect how you react to people. Do you hotfoot to judgment before you know all of the facts? Do you pigeonhole? Look candidly at how you think and interact with other people. Try to set yourself in their topographic point, and be more unfastened and accepting of their positions and demands. Look at your work environment. Make you seek attending for your achievements? Humility can be a fantastic quality, and it does n't intend that you ‘re diffident or lack assurance. When you pattern humbleness, you say that you know what you did, and you can be softly confident about it. Give others a opportunity to reflect – set the focal point on them, and do n't worry excessively much about acquiring congratulations for yourself. Make a self-evaluation. What are your failings? Are you willing to accept that you ‘re non perfect and that you could work on some countries to do yourself a better individual? Have the bravery to look at yourself candidly – it can alter your life. Analyze how you react to nerve-racking state of affairss. Do you go disquieted every clip there ‘s a hold or something does n't go on the manner you want? Do you fault others or go angry at them, even when it ‘s non their mistake? The ability to remain unagitated and in control in hard state of affairss is extremely valued – in the concern universe and outside it. Keep your emotions under control when things go incorrect. Take duty for your actions. If you hurt person ‘s feelings, apologise straight – do n't disregard what you did or avoid the individual. Peoples are normally more willing to forgive and bury if you make an honest effort to do things right. Examine how your actions will impact others – before you take those actions. If your determination will impact others, put yourself in their topographic point. How will they experience if you do this? Would you desire that experience? If you must take the action, how can you assist others cover with the effectsDecisionThe common denominator that all concerns portion is people, and assisting people work together better is an intuitively easy construct to understand. Since organisations are complex systems, emotional intelligence is non traveling to be the individual intercession to work out all jobs. That being said, those companies that make emotional intelligence a precedence and cascade this down to the group and single degree will hold a strategic advantage over those companies who ignore the human factor. A good first measure for a company interested in researching emotional intelligence further may be to perpetrate to making and prolonging an ambiance that values emotional intelligence, and to larn more about specifying an emotionally healthy organisation. Another positive measure is to further truth stating by explicitly and implicitly honoring reliable communicating, and conversely by doing it inappropriate for others who are non reliable and blunt. Further, you may see increasing your group ‘s self-awareness by a assortment of appraisal options. These could include a current province appraisal affecting leading, stakeholder and squad members, a measuring of morale utilizing the Organization Culture Surveya„? , or an appraisal of single emotional intelligence

