Philosophy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosophy - Research Paper Example The college was founded by Pastor Jonathan Blanchard in the year 1860. Blanchard was an abolitionist who was a pioneer in the abolishment of slavery (Wheaton Heroes, par. 2). He was also strongly against Freemasonry and possessed strong Christian and cultural values. These are both indications of the values upon which the college was built. Jonathan Blanchard was also the college’s first president and was later succeeded by his son. Currently the president of the college is Philip Ryken (Wheaton, par. 4). In total the college has had eight presidents. At the current moment, Wheaton has approximately 2500 students from each of the states in America and approximately 50 countries all over the world (U.S News, par. 1). It is one of the most highly ranked Christian colleges and its mission is to build the church and improve the world (Wheaton College, par. 3). It aims to fulfill these goals using the philosophies of its founders which were centered on humanitarian activities. The college aims to promote the role of Christians in the community and attempts to achieve this mission by implementing programs of excellence into a solid Christian education (Wheaton College, par. 3). These programs and policies adhere to the college motto, â€Å"For Christ and His Kingdom† (Wheaton College, par. 2). Another major aim of Wheaton College is to establish more churches and spread the word of God. This philosophy can be seen in action as students from this college are able to fulfill their role in society in approximately 60 countries due to several service projects and programs that have been initiated by the college (Wheaton College, par. 1). Students from the college perform researches and participate in other academic activities in Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. It also has an HNGR program which enables graduates to complete their internship in developing countries (About HNGR, par. 2). The

Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay Example for Free

Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay The syndrome commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder but now called Dissociative Identity Disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 198) might be thought of as a recent phenomenon. The diagnostic literature shows the definition of multiple personality as evolving significantly over the editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In the DSM-1, these behaviors were called dissociative reaction, (American Psychiatric Association, 1952), which came to be called hysterical neurosis, dissociative type in the DSM-II (American Psychiatric Association, 204). In each of these, multiple personality was not seen as a distinct disorder but was grouped with somnambulism, amnesia, and fugue states. Only in the DSM-III does Multiple Personality Disorder appear as a separate diagnostic category, with a definition of this behavior. This disorders defining features were argued to be the existence within the individual of two or more distinct personalities, each of which is dominant at a particular time (American Psychiatric Association, 257). The DSM-IIIR of 1987 gave nearly identical defining features as the existence within the individual of two or more distinct personalities or personality states (American Psychiatric Association, 269). The defining features evolved further in the DSM-IV where this behavior pattern came to be termed Dissociative Identity Disorder. Its features became the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states that recurrently take control of behavior (American Psychiatric Association, 484). This subtle change is significant; distinct personalities were no longer seen as existing within the person or as a part of the person, but the behaviors displayed different states or identities. This definition is less organismic and more behavioral-environmental in theory than earlier versions. With the readers extrapolation, the personality is variable behavior or as topographical subdivisions of behavior, occasioned by discriminative stimuli and controlled by reinforcement contingencies. Here, the personality is showing more variability than that of the average or normal individual; the individual lacking one coherent personality displays a personal repertoire of behaviors which is very diverse, with large variability in the relationship between antecedents and responses. The antecedents, that is, people, places, events, and so forth, of the individual in question occasion more responses of an idiosyncratic nature which are maintained by reinforcement contingencies unique to that individual. Along t his approach, one writer took the new definition to mean that the individual displaying these behaviors could no longer be described as having more than one personality. Instead, the person should be viewed as having less than one whole, coherent personality (Sapulsky, 95). Similarly, Kohlenberg and Tsai (82) observed that these individuals may have not developed all the characteristics of a stable, single personality. History Multiple personality was first recognized and described by the French physician Pierre Janet the late 19th century. In the year 1982 psychiatrists were talking about â€Å"the multiple personality epidemic. Yet those were early days as multiple personal ¬ity became an official diagnosis of the American Psychiatric As ¬sociation only in 1980. Ten years earlier, in 1972, multiple personality had seemed to be a mere curiosity. â€Å"Less than a dozen cases have been reported in the last fifty years. † You could list every multiple personality recorded in the history of Western medicine, even if experts disagreed on how many of these cases were genuine as the word for the disorder was rare. Ten years later, in 1992, there were hundreds of multiples in treat ¬ment in every sizable town in North America. Even by 1986 it was thought that six thousand patients had been diagnosed. After that, one stopped counting and spoke about an exponential increase in the rate of diagnosis since 1980. Clinics, wards, units, and entire private hospitals dedicated to the illness were being established all over the continent. Maybe one person in twenty suffered from a dissociative disorder. Clinicians were still reporting occasional cases as they appeared in treatment. Soon the number of patients would be ¬come so overwhelming that only statistics could give an impression of the field (Modestin, 88-92). Public awareness of the disorder increased in contemporary times after a case was the subject of The Three Faces of Eve (1957). In the 1980s and early 90s, such factors as recognition of child abuse, public interest in memories recovered from childhood (whether of actual or imagined events), allegations of so-called satanic ritual abuse, and the willingness of many psychotherapists to assume a more directive role in their patients treatment, led to what came to be regarded as a rash of overdiagnoses of multiple personality. Causes The cause of multiple personality is not clearly understood, but the condition seems almost invariably to be associated with severe physical abuse and neglect in childhood. It is believed that amnesia the key to formation of the separate personalities occurs as a psychological barrier to seal off unbearably painful experiences from consciousness. The disorder often occurs in childhood but may not be recognized until much later. Social and psychological impairment ranges from mild to severe. The fairly-necessary-condition evolved together with the characterization of multiple personality disorder (MPD). According to Cornelia Wilbur and Richard Kluft, â€Å"MPD is most parsimoniously understood as a posttraumatic dissociative disorder of childhood onset. † Here the childhood onset and the presence of trauma are not parts of an empirical generalization or a statistically checkable fairly-necessary-condition. They are part of the psychiatrists` understanding of multiple personality disorder, part of what they mean by â€Å"MPD. † There is nothing methodologically or scientifically wrong with this. I warn only against having it both ways. There is a tendency (a) to define the concept â€Å"MPD† (or dissociative identity disorder) in terms of early childhood trauma, and (b) to state, as if it were a discovery that multiple personality is caused (in the sense of fairly-necessary-condition) by childhood trauma (Horton and Miller, 151-159). Moreover, child sexual abuse became part of the prototype of multiple personality. That is, if you were giving a best example of a multiple, you would include child abuse as one feature of the example. The connection between abuse and multiplicity became stronger and stronger during the 1970s, just when the meaning of â€Å"child abuse† moved from the prototype of battered babies through the full range of physical abuse and gradually centered on sexual abuse. As a point of logic it is useful to see how concepts are used to lift themselves up by their own bootstraps. Those sounds highly figurative, but consider this. In a 1986 essay Wilbur wrote, â€Å"In discussing the psychoanalysis of MPD, Mershkey (330) pointed out that childhood trauma is central and causal. † In fact he ended his prize winning essay by posing some questions. He said that in recent previous reports of multiplicity â€Å"childhood trauma is central and causal† (327-340). The connection between multiple personality and real, not fantasized, child abuse was cemented in clinical journals throughout the 1990s. By 1992 there were vivid musterings of data about the relationship between incest and multiple personality. Philip Coons (299) had stated in his classic 1994 essay on differential diagnosis of multiple personality, he wrote that â€Å"the onset of multiple personality is early in childhood, and is often associated with physical and sexual abuse. At that time no child multiples were known. But the hunt was on. The first in what is now a long series of books of contributed papers about multiple personality had a fitting title: Childhood Antecedents of Multiple Personality (311-315). Prevalence The number of different personalities per MPD patient has shown a substantial increase since the 19th century. During the 19th century, most cases involved only two personalities. Since 1944, however, almost all cases have involved three or more personalities. Modern cases average from 6 to 16 personalities per patient (Coons 305). For instance Modestin (89) reported that 44% of 74 MPD patients each had more than 10 personalities and 8 of these patients had more than 20 personalities each. North, Ryall, Ricci, and Wetzel (2003) plotted the mean number of MPD per patient as a function of year, between 1989 and 2000. In 1989, the average MPD patients manifested just fewer than 10 personalities; by 1999, MPD patients displayed an average of just under 25 personalities per patient. At the present time, MPD appears to be culture-bound syndrome. The explosion of cases since 1970 has thus far remained largely restricted to North America. The diagnosis is very rarely made in modern Europe, despite its turn-of-the-century prominence as a center for the study of MPD. It is also very rare in Great Britain (Modestin,90). Modestin (92) surveyed all of the psychiatrists in Europe concerning the frequency with which they had seen patients with MPD. Depending on how it was calculated, the prevalence rate ranged between . 5% and 1. 0%. More interesting, Modestin noted that 90% of the respondents had never seen a case of MPD, whereas three psychiatrists had seen each seen more than 20 MPD patients. Hence, the frequency of multiple personality has been debated over time. There were some descriptions of these behaviors early in this century, but from the 1920s to the early 1970s, there was a surprising dearth of cases (Spanos, 145). Kohlenberg (138) termed it relatively rare while other reports saw it as very numerous in number; more cases were reported from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s than in the previous two-hundred years. The tremendous increase in reported cases has occurred almost exclusively in North America (Spanos, 147). This behavior pattern is rarely reported in Great Britain, France, and Russia; no case has ever been reported in Japan (Spanos, 160). In both North America and Switzerland, most diagnoses are made by a small minority of professionals while the vast majority of professionals rarely if ever see such a case (Modestin, 90-91). The dramatic increase in the reported numbers of cases has been attributed to differing factors. Possibly, cases which were undiagnosed in previous decades are now being diagnosed because of greater awareness of this condition; it has also been proposed that the condition is now being overdiagnosed in individuals whose behaviors are readily suggestible (American Psychiatric Association, 94). It is probably safe to conclude that the prevalence of Dissociative Identity Disorder is in dispute at this time; some may also dispute the validity of this diagnosis as the DSM-IV, unlike earlier versions of the DSM, does not provide any diagnostic reliability information (American Psychiatric Association, 99). Diagnosis On balance, with the behaviors labeled Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID hereafter, the variability between behavioral repertoires is very high, possibly so extreme that the repertoires do not compose one stable personality (Sapulsky, 64). The person himself or herself may even report being a different person, complete with a different name or identity. Although the behavioral variability is more extreme here, it is still on a continuum with the average person; we all can exhibit several personalities and there are circumstances under which any person might claim to be a different person (Sackeim Devanand, 21). Among the behaviors correlated with a diagnosis of DID, self-report is less controlled by public, environmental events and more controlled by events which are private to the person providing the self-report (Kohlenberg Tsai, 139). The most apparent question is: What type of experiences could account for this extreme behavioral variability, in the self-report of being a different person, with differences in sex, age, race, physical appearance, and so forth. Some writers report that this disorder may only become apparent to a professional or others when different people attend meetings, interviews, or therapy; that is, the same individual attends but with a different self-report of identity, memories, and personality (Sackeim Devanand, 25). In so doing, individuals displaying these behaviors can receive a great deal of reinforcing attention from professionals for engaging in these behaviors. Individuals displaying behaviors correlated with a diagnosis of DID may be reassured of no further abuse and may be encouraged to try to be themselves in as many ways as they can. The different self-reports and personalities become a source of gratification (self-reinforcement) for the formerly abused victims and the professional alike (Spanos, 153). The danger here is that a person with degrees of behavioral variability could be shaped iatrogenically to reporting to be a divergent person by professionals zealously looking for this disorder (Merskey, 329) To quote one skeptic, the procedures used to diagnose MPD often create rather than discover multiplicity (Spanos, 153). Pain complaints, paralysis, blindness, and so forth, also consist of a self-report of a private event. Each of these may be accompanied by publicly observable events such as wincing, reluctantly moving, reporting or appearing to be unable to move or see ( Skinner) Both the self-reports and the public evidence for these differences are under stimulus control of the different personality repertoires in cases of these behaviors. When such an individual displays a specific personality, the self-report of pain or other symptom comes or goes with the other behaviors. Originally, the public signs of pain were authentic afflictions in the past as the result of abuse; months or years later, such indications could be self-produced, rule-governed behavior as part of the personality repertoire. These pains and related behaviors could be reinforced and shaped into a real affliction by well-meaning others as the verbal behavior acquired differential stimulus control of operant pain behavior. The rep orts of pain and related behaviors can persist as operant behavior maintained by its consequences in the absence of the original painful stimuli (Bonica and Chapman, 732). As for the reports in the literature of allergic and other responses being present in some personalities and not others, these too can potentially be accounted for via verbal behavior mechanisms. There are reports that individuals can develop rashes, a wound or a burn or other physiological symptoms in response to anothers verbal suggestions, that is, under hypnosis, although it has been argued that many of these symptoms are likely self-inflicted when observers are not present (Johnson, 298). Actual reports of hypnotically induced dermatological changes are difficult to substantiate; such effects are difficult to produce and are not as common an occurrence as often reported (Johnson, 302). These reports are not all due to the acts of the person showing the symptoms; instead, these symptoms may be due to an interaction of verbal behavior and conditioning mechanisms. Verbal behavior can also facilitate the development of stimulus control via respondent or operant conditioning (Skinner). If an experimenter were to flash a light in your eyes and then shock you, the experimenter would expect you to come to recoil to the light after some number of such pairings. If the experimenter were to tell you that he or she was going to shock you after every light flash, then it would be expected for you to recoil to the light sooner. Relating this to the differential presence of symptoms is not a big leap. Here, the individuals who display the divergent personalities have self-instructed and subsequently conditioned themselves to display symptoms when performing different behavioral repertories. Over time, the symptoms may come under the stimulus control of the emotions displayed, in addition to the persons verbal behavior, and appear spontaneous to the person himself or herself. To support the argument for conditioning mechanisms producing somatic symptoms, Smith and McDaniel (69) showed that a hypersensitive cellular response to tuberculin was modulated by respondent conditioning. Individuals can also exert control over a variety of autonomic functions as diverse as dysmenorrhea to seizure activity, via biofeedback . Treatment From the foregoing assumptions, therapy for persons displaying the behaviors in question must consist of extinguishing a reasonable share of the behavioral variability in the repertoire and reinforcing behavioral stability and generalization; literally, to shape one personality. Kohlenberg (138) reported being able to increase the frequency of specific behaviors composing one personality of an individual who exhibited DID-like behaviors by differential reinforcement of that personality. When placed on extinction, these behaviors returned to baseline frequencies. Other techniques might involve the client role-playing and rehearsing several social interactions and experiencing some situations expected to produce normal emotional behaviors. Kohlenberg (139) reported success at reintegrating the personalities in a dual personality individual by teaching assertiveness skills via role playing. Caddy (268) also used assertiveness training and shaping in reintegration. The therapist might videotape client s as they behave, to use for feedback and in shaping and instructing more cohesive behavior. There might also have to be a way of teaching the client to engage in more social-referencing, or seeking public feedback in more instances of what is acceptable behavior. Whereas you or I might ask, Did you see (or hear) something? when we are unsure of seeing or hearing, individuals whose behaviors are consistent with the label of DID may have to learn to ask, Am I still behaving as me? The therapist could not answer this question alone but family members and significant others could. This process would have to continue until the person reports being the same individual with the same experiences, and has less observable variability in his or her personal repertoire. Even if a therapist were to try to undertake such an intervention, and most would probably not, this process could be long and arduous, due to the multiple sources of control that would require adjustment, and the possibly well-meaning sabotage by those who attend to and reinforce the variability. Indeed, based on this account, control of the behaviors in this pattern would be difficult for anyone to establish. Even the therapist who encourages variance is not exerting control unless unpredictable behavior is the target behavior. As a result, these individuals may have been and will likely be in therapy for years (American Psychiatric Association).

