“February” by Margaret Atwood Essay

Poet describes the activities of February and further narrates the tussle between his cat and a tomcat. Paraphrase: Winter is a time to eat pork and watch hockey. The black cat with yellow eyes leaps over on my bed each morning and reaches to my head. In this way, he notifies me whether I am alive or dead. While taking his breath that smells like burped-up meat and decaying stuffy sofas and buzzing like washboard, he inhabits on my chest. In the meanwhile, another tomcat who is not so sturdy is seen squirting at the entrance and declaring war. It is all a matter of gender or land that will ultimately ruin us sooner or later. Masters of these tomcats should cut the male sex organs of these cats. If we human beings are too wise, we should do the same or like sharks, should eat our children but its affection that kills human. Tomcat repeatedly shouts and famine shrinks lying on the bed and attacking quilt. Temperature decreases to minus 30 and smoke vents out of chimney to provide warmth. February is a month of dejection (with a skewered heart in the centre. ) I deem of terrible thoughts, desire for potato chips with speckled vinegar. Cat, these thoughts are enough for your purring and for your tiny bumhole. Get out of my face. You are essentially life phenomenon, so you live on a little hope. Throw away death. Commemorate boost. Craft spring out of it (February)

My Vision Of The Future

My vision of the future in education is one where the learning commons, inhabited by forward-thinking, ever-learning teacher-librarians, is the centre of the universe in a school: the go-to for students, teachers, and parents as they navigate an increasingly tech-heavy world where â€Å"21st century† and â€Å"personalized† learning increasingly replace outmoded forms of schooling. I personally do not have a particular attachment to â€Å"traditional† education for a variety of reasons.One reason is that our education system is not really all that traditional. Why? Because in the whole scheme of things, the modern education system has been a short-term experiment (a mere blip of human time at around 150 years or less) based on the latter days of a historical era known as the Industrial Age. For eons before this, humans tended to rely on watching, doing, apprenticeships, and interactions with a variety of members of the community.With modern digital tools, we can go back to learning in these ways, but vastly improving upon them by expanding the definition of community to include people, places, and information far beyond our physical reach, and to allow for greater individualization, creativity, and collaboration than ever before possible. Others, however, might feel rather attached to education as it currently is.If this is because the thought of doing otherwise is overwhelming, this resource is for you: it is a basic primer on how teacher-librarians and learning commons can assist teachers in modernizing the classroom. Please either hover over the â€Å"My Vision of the Future† tab and select to read and view sections of this presentation, or simply follow the link at the bottom of each page, such as this one: As technology advances, its educational applications have evolved as well.

Social Work in the Justice System

This paper explores the many facets social work provides in collaboration with the criminal justice system escaping widespread notice as well as the roles played in the judicial court systems. This paper takes a look at the point and the many purposes of forensic social work. Covering their role in multidisciplinary mitigation teams and collaboration between social workers and lawyers in criminal defense also the type service social work practitioners provide to inmate populations; the active involvement in an inmate’s daily life both during their sentence as well as the service and assistance a forensic social worker will be providing following an inmate’s release and reintegration back into society. A field of social work not widely publicized or acknowledged by the majority of the American population, pointing out the lack of interest in the field by the Universities offering accredited social Work degree programs and the educational opportunities lost because of the lack of acknowledgement of this field of social work practice. The Field of Forensic Social Work It’s Function in the Criminal Justice System and the Populations Who Benefit Forensic Social work is not a field widely known to students like myself. For those majoring in Social work in colleges and universities throughout the United States this particular field of social work practice is not really offered as often as other courses like helping skills or social policy. It’s an issue I see as becoming a problem in the near future because of the field and its functions. The educational opportunities presented in teaching forensic social work are in my opinion in my opinion. Its functions alone include policy and program development. Mediation, advocacy and arbitration, teaching, training and supervision as well as ehavioral science research and analysis just to name a few. We the students are at a loss by a lack of acknowledgement of the field Forensic Social work and it not being an offered course taught within our curriculum is a travesty to the future of the social work profession and the population forensic social workers advocate for. The objective of this paper is to bring to light a field in social work not widely publicized or acknowledged by a large majority of universities offering social work programs. Escaping widespread notice, a substantial number of social workers function in the space in which mental health concepts and the law form a gestalt says (Hughes & O’Neil. (1983). Most of those whose social work service fall under core areas that make up the field of forensic social work don’t even know it. Why is it then, that in a field in which the services provide so much to those with so little, with a tremendous base of knowledge utilizing a broad base of skill, skill spanning across many other fields not just in â€Å"basic† social work practices. Parallel to the growing field of forensic psychiatry in the criminal justice system is the growing field of forensic social work. It’s development is dependent on that of forensic psychiatry; For this reason forensic social work it goes unobserved (Hughes, et. al. , 1983). I want to shed some much deserved light on this neglected field of service. It is a field of social work that needs to be preserved in its collaboration with the criminal justice system. Stewart Sinclair points out that â€Å"Forensic Social Work continues to work directly with patients and to maintain a vital link between the family and the institution. † (S. Sinclair, 2002 ,Sam Peckinpah’s forensic social work blues: will the tin star keep shining) Forensic Social work is not a field widely known to students such as myself. For those majoring in Social work in colleges and universities in the United States this particular field of social work practice is not offered as often as other courses such as helping skills or theory and practice. It’s an issue I see as becoming a problem in the near future because of the field’s functions. The educational opportunity presented in teaching forensic social work is valuable. The functions alone include policy and program development. Mediation, advocacy and arbitration, teaching, training and supervision as well as behavioral science research and analysis just to name a few. We the students are at a loss by a lack of acknowledgement of Forensic Social work and it not being an offered course in our curriculum. Brownell and Roberts (2002) operationally define forensic social work as ‘policies, practices and social work roles with juvenile and adult offenders and victims of crimes’ (Brownell P & Roberts AR 2002, A century of social work in criminal justice and correctional settings, Journal of Offender rehabilitation, 35 (2) 1-17, pg. 3) As times progressed a growing knowledge and understanding of mental illness and psychiatric problems became more of a deciding factor in the task of determining just and effective dispositions. The criminal justice system is not equipped to provide the proper type of facilitation needed to accommodate. Instead judges and lawyers reached out to community mental health agencies but they too were unable to adequately provide resources needed. According to Gary Whitmer (1983) resulting from this dilemma the courts adjudicate with a sense of futility, knowing that it is not the defendant’s reasoned criminal intent but an illness that had brought him or her to court and that, if left untreated, this illness will bring the defendant back to court sooner then later. The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD) is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing high quality appellate and post-conviction representation to indigent persons since 1988. The office of the Appellate Defenders fills an important need in the criminal justice system and advocacy for the destitute. OAD is the second longest-standing institutional indigent defense office and oldest provider of appellate representation to indigent persons convicted of felonies. (www. ppellatedefender. org ) Attorneys participate in the Office of Appellate Defender's comprehensive training program, which focuses on appellate advocacy, client relations, procedural and substantive criminal law. The up and coming collaboration between the fields of Public defense and forensic social work is monumental in the need for holistic trial representation. But the need for holistic representation does not end at sentencing. According to The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers describes the †catch basin for the reakdown of social services inside communities† depicting the defense function within the criminal justice system given by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The assistance that social workers can provide is an appellate office takes on the role of assisting with the legal representation thorough investigation, mitigation and counseling. Social workers also provide institutional advocacy on behalf of clients. Another important function provided is that of case management, support and necessary referrals for clients preparing for release. (M.  Rothstien, Reaching through the Prison Wall; 2000) The value of social works to assist in the interview, evaluation, crisis response, short-term case work, negotiation and referrals in trial offices is admirable. For criminal justice offices, social worker involvement practice generally focuses on investigations and mitigation; the importance of forensic social work in the role of legal representation. . (M. Rothstine; 2000) The National Institute of Justice research in action journal issue from February 1999 gives an in-depth focus on case management in the criminal justice system. The services provided are much like if not identical to the processes thought by Professor Blake in theory and Practice I. These include intake, assessment, classification, referral, intervention, monitoring, evaluation and advocacy. (National Institution of Justice/ Feburary1999 p. 3) All of which are association with the majority if not all of the fields that make up Social Work. During the assessment stage of the case management process the interview leads into the documentation of individual history. Each individual walking this earth has a unique story to tell. And these stories paint the picture that portrays where we are in our lives at any given point in time. The job of a multidisciplinary mitigation team is to link client’s history, life circumstances, and the commission of the crime accurately and clearly. Often complex, it reveals that the client’s behavior stems from a number of integrating factors. In their article, â€Å"From Misery to Mission: Forensic Social Work on Multidisciplinary Mitigation Teams,† Guin, Noble and Merrill(2003) provide mitigating factors and circumstances inking characteristics and history to criminal behavior in the representation on behalf of defendants in capital cases (Guin, Noble, and Merrill/ From Misery to Mission: Forensic Social Works on Multidisciplinary Mitigation teams) â€Å"The capital mitigation process comes to life when a social worker, using a life history model of investigation, assumes the role of mitigation specialist, who, by capitalizing on social work theory and research, practice knowledge and skills yields vital information that, through objective presentation of fact, guides sentencing decisions. (p. 424) Social Workers are given the task of one of the most important components of building an understanding of the individual you’re advocating for and conceptualizing a rundown of an individual’s life history. Documenting of a defendant’s life history a forensic social worker is gaining insight on possible links to the development of criminal behavior. The intake is a way of establishing a rapport and may involve crisis intervention. The interview is almost always performed face to face and may be videotaped for later use in a court of law. Next is the assessment phase. This phase involves interviews, substance abuse evaluations, and specialized psychological evaluations. Some of the bases covered include family medical history for any red flags involving mental illness, significant incidents of past trauma, this may include both physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect. Another aspect that is a much importance is the family dynamic. Some criminals come from a childhood of moving from foster home to foster home until aging out of the system at the age of 18. Others may come from a financial comfortable family with a dog and a white picket fence. According to The National Organization of Forensic Social Work (NOFSW), the forensic social work practitioner provides: consultation, education & training, diagnosis, treatment and recommendations in various agencies. In addition, the NOFSW also points out that within the field of forensic social work, a clinician may undertake policy, program development, mediation, advocacy, and arbitration. Green; Thrope; Traupmann; the Sprawling Thicket Australian Social Work/June 2005) Barker and Branson (2000) summarize the Field of Forensic Social Work narrowing it down to 10 core areas. Some of these areas: 1. testifying in courts of law as expert witness. 2. Systematically evaluating individuals so that the resulting information can be used in court or by legal authorities. 3. Investigating cases where criminal conduct may have occurred and presenting the results to judges, juries, and other law authorities. . Recommending to the courts of law ways to resolve, punish or rehabilitate those found guilty of criminal acts or negligence in civil actions. Also included in the 10 core areas of Barker and Branson’s Legal aspects of Professional Practice in the forensic social work field are to; facilitate the court ordered sentence of the convicted person, monitoring and reporting progress to the courts. 6. Mediate between individuals and groups involved in disputed and conflicts. 7.  Testify about professional standards of social work to facilitate cases of possible malpractice or unethical conduct. 8. Facilitate development and enforcement of licensing laws to r egulate professional practice. 10. Maintain relationships with their own clients that uphold the letter and spirit of the law and ethical principals of their profession. (Barker & Branson Legal aspects of Professional Practice, 2000) Mark Cameron and Elizabeth Keenan created a practice model that is adapted from the structures offered by Grenscavage and Norcross known as The Common Factors Model.  Cameron and Keenan provide three addition new and potentially useful conceptualizations. First, is the conceptualization developed on the basis of ways in which factors function in practice as condition and process that are activated and; Facilitated by strategies and skills for change? Second is the System of Action. Suggesting that conditions and processes interact as a â€Å"system of action†; factors reciprocally influence each other, inevitably producing change. The third conceptualization is based on Locus of practice competencies. Finally common factors are convinced as pertaining not only to the social worker and the client, but all those involved in the change work, including family, informal social supporters, and helpers in social services, education, health care organizations, and the judicial system. † (Cameron & Keenan; The Common Factors Model; p. 65) Roberts and Brownell (1995) define Forensic Social work as â€Å"the practice specialty in social work that focuses on Law and educating law professional about social welfare issues and social workers about the legal aspects of their objectives† as defined by Barker,(p. 60). They go on to pen a section entitled Professional Recognition of forensic social work as a Field of Practice. This is an important part of why I chose to do my capstone paper on Forensic Social work in the first place. I’ve came to realize what little attention is given to this particular field of social work practice in general. Roberts and Brownell (1995) discuss the need for social workers them selves to recognize that a specialization in forensics has developed in recent years not just in social work but among other professional groups such as psychology, psychiatry and nursing. A Century of Forensic Social Work: Bridging the Past to the Present, 1999) The fact that there should be a distinct and prominent role for forensic social workers; the need to recognize that this area of practice; if we were to consider social work in corrections and probation, forensic mental health, substance abuse, family/criminal court, domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, it is a natural outgrowth of the leadership exerted by Jane Adams, Julia Lathrop and other prominent forensic social work ers in the late 1800’s.