Organizational Profile of UT Bank Ghana Ltd Essay

The Chief Executive Officer of UT Bank has been Mr. Prince K. Amoabeng since its establishment. The bank has 24 banking halls nationwide, 2 loan centers and 16 ATM outlets. Kumasi Branches which are the focus have 40 staff members which comprise of 2 Management Staff, 25 Senior Staff and 13 Junior Staff. The branch has four departments namely; Banking (Operations), Wholesale Banking and Investor Relations, Retail Banking and Administration (UT Bank, 2011). Organizational culture Basically, culture is defined as â€Å"the way we do things around here† (Deal & Kennedy, 2000) or â€Å"the way we think about things around here† (Maull, Brown & Cliffe, 2001). Deal and Kennedy (1982) argue that culture is the single most important factor accounting for success or failure in organizations. They identified four key dimensions of culture: 1. Values – the beliefs that lie at the heart of the corporate culture. 2. Heroes – the people who embody values. 3. Rites and rituals – routines of interaction that have strong symbolic qualities. 4.  The culture network – the informal communication system or hidden hierarchy of power in the organization. Groeschl and Doherty (2000) pointed out that culture consists of several elements- implicit and otherwise. Most often these elements are explained by terms such as behaviour, values, norms and basic assumptions. According to Schein (1996), culture may be studied at its most visible level through the examination of its artefacts and creations, which include physical space, technology, art, symbols, language, mottoes, and overt behaviour are the values espoused by individuals as the organisation faces and deals with new situations. These represent â€Å"what ought to be, as distinct from what is†. The culture of an organization develops through the course of social interactions rather than being imposed, and creates system of shared meanings to mobilize members of the organization in pursuit of the desired aims and objectives. Morgan (1997) focuses on the whole organization, the cultivation of harmonious relations at all levels, the merging of individual with common goals and a reliance on worker responsibility (Japanese approaches) as success factors in organizational culture. Successful organizations build cohesive cultures around common set of norms, values, and ideas that create a focus for doing business. Organizations are socially created and exist as much in the minds of their members as they exist in concrete structures, rules and relations. Organizational culture facilitates the acceptable solutions for knowing the problems, which members learn, feel and set the principles, expectations, behaviour, patterns, and norms that promote a high level of achievement (Marcoulides & Heck, 1993; Schein, 1992). Analysis of the culture of the organization based on observation The observation was made on the basis of the artefact, norms, values and, the assumptions and beliefs within the organisation. The observation followed through the working periods of the organisation: the observer was as objective as much as possible. Artefacts From the observation, every office and employee had stickers of â€Å"Loan in less than 48hours† and crests embossed to their breasts respectively. Also, each branch had the missions and vision of the bank hanged on the walls of the banking halls. The bank’s physical arrangement is a well-planned architecture of the office which shows clearly the various departments. Also, it was observed that the office design is one that fit the organisation and what it does. It has offices for various departmental heads and that of a shared office for the other employees which enhanced communication. There is no specific dress code for the employees, but the employees are also smart and formal in appearance. However, on Friday, employees wear prints made of the colours and descriptions of the bank. Employees spoke a corporate language which is English; but also intermittently spoke Twi when attending to the illiterate clients as well as casual conversations among staff. Values and Norms From the observations, the values of the bank are not only visibly seen on their walls, but also clearly evident in the behaviours of the employees. It was observed that, the general demeanours of the employees exude respect, integrity and high level professionalism. Workers reported to work as early as 06:00 GMT, and left the office as late as 21:00 GMT. Workers were willing to go the extra mile to keep the customers happy. According to Hunt, Boal and Sorenson (1990), leadership is a process involving the leader, task and situation and indeed. Most of the leadership literature confuses the definition of effective leadership by failing to make clear distinctions in some definitions, such as between leaders and non-leaders, effective and ineffective leaders, as well as overlooking the definition of the levels of leadership (Bennis, 1998; Bergsteiner, 2005; House and Aditya, 1997) Leaders are often tangible images of successful endeavour in organizations, serving as role models and mentors for the more junior and aspiring employees. The evaluation and explanation of leadership is the domain of theorists and researchers who offer organizations a range of approaches or theories, which may be said to evolve from the changing expectations of organizations. Leadership is â€Å"the process wherein an individual member of a group or organisation influences the interpretation of events, the choice of objectives and strategies, the organisation of work activities, the motivation of people to achieve objectives, the maintenance of cooperative relationships, the development of skills and confidence by members, and the enlistment of support and cooperation from people outside the group or organisation† (Yukl, 2002). When leaders are effective the influence they exert over others help a group(s) or organization(s) to achieve its performance goals. On the other hand, if leaders are ineffective, their influence does not contribute to and often detracts from, goal attainment. Leadership depends on the use of power, influence, vision, persuasion and communication skills to coordinate the behaviour of individuals and groups so that their activities and efforts are in harmony. Leaders encourage employees to perform at a high level to achieving targeted oals (Jones et al. 2007). Leadership in UT Bank Ghana Limited, Kumasi Branch UT Bank believes in quality leadership and its management opines that leadership is all about team-building and the expression of selfless work ethics. The leadership is a participatory one and as such it is a rule that all employees irrespective of the management level address one another by the first name. There is a vision for the organization; guiding, training, coaching and motivating employees to work effectively to achieve the organization’s objectives. The trend is to empower employees, give them as much freedom as possible to become self-directed and self-motivated. Often, that means working in teams. Teamwork aids communication, improves cooperation, reduces internal competition and maximizes the talents of all employees on a project. Strength and limitations of UT Bank Ghana Limited, Kumasi branch as organisms Strengths The organisational culture and leadership in the organisation helps develop an understanding between the organization and its environments. This describes the organization as existing in an open system where the environment has a great impact on the way the organization is run. It shows that the management of UT Bank can often be improved through systematic attention to the â€Å"needs† that must be satisfied if the organization is to survive. It emphasizes survival as the main task facing the organization which helps the goals to not be an end in themselves, but media of survival. The leadership in UT Bank shows that there is no best way of managing – thus, the best way of management is determined by the events happening at any point in time. It clearly shows that different approaches to management may be necessary to perform different tasks within the organisation. Limitations A careful look at UT Bank as an organism makes one assume that the organisation is functionally organised which leads to â€Å"functional unity† – interdependence where every element of the system works for all the other elements. However, in organizations, self-interest is a major conflict and also different elements of an organization are usually capable of living separate lives and often do so. Also, the rise in importance of the organic metaphor in UT Bank has undermined the efficiency of bureaucratic organizations. The metaphor leads UT Bank and its environments in a way that is far too concrete. This is because organizations and their environments can be understood as socially constructed phenomena. Their shape and structure is much more fragile and tentative than the material structure of an organism. It is misleading to suggest that UT Bank need to â€Å"adapt† to its environment or that environments â€Å"select† the organizations that are to survive. On the contrary, organizations have a choice as to whether they are to compete or collaborate. Collaborating organizations actions can have an impact on the environment. Conclusion Since an organisation is an organism made up of systems working together, keeping such systems in good and workable conditions is very crucial to the survival and subsequent success of the organisation. Culture and leadership can be seen as effective lubricants to the effective functioning of an organisation. The culture of an organization is many times created by those who lead it. The culture of an organization speaks directly to the beliefs and practices that it holds to be true. When thinking about culture a leader must help define why the organization exists and to lead by example. Thereby satisfying the needs of employees organisations operate more effectively and people truly become the lifeblood of organisations.