Culture of Ancient Rome :: Ancient World Culture

The art and artifacts from the Karanis excavation provide a useful, summary statement about the culture of ROME, the great imperial city. Rome's greatness grew out of its imperial program of conquering others and establishing colonies. This military expansion at once brought great material benefit to the Roman state and guaranteed a pipeline of wealth for Rome, the imperial city. And Rome becomes a cosmopolitan capital where high-living and material wealth become synonymous with personal importance and success. Note how the Karanis exhibit displays extravagant wall paintings, which did not decorate the walls of churches or temples but rather the homes of wealthy citizens. The exhibit also includes coins, whose minting bespeaks the abiding concern for the tokens of wealth as well. What the Romans also did was learn from other cultures. You might wonder why APHRODITE, a Greek goddess, was memorialized in a fantastic sculpture in Roman times (and in Egypt, no less!). To their credit, the Romans recognized the richness of Greek art and architecture, and they sought to emulate the Greek masters -- and the Greek styles and themes -- in their own art. To a large degree, it was the Romans who brought Greek (and Hellenistic) culture to world attention. Romans patronized Greek artists and artisans in the glorification of a vast world of their own, Roman creation. It is no surprise, then, that the Roman poet VIRGIL (or VERGIL) turns to Greek mythology and to the Greek epics as he fashions his own description of the origins and destiny of the Roman state, The Aeneid. Virgil writes his extended poem, in part, to win the favor of

Ikea Case Study

IKEA Dr. Okan Geray Please read the IKEA case from the textbook and answer the following questions: 1. Explain, in detail, the aspects of IKEA strategy that make it a Hybrid strategy. A hybrid strategy is where the costs are low and the perceived benefits are high. In the case it is mentioned that IKEA is not for the rich and flamboyant but for the smart and practical people. This is clearly seen with the designs where it holds universal acknowledgement rather than cultural or national ideas.It blends into its furniture styling and design with low cost and has large stores where they guide their customers and incline them towards buying certain products that are displayed. The styling and design is then supported by low cost, on request or immediate delivery, which allows them to not only buy the product immediately but also transport them without must hassles. The flat packs allow logistical advantage and cost benefits and an informal infrastructure motivates the staff.The procureme nt is very intense and brings cost benefits and is also widely spread out across the world with suppliers in China and Sweden and their head quarters are based in Norway for tax savings. In the above ways IKEA brings higher benefits at lower costs to the consumer and therefore is a hybrid strategy. 2. Why is this strategy difficult for competitors to imitate? It is difficult for competitors to imitate because IKEA is a global furnishings company where as other competitors are highly focused into particular regions.This inaccessibility of its competitors limits its breadth of customer reach. Some of its competitors are not even specialised in furnishings but are more towards general stores there for specialisation benefits are lost. IKEA runs a strict cost cutting budget where it focuses more on costs and lesser towards design IKEA not only does provide furniture but also provide furnishing solutions where it has different variants of products to suite customer needs. It is aware of customer needs and is able to provide that at the correct price and at the same instant.The informal hierarchy forms unpredictable behaviour, which cannot be predicted, therefore cannot be imitated. 3. What are the dangers of a hybrid strategy and how can managers guard against them? There is a high risk that once the customer base has been established companies tend to drift towards increasing their products and providing additional services by charging additionally, even though this adds value to the product it alternately also adds costs which is directly against the policy of IKEA in this case.IKEA does provide additional services but with the optional additional charges which allows customers to choose cost savings Companies are also then inclined to reduce value but at the same historical price this lowers the perceived value of the product and pulls the company into the low cost category also robbing the company of its strategic advantage as a hybrid strategy player. Managers would need to recognise their hybrid strategy and their parameters that allow them to be in this category and enforce those parameters on the complete value chain.This does not imply to only the procurement and manufacturing of the products but also to the administrative aspects, such as seen with the CEO of IKEA UK. The designing of the product has been suited to the world market rather than specific market, this universal approach allows populations of different nationalities to relate to it, this collective design approach is a key factor in Ikeas marketing strategy and therefore any such products or designs favouring or resembling a particular culture unintentionally should be disassociated and discouraged.

