Monday, September 30, 2019

Different Views on Ethical Perspectives Essay

We, as human beings are more often aware of our actions. Before we make decisions critical analysis comes with a great consideration. We are able to analyze these things because are considered as rational beings and we have the ability to think to the highest level we can. We opt to consider whether these things are good or not, if it’s right or wrong and if it’s really needed or not; this we often consider as ethics. Ethics is an issue of morality. There are things that we do that others consider wrong, but others may consider righteous. According to the society we should act as what it considers right; norms are one of the foundations of ethics and we should act accordingly. Norms can be a basis of what is morally right or wrong. There are four perspectives to be discussed in this paper, each of them having their own characteristics and each of them having their strong points and their weaknesses. The perspectives are universally known as the character or virtue, deontology or the perspective of obligation, the theory of utilitarianism and the equity or principle of relativism. The theory of utilitarianism points out two things; one thing is better than the other if we could gain more pleasure from it, and the other thing is not that good, or better yet to say evil, if we could only gain pain from it. This theory also states that we do things voluntarily, that one is considered as the pilot of his own decisions and that such consequences could have not taken place if only he did or did not do such actions. The amount or quantity of pleasure or pain takes into a great consideration in the concept of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is better understood as having the maximization quantity of benefit and less quantity of bad or the pain it can cause. A person would have two distinct choices, the first one is that if he does the action he would gain more pleasure or shall I say he can maximize the benefits of the action; the other is that if he does the action he would have to gain more risks and consequences. The first choice would be most favored because we, as human beings would not want to suffer from the choices we make, we do not want to be suffering from the consequences of our actions so what we do is do the thing that would give us the most favorable and maximum quantity of pleasure (Moore, 1912). Virtue is an ethical perspective that tackles about the actions that we make and the ideals we have in life that we should strive for and that these ideals help us in developing our highest potentials as human beings. This focuses on the traits or character that one has, the dispositions in life and the attitudes whether be it bad or good. Virtues are acquired through doing it everyday, they become a person’s characteristic when they are practiced for the longer time. There are a lot of characteristics and virtues a person can have; truthfulness, patience, honesty, and courteous are some of these. Virtue would help us in pursuing the ideals that we have in life (C. A. Manuel Velasquez, Thomas Shanks, S. J. , and Michael J. Meyer 1996). The theory of ethical relativism states that morality is based on the culture of a society. It singles out that one can either be wrong or right, bad or evil depending on the society the person belongs to; the society is the one concerned in creating its own culture. This theory is basically called relativism because being good or bad is relative of the kind of society a person belongs to; the society dictates whatever thing is perceived as good or bad. Every single society shares a common culture, this culture defines good and bad and the people should act with accordance to the standards of the society they belong. This theory is often argued because of the fact that every single society has its own culture and therefore has its own perception of bad or good. However, this theory is useful in exploring the reasons behind the differentiation of culture among societies (C. A. Manuel Velasquez, Thomas Shanks, S. J. , and Michael J. Meyer, 1992). Obligation perspective holds the golden rule â€Å"do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you†. It simply states that we should do what is only right and not what is wrong. It holds the principle of doing what is good because of the obligation. Say for example, a person should tell the truth because that person is bound to have an obligation to tell the truth because he doesn’t want other people not to trust him and because he upholds the value of truthfulness. This perspective is sometimes being pertained to utilitarianism, but it is totally different. While obligation is obligatory, utilitarianism is a voluntary act. After taking the ethical awareness test, I have known that what ethic perspective dominates in me is the obligation or the deontology. My perspective is based on my obligation or duty to do what is morally right. With this, I am to consider a thing as ethical if I choose how I act and what rules I am willing to oblige. It is also stated in my ethical perspective that the people should not be treated as a means to justify an end, simply stating â€Å"the end does not justify the means†. I also believe that every single individual should be given the respect that any man should have and therefore I won’t be able to comply with the policies and social traditions aimed at the best interest of the society as a whole. However, my approach to ethics requires legal and humane limits, I simply believe that people should be allowed to make their own choices and I advocate policies that have the intention to ensure equal opportunities for all as well as equal respect. My ethical perspective upholds the principle of doing things in accordance with the standards of right and wrong. However, though my ethical perspective aims to do what is morally right I am faced with numbers of dilemmas with regards to work. These problems would somehow cause me frustrations and may lead to a more devastated life in the future for it is not only concerned in the present but it also pertains to the future. One of the problems I am going to face with this perspective is that the people I work with might argue that some people within a society are not able to act in their own best interests. I may find this a fallacy because it was once used in the denying of the equitable treatment to women and the minorities. This somehow would result to frustration. The second problem I am to face with this perspective is that what I perceived to be morally right may not benefit most of the people. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if I have perceived a thing to be morally right it would maximize the good or pleasure. This would cause me another frustration because if I had made a decision which I perceived to be right and it didn’t work to be beneficial I may have doubts when I make a decision again. It might cause greater problems in the future. Another dilemma I am to face with this perspective is that defending this may end up in economic hardship; in worst cases I can be terminated. Say for example, in a working place several employees should be terminated because the company is having low production because these people are handicapped or they are simply not productive, the best action would be to terminate them but I, as a moralist would say that they should not be terminated because they have children. In the long run, if these people would be in the company and the company has still a low productivity the company would have losses and it may lead to closure because of the losses. Having things perceived as morally right may not be totally right; some may be beneficial but some can create more problems. We as human beings should act accordingly to whatever it is that we perceive because these choices are free of charge, because God created us with the opportunity of having what we call free will and should be practiced. We should not depend on what others may in making our decisions but we should also be ready for the consequences that accompany our decisions. Whatever action we do we should think of it twice, we should think that there are always two sides of a story. We should not be bounded by obligations because this might cause us greater frustrations in the future and this may lead to a very low self-esteem. We don’t want these to happen that’s why we should think critically and make decisions wisely because we are the pilot of our own lives.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

If i was a crayon Essay

If I was a crayon I might be a blue or green one since those are my favorite colors. I would like to be put into a box of sixty-four or more because there would be other crayons to talk with if crayons could talk. As a newborn crayon I probably came from a big blob of hot, melting wax. Then I was rolled and pressed by a machine and then cooled by a freezing mist and wrapped with a makers label. This was a very unflagging process because it was always new. After that I?m shipped out to a main warehouse were crayons are sold to companies like Target. At Target I would imagine being purchased by a young boy around the age bracket of five to six who loved to color and would one day grow up to become a famous artist. I would later be taken to his house and used as a permanent proxy for his other old gaunt crayons. After he was finished playing with me and the other crayons he would diverge his attention away from us and onto the TV. Towards the end of the night the mother would come in and act like a scavenger searching for any lost or hidden crayons under the couch. Sometimes the little boy would play with us after being yelled at and be show much fervent towards us and rub our sharp heads against the paper making us very dull and unusable. I?ve lost many cronies that way and they?ve had a nice, little plummet into the garbage can. I?m sure as a crayon I would live a very scary life because you never know when the time is up. As a crayon I would have very little knowledge of the outside world and what was really going on outside that big tall solid glass window in the living room were I would be used and played with.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Challenges and Opportunities of the Organizations Assignment

Challenges and Opportunities of the Organizations - Assignment Example Accepting money from the Mexican drug dealers helps in satisfying its business goals as the deal increases deposits for loaning. Involvement of the organization in money laundering activity is leading to the likelihood of it incurring a fine of $700 million. Another challenge facing the organization relates to lack of proper marketing focus. This element has led the company to face legal suites. The business is also on the verge of compensating some of its clients who lost money through uncertain schemes that it initiated. For instance, the organization is setting aside $1.3 billion for compensating victims of improper insurance selling. With proper marketing focus, the organization would be able to identify and detect the problem and avoid the associated losses. Additionally, the business is poised to incur bills in payment of the damages for the alleged misinformation about its American consumer-finance business. The organization is also under scrutiny for violation of mortgage foreclosure rules, which will see it compensate customers that lost investments in the scheme of Bernard Madoff Ponzi. Despite the challenges faced, the organization enjoys some opportunities that it can exploit and develop to improve its condition. One of the opportunities relates to the growth experienced in the marketing markets, which has the potential to increase profitability. The business already has a big name in the banking and financial industry. It only needs to correct its tainted image and will manage to gain acceptance in the emerging markets. Another opportunity relates to the low-interest rates that the organization offers on mortgages. The organization can take advantage of its recognition as offering low-interest rates on mortgages to expand its market share and revenues.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Corporations and the Equal Protections Caluse Research Paper

Corporations and the Equal Protections Caluse - Research Paper Example In this paper, I will argue that the â€Å"equal protections† clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was incorrectly applied to corporations, and doing so has had disastrous implications. It is absolutely clear that the equal protection clause was meant to protect individuals, not corporations, from unequal treatment by states. Corporations and equal protection clause Many people are shocked when they first learn that corporations are considered legal persons, entitled to the same rights as the average citizen. Starting with Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co., the power of corporations has increased exponentially. Subsequent to Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. in 1886, corporations were consistently granted greater power by the Supreme Court through the equal protection clause. â€Å"Equal protection as a legal concept is the idea that individuals should be treated in the same manner as other individuals in similar circumstances†(Equal pr otection, n. d). However, the courts adopted different standards while dealing with equal protection clauses with respect to individuals and corporations, which include strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, and the rational basis test etc. This is purely because of the rise of corporate power. Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, 118 U.S. ... The above right was already given to the individuals and Southern Pacific Railroad Company argued that they also have the same right just like the individuals and they refused to pay taxes under the new legislature. Southern Pacific Railroad Company sought protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. One of the points made and discussed at length in the brief of counsel for defendants in error was that "corporations are persons within the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States." Before argument, MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE said: "The Court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution which forbids a state to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws applies to these corporations. We are all of opinion that it does "(SANTA CLARA COUNTY V. SOUTHERN PACIFIC R. CO., 118 U. S. 394 (1886), 2011). In other words, court upheld the arguments of Southern Pac ific Railroad Company and declared its verdict in favor of the company. Organizations or corporations are entities which might be created for the purpose of doing business making profits. They are doing so at the expense of the interests of the people or the individuals. In other words, corporations are exploiting the community resources for making profits and it is their duty to pay tax to the government for such exploitation of natural resources. Governments have the moral and legal responsibility of working for the interests of the individuals. Individuals have limited capacity to exploit the natural resources compared to the abilities of corporation.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

