International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business Essay - 1

International Legal and Ethical Issues in Business - Essay Example Likewise, workers are also protected against discrimination (based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age), harassment, unhealthy/ hazardous working environments, and unfair dismissal. With these rights, come also the responsibilities of the employee. Aside from arriving at work on time and dressing appropriately (which includes wearing suitable safety equipment if required), employees are also expected to show respect to the employer, colleagues and customers, take care of the company’s property, follow reasonable and lawful orders, obey safety rules and not discriminate or harass other people in the workplace. If these obligations are not met by employees, then their employer also has the right to dismiss their employment (Steingold, 2009). On the other hand, the working hours in the US are considerably shorter than in the UK and the rest of the member nation-states of the European Union. It has been noted that the European Working Time Directive sets the maximum length of working week to 48 hours, and a minimum rest period of eleven hours each day. Although the policy applies to all members, in the UK it is still possible to exceed this limit provided that it is the employee who opts for such a condition (Cressey & Jones, 1995). In France, a recent legislation limits the working week to only 35 hours (but options are still available for those who want to exceed). While in the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 allowed for 44-hour work week, which was later reduced to a 40-hour standard in 1950. Despite this law, majority of the American workforce still work more than 40 hours in a week due to the lines of work they have (Mishel, Bernstein, & Boushe, 2003). Challenges in Filing a Formal Complaint If Mary decides to file a formal complaint against her employer on the basis of her somehow ‘insignificant’ situation in the company, then she will face the hardships of proving her case successfully. The burden o f proof is upon her and she needs to provide evidence to back her claims. Although Mary is relived by the fact that the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 guarantees fair treatment towards employees and that violation against this charter is punishable by law, she is still required to substantiate that she is treated in an unfair manner by the management and by her colleague for that matter. Furthermore, Mary needs to prove that the workplace has become a hostile environment for her. In legal terms, a hostile work environment is primarily one of the reasons an employee cannot reasonably perform his or her duties and responsibilities. This is due to certain behaviors by management or co-workers that are considered ‘hostile.’ Nevertheless, the said term is still subject to much debate and substantiation (Cihon & Castagnera, 2008). A boss being rude, one who yells and purposefully annoys is a qualified ground for a hostile work environment -- cause for severe physical st ress and mental anguish on the part of the employee. Certainly, acts of lasciviousness and other forms of sexual harassment are always deemed constituents of a hostile environment. Yet, for Mary’s case these did not occur. She was not discriminated and she was in no way attempted to be

Research on Sebastian Faulks Essay Example for Free

Research on Sebastian Faulks Essay Sebastian Faulks was born in Donnington, a village near Newbury in Berkshire on April 20, 1953. He was the younger son of Peter Faulks (1917-1998) and Pamela, nee Lawless (1923-2003). Peter Faulks was a partner in the local law firm Pitman and Bazett. He had interrupted his legal training in 1939 to enlist with the Duke of Wellington’s, a Yorkshire-based infantry regiment. He fought in Holland, France, North Africa, Italy, Palestine and Syria. He was awarded the Military Cross in Tunisia. He was wounded in North Africa and again when his company was in slit trenches at Anzio. He received further wounds when the Germans bombed the beachhead hospital while he was waiting to be evacuated. He made a full recovery and lived an active life, later sitting as a judge in London and Reading. I had a very happy childhood,’ said Faulks. ‘My parents were kind, humorous and affectionate. My brother Edward was a great companion. We only ever met one of our four grandparents. Two of them were dead and my mother was estranged from her own mother. There was a sense that everything was beginning again – a fresh start after the War. Faulks worked as a feature writer for the Sunday Telegraph from 1983 to 1986, when he went to join the Independent as Literary Editor. Faulks married Veronica (nee Youlten) in 1989. They have two sons, William and Arthur, born 1990 and 1996 respectively, and one daughter, Holly, born 1992. Faulks is a fan of West Ham United football club Set during the Second World War, Charlotte Gray was the last of Faulks’s French trilogy, following The Girl at the Lion d’Or and Birdsong. It is the most inward-looking of the three books, dealing with themes of memory and loss. The main character’s search for her missing lover in occupied France is set against an uncompromising portrayal of French political life under the German occupation, including French co-operation in the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz. Despite its harrowing subject matter, it has proved one of Faulks’s most popular novels, remains his best seller in hardback and has sold more than a million copies overall in the United Kingdom. Charlotte Gray was also made into a movie in 2001Â · Charlotte Gray was filmed by Ecosse Films, directed by Gillian Armstrong in 2001 from a screenplay by Jeremy Brock. Although the film was thought to have ducked the challenges of the book and fared disappointingly at the box office, it had a strong performance by Cate Blanchett as Charlotte, with notable support from Billy Crudup as Julien and Helen McCrory as a local French courier. ‘Only one line of mine made it into the film,’ said Faulks in 2001. ‘Something about sanitary towels, I’m afraid. The film-makers struggled to find a visual corollary of Charlotte’s inner life, but Cate Blanchett was very good.

Threads Of Life :: essays research papers

Thread of Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book covers the patterns of evolution and how each species and time era had an effect on Earth’s history. It covers the world from the beginning to the present times telling us all that has happened in between.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book begins by introducing us to geology and how it is used in telling time and finding fossils. The Grand Canyon is a good place to begin because it is the worlds greatest geological gash. Sediment was deposited here layer upon layer and eventually the layers were cut through by the Colorado River. The time covered by the layers of rock in the Grand Canyon represent about two billion years of earths history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The next chapter introduces to us how life began. Many scientists believe that life began as soon as the earth cooled sufficiently after just forming. It is believed that the first life on earth emerged some four billion years ago. The author goes on to say that the beginning of life can be organized into five stages: first, the earth forms from materials in our solar system; second, chemicals such as sugars, phosphates, and amino acids are formed; third, these building blocks link together to form nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; fourth, these turn into proto-organisms; and last, these organisms gain the ability to replicate. This explains how life begins.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Soon the organisms of the water begin to evolve legs and lungs and start to venture out of the water onto the land. This brings about the era of the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs ruled the earth for about 185 million years and then their populations began to decline. About 65 million years ago there is evidence that an asteroid struck the earth and caused the extinction of many species of marine plankton. The last of the dying dinosaur population may have died out before this.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the dinosaurs died off, then came the reign of the mammals. Mammals were more equipped for survival because of more intelligence and the development of a lower jaw comprised of one bone. Upper and lower molars helped mammals survive better. Mammals would also stay with there young and nurture them until they were able to fend for themselves. Mammals were able to survive a very long time and are still evolving in present times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the present, there is evidence that our human ancestors walked erect some 3.75 million years ago.

