How Far Do You Agree with Death Penalty Essay

Do you agree or disagree. There is never a reason for death penalty to be used. In some countries, serious criminals such as serial murderers and terrorist bomber hardly escape death sentence. While many complement on such tough justice, others condemn it mainly for religious reasons. It appears to me that those who are against the death penalty have failed to notice the more humane aspects behind this seemingly inhumane charge. My essay will look at those humane aspects as against those to the opposite. First of all, death penalty proves to be an effective ‘kill one to warn all’ approach I law enforcement. Crime rates in China have reportedly been fallen to a certain level since the implementation of death penalty. By nature, whether it has to do with the fear caused by uncertainty of afterlife or not, human beings would be afraid of death. Death sentence, in as sense, is kind of psychological approach to put off the evil flame in mankind. Secondly, some people do deserve this harsh punishment for their wicked act against humanity. A serial murderer who slaughtered dozens of innocent children, a terrorist who launched an attack that killed hundreds—can you figure out a better penalty to resort to for paying the blood these beasts have spilled? Even relatively lighter crime like corruption might result in life long imprisonment, what then, the crime a degree higher like mass murder should be punished with other than ‘an early road to hell’? I just wonder how many people in the world would be willing to spare a terrorist who blasted off 3200 lives in 9.11 attack†¦ Thirdly, death sentence can serve as a means of psychological therapy and mental compensation for the victims and their loved ones. For instance, the Tokyo Trial, which ended up sentencing to death a group of Japanese chief war criminals, is said to provide an efficient psychological relief for those victimized Asian nations during the war. Death sentence, apparently, is not aimed against morals and ethics, it is, on the contrary, put up to preserve humanitarian codes by assuring the security of the society and the safety of each individual as it can intimidate potential criminals. Considering the matter this way, it becomes evident that death penalty is more of help than harm. Be it psychologically or politically beneficial, it contributes to the maintenance of social order. I, therefore, suggest we be for it.

Ariel Levys Essay

There is no doubt about it that sex sells. In today’s world it is impossible to turn on the television without seeing a sexual-based commercial playing. Raunch culture is known as a sexualized lifestyle. Many businesses, advertisements, movies, and people partake in this lifestyle choice every day. Ariel Levy’s is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and author of the book Female Chauvinist Pigs she has appeared in big name magazines such as Vogue and the New York Times. Ariel Levy’s standpoint in â€Å"Female Chauvinist Pigs† is that raunch culture empowers women. I have mixed feelings about this article. I disagree that raunch culture empowers women however I agree there is just a certain way you have to do it. In reading Levy’s article she discusses raunch culture and how women feel empowered by it. Women feel like being sexy or sexually stimulating men makes them feel more in control. Levy gives a different outlook on the women that partake in this lifestyle. Levy feels that women are close-minded when discussing sexual things. Levy gives an inside look on certain women that partake in this industry by showing that its way more than just â€Å"sex†. Ruanch culture makes women look worthless and gives off the impression that they don’t have any self-respect. We are looked at as just a â€Å"sexual object† rather than a respected woman. Ruach culture suppresses us as women and we are getting nowhere as women with these kind of vulgar activity’s. Women today are still being looked at as weaker than men. I have googled multiple porn stars of today such as Pinky, Jenna Jameson, and many others; they all seem to have one thing in common. These women don’t have husbands, children, and they don’t get along with their family. I know from a personal experience with having brothers that they would never take a stripper or a porn-star home to my mother. It might be cool to sleep with them but at the  end of the day a man wants a woman that is respectable and classy, basically someone they can actually take home there to mom. My mother always says â€Å"if you don’t have respect for yourself, how are you going to have respect for others†. Ruanch culture also objectifies women instead of empowering them. I did some research and found a biography on Jenna Jameson, a world known porn-star, on YouTube. She talked about her life, family, community service that she has done. Although she spoke on all those positive things people’s comments were still derogatory, calling her a â€Å"hoe† and a â€Å"slut†. Even though she has done many things in the community she is still looked upon as nothing more than a porn-star. This is what I meant by saying that ruanch does not empower women. This woman can give thousands to charity’s do numerous community activities help people all around the world but her erotic lifestyle will never get her the respect she deserves. If anyone has ever watched the HBO show called â€Å"Sex in The City† raunchy culture is the whole makeup of the show. Basically the show is about four ladies that are the best of friends they go to parties and they speak about their sexual experiences love interests and careers. The main character Carrey Bradshaw is a sex column writer for the New York Times. She gives women advice on how to deal with sex and relationships. This to me walks a fine line with raunchiness. In the show people are so glad that she writes these columns, she helps out regular women with awkward situations such as sex. This is a different form of raunchiness and I actually accept it. Carrey helps women get through difficult times with the different men in their life. A lot of times women don’t know what to do in certain situations and feel embarrassed about asking someone for advice that is where she comes in to help with her column. She is not showing her breast or objectifying her, she is only just giving advice on the topic of sex still raunchy but in the way that she is writing, it comes off respectable. As women we should come together and stop objectifying ourselves. I feel that porn should be banded on the fact that as women it’s getting us nowhere. People are only looking at us as these sexual objects rather than  smart sophisticated human beings that we actually are. Porn is a disgrace for all women. It makes us look bad as women, like as if there is nothing more to us than a nice butt and a perky set of boobs. Levy’s argument that raunch empowers women is only good up to a certain extent. If you have to put yourself out there to get attention our show your body then that is not empowerment.There are many other ways that woman can empower themselves such as fighting for positive/worthy causes, mentoring to young ladies, and volunteering services for young woman. If woman today focus on more of these positive aspects of empowerment then there will be no need to take off your clothes to fill liberated. These kind of empowering activities will give us the respect we deserve as woman. Outline i. There’s no doubt about it that sex sells a. Sex doesn’t empower women b. It is occurring every day in today’s society commercials, movies, people etc. c. It is affecting young women d. We have to start respecting ourselves more as women so we can get to get on the same level as a man ii. Author Ariel levy believes that raunch culture empowers women a. Levy feels that raunch is a form of empowerment for some women b. I agree and disagree that raunch empowers women iii. Levy feels that as women we are closed-minded about talking about sex we should open our minds to different things and how ruanch empowers women and makes them feel in control or dominate over a man. iv. I believe that raunchiness suppresses women a. Levy feels that raunch empowers women b. She talks about strippers and â€Å"how they could teach you a thing or two† quoted by Levy pg.267 c. I believe that levy is wrong it doesn’t help us as women to achieve equality with men they look at us as sexual objects rather than human beings. Summary In ‘Female Chauvinist Pigs† author Ariel levy speaks on how raunchiness empowers women and makes them feel more in control. She gives an inside look on the woman who partake in this lifestyle. I believe it doesn’t empower women but actually suppresses us as women. Men look at us as only â€Å"sexual objects† rather than sophisticated human beings. As women I feel we should have a lot more respect for ourselves. I believe there are only a few exceptions to raunchiness for example journalism or advice columns or a sex doctor other than that it is simply wrong. As a woman I feel we need to get rid of porn, it’s getting us nowhere as women. We are not on the same playing field as man and I believe that porn is preventing it from happening. If we could come together as women and start respecting ourselves more I feel a lot can change in the future. K.A.N Knowledge 1. My audience knows about sex and the role it plays in everyday life 2. Raunchiness is suppressing women because we are not equal to man 3. The reason its suppressing women is because we will never be able to be equal to a man if this doesn’t stop Attitude 1. This is a serious essay so serious would be the attitude I’m going for 2. I want them to take this essay seriously because it’s a serious matter Needs 1. The reader to understand the seriousness of the topic 2. For women to have more self-respect 3. Abolish porn to help women get on the same playing field as men 4. To come together to make this all happen

