The Glass Menagerie Essays (674 words) - English-language Films

The Glass Menagerie The play The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses many symbols which represent many different things. Many of the symbols used in the play try to symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and illusion. ? The first symbol, presented in the first scene, is the fire escape. This represents the "bridge" between the illusory world of the Wingfields and the world of reality. This "bridge" seems to be a one way passage. But the direction varies for each character. For Tom, the fire escape is the way out of the world of Amanda and Laura and an entrance into the world of reality. For Laura, the fire escape is a way into her world. A way to escape from reality. Both examples can readily be seen: Tom will stand outside on the fire escape to smoke, showing that he does not like to be inside, to be a part of the illusionary world. Laura, on the other hand, thinks of the fire escape as a way in and not a way out. This can be seen when Amanda sends Laura to go to the store: Laura trips on the fire escape. This also shows that Laura's fears and emotions greatly affect her physical condition, more so than normal people. ? Another symbol presented deals more with Tom than any of the other characters: Tom's habit of going to the movies shows us his longing to leave the apartment and head out into the world of reality. A place where one can find adventure. And Tom, being a poet, can understand the needs of man to long for adventure and romance. But he is kept from entering reality by Amanda, who criticizes him as being a "selfish dreamer." But, Tom has made steps to escape into reality by transferring the payment of a light bill to pay for his dues in the Merchant Seaman's Union. ? Another symbol, which deals with both Amanda and Laura, is Jim O'Connor. To Laura, Jim represents the one thing she fears and does not want to face, reality. Jim is a perfect example of "the common man." A person with no real outstanding quality. In fact, Jim is rather awkward, which can be seen when he dances with Laura. To Amanda, Jim represents the days of her youth, when she went frolicking about picking jonquils and supposedly having "seventeen gentlemen callers on one Sunday afternoon." Although Amanda desires to see Laura settled down with a nice young man, it is hard to tell whether she wanted a gentleman caller to be invited for Laura or for herself. ? One symbol which is rather obvious is Laura's glass menagerie. Her collection of glass represents her own private world. Set apart from reality, a place where she can hide and be safe. The events that happen to Laura's glass affects Laura's emotional state greatly. When Amanda tells Laura to practice typing, Laura instead plays with her glass. When Amanda is heard walking up the fire escape, she quickly hides her collection. She does this to hide her secret world from the others. When Tom leaves to go to the movies in an angered rush, he accidentally breaks some of Laura's glass. The shattered glass represents Laura's understanding of Tom's responsibilities to her. Also, the unicorn, which is important, represents Laura directly. Laura points out to Jim that the unicorn is different, just as she is different. She also points out that the unicorn does not complain of being different, as she does not complain either. And when Jim breaks the horn off the unicorn, Laura points out that now it is like the other horses, just as Laura has shed some of her shyness and become more normal. When she hands the broken unicorn to Jim, this might represent Laura handing over her broken love to Jim, as Jim has revealed that he is engaged to be married. ? As can be seen, there are quite a few symbols in this play. And a number of them have diverse meanings. Most of these symbols have a direct meaning in the author's own life. This is understandable seeing that the play is supposed to be "memory play." It is obvious that this memory play is based on Williams' own memories.

