Management and Quality Control

Chatammour Henderson Marketing Management Seminar 640 February 25, 2012 Asterand Memorandum: â€Å"What is the ultimate goal of Asterand’s quality control initiative? † Asterand clearly did not have an effective quality control system in process prior to accepting its contract with Amgen to supply human tissue samples.Although Asterand is a new supplier to the biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical industry, it will need to immediately establish quality control methods that will allow them to process orders correctly and deliver the final product to the standards and requirements of the procuring company. This will demonstrate Asterand’s ability to provide consistent and reliable human-tissue samples that meet the rigorous regulatory standards that the FDA places on all biotechnology and pharmaceutical products.As indicated in the case study, Asterand failed to meet Amgen’s quality standards on four occasions with different reasons. Asterand’s quality control challenges did not begin with Amgen. Asterand also faced challenges with implementing standardized protocols for storage and data collection across laboratories and hospitals, organizing and storing samples over long periods, and meeting the stringent regulatory requirements for clinical testing.It is imperative that Asterand addresses these challenges in order to stay in business and to expand the company. Human-tissue sampling is a new and innovative process that can be rejected by its target consumers if it does not have good quality control methods. Asterand’s ultimate goal of the quality control initiative is to be well received in the niche human-tissue sample market so that the company can increase sales growth, secure financing, attract investors and ultimately expand its operations.

Quinte Mir

The immediate issue is that Benton-Cooper Medical Centre’s MRI clinic has been open for 6 weeks and not performing to expectations and to the promises made by their new MRI provider, Quinte MRI. With referrals to the clinic, doctors expect to receive MRI transcription reports within two days and the current backlog exceeds 14 days. As a result there is a loss of patient referrals from doctors within the hospital and surrounding community which means a loss of revenue for BCMC. Quinte MRI must determine what is causing the backlog and how to fix it.Secondary IssuesA secondary issue in the clinic is that the MR Technologist is putting in a lot of overtime even though the maximum number of patients each week is not being met. Quinte MRI personnel need to examine and analyze the interaction between the capacity, the process flow and the bottleneck and provide a resolution and action plan back to the CEO, Dr. Syed Haider within 2 days. Environmental and Root Causes Quinte MRI, an i nternational service provider specializing in medical diagnostic technologies signed an agreement in February 2002 with Benton-Cooper Medical Centre (BCMC) for the outsourcing of their MRI services.BCMC believed that they could competed successfully if they had a third MRI machine as they anticipated continued growth in this area by 15% through doctor’s referrals from the hospital and surrounding areas. BCMC also believed that they could generate enough revenue and promotional support through advertisements with local print and radio stations to be able to own their own fixed MR system and be recognized as a top rated hospital for the area. Quinte MRI promised the avenue for BCMC to be able to accomplish these goals through its service reliability and access to diagnostic equipment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at a reasonable cost.However, these expectations are not being met and David Wright has gone to the MR Technologist, Jeff Sinclair to examine and analyze what was caus ing the backlog (bottleneck) in the operation. Jeff indicated that due to poor communication between the hospital and the clinic, mistakes were being made due to a manual process for recording information. Patients were being booked at wrong time, cancelling or not showing up, wrong tests were being requested or recorded, and patients were not being screened properly for an MRI scan.An assessment was being done when the patient came into the clinic. A patient preparation process has not been implemented in the new facility, whereas the previous MRI provider scheduled all appointments. Jeff felt that wasted time was being spent on delivering scans to the radiologist after each patient. Jeff also accounted for the fact that during May, the clinic used a Siemens unit, which took some time to get used to, however, now that the GE machine was in place (Jeff was originally trained on this machine), things were improving.David next examined the cycle time on for a 30 minute procedure. The table below shows the current cycle time of the patient, the MR Technologist and the MRI machine. 15 minutes was dedicated to patient preparation for an MRI while only 27. 5 minutes was spent in the Magnet Room. 42. 5 minutes was being spent on a 30 minute procedure. This was where the bottleneck was in the process. Staying with this current process and resources, the maximum capacity of this process can only be 8 procedures if all other inputs into this process ran smoothly (i. . no cancellations). Exhibit 1 Patient Check in until entrance into Magnet Room Minutes MR Technologist escorted the patient to the Magnet Room (asks questions to determine if any health risks/conflicts and if any patient has any metal components internally or on clothing) 59Patient – 42. 5 minutesMR Technologist – 42. 5 minutes Changing Room for patients wearing metal on their clothing (25% of patients)Magnet Room Patient Orientation and paperwork verification 127. 5 Positioning of Coil 4 MRI Scan time based on a 30 minute scheduled MRI scan)16. 5MRI Machine – 16. 5 minutes Data Entry (happened during scan)1 Printing MRI Scans (average 8 sheets at 45 seconds each)6 Patient back to reception Escort the Patient back to Front Desk 26 Changing Room 4 Monica Zimmerman, radiology department manager was pressuring Quinte MRI to hire another MR technologist to lighten Jeff’s workload and improve the process flow. David needed to review the cost of hiring an additional person to make the process flow better.He knew that the 1. Tesla MRI machine rated capacity was 2 patients per hour, however the actual scans in a day, would be based on the type of scan required. David used the 30 minute and the 1 hour procedure to determine what the potential spend per day was and what the annual spend would be. Note that any lost appointments resulted in a $700. 00 per scan loss, however this also could be a $700. 00 increase for unscheduled (walk-in) appointments. By looking at th e potential projected income, hiring another person was a possibility.Exhibit 2 Time – Min/Hour# performed$ scan suppliesper scan Daily RevenueBCMC chargeDaily revenue – BCMC chargeAnnual Revenue25% Tax $Income 3016145$700 $ 11,200$2,320$8,880$2,800,000$700,000$2,100,000 18145$700 $ 5,600$1,160$4,440$1,400,000$350,000$1,050,000 Alternatives and Options Criteria 1. Increase the process flow, machine capacity and change the position of the bottleneck 2. Increase revenue 3. Repair relationship and reputation with BCMC Alternative 1: (Strategic) Quinte MRI has found out that the manual process for taking appointments is creating many errors.If the system was computerized MRI test requirements could be input into the system and throughput could be maximized based on MRI procedure time required in order to maximize time slot available. Quinte MRI also realized that the MRI Technologist was performing administrative tasks that could be assigned to an assistant. By removing th ese tasks from the technologist, more time availability would become available for scheduling additional MRI tests. In order to process patients faster, a form could be developed that specifies what the patient must do prior to arrival at the MRI Clinic.Another form could be developed for when that patient arrives at the clinic that asks questions regarding health risks and indicating what restriction would prevent a patient from having an MRI. The assistant could take the patient all the way through the process until the Magnet room at which point the MR technologist would take over. There are necessary requirements that the MR technologist must do prior to completion of the scan, but the collection of the MRI scans and delivery of them back to the radiologist could be done by the assistant that is escorting the patient from the Magnet room.If we assume that most of the MRI scans are a half an hour, than patients could be scheduled every half hour in order to maximize both the capa city of the machine and the capacity of the technologist. Pros: By implementing the computer, there is more accuracy being collected for appointments and test requirements. By hiring the MR assistance, there is increased flow capacity because the technologist will handle only the MRI scans and not the administration task that were previous being done him.This takes the bottleneck out of the administrative task and aligns it to the maximum capacity of the machine thereby increasing revenue which provides the ability to hire the assistant. This would create reliability with the clinic again so that doctors will send their referrals to the clinic. Cons: A second MR technologist will not be hired and when it comes time for vacation of illness, there will be no one to step into the technologist position and ensure continuous flow.Quinte MRI would need to hire from a temporary agency in order to fulfill their requirement which means addition dollars will be spend. Alternative 2: (Tactical ) Quinte MRI could hire a second MRI Technologist to perform MRI scans alternating times with the first MRI Technologist to increase the flow and capacity of the process. This would take away the backlog and doctors could send their referrals to the clinic with a sense of reliability that the clinic will get it turnaround within 2 days. Pros:This would allow Quinte MRI to always have a back up in the event that one of the technologists is on vacation and / or ill. The increase revenue being generated due to increased MRI procedures could pay for the second MR Technologist. Cons: Based on the current practices, hiring a second technologist would alleviate some of the workload, however given that no effort has been made to correct the communication issues between the hospital/patient and the booking department, there is a strong possibility, that patients will still continue to be booked at the wrong time, cancel or just not show up.Without a procedure to hand how patients are dealt w ith from checking to magnet room, people could still be turn away due to health reasons, clothing that is not appropriate for scanning purposes. Recommendation The recommendation is to take Alternative #2 as it addresses all of the criteria by increasing the process flow, machine capacity and changes the bottle neck to the maximum machine capacity. It increases revenue and repairs the relationship and reputation with BCMC.