What, If Any, Is The Link Between Inflation And Output In Your Essay

What, If Any, Is The Link Between Inflation And Output In Your Discussion Refer To Both Theoretical And Empirical Evidence - Essay Example When prices of domestic goods and services are rising fast this will generally be true also of wages, of the prices of the imported goods, of the money supply and of the prices of assets. This is because inflation is one sector of the economy permeates rapidly into other sectors. The phrase â€Å"a high rate of inflation† therefore usually describes a situation in which the money values of all goods in an economy are rising at a fast rate . The view commonly taken is that inflation should be kept close to zero; prices should rise at no more than about 2 to 3 percent a year on average. This is because high inflation affects the economy adversely in a number of ways. For example, it distorts the income distribution; because of the difficulty and risk associated with the complete index-linking of pensions tend to suffer. Also, it biases investment decisions: the cost of borrowing money rises making debt finance expensive in the early years of a project and reducing the incentive to invest. In theory inflation accounting could correct for this, but in practice this has proved difficult to implement.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Philosophy of Mass Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Philosophy of Mass Communication - Essay Example Mass Communication is believed to be a task of delivering information, ideas and attitudes to a sizable and diversified audience via use of media developed for that purpose which seems much difficult than to communicate through face to face. The revenue of mass communication comes from the following sources. However people living in advanced nations are also interested to make charitable contributions to organizations such as Save the Children, UNCF and Autism Speaks that partially performing mass communication activities. The people nevertheless, have to make a rational decision in terms of paying for public donations such as mass media or charitable donations. The value of making a public donation needs to be kept in mind because it is largely responsible for keep the national systems running throughout the world. Mass media although seems simple but also has its own code of ethics and conduct, which the companies have to follow and the audience, will judge them as well. Donating to mass media appears reasonable as everyone nowadays is interested to believe in mass and social media. Charitable donations nonetheless have their own significance and importance and funding them is equally important regarding provision of support to media. As being a part of same country, every person has to perform its duties towards those who are being going through several downturns and problems of life. Therefore before donating, any person should consider his or her monthly income, his or her own personal expenses, and then should decide the level of donation he or she can make and should also perform a detailed research about legitimacy of the companies to which he or she is going to make a donation. The next step that is to be done is to see which organization requires the most and the donor has to donate ac cordingly and reasonably. The right of every organization needs to be considered in a local city at least. Roles of Railroads The railroads on the other hand, played an important role in the United States and It was an epic function at that time and therefore, it involved enterprises on a great scale that had quite a cash surplus too. Atlas shrugged has written â€Å"In a time between 1946-1957 in United States†. The novel was led by major characters like Dagny Taggart, James Taggart and John Galt. The basic theme of the novel was that US was experiencing a time where there was recession and facing a downward economic spiral in businesses (Notes 2013). Dagny at that time was the in charge of the Traggart Transcontinental Rail Road who was seeking to rebuild the crumbling track of Rio Norte Line. It also served for oil fields in the blooming industry of Colorado. Dagny throughout the novel shows her devotion to the railroads but faces several enemies who wanted to destroy her dreams. She has her first conflict between her brother regarding contracting with Rearden steel to build the railroads and then she had a fight with a manufacturer who was James’ old friend, She trusted Hayn Rearden more as she found her steel to be more reliable. The sensible decision needs to be made in a disturbed economic situation where Dagny faced the loss of her majority of skilled workforce. The case further worsens when the Traggart Transcontinental Railroad gets nationalized and Dagny experiences a main trauma. After seeking political aid a new law passes which takes the major competitor out of the business. Dagny however comes to know that there are certain people who want her out of the business world and she was facing huge losses. On the other hand, she starts working with Rearden in order to build the metal bridge but even then they face difficulties as the government considers Rearden’s metal to be not reliable and there again comes an end to Traggart T ranscontinental’s works and then they finally decide to invest in John Galt’s Line. After their successful attempt they find a

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS - Essay Example After creating this cordial atmosphere between the two of us, I will be considerate enough to know that he is a man who has an active role to play in the corporation. I will, therefore, ask for as limited amount of time with him as possible. Finally, I will remember to politely follow up with an email if he does not remember to inform me of his preparation for the interview (Hoevemeyer 14). The structure to be used for the interview with the Chief Accountant, Mr. Leo, will be a diamond-shaped structure. This is because interviewing Mr. Leo will require asking of specific questions, followed by general questions and finally concluding with specific questions. The structure will be of importance in warming up Mr. Leo and give him the morale of answering my questions. The following question, that requires a generalized response, will therefore, be used: Mr. Leo, would you like to know the objects of my interview? Such a specific question will make Mr. Leo curious about my intentions and will have my attention. The next thing will be generally examining the objects through used of open- ended questions. For instance, the following question can be used: how do you think the objectives of my interview will affect your company? Finally, there will be use of closed questions when analyzing each of the objects of my interview. This will create a platform of argument for scrutin izing the objects and coming up with conclusions (Hoevemeyer 28). I will not interview them since it will take a lot of time which would have been productive to the corporation. Furthermore, interviewing Mr.Leo intensively will be appropriate to satisfy my objectives as he is the overseer of that department. It would be difficult interviewing virtual customers such as those who are visitors to the website becomes they are unreachable. However, it is easier to interview the customers who one can survey and email. It will certainly be easier to get valuable

Monday, September 23, 2019

Literature of the African Diaspora Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Literature of the African Diaspora - Essay Example Of great interest when studying Callaloo is the establishment of exactly how the persons of African heritage are able to claim their multiple identities and especially so in light of despite persons of a diaspora essentially inhabiting a number of different these persons are nevertheless unable to call these different places home. Black persons of the African diaspora tend to adapt or create a number of new identities as they continuously move from place to place. In his book, Reversing sail, Gomez points out that the relatively small trickle of African slaves that had been captured as slaves during the fifteenth century eventually evolved into becoming a veritable flood by the end of the seventeenth century. Within a time period of ten years after Columbus’ maiden voyage in 1492, numerous enslaved Africans were enslaved in the New World along with a number of other slaves drawn from Portugal and the Canaries and sources as experienced sugarcane planters. Of particular note is the fact that by 1560, the total number of African slaves was seen to greatly outnumber Europeans in Hispaniola and Cuba, this impressive growth in number eventually saw the number of African outnumber that of Europeans in Vera Cruz and Mexico City by 1570 (62-63). Numerous countries across Europe were seen to join in the slave trade in a move that saw an approximated 6.5 million Africans get shipped out of the African continent between 1700 and 1810. During this period, more European nations were seen to get involved in the slave trade. Some of these nations included Denmark, Britain, France, Portugal, Holland, Sweden and Spain. A number of other non-European countries such as Brazil and the United States also joined the slave trade (Gomez 64). By participating in the slave trade these countries were seen to essentially promote the spread of the Black African diaspora as a review of the regions from which they were drawn from can be seen to essentially reveal a considerable degree of complexity not only in respect to culture and language, but also as pertaining to the different forms of government, technology, regional and trans-regional commerce and agriculture. The Africans transported into the various different regions across the world were to eventually face systems that were essentially quite diverse resulting in increased diversity and multiplicity on the part of these Africans. The Development of the African Class of Mixed Heritage (Mulatto) and their Attempts at Acceptance by Whites Although the questions pertaining to race were seen to be a complex matter in most of the regions that the Africans had been enslaved, it was generally found to be quite complex in some regions such as in Saint Domingue where there arose a class of free blacks or affranchis. This class of free blacks was seen to primarily comprise of persons of mixed ancestry who were mostly women and numbered an estimated 27,000 in 1789. This new class of citizenry owned about 25 percent of the African slave population and accounted for 11 percent of Saint Domingue’s urban population. About two thirds of these citizens were the product of white slave holders and enslaved females and children born out of such unions were born as free men. The affranchis population quickly expanded and by the middle of the eighteenth century, they were able to be widely

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Positioning and Differentiation Paper - Health Care Marketing Research