Coursework on Business Law

Coursework on Business Law Coursework on Business Law: UNITED STATES V RADTAKES United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 2005 415 E3d 826 The defendants, a man and his son were charged with the offence of conspiracy to defraud the Us and Internal Revenue Society (IRS). The defendants paid employees on an ad hoc basis with check written from the Companies bank account instead of chanelling them through the Companies’ payroll as required by law. Consequently, they withheld no taxes or union benefit payment. Held guilty as charged. Circumstantial evidence should be permitted to prove committing of a crime when there is sufficient evidence presented to the jury with no intentions of defrauding the crime accused. Defendants charged with a conspiracy are not actually the real committers of the fraud. Once one is a suspect of defrauding, one has a chance to present his witnesses and prove ones innocence in front of a jury. The most significant defence to circumstantial evidence is the truth behold behind the evidence being produced. When the evidence has substantial truth and has a witness to support the evidence, the defendant might get a chance to prove on the crime committed. Once the evidence presented is insufficient proving that the defendant acted with intentions to commit the crime is difficult. Another circumstance to be permitted is by having absolute privilege on the crime committed. For instance, evidence adduced by witnesses in court and the defense arguments and counter claims during court proceedings, statements made by judges whilst hearing and determining a matter be for them, and statements made in the course of parliamentary proceedings cannot back up any action for defamation, irrespective of whether or not they were made without considering how true, false or weird they are. In addition, honest opinion is a good defense in action of defamation in many commonwealth jurisdictions. This is to say, if an individual make a defamatory statement whilst expressing a genuine opinion about the injured person while opposing a fact, the alleged statement cannot maintain a claim for liability against the statement made while presenting the evidence. On viewing a statement as an expression of piece of evidence or opinion it can depend upon its background, notwithstanding the fact the defendant creating the statement is considered to be knowledgeable enough to know if a statement made is true or false. For instance if an employer calls you a thief, in the ordinary course of things it may not be regarded as an opinion since a statement cannot be made out of the blues. Some jurisdictions instead of basing so much significance on what is a fact or an opinion in, they have opted to admit that statements which seem to be realistic normally hold circumstantial evidence. The penalty for theft should not vary according to the value of the property taken but should get an equivalent sentence accord to the property theft with an exceptions of white collar crimes. The defendant stands to be convicted of the theft if proven guilty, deprives or withholds information that is crucial in decision making. A defendant can be awarded penalty of the actions one has committed once; one has intent to conduct business secretly to their own benefit or to benefit other parties, either by stealing the organizations resources or using without authorization. A defendant convicted of a certain offense of theft should be charged according to a range set by the crime law section 1209.039 that specifies a variety or ranges that are to be charged to specific crimes (Simmons, 2007). A suspect who has not been involved in previous crimes and found guilty of theft should be charged less than fifty dollars while those convicted of theft felony should be charged an amount exceedin g fifty dollars in any occurrence. White collar crimes are non violent crimes which involves embezzlement of funds, frauds, bribery and insider trading. They pose a great danger to the subject country’s security and also it economy. Once a defendant is found guilty of this crime, the legislature deters to the crime by ensuring every offender, with no exceptions, serves a jail term equivalent to the amount in dollars that he stole. Essentials of a bad check law are determined by the standards set by the statutory provision to determine the validity of the check. A crime committed by means of bad check, an issuer is supposed to have knowledge that a check or money order is not liable for payment if it is post dated or has a notice of refusal. The check law presupposes that the minimum threshold of conduct required of corporations and incorporated associations according to their money orders and payments. This law enforcement on a corporate scale normally includes fines imposed on a corporation. Individual accountability for commercial offense has to be proven in order to take place by the party responsible. For example, a corporation may be expecting payments on selling a product that is defective and instead sell it regardless of its defectiveness. However, if one can prove in a court of law that with evidence that the check is valid and the company president specifically had knowledge or he had all reasonable grounds to believe that the check was forged or defective and yet authorized the sale, one can sue the corporation, but one cannot hold the corporation criminally liable. Given that a corporation cannot be jailed and do jail time, all one can do is to use the evidence to penalize the corporation and fines or court rulings. Halls employees acted unethically since they committed an act of defamation, this can be a good example of a statement that came with it a not so good impression of an individual, company, assembly, product, government, or nation (Simmons, 2007). The statement is prepared as though it were true, when in fact the statement is false. It as slander as it was made with spoken words, sounds, gestures and sign language. Defamation may be in any other form, like in printed pictures or words. To be considered defamation, the indictment has to be false but put in a way that it appears to be true, and to earlier be communicated to people other than the individual being defamed. If one believes you have been a victim of defamation, one can get justice by introducing a civil suit. However, one will have to show that the statement made was phony; prove that the statement did harm to the accused; and prove the statement didn’t undergo adequate investigation to know whether it was true or a lie. Buck acted ethically by hiring an investigator to obtain the information though behind their back. He used different types of defamation to bring them to justice. There are different types of defamation, per se, which means and shows that the defamation is a given and not necessary have to provide proof of harm. Defamation per se is when someone mistakenly says that you have an illness (for example they can say you are suffering from a serious and contagious disease) when someone wrongly claims you are guilty of misconduct sexually, when someone wrongly states that you have committed an offence, or when someone says, you are not in shape to venture into business. In such cases, the possible evidence needed is that the statement was prepared. Thus Buck did the right thing as there was nothing to hide. Public policy granting merchant’s immunity from false imprisonment and detaining innocent persons is has been admitted as a good defence in a number of jurisdictions (Simmons, 2007). If an individual makes an opinion in opposition of existence of a certain fact, the declaration may not sustain a claim for liability against the evidence presented. On viewing a statement as an expression of piece of evidence or opinion it can depend upon its background, irrespective of the fact that the defendant creating the statement is entrusted by the community to be the one to know if the evidence or statements made are true or not. To this extent therefore, public policy is an act that injures someone in some way, and the victim may consider suing the wrongdoer. Legally, they are called general wrongs, as opposed to criminal ones. Interest protected by the tort includes; getting an attorneys to obtain inquiries about defamation activities from those people in disagreement with neighbors or any the community at large, and have ultimately suffered from this lies. The rule most be worried by that type of behavior is defamation of character and a reason of action which is defined to include libel and slander. Generally, tort is telling lies on another person, which exposes a person to take the blame falsely. A slander is an oral defamatory statement which is made intentionally to injure the reputation of someone (Simmons, 2007). Libel, on the other hand is the making of defamatory statements in writing whether in a print or permanent medium, for instance, magazines and newspapers. Essential condition for a tort of defamation include: A counterfeit and offensive statement regarding others; The written statement of another person (this is a person that may be directly or partially affected by the said statement); If the issue involves a lot of people, mistake amounting at least to carelessness of the publisher Harm to the defamed or injured party. In tort law, the statement made is published especially when a third person is involved (Elliot Quinn, 2009). However, it is not mandatory that the statement be in print. Getty and Texaco acted unethically since the injurious statement was directly touched the status of the injured party. Albeit, depending on the laws of the authority it may be sufficient to set up mental anguish. Most authorities are normally so aware that defamation exists, where the claims are alleged to cause harm to the plaintiff. Examples of unethical judging include: Statement referring to a persons specialized character or reputation; Claims that an single person is promiscuous; Allegations that an individual is infected with S T D Allegations that the individual has devoted a crime of moral magnitude While activities for unethical have their inheritance in common law, most influence have enacted statutes which alter common law. This may significantly alter material elements of the cause of an action, margin when a suit is instituted, or vary the defenses to an action for offense. The defendant may be called upon to apologize prior to the applicants search for non-economic remuneration. The state farm acted ethically in the case, their business ethics go further than simple legality. They describe ways in which a business should behave and the manner in which it conducts affairs it is legally obligated to. The firm’s ethics are not the best way of conducting business as they are principles to get upheld and experienced. They describe the spirit of the rule, as opposed to law and order. The most important defense for the organization ethically is to act accordingly to the truth, which is, an unlimited security to a certain action for offense. Another defense to defamation events is right to have something. For example, where a witness stand in court and makes a statement, point of view being ruled in court by the judges, declarations made in the course of parliamentary proceedings or by the bench, are privileged ordinarily, and cannot cling to a claim for denouncement, regardless of how false or offensive they are. A defense predictable in most jurisdictions i s an opinion if the human being makes a statement of belief as contrasting to fact and evidence brought forward, the testimonial may not hold up a cause of action for offense (Elliot Quinn, 2009). Whether viewed as a turn of phrase of fact or opinion a statement can depend upon the context it upholds, that is, whether an individual is making the statement or not, would be viewed by the society as being in a place to know whether it is true or not. Some countries have got rid of the distinction between opinion and fact, and as an alternative hold that any testimonial that suggests a truthful foundation can support reason of action for denouncement. Security afforded by the tort disagreement with society’s awareness in free competition offers a justification comparable to an opinion that is reasonable to comment on stuff of public awareness especially in the society. For example, if a mayor of a given town is caught up in a bribery scandal, by expressing the outlook that one believes the accusation are true and are not likely to sustain a claim for offense. A defendant may also attempt to demonstrate that the indeed the statement made against the applicant were true since he was lowly regarded in that society to mitigate damages resulting from the offensive statements. A defendant who sends out a message without regard to the truthfulness of its content can plead the justification of innocence. For instance, the post office’s accountability is delivering letters which are defamatory, since it is not aware of content of the letter. Unusual defense is that of voilence non fit injury where the plaintiff consented to t he allocation of the statement. As a rule, tort lawsuits in opposition to a next of kin are brought apart from any divorce, termination or other relative’s law case. New York, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, however, it allows or encourages combining the tort case with relations law case; Alabama requires it. An individual can also become a public figure by appealing in actions which produce public relations within a thin area of attention. For example, a lady named Terry kolas was insulted by a television show; Already married with offspring, and wrote correspondence to advertisers in order to try upholding them from stopping their cling up for the show. Ms. Kolas’s actions made her became the center of mockery in a very big way. As these jokes existed in her public outlook, normally making fun Mrs. Kola being formal and critical, they were exempted since she was a limited public figure. While individuals targeted by lies May decide to sue, there are important reasons why activities for offence may not turn out to be what is expected. The public relations resulting from a denouncement lawsuit can generate a larger audience for the counterfeit statements which had been initially made. If a magazine or news show comes up with a story of a lawsuit, false allegations previously not known to many may immediately be made public. As Medias are much more suitable to air proceedings in a lawsuit than covering their eventual resolution, the remaining outcome may be that people heard of the defamatory statements, but under no circumstances learn how the court case resolute. Another emerging issue is that offense cases may be hard to win, and small rewards given alternatively after the case is done. Attorneys taking up this type of cases are not normally openly willing to take a contingent fee, and if suddenly if the fees is added, there may be a guarantee that denouncement action will be successful and can be in excess of the total amount claimed. Another substantial or main worry in most cases is that, no matter if a statement made may be totally false, the plaintiff can luck to come up with substantial evidence to prove defamation. In such cases people look at it in the form that the plaintiff lost by understanding that the alleged statements were true. For such selected cases, a defamation action can be used to bring about or to come up with a reasonable or logic sum of money to claim liability, can possibly face apparently negative publicity that may ultimately lead to falsefully accusing and innocent person, and if it supposedly doesn’t succeed, it may be reasonable to conclude that all what was said might have some composed truth in it. Normally, while many plaintiffs have the capability to succeed in prosecuting defamation actions, the opposite should also be adequately evaluated or considered when reaching an agreement on if or not litigation should be pursued. Defamation is said to be a statement which brings about not a so good character of a government, person, group, company, country or product (Simmons, 2007). The statement is given in a way that it tends to appear totally true, but alternatively it is not true but totally and completely false. Defamation may also be considered to be committed in various ways such as gestures, sounds, spoken words or sign language. Defamation can be in many different ways. This ways may be like in the form of pictures, printed words or libel. In order for a statement qualify to be defamation, the claim at hand has to be made falsefully, but has to be well composed in order to appear true, and the supposed false information to be spread over to different people not involved in exception of those being defamed. If one believes that you are indeed a supposedly victim of defamation, what is right to do in order to get you can get justice is to bring a civil suit. However, the greatest challenge is trying to bring out that the statement made was not true; next is to try and show how much damage that false statement did to you; show how baseless the statement made was and how it lucks evidence as to whether it is true or a lie. There are different types of offenses that are defamation per se, this means that the insult is given and there is no need to make available proof of damage. Defamation per se occurs when an important person claims with no prove that one has a foul disease, like an STD, when someone wrongly claims that one is guilty of sexual criminal behavior, or when someone claims that one is not fit to conduct a business. In such defamation per se cases, the only evidence required is that the declaration was made. When the denouncement is a statement that is made against public figures recognized by masses of people, like government members, performing artists, large corporation’s officers and enough evidence must be present so as to win in a lawsuit (Yeats, 2005). The defamed individual must offer prove that any statement liable was made with actual malice and with taking no notice of the truth, the person who has been defamed must have done so with the objective of doing harm with a reckless pay no attention to for the truth. If you have been the injured party of the offense, the best action to take is talk to a libel and slander attorney who will easily help you recover the damages made during the entire process. Public policy granting merchant’s immunity from false imprisonment and detaining innocent persons is a good defense in virtually all jurisdictions, if an individual makes an opinion opposing truthfulness of a fact, that the declaration may not affect any action carried out on evidence presented. On viewing a statement as an expression of piece of evidence or opinion it can depend upon its background, not regarding the fact that defendant making the statement is normally seen and believed by the community to know how true a statement is. Legally, torts are communal wrongs and not considered as criminal wrongs. Some tort acts like battery, however, they may occur to be both torts and crimes; the criminal may be in a position to face both civil and criminal sentence. Under long-established law, relatives were forbidden from accusing each other in an action for tort. The justification laid down those permitting members of a family to sue each other would lead to family breakdowns. However, today, many states have been acquainted with that if family members commit a tort to someone else; where there are a relative’s relations. Thus, they no longer forbid a wronged member from suing the other. In these states, next of kin may sue one another either during their marriage period or after separation. An injury shows that one is in the mistaken; hence the phrase and the person responsible for tort show one of his/her wrong. Torts may be dedicated to other forces such as trespass, which may be damage to the individual, may include imprisonment; property ownership; or may be dedicated without any force. Torts of this normal olden time are to the absolute or relation constitutional rights of an individual’s, or to personal property in ownership or real property, in possession, reversion or incorporeal, : the damages may either be by misfeasance or nonfeasance. Defamation may be in a very small amount of other forms similar to them, To be considered offense, example, in televisions, the indictment has to be false and has to be impacted some truth in them, to be aired to the nation other than the individual being defamed. If one is seen and believed to have been a victim of offense, one is liable to justice by introducing a communal suit. However, there need to be provision that the statement made was phony; prove that the statement did harm to the accused; and prove that the alleged defamatory statements were made without due regard to their truthfulness or that they would amount to an innuendo. One acted ethically by hiring an investigator to obtain the information though behind their back. He used unusual categories of denouncement to bring them to justice. There are different types of denouncement per which means and exemplify that the defamation is a given and not necessary have to provide proof of harm. It is trite to conclude that even thought in most torts intention or motive is irrelevant, this only applies as a general rule. Thus, as an exception to this general rule, in tort of defamation intention is relevant and that’s why malice has to be established in every claim for defamation.