Logoplaste

Universidade Catolica Portuguesa Faculdade de Ciencias Economicas Empresariais Corporate Strategy Unilever’s ice cream brand Portfolio Students: Maria Ines Galhardo, n? 150106011 Claudia Filipe, n? 150106026 Ricardo Lloret, n? 150106111 Joana Rodrigues dos Santos, n? 150106123 Diogo Sousa, n? 150106125 In order to draw the BCG matrix, we started by collecting some data. Based on the Datamonitor Market Report 2006 (appendix 1), we were able to calculate the total ice cream’s market value of 2008.We made the choice to do the work for the year 2008 because the present year has not already ended. Thus it was only possible to calculate estimated values for 2008. Market value: (212. 8-161)/4 = 12. 95 million per year 161 + (12. 95*2) = 186. 9 million in 2008 With the objective of studying Unilever’s principal products, we had to take into account Nestle (Unilever’s biggest competitor). We chose one equal competitor for each group of ice creams we thought were mo re important (appendix 2). Among all ice creams of Unilever, we focused on the ones that had a direct competitor in Nestle.This is why we did not choose Carte D’or or Solero, we thought that its competitors were not as obvious as the others. We assumed then that the market shares from Unilever and Nestle were the same as in 2006 (appendix 3). These values will enable us to estimate market values for each company and afterwards to calculate market shares and values for each product. We determined the division of the market in four segments: Super premium, Premium, Regular and Economy. The segments were chosen according to a price/quality ratio for each product we took into account (Appendix 4).The different market shares for each segment were estimated assuming that the super premium products would be a market niche with a small part of the market; the premium would be the most part and regular and economy would have similar market shares but smaller. Then, we estimated also p roportions for the different products we took into account. Both Unilever and Nestle have 2 different market shares since we assumed that they value different products in different segments. The percentages are Unilever Economy 20% Super premium 5% Regular 15% Premium 60%The premium segment was divided in three different products with different proportions for Unilever and Nestle. Considering that we only studied one product in some segments, we considered the whole segment share for these ones and for the regular we regarded as to have other ice creams besides Calippo that we did not include (we took them into account as â€Å"others†). 3 Unilever – Premium Viennetta 17% Cornetto 43% Magnum 40% Nestle – Premium Tarte Carolina 19% Nestle 43% Extreme 38% Trough the division of the market, we were able to attribute to each product the market share inside its own company.Splitting the different segments, we multiplied the total percentage of the segment to the shar e of each product inside this segment (Appendix 5). For the growth of each product, we assumed values based on the growth of each segment (Appendix 6). Finally, to calculate the relative market shares, we had to divide Unilever’s market share for each product by Nestle’s market share for the respective competitor (Appendix 7). 4 5 Unilever Brand Portfolio: ? Cornetto – It is a premium product that is present in most of the restaurants and cafes in Portugal.Cornetto is a cash cow and yours best seller and that is why we did not consider having a big growth rate. We assumed that this ice cream is already in the desired place in the market for Unilever. Therefore the investments are not very high and it has a big return. ? Magnum – This represents the second best product of your company, also premium and with high sales. However, it is a relatively young brand, only created in 1990, that needs a higher investment than Cornetto to establish itself in the mark et.Strong investments in new products like the temptations or limited editions like 7 sins and marketing & communication plans make this brand a star. ? Viennetta – This is a premium product only sold in restaurants and supermarkets therefore its market share isn’t very big. Although the brand is old and as a take home product it is very popular, not many people buy Viennetta because the take home ice cream market is smaller and most of the purchases are impulse. According to the case study on â€Å"Global ice cream:Nestle goes on attack†, the premium segment is growing up to 3% and since this brand is known by everybody there isn’t a great need to spend many resources on it. Occasional new flavors were added, however without great success. Still, it is a cash cow and therefore a good product because of its growth rate. ? Kids – This category integrates all the children directed products of your company, such as Perna de Pau, Super Maxi, Epa and Mi ni-Milk, which are cheap products specially directed to children with high levels of milk and calcium.It belongs to the economic segment, therefore, also according to the article mentioned above, the market growth is almost static. In this segment the competition is stronger, because Nestle makes associations with known brands such as Smarties and Kit Kat, appealing to kid’s attention. The strong 6 investment that the competitors make on this category justifies why Ola is not the leader in it, making it a Dog but still having recent investments and trying to have a bigger market share. Calippo – This product represents the water-based products on your company, it is quite old and there is little differentiation between it and its competitors because there isn’t much space to evolve and innovate, therefore people won’t see significant differences between the value of each brand. There is small investment in this brand and low revenues, and since it is inte grated in the regular ice cream segment its growth is small or even static, thus making it a dog also. Ben & Jerry’s – This is your offer regarding the Super-Premium market segment, with high quality, high price ice creams with different flavors and colorful presentations. This brand is not yet very well-known and has a low market share because it targets a small market and it is yet in a phase of brand recognition. The company has to spend a lot of money in marketing campaigns to make the brand recognized by everyone and also in the research to find new flavors.According to the case study this market segment is expected to grow up to 6% and all this makes this brand a question mark or a problematic child. One problem for this brand in Portugal is that it is mainly sold in Ben and Jerry’s own stores, which are not many and being a recent brand it is difficult to make people know the locations of the stores. Brand Portfolio Recommendations: According to the BCG m atrix your brand portfolio is well balanced, due to you having products in the different quadrants and in different stages of the lifecycle.Magnum, Cornetto and Viennetta are very profitable brands that support the less profitable brands of your company. However, it is not recommended to drop the other brands because your company needs to be 7 present in every segment in order to compete. This will increase brand awareness and reach more customers. Having this in mind, instead of decreasing any brands, you should increase some and adjust others. ? In addition we believe that your company should include low fat products directed to people that want to enjoy ice cream but don’t want the downsides of it.By providing these low caloric and low fat products your company will be covering an important segment that are the women, that according to the Key Note (page 53) are greater ice cream consumers than man, with increasingly focus on image not only in terms of self esteem but also on professional and personal related matters. Ben & Jerry’s should create a new range of products with some versions of their best sellers in a low caloric way trying to maintain their original flavor. The other brands should adopt the same strategy and create at least one product with less calories. You should increase Ben & Jerry’s market share and brand recognition to transform this problematic child in a star product. An idea can be to create a version of their ice cream for impulse consuming, perhaps adopting a similar format to the magnum ice cream (ice cream on stick) and include this brand in the Ola selling points, thus reaching more consumers. ? Your companies’ Kids segment is not very well positioned and it is not the market leader. To change this situation it would be a good idea to arrange partnerships with other companies, such as confectionery brands and cartoon enterprises.You could create a partnership with known confectionery brands like Kinde r because it will benefit from the other company’s brand recognition with little effort and reach this market segment with better arguments to compete with Nestle. 8 ? On the other hand the company should make a research every six month to determine which are the more popular cartoons at the moment and create a new product that offers prizes related to those cartoons. The basic product should be a high calcium ice cream that changes its packaging and prizes according to the research results.By doing this you will be captivating children’s attention that most of the time is only directed to the appearance and also their parents because you are offering an ice cream that is good for the kid’s health and growth. ? To access the Portuguese market it a good idea to create a new brand that sells ice cream with the flavors of some of the better recognized typical sweets in Portugal, such as â€Å"doce d’ovos†, â€Å"arroz doce† and â€Å"pastel de nata†. This brand would be sold as a premium product in restaurants and supermarkets. Another idea to increase your brand portfolio is to create specifically 18+ products with alcoholic beverage flavors such as vodka, whisky and baileys with special focus on a regional beverage that is Oporto wine that is typically Portuguese. This product should be premium or superpremium and it should be sold not only on the usual channels such as fancy restaurants and supermarkets but also in bars and summer discos. 9 Appendixes Appendix 1 2006 Market Value Growth Market share Source: Datamonitor Market Report 2006 2011 212,8 million 5,7% (2006-2011) 53,9% 161 million 4,3%Appendix 2 Unilever Ben and Jerry's Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Calippo Kids Outros Nestle Nestle Gelataria Nestle Extreme Tarte Carolina Pirulo Kids Outros Appendix 3 Unilever Market share Market value 0,56 Nestle 0,13 186900000 104664000 24297000 10 Appendix 4 Segments Super Premium Premium Products Ben and Jerry's Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Regular Economic Calippo Ola kids Appendix 5 Unilever Market Share Amount of Sales (â‚ ¬) 5,00% 5. 233. 200 24,00% 25. 119. 360 25,80% 27. 003. 312 10,20% 10. 675. 728 5,00% 5. 233. 200 20,00% 20. 932. 800 10,00% 10. 466. 400 100,00% 104. 664. 000Ben and Jerry's Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Calippo Kids Outros Total Nestle Market share Amount of Sales (â‚ ¬) 8,00% 1. 943. 760 23,65% 5. 746. 240,5 20,90% 5. 078. 073 10,45% 2. 539. 036,5 6,00% 1. 457. 820 23,00% 5. 588. 310 8,00% 1. 943. 760 100% 24. 297. 000 Nestle Gelataria Nestle Extreme Tarte Carolina Pirulo Kids Outros Total 11 Appendix 6 Super Premium Premium Regular Economy Market Growth 6% 3% 1,50% 1,50% Source: Datamonitor Market Report 2006 Appendix 7 Relative Market share Ben and Jerry’s Magnum Cornetto Viennetta Calippo Kids Mean 0,63 1,01 1,23 0,98 0,83 0,87 0. 93 Market Growth 5,30% 2,90% 1,67% 1,90% 0,93% 1. 63% 2. 37% 12

The main challenges and opportunities with expanding the sonic and Essay

The main challenges and opportunities with expanding the sonic and compositional potential of the piano - Essay Example Paddles, knobs, and notes may reduce its popularity and acceptability among pianists as well as from the audiences. It will help to increase the creativity of performers, composers and will satisfy the aesthetic senses of the audiences. The electronic implication in the piano and extra functionality is not easy to be fitted on the same keyboard. Their operations require extra switches and knobs that would pose an irritating hindrance in the instrument’s smooth play. Kim earlier attempt to produce new harmonics from the existing object on a piano became fail. However, the most important task for the project is to make a blend from a running piano with the sampler creating pleasantly coherent interfaces. It is also important to contain the economic aspect of the new piano in order to get acceptance from people. The electronic and computer interventions will surely increase the cost of the piano. Furthermore, it will be a real challenge to limit the size of the piano. Kim and Kate are also working to develop travel version of PNOSCAN for easy handling. The assemblage of the PNOSCAN in a piano is a laborious work of hours, and it is needed to be more simplified and easy. They want that the pianist should have access to the extended sounds produced from the super piano without any rearrangement in the keys of the piano. Also, three separate patches suggested by Kate are to be placed on the same keyboard that may hinder the free operation of the instrument and interact with the sounds in order to produce sound beyond its sonic abilities.

