Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Essay

Intrinsic motivation has been described in many ways. Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, and Tighe (1994) describe it as â€Å"the motivation to engage in work primarily for its own sake, because the work itself is interesting, engaging, or in some way satisfying† (p. 950). According to Ryan and Deci (2000) intrinsic motivation refers to â€Å"doing something because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable† (p. 55). Pink (2009) defines intrinsic rewards as encompassing three components: Autonomy (the need to direct your own life), Mastery (desiring to get better at something you’re passionate about) and purpose (the longing to be a part of something bigger and better). When all an employer wants from an employee is compliance, the traditional concepts of management will work. In the case that the employer seeks engagement, self-direction is more motivating. Amabile (1996), a professor at Harvard Business School, asserts that â€Å"Without intrinsic motivation, an indiv idual will either not perform the activity at all, or will do it in a way that simply satisfies the extrinsic goals† (p. 7). This statement supports that for an employee to be engaged in what they are doing and satisfied doing it, intrinsic motivators are required. If your employees are only completing the tasks given to them because you are motivating them with extrinsic rewards, it can be expected that when you take the reward away, they will no longer be motivated to complete the work. EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION Extrinsic motivation has been defined as â€Å"Doing something because it leads to a separable outcome† (Ryan & Deci, 2000) or â€Å"the motivation to work primarily in response to something apart from the work itself† (Amabile et al., 1994). An example of an extrinsic reward is when an organisation motivates their workers to perform by rewarding them with money, such as bonuses, increased salaries, stock options or benefits. These rewards are easy to monitor as they stem from results. If an employee is following the organisational procedures and adhering to the rules, the manager can reward. If not, there will be no reward. It’s a very common motivator for organisations as it’s easy to manage. They don’t have to think about how the employee feels or if he/she is passionate about their job. It made sense for extrinsic motivators to work in older generations. Most employees had one job to do, with a simple set of tasks. For example, a bookkeeper’s job was to record all financial transactions in relevant journals, creating profit and loss statements balance sheets etc. They were assigned to those exact tasks. Today, we have programs like MYOB that does all of that work for us. We are no longer working in organisations where our jobs are routine. Our work has become more complex and more interesting. Workers today are looking for ways to use their minds and to be involved in bigger things than just monotonous tasks. Time magazine published an article stating that â€Å"They [generation Y] just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Trunk, n.d.). Extrinsic rewards are not only becoming less suitable for modern times, research has shown that they can also decrease intrinsic motivation. †¦consideration of reward effects reported in 128 experiments leads to the conclusion that tangible rewards tend to have a substantially negative effect on intrinsic motivation. Although rewards can control people’s behaviour†¦.reward contingencies undermine people’s taking responsibility for motivating or regulating themselves. (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999, p. 658-659) Extrinsic rewards can also cause people to lose interest completely in the activity. Deci’s research concluded that â€Å"†¦when money is used as an external reward for some activity, the subjects lose intrinsic interest for the activity† (1971, p. 114). Furthermore, Amabile (1996) states that â€Å"A number of studies have shown that a primarily intrinsic motivation will be more conducive to creativity than a primarily extrinsic motivation† (p. 7). THE CANDLE PROBLEM The candle problem was a behavioural study developed by psychologist Karl Duncker (1945). He had numerous people that he split into two groups. Both groups were given a candle, matches and a box of thumbtacks. Dunker told them to stick the candle to the wall in such a way that the wax won’t melt onto the table and using only the materials given. The subjects first tried sticking the candle to the wall with the thumbtacks, it didn’t work. Some tried to melt the side of the candle with the matches and adhere it to the wall but to no avail. After a while both groups managed to figure out the solution: stick the box to the wall with the thumbtacks, and put the candle inside it. A scientist named Sam Glucksberg (1962) re-created the candle problem but gave the subjects incentives. The first group were not offered a reward but told they were a part of a study to ‘establish norms’ and see how long it takes the average person to solve the problem. The second group were offered different sums of money depending on how fast they solved the problem. It was recorded that the incentivised group took almost three and a half minutes longer than the non-incentivised group. This research defies every rule that says extrinsic motivators work. In their third edition Organisational Behaviour book, Wood et al. (2013) describe extrinsic rewards as being â€Å"positively valued work outcomes the individual receives from some other person in the work setting. They are important external reinforces or environmental consequences that can substantially influence people’s work behaviours through the law of effect† (p. 131). The candle problem with incentives has been copied for the past forty years and every time the incentivised group solved the problem the fastest. Glucksberg prepared the experiment again but this time he handed his subjects the materials separately. Instead of supplying the thumbtacks inside the box, he put them next to the box. For the first time ever the incentivised group beat the non-incentivised group. The results suggested that when the problem was made simpler, extrinsic motivators worked better. Extrinsic rewards usually only work for problems that have a simple set of tasks and a right answer. Workers today are more creative and conceptual and enjoy solving problems. When we have technology that does most of the simple tasks for us, we spend more time trying to solve problems that have many possible answers. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN TODAYS WORKPLACE Contemporary companies are finding and implementing ways to motivate their employees by using intrinsic rewards. The best example would be Google Inc. Google is renowned for their great benefits and modern offices. There are too many benefits to list them all but some include sleep pods, reading areas, swimming pools, free food, free rental cars if you need to run errands, and some even have on-site child care facilities. One motivator that benefited the company and the employee is the 80/20 rule. Google don’t want people to have to leave the company to pursue their personal passions so every employee is to dedicate 80% of their time to their primary job, and 20% of their time working on ‘passion projects’ that can help the company. Half the products released at Google were invented in the 20% time. E.g. Gmail, Chrome, Google News (Mediratta, 2007). Fortune magazine ranked Google as the number one company to work for in the world in 2012 and 2013 (â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For,† n.d.) It’s not hard to see why this is the case. Besides all of the above, Google has no real hierarchy (Mills, 2007). They have no official channels, only tiny work groups where ideas flow within the group. If an employee wants to work with another team they can without having to ask permission. While the intrinsic rewards are desirable enough, Google also offer very attractive extrinsic rewards such as 100% paid maternity leave for up to 18 weeks. Like Google, Atlassian, an Australian software company, introduced a quarterly system where an individual could use 20% of his/her time to work on their own ideas and present them at a meeting the next day. This was called the ‘ShipIt Days’ (because it had to be delivered by the next day). This one day of autonomy led to 47 internal projects being used within the software company that never would have emerged otherwise, and more than $2 million in sales (Smith, n.d.). Atlassian has also been in the top ten of BRW’s best places to work for the last couple of years. Another example of autonomy in the workplace is ROWE (Results Only Work Environment). (â€Å"What is Rowe,† n.d.) writes how employees are evaluated on their outputs and what they achieve at the company, not how long or when they are working. As long as you get your work done, you can come in anytime, leave anytime, not come in at all and meetings are optional. Companies who have implemented the ROWE human resources strategy have seen their productivity increase by 35% and their voluntary turnover dropped between 50% and 90% (Penttila, n.d.). Not-For-Profit (NFP) Organisations are another good example of how intrinsic motivators work to retain staff when they are being paid much less than people in the same position who are working for private companies. Frey (1997) suggested that once an employee receives a wage that is enough to live off, they begin to seek purpose in their work. A case study by Tippet & Kluvers (2009) researching motivation in NFP organisations showed that most employees were satisfied with their pay. This research shows that because they see their pay as sufficient, intrinsic motivation may be more of an importance. Pink asserts that â€Å"Effective organizations compensate people in amounts and in ways that allow individuals to mostly forget about compensation and instead focus on the work itself† (2009, p. 170). In other words, get the issue of money off the table first so employees aren’t feeling mistreated or de-motivated, then focus on intrinsic motivators. LEADERSHIP APPROACHES Thomas (2009) suggests that to increase intrinsic motivation you should begin to de-emphasise money as a motivating factor. By paying your employees fairly, but not offering monetary rewards, they will begin to achieve goals for the satisfaction. Usually when you offer rewards employees may only just do what is asked of them, rather than going one step further. Organisations not only need to change the way they motivate their employees, they also need to realise that not everyone will be motivated by the same intrinsic reward. Ryan and Deci (2000) state that â€Å"People are intrinsically motivated for some activities and not others, and not everyone is intrinsically motivated for any particular task† (p. 56). As expected, humans do not have the same passions in life and the same goals, therefore we cannot expect them to be motivated by the same rewards. While Google Inc. has a wide range of benefits that should suit most employees, they have also employed a ‘Chief Culture Czar’ whose main job is devoted to making sure everyone is happy. Google have an annual global survey that is focused on finding out how happy their employees are, and what it’s going to take to keep them with the company. The current CCC, Stacey Sullivan, has said of the survey â€Å"†¦career development is more of a focus than giving more stock options or increasing salaries† (Mills, 2007). Thomas (2009) suggests identifying shared passions within an organisation so focus can be on achieving the desired goal. When passions are clarified and identified it’s much easier to pursue them in a systematic way. A team unifies when they discover that passion: â€Å"Aha, that’s what we care about. Now let’s go after it† (Thomas, 2009, p. 155). Teammates are then likely to connect and see each other as partners with a shared purpose. For a leader to be successful in building employee engagement within an organisation, they need to be aware of what drives them and how to manage their own intrinsic rewards. Thomas (2009) declares that â€Å"Developing this skill helps you recognize the intrinsic rewards in your employees, gives you more credibility, and – as a bonus – helps you stay more engaged and energized† (p. 193). Employee Engagement Many people define employee engagement differently, but according to Thomas (2009) employee engagement is the phrase used to describe the motivation needed in organisations today. In the 80s and 90s it was ‘empowerment’ and in the 70s it was ‘enrichment.’ As work becomes more demanding and supervision slackens the need for workers to be â€Å"†¦psychologically ‘engaged’†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Thomas, 2009, p. 11) when performing their work is essential. Although employee engagement itself can be defined in many ways, Macey and Schneider assert that it â€Å"†¦is a desirable condition, has an organizational purpose, and connotes involvement, commitment, passion, enthusiasm, focused effort and energy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2008, p. 4). Thomas defines employee engagement as active self-management that has four key intrinsic rewards â€Å"†¦the sense of meaningfulness, the sense of choice, the sense of competence, and the sense of progress†¦. These four intrinsic rewards are the psychological vital signs of an engaged workforce† (2009, p. 192). Employee engagement is valuable for any organisation as it can breed employee loyalty. When an employee is loyal they contribute to moving the company forward and help it reach its goals. Lockwood (2007) emphasizes the link of engagement to business success after a survey of 50,000 employees in 27 countries revealed that â€Å"Organizations that have a highly engaged workforce were found to have almost 10 times as many committed, high-effort workers as those with a low-engaged workforce. The findings point to the manager as the most important enabler of employee commitment to the organization, job and work-teams† (p. 9). CONCLUSION The effects of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards have long been debated and will continue to be examined as psychologists and researches alike try and find the ‘answer’. This paper was intended to provide the reader with a worthy argument as to why intrinsic motivators are becoming a more obvious style of management. There are many examples of organisations focusing on intrinsic motivators and the effect they have on the success of a company. As Pink (2009) suggests, while extrinsic rewards are becoming less relatable in modern times, they should not be thrown out altogether, as one must still be satisfied with their pay to allow intrinsic motivators to work. The evidence readily available today should be enough to convince more organisations to introduce intrinsic motivation and decrease the importance of extrinsic rewards with their companies. REFERENCE LIST Amabile, T.M. (1996) Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. Harvard Business School 100 Best Places to Work For. [n.d.]. Retrieved from the CNN Money Website: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/index.html Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18(1), 105-115 Deci, E. L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R.M. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 627-668 Drucker, P. F. (1974). Management Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann Dunker, K. (1945). On Problem Solving. Psychological Monographs. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Frey, B.S. (1997). On the Relationship between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Work Motivation1. International Journal of Industrial Organisation, 15(4), 427-439 Glatzeder, B., Goel, V., Meuller, A.C. (2010). Towards a theory of thinking. Retrieved from http://www.yorku.ca/vgoel/courses/3260/Goel_3260_articles/Article_7.pdf Glucksberg, S. (1962). The influence of strength of drive on functional fixedness and perceptual recognition. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 63(1), 36-41. doi:10.1037/h0044683 Lockwood, N.R. (2007). Leveraging Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantage: HR’s Strategic Role. SHRM Research Quarterly Retrieved from: http://198.22.197.80/Research/Articles/Articles/Documents/07MarResearchQuarterly.pdf Macey, W. H., Schneider, B. (2008). The Meaning of Employee Engagement. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 3-30 Mediratta, B. [n.d.]. The Google Way: Give Engineers Room. Retrieved from the New York Times Website: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/jobs/21pre.html?_r=0 Penttila, C. [n.d.]. Off the Clock: â€Å"Flexibility is the workstyle of the future†. Retrieved from the Entrepreneur Website: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/177070 Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive. The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York, USA: Penguin Books Ltd Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1020 Smith, F. [n.d.]. â€Å"Is Atlassian the coolest company in Australia?†. Retrieved from the BRW website: http://www.brw.com.au/p/sections/features/is_atlassian_the_coolest_company_877SCYxXLwl7N9cNiMF6vJ Tippet, J., & Kluvers, R. (2009). Employee Rewards and Motivation in Non Profit Organisations: Case Study from Australia. International Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), 7. Trunk, P. [n.d.]. â€Å"What Gen Y Really Wants?†. Retrieved from the Time Magazine website: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640395,00.html What is Rowe. [n.d.]. Retrieved from the Go Rowe Website: http://www.gorowe.com/main/what-is-rowe/ Wood, J., Zeffane, R., Fromholtz,