Discussion wk5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion wk5 - Essay Example Binge eating disorder is characterized by eating a lot of food at once. Primary health problems include obesity, high cholesterol levels, gastrointestinal complications, osteoarthritis, and sleep apnea among others. Eating disorders may lead to many health problems. For instance, Night eating syndrome may cause sleep apnea, abdominal distention, anemia, preeclampsia, and other obstetric complications. Compulsive overeating disorder may lead to obesity, high cholesterol levels, gastrointestinal complications, and osteoarthritis, among others. Bulimia nervosa may cause hypokalemia, boerhaave syndrome, gastro paresis, dehydration among others. Undeniably, obesity has many health complications. However, measures to control obesity are sometimes predisposing factors to more problems. Although I was quite familiar with some of the health complications associated with obesity, I had not realized that treatments for obesity could present worse complications. For instance, I have learned that homeopathic weight loss remedy by use of products containing the hormone (Human chorionic gonadotropin) HCG can cause such serious health effects. It is therefore important to control obesity using appropriate methods (Hellminch, 2011). It also caught my attention that sedentary behavior is indeed a contributing factor towards overweight, obesity, and cardiovascular complications. Although this field is receiving heightened attention from researchers, it is evident that the complications result from failure to expend extra calories. Although sedentary behavior is not classified as an eating disorder, it can cause complications such as obes ity that is often classified within the reams of eating disorders. Hellminch, N. (2011). Feds crack down on homeopathic weight loss remedy. Retrieved from

POPE, ALEXANDER Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

POPE, ALEXANDER - Research Paper Example Indeed, for people with little exposure to the stories, it can be said that Shakespeare himself is doing history even though we do not conventionally read him as a historian. As will be argued in the following, Pope wrote in many genres precisely as an act that intended for us to question the nature or the notion of genre itself. The following will examine his life's works alongside his lifelong concern with genre. Alexander Pope arrived in London in 1705, and was in that early period, a member of the Kit Kat Club. The members of the Kit Kat Club were all writers and included figures of the age, like, William Walsh and Lord Landsdowne [Dennis 200]. While only seventeen at the time that he moved to London, it would not be long before he started to make a mark for himself as a writer. His earliest publications was the Pastorals and An Essay on Criticism which was published second. While his first work did seem receive some praise, it was his work on criticism that first drew significan t attention to himself. A well known critic of the time, referred to Pope's â€Å"rising genius† in relation to his criticism, but his poetry was his primary or most consuming passion as far as writing goes [Bateson and Joukovsky 154]. As the title itself indicates, a 'pastoral' concerns nature, and the individual struggle or relationship with nature. While his ambitions were to be admired and respected as a great poet, it can be argued that the respect he sought was realized more as a consequence of his early book of criticism, or the publication of An Essay on Criticism which was first published in 1711 [Dennis 249]. Pope was a formalist in the eighteenth century sense of the term. As a writer, he was arguably more concerned with the 'form' of the work than the content. There were incredible transformations occurring in his age in terms of challenges being made to traditional or conventional forms or genres of writing. Poetry, in general, was being redeveloped or experiment ed on with the aid of odes, ballads, elegies, satire, parodies, song, and finally, lyrical poetry. As with all genres, there are often areas of cross-over, but for Pope, and many of his contemporaries, the inter-mixing of genres can be described as almost an obsession [Sitter 106]. For Pope, this obsession was fueled or furthered by his interest in translation. Moreover, his interest in a wide variety of writing including Shakespeare. With regard to translation, he rendered into Latin some Greek texts or originally, Greek texts, like Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey. Likewise, the Roman or Latin poet Virgil was a constant source of inspiration for him, but in terms of influencing his literary style, but also as someone whose writings embodied ethical or moral virtues that he admired or could identify with. Following the publication of 'An Essay on Criticism', Pope struck a balance between his study of literature and his exposition of it. His focus on those years, was largely directed t oward writing poetry even though criticism became an ongoing source of study for him. In 1714, 'The Rape of the Lock' was published and it was for Pope, the most impactful piece that he had produced by this time. The first run or first printing, yielded a sale of over three thousand copies, and when it was reprinted in the following year, the response by the book buying populace

Aims of the Law and the Common Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Aims of the Law and the Common Good - Essay Example The discussion will focus on the relationship between these issues and the provisions of specific laws, including the statutory provisions, constitutional provisions and legal opinions. The aim of this paper is to develop philosophical arguments, critiquing various arguments on the proper aims of law. a) Laws Permitting or Prohibiting Gay Marriage; The role of the law is among other things, to create solutions to the problems that are said to arise when community’s lives face difficulties. It is clear that any law should appreciate the rules of change, while seeking to adjudicate the difficulties it is created to resolve. The laws that either prohibit or permit gay marriage can be said to be introducing new social rules. The Congress in 1996 approved the Defense of Marriage Act, which sought to prevent the Federal Government from recognizing same sex marriages (Canale et al., 2009). The law also mandated states from recognizing same sex marriages that had been celebrated in ot her states. However, in certain states, same sex marriages are permitted while other states seek to acknowledge same sex marriages celebrated in other jurisdictions. States like Maryland have passed laws legalizing same sex marriages, but are subjecting them to referendum during the 2012 elections. The controversy surrounding same sex marriages is not spared in the courts. ... trict Court of Massachusetts, held that it was a denial of federal rights to a lawfully married Massachusetts same sex couples, under the Defense Marriage Act, and this was a violation of their constitutional rights. It is clear that marriages between people of the same sex are challenged in courts, and it is fundamental for any judge to determine that aim of the law permitting or prohibiting same sex marriage. In so doing, the Judge should consider the common good of the people (Canale et al., 2009). This issue seems to be more intertwined with the theoretical underpinnings of the Utilitarianism theory which is more concerned with the normative ethics. John Stuart Mills advanced this theory with the view that the overall role of the law is to derive happiness to the greatest number in the society. The fact that same sex marriage is only recognized at the state level raises the question as to why one state would permit it, while the other state prohibits it. The definition in the Def ense Marriage Act is within the traditional customary practices of the institution of marriage. The family was the basic unit of life and it served as basic unit of life through reproduction. This definition seeks to define a marriage within the meaning of the general segment of the American society. However, the states are said to be more distinct, particularly in the development of legislation that recognizes same sex couples. It is thus submitted that marriage laws are mainly determined by the state as opposed to the federal government, thus the Defense of Marriage Act does not seek to prevent the individual states from defining marriage, as they deem fit for the purpose of meeting the common good of their constituents (Finnis, 2011). This is seen to be the utilitarian approach as