How Can We Measure the Economic Growth of a Country? Essay

Experts have proposed many techniques to assess the economic progress of a country. One of these techniques is to calculate the sum of all the goods and services produced in the country which is known as gross domestic product (GDP). The indicator was created in the wake of great depression in 1930s and still is used to measure individual countries’ economic performance. But now most of the economists claim that GDP alone cannot reflect the economic performance of a society because it has many flaws and does not acceptably measures the household productions, voluntary work, defensive and remedial spending and cash for clunkers. To begin with GDP does not account for the household productions which have sizable effect on the economy of a nation. Unpaid work for instance, causes fall in GDP as there is no value addition. For example, if a person cooks food for his or her family then it causes fall of GDP but if the family hires a chef then GDP boosts up. Let’s take the example of drying clothes in sunshine. If you let the sun dry your clothes, the service is free and doesn’t show up in our domestic product but if you throw your laundry in the dryer, you burn fossil fuel, increase your carbon footprint, make the economy more unsustainable — and give GDP a bit of a bump. This seems illogical that if a person reduces his or her consumption then it will cause GDP to drop, eventually resulting into reduced welfare of the nation. According to various studies carried out in France, domestic production could represent as much as 75% of standard GDP. If GDP does not accurately responds to domestic production then how it can be considered a good measure for the welfare of a nation? Moreover, GDP does not correctly respond to voluntary work and public administration resulting into imperfect measurement of the welfare of a nation. A bicycle repaired by a friend makes GDP fall if the work used to be done by a professional. Thus, a society where voluntary work is widespread will enjoy a higher level of economic well-being but a lower GDP. As far as public administration is concerned, GDP always underestimates the contribution of public services. They are generally not bought by anyone on a market. For example, public gardens maintenance or tax collection. By the same token, a free service resulting from a past public investment (a road, a fountain, a public park or a public sport facility) will not appear in GDP, contrary to its private equivalent (priced road, private sport facility, etc.). Besides household production and voluntary work, another major flaw in the estimation of economic growth by GDP is that it does not appropriately measure production and often just represent it as a compensation for a previous destruction. For example, reconstruction of a destroyed bridge or repairing of inoperative machinery causes a rise in GDP. Another similar example is a boom in the business cycle after the period of recession. Now consider the upsurge in the income of the lawyers. If lawyers prosper because there are more crimes and more offences, does that mean the country is richer? Obviously not, but GDP states country is richer because GDP does not count for these crimes rather it only takes the rise in the income of the lawyers into account. Moving further, production is the decline of human and natural capital. But while calculating GDP this definition is mistreated. This can be illustrated by the example of two countries having same GDP but depreciation of human and natur al resources are not same. It reminds us of those companies who report profits only by under-reporting depreciation of assets. The case is not just theoretical: Britain and France have roughly the same GDP but British workers work 25% more. Furthermore, the contribution of defensive and remedial spending towards GDP has many shortcomings. For example, expenditures on health care, pollution abatement, flood control and costs associated with population growth and increasing urbanization — including crime prevention, highway construction, water treatment and school expansion increase gross domestic product, although mostly what we aim to buy isn’t an improved standard of living but the restoration or protection of the quality of life we already had. (Polley) In this case, it’s clear that GDP indicates the growth in the economy but it’s only the maintenance of our standard of living. Thus GDP is not reliable to judge the standard of living of a community. What’s more is the cash for clunkers whose influence on GDP is also flawed. The new car purchases are added to GDP, but the destruction of the older vehicles is not subtracted. If instead we had a trade in program for new energy efficient homes that required destroying the older, less energy efficient home, we would reach a different result about GDP effects. The new home purchase would add to GDP as for cars, but the destruction of the old home would result in a reduction of GDP because imputed rent on homes is included in GDP unlike cars. In this case, the economic multiplier effects are different about two very similar programs and as a result our economic policies are affected. There are also hidden problems like underground economy which can’t be taken into account as there are hardly any statistics available. (Polley) If economic development is indicated by GDP, then our experts are proposing faulty policies because GDP is not an accurate measure for the economic growth. If we consider the problems in the calculation of GDP, then inaccuracy of the indicator clearly depicts that it’s not an adequate measure of economic progress. For an instance, let’s assume that GDP is a good indicator of economic well being. In this single number, you get an idea of whether the economy is expanding or contracting. Paul Samuelson, Nobel Laureate and author of many textbook references, once described GDP as â€Å"truly among the great inventions of the 20th century, a beacon that helps policymakers steer the economy toward key economic objectives†. But, we forget that how hard it is to accurately sum all of the goods and services produced in a country together, from bricks and tableware to banking and software. First of all, our definition of production is not clear. We often mix the restoration and production. Secondly, statistics for each component of GDP are not easy to gather. For example, there are no statistics available on black economy. Th ird, we need a sophisticated system that can add it all together, from the number of new cars and haircuts, to the volume of teaching etc. (Blades et all) Due to these problems, GDP cannot appropriately measure the welfare of a nation. Given the fundamental problems with GDP as a leading economic indicator, we should not consider it as a measurement of economic well being. Instead, it  is just a measure of economic activities within an economy and no where it is close of accurately reflecting the living standards of the people of that economy.

Organizational Culture at Dell Essay

The topic that is selected for discussion is organizational culture and how organizations implement this characteristic. The organization that is selected for discussion is Dell computers. The reason for choosing organizational culture is that organizations are getting bigger and stronger and they are expanding their horizon by implementing new and modernized strategies. They are changing their methodology and through effective culture management approaches they are expanding their customer base and they are enhancing their profits. That is the core reason of selecting organizational culture and this organizational culture is analyzed in Dell corporations. In this paper the concepts of organizational culture and certain aspects related to organizational culture are discussed in detail. Similarly, emphasis is laid on how Dell computers focus on organizational culture and what they have achieved because of the effective management of organizational culture. Different questions are formulated in order assess the topic and the organization. These questions are stated below: 1. What is organizational culture? 2. What are the characteristic of organizational culture? 3. What are the theories related to organizational cultures? 4. What is the organizational culture of Dell? 5. How Dell has managed its culture? 6. Is culture important for the stakeholders and how an organization can enhance their reputation because of culture? These six questions are used in this entire research to evaluate the organizational culture of Dell Corporation and primary and secondary sources are used for the analysis. It is expected from the analysis that the analysis of this research paper would depict the emphasis of culture and the importance of culture in organizations and how organizations like Dell experience positive returns in the long run just because of the culture. Although the topic is quite broad but only limited aspects of organizational culture are covered in this paper. Data Analysis Different data is collected from different sources and it is evaluated in this research paper. The sources that are used for this purpose are primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources are used for collecting and analyzing data related to the topic while the questionnaires are used for the assessing the culture of Dell Corporation and the employees of Dell are asked to fill out the questionnaires. Through the responses of employees the cultural management of dell is evaluated and analysis is made on the fact that how strong culture of Dell affects the performance of entire organization. Besides the primary sources certain secondary sources are also used in this research paper these sources are websites and books that are related to organizational change. The data that is fetched out from these sources are related to the research questions and all the research questions are answered through this data. Therefore, it can be said that through different sources the research questions are answered and emphasis of the research is based on the questionnaire that is developed. Results Organizational Culture Organizational culture is related to the field of management and organizational studies and it is directly related to the attitudes, beliefs, norms and values which are related to an organization. The culture of the organization simply defines the fact that how employees coordinate with each other and how they treat other stakeholders that are attached with the organization. The culture of the organization is closely linked with the corporate culture and it also incorporates the vision and mission of the organization. These cultural values are also related to the goals of an organization and they are broadly known as â€Å"beliefs and ideas†. These cultural values develop guidelines for the organization and certain norms are developed which would define how the employees of the organization should collaborate with other employees and what are the guidelines of collaborating with other stakeholders of the organization. As far as an organizational culture is concerned there are two important aspects related to culture these two important aspects are strong and weak culture. The organization will experience a strong culture when the staff is coordinating with each other and they will respond with the values of the organization and their norms and beliefs are also aligned with the organizations values and principles (Schien, 2004). One of the most beneficial elements of strong cultures is that it helps the organization in both the short and the long run and the organization acts as a well-oiled machine with no interferences from the stakeholders. In the similar manner if the organizational values and control would not be exercised properly then it can be said that the organization possess a weak culture. In a strong culture people are usually empowered to take decisions and they also believe that what they do is right because usually employees believe in themselves and in their environment. The characteristics of organizational culture are wide and varied and it varies with culture to culture. Member identity, group emphasis, tolerance of risk, conflict tolerance, Unit integration, control and etc are considered as the core characteristics of organizational culture. In this aspect certain issues are identified like are the employees integrated in the entire organization. They group related activities are integrated together, the employees are empowered enough to take the decisions, the leaders of the organization lead the organization by setting an example and etc. These factors and traits combine together to form the vital characteristics of an organization. As far as theories of organizational culture is concerned there are different theories of organizational culture like the theory of Hofstede, Deal and Kennedy, Schien and etc (Bolman, 2008). However, all of these theories have certain aspects that are common and they believe that corporate culture is quite hard to change and employees usually resist the change because they believe that the change in the culture of organizations would affect their performance and that is the reason why it becomes very hard for organizations to change the culture of their organizations. Dell Corporation Dell is considered as one of the leading manufacturers of computer systems and computers related products. The organization is considered as a multinational and it employees more than 82,700 people all around the world. In the initial stages Dell was crowned as the largest seller of PC’s and servers and this happened in the year 1990s. Dell has composed itself and it is considered as one of the best organizations as far as PC reliability is concerned. This organization achieved a second spot as far as computer sales are concerned within the industry and Hewlett Packard scored the first position. Dell’s brand is quite famous for its personal computers, data storage devices, software’s and different computers peripherals The organizational culture of this organization is quite phenomenal and this organization stresses a lot on their culture because they believe that through strong culture they can transform their entire organization. However, the characteristics of Dell’s culture are given below: The 360-degree approach: The culture of Dell Corporation is different from other organizations and like many companies this organization does not believe in future. The organizational culture of Dell depicts that the future is today and tonight. This organization believes in urgency and that is the reason why their customers are satisfied with them. The investing in future phenomenon can be considered as a trap and that is the reason why Dell Corporation focuses on the today phenomenon. The core focus of the organization is that the organizations don’t tolerate and maintain those businesses that are unable to make money. That is the reason why they are implementing a 360-degree approach for their organization. The General Managers and the Culture: The culture aspect is focused a lot by the organization and Dell maintains a zero tolerance policy on culture right from the beginning. The culture of the organization focuses on the fact that when they hear a business would lose its position in the market then they challenge the general manager to change the position and require appropriate explanations about this. The organization focuses on the effectiveness of business ventures and that is the reason why the expectations of the organization from different forms of business are related very high as compared to other organizations. Although Dell Corporation manages its employees quite effectively but if employees are not working properly then the organizations asks them to fix the stuff or ask for help because delivering the right product to the customers is the real essence of the company. The employees of the organization are involved in the major decision making process and the organization ask them question like how can Dell grow faster and how can we lower our cost and etc. Breakthroughs: The breakthrough idea of the organization is quite novel and the general managers usually come up with this idea and in Dell they succeed time and time again. The irrational expectations of the organization are filled up by the general managers. New Leaders: The culture of the organization is quite and the leadership of the organization is charismatic in nature. The organization usually throws individuals in deep end of the competition and then they evaluate that whether they can swim or not. If they are unable to swim then those employees are replaced by other ones. That is the reason why individuals that are aligned with hardworking culture are hired. New employees are hired in the organization but the ratios of new employees are less because previous employees in the organization are trained and then they are promoted to work for the betterment of the organization. Therefore, it can be said that the culture of the organization is a bit flexible and it varies with situation to situation but the entire emphasis of the organization is on the quality of work and if employees are unable to produce quality then they are unable to work in the organization (Fredman & Dell, 2006). Results from primary research A research was conducted and questionnaires were filled out by the senior management of the organization. The method of convenience sampling was used in the research and questionnaires were sent through email to 15 senior managers and only 4 of them responded back. The senior managers that are from the marketing department believe that Dell is managing its culture quite well and strong culture is prevails in the entire organization where every employee can easily coordinate with the customers and they can solve the queries of the customers. The stakeholders are grouped together quite strongly and that is the reason why the organization is progressing. Strong emphasis is laid on leadership and employee empowerment. Dell Corporation also focuses a lot on training the employees through different workshops and trainings and through these approaches members of the organization gives favorable results in both the short and the long run. Similarly, the manager of the finance department believes that Dell Corporation is quite strict on unhealthy accounting practices and they won’t allow their managers to engage in window dressing techniques. They won’t allow their employees to change the figures and they have maintained a stringent culture as far as rules and regulations are concerned. The senior manager of the organization believes that culture plays an important role in every organization and it is very important for the stakeholders because they are attached with other because of the culture. The senior managers of the organization believes that it is the culture that allows the employees to work for the betterment of the organization and through effective cultural values the customers are attracted towards the organization. All the managers believe that the goodwill of the organization is enhanced if the culture of the organization is strong and organization can reap maximum benefits from the culture of the organization. That is the reason why in order to progress in both the short and the long run organizations like Dell focuses a lot on cultural values of the organization. Conclusion Culture plays an important role in every organization and the organizational culture varies with organization to organization. It is the culture of the organization that defines rules and regulation with certain norms and the stakeholders of the organization has to comply with these norms and values. A strong culture is a winning strategy for most of the organizations and that is the reason why many companies emphasize a lot on organizational culture. Dell Corporation is quite rich in its principles and they focus a lot on organizational culture. The employees of the organization also believe that Dell Corporation possesses good culture and by complying with the principles of Dell the employees of the organization can achieve efficiency and effectiveness. Therefore, it can be said that for organizational success every organization must frame a proper culture of an organization and this culture should be followed by all the members of the organization. The effects of following a unified culture are huge and organizations can attain long term benefits by following a single culture.