Filipino People and Beauty Salon

Mario Bellatin’s Beauty Salon, translated elegantly from the Spanish by Kurt Hollander, is a strange and beautiful parable about human bodies living and dying on the fringes of society. The brevity of Bellatin’s novella is deceptive—in just sixty-three pages, the story of this unnamed narrator, a cross-dressing, homosexual hair stylist who turns his beloved beauty salon into a hospice for victims dying of a mysterious plague, prompts us to consider our collective attitudes toward, and treatment of, the human body—in illness, in death, in poverty, and in opposition to dominant conceptions of sexual behavior.Bellatin’s narrator has become the lone caretaker for men (only men are welcome here) dying of a plague that has stricken his unnamed city. â€Å"The Terminal,† as his beloved former beauty salon for local women is now known, has become the last stop for those affected by the plague. As the disease ravages the city, leaving its victims to d ie alone in a society than shuns them, at risk of attack from the predatory Goat Killer Gang, the Terminal offers precious refuge.Curiously—and this is what makes the novella so compelling—the narrator is more concerned with describing the tropical fish he houses in the elaborate aquariums of the hospice-turned-salon than he is with the hospice itself or those he cares for within it. This obsession is a significant part of the structure of the novel: the narrator reluctantly provides information about the daily events of the Terminal in asides that distract him, to his annoyance, from the aquarium, but which he still feels compelled to offer.The narrator’s hesitance, and his unusual priorities, make reading Beauty Salon a particularly enigmatic experience. Bellatin subverts attempts to understand his character’s motivations and psychology by making this psychology opaque to readers. This deliberate opacity prevents the kind of understanding many readersâ €”particularly many American readers, I’ll contend—may be accustomed to.Contemporary mainstream American literature is dominated by a particular brand of psychological realism that rewards readers in a way that Bellatin has no apparent interest in—these novels  carefully track a character’s innermost thoughts, and the smallest of actions is revelatory of character in a strict one-to-one ratio. Bellatin, however, gives us none of this—what we are given is narrative, the narrator’s story, and there is no interceding narratorial presence to account for the protagonist’s actions, or paternally guide our interpretation. According to him Beauty Salon is a parable, but one grounded by its specific social critique.The ill are refugees from the social institutions that purport to care for them, but with a very narrow vision of what â€Å"care† actually entails—hospitals will not allow them to die there, not with any degree of respect or dignity, at least. The narrator’s distrust of religion reflects his belief that religious institutions, too, impose upon the ill, falsely leading them to believe in a fate for the body that is mystical and untrue. It is notable that the owner of the beauty salon is a homosexual man prone to cross-dressing, who occasionally engages (happily) in prostitution—his is a body that acts in discord with socio-sexual norms.Like his patients, who have been shunned and cast aside, he too is an outsider. The confluence of these factors, as well, suggests an allegorical commentary on the HIV virus and AIDS and the history of the treatment of infected individuals in our society. http://wordswithoutborders. org/book-review/mario-bellatins-beauty-salon 2. -According to the U. S. Small Business Administration, â€Å"Inventory refers to stocks of anything necessary to do business† (U. S. Small Business Administration, 2010, pp 1-2). The U. S.Small Business Administr ation publication describes what constitutes successful inventory management (balancing cost versus benefits of inventory), including 1) Maintaining a wide assortment without spreading the rapidly moving items too thin, 2) Increasing inventory turnover without sacrificing service, 3) Keeping stock low without sacrificing performance , 4) Obtaining lower prices by making volume purchases, 5) Maintaining an adequate inventory without an excess of obsolete items. Anyone in business must understand the business of inventory.Below is a look at six different inventory systems as well as a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages. Wal-Mart Inventory System Wal-Mart runs its stores on a perpetual inventory system. This system records the quantity of items sold as items are purchased. The computer system at Wal-Mart constantly keeps up with additions or deductions from inventory and tells management what items are on hand. The organization also conducts counts of employee manual counts of inventory periodically.When an item arrives at the Wal-Mart distribution center it is scanned into the inventory system. When the items are purchased by the consumer, the point-of-sale system reduces the inventory from that purchase. According to Wal-Mart’s Gail Lavielle, a leaner inventory will help clear out store clutter and help Wal-Mart focus on specific brands and products that consumers want (The Associated Press, 2006). http://www. studymode. com/essays/Related-Literature-Of-Sales-And-Inventory-613069. html 3.Janes (2011) stated that computers are extremely reliable device and very powerful calculators with some great accessories applications like word processing problem for all of business activities, regardless of size, computers have three advantages over other type of office equipment that process information because computer are faster, more accurate more economical. 4 -According to Shanker (2013), the main difference between manual and computerized systems i s speed. The processed data through accounting software can create reports much faster than manual systems. A calculation through automation minimizes errors and increases efficiency.The inputted data can easily be summarized in just a few clicks. While the manual computing with paper and pencil is much cheaper than a computerized system, which requires a machine and software. Other expenses associated with computerization include training and program maintenance. http://www. studymode. com/essays/Related-Literature-And-Studies-Inventory-System-1875708. html Foreign study 1 -according to Parisa Islam Khan from Eastern University Ayesha Tabassum, Eastern University The beauty-care service industry is one of the flourishing industries in Dhaka, the capital and largest city, in terms of population density, in Bangladesh.The growing number of beauty-conscious women and their demand for variety of services cater to the growth and importance of this industry. This study aims at measuring the service quality and customer satisfaction level of high-end women’s parlors in Dhaka. Other purposes of this study are to assess the importance of different attributes of customer’s preference, evaluate the service quality level and the extent of customer satisfaction and reveal the final factors that create customer satisfaction.This study includes in-depth interviews of beauticians and executives and questionnaire survey of 260 customers of high-end beauty parlors of Dhaka city. The findings show that customers put utmost importance in issues such as the service provider’s behavior, knowledge, environment, counseling system and affordability of the parlors. The customers of the high-end parlors are highly satisfied with the environment, executive’s politeness, complaint handling system, trustworthiness and materials.The politeness of the service providers, knowledge level of the executives and safety and hygiene issues are also satisfactory. Factor analysis (Principal Component Analysis) has been carried out by taking sixteen variables and the result indicates that four service quality factors are creating customer satisfaction. These factors are Support & Facility Factor and Employee. http://www. studymode. com/essays/Beauty-Salon-1108126. html Local Literature 1. -According to Dean Francis Alfair, Filipino men are spending millions to look — and feel — good.As was stated in his article, â€Å"Machos in the Mirror†, a metrosexual like himself doesn’t generally think of himself as vain, but then there’s this incident where Mr. Alfair remember from high school: some of his friends were assembled at his house so that they could all ride together to a party. As they were getting dressed in their Spandau Ballet-inspired finery (then the height of fashion), one of the barkada produced, from out of the depths of his bag, a can of mousse, which none of them hapless males had ever seen or even heard of before. Naturally, they all had to squirt some into their hands and smear it on their hair.Not knowing that they were then supposed to blow-dry or otherwise style it, they left the house feeling snazzy, while looking pretty much the same as they had prior to applying the mousse — at most, their hair was a little damper, vaguely crispy in texture, and certainly stickier than before. But they felt utterly transformed. They felt really good looking. Mr. Alfair stated â€Å"These days (long past high school, thanks), I don’t exactly wander around feeling guapo, but according to a survey by global research firm Synovate last year, a good many Filipino males do — 48 percent of us, in fact.This is just a slightly lower percentage than males in the United States at 53 percent, and