History of Magazines in Kenya

HISTORY OF MAGAZINES IN KENYA Magazines are a form of print media that are printed periodically for a specific group of people with a common interest. Magazine publishing started way back in the 1660s with Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen (Edifying Monthly Discussions) being the first magazine to be published in Germany and in the world as a whole. This was in the year 1663. However, the next magazine that followed was much different than the first. The Gentleman’s Magazine published in1731 in England included more entertainment in form of essays, stories, poems and political commentary.Magazines then looked like books, printed in black and white. They were merely a channel where literate men passed on their points in the above mentioned forms of entertainment. In 1739, The Scots Magazine was published and is still published up to date though as a daily business newspaper. In the year 1741, the first magazine in America was published and named American Magazine just three days before Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine was published. Several magazines were then established until in 1933 when the first men’s magazine, Esquire was published.This was the beginning of special-interest magazines. Further on into the 1950s to 1970s, magazines were inclusive of models gracing their covers. Magazines in Kenya started publishing way back in the 1970s. An example of a magazine published then is Joe Magazine which was founded by Hilary Ng’weno, the publisher and Terry Hirst, the artist. This magazine was full of humour, used art and fiction to narrate cultural, political and social aspects of daily Kenya living. It target was the urban residents but after Ng’weno left in 1974, Hirst tried changing it to include the rural residents as well.However, it lost market and shut down in 1979. Ng’weno however did not end his publishing career there. He did some other publishing works such as Weekly Review, which nurtured important persona lities such as Hanningtone Gaya. In this era of modernity, magazines are grouped into three; * Consumer magazines: these are sold by subscription and at newsstands, in bookstores and supermarkets. * Industrial, company, and sponsored magazines: are produced by companies specifically for their employees, customers and stockholders and by clubs and associations for their members. Trade, professional, and business magazines: carry stories, features and ads aimed at people in specific professions and are either distributed by the professional organizations themselves or by media companies. (Baran) A lot of magazines have come up in Kenya in this century. These are such as the first men’s magazine in Kenya and East Africa known as HM (His Magazine) which is produced by Media Seven Group(Kenya) Limited. This magazine basically aims for men in between 21-40 years of age and it is all about knowledge and insights men could grasp to better their relationships.Media Seven Group also pr oduces Her Magazine, Monthly Motor, Mum and Dad, Teen Life, Business Monthly and G Magazine. Other magazines in Kenya are such as Samantha’s Bridal Weddings Magazine, Passion, Pregnant, True Love, Parents (possibly the oldest magazine), The Insyder, Tupike, and Salon among others. SAMANTHA’S BRIDAL WEDDINGS MAGAZINE Samantha’s Bridal Weddings Magazine is a consumer magazine that is based on weddings and acts as a guide for people planning their weddings. It was started in 2005 by Dr. Catherine Masitsa.The inspiration to begin Samantha’s Bridal Weddings Magazine came from Going Out, a magazine that talked about interesting sites in Kenya. Dr. Catherine Masitsa saw the need for an informative magazine on weddings and all that is involved and thus Samantha’s Bridal Wedding Magazine. However, immediately after Going Out ended, she ventured into Business Woman, another magazine and later Samantha’s Bridal. Samantha’s Bridal Weddings Magazi ne is the first Kenyan wedding magazine and is named so after Dr. Catherine Masitsa’s mother and because it is â€Å"girly† and has a soft touch to it.PERSONNEL People involved in production of Samantha’s Bridal Magazine are editor at large (Catherine Masitsa), sub editor (Christabel Ododa), creative director, contributors, printers, advertising sales executive, advertising sales coordinator, distributors, photographers, models, make-up artists and advertisers. PROCESS AND PERSONNEL ROLES This magazine’s production technically has four stages. Stage one is research. The editorial team comes up with a blueprint which is the rough outline of what the magazines should look like.The Blueprint has the themes, how every page should look like, what should be included and who needs what for the magazine to come up. The editors look for material to write about in connection with the theme, enter contractual agreements with the models and photographers and search f or venues to build up the magazine. The editor is also involved in copyrighting which basically involves coming up with the words of the theme. In the latest issue of Samantha’s Bridal the theme was Dress trends, the writers thus had to look for something to write on dresses.The next stage is the design stage. In this stage is where the sub editor puts together the articles, arranges the articles and puts words in the advertisements. The work is then sent to the designer who lays out the tempo and the photos to come up with an authentic layout. After the designer has done his work its back to the editor for proof reading then to the designer again to prepare the artwork for print in PDF format in cd form to send to local printers and in transfer file protocol to send to international printers. The third stage is printing.The printer makes digital print outs of final look of the magazine which is sent back to the office for approval by the chief editor who has to sign every pa ge. The digital print outs are called proofs. Once the proofs are approved they are sent back to the printers then final printing begins. This process of printing begins when artwork is electronically transformed into a film which is then checked and transformed to the printing plate. The printing plates are then mounted on the web off-set printer which transfers the artwork on paper.Color separation on the papers is done through a process of colors, â€Å"CYMK†. This is cyan, yellow, magenta and black. The pages are mixed with these colors to differentiate between pictures and words. Printing starts with the light colors first and onto the dark colors. The machine sorts the papers from the first to last, binds the magazine and trims it into the size of that particular magazine. The last stage: the distribution of the magazine. Samantha Bridal Magazine uses PDS to distribute their magazine to all their advert clients and to supermarkets all over Kenya.Samantha’s Bridal Magazine produces 10,000 copies each selling at 495 Kenyan shillings. TREND CHANGE * Comparing magazines today and those in the past, there is evidence of a big difference embraced by the magazine industry. * There is use of more graphics and colored images to brighten and liven up the magazines. * Magazine publishers have ventured into the internet to meet the competition posed by other forms of media. * Publishers now are focused on concentrating on their defined audiences rather than the whole multitude. ETHICS Every magazine has a house style that makes it unique and distinct.A house style is the set of standards for the writing and design of an organization. House style identifies a particular company. This is seen in the font size, flow of articles, number of pages, size and layout of magazine. The magazine Industry is very cautious in terms of confidentiality and ethics. This is so in that, when a company wants an advertisement design made for them by the designer; it has to be sent back to the company for its approval. The proof is another example of cautiousness where every page has to be signed to show approval before the printer can go ahead.When a venue for taking photos is chosen the owners of the place have to approve the use of their place as well. Apart from approval by the concerned, magazines rarely face ethical dilemmas in terms of what they write about. This is because, they do not write on real life stories apart from events that have occurred such as parties or dinners. FUNDS Advertisements are what keep a magazine running. Samantha’s Bridal Weddings Magazine has a sales team whose main work is to source for people who want advertisements. The team approaches agencies like Scan group to get companies to advertise with them.A full page advert cost 185,000 and this is basically how a magazine makes money. GOVERNING BODIES AND REGULATORS Government: it offers licenses to the publishing company of the magazine. For instance, Samantha bridals magazine is licensed to produce the magazine and air the TV show. Editorial style book: it governs how the magazine will look like. It is an organizational book that determines the layout of the magazine. THEORY APPLICATION According to Baran, Social Cognitive Theory states that people learn through observation- and applying it to mass media.We either imitate what we see or identify with it. When women look through the magazine, others get ideas of how they would want their weddings to be (imitation) while those who are already married appreciate what they see since they know the feeling (identification). CHALLENGES According to Hanningtone Gaya, publisher of the Media Seven Group magazines, these are the challenges magazine publishers in Kenya face; * Kenyan advertisers do not believe in advertising in magazines, therefore there is no advertising revenue to sustain magazine publishing. Kenyans do not like reading books or magazines, which undermines magazine circulation and subscription. * Most magazine publishers carry very shallow articles which are not well researched. * The magazines appear periodically and therefore disappointing to loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers. * The high cost of printing and poor quality in color printing is a major disadvantage in Kenya. { http://www. gvpedia. com/Kenya/Hanningtone-Gaya-Top-Magazines-Publisher. aspx} REFERENCES www. amanthasbridal. co. ke Stanley Murage- Creative Director, Samantha’s Bridal (0720316292) http://www. infoplease. com/ipea/A0154485. html#ixzz1bQvU4EoQ http://www. media7group. com/component/search/magazines%2Bhistory/%252F? ordering=&searchphrase=all http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Joe_%28magazine%29 http://www. gvpedia. com/Kenya/Hanningtone-Gaya-Top-Magazines-Publisher. aspx Baran S. J. , (2010), Introduction to Mass Communication. Media Literacy and Culture, 6th Ed. , McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.

Hitler Fell.. essays

Hitler Fell.. essays Many aspects of World War Two have been the cause for debate for many years. Not only has the loss of Germany been discussed at great lengths, also have the reasons. It can be said that although much thought and fact has been taken into consideration when discussing Germany's loss as a whole; not as much attention has been given to that of the loss of Hitler as a man and a leader. Germany's loss of World War Two was not only a loss on behalf of the country as a whole, but a personal loss to Hitler. Why was this such a loss to Hitler? Why did he experience a personal downfall? How did he create his own demise? There are many reasons as to why this is so, but the fact that his ideas were behind the war is a reason why it was not only Germany's downfall, but Hitler's also. He was a man of influence in Germany; the timing was right, and he was in the hot spot. He was the leader of a highly populated European country, he wanted more for himself and for his people. He had ideas , he made decisions based on them. What were his ideas? What was behind them, what did he intend them to accomplish? Where did they lead, and how did this lead to a countrywide and worldwide loss, and even a personal loss? In discussing some of Hitler's ideas such as, lebensraum (which ties in with treaty issues), purity of the state of Germany and a zeal for his people and the desire to make changes for the betterment of his country; it will be seen that although his ideas might have been initally pure, they led to the war, the downfall of Germany and ultimately Hitler's own personal demise. What were his ideas? What were his visions for a more pure Germany? What did he want for his people, for himself? Firstly, today, Hitler is seen as a white supremacist. He wanted all of Germany to be pure. Why was this so? In Germany at the time, the economic status of the country was not very good. Hitler saw the Jews as to be shrewd business people who ...