Langston Hughes and Alice Walker Essay

Langston Hughes’ Still Here and Dream Deferred are two poems depicting emotions driven by frustrations in life. These literary works may appear simple, but they both depict the social and political conditions during the time these poems were written. Langston Hughes, a renowned writer during the Harlem Renaissance, is famous for his works on social class and race relations in America. His poem Dream Deferred, as the title suggests, describes various detrimental effects frustration can bring to a person. Literary tools used were imagery, similes, and metaphors in question form to suggest these detrimental effects. In the poem, effects are described as the raisin in the sun, like a sore that festers, like a stinking rotten meat, and like a heavy load. The two poems by Langston both expressed the social and political conditions in his time and its implications to the lives of the African-Americans, then. During Langston’s time, African-American exercised limited rights that may have hindered them from attaining their dreams in life. Langston sees that this problem has caused great pain to the unfulfilled person and to the people surrounding him. The short story Everyday Use by Alice Walker, on the other hand, discusses how culture and heritage should be valued and recognized, specifically that of the African-Americans. Alice Walker, an American writer, like Langston, also writes about race and gender relations. Her short story illustrated the conflict in appreciating the African-American culture by presenting the redefined and the practical ways of doing this. The writer made use of the quilt as the representation of the culture and heritage of the African-American. The quilt, seen as the product of quilting, is said to be the refined way of seeing its worth while knowing the process of quilting represents the practical way and more meaningful way of appreciating the culture and heritage. The story suggests that heritage and culture should not be equated to tangible things and should be understood thoroughly to see its worth. Langston and Walker, through their works, showed how African-Americans feel and what their personal struggles are in two different scenarios. Indeed, their works never failed to provide inspiration to those who can relate. References: Hughes, L. (1951). Dream Deferred. Retrieved May 5, 2009, 2009, from http://www. poemhunter. com/i/ebooks/pdf/langston_hughes_2004_9. pdf Hughes, L. Still Here. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://www. poemhunter. com/i/ebooks/pdf/langston_hughes_2004_9. pdf Walker, A. (1973). Everyday Use. Retrieved May 5, 2009, from http://xroads. virginia. edu/~ug97/quilt/walker. html

Gay Ane Lesbian Exam Being Worked

gay and lesbian marriage i do not think the law should or shouldent be passed but i had to chose one and if they want to be happy why cant the get married. Australia currently bans recognition of same sex marriage although as of 2011 the federal labour party government officially changed its position to allow a vote on the same sex marriage despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s opposition to such a vote. ne main reason people are against it is because they might want a child and people think that the child will grow up in a unstable environment because studies have show that a heterosexual relationship/marriage last 20 years or longer with many wedded for life. a vast majority of homosexual relations are temporary. In 2008 a study of 390 gay and lesbian people Victorians found that 1 in 7 reported fear of violence. This fear is justified in that nearly 85 precent of respondents has been subjected to some form of homophobic violence in their life time.Homophobia is a fear of h omosexuality; some people are threatened by people who have other sexual preferences than their own. gay and lesbian marriage today i am here to talk to u about one of the dabates that the australian goverment are having the one about same sex marriage rights. i belive that the law should be accepted because people can not help who they fall in love,some spectics think that gay marriage will lead to more devorces but accoding to Divorceform. org 74% of the population gets devorced every year but that is only the heterosexual couples.

Moive Review – 8 Mile

I’m a big fan of rap and hip-hop music, so one of my favorite movies is ‘8 Mile’. It is a semi-autobiographic film about Eminem’s life. Starring well-known artists in the movie industry, such as Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Omar Benson, Kim Basinger, and Eminem himself, ‘8 Mile’ became one of the most successful movies about musicians ever made. Set in Detroit, 1995, the story revolves around a white boy named Jimmy ‘B-Rabbit’ Smith, an inspiring rapper, trying to succeed in a music style most known for black artists.Jimmy lives in a trailer park with his mother and his younger sister on 8 Mile Road, the imaginary line that separates Detroit in two halves – the have-gots and have-nots. The very first scene of the movie presents ‘The Shelter’- the building where all the rap battles take place. It is Friday night and it’s time for Jimmy to go on stage and battle lyrically with another inspiring rapper. Bu t when he gets the microphone, he ‘chokes’ and gets booed off stage.That really takes him down and he is almost ready to give up on his dream. After some dramatic twists and turns, Mr. Smith mans up, gets over his pains and plunges in the courage to go back on stage and show everybody what his level of skills is like. In some kind it reminds me of the movie ‘The White People Can’t Jump’. The movie has won many prestigious awards, including an Academic Award for Best Original Song, which makes Eminem the only music artist with an Oscar.Not only with brilliant acting, but also with very good soundtrack and deep and moving lyrics, the film will definitely touch your heart and many people will find themselves in a situation similar to Jimmy’s. To sum up, I’ll say that ‘8 Mile’ is worth watching and I’ll recommend it to not only music lovers, but also everyone interested in realistic movies that will make them think about life opportunities and one-time chances. Moive Review – 8 Mile I’m a big fan of rap and hip-hop music, so one of my favorite movies is ‘8 Mile’. It is a semi-autobiographic film about Eminem’s life. Starring well-known artists in the movie industry, such as Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Omar Benson, Kim Basinger, and Eminem himself, ‘8 Mile’ became one of the most successful movies about musicians ever made. Set in Detroit, 1995, the story revolves around a white boy named Jimmy ‘B-Rabbit’ Smith, an inspiring rapper, trying to succeed in a music style most known for black artists.Jimmy lives in a trailer park with his mother and his younger sister on 8 Mile Road, the imaginary line that separates Detroit in two halves – the have-gots and have-nots. The very first scene of the movie presents ‘The Shelter’- the building where all the rap battles take place. It is Friday night and it’s time for Jimmy to go on stage and battle lyrically with another inspiring rapper. Bu t when he gets the microphone, he ‘chokes’ and gets booed off stage.That really takes him down and he is almost ready to give up on his dream. After some dramatic twists and turns, Mr. Smith mans up, gets over his pains and plunges in the courage to go back on stage and show everybody what his level of skills is like. In some kind it reminds me of the movie ‘The White People Can’t Jump’. The movie has won many prestigious awards, including an Academic Award for Best Original Song, which makes Eminem the only music artist with an Oscar.Not only with brilliant acting, but also with very good soundtrack and deep and moving lyrics, the film will definitely touch your heart and many people will find themselves in a situation similar to Jimmy’s. To sum up, I’ll say that ‘8 Mile’ is worth watching and I’ll recommend it to not only music lovers, but also everyone interested in realistic movies that will make them think about life opportunities and one-time chances.