buy custom The Science essay

buy custom The Science essay During the previous centuries, scientists accepted the hypothesis that brain had the capacity for adaptation only in infancy and early childhood. A brain considered to be hard-wired and lacking the ability to create new neural connections during the life. If such premises were true, in case any part of the brain of adults was damaged, it would not possible to regenerate it, and this particular brain area would lose the ability to perform its functions forever. The phenomenon of neuroplasticity rejected these presumptions. Nudo (2006) defines neuroplasticity as the potential of the brain to adapt its functional and structural organization as a result of life experience. It means that neurons can response to new information received from sensory stimulation and accustom to new challenges in life. The ability of neural cells to form new connections is a principal component of learning and recovering from brain damages. This is how the brain adjusts to environmental conditions; in the same way, it adjusts to a disease or an injury. Nevertheless, for efficient work of the brain, not only the number of neural cells matters, but also the connections between them. To ensure their presence, synapses, tiny communication links between neurons, are necessary. Neurons form the structure of the nrvous system whereas synapses turn this structure into a system. Then, new connections between neurons are built with the help of axonal sprouting (Liou, 2010). Axons make new pathways from one neural cell to another. Such a process of brain architecture construction starts before the birth and continues in adulthood. At the beginning, simple skills and neural connections are formed, then more complex circuits are constructed. Neural plasticity explains how people with brain injuries can go back to their usual lives with time. Brain injuries or diseases may destroy connections and skills created before. In such cases, axons need to cover longer distances than they used to form new pathways. Nonetheless, new connections appear. As a result, in case one of the hemispheres or some area in that hemisphere of the brain is damaged, the other hemisphere or some other area of the brain is able to take charge of some functions of the damaged one. For instance, people with injuries in Brocas area, which is responsible for speech production, learn how to speak again with the help of the brain area that is responsible for singing. Neurons make new connections when they are stimulated properly. The stimulation occurs in the process of rehabilitation. It presupposes brain exercises and physical activities designed to deveelop certain skills as well as build particular connections. In some cases, it is necessary to combine such kind of therapy with drugs that increase availability of required hormones. The process of rehabilitation is fragile and must be conducted carefully under professional guidance. Also, neural plasticity is a two-way process. It means that not only new connections can be formed but also synaptic clusters degenerate if they are no longer in use for a long time. Brain reorganization becomes difficult with aging. The reasons for that have not been yet fully defined. However, conducted experiments prove that the brains of adults and elderly people can be as responsive as the brains of children if they receive proper stimuli. Yet, brain requires training to prevent synapses from weakening. The phenomenon of neuroplasticity has not been fully explored yet. Scientists from different spheres, namely neurology, medical science, computer science, physiology, and mathematics, continue working on it. However, the results of their work are even now beneficial to people with brain impairments and diseases. The findings assist such people in leading regular lives or at least lessening the damage to their brains. The proper implication of this brain peculiarity can help people stay in good mental health even in old age. Buy custom The Science essay