Neil Simon essays

Neil Simon essays Marvin Neil Simon was born the fourth of July1927 in the Bronx, New York, the second son of Irving Simon, a Jewish traveling salesman and his wife Mamie. He grew up in Manhattans Washington Heights neighborhood. He was not a very good student and was eager to leave his all-boys high school to fight World War II. While attending New York University as an engineering student, Simon served in the Air Force Reserve where he was the Sports Editor for the Rev-Meter from 1945-1946 until fulfillment of his obligation at which time he took a position with Warner Brothers as a mailroom clerk. Following his discharge in 1946, he began writing scripts with his brother, Danny, for radio and television personalities. The first of their jobs, paying fifty-dollars-a-week was writing for Goodmans CBS radio show. Their sketches for Phil Silvers, Gary Moore, Jerry Lewis and Broadway shows such as Catch a Star (1955) and New Faces of 1956 contributed to Neils wide popularity. The siblings parted ways and Simon went solo. His early days as a playwright were filled with fears of failure. In the beginning, it terrorized me, because I knew if my plays failed it meant going to California and making a living in television for the rest of my life. [Interview With Neil Simon, titlepage.comcgi-local/shop.pl/page=simon.htm] His first full-length comedy, Come Blow Your Horn (1961), ran for over six hundred performances and was a success but it was the Odd Couple (1965) that truly launched his career. He married his first wife, Joan Baim (dancer) in 1953. In 1957 and 1959 he won Emmy awards for his contributions to both The Sid Caesar Show and The Phil Silvers Show. Neil joined the Dramatists Guild and The Writers Guild of America and purchased his own New York theatre, The Eugene ONeill Theatre. In September of 1973 Joan passed away and Simon married Marsha Mason (actress). They divorced in 1982 and...

Process Analysis Case Study

Process Analysis Case Study Process Analysis Case Study Process Analysis Case Study: Let Us Cope with It In order to start writing your process analysis case study, it is essential to get acquainted with the notion of case study first. Thus, if you do not know what case study is, you are welcome to read its definition and a brief explanation of the notion of case study below. Case study is a method of research widely used in social science. The main aim if this very case study is to define the main principles of the notion. This method is considered to be the most effective one in collecting information at some definite subject and analyzing this very subject. After you have understood what case study is, it is a high time to pass to the process analysis case study itself. Process Analysis Case Study Writing Can Be Interesting Process analysis case study is a rather interesting assignment to accomplish, as it helps you not only to get acquainted with the process of something in all the details, but also to perceive the underlying pr inciples of it. You see it is not simple at all to cope with process analysis case study if you are trying to do it on your own. However, if to get some useful help at the matter of process analysis case study writing, it is possible to manage coping with process analysis case study. At this point, the question arises: where to find this very process analysis case study help. Well, if you are reading this article it means that you have almost found what you have been looking for. Our custom essay writing is here to help you with your process analysis case study writing. If you visit our site, you will find all the necessary information to complete your process analysis case study assignment successfully. Process analysis case study topics, process analysis case study theses, process analysis case study ideas, and process analysis case study samples are waiting for you in order to help you with your work. All this information is offered to you free of charge as we really take care a bout our customers and want to help them a great deal. Rely On Professionalism Of Our Writers! If you either do not have time or just do not have a desire to write your process analysis case study on your own, you can appeal to our professional writers and order your process analysis case study. The piece of academic writing you are going to receive will be of the premium quality in spite of being offered to you for the moderate price.

Cause and effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Cause and effect - Essay Example It negatively affects a child’s health and well-being. It is a serious condition, which causes many heath problems as well as psychological problems for the children not only in their childhood but also in the adulthood. Lack of self-confidence is one of the major psychological effects of obesity on children. In addition, obese children do not find it easy to make friends because they are afraid of the comments that other children often pass to them. On the other hand, some of the most common health risks of childhood obesity revealed through various researches include joint pains, high level of cholesterol, heart problems, and high blood pressure. Smith (1999) states, â€Å"Obese people do not live as long as other people† (p. 5). Some other physical problems include inability to play games that require physical exertion and decrease in the stamina. There are various causes of childhood obesity. Some of the main causes include lack of focus towards physical exercises, genetics, and improper diet (Parizkova & Hills, 2005). Another cause of childhood obesity is poor nutritional habits. Researches prove that almost 45 percent of the obese children in the United States eat snacks and junk foods instead of taking a balanced diet. The poor diet choice of such children increase the level of fat in their bodies making them overweight as compared to other children of their age who take balanced diet daily. Moreover, some children like to play video games instead of playing such games, which require physical exertion. This trend in such children also leads to obesity. There exist some effective ways to control this medical problem. It can be controlled by taking balanced diet, doing physical exercises, and participating in social activities. Parents and teachers hold the responsibility to educate children about the effects of obesity to make them take balanced diet. Children should play more

Bribery at Siemens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Bribery at Siemens - Essay Example Bribery is definitely an unethical and illegal practice. Bribery cannot be considered as a cost of business just to get contracts for the company or securing their financial position in any international state or country. The reasons given by the employees when they were accused with the bribery scandal was mainly focusing on one aspect. They said they did it for the benefit of the company, so that the organization could get good business and be stable in all their different business units. The employees said in their defense that the bribery was asked to them by the employees of Enel if they wanted the contract for their company, Siemens. The employees of Siemens also defended their case by saying that the practice of bribery was common to get the contracts for the company on an international level. In late 2006, Siemens had faced another scandal of bribery in the telecommunication department which was bribing foreign officials for securing of contracts. Accusations were also made by IG Metall Company to Siemens for bribing their unions. Many other countries like US, Italy, Greece and Switzerland has accused Siemens for having misconduct while doing their foreign business. Siemens had practiced bribery so that they could win the contracts in the international market and become a strong player in their respective field. This is an unethical practice but it has been observed that for multinational organizations, the concept of bribery is considered a norm. Siemens has also been charged for bribing the employee representatives of different organizations so that they can get their work done easily. The former Siemen managers were also convicted of bribing the foreign officials for getting the business contracts for their organization. The main worrying aspect is that the practicing of bribery may be spread along many levels of management and to get to the

Utilizing the Time Value of Money Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Utilizing the Time Value of Money - Essay Example But do to some limitations of these tools other tools such as Profitability Index and Payback Period. The payback period determines the duration of the time it would take to recover the investment made initially. This will give us the number of periods it would take to breakeven for the initial investment made. The profitability index is used as well in investment decisions because it measures the value created per dollar invested. So if the PI shows a greater than 1 value, then it means that the investment is returning a greater amount than invested. These two techniques are used because they resolve the disadvantages of NPV and IRR methods. (Helmkamp, 1990) The first disadvantage of a NPV calculation is its dependency on the interest/discount rates. It is very difficult for the investor to know the correct discount rate since they can change though out the life of that investment making considerable differences on the decision. (Investopedia, 2008) Another issue with the discount rate is the differences in the risk factor of the investment. Since the risk can change, therefore the discount rate, this can make lives very hard in calculating NPV. (Investopedia, 2008) Another disadvantage lies in the facts that NPVs are just mathematics calculations that do not take into account the real options available for investment.

New York Times Newspaper Paywall Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 33

New York Times Newspaper Paywall - Case Study Example New York Times used a device-specific and metered system that allowed the readers to access up to 20 articles a month for free, but readers would be charged to access more articles except for the front page that was free all the times for all the users. The number of free articles was made to ensure active readers remain engaged and promote the social buzz generated by the articles. The strategy entailed differentiated pricing strategy that entailed three tiers depending on the device used by the reader to access the content and introductory offers and discounts for the customers. The digital pricing was cheaper than print home delivery, but the price was higher than that charged by other newspaper companies’ digital content. The distinctive pricing is essential in order to cater for the unique needs and amount of content accessed by the user (Kumar, Anand, Gupta and Oberholzer-Gee 7). The ‘leaky wall’ design accommodated users from social networks and search engi nes. Readers from Google search were restricted to five-articles per day limit over and above the 20 monthly free articles (Kumar, Anand, Gupta and Oberholzer-Gee 6). In addition, readers who came in from social media sites like Twitter and Facebook faced no links if the articles were linked directly from those social media sites. The paywall is a complement of the print newspaper since it provides the additional revenue stream and enhances the audience. Some readers will prefer the print newspapers especially advertisement companies. The newspaper industry is in trouble due to decline in the overall circulation and decline I the traditional sources of revenues such as subscription, classified advertising, and retail. Accordingly, the nature of the industry makes it difficult to reduce editorial staff, production and distribution costs since they are fixed.