The challenges facing the deployment and use of IT for the development Literature review

The challenges facing the deployment and use of IT for the development of public sector in Saudi Arabia - Literature review Example Majority of the people have expressed disbelief in the Saudi Arabia’s capability to transform the government towards accountability and transparency; the e-government could offer a solution in the country that is faced with deep rooted bureaucracy (Al-Jboori, Gharaibeh and Sahraoui 2006, p6). There are a number of challenges that the government of Saudi Arabia face in the deployment and implementation of IT in the public sector and they include; (a) government transformation and reform, (b) e-Citizen participation, (c) citizen access, security and privacy, (d) management of the e-government program, (e) evaluation, transparency, accountability, (f) soft and cultural barriers, and (g) the interoperability of the e-government platforms (Al-Jboori, Gharaibeh and Sahraoui 2006, p11). The rationale for the project is to identify the major obstacles or challenges that face the government of Saudi Arabia in the deployment and use of IT in the development of the public sector. Saudi A rabia is among the developing nations and the risks that are associated with the deployment of IT differ from those in the developed nations; these risks are associated with organizational and cultural factors (International Resources Management Association 2002, p36). Aim To analyze the level of IT development in Saudi Arabia To establish the level to which IT is applied in the public sector in Saudi Arabia To identify the main challenges in the deployment and the use of IT in the development of the public sector. To come up with tangible methods that can be used to alleviate these challenges. Tasks Research data is usually categorized as secondary and primary data. Primary data is developed by the researcher through the use of the data gathering techniques and secondary data is usually generated by others and it includes case materials, manual database, computer database, government departments, public organizations, and data-sets. There are a number of approaches that are used to collect data. The nature of the variables and the research questions determine the choice of the strategy for the collection of data (DeMatteo, Festinger and Marczyk 2010, n.p.). Preliminary preparations and obtaining Permissions Preliminary analysis of the public sector will be done; the preliminary analysis will be in the form of a pilot study. The analysis will entail finding suitable places (the places presumed to offer the required information) and in this case is the public sector. The number of respondents for this research is 50 people and they will be chosen randomly from the different sections of the public sector. These people have to be directly involved with issues concerning IT. Since the public sector is diverse, there are some institutions that restrict the collection of research data. A written consent or permission will have to be obtained from these institutions in the public sector. Data Collection For this research, both the primary and secondary will provide u seful information regarding the public sector in Saudi Arabia. The primary data will be collected from the researcher and the secondary data will be collected from the publications made by the government departments and in particular the department that is responsible for IT. Another important primary and

Dreams websites evaluation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dreams websites evaluation - Term Paper Example Dreams are part of a human being’s life.It is said to be products of the subconscious mind, defined and described in numerous ways by experts and those who subjectively experience the dream itself.So much is the impact of dreams to man, that he struggles to remember and find the meaning of such reverie as he awakens. Many have tried to interpret dreams, as these illusions are surprisingly connected between individuals through common objects and events. Two different websites, visited on March 22, 2011, regarding dreams will be tackled in the present paper, evaluating them according to several factors. Websites on dreams As mentioned, the websites visited concern things as dreams and nightmares, finding their meanings and interpreting them. The first site can be found at http://dreamsleep.net/, Dream Meanings - Interpreting the Hidden Meaning of Dreams, created and maintained by Craig Hamilton-Parker T/A Q.K.E. Ltd. The website is full of materials and multimedia that would aid the Internet user in analyzing his or her dreams. In addition, they have live psychic readings, where the dreamer can choose a specific psychic through the profiles given in a particular section of the website. The other website, Dreams & Nightmares, can be found at http://www.dreamsnightmares.com/index.html. No name of the individual or corporation who or that established it is found, but it is hosted by Theorem.ca. It also has several sections emphasizing on dream analysis, symbols, common instances, et cetera. The author(s) of the text written in the site answer certain dream situations with the emphasis of the dreamer’s â€Å"personal touch,† reminding that the interpretation of each reverie is subjective and relative. It gives links to books that may be purchased if the Internet user wants to read more on a certain topic. Appraisal Dream Meanings has several sections that are easily located. The main page also has a video of Craig Hamilton-Parker, who orients the website visitors of the community he and his team have prepared to help dreamers in finding meanings and interpreting their visions psychologically or spiritually, whether they be common or unusual dreams. Links to several dream videos and articles can be found on the right side of the page, and other resources are also accessible by merely clicking on topics which you want to browse. When opening a specific section, one can see that there are other sets of resources and multimedia available. There are visible ads and psychic reading numbers as well. The website is overall â€Å"visitor-friendly,† with easy to read fonts, font sizes and appropriate colored layout that would not visually strain the visitor. Dreams & Nightmares has less resources compared to the previous site. Sections that deal with interpretation, symbols, et cetera, are also available. The main page is bare compared to the other, comprising only of text explaining dreams and nightmares, with small pictures. The font and font size make the text readable, but its fineness placed on a white background may make it hard to read among website visitors who have visual problems. Promotions of certain books and reading materials that could be purchased online can also be found there. As noticed, the style in the sections are usually the same, where someone expresses his or her dream and the author answers the concern and how the dream could be interpreted according to the context of the dreamer. Generally speaking though, it is not hard to go through the site, but an individual trying to dig the most information he or she can about a certain dream may not be satisfied with the content of the website. Comparison In comparing both sites, I would personally recommend Dream Meanings over Dreams & Nightmares. At first glance, the former appears to be more â€Å"visitor-friendly† than the latter. To those who are deeply bothered by their dreams, Dream Meanings somehow flaunts that it can cate r to their needs. For instance, there are videos that can be watched to help the

Hospitality and Tourism Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hospitality and Tourism Industry - Essay Example (Smith, 2003, p. 17) The term 'sustainable tourism' usually denotes the application of the more general concept of sustainable development to tourism as a specific economic sector. The ethical responsibilities towards code of practice enable the industry to acquire a critical role in protecting the vital needs of not only mainstream population but also the minorities that exist without political backup and economic support. Whether it is political extravaganza targeting masses or be it minorities, the role of legislation and codes should be based on the recognition of human rights and custom values. Hall & Richards (2000) while providing example of sustainable environment highlights the hospitality sector in which there are particular procedures of the installation of state-of-the-art energy-saving technology and waste-management which are followed by most of the hotels. In this context it is better for a hotel to survive thereby adopting 'sustainability'. For example a hotel can almost immediately have an impact on costs and may increase revenue if the organisation advertises its 'green credentials' and so attracts more eco-conscious clients. (Hall & Richards, 2000, p. 64) However, this may well lead to an increase in the level of aggregate demand and consequently an overall rise in total energy use and waste generation. Furthermore, the larger number of visitors puts unintended and increased pressure on the local infrastructure, services and environment, the effect of which is uncertain, especially with regard to the additional financial burden which is likely to fall not onl y on the public sector but the private (business) and personal sectors (perhaps receiving no direct benefit from tourism), because of the increased costs of mitigating the adverse effects of tourism, particularly dealing with waste. Besides characteristics, what matters within the context of tourism, are the characteristics of the natural, cultural and built environments of destinations that attract tourists towards them. All environments are different and have their own unique features, and what makes a particular type of environment attractive for tourism is a function of value judgements and fashions that exist in society. (Holden, 2003, p. 24) Code of Practice from Managerial Aspect The major constraints in today's tourism industry are those approaches, which are adopted by the managers, thereby influencing the hospitality of the product and labour markets, organisational status and structure, including size of workplace, and culture are chief among the factors thought to place constraints on managers. Managers, as much as workers and

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Philosophy of science - Essay Example Kuhn considers paradigm as an important scientific tool that supports the continuation of a particular research. According to him, paradigm is a structure that contains the widely accepted views about phenomena. It has various roles in normal science. One of the roles of paradigm is the ability to determine what a researcher should study or research (Kuhn 43). This is role one of the guiding principles of paradigm as explained by the philosopher. This means that paradigm defines the existing problems while helping one find solutions to the problem. Knowing about the existing problems helps one to know what to study. The role is different from Popper’s falsification which holds that a research should dictate a paradigm because in normal science, the objective of the study is defined by paradigm. Kuhn claims that if one doubts the truth of the existing theories, it would be difficult for him to conduct any research. For instance, if a scientist is to research about a problem rel ated to atoms. She or she would be guided by the basic atomic paradigm such as the mass of the atom to solve the problem. If the researcher would doubt the existing theories about the mass of an atom, it would be difficult to provide the background of the problem. However, since a paradigm is already established, one does not have to focus on verifying the assumptions of the study as they are widely accepted. The other role of paradigm is that it guides a researcher on the types of research questions that should be used in a study.

Mentorship For Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mentorship For Nursing - Essay Example Consequentially, mentors are responsible for and can enhance the quality of mentoring culture in clinical settings. How to promote effective mentorship is a difficult question, but it is clear that a good mentor will avoid the errors of over-protection and the flaws of the master-protege relationship, but will display appreciation of students’ efforts, demonstrate genuine concern for their successes and promote mutuality and reciprocity in their relations with students. Mentorship is becoming a critical instrument of growing professional nurses. With the shortage of professional nursing staff, mentorship has a potential to expand the pool of professional, caring nurses in healthcare. â€Å"Mentorship initiatives, especially in hospital settings, are being introduced and fostered to attract nurses to healthcare systems with the primary goals of nursing retention and support† (Block et al 134). However, mentorship is not good by itself; rather, good mentorship is the key to developing and retaining professional nursing staff (Jarvis 415). Much has been written and said about factors affecting mentorship and mentored students, in particular. Apart from the fact that students assessed formatively on their hand washing skills experience anxiety and anticipation, formative assessment also exemplifies the final product of the long process of mentoring and can be used to expose the flaws and inconsistencies in student-mentor relations. A student assessed formatively on their hand washing skills is primarily influenced by the quality of their relationship with the mentor, mentor guidance, culture, and leadership style (Bally 144; Bell-Ellison & Dedrick 556-7; Littlejohn 456; Saarikoski 1016). Guidance affects the quality of nursing student results, as it represents routine elements of daily cooperation with students, including problem-solving activities and planning formative assessment of the basic nursing skills (Bell-Ellison & Dedrick 556; Berk et al 70 ). The quality of the student’s presentation is profoundly influenced by their relationship with the mentor; this relationship incorporates a complex set of elements, including student and mentor’s personal problems, worldview, and social activities (Bell-Ellison & Dedrick 557). One important aspect that influences both the relationship and the results of formative assessment is the mentor’s leadership style, as well as the supervision system (Saarikoski 1016). Simply stated, how the student is assessed and what skills he (she) develops as a result of the mentorship program largely depends upon the quality of mentor’s supervision and their understanding of the students’ experiences, contexts, and cultures (Saarikoski 1016). The importance of the mentorship-culture relationship can hardly be overstated. Successful mentors must be able to create a â€Å"full† picture of the organization and leadership, by recognizing a complex interrelationshi p between mentorship, leadership and organizational culture (Bally 144; Callahan & Ruchlin 296; Neuhauser 471). This picture will help nursing mentors to understand how various aspects of one and the same culture interact. The choice of particular leadership style must also depend upon the culture, in which students and mentors interact, since no mentorship will work when there is no leadership-culture congruence