NPOs Are Best Equipped To Deal with Environmental Problems Essay

NPOs Are Best Equipped To Deal with Environmental Problems - Essay Example This essay stresses that NGOs are a natural product of democracy and capitalism. The argument is that as market forces need increasing moderations of the law for their benefit, society naturally calls for social justice to equalize negative factors of market forces. One way is through environmental NGOs, whose operations are based on this relationship between market forces and environmental pollution. Considering the costs to offer better environmental quality are high, it is logical for ENGOs to decide not to deal with them directly. This report makes a conclusion that NPOs are the most trusted and credible source for advocacy against environmental degradation and its conservation. Environmental support entails petitioning states explicitly or implicitly to cause change in conduct that could assist the extrication or prevention of environmental crises. Outside interventions like conventions, authorizations, economic incentives, and national mediations like ethical suasion might spark these desired changes. Instances of high net expenses to the actor assuming the change as a duty, outside motivators can help lower these expenses. In such instances, a policy of ethical suasion assists the change of particular value systems and preferences, which is important in assuring any behavior change. ENGOs might enjoy greater reliability by states in advocating environmental conservation and spreading of information about environmental challenges, NPOs are credible amongst the people.

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example This essay stresses that CSR has been known to have a great positive impact on the reputation of a business but very little, if any, impact on the profit margins of a company. This paper declares that the level to which these principles are applied is institutional and is on the basis of a firms basic business obligations as a business unit. Principles of social responsiveness are of value simply because they define the institutional relationship between businesses and the society and gives a specification of what is expected of the business. This being the first level of measuring CSR, it is all about the relationship between the relationship between businesses and the society at large. This level has three major elements. The first major element is legitimacy. This concerns the business as a social institution and it frames the analytical view of the relationship between a business and society. The second element is public responsibility. This concerns the individual firm and its processes and outcomes within the framework of its own principles in terms of what it actually does. The third element is managerial discretion. This element refers to the membe rs of the organization, managers especially, as moral actors of the company. Managers are under obligation to exercise discretion as is availed to them towards socially responsible outcomes within every domain of corporate social responsibility.... Just like any other business variable, CSR is measureable. Much interest has grown on the measurement of CSR and as a result, people have developed numerous literary documents that try to explain how CSR can be measured. The most common approach for measuring CSR is a systems model that is referred to as the 3p Model (Hopkins 2012). This model evaluates the CSR performance of a business on three levels namely: Principles of social responsibility; Processes of social responsiveness; and Products or the outcomes as they relate to the firms societal relationships. Principles of Social Responsiveness The level to which these principles are applied is institutional and is on the basis of a firms basic business obligations as a business unit. Principles of social responsiveness are of value simply because they define the institutional relationship between businesses and the society and gives a specification of what is expected of the business. This being the first level of measuring CSR, i t is all about the relationship between the relationship between businesses and the society at large. This level has three major elements. The first major element is legitimacy. This concerns the business as a social institution and it frames the analytical view of the relationship between a business and society. The second element is public responsibility. This concerns the individual firm and its processes and outcomes within the framework of its own principles in terms of what it actually does. The third element is managerial discretion. This element refers to the members of the organization, managers especially, as moral actors of the company. Managers are under obligation

An interview with a small animal expert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An interview with a small animal expert - Essay Example The nature of the dog makes its most attractive among Americans and to many people around the world. Dogs are extremely loyal and affectionate. They also look affectionate and cute that endears them to most people. They are also safe and relatively easy to maintain. Psychologically, they also tend to fill some void among humans that makes them attractive to us. For example, many experts would advise for us to get a dog if we feel lonely and to some extent, dogs can make us feel a little less lonely. Yes dogs are very helpful in a family. First is that people in your house will have an automatic playmate. Do you also know that dogs are effective security guards and are extremely protective of their masters? They also bring laughter and joy in the family and to other people. Are brings a sense of affection and responsibility to children growing up. They teach children responsibility on how to take care of something which first begins with a dog. In fact, there are some schools where children are asked to have a dog for them to be taught responsibility. Dogs as cute and affectionate they may be are not for all people. Most people may love them but there are some people who finds them annoying and always â€Å"bother† them. Untrained dogs tend to have some â€Å"bothersome† trait as well such as destroying your things in the house or just plainly noisy. Most dogs becomes obedient when they are treated and fed well. But again, if the dog proves difficult, there are always obedient schools or people who could train dogs. Probably you mean rabies where people contracted it when bitten by dogs. Yes rabies and dangerous and could kill people in a very disturbing way. This however can easily be remedied by having the dog injected with an anti-rabies solution to neutralize its rabies. Dogs also don’t normally bit people especially their masters and that is even if they are hurt. But of course dogs are animals who

Critiquing nursing research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Critiquing nursing research - Essay Example In order to answer the above question the background questions were created, for example what is stress incontinence? Stress incontinence can be defined as involuntary urine loss due to sudden extra pressure, produced by activities such as sneezing, laughing, jumping or coughing. Therefore pelvic floor muscles and urethra cannot withstand the extra pressure BMJ (2009). What is the prevalence of stress incontinence? Its estimated around one in three women get SUI at some point in their lives. It can happen at any age, although its more common in women between the ages of 35 and 60 says Foldspang et al ( 1992 ) . What causes USI? Most cases of stress incontinence are due to weakened pelvic floor muscles. The common reason for the pelvic floor muscles to become weakened is childbirth, pregnancy, being overweight, hysterectomy, smoking, and menopause. Some medication can affect the pelvic floor. Examples are alpha-blockers used to treat high blood pressure, some antidepressants and sedat ives, and some muscle-relaxant drugs as quoted by BBC (2009) Another background question to conceder would be What are the current treatment available? According to BBC ( 2009) the wide range of treatments available include pelvic floor exercises, which helps to strengthened muscles by doing exercises, which prevents involuntary leakage and vaginal cones . These are small plastic cones that are put inside vagina. The cones come in a set of different weights. At first, the lightest cone has to be used. Patient has to use pelvic floor muscles to hold the cone in place. In that way patients exercise the pelvic floor muscles. Electrical stimulations include a special electrical device, which is used to stimulate the pelvic floor muscles with the aim of making them contract and become stronger. In surgery various surgical operations are used to treat stress incontinence. The operations aim to tighten or support