Positioning and Differentiation - Health Care Marketing - Research Paper Example The main objective of the paper is to identify the positioning and differentiation strategies of two healthcare organizations i.e. Cascade Valley Hospital & Clinics and Overlake Hospital Medical Center. The study will also endeavor at finding similarities and differentiating aspects between the two healthcare organizations. Differentiation and Positioning Strategies of Overlake Hospital Medical Center Overlake Hospital Medical Center is a nonprofit regional medical centre that provides its patients with highly developed medical related services. The organization is monitored by a Board of Directors. The company has nearly 2500 employees and has nearly 1000 active as well as courtesy physicians as the workforce (Overlake Hospital, 2012). It can be mentioned that innumerable strategies are employed by the healthcare organizations in order to keep themselves competitive. Overlake Hospital Medical Center situated at Belluvue has commenced a cardiac blog. Through this cardiac blog, the or ganization aims at educating the patients regarding the methods through which heart diseases can be prevented (Overlake Hospital, 2012). ... s been created in order to attract, retain and thus ensure that all the parties involved are satisfied with the policies and the strategies of the company. The company has positioned itself as a liaison between nursing, administration along with human resources, foundation and community in order to collectively influence the resources, associations and policies so that Overlake Hospital can be placed as one of the most preferred hospitals/employers in the domestic market as well as abroad. Health Grades have offered Overlake Hospital with five-star designation on numerous grounds. Overlake Hospital offers high quality of care and support to the patients who are suffering from cancer as well as other emergencies. The integrated cancer care team of the hospital generally has one objective which is to offer the patients suffering from cancer with expert care that has been customized to the unique requirements of each of the patients. The trademark of quality care is compassion, skilled care as well as speed at Overlake’s new Emergency & Trauma Center. The unit is considered to be the only Level III trauma centre on the Eastside (KMPG, 2011). It has been observed that the hospital offers care without charge and at reduced rates to the patients who are capable of qualifying for charity care as per the rules and the regulations of the hospital. During the year 2010 and 2011, the cost of charity was nearly US$5561000 and US$4507000 respectively (KMPG, 2011). Overlake Hospital as a part of its differentiation strategy offers care to the Medicaid patients at a price which is quite below the cost of offering the services. The hospital is also involved in numerous other activities in order to maintain competitive advantage. It has been apparent that the company is involved in

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Molecules Shine Individually on Camera Essay Example for Free

Molecules Shine Individually on Camera Essay In a science news article by the Department of Energy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, an innovative discovery on a certain combination of technique for studying individual molecules undergoing reactions was presented. The article entitled â€Å"Electron Give-and-take Lets Molecules Shine Individually on Camera† was actually adopted from an article in the journal Chemical Communications by Chenghong Lei and Dehong Hu. The original title of the journal article was â€Å"Single-molecule Fluorescence Spectroelectrochemistry of Cresyl Violet. † Basically, the article reports a new technique of studying the electron transfer reactions of molecules. Through the use of the new combination of techniques, scientists have found a way of viewing individual molecules as the reaction proceeds which was traditionally impossible. Due to this breakthrough, scientists can now conduct further research to modify and even create proteins that possesses maximum reaction rates which could generate more energy than their counterparts (DOE 2008). Electron transfer reactions are crucial in the life-giving processes that occur in plants and animals. They are responsible in generating energy as well as sustaining the life of an organism such as in photosynthesis. To understand how such electron transfer reactions occur, it is possible that chemists and engineers can find ways on how to recreate such maximal energy generation which is typical of nature’s electron transfer reactions (DOE 2008). In light of these efforts, there have been several techniques of observing the mechanisms behind the reactions of biomolecules. One of these techniques is fluorescence spectroelectrochemistry. However, although fluorescence has been of great help in the field of chemistry, like other traditional techniques it only allows for the observation and analysis of bulk molecules. Therefore, in search for a method of analyzing individual molecules, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Library have devised an instrument wherein the power of creating electric fields to initiate reactions and that of focusing into a single molecule was developed (DOE 2008). This was successfully done by combining fluorescence spectroelectrochemistry with that of single-molecule fluorescence microscope. Using the new instrument, scientists then studied electron transfer reactions in individual cases. They have found that although majority of the molecules undergo electron transfer reactions, there are some individual molecules that contradict the way other molecules behave. Upon fluorescence using cresyl violet dye, some molecules that should have been lit were not while upon removing the electric current, some molecules continued to give of fluorescence where they should have blinked off (DOE 2008). Such discovery thus account for the sub maximum energy generation of some reactions that occur. Using the same instrument, scientists can now find out why these particular molecules behave in such a way. To control the reactions could then be a great advantage for many of our chemists (DOE). Further studies are now being conducted to achieve this goal. The fusion of two important instruments used in chemistry and microbiology was actually a novel contribution to both fields. Essentially, fluorescence spectroelectrochemistry is a technique used by chemists to manipulate reactions in their study of the mechanisms molecules follow whereas single-molecule fluorescence microscopy is employed in microbiology for the study of fluorescent microorganisms. By combining the two techniques, new research ventures can now be accomplished both in the fields of chemistry and microbiology. Furthermore, the innovative instrument has somehow created a bridge between the two fields of science, one of which is primarily concerned with the minute elements of the abiotic world while the other is concerned with the minute elements of the biotic world. The information about the new combination of instrument is quite useful. Having learned of this new apparatus, it is then possible that future endeavors that might be undertaken by the readers employ the use of the device. Furthermore, the data obtained from the electron transfer reactions up close is an excellent explanation of why molecules generate as much energy only as they are able to. The plan of scientists to expand the study is also very interesting since it will clarify why molecules behave the way they do. The reader could say that the information is convincing as well as organized. Although there are no detailed descriptions of the results of the study, the presentation of the valuable outcomes is meaningful and reliable. This is due to the fact that the article is an adaptation of a reliable journal article. However, it would have been more engaging if the scientists include some data tables, graphs or pictures on the behavior of the individual molecules that were studied instead of generalizing the data presentation. The article is highly recommended to people in the field of biofuels research. As has been mentioned in the article, if engineers will find out how to control the behavior of molecules during electron transfer reactions, they may increase the energy generated by biofuels by utilizing the maximum limit of each individual molecule (DOE 2008). By doing so, engineers will obtain a large amount of energy with the least raw product input increasing efficiency and production as well as lowering costs and expenses. References DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. (2008, September 24). Electron Give-and-take Lets Molecules Shine Individually on Camera. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 27, 2008, from http//www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2008/09/080925094. htm.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Effects of Caffeine and Nicotine on the Mind