Pascal and the Probability Theory Research Paper

Pascal and the Probability Theory - Research Paper Example His father introduced him to Mathematics when he was 15 years old. Despite this fact, he had started making discoveries in geometry as early as 12 years. Come 1939, his family moved to Rouen after his father was appointed a tax collector. His creativity was exhibited at this point, whereby; he was able to invent a calculator so as to make his father’s work easier during his day to day endeavors. Later in 1647, Pascal conducted and wrote about experiments concerning vacuums, but many scientists disregarded the existence of vacuums. For instance, the great French philosopher Rene Descartes visited Pascal for 2 days and disagreed with him concerning the vacuum. In a letter Descartes wrote to Huygens after this encounter, he asserts that â€Å"Pascal had too much vacuum in his head†1. This did not deter him from pursuing mathematics and science; in 1653, he published a treatise on the equilibrium of Liquids. Pascal later invented â€Å"Pascal’s Triangle†, a tr iangular array of numbers which solves mathematical problems. He would later become interested in probability after a gambling question was projected to him. In correspondence with another great scientist Fermat, they were able to solve the problem of points; how to divide stakes in a game of dice if the game is incomplete. Pascal almost lost his life in 1654, and this affected him psychologically to the point of being a staunch Christian. Even after setting the ground for the theory of probability, Pascal quit Mathematics to pursue a quieter Christain life in a monastery in Paris. He never married. He succumbed in 1662 to malignant stomach ulcers. Introduction Even from an early age, Pascal was curious about natural occurrences, and he formulated experiments to study these occurrences. Pascal studied fluids, pure and applied sciences, pressure and machines, among other scientific principles. While still a teenager in 1642, Pascal had begun ground-breaking work on calculating machin es. At first, his attempts failed, but he finally managed to invent the mechanical calculator three years later2. This simply shows that Pascal was able to invent scientific principles from an earlier age. However, one of Pascal’s greatest invention is in the field of Mathematics is the â€Å"Theory of Probability†, a theory that is centered on estimating and calculating the chance of doing something. For example, if 6 men are playing dice, what is the chance that each of them can win the game? And if at all two are eliminated, what is the chance that each of the remaining four will win the game? Probability centers on such occurrences. The theory of probability was advanced so as to prove the fact that chance can be mathematically calculated accurately. Various facets in the modern world apply probability. This is not just in mathematics courses, but it is also applicable in the practical courses like genetics, quantum mechanics, kinetic theory of gases, industrial qu ality control and insurance.This paper dwells on the history of the probability theory, and how Pascal contributed to this theory, and how his findings were shaped by other great scientists who were also researching on the theory. Pascal’s involvement with probability dates back to 1654 when another scientist, Chevalier challenged him to solve a puzzle which at that time was known as â€Å"the problem of points†. This problem had been posed in the late 1400s and no one had managed to solve it for a period of 200 years. The problem was that; how the stakes of a chance game should be divided

An Undisputed Social Issue in The Philippines Essay Example for Free

An Undisputed Social Issue in The Philippines Essay Poverty is a state of being poor, indigence, lack of material things and finances. Poverty puts people into the lowest level in a society. Poor people, most of the time, are neglected by the government, shunned by the society and not given enough opportunities to prosper. They live in a filthy environment, living among a community of criminals. We can enumerate countless of unpleasant words to define the effect of poverty, and there are countless of reasons and causes for these. Poverty remains the central development issue in the Philippines and, despite the ambitious development goals laid out by the government, the country has not been able to sustain the economic growth required to reduce poverty to acceptable levels. Why Poverty Remains a Social Issue in the Philippines First, there is a fundamental disconnect between Filipino elites and the poor. The political leadership in the Philippines has always been drawn from those elites, and those politicians have traditionally played the role of patrons and benefactors, relying on the pork barrel and personal/family funds (often acquired through corruption) to essentially buy votes. â€Å"The core principle of democracy that representatives should be drawn from those they represent and advocate for the true interests of their constituents has not been operative† (Abueva, 1964). Philippine Presidents in particular have been drawn from the ranks of the wealthy and privileged. How can they relate to what it means to be poor or hungry? Even if their hearts in the right place (which is not all that common), well-photographed visits to squatter settlements are not the answer. Second, the Philippines system is exceedingly politicized. President Arroyo herself is already focused on the 2004 presidential elections. In a sense, you cant blame GMA. Her predecessor, Erap, had a built-in constituency among the masa. But President Arroyo must create such a base, given that she is the daughter of a previous President and has virtually nothing in common with the poor people of her country. Look more:  problems of scarcity essay She has worked hard to develop support among the common folk, dressed in jeans with regularity, and sung on stage with popular recording artists. She has also latched onto fighting poverty as a key policy emphasis. In her State-of-the-Nation (SONA) address on July 22nd, she emphasized the so-called rolling stores trucks loaded with subsidized rice, rice, sugar, and canned meat that ply the streets of Manila as a sterling example of her administrations anti-poverty programs. The only problem was that her remarks had knowledgeable economists practically rolling in the aisles, given that few poor people ever get access to the trucks and only 5% of the nations poor live in Metro Manila. But real poverty alleviation programs where they are most needed say in rural Mindanao would lack the publicity opportunities of the rolling stores on Manila streets. Additionally, several other studies list down the primary causes of poverty in the Philippines in terms of economic state: 1. The basic economic problem in the Philippines is inefficient and very low incomes. 2. The finances of the Government had become steadily worse and were not critical, The Treasury had a large and mounting deficit with taxes covering little more than 60% of the expenditures. 3. The country had an excessive volume of imports. In the meantime, the volume of exports was less than before the war an d could be expected to grow only gradually. 4. There had been inequalities in the level of income of people. While the standard of living of a great segment of the population remained below that of the pre-war level, the profits of businessmen and large landowners had risen considerably. Under the circumstances, the continued rise in the prices of commodities tended to transfer real income from the poor to the wealthy and; 5. The inefficiency and corruption in the government led the people to lose their faith and confidence in the ability of the government â€Å"to protect the interest of all the people. † The result was demoralization of the people. According to history, â€Å"the destruction of the national economy as a result of the war posed serious problems of subsistence and of peace and order† (Agoncillo, 1990). In such circumstances the leaders if the nation could only rely on the United States for financial and other material aid. The hundreds of millions of dollars given t the Philippines by the United States in the form of cash and surplus properties were used to rehabilitate agriculture, commerce, trade and industry. Some of it, however, went to the pockets of dishonest officials. There were marked increases in the gross national output and income, but the cost of living, as a whole, continues to soar or, at least, to remain static on the basis of the immediate post-liberation years. At the same time, labor grew and continues to grow, demanding increases in wages and better living conditions. The total picture of the national economy has improved, but the improvements are not sufficient to bring down cost of living, which has remained one of the highest in the world. Agricultural production – The destruction caused by the last war told heavily on the productive capacity of the people and their standard of living (Agoncillo, 1990). With financial help from the United States, however, the government, in the first ten years of the Republic, had succeeded in at least partially solving the minor economic problems. Thus, for instance, crop production from 1946 and 1956 increased from 3, 507, 200 metric tons to almost double the amount of 6, 274, 900 metric tons. This increased production was the upshot of the expanded area planted to food crops and the application of improved means of increasing the yield per hectare, such as the use of fertilizer, irrigation, the use of better seeds, and the effective use of chemicals against plant pests and diseases. Production of export crops also increased tremendously from 315, 000 metric tons in 1956, with copra and sugar leading all export crops. Other exports like abaca, tobacco and their by-products have not so far completely recovered from the effects of the last war (Martin, 1999). However, some are blamed upon the things done by irresponsible individuals from high to low profile individuals such as population growth – some Filipinos believe that it is natural for every married woman to bear a child in their wombs because they are with their husbands (Friedman et al. , 1977). And this are very wrong beliefs since if you will be reasonable enough, you will realize that having a child is always together with great responsibility that has no end. And that you will realize that having more and more children will cause great scarcity in your family such as you would not be able to send your children to school and you would not be able to provide enough foods so that you children will be healthy and do good in school. Population growth is also the reason for a number of malnourish children in the Philippines. Unemployment is also a very common cause of poverty in the Philippines since there are several Filipinos who are unemployed plus the fact that there are many companies that are affected of the global economic crisis. And the least thing that you can do about unemployment is to find a best way on generating money like you can accept laundry services, plumbing services, or electrical repair services if you are skilled enough to do the job. Then, you could start a certain profitable business like food house or a small store that does not require you much capital so that you will not find it hard to save enough money from the services that you are offering. Governance concern is still deemed as one of the main reasons of poverty in the Philippines because of the activities of the corrupt government officials. They are using the money of the people to achieve the power and authority that they wanted to have and once they have it they will automatically take advantage of their power to the point that they will neglect the yoke of the people and set aside their promises when they are just campaigning and try to convince the people to vote for them. Agricultural problems also pose as the natural cause of the poverty in the Philippines because of the wrong activities of people. They ruin the treasure of the nature for their own sake without any idea that the nature they are destroying is the main source of almost all the products that exist in this world. Some of the examples of destroying the nature are the irresponsible disposal of wastes and trash, dynamite fishing, illegal logging and more. Another cause is said to be disability – this is also one of the possible causes of poverty in the Philippines since more and more people nowadays become disabled because of several illnesses and diseases that arise like AH1N1 virus, SARS, dengue, and more. Disability may be also caused by uncontrolled population growth, for instance, you have ten kids in the house, and can you imagine attending to their needs everyday? Well, definitely not so the tendency is that they are prone to accidents that will cause them to be disabled since they are at very young age that are typically playful. Starvation has also been one of the primary effects of poverty in the Philippines. Eating is necessary for us to survive. As humans we need to eat three times a day or more. Unfortunately, not all of us can afford this kind of living. Many people, children and families in this world, suffer from hunger due to lack of finances for their everyday needs. Based on the record of UNICEF, more than half of the children all over the world are malnourished. Most of them came from countries that are less abundant. Apparently, research shows that education has also been a problem in the Philippines. It is not prioritized by the government because only the privileged can have access to basic education in the sense that most of the children in the Philippines could not afford the needs of a student such as food, clothing, school materials and even fares used for transportation. There are also schools which offer free education like the government schools and private schools which accept scholarships, but still, lack in financial support is their main dilemma. These are just some of the reasons why most of the students from different levels take education for granted. Instead of going to school, they spent their time working in order to help their families make a living. The masses have multiplied extremely. Increase in opportunities for employment has not yet overcome the rapid increase in population, resulting in the multiplication of the number of jobless proletariat. When one considers that a large number of school children become â€Å"school orphans† that is, they leave school before or after finishing Grade IV, and that they eventually become peasants or laborers, one ceases to wonder why the base of the triangular structure of society has widened considerably. The strong contrast between the upper classes and the lower classes is that the former are earning more and more and the latter less and less. In other words, the distribution of wealth is one-sided as to make society top heavy. In the countrys present situation, the economy of the Philippines is struggling. The government has a huge debt from the World Bank and those money which the government borrowed where not used in projects which could alleviate poverty but were where lost to corruption. Thats why many Filipinos blame the government for the slow progression of our country. The Philippines was even given a tag as one of the most corrupt countries in Asia. Many people also blame the government because regardless of scarcity that all of us are experiencing, the government still manages to increase the prices of the merchandise in the markets. Conclusion True anti-poverty programs take a long time to bear fruit, and the politically-driven nature of Philippine government sector programs almost ensures that the emphasis will continue to be on quick fixes or interventions that provide high visibility and political payoffs (Warner Harris). This is unfortunate given the seriousness of the situation and the implications for the country if concerted action is not taken. Poverty and malnutrition are already at alarming levels in this country, and the countrys too-rapid population growth is magnifying the strain on limited budgetary resources. The rapidly growing population is jeopardizing the quality of basic social services, contributing to the ongoing decline in quality of basic education, and limiting access to health care (especially primary health care, reproductive health/family planning, immunization, and feeding programs). Achieving any significant reduction in poverty will require rapid economic growth, growth of a magnitude not seen in recent years. Further, addressing issues of inequality will require significant investments in human capital, especially in improving the quantity and quality of primary education. The result of such unbalanced development of society is discontent and grave social problems such as poverty. The extreme poverty has given rise to starvation in some communities an to criminality, The unequal distribution of material possessions, in which the rich wlallow in wealth and the poor in filth is one of the reasons for the rise in criminality. Poverty has alos given rise to a new class known as squatters. References Abueva, J. V. Bridging the Gap Between the Elite and the People in the Philippines, Philippine Journal of Public Administration, October 1964, pp. 325-347; Agoncillo, T. V. (1990). History of the Filipino People Eighth Edition. (pp. 503-512. ) Quezon City: Garotech Publishing. Faith, R. (1996). Poverty, A History Of. Journal of Rural Studies, 12(2), 212-214. Friedmann, B. , Coy R. , Wilson, L. (1977). Emergences: Gender struggles for livelihood in Latin America. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California. Martin, A. A. (1999) Philippine Land Reform: Perpetuating US Colonial Policy. Philippine Studies, Volume 47, Second Quarter 1999; Warner, J. , Harris, R. (n. d. ). Problems with poverty in third world countries. In M. B. Duran (Ed. ), Poverty and identity: studies in self and culture (pp. 39-58). Amsterdam: Daryl Benjamins Publishing Company.