Evaluate Bodyshop company Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Evaluate Bodyshop company - Coursework Example Sesame oil and marula oil are the most common natural ingredients utilized by the company in making its products. Marula oil is obtained from kernels and some of its traditional use entailed body moistening as a lotion and massage treatment purposes. Sesame oil also acts as skin moisturizer and skin massage oil (Nitzsch & Rose, 2011, p. 23). Body shop obtains its ingredients via Community Fair Trade. The products fall under various categories depending on their use. The first category is fragrances that include varied products for men and women. Body butters include Meringa, strawberry, Shea, Satsuma, olive coconut and mango products. Skin care products contain a wide range of minerals including vitamin c, tea tree, seaweed and Aloe Vera. Under this category, Body shop has lotions approved by pediatricians for babies. Maca root and White musk are skin products for men. Make ups include eye shadow, lipstick, mineral make up and mascara. For hair care, they have banana conditioner and banana shampoo. The last category is bathing products that include soaps and gels. Antiperspirants are the latest products by Body Shop (Body Shop Business, 2011, p. 1). Market entry Initially, Body Shop was an environmental friendly single-store shop specializing in natural cosmetic products in Berkeley, California. Anita Roddick visited the shop as a customer. It inspired her to start her own shop of similar products. She opened a shop in 1976, UK and began producing the naturally scented products. In 1987, she bought naming rights for her shop consequently labeling it Body Shop (Haile, 2004, p. 24). It expanded at a steady rate of 50% quickly spreading to other countries. Initial investment and ownership Anita needed 4,000 sterling pounds to start her investment. She obtained the money from a bank as an investment loan for her first shop. Following success, she wanted to open another shop but funds remained a challenge. The bank refused to loan her the money. She obtained 4,000 s terling pounds for her second shop from a friend of one of the girls assisting at the first shop. However, the person demanded a 50% share in the shop she was to set up. Further funding for expansion was through informal arrangements with various businesspersons and businesses (Haile, 2004, p. 22). Body Shop offered its first public offing on April 1984. Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon Roddick owned the company for 30 years from the date of establishment until 2006, when L’Oreal corporate team purchased the company (Body Shop Business, 2011, p. 1). Body Shop’s Unique Selling Preposition Anita Roddick advocated for environmental friendly products to conserve the environment and maintain healthy bodies. As Gordon Brown, the English Prime Minister, acknowledge that after Anita Roddick’s death in 2007, she and her company campaigned for green issues long before it became a popular topic in the world (Assenmacher, 2012, p. 24). She is a pioneer in instilling the globe’s environmental concerns in people. This ultimately convinced people to use Body Shop products. Apart from environmental issues, Body Shop campaigned for other social issues that included enhancing self-esteem in women. In this campaign, the company contradicted the popular media concepts of women that depicted women as stereotype (Dutta, 2007). Body shop also engaged in community activities in which it funded various environmentalist and social groups. Consequently, it familiarized their products with interest topics

News Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

News Story - Essay Example Irrespective of these market determined prices of goods and services economies goes through various phases of boom and depression, a fact that affect consumers ability to afford some goods and services over time (Martha, 1989). Tracing this changes in the 1920s indicated a need to establish measures that can help consumers boost their affordability of various goods and services (Martha, 1989). Introducing these measure which included among others credit buying were established to help consumers get goods and services which otherwise could have been out of their reach. Credit buying is where a consumer is given with a promise to pay later (Martha, 1989). It therefore means that with this mode an individual would be able to access goods and services that otherwise would have been out of his reach and pay for them later when he is able or in installment (Martha, 1989). Credit comes in different forms and has evolved since 1920s, incorporating technology and other modern means of payment. The most modern form of credit buying has incorporate the concept of plastic money and is to most popular known as credit cards (Martha, 1989) Credit buying as indicated in the introduction allows buyers to get good and services now and pay for them later (Martha, 1989). The 1920s introduced many modern conveniences and was commonly referred to as the roaring 20s for this reason. These period marked overwhelming rise of modern consumer culture (Martha, 1989). This meant rise in exciting opportunities to buy stylish clothing, cars and house appliances that defined status and comfort. Among these modern conveniences was the concept of buying on credit to help consumers buy not just within their means. With the surge of new exciting opportunities, new financing modes were introduced to help consumers cope with increasing need for an easy life (Martha, 1989). New products in the 1920s

Create a financial information system on pricing costing funding which Essay

Create a financial information system on pricing costing funding which is being implemented into the railway tickets and makes the prices dynamic - Essay Example was a technical support element to accomplish desktop data entry in the late 1990s has evolved into a strategic element for increasing the revenue through identifying new business development opportunities as well as providing efficient quality of service to the customers a company is serving. Public transportation in the UK serves more than 75% of the total commuters’ transportation in the UK as argued by Simon Taylor (2003)iii. Railways in the public transportation especially accounts for over 50% of the total market share in the public transport as identified by Simon Taylor (2003). This makes it clear that the rail transport market in the UK public transport industry not only forms an integral part of the public transportation but also contributes to the Gross Domestic Product. Alongside, the railway industry is also facing stiff competition from other forms of public transport like the road and air transport that is increasingly cost effective in the UK as argued by Simon Taylor (2003). From the aforementioned it is clear that the railway industry in the UK not only needs to address the competition through the effective use of information technology and managing the information for strategic advantage but also accomplish financial operational excellence ass argued by Helen Knight (2005)iv. The fact that the finance especially the billing and ticketing section of the railway industry is the gateway of income to the industry’s overall operations as argued by Helen Knight (2005) makes it clear that the efficient information management in the form of financial information management system is essential. In this report a critical analysis on the implementation of a Financial Information System in the Railway ticketing system from an information strategy perspective is presented to the reader. The essay presents a critical analysis on the macro and micro business environment for the railway business in the UK through PEST and SWOT Analyses respectively. This