considerably higher than our Asian neighbors: 25 percent of Singaporean men think they’re sexy, and only 12 percent of guys from Hong Kong. Moreover, while less than half of us (whi ch is already a significant figure) think that we’re God’s gift to Pinays, a whopping 84 percent of Filipinos rate their looks as â€Å"quite† or â€Å"very† important to them.Assuming that the survey is accurate, this means, statistically speaking, that there is no male racial group on earth vainer than Filipino men. And, to my shock, I am one of them. † If you think about it, , the evidence is all around us, and has been for decades. Way before the term â€Å"metrosexual† was ever coined (in 1994, by British journalist Mark Simpson, in case you’re interested), Filipino businessmen were going around toting clutch, but which also frequently contain combs and the occasional small mirror.Your average Pinoy traffic cop, while likely to sport an enormous gut that completely engulfs his regulation belt, is just as likely to brandish gleaming, rosy-hued, meticulously manicured fingernails. And practically everyone has at least one uncle or o ther older male relative who keeps his hair so slickly brilliantined that everyone else can conveniently fix his or her own hair by merely glancing at its mirror-like surface. Those are just what we’ll call the â€Å"traditional† examples.Among the younger set, the author recall a time when you couldn’t walk into a classroom of boys without nearly asphyxiating on the overwhelming communal scent of Drakkar cologne. Nowadays the choice of fragrance is more varied, but the rabidly enthusiastic application of cologne, aftershave, or that hybrid substance strangely labeled as â€Å"deo-cologne† remains constant. The Synovate survey tells us that Filipino men bathe an average of 1. 5 times a day.(I’m not really sure how one takes half a bath, but I’m told by informed sources that such regular male hygiene is a source of relief and delight for Filipino women. ) Since the 1970s, the majority of Philippine beauty salons have become â€Å"unisex,â₠¬  resulting in a large and growing number of young men who have never even set foot in a barber shop, which means that most of us go to salons — every three weeks or so, according to salon magnate Ricky Reyes, â€Å"for pampering. † Not that barbershops themselves are exactly bastions of simplicity and pure functionality anymore.High-end ones offer â€Å"personal care† services ranging from facials to foot scrubs to ear cleaning. (Does ear cleaning count as vanity? ) Men also go to massage parlors — real ones, not quote-unquote massage parlors — not just to soothe their tired muscles, but often for skin-improving treatments like mud baths and herbal wraps. And speaking of skin treatments, more and more cosmetics companies are coming out with â€Å"just for men† lines of grooming products, including face scrubs, lotions, and astringents.What’s significant is that more and more Pinoy men are actually buying them: just 10 years ago, me n accounted for only 10 percent of the total Philippine beauty care buying public. That figure has now mushroomed to 40 percent, meaning that there are nearly equal numbers of Pinoys and Pinays out there, snapping up creams and cleansers. Even cosmetic surgery has become not just acceptable, but desirable for many Filipino men — from standard dermatology for simple problems like acne, to unapologetic vanity procedures such as liposuction and â€Å"age-defying† Botox injections.Dr. Vicky Belo of the popular Belo Medical Clinic confirms, â€Å"Before, (men) only accounted for one-fourth of my total clientele. Now they are about one-third. † It’s gotten to the point where â€Å"Who’s your derma? † is a topic that can actually enjoy lengthy discussion time in a man-to-man conversation, and surgical treatment has become something of a mark of status in Philippine showbiz.Actors Albert Martinez and John Lloyd Cruz, as well as singer Janno Gibbs, a mong others, readily (and proudly!) admit to being regular clients at the Belo Medical Clinic. Can all this male vanity be laid at the door of celebrities like these and metrosexual poster boy David Beckham? Apparently not. For one thing, as Mr. Alfair mentioned earlier, the Filipino trait of being vanidoso well predates Becks and his ilk. Besides, a metrosexual, by definition, is â€Å"a male who has a strong aesthetic sense and spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance.†While it seems that Pinoys certainly do make the time and shell out the cash for our looks, we don’t always have enough of an aesthetic sense to know what we’re doing†¦ unless there actually is a segment of the female populace I don’t know about that really does swoon over pink, manicured fingernails on a man. I can’t be sure there isn’t, having never tried the look myself. As for why metrosexuals willing to spend so much time and money, it may, surprisin gly, be a product of social and economic factors. During the U. S. recession, it was observed that lipstick sales shot up, only to taper down again once the recession was over.Consistent repetition of this phenomenon led economists to conclude that, when consumers feel less than confident about the future, they tend to purchase small, comforting indulgences such as lipstick rather than splurging on larger items like appliances and electronic gadgets. Correspondingly, Ricky Reyes has noted that more customers flocked to salons during the 1997 economic crisis in the Philippines, turning to relatively low-priced services like haircuts in order to make themselves feel better in an unstable living environment.While the purchase of lipstick per se may not exactly be applicable to the Filipino male, we can obviously draw a corollary with your average Pinoy, who might be understandably reluctant to buy, say, a flat-screen TV in a country where coup d’etat rumors circulate at least tw ice a year. Instead, he might choose to spend his money on his appearance, perhaps subconsciously http://chrisonis. wordpress. com/2012/07/08/chapter-2-local-literature/

Is romantic love a code, a script, a narrative or a delusion Essay

Is romantic love a code, a script, a narrative or a delusion - Essay Example The paper "Is romantic love a code, a script, a narrative or a delusion" analyzes is romantic love a code, a script, a narrative or a delusion, or, all of the above. Romantic love can be viewed in different ways, often depending on each individual, his experiences, his status, and his perceptions. Romantic love can therefore be viewed as a code, also a script, a delusion, or all of the above. As a script, love is not original, as it proceeds from others, including books and friends. Love is a amalgamation of amorous declarations, and it mimics images and representations from films, literature, text, poems, biology, and spirituality. As a script, it enacts rituals and conventions. It also arises from books and encounters where the same things are read, heard, and spoken. Love has a settled discourse because it is supported by historical elements, making it an adventure in some ways. Stages relating to love include instantaneous rapture, then a series of encounters. The encounters incl ude various encounters where individuals go on dates, exchange calls and/or letters, and have brief trips. At which point, the ‘lovers’ explore the perfect qualities of the other person. There are sweet qualities at these beginnings of the relationship, and this is the interval period during idyllic moments. These moments take on an identity based on its opposition to the period which follows where there are moments of pain, anxiety, suffering, distress, embarrassment, and deception. At this point, there is a persistent threat. of a possible downfall which may overcome a person. In some ways, love is also a delusion and a madness. Love often takes place with the amorous subject indicating that he is going mad with love, and that he is mad to be in love. He admits that he is insane in his own eyes and is also conscious in his madness. All lovers are mad at some point, delusional too (Barthes, 1984). As such, they are likely to do mad things. There are many incidents in f ilm and in literature illustrating such madness. Romeo and Juliet were mad to reach the point in their life where Juliet agreed to take in a potion to stop her heart and feign death, and Romeo has taken on qualities of madness as he too reaches a point where he commits suicide in the hope of joining Juliet in the afterlife. Delusions are associated with love, especially in terms of the feelings and thoughts which people associate with it (Barthes, 1984). People in love may be deluded enough to think that the other party is also in love with them. As such they are prone to make interpretations of the other person’s actions and words in order to fit their delusion of love (Turkle, 2011). This may be seen in overly eager fans of celebrities which often believe that the words, songs, and actions of their favourite actors or singers are meant for them. John Hinckley, Jr. for example attempted to assassinate Pres. Ronald Reagan in an attempt to impress Jodie Foster (Buss, 2000). He was delusional in the belief that he would be able to prove his love to Foster by assassinating President Reagan. Love is also a catastrophe in the sense that the lover views himself in a trap where he cannot escape, in a trap where he is doomed to destruction. Under these conditions, the lover is likely to be carried away by his emotions, asphyxiated by it, likely to feel