A Larger Slice of the Value for Stakeholders Essay

A Larger Slice of the Value for Stakeholders - Essay Example The role of stakeholders is an important one here as they are trying their best to get the best deal out of the equation. What this suggests is that these stakeholders are persistently looking after the best possible returns and thus the value added fund should provide its best shot within the dynamics of a changing economic basis of the organization. The stakeholders are the saviors of a business and it goes without saying that their role is pertinent to the overall smooth running of the business. If they do not receive the benefits in the wake of the value-added fund and that too in good numbers, their work would not be given the attention that it deserves and hence their role would come down a bit. These are very significant pointers on the part of the stakeholders who are looking to bringing out the best within the resources of the organization and thus giving their best in terms of investments. The expectations of the stakeholders increase drastically and it would be correct to state that managing their expectations at times is a cumbersome process, and more so when the organizations are facing troubled times (Smith 1978). However, when these organizations are doing well within their financial realms, these stakeholders step up the gas and demand their share in a magnanimous way. Therefore expecting that they will be asking f or a reasonable sum is a mistake because every stakeholder likes to get his best return or the value that he is looking forward to. Mature product markets ask for resilience and doing the same thing on a consistent basis. If a market is not mature yet and is still lingering within the growth stage, it would be correct to state that the stakeholders exactly know what to ask of them in the value-added funds that the company is overseeing, and which has played its role in a huge capacity.  

New York Times Newspaper Paywall Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 33

New York Times Newspaper Paywall - Case Study Example New York Times used a device-specific and metered system that allowed the readers to access up to 20 articles a month for free, but readers would be charged to access more articles except for the front page that was free all the times for all the users. The number of free articles was made to ensure active readers remain engaged and promote the social buzz generated by the articles. The strategy entailed differentiated pricing strategy that entailed three tiers depending on the device used by the reader to access the content and introductory offers and discounts for the customers. The digital pricing was cheaper than print home delivery, but the price was higher than that charged by other newspaper companies’ digital content. The distinctive pricing is essential in order to cater for the unique needs and amount of content accessed by the user (Kumar, Anand, Gupta and Oberholzer-Gee 7). The ‘leaky wall’ design accommodated users from social networks and search engi nes. Readers from Google search were restricted to five-articles per day limit over and above the 20 monthly free articles (Kumar, Anand, Gupta and Oberholzer-Gee 6). In addition, readers who came in from social media sites like Twitter and Facebook faced no links if the articles were linked directly from those social media sites. The paywall is a complement of the print newspaper since it provides the additional revenue stream and enhances the audience. Some readers will prefer the print newspapers especially advertisement companies. The newspaper industry is in trouble due to decline in the overall circulation and decline I the traditional sources of revenues such as subscription, classified advertising, and retail. Accordingly, the nature of the industry makes it difficult to reduce editorial staff, production and distribution costs since they are fixed.

Compare and contrast the romantic relationship Essay

Compare and contrast the romantic relationship - Essay Example In the movie The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, the love is illogical because it shows a false dichotomy by forcing Princess Mia to choose either Andrew Jacoby or Nicholas Devereaux to be her future husband; in contrast, â€Å"Love is a Fallacy† does not reveal true love because the character chose love based on logic. These two love stories reveal that love can be logical, illogical, or emotional, and therefore may not always be true love. The movie The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement is about Genovia’s Princess Mia Thermopolis, who has to find a husband so that she can take her grandmother’s place as the Queen of Genovia. Mia starts to find a man that meets her ideal criteria as a husband. From all of the men that have been introduced to her, she discovers Andrew Jacoby, the Duke of Kenilworth. She starts to date Andrew but then discovers Nicholas Devereaux. Mia and Nicholas always fight but while they are fighting, their love starts to grow. There is a dilemma inside Princess Mia’s heart: to choose Andrew or Nicholas. This situation seems illogical because when people are in love there are no concrete reasons for why they are in love. Princess Mia would choose Andrew because he is the Duke of Kenilworth and she would become the queen of Genovia. When true love appears in someone’s life, they tend to act illogically and are unable to think straight. On the other hand, the purpose that Nicholas wants to be with Princess Mia is because his uncle wants him to become the King of Genovia for the benefit of their family. At first, Nicholas uses this logical thinking to get Princess Mia, but as the story progresses, he falls in love with her without using logic. He believes that he will lose Princess Mia because she will marry Andrew, but Princess Mia finally decides not to marry Andrew because he is not her true love. To express his feeling to Princess Mia, Andrew said, â€Å"You are, in fact. I am in love with the Queen-to-be, and

Good Night and Dance in America Essay Example for Free

Good Night and Dance in America Essay Death is inevitable and comes in different cases, and when it’s nearly there people has different ways on how they deal with it but the most affected of all are the people around them. Just like in Lorrie Moore’s â€Å"Dance in America† and Dylan Thomas’ â€Å"Don’t Go Gentle into that Good Night† both features dying people and how they live knowing anytime soon, they could die. Life is a gift from God; everyone should learn to value his life, maximizing what he can do while he is still alive, especially for his family, friends and other people around him, because nobody knows when will be the final hour. The poem â€Å"Don’t Go Gentle into that Good Night† is strongly emotional and by reading each line, you can feel the author’s anger or bitterness about death. Thomas used the term â€Å"good night† to represent death with respect to the Christian belief that death is a peaceful rest of the body as it enters the next life. Though it can be interpreted in different ways, as a personal note, the poem summarizes his thoughts about the inevitability of death and the way people deal with it. He states that people know that death is for certain, that people already accept the fact that everyone will come to their end according to the will of God but, at the end of the day, they fear leaving the world and regrets start to bother them. He mentioned in his poem about wise men that despite their wisdom cannot truly tell why death is inevitable and just accept the fact that they are dying; of the good men who did good deeds but still end up with death; and those men who lived with serious illnesses who should have enjoyed life more than just wait for their final hour. Then when their time comes, it would be too late to regret things and time wasted. Thomas also addressed there his father as he witness how his father suffered from blindness and illness, crying in pain but seems like just waiting for his end. He doesn’t like the idea that one should readily accept his death but instead, one should fight for his life and struggle against death, whether you are a wise, good, wild, or grave man. Gently accepting death, for him is narrowness, that God’s greater plan is being given up: there’s more to life. For him, death is not the end of life on Earth and the beginning of another life. Life could be more valuable and may be lived longer if people would never give up easily and fight death. (Thomas, Dylan) In Moore’s work, she also tackled the different issue in life including death. A seven year old boy named Eugene was born with a disease that affects the lungs called cystic fibrosis. He got the disease from his father. He also had some relatives who died with it. In the story, Eugene’s case had become more serious that he generated too much liquid in his lungs. But despite the graveness of the health condition, the researchers, doctors, and his family lose no hope that somehow he can survive. But like any parents, Eugene’s experience brings them sadness and grief knowing that their child is suffering from a very serious health problem. They don’t want to lose him not just because he is their only child but also because they believe he is such a good boy for God to let him die at a very young age. Eugene, himself, is also very open-minded about his condition. He understands everything and the disease didn’t pave the way to make him enjoy his childhood. He and his parents are making sure he is enjoying every moment of his life, making things seem normal. (Moore, Lorrie) The death of Simone’s first husband is also mentioned. That he killed himself after she dumped him. The author indirectly tries to say that life is unfair and ironic. There are people who longs and would do anything for a healthy life but then there are people who were granted with a normal life and healthy body would just give it all up and commit suicide. (Moore, Lorrie) In comparison, the two authors both discussed about death and the way people deal with it. Some readily accept their death and some even waste the opportunity to live, while some still fight as long as they are alive. They question its inevitability. They show that death comes unexpectedly. Life is unfair. Thomas argues about struggling in life, same as Moore as she presented the life of Eugene who is fighting against cystic fibrosis. Life is worth living and therefore it should be greatly valued by people. Their writings both presented a clear visualization of the scenarios. The works are both full of emotions and imagery. Thomas’ work is very conversational, that it is directly telling people to value life and struggle against death, especially in the part where he is talking to his father: â€Å"And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. † (Thomas, Dylan) He is saying â€Å"curse me for being still alive saying all these things, and bless me as well. You should have not readily accepted your death just like that. Life is worth living. † While in Moore’s, she leave the emotion and the message for the readers to interpret to themselves what she is trying to say by just presenting circumstances and issues. â€Å"Don’t Go Gentle into that Good Night† has an angry, sorrowful, and persuasive tone which strikes through the heart, while â€Å"Dance in America† has mixed emotions such as fun, sorrow, and anticipation which is more entertaining. The works of these two great authors agrees with the same thing, that life is worth living. Everyone is entitled to take care and value his own life for you’ll never know when it will end. Life can be very unfair and ironic. Live and enjoy your life as if everyday would be the last. Value it knowing there are some people who would have wanted to be in your shoes for having a normal and long life. For those who have serious illness or is determined to anytime soon, one should not lose hope for there are more good things to come and instead of getting bored in life or get yourself stuck on your room crying and just wait for the final hour, spend your time exploring the world with your family, friends and loved ones. There are just too many reasons for someone to stay alive and embrace life whole-heartedly. Do what you want before it is too late. Take care and value life just like what Dylan Thomas said in his poem, â€Å"Rage against the dying of the light! † You can make your light shine brighter. References: Moore, Lorrie. Birds of America. USA: Picador, 1999. Thomas, Dylan. Do not Go Gentle into that Good Night. 19 March 1999. 21 August 2007 http://www. cs. rice. edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/38. html.