Malleus Maleficarum, the Medieval Witch Hunter Book

Malleus Maleficarum, the Medieval Witch Hunter Book The Malleus Maleficarum, a Latin book written in 1486 and 1487, is also known as The Hammer of Witches. This is a translation of the title. Authorship of the book is credited to two German Dominican monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The two were also theology professors. Sprengers role in writing the book is now thought by some scholars to have been largely symbolic rather than active. The Malleus Maleficarum was not the only document about witchcraft written in the medieval period, but it was the best-known of the time. Because it came so soon after Gutenbergs printing revolution, it was more widely distributed than previous hand-copied manuals. The Malleus Maleficarum came at a peak point in European witchcraft accusations and executions. It was a foundation for treating witchcraft not as a superstition, but as a dangerous and heretical practice of associating with the Devil - and therefore, a great danger to society and to the church. The Witches Hammer During the 9th through 13th centuries, the church had established and enforced penalties for witchcraft. Originally, these were based on the churchs assertion that witchcraft was a superstition. Thus, belief in witchcraft was not in accord with the churchs theology. This associated witchcraft with heresy. The Roman Inquisition was established in the 13th century to find and punish heretics, seen as undermining the churchs official theology and therefore a threat to the very foundations of the church. At about that same time, secular law became involved in prosecutions for witchcraft. The Inquisition helped to codify both church and secular laws on the subject and began to determine which authority, secular or church, had responsibility for which offenses. Prosecutions for witchcraft, or Maleficarum, were prosecuted primarily under secular laws in Germany and France in the 13th century, and in Italy in the 14th. Papal Support In about 1481, Pope Innocent VIII heard from the two German monks. The communication described cases of witchcraft theyd encountered and complained that church authorities were not sufficiently cooperative with their investigations. Several popes before Innocent VIII, notably John XXII and Eugenius IV, had written or taken action on witches. Those popes were concerned with heresies and other beliefs and activities contrary to church teachings that were thought to undermine those teachings. After Innocent VIII received the communication from the German monks, he issued a papal bull in 1484 that gave full authority to the two inquisitors, threatening with excommunication or other sanctions any who molested or hindered in any manner their work. This bull, called Summus desiderantes affectibus (desiring with supreme ardor) from its opening words, put the pursuit of witches clearly in the neighborhood of pursuing heresy and promoting the Catholic faith. This threw the weight of the whole church behind the witch hunts. It also strongly argued that witchcraft was heresy not because it was a superstition, but because it represented a different kind of heresy. Those practicing witchcraft, the book argued, made agreements with the Devil and cast harmful spells. New Handbook for Witch Hunters Three years after the papal bull was issued, the two inquisitors, Kramer and possibly Sprenger, produced a new handbook for inquisitors on the subject of witches. Their title was Malleus Maleficarum. The word Maleficarum means harmful magic, or witchcraft, and this manual was to be used to hammer out such practices. The Malleus Maleficarum documented beliefs about witches and then enumerated ways to identify witches, convict them of the charge of witchcraft, and execute them for the crime. The book was divided into three sections. The first was to answer skeptics who thought that witchcraft was just a superstition, a view shared by some previous popes. This part of the book attempted to prove that the practice of witchcraft was real and that those practicing witchcraft really did make agreements with the Devil and cause harm to others. Beyond that, the section asserts that not believing in witchcraft is itself heresy. The second section sought to prove that real harm was caused by Maleficarum. The third section was a manual for the procedures to investigate, arrest, and punish witches. Women and Midwives The manual charges that witchcraft was mostly found among women. The manual bases this on  the idea that both good and evil in women tend to be extreme. After providing many stories of womens vanity, tendency toward lying, and weak intellect, the inquisitors also allege that a womans lust is at the basis of all witchcraft, thus making witch accusations also sexual accusations. Midwives are especially singled out as wicked for their supposed ability to prevent conception or terminate a pregnancy by deliberate miscarriage. They also claim midwives tend to eat infants, or, with live births, offer children to devils. The manual asserts that witches make a formal pact with the Devil, and copulate with incubi, a form of devils who have the appearance of life through aerial bodies. It also asserts that witches can possess another persons body. Another assertion is that witches and devils can make male sexual organs disappear. Many of their sources of evidence for the weakness or wickedness of wives are, with unintentional irony, pagan writers like Socrates, Cicero, and Homer. They also drew heavily on writings of Jerome, Augustine, and Thomas of Aquinas. Procedures for Trials and Executions The third part of the book deals with the goal of exterminating witches through trial and execution. The detailed guidance given was designed to separate false accusations from truthful ones, always assuming that witchcraft and harmful magic really existed, rather than being a superstition. It also assumed that such witchcraft did real harm to individuals and undermined the church as a kind of heresy. One concern was about witnesses. Who could be witnesses in a witchcraft case? Among those who could not be witnesses were quarrelsome women, presumably to avoid charges from those known to pick fights with neighbors and family. Should the accused be informed of who had testified against them? The answer was no if there was a danger to the witnesses, but that the identity of witnesses should be known to the prosecuting lawyers and the judges. Was the accused to have an advocate? An advocate could be appointed for the accused, though witness names could be withheld from the advocate. It was the judge, not the accused, who selected the advocate. The advocate was charged with being both truthful and logical. Examinations and Signs Detailed directions were given for examinations. One aspect was a physical examination, looking for any instrument of witchcraft, which included marks on the body. It was assumed most of the accused would be women, for the reasons given in the first section. The women were to be stripped in their cells by other women, and examined for any instrument of witchcraft. Hair was to be shaved from their bodies so that devils marks could be seen more easily. How much hair was shaved varied. These instruments could include both physical objects concealed, and also bodily marks. Beyond such instruments, there were other signs by which, the manual claimed, a witch could be identified. For example, being unable to weep under torture or when before a judge was a sign of being a witch. There were references to the inability to drown or burn a witch who still had any objects of witchcraft concealed or who were under the protection of other witches. Thus, tests were justified to see if a woman could be drowned or burned. If she could be drowned or burned, she might be innocent. If she could not be, she was probably guilty. If she did drown or was successfully burned, while that might be a sign of her innocence, she was not alive to enjoy the exoneration. Confessing Witchcraft Confessions were central to the process of investigating and trying suspected witches, and made a difference in the outcome for the accused. A witch could only be executed by the church authorities if she herself confessed, but she could be questioned and even tortured with the aim of getting a confession. A witch who confessed quickly was said to have been abandoned by the Devil, and those who kept a stubborn silence had the Devils protection. They were said to be more tightly bound to the Devil. Torture was seen as, essentially, an exorcism. It was to be frequent and often, to proceed from gentle to harsh. If the accused witch confessed under torture, however, she must also confess later while not being tortured for the confession to be valid. If the accused continued to deny being a witch, even with torture, the church could not execute her. However, they could turn her over after a year or so to secular authorities - who often had no such limitations. After confessing, if the accused then also renounced all heresy, the church could permit the penitent heretic to avoid a death sentence. Implicating Others The prosecutors had permission to promise an unconfessed witch her life if she provided evidence of other witches. This would produce more cases to investigate. Those she implicated would then be subject to investigation and trial, on the assumption that the evidence against them might have been a lie. But the prosecutor, in giving such a promise of her life, explicitly did not have to tell her the whole truth: that she could not be executed without a confession. The prosecution also did not have to tell her that she could be imprisoned for life on bread and water after implicating others, even if she did not confess - or that secular law, in some locales, could still execute her. Other Advice and Guidance The manual included specific advice to judges on how to protect themselves from the spells of witches, under the obvious assumption that they would worry about becoming targets if they prosecuted witches. Specific language was given to be used by the judges in a trial. To ensure that others cooperated in investigations and prosecutions, penalties and remedies were listed for those who directly or indirectly obstructed an investigation. These penalties for the uncooperative included excommunication. If the lack of cooperation was persistent, those who obstructed an investigation faced condemnation as heretics themselves. If those obstructing the witch hunts did not repent, they could be turned over to secular courts for punishment. After Publication There had been such handbooks before, but none with the scope or with such papal backing as this one. While the supporting papal bull was limited to southern Germany and Switzerland, in 1501 Pope Alexander VI issued a new papal bull. The cum acceperimus authorized an inquisitor in Lombardy to pursue witches, broadening the authority of witch hunters. The manual was used by both Catholics and Protestants. Although widely consulted, it was never given the official imprimatur of the Catholic church. Although publication was aided by Gutenbergs invention of movable type, the manual itself was not in continuous publication. When witchcraft prosecutions increased in some areas, the wider publication of the Malleus Maleficarum followed.