Revisions Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Revisions - Thesis Example arch has studied if existing immigration and border control systems are enough to prevent illegal immigration, as well as existence of psychological and logical aspects related to the illegal immigrants and immigration to use them as a tool to infiltrate terrorists to the USA Since the discovery of the continent, everyone other than Native Americans, who are living in the US, are descendant from immigrants and slaves. By the late seventeenth century, nonnative individuals formed seventy-five percent of the American population (History of Immigration Law in the USA). At first, the U.S. government promoted wide-open immigration in the pursuit of settling as much territory as possible. However, after the Civil War different states began to adopt their own immigration statues. In 1875, US Supreme court brought the immigration laws under federal jurisdiction. In 1891, US Congress established Immigration Service (History of Immigration Law in the USA) and started implementing immigration laws. Early immigration laws were designed to control US population structure. For example, 1790 Naturalization Act limited European and Caucasian descendent immigration, 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act made immigration from China illegal. Likewise, ethnicity, the government was al so worried about moral composition of the US population. Congress, between 1872-1890 passed laws constraining the immigration of several groups that included prostitutes, criminals, mentally ill, and financially unstable individuals. In the late 19th century, the government became concerned about native laborers. In 1885 and 1887, Congress passed first laws restricting immigration based on economic reasons. Congress during 1900 to 1921 instituted a â€Å"quota system† guaranteeing permission to a set number of individuals from each ethnic group. In 1924, Congress established the first branch of border control to monitor immigration from Canada and Mexico (History of Immigration Law in the USA). In

Job description Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Job description - Assignment Example The job also requires me to deal with major departments in the corporate office such as the liquor merchandise department, which is in charge of the entire liquor affairs. I also deal with the security department to ensure that security personnel scans all item sold to ensure proper inventory keeping on my part. This ensures that all the ordered stock is sold. I also deal with the wine representatives from various wine companies like Wine Warehouse, Gallo, Southern wines and spirit, and many other interested wine sellers. My job also revolves around customer service and out servicing. Customer service may involve wine tasting events where we set up a wine tasting for customers to help introduce new brands to them. Also, for those customers who are unable to reach the store, we offer home shopping. To stay relevant and competitively advantaged, research is conducted regularly to determine the latest preferences and brands preferred by the customers. Marketing our products is also anot her important strategy of increasing our sales. The store often pays for radio, television, newspaper and magazines adverts. In some occasions, posters are put all over town in order to attract more clients to our liquor stores. We offer relatively cheaper prices compared to the other liquor stores and strive to offer the best service to the customers. The necessary training required for my job position includes attending corporate training programs, wine seminars, and workshops. Corporate training helps to instill performance driven skill in me.

Individual critical review report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Individual critical review report - Essay Example Some of the common changes that many students experience changes in culture, language and system of education. This was not any different in my case. The various changes experienced can be behavioral, cognitive, psychodynamic and humanistic; having an influence in personal strengths and weaknesses whose understanding is important in future career development and improvement. Personality Change Theories Philosophy, Psychology and sociology theorists and experts have always claimed that personality of a person can change in certain circumstances. Changes can occur when a person relocates to another place, which is different from the region they are used to or when they decide they are going to make changes in some things about themselves. Personality change when a person relocates to another place is based on the theories discussed hereafter. Behavioral This is simply the change of behavior of a person either towards something for improvement or change of environment. Change of environ ment especially comes with its own challenges. Things may be different in the new environment compared to the environment a person is used to. The person has to imitate the behavior and actions of the people in the new environment to fit in and survive. ... For college students, they fall under the category of young adults which according to Erikson ranges from twenty to thirty nine years. This stage is based on two characteristics, intimacy and isolation. Erikson states that this stage is important for people within that age bracket to have good relationships with other people. The consequence of this is two outcomes; intimacy or isolation. People, who learn how to connect with other people, share with them what their feelings and to appreciate their viewpoints and perspectives on different issues get intimacy. They have people they can always look up to when they need them. On the other hand, people who do not develop good relationships with other people do not have anyone to connect to or look up to. They live on their own in isolation (Schultz and Schultz, 2004). The consequences of Erikson’s theory of psychological development have a lot of impact on the people. While people who have intimate relations are usually happy and stress free, those that live in isolation are likely to be depressed making them to engage in activities that are not good for instance substance abuse. Basing on this psychological development theory by Erikson, I have learned to interact with people from across the world for the time I have been studying abroad. I have developed relations with many people that I met at the University. I believe I have understood them to the fullest and they have also understood my personality. There was a lot of fulfillment I experienced by sharing my joy, issues and challenges with the friend I have made at college. I have learned to appreciate every person as we were from different cultural, ethnic

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Management - Essay Example ause the nature of the relationship is a subjective one, the leader is unable to determine whether any progress is being made, despite the fact that he is responsible for accountability. One of the things that a manager has to teach his sales representatives is the ability to bend and flex and adapt their sales pitch and styles to suit the needs of different customers. In the insurance industry in particular, there are certain standardized packages that are available, however a sales representative needs to be able to tailor his sales talk in such a manner that it suits the needs of the particular customer. Therefore, the most important lesson that a manager can teach his representatives is how to ask customers the right questions, by formulating at least 20 different types of questions that the customer can be asked in order to determine their needs. Once such answers have been obtained by the representatives for these key questions, they will be able to do things that are inexpensive, thoughtful and also inexpensive at the same time. (Acuff and Wood, 2004, p 190). The manager must teach the sales person how to understand what the customer desires by asking the necessary questions and then try to determine how best a particular product can meet that need, or how it can be tailored or modified slightly to meet the need. Therefore sales people should not focus exclusively on the customer or exclusively on the product but rather focus on bringing about a synergy between the two and managers should teach their salespeople how to achieve this.(Acuff and Wood, 2004, p192) The manager must also teach the sales person that his or her goal is to help customers understand that the company’s product is worthwhile. In the insurance business, the manager must therefore teach the sales people how to emphasize and focus upon the benefits of the products, in that it provides insurance against accidents and liabilities. By teaching sales people to focus upon the attributes of

Innovation and competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Innovation and competition - Essay Example For instance, the insurance industry is highly competitive thereby necessitating the need to have great marketing techniques among other skills in order to gain competitive advantage over the competitors. Focusing on two of the main insurance companies in the United States, Geico and State Farm Insurance, using VRIO analysis gives a clearer picture of how to gain competitive advantage in highly competitive sectors such as insurance. Several approaches can be used to attain an efficient marketing strategy. Some of the commonly used approaches include blue ocean strategy, porter’s five forces model, and advertising. The blue ocean strategy is deeply dependent on innovation and discovery of new consumer demands that are not yet explored. The blue ocean strategy focusses on improving the current market, for instance, by combining two or more closely related demands. In addition, it is highly dependent on the quality while still maintaining low costs of the products and services offered. The less valued products and services are replaced by the highly valued and demanded ones thereby raising the standards of the market and making it stronger. For example, the State Farm has many subsidiaries that offer great insurance services that range from fire, casualty, and mutual insurance among others. However, despite the increasingly many subsidiaries, State Farm has been able to fully satisfy it clients thereby creating unlimited loyalty. Additionally, Geico offers full time response service hence satisfying the customers fully. Moreover, Geico offers low rates to military personnel and government worker s which is arguably different from what some of the other insurance companies do. As a result, Geico has greatly grown over the recent surpassing some of the great insurance companies such as Allstate. According to a report by SNL, GEICO made $4.89 billion through direct premiums based on the third quarter of 2013 whereas Allstate

Strategic Alternatives for Marvel Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Alternatives for Marvel - Case Study Example This aims at increasing the marketplace share for the Marvel enterprise. Filming, for example, is one such practice where competition is paramount. Therefore, Marvel ensures that it keeps producing new films that are of high quality. Improving quality of movies ensures that Marvel stands competition from the opponents. The other means in which Marvel diversifies its competition is through the making of toys. These are toys used in the field of entertainment and comedy. The competition strategy also ensures is that Marvel ensures that there are no conflicts concerning originality of products. Marvel thus ensures that its productions are original. The other strategy deployed by Marvel Entertainment is that of marketing. Marketing strategy ensures that its products serve a wide market. Therefore, Marvel ensures that its distribution chains operate well. Marvel also ensures that it increases its marketing by doing extensive advertising of its supplies. These efforts ensure that my customers get aware of products offered. Knowledge of new products ensures that there is increased purchase. The marketing also ensures that the changes made in their productions become clear. The marketing strategy is the determiner of the proliferation of the productions of the company. This is because if more productions become sold, then the production speed would be elevated. The other strategy is that of management. Marvel ensures that it deploys this strategy to ensure that its operations are up to standard. This is because management is a sensitive segment that requires accurate handling. Therefore, Marvel ensures that operations of its segments are up to standard. Marvel ensures that accountability in management becomes vocal. Management approach also ensures that everything runs well. There is also a licensing strategy for Marvel (Beamish, 250).  