Effects of Caffeine and Nicotine on the Mind Jodi Hawkins Nicotine and caffeine are substances that most people do not consider a drug, but most do acknowledge that they are addictive substances. The effects on the mind and body are something else that most do not consider significant, however, both are highly addictive and affect numerous aspects of the mind and body. This paper will cover some of the misconceptions and myths and provide clarification of the actual effects of nicotine and caffeine on the mind and body. Caffeine is probably one of the most misconstrued drug of the two and most do not consider it much of a danger or consider that it has effects on the body other than simply producing a bit of energy. Die hard caffeine drinkers will often complain of a headache if they do not have their normal dose of caffeine, while it appears to have no effect on others no matter how much or how often they consume it. What must be understood about caffeine is that it is a drug, it is considered a psychoactive drug, and has effects on the body that must be taken into consideration. Julien, Advokat, and Comaty (2011) discuss the known effects such as the effects on the central nervous system (CNS), the cardiac and respiratory systems, the diuretic effects, therapeutic effects including treatment of asthma and migraines, and describe caffeinism. Caffeinism is a clinical syndrome that occurs when there has been an overuse of caffeine and symptoms include anxiety, agitation, and insomnia as well as tachycardia, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia’s and gastrointestinal disturbances. This goes to show that caffeine is like many drugs in that it can be a good thing if used in moderation, but can have adverse side effects when used improperly or overused. Perhaps one of the most common therapeutic uses of caffeine is the use for migraine headache and headache in general. It can be found in combination with aspirin in several products due to the constriction of blood vessels it causes. When the vessels constrict it decreases the blood flow to the brain by up to thirty percent which can reduce pressure to the brain relieving the headache (Julien, Advokat, Comaty, 2011). Consumption of caffeine that is prolonged can cause several adverse effects such as headache, fatigue, osteoporosis, adrenal stimulation, and apathy, and also has the ability to cross the placental and blood-brain barrier and has the potential to cause fetal malformation if the fetus has not developed the enzymes needed for demethylation of caffeine (Gummadi, Bhavya, Ashok, 2012). So in essence, some of the desirable and therapeutic effects that are garnered such as headache relief and energy increase can reverse in overuse or prolonged use. And even though it is a drug, it is not a regulated drug but is a much researched drug due to the therapeutic effects and the seemingly endless applications. Athletics is an application where caffeine is highly promoted in energy drinks, energy bars, and diet aids. Although caffeine is considered a stimulant and performance enhancing it is widely accepted and not regulated or banned from use in athletic competitions. McDaniel, McIntire, Streitz, Jackson, and Gaudet (2010) discuss some of the research done in regard to athletic performance and caffeine use and the increase in speed and power and ability to train longer when caffeine is used. Nicotine is another drug that is not necessarily considered a drug by the general public, although there is a general consensus that it is found in tobacco products and not necessarily good for the body. Unfortunately this assumption is mainly based on the fact that it is in tobacco and the tobacco is usually the focus of most mainstream media along with the effects of tobacco on the user and second-hand effects on people in the vicinity of the user. While tobacco is unhealthy, it is the nicotine contained in the tobacco products that causes the addiction to the tobacco and should have more focus placed on it when discussing or reporting the negative effects of tobacco. Nicotine like caffeine is a psychoactive drug and is one of the three most widely used (the other two being caffeine and ethyl alcohol), and while it has no therapeutic applications in medicine it is nevertheless widely used and has a well-defined toxicity (Julien et al., 2011). Nicotine use used to be limited to more traditional cigars, pipes, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and snuff, but more recently it has been expanded to include other smokeless products as smoking has been more and more regulated. Some of the products that are currently flooding the market are strips, sticks, pellets, snus pouches, e-cigarettes (smokeless nicotine vapor electronic cigarettes). Traditional cigarettes contain between 0.5 and 2.0 milligrams of nicotine, but some of the smokeless applications such as the strips can contain just under a milligram to as much as four milligrams of nicotine in one use (Julien et al., 2011). Nicotine is absorbed through every site on or in the body and the elimination half-life in a chronic smoker is approximately two hours which necessitates a frequent administration to avoid withdrawal symptoms, and has effects on the peripheral nervous system, hear, and other body structures (Julien et al., 2011). In researching the addictive properties of nicotine, there is far less research found on the actual effects than there is on cessation from the addiction. Some articles say that nicotine is addictive as heroin while others say that one could not possibly ingest enough nicotine to equal the addictiveness of other drugs, and both types of articles have multiple peer reviewed sources to back up the claims. This author has first- hand experience with nicotine and tobacco use/addiction, and while tobacco can be an enjoyable experience, it is this author’s personal view that believes the research that claims that nicotine is highly addictive causing withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Withdrawal symptoms can include nervousness, agitation, mood swings, lack of concentration, and increased appetite as observed by the author. The increased appetite at times appears to be a nervous response to needing something to do with the hands and mouth rather than an actual increase in appetite, but regardless it can and does often lead to weight gain upon cessation of smoking. Julien et al. (2011) further reinforce this belief as abstinence symptoms listed include the previously mentioned along with restlessness, insomnia, and severe cravings, as well as pointing out that many times when smokers seek treatment for drug or alcohol addictions it is often more difficult to quit smoking than to quit other drugs. No matter how adverse the effects of nicotine is on the body or mind, the primary problem is that the products that nicotine are in cause far worse health problems than the nicotine does. Various forms of cancer, increased risk of stroke, and heart attack are just a few physical problems directly related to tobacco use, and although e-cigarettes are touted as being relatively safe because they do not contain tobacco product the fact remains that they still contain a substance that is considered addictive. Any drug that is considered as addictive, can and will have adverse effects on one’s body and should not be treated lightly, and as in the case of nicotine a drug that directly affects the brain is nothing to sneeze at. Nicotine induces physiological and psychological dependence in the majority of smokers and very few smokers seem capable of sudden termination of smoking without experiencing abstinence symptoms (Julien et al., 2011). What also must be taken into consideration is the effects of second-hand smoke that is experienced by others in the close vicinity of a tobacco smoker, and it is the carcinogens in the smoke and not the nicotine that causes the health problems that can be experienced when subjected to second-hand smoke. One thing that should be taken into consideration is that both nicotine and caffeine are considered drugs, addictive drugs that are also psychoactive and thus mood altering. According to the Bible our bodies are God’s temple, â€Å"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?† (I Corinthians 6:19, KJV) which would bring one to the conclusion that any substance that alters one’s being and is not therapeutic (medically prescribed and necessary) should not be used. This does not mean that most people consider either nicotine or caffeine as a sin, but if the Bible is taken literally then both substances would be considered forbidden. While there are some religions that do consider caffeine along with any other mood altering substance as forbidden, it is generally accepted as can be witnessed in almost any church kitchen for most contain coffee and coffee making appliances. Smoking is more frowned upon by most Christians, but as other vices in this day and age is not considered as â€Å"bad† as it once was Biblically speaking, just physically detrimental. In conclusion, the evidence is overwhelming that both nicotine and caffeine are physically and psychologically addictive, but caffeine is the only one of the two that has therapeutic uses but still must be used in moderation to avoid adverse effects. References Gummadi S N Bhavya B Ashok N 2012 Physiology, biochemistry and possible applications of microbial caffeine degradation.Gummadi, S. N., Bhavya, B., Ashok, N. (2012). Physiology, biochemistry and possible applications of microbial caffeine degradation. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 93(2), 545-554. 201401121455511055491090 Julien R M Advokat C D Comaty J E 2011 primer of drug actionJulien, R. M., Advokat, C. D., Comaty, J. E. (2011). A primer of drug action (12th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. 2014011214131192421770 McDaniel L W McIntire K Streitz C Jackson A Gaudet L 2010 effects of caffeine on athletic performance.McDaniel, L. W., McIntire, K., Streitz, C., Jackson, A., Gaudet, L. (2010). The effects of caffeine on athletic performance. College Teaching Methods Styles Journal, 6(1), 33-37. 20140112152043315758228

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Bankruptcy Law :: Papers

Bankruptcy Law The federal statute for the form of bankruptcy commonly known as Chapter 13 is cited in legal briefs as 11 USC CHAPTER 13 - ADJUSTMENT OF DEBTS OF AN INDIVIDUAL WITH REGULAR INCOME. Section 1301 this code not only relieves the bankrupt debtor, but it also relieves the codebtor. US Code as of: 01/23/00 Sec. 1301. Stay of action against codebtor (a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, after the order for relief under this chapter, a creditor may not act, or commence or continue any civil action, to collect all or any part of a consumer debt of the debtor from any individual that is liable on such debt with the debtor, or that secured such debt, unless - (1) such individual became liable on or secured such debt in the ordinary course of such individual's business; or (2) the case is closed, dismissed, or converted to a case under chapter 7 or 11 of this title. (b) A creditor may present a negotiable instrument, and may give notice of dishonor of such an instrument. (c) On request of a party in interest and after notice and a hearing, the court shall grant relief from the stay provided by subsection (a) of this section with respect to a creditor, to the extent that - (1) as between the debtor and the individual protected under subsection (a) of this section, such individual received the consideration for the claim held by such creditor; (2) the plan filed by the debtor proposes not to pay such claim; or (3) such creditor's interest would be irreparably harmed by continuation of such stay. (d) Twenty days after the filing of a request under subsection (c)(2) of this section for relief from the stay provided by subsection (a) of this section, such stay is terminated with respect to the party in interest making such request, unless the debtor or any individual that is liable on such debt with the debtor files and serves upon such party in interest a written objection to the taking of the proposed action.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Coat of Arms :: Essays Papers

Coat of Arms Most people believe a coat of arms to be a shield of some sort that knights used in the middle ages to protect themselves in battle. In reality, a coat of arms consists of more than just a shield. There are actually five elements in a coat of arms: the shield, the crest, the helm, the wreath and the mantle or mantling. Each of these elements creates what is know as a coat of arms. While it is true that knights did indeed wear coats of arms during battle, the emblem was not only found on the armor used for protection in battle but also appeared on flags and clothing. GRAFICA There exists some debate as to the history and the creation of the coat of arms. The most wide spread theory is that coats of arms were needed as a means of identifying knights in battle. The idea was that since the knights were masked by helmets during tournaments or fights, the only way to identify their allegiance was by looking at his coat of arms. Therefore when two kingdoms fought each other, the purveyor could and would take the arms of the victim and hoist it as a trophy and as a sign of victory. Aside from winning coats of arms in battle there were several other means of acquiring a coat of arms. Another way is to inherit from the family. THis brings about the idea of heraldry and genealogy, two concepts closely tied to coats of arms. Royal families were not the only ones to commission coats of arms, hence many families possessed such emblems that could symbolize family wealth, stature and standing. A common novelty today is to genealogically trace the family name and discover the history of it. For various prices ranging from $49.95 and up, you can be the proud owner of an authentic coat of arms of your family. For a little more money, you too could be like the knights and carry the coat on a flag, or maybe wear it on a T-shirt or drink out of a coffee mug with it embossed.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Future of Automobiles :: Transportation Car Cars Vehicle

The basic tenets of geometry dictate that the shortest distance between two points on a plane is a straight line. Unfortunately, Euclid and the other theorists of mathematics do not explain exactly how one is to traverse that distance. Ten thousand years ago, the best way for a person to get anywhere was to walk, and the peak of transportation was a bit of hide or plant matter strapped to one's feet. Later, animals were domesticated and used to take us farther in less time. By the time of the Romans, we had already found ways to build vehicles to move more people and cargo than just the back of an animal could. Basic wheeled vehicles pulled by beasts of burden remained the standard mode of transportation for hundreds of years (except for distances across water for which boats were used). During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a technological revolution began that changed not just transportation, but every aspect of life. We learned to harness the raw power of chemicals in our own environment to produce locomotion, and distances that had seemed legendary were now only a few days' journey. One could rightly say that automobiles are the feet that move the body of America. This is true, but it may be time for a visit to the podiatrist. In this day and age, conventional automobiles are not effective as means of mass transportation. The things that we call cars seem to come in almost as many shapes and sizes as the people who drive them. There are traditional sedans, which may be sport, luxury, or compact, as well as trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), station wagons, and vans in great quantity. There are also other similar vehicles such as golf carts, fork lifts, and tanks, but the word 'car' generally refers to the vehicles which average folk drive every day. One basic component ties cars together into a single group: the internal combustion engine. It is a device that takes gasoline and causes it to combust, utilizing the mechanical force produced in a chemical reaction. Through a system of mechanical parts, including gears, cams, and pistons, this energy turns wheels and makes our cars go. Although the internal combustion engine (ICE) was a technological marvel nearly a hundred years ago, it has since become outdated. Because of international relations and the basic limitations of the environment, the oil which produces gasoline is becoming increasingly scarce.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Environmental Laws of Bangladesh