Starting From Scratch Or Buying An Existing Business

Starting From Scratch Or Buying An Existing Business If you're about to have a business, you'll think about how to get it, by staring a new one or buying an existing one. Anna Bryant bought an existing salon when she had the chance instead of starting her own.The reasons for that are because she had no business experience or skills but she believes that she have the capabilities to run this salon, also she's an entrepreneur for the first time and this will save her the time of the stating period plus the effort of building the business name and make it stand in ground, it also have customers and taff and already been running for years so she can start making sales from the first day.Before buying the business there are some steps to be taken, studies, plans and more, like knowing the first owner decided to sell the business and if there are major problems within the business and figuring out how to solve them. Appraising the business is a must too because she wouldn't want to pay mor e for the business. She should get help and ask experts about all the details as she also need to sit plans about how she'll run the business and about the changes needed to be made and ake expectations to be reached. Also evaluating the risks and see how to avoid them.After finding the reasons and applying the required steps before buying, Anna Bryant is now able to make her decision. Successful Entrepreneur Effectiveness A Successful entrepreneur have special characteristics, passion, willingness to take risks, Positive attitude, Confidence, respect, and trust are all needed in the entrepreneur character. Commitment, leading skills, team building and flexibility also makes a good entrepreneur. knowledge in markets and how to run businesses and ow to communicate with others, all these characteristics build a Successful entrepreneur.Having no previous experience as an entrepreneur doesn't mean that the business won't be successful. Anna's first business succeeded because she had a l ot of a successful entrepreneur characteristics, the first was her love to the business and her passion about fashion. Courage, Wisdom, and excitement all were in her heart, and the desire to take the business to the next level all made her a great entrepreneur. Anna didn't have an experience but she was determined to gain it by consulting and getting help from others. She sat goals and put plans, she had a vision and this is one of the entrepreneur characteristics. ne of the challenges that face any business is financial management, high expenses, low sales and insignificant protlts, these problems and more which were facing Anna's business can be solved by using analysis techniques and take the right action based on the analysis process. Anna was able to improve the business finance by hiring a professional team and using their help, also by working on herself and gaining knowledge about the business market and learning some marketing techniques,. By studying the businesses' hance s, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses she was able to manage it Just right.After that she started to make changes in the business and make it more effective and attractive, by offering new services and new fashionable designs that are desirable which brought her new customers, Anna didn't wait until she make the salon exactly as she wants, she stared to work and make profits right away plus working in making the needed improvements, taking an advantage of all the available opportunities of the existing business made in easier for her to manage all the financial matters and this made her a great entrepreneur.My references Nitish. (2011). Main Reasons to Buy an Existing Business. Available: http:// accessed 29th April 2013. From E-library Slavec, Alenka-Prodan, Igor. (2012). The influence of entrepreneur's characteristics on small manufacturing firm debt financing. East European Management Studies. 17 (2), 22-23-24. The Advantages Of Franchising Owning and running a franchise ins tead of starting a business is an action taken by a lot of business people, John is one of them.Franchising have advantages which makes it a better option, as for John, a franchise have a lot benefits to offer like having big known brand to stand by you and support you for different aspects like the product knowledge, training development and sales. It was way easier that staring his own business. A franchise makes profits quickly, and it have a proven business format and it's supported by the Franchisors. It have lower risks and worries and a help is available when needed from the Franchisors who have powerful motivation.From my point of view franchising have five main advantages, Branding, it offers a strategic identity which impact on the market, big businesses spend millions on their branding and ranchisee gets the advantage of that, and the Franchisors are mostly well known for customers. Advertising, advertising takes a lot of the business expenses and a business can't survive without expensive and effective advertising. Name Recognition, which makes people guarantee the quality of the products and a known name gives them that.Reputation, which enable the Franchisee to enjoy protectiveness against lawsuits or accidents or any issues with the employees. Support, running a business needs training, and by have a Franchise you'll get all the train you need, they want you to be successtul because your success is ll possible ways. A Successful Franchise Business their success so they'll support you in Acquiring a franchise is a successful business to run, as it's cleared by the advantages of franchising. t have the benefit of having an access to the franchiser established system which have been running for a long time, franchisers spend a lot of time to modifying their system to the best it can be and hand it over to the franchisees, the system includes information about the products or services and all the details of the market methods, plus they make researc h to determine the best ocation for the franchise and some of them also manage the building and the renting matters which leave less worries for the franchisees.Another thing is, franchisees are not alone, the are supported by the franchisers who really want them to success, they train them to operate the business effectively , this is a very important reason why franchising can be a successful business. Moreover, franchisees' customers have a full awareness of the business and its products so they can trust without even trying it, means that loyal customer exists with any effort.John made it in his business and he became very successful because he had the experience of running a franchise before, he picked a good company with sound model to franchise and he started with full energy and high confidence. He received different trainings in different parts of the company, and used what he have learnt effectively and ran the business properly, he succeeded perfectly and became one of th e best too.Here are a study which clears the success of franchising: franchises success rate is 90% comparing to only 15% of business staring from scratch, meaning hat a franchisees will surely succeed as long as they follow the franchisors the instructions and use the support system effectively. My references: Don Daszkowski. Higher Likelihood of Success with a Franchise Business . Available: http://franchises. about. com/od/buyingafranchise/a/franchise-success. htm. Last accessed 1st may 2013. From the E-library: Abell-Mark1. (2010). The franchising advantage. Managing Intellectual Property. 9 (1-2), 16-17-18.GOING FOR A BUISNESS Starting a business is never easy whether it was a franchising, entrepreneurial enture or an independent small business. If I'm about to start my own business I wouldn't go for franchising, not because it won't be successful or because it's hard, it's Just that I'd rather to come up with new idea and add something to the world rather that applying the ide a of someone else, franchising may be profitable and better option tor those who are seeking tor cash and high incomes but I'm one ot those who cares more about changing the world and putting my fingerprint on it.Becoming an entrepreneur of an existing business is a good idea which will save a lot f preparing time in the starting period, still the existing business may not apply my own perspectives which means I'll have to do a lot of changes and this may cost me more that what I'll may pay if I started it myself, That's why my best option is to start from the ground. My new small business is about handmade stuff trade, not going to say it's growing fast but I follow the saying: think big and start small.My band is LA FEMME TOM and it's a one-person business so far, it's growing slowly but it's giving me all I need at the moment, plus it's helping me to spread the awareness of the mportance and the value of the handmade stuff which is one of the business aims, it is about selling my handmade stuff, giving courses on how to make them and supporting those who have a talent in this field.I sell my stuff online and in some places, I don't have my own shop yet but soon I'll do as it's planed for. The business approach is to grow and have many branches, it's in a progress development and aiming to have partners and hire working hands to take the production to the next level. Basically the business activities are about girls hobbies to fell the spear time with useful and beneficial things.

Cutting Operating Cost Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cutting Operating Cost - Essay Example Therefore, by cutting operating costs, Method will be able to reduce its liabilities and increase its assets. This means that if the company had been spending $200 million on expenses, and then it manages to cut this to $150, the company will be able to decrease liabilities by $50 million. This, on the other hand, will increase the assets of the company by $50 million in the form of hard cash or money in the bank. The method may decide to invest in green business activities, which may prove to be expensive initially or in the short run. In order to undertake such activities, the company might be forced to purchase new equipment or upgrade its equipment to make sure that it is able to embrace green business activities. This may prove costly in the short run. However, in the long run, this may help the company save costs and improve efficiency. For instance, when method decided to improve the efficiency of their shipping, they decided to purchase biodiesel trucks. These were additional costs to the company. However, they helped the company to save on fuel used for shipping. This is due to the fact that the trucks that use biodiesel fuel are able to get 13% more miles for each diesel gallon. Yes, I think that over the years household companies have realized that green products can help them be efficient and save costs. Research conducted in the year 2008 showed that the use of eco-friendly household products was expected to rise from 3% in the year 2008 to about 30% by the year 2013. This is a huge increase and in order to tap into this market, many households companies have decided to go green. In addition to tap into this ever-growing market for eco-friendly household products, the companies may also have realized the benefits that they may enjoy by growing green.  

INTERNATIONAL HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

INTERNATIONAL HRM - Essay Example Based on Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions, the UK and Canadian culture are that of small power distance and with weak uncertainty avoidance, which is completely opposite to Turkish culture with large power distance and strong uncertainty avoidance. The UK and Canadian cultures are highly practical, and exhibit risk-taking behaviours Turkish people try to avoid uncertainties and risky actions. Turkish culture wishes to involve others to arrive at consensus unlike UK and Canada. On Hofstede’s (1980) individualism/collectivism scale, Canada and UK have small power distance and individualistic nature, whereas Turkey has large power distance and is collectivistic in nature. Therefore, UK and Canada are more participative in nature; have less hierarchical dependency; highly democratic and provides equal rights to all individuals. Turkish culture is highly autocratic and follows hierarchically defined roles and responsibilities. Individualistic nations such as UK and Cana da expect every individual to be accountable for self, whereas collectivistic Turkey regards any task or activity to be a collective responsibility. Turkish people are emotionally dependent on each other and morally committed to the organisation, unlike individualistic cultures. In Turkey, rules, policies, duty and security are more important than innovation, autonomy, pleasure or individual financial security like in UK and Canada. Values differ according to the groups in collectivistic cultures whereas individualistic cultures follow universal values for all. Canada and UK fall under weak uncertainty avoidance and masculine nature whereas Turkey has strong uncertainty avoidance and feminine characteristics. In Canada and UK, money is regarded as very important whereas Turkish culture regards people and environment as important. Setting up operations in Ankara,