International Trade Theories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Trade Theories - Assignment Example A brief discussion of the classical trade theories will provide a backdrop of the detailed examination of the modern trade theories and how these could be viewed in the present patterns of international trade. Classical theories Mercantilism During the 17th and 18th centuries, the theory of mercantilism was widely practised in international trade. Essentially, mercantilism saw international trade as a zero-sum proposition. French statesman Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who pioneered this theory, believed that the wealth of the world was essentially fixed and that trade was a closed system, so that those nations which exported more and imported less acquires more of the world’s wealth and becomes richer, and vice-versa. While mercantilism is the oldest of the trade theories, this does not mean that it is obsolete. Even today, the effects of mercantilism are evident in policies of trade protectionism, and makes the argument that rather than import from other countries and risk a trade deficit, a country would be economically better off if it were self-sufficient (Peng, 2010, p. 149). Absolute Advantage Advocated in 1776 by British economist Adam Smith, the theory of absolute advantage stated that the force of the free market should best determine the economic activities of a nation and, inclusively, the level of international as well as domestic trade. Smith’s theory of free trade (also called laissez faire) relied on forces of the free market to operate unrestricted, to enable free trade to seek out the most efficient means for value creation. The absolute advantage in the creation of a product or service is that which is attained by the nation that is able to produce that good or service most efficiently. The implication of this theory is that (1) the principle of self-sufficiency is best abandoned because no country could efficiently produce all goods and services; and (2) countries would best specialize in production of good and services where they hav e the advantage. International trade ceases to be a zero-sum case, and becomes a win-win proposition. Comparative advantage In 1817, British economist David Ricardo developed the theory of comparative advantage. The theory saw the ability of countries to efficiently produce goods and services not in absolute terms but in relation to which country they trade with. Comparative advantage is the relative advantage in one economic activity possessed by one nation over other nations. Net gains from trade may be realized when countries specialize in producing goods and services where they have comparative advantage. There is a trade-off, however, known as the opportunity cost, which is the cost incurred by a producer in choosing to give up production of a good or service in favour of concentrating on another (p. 152). The three foregoing theories, while useful in conceptualizing trade relations, make the necessary but unrealistic assumption that trade is static. Through time, factor endowm ents and trade patterns change, necessarily debunking the theory that trade is static. This gave way to the modern trade theories of the mid-twentieth century, also known as the dynamic theories, which aim to account for the change in trade patterns over time. New theories Product life cycle Product life cycle was developed by Raymond Vernon, an American economist, in 1966. Vernon saw the world’s trading nations as consisting of three categories: (1) the lead innovation nation which is usually assumed to be the US, (2) other developed nations, and (3) the developing nations. Aside from distinguishing among the nations, Vernon also classified products according to three life cycles: (1) new, (2) maturing, and (3) standardized. New products commanded a higher price (price premium)

Personal Leadership Development Strategy Research Paper

Personal Leadership Development Strategy - Research Paper Example As a leader, I have developed an integrated value system defined by personal values, social values, family values, and professional values. I have developed personal values such as commitment and devotion, self-awareness, approachability, aggressiveness, courage, reliability, and resilience. Moreover, I hold strong family values that include self-sacrificing love, understanding, responsibility, and respect. These have been the hallmark defining the happiness in my family. It is worth mentioning that I have deep respect and concern for the societal members, and that I support the improvement of the social welfare. Concerning my professional values, I give accord to both people and tasks, communicate effectively, and inspire others. Moreover, I involve others in decision-making, considering their opinion. I appreciate the potential of teamwork and the efficiency associated with teams.After a self-appraisal, I have realized that I exhibit a transactional form of leadership. This I have focused on offering employees a range of incentives as a form of motivation. The words of Nikita Khrushchev that incentives imparted people with the motivation to work have served as a guideline in my current leadership. In the spirit of this kind of this kind of leadership, I have introduced multiple incentive programs that seek to motivate the workers. I have relied on the theories of both positive and negative reinforcement to motivate the employees to register a high level of performance.(Brower & Balch, 2005). Currently, the organization has a salary increment scheme based on one’s performance. Workers who register a high performance receive salary increments in every six months. On the other hand, the individuals registering little effort in their performance and those declining in performance receive a lower salary. An additional incentive system is a health insurance system that exhibits a level of comprehensiveness because it covers most of the employee medical needs . Being one of the incentives, only workers who engage in viable research that

Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Law Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Law Essay Introduction Our assigned topic deals with a phenomenon that has taken the corporate world by storm rather recently, particularly in Pakistan. It entails the dilemma that every corporation faces when they have to make decisions regarding the firm’s profitability and their corporation’s social responsibility. The term corporate social responsibility came into common use in the late 1960s and early 1970s after many multinational corporations formed the term stakeholder, meaning those on whom an organizations activities have an impact. It was used to describe corporate owners beyond shareholders. The field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has developed exponentially in the last decade. Nevertheless, there remains a lingering debate about the legitimacy and value of corporate reaction to CSR concerns. There are different views of the function of the firm in society and disagreement as to whether wealth maximization should be the sole goal of a corporation. An escalating number of shareholders, analysts, regulators, activists, labor unions, employees, community organizations, and news media are asking companies to be accountable for an ever-changing set of CSR issues. There is rising demand for transparency and growing expectations that corporations measure, report, and continuously improve their social, environmental, and economic performance. According to Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), corporate social responsibility is defined as â€Å"achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment.† Each company is at variance in how it implements corporate social responsibility, if it does so at all. The differences depend on such factors as any particular company’s size, the particular industry involved, the firm’s business culture, stakeholder demands, and how historically progressive the company is in engaging CSR. Some companies focus on a single area, which is regarded as the most important for them or where they have the highest impact or vulnerability—human rights or the environment, for example—while there are others who endeavor to incorporate CSR in each and every one facet of their operations. For successful execution, it is fundamental that the CSR principles are part of the corporations’ values and strategic planning, and that the management and employees, both are committed to them. Furthermore, it is important that the CSR strategy is aligned with the company’s specific corporate objectives and core competencies. As CSR comes into contact with many of the problems conventionally addressed by government, like human rights and community investing, there is strong censure that societal problems are best solved by freely elected government bodies as the resources of a corporation are poorly matched for addressing those social problems, and therefore, it is argued, they should not be misallocated. According to Friedman (1970), in a free society, â€Å"there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.† The idea is that the state should address social problems, supported by the argument that an executive, by taking money and resources that would otherwise go to owners, employees, and costumers, and allocating them according to the will of the minority, and will fail to serve the interests of her or his principal. In this way, the executive imposes a tax and spends the proceeds for â€Å"social† purposes, which is insupportable, since she or he has neither the skills nor the jurisdiction to do so. On the other hand, there are many demands by others for corporate adoption of the CSR principles. Although the government is chiefly responsible for addressing those issues, the contribution of private firms can be substantial. There is also the argument of the shifting balance of power. According to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), of the 100 largest global economies, as indicated by their respective GDP, 51 of them are US corporations, and only 49 are nation states. So economic supremacy has shifted to the corporations; they, therefore, should have an increasing role in and accountability for addressing social problems. For example, the government sets the regulations and the minimum standards for the workplace, but a company can further improve the work environment and the quality of living of its employees. A firm cannot stay oblivious to the problems of the environment in which it functions. The poverty of a nation state’s citizens, political unrest, and the exhaustion of natural resources can have destructive effects for a corporation. For example, resources that are inputs in the production process and which, at the foundation of the industrial revolution, were plentiful are now scarce, polluted, or diminishing in many regions of the entire planet. As one would expect, this imposes an extra cost to the corporations and may force them to reposition or to cease operations. From one perspective, companies may be poorly equipped to address some of the social or environmental problems, but from another perspective, no matter how poorly equipped, companies may still be best positioned to improve the problems. Undoubtedly, adopting the CSR principles involves costs. These costs might be short term in nature or continuous outflows. They may involve the purchase of new environmentally friendly equipment, the change of management structures, or the implementation of stricter quality controls. Since being socially responsible involves incurring costs, it should generate benefits as well in order to be a sustainable business practice. A corporation could not continue a policy that constantly generates negative cash flows. The shareholders invest their money in a corporation, expecting the highest possible risk adjusted return. Therefore, being socially responsible should have bottom-line benefits in order to be sustainable. Socially responsible corporate performance can be associated with a series of benefits with the final outcome. But in a lot of cases, it seems that the time frame of the costs and benefits can be out of alignment—the costs are in the near future, whereas the benefits are not often realized until long periods of time have lapsed. Nevertheless, many benefits can be identified. Firstly, socially responsible companies have enhanced brand image and reputation. Consumers are often attracted towards brands and companies with good reputations in CSR related issues. Therefore, a corporation’s brand equity is automatically enhanced. A company regarded as socially responsible can also benefit from its reputation within the business community by having increased ability to attract capital and trading partners. However, reputation is hard to quantify and measure; it is even harder to measure how much it increases a company’s value. But since companies have developed methods to measure the benefits of their advertisement campaigns, similar methods can and should be able to be applied in the case of corporate reputation. Socially responsible companies also have less risk of negative rare events. Furthermore, companies that adopt the CSR principles are more transparent and have less risk of bribery and corruption. In addition, they may execute stricter and, thus, more costly quality and environmental controls, but they run less risk of having to bear in mind defective product lines and pay heavy fines for excessive polluting. They also have less risk of negative social events which damage their reputation and cost millions of dollars in information and advertising campaigns. The scandals about child–labor and sweatshops that affect the clothing industry are two fine examples. Thus, socially responsible businesses should have more stable earnings growth and less downside volatility. Since companies that adopt the CSR principles carry less risk, when valuing those companies, a lower discount rate should be used. In the company valuation this lower tail risk should be taken into account. There are also other cases in which doing what is good and responsible converges with doing the best for the particular business. Some CSR initiatives can dramatically reduce operating costs. For example, reducing packaging material or planning the optimum route for delivery trucks not only reduces the environmental impact of a company’s operation, but it also reduces the cost. The process of adopting the CSR principles induces executives to reconsider their business practices and to seek more efficient ways of operating. Companies perceived to have a strong CSR commitment often have an improved ability to attract and to retain employees (Turban Greening 1997), which leads to reduced turnover, recruitment, and training costs. Employees, too, often evaluate their companies CSR performance to determine if their personal values conflict with those of the businesses at which they work. There are many known cases in which employees were asked, under pressure of their supervisors, to overlook written or moral laws in order to achieve higher profits. These practices create a culture of fear in the workplace and harm the employees’ trust, loyalty, and commitment to the company. Companies that improve working conditions and labor practices also experience increased productivity and reduced error rates. Regular controls in the production facilities throughout the world ensure that all the employees work under good conditions and earn living wages. These practices are costly, but the increased productivity of the workers and improved quality of the products generate positive cash flows that cover the associated costs. Thus, firms may actually benefit from socially responsible actions in terms of employee morale and productivity (Moskowitz, 1972). Literature review CSP is a global concept that encompasses those of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Responsiveness. It provides a coherent framework to explore business-society relationships by looking at the social impact of corporations with business criteria of performance measurement, such as quality, efficacy, effectiveness, innovation (Carroll, 1991; Wood, 1991). The challenge for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries is framed by a vision that was distilled in 2000 into the Millennium Development Goals—‘a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for women, and a healthier environment’ (UN, 2006: 3). The penetration of the social realm into corporate strategy has gathered momentum in the last years. The movement for CSR has â€Å"won the battle of ideas† (Crook 2005). By now, most well managed companies have adopted th e practices and certifications mandatory in their industries, having gone through what Zadek (2004) calls the â€Å"defensive† and the â€Å"compliance† stages of CSR. Managing the social and environmental footprint of economic activity is generally accepted as part of the cost of doing business. But much remains to be done. If companies are to move their CSR activities from satisfying behavior and take their commitment to society and the environment to the next level, they will need to rethink their current approaches to CSR, tapping into the creativity of every individual. CSE, like all entrepreneurship, is not about managing existing operations or CSR programs; it is about creating disruptive change in the pursuit of new opportunities. It combines the willingness and desire to create joint economic and social value with the entrepreneurial redesign, systems development, and action necessary to carry it out. Accelerated organizational transformation faces a host of obstacles well-documented in the change management literature. Some people argue that media pressures the corporate managers and directors to behave in ways that are â€Å"socially ac ceptable†. Sometimes this coincides with shareholders’ value maximization, others not (Zinagales, 2002). Although there are several contested notions of what CSR should be and how it should work, there is some agreement upon what it broadly entails. A number of concepts and issues are subsumed under the heading of CSR, including human rights, environmental responsibility, diversity management, sustainability, and philanthropy (Amaeshi Adi, 2006), meaning that it is a complex area with an interdisciplinary focus. It is generally agreed that CSR involves corporations voluntarily exceeding their legal duties to take account of social, economic and environmental impacts of their operations. Consideration of the social, economic and political context demonstrates how CSR forms part of a wider strategic direction being taken internationally with regard to market relations and the pursuit of a range of objectives and goals. The context is in part provided by concerns about the numerous examples of irresponsible behavior on the part of corporations, ranging from colluding with oppressive regimes and in the overthrowing of governments (Alston, 2005) to issues relating to working conditions and the impact of unethical marketing practices (Richter, 2001). Such examples have demonstrated the need for the worst excesses of business to be curbed. The globalised economy is understood to raise important issues for businesses and governments due to changes in patterns of production and consumption. In particular it is noted that the manufacturing of goods is highly mobile (Cassell, 2001:263) and that supply chains are often dispersed in various countries, creating difficulties in terms of legislation and regulation. Moreover, economic globalization presents challenges to the ability of states to protect peoples rights (Cassell, 2001). The notion of corporate social responsibility is part of the third way (Gond Matten, 2007), where the role of the state is now to provide steering for the promotion of social development and social justice (Giddens, 2001: 6). There is increased involvement of the private sector in traditionally statutory provision through privatization and public/private partnerships (Meehan, 2003). Economic policies have created a need for markets and business to self-regulate in order to continue to pursue an international free market economy, but also to ensure sustainability of economic, human and other resources, and of the environment. CSR is seen as a solution to these problems of regulation. The private sector is increasingly seen as a key player in the achievement of many national and international strategic objectives for governments, which is also enabled by CSR. Methodology To gather information, we used secondary research as our main source of information. Various academic journals and internet sources were pursued to cater to the important aspects of the given topic. Moreover, since we thoroughly researched this topic, personal opinions were formed and using those and logic, we justified our opinions accordingly. How can business persons act in an ethically and socially responsible manner and at the same time make profits? Suppose clear-cutting is profitable and legal, but is nonetheless regarded as environmentally irresponsible under prevailing social norms. Can management of a timber corporation decline to clear-cut its timberland even though that sacrifices profits? One might be tempted to evade the question by claiming that being environmentally responsible is profitable in the long run, either because it preserves the forest for future harvesting or because it maintains a public goodwill that aids future sales. But suppose, in an incautious moment, management admits that the present value of those future profits from not clear cutting cannot hope to match the large current profits that clear-cutting would produce. Or, more realistically, suppose a takeover bid by a firm known to clear-cut establishes precisely that proposition by offering far more than the stock price that reflects the current stream of profits. Can management reject the profitable takeover bid on the grounds that it will lead to socially undesirable clear-cutting? The answers to these questions will challenge the canonical law and economics account on corporate social responsibility, which goes something like this. Unless modified by statute, traditional fiduciary duties require corporate managers to further the interests of shareholders, and thus require them to maximize corporate profits subject to the obligation to comply with independent legal constraints. Ethics and social responsibility are very important values in business ventures. This is particularly essential in decision making process. Ethical conscience reminds business persons to make trustworthy and profitable business decisions. Likewise, the social responsibility component requires business persons to make entrepreneurial decisions that can enhance benefits and repelling harms to the stakeholders. The canonical law and economics view holds that corporate managers do and should have a duty to profit-maximize because such conduct is socially efficient given that general legal sanctions do or can redress any harm that corporate or non-corporate businesses inflict on others. If certain conduct imposes excessive harm on others or merits taxation, then an independent law should regulate and impose liability or taxes whether or not the actor is a corporation, and if the conduct does not impose any impermissible harm or merit taxation, then the most socially desirable thing for corporations to do is maximize profits. Other stakeholders could either legally protect themselves by contract with the corporation or have their legal protection provided by judicial gap-filling of such contracts. Part of what makes this account canonical is that it helps define the boundaries of the corporate law field. It leaves corporate law scholars free to ignore issues about any effects the corporation may have on the external world as topics best addressed by other legal fields, and to focus on more tractable models about which corporate rules would maximize shareholder value.