Occupational hygiene survey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Occupational hygiene survey - Essay Example The weight of dust sample was used to determine the exposure level of dust. Besides, the samples were chemically analyzed to determine the level of resin acids. In addition to that the details of the subject, environmental factor like temperature and relative humidity was recorded Air samples were collected too for analysis of microbiological content. Sampling was done several areas. Samples were collected simultaneously for a sampling period of 5 minutes. A sample was collected outside the gate of the factory to be a representative of ambient condition. Samples were then sent back to the laboratory for analysis. A seven-hole inhalable dust sampler (JS holdings, UK) was used to collect dust sample. The sampler was with 0.45m pore sizes, 25mm diameter Teflon Filters (Costar). This device was used to collect sample inhalable, as if inhalation through one's nose. The resemblance of the mechanism allowed study on health hazards by the dust inhaled. Teflon filter were used in order to collect particles for resin acids analysis. In the study, air was drawn through the sampler at the speed of 2 litre/minute. Four samples were taken for each location respectively. The weight of dust was determined by subtracting the pre-weight of the filter from the post-weight. All the weight measurement was conducted on the micto-balance (0.001mg sensitivity). Samples were equilibrated to the same temperature and relative humidity. All readings were taken at temperature 20+0.5 C and 50% relative humidity. Resin Acid Analysis There are two categories of resin acids: abietic and pimaric acid. The amount of acids exist in the dust depends on the species, maturity and storage condition. Method used to analyze resin acid was developed by Victor Leong and Mary Ellen Cassinelli (Pengelly, 1994). The quantity of abietic and pimaric acid was determine by a gas chromatography methodology. From the previous analysis, the Teflon filters were shifted into 100mm glass tubes with phenolic caps. 3ml of dichloromethane was used to extract the filters under ultrasonic bath for 30minutes. The extract was filtered with 24mm diameter 0.45 m pore nylon syringe filters. It was then washed with 0.5 ml of dichlorometh

Analysis of Hp Financial Statement Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Hp Financial Statement Essay Kenneth Lay formed Enron in 1985, when InterNorth acquired Houston Natural Gas. It was once the seventh largest company the United States of America. Enron branched into many non-energy-related fields over the next several years, including such areas as Internet bandwidth, risk management, and weather derivatives (a type of weather insurance for seasonal businesses). Although their core business remained in the transmission and distribution of power, their phenomenal growth was occurring through their other interests. Fortune Magazine selected Enron as Americas most innovative company for six straight years from 1996 to 2001. Then came the investigations into their complex network of offshore partnerships and accounting practices. The Enron scandal was revealed in October 2001 that eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation and the de facto dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in American history at that time, Enron was attributed as the biggest audit failure. Several years after it inception when, in 1992, Jeffrey Skilling was hired as the President of the company, he developed a staff of executives that, by the use of accounting loopholes, special purpose entities, and poor financial reporting, were able to hide billions of dollars in debt from failed deals and projects. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow and other executives not only misled Enrons board of directors and audit committee on high-risk accounting practices, but also pressured Andersen to ignore the issues. From the early 1990s until 1998, the stock prices of Enron rose by 311%, only slightly higher than the rate of growth in the Standard Poor’s 500. But, after which the stocks shot up. They increased by 56% in 1999 and another 87% in 2000, compared to a 20 percent increase and a 10 percent decline for the index during the same years. As on December 31, 2000, Enron’s stock was priced at $83.13, with market capitalization exceeded $60 billion, that was 70 times earnings and six times book value, an indication of the stock market’s high expectations about its future prospects. Enron was rated the most innovative large company in America in Fortune magazine’s survey of Most Admired Companies. Despite of which within a year, Enron’s image was in tatters and its stock price had tanked nearly to zero. The Enron Scandal was a legend of document shredding, restatements of earnings, regulatory investigations, an unsuccessful merger and Enron filling for bankruptcy. Notwithstanding an elaborate corporate governance network, Enron was able to magnetize large sums of capital to source a moot business model, masking its actual performance through a series of accounting and financing ploys, and increasing its stock prices to unmaintainable levels. Shareholders lost nearly $11 billion when Enrons stock price plummeted to less than $1 per share, by the end of November 2001, from a high of US$90 per share during mid-2000. As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated an investigation, rival Houston competitor Dynegy bid to purchase the company at a very low price. The deal failed, and on December 2, 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy, with $63.4 billion in assets made it the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history. How it happened? Enron had a rather complicated business model, stretching across many products, incorporating physical assets and trading operations, and crossing national borders. This element stretched the limits of accounting. Enron took full advantage of accounting limitations in managing its earnings and balance sheet to portray a rosy picture of its performance. The trading business of Enron involved complex long-term contracts. The accounting rules then, used the present value framework to record these transactions, requiring management to make forecasts of future earnings. This approach, known as mark-to-market accounting, was significant to Enron’s income recognition and resulted in its management making forecasts of energy prices and interest rates well into the future. Enron relied expansively on structured finance transactions that involved setting up special purpose entities. These transactions shared ownership of specific cash flows and risks with outside investors and lenders. Traditional accounting that focuses on arms-length transactions between independent entities faces challenges in dealing with such transactions. Unconscious resolutions were used to record these transactions, creating a discrepancy between economic realities and accounting numbers. (Healy Palepu, 2003) Financial Reporting Issues Trading Business and Mark to Marketing Definitions: * A measure of the fair value of accounts that can change over time, such as assets and liabilities. Mark to market aims to provide a realistic appraisal of an institutions or companys current financial situation. (Investopedia) * The accounting act of recording the price or value of a security, portfolio or account to reflect its current market value rather than its book value. (Investopedia) In Enron’s original natural gas business, the accounting had been fairly straightforward: in each time period, the company listed actual costs of supplying the gas and actual revenues received from selling it. However, Enron’s trading business adopted mark-to-market accounting, which meant that once a long-term contract was signed, the present value of the stream of future in flows under the contract was recognized as revenues and the present value of the expected costs of fulfilling the contract were expensed. Unrealized gains and losses in the market value of long-term contracts (that were not hedged) were then required to be reported later as part of annual earnings when they occurred. Enron’s primary challenge in using mark-to-market accounting was estimating the market value of the contracts, which in some cases ran as long as 20 years. Income was estimated as the present value of net future cash flows, even though in some cases there were serious questions about the viability of these contracts and their associated costs. â€Å"Mark to market† was a plan that Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow proposed to pump the stock price, cover the loss and attract more investment. But it is impossible to gain in a long-term operation in this way, and so it is clearly immoral and illegal. However, it was reported that the then US Security and Exchange Commission allowed them to use â€Å"mark to market† accounting method. The ignorance of the drawbacks of this accounting method by SEC also caused the final scandal. Thus, an accounting system, which can disclose more financial information, should be created as soon as possible. Reporting Issues for Special Purpose Entities The accounting rule, then, allowed a company to exclude a special purpose entity (SPE) from its own financial statements if an independent party has control of the SPE, and if this independent party owns at least 3% of the SPE. Enron need to find a way to hide the debt since high debt levels would lower the investment grade and trigger banks to recall money. Using the Enron’s stock as collateral, the SPE, which was headed by the CFO, Fastow, borrowed large sums of money. And this money was used to balance Enron’s overvalued contracts. Thus, the SPE enable the Enron to convert loans and assets burdened with debt obligations into income. In addition, the taking over by the SPE made Enron transferred more stock to SPE. However, the debt and assets purchased by