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0959-6119. htm IJCHM 18,4 Hotels’ environmental management systems (ISO 14001): creative ? nancing strategy Wilco W. Chan and Kenny Ho School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong Abstract Purpose – Environmental concerns have been increasing in the travel industry. However, most hotels are unwilling to develop an international environmental management system (EMS) probably due to a lack of resources and knowledge.In order to encourage more organizations to take part in the EMS, three cases adopting international EMS are investigated to ascertain the ways to support the formation of EMS. Based on their experience, hoteliers are encouraged to team up with green members to apply for research funding for the investigation and implementation of EMS. Also, â€Å"energy performance contracting† methods to ? nance environmenta l improvement projects in hotels were also discussed.Design/methodology/approach – A single case study approach was adopted to illustrate the differences in the resources mobilization for setting EMS in these three hotels. A search of documentary evidence and interviews with hotel staff was the main instrument for data collection. Findings – The Shangri-la Hotel used its own resources to set up its EMS and strategically used its developed template for other hotels in the group to follow. The other two hotels, Nikko and Grandstanford, adopted a creative and â€Å"non-balance sheet† approach to mobilize resources for the formation of EMS.Both hotels have recourse to external resources including a university’s engineering department, hotel management school, green bodies, government funds and trade associations to develop and implement the EMS. The study further identi? ed energy performance contracting as another promising ? nancing tool for the implementat ion of the energy-related part of the EMS. Research limitations/implications – The representative and general nature of the ? ndings are limited to large hotels in metropolitan areas, as the three case hotels are located in the metropolis of Hong Kong.Practical implications – The ? ndings provide informative details on how to secure external resources to set up internationally recognized environmental management systems and the safe way for hotel operators to trial use energy-saving facilities. Originality/value – This study provides indications and details on some creative ? nancing techniques for setting up EMS in hotels. These ? nancial strategies are the ? rst of their kind in print and can serve as a useful reference for hotels to develop international EMS. Keywords Environmental management, Hotels, Financing Paper type Case study 302International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management Vol. 18 No. 4, 2006 pp. 302-316 q Emerald Group Publishing Limit ed 0959-6119 DOI 10. 1108/09596110610665311 Introduction Many efforts on environmental protection work in hotels in the 1990s were a continuation of some long-standing environmental concerns such as energy Support for the author from Mr Tamiyasu Okawa and Mr Jean-Marie Leclercq, the present general manager and ex-general manager of The Hotel Nikko Hongkong is gratefully acknowledged. The author would also like to thank The Hong Kong Hotel Association for the help in providing valuable information. onservation, sewage discharge, air and noise pollution that occurred over the past few decades (Stipanuk, 1996). Coupled with this development have been the growing concerns for a â€Å"green† hotel in the eyes of customers. A study indicated that 75 percent of interviewed customers claimed that they were environmentally-minded consumers and would choose hotels which showed concern for the environment (Feiertag, 1994). Also, Cook et al. (1992) pointed out that business in the travel industry was required to adapt to new environmental realities and to implement environmental policies and strategies.In 1995, a comprehensive environmental action checklist and action development guide for small and medium-sized hotels was jointly published by international hotel and environmental associations (International Hotel and Restaurant Association, 1995). This publication provided hotels with more detailed information to launch environmental management systems (EMS). Under these circumstances, EMS, as across the world, has recently become more recognized in the hotel industry. Almost all hotels have implemented their in-house EMS with varying degrees of intensity.Kirk’s survey found that the most signi? cant bene? t of environmental management was the improvement in public image and better relationships with the local community (Kirk, 1995). However, many hoteliers with written environmental policies saw the greatest bene? t in ? nancial management performance. Thu s, to implement the EMS, the ? rst step is to have a clear environmental policy, objectives, targets and good planning. To further enhance effectiveness, hoteliers should always monitor and review the system after the implementation.However, due to resource limitations, many hotels’ environmental efforts pause after they have taken some environmental actions such as implementation of water saving campaign, installation of energy-ef? cient lighting, reuse of waste paper and other initiatives. Recent ISO 14000 series provides an effective guideline on the content of EMS, auditing, environmental performance evaluation and so on, as shown in the appendix. Among them, ISO 14001 documents all essential elements in the EMS as shown in Table I. Most importantly, a successful EMS requires a lot of resources, including manpower, cost and time for planning (Sayre, 1996).The costs arising from the implementation of ISO 14001 include those associated with initial set-up, maintenance and i mprovement (Chin et al. , 1998). The cost of initial set-up refers to all costs associated with the provision of hardware and software facilities, plus tools for establishing the system in compliance with the ISO 14000 EMS standards. Speci? cally this category of cost involves the purchase of monitoring and measuring equipment, documentation processing and storage equipment/accessories, hiring specialist environmental assistance, initial staff training, computer software as well as staff recruitment.Added to the cost pool is the ? nancing of maintenance and improvements. This category of expenditure refers to the costs of maintaining and continually improving the EMS in the company so that optimum environmental performance can be achieved with the changing environmental conditions and requirements. It also includes the costs associated with ongoing staff training, environment equipment replacement and upgrading, periodic environmental auditing and third-party certi? cation and so fo rth. Environmental management systems 303 IJCHM 18,4 1. 2. 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 3. 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3. 4 3. 5 3. 6 3. 7 4. 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 5. Environmental policy Planning Environmental aspects Legal and other requirements Objectives and targets Environmental management program(s) Implementation and operation Structure and responsibility Training, awareness and competence Communication Environmental management system documentation Document control Operational control Emergency preparedness and response Checking and corrective action Monitoring and measurement Non-conformance and corrective and preventive action Records Environmental management system audit Management review 04 Table I. ISO 14001 environmental management system elementsSource: Fredericks and McCallum (1998) In addition, EMS certi? cation costs at least HK$100,000 (about US$13,000) should also be budgeted (Anon, 1996). The cost is paid to the certifying body, which would examine whether the hotel has ful? lled all the necessary conditions of international EMS standard ISO 14001. However, most organizations lack the knowledge, experience and expertise required to develop an EMS and many are unable or unwilling to commit the required staff and ? ancial resources to undertake this development (Chapman, 1997). Earlier studies also found that lodging customers in the US are not willing to pay extra to support environmental policies (Watkins, 1994; Jaffe, 1993). However, some hotels launched pilot schemes to encourage guests to contribute to local environmental schemes (Green, 1995). Though new international EMS standard ISO 14001 certi? cates in Hong Kong have recently been obtained by several hotels, the progress on industry-wide adoption is still slow. The phenomenon is not just con? ned to Hong Kong.Pryce (2001) highlighted, according to a Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ report, that only 40 percent of large hotel groups surveyed in Europe had a formal EMS and only one was externally veri? ed. Pryc e (2001) further quoted the results of a survey of small and medium-sized hotels in three UK countries and pointed out that none of these hotels had implemented a formal EMS. Thus, it is valuable to understand how environmental pioneers in the hotel sector, Shangri-la, Nikko and Grandstanford set up their EMS under resource constraints. Especially after the Asian ? ancial crisis, 9/11 event and SARS, the resources available to the hotel sector appear to be less than before. Therefore, the principal objective of the study is to identify and analyze the ways that these hotels mobilize resources to establish EMS up to ISO 14001, especially any creative and non-conventional ? nancing (that is neither debt or equity issues, nor borrowing or requesting funds from the hotel owners). Methodology The approach adopted in the study is close to action research, using case studies that aim to explore the rich background of the cases.As the purpose of this study is to explore the variations in en vironmental management systems and its associated ? nancing measures, the study adopted a non-traditional case selection criterion. Decisions are based on which case studies provide the most fruitful data for the research question (Doyle, 2003) or provide the most â€Å"opportunity to learn† (Stake, 2000). In addition, the investigating topic is new and falls into the â€Å"timing in the early stages of the ? eld†, studies of individual cases are particularly suitable (Eisenstadt, 1991).These single cases have been used to offer vivid, powerful and penetrative descriptions of events, relationships, and ways of working that are not captured by existing theories (Cunningham, 1997; Crane, 1998; Dyer and Wilkins, 1991). To analyze these cases strategically, a descriptive framework consisting of search of documentary evidence and interviews with hotel staff of the hotels studied was developed to organize case studies. The documentation encompasses hotel EMS manual, universi ty’s published reports, fund application documents, periodicals, and hotel reports.The total number of interviewees is 14 including one owner representative, two general managers, one resident manager, three chief engineers, four green managers or quality assurance managers and three departmental head’s assistants. Shangri-la case The island Shangri-la hotel is a ? ve-star hotel located at the top of a large shopping complex near Central Hong Kong, and with 565 rooms and seven catering outlets. In September 1996, it started the process of developing an EMS and soon became the ? rst hotel in Asia to obtain ISO 14001 certi? ation. Its prompt development of EMS up to international standards is based on its existing â€Å"best practice† in each department. The EMS brings signi? cant bene? ts – reputation and competitive edge – to the hotel and these bene? ts have always outweighed the cost (Tsai et al. , 2003). In general, the funding sources of most l arge business are mainly derived from equity and debt issues. For Shangri-la’s environment management system, it most likely came from internal resources of the group (Tan, 2004).A further investigation of the group’s annual reports indicate that, apart from funds originating from regular income, the group issued convertible bonds with the total principal amount of US$258 million with interest at the rate of 2. 875 percent per annum. This implies that ? nancing for environmental works should not just be limited to equity ? nancing, reserve and income fund. Funds available from debt ? nancing can also be considered as an alternative. The successful ISO 14001 certi? cation in Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-la hotel provides a model for the groups’ other hotels to set up environmental management systems and its certi? ation. An environmental management manual was also developed to address the immediate and long-term environmental impact of hotel Environmental ma nagement systems 305 IJCHM 18,4 306 operations. In addition, an environmental consultant was hired to inspect hotels to ensure not merely that the EMS is being maintained but that continual environmental improvement is achieved by setting new environmental goals (Shangri-la Hotels Group, 2005). Therefore, Shangri-la’s certi? cation in Hong Kong can be regard as a pilot practice and reusable resource for further development of EMS in the group’s other hotels that do not have a proper EMS.Nikko’s case Hotel Nikko Hongkong (Nikko) is a member of Nikko Hotels International, with headquarter in Tokyo, Japan. The hotel continues the tradition of Japanese hospitality, which is renowned throughout the world. Opened in April 1988, Hotel Nikko Hongkong is a ? ve-star deluxe hotel in Hong Kong, with 462 rooms. The hotel is located at Tsim Sha Tsui East overlooking Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Environmental protection has always been at the heart of the philosophy of Nikk o. Even as early as 1992, the hotel was pushing for environmental improvements by implementing energy and water conservation practices throughout the hotel.As soon as the green practices on water and energy were on track, the hotel started looking for ways to minimize waste production (Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1999). Over the past years, the management and staff of Nikko have continued through different stages of improvement on the environment. Nikko is the leader in implementing EMS in the Hong Kong hotel industry. The environmental management system (based on the ISO 14001 standard) of Nikko was set up in April 1999 (Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1999). However, before Nikko’s completion of EMS implementation, Nikko did face many dif? culties and had spent tremendous efforts on environmental protection.Among these, resources and ? nancial support are the main concerns in launching an EMS campaign. Operating budgets may not allow hoteliers the extravagance of calling in expert consulta nts to set up the environmental system. While operating budgets were tight, Nikko from 1992 sought help from community bodies such as academic institutions and government departments (Department of Building Services Engineering and Hotel Nikko Hongkong, 1996). Partnership with community bodies Over the past years, Nikko developed a cohesive partnership with outside bodies in implementing its EMS.The collaborating partners of Nikko are categorized as four types. These include educational establishments, green bodies, government’s departments as well as the industry council. Collaboration with community bodies is one way to reduce costs of research and enables hotels to acquire funds for ongoing environmental work. Figure 1 shows the relationship between Nikko and its partners, plus the contribution of these partners in supporting Nikko’s environmental endeavors. Nikko has gained support and recognition from partners such as the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA), govern ment’sIndustry Department (ID), Friends of the Earth and other environmentally-friendly enterprises. With the help of those partners, Nikko has successfully solved resource-oriented problems in launching the hotel’s environmental activities and eventually obtained the ISO 14001 certi? cate. Environmental management systems 307 Figure 1. Relationship in partnership of Hotel Nikko Hongkong Educational establishments The major educational partner of Nikko is the Department of Building Services Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.Table II shows various projects or publications conducted by the educational department in improving many aspects of Nikko’s EMS. As can be seen from Table II, most of the student-assisted research focused on evaluating the performance of environmental improvement that required a signi? cant resource. The ex-GM said that collaboration with universities was a program of mutual bene? ts. On the side of universities, students m ight have on-site working opportunity provided by Nikko whilst professors might use Nikko as a test case. For Nikko, the hotelier might save a huge amount of research costs, as most of the research work is unpaid.Besides, the University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s (HKUST) Institute for Environmental Studies