Experiential Knowledge versus Intellectual Knowledge Essay Example for Free

Experiential Knowledge versus Intellectual Knowledge Essay The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has for a long time stirred the issue on the tug between experiential knowledge (the sort of knowledge that is gained in the â€Å"streets† and practiced mostly by Huck) and intellectual knowledge (the kind of knowledge being taught in schools and by people like Widow Douglas and Miss Watson). The issue can most of the time be phrased as that between being logical and following the practical consequences of one’s logic as opposed to following the dictates of society. This is a theme that was developed early on in the book and extends up to the end. Huck, for example, defies society and chooses his own logic in Chapter 1 when he told Widow Douglas that he would prefer to go to hell since this would mean a change of scenery and being with Tom. It is known for a fact that â€Å"heaven† should be the de facto choice of destination for everyone. To choose to go to hell, with our without reasons for wanting to do so, plainly means going against what is conventional. Time and again, Huck has dealt with the part of his conscience that told him that keeping and cuddling Jim, a â€Å"property† of Miss Watson versus his natural sympathy for the man (Bennett 3). These and many other instances in Huckleberry Finn illustrate the clash between the obviously wrong societal teaching that racism and slavery is good and having sympathy and compassion for the slaves as bad versus the instinctive knowledge that sympathy and compassion towards a slave is worthwhile. In this paper, this clash between experiential knowledge, i. e. , knowledge gained by oneself through the exercise of personal logical induction and deduction gathered through experience, and intellectual knowledge, i. e. , knowledge gained through different societal instruments, shall be dealt with. More specifically, this paper shall address the issue of which of these two â€Å"knowledges† has more importance. Being an issue that is of no light matter, this paper would need to look beyond Huckleberry Finn for aid. As such, Philosophy, Ethics, and Education seem to be the most promising areas of knowledge that address the issue. Hence, this paper shall look in these directions to settle the issue. Specifically, this paper shall have the following parts: on wisdom and knowledge as personal or societal; morality as inauthentic or authentic; and educations as geared towards making the person â€Å"fully† come out versus education as socialization. The paper shall end with a conclusion. Wisdom as Personal or Societal Philosophy has dealt with the question on the source of wisdom a number of times and through different thinkers. Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle are known to deal extensively about this issue, and as such, their philosophies shall be utilized. Since Aquinas is known for extensively working on Aristotle’s works, merging the works of these two thinkers shall not pose any problems. Before anything, it would be best to first give a definition of wisdom. At least in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition, wisdom is a kind of knowledge that is â€Å"of paramount importance in directing human existence towards its purpose or end† (Artigas 17). It is that kind of knowledge that aids man to be a better human being, not only by providing particular knowledge, but most specially a universal knowledge that speaks of the human being’s nature, purpose and end. In the end, wisdom ought to lead to the human being’s happiness, happiness defined as a life that is flourishing. All these ideas seem to be abstract, so it would be best to concretize a bit. At least for Aristotle, living a life that is full of human flourishing means living a virtuous life in a community that allows for the continuous development of the individual. According to the Aristotelian philosopher Martha Nussbaum, this refers to a life wherein virtues, human relations, reason and other physical capabilities are allowed to flourish by the society (Nussbaum 76-78). More concretely, this means experiencing real friendship, practicing justice, exercising prudence and a host of many other virtues that Aristotle spoke of in the Nicomachean Ethics in a society that value and nurture these. It is allowing a person to have meaningful relations, to engage in activities that nourish one’s â€Å"senses, imagination, and thought,† to have bodily health, to engage in play, to have autonomous control over one’s environment and so on (Nussbaum 76-78). So far, it seems that wisdom ought to be acquired for the benefit of the individual that would most probably emanate into the good of society. That is well and good, nevertheless, we still have not answered the question as to how wisdom itself is acquired. In this respect, Aquinas has an answer. Thomas Aquinas is known for the Natural Law Theory. The theory states that â€Å"man is born with the natural facility to know the basic truths or principles or the moral order as ‘the good is to be done and promoted and the evil to be avoided’† (Panizo 56). In this respect wisdom, i. e. , knowledge about what is good and what is to be avoided that ought to lead to happiness and human flourishing, is not only something that man is capable of; in fact, man is born with this natural facility. Human beings are born with the disposition to want what is good and to avoid what is evil. Thinking about it, this medieval theory seems to make a lot of sense. Is it not true that no human being ever does something which for her/him is plainly without good or any sort of benefit? Even actions that may be considered as evil by many still have some sort of perverted â€Å"goodness† in it. Actions such as murder, drug trafficking, etcetera, still give â€Å"pleasure† to those who engage in them. But, does this mean that these actions are morally good? Aquinas would not agree. He would say that though nature has granted man the capacity to know what is good and evil and to want good over evil, still, error may happen. Error occurs once the basic principle, â€Å"good is to be done and sought after, evil is to be avoided† (Aquinas 197) is applied. In fact, there is a hierarchy of difficulty when it comes to the application of this basic principle, the most difficult application of it called â€Å"remote conclusions† are described as â€Å"not easily drawn by ordinary people, for they involve education in theology and philosophy, and deep reflection† (Panizo 59). These involve judgments on issues like euthanasia, divorce, abortion, etcetera. We have reached a point then when natural wisdom, i. e. , wisdom depending on reason alone, becomes insufficient. Life is so full of instances when â€Å"remote conclusions† are needed and called for. The sad thing is, this knowledge is hard to come by and a human being is left with no option but to listen to the dialogues of the people in the academe. For Aquinas and Aristotle, experiential knowledge is not enough. It could only get us so far. This then brings us to the discussion of the place of â€Å"intellectual knowledge† in Philosophy. According to Aristotle, human beings need a role model to live a flourishing life. An excellent person is considered the standard for most of us who are still aiming for human flourishing, for a life of virtue. An excellent person is defined as he/she whose wishes â€Å"will be what is wished in reality† (Aristotle 65), i. e. , the wishes of the excellent person is that which is truly good for the human being. An excellent person is the exact opposite of the base person to whom â€Å"pleasure would seem to cause deception since it appears good when it is not† (Aristotle 65). Thus, modeling is Aristotle’s system of knowing what is worth imitating and what is not. To add to this, it must be recalled that for Aristotle (as with the other Greek thinkers), education has an indispensable role in bringing an individual to perfection. This is the very reason why the Academy and the Lyceum were established. In these schools, individuals from different cities merge to further their knowledge, to share each other’s knowledge and in this sense socializing each other. Hence, at least in Aristotle and Aquinas’ philosophy, though natural wisdom or experiential knowledge may be the starting point, this is not enough. Intellectual knowledge is still necessary since remote conclusions are always called for to ultimately be happy and live a flourishing life. Authentic and Inauthentic Morality Beyond the epistemology of Aristotle and Aquinas is the perspective that morality or ethics may be inauthentic or authentic. This is the very idea of Michael Moga in the book, Toward Authentic Morality. According to Moga, one’s sense of right and wrong can either be wholly dependent on one’s culture (i. e. , inauthentic morality) or it could come from one’s personal choice (i. e. , authentic morality). This is the very same clash between the self and the society that we have been talking about. According to Moga, most people ascribe to inauthentic morality. This is the sort of morality that gives in to social pressure, that kind of pressure that forces us to act and think in a particular way without exactly knowing why such an action or thought should be considered moral. We would not have to go very far to understand inauthentic morality. Most adolescents and teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure when it comes to many facets of their lives. The very persistence of racism and discrimination speak of a poorly reasoned morality that rest on social acceptance. In fact, Moga sets out the characteristics of inauthentic morality. The following are the characteristics of this type of morality. Inauthentic morality is characterized by being based on certain rules and values affirmed by culture; it is universal in its application, i. e. , it is valid for everyone; they impact individuals as set of morality that is external, i. e. , the source of morality is something outside the self; these laws are anonymous; the individual is haunted by fear and shame; the moral obligation is something that comes from authority; and it is fluctuating in influence (Moga 35-39). This is the sort of morality experienced by the typical teenager who follows his/her group’s choices. Such an individual follows rules not her own, a set of rules she may find difficult to follow since it is something external, nevertheless the breaking of such group rules result to fear and shame. This teenager considers the lead of the group as the one vested with authority to enforce such rules. Though this morality is most stark among teenagers, adults may very well be living this sort of morality. We would only have to look around shopping malls to see how many adults go with the flow without thinking why. Supposedly at the other extreme is authentic morality. This morality results from one’s personal decision to accept a set of values and morals after necessary reflection. Again, this sort of morality has characteristics: it is personally chosen and accepted; it is based on a rational appreciation; it is not based on fear or shame; morality as an expression of one’s freedom; and it is based on what one personally cares for, i. e. the very principles that one values (Moga 39-41). This is the sort of morality of individuals who have taken enough time to think over his/her morals. This would be represented by an individual who does an action and could very likely explain and be personally involved in the very principle of one’s actions. This would be the individual whose sense of morality is not dependent on â€Å"what others will say† but rather on a clear set of personally chosen moral principles. Though individuals must all aim for authentic morality, Moga insists that both moralities are important. In the first place, all human beings undergo the inauthentic morality stage where parents become the sole authority from whom morality emanate. Nevertheless, we should not stay this way. After being exposed to different sets of moralities, it is the individual’s responsibility to think and chose which of these moralities shall be made personal. Thus, at least in the Ethical perspective, the social and the personal ought to go together, though in the end, the social should be for the personal. Conclusion We have seen that at least in Philosophy and Ethics, there really is no real clash between the personal and the social, between intellectual knowledge and experiential knowledge. Clashes happen in Philosophy when error exists in the mind and nothing is done to correct the error. This error may of course exist not only with individuals but also in groups such as those in the academe. Nevertheless, we have clearly stated above that intellectual knowledge is there not to ram down society on the throats of individuals but rather to further perfect experiential knowledge for the sake of human flourishing. The same may be said in the field of ethics. Both authentic and inauthentic moralities are there and both have uses in society. Nevertheless, in the end, inauthentic morality ought to be the material source of inputs for the eventual authentic morality of a person. Morality only becomes stagnant when there is no interaction between the inauthentic and authentic. To answer the question which of the two knowledges is more important, we could qualifiedly say that both are important as long as there is minimal error and that the ultimate purpose is human flourishing.

Hobsons Choice Assignment Essay Example for Free

Hobsons Choice Assignment Essay This essay will talk about Willies steps from being a shoe maker to becoming the owner of a shop. Willie is an important character although he is one of the only working class characters in the play. (The other, his friend who also works in the shop.) The play focused on the key figure Willie climbing the social ladder. Also his anxiousness towards the other characters. On his way up he even manages to insult his old master. He gains a father-in-law and two sister-in-laws. His old girlfriend Ada Figgins though he was not much to look at but Maggie still wanted to marry him. Mrs. Hepworth thinks Willie the boot maker is good at his trade. Hobson disagrees with her congratulating him. As Mrs. Hepworth says Did you make these boots. Then Hobson remarks If there is anything wrong Im capable of making the man suffer for it. This shows Hobson thinks poorly of his staff, also Mrs. Hepworth thinks People should be praised for doing a good job. However, Hobson gets jealous of Willie because of this. Hobson doesnt pay his daughters waages but he does pay Willies. Jim says and their wages? Then Hobson says Wages! do you think i pay my own daughters wages? Im not a fool! This is saying that Will maybe more important to him or that his daughters are related to him so that they can work for nothing. But later on in the play Hobson offers to give Hobson his old wage back but he doesnt offer Maggie anything. This shows by Ada saying Heres your dinner Will, that Will is considered more important as they say Oh, Miss obson its good of you to take notice like that, which shows that she cant say things properly. He had also gained importance then to have people fighting over him. Alice disagrees with Maggie owning a shop. She also wonders where they got the funding. Maggie produces a card saying Willie Mossop, practical book and shoe This shows the he is professional and proper. This shows they have gone from working in a shop to owning one.  Maggie wants Hobson to wear a collar for work. This shows that Hobson is below Willie in the social ladder. Maggie says Father dont you think to put a collar on for Will. Hobson Put a collar on for Willie Mossop (enraged at idea) Maggie manages to talk him round but he still makes an excuse. Im going to put a collar on, but because my necks cold. She has managed to make Hobson put a collar on, but because Hobson is very proud he says the collar is for something else.  Throughout the drama, Willie gains importance and eventually buys his own shop, with the help Maggie. Willie grows from being a poor laboring man to a professional shoe maker who earns a lot of money, he gains confidence and near the end Hobson is inferior to Willie.