Sociology - mental illness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Sociology - mental illness - Essay Example Nonetheless, there are no observed variance in the rates of severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar depression. Numerous theories have been put forward for the gender differences in the incidence of mental health problems and women's susceptibility to depression. These can be grouped in three broad categories -- biological theories, psychological theories, and social theories (Stoppard, 2000). Theories categorized as biological highlight the "medical model" of mental illness, and in relation to women, customarily point to the notion of hereditability and the role played by their physiology in the origins and manifestations of mental illness. Interestingly though, the extensive cross-cultural differences identified in rates of depression call into question elucidations based on a simple medical model. When probing gender differences in connection with psychological development, the vital role performed by gender-specific socialization and coping patterns has been underscored (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1995; Busfield, 2002). Therefore, the diverse mental health problems experienced by men and women are now considered to signify a gendered expression of mutual basic emotional obstacles and inconveniences. These psychological developmental theories are substantiated by concrete proofs from longitudinal studies which display and reveal the variance in boys' and girls' mental health which begins to emerge at the inception of puberty, when adult social roles are to a great extent, assumed and embraced (Kornstein and Wojcik, 2002). In addition, the 1998 WHO Report declared that women's health is inextricably associated with their status in society. It gains from equality and puts up with (WHO, 1998). For instance, in Ireland, female gender is still an indicator of lower status, diminished participation in decision-making and lower pay. Likewise, women are deprived and prejudiced by the many roles they had to perform in society - carers, partners and workers and all through their lives, women are more likely to be gravely affected by physical and sexual abuse (WHO, 2001), which can trigger and pave the way for severe physical and mental health ramifications. Further, studies have concluded that the psychological and emotional damage brought about by social factors is further aggravated in cases of social disadvantage. A constant reverse relationship has been identified between social class and mental health (Prior, 1999; WHO, 2003; Women's Health Council, 2003), and women have been steadily found to be at greater risk of falling into poverty than men (Combat Poverty Agency, 2002). For this reason, greater contextualisation of mental health difficulties within social realities is necessary. This is particularly true when studying and analysing women's most common mental health problems, which are essentially controlled and affected by gendered perspectives of women's suitable conduct and role in society and by the

Confederate Government Conspiracy to Assassinate President Abraham Research Proposal

Confederate Government Conspiracy to Assassinate President Abraham Lincoln - Research Proposal Example To that end, the Confederate government conceived a plan to kidnap Abraham Lincoln in order to force the Union to free Confederate prisoners of war. While the kidnapping never came to fruition, questions remain as to whether the Confederate government was involved in Lincoln’s assassination.1 It is fairly evident that Davis and key members of his government had conceived of, and funded, some initiative aimed at striking the Union beyond the battlefield. The Confederacy established an espionage department in 1864, which conducted covert operations from its base in Canada, helping plan and carry out the raid on St. Albans, Vermont.2 Many claims have been made about the independent nature of the conspiracy that orchestrated the Lincoln assassination. Skeptics insist that such a conspiracy likely began as a kidnapping plot involving the Confederate secret service and prominent members of the Confederate government. My hypothesis is that an intricately planned conspiracy involving Confederate agents in the U.S. and Canada, which ended in the assassination of the president, was carried out with the knowledge and involvement of Confederate officials. It is possible that the assassination itself was simply an unplanned outcome of a kidnapping plot that had gone undetected by federal officials. Either Booth, secret service officers or the Confederate high command (or all three) at some point decided that the only remaining viable, practicable option was assassination. As Lincoln himself told journalist Noah Brooks in 1863, â€Å"I long ago made up my mind that if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. If I wore a shirt of mail and kept myself surrounded by a bodyguard, it would be all the same. There are a thousand ways of getting at a man if it is desirable that he should be killed.†3 My research will address the origins of the kidnapping plan; the extent to which the Confederate government was responsible; and the exact nature of the decision to alter the plan from a kidnapping to assassination. III. Definition of Terms â€Å"Chaos Theory: The Tortuous Pursuit of Motive and Means in the Lincoln Assassination.† Key terms/headings in this proposal include: No direct evidence - Lack of clear evidence linking Richmond to the conspiracy The Booth factor – The likely influence of Booth in altering the original plan Of like mind – Federal authorities convinced Davis, other high officials guilty Scapegoats†¦and more questions – Hysteria obscures true motive, investigations Fact over fiction – Preponderance of practical evidence points to Richmond IV. Background The conspiracy’s original goal had been to kidnap Lincoln and carry him to a secure location. The conspirators pursued that goal with a specific outcome in mind: attack the Federal government at its source, free the prisoners of war and enable the Confederacy to fight on.4 In his summary argument in the conspiracy trial, government Ju dge Advocate John Bingham claimed that a paper found in Booth’s possession contained a secret cipher, used by Davis himself, to communicate with his agents5 Bingham asked, â€Å"Of what use was it to (Booth) if he was not in confederation with Davis?†6 Bingham went on to conclude that â€Å"my own conviction is that Jefferson Davis is as clearly proven guilty of this conspiracy as John Wilkes Booth, by whose hand

Bullying and harassment can be a problem in healthcare workforce Essay

Bullying and harassment can be a problem in healthcare workforce culture. Create a position statement addressing the role of the - Essay Example Dealing with such issues is primarily necessary in order to develop a healthy work culture within the organization (Bullying and harassment at work: a good practice guide for RCN negotiators and health care managers, n.d., p.1). The present study addresses the role of healthcare organizations and their team members in response to issues arising from bullying and harassment, relevantly discussing on the ANMC competencies as well. Bullying and Harassment in Healthcare Organization: Bullying generally involves making wrong use of one’s power to frighten or hurt the feelings of others who are less powerful. Such behavior is usually malicious and insulting in nature, and nurses in organization are most commonly the victims of such behaviors. Harassment is essentially different from bullying in that it involves intentionally affecting the self-respect of men and women working in organizations. Bullying and harassment are either targeted to individuals or they may affect individuals in groups. Although effects of such acts might vary with individuals, but in general, they negatively affect the self-respect and esteem of individuals and make it difficult for them to effectively perform while they are present in the organization (Barber, 2012, pp.299-300). ... equently, the quality of care in the organization also gets affected, along with poor job satisfaction of the employees, increased turnover, and professional disconnection (Vessey, DeMarco and DiFazio, 2011, pp.134-149). Thus it is essential that measures are considered to prevent and control such incidents to achieve enhanced performance and quality of care which holds the greatest priority in a healthcare organization. ANMC Competencies: It would be suitable to discuss the ANMC (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council) competencies that focus on the role of healthcare organization in addressing challenges of bullying and harassment in the work culture. The standards set by this council clearly states the assessment needs of competencies of nurses and the expectations that the organizations have from them in meeting the demands of effective healthcare delivery. Thus based on national competency standards, nurses have to deliver as per the legal policies of healthcare delivery, be a ccountable for their activities and performance, recognize practices that are unprofessional, works ethically, integrates organizational polices and guidelines along with the standards of the organization, maintain the organization’s culture, values and dignity, make effective use of available resources, integrates nursing knowledge and skills towards effective healthcare to patients, participates in improvement of healthcare quality, participates in the development of organization and profession contributing positively towards the profession of others as well, conducts assessment on nursing delivery, plans to achieve organizational goals in an integrated manner focused on continuity of care, responds effectively to changes in nursing behaviors and standards, assists others for better

Sundiata Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sundiata - Essay Example Therefore, the study of myths and their interrelationship with the real-life is of the paramount importance for the deeper understanding of the very nature of any human society. As a perfect example for this purpose we may investigate the book written by D. T. Niane "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali", which is one of the most well-known traditional narratives of West Africa that provides an account of Sundiata Keita, a historical heroic figure renowned as the founder of the Mali Empire. This book contains important insights into the mythical component of the human perception of history, and exposes the intimate connection that the present always has with the past. Let us take a closer look at this narrative and examine the function of memory as the bridge connecting heroes of the book with the world they live in. Among the numerous personages of the epic, the story of the relationship between the great king of Mali Sundiata and his griot Balla Fasseke takes perhaps the central place in terms of its importance for the whole narrative. Griots can be seen as professional storytellers and public speakers, but the significance of their social role was much deeper in the African societies than it could seem from this superficial description. On the most fundamental level, a griot was perceived as the vessel of historical memory of a social group. Every king had a griot beside him whose task was to instruct his patron in such a way as to procure the inheritance of traditions of ancestors. Therefore, griots role was naturally wide-ranging, as they were speaking for their kings, were tutoring their children, and in this way aimed to ". . . bring to life the deeds and exploits of kings for younger generations" (Niane, 1995, p.1). By the way, to prove that griots could rely on orally transmitted tradit ions we may for instance consider such a stable phenomenon as proverbs, which are referred to in the narrative in the following way: "Mens wisdom is contained in proverbs, and when children wield proverbs it is a sign that they have profited from adult company" (Niane, 1995, p.29). In the full accordance with the elevated status of griots, Balla Fasseke becomes a close tutor of the prospective king Sundiata yet from his early childhood. Balla educates and instructs Sundiata on the rules of behavior, so that ". . . between his mother and the griot, the child got to know all that needed to be known" (Niane, 1995, p.23). Thus, from the very beginning of the story of Sundiata the role of his guardian angel is assigned to Balla. In his turn, Balla was very devoted to his patron, which can be seen from his faithfulness to Sundiata even during his exile at the court of a powerful sorcerer king Soumaoro. But for Sundiata the absence of the griot does not simply mean the loss of a counselor, but in essence signifies the disconnection of Sundiata from the memory of his ancestors. Such a deprivation of him of the link with the mythical ancestors is the sufficient reason even for war, and in the narrative one of the first signs of the imminent war between Sundiata and Soum aoro is symbolized by the proclamation of Balla Fasseke by Soumaoro as of his new griot. At the same time, the respect that Soumaoro had for Balla proves that the memory of the past is indispensable for all, including such a seemingly powerful personage as the sorcerer