Coal Chemistry and Technology Essay example -- Coal Research Paper

1. Coal formation Coal was formed from remains of plants from several hundred millions years ago partially decomposed. These remains were settled in regions where waterlogged or swampy regions prevailed. These conditions avoid complete decomposition making possible the gradual peat formation. Peat is not considered coal actually, but is an essential step to coal formation. This formation process is called "coalification" and it is essentially a progressive change from peat to anthracite passing through different types of coals. This process not only depends on the time, but also on temperature and burial pressure (Speight 1983). Schematic representation of the coalification process (Speight 1983) 2. Coal Classification Coals can be classified by its "rank". The rank of the coal can be defined as the degree of alteration that coal experiments during the coalification. On the one hand there are Lignite and sub-bituminous coals which are Low rank coals. These have a lower content in Carbon, are lighter and have higher moisture levels. On the other hand there is Bituminous coals and Anthracite which are high rank coals. They have a higher content in carbon which means they have more energy content. They have lower moisture levels and a more vitreous appearance (University of Kentucky, 2012). â€Æ' 3. Coal Composition Coal is an organic sediment which can be described in several ways. The most common way is in terms of the elemental composition. J. G. Speight, (1991) suggested that coal can classified on the basis of the general formula: Cn Hm Nx Oy Sz (where n, m, x, y and z are number of atoms of each element) Coal is not a homogeneous material. It is heterogeneous and is contaminated by different types of impurities w... ...rcel Dekker Inc. Classification and Rank of Coal. University of Kentucky. (2012). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/coalkinds.htm. [Accessed 12 November 13]. Couch G. R, (1991). Advanced coal cleaning technology: IEA Coal Research. (IEACR/44) Vernon J.L, Jones T, (1993) Sulphur and Coal. London: IEA Coal Research (IEACR/57) Ryan, B, Ledda L, (1997). A review of sulphur in coal: with specific reference to the telkwa deposit, North-western british Columbia. Geological Fieldwork, Paper 1998, Pages 1-10 Morrison G. F, (1981). Chemical desulphurisation of coal: IEA Coal Research. (ICTIS/TR15) Blà ¡zquez B.L, Ballester A, Gonzà ¡lez F, Mier J.L, (1991). Desulfuracià ³n de Carbones, la biodesulfuracià ³n como alternativa. Minerà ­a del Carbà ³n. Pages 40-49 Morrison G. F, (1982). Control of sulphur oxides from coal combustion: IEA Coal Research. (ICTIS/TR15)

Understand the Impact of Gender and Culture

An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of a paper (American Psychological Association, 2001) that runs a maximum of 120 words. It should contain a synopsis of the points in the paper, but also be readable and well organized. To use this page of the template, simply delete this paragraph and start typing. The formatting should stay the same. Negative Effects of Reality TVÂ  In today’s society many television Reality Shows have been geared for total entertainment purposes only, unlike many shows of the past that displayed family values, ethics and morals. For instance, Reality Shows are supposed to be based on real life situations and experiences. Reality Shows are built upon showing and exposing human emotions. In this aspect reality television has successfully portrayed an image that many viewers can now relate to. In reality the characters of reality television are somewhat like celebrities. There is no doubt, that reality television provides viewers with such entertainment that does not exemplify family values. In fact, reality television has influenced our society in different ways by showing loud and rambunctious behavior. These types of shows exhibit plenty of profanity, sexual content, violence and drugs. In today’s age, nearly every home has at least one television, it is easy imagine how the idea of what is real and what is fiction can become misinterpreted. The cultivation theory essentially holds that television viewing is a primary factor in cultivating a particular culture’s beliefs about the everyday world (Infante, Rancer, & Womack, 1997). George Gerbner knew that television was becoming an important part of the average citizen’s life and suspected that it was quickly replacing the importance institutions like family, school, and church in the enculturation process (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). In 1973 PBS released the first reality television show: an unintentionally breathtaking series called An American Family. The show promoted a family, the Louds, who volunteered to let PBS film their lives for seven months. During the time the show was aired the Louds, faced marital breakup of the parents, Bill and Pat and the confession of their son Lance’s sexuality. Many American viewers enjoyed viewing this reality show, in spite of the family falling apart. Reference http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/mass/cultivation.htm