Effects of Hybrid Strategy on Zara UK

Effects of Hybrid Strategy on Zara UK CHAPTER ONE 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1. Rationale for Chosen Topic To achieve competitive advantage in a highly competitive market such as a fashion market is not an easy process, what is more difficult than that is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in like this market which also describe as fast changeable and unpredictable market. This opens the field to know about the competitive strategies, and to choose the best strategy among them to achieve the objective of sustainable competitive advantage. This research focuses on the Generic strategies which suggested by Michael Porter in 1980 who set three different strategies which are the low-cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy. Porter (1980) argued that these strategies are the road map for the companies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, however he warned that the combining two of these strategies will put the company in a position defined by him as ‘Stuck in the Middle and therefore will not lead a high performance. However, other researchers in the strategic management field such as Miller and Dess (1993), Kekre and Srinivasan (1990), Faulkner and Bowman (1992) and Hill (1988) suggest that combination of two strategies would let the companies achieve a high performance, and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Recognising the debate in the academic world suggests exploring whether application of â€Å"hybrid strategy† will help companies in achieving sustainable competitive advantage or not. To do this, Zara UK is chosen since it has the highest contribution to the overall revenues of Inditex, the mother company, which was accounted 65.6% of the whole sales (Inditex Annual Report, 2008). 1. 2. Research Background Inditex group is a Spanish company and is one of the largest fashion distributor groups in the world. The group was established in 1975 and opened its first branch in Coruà ±a city in Spain (Inditex, 2009). The international expansion of Inditex started in 1988 by openings its store in the UK which is now the fifth largest market of the group after France, Italy, Portugal, and Germany in terms of number of stores (Inditex Annual Report, 2008). In 2009, Inditex operates in 73 countries through 4430 stores and among those 1340 are under the name of Zara. In 2008, the number of Zara stores in the UK was 63 (Inditex, 2009). â€Å"Inditex† consists of six subsidiary companies working in the retail industry and one of them is Zara which generates the highest income in overall revenues of Inditex. Zara is the most internationalised business unit of the group and therefore has the largest of chain (Inditex, 2009). 1. 3. Research Aim Ultimately, this research aims at exploring whether hybrid strategy helped Zara UK in creating sustainable competitive advantage or not. Reaching this aim requires conducting external and internal analyses. Applied tools and their justification are given below: The external environments which surround Zara are analysed by using: PESTLE tool to analyse the impact of Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Legislations, and Environmental factors on Zara to explore weather it would formulates opportunities or threats. Porters Five Forces model to analyse the competitive environment which surrounds Zara in order to explore the market conditions in fashion industry. Key Competitors analysis in order to examine the key competitors of Zara in the market to identify their similarities and differences as well as the business process in Zara. The internal environment of Zara is analysed by using: Values Chain analysis in order to explore how efficiently Zara uses the value chain system to create value for its customers. Financial analysis in order to analyse its financial performance from 2006 until the first half of 2009. Resource-based View analysis to determine core competences, and capabilities of Zara. Grand Strategy analysis to identify the grand strategy used by Inditex and to examine the effectiveness of this strategy. Competitive Strategy analysis in order to determine the competitive strategy used by Zara in achieving sustainable competitive advantage and analyse the effectiveness of this strategy. SWOT analysis in order to determine the internal strengths and weaknesses of Zara as well as the opportunities and threats that Zara faces due to forces exist in external environment. It is believed that after conducting these analyses, it would be possible to reach a conclusion about whether hybrid strategy is effective or not in achieving sustainable competitive advantage in the UK fashion industry. CHAPTER TWO 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1. Competitive Strategy Literature in competitive advantage strategy is a well developed topic and many scholars such as Milles and Snows (1978) Mintzberg and Quinn (1992) Faulkner and Bowman (1995) introduced several models to explain how companies can achieve sustained competitive advantage. However, one of the most famous and effective model in this field was Michael Porters framework which was introduced in 1980. in this framework which is called ‘Generic Strategy, he mention that the firm can achieve competitive advantage from three different bases. According to Porter (2004): â€Å"The two basic types of competitive advantage competitive advantage combined with the scope of activities for which the firm seeks to achieve them lead to three generic strategies for achieving above- average performance in an industry: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. The focus strategy has two variant, cost focus and differentiation focus† Having briefly described the Generic Strategies, it is necessary to look at them in details. 2. 1. 1. Cost Leadership Strategy To achieve competitive advantage according to Porter (1980, 2004), the company has to decrease their cost, and to achieve cost advantage below its competitors in the market. By doing this, a company is able to lower prices and performs above the average performer in its industry thanks to the fact that the cost for the company will be less than its rivals. The company can succeed in its cost leadership strategy if it focuses in decreasing the overhead cost, uses a low-cost product design and automated assembly and pursuits economies of scale and so on. However, David (2005) highlighted some risks associated with applying this strategy. According to him, competitors may imitate this strategy and increase the competition and make a head on collusion, which will drive the overall profit of the industry down (David, 2005). 2. 1. 2. Differentiation Strategy According to Porter (1980, 2004), to achieve competitive advantage, the company has to seek to be unique in its industry. In another words, gaining a competitive advantage can be achieved by increasing the willingness of customers to pay for the company products or services that the company sell (Barney, 2007). According to Gaik (1993), in differentiation strategy, the customers look at the attributes of the products other than looking at the price. To apply this strategy, the firm has to differentiate itself in terms of its products for instance by focusing on the quality of the products or in terms of provided service by focusing on the delivery system by means of decreasing the lead or delivery time. Moreover, the company has to focus on the promotion and the packaging of products. The firm can also differentiate its products by competing on both cost and differentiation, by decreasing the cost and by adding value at the same time. One of the tools for achieving both strategies is managing the supply and value chain systems and designing, structuring, modifying and operating efficiently to add value to the products at the lowest cost possible. However, David (2005) mentioned that the risks of this strategy might be that the product or the service may not be valued enough for the customers to buy it at the price of which the company desires and/or that competitors will be able to imitate the products or services. Therefore, if a company seeks to be successful and sustain its advantage in the market, it should pursue a creative strategy which makes difficult for competitors to imitate and replicate the products or services. 2. 1. 3. Focus Strategy According to Porter (1980; 2004), focus strategy is different than other strategies this is because this strategy aims to narrow the competitive scope in the market, requires selecting a specific segment or group and focusing on it by tailoring the strategy to an exclusive and particular market. This strategy has two variants which are differentiation focus and cost focus. Differentiation focus aims at differentiating a segment or a group by satisfy their unusual needs and the in Cost focus, the firm seeks to achieve low-cost advantage in order to provide the products at cheap prices and the concentration is made only for a small number of the market segments. However, the risk of these strategies is that competitors can easily recognise the success and may copy them (David, 2005). Porter (1980; 2004) mentioned that each strategy is fundamentally different from the other strategies in terms of creating sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, a company has to make a choice among these strategies and does not combine them. Otherwise, it will lead the firm to get â€Å"stuck in the middle†. He also stressed that being ‘all things to all people is the recipe for strategic mediocrity and if the performance is below the average, it often means that a firm has no competitive advantage at all (Porter, 1980; 2004). However, according to Porter (1980), there are three circumstances where a firm can combine two strategies given in the Generic Strategies framework: First, when all of the other competitors are stuck in the middle; second, when the cost is strongly affected by share or interrelations and finally, when a firm pioneers are a major innovation. Also Porter (1980) mentioned that even under these circumstances, a firm would not be able to compete with a firm which pursues either differentiation, cost leadership or focus strategies. Therefore, according to Porter (1980), a hybrid strategy is unlikely to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. 2. 2. Empirical Studies Porters framework both supported and criticised by the scholars. For instance, Dess and Davis (1984) and Kim and Lim (1988) supported Porters claims and found that companies have to employ only one of the Porters generic strategies if their aim is to achieve higher performance. On the other hand, several authors such as Miller and Dess (1993), Kekre and Sriniva-San (1990), Faulkner and Bowman (1992) and Hill (1988) criticised Porters claims and provided evidence that â€Å"the combination between the cost leadership and the differentiation strategy† would help the company to achieve high performance in the market. For example, Miller and Dess (1993), Kekre and Sriniva-san (1990), Faulkner and Bowman (1992) and Hill (1988) demonstrated that it is not necessary to choose between one of the competitive advantage strategy in order to achieve a high performance. They argued that a company may achieve high performance against its competitors by combining differentiation strategy and cost leadership strategy. This is because integration of these strategies allows being flexible against the changes in the environment. Barney (2007) mentioned that a company can use low-cost and product differentiation strategies simultaneously and this is often expected to create sustained competitive advantage. Moreover, Miller and Dess (1993) mentioned that conceptualisation of Porters model enables the researcher in a strategic management field to explore the viability of the Hybrid strategy. Miller and Dess (1993) gave an evident of Toyota and Lincoln Electric companies as highly successful companies which are applying the Hybrid strategy. Moreover, Wright et al. (1990) also proved that use of Hybrid strategy in apparel industry brought higher financial performance. In addition, Hall (1980) explored that use of Hybrid strategy is the main reason of high successful of firms in low-profit industries. Murray (1988) proposed that firms can use hybrid strategy successfully by focusing in two areas: areas of production and functional areas. In terms of production areas, Murray (1988) threw an argument based on the research conducted by Hayes and Weelwright (1984) and Schonberger (1982) and asserted that achieving greater market responsiveness depends on higher product quality. Using techniques such as Total Quality Control (TQC) and its integration with Just In Time (JIT) for inventory control and purchasing procedures are key to the success. Benefits would be reduction of cost as use of these techniques will be resulted in higher customer satisfaction. As a result, the conflict between the production and the marketing functions can be eliminated and therefore cost minimisation and price maximisation strategies can be implemented together. In terms of functional areas, conflict resolution techniques can be applied which will minimise the conflict to a point that permits the firm to pursue cost leadership and product differentiation strategies simultaneously. More recently, Grant (2005) pointed out the changes occurred in the management techniques and the industries and stated that the market leaders in most industries are the firms whom are able to maximise the customer appeal by reconciling effective mixture between differentiation and low cost. The examples of these firms include Toyota, Dell and Canon. More importantly, he underlined the fact that the success of these firms relies on the implementation of new management techniques such as Total Quality Management (TQM) of which exploded the myth that there is a trade off between high quality and low cost. Grant (2005) also mentioned about the role of the innovation in the manufacturing technology and the manufacturing management in producing simultaneous increase in productivity and quality. Thompson et al. (2005) called hybrid strategy as the ‘best-cost provider and stressed that in order for a firm to gain a competitive advantage among the competitors; it should have a lower cost than its competitors and should position its products with good-to-excellent attributes. They also stated that this strategy can be effective in markets where the buyers are sensitive to the price and the value and then the firm can position itself near the middle of the market by providing customers with either a medium quality products at below average price or by providing with high quality products at an average price. However, they warned that the firm which does not have the capabilities to integrate the upscale product attributes at lower prices compare to its competitors, the hybrid strategy would be ill-advised for them. CHAPTER THREE 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1. Chosen Topic The â€Å"Hybrid Strategy† has been challenged by many strategic management scholars who argued that this strategy can be harmful to the companies. However, substantial amount of research showed that several companies like Toyota, Dell Inc, etc. have achieved a superior success. In order to assess whether this is true or not, this study examines the strategy of Zara in the hybrid strategy framework to determine whether it is successful or it â€Å"stuck in the middle†. 3. 2. Research Question In the light of the ultimate aim, the research question of this study is to what extent Hybrid Strategy can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage for firms in fashion retail industry in the UK. The research focuses on Zara UK which is one of the important business units of Inditex Group. 