Ikea Case Study Analysis Essay Example for Free

Ikea Case Study Analysis Essay Symptoms IKEA has a strong international brand recognition built upon a unique philosophy and low product prices, combined with solid sales performance. IKEA’ s famous vision is â€Å"to create a better everyday life for many people†. The company maintains total control of its design, pricing and supply of product ranges globally, and thus has a product portfolio that caters for most consumer lifestyles and budgets. IKEA is very much reliant on Europe, with 82% of stores located in this region, European market can be regarded as saturated and in times of economical downturn sales in coming years will are unlikely to be something more than just â€Å"modest†. Problem definition Whether to continue IKEA expansion to new markets, e.g. Asian market? And how to secure IKEA’s competitive advantage in the future? Alternatives First alternative: In order to keep good quality standards of IKEA products, no further extension to new markets in the nearest future + It will give an opportunity to preserve well-known global brand and its strong position at European and American market The company will lose market share The sales will reduce Second alternative: Continue expansion into non-Western markets, including China + Sales increase by gaining the market -The image of IKEA may be weakened as in China it may be very hard to keep with quality standards at the same time offering products for extremely low price Recommendations I would recommend to focus more on markets, where IKEA is currently doing its business. Expansion to China’s market with very tough conditions (in terms of price) may change the IKEA forever and even destroy the company, it will be another very cheap and not very qualitative retailer from China, but not IKEA anymore. Having chances for gaining Asian market, IKEA may have big threat to loose European and American market. I believe there is always room for improvement, IKEA could enhance services, for example develop of e-commerce, consumers may find Internet shopping preferable, as the Ikea reputation means that they are already assured of the quality and craftsmanship of Ikea products, which is opposed to the present belief of Ikea that customers should be able to feel and check the quality of products before purchase.