also lend their effort in supporting the hotel’s environmental pursuits. The former assisted in the compilation of the energy and water conservation guide and the IJCHM 18,4 Student research project 1998-2000 308 Publications 1996 and 1998 Table II. Joint projects collaborated by Nikko and the Department of Building Services Engineering of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University 1. Indoor air quality study 2.Review of building labeling scheme – checking compliance with energy ef? ciency codes 3. Parameter setting for boiler and chiller data log – calibration of equipment 4. Air ? ow balance and distribution in hotel food and beverage outlets 5. Indoor air quality survey 6. Opportunities for energy ef? cient lighting retro? t 7. Study of power factor and distribution losses 1. Keeping Hong Kong’s Hotel Industry Competitive into the Twenty-? rst Century – Environmental Management Systems for Hotels. With overall objective helping the Hong Kong hotel industry to be more competitive and pro? able and, at the same time, reduce adverse environmental impacts 2. A Guide to Energy and Water Conservation in Hotels. Aimed to contribute to reduce energy and water consumption in all hotels, contributing to their pro? tability whilst helping to protect the environment for future generations. Based on a number of energy and water conservation projects carried out in hotel buildings in Hong Kong, but particularly the extensive range of projects at Hotel Nikko Hongkong Source: Hotel Nikko Hongkong (1999) latter was involved in bidding for a HK$1 million fund (arou nd US$130,000) for developing an EMS template for hotels.As such, the hotel’s environmental performance and operating ef? ciency would increase. This partnership creates a win-win situation. Environmental-supporting parties Nikko has set up a cohesive partnership with parties endorsing environment conservation. Friends of the Earth Association supports Nikko’s efforts in saving energy and improving environmental performance. The parties provided Nikko with the latest environmental information related to the hotel industry and shared their professional ideas or recommendations with Nikko. In this way, Nikko saved costs in information collection and expert consultancy.Furthermore, the environmental-supporting groups usually give recognition to environmental-friendly businesses, including Nikko, with outstanding performance. The award is not merely a simple recognition of effort in environment conservation, but also adds to their reputation and can become a strong stimulu s to push environmental conscious visitors choosing Nikko. Government departments In 1997, Nikko received the Energy Ef? cient Building Award 1997 from the Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau. In 1998, Nikko further joined with other partners and successfully obtained HK$1 million from the Industry Support Fund of the IndustryDepartment for a project entitled â€Å"Keeping Hong Kong’s hotel industry competitive into the twenty-? rst century – environmental management systems for hotels†. The project aimed to develop an EMS template for the local hotel sector. Apart from awards and funds, cohesive linkage with governments and bureaus also enable Nikko to have up-to-date environment-related legislation data more easily, and express its ideas more directly to government of? cials. Industry councils Hotel Nikko plays an active role in sharing experiences and participating in projects proposed by the local hotel association, the Hong Kong Hotel Association (HKHA). In return, Nikko receives relevant environmental information from other member hotels of the association. The association also assisted Nikko by assigning its Environmental Committee to take up an advisory role in the above-mentioned EMS template development. In addition, the association also helped in translating the Guide to Energy and Water Conservation in Hotels developed by Nikko into Chinese by introducing Zhengzhou Holiday Inn and Zhengzhou Crowne Plaza to aid the translation. Nikko’s endeavor and effort was further recognized by international industry councils.In 1995, the International Hotels and Restaurants Association granted Nikko the award â€Å"Corporate Green Hotelier of the Year 1995†. The award further identi? es Nikko as a successful leader in the global green hotel movement. Inter-continental Grand Stanford Grand Stanford is a waterfront ? ve-star hotel located in Tsim Sha Tsui East. It has 579 rooms and four food and beverage outlets. The hotel was managed by Holiday Inn in the 1980s and by the owner’s management company in the 1990s.The resources available to the development of ISO 14001 EMS in Inter-continental Grand Stanford mainly include Nikko’s experience, the government funded scheme of hotel environmental system, and university’s assistance (Chan, 2005). Thanks to Nikko generous sharing of ISO 14001 certi? cation experience and the data required for setting up an EMS, Grand Stanford’s senior management embarked on the development of EMS under ISO 14001 version in the early 2000s. Besides Nikko’s experience, Grand Stanford also bene? ts substantially from the government funded scheme bout the environmental assessment of the hotel buildings. The scheme includes the development of a number of environmental assessment manuals for different phases of hotels – project, new building and existing building. In addition, Grand Stanford also acted like Nikko in the past by co-operating wi th nearby university to conduct a number of measurements for environmental performance indicators. Apart from these external resources, Grand Stanford also progressively employed internal funds to install energy-saving facilities including heat pumps for the hot water system and solar-control ? m for windows.Implications Based on the investigation of these three cases, the study summarized the similarities and differences in their approaches. As shown in Table III, all these hotels have strong partnerships with green bodies and have been involved in sharing experience with trade association, other hotels and government. Two hotels were also found to have strong collaboration with a university’s engineering department and hotel school. The Environmental management systems 309 IJCHM 18,4 Collaborate with university’s: 1.Engineering department 2. Hotel school Nikko ? ? ? ? ? Shangri-la Grand Stanford ? ? 310 Partnership with environmental supporting parties Written suppor t to apply: 1. Government fund 2. Private fund Free EMS template Sharing experience from: 1. Trade association 2. Other hotels 3. Of? cial department Internal reserve or debt issue ? ? ? ? Table III. Similarities and differences in approaches ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? former provides technical expertise and the latter provide operational knowledge in the environmental projects in hotels.In terms of monetary investment, one hotel placed a large amount on formation of EMS while the other purchased a number of energy saving facilities. In fact, the project funds secured by Nikko represent a small part of the funds available in the community. Further research indicated that there are other sources of funds available for quality environmental projects, as shown in Table IV. However if one wants to successfully secure the funds, a good and meaningful proposal for application of funds is required.This implies an experienced proposal writer and a team of related experts is a pre-requisite. Agai n, this type of caliber is not easily available in hotels. Thus, collaboration with educational institutes in writing up the proposal may enhance the likelihood of success. Energy performance contracting Besides applications for public or private funding for hotel’s environmental work, energy performance contracting can be considered as another alternative to ? nance environmental improvement.Performance contracting is a unique arrangement where contractors usually assume responsibility for purchasing and installing the equipment, as well as maintenance throughout the contract. Only when the installed equipment actually reduces expenses does the contractor get paid. This allows the hotel owners to make necessary improvements while investing very little money up front. Meanwhile, it is also a risk-sharing relationship between the host and the contractor that is sometimes called as the Energy Service Company (ESCO) (Woodruff and Turner, 1998).ESCO is a company that provides bot h the technical expertise to reduce energy costs and the ? nance for energy ef? ciency investments. In the UK, performance contracting is called contract energy management (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, 1991). In fact, the name is relatively new, but some of the companies in the industry have been in business for over 20 years. Name of environmental fund USa Richard King Mellon Foundation John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation The Pew Charitable Trusts The Ford Foundation W. K. Kellogg Foundation The Andrew W.Mellon Foundation Environment Wales The Environmental Action Fund The Environmental Know How Fund The Environmental Protection Research Program Environmental Conservation Fund and Woo Wheelock Green Fund Innovation and Technology Fund: Innovation and Technology Support Program Innovation and Technology Fund: University-Industry Collaboration Program Innovation and Technology Fund: General Support Fund Sustainable Development Fund Competitive E armarked Research Grant (CERG) University Internal Fund Departmental Research Fund in University National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC)Environmental management systems 311 Europeb Hong Kongc Source: a Stein (1993); b Forrester and Casson (1998); c www. itf. gov. hk/Default. asp Table IV. Fund available for quality environmental project According to Hansen and Weisman (1998), performance contracting is now poised on the threshold of even greater opportunities to work with government, utilities, institutions and commercial establishments. In the mid-late 1990s, performance contracting received more attention in the US.For example, the US federal government has used performance contracting to upgrade facilities, even when budgets were being dramatically cut. In essence, they â€Å"sold† some of their future energy savings to an ESCO (Woodruff and Turner, 1998). In the case of Canada, trade associations urged government to fund the set up of ESCO, as there was little prospect for setting up private sector ? rms in the short-term (Association of Energy Engineers, 1998). In Hong Kong, a research report also found that most interviewees considered that performance contracting for energy conservation may be suitable in the future (Chan, 1999).The key elements of applying performance contracting suggested by the interviewees were â€Å"management commitment, government support, technical and human factors†. Conclusions Environmental management systems are well-recognized in the hotel industry across the world. Unfortunately, many hoteliers are unable or unwilling to implement the system due to resources constraints. However, two cases studied reveal that resources for the formation of internationally recognized EMS 14001 can be drawn outside the balance sheet (that is equity and liabilities).In the mid-1990s, two professors’ suggestions that sound environmental management can reduce costs also occurred to IJCHM 18,4 312 Kirk (1995) who subseque ntly advised the hotel business to start with easy-to-achieve and low cost environmental projects. Moderate and high investment projects can be scheduled later when hoteliers had con? dence in and established bene? ts from earlier environmental actions (Iwanowski and Rushmore, 1994; Kirk, 1995). This approach is particularly suitable to hotels with tight resources or when the hotel sector experiences a business downturn.Nevertheless, hoteliers may learn from successful cases, particularly Nikko, and collaborate with various â€Å"green† partners – universities, government, trade associations and green bodies – to work on more complex environmental matters. Speci? cally, hotels can team up with these green members to apply for research funding for the investigation and implementation of EMS. This practice, in turn, accelerates the speed of environmental actions. Apart from EMS with ISO certi? cation, Green Globe 21 also offers a certi? cation to travel-related or ganizations that wished to demonstrate their commitment to environmental improvement.The Green Globe program provides travel and tourism companies with a framework for achieving year on year improvement in environmental performance (Rodgers, 2002). The framework contains ? ve sections, including environmental policy, regulatory framework, environmental performance; EMS as well as requirements for stakeholder consultation and communication. Other-related certi? ed programs may include Australia’s International Ecotourism Standard, Americas’ Sustainable Tourism Certi? cation Network and Europe’s Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainability in Tourism (Hammond, 2004).Similarly, obtaining these certi? cations also requires a signi? cant amount of resources and effort. The ? nancial tools – mainly collaboration between hotel and external parties including universities, governments, trade associations and green bodies – ascertained in these case studies can thus be applied when any organization plans to pursue these programs. Other than green certi? cation granted by ISO and Green Globe, the voluntary environment assessment scheme for hotels (Hong Kong Hotels Association, 2000) also receives a considerable amount of technical resources and research expertise.The scheme sets a scoring scheme in two areas. One is to consider actions by the hotels in endeavoring to reduce environmental impacts through more effective management and maintenance practice. The other is to assess the building facilities performance by referring to indoor environmental performance criteria, local codes of good practice and benchmarked energy and water consumption. As such, hotel’s collaboration with university staff in conducting research and applying for research funds as manifested in the studied cases may provide valuable and enormous assistance to attain a good scoring result.The lesson learnt from these cases reveal that trade association’s p articipation in environmental work cannot be neglected. The association in these cases not merely promoted the green activities by presenting environmental awards and organizing seminars but for instance also coordinated with enthusiastic hotels by arranging transport to ship all discarded bottles for recycling. Most importantly, the association also assisted in writing endorsement letters to apply for funds for creating a template for hotels to develop EMS according to ISO requirements.Thus, the association indeed provides a catalyst function to advance the function of EMS in the industry. Embedded in these supportive activities are enormous time and resources. On the other hand, the government also played an important role in the industry’s green environment, not just by creating environmental funds to assist the business. In fact, the government of? cials have always shared their experience on environmental work with the practitioners. In order to keep updating their envir onmental technology knowledge, the of? ials regularly liaise with manufacturers, professors and their colleagues in the environmental protection department as well as the engineering department. Without their endeavor in environmental improvement, the pace of environmental movement would de? nitely slow down. In the late 1990s, a survey conducted by the United Nations and the International Hotel Association identi? ed a lack of training resource as the major concern when introducing environmental matters in hotel management curricula.The French Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment together with some hotels have sponsored the production of teaching tools for environmental issues in hospitality curricula (United Nations Environmental Program, 2001). The Hong Kong and French government’s funding in these two cases further indicate the importance of government support in pursuit of sustainable tourism by the industry. In fact, besides funding, the government of? cials hav e always shared their experience on environmental work with practitioners and listen to environmental problems encountered by practitioners. This two-way communication also implies a signi? ant amount of time devoted by both parties. Thus, government’s active participation may hasten the pace of environmental change. Other than the above-mentioned stakeholders in the hotel industry’s pursuit of sustainable tourism development, green groups are also another major contributor. They often complement the university’s environmental research, and green groups have also conducted some environmental research which may, to a certain extent, be applicable to the hotel environment. For instance, Friends of the Earth has investigated disappearing timber in tropical rain forests in relation to buildings.