3. 3. Research Technique The dissertation is qualitative in nature. The exploration is based on data obtained from secondary sources of which include information that is already collected for other studies and documents. The main secondary sources used in this study include reports and documents such as annual reports, press releases and other documents published by the company as well as official statistics and other publicly available data collected by research institutions. The research did not attempt to collect a primary data due to barriers in communicating with the company as well as time limitations. 3. 4. Advantages and Disadvantages of Use of Secondary Resources The main advantage of using secondary data is embodied in saving time and resources. There are some disadvantages associated with the use of the secondary data in this particular study. First of all, collected information does not answer the research question fully. However, they are good enough to be relied upon to reach a conclusion. Secondly, secondary data has reliability issue as there are many resources but in some cases it is not possible to determine whether it is valid or not and this limits the accuracy of the analysis based on secondary data. To overcome these limitations, the coverage of the information was enlarged and multiple sources were used to improve the reliability of the data. 3. 5. Quality of Resources Zara is a leading company in the industry and have competitors. Therefore, before using the data obtained from secondary sources, it was assessed in terms of quality in order to verify whether the data is consistent with the purpose of the research and whether it is reliable and up-to-date. Quality standards were determined by identifying directions of bias in the resources by means of attempting both biased and unbiased sources, by checking the background and reputation of the provider and their level of education, and experience in their professional career. The assessment also considered the target audience in terms of their knowledge as a bias direction. The resources were also assessed in terms of their relevance to the research, their readiness and usefulness in achieving targeted quality and in the analysis of anticipated results. 3. 6. Case Study To enrich the quality of the research particularly in terms of its practicality and its rationality, it used empirical inquiry methods for analysis to investigate the contemporary phenomenon within Zaras real-life context. Therefore it has boundaries between phenomenon and context aimed at providing clear evidence by using multiple sources to assure quality and objectivity. In developing and conducting this study, the researcher was influenced by the case study produced by Ghemawat and Nueno and published in 2003. In their study, the authors explained the rapid changes occurred in the fashion industry, by focusing on the global apparel chain Zara and its structure from the producers to the ultimate customers. Although this study influenced by the Ghemawat and Nuenos (2003) work, it did not depend on the case because of two reasons. First of all, the case study focuses on the corporate level and the mother company and therefore did not include the strategic planning techniques and analysis to explore the advantages of using hybrid competitive strategy. Having said that, this study made use of information about Zara provided by the case study in developing the strategic analysis. Secondly, the case study was prepared in 2003 and the facts given in that study was outdated to some extent. As this paper needs to be based on most recent data particularly for external analysis, financial analysis, current trends in fashion market, it is different than the case study provided by Ghemawat and Nueno (2003). CHAPTER FOUR 4. ANALYSIS 4. 1. External Analysis 4. 1. 1. Characteristics of Fashion Retail Market 4. 1. 1. 1. Overview of Fashion Retail Market in the UK The apparel retail market contains three main sectors: the womenswear sector, menswear sector and infantswear sector. According to Data Monitor (2008), womenswear sector consists of retail sale of clothing for girls and women and generated 66.90% of the whole market in 2007 in the UK. The menswear sector consists of retail sale of clothing for men and boys and generated 30.90% of the whole market. And the infantswear sector includes retail sale of clothing for children between ages of 0 to 2 years of age and it accounts 2.20% of the sales generated by the whole market in the UK in 2007. According to Data Monitors (2008) report, the UK apparel retail market has the highest percentage of revenue in the Europe market value with 24.1% in 2007. The clothing market in the UK grew significantly between 2001 and 2005 when the total spending on clothes in the UK in 2005 reached at  £38.4 billion. Womens clothing sector showed the highest growth with 21% and the total value reached at  £24 billion in the same year. More interestingly the clothing market has been growing even though the recession which hit the UK in October 2007 and affected most of the UK sectors. According to the National Statistics (2009), the sales volume in retail sector in June 2009 was 2.9% higher than in June 2008. In the non-food sector, the sales increased by 2.4% and the largest increase occurred in textile, clothing and footwear by 11.3%. Fashion is a part of the clothing and textile industry and the fashion industry is characterised by the rapid change and the high competition particularly after the year 2005 because of permission of unrestricted access of all members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to the European (Lopez and Fan, 2009). This created a big opportunity for the multinational companies to invest in the UK market. Moreover, the rapid change in technology has given the chance for companies to reduce their cost and to increase the quality of their products. In addition, companies which are searching to decrease their costs started to outsource their production with the companies from the countries with low-labour cost such as China, Singapore. This led the competition in the clothing industry to increase and as the competition increased, the prices went down; as a result a market for ‘Discount Apparel Retail emerged and started to grow (Datamonitor, 2008). However, in the fashion industry, customers do not consider prices but look at the quality, variety, design and the availability of the products. Due to characteristics of the market, no particular group or company dominate the market since the market is driven by â€Å"customers†. In addition, due to increased competition, switching cost for the customers also diminished. This resulted in changes in the direction of competition. Today, the rules of the game in the clothing market have changed and meeting with customer expectations turned into achieving fast fashion production (Walters, 2006). Bruce and Daly (2006) describe todays fashion industry in the following way: â€Å"In fast fashion, buying activities play a crucial role through supplier selection and product decision-making, and indeed, buying is arguably changing from purely operational to much more strategic† And according to Walters (2008), the retailers in â€Å"fast fashion† can satisfy consumer expectations by the speed, variety and style of the products and by selling the products in low prices. 4. 1. 1. 2. The Nature of Fashion Market According to Christopher et al. (2004), there are four elements which determine the characteristics of the fashion market. These are: Short life-cycles products have short life, it is often for a moment when designs catch the style. As a result, the period of selling products is very short and seasonal: it could months or even weeks. High volatility the demand in the fashion market is rarely stable; the demand may be influenced by several factors, such as the weather, movies or even footballers or pop stars. Low predictability it is not easy to predict the desire of the market in the fashion industry, because of the volatility of the demand. Therefore, it is very difficult to predict total demand within a period accurately even week-by-week or item-by item. High impulse purchasing the availability of the products increases the need for the customer to buy it. Consumers decision making for buying fashion clothes occur at the point of purchase. 4. 1. 2. 3. Key Success Factors for Fashion Industry To conclude, as the fashion products have a short life cycle and as it is difficult to predict the market demand due to unstable demand as well as characteristics of fashion market, several key success factors were identified. These are outlined below: Price: Prices should be affordable for the customers. Quality: Fashion products should have a good quality. Quick Response: Companies should respond to market demand quickly by launching rapidly. Design: Should match with the current fashion. Availability: Products should be available on the shelves of the store as long as there is demand. Variety: Companies should provide variety of products for the customers. 4. 1. 2. PESTLE Analysis PESTLE framework provides a comprehensive list of environmental influences on the possible success or failure of particular strategies (Johnson et al., 2008). PESTLE framework contains six factors, which are the external factors that have effect on companies. It is argued that if companies major these factors they can formulate strategies from the opportunities or be prepared for the threats. 4. 1. 2. 1. P Political Factors Since 2005, no restrictions left on all import in the textile and clothing industry. This gives unrestricted access to all members of the WTO to the European. This would formulate an opportunity for Zara as it imports products from outside the UK with low cost without any restrictions. However it could pose as a threat for Zara, as the competition in the market can be increased especially by the companies which have products with lower prices. 4. 1. 2. 2. E Economic Factors Most recent recession hit almost all countries in the world, including the UK. As a result of global recession, the unemployment rate in UK started to increased. According to the National Statistics (2009), the unemployment rate was 7.6% for the first quarter of 2009 and it was the highest rate since 1981. The impact of recession in the UK is a threat for Zara, as the number of unemployed people increase, their expenditures decrease. Moreover, for employed people, current economic conditions bring uncertainty and therefore they tend to decrease their expenditures and increase their saving. This could affect Zaras sales in an adverse way since unemployment rate has been on the rise. Moreover, as a result of economic recession, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been declining in a dramatic way in the UK. According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (2009), the GDP in the UK fell by 0.3% ending in July 2009; in addition, according to Financial Times (2009), it was the worst quarterly performance since 1958. However it is predicted that it rose by 0.2% starting from August. Decline in the GDP posed a threat for Zara as it indicates decline in consumers income. In terms of exchange rates, the situation is also not that bright. According to Economy Watch Website (2009), since December 2008, the Great Britain Pound (GBP) lost value at a rapid rate and reached a 24-year low of $1.35 per  £1 in January 2009. The impact of weakening of the pound against euro and dollar is pushing up the prices of imports and therefore forces retailers to increase their prices. According to Financial Times (2009), this would formulate a threat for Zara as the retailer will need to increase its prices. However, depreciation of GBP would be an opportunity for the mother company Inditex because of the strong Euro against the GBP. More interestingly, despite the recession, the clothing industry in the UK is still growing. In general, the retail industry in UK has grown during 2009 and the growth was predominantly in non-food goods particularly in textile, clothing and footwear stores by 11.3% (National Statistics, 2009b). 4. 1. 2. 3. S Social Factors The social factors are one of the most important factors which affect the fashion industry. Culture of the society is viewed as the most significant factor in terms of its effects in fashion since it is different from one country to another, even it might be different in the same country. Moreover, culture changes as time passes and these changes affect preferences in fashion. As a result, predicting changes become difficult since taste of consumes can be influenced by several factors, such as weather, movies, or even footballers or pop stars (Christopher et al., 2004). The impact of this would be a threat for all companies in fashion industry if they company cannot be able to adapt themselves with ever-changing nature of tastes. Other thing which might affect fashion preferences is education which triggers continuous searching for knowledge. In the UK, education level is high and it causes fashion preferences change rapidly. This is because, as a result of high education level, the awareness of customers to new areas of experience expands and it increases the interest in and desire for a more fashionable appearance. Moreover, increases in the number of working women let them more confident in their judgments when making decisions about clothing (Kiran et al., 2002). The increase in population in the UK is also an opportunity for Zara. According to National Statistics (2009), the UKs population increase with an annual growth rate of 0.5% which is about 1000 people per day due to increase in number of births. This means the market for fashion clothing will continue to grow thanks to the increase in the number of customers, particularly in children clothing sector. UK clothing market is well-developed market and it is growing. According to the research conducted by Allwood et al. (2006), consumers in the UK spent  £38.4 billion in 2005 in clothing and of which  £24 billion was on womens, girls and infants clothing and  £12 billion on mens and boys clothing. Growing fashion clothing market is an opportunity for Zara, especially in women and girls sectors. To conclude, it can be said that the impact of the social factors on Zara would be positive as they create opportunity for the company if it quickly responds to the market and the changing in customer preferences. 4. 1. 2. 4. T Technological Factors The technology is the corner stone for any company since it helps in decreasing the cost in manufacturing process. Therefore, technological developments stand as an opportunity for Zara as advance technology helps in developing better business process. In addition to this, technology led to development of new marketing channels. The internet is a good example for such development. Recent figure showed that online retailing has been increasing particularly in the UK. According to IMRG Cap Gemini (2009), e-retail sales index showed an increase around 12% in the second half of 2009 and in the first half o 2009, UK consumers spent  £22.9 billion in their online purchases. This suggests that increase in online retailing transactions stands as an opportunity if Zara starts online retailing. 4. 1. 2. 5. E Environmental Factors Watson (2001) argued that as much as organic food products have become popular, it is inevitable that consumers will extend their scope of purchase to the organic textiles and this trend is already started as some retailers such as Marks and Sp