Case Studies Of Companies Supply Chain Management

Case Studies Of Companies Supply Chain Management Dell was incorporated in 1994 by Michael Dell while he was a student at University of Texas, Austin. From its very first initiatives, direct selling model was adopted. In the beginning PCs were sold over the phone and they were customized according to customers specifications. Dell returned to its direct selling model after using the retail channel from 1990 to 1994. In mid 1990s, the company grew rapidly, thus becoming number one PC seller in the US and number two worldwide in 1999. Dells success continued over the following years, but it was not able to avoid the crisis in PC industry in the new millennium. Dells growth rate fell, resulting in the fall of its stock price. However, over the time, Dell managed to remain a highly successful company, and its growth rate continued to outperform the industry as a whole. Dells strategic choices and ways of realizing those choices have played an effective role in story Dells success. The supply chain management of the company is the key element in its successful business model. The core element of the companys business model is its direct sales model, referred as direct mode, with the build to order strategy. In this work we have a look at an organisation with its sheer strategy and competitive view of the future created a giant in the industry. It has developed a business model which has a very little requirement of controlling variables, but with few efficient and critical models it has created an industry leader. It shows how Dell Inc has changed the dynamics of the industry and how it has helped in evolved with the industry. It is an $80 billion company which is created in just in time frame of 23 years. The strategy was to bypass the dealers in the field of personal computers and sell directly to the consumers. What will urge customers to buy online? The answer to these is to make the product build to order and provide them customization. This business model gave Dell some great cost advantage over it peers. This strategy has given Dell- Information about the customer dell has leveraged that to create with its partner an infrastructure which is a global giant. The power of customer information has given Dell competitive advantage in the value chain as a result of which much of the competition is now turning to becoming partners across the value chain. Virtual integration has harnessed the needs of two very different models. The IBMs and Compaqs and HP of the world subscribed to the view that we have to develop everything. This was an engineering centric era, in this era dell was of the view why we should we make everything; we can just buy and collaborate as per our requirement. This view gave them flexibility and coupled with the excellent supply chain that they created- they became what they are. In this model there are fewer things which can go wrong because there are only fewer things which can go wrong. There is no drag effect of 50000 people working with you. The only critical problem with this business model is to establish partnership model with suppliers so that at customers end everything should seem completely integrated. The key challenge is to make money by reducing the inventory cost to the bare minimum and Dell has done that by using excellent partnership models and also building up an excellent supply chain. They have leveraged the knowledge of value chain in the process. 9.1.2 Partnership with Sony With Sony the partnership has created excellence for both of them. For Dell there is zero day inventories holding if we look at an excellent partnership model with Sony. Lets examine what Dell said to Sony- oh we are looking to buy two or three million of those monitors, why we dont just pick them up as per our need. If you cannot provide us this convenience we dont keep any of your products. They go to Sony and say-The distance between demand and supply has totally shrunk, hence we pick as per our need. The Evolution of a faster Business Model This differentiated model of dell help it creates a niche in the distribution channel and eliminates the entire mid channel members to arrive at cost leadership position in the industry. The basic principle of Resource based view is that the competitive advantage for any particular organization completely depends upon the resources which are available at any companys disposal. It is a management tool to determine the important resources available for any organization. It is very important for success of the organization that these resources are valuable and are not imitable. The two houses of strategy namely Resource based view competitive positioning had their fare share of critics. After studying them in detail it can be seen that there are certain inherent weakness in both of them and both of them are not sustainable in long run if isolated. In a long competitive environment a firm needs to invest in either product differentiation or cost leadership and then utilize the competitive positioning which will be sustainable because of our ability to defend it on the base of cost advantage. 9.1.3 Value Chain Analysis 9.1.4 Strategy for profit oriented industry in 21st century Both the views of strategy are equally strong and have their sets of critics. A competitive positioning in a competitive market is not sustainable if they dont have adequate resources available to them to maintain the cost advantage. For e.g.: Telecom industry in Singapore is an industry of price wars. Competitive positioning is effective but is only sustainable for bigger players like Bharti Telecom Vodafone International because they have valuable resources with them which allow them to sustain themselves in price wars. A profit oriented industry in 21st century should create adequate resources and develop capabilities to use them properly. On the marketing front if the environment is competitive than the firm should develop competitive positioning or till then it should enjoy healthy margins. Lets take an example of Apple Incorporation. It had the resource of great Inventions a great leader in there CEO-Steve Jobs. They utilised it with their capability to position themselves in the market. Its a highly profitable firm now. 9.1.5 Supply Chain Management The Supply Chain Market (SCM) in Asia is poised for a robust growth. (Balsmeier, 1996)The Supply Chain Management is the set of frameworks and processes helping organizations in development and delivery of products. The supply chain represents the complex relationships of an organization with its trading partners through whom it sources materials, manufactures products and delivers products or services to the customers. The supply chain links all the activities in the procurement, transformation and storage of raw materials and intermediate products, and sale of finished goods. Figure 1: Generic Configuration of Supply Chain in Manufacturing The entire Supply Chain (Figure 1) is looked across my Supply chain management, rather than a single entity or level. The SCM aims to increase alignment and transparency of supply chains configuration and coordination, regardless of corporate or functional boundaries. The growing competition among the manufacturers to retain and attract customers has compelled manufacturers to serve customers effectively by maintaining long-term relationships with the customers. In the late 1980s, organizations were looking for ways and means to improve their process efficiency, and for this purpose they revamped their internal processes. After they succeeded in making their internal processes efficient, businesses needed to make their external processes efficient so that they could reduce the time and money needed to market and distribute. For this, they had to redefine their relationship with their suppliers, retailers, distributers, and customers. An effective relationship with these entities increased the need for information sharing and made them mutually dependent. This caused a paradigm shift in competition from manufacturer VS manufacturer to supply chain VS supply chain. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems, developed in early 1990s works on the principal of relating information to different entities in a supply chain- manufacturers, suppliers, business partners and retailers- and making it available to all entities. These applications are aimed to reduce the inventory levels of a company through accurate forecasting, reduced cycle times and near perfect scheduling. Customer levels are increased as the goods are delivered on time due to efficiency in the distribution process. 9.1.6 Direct Sales The direct sales model refers to the fact that the company does not use any retail channels for selling its products, but sells its products directly to its customers through its corporate website, Dell.com. The above figure shows hot the direct model of Dell was different from the indirect distribution channel of the rest of industry. In its direct sale model, the intermediary steps that add cost and time are eliminated, and the company is directly able to link with its customers. Dell directly sells to all its customers, regardless of a home-PC to worlds largest corporations. The direct relationship with individual customer creates a great source of competitive advantage for Dell. This creates a valuable information about the end customers, and thus Dell knows who are the end users of their product, what they have purchased from the company, what are their future preferences, a fact that allows the company to stay closer to their customers by offering add-on products and services. Company distinguishes three customer segments, namely large organizations, medium and small businesses and personal consumers; and the revenue of the company is not concentrated as no customer of Dell represents more than 2% of total revenues. This provides a wide mix of customers served. The focus of the company is majorly on large customers, accounting of 70% of the Dells revenues. Dell has been improving its segment from past years and with the combination of direct sales model, gives them the ability to better forecast demand. In the case of large customers the direct relationship by the company is upgraded to virtual integration. With the help of IT, customers work with Dell as partners. Dell employs two main facilities that bring them and their customers closer. Premier Councils and Premier Pages. Premier Councils are the regional meetings of the company largest customers, where salespersons, technicians and the executives discuss their experiences with Dell, and their future expectations from the company. Premier pages, now known by Premier.Dell.com, are customizes support and procurement sites for their big clients, which allows them to manage and decide their purchases from the company, thus making the role of a sales person a more consultative role. This represents Dells customized sales channel and the company has increased its premier pages manifold in these years. 9.1.7 Build in Order and Integration with Suppliers Build-to-order Supply Chain as a strategy is defines (Gunasekaran et al.)as a value chain that manufactures quality products or services based on requirements of an individual customer of a group of customers at competitive prices, within a short span of time, by leveraging the core competencies of partnering firms or suppliers and information technologies, such as the internet and WWW, to integrate such a value chain. Thus, a computer is build after the customer places and order, then just-in-time production and lean manufacturing takes place. This means when an order is placed, its configuration details reaches the manufacturing department and the assembly begins, and once the PC is configured it is shipped by a 3PL to the corresponding customer. The choice of JIT and build to order has several advantages for the company. Firstly, the level of inventories remains very low, leading to faster responses to demand changes and low inventory costs. For instance, if a new microprocessor comes into the market, the company can immediately place an order with its suppliers, as the company need not get rid of the excess inventory. Also, in case of Dell, customers pay in advance. That means the customer pay for the order prior to when the company pays its suppliers for the products, thus giving Dell the opportunity of operating on Negative cash flow cycle. The special thing about the company is its relationship with its suppliers, which is the major reason for facilitating build-to-order model. In Dell, Suppliers are viewed as the integral part of operating business and a key variable for success. This helps Dell to adopt an approach of the extended enterprise. According to Dell their supplier effectively becomes their partner. The company selects suppliers that show experience, expertise and ability to deliver value. The performance of suppliers is regularly evaluated against the pre-set parameters. A quarterly meeting is held between the company and its suppliers to discuss the quarterly performance and future expectations. The performance of each supplier is evaluated by comparing a scorecard consisting of quality, cost, and reliability with that of their competitor. The companys suppliers are also provided with the support and training to improve their processes. The company demands from its suppliers that it should provide them with inventory at a high speed. This helps Dells effort of minimizing its inventories. So instead of orders like deliver 4000 to warehouse every week, the form of orders is like tomorrow evening we need 7.25 to be delivered at door D3 of the warehouse by 6 pm. This notion of Dell, has introduces inventory velocity, and it focuses on maximizing the speed and minimizing the inventory. Dell holds an average inventory of less than 6 days, while the corresponding industry average is of 6 weeks. In dealing with these rhythms, main supplier does have to maintain inventory near or in the companys plants. All the practices above require close collaboration between the suppliers and the company; sophisticated data exchange and mutual trust are the key variables to achieve it. The information sharing facility of the company is the website ValueChain.Dell.com. Through this website, the companys suppliers get informed of the level of inventory in the companys supply chain, demand and supply data, new part transitions with customers and component quality metrics. This way the company share production, demand and supply forecasts with its suppliers. These help suppliers in deciding on production levels, avoiding bullwhip effect. 