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) Free Online Research Papers A French physician more than 100 years ago first identified a disorder-once known as epiloia or Bourneville’s disease. Today it’s known as Tuberous sclerosis also called tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). TSC is a rare, multi-system genetic disease that causes benign tumors to grow in the brain and on other vital organs such as kidneys, heart, eyes, lungs , and the skin. It commonly affects the central nervous system and results in a combination of symptoms including seizures, developmental delay, behavioral problems, skin abnormalities, and kidney disease. I will look at the following: 1. Clinical manifestations 2. Diagnostic 3. Genetics of TSC 4. Signs and symptoms 5. Psychopharmacology in children with TS The manifestation of TSC is a disease that affects multiple organs such as skin, kidneys, brain, heart, eyes, lungs, teeth as well as other organ systems. However in most individuals the disease affects only some of the organs. TSC may present at birth, but signs of the disorder may take some time to develop. At least two children born each year will have TSC. Current estimates place TSC affected births at one in 6,000, nearly 1 million people worldwide and, approximately 50,000 in the Untied States. As a result, TSC is frequently unrecognized and misdiagnosed for years. The severity of TSC can range from mild skin abnormalities to, in severe cases, mental retardation and renal failure. Many TSC manifestations also develop later in life. Most individuals who are mildly affected lead active and productive lives. TSC is a life long disease and individuals should receive continuous follow-up care. In most cases the first clue to recognizing TSC is the presence of seizures or delayed development. In other cases the first sign might be white patched on the skin. Careful clinical exam in combination with CT or MRI of the brain may show tubers in the brain, and an ultra sound of the heart, liver, kidney scan show tumors there In July 1998 the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, convened a consensus conference of international experts to review the literature and the status of knowledge and research about TSC. One of the consensus panels developed a revised scheme for the TSC diagnostic criteria based on new clinical and molecular genetic studies. The new diagnostic criteria eliminated any single finding as specifically distinctive or characteristic of the disorder. Cortical tubers were believed to be pathognomonic of TSC. Evidence now suggests that radio graphic brain imaging and histologic studies are unable to distinguish these tubers from isolated cortical dysplasia. Subependymal giant cell astrocytomas and subependymal nodules can be distinguished from cortical tubers and from each other. The two subependymal lesions have a histologic and radiographic appearance that differs from the cortical tuber, whereas the giant cell astrocytomas is the only on that tends to enlarge. An important tool in diagnosing is its dermatologic manifestation, which comprises four major and one minor feature of TSC. Hypomelanotic macules are considered a new grouping, whereas the histologically similar forehead plaque, facial angiofibroma, and renal or other retinal hamartomas, are considered to major features used in diagnosis. Liver, spleen, rectal, or other lesions preferably Histologically confirmed hamartomatous lesions constitute minor features. TSC is caused by defects, or mutations, on two genes-TSC1 and TSC2. Only one gene needs to be affected for TSC to be present. The TSC1 gene is on chromosome 9 and produces a protein called hamartin. The TSC2 gene is on chromosome 16 and produces the protein tuberin. Scientists believe these proteins act as tumor growth suppressors, agents that regulate cell proliferation. Some individuals may inherit the disorder from a parent; most cases occur as spontaneous mutations. In other cases, TSC is an autosomal dominates disorder. Which means only one parent needs to have the gene, and each child has a 50% chance of developing the disorder. Some individuals acquire TSC through gonadal mosaicism. Approximately 33%, or 1/3, of the people with TSC inherits it from a parent who has it. Signs of discovery vary depending on which system and which organs are involved. Kidney problems such as cysts and angioyolipomas occur in an estimated 40 to 80 percent of individuals with TSC, usually occurring between ages 20 and 30. Three types of tumors are associated with TSC: cortical tubers, generally form on the surface of the brain, but may also appear in deep areas of the brain; subependymal nodules, which form in the walls of the ventricles the fluid filled cavities of the brain; giant-cell astrocytomas, a type of tumor that can grow and block the flow of fluids within the brain. Cardiac rhabdomyomas are tumors found in the heart of infants and young children. Phakomas are benign tumors found in the eyes, appearing as white patches on the retina. A wide variety of skin abnormalities can occur such as: hypomelanic macules, which are white or lighter patches of skin appearing anywhere; facial angiofibromas also called adenoma sebaceum, which appear on the face and consist of blood vessels and fibrous tissue; forehead plaques, which are common; shagreen patches, usually found on the lower back or the neck; ungula or subungual fibromas that grow around the toenails and fingernails. It’s known that children with TS are a higher risk for several different behavioral problems. The most sever is probably autistic disorder, which usually starts by 36 months and often succeeds early onset seizures. In the preschool years another problem that arises is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). During adolescence depression, anxiety appears as they try to deal with new demands of maturing and continuing difficulties of chronic medical problems. If medications are given to treat behavioral problems, parents need to be aware of the effects they will have in a child who may have cardiac rhabdomyomas, renal angiomyoplomas or polycystic kidneys, cortical tubers, subependymal nodules. The child with rhabdomyomy may have disturbance in the cardiac rhyme including increased heart rate, complete heart block, junctional ectopic beats, and Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome. With seizures certain drugs can lower the threshold leading to new seizures; breakthrough of se izures in a child who had controlled; or an increased number of seizures in a child with chronic epilepsy. Renal damage from medication is not likely in most drugs used for behavior. Topiramate has caused renal stones in 1-2% of patients. Lithium and carbamazepine can cause a change in the ability of the kidney to concentrate urine. As in other medical problems it is always best to reach what you are taking before taking it. There is no cure TSC, although there are a number of treatments for the symptoms. Because TSC is a life long condition, individuals need to regularly monitor by a doctor the best treatments possible. I think children probably suffer the most having to grow up with chronic medical condition with other kids always making fun of you has to really tough on them. However these types of kids are very loving and don’t take much for granted not much of a pay off, but a good one. With the right medication and treatment plans people with TSC might be able to live comfortably. Research is being done to understand the disorder by learning more the TSC1 and the TSC2 genes and the function of the proteins –tuberin and hamartin produced by these genes. Scientists hope knowledge gained from their current research will improve the genetic test for TSC and lead to new avenues of treatment, methods of prevention, and ultimately a cure. tsalliance.org http;//www.ninds.nih.gov rare disease.org Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance fact sheet Hyman MH, Whittemore VH. National Institutes of Health consensus conference: tuberous sclerosis complex. Arch Neurol. 2000 May;57(5):662-5. Review. No abstract available. PubMed citation Lewis JC, Thomas HV, Murphy KC, Sampson JR. Genotype and psychological phenotype in tuberous sclerosis. J Med Genet. 2004 Mar;41(3):203-7. No abstract available. PubMed citation Maria BL, Deidrick KM, Roach ES, Gutmann DH. Tuberous sclerosis complex: pathogenesis, diagnosis, strategies, therapies, and future research directions. J Child Neurol. 2004 Sep;19(9):632-42. No abstract available. PubMed citation Narayanan V. Tuberous sclerosis complex: genetics to pathogenesis. Pediatr Neurol. 2003 Nov;29(5):404-9. Review. PubMed citation Roach ES, Sparagana SP. Diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex. J Child Neurol. 2004 Sep;19(9):643-9. Review. PubMed citation Rose VM. Neurocutaneous syndromes. Mo Med. 2004 Mar-Apr;101(2):112-6. Review. PubMed citation Research Papers on Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC)Genetic EngineeringMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThree Concepts of PsychodynamicResearch Process Part OneIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalOpen Architechture a white paper

Multiple Thoughts in One Sentence

Multiple Thoughts in One Sentence Multiple Thoughts in One Sentence Multiple Thoughts in One Sentence By Michael The rule of putting a period at the end of every thought would be simpler, except that in English, were allowed to include more than one thought in the same sentence. These thoughts are expressed in clauses, and clauses can be independent or subordinate. For example, that last sentence has two independent clauses, separated by a comma and the word and. With independent clauses, both thoughts dont have to be included in the same sentence. In the previous paragraph, I could have said, These thoughts are expressed in clauses. They can be either independent or dependent. Do you see how independent they really are? They make sense even when theyre separated. Putting a period between two independent clauses usually doesnt make them any harder to understand. The rhythm or flow of the writing is a little choppier, but that is it. Most of the time, long sentences are overused and short sentences are underused. Pay attention to your writing. Are you jamming multiple thoughts in one sentence? Are you doing that over and over again? Perhaps you should use the period more often! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?A While vs Awhile10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

Childhood Immunizations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Childhood Immunizations - Research Paper Example Awareness, support, and advocacy practices by nurses have gone over and above the mandated immunizations to encompass recommended immunizations (Cooper, Larson, & Katz, 2008). This process has impacted on leadership in nursing by revolutionizing the execution of health programs designed to improve health care and welfare of children and adults. Over the years, nurses have worked and collaborated with local, state, and federal authorities and agencies in formulating and implementing disease control and prevention measures (Kyle, 2008). Needless to say, such measures have encompassed child immunizations. In the process, childhood through adulthood immunizations registry has been developed. This has subsequently made childhood immunizations a traceable and effectively and efficiently managed health issue. In conclusion, the role played by the nursing fraternity in addressing child immunization as a health problem is fundamental. AAP (2006) argues that the role, contribution, and practice by nurses have resulted in a significant increase in immunization rates over time. Moreover, information completeness and accuracy have streamlined childhood immunizations even

Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc Case Study - 15

Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc - Case Study Example This prompted a group of the employees to file a case in the District Court. They argued that the policy discriminated against the female gender and violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc 1991). The district court and the court of appeal granted the respondents a summary judgment on grounds that their fetal-protection policy is reasonably necessary to further the industrial safety concern (Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc 1991). The petitioners claimed that excluding fertile women from lead-exposed jobs, respondents policy creates a facial grouping based on gender besides marginalizing them 703(a) of Title VII (Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc 1991). They claimed the policy is not neutral because it does not apply to males despite evidence lead’s exposure posing great harm to their reproductive system. They cited that, provided that the fertile women performed their duties as expected, the company has no right to segregate them. Although the respondents argue that, they are concerned about the other coming generation’s status regardless of the law exclusively being for the parents (Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc, 1991). No, the company does not satisfy its expected moral and ethical standards as required in the society by passing a policy that stigmatizes the female gender. Additionally, it also violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that protects all genders from discrimination (Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc 1991). By so doing, the company would be creating a facial categorization that utilizes gender to segregate women (Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls Inc 1991). The policy is also not neutral and fair to both the two genders and how the lead affects them.  According to the company, the lead affects only the female gender despite concrete evidence that it poses adverse effects on the male reproductive organs.The law also cites that, unless the pregnant employees differ from others in their expertise, they must all get both equal treatment and opportunities

Wastewater Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wastewater Management - Essay Example With the increase in population, the demand for water has increased drastically over the years. As a matter of fact, besides the water that is locked in the glaciers and icecaps, about 97 % of the fresh water is in the lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater. The pollution of these water resources is a serious concern all over the world. As the number of industries is increasing, growing volumes of industrial wastewater are being discharged to surface waters. Due to the lack of funds and proper initiatives, the treatment provided is usually poor to protect the desired uses of the receiving waters. Before getting into the principal steps involved in industrial wastewater treatment, it is important to understand that reducing the generation of waste through proper management of resources could be an easier step than treating the effluents. Thus, through this process, the companies will benefit from the reduced input cost or the expenditure on raw materials and also reduces the wastewater treatment costs. It also improves the efficiency and the working conditions in the industry. Industries that use large amounts of water for processing have the potential to pollute waterways. Industrial waste consists of both organic and inorganic substances. Organic wastes include pesticide residues, solvents and cleaning fluids, dissolved residue from fruit and vegetables, and lignin from pulp and paper industry. Effluents can also contain inorganic wastes such as salts and heavy metals. When these effluents are released into the water bodies without proper treatment, it can cause serious damage to the ecosystem. Besides, it can also affect the people who use this water for drinking or any other household purposes. It is therefore essential that the industrial effluents are treated to high standards before they are released.