Nature Strongly Influences Early Human Development Essay Example for Free

Nature Strongly Influences Early Human Development Essay Since biology was determined as a science there have always been argues about the question of whether nature or nurture influence is more important to early human development. Early human development includes the period between conceiving the fetus and till the first steps of infancy. Each arguing side has many supporting arguments and evidences, which bring a new fuel to this ever-burning flame. Although nurture’s influence on the newborns could not be underestimated, nature’s influence is stronger and more important to the early human development because of genes and some inevitable processes in development. As it is known, at the moment of conception a remarkable amount of personal characteristics are already determined by the genes. They decide sex, the color of eyes and human characteristics. These genetic determinants are expressed in development through the process of maturation. This evidence shows the role of nature is much higher than the role of nurture. Despite this view, many still consider nurture to be more influential to early human development due to conditions in uterine environment. However, such an argument could not deny the fact that early human development innately determined sequences of growth and change that a relatively independent on environmental events. The process of human’s fetus development within the mother’s body is strictly fixed by genetically programmed time schedule, and fetal behavior, such as kicking, also follows an orderly sequences that depends on the stage of growth. The process of maturation is also fixed by this schedule. One of the best examples of inevitability of these processes in development is disappearance of the reflexive head-turning response to the direction of the source of sound. The temporary disappearance of this reflex probably represents a maturational transition from a reflexive response controlled by sub cortical areas of the brain to a voluntary attempt to locate the sound source. (Hiller, Hewitt Morrongiello, 1992; Ashmead et al. , 1991; Field, 1987). By four months, infants will reach the correct direction toward the source of sound in the dark; by six months, they show a marked increase in their responsiveness to sounds that accompanied by interesting sights and are able to pinpoint the location of sound more precisely, an ability that continues to improve into their second year (Hiller, Hewitt Morrongiello, 1992; Ashmead et al., 1991; Field, 1987). Opponents argue that this genetically programmed schedule is depends on environmental influence and nurture. Study carried out by McGraw indicates that practice or extra stimulation can accelerate the appearance of motor behaviors to some extent, especially in a stepping reflex. However, this five-seven weeks difference on start of walking between stimulated and does not stimulated newborns just highlights the inevitability of development processes. In conclusion, it should be evident that the arguments which was given to support that nurture is more strongly influences early human development is not valid. On the contrary, many people involved to studying this issue say that genes contribute to strengthen of natures influence on early human development by inevitability of natural processes. Furthermore, extra stimulation is not so significantly important for development because the children may develop without it. Therefore, Nature strongly influences early human development than nurture.