9.1.8 Use of E-Commerce Introduction to E-Commerce Though E-commerce was there since long, since 70s in the form of electronics transfers of documents and transactions between banks the boom of E-Commerce was evident in 90s after the introduction of WWW Platform and this was further fuelled by increasing Broadband connectivity along with increasing trust of consumers on this platform thanks to certifying agency like VeriSign ad Payment Gateways like PayPal. Amazon and EBay have been there since its inception and have survived all ups and down of industry and also have been pioneers of new concepts in industry. The technology that supporting this platform constitutes the backbone for industry. Trust of consumers of this platform is very important and it is estimated that around 40% of consumers still do not trust the platform despite using it for their purchases. In coming times this technology will be further dive deep and move from E-Com to M-Com i.e. more and more purchases will be made through mobile phones as connectivity issues become lesser and lesser and more trust gets build up among users. Since 2000s the new concept what we call as Web2.0 or Social Networking is in evolution and has completely changed dimensions of industry with more and more users demanding better and innovative technology and application to make them buy and more and more reviews and wisdom of crowd ruling the purchases made, all E-Commerce retailers have been paying much attention to leverage it and is becoming an hygiene factor for future profitability and growth. In this era of Web2.0 enabled E-Commerce application and more and more social content being the driving force behind it, its worthwhile to have a look at what products/services was being offered by the initial E driven commerce and the present E-commerce, better call it as E-commerce2.0. Let have few points comparing E-Com1.0 and E-Com2.0 and talking about what changes have taken place and why have they taken place and to what have these changes led to. Those making purchases online includes a set of users who are confident of the technology and trust the platform through which it is being offered. Such users are generally people using WWW Platform for more than two year and are generally educated at least or above college graduate. The important thing being that around 80% of E-commerce consumers trust the site through which they make their purchases. In the last decade, many start-up e-commerce companies have rapidly stolen market share from traditional retailers and service providers, pressuring these established traditional players to deploy their own commerce websites or to alter company strategy in retaliation. This effect is most pronounced in travel services and consumer electronics. According to comScore, online leisure travel bookings reached about $51B in 2005, or 44% of all online sales, which were around $122B in the same year. Either an organisation can score on cost leadership or differentiation. In this business cost leadership is not an option; hence only feasible option is to differentiate and survive. With ecommerce capabilities the organisation can differentiate. about two competitive positioning strategies -differentiation or cost leadership. A differentiator invests in creating high offering value while a cost leader has the lowest costs of the product in the market. If a firm can provide a differentiated product in the market it will create a niche for itself, while if it provides same product then it should do that at a lower cost. If the case is involving a niche then this strategy is termed as focus. Hence this strategy creates a trade off for the firm -either invest in offering higher value or invest in lower cost. The e-commerce business is characterized by large volumes of transactions, small value of individual orders, odd place of delivery, speed in internal movement, wider product portfolio, and a large number of customer spread over a wide geographical area. Manual operations have no scope in e-commerce logistics operations. The component of logistics, such as order processing, transportation, inventory management, packaging, and delivery require close coordination using IT solutions. Electronic commerce logistics solutions need to be based on the following design considerations: Online facility for organizing and tracking shipment Online order status and documentation Online dispatch documentation and invoice Auto reminder for payments Seamless interface with existing SCM or ERP systems Online alert for critical information through WAP/Mobile MIS reports on the past data analysis, delivery history etc. E-commerce logistics systems, based on the above considerations, ensure the following benefits to sellers, buyers, and 3PL service providers: Improved Communication Transparency in supply chain Improved customer satisfaction Cost reduction Improvement in efficiency On time delivery Dell computers represent one of the successful e-commerce, logistics and supply chain stories. To compete with the giants like IBM, Apple, and Compaq, Dell has adopted a different strategy to market their PCs. They chose the e-commerce route. For ordering a PC with desired configurations and specifications, the customer has to log on to the Dell website, place an order and complete the outline commercial formalities. Very often the customer gets his PC very next day, if he happens to be in USA. The electronic commerce system installed on the Dell website registers an order after online completion of commercial formalities. The system estimates the demand of the various components going into commercial formalities. The system estimates the demand of the various components going into the computer and place orders for parts with the various suppliers. The supplier delivers the parts to predetermined supply centres wherein the computer is assembled. The system, while registering the orde r, communicates to its logistics partner, the details of the customer and the delivery location as well as the assigned supply chain for picking up the consignment. The logistics partners office nearest to the Dell supply centre is activated for material pickup and delivery. The result of this efficient process is nearly zero inventory and total customer satisfaction. 9.1.9 Security Trusted Computing base or TCB is the sum total of the protection mechanisms within a network system which includes firmware, hardware and the software. It consists of one or more component which together enforces a unified security policy for the whole system. The company that I have chosen contains lot of sensitive data which is very important for national security. As expected the company will have a highly secured system for database management and security. A TCB system is expected to meet users requirements for security, reliability and effectiveness. Because no single user is responsible when it comes to data which is nationally important, operating system which manages this data uses a policy of mandatory access control. In MAC no individual takes a decision, the whole decision is based on the reference framework and the decisions are taken by the system itself. This is the case with XYZ limited which storehouse such sensitive data. 9.1.10 Other Interesting Approaches Apart from build order and direct model supply chain strategies, analysts believe that there are also some other issues that contribute to the companys success. Dells secret concerning its SCM is the appropriate matching of people and process elements. This was obvious from Michael Dells statement that our RD focuses on process and quality improvements in manufacturing and one of our biggest challenges in finding managers who can share and respond to rapid shifts. (Global retail Business) There are three central points in the companys value web model: Dells potent role in control and coordination of a value network, Its close integration with its business partners and suppliers and the importance of IT, internet and electronic communications. Analysts view the company as a zero-time organization identifying four key features apart from direct sales model and build in order, which are described in the following table: Competitive positioning is all about creating a brand for your product. Wal-Mart, the brand indicates adequate quality and low price, attracting price sensitive buyers. This is something which in long run help a firm leverages its brand equity. Firms with strong reputations are better positioned in markets involving inter firm cooperations than firms with history of failed partnership. If a firm can create a brand then it need not differentiate on any particular matter. It only needs to sustain the brand image and leverage the brand premia that it can enjoy. Let us have a look at how Nokia have created a competitive advantage. The above charts set the theme for both the views in motion. They are so well interrelated that there is a common goal that can create a competitive advantage. There are five critical blocks (Green cells are RBV while violet ones are for Competitive positioning) for RBV which when practiced can lead to two quality positions- Superior market position or Defendable market position, which in turn is key component to position a product or service competitively.. These two strategies work in junction and neither of them can be sustainable in isolation. The differentiation among these two perspectives lays in the fact that one talk about capabilities and the other does not. Competitive positioning talks how the capability of an organisation allows the firm to be competitive in the market, while RBV only stresses on the resource. Competitive positioning shows the angle of marketing deciding the strategy of the firm while RBV is more from the side of manufacturing. (Strategy Formulations) The two houses of strategy namely Resource based view competitive positioning had their fare share of critics. After studying them in detail it can be seen that there are certain inherent weakness in both of them and both of them are not sustainable in long run if isolated. In a long competitive environment a firm needs to invest in either product differentiation or cost leadership and then utilise the competitive positioning which will be sustainable because of our ability to defend it on the base of cost advantage. If a company develops a sustainable cost advantage in the industry it can kill its competitors and rules the market. Sustainable differentiation helps an organisation charge brand premia to the customer. Either of the strategy in modern days scenario will not work in isolation. A developing organisation needs to realise that in such a globalised scenario no differentiation or cost leadership can last for long. Baring an example of some technological innovation no strate gy in isolation has created a lasting organisation. Dells Supply Chain Management The company supply chain management system handles pieces and information and enormous transactions, and includes many core components necessary in keeping the operation run smoothly: Configuration management: This component of the company manages up to 1 million of Dells part numbers every year across 200 product families approximately. It also handles over 2 million BOM (Bills of materials) every year. BOMs part numbers are created for facilities manufacturing in building assemblies and its sub assemblies for the companys products. Procurement: The procurement component of Dell manages almost 1.8 million purchase orders line per year from more than 6000 suppliers worldwide. To further streamline the procurement process, the company uses an automated application including the workflow and vendors approvals and communications and enabled services like defective parts replacement. Cost: The batch mode is used to calculate the costs to the company for BOMs. All the cost components run mostly in the batch mode. The batch jobs runs daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly, and each job aggregating total material costs. Inventory: Inventory component of the company manages over 3 million movements daily from the factory floors in all Dell sites to the stock rooms, along with over 3 million messages transmitted to multiple systems for analyzing, reporting and factory scheduling. Accounts Payable: The accounts payable component of the company handles about 15,000 items per day, which includes payments to the companys invoices, receipts and all suppliers. Vendor information includes vendor id, contact info and negotiated terms. Along with these order related transactions of the company, the Supply Chain Management system also runs several other process jobs to aggregate data in intervals of week, month and quarters. (Cohen Shoanen, 2004) The SCM database consists of 3,000 database objects including packages, functions, procedures, triggers, views in the North American region. The SCM of Dell is supported by Power Edge 2650 server applications (6), internally developed web based applications (5), almost 20 system-to system integrations, and around 125 batch jobs with almost 500 user interfaces. Previous System: UNIX-based servers The earlier Dell system used Sun E6000-Class UNIX servers operating the Sun Solaris 8 OS with Sun Cluster 2.2. The Servers, within 16 processors at 336 MHZ with 11GB of memory, managed the production database on Oracle database 8.0.6. The companys disaster recovery server had 12 processors running at 336 MHz with 6 GB of memory. To make the systems readily available, the companys information technology used Sun Cluster to cluster primary and secondary servers with an active/passive configuration connecting to a shared disk storage, enabling its database to fall over to the passive node if in case the active one is failed. Conclusion Dell via its partnership model has completely changed the industry methods. It has integrated the value chain by its access to information. Industry is facing stiff competition and in such a competitive scenario Dell has differentiated at cost and also at offering. The inventory management policy and supply chain excellence has become a part of discussion for all the Ivy League Business Schools. The offering that Dell provided its suppliers has left less room with the suppliers to negotiate. This has led to excellent partnership model which has benefited everyone across the value chain. Dell has created excellence in personal computer industry and it is a pioneer in process management for this industry. The healthy competition and brilliant innovation in this industry has helped in its evolution. Customer is the ultimate one to benefit. The IBMs and Compaqs and HP of the world subscribed to the view that we have to develop everything. This was an engineering centric era, in this era dell was of the view why we should we make everything; we can just buy and collaborate as per our requirement. This view gave them flexibility and coupled with the excellent supply chain that they created- they became what they are. In this model there are fewer things which can go wrong because there are only fewer things which can go wrong. There is no drag effect of 50000 people working with you.