How do the situations in the book not for sale by David Batstone, Essay

How do the situations in the book not for sale by David Batstone, reflect stratification, inequality, race and ethnicity, gender - Essay Example (page 5) Not for Sale is the book which throws the light on the social problems such as race, slavery, ethnicity, human exploitation, sexual abuse, child labour etc. The focus is basically on the poor countries of the world. The book is written by David Batstone, the professor of ethics in the department of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco, executive editor of Sojourners. In the book â€Å"Not for Sale,† he has depicted the callous reality of stratification, inequality, race, ethnicity and gender which is prevalent all over the world in the modern period also. According to him in till today slavery exists in 150 countries and â€Å"twenty-seven million slaves exist in our world.† (page.10) Slaves are human beings but they are treated in an inhumane way. Slavery is the second most beneficial criminal business after drug trade. The following social issues have been discussed in â€Å"Not for Sale.† Slavery is supposed to be the most closed system of stratification. The slavery in olden days and modern days is different. Though the structure has been changed, the phenomenon has not yet been eradicated completely. According to Baston todays slaves include (a) men first taken as prisoners of war in ethnic conflicts; (b) girls and women captured in wartime or kidnapped from their neighbourhoods and used as prostitutes or sex slaves; (c) children sold by their parents to become child labourers; and (d) workers paying off debts who are abused and even tortured and too terrified to leave While telling the horrible condition of poor women the writer informs that the young women were brought from India. After their arrival to USA their passports were taken from them. They compelled to work for hours without no compensation or with less compensation. If they refused they were harassed. Batstone’s study tells that

Argue for a ban on texting while driving Research Paper

Argue for a ban on texting while driving - Research Paper Example Studies conducted have shown that texting while driving could be more dangerous than speaking or drunk driving (Richtel). More than a dozen states in the United States have passed laws against texting while driving with the current Obama administration taking more efforts to ban the practice across the country (Crawley; Stateline). However, despite the increased arguments raised in favor of the ban, studies carried out by certain institutes have shown that such bans have really had no impact on the accident rate in the country (Lohr). But given the many potential risks involved in practicing this, increased awareness is being created by legal experts, transportation and government officials and vehicle manufacturers to bring out a country wide ban for texting while driving. The executive order issued by the President in 2009, has referred to distracted driving as an epidemic and has hence banned all federal employees from texting while driving. The favorable arguments raised in this regard is that there has been several car crashes involving drivers who were distracted and tempted by text messages while driving as they had to release at least one hand from the steering in addition to taking their eyes off the road (National Highway Traffic; Crawley; Stateline; Executive order). The government has issued this order as it believes that officials should first set an example by following the ban and thence enforce it. There are several government employees who use vehicles daily for commutation or transportation purposes and by following the ban they can also prevent any unwanted accidents and injuries. The federal government employees and contractors were expected to comply with the order since December 2009 as it would help save lives, reduce injuries an d unnecessary damage to property (National Highway Traffic; Executive order). The order also includes that these officials should comply with the order even during non-working hours and that authorities can

Accounting Course - One.Tel Telecommunication Company Essay

Accounting Course - One.Tel Telecommunication Company - Essay Example Finally, by March 2001, One Tel was declared insolvent, after continuous efforts by News Limited and PBL to inject additional cash turned out to be insufficient. In this report, the reasons for the collapse are analyzed, how it could have been prevented and its effect. This paper analyses how the company was mismanaged, its internal control weaknesses, and financial reporting issues. Jodee Rich and Brad Keeling established One Tel. Company (telco), on the 1st of May 1995. James Packer and Lachlan Murdoch were the initial backers, providing an investment worth $995 Million (Cook, 2001). The company’s business was to provide communication services and networks in Australia and major countries of Asia and Europe. The company launched its GSM services network in 1995 and within few years it became the fourth largest telecommunications company of Australia. Its success was mainly fuelled by its marketing and ability to attract young mobile users. It achieved an early success in Australia and very soon its operations went across international boundaries. The marketing strategy was to focus on the younger generation, using the slogan â€Å"You’ll tell your friend about One Tel†. In its early years, One Tel enjoyed a lot of success due to its growing customer base and its profits grew from $3.7 million in 1997 to $6.9 million in 1999. In November 19 99, One Tel. had a market capitalisation of $3.8 billion that made it rank as the 30th largest Australian company (Barry, 2002). Unfortunately, due to gross mismanagement the company’s collapse was inevitable. In 2000, the company’s financial position reported a loss $291.1 million. The shareholders tried to keep the company afloat, but it was not to be and by 28th May 2001 the company was de-listed. The downfall of One Tel can be largely attributed to its shareholders and

Argue for a ban on texting while driving Research Paper

Argue for a ban on texting while driving - Research Paper Example Studies conducted have shown that texting while driving could be more dangerous than speaking or drunk driving (Richtel). More than a dozen states in the United States have passed laws against texting while driving with the current Obama administration taking more efforts to ban the practice across the country (Crawley; Stateline). However, despite the increased arguments raised in favor of the ban, studies carried out by certain institutes have shown that such bans have really had no impact on the accident rate in the country (Lohr). But given the many potential risks involved in practicing this, increased awareness is being created by legal experts, transportation and government officials and vehicle manufacturers to bring out a country wide ban for texting while driving. The executive order issued by the President in 2009, has referred to distracted driving as an epidemic and has hence banned all federal employees from texting while driving. The favorable arguments raised in this regard is that there has been several car crashes involving drivers who were distracted and tempted by text messages while driving as they had to release at least one hand from the steering in addition to taking their eyes off the road (National Highway Traffic; Crawley; Stateline; Executive order). The government has issued this order as it believes that officials should first set an example by following the ban and thence enforce it. There are several government employees who use vehicles daily for commutation or transportation purposes and by following the ban they can also prevent any unwanted accidents and injuries. The federal government employees and contractors were expected to comply with the order since December 2009 as it would help save lives, reduce injuries an d unnecessary damage to property (National Highway Traffic; Executive order). The order also includes that these officials should comply with the order even during non-working hours and that authorities can

The Rise of Civil Regulations as a Method for Advancing Global Essay

The Rise of Civil Regulations as a Method for Advancing Global Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example This paper serves to showcase how the increasingly in-demand adherence to civil rights can be used to advance the global corporate social responsibility. Civil regulation only tries to encourage corporations to exercise suitable practices that will ensure a threat-free environment. The government has always tried to intervene in the daily running of organizations in order to preserve the civil rights for workers in organizations. Non-governmental organizations also come in to offer help within the framework of the program. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Different NGOs use different tactics to try to persuade large multinational corporations (MCNs) into complying with their policies regarding civil rights. Some will try talking out an organization to agree on certain terms of operation e.g. employment criteria, while other NGOs will identify their weakness of an organization and exploit it (Dewey and Tufts 23). Recently, NGOs have increased their interest in business, implying that globalization is taking a major turn of events with large organizations from different parts coming together e.g. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch were formed to fight civil rights violations like freedom of expression abuse, unfair sentences and other injustices. In the past few years, NGOs such as Amnesty International have made there intentions clear by stressing the relationship between human rights and globalization. These NGOs are advocating against child labor and the treatment of workers and cases involving women and girls trafficking, most recently, involving energy countries such as Nigeria, Burma, India and Sudan. Another reason for major NGOs’ increased involvement with multinational corporations (MNCs) is the need to get support from them and be associated with the MNCs managerial personnel. NGOs are always in the hunt for sponsorship, but this scenario changes with some organizations, as their main involvement with MNCs is based on business rea sons with civil rights coming in as a minor reason, which helps diversify the organizations in terms of their products and services. Prior to World War 2, Walter Rathenau, a German, said that the growth of business corporations had a significant effect on the society. According to Morton (44), the interest of an organization might be entirely financial; most of the activities carried out on a daily basis are serving the public interest. According to Dewey and Tufts (23), it is not sufficient to view companies as purely economic machines and companies should be involved in public duty too. Soft Law. Most of the civil rights do not appear in a country’s constitution as a law, but they are often being advocated for, thus, the government can not be liable to all these rights. Therefore, companies have to take the initiative of establishing and implementing the reflexive law. Some companies use environmental contracts to enhance corporate social responsibility (CSR). Laws are made and passed regarding certain practices by the corporations, bound by a given NGO which when broken, there are stipulated penalties to be faced. If a company is bound within a given contract, it can make more progress towards finding reliable solutions rather than depending on the normal laws of the government. In essence, CSR can help the government to meet the needs of the society e.g. the United Kingdom’

Market Research Report Energy and Sports Drink Market Growth in Asia Essay Example for Free