Develop an advertising campaign Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Develop an advertising campaign - Coursework Example The performance campaign will feature well known sports car expert drivers, including Richard Atwood, who is a world class driver and instructor specialising in the Porsche and Ferrari cars. The second expert driver to feature in the campaign is Aaron Scott, who has sported in the GT’s and Formula 3 sports cars for the past fifteen years. He has been a well known instructor for the Carrera Cup and the GT cup. The choice of the two experts was aimed at increasing the effects of celebrity endorsements, which have a profound appeal to the social stature and the sense of belonging of the upcoming buyers of the Nissan Skyline GTR R34 and also sporting car enthusiasts. Through the car, the campaign should leave the mark of excellence, performance and expert status in the ownership of the Nissan Skyline GTR R34. By focusing on the image and the aura communicated by the sporting world, the new buyers and enthusiasts of the car will increase the uptake of the car (Macdonald & Sharp, 2003). The sports car brands that the company is competing with in this segment include Toyota supra, Honda NSX, Mazda RX-7 and Mitsubishi Lancer. Through the advertising campaign, the company hopes to scoop more market from its competitors, by positioning the car as a well-priced sports car fit for racing (Niraj & Pillutla, 2000). 2) Change the perception of the public about the Nissan brand, by demonstrating that it is the number one competitor among performance class of vehicles, with the aim of increasing its presence in sporting events. The purpose of the advertising campaign is that of reassuring the customers, sporting event organizers and media users that the Nissan Skyline GTR R34 is very successful and the best performance vehicle in the world. 2) Increase the production capacity of the GTR R34 sports car in the company by 20 percent, which will cater for the increase in the increase of demand arising from the

Strategic Marketing Plan Starbucks in Asia Case Study

Strategic Marketing Plan Starbucks in Asia - Case Study Example whilst walking from his hotel to the conference centre, Schultz spotted an espresso bar and went in to have a look . a few blocks away he entered another espresso coffee bar. In the after that a few blocks away , he saw two other espresso bars. Schultz was on the whole struck by the reality that there were one thousand and five hundred espresso coffee bars in Milan, a city approximately the size of Philadelphia, and a totality of one fifth of one million in the entire of Italy. His mind started churning. Schultz left Starbucks two decade before. The first Il Giornale store opened two decade before in April. It had a mere seven hundred square feet and was located near the entrance of Seattle's tallest building. The first Starbucks locality outside of North America is in Tokyo, and Starbucks is in thirty other countries as well. Industry analysts saw Starbucks as being well on its way to turning into a well known company. Every next year company improves its financial position. Current ratio and Acid test ratio show company strong liquidity position, company has more than double assets to pay his current liabilities. Company long term debt to equity ratio decreased that show company pay off his long term debt. Gross profit margin increase and return on total assets also increase that show proper use of assets. Total assets turnover and shareholder's equity turnover also increase that show company better performance and attract investors to invest their capital in that company, because their funds used properly and firm maximize their wealth every year. Star Bucks posted nearly 18% jump in fiscal 2007 first-quarter profit, helped by record store openings and strength internationally, and backed its targets for the year. The Seattle-based coffee shop operator also said it activated 30% more gift cards and sales of food drove U.S. retail results. Net income for the first quarter 2007 rose to $205 million, or 26 cents a share, from $174.2 million, or 22 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Quarterly revenue rose 21.8% to $2.36 billion. (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/starbucks-profit-jumps-nearly-18/story.aspxguid=%7BBF2BD3DC-6862-4B81-96A1-A19B5A8A10E0%7D) Star Bucks Asia 2. Corporate Strategy 2.1. Objective and Aims Starbucks' foremost objective is to ascertain itself as the most recognized and esteemed brand in the world. The company plans to continue to expand its outlets all over the world, grow its retail sales, introduce new products and develop new distribution channels in order to achieve its objective. The company's aim is to become the leading coffee brand in every target market by selling high quality products, providing good services and building relationships among customers, employees and the company (Brown 1997). Also, the company aims to build its outlets as customers' "third place", which means it is the place where customers can relax from work or home. 2.2. Internal Operations Starbucks' internal operations can be divided into two parts: Retail and Specialty. The Retail division is governed directly by

5 Page Personal Administrative Project to be done in APA format Essay

5 Page Personal Administrative Project to be done in APA format - Essay Example cy of a university handles the administration of the university and is not that hands on regarding academic matters, the Academic Dean is directly involved in the decision-making and the management of the specific college he or she is assigned to. â€Å"Drawn from the senior faculty ranks, academic deans are seen by many as serving a dual role, that of scholar and administrator† (DiFronzo, 2002). In this sense, the Academic Dean is the symbol of true academic leadership and responsibility. Hence, the Academic Dean is one of the most sought after positions in the university. However true this is, the fact still remains that the Academic Deanship is a position that is riddled with challenges and difficulties as higher education continues to evolve and universities try to keep up with the changing times. On top of this, the Academic Dean is also expected to possess personality traits that are deemed to be necessary in becoming a good and effective academic leader that everyone will respect, â€Å"ranging from a sense of humor to stamina and good listening skills† (Ferren and Stanton, 2004, pp. 1-2). This underlines the importance of the Academic Deanship in the ever-changing world of higher education (DiFronzo, 2002). For this reason, the role of the Academic Dean must be clearly defined through the establishment of the dean’s key responsibilities; for only in knowing completely what the Academic Deanship entails can one become an effective academic leader. The responsibilities of an academic dean are many and complex, with each set varying with every university. In fact, Dean Herbert Hawkes of Columbia College has been quoted in saying that â€Å"there is no such thing as a standardized dean. There is a dean of this and that college, but I have never seen any two deans who could exchange places and retain the same duties† (Gould, 1964, p. 9 as cited in DiFronzo, 2002). This must be remembered in laying down the key responsibilities of the Academic Dean as one duty