Estate Management Essays Professional Codes Of Conduct

Estate Management Essays Professional Codes Of Conduct Critically discuss the contribution which codes of conduct issued by professional bodies such as RICS can make to the behaviour and conduct of their members who are either employees in privatepractice or employees in organisations. Individually and,in association, collectively, the professions strike a bargain with societyin which they exchange competence and integrity against the trust of client andcommunity, relative freedom from lay supervision and interference, protectionagainst unqualified competition as well as substantial remuneration and highersocial status. Professional codes of conduct, when rigorouslycommunicated and enforced, contribute substantially to the proper behaviour andconduct of members of the organisations which issue them. Rueschemeyers introductoryreference (1983, cited in Eraut, 1994) to the bargain that professional organisationsstrike with society furnishes a context for critically evaluating the conceptof professional codes of conduct which can be considered to at least partiallyformalize the bargain with society as well as the effects of these codes onthe behaviour and conduct of members of professional organisations who areengaged in private practice or who are employees of other organisations. To establish afoundation for the analysis, the professional organisation will be compared andcontrasted with other types of organisations, and the concept of codes ofconduct will be explored. The focus will then shift to a discussion of theeffects of codes of conduct issued by professional organisations on memberbehaviour. Finally, conclusions will be presented. The Professional Organisation: Comparisonand Contrast with Other Organisations Robbins(1998) defines an organisation as: A consciously coordinated socialunit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuousbasis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. Daft (1998) describes organisations as (1) social entities that (2) are goal directed, (3) aredesigned as deliberately structured and coordinated activity systems, and (4)are linked to the external environment. Organisations are formed for a varietyof reasons including those that are started for public and private purposes,for pursuing business and social goals, and for profit or non-profit results. A professionalbody meets the criteria for an organisation as identified by Robbins andDaft. The professional body is a specific type of organisation, usually non-profit, that exists to further aparticular profession, to protect both the public interest and the interests ofprofessionals (LaborLawTalk.com, n.d.). The ASEP Newsletter (1998) claimsthat professional organisations are formed and exist for the purpose ofrepresenting the profession, adding that this type of organisation consistssolely of members who are, or intend to be, working in the profession, or havebeen allowed special membership status. A fuller description of these types of organisations is offered by the Canadian Security Administrators (2004), which states in this quoted extract that a professional body: .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  admits members primarily on the basis of their educationalqualifications; .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  requires its members to comply with the professional standards ofcompetence and ethics prescribed by the organisation; and .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  has disciplinary powers, including the power to suspend or expel amember. Theconcept of profession is important to the understanding of professionalorganisations. A profession can be described in terms of its features whichinclude representation by a professional organisation, adherence toprofessional ethics and standards, and self-regulation of such functions aseducation, training, and certification or licensure in the profession. (ASEPNewsletter, 1998). Professions are generally identified by occupationalgroup (e.g. doctors, attorneys, surveyors, nurses, consultants, writers, lawenforcement officers). Membership in a professional organisation is often arequirement to legally practice in the profession (LaborLawTalk.com, n.d.). Aprofessional body differs from other types of organisations in that most othersare comprised of members from a variety of professions. These memberscoordinate their individual competencies to achieve an organisations ends. Asingle organisation may have as its members people from such diverseprofessions as doctors, lawyers, clerks, labourers, and engineers. Thisarrangement is certainly necessary, but it has one drawback. A typical organisation is very insular with regard to specific professions. For example, engineers may only interact with other engineers within the organisation. They have little opportunity to exchange knowledge about their profession with engineers in other organisations. On the other hand, a typical professional body, through its focus on a single profession, provides a forum for this type of exchange. One ofthe many professional bodies is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors(RICS) which promotes itself as the largest organisation for professionals inproperty, land, construction, and related environmental issues worldwide withthe purpose of promoting best practices, regulation and consumer protection tothe public and to businesses. RICS, which claims 110,000 members worldwide, isthe leading source of property related knowledge, providing independent,impartial advice to governments and global organisations. (RICS Rules ofConduct, 2004) Codes of Conduct: The Concept Codes of conduct in professional organisationsprovide a type of social control of expertise, according to Eraut (1994). Thesecodes help to protect clients against incompetence, carelessness, andexploitation. Eraut traces codes of conduct to nineteenth century Britain andthe United States where, at the time, government control was not adequatelyprotecting clients. He claims that experts agreed that a measure of controlmust be vested in the professionals themselves to be effective and, thus, theprofessional organisation was born. A Code ofConduct is a written guide that says how people should behave. It setsstandards of behaviour it says what you should do and should not do. (Crime andMisconduct Commission, n.d.) Organisations establish codes of conduct tocorrect errors of personal equation, according to Miner (2002). Shafritz(1998) describes the term code of conduct through its component words: code,which he defines as laws, regulations, rules, standards, statutes, and conduct,which he defines as bearing, behaviour, demeaneor, and deportment. His fulldefinition for code of conduct is a: specifically identified list of behaviorsthat [has] been deemed appropriate or inappropriate enough to have beenincorporated into either laws or regulations or policy statements. He addsthat a code of conduct narrowly defines what one is to do in a given positionor set of circumstances. The term code of conduct isfrequently used interchangeably with the term code of ethics, but thetwo have different meanings according to Shafritz (1998). Codes of conductoffer specific directions on behaviours expected under various conditions;codes of ethics furnish a set of aspirational standards by which to live andwork. Codes of ethics are designed to inspire. Codes of conduct are designedto require. Organisations that have instituted codes of conduct include for-profit businesses, industry groups, unions, special interest groups, government agencies, schools and universities, and professional bodies. Not unexpectedly, a code of conduct for a professional body outlines the acceptable or desirable behaviours and practices of a particular profession such as doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, and ethicists (EthicsScan Canada Ltd., n.d.). Steadman et al. (1994, cited inEraut, 1994), identified four sets of values affecting conduct: legal values,values of the profession, values of individual professionals, and (foremployees of organisations) values of the employing organisations. The firm Deloitteand Touche (2003) offers comprehensive guidance for developing codes ofconduct. In stating that there is no pre-packaged verbiage for a code ofconduct, the firm suggests that it be written in positive, rather than negativeterms, to help promote positive reception by the intended audience and thus amore like positive outcome in terms of conduct. The code of conduct should: .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  employ simple language, be concise, and be readily understood; .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  not be written in legalistic terms but, rather, in terms ofexpected behaviours; .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  apply to everyone in the organisation; and .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  be revised as needed to reflect changes. Deloitte Touche recommends more than fifty topics that may be included in codes ofconduct. Some of these that may particularly applicable to codes of conduct forprofessional organisations include client service, confidentiality, compliancewith professional standards, independence, conflicts of interest, licensure,fraud, personal conduct, and privacy. In addition, and importantly, the firmrecommends that, in addition to stating expected behaviours, codes of conductshould include enforcement and implementation mechanisms that address thenotion of accountability and discipline for unacceptable behaviour. The RICS,which was highlighted earlier, has a comprehensive, 56-page code of conductcontaining many of the topics recommended by Deloitte Touche withsections focused on personal and professional standards, conduct ofprofessional activities and business, practice details and co-operation,conflicts of interest, impartiality, and independence (Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors Rules of Conduct, 2004). In addition, and as suggested by Deloitte Touche, the RICS has issued a 28-page supplement to the code of conduct specifying disciplinary rules. These rules state the constitution of disciplinary bodies, possible contraventions (initial processes, rights, and powers), and powers of disciplinary bodies. (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Disciplinary Rules, 2004). Professional Codes of Conduct: Effects onMember Behaviour and Conduct Lindsay, Irvine, and Lindsay (1996, citedin Messick, 1999) write: failure to seriouslymonitor, measure and reward (punish) the performance of individuals on theethical plane will leave codes of conduct operating in a vacuum, of littleuse in actually promoting ethical behavior. But what mechanisms take place in shaping thedesired behaviours of members of professional organisations? Operantconditioning and social learning theories help to explain how codes of conductcan help in encouraging desired behaviours. Operantconditioning, which contends that behaviour is a function of theconsequences of the behaviour, suggests that desired voluntary behaviour leadsto a reward or prevents a punishment; in social learning peoplelearnthrough observation and direct experience (Robbins, 1998). Codes of conduct,by specifying the desired behaviours as well as associated rewards andpunishment, guide those affected into behaving as desired (operant conditioning).The enforcement of the code of conduct against those who violate its rules, andthe publicity of the consequences, serves as a model to others on properbehaviour (social learning). Reinforcement is essential to obtainingdesired behaviours. There are four reinforcement methods available to shapedesired behaviours through reinforcement: positive reinforcement, negativereinforcement, punishment, and extinction (Robbins, 1998): .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  positive reinforcement involves following abehaviour with something positive; .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  negative reinforcement involves terminatingor withdrawing something unpleasant; .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  punishment involves creating anunpleasant condition to eliminate an undesirable behaviour; and .  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  extinction involves eliminating areinforcement that maintains a behaviour. These reinforcementmethods can be applied by professional bodies in encouraging desired behavioursamong their members. For instance, an organisation could offer annualrecognition to those members who have exhibited highly-desirable behaviours(positive reinforcement). The organisation could impose, then later withdraw, asanction against a member who violated a minor rule (negative reinforcement).The organisation could expel a member who flagrantly violated a major rule(punishment). And, finally, a professional organisation could cease referringpotential clients to members who have violated conduct rules (extinction). In addition to enforcement, a code ofconduct must be rigorously promoted to be effective lest it becomes justanother dust-collecting document on the shelves of those for whom thebehavioural messages are directed. Over time, if conduct rules are not rigorouslypromoted, the expected behaviours can become less and less important in makingdaily decisions on proper behaviour. EthicsScan Canada Ltd. (n.d.) recommendsthat codes of conduct be promoted continuously. For example, members should be required to acknowledge annually, in writing, that they have read and understand the code of conduct. A suggested method for promoting a code of conduct involves discussing it as part of annual performance appraisals or scheduled meetings. These meetings might include introducing case studies followed by discussions of proper behaviour and problems that might occur. Members of professional bodies can beself-employed or employees of other organisations. Whilst codes of conduct mayserve as the sole behavioural guidance for self-employed professionals inprivate practice, employees of other organisations may be subject to two setsof conduct codes one presented by the professional body and one by theiremploying organisations. When the conduct specified in these codes is aligned,employees typically will not experience conflict; however, when the employeesexpected conduct as required by their employers differs from that expected bytheir professional bodies, a conflict exists and employees face potentialdilemmas. For instance, in some cases, professional organisations sanction members who do not adhere to their professional codes of ethics, yet the same members face disciplinary action from their employers if they should disclose information about a breach of public interest (Guy, 1990, citing Dozier and Miceli 1985; Archer, 1986). This dilemma could result in an employee deciding to violate either the rules of his or her employer or those of the professional body. To aid employees facing this type of dilemma, both the employer and professional body should have experts available for consultation. Conclusion Properly written, promoted, and enforced,codes of conduct can be powerful tools in helping to ensure desired behavioursfrom members of professional bodies. Nevertheless, whilst beneficial, codes ofconduct cannot be viewed as a total solution for ensuring the proper behaviourof members of professional organisations. Shafritz (1998) writes: Codes of conductdo not represent professional assurancesabout high moral standards. Rather, they provide direction to those whoseconduct they govern. Codes of conduct are minimalistic prohibitions againstunquestionably subversive or criminal acts. The primary benefit of codes ofconduct lies in augmenting government laws and regulations in promoting desiredbehaviours in the professions. In closing, it may be that professional organisationsare in the fore among organisations in terms of success with codes of conduct.According to Miner (2002), [b]usiness can well learnfrom the professions when it comes to maintaining standards. Professionalbodies seem to take quite seriously the role they serve in ensuring thatclients of professional bodies are protected against incompetence,carelessness, and exploitation. References Archer,Lawrence (1986) The moral minority. Canadian Business 59:56-59, 1986.Cited in Guy, 1990. ASEPNewsletter (1998)What is a profession? March 1998. CanadianSecurities Administrators (2004) Acceptance ofcertain foreign professional boards as a professional organisation, January 19, 2004. Crime andMisconduct Commission (n.d.) Developing a code of conduct. Availablefrom: http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/OTRT8.html[Accessed: August 5, 2005]. Daft,Richard L. (1998) Organisation theory and design. Cincinnati, Ohio:South-Western College Publishing, 1998. Deloitte Touche (2003) Guidelines for writing a code of ethics/conduct.Deloitte Touche Corporate Governance Services, 2003. Dozier,Janelle Brinker and Miceli, Marcia P. (1985) Potential predictors ofwhistle-blowing: A prosocial behavior perspective. Academy of ManagementReview 10:823-36. Cited in Guy, 1990. Eraut, Michael(1994) Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: FalmerPress, 1994. EthicsScanCanada Ltd. (n.d.) What is a code of professionalconduct? Available from: http://www.ethicscan.ca/resource_centre/faqs/page05.html[Accessed: August 5, 2005]. Guy,Mary E. (1990) Ethical decision making in everyday work situations.Westport, Connecticut: Quorum Books, 1990. LaborLawTalk.com(n.d.) Professional body or professional organisation. Available from: http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/professional_organisation[Accessed: August 4, 2005]. Lindsay, R. M., Irvine, V. B., and Lindsay, L. M. (1996)Instilling ethical behavior in organisations: A survey ofCanadian companies. Journal of Business Ethics, 15: 393-407, 1996.Cited in Messick, 1999. Messick,David M. (1999) Sanctioning systems, decision frames, and cooperation. AdministrativeScience Quarterly, December 1, 1999. Miner, JohnB. (2002) Organisational behaviour: Foundations, theories, and analyses.New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Robbins,Stephen P. (1998) Organisational behavior: concepts, controversies,applications. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International,Inc., 1998. RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors (2004) Disciplinary rules. London:RICS, 2004. RoyalInstitution of Chartered Surveyors (2004) Rules of conduct. London:RICS, 2004. Rueschemeyer,D. (1983) Professional autonomy and the social control of expertise, inDingwall, R. and Lewis, P., eds. The Sociology of the Professions: Lawyers,Doctors and Others. London: Macmillan, 1983. Cited in Eraut, 1994. Shafritz,Jay M. (1998) International encyclopedia of publicpolicy and administration: A-C. Volume 1.Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1998. Steadman,S. et al. (1994) Ethics in occupational standards and S/NVQs. Researchand Development Report. Sheffield: Employment Department, Methods StrategyUnit, 1994. Cited in Eraut, 1994.