the SPE, which was actually burdened with large amount of debts, were not reported on Enron’s financial report. The shareholders were then misled that debt was not increasing and the revenue was even increasing. (Li, 2010) Enron had used hundreds of special purpose entities by 2001. Many of these were used to fund the purchase of forward contracts with gas producers to supply gas to utilities under long-term fixed contracts. Other Accounting Problems Enron’s accounting problems in late 2001 were compounded by its recognition that several new businesses were not performing as well as expected. In October 2001, the company announced a series of asset write-downs, including after tax charges of $287 million for Azurix, the water business acquired in 1998, $180 million for broadband investments and $544 million for other investments. Enron’s gas trading idea was probably a reasonable response to the opportunities arising out of deregulation. Conversely, extensions of this idea into other markets and international expansion were unsuccessful. Accounting games allowed the company to hide this reality for several years. The capital markets largely ignored red flags associated with Enron’s spectacular reported performance and aided the company’s pursuit of a flawed expansion strategy by providing capital at a remarkably low cost. Investors seemed willing to assume that Enron’s reported growth and profitability would be sustained far into future, despite little economic basis for such a projection. Governance and Intermediation Failures at Enron Most of the blame for failing to recognize Enron’s problems has been assigned to the firm’s auditors, Arthur Andersen, and to the analysts who work for brokerage, investment banking and research firms, and sell or make their research available to retail and professional investors. Role of Top Management Compensation As in most other U.S. companies, Enron’s management was heavily compensated using stock options. Heavy use of stock option awards linked to short-term stock price may explain the focus of Enron’s management on creating expectations of rapid growth and its efforts to puff up reported earnings to meet Wall Street’s expectations. Role of Audit Committees Corporate audit committees usually meet just a few times during the year, and their members typically have only a modest background in accounting and finance. As outside directors, they rely extensively on information from management as well as internal and external auditors. If management is fraudulent or the auditors fail, the audit committee probably won’t be able to detect the problem fast enough. Enron’s audit committee had more expertise than many. But Enron’s audit committee seemed to share the common pattern of a few short meetings that covered huge amounts of ground. Enron’s Audit Committee was in no position to second-guess the auditors on technical accounting questions related to the special purpose entities. Nor was it in a position to second-guess the validity of top management representations. However, the Audit Committee did not challenge several important transactions that were primarily motivated by accounting goals, was not skeptical about potential conflicts in related party transactions and did not require full disclosure of these transactions. (Healy Palepu, 2003) Role of External Auditors Enron’s auditor, Arthur Andersen, had been accused of applying lax standards in their audits because of a conflict of interest over the significant consulting fees generated by Enron. In 2000, Arthur Andersen earned $25 million in audit fees and $27 million in consulting fees. It is difficult to determine whether Andersen’s audit problems at Enron arose from the financial incentives to retain the company as a consulting client, as an audit client or both. However, the size of the audit fee alone is likely to have had an important impact on local partners in their negotiations with Enron’s management. Enron’s audit fees accounted for roughly 27% of the audit fees of public clients for Arthur Andersen’s Houston office. When the credit risks at the special purpose entities became clear, the auditors apparently succumbed to pressure from Enron’s management and permitted the company to defer recognizing the charges. Two major changes in the 1970s in the legal system, created substantial pressure for audit firms to cut costs and seek alternative revenue sources. In response to the changes, the audit firms lobbied for mechanical accounting and auditing standards and developed standard operating procedures to reduce the variability in audits. This approach reduced the cost of audits and provided a defense in the case of litigation. But it also meant that auditors were more likely to view their job narrowly, rather than as matters of broader business judgment. Furthermore, while mechanical standards make auditing easier, they do not necessarily increase corporate transparency. Role of Fund Managers Investment fund managers failed to recognize or act on Enron’s risks because they had only modest incentives to demand and act on high-quality, long-term company analysis. These managers are typically rewarded on the basis of their relative performance. Flows into and out of a fund each quarter are driven by its performance relative to comparable funds or indices. If the manager reduces the fund’s holdings of Enron and the stock falls in the next quarter, the fund will show superior relative portfolio performance and will attract new capital. However, if Enron continues to perform well in the next few quarters, the fund manager will underperform the benchmark and capital will flow to other funds. In contrast, a risk-averse manager who simply follows the crowd will not be rewarded for foreseeing the problems at Enron, but neither will this manager be blamed for a poor investment decision when the stock ultimately crashes, since other funds made the same mistake. Role of Accounting Regulations Many U.S. accounting standards tend to be mechanical and in flexible. Clear-cut rules have some advantages, but the downside is that this approach motivates financial engineering designed specifically to circumvent these knife-edge rules, as is well understood in the tax literature. In accounting for some of its special purpose entities, Enron was able to design transactions that satisfied the letter of the law, but violated its intent such that the company’s balance sheet did not reflect its financial risks. The Sarbanes Oxley Act In 2002, President Bush passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law to re-establish investor confidence in the integrity of corporate disclosures and financial reporting. The act was brought in as a result of the large number of corporate financial fraud cases (such as those of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Adelphia, AOL, and others) and by the end of the boom years for the stock market. The Act requires all public companies to submit both quarterly and annual assessments of the effectiveness of their internal financial auditing controls to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Each companys external auditors must also audit and report on the internal control reports of management and any other areas that may affect internal controls. The companys principal executive officer and principal financial officer must personally certify that the financial reports are true and that everything has been disclosed. Many of the Acts provisions apply to all companies, United States and foreign. However, some provisions apply only to companies that have equity securities listed on an exchange or NASDAQ. While refocusing public company management on shareholder interests was the central purpose of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance reform law, years later there are sharp disagreements on both sides as to whether the effort has been a success. Did it help? Considering foreign firms that listed on either New York or London exchanges in addition to their home markets between 1990 and 2006, the researchers found that those firms were six percent less likely to choose New York over London after Sarbanes-Oxley was implemented. This suggests that foreign executives, accustomed to laxer regulatory environments at home, were convinced that the act’s deterrents against self-dealing and fraudulent accounting were serious. Those who criticize the Act claim that the Act is unnecessary and too expensive to implement. The most ardent criticizers of the bill claim that not only has Sarbanes – Oxley failed in its mission to ensure honest financial recordkeeping and disclosure but that it has also stifled new business development in the United States. Some criticizers point to the Madoff scandal as an example of the failure of the Sarbanes – Oxley Act. Yet, not all analysts share in this type of criticism. Many analysts believe that more precise financial statements are now being prepared for public companies and that shareholders have greater confidence in their investments as a result of Sarbanes – Oxley. In order for these benefits to be realized, however, the S.E.C. must ensure that all of the requirements of the Act are carefully and universally followed and that exceptions, such as those for certain accounting firms, are not permitted. Bibliography * Wikipedia. (2012, December 18). Enron Scandal. Retrieved December 26, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal * Obringer, L. A. (n.d.). How cooking the books works? Retrieved December 26, 2012, from How Stuff Works?: http://money.howstuffworks.com/cooking-books7.htm * Healy, P. M., Palepu, K. G. (2003). The Fall Of Enron. Journal Of Economic Persepectives , 9. * Investopedia. (n.d.). Mark to Market MTM. Retrieved December 26, 2012, from Investopedia: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marktomarket.asp#axzz2G9qt6COE * Li, Y. (2010). The Case Analysis of the Scandal of Enron. International Journal of Business and Management , 37-41.