The High Cost of Nuclear Weapons Essay examples -- Nuclear Weapons Ess

Throughout the entirety of the twentieth century, the most disputed topic of discussion has perhaps been that of nuclear weapons. Some people argue these weapons of mass destruction are vital to the survival of order and decency in the world, while others contend that nuclear weapons will bring an end to civilization as we now know it. Regardless of both of these arguments, there are two things that just about nobody can deny – nuclear weapons are extremely expensive and enormously destructive. The first thing to know about nuclear weapons is exactly how much money they have cost the United States? Since the first government supported work on nuclear weapons began in 1940, the United States has spent approximately $4 trillion on its nuclear arsenal as of 1995. This figure is roughly 3 times what the United States spent on World War II. It should also be mentioned that with overhead costs required to develop, produce, deploy, operate, support, and control these weapons, the total would come to approximately an extra $500 billion to $1 trillion dollars once all known costs are documented. Since the conclusion of World War II in 1945, nuclear weapons have been held accountable for the consumption of one quarter to one third of the United States’ military budget. Currently, the figures are a bit more gentle on the United States’ annual budget but still astronomical in its own right. Annually, the United States spends at least $33 billion on nuclear weapons and weapon-related activities, which is equivalent to about 13 percent of all military spending. Of this $33 billion, $8 billion is spent annually on nuclear waste management, environmental remediation, weapons dismantling, and disposition activities. The majo... ...o referred to as an â€Å"enhanced radiation weapon.† This bomb is in the 1 to 10 kiloton range minus the outer casing of uranium. The neutron bomb emits a spray of neutrons that is lethal for a distance of a few hundred meters. Unlike x-rays discharged from conventional nuclear bombs, the neutrons penetrate a considerable thickness as in steel and concrete (RC p. 56-64). These particular bombs are designed for battlefield use, not cities. The blast this bomb produces is equivalent to about half of a regular nuclear blast, yet still potent. Bibliography - Clough, Richard. The Dawn of Nuclear Development. Albuquerque: Academia - El Norte, 1994. - Tompkins, Harry. Effects and Costs of the Nuclear Research Project. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. - Voss, Milton. The Aftermath of a Nuclear Blast. Boston: Houghton, 1993.

I Am Norman Rockwell :: Art Theory Essays

I Am Norman Rockwell Two weeks ago my family and I walked the three miles from Michigan Avenue in Chicago up to the Historical Society to see the Norman Rockwell show. I've been thinking about it ever since: Although the week before had been unseasonably warm and the trees budding, this day was in the 20's and a cold wind was blowing straight from the north, the direction we were walking. My family walked north through the cleaned up Rush street where my wife had secretly gone during high school looking for a safe kind of danger. There were ghosts of buildings no longer there: Gino's Pizza, the Jazz Showcase, and more. Just down Wabash my father, more than 20 years ago had taken me to Jim Diamond's steakhouse and bought me my first glass of wine, lying about my age. It's gone too, like my father. I was overcome with the tyranny of signs, in particular, Peirce's triadic model of representamen, object, and interpretant. Seamus Heaney writes about the ghost of a tree cut down when he was a boy, and says that this space has come to represent his umphalous, his world center. The empty or replaced buildings were ghosts mostly not of the dead but of the living, of the living who had moved on and changed. But the signs, the private set of signs my wife and I knew were there. I used to think that Peirce was talking about the physical presence of a representamen, a stop sign in the most used example, or a stone wall, or a river. I know now that when Chandler in his explanation of Peirce says cryptically a representamen is the form the sign takes and is not necessarily material. What does this have to do with

Psychological Conflicts In Literature(1) :: essays research papers

We all experience psychological conflicts, knowingly or unknowingly. They involve psychological conflicts among our thoughts, emotions, and rational thinking. It may be the most dangerous conflict of all due to the battleground in which it take place in -- our mind. There are many examples of psychological conflicts in the stories we have read. In "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson, Leiningen battled not only on his South American plantation, but in his mind. He struggled with the issue of running away and letting the ants take over his plantation. He wasn't a quitter and enjoys the mental aspects of things. But when the ants and the reality of death came, he had to resolve the conflict whether to stay or flee. This was especially true when he ran to the dam wheel. He could of fled then or died, but he chose to try to save the plantation and workers. He was faced with the conflict living or, perhaps the greatest psychological conflict, which he resolved when he chose to run to the wheel. In "The Contents of the Dead Man's Pockets" by Jack Finney, Tom also faced a psychological conflict. The story was mainly focused on his physical conflict, but near the end he experienced psychological conflict. As with Leiningen, Tom faced the choice to die or to live, and he realized with that conflict how much his wife meant to him. He overcame the conflict when, as we read, the yellow paper flew out the window again, but he left to be with his wife. In "Blues Ain't No Mockin'bird" by Toni Cade Bambara, Granny experienced a psychological conflict with her past treatment and her current conflict with Smiley and Camera. She struggled to break and maybe actually kill them or fall into depression, but she was successful in winning the conflict.