Christianity and Abortion :: Papers

Christianity and Abortion The Christian belief in the sanctity of life is based on the teachings of famous Christians and on what they read in the bible, the teachings of Jesus. A quote from the bible which seems to support the view that abortion is wrong is from Psalm 139:13, verses 15-16,    â€Å"You created every part of me; You put me together in my mother’s womb†¦ When my bones were being formed, Carefully put me together in my mother’s womb. When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there – You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me Had all been recorded in your book, Before any of them ever began.†    This seems to be saying that god has already begun to have an influence on the life of a person before they are even born. The life of a person is already unique and god has already given them their own identity before they are born. If this is true, and the quote seems to be saying that it is, then abortion would have to be seen as a crime on the same level as murder. There are no good grounds for murder, one of the Ten Commandments says,    â€Å"Do not commit murder.†    So, if we were to consider only this quote then we would have to see abortion as fundamentally wrong, any justification for abortion would become a justification for murder, and we can see no justification for murder, the ultimate sin. Another quote from the bible would seem to strengthen this view, Jeremiah 1:4-5    The Lord said to me, ‘I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.†    This seems to suggest, as did the last quote, that God decides the fate of the child before it is born, abortion would prevent the child from Christianity and Abortion :: Papers Christianity and Abortion The Christian belief in the sanctity of life is based on the teachings of famous Christians and on what they read in the bible, the teachings of Jesus. A quote from the bible which seems to support the view that abortion is wrong is from Psalm 139:13, verses 15-16,    â€Å"You created every part of me; You put me together in my mother’s womb†¦ When my bones were being formed, Carefully put me together in my mother’s womb. When I was growing there in secret, You knew that I was there – You saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me Had all been recorded in your book, Before any of them ever began.†    This seems to be saying that god has already begun to have an influence on the life of a person before they are even born. The life of a person is already unique and god has already given them their own identity before they are born. If this is true, and the quote seems to be saying that it is, then abortion would have to be seen as a crime on the same level as murder. There are no good grounds for murder, one of the Ten Commandments says,    â€Å"Do not commit murder.†    So, if we were to consider only this quote then we would have to see abortion as fundamentally wrong, any justification for abortion would become a justification for murder, and we can see no justification for murder, the ultimate sin. Another quote from the bible would seem to strengthen this view, Jeremiah 1:4-5    The Lord said to me, ‘I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.†    This seems to suggest, as did the last quote, that God decides the fate of the child before it is born, abortion would prevent the child from

Task One Automated Teller Machines :: Computer Science

Task One Automated Teller Machines 1. See diagram over page for Input and output devices This kind of interface is an interactive interface with buttons. I think this would be improved considerably and the ways that I think will be improved by more security on the machines. I think they will have devices like retina scans, voice activation and thumbprints. At the moment the only security is PINS and cards but they can be stolen and I think they will improve the security more. 2. The process for a customer obtaining cash is called transaction processing in real time. This kind of processing is called transaction processing. If the cash withdrawal is required, the customer enters the amount they want from the machine. This is then checked against the balance of the account and if funds are available of the account, the machine dispenses money. Also at the same the amount from the account is subtracted from the balance on the customer's record on the bank computer. When it's finished the card releases back the card to the customer. [IMAGE]Other services are available are withdrawal of cash, ordering of statements, requests for new chequebooks and obtaining the balance of the account. Advantages Disadvantages To the Bank Employs fewer people High level of security needed It is cheaper than paying staff Hackers could break into the machines Less need to build banks and money could be used elsewhere Employees loose their jobs. To the customer It is fast. Credit cards could be stolen It can be accessed anytime The magnetic strips can be damaged by the ATM They can get it anywhere The card has to be replaced from time to time 3. Bank cards, credit and debit cards Diagram front and back PIN stands for Personal Identification Number, it acts like a password, and the user enters it to the ATM keypad to verify that they are the account holder. The PIN helps to reduce fraud. The information stored on the magnetic strip is account numbers, bank sort code, system number, cheque digit Task two - Cheque clearing There are three sets of numbers printed along the bottom of the cheque using magnetic ink and machines can automatically read these numbers. MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, it works by inputting special ink onto cheques and the ink then is magnetised. The limits are that very few characters could be recognised but it can be read quite fast. The special ink then is recognised by using a process called MICR. It's used on cheques because it has high security and if the special has been tampered on, the computer can still read the data on the special magnetised ink. The cheque clearing process is called Transaction Processing; it

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived Essay

Death is a peculiar thing. Everyone reacts to it in different ways. And no one seems to fully understand what to do, what to say and how to react when death occurs in the family or in the family in one’s circle of friends. It seems that man can’t really understand why it happens. At least not when it is someone one cares about. But it happens, and there is nothing else to do about it, than survive and move on with one’s life. This is the subject treated in Robin Blacks shortstory â€Å"†¦ Divorced, Beheaded, Survived† (2010). The shortstory is the story of a woman who loses her big brother, Terry, to sickness at a very young age. It is also a story about how her brother and she used to play with the other children who lived close by, and how they stopped playing after Terry died. The main character also describes how she tries to protect her children from this awful phenomenon that death is, but how she is unable to do so as her son’s friend dies in the end. The main character who acts as a past tense narrator, does not tell much about herself. To be clear she does not describe many of the characters at all. The fact that there are very few adjectives and adverbs shows the reader that one must use ones imagination, the characters are not important for they could be anyone in such a neighborhood. The reader relates to the story in a different way than they normally would, because they have to use their own experiences to fill out the missing pieces of the personalities of the characters. The person the narrator tells about the most, is Terry or Terrance as he is actually called. The narrator describes how he plays Anne Boleyn with much character and liveliness. Page 2, line 6-9 â€Å"(†¦) was undoubtedly the most convincing. Once, he stole a dress from our mother’s closet – a red-and-white Diane von Furstenberg wraparound so he could use the beltlike part to hold the couch-pillow baby, the future Queen Elizabeth, in place. ‘Oh, Hal,’ he cooed. † He is a happy boy and has no worries, until he gets sick. This turns his life upside down and it changes him, which one could imagine is only natural for a child when it gets sick. Page 4, line 103-104 â€Å"He stopped being the boy who would throw himself into anything that seemed like fun. † The narrator loves seeing her brother play Anne Boleyn, she thinks he is very convincing in the role. Page 2, line 12 â€Å"It was worth giving up the role yourself just to watch Terry give it his all. † The fact that it is Terry that is often chosen to play Anne Boleyn, even though they all want to play her, could be a symbol of fate choosing him to get sick and die. It might as well have been one of the other kids, as well as it could have been one of the other kids who could have played the role. This is shown in the part of the story where Anne Boleyn dies, and Terry has to play the dying woman. Page 4, line 99-101 â€Å"And Terry would hold his face in both hands, his shoulders heaving in enormous, racking, make-believe sobs. But in real life, it was all silent hours. Vacant stares. † The game of playing Anne Boleyn could also be a symbol of the children losing something. Anne Boleyn loses her head and life, Terry loses his life and the narrator loses her brother, her friends and a part of her childhood. At this point it is only the first part of the rhyme that is used. Page 3, line 43 â€Å"Divorced, beheaded, died. † But as the children move on with their lives, learn to live with the loss of a friend and a brother, and some of them meet again even though they do not talk, the rest of the rhyme appears in their life. And this time it holds a whole new meaning. Page 6, line 174 â€Å"Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. † The structure of the text is a bit messy but it still manages to give the reader a good and continuous view of the narrator’s life. The fact that the first 1,5 pages focuses on her childhood with the games and her brother, gives the reader a strong sense that it is a chapter of her life that ended when her brother died. But as she continuously mentions her brother, one also understands that her brother is still with her, even though he belongs to an ended chapter. And as she moves on with her life, and survives, she keeps him with her in a more secure way and without getting scared of forgetting about him. Page 5, line 153-156 â€Å"the truth is sometimes even more than a day goes by before I remember to think of my brother (†¦) Maybe it’s a gift to be able to let go of remembering. Some times. Some things. † The narrator tells us about her family and how her son loses his friend in the end of the text, this is a way to tell the reader that it can happen to anyone, and that it is possible to move on. It is possible to survive the death of someone dear. But never to forget it, a person lost will always be remembered one way or another, intentionally or not.