Market Research Report Energy and Sports Drink Market Growth in Asia Essay The changing consumer preferences, demand for functional beverages, increasing awareness towards healthy lifestyles and growing urban population in Asia would be the major factors that would drive the market in coming years. An increasing awareness towards healthy lifestyles has led to a transition in the taste and preferences of people in Asia. The young urban population has been the target customer for energy and sports drink brands in this region. The energy and sports drinks are majorly consumed by professional sports people, gym goers and by working professionals and students that require a special beverage in order to boost their energy and stay active. â€Å"The increasing participation of the health conscious people in sports and fitness activities has greatly impacted the growth trend of sports and energy drink market in Asia. The young population aged 25-35 years represents a potential group of customers for the energy and sports drink manufacturers in the region. † – According to the research report ‘Asia Energy and Sports Drink Market Outlook to 2017’ by Ken Research. The increasing media exposure towards sporting events on television has captured the attention of people, which in turn has encouraged the youth to adopt sports as a profession or as a hobby. This has impelled the growth of sports drinks in Asian countries over the last few years. Sports drinks market in Asia is dominated by famous brands such as Gatorade, Powerade and Pocari Sweat. Red Bull majorly has dominated the energy drink market in the region. Red Bull has effectively maintained a strong distribution channel in various countries in Asia such as in India, China, Japan, Thailand and in South Korea. The energy and sports drink market is anticipated to be driven by the growing trend of health and fitness is expected to create significant demand in Asian countries. The consumer expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages is expected to surge in the region owing to the rise in disposable incomes of the people. The rising awareness about fitness and health benefits among the people in the region will encourage more people to join fitness and sports clubs which will drive the demand and consumption of energy and sports drink in the coming years. The report provides detailed overview on the energy and sports drink market in Asia and help reader to identify the ongoing trends in the key segments of the industry and anticipated growth in future depending upon changing industry dynamics in coming years. The report will aid industry consultants, food and beverage service companies and marketing companies and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in future. For More Details Please Click On Following Link: http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/asia-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/429-104. html http://www. kenresearch. com/press/news-asia-energy-and-sports-drink-market/211. html Related Links: http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/japan-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/432-104.html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/south-korea-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/433-104. Html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/india-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/431-104. html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/thailand-energy-and-sports-market-research-report/434-104. html http://www. kenresearch. com/agriculture-food-beverages/beverages/china-energy-and-sports-drink-market-research-report/430-104. html.

Concept Paper :: essays research papers

Truth, Honor, Integrity Truth, honor, and integrity can be used and interpreted in many different ways. These three concepts are instilled into people during childhood, enforced during school years, and reinforced as adults. In the end, though, it all depends on how an individual chooses to interpret these principles before any of them can be seen as good or bad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The dictionary definition of truth is an agreement with fact or reality. There are many different aspects of truth; there is the whole truth, and the partial truth. When someone tells the whole truth there is no lacking in it. It is the complete and absolute truth with no editing for personal reasons. An example of partial truth would be the case of President Clinton and, White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Although Clinton did admit to having oral sex with Ms. Lewinsky he denied having sex with her. What is the difference, you ask? Clinton claims that the dictionary definition of sex says that it involves intercourse, which he never had with Ms. Lewinsky.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Honor is another word for respect. The Bile states that children should honor their fathers and mothers. My interpretation of this is that children should not only show respect directly towards their parents, but also show it to their name, in the way that they act. The Bible also states that the same respect that is shown to parents should also be shown to peers and authority. There are many different ways to show that you have respect for someone. Doing things like: obeying orders, even if they do not appear logical, and behaving appropriately when in public, can show respect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Integrity is the state of total honesty and sincerity. Showing integrity is like coming out ant telling the whole truth, no matter what the consequences may be. One of my favorite examples of integrity is shown in the movie While You Were Sleeping. In that particular movie, a lonely female is mistakenly identified as the fiance of a man who has been rendered unconscious.

International Eugenics Essay -- Genetics

Throughout the history of international relations, the study of human diversity has held a key role in establishing the political principles and recognized shared culture that defines nationhood. Nations have traditionally been associated with a specific geographic location and political ideology, but they also have ethnical identifiers associated with this shared culture. These ethnical identifiers were thrust onto the world stage during the end of the nineteenth century with the introduction of the study of eugenics. The purpose of this study is to examine the historiography of the eugenics movement as it occurred globally, providing a comparative survey of programs, legislation and ideologies in multiple nation settings. In order to provide a global comparative study of international eugenic programs and ideologies, several disciplines will be followed, focusing on four major terms used to delineate eugenics, â€Å"population, quality, territory, and nation.† Although eugenics has been seriously examined by historians since the 1960’s, international comparisons are a recent addition to the field of research, emerging near the end of the twentieth century. Even as these comparative studies become more popular, the majority of this research focuses on eugenics in Britain, Germany, and the United States. For these reasons, this study will attempt to highlight the movement outside of the Western world only drawing on their historiography as precedence throughout the global community. In 1963, Mark H. Haller published Eugenics: Hereditarian Attitudes in American Thought. As the first major history of American eugenics, Haller encapsulated the movement and only hinted at the biological doctrines of the Nazi’s and Soviet Union. Haller... ..., G. R. Eugenics and Politics in Britain, 1900-1914. (Leyden: Noordhoff International Publishing, 1976), 4. Adams, Mark B. The Wellborn Science: Eugenics in Germany, France, Brazil, and Russia. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 25. Adams, Mark B. The Wellborn Science: Eugenics in Germany, France, Brazil, and Russia. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 25. Francesco Cassata, Building a New Man: Eugenics, Racial Sciences and Genetics in Twentieth Century Italy. (New York: Central European University Press, 2011), 147-155. Stepan, Nancy. The Hour of Eugenics: Race, Gender, and Nation in Latin America. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), 4. Broberg, Gunnar, and Nils Roll-Hansen. Eugenics and the Welfare State: Sterilization Policy in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1996), 2.