Two dads are better than none

Life would always have Its way to prove that two is better than one. And partners would always almost remain partners. A spoon would always come with a fork, as a pencil would always have an eraser. A tooth paste would only be used with a tooth brush and a shoe has to be worn with a sock. Such things are typically seen as one. Though mammals the other would be fine, difficulties would still follow. Complete Is synonymous to perfect. And a complete family consists mainly of a father, a mother and their children.Two dads are better than none – a saying that goes against the natural law of marriage when you read between the lines. What happens when a family lacks a mother, and is rather replaced by two dads with their motherly big heart? It may not look complete. It may even seem peculiar. Or worse, unethical. But nothing would be more immoral than hurting someone physically and emotionally. A lot of children nowadays came from a broken family. As a consequence, they suffer depre ssion and attitude problems towards the people around them. They often feel alone and Incomplete.There are also a number of children left in an orphanage for their parents are not responsible and mature enough to keep them. Indeed It Is difficult to live alone or to live with people one Is not related with. And If two men are willing to live together and create a wholesome and loving family for a deserted child, why would I disagree? I personally believe that love knows no boundaries and that it knows no gender. Though I am a Christian, and the bible is strictly against same sex marriage, I find it acceptable but at the same time regrettable for they would never eve their own child.And thus no family of their own. But as I watch the pride march and heard their voices, I came to an understanding that they are happy with those consequences. Having a family with two dads may not be perfect. But the love that will be built inside a house, more likely a home, is enough to make everything complete. The sacrifices that these two men give the moment they decided to adapt a child and make a family may be equal or even more than the sacrifices a mother and a father can provide. For doing so, they are ready to face all discriminations, allInjustices, and all hardships In order to protect their child. They do not only need to be financially-prepared, but most especially emotionally- and mentally-prepared. People do change together with their perspectives. And everyone has all the rights to change. Being gay is not a negative thing. It comes all with acceptance not just by them but also by us. Moreover, being gay is not a hindrance to dream and pursue a family. Two dads are better than none By syllabicating Life would always have its way to prove that two is better than one.And partners Though missing the other would be fine, difficulties would still follow. Complete is alone and incomplete. There are also a number of children left in an orphanage for their parents are not responsible and mature enough to keep them. Indeed it is difficult to live alone or to live with people one is not related with. And if two men are injustices, and all hardships in order to protect their child. They do not only need to change. Being gay is not a negative thing.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Devine Love vs Human Love Essay