The People of Rajasthan

The People of Rajasthan When this magnificent beauty Rajasthan entails into our minds, the very first visual of this grand state comes with the images of iridescent lights and a wide variety of energetic folk dances and enthusiastic music it also reminds us of the desert- stretches, the forts, palaces, the mighty warriors, and royal robes of the rajas and maharajas. Thinking of this princely state also memorises us through the magnificent beauty which is established through the architectural wonders of havelis. The word Rajasthan literary means the abode of kings. Its pre-independence name Rajputana meant the homeland of -the mighty Rajputs. An energetic and a vibrant state where royal glory and tradition meets the colors of this world, contradicting the vast area of desserts and sand lies a perfect blend of people, culture, tradition, music, architecture, cuisine all in one pot. Rajasthans vast ocean of sand is contradictory to the colourful and vibrant culture and tradition it possesses. Growing generatio ns have seen their cultivated culture of music, art and dance through ages. A vast and wonder-laced state with treasures more sublime than those of fable, the Land of the Kings paints a bold image People of Rajasthan There is always an inadequate knowledge of the place without knowing its people. Rajasthan is an anthropological mixture of people who come from varied variety of ethnic, economic, religious, social and cultural background. In the ancient times the caste of the person determined their profession. As times have changed it slowly has adopted a birth based caste system. Many caste and sub-caste reside in this grand state of Rajasthan. The warriors of the clan are the Hindu Rajput constitute major portion of the residents of Rajasthan. The Brahmins and the vaishya also form a part of it. The population also consists of the muslims, Sikhs ,jains and sindhis. Major portion of the livelihood of the tribes like Jat, Gurjar, Mali arises from agricultural based activities. Other are free to choose their profession by will. The dresses and the ornaments used and worn by the folks are greatly influenced by their caste, economic status, climate profession and also history. Culture of Rajasthan Music and folk dances of Rajasthan The living soul of the people lies in there folk music and dance which also add a glamour in their hard lives. People in this state are very fun loving and energetic. They have highly cultivated classical and folk dances which have been a part of their culture for growing generations now. Folk music flourished due to the kings of Rajputana who embodied music in their courts. The music constitutes different flavours of folk music, the hymns and prayers in praise of the Lord, the magnificent stories of the chivalry of the mighty Rajput emperors, the local folk dances and songs in praise of the rain God. The vibrant gay colours of the attire totally contradict to the backdrop of the plain coloured desert and invoke the feeling of engaging in the dance. All the traditionally based old dance forms are still practiced religiously. Some of the peculiar dance forms are kaibelia dance, Ghoomar dance, Chari dance, Kacchi -Ghodi , fire dance and terah taai. Other types of dances are enforsed during different occasions. Art and Craft of Rajasthan This state is well known for textiles, semi precious stones, handicrafts, traditional and colourful art. The local furniture has complex carving and bright colour. There are many prints like block prints, tie and die prints which are the major products which are exported from Rajasthan. The blue pottery in Jaipur is particularly famous all over the world. We are aware of how much this beautiful state has to offer to tourists. We have however chosen something very different and rare for our DIP research  project. We all know that havelis are architectural monuments built by the rich merchants and traders to show off their wealth, and built by the well  to do families in the 17th and 18th century to protect themselves from the extreme climatic conditions, in the region known as Shekhawati. In the semi arid dessert regions of Shekhawati, the day would be boiling hot and the nights would be as cold as freezing ice. The land and its people This region of Shekhawati lies roughly between Jaipur, Delhi and Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan. There is little of industrialization that takes place in this region and farming is poor. Some families leave this region due to failure in financial gains, but they return back to their birthplace: either for retirement or to settle down again. Among the few of them that return are the Rajputs, the Shekhawats (whose ancestor gave its name to this land). The Shekhawati region, unlike most other parts of Rajasthan was never a single kingdom; it remained a loosely held conderation of feudal principalities. The Shekhawati land, is known for its frescos. What sets this region completely apart are the eye-striking beautifully made frescos. This part of the desert was once a part of Aryavat, the land of the Aryans who spread too a great extent to the northern part of our country. Aryans, were the community that composed their sacred texts, the oldest in the world, which are the VEDAS here. It would also be interesting to know that archaeologists have found remains of sites contemporary with the Indus Valley civilization dating all the way back to 200 BC. Our topic for this research project is: Comparative study of architecture of Havelis and their impact on society today. This topic of the architecture of havelis has indeed interested us as a group and we would love to explore this aspect of Rajasthan. It has a massive huge number of ancient havelis situated in the region of Shekhawati, where we plan to visit and study and carry out an  analysis of the different havelis The comparative study will be based on the  Architecture of the haveli The interior (frescos, murals, paintings, inscriptions The exterior (sculptures, doorways, bhaitak -seating area, hathi pol-entrances The way it has been constructed (Muslim, Hindu , Brahmin, Rajput) If the Haveli has been constructed keeping in mind the Vaastu (which will not be the same for the havelis that are owned by a different caste If the haveli has been constructed according to the climatic changes The materials that were used to construct the havelis According to us, this topic has a lot to offer to us because each one of us in the group have been interested in the tiny minute details of   havelis. Havelis do differ from one another on a very huge scale even though they are not always thought of as the same kind. Where we plan to go, which havelis? We first plan to visit an area known as Fatehpur. This town is well known for its really high quality of frescos. The havelis we plan to study here are: Gopiram Jalam haveli. Nand lal Devra haveli. Jagannath Singhania haveli. Our next town of visit will be a region known as Nawalgarh. A town where one can witness a mix of Rajput and European architecture. The havelis we do wish to analyze in this region are: Radheshyam Murarka haveli. Pannalal Mansingka haveli. This brings us to an interesting question, what exactly are Havelis? Haveli as a term used commonly has its named derived from a long traced back Arabic origin of the word `hawoleh meaning partition.   a related word `hawaleh has a slightly different meaning which is `all round or `round about. Through the ages the word havelis has taken  different forms. Though for Persian it had the same meaning as the word hawaleh but with the mughals arriving the word havelis changed into being a partition to a piece of land (this is very similar to the word estate whcich is used in the English language). Since the beginning of the origin of the havelis its definition is only limited to the physical characteristics which makes it inadequate. So far the  closest definition of the word haveli is given by the prince of Whales museum, Mumbai. A havelis generally means a mansion. But in totality, it  symbolizes generation who articulated their life style that includes architecture, customs and manners, `of course arts, crafts and music. The  havelis however are the official residences of umraos, princes, thakurs and others such as dhabhai, purohit and sethji who were given a special  status by the rana. Havelis has an official recognition The term HAVELI is an essentially north Indian concept, and the Persian term implies an enclosed space. The havelis were not just built for residential purposes. Their construction increased on a massive scale, because they were in a way known as objects of self-esteem, in a race to score against each other. They got more lavish and they also borrowed elements of Indo-Saracenic architecture that was standing out among the principal British settlements. Havelis in Rajasthan was primarily developed in 16th century to differentiate their life style from common people. The 2 broad classifications of  havelis in Rajasthan were- Rajput havelis and Marwari havelis while the other havelis were mainly based on the caste and occupation. Accordingly  there were havelis of the Brahmin caste, Muslim havelis, and havelis of other Hindu sub castes. A basic identification of havelis in any medieval  town of Rajasthan is possible by identifying the original owner, his official status, architecture, paintings on the walls of the havelis, sculptures  interiors, etc;  

America - Argumentitive Essay :: essays research papers

Argumentative Essay â€Å"That Australia Should Resist American Influence† - Against For over 50 years now, the United States of America have been a source of inspiration for the people of our great nation. We watch their TV shows, listen to their music, eat their food, and this is all before we leave for work in the morning! Like it or not, America has had a positive influence on Australia, and their is no reasonable explanation to support an abandonment of it. Sure, people may choose to argue that Australia is a country that can stand on it’s own two feet and make it’s way up the world’s political, social and economic scale on it’s own, that is a childish fantasy. To resist American influence is in no way possible or even feasible. We have an extremely high import rate from America. Where would we be without our weekly dose of ‘Friends’ or ‘Chicago Hope’? What childhood wouldn’t be complete without memories of Coca-Cola and bubble gum? It is not just the petty things we ferry in that we can thank America for. Where would our small business community be if it weren’t for American franchises such as ‘Dominoes’ and ‘Baskin Robbins’? Where would out large businesses be without the aid of computer technology, which was so kindly invented by Mr. Bill Gates? If we stand back for a moment and take a long hard look at the things we make use of every day, wouldn’t it be fair to say that at least 80% of them have American foundations? To give these up at the drop of a hat, so we can demonstrate our originality is ludicrous. We would have the world laughing in our faces, due to our naivetà ©. It is a nice thought to be completely independent, but the re is no chance of it happening in the near future. But, for arguments sake, let’s just say we did, where would we be? Australia has had moments of brilliance, but on a whole, we are fairly quiet folk. When we have had the pleasure of being the center of attention, it is usually because we have made some fangle-dangle movie that takes the mickey out of ourselves.

Portrayal of Women in Homers Odyssey Essay -- Homer Odyssey womody

The Portrayal of Women in  Homer's Odyssey In the first section of Odyssey, mortal women are presented to us as controlled by the stereotypes and expectations of the culture of the day, and it is only within that context that we can consider the examples Homer provides of women to be admired or despised. He provides us with clear contrasts, between Penelope and Eurycleia on the one hand, and Helen and Clytemnaestra on the other. In Penelope’s case, it is made clear that her freedom of action is strictly controlled. Antinous feels free to advise Telemachus that as Odysseus is assumed dead, it is expected that Helen will choose another husband, or her father should do so for her. Telemachus does not challenge the logic of this, merely attacks the suitors’ behaviour and questions whether Odysseus is dead. And so Penelope is reduced to using the passive and ‘feminine’ defences of keeping the suitors waiting for a decision, and resorting to the subterfuge of weaving and unweaving her loom daily. We also witness Penelope being ‘put in her place’ by Telemachus when she comes do...

Al Capone :: essays research papers

By all accounts, Alphonse did well at school until the 6th grade, then at the age of 14 he was expelled for retaliating against a female teacher who hit him. Following his expulsion, the Capone family decided to move neighbourhoods - a chance move that would have a huge impact on Al's criminal future. Just round the corner from Capone's new home was the headquarters of gentleman gangster Johnny Torrio's East Coast operation. And like many boys in the area, he became involved in running errands for Torrio, just to earn a little extra money. Despite his involvement with Torrio and street gangs, Capone continued to work and support his family. However, when Torrio moved to Chicago, Capone was left open to some bad influences. At the age of 18, Capone was hired by an aggressive gangster Frankie Yale to work in his bar, the Harvard Inn. It was an incident in the Harvard Inn that earned Capone his nickname "Scarface". One night local gangster Frank Gallucio was drinking with his sister at the Harvard Inn, when Capone approached the young girl to pay her a compliment. Gallucio took offence to the young punk and began a brawl with Capone, it was during the scuffle the older man pulled a knife and cut Capone's face three times - Scarface was born. In early 1918, the career of Capone took another unexpected turn when he met the other most influential person in his life - his future wife Mae. Later that year, on December 4th, Capone became the proud father of Albert (Sonny) Francis Capone - Johnny Torrio became the godfather to his son. Such a dramatic change in lifestyle made him reconsider his career, and he resigned from the Harvard Inn and went to work for a construction firm as a bookkeeper. Chicago's underworld beckons In January 1920, the 18th Amendment of the Prohibition Act came into force, which made the brewing, distilling and distribution of alcohol completely illegal. The Prohibition era had begun, and Chicago's criminal underworld, including Johnny Torrio, was well prepared to make bootlegging illegal alcohol an extremely profitable business. Back in New York, Capone continued to concentrate on his legitimate career right up until the end of 1920 when his father tragically died. Without this strong parental figure, he resumed contact with Torrio, who had built up an influential racketeering empire in Chicago. It wasn't long before Torrio invited him to join him, and within a few months, Capone's life took a drastic turn that would change his destiny forever.