BPO: The Boon with a Twist Essay

The India business process outsourcing (BPO) ‘success story’ needs to be tempered with a strong dose of caution. The two issues that this paper seeks to raise viz. employees’ welfare and working at the lower end of the value chain, need to be addressed if indeed the BPO phenomenon is to be called a ‘boon’ for India. The paper discusses the state of the industry in India and the reasons why BPO is the ‘Big Wave’. However, the emphasis of the paper is on another aspect of the story that at best ignored and at worst completely discounted. Some vital questions have been raised like- what is the impact that this newly spawned industry is having on the millions that is now employs? Also, it is not just about the health of the individual that is of concern here. It is about the entire social, physical and psychological fabric of a nation that is slowly changing. From the perspective of the companies also, the high staff turnover must makes it increasingly expensive for India based operations to maintain and improve their quality of service. Another dark side of the story is that India is still working on the low end of the value chain of the business-processes. Over time India’s success will depend on moving up the value chain and make the competitiveness non-replicable by other low cost countries. Read more:  BPO Management System The paper concludes with some solutions to the above-mentioned problems, concentrating primarily on the employee welfare and moving up the value chain. This requires the concerted efforts of both the industry and the government. BPO: The Boon with a Twist â€Å"Yesterday upon the stair I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish that man would go away† The Sunrise Sector: An Introduction There have been various studies and papers highlighting how the BPO is the best thing to happen to the Indian youth since the Internet. And not without reason. McKinsey and Co. tell us that by 2008 India will have a whooping 5 million people employed in the BPO sector and will be able to boast of additional revenues in excess of $57 billion. We need this opportunity like never before. However, there is another aspect of the story that is relatively ignored by both, the industry captains and the popular press alike. This paper looks into that aspect of the BPO industry in India and attempts to question the ‘blind faith’ in the sector. It raises some vital questions like- what is the impact that this newly spawned industry is having on the millions that is now employs? Are the reports that we keep hearing, about over-stressed 22-somethings leaving their jobs and the irritable alienated-from-friends-and-family youngsters true? It is not just about the health of the individual that is of concern here. The entire social fabric of a nation that is slowly changing as fresh graduates suddenly find themselves with lots of money due to these sunrise sector jobs, but no time or energy to spend it. The Bright Side The major driving force in the BPO sector is money. In his or her first job, an Indian back-office recruit can easily earn between Rs.15, 000 and Rs.20, 000 a month, which may only be a tenth of what their US counterparts earn, but considering that in terms of the World Bank-calculated purchasing-power parity, $1 can buy four times as much in India as it can in the US, Rs.15,000 per month is certainly a lot more than pocket change to an average youngster. Competition, sense of achievement, and financial freedom are the other driving forces, say BPO professionals. A brief snapshot of how the BPO industry operates puts forth some very interesting facts. The BPO industry is built around the raison d’ etre of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. With the current focus on core business capabilities, many companies in the Western world are outsourcing select business functions to expert partners. BPO takes a set of activities and takes on the responsibility of reengineering the entire way the operation is done. The most popular BPO activity currently outsourced to India is Call Centre operations. Companies selling products or services very often promise 24Ãâ€"7 support through telephones, email or the Internet for their wares. These require a large workforce to constantly be ready at helpdesks with answers to questions customers may call in with. The cost of setting up a call center in the US combined with the cost of wages is 10 to 20 times the cost of setting up a center in a developing nation like India. Hence, these companies re-route the calls made to helpdesks for their products to Indian call centres. These calls are handled by Indians sitting in India and donning an identity (and an accent) similar to their US counterparts. In pure economic terms it is much more sensible to run cost centres like these out of India. The average savings are in the region of 20-30%. And in an age when a penny saved is a penny earned these savings can be used to fuel further growth. The Not So Bright Side: The Human Face One of the reasons that provides India this opportunity is that Indians have readily adapted to – and are working entirely in the US time zone. This phenomenon has only increased over the past few years, popularly known as working the ‘Graveyard Shift’. In its eagerness to pave the way for the BPO boom, the government is infringing on protections bitterly fought for, like the eight-hour day.1 Labor legislation governing employment of workers in this sector is being amended to allow for night-shift work, work during notified holidays in India, staggering of weekends off and the like. Registered trade unions already struggling against this onslaught. Various researches on this darker aspect present some hard facts: * There is an increasing number of BPO employees who leave because they can’t handle the pressure and schedule of jobs * For most of them stress at work is their biggest source of discomfort * Most of these stressed-out employees suffer from sleep-related disorders and have digestive disorders. * Women who work the night shift face an increased risk of breast cancer of up to 60 percent2. * Stress is leading to impairment of conventional social and family life. Difficulties are particularly acute for women with child-care responsibilities. The high stress and irregular hours are taking their toll on many of the mostly just-out-of-college employees. Nutritionists, doctors and psychiatrists say there has been a dramatic increase in call center employees coming to them with problems like hair loss, ear infections from contaminated head phones, ulcers and digestion problems, piles and sleeplessness. All this is having far reaching consequences on the lives of the individuals who are working in this industry. The Not So Bright Side: The Value Chain Outsourcing – a job that no graduate or educated person in the US wants to do is shifted to low wage developing countries like India where there are ‘high quality’ graduates to do the job. In fact that’s the main USP of India – English speaking, ‘high quality’ people being employed for work that may not require half their potential. If we take our best and brightest and put them in dead end outsourcing jobs, where is this country headed? NASSCOM is touting the BPO industry as the new wave. There is no denying that it creates jobs. However the real question is for how long and what kinds of jobs? The government is spending huge resources to educate the highly talented young people only to relegate them to mindless transaction processing. The lucre of these jobs can be ascertained from the disinterest shown the educated people in Europe and US. In these ‘sending countries’ its seen as a part time job – something a college dropout or housewife with time to kill would do. India needs to worry about her youth. The best and brightest go to the US and work there which is an intellectual drain for India. The others – and undoubtedly a lot of bright ones do remain – seem to be sucked by into this BPO machine. India cannot afford continue working at the lowest end of the value chain. Sooner or later Indian companies will have to realize – and fight for – the fact we need to do a little more of the ‘value-added work’. In the long run, the business model of Indian BPOs will become unsustainable and unless they re-engineer a transformation the entire sector will fail to exist as an industry3. Taking a Moment As BPO employees soon find out, money and the college-like ambience is not everything. Cultural shifts, loss of identity, stress due to continuous night shifts and adverse effect on health were only some of the problems that cropped up in several interviews with employees of BPOs. For youngsters it’s a trade-off between what they gain in poise and confidence, and what they lose out in family life and social circle of friends who were not part of this field. Suffering severe sleep disturbances, headaches and even blackouts, most spend all their time away from the job sleeping. And the only long-term solution they can suggest is to quit. Hence, it is of serious concern not only for the employees but also for the companies. The issue of quality of service is raised by the very high staff turnover rates in India, especially at call centres, where annual turnover is said to exceed 50 per cent. High staff turnover is reported even amongst the more established, employee friendly IT companies, some of whom offer stock options and residential accommodations to entice employees to stay on. High staff turnover must make it increasingly expensive for India based operations to maintain and improve their quality of service. This is due to the rising costs for hiring and training and the higher wages needed to attract quality employees. It costs an average of Rs.20,000 to train every Call Center employee4. With the attrition rate so high this is hitting the bottom line for these companies very hard. Moreover high dropout rates have much larger implications for maintaining consistent quality standards. It is impossible to maintain a high quality of service when the entire workforce turns over every 3 years.5 The Road Ahead This section deals with some proposed solutions to fight the two challenges. Improving Employee Welfare: In some countries where the call center industry has been there for a while, e.g. UK and Australia a lot of understanding on what this unique workplace entails and what needs to be done about it, has evolved. For instance, in the UK, the government intervened a while ago with a local authority circular called ‘Advice Regarding Call Center Working Practices’. This circular lists in detail the stress factors and ailments peculiar to this industry, and has various measures to deal with them. However in India, no understanding of the problem exists. This is a serious concern not only from the employee’s end but also from the company’s perspective. The employers incur huge costs of agent attrition due to stress. It’s high time that the Indian government and the industry made some concerted effort on the lines of the above-mentioned countries and brought forth proactive measures of dealing with employee issues in call centers. Role of Companies Companies need to get their act together quickly if they have to arrest the high rate of inflation and avoid the high burnout rate among employees. One of the things to be understood is that the BPO sector is not yet being looked at as a career but rather as a stop-gap arrangement till a better job comes up. Unfortunately as is turns out the next ‘non-bpo’ sector job for most of these individuals turns out to be a fairly less paying one as well. Towards this end taking care of the employees well being becomes a priority for the companies. Most companies are already moving in this direction with well established programs that take care of the all round well-being of the employees with regular health checkups, reduced work hours, adequate training programs and a concern for the employees growth in the organization. Employee welfare will work on three factors each of which need to be understood by organization. Towards this goal an integrated strategy for employee welfare can be developed. Some specific recommendations regarding ensuring employee well being can include regular mental and physical check-ups for employees, periodic counseling on career regulating the number of night shifts worked in a row etc. More importantly, such programs wherein certain employees can avail of funding to aid further studies should be introduced. Role of Government An important part needs to be played by the government in regulating the industry with regards to labour laws. Although the government’s provisions to make it easier for the industry to grow at the pace it has are commendable, this growth cannot be had at the expense of human capital. It is necessary to safeguard the interests of the employees through enforced regulations to ensure sustenance. Specifically the government needs to re-look at * Specific regulations monitoring night-shift work * Monitoring work during notified holidays and weekends * Review of policies regarding food arrangements at workplaces * Policies regarding working of women at night – ensuring safety Moving up the value chain: Despite the fact that the world’s athletic shoes are produced in low-wage environments, their design remains firmly rooted in developed nations. Even today, despite all of the electronics manufacturing located in developing nations, the bulk of the value-added design remains in the developed nations. Taking on the ‘risks’ of the business-processes instead of simply reengineering them is one of the surest ways of convincing outsourcing companies to give greater value added work to the Indian firms. Similarly, it is important to forge alliances and partnerships of the outsourcing companies to convince them to trust us with their core processes instead on taking on fringe work. To summarize, in the end there are only two sustainable end-game models for companies in the BPO segment – the first is insight driven and the other is a platform model. Both of them leverage on proprietary capabilities of individual companies. Over time, a country’s competitiveness will eventually be commoditized and therefore become replicable. India is at that stage. For further growth a company will have to differentiate itself from the labor arbitrage and country competitiveness gamut and build on in-house capabilities that sets it apart. When Indian BPOs move away from the ‘replication’ model and start providing specialized value-added services for clients, they have a far greater chance of surviving, he said. The issue of differential time zones that forces Indian employees to take on jobs with permanent night shifts seems to be completely non-negotiable. However, by shifting the nature of work away from real time to delayed time, this too can be man aged in some companies over a period of time.    1 The Karnataka government has â€Å"simplified† labor legislations: Several barriers, including employment of women at night, flexible working hours, mandatory weekly offs have all been removed by necessary amendments to relevant laws to create an â€Å"optimal environment† for the growth of the BPO sector in the State. 2 A study (2001) by the Seattle based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in association with the National Cancer Institute 3 Presentation on the BPO landscape and possible end-game models at the NASSCOM ITES-BPO Summit in Bangalore in June 2003. 4 McKinsey-Nasscom study 2002 5 Went for Cost, Stayed for Quality: Moving the Back Office to India, paper by Rafiq Dossani, Senior Research Scholar, Asia/Pacific Research Center, Stanford University