End of the Affair both distinguish between divine love and human love. A common thread that runs throughout is the inconsistencies that are associated with human love and the unconditional nature of divine love. Both Greene and Lewis use familial, platonic and erotic love to illustrate the distinction between divine love and human love with the result that the reader appreciates that human love is superficial given for the wrong reasons while divine love is authentic love given for all the right reasons. Moreover, both Greene and Lewis use their protagonists to demonstrate that while human love is characterized by negative emotions such as jealousy and selfishness, divine love is kind and unselfish. This paper focuses on the varieties of love featured in both books and demonstrates how modernity tends to prioritize human love over divine love with a view to rationalizing how and why romantic, familial and erotic love, all forms of human love are displaced in both novels. In each of the novels, the inescapable message is that erotic love is fragile and recklessly teeters on the outer fringes of hate. C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold As in Greene’s The End of the Affair Lewis’s Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold Human love is unveiled for all its inherent flaws. Orual, the central figure in Lewis’s Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold recounts her relationship with her sister Psyche. Through Orual Lewis permits his reader to follow the progression of that relationship laying bare the weaknesses associated with affectionate love that Orual has for her sister Psyche and how that love develops into possessive love. Exemplifying the frailties of human love, particularly familial love, Lewis also demonstrates how human love can be conditional and selfish by exposing the fragile relationship between Orual and her father. Perhaps more importantly, Lewis uses these unique familial relationships to demonstrate how selfish human love can transform into hate. In summary Till We Have Faces is a re-telling of the Greek mythical story of Cupid/Eros and Psyche. In Lewis’s re-telling the story is reconstructed through the eyes of Orual who is represented as unattractive and jealous and uniquely disgruntled by the Gods’ mistreatment of her. Psyche, the beautiful sister is the object to Orual’s affections. In this re-telling Lewis deliberately complicates familial love in that Orual’s love for her sister is obsessive. On the other side of the spectrum, Redival’s love for Orual is spurious and the love for Psyche by King Trom is self-deceptive. Fox’s love for Orual and Psyche is also transient. Lewis also ventures into sexual/erotic love which is multifaceted in Till We Have Faces. Orual’s love for Bardia is unrequited, Ansit’s love for Bardia is frustrating and of course there is the superficial infatuation of men for Orual in her veiled condition. Lewis also takes pains to demonstrate that self-love is destructive in presenting duality in Orual who loves and hates herself all at once. This duality is selfish and damaging at the same time. Above all however, the emphasis is on divine love and implicit in this re-telling is a transition from Greek Philosophical times to modern Christianity. (Hooper, 1996, 250) Father Peter Milward writes of Till We Have Faces: â€Å"The main themes are, (1) Natural affection, if left to mere nature, easily becomes a special kind of hatred, (2) God is, to our natural affections, the ultimate object of jealousy. † (Hooper, 1996, 250) Psyche as reconstructed by Lewis has a natural predisposition for affection for divinity whereas Psyche’s love for divinity coincides with Orual’s love for humankind particularly her love for Psyche. While Psyche’s love for the gods are first and foremost in her heart, Orual’s love for Psyche comes first and each sister regards her love as the natural love. For Orual Psyche represents â€Å"the beginning of my [Orual’s] joys. † (Lewis, 20) On the other hand, Psyche derives her greatest at a time just before she is sacrificed to Cupid as it is a means of bringing her closer tot he gods. (Lewis, 74) Orual’s love for Psyche however is aligned to hatred and becomes a means by which Lewis demonstrates the superficial nature of human love whether familial or romantic in nature. Orual’s so-called love and affection for her sister fluctuates from love to hate in a manner which can only leave the impression that the love is fickly to begin with and not based on sound principles or values. For instance the night before Psyche is sacrificed Orual reveals that her sister has â€Å"made me, in a way, angry. † (Lewis, 71) Moreover the following day, Orual dreams her sister â€Å"was my [Orual’s] greatest enemy. † (Lewis, 71) The remainder of the first part of Till We Have Faces is characterized by this king of fluctuations of Orual’s affections for her sister. The inconsistencies are not lost on Psyche who observes: â€Å"I am not sure whether I like your kind [of love] better than hatred. † (Lewis, 165) Superimposed in this aspect of human love as illustrated through Lewis’s Orual is the damaging elements of human love whether romantic or familial. Orual’s love for her sister is characterized by two fatal flaws. First she loves her sister in such a way that she easily allows it to fall into hatred. Secondly, Orual permits her hatred to rebound to the gods. The love-hate scenario from Orual to Psyche is connected to the gods to the extent that Orual permits her love for Psyche to become possessive. That possessive love turns to a dangerous jealousy which is borne out of the presumption that Psyche loves the gods to the exclusion of Orual who in turn holds the gods accountable for taking Psyche’s love from her. Orual’s jealousy is so strong that she’d rather the gods had killed her sister than made her immortal. She laments: â€Å"We’d rather they were ours and dead than yours and made immortal. † (Lewis, 291) Psyche’s love for the gods is interpreted by Orual as a theft by the gods. To her way of thinking the gods took Psyche’s love from her and she says as much, â€Å"Psyche was mine and no one else had any right to her. †(Lewis, 291-292) Lewis intent with respect to Orual’s reaction to Psyche and her affection for the gods were specifically delineated in a letter he sent to Katerine Farrer. Lewis explains in the letter that Orual’s jealousy and attitude toward her sister’s relationship with the God was intended to convey the typical reaction of family members when a relative gives his life to Christianity. Lewis explained in the letter that the reaction of family members is typified by Orual’s when: â€Å"someone becomes a Christian, or in a family nominally Christian already, does something like become a missionary or enter a religious order. The others suffer a sense of outrage. What they love is being taken away from them. † (Hooper, 249) In other words Orual’s angst with the gods finds its place in the kind of jealousy that one family member experiences when it appears to them that a loved one religion replaces them. In much the same way Orual’s bitterness stems from a jealousy which is founded on love. The self-destructive and selfish nature of human love is also succinctly illustrated through Orual. In Lewis’s characterization of Orual she increasingly subscribes to the notion that if she can’t have her sister then she will not permit anyone else have her. Orual convinces Psyche to look upon her lover, despite his warning to the contrary. In her way of thinking Orual perceives that she is saving Psyche and to prove her intention she cuts her arm. The danger of Orual’s love and the dangerous manner in which her love for her sister influences her thinking and perception are revealed in the following excerpt from Till We Have Faces: â€Å"How could she hate me, when my arm throbbed and burned with the wound I had given it for her love? † (Lewis, 169) Ironically, the gods whose love Orual condemns closely mirrors Orual’s idea of love which is self-serving and consuming. It is not until the novel nears its conclusion that Orual comes to the realization that how love was commandeered by avarice and self-satisfaction. In this way Lewis is able to expose the superficial nature of human love. This is finally accomplished with Orual coming to terms with and accepting that her desire to have Psyche, the Fox and Bardia all to herself was entirely wrong. Lewis uses Ansit to voice the meaning of real or divine love by having him provide a brief commentary on Orual’s love. Ansit, referring to Orual’s pursuit of Bardia notes that: â€Å"He was to live the life he though best and fittest for a great man—not that which would most pleasure me. † (Lewis, 264)

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Marketing Management and Market Orientation Essay

People are exposed to marketing in almost everything and they can see the results of marketing in the advertisements on television, internet, and so on and in the abundance of many products. So marketing can be define as an area that has been evolved over time and its process is a set of activities that includes understand, deliver, create and communicate about a product or service to customers, clients. According to The Chartered Institute of Marketing marketing is â€Å"The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably† (The Chartered Institute of Marketing). Among the management functions like organizing, financing and producing, marketing is recognized as a vital function by many companies. In the opinion of Prf. Rustom S. Davar Marketing Management is the discovering of the consumers’ needs, converting them into the products or service to the ultimate consumer, so that needs of specific categories or gr oups of the customers could be so satisfied that by the most favorable utilization of the resources, the could derive the maximum benefits (Mundra, 2010). Physical and psychological factors are the main focus in the Marketing Management, also motivate, coordinate, control and direct are one of the principal resposibility to achieve marketing management goals. ï  ¶Define the Market Orientation Naver and Slater (1990) define Market Orientation as â€Å"the culture† that most effectively and efficiently creates the necessary behaviours for the creation of superior value for buyers. They measure the extent of market orientation through the behaviours that are the manifestations of those values. These authors define three basic components as: customer orientation, competition orientation and inter-functional coordination (Naver, 1995). Market Orientation is the business motivation within a company, because it is focus on identify and provide the needs and wants of a target customer, this includes develop new products or improve on exist products. The purpose of marketing orientation is to create superior buyer value that is the reason why all the decisions are based on information about the customers needs or wants instead of think what is good for the business. ï  ¶Reflect on the Market Orientation and Management of an organisation you are aware of. Louis Vuitton has established in the market place with its own identity â€Å"LV† a brand recognized as one of the most luxurious and more exclusive brand in the fashion industry. Its marketing strategy is to provide their customers with the most luxurious products with a unique quality, which may the customers, choose between buying a Louis Vuitton or nothing. The way that LVMH (Louis Vuitton – Moà «t Hennessy) Group manages its market orientation and management makes the company enjoys a distinctive position in the competitive landscape. Louis Vuitton products are set by 18 principles such as Principle of Ostentation, Principle of Prohibiting Unfavorable Comparisons Designed to Support Other Brands, etcetera (Nagasawa, 2008). As well, has no policy of make rebate in their products in order to keep a higher perception of its products. All its products have a purpose and it is t o make the customers feel part of a social reference group, a social status that is why many of its models campaign are famous celebrities in order to make customers feel part of that group. To keep the luxury and exclusivity of the brand they work with famous designers such as Marc Jacobs, Stephen Sprouse, to create limited editions that are offered to the upper class. Some of this collaboration has completely forgotten the famous pattern LV that was the case of Kasuma a Japanese designer who is famous for its repetitive dots. Louis Vuitton creates a high loyalty with their customers by offering products with the maximum quality creating an endless desire in LV products. Also providing lifetime guarantee for its products. LV keep working with the technology by continuous work on improvement of quality also create a mobile apps so their customer can enjoy the experience by distance. They don’t have limit on how much they would invest in pleasing their customers from adequate their stores to please their customer to designs everything to keep customers and getting more.