Strategy in Practice â€Amazon

Strategy in Practice –Amazon STRATEGY IN PRACTICE – Amazon.com Introduction to Strategy In the Words of Johnson Scholes (2002), Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term which achieves advantage for the establishment through its configuration of resources within a changing environment and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. In some respects strategy can be seen as a reflection of the attitudes and beliefs of those who have the most influence on the organisation. According to Lynch (2000), the essence of corporate strategy is the identification of the purpose of the organisation and the plans and actions to achieve that purpose. Corporate strategy is often perceived as one of the most critical managerial activities that bring together the organisation’s internal resources and its external relationships with its customers, suppliers, competitors and the socio-economic environment in which it exists. In his conceptualisation of the Strategy concept Lynch (2002) clearly identifies three distinct aspects that have been discussed below: Resources Strategy – Companies, Businesses and firms hold or acquire a wide range of resources. A firm’s resources and capabilities include all the financial, physical, human and organisational assets used by a firm to develop, manufacture and deliver products or services to its customers Barney (1991). The purpose of strategy is to make the best use of the available resources so as to outperform competition. Environmental Strategy – The term environment includes every aspect external to the organisation. No organisation can gain competitiveness with a lack of vision for its environment. Focus that is restricted merely to what lies inside the boundaries of the firm is best criticised as incomplete and insufficient. Organisations need to and must be in synchronisation with their surroundings. It is here that strategy comes to play a major role. Adding Value – Lynch has stressed on the notion of value addition. Apart from the above corporate strategy must meet the need to add value to the supplies brought into the organisation. To ensure its long term survival, the organisation must take the supplies, add value to them through its operations and then deliver its output to the customers. The purpose of corporate strategy is to bring the conditions under which the organisation is able to create this vital additional value. It must also ensure that the organisation adapts to the changes in the environment so that it can continue to add value in future. In essence Strategy provides Decision Support (Grant, 2004) â€Å"to the extent that decision makers are limited by bounded rationality, strategy in the form of guidelines and decision criteria can enhance the quality and consistency of strategic decision making. It also helps in better decision making by pooling together the knowledge of many individuals and by facilitating the application of various analytical tools.† Strategy also acts as a Co-ordinating device. The many tools and components of strategy i.e. Vision, Mission, Objectives etc. bring together the entire organisation as a single locomotive headed in one direction. With all departments and personnel aiming towards the common goals, co-ordination can be achieved with greater ease. Strategy provides the organisation a target to work for. Strategy is forward looking; it establishes a direction to guide actions. It also sets aspirations for the company that can act as motivators for the whole organisation. The strategy function, as is evident from above, permeates through all organisational membranes to pervade into all levels and is not restricted to any particular zone. Practically all authors in field of Strategic Management acknowledge the prevalence of varied levels of strategy. Johnson Scholes (2002) believe that Corporate level strategy relates to â€Å"the overall purpose and scope of an organisation and how value will be added to the different parts (business units) of the organisation. It is also likely to be concerned with the expectations of the owners. It is the basis of other strategic decisions and may well take the form of a mission statement.† Corporate strategy deals with the ways in which a corporation manages a set of businesses together. (Grant, 1995) Business unit strategy is about how to compete successfully in particular markets. Business Strategy deals with the way in which a single business firm or an individual unit of a larger firm competes within a particular industry or market. Operational strategies are concerned with how the component parts of an organisation deliver effectively the corporate and business level strategies in terms of resources, processes and people. They deal with the day-to-day working of the various sections in a firm. Operational strategies are more about implementation than planning. Thus, â€Å"Strategic management involves understanding the strategic position of an organisation, making strategic choices for future and turning strategy into action. The strategic position is concerned with the impact on strategy of the external environment, internal resources and competences and the expectations and influences of stakeholders. Strategic choices include understanding the underlying bases for future strategy at both the corporate and business unit levels and the options for developing strategy in terms of both the directions and methods of development. Strategy into action is concerned with ensuring that strategies are working in practice.† (Johnson Scholes, 2002) This report aims to analyse the strategy in practice at Amazon.com. Amazon.com is one of the most successful e-businesses and undoubtedly the champion of all online retailers or e-tailers as they are often referred to. It has revolutionised the retail sector of business and is a subject of innumerable studies and research in the current e-commerce era. The material used for study has been drawn from the Amazon.com case study[1] and the web based portal for the company Amazon.com[2]. The report shall use existing theory as a basis to realise how strategy has worked for Amazon.com in practice. Although it is challenging to capture every aspect of the organisation’s life so far, effort has been made to cite relevant examples so to get a glimpse of its strategic approach. The Amazon.com Case A summary[3] of the Amazon.com case shall prepare the grounds to lay the analysis in the light of theories discussed. A number of strategic concepts shall be cited to gain deeper insights to particular issues. With the explosive growth in internet companies’ market capitalisation positions, one would ask if some hype is at play. But the trend data clearly reveal that the internet is for real. According to Forrester research the total value of goods and services purchased online exceeded US$43 billion in 1998. Amazon.com believes that it is well positioned to capitalise[4] on this growth. According to Media Metrix 16% of web users visited Amazon.com’s stores in December 1998. ‘In a very short period of time Amazon.com has become one of the world’s most recognised brands’, said Jaleh Bisharat, Vice-president, Marketing, Amazon.com. With Amazon.com’s current strategy combined with the ongoing recruitment of entrepreneurial top management team for each business segment, the challenge for Amazon.com is on the strategic implementation front. Bezos had always been fascinated with technology. He came up with the statistic that the electronic world would grow at the rate of 2300% monthly. Bezos said, when something is growing that fast, every second counts. Bezos considered selling a variety of products online, but he settled for books because the worldwide market is large, the price point is low and the range of titles is large. Being unsure of the ideal location, Seattle was chosen because it was the location of book distributor Ingram, which has continued to provide 60% of Amazon.com’s books. Seattle also provided a favourable sales tax climate and a high-tech workforce. â€Å"I know nothing about the book industry†¦I can get them to the customer and forget about bricks and mortar†, said Bezos in an attempt to raise funds for his venture. After its entry into the market, Amazon.com had no significant rivals and there were no dominant traditional players. Even at this time Amazon.com was providing a powerful search facility as well as a host of services not provided by other online competitors. Analysts warned of a volatile internet sector with strategic plans constantly being revised. Despite aggressive competitive entry, Amazon.com passed many milestones in 1997. The most notable of these was its ability to raise net proceeds of almost US$50 million in May. This enabled aggressive investment in building the business. Amazon.com focussed on establishing its executive team, which included the recruitment of Richard Dalzell of Wal-Mart. In the same year, 1997, Amazon.com offered the lowest book prices anywhere in the world. Extensive promotional relationships with other dominant internet players were concluded which reinforced Amazon.com’s momentum, e.g. Yahoo!, Excite, AOL etc. In 1998 the company launched music, video and gift stores in the US and expanded operations to UK and Germany. Jimmy Wright of Wal-Mart joined the company in the same year. Amazon.com’s expansion programme is evidence of a growth strategy via acquisitions, strategic relations and internal development. It received the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for having demonstrated vision and leadership in the innovative use of information technology. With its highly qualified top management team and the success trends, Amazon.com continued to enhance the total customer experience of shopping, giving them wider product range to choose from and more sophisticated services to complement them. The case study then goes on to list the various achievements of the company. It also provides detail information on the financial and personnel aspects of the organisation. These details have been passed over as they are beyond the scope of this paper. The Analysis of Strategic Practices The Basic Approach The Internet is one of the most fascinating products of the developments in information technology. It received mixed reactions from the public and the entrepreneurs. While most of them were overwhelmed with the possibilities and others called it â€Å"an over hyped mania†, only a few saw it as a business opportunity. Jeff Bezos had the vision that created â€Å"Ex ante limits† to competition (Peteraf, 1993) and gave Amazon.com the â€Å"First-mover advantage†. Among the various lenses or attitudes towards Strategy that have been theorised, Amazon.com’s approach can be regarded as that of an Ideas lens. The ideas lens (Johnson Scholes, 2002) sees strategy as a result of new ideas that can come from anywhere in the organisation. It promotes innovative thinking and does not inhibit experimentation. This is well evident in the very start-up of Amazon.com as an enterprise. Further, this approach is better characterised as â€Å"Emergent† than â€Å"Prescriptive† (Lynch, 2000). The dynamic nature of the internet environment makes a planned and prescribed approach unsuitable. Amazon.com’s strategy evolved largely during the course of its life depending on its position at that instant in time. In the words of Miles Snow (1987) Amazon.com as an entity is a â€Å"Prospector† who looks for new opportunities and is willing to take risks to be able to exploit the same. Stated in general, Amazon.com’s strategy is an ambitious one. Pattern of Strategy development In his business development Bezos attempted a â€Å"Transformational change† in strategy through the creation of an entirely new service. The change resulted in success because it created new expectations that did not exist earlier; Amazon.com was ahead of its time. Further, the ability to convert the transformational change into a business winner comes from the fact that as the strategy for the firm was emerging, there was little mismatch between the intended and the realised strategy (Mintzberg Walters, 1985). It is important to strike harmony among the understanding of the environment, identified opportunity, the strategy intended to capture such opportunity and finally the actual resultant strategy that was implemented. Without this happening, the transformational change would most often end in a failure. Stakeholder Mapping â€Å"Stakeholders are those individuals or groups who depend on the organisation to fulfil their own goals, and on whom in turn the organisation depends† (Johnson Scholes, 2002). For Amazon.com the major stakeholders were its customers, investors and Jeff Bezos himself. With respect to the Stakeholder Mapping drawn up by Savage et al (1991) Bezos and the investors can be referred to as â€Å"Dominant Stakeholders† while the customers would identify as â€Å"Dependent Stakeholders†. Environment The internet industry is characterised by a high degree of â€Å"Changeability† (Lynch, 2000) i.e. there is a greater number of new problems and each problem is more complex than in other sectors. Moreover it is not very â€Å"Predictable† due to a high rate of change and uncertainty of future circumstances. This made Amazon.com’s business environment highly turbulent. As a new entrant Amazon.com had to cope with all these difficulties; but once settled these factors acted as â€Å"Barriers to entry† (Porter, 1985) for its competitors. Culture Culture within an organisation consists of the shared basic assumptions that have worked well enough to be considered valid and passed to fellow employees over time (adapted from Schein, 1985). It refers to â€Å"the way we do things around here†. While there can be several factors affecting the culture at a work place, in case of Amazon.com it is the ownership and technological factors. Jeff Bezos is the leader of the organisation and also the cultural head bringing in ambition and motivation to the organisation. The work practices, routines, plans, the entire business is largely governed by the technological abilities inside and the advancements outside the organisation. The Cultural web is another important aspect that has a definitive impact on the strategy an organisation pursues. The Cultural Web (Johnson Scholes, 2002) consists of the Routines Rituals, Stories, Symbols, Power Structures, Control Systems and the Organisational Structure. For Amazon.com its brand name acts as a major symbol that binds together the various components of the system. It symbolises the scale of operations that Bezos aimed at, thus cultivating an aggressive work culture. If one was to draw out the power structure at Amazon.com, it would be a flat pyramid with Jeff Bezos at the peak. Although the investment came from outside, Amazon.com was his dream and â€Å"his† venture. He did not promise any profits in the first 5 years, but his faith in the idea won the investors’ confidence. All this clearly indicates the prevalence of a â€Å"Power Culture† at Amazon.com (Handy, 1993). Key Strategic Highlights Based on its first mover advantage Amazon.com was able to capitalise on the heterogeneity of its resources. It reaped benefits from the Ex post and Ex ante limits to competition (Peteraf, 1993). Its technological knowledge behind the search engine was imperfectly imitable for the competitors. Even if the rivals came up with substitute systems, the â€Å"first mover† position always allowed an edge in favour of Amazon.com. Employees and technicians at Amazon.com learnt to adapt and innovate better than the competitors, simply because the latter were merely copying what Amazon had done. The Knowledge at Amazon.com was rare, valuable, not easily imitable and well organised to allow the company to enjoy a resource based competitive advantage over its rivals (Barney, 1995). The technological skills were Amazon.com’s core competence that was used to create the Search facility – their core product which was at the heart of Amazon’s web based store/services – the end product (Hamel Prahalad, 1990). However, it also needs to be mentioned here that the Amazon.com was rich in dynamic capabilities (Teece, 1997) to be able to successfully carry out the above. The top management team which consisted ex-Wal-mart employees, were aware of their strengths as well as the business environment to be able to identify their core competence. They ensured carrying out the best use of their resources and maintained the momentum gathered from the initial push. Even with the best resources and opportunities a business may not succeed, if those managing it are not aware of their responsibilities. It is the management that lays out the strategy and takes all decisions that are critical to the overall success. Expansion Given the knowledge of Ansoff’s Matrix Amazon.com for a start pursued Market development i.e. offered the existing products to new markets. It also used Cost leadership (Porter, 1985) to expand its customer base. As the website served more and more customers over time, Amazon.com introduced new products to the existing market – a product development effort. Finally, with a secure market position Amazon.com was capable of Diversification i.e. offering new products to new markets. Not all of Amazon.com’s offerings were indigenous. It had partnered with several other wed based companies. While most of the early partnerships were aimed at gaining a greater exposure to the target audience, later excusive relationships were created to add to the existing list of products and services that were offered on the website. The motive behind these alliances was largely â€Å"Exploitative† (Koza, 1998). Such business alliances were primarily aimed at tapping into each others’ customer bases and render mutual benefits to the parties involved. Amazon.com’s approach to collaboration is well explained by the M-B-A (Make, Buy, or Ally) matrix. It allied with services such as Yahoo and Excite because the service was not important to Amazon’s business – it sought more traffic. However, in case of similar companies such as Bookpages and Telebook, Amazon.com preferred a â€Å"Buy† because of the importance to the business activity. It also had the requisite skills to run these companies. Amazon.com did not want to allow these smaller companies to grow and later pose a threat to them. Conclusion Amazon.com can be easily regarded as a strategy champion. It had all the components of a great Entrepreneurial tale, and shall be cited in many more academic works in future. However, it must not be overlooked that for the first five years Amazon.com did not make any profits. Moreover, with the growth in market share, loss per share also grew. If all other competitors would have grouped together to attack Amazon from all fronts, it could have been a different story. Essentially, Amazon’s first mover advantage was crucial. The fact that Amazon possessed the above resources and capabilities at the emergence of e-commerce is of vital importance. Therefore, it is questionable whether or not Amazon would have managed to achieve similar results if it were to launch today in 2004 in such a hypercompetitive market. Primarily, Amazon’s success was due to effective leveraging of its resources, especially knowledge and managing the capabilities derived from these resources. REFERENCES Barney, Jay B.. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage From: Journal of management vol 17 (1) 1991 p.99-120. Grant, R. M. (Robert Morris), 1948- Contemporary strategy analysis : concepts, techniques, applications / Robe.. 5th ed . Oxford : Blackwell, 2004 Johnson, Gerry. Exploring corporate strategy / Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes. 6th ed.. Harlow : Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2002. Lynch, Richard L.. Corporate strategy / Richard Lynch. 3rd ed. Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2003. Mintzberg, Henry. Strategy safari : the complete guide through the wilds of strategic manage Harlow : Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2001. Mintzberg, H. and Waters, J.A. Of strategies, deliberate and emergent Strategic management journal. John Wiley and Sons Inc. Vol 6 (1985) p.257-272 Peteraf, M. The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource-based view Strategic management journal. John Wiley and Sons Inc. Vol 14 (3) 1993 p.179-191 Porter, M.E. From competitive advantage to corporate strategy. Harvard business review Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation, 1987 Prahalad, C.K. and Hamel, G. The core competence of the corporation Harvard business review. Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. Vol 68 (3) 1990 p.79-91 Schein, Edgar H. (Edgar Henry), 1928-. Organizational culture and leadership. 2nd ed. San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass, 1992. (Jossey-Bass management series). Teece, D. et al Dynamic capabilities and strategic management Strategic management journal vol 17 (7) 1997 p.509-533 Whittington, Richard, 1958- What is strategy and does it matter? / Richard Whittington 2nd ed . London : Thomson Learning, 2001 1861523777 Footnotes [1] Amazon.com – from start up to the new millennium, Stockport Street in Johnson Scholes (2002) [2] www.amazon.com [3] This is a self prepared summary using the information provided in the Amazon.com Case study by Stockport Street. The purpose of the summary is informative and allows connection with the report – it has therefore been included in the main text. [4] Such text in bold are exhibits of strategic highlights