Cross Dressing

Cross dressing is considered one of society’s abnormal ideas because of stereotypical gender roles. Stereotypical gender roles are stated as, biological females are feminine and biological males are masculine. Cross dressing does not represent the gender specific roles; in which men and women are suppose to follow. The idea of men and women acting and dressing like their opposite sex is unacceptable to the reality that they face. The movie The Bird Cage supports the idea that society’s stereotypical views on cross dressing remains unchanged. Society is not understanding of what is considered different from the normal. The stereotype that men are masculine and women are feminine is not the reality of gender versus sex. In â€Å"Sexual Mythologies† by Brian Pronger, he states that â€Å"Sex is a physiological distinction that is drawn between male and female, whereas gender is a cultural distinction that divides power between men and women. † (226) This represents the misconception that men are masculine and women are feminine. In reality gender is developed by cultural influence, and sex is genetic. In the movie The Bird Cage, Albert is born a male, but chooses to become feminine, therefore suggesting that men do not have to be masculine just because genetics say so. Cross dressing is defined as men who dress feminine and women who dress masculine, although society reacts more to men dressing as women as opposed to women dressing as men. Women dressing as men can be considered a â€Å"tomboy† which is common in society, whereas men dressing as women would be considered â€Å"homosexual or transsexual. † Why is it that women can wear men’s clothing, but men cannot wear women’s clothing? Society sees dresses as a representation of femininity and men are suppose to be masculine, and therefore men cannot wear dresses. Although pants are originally worn only by men, but because of changes in time; pants are considered unisexual. For instance, a woman walking down the street in pants; people probably do not even notice that she is wearing pants. But if a man walks down the street in a dress, people’s eyes will turn and they will begin whispering. Why should a man be looked at any differently in comparison to any woman? In the movie The Bird Cage, the society of South Beach is not a stereotypical norm. There are many homosexual and cross dressers within the city, and it is not considered abnormal. Armand and Albert are proud owners of a club that presents a nightly drag show. Their son, Val, is engaged to Senator Keeley’s daughter, Barbara. Val wants both families to meet, but the Keeley family does not know that Val’s parents are homosexual and run a drag show. Senator Keeley is a conservative man, and morally does not support homosexuals. Senator Keeley represents the stereotypical views of society. Armand makes a good point about how society feels about homosexuals and cross dressers. â€Å"Albert, these people are right-wing conservatives. They don’t care if you’re a pig, they just care if you’re a fag! † This quote represents the views of society about homosexual people or cross dressers. Armand pretends to be a straight man by showing how masculine he is by saying â€Å"Al, you old son of a bitch! How ya doin’? How do you feel about that call today? I mean the Dolphins! Fourth-and-three play on their 30 yard line with only 34 seconds to go! †¦ This shows that stereotypically men are suppose to be masculine and a sport that represents masculinity is football. Society has remained unchanged in their views about cross dressing because they choose to see and believe only what they want to see and hear. Why is it that a woman can wear pants? Back in the 19th century women were not allowed anything else except a dress. Society can accept th is change because of the influence of time and the boldness of women. In The Bird Cage, Louise Keeley (the senator’s wife) makes a great example of how society only perceives what it wants to perceive. Why, it looks like young men playing leapfrog!†¦ Is it Greek? † In reality Louise Keeley is look at a piece of china with pornographic pictures of young men. Louise Keeley does not see what is really there because she blinds herself in order to shield herself from what is considered immoral and in a sense horrible. Society also tries to hide and shield themselves from situations that they do not like, such as homosexuals, homeless people, cross dressers, etc. Just because society wants to blind itself, does not mean that these people do not exist. Cross dressing is viewed as wrong in the eyes of a stereotypical society. Biological men and women are supposed to be masculine and feminine respectively. Cross dressing is not considered a norm in society. This idea is seen through the movie The Bird Cage. In reality sex does not determine gender, as represented by Brian Pronger in â€Å"Sexual Mythologies. † Therefore sex cannot determine gender, but society will always view what it wants to see. Unless society can learn to accept people for who they are and what they wear, then we will have a truly have a society where there are no stereotypes.

Group Dynamics Essay

Q. 2 what are the types of groups and group dynamics? Answer2: A social process by which people interacts with each other in small group is known as group dynamics. The word dynamic is Greek word which means study of forces operating within a group for the social interaction. Interaction in small group is not always governed by rules and regulations and conventions. In these small groups social relations between persons may play an important role in communication. The Word Dynamics means force. The term group dynamics refers to the forces operating wide in groups for social interest. The investigation of group dynamics consists of a study of these forces and the conditions modifying them. The practical application of group dynamics consists of the utilisation of knowledge about these forces for the achievement of some purpose. Group dynamics is the combination of the certain techniques to be used within groups. GROUP TYPES One common way to classify group is by whether they are formal or informal in nature. Formal work groups are established by an organization to achieve organizational goals. Formal groups may take the form of command groups, task groups, and functional groups. Formal & Informal groups: Formal groups are created and maintained to fulfil specific needs related to the overall organizational mission: a. Designed by Top management for achieving organizational goals b. Concentrates more on the performance of job c. People are placed in hierarchy and their status determined accordingly d. Co-ordination of members are controlled through process, procedures etc Informal Groups are created in the organization because of social and psychological forces operating at the workplace. a. A natural outcome at the work place & not designed and planned b. Organization is coordinated by group norms and not by norms of the formal organization c. Such group associations are not specified in the blue-print of the formal organization COMMAND GROUPS. Command groups are specified by the organizational chart and often consist of a supervisor and the subordinates that report to that supervisor. An example of a command group is an academic department chairman and the faculty members in that department. TASK GROUPS. Task groups consist of people who work together to achieve a common task. Members are brought together to accomplish a narrow range of goals within a specified time period. Task groups are also commonly referred to as task forces. The organization appoints members and assigns the goals and tasks to be accomplished. Examples of assigned tasks are the development of a new product, the improvement of a production process, or the proposal of a motivational contest. Other common task groups are ad hoc committees, project groups, and standing committees. Ad hoc committees are temporary groups created to resolve a specific complaint or develop a process. Project groups are similar to ad hoc committees and normally disband after the group completes the assigned task. Standing committees are more permanent than ad hoc committees and project groups. They maintain longer life spans by rotating members into the group. FUNCTIONAL GROUPS. A functional group is created by the organization to accomplish specific goals within an unspecified time frame. Functional groups remain in existence after achievement of current goals and objectives. Examples of functional groups would be a marketing department, a customer service department, or an accounting department. In contrast to formal groups, informal groups are formed naturally and in response to the common interests and shared values of individuals. They are created for purposes other than the accomplishment of organizational goals and do not have a specified time frame. Informal groups are not appointed by the organization and members can invite others to join from time to time. Informal groups can have a strong influence in organizations that can either be positive or negative. For example, employees who form an informal group can either discuss how to improve a production process or how to create shortcuts that jeopardize quality. Informal groups can take the form of interest groups, friendship groups, or reference groups. FRIENDSHIP GROUPS. Friendship groups are formed by members who enjoy similar social activities, political beliefs, religious values, or other common bonds. Members enjoy each other’s company and often meet after work to participate in these activities. For example, a group of employees who form a friendship group may have an exercise group, a softball team, or a potluck lunch once a month. REFERENCE GROUPS. A reference group is a type of group that people use to evaluate themselves. According to Cherrington, the main purposes of reference groups are social validation and social comparison. Social validation allows individuals to justify their attitudes and values while social comparison helps individuals evaluate their own actions by comparing themselves to others. Reference groups have a strong influence on members’ behavior. By comparing themselves with other members, individuals are able to assess whether their behaviour is acceptable and whether their attitudes and values are right or wrong. Reference groups are different from the previously discussed groups because they may not actually meet or form voluntarily. For example, the reference group for a new employee of an organization may be a group of employees that work in a different department or even a different organization. Family, friends, and religious affiliations are strong reference groups for most individuals. Factors influencing Team and Group  Dynamics Following are some of the factors which influence Team and Group Dynamics. The factors are as follows:   1. The Context of the Team The country and geographic region form a larger culture in which the organization operates. All of these contribute to the economic, political, technical, and cultural climates in which the organization, the team, and the individuals operate. 2. The Organization The kind of organization, such as business, or non-profit, along with the organizational culture will influence the team functioning just as much as the division of the organization such as sales, research, operations, etc. 3. The Team Identity Teams have an identity of their own. This identity stems from the interrelationship of the larger culture, the organizational culture, the team configuration, the nature of the work (purpose), and the qualities of the individuals. It is not the sum of the types, or preferences, or temperaments of the team members. There are many kinds of teams including ad hoc, project, executive, management, committees, and so on. Each team has a charter to fulfil a certain role in the organization. Team dynamics is heavily influenced by the nature and purpose of the work to be done by the team. 4. The Individuals Within this mix of influences are the individual team members who likely have specific kinds of work to perform and specific roles on the team. Individual members influence the team dynamics as well, so much so that when the composition of the team changes, the team dynamics will change.

Female Employees Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Female Employees - Case Study Example Indeed, this article is quite insightful. It has important lessons that can help in understanding about the process of selection and recruitment of employees. First, I learnt that it is legally right for any organization to offer equal treatment and opportunities to all employees irrespective of their gender. Even women have important contributions to make towards the success of the organization. Secondly, an organization should ensure that it comes up with creative and feasible measures to ensure that female employees are not frustrated, but motivated to continue serving the organization. Once this is done, they can not quit, but feel motivated to serve and develop their career. Female employees need to be treated with caution because, unlike their male counterpart, they face a myriad of challenges that they need to be helped to overcome. Response to Critical Thinking Questions Q1 The departure of women is an issue to organizations because they constitute an important segment of workforce. Just men, women are needed in any organization because they also have important contributions to make. In fact, there are certain roles that can be best performed by women. Also, it is legally and ethically right for an organization to give equal employment opportunity to men and women. It can help it to have a good reputation. Q2 In my opinion, it is really unfair for women to be offered dismal packages on their re-entry. Once a worker has reached a certain level in their career, they need to be offered appropriate remuneration.