Mobile Computing with WirelessLAN and its Modes

Mobile Computing with WirelessLAN and its Modes Mobile computing with WirelessLAN And its modes Ad hoc network with challenges Pallavi D. Dudhe, Prof. P. L. Ramteke Abstract In this paper, we summarized Mobile computing with WirelessLAN and its modes Ad hoc network and infrastructure. We define the operational model of our mobile computing environment, where we plan to demonstrate our proposed solutions. Mobile cloud computing is the combination of both cloud computing and mobile networks to bring benefits for mobile users, network operators, as well as cloud computing providers. In the present mobile communication environment, lot of research is going on, to improve the performance of issues like handoffs, routing etc. Security is another key issue that needs to be considered, when the setup of communication channel is to be set. Wireless local area network (WLAN) security are inherently weak and do not provide adequate security. Newer, more robust, wireless security technologies are being developed but have not had widespread acceptance within corporate information infrastructures. An ad hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes equipped wi th wireless communication adapters; these nodes dynamically form a temporary network without the need of any existing network infrastructure. Earlier studies on ad hoc networks aimed to propose solutions to some fundamental problems, such as routing, coping with the new challenges caused by networks and nodes features without taking the security issues into account. Keywords – Mobile computing, mobile computing security, mobile agent’s security, mobile ad hoc networks, wireless networks. I. INTRODUCTION Mobile computing requires wireless network to support outdoor mobility and handoff from one network to the next at a pedestrian or vehicular speed. Traveler in car using laptop connected with a GSM phone engaged in mobile computing. One of the more exciting information technologies to come about in the last several years was wireless computing. Computer users have to be tied to massive desktop computers to accomplish their daily tasks. Ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing refers to access to computer network at any location by any person all the time. With the rapid growth in the wireless mobile communication technology, small devices like PDAs, laptops are able to communicate with the fixed wired network. Because of its flexibility and provision of providing ubiquitous infrastructure, there is need to provide security at any level. As wireless communication takes place mainly through the radio signals rather than wires, it is easier to intercept or eavesdrop on the communicat ion channels. Therefore, it is important to provide security from all these threats. There are different kinds of issues within security like confidentiality, integrity, availability, legitimacy, and accountability that needs to be individually taken care off. Mobile Cloud Computing at its simplest refers to an infrastructure where both the data storage and the data processing happen outside of the mobile device. Mobile cloud applications move the computing power and data storage away from mobile phones and into the cloud, bringing applications and mobile computing to not just Smartphone users but a much broader range of mobile subscribers. Nowadays, microprocessors and wireless adapters are embedded in many devices, as cell-phones, PDAs, Laptops, digital sensors, and GPS receivers. These well-equipped devices allow the creation of wireless mobile networks, which make the vision of nomadic computing with its ubiquitous access more and more attractive. II. VARIOUS FORMS OF COMPUTING Mobile, ubiquitous, nomadic, untethered, pervasive and anytime, anywhere, any person computing  are used by researchers to refer to computing that uses small portable devices and wireless communication network. Nomadic computing refers to limited migration. Migration is within a building at a pedestrian speed. In the same vein, users carrying laptop with DIAL-UP modems are engaged in nomadic computing. Ubiquitous computing or pervasive computing refers to access to computer network all the time at any location by any person.Ubiquitous computing can not be realized unless mobile computing matures. Figure 1. Relationship between computing One of the more exciting information technologies to come about in the last several years was wireless computing. WirelessLANs operate in one of two modes, ad-hoc or infrastructure. Ad-hoc defines a method of wireless computer peers to exchange data without a predefined network infrastructure and has not met with great success. The infrastructure mode of operation is predominantly used for construction of wireless networks and requires two components; wireless access point(s) connected to a traditional wired network and wireless network interface card(s) installed into the computing devices. III. GENERAL ARCHITECTURE OF WIRELESS NETWORKS Wireless LAN is a traditional LAN architecture extended with a wireless interface to service small low-powered portable terminals capable of wireless access. The wireless LAN is further connected to a more extensive fixed network such as LAN or WAN. Wireless LANs have limited range and are designed to be used only in local environments. There are two types of wireless LAN architectures: ad-hoc networks and infrastructure networks. The Wide-Area Wireless Networks are special mobile radio networks that provide wide coverage for low bandwidth data services. In paging networks the service is usually receive-only and has very low bandwidth. The initial applications for satellite systems are voice and paging. Additional services planned include messaging and fax transmission. Wireless networks communicate by modulating radio waves or pulsing infrared light. Wireless communication is linked to the wired network infrastructure by stationary transceivers. The area covered by an individual transceivers signal is known as a cell. Cell sizes vary widely: Figure 2. Architecture of wireless networks A. Operational problems associated with wireless network Disconnection:-Wireless communications suffer from frequent disconnections due to a higher degree of noise and interference as well as the process of inter-cell hand-offs. Disconnections can be hidden by asynchronous operation. Heterogeneous network:-To achieve wireless communication a mobile host must get connected to different and heterogeneous networks. The general problem of heterogeneity can be addressed by exploiting emerging distributed systems. Bandwidth and Interface Variability:-Bandwidth can shift one to four orders of magnitude, depending on whether the system is plugged in or using wireless access or switching interfaces, e.g. from infrared to radio when the user moves from indoors to outdoors. Mobile applications have to adapt their behaviour properly. Security Risks:- Precisely because connection to a wireless link is so easy, the security of wireless communication can be compromised much more easily than that of wired communication. B. Challenges regarding wireless network Main cause of loss of packets in wired network is congestion because error rates are very low. In wireless network, congestion still remains a problem, but this situation is somewhat reversed. Wired and wireless network require different techniques to achieve reliability and flow control. TCP works is unsuitable for wireless network as it interprets errors as packet loss. ITCP (split/indirect TCP) splits TCP into two parts , One between sender and local MSS of the recipient. The other between local MSS and recipient. If MH switches cell during life time of a ITCP Connection center point of connection moves to new MSS. sender remains completely unaware about it. IV. AD HOC NETWORK An ad hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes equipped with wireless communication adapters, these nodes dynamically form a temporary network without the need of any existing network infrastructure. A mobile ad hoc network, or MANET, is a temporary infrastructure less network, formed by a set of mobile hosts that dynamically establish their own network, without relying on any central administration. Mobile hosts used in MANET have to ensure the roles that were ensured by the powerful fixed infrastructure in traditional networks. This is a challenging task, since these devices have limited resources such as CPU, storage, energy, etc.Moreover, the networks environment has some features that add extra complications, such as the frequent topology changes caused by nodes mobility, and the unreliability and the bandwidth limitation of wireless channels. A. Security requirements of ad hoc network The security services of ad hoc networks are not different than those of other types of network communication. The goal is to protect the information and the resources from attacks and misbehavior. In working with network security, there are many requirements that an effective security must ensure: Availability: ensures that the desired network services are available whenever they are expected, inspite of attacks. Systems that ensure availability seek to combat denial of service and energy starvation  attacks that we will present later. Authenticity: ensures communication from one node to another is genuine. It ensures that a malicious node cannot masquerade as a trusted network node. Data confidentiality: is a core security primitive for ad hoc networks, It ensures that a given message cannot be understood by anyone else than its (their) desired recipient(s). Data confidentiality  is typically enabled by applying cryptography Integrity: denotes the authenticity of data sent from one node to another. That is, it ensures that a message sent from node A to node B was not modified by a malicious node, C, during transmission. Non-repudiation ensures that the origin of the message is legitimate. i.e. when one node receives a false message from another, nonrepudiation allows the former to accuse the later of sending the false  message and enables all other nodes to know about it. Digital signature may be used to ensure  nonrepudiation B. Challenges regarding Ad hoc network Ad hoc network routing is the ultimate challenge. Ad hoc networks arise in rapid deployment scenarios: Emergency disaster management. Military operation in remote sites. Business meeting venues without infrastructure support. Many routing algorithms are designed: AODV, DSR, DSDV, TORA, FSR, LAR, ABR, etc.There are interesting application of conventional graph theoretic problems in ad hoc network routing. V. CHALLENGES REGARDING MOBILE COMPUTING Mobile computing affects entire spectrum of issues in computing. First of all it is distributed and mobile computing. Distributed computing as we know works on static wired network. Node may initiate computation somewhere and migrate to another place. So two major problem that arise due to mobility are Searching for current location of a mobile node and to impose a communication structure among nodes. Physical location of mobile is not the network address, so how do we route the message to a mobile host. This question is being addressed by two different communities: Internet community and cellular community . Work of Internet community involves Mobile IP which work as assumes connection-less, packet switching scenario. Cellular communitys effort based on location management of cellular phone users. It deals with connection oriented communication, since it is motivated by issues in call-setup in telephony. Main problem in mobility management is to find an appropriate trade-off between searching and informing. Searching is performed when address of the message recipient is not known or at least not known precisely. Informing is a responsibility of the mobile unit when it migrates. Extreme situations can be Mobile unit never informs works for units receiving few messages and for units which dont move during receiving. Always informs works well for units receiving messages frequently. VI. CONCLUSION In this paper we have studied the different challenges regarding wirelessLAN, its modes Ad hoc network and infrastructure as well as requirement regarding security. As with every Information technology project, security must be a primary consideration. For security to effective, it must be deployed proportional to risk. WLANs present a security risk to organizations but providing security for WLANs is not an insurmountable challenge. There are security solutions available for WLANs to mitigate those most conceivable risks we think securing ad hoc networks is a great challenge that includes many opened problems of research, and receives more and more attention among ad hoc networks community. REFERENCES [1] Abolfazli, Saeid; Sanaei, Zohreh; Ahmed, Ejaz; Gani, Abdullah; Buyya, Rajkumar (1 July 2013). Cloud-Based  Augmentation for Mobile Devices: Motivation, Taxonomies, and Open Challenges.IEEE Communications Surveys Tutorials 99 (pp): [2] R.K.Ghosh ,CSE100, April 2005. [3] Arbaugh, W. A., Shankar, N., Wan, J. Y. (2001). Your 802.11 Wireless Network has No Clothes. Unpublished manuscript, University of Maryland at College Park. Retrieved October 21, 2004, from http://www.cs.umd.edu/~waa/wireless.pdf [4] William Stallings. Cryptography and Network Security principles and practices. Pearson Education  Inc, third edition edition, 2003. [5] Frank Stajano and Ross Anderson. The resurrecting duckling: Security issues for ad-hoc wireless  networks. In 7th International Security Protocols Workshop, Cambridge, UK, April 1999. [6] Duchamp, D. (1992) Issues in Wireless Mobile Computing. Proceedings Third Workshop on Workstation Operating Systems, April 1992, 2-10. [7] Sumi Helal,Ph.D Associate professor, computer information science Engineering Department , University of Florida, Gainesville.FL32611,[emailprotected]. [8] Berghel, H. (2004). Wireless Infidelity I: War Driving.Communications of the ACM, 47(9), 21-28. [9] Forman, G.H. and Zahorian, J. (1994) The Challenges of Mobile Computing. IEEE Computer, April 1994, 38- 47. [10] Charles.E. Perkins and Elizabeth.M. Royer. Ad hoc on demand distance vector (AODV) algorithm.  In the 2nd IEEE Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (WMCSA99), pages 90-100, 1999.