All About Controlled Drugs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

All About Controlled Drugs - Assignment Example 4. Intra-spinal: provides direct access to the spinal cord for the administration of specific drugs such as anesthetics. Requires trained staff and damage to the cord or hemorrhage are the disadvantages. (Howland, 2006) 6. Inhalational: main advantage is its use in the administration of anesthetic drugs as well as drugs for respiratory diseases since it provides easy access to lungs. Also, quick action because of extensive blood supply of lungs is another advantage. The short duration of action due to less partial pressure and exhalation of the inspired drug is a major disadvantage. Another disadvantage is a short list drug that can be administered by this route. (Howland, 2006) The major drug interactions and actions in the body include: Durg-Drug interaction i.e. addition of another drug might enhance or lower the activity of the drug. First Pass metabolism i.e. Drugs have taken through oral route undergo a process of activation and metabolism. This decreases their decreases their bioavailability and provides the bloodstream with the active metabolite of the drug. Drug-Enzyme interaction i.e. several enzymes in the body act on drugs to release their active metabolites. Drug-Receptor Interaction i.e. Final action of the drugs takes place when they bind to their specific receptors and cause either activation or deactivation of the receptor to produce the desired effect. (Katzung, 2009) Antidepressants: these drugs include Diazepam, Verapamil and Lorazepam etc. the generic names are Xanax etc. These drugs more commonly known as sleeping pills inhibit Gaba receptor and lower the levels of stress. Opioids: These drugs have a specific action of painkillers. They act on their specific opioid receptors in the body namely alpha, beta, and mu. They bind to these receptors and inhibit the transmission of pain sensation or alteration of brain’s perception of pain. (Howland, 2006)