Edgar Degas and his influence on the art of Mary Cassatt Essay

Mary Stevenson Cassatt's Miss Mary Ellison (1880) and Edgar-Hilaire-Germain Degas's Mademoiselle Malo (1877) are two paintings that, when compared and contrasted, shows numbers of influences that Degas had on Mary Cassatt's art. Both of these paintings are portraits done in tbe standard  ¾ point of view. Even at a mere glance, it is easy to see the striking similarities between the two portraits. It is not too farfetched to assume that Degas had a lot of influence on Mary Cassatt's work because it is known that he was one of her biggest inspirations (Wallis, 14). Furthermore, even within the Impressionist group the bond that Degas and Cassatt shared was an important one to her, since she looked up to him as a model artist (Englemann, 80). Mary Cassatt was born in Philadelphia to Robert Simpson Cassatt and Katherine Johnston Cassatt in1844 (Mathews, 9). Her father was a wealthy banker and her mother was well-educated and spoke french fluently (Wallis,14). They were both part of the upper circles of the Pittsburg Society (Mathews ,9). As such, they had a vested interest in providing their children with the best of educational and cultural experiences (Mathews, 9) Cassatt's interest in art, seems to originate from a 5 year sojourn that the family took in 1851 (Wallis, 14). Although only a mere child at the time, it seems the expatriate life appealed the young Cassatt; furthermore, the sights she saw must have deeply affected her because she would soon return to the life abroad (Mathews,9) As a teenager she studied art privately and later as an adult she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine arts (Wallis, 14). She was able to practice art and complete her studies with the support of her father's finances. Alt hough he d... ...ferent continent, the paths of Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt intertwined much. In her second stay in Europe as an expatriate, Degas took his role as her guide and mentor. She, having been inspired and motivated by Degas's work â€Å"accepted with delight† (Wallis, 14). Degas took an active role in encouraging her and inspiring her, he often worked with her and alongside with her, and sometimes he even helped her with the artwork; such was the case with Little Girl in a blue armchair, Degas worked on the background. (Mathews, 45). The two had a long professional relationship that survived all the way until Degas's death and even in his death â€Å"she revered him as an artist† (Mathews, 45). Since Degas was her mentor and guide, it is expected that he had influenced her art, and he did. However, it is surprising that he begun influencing her art, even before the two ever met.