Why Are Men and Women Different – Psychological Reasons

It is generally said that â€Å"Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus†. Although both of them belong to the human species, they very much differ from each other, physically, as well as, mentally. Since the start of the human civilization, there has been a never-ending debate if men and women do actually differ or not. They may be equal, but, it’s certain that they are not the same. Men and women differ physically in the several obvious ways. For example, an average man is taller and heavier than an average woman; Men have more bodily hair than women; Men have larger hearts and lungs; Women have breasts to feed the offspring, etc. These physical differences are a result of differential hormonal secretion. The mental differences are a result of the progress in the human life. When humans lived in the forests, at the beginning of the Human life, men and women weren’t much different mentally. Each individual, invariably of whether that was a man or a woman, hunted for feeding himself/herself. The major difference was that women were getting themselves trained at multitasking, by guarding the young ones, as they hunted. They also scored well in teaching, as they taught the survival skills to their children. The forest life ended as they began to form groups and live under the shelter of the caves. There was a change in the lifestyle, since man decided to keep his woman safe at home i. e. the cave. This also helped women in improving their multitasking skills as they cleaned the place, took care of the children and communicated with the neighbours. This also accounts for their excellence in speaking. Men were out to places; As a result, they got acquainted with locales better than women. They observed routes as they needed them for their next hunt. As a result, they were (and are) good in remembering routes. Contrasting multitasking women, men are exceptionally good at concentrating over a single task. This follows from the regular hunting routine which required a lot of concentration and patience to wait until the right time has popped up. As a result, men were better at focusing on the task at hand and completing the job, before moving on to the next one. This also indirectly reduced the speaking skills of men by making a physical change in their brain. The centre responsible for concentration was not big enough to accommodate the improvements in focusing skills. So, it needed to be expanded. But simply expanding the concentration centre would increase the brain size, thus making it crucial for the (male) baby’s head to come out of the mother’s womb. Hence some adjustments are to be made before it could be enlarged. The speaking centre was chosen to be decreased, so as, to increase the centre for concentration due to the fact that being noiseless is one of the most important qualities of a good hunter because the slightest sound made would easily hint the prey. This is why men hardly speak one-third times as much as women per day. Men are good at some chores while women are good at some other. It is important to recognize that neither is better. They are simply wildly different. It is important to accept and respect the differences. This will bring up a better understanding in relationships and eventually improve the quality of life.

Employment-At-Will Case Essay

Case Example A: Elaine has sued Jerry because Jerry fired her. Elaine was on the job for two months.The job offer letter that Jerry had sent her mentioned the great career opportunities at the company and stated that her annual salary would be $30,000. The company is an employment†at†will employer. Elaine was given no reason for the termination. After the termination, Jerry hired a man named Kramer, who had less job experience and education than Elaine, for the position. Elaine has sued to get her job back. There are legal issues in case example A. These issues will need to be brought up and answered before any decision can be made over this case. A letter was sent to Elaine. Could this be considered a contract? If not, was there a contract involved? If there was a contract involved, is it an executory contract or is it not valid at all? This is an employment-at-will employer, does the employer really need to give a reason for the termination? Ethics in business play a big role in today’s society. Could ethics have been violated by the employer? Is this discrimination against Elaine? Did the employer lower Elaine in to this business with lies to gain something from her? Is this an intentional misrepresentation or fraud? Did Elaine have a certain skill that the employer needed and after the employer got what he needed he fired her? These are short legal questions that will need to be further studied. Elaine’s argument contains legal rules to support her claim. There is printed evidence that can definitely help out Elaine. The job offer letter states that there are great CAREER opportunities at the company. A career is defined as more than a simple job. It is a major part of a person’s life. A job usually last a couple of months. A career is thought of lasting for more than a couple of years. The fact that the term â€Å"career† was used in the letter, it is assumed that this is going to be something more than just a â€Å"job† Another word that was used is annual. The annual salary was said to be $30,000. The term â€Å"annual† also implies that the career that the employer is offering is something that is  long term and not just a two month job. The plaintiff can argue that these were the conditions that were used when she was hired. She sought out this job because she was offered great career opportunities but was never given the â€Å"career† or the opportunity to make $30,000 annually. This could be classified under intentional misrepresentation or fraud because the plaintiff was brought into the business with false statements. Something else that Elaine can argue is that she was discriminated. After she was fired, she was replaced by a man that had less job experience and a lower education than Elaine. Elaine might have been let go because of her sex. This could be a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The defendant also has a valid argument that he can dispute. This business is an employment at will employer. This means that the employee can be let go at any time for any reason. Elaine knew that this was an employment at will. When she read the letter and accepted the job, she also accepted all the conditions that came along with it. The plaintiff knew that she could be fired any time. This is the defendant’s argument. Based on facts and legal laws, the judge can look over the evidence and rules and make a decision. The employment-at-will doctrine clearly states that the employer can fire the employee at any time for any reason. There are many exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine. In this case, the tort exception and statutory exception can be applied in favor of the plaintiff. The tort exception states that the employee can sue an employer for fraud. Based on the letter Elaine received, she never was given what she was promised. The employer gave the future employee false statements regarding receiving $30,000 annually. The employer also made the employee believe that this was a career when it clearly lasted no more than two months. This is classified under fraud. The statutory exception will be the main exception in this case. The statutory exception states that â€Å"Title VII and other federal state antidiscrimination laws prohibit employers from engaging in race, sex, religious, age, handicap, or other forms of discrimination†. Right after Elaine was fired, a man was hired for that same position with less work experience and a lower education. This is evidence that Elaine was discriminated based on her sex. An employee who was wrongfully discharged can sue the employer for damages. Therefore the plaintiff will win the case. The legal rules that currently apply are fair and reasonable.  Employment-at-will employers exist because in some jobs, the employer needs that flexibility in order to respond to any changes or needs. Sometimes it is necessary to let employees go but the employer should never forget the laws of business and also ethics. Also, adding exceptions like statutory exception and tort exception to this doctrine helps protect employees in case they are ever treated unfair or are ever taken advantage by their employer. The rules that are currently set for now are fair and reasonable and should not be violated. Work Cited Cheeseman, H. R. The legal environment of business and online commerce. (Custom ed.).

The Modern Researcher

Both authors, Jacquez Barzun and Henry Grafff are historians and are faculty members of Columbia University. They finished this book by year 1969. THE BOOK- Summary and Purpose: This book is primarily intended to â€Å"guide and instruct students in the arts of research   and writing†(note on the revised edition), with special emphasis on historiography. The book is divided into three parts, with the titles: The First Principles, Research and Writing . The idea for the first principles is to lay down the necessary frame of thought, the attitudes and qualifications of a (modern) â€Å"researcher†- apparently, to distinguish him from an antiquated one. It combines both the technique of research and writing. Unlike common writing/research manuals that concentrate only on the â€Å"how to’s† ,   Barzun & Graff, offered all the necessary ingredients for excellent history writing that is based on fastidious effort to search for â€Å"the truth†. It is a book on historiography that develops the idea that â€Å"facts alone do not constitute history† but that these need to be interpreted and ably written. Writing   should consist an effort on the writer to communicate as close as possible his   own ideas to the reader. It gives a very convenient outline summary for all the great philosophical systems  Ã‚   that influenced historians and their writings. This background could further enhance an understanding of historians’ very human tendency to reduce patterns into ‘laws’ in order to make them coherent and unified. However, such laws overly simplify   phenomenon and , if possible, should be avoided by the writer. Barzun convincingly provides strong bases for his ‘principles’ through excellent  Ã‚  Ã‚   choice of examples. An anecdote on how a historian was able to establish the authorship of the â€Å"Diary of a Public Man† is such a good example on how   one investigates and verifies his data. This historian was able to come up with a  Ã‚  Ã‚   probable answer to his problem through trial and error that took him more than thirty years- visiting libraries, interviewing key people mentioned in the diary, verifying documents written during the period in question (Lincoln Administration). In the end the historian found out that the author employed both fact and fiction in his diary entry and therefore   this (diary)   would not be useful as a historical document. Another is about a researcher who investigated the origin of the motto: â€Å"In God We Trust† written on dollar currencies. He noticed that there was a period when such a motto was absent,   and he wanted to investigate, first -its origin and then,   the reason   for its absence; then, its revival in the present currencies. Through painstaking investigation he found out that it was Stuart Chase, the Secretary of Treasury who , being a clergyman, mandated its inclusion on all currencies during his incumbency. When his term expired, his successor had this motto deleted only to reappear later when the American Congress saw the wisdom of restoring it. Such examples on the process of research reinforces the idea that research is a worthy endeavor and   is indeed exciting. Moroever, the book stresses on the importance of having the proper perspective in writing history, i.e. â€Å"Book concentrates on principles of thought and analysis of difficulties and aims at imparting the fundamentals of informed exposition.† The authors repeatedly expounds on these throughout the book. Another important tenet which Barzun convinces his reader is that it is by way of probability that all scholars, including scientists can claim the truthfulness of their work. Thus, patterning in history is intended not to arrive at â€Å"laws† or generalizations that are â€Å"unbreakable† and immutable but rather to serve as guidepost that may give coherence to an ,otherwise, confusing motley of data. They are therefore made for convenience, just as periodizations in history are. The menacing issue on subjectivity and objectivity in historical writing was given adequate attention by Barzun. He avers that   these words apply â€Å"not to persons and opinions but rather to sensations and judgments† and are better avoided by historians and their critics. â€Å"An objective judgment is one made by testing in all ways possible one’s subjective impressions, so as to arrive at a knowledge of subjects.† A corollary principle will be that â€Å"competence, not majority opinion, is decisive. There have been collective hallucinations that deceived large majorities’† (p.166). This obviously happens, specially with political issues and with politicians who exploit public opinion to suit their ends. Analysis: Barzun & Graff’s Modern Researcher is, indeed, not an ordinary manual on research and writing. But I have only one comment, why did they entitle the book â€Å"The Modern Researcher†? Nowhere in this book did they explain the title. Does the word â€Å"modern† means a historical period? Or a frame of mind? I would assume that the work being about historiography may connote a historical period. But it could also be a frame of mind, i.e. progressive and liberal.