Ishmael Bernal and Religious Interpretations Essay Example for Free

Ishmael Bernal and Religious Interpretations Essay Ishmael Bernal’s films have received countless acknowledgements throughout the years because of his unique style of â€Å"working out patterns of symbolic details† (Lumbera 25). And through these patterns, Bernal was able to portray his views on things as an auteur. This paper examines his interpretations of religion and religious activities through his films. But this only includes three of his works: Manila by Night (1980), Himala (1982), and Hinugot sa Langit (1985). These three films’ devotional approaches are analyzed by both their mise-en-scene and fabula. On that note, religion as tackled in this paper only pertains to the Philippine religion of Christianity/Catholicism, since Bernal’s films appear to be only on the Catholic’s view. How did Bernal attack Catholicism? Why did he represent the country’s most widespread religion in that manner? What are the implications of his works on the era during such films were distributed? How do these films affect the contemporary time? And what do these films impose on the society and on the religion majority of it believes in? Hence, this paper has these films examined through the eyes of a spectator, and relates that analogy to Bernal’s own philosophies as an auteur. Religion in Mise-En-Scene and Iconographies Through the apparatus theory, Bernal’s religious interpretations in his works can be examined. Ponsford’s Film Theory and Language from media. edusites. co. uk says apparatus theory suggests that film is created to illustrate different ideas and that everything has meaning even starting from the camerawork up to the editing. Manila by Night is a drama film made by Bernal in 1980. It is a multiple-charactered film where the characters’ existences in the city were unveiled as they live by the ruthlessness of drugs, poverty, adultery, and lust. In Manila by Night, Bernal constantly used iconographies and effigies of divine entities in several sex scenes through elaborate camerawork and editing. An example is a scene where a couple (Adelina, played by Moreno and Pebrero, played by Ojeda) who routinely cheated on each other made love while religious icons peered over them (Santos 21). There is another sex scene where instead of figures, Bernal focused a shot on a chaplet necklace worn by the indolent college guy (Alex, played by Martinez) for a few seconds just before he had premarital sex with his girlfriend (Vanessa, played by Alajar). Bernal not only used these icons in sex scenes. In one scene where the neurotic mother of Alex, Virgie (Solis), trashed their home when she found out he was doing drugs, multiple shots of religious statues were shown simultaneously with the scene of flying plates and broken furniture in the screen. Hinugot sa Langit also has a remarkable mise-en-scene in terms of religious interpretations. It is a film about infidelity, unwanted pregnancy, and abortion. In the scene where Carmen (Soriano) was rushed to the hospital after attempting to commit suicide, the disparity between the two conflicting characters of Aling Juling (Solis) and Stella (Austria) was clearly depicted. Aling Juling, being the sanctimonious that she was, gave the feeble Carmen her Holy Bible, hoping that it helps Carmen as it did to her. Seconds after Aling Juling left the room, Stella put a bag of apples on top of the bible as she jokingly referred to it as â€Å"holy mansanas (apples)† which may be interpreted as the apple Eve took from the treacherous snake in the Garden of Eden. The style Bernal had in Manila by Night was still used in Hinugot sa Langit. There was the scene of Mang David’s (Ventura) child’s wake where an image of Christ hung over Carmen and Mang David’s backs as they talked about the latter’s debts from Aling Juling. There’s still that style but other sightings of the religious icons and statues were not shown in that ambiguous manner anymore; instead they were shown conspicuously to prove a point like every time Aling Juling conducted prayer meetings and worship time. The irony in showing religious images and sinful acts simultaneously is an apparent symbolism of the societal hypocrisy towards faith and Christianity. Morality Issues on Manila by Night, Himala, and Hinugot sa Langit These three films are all packed with morality issues and what are morality issues if there is no religion? Morality, I believe, is bound by the norms and rules of whatever religion an individual believes in. Therefore, people do what for them is â€Å"right† because the religion they keep their faith in tells them to do so. Himala is a story of a girl named Elsa (Aunor) who claims to have seen the Blessed Virgin Mary on the top of the very hill where she was found by her non-biological mother years ago when she was still a baby. Since then Elsa started to â€Å"heal† people through the use of the power that was allegedly bestowed upon her by the Virgin Mary. She was situated in a small town called Cupang where the soil was always dry because of a â€Å"curse† from long time ago. Since then people came flocking to Elsa’s house to seek treatment from her miracles. She had her own followers and a bunch of detractors. In the end, when she faced piles of troubles—from not being able to â€Å"heal† anymore to being raped along with her best friend who later on committed suicide—she came clean and announced that there is no miracle, that it is the people who create their own miracles. She was shot dead at that same moment. The morality issues in this film is particularly apparent during the time when documentarist Orly (Manikan) battles with himself whether to have Elsa and Chayong’s (Centeno) rape video shown to the public. In the end he seeks help from the priest, which only made it clear that his decisions still depended largely on the â€Å"Catholic opinion† even though he was a self-proclaimed atheist right from the start. Manila by Night touches more morality issues than Himala. Since it is a film using a multiple-character format, the struggles each persona faces vary. There was a cheating guy (Pebrero), a liar prostitute (Adelina), a hypocritical ex-prostitute (Virgie), a happy-go-lucky gay (Manay Sharon), a dope-pusher lesbian (Kano), a blind whore (Bea), a college dropout (Alex), and his girlfriend (Vanessa). Their characters differ from each other but what’s uncanny about it was that their lives intertwine one way or another. Set in the city during a time when people’s freedom was being suppressed, these characters faced the question of what to do in times like that. Whether they hold on to their principles and strive to live for the good or just continue their dishonest lives to be able to endure everything and coexist. In a country where Catholicism is dominant, what Bernal showed in Manila by Night questions the values the religion upholds for its followers. The ending of the film where after all the mayhem that happened in the city during the past night seemed to be forgotten and the characters are portrayed as monotonous citizens living their routinely-charged lives is a strong point for proving how people trapped in the confusion of what’s good or evil can act as two-faced individuals who eventually become victims of the system. Hinugot sa Langit, on the other hand, tackles a more brazen topic that’s related to religion: abortion. When Carmen found out she was having Jerry’s (Tantay) child, she was faced with only two options: one is to keep it and the other is to abort. The problem the film earlier gave was that Jerry was already married with someone else and he made it clear right from the start that he didn’t want anything to do with the child Carmen was carrying. This, on top of the incessant urging of her straightforward cousin Stella, pushed Carmen to the edge of option number two. But her landlady, Aling Juling, insisted otherwise—saying abortion is a sin to God. As Carmen’s pregnancy became relatively closer to three months (which is the point when a mere embryo becomes human according to the abortionist) she began thinking about the issue of whether abortion is already an act of killing or not. But eventually, she chose to have abortion. Near the end of the film where she pounded on Mang David for stabbing Aling Juling to death, Bernal used a brilliant camera shift from Mang David’s staring face to Carmen’s while she was yelling, â€Å"Wala kang karapatang pumatay ng tao! You have no