The Welfare State

HISTORY OF THE WELFARE STATE: The role and significance of the Beveridge Report in establishing the Welfare State in Britain. The purpose of this essay is to look at the long history of the Welfare State in Britain and the evolving social, economic and political changes in society today, as well as the birth of the Welfare State after the Second World War which was the turning point (watershed) in British History.The freshly appointed Labour government by then took on the job of setting up a ‘welfare state’ that would systematically deal with the ‘five giant evils’ proposed by William Beveridge in a report, which later became known as the Beveridge report. The British welfare state, if it is to be defined, it is generally incorporated with Sir William Beveridge and the after war period.Welfare State is the concept in which government plays a key role in protecting and promoting the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based on the principles of eq ual opportunity in the distribution of wealth and public responsibility for those who lack the minimal provisions for a good life, for example good health, education and basic income (Abercrombie and Warde 2000). Is it the responsibility of a government to provide for its citizen, what about the cost, because it can lead to ever-increasing public spending that the government may find difficult to sustain.According to Abercrombie and Warde (2000) the term ‘welfare state’ was invented, following the Second World War when Social policy was developing. During the Second World War, the coalition government headed by Winston Churchill, the conservative party torch bearer deliberately planned the creation of a better Britain than the one in which many people have lived in the poverty-stricken 1930s.Plans were drafted and policies were generated which were to ensure that, in peacetime, there would be a family support system, good health care for all, more jobs will be made avai lable as well as creating new towns and adequate housing (Walsh et al, 2000). However, in 1941, during the Second World War, Sir William Beveridge was given a task by Winston Churchill (wartime prime minister of the coalition government) to head an interdepartmental committee of civil servants in an nvestigation and evaluate the national insurance policies as well as suggestions of ways to improve them (Addison, 2005). But, according to Walsh et al (2000) Beveridge went further than the original terms of references given him. In the final statement know as the ‘Beveridge report’ ( ), it was introduced by its architect, Sir William Beveridge, to the British parliament in 1942. Throughout this report, Beveridge kept mentioning the abolition of ‘want’ which was believed to be the major problem at the time.He predicted major reforms in health, housing, and education; because the policies needed to attack the five giant evils were set out in detail in his report . The five giant evils were want, disease, ignorance, idleness and squalor by which he meant poverty, unemployment, poor housing and lack of access to decent education and health care. This report was radical and became popular partly because of its promise of social security for all, and partly because it brings to mind the vision of the peacetime life promised by Winston Churchill at that time for which million were longing (Abercrombie and Warde 2000).Winston Churchill was not happy because the Beveridge report brought up issues which distracted people’s attention from the Second World War as well as threatening to produce controversy between the coalition governments. He also disapproved of the Beveridge report on the ground that no government could commit in advance the expenditure involved, thus, confusions between the Conservative and the Labour members and this affected his election champagne during the post war (Addison, 2005).William Beveridge recommendations based on social survey, were designed to tackle poverty primarily through the development of a national social security system, providing income security ‘from the cradle to the grave’( life -long) that will for the first time allowed the British people to have real income security that would be available to everyone regardless of means testing.As much as the ‘five giant’ differs from each other, there is a connection between the five of them, for example, unemployment in society causes people to lack financially and this can lead to lack of good medical care, want, poor housing and etc. The Five giant evils; Want, essentially this refers to poverty or lack, during the post war a lot of the British people were in need, they had no basic financial support and health care to keep them alive as well as keeping them above the poverty line by which income does not cover necessities.Due to lack of financial support people could not afford education and this resulted in lack of knowledge which is referred to as Ignorance, this was due to poor education. To make matter worst there was no national health care because, this had to be paid for, but there was no money and medical care was not free and this led to the outbreak of many diseases such as cholera, this was also linked to want, no money no medical care.Nevertheless, there were hospitals and only the rich in society could afford medical treatment, however, today the welfare state had made medical treatment available for all regardless of employment status. People were living in slums because there was poor housing and this was referred to as squalors, there is no difference today even though the welfare state has made provision for housing and some of these houses have been turned into slums by their occupant.Occupant of these houses don’t care to keep these houses clean because it cost them nothing, this giant is called Squalor, it is still with us today. The last giant was referred t o as Idleness, this was due to the hangover from depressions from the time of unemployment, today some people have chosen to stay idle, because the state will feed and house them. As much as the welfare state is good, the Victorian ‘workhouses’ would have been helpful in dealing with idleness in society, because one would need to work at the workhouse in order to get help from the state.The Beveridge report was an important document because it set out detailed policies for the attack needed to destroy the five giant evils, though the five giant evils were not destroyed completely, however, the Beveridge report left a legacy, the NHS and now there is nothing like absolute poverty in Britain as compare to the years before the Second World War when people use to actually sleep in slum, therefore the Beveridge report was a blueprint on which the welfare state was emerged because it helped shape Britain’s social policies. (Naidoo and Wills, 2008). The publication of t he Beveridge report was a great success.Majority of the British public welcomed the report’s finding and wished to see them implemented as quickly as possible according to an opinion poll (national archives, 2003). This shows the extent to which the population had shifted to the left wing (representing the Labour party) during the course of the Second World War. The post war election, in June 1945 resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee , who promised in their election campaign that they will tackle Beveridge’s five giant evils and established ‘New Jerusalem’ which was reluctantly rejected by Winston Churchill.To implement the Beveridge’s report, the Labour party attacked the ‘five giant evil’ by passing legislations, though they were not completely destroyed, however, one of the giant called disease, the most famous tackled by the Labour government left the state with a legacy, the 1946 National Healt h Service Act which meant free accessible health care system for all beginning in 1948, though it was hugely expensive. In 1946 the national insurance act was passed to tackled the giant called ‘want’ making provisions for the unemployed and pregnant women, pension for the retired and etc.The education Act 1944, a conservative idea to tackle ‘ignorance’ so education was made free, the school leaving age was moved to 16 years previously 15. In 1947 Labour passed the education act into law. In 1948 the employment and training act was passed to tackle both ‘ignorance’ and ‘idleness’ making provision for school leavers , demobbed service men to train and established a skilled workforce. In addition, council house buildings and full employment was made possible by a better economy after the war. The five giants were tackled, but were not destroyed, because poverty has always lived with society.Comparably, there is nothing like absolute poverty in Britain today unlike before the welfare state when people had to make their homes in slums. Welfare states vary temporally as well as geographically. Like time welfare states do not stand still. Their evolution depends on choices made within restrictions (Powell, 1999). According to Marx (1999) welfare states make their own histories, but not within circumstances of their own choosing (cited in Powell, 1999). Today, the recommendations and policies that were detailed in the Beveridge eport to tackle poverty primarily through the development of a national social security system are still considered to provide the foundation of the modern welfare state References Lambert, T (2010). A Brief History of Poverty [online]. Available from: http://www. localhistories. org/povhist. html. [Accessed on 25th January 2011] National Archive (2003). The Welfare State [online]. Available from: http://www. nationalarchives. gov. uk/pathways/citizenship/brave_new_world/welfare. htm. [Access ed on 30th January 2011] Addison, P. 2005) Churchill The Unexpected Hero. New York: Oxford University Press. Abercrombie, N. And Warde, A. (2000) Contemporary British Society. Third Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Naidoo, J. and Wills, J. (2008) Health Studies An Introduction. Second Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lowe, R. (1999) The Welfare State In Britain Since 1945. Second Edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Powell, M. (1999) New Labour, New Welfare State? Bristol: Policy Press. Osborne, R. and Loon, B. V. (2004) Introducing Sociology. Cambridge: Icon Books Limited.

Ceremony of marriage in Islam Essay

In Islam, marriages are a very important event most Muslim weddings are arranged, in order for an arranged marriage to take place both the boys/girls side must give consent, with arranged marriages both families make sure that the boy’s/girl’s (and their family’s) reputation and history is accepted in society and that they have no flaws which would bring a bad name on their family all this is checked before the husband/wife enters into their family. A Muslim boy/girl have to choose their partners very carefully as it is an arranged marriage and they are expected to spend their whole life with a stranger they have to get to know them and know all their ways of living and habits etc†¦ before they agree to marry them although sometimes the parents of the girl/boy are very strict and may not allow this to happen they may just decide for their son/daughter to get married to someone without asking their opinion this may be a problem sometimes as the married couple may not get along or there may be other problems, another problem with arranged marriages is that if the parents of the Muslim girl/ boy agree to the marriage without the daughters or/ sons consent then it is like they are deciding the fate if their child without the child having a say in it, but mostly this is not the case and the girl/boy is asked their opinion about the person they are going to marry because Muslims believe that a marriage which is forced is doomed t o failure. In Islam getting married to a member of your family whether its intermediate or distant family is very common. The majority of Muslim marriages are arranged although there are a few love marriages but in the Muslim community love marriages are not really an option and it seen as a very dangerous thing to do sometimes muslims regard being under the influence of love’ as a intoxicating state of mind that could easily cloud judgement. Parents are thought to find good compatible partners for their children and sometimes they do no agree to give consent to love marriages. Muslims are encouraged to have an arranged marriage although sometimes people have a mixed marriage this is allowed as long as it is a Sikh, Indian, or a Christian person. If an Muslim gets married then the wife has to follow the husbands religion and convert the children have to follow their fathers religion but it is preferred to get married to another Muslim because this way their community expands and Islam as a whole expands. When the marriage is decided upon (arranged) before the wedding many other celebrations and ceremony’s have to take place. Such as the engagement where both the girls and boys family gets together and have an engagement ceremony where the bride and groom get together and exchange rings the other event is the Mahr (dowry) The Mahr is the dowry paid by the husband to the wife. It is a sum negotiated by the husband and wife, which she can keep when or if they later get divorced, if the wife wants to get divorced without the consent of her husband she can but only if the mahr is returned. It is against, the sunnah of the prophet to demand high dowries or not give to give a dowry at all or pay the brides father in compensation for his daughters services at home. After this follows the actual Nikah (wedding) the Nikah is a simple affair the ceremony is plain and simple consisting of readings from the Qur’an and vows are exchanged in front of witnesses. There are also a few prayers recited for this happy occasion the imam is present and no religious official is necessary. The bride does not have to be present as long as she sends her ‘wali’ or marriage representative and also two witnesses of agreement to the wedding and she can be at home. The signing of the Nikah (wedding) contract’s can be changed the original date by weeks or even months or years just like with the prophet and his wife Aishah. If the girl is at home they declare three times that she accepts the wedding. Nikah is not considered to be a sacred contract or ‘made in heaven’ but is a binding contract giving the husband and wife both equal rights and responsibilities. Due to the fact that ‘ love’ is not necessarily present at the time a bride can include into the contract certain conditions that would help her if she later wished to have a divorce she could also make it clear that she does not give permission to allow her husband to have a second wife. After the Nikah follows the Walimah this is the actual wedding party the bride may not dress up for the Nikah but she will certainly dress up for the Walimah. The walimah usually consists of the actual wedding feast it can take place within three days of the couple living together. Presents are usually given presents given are usually money. It is a tradition to have huge expensive parties in some societies but this is not religious or part of Islam, the prophet disapproves of lavish especially if it causes problems between the husband and wife.