Marketing strategies of Apple Inc Essay

A study on the marketing strategies of Apple Inc (Dissertation)Document 1. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 I †Critical Analysis of using marketing strategies of branding Apple Inc† Maha H 2. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 II Declaration I hereby declare that this dissertation is my own original work and is the result of my own investigations. This dissertation research was conducted to fulfill the requirements of BA (Hons) in Business Administration (Marketing) associated with University of Wales. XYZ December, 2012 3. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 III Acknowledgement I would like to thank a bunch of people who helped me in completion of my dissertation like: My facilitator for guidance and support throughout the dissertation. All respondents and friends for filling in the questionnaires. My family for constant support and motivation. 4. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 IV Abstract , computernicsconsumer electroApple Incorporation is a multinational company that creates and sells The.billionabout US$16363 stores worldwide, with global sales of, insoftware, and personal computers are mainlyiPadand theiPhone,iPodline of computers,Macintoshlikeknown products-company’s well e due to high brand awareness related to these products. Applerecognized as a source of competitive edg ,Final Cut Studio,Aperture,iWork,iLife,iTunes,Mac OS Xalso sells other branded products like, .iOSbrowser andSafari,Logic Studio The main objective of this study is to analyze the importance of using marketing strategies of branding in Apple Inc. The study will help to find out about the related benefits of branding mainly. The details of the study will help us to learn about the consumer’s awareness about the brand and how their loyalty can be increased in order to gain a competitive edge. Also, analyzing the importance of branding can help us to find out about the Apple brand’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, by using SWOT analysis tool and by using STP process, we can know how to segment the market, target the customers and position the products/services. Whereas, by using 4 Ps of marketing mix, we can find out about the branded product, its price, promotion and placement. Therefore, since the competition in the technology industry is increasing, ‘A study on using marketing strategy of branding in Apple’ will help the company in staying at the top of consumer’s mind, to cope up with the changes, to gain competitive edge, to attain goals  set by the company, to make improvements for the future related to products, its pricing strategy, communications used to promote and the placement of the product. Therefore, it will help us to evaluate whether branding will affect Apple Inc’s success rate or not. 5. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012   Introduction 1.1 Technology Industry Wiki invest (2012) Technology states, the technology industry provides foundation for activities such as, chip production, information and communication systems, and computer systems. The companies belon ging to this industry serves as developers and manufacturers of the products which increase efficiency and production of cell phones, computers, televisions, and other communication and information systems. It is a huge industry with a high growth potential, but it is sometimes go through volatile cycles, like the semiconductor industry. As chips are getting smaller and globalization is increasing, demand for faster and efficient technology, demand for technological industry in increasing. 1.2 Introduction to Apple Incorporation Apple Incorporation is a multinational company that createst,tha,statesApple store(2012)Wikipedia 363 stores, computer software, and personal computers, selling inconsumer electronicsand sells oncompany was first foundedThe.billion in merchandiseabout US$16ide, with global sales ofworldw and thenRonald Wayne, andSteve Wozniak,Steve Jobsby, CaliforniaCupertinoApril 1, 1976 in he company was named as Apple Computer, Inc before for the first 30Ted on January 3, 1977.incorporat The company’syears. The word â€Å"Computer† was then removed from its name on January 9, 2007. Now the company’s.consumer electronicson personal computers shifted towardswastraditional focus , along with theiriPadand theiPhone,iPodline of computers,Macintoshknown products are the-best suite ofiLifemed ia browser,iTunes,)operating system(Mac OS Xother line of products including, (professionalAperture(suite of productivity software),iWorkmultimedia/creativity software, , aLogic Studioindustry),-(suite of professional audio and filmFinal Cut Studiophotography package), (mobile operating system).iOSweb browser andSafarisuite of music production tools; 1.2.1 Mission statement of Apple Inc According to Apple Inc (2012), †Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is  defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.† Another mission statement is:†Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and internet offerings.† 8. To find out about the branded product and its related price, promotion and placement and to find out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats the company may be facing.ï‚ · To find out about the benefits of branding for the company and to find o ut how branding helps to gain a competitive edge by differentiating themselves and how it increases customer loyalty and increases brand awareness. To analyze the importance of using a marketing strategies of branding for Apple Inc and to find out how STP strategies helps Apple’s brand. Toinnovateonaregularbasis. 1.2.4 Major competitors of Apple Inc Samsung, Microsoft, Dell, HP, Blackberry, Nokia 1.3 Motivations of research: As the competition in the technology industry has increased, it has become mandatory to make a study on the importance of using a marketing strategies of branding for Apple, to stay at the top of consumer’s mind, to cope up with the changing environment, to gain competitive edge, to make improvements in future and to attain goals set by the company. 1.4 Research Objectives: Toopenmorestoresevenoninternationallocationsto increase sales and dominate world market. ï‚ · Tokeepcreatingandreleasingcomputersandconsumerelectronics those are user-friendly. ï‚ · To obtain products and services within tight timeframe, at a cost providing the best value to the customers and shareholders. ï‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 2 1.2.2 Vision Statement of Apple Inc â€Å"We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great productsAccording to Apple Inc (2012), and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple not the t we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products thatcomplex. We believe tha we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in hat are truly important andsaying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few t pollination of our groups , which allow us to-meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to-company,  and we have the selfevery group in the change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.† 1.2.3 Objectives of Apple Inc As stated on the website Apple Inc (2012) are: 9. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December Does branding really contribute in making a difference in Apple Inc’s success? 1.6 Organization of Study: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature Review Chapter 3: Methodology Chapter 4: Research findings, data presentation and data analysis Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendationsï‚ · How will using STP strategies, 4 Ps of marketing mix and SWOT Analysis help to enhance Apple’s brand? ï‚ · Does branding allow Apple Inc to charge premium for its products and yet maintain customer loyalty? ï‚ · Does branding allow Apple’s customer to easily recognize and recall the company and its products? ï‚ · Does branding helps Apple to differentiate its products from its competitors, by gaining competitive edge? ï‚ · Does branding allow Apple Inc to communicate company’s objectives, mission and vision clearl y to their customers? 2012 3 1.5 Research question: 1.5.1 Leading question: What benefits will Apple and its customers benefit from after using branding marketing strategy? 1.5.2 Subsidiary questions: 10. Brand recognition- is when the consumers have good knowledge of brand when they are asked questions related to a specific brand and they are able to differentiate a brand on the basis of having noticed or heard about earlier. E.g. Is I-phone related to Apple or Samsung?ï‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 4 CHAPTER 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This section will provide the details about the qualitative data, providing a foundation for all the details to follow. 2.2 What is branding? According to Kotler (1999), branding is a †name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of all these that identifies the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.† Branding does not only allow your targ et market to choose your company over the competitor’s, but it helps in getting your prospects to see you as the only company that provides a solution to the consumer’s problems. It provides a company’s with a recognizable and trustworthy badge of originality, an intangible guarantee, i.e. a promise of performance that the product will meet with desired consumers’ expectations. 2.2.1 Apple’s Branding Strategy According to Marketing minds (2012), Apple Inc. uses the Apple brand to  compete across several highly competitive markets, including the personal computer industry with its Macintosh line of computers/laptops and related software, the consumer electronics industry with products such as the iPod, digital music distribution through iTunes Music Store, the smart phone market with the Apple iPhone, magazine, book, games and applications publishing via the AppsStore for iPhone and the iPad tablet computing device, and movie and TV content distribution with Apple TV. The company is also establishing a very strong marketing presence relative to the rival (Google) in the advertising market, via its business Apps and iAd network. Steve Job s, the co-Founder of Apple, described the company as being a â€Å"mobile devices company†, largest in the world as their revenues are bigger than Nokia, Samsung, or Sony’s mobile devices business. 2 .2.2 Brand Awareness It is when the consumers are familiar about the life or availability of the product. It is the degree to which consumers associate your brand with a specific product/service. As indicated by Management study guide (2012) in their article † What is brand awareness?†, Brand awareness may include of: 11. It strengthens user loyalty Apple has a branding strategy that focuses on the emotions. Apple brand’s personality is about lifestyle, imagination, liberty regained, innovation, passion, hopes, dreams and aspirations, and power-to-the-people through technology. The Apple brand personality is also about simplicity, making life easier for people as they have people-driven product design, and is a humanistic company with a heartfelt connection with its customers. 2.2.4 Apple’s Brand equity According to Investopedia, it is the premium value that the company realizes from a product with a recognizable name as compared to its generic equivalent fi rm. Companies can create brand equity for their products by making them memorable, easily recognizable and superior in quality and reliability. Also, mass marketing campaigns may help to create brand equity. Brand equity is said to be positive if the consumers are willing to pay more for a branded product than for a generic one. Brand awareness plays a key role in building brand equity. Create reliable brand image, slogans and taglines, helps to strengthen brand awareness which therefore improves brand equity. Marketing minds (2012) also states, Since Apple has strong brand awareness, it has high sales and high market share, and the consumers are well acquainted and familiar with the brand and its products. They are also  willing to pay premium price for their products, relative to the competitor’s brand due to Apple’s positive brand equity. Apple is not just intimate with their consumers but there is a real sense of community among users of its main product lines. Therefore, this also helps to create consumer’s brand loyalty (where brand loyalty is when the consumers become committed to your brand, ch oosing it over competitors and making repeat purchases over time.)ï‚ · It motivates the buyer ï‚ · It connects your target prospects emotionally ï‚ · It confirms your company’s credibility ï‚ · Helps to deliver the message clearly ï‚ · Brand recall- It allows a customer to recover a brand from his memory when given the product class/category, needs satisfied by that category or buying scenario as a signal, i.e. if they are able to recall the brand from their memory. E.g. Showing a logo of Apple’s brand, and asking which brand does this logo belongs to. 2.2.3 Apple’s brand personality As stated by About.com (2012), †What is branding and how important is it to your marketing strategy?†, a good brand helps a company to achieve these objectives: ï‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 5 12. †A study on marketing strategy of Apple† December 2012 6 2.3 Benefits of branding a company (Apple) 2.3.1 Emotional Appeal – As stated by Clarity marketing LTD (2005), emotional appeal helps a great deal in targeting customer’s emotions with product names. A strong, recognizable brand will acts like a ‘short cut’ in decision making process, as the customers don’t dither over alternatives or compare options where there is no clear point of difference, and instantly chooses your brand as they know what it stands for. For instance, as Apple manufactures technological items, the name of each product clearly reflects technological aspects like iPod touch, which indicates that it is a product that allows you to play and choose music through touch properties. It therefore, helps in creating an integrated appeal to specific emotions promoting the product recognition and sales. 2.3.2 Memorability and Familiarity – According to Marcia Yudkin (2012), brand helps to create a reputation and good will for a company. It is very hard for customers to refer to a company as â€Å"that whatsitsname store† or to refer business as â€Å"the shop from the Yellow Pages.† In addition to the company name, it gives people to give constant reminders reinforcing the identity of companies they will want to buy from. Memorability can come from the logo, its design, color, style etc which  helps to nail your company’s name in the minds of the public. Similarly, after your brand is nailed in the minds of your customers, that’s when your customers have become familiar and aware of your company’s existence in the market. Branding allows having huge effects on non-customers too. Psychologists’ studies have proved that familiarity develops liking for it. Also, the customers who have never bought from your company, may many tomes be willing to recommend your company to others even without having any personal knowledge of your products or services. Therefore, the half bitten Apple logo and the brand name ‘Apple’ help a great deal to help customers remember, be familiar and recommend the brand to others. 2.3.3 Premium image and Premium price – Branding allows a company to differentiate themselves from competitors existing in the market, because of which instead of dealing with price-shoppers the customers become eager to pay a higher price for your company’s goods and services. A strong brand let the customers associate themselves as being a company that offers premium quality, trendy products and is offering unique products that other companies are not offering. 2.3.4 Extensions – When your company’s brand is well-established, you can spread the respect you’ve earned to a related new product, service or location and win acceptance easily of the newcomer. For instance, when Apple introduced a new product extension line of Ipad, the customers trusted the brand so they didn’t feel reluctant and bought Ipads anyway, making these tablets quite popular of its kind in the market. 2.3.5 Loyalty – When customers have a positive experience with your company’s brand, they are more likely to buy your products and services again in future rather than the competitors. Customers that are closely bonded with your brand’s identity may not only repurchase what they bought earlier, but may also buy related items of the same brand, and recommend your brand to others and resist the lure of a competitor’s price cut. The brand identity helps to create and anchor such loyalty.