right to murder anyone! ),† as if giving the former a reason to say that she did not have any right to kill her child either. As Oggs Cruz put it in his blog, â€Å"Hinugot sa Langit may be branded as preachy and anti-abortion but in reality, the film has side stories that suggest a more pressing issue: societal hypocrisy. † This is not only apparent in the abortion issue but also in Aling Juling’s actions. It’s just that, as Cruz again puts it, â€Å"abortion is the most telling of issues. The Philippines being a prominently Catholic nation declares abortion as criminally and morally wrong yet funnily, the practice is unwrittenly accepted among women who are time-pressed with a decision. † Elsa and Aling Juling While Manila by Night’s interpretations of religion banks largely on its mise-en-scene, what Bernal created in Himala and Hinugot sa Langit were characters who seemed to embody the â€Å"divine† and through them, Bernal showed how false devotions and idolatry can be misleading. Elsa’s alleged involvement with the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary made her just as acred as the holy mother of Christ in the people’s eyes. She became, in an obvious way, the people’s source of blind faith that led them to their own pits of darkness as shown in the last part of the film where healthy and sick people alike experienced a stampede that caused them physical pain. This false faith is also ostensible in Aling Juling’s character in Hinugot sa Langit. Even from the start of the film, her character already proved to be a hypocrite. She dressed conservatively, regularly attended prayer and worship meetings, firmly discouraged Carmen to do an abortion, and constantly spoke about the Divine. But she also wanted to have the informal settlers removed from her land at any cost just to be able to build a chapel, claiming it is for the greater good. Aling Juling proved to be the perfect devotee, but failed to act as a true child of God for the other people; and there lies the biggest fallacy built in her persona. There was also one scene where Carmen and Aling Juling went into a brief screaming match about how should the former handle her problems. In the one line of Carmen saying, â€Å"Ano pa bang gusto Niya (pertaining to God), ano pa bang gusto mo?! What else does He want, what else do you want?! ),† the character of Aling Juling seemed to be a symbolism of the â€Å"god† Carmen had come to believe in. Instead of the all-powerful, all-knowing One, because of her problems, Carmen landed on believing Aling Juling’s preaching as that of God’s. Elsa and Aling Juling both died at the end, and both by being brutally attacked. What I see in this phenomenon is the attempt to â€Å"kill off† the wrong and misrepresentative beliefs brought about by these two characters, and probably the only way Bernal suggests to do that is through a vicious, one-time manner. Bernal as Auteur This paper is not about Bernal but about the works of Bernal. But since he is an auteur, understanding his background is essential in understanding the concepts behind his works. The auteur theory proposes that the director is the author of the film and that the director is the primary creative source, therefore the films produced express the director’s distinctive vision of the world (Pramaggiore and Wallis 398). Therefore, his politics mirror his representation of religion, thus making his films a reflection of his own beliefs. According to Bayani Santos’ Bernal as Auteur, Ishmael appreciated the values of Gregorio Aglipay and Catholicism. He also admired the disciplines of Iglesia Ni Cristo but criticized it for its exploitation of religion in politics. It was also said that he â€Å"respected Catholicism as faith, but always qualified it with a historical reminder of its political and economic crimes against the nation† (Santos 19). It was also said in the same article that Bernal’s view of shallow Catholicism among Filipinos as facts of Philippine life was not just mocking jibes against superficial religiosity but rather â€Å"accurate descriptions, as synecdochical of Philippine reality† and having the satirical impact arrive after a realization by the audience that, indeed, the descriptions are ‘us’ (21). Bayani continued on to saying that Bernal’s politics are â€Å"deeply buried in many of his works† (31). His politics involve not only his aforementioned views on Philippine religion but also his involvement in communism. This notion is perceivable in the three films being analyzed by this paper. In Manila by Night, Bernal took jibes on Martial Law more than anything. In Hinugot sa Langit, he â€Å"showed the desperate situation of the poor in a script that scrupulously avoided overt political commentary† (31). In Himala he managed to speculate a Marxist view of religion as an opiate when Elsa’s death became a dismaying reversion to mass hysteria and fanaticism (31). Bernal’s Films then and now These three films were produced during the second golden age of the Philippine cinema, during the years that mark off the end of the Marcos Martial Law regime. Bernal’s films were acclaimed during those times because both the films and timing were apt to belong to the cinema that recognizes the struggle as the most gigantic cultural, scientific, and artistic manifestation our time, the third cinema (Solanas and Gettino 47). This is what makes Bernal’s films timeless. The impact these films made during those times were huge. Bernal revealed how the Marcos regime exploited the Filipinos. This is overtly seen in Manila by Night, where his depiction of the supposed city to signify the â€Å"New Society† is the exact opposite of it. The term â€Å"New Society† claimed that the dictatorship had eradicated corruption and transformed Philippine society (Lumbera 359). This same â€Å"New Society† was also exploited, although for good reasons, by Bernal in his film Himala. According to Lumbera, Himala criticized the manipulative religiosity of this society which â€Å"drew the people’s attention away from the realities of poverty, violence, and moral decay† (359). This, however, is still manifested in the present time. There is this one scene in Himala that is applicable to both the past and present times. When people started coming to Cupang for Elsa and Elsa’s â€Å"apostles used the water Elsa blessed for profit, it was a hypocritical move on the side of Elsa and her followers to lure people into giving them money when all they were meant to do in the first place was to offer treatment for everyone who asked for it. The past screams about the pretentious â€Å"New Society† and the present stages the scene in real life whenever such religious items or services that are supposed to help them are still sold for amounts to the people. (e. . : a priest’s service fees, blessed rosaries, mass guides) Another thing that might have helped in the success of Himala is the fact that superstar Nora Aunor played the lead role. In the Noranian Imaginary, it is said that Himala is as much about the popular hysteria mediated by the idol Nora Aunor as it is about the mass hysteria endemic to Catholicism as held by many (Tadiar). People saw Elsa in Nora and Nora in Elsa—th e same poor, unfortunate protagonist who strive against all odds to defend herself and achieve goals. In these times, Nora may not be that same girl many Filipinos used to idolized, but the imprint she left on Elsa’s character is so known to almost every Filipino as â€Å"that† girl who everyone admired. Elsa’s death at the end of the film may be read as liberation from such faith, since she made confessions about the inexistence of miracles prior to his death. But the people’s continuous idolatry in her after she passed away seems to be a symbol of the people of today—those who still continue hang on to false hope and devotion even after such devotion proves to be wrong. As Patrick Flores puts it in Himala: Fall of Grace, â€Å"Himala is against the miracle and it is against the cinema. † Hinugot sa Langit, lastly, also speaks of a timeless issue in Catholicism: abortion. The values the film imbibes a great impact on the beliefs of the majority of the Filipino citizen. The question of whether abortion is or is not an act of murder is still being debated upon until today. Bernal’s films speak of ageless and timely issues concerning the Filipino people and that’s what makes his films succeed not only in the era during which it was manufactured, but also in the present time.