Mexico`s Megalopolis` by Jonathan Kandell

Nowadays, the city of Mexico is one of the largest megalopolises, with enourmopus population density and industrialization rates. Jonathan Kandell in his book ‘I Saw a City Invincible’ provides a wonderful historical excurse in terms of urban, technological and social development in the city. The issue of migration was particularly obvious between the 1940s and the 1970s, when the inhabitants of small towns and rural areas suddenly began to move into the city, searching for their fortunes at factories and plants. As Kandell notes, â€Å"Factories, commerce, and service jobs sucked in hordes of rural migrants who swelled Mexico City’s population from 1. 5 million in 1940 to 8. 5 million in 1970† (Kandell, p. 183). Furthermore, the author describes the stuggle between time-honored Latin American values and globalization trends, brought by the country’s nearest neighbor, the United States. The phenomenon of tourist infrastructure also emerged under American influence: the new cafes and traditional cuisine restaurants were being adjusted to ‘American demands’ and standards (p. 184). In sociopolitical meaning, the country in that period was literally obsessed with social radical views: â€Å"Revolutionary slogans continued to exalt the ideals of land for the rural dispossessed, living wages for the proletariat, and a determinant voice for the state of economic affairs† (ibid). The ambitiousness of Mexican politicians enjoyed stable and sustainable growth between the 1940s and the 1970s, parallel to the growth of ordinary Mexicans’ aspirations, as increasingly more citizens sought rapid career and social protection in the capital. In reality, the needs of majorities were satisfied: there was a plenty of work, due to the development of service and mass-communications spheres, in which females, traditionally marginalized as reliable employees, got an opportunity to find themselves. Due to the fact that by the 1960s, the average Mexican urban family contained no unemployed members (except children), household incomes were growing proportionally to the overall economic and political progress. Nevertheless, the metropolis also experienced certain problems, such as housing crisis: â€Å"In the 1940s and 1950s most migrants settled first in the old downtown tenements [the so-called’ vecindadez] abandoned generations before by the middle class† (p. 185). These quarters seemed completely distinct dimension that in the course of time obtained a kind of autonomy, as such miniature settlements had their local factories, shopping malls, saloons and bars and, certainly, their own markets, which appeared the centers of social life, peculiar ‘offspring’ of Ancient Roman forum or Greek agora. Kandall provides a description of the typical vecindad: â€Å"†¦Tepito was now populated mainly by artisans, vendors, factory laborers, unskilled workers, waiters, office clerks, messengers and porters†, who earned about $20 per month (p. 85). Notwithstanding the rapid economic development, the migrants’ well-being had been very limited up to the 1960s: due to the fact that flat rent was unjustifiably high, the families huddled together in small windowless apartments and could afford meet only once a week. Another apparent trend in urban development was the gradual growth of small enterprises, to which local governments de legated their responsibilities for food, health facilities and education. Nevertheless, the main institutions remained bureaucratic and centralized, so private capital hadn’t enjoyed considerable flow until the end of the 1970s. Due to the fact that the factories of Mexico City were controlled by local authorities, so the working-class suffered from poverty and lack of dwelling conveniences: â€Å"[only] In 1977 Jaras’ dwelling [situated in the typical working-class ‘reservation’] was legally connected to the municipal electricity grid and water system† (p. 90). The present-day ecological catastrophe, notable in Mexico City, is rooted in the negligence, demonstrated by government as well as local enterprises: â€Å"The primitive recycling of garbage, often carried out illegally by small businesses that are unsupervised by the municipal authorities, poses serious health hazards to the population at large† (p. 192). The author notes that the ‘garbage problem’ had remained extremely sharp up to the end of the 1980s. In addition, Kandall addresses the progress of charity and human services: affluent urban entrepreneurs contributed to the development of local communities in the best Mexican traditions: ‘He sponsored local soccer teams, supplied the uniforms and built for playing fields, which he named Rafael Sports center† (p. 194). On Gutierez’ example the author shows businessmen’s [caciques] bourgeois ambitions: after the establishment of the enterprise, they normally tried to penetrate into the city’s or national political arena, so their charity was nothing more than well-planned PR. Human services, although popular in Mexican culture, were institutionalized only in the 1970s, since the religious traditions prescribed that urban dwellers helped their neighbors and compatriots on the voluntary basis, Mexican cultural collectivism was extremely noticeable in the working-class quarters. With beginning of the 1980s, the country was paralyzed by environmental accidents like earthquakes, but the government appeared incapable of handling the resulting problems in a proper way: â€Å"The small parties of left and right were unable to claim the loyalty of potential dissidents†, whereas the young volunteers seemed the major rescuers, which means, Mexican urban citizens were always ready to support each other, and in spite of the pessimistic ending of the article: â€Å"Throughout its existence the city has been scourged by war, social upheaval. Plague, flood, earthquake† (p. 201), its overall context shows that social problems and emergencies haven’t managed to separate the city dwellers, but rather have united them and created a powerful humanistic basis for the reinforcement of Mexico City.

Outline and Analyze the Challenges Facing Mellon Investor Services Essay

Assignment Task Outline and analyze the challenges facing Mellon Investor Services in their organizational redesign and assess how well the company have dealt with those challenges in how they are approaching and managing the change. Delong, T. and Vijayaraghavan, V. (2002) Mellon Investor Services (ECCH case reference 9-402-036, Harvard Business School) Introduction Mellon Investor Services (â€Å"MIS†) is an investment management and investment services company, focused to help clients manage and move their financial assets and succeed in the rapidly changing global marketplace. Between 2000 and 2001 MIS underwent a substantial organizational redesign, which will be critically considered in this essay. Wittington and Mayer (2002) suggest that organizational performance is driven by the company’s ability to redesign structures frequently, however the change requires participation of people leading the change i.e. agents, organizational structure that welcomes the change and appropriate managements styles. The Chief Financial Officer of MIS, Jim Aramanda led the company for few very successful years, during which MIS was providing new offerings for transfer agent services including issue services, employee plans and direct services, broker / dealer services. The company had five years of successful growth and MIS was meeting and exceeding its financial goals. In Autumn of 2002 Aramanda’s became concerned for the successful future of the company and he recognised few areas that required closer attention: †¢different business units were not consolidating their offerings and taking advantage of various products, which resulted in two Requests For Proposal coming from one client whereby both RFPs were replied to separately, as opposed to a combined and unified response, †¢current successful offering of core products did not guarantee that MIS would grow in future, †¢MIS staff were not building long-term relationship with the clients therefore business opportunities may not be spotted in good time, †¢requirement for new measures of performance and progress, †¢lack of focus on hiring and rewarding talented people, †¢lack of focus on product development, which was manifested in product being offered by the sales department without confirmation that the product may actually be delivered to the clients, †¢Some of the groups, such as technology, were too achievement oriented without being focused. In order to address the above concerns and mould the company to his new vision, Aramanda hired a number of experienced consultants to support his structural redesign of MIS. Aramanda realised that the change would also involve a dramatic shift of vision and attitudes to introduce new systems and subsystems, with the likely result of clash of wills. Buchanan & Badham (2008) argue that such a change can be successful if it involves one person influencing the organization according to their values, and Aramanda had the clear vision and skills to gather a team of knowledgeable people to fundamentally amend and adjust MIS future capabilities. The change that MIS underwent could be classified as ‘strategic’ or ‘transformational’ (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2010) and it aimed to redefine the boundaries, methods of problem-solving and doing business in the company. Aramanda acted on his vision in a very organized manner, as he instantly hired experienced, independent and talented consultants, Mary Davis and Jeanne DiFrancesco, and empowered them to accurately assess how the change should be conducted whilst keeping disruption of the day-to-day business activities to the minimum, design a four-phase project that was consistent with Aramanda’s aggressive deadlines, and work alongside all business units to manage the organizational change smoothly and efficiently. Although the organizational change instigated by Aramanda and facilitated by the consultants proved a great success, there were certain areas that should have been dealt with differently. The main challenges I have chosen as a topic of this assignment included overall communication, dealing with resistance to change and managing relationships. 1. Communication Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) note that many managers do not pay attention to communication when implementing change, which may increase employee absenteeism, turnover and low productivity. Furthermore, some of the reasons for employees’ increased expectation during the change process are availability of information through the internet as well as employees’ anticipation to contribute ideas and be kept informed. If these expectations are met, employees feel valued and therefore are more likely to be committed to the company and perform better at their work. Aramanda wanted to be supportive of a certain degree of open communication culture, which was manifested by a requirement for the employees to nominate their colleagues for newly created job posts. This approach was also constructed to represent Aramanda’s interests and to manipulate employee attitudes and behaviours. The nomination process aimed to take advantage of knowledge in the network or informal skills that perhaps could have been difficult to be evaluated by an outsider. The outcome however proved to be different than anticipated, as it created a negative feeling amongst the employees. Furthermore, one of the reasons for hiring consultants in the first place was to take advantage of their impartiality and independence from office politics. Insufficient communication was also evident in Phase One of the organizational change, during which key services, products and activities of the business were analysed. The result was anxiousness amongst the employees, who being afraid of job cuts, would feel that they were disregarded and forgotten, which in return lowered their productivity until the process was complete. As outlined by Buchanan and Huczynski (2010), many companies operate within a range of open and closed communication climate. Open and honest communication leads to employees having realistic expectations, and closed and defensive communication creates an atmosphere of distrust and secrecy. Although Aramanda’s relationship with his superiors was commendable, as he had a very open working relationship with the consultants and his direct reports, the communication with his employees was not as successful. One of the reasons for this situation was a lack of Head of Corporate Communications, whose post was vacant until June 2001, therefore all information during the process of a change was not communicated to the staff. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) confirm that communication of ideas assists employees see the logic and need for change. The implication for MIS was that employees did not understand what was happening, therefore they were more unlikely to follow management decisions. Issues of communication also affected existing relationships with clients. One of the objectives of the organizational change was to evaluate every job function and employee in line with the new business strategy. This resulted in creation of new key groups, including new ‘business development’ team focused on growth and return on investment in new clients and ‘client management’ team whose assignment was growth and return on investment in existing clients. The new groups comprised of employees that had to move away from the relationships they took time and effort to establish with their clients. Before the change these relationships lead to more sales and generated more business through word of mouth. Furthermore, strong relationships improved the internal organization, morale, increased engagement and lead to greater satisfaction at work. By creation of new groups the above relationships were damaged or broken, which could have lead to a possible revenue loss caused by the impact that the organizational change had on the client satisfaction. 2. Resistance to change Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) confirm that change implies a positive experiment and creation of something new as well as a negative confrontation with the unknown through the deconstruction of familiar arrangements. Some of the MIS employees demonstrated unwillingness to accept the proposed changes, as they perceived them as threatening to the individual. The main causes of resistance to change were as follows: †¢Lack of facilitation and support Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) outline facilitation and support as most helpful, where fear and anxiety lie at the heart of resistance. At MIS some of the managers were not supporting their employees in new roles, as people were expected to continue to take care of their old responsibilities, therefore the new responsibilities had to take second priority. They employees were not given sufficient time to adjust to new jobs or recover after demanding period. †¢Low tolerance for change Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) stress that that people differ in their ability to cope with change and uncertainty, which may lead them to oppose even potentially beneficial changes. Kotter and Schlesinger (1979) agree that if the change is significant and the employee’s tolerance for change is low, he might begin to actively oppose the change for reasons he does not consciously understand. †¢Misunderstanding and lack of trust Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) argue that employees are more likely to resist the change if they don’t understand the reasons behind it. As outlined in the section above regarding lack of communication, it becomes transparent that MIS employees were not told what are the positive implications of change, therefore they believed the change might cost them much more than they would gain. This could be characterised by having a low level of trust between employees and managers and result in misunderstandings and increased perception of threat when change was introduced. 3. Networks and relationships Another challenge facing the organizational change of MIS was managing existing relationships and creating new networks. One of aims for the reorganization once MIS services and products and market needs were analysed, was to break down capabilities into building blocks and then to recompose the blocks to fit within the new strategy. In practice this meant changing the divisional structure of the organization from service-based to customer-based. The change from ‘squares’ to ‘squares and triangles’ caused a large power shift and a felling of unrest and injustice to many employees. In the new organization chart the ‘triangles’ comprised of market-facing professionals and were perceived as the ‘winners’. The triangles included new business development, client management, product management & development and business management & analytics units. A triangle holds its place as a symbol in the mathematics of ideal proportions and in the MIS reorganizational design employees chosen to become a part of new teams were deemed as ‘drivers’ having a superior status. This formal status was closely related to the leadership, generally accepted by the others with a power to influence and control other groups. On the other hand, the ‘squares’ represented all other employees in the company and were perceived as the ‘losers’ and ‘followers’ and deemed to have an inferior status. Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) note that lower status groups have less power and tend to be less influential, therefore employees actively seeking status in order to fulfil their self-esteem may experience personal dissatisfaction. Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) note that this method of implementing organizational change can cause confusion and increase employees’ level of stress. The MIS consultants hoped that by dismantling of social networks, new networks would grow very quickly. The presumption was made that the existing social networks used to compensate for the inefficiencies in the old system, so now they should accelerate the efficiencies of the new system. Some employees viewed this as a positive move, as it allowed transitioning some people to other teams to build communication and continuity based on their prior experiences in other business areas. This however had a more political aspect as many managers when switching roles from ‘triangles’ to ‘squares’ in their self-interest wanted to take the good people with them. In practice, whereby poor communication was also a contributing factor, the new social networks were not created as rapidly as anticipated and had a negative influence on employee engagement and work performance. Another reason for changing the divisional structure of the organization was MIS’ lack of integration. Child (2004) stresses that integration is a vital product of good organization, whereby different activities collectively create value. One of identified reasons for change at MIS was to consolidate their product offering to create more value for the customers. Although it is relatively easy to state the requirement for integration, it is not so straightforward to achieve it. The problem of integration presents itself most noticeably in the relations between functions that are responsible for producing services according to predetermined parameters established within the company, and functions that have to continuously adapt to the external environment. The organization cannot remained viable without this integration. Teams are one of the most commonly used means for achieving integration, however during the implementation of change at MIS these were taken apart under conditions of uncertainty and pressure. One of the signs that the integration needs were not sufficiently met by the new teams was conflict between departments, mainly between ‘triangles’ and ‘squares’. This situation would require ongoing monitoring to ensure that the conflict does not become persistent and threat overall teams’ performance. Summary As outlined above, the main challenges of the organizational change instigated by Aramanda included overall communication, dealing with resistance to change and managing relationships. The organizational change was possible due to a great contribution from the consultants, who appreciated that an organizational change is a complex process to dramatically adjust organization vision, structure and culture in a continuous effort to improve the performance. Reference list 1.Buchanan D., Badham R. (2008) ‘Power, politics and organizational change: Winning the turf game’, p. 9. 2.Buchanan D., Huczynski A.A. (2010) ‘Organizational behaviour’, pp. 329-330, 562-564, 570-573. 3.Child J. (2004) ‘Organization: Contemporary Principles and Practice; Chaper 4: Achieving Integration’, p. 81-82. 4.Kotter J. P., Schlesinger L.A. (1979) ‘Choosing strategies for change’ Harvard Business Review, March – April pp. 108-109. 5.http://www.bnymellon.com/about/index.html, accessed on 18 June 2012.