Creation by a Divine Craftsmen OR Creation From Nothing

Creation by a Divine Craftsmen OR Creation From Nothing Free Online Research Papers Is creation by a divine craftsman the same as creation by decree or creation from nothing? How, if at all, do they differ? How did evil arise? These are question I will be answering in this essay. While creation from divine craftsman and creation from nothing both use a preexisting divine creator they are actually very different accounts of cosmogony. As for how evil arose some religions deal with this matter when they discuss the creation of the world and humanity, others do not but they each have unique theories. Creation by divine craftsman is a theory of cosmogony where a preexisting creator has, like a craftsmen, shaped or molded the world into existence. The material by which he creates the world is also preexisting and there is no account from which either originally has come. The creator uses the skill of craftsmanship and logic to create the preexisting material in to our world, because he is molding or shaping this preexisting material it is shown that there is a certain degree of resistance from the material to be changed into this world. Although creation from nothing also starts with a preexisting divine creator it is very different and I will now look at those differences. Creation by decree, or creation from nothing is a theory of creation where a divine creator simply speaks or wills the world into creation from no preexisting material. Like creation from a divine craftsmen there is no account of where or how this divine creator comes from and the creation is a deliberate and willed action. But unlike creation by divine craftsmen there is no preexisting material and the world is not created from being molded it is simply just spoken or willed from nothing. The creator is complete separate from his creation. One example of creation from nothing is the accounts of creation in the Bible’s Genesis. Which also leads into a theory of how evil was brought about to this world. The Jewish and Christian view of cosmogony is told in the Bible in Genesis. As holds true with the theory of a creation by nothing the world was created deliberately by a divine God’s will. The world which he created was said to be â€Å"good† but in a much broader sense, meaning it was divine, justice and righteous. There was no triadic flaw or any form of evil. When humankind was created they were put in high status above all of creation and given the gift of free will. However they choice to miss use this gift in rebellion and alienation of their divine creator. Through this choice evil is brought into the world. Evil continuous to endure and escalate, which therefore causes perversion to God’s righteous world and in turn suffering. Another theory about the origin of evil is seen in Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that there is no real start to evil, that it has always been. The theory of karma shows that evil is just a result of past actions. One’s present situation is nothing more than a result of his past action and therefore evil comes from bad action and blessings come from good action, it is a never ending cycle. In closing, while creation by divine craftsmanship and creation from nothing might have some similarities they are really very different theories. The start of evil is different with each religion and while it can be associated with the start of the world that is not always the case. Research Papers on Creation by a Divine Craftsmen OR Creation From NothingHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionWhere Wild and West MeetPETSTEL analysis of IndiaCapital PunishmentEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThree Concepts of PsychodynamicComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoThe Project Managment Office SystemQuebec and Canada

Answering questions

This theory states that attention can be divided into two separate states, wherein one can attend to two things or stimuli at the same time, without sacrificing the quality of attention given to either of the two stimuli (Reisberg, 2001). Thus to the comedian, one can continue listening to the radio and at the same time look for the house number, and it perfectly makes sense to him that a person can do both of it since it does not really require an intense concentration. However, a case in point is that looking for a house number in a long row of houses may be quite a challenging task, one that requires concentration and selective attention. Yes, it can be said that keeping the radio on would not make any difference but to those who prefer to look closely and to be able to do so safely would naturally turn their radios off. Just imagine yourself driving slowly in a street you are unfamiliar with and keeping the radio on would mask the noise of incoming traffic or even pedestrians. Besides, when a person is involved in one task, like looking for a house, then one instinctively attends to it and disregards the other sounds, sights and disturbances in the immediate environment. Divided attention is very real, we engage it once in a while especially if we multi-task but we could do so in a limited period, for example think of how you can possibly manage to entertain questions from an officemate at your table and at the same time talk to someone on the phone, you could do both for a maximum of 2 minutes, but eventually one stimuli takes greater attention and we must give our full attention to it. On the other hand, with training, anybody can make use of divided attention, but its contributions and benefits in engaging in it remains to be seen since much research has to be done in this area. 2-B. Based on what you have learned about perception and attention, do you think it’s safe for people to talk on cellular phones while they are driving? Learning about how we perceive the world around us gives us a better way of understanding how intricate the human mind is and how even a faculty that we often take for granted can have a profound impact in our daily lives. Perception refers to a complex process of how we receive a stimuli, how our brain process the stimuli, and how our mind tells us what to do and how to react to the stimuli (Reisberg, 2001). It can be said that a disruption of any of the lines of our perception may have adverse consequences; sometimes it can be bizarre, like when a person cannot recognize the face of love one but instead are able to say that they look like a family member. Taking our study of perception into our daily activities, a debated issue like â€Å"is it safe to talk on the cell phone while driving† is better explained. I still believe that it is not safe to talk on the cellular phones while driving. Driving already entails a number of processes and is quite demanding of our attention, like when you are in the freeway, one has to be conscious of incoming traffic, cars at you back, the speed limit of the highway, and even looking out for possible mishaps in the road, on top of which, the driver must be conscious of the cars fuel level, brake fluid and tire conditions. So how could anybody be able to talk on the phone while driving? Talking on the phone also demands attention; we have to perceive and process what the other person is saying, and to even think of the appropriate response to what they are saying. Theories on perception have stated that our mind works overtime just to process and be able to respond to external stimuli, and that each part of the brain is involve in different ways just to come up with the correct processing of information (Reisberg, 2001), like being able to recognize faces of family members. Perceptual illusions demonstrate that what we see may not be true or real, hence while driving we may not be able to accurately tell how far we are from the car ahead of us or how near we are to the railings without our full concentration. Reports have shown that many people die on the road or in car accidents than any disease. Perceptual overload occurs when we drive and talk on the phone, based on previous researches (Reisberg, 2001), perceptual overload makes us incorrectly perceive our surroundings and hence we may see what is not there, or we may not see what is really there. When we overload our senses it would mean that one part of the brain or our faculties might be sacrificed to compensate for the attention we give to another stimulus. And in an activity like driving which in itself is a high-risk behavior, we need complete control of our faculties, thus talking on the cell phone is not advisable. 2-C. Write a 200 word summary and critical analysis on Rayner’s article. Discuss what the article is basically about, its strong and weak points, how convincing (or unconvincing) you find its arguments, and how it might be followed up (e.g., if you think the article suggests any promising, new ideas for future research, describe what they are and how they might best be pursued.) The article â€Å"Eye Movements in Reading: Recent Developments† by Keith Rayner (1993) presents the latest development in the study of eye movement in the reading process. The strength of the article is that it gives a background of what has been discovered so far in the field of study, the article argues that studying eye movement is important for it help build theory and also used to infer perceptual and cognitive processes during reading thus the objective of the article. It also presents a number of theories that have used new methods in studying eye movement. What was weak about the article was that it was not able to connect how the new methods of studying would contrite to a better understanding of the cognitive processes that occur during reading. The article basically was not convincing when the author says that much remains to be seen when researchers realize how interesting a research data eye movement can be. The article does not arouse this interest and simply goes on to say that eye movement is a natural consequence of reading, which contradicts his claims earlier in the introduction part. The article was also too technical for the average reader even if the reader is interested in eye movement. References Rayner, K. (1993). Eye movements in reading: Recent developments. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2 (3): 81-85 Reisberg, D. (2001). Cognition: Exploring the science of the Mind, 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton Company, Inc.

Ending Hunger in the Elderly Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ending Hunger in the Elderly Population - Essay Example Although students are not required to conduct an interview as research for the final project, the process of thinking about potential questions and responses related to the final project topic will help stimulate further ideas and questions related to conducting relevant and reliable research. Of course, you may also decide to interview the person discussed here or another appropriate subject and use the material in your upcoming projects as a primary source. I selected Ms. Haist, because she is the chief researcher at a famous university. She is also an expert on the topic of poverty and hunger reduction methods. I am sure, that she will provide me, with the detailed insight about the topic of my paper. The topic of this interview is focusing on the methods to alleviate hunger among the older people. According to the, Gomez & Ranney, (2002) There is a statistically significant relation between the health expenditure and fitness of old people, so if the government wants to keep them healthy, it has to stabilize their income, which can be achieved through offering them flexible insurance packages. This observation indicates a firm and logical relation between the health and financial well beings of individuals in question. During another study, the researcher finds that the proportion of homeless people is increasing with leaps during last two decades (Bowering, Clancy, & Poppendieck, 1999), majority of individuals among them, is older and has no family. They also lack the luxury of having proper shelter. At the same time they suffer with nutrients deprivation (Saad, 2000). It is the due responsibility of federal and regional governments to spare resources of the betterment of these people. In any country the most powerful entity is the government, so in my opinion this is the ultimate responsibility of the federal government to take care of these people, because the culture of US is individualistic, so people are busy