A Reaction Paper On A Country Doctor English Literature Essay

A Reaction Paper On A Country Doctor English Literature Essay Franz Kafkas A country doctor is a story about a doctor who is called upon in the middle of the night to attend to a seriously ill young man .Hampered by lack of transport means and extreme weather conditions, the doctor is at pains to come up with solutions to his problems. This essay paper will attempt to systematically examine the challenges and frustrations that the doctor encounters as the story unfolds. This essay will also answer the questions as to why the story may be referred to as a nightmare as well as explore the major themes brought out in this artistic tale that is indeed a replica of Franz Kafkas generation and the current modern society. Challenges and Frustrations The doctor is in a dilemma He is challenged by the fact that he has no means of transport to take him to the home of the gravely ill young man, ten miles away. The doctors horse had died due to the icy winter. My own horse had died the previous night as a result of overexertion in this icy winter. The doctor is frustrated at this point because no one in  Ã‚   the village was willing to assist him. My servant girl was at that very moment running around the village to see if she could borrow a horse but it was hopeless-I knew that. Out of frustration the doctor risks hurting himself by kicking the pigstys door. I kicked my foot against the cracked door of the pigsty which had not been used for years. The severe weather conditions pose a challenge to the doctor too. He has to endure the chilly snowstorm to go and attend to a patient. The doctor says, A severe snowstorm filled the space between him and me. The doctor does not hide his dilemma when he says, I stood there useless ,increasingly covered by snow , becoming all the time immobile. After treating the sick young man the doctor attempts to make his way home but the once strong and fat horses are old and tired, they move at a slow rate at which the doctor feels he will never reach home. Consider, We dragged slowly through the snowy desert like old men. The doctor is evidently frustrated when he says, Ill never come home at this rate. He becomes sad when he thinks of his home which was occupied by the Groom. In my house the disgusting groom is wreaking havoc, Rosa is his victim. The third challenge that the doctor encounters is the Groom. The doctor does not know how to deal with this stranger. First, when the groom brutally bites Rosa on her cheeks, the doctor only threatens the groom with words and calms down at once because he wanted to borrow a horse from the groom. At that moment, the doctor is almost the grooms slave. The groom eventually offers his horses to the doctor but decides to stay with Rosa instead of traveling with the doctor.   The doctor is therefore at crossroads. He does not know whether he should stay and protect Rosa from the brutal groom or go ahead and attend to the seriously ill Youngman. The doctor chose the later. However, as the story unfolds the frustrations of the doctor concerning this decision become apparent. Consider, I had to sacrifice Rosa as well, this beautiful girl, who lives in my house all year long and whom I scarcely notice-this sacrifice is too great. The doctor is challenged by poverty and too much work. He has dedicated his life to serving the district but is poorly paid. Consider, I am employed by the district and my duty do my duty to the full, right to the point where it is almost too much. Badly paid, but I am generous and ready to help the poor. The doctor has only one horse, when the horse dies the doctor lacks means of transport to enable him perform his duties efficiently. The doctor is evidently overworked. He is called at midnight to attend to patients. It seems he rarely sleeps since his night bell was always rung by villagers. When performing his duties the doctor is under pressure from the villagers. They want him to instantly cure their patients. The doctor is frustrated by this when he says. I am not a world improver. Themes The first theme that has been well brought out is the theme of suffering. At the beginning of the story, the doctor suffers psychologically because he has no means of transport to enable him reach the home of a seriously ill man. I was in great difficulty. An urgent journey was facing me.A seriously ill man was waiting for me in a village ten miles distant. The doctors horse had died and he was worried because no villager would lend him a horse. Of course, who is now going to lend his horse for such a journey? The extreme icy winter made the doctor to suffer. First his horse dies in the winter leaving him without means of transport and secondly the doctor has to endure the chilly weather to attend to  Ã‚   the patient. I stood there useless, increasingly covered by snow, becoming all the time more immobile. Rosa suffers when the groom bites her on the cheeks. On the girls cheeks are red marks from two rows of teeth. Rosa further suffers when the doctor leaves her to stay with the evil groom against her will. No, screams Rosa and runs into the house with an accurate premonition of the inevitability of her fate. The sick young man suffers too. The young man suffers from a deadly wound that is infested with worms. Consider, On his right side, in the region of the hip, a wound the size of the palm of ones hand had opened up. The young man having lost hope of living tells the doctor, Doctor let me die. The second theme found in this story is blame. The doctor blames his failure to attend t o a seriously ill patient on his lack of a horse. Consider, But the horse was missing- the horse. The doctor further blames the villagers for unnecessarily summoning him to attend patients who according to the doctor were just feigning illness. He blames the villagers further for not assisting him in time of need. Consider, My servant girl was at that very moment running around the village to see if she could borrow a horse but it was hopeless. The country doctor as a narrative constantly places blame for his failure on others, on the lack of horses, on the groom, on the villagers, on the young man. His narrative attitude is one of; if I have failed it is not my fault, but rather the fault of others (Gray 2009) Exploitation is another theme found in this story. Exploitation is unfair treatment of someone or use of a situation in a way that is wrong in order to get some benefit (Wikipedia, 2009) the groom appears at a time when the doctor is need of transport means and takes advantage of the situation to take Rosa against her will. I see how in addition she chases down the room putting all the lights in order to make herself   impossible to find. The theme of betrayal is also evident in this short  Ã‚   story. The doctor betrays his house help when he leaves he in the hands of the brutal groom. I had to sacrifice Rosa as well ,this beautiful girl who lives in my house all year long and whom I scarcely notice-this sacrifice is too great. He witnesses the bachelor force himself upon the house maid but rather than stay to access and disarm the stranger, the doctor allows the steeds to carry him off as the screams of his housemaid echo through the winter night. (Hemphill 2009) This short story may be called a nightmare. The doctor concludes that the sick young man is feigning illness after a brief examination. The doctor only observed the heartbeat of the patient. In his reasoning the patient was only seeking attention that he was not sick. The doctor in this story does not operate the way doctors in real world operate. Alex Hemphill observed that Franz Kafkas A country doctor is written in a stream of consciousness and includes all the making of a nightmare (2009) When the doctor kicked the door of the pigsty there emerged the groom and the two horses mysteriously. This is absolute fantasy and cannot happen in a real world.. Two horses, powerful animals with strong flanks shoved their way one behind the other. A country doctor can be read as fulfillment fantasy motivated by self exculpation (Gray 2009) Conclusion The doctor in Franz Kafkas -A country doctor is a reflection of some people in the society who sacrifice their lives to serve everyone but their efforts are hardly noticed by anyone. They are the unseen heroes of national development who would rather die than fail duty. Though frustrated by environment and a society that does not appreciate them, such people do not fear to encounter the challenges that lie ahead of them. Perhaps the doctor sums everything in his story by asserting that, To write prescriptions is easy but to come to an understanding with people is hard.

Canticle For Leibowitz: Walter Miller :: essays research papers

Canticle For Leibowitz: Walter Miller   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walter Miller, in the novel A Canticle For Leibowitz, mocks the way we are as humans, particularly in those ways that lead to regressive thinking. The novel pokes fun at the attention to impractical details, such as to the spent copying the Leibowitz blueprints. Miller also mocks humans by describing the inordinate amount of attention and energy given to a spiritual being such as Leibowitz, as today's society worships God. Finally, the most absurd way Miller mocks today's society occurs when he describes how they do not give something very important the considered attention that it deserves. These are three examples how Walter Miller mocks and shows today's society their faults.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Miller mocks the way we are as humans when Francis gives too much attention to impractical details to the Leibowitz blueprints. Brother Francis spends many years copying the blueprints of the circuit design. Francis copies the design so carefully he mistakenly believes the color of the paper is important to the design of the circuit. Francis is set on mindlessly copying the blueprint he does not realize what the circuit design is for, and what is does. Brother Francis thinks regressively. The monks copy out the blueprints, and then do nothing with them. As a society we do the same thing today. In school students copy notes off the blackboard blindly, they do not know what they are copying. Therefore, they do not understand the content.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only does Miller also poke fun at impractical details, Miller also pokes fun at the way today's society revolves is the importance of a spiritual being such as Leibowitz. Today's society is strongly set on the existence of God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today's society is mocked due to the importance of a spiritual being, like Leibowitz. The monks do not really know who Leibowitz is. All of the information about Leibowitz are only rumors. No concrete evidence surfaced to prove that Leibowitz exists. It is the same in today's society with the belief of God. No proof that God physically exists is evident today. Most people still believe in God spiritually on the other hand. In comparison to the book's society, Leibowitz is their God. When Brother Francis accidently stumbles upon possible genuine evidence of the existence of Leibowitz, they ignore it. The Monks concentrate on the most illogical things. The only thing that they believe is important is a mysterious pilgrim spotted in the desert. The Monks believe that the pilgrim is Leibowitz himself. The Monks are looking past concrete evidence wondering if it is Leibowitz who is seen desert. It seems Canticle For Leibowitz: Walter Miller :: essays research papers Canticle For Leibowitz: Walter Miller   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Walter Miller, in the novel A Canticle For Leibowitz, mocks the way we are as humans, particularly in those ways that lead to regressive thinking. The novel pokes fun at the attention to impractical details, such as to the spent copying the Leibowitz blueprints. Miller also mocks humans by describing the inordinate amount of attention and energy given to a spiritual being such as Leibowitz, as today's society worships God. Finally, the most absurd way Miller mocks today's society occurs when he describes how they do not give something very important the considered attention that it deserves. These are three examples how Walter Miller mocks and shows today's society their faults.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Miller mocks the way we are as humans when Francis gives too much attention to impractical details to the Leibowitz blueprints. Brother Francis spends many years copying the blueprints of the circuit design. Francis copies the design so carefully he mistakenly believes the color of the paper is important to the design of the circuit. Francis is set on mindlessly copying the blueprint he does not realize what the circuit design is for, and what is does. Brother Francis thinks regressively. The monks copy out the blueprints, and then do nothing with them. As a society we do the same thing today. In school students copy notes off the blackboard blindly, they do not know what they are copying. Therefore, they do not understand the content.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Not only does Miller also poke fun at impractical details, Miller also pokes fun at the way today's society revolves is the importance of a spiritual being such as Leibowitz. Today's society is strongly set on the existence of God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today's society is mocked due to the importance of a spiritual being, like Leibowitz. The monks do not really know who Leibowitz is. All of the information about Leibowitz are only rumors. No concrete evidence surfaced to prove that Leibowitz exists. It is the same in today's society with the belief of God. No proof that God physically exists is evident today. Most people still believe in God spiritually on the other hand. In comparison to the book's society, Leibowitz is their God. When Brother Francis accidently stumbles upon possible genuine evidence of the existence of Leibowitz, they ignore it. The Monks concentrate on the most illogical things. The only thing that they believe is important is a mysterious pilgrim spotted in the desert. The Monks believe that the pilgrim is Leibowitz himself. The Monks are looking past concrete evidence wondering if it is Leibowitz who is seen desert. It seems

privacy :: essays research papers

It is just part of rules that some American private companies offer, there are many others rules which had been made and could be followed. But for Chinese industry there are less such industry moral principle to follow .In another aspect, only to take the way of self-regulation for industry, only to depend on the self-regulation of private detective company and the conscious of its employees, it is not enough obviously. So in America, the government still made several acts to restricted the industry, and protect the privacy. And for China the situation is different. Majority of people do not receive too well education, and quality of majority is not trustful, so we must make complete law, but not the model of self-regulation of people themselves. And we know there is no enough law about the protection of privacy especially for the Internet privacy of Chinese citizens. And in my opinion, Chinese government is in urgently needed to build law of privacy especial for the Internet privac y, and it should emphasize these following points. Principle 1 make clear the range of internet privacy, it will benefit to the judgments in law case. Principle 2 make clear how the data of individual in Internet is collected legally, and how the personal information in web site be used legally. Principle 3 emphasize on the protection of the peace for people to surf on the Internet, and avoid they were disturbed by spasm e-mail illegally. Principle 4 make specific act about the protection of children ¡Ã‚ ¯s privacy, because it is some different from the adult, and we can learn some from the children ¡Ã‚ ¯ privacy protection act in America. Principle5 make clear how to punish people who infringe other ¡Ã‚ ¯s privacy and digital privacy surely, in order to fulfill some vacuum of criminal law in China. 4.2 for Individual For individual, we should do more education, and make them to know the importance of their privacy, to be more careful when they was requested for the personal information. And encourage them to pay more attention to protect their privacy. In American, more and more employers are monitoring their workers on the job. In fact, according to the American Management Association, nearly tree quarters of U.S. companies now electronically monitor employees in several ways. And with China open to the world, more and more foreign company came to China, and those companies also take much action to surveillance their employees, much of this surveillance is legal, so in order to protect your privacy in the working place, individual need to know what he should do.