Psychology of Terrorism Essay

In his article, Vaisman-Tzachor (2006) discussed the most common misconceptions regarding terrorist profiling in forensic psychology. True, where effective forensic profiling techniques are absent, there is no place for effective counterterrorism strategies. In this context, the profiling criteria described by Vaisman-Tzachor (2006) are particularly interesting and important when applied to psychological profile of Osama Bin Laden. From the viewpoint of forensic psychology, and through the prism of Vaisman-Tzachor’s (2006) psychological criteria, forensic profiling of Osama Bin Laden should begin with the profound analysis of his personal background (age, educational background, ethnicity, socio-economic status, national origin and marital status, religious or social affiliations). Contrary to traditional (and probably, outdated beliefs), the national origin of Osama Bin Laden will play important, but not the primary role in creating the picture of his personality. Of course, â€Å"elements such as Arab ethnic or national background [†¦] are highly important in the list of the determinant variables† (Vaisman-Tzachor, 2006), but psychological profile of Osama Bin Laden seems even more consistent with the fact that he is unmarried, possesses sufficient material background and displays negative disposition to the non-Muslim society. Simultaneously, Osama Bin Laden does not match the criminal profile created by Vaisman-Tzachor (2006), where the likelihood of a terrorist act is inversely related to the age of the potential terrorist; in case of Osama, his age is evidently associated with the growing terrorist experience and the increasing sophistication of his terrorist needs. Objectively, and truly for many generations of terrorists, Osama Bin Laden is fairly regarded a kind of a mythical figure, â€Å"who represents a messianic being to members of those national groups and social entities, who are disenfranchised by political, religious, or ethnic circumstances† (Vaisman-Tzachor, 2006), and this mythical figure works to establish closer ties and strengthen the existing terrorist identifications in his terrorist networks. In this context, Osama Bin Laden is a multifaceted image of the leader, whose criminality and respectability are uniquely combined to shape the new vision of a charismatic terrorist. Historical and sociocultural antecedents of September 11 The escalation of international violence and the growing anti-American moods have generated a set of questions regarding the historical and sociocultural antecedents of September 11. Objectively, a whole set of factors have contributed into the development of violent attitudes toward American nation, of which September 11 was the culmination; in this context, the continuous political commitment to â€Å"low intensity conflicts† and the self-declared pro-American ideology which lacks authoritarian rule and visible religiosity have become the two most important antecedents of the 9/11 attack. In his book, Michaels (2002) refers to the â€Å"low intensity conflict† scenario, to which American presidency adhered over the course of the last decades. The declaration of anti-terrorist ideals and the deceptive need for maintaining low intensity wars in the most problematic international regions was expected to strengthen the military power of the United States, and to ensure that America was able to respond to the most challenging social and military conflicts all over the world. What the United States had obviously overlooked was that the gradual military expansion might not have been favored by other nations (Michaels, 2002). Increased military spending combined with the overt rejection of treaty opportunities have formed the set of historical antecedents which led to the emergence of the new quality relationships between the two worlds – the Muslim and the orthodox. After the fall of socialism in the world, the rhetoric of the American hyperpower has literally doubled, and all visions of authority and power have since then been projected onto the U. S. (Werz, 2004). Given historically relevant anti-American attitudes, the multiplying American superiority has frozen the cultural difference between the two worlds. The social development in America has been colored with obvious secularization of the public opinion and the values, which the American nation has treated as its own (Werz, 2004). Thus, the events of September 11 have come as the culmination in the growing opposition against the militaristic attitudes of the United States towards its political and cultural superiority. Psychology of terrorism In the aftermath of 9/11 attacks researchers and psychology professionals have become increasingly concerned about the origins and the motives of terrorist attacks. The current state of empirical research is pressured by numerous prejudices and misconceptions that have grown as a result of the overt callousness of terrorist attacks. By turning terrorists into a group of abnormally deviant people, however, psychologists have seriously distorted the real image of a true terrorist. Silke (2004) is correct: we cannot be certain that terrorism is a kind of psychological abnormality, unless we are able to avoid bias and to promote objectivity in our judgments. It is difficult not to agree to Silke (2004) in that the differences in the current research of terrorism have become the results of our inability to explore and document primary information, and the impossibility to access primary sources of information about terrorists. â€Å"The risks involved for the potential researcher are considerable. Academic researchers have been threatened, kidnapped, attacked, and shot for attempting to research terrorism† (Silke, 2004). In our quest for better understanding of terrorist psychology, we frequently become the victims of our own psychological misconceptions. We still operate scarce and unclear (as well as unreliable) data concerning the major emotional and psychological issues terrorists face on their way to a violent act. Seeking sensations, we tend to neglect the role which primary data may play in developing and spreading a completely new vision of terrorism. With the scarcity of tools of psychological and sociological research which could be readily applied to terrorism, and bearing in mind an almost complete impossibility to access primary sources of data, it is unlikely that we will be able to produce a single relevant and the most objective psychological profile of a terrorist in the coming decade. References Michaels, C. W. (2002). No greater threat: America after September 11 and the rise of a national security state. Algora Publishing. Silke, A. (2004). Courage in dark places: reflections on terrorist psychology. Social Research, 71 (1): 177-198. Vaisman-Tzachor, R. (2006). Psychological profiles of Terrorists. Forensic Examiner, 15 (2): 6-17. Werz, M. (2004). Anti-Americanism and ambivalence: Remarks on an ideology in historical transformation. Telos, 129: 75-95.