How Prisons Have Changed On Today s Prison System

How Prisons Have Changed Jordan Coldren Florida Gulf Coast University Abstract The History of prisons goes through many eras. Many of these eras have a major impact on today’s prison system. The different was that the system worked and didn’t work really showed what was possibly and what should not be tried again. Each era tried to do something new are recreate something that had already been done by making changes to the way that they treated the inmates all the way to how they were housed and how much contact they had with one another. The different eras gave the present day prison system many great things to think about. Such as large capacity housing so you can properly use all the space in the prison and hold it to capacity. There is also the parole system that gives inmates a chance to work get out early and spend the rest of their sentence on the outside. These many great traits that the prison system today has all come from the hundreds of years of trial and error that occurred throughout the world. When we talk about incarceration, and prisons you have to start with the beginning. It all started with The Penitentiary Era, the very beginning of the prison system. The Quakers saw incarceration as a place where the individuals could make good for their wrongs against humanity, and society. The way that the Quakers believed with incarceration in rehabilitation and deterrence, carries over to present day. During the Penitentiary Era the bible wasShow MoreRelatedThe Incarceration Rate And Unjust Laws989 Words   |  4 PagesThere are many issues within the prison system today. For example, the high incarceration rate and unjust laws. Over the year, there have been few changes that have been made to repair these problems in our prison system. There are several things we can do to fix these issues. A major problem within the prison system is the high rate of incarnation. According to â€Å"Facts About The Prison System in the U.S†, sixty-six percent of released convicts will end up back in jail. One reason is thatRead MoreThe Death Of The Prison System1142 Words   |  5 PagesThe prison system has seen huge changes from the American Colonel days to now. At first punishment was a way to inflict pain in suffering onto prisoners. By doing this it set an example to detour crime. Punishment throughout time has changed with the building of prison systems and labor being implemented. Today punishment is carried out much different than in the past. Punishment is way to keep order and discipline throughout society. Punishments focus more now on rehabilitation then it does toRead MoreThe Evolution Of Punishment And Its Effect On Society949 Words   |  4 PagesCanada from Confederation in the 1800’s to present day 21st century. Research has been going on continuous ly to identify whether these punishments are based on a person’s behaviour or on society itself. The word punishment is referred to as a penalty inflicted on an offender through judicial procedure (Punishment | Definition of Punishment by Merriam-Webster). In today’s society does the punishment equivalent to the crime committed by an offender? Therefore, how much punishment should one receiveRead MoreEssay Corrections System1615 Words   |  7 Pagesmission is and that is to incarcerate criminals, however it also ensures that those incarcerated receive treatment to prepare them for reintegration and reentry into society. Ever since the creation of prisons, some wonder how we managed to survive without them in the past. Unfortunately, we do have neither the resources nor the capital to incarcerate all who chose to engage in criminal behavior. Utilizing other programs like probation are needed in order to accommodate those who wish to offend.Read MoreTechnology, Tran sportation, And Communication1070 Words   |  5 Pages We all have an idea of what the future may look like. Hovercraft vehicles, space travel as seen in the Star Wars series, and task driven robots living alongside us. All seemingly exciting advancements, nevertheless this â€Å"future† we imagine is still many years away. But what if it that was not the case? What if your future was today? People do not often realize how much the world changes around them as they are living their daily lives, but others are not that fortunate. Technology, transportationRead MoreThe Sentencing Policies For Crimes1357 Words   |  6 PagesWhen America changed the sentencing policies for crimes, primarily drug crimes, in America, the effect this change would have in the poor communities were impossible to imagine. The policies which were changed to get tougher on drug crimes on the federal level followed with mass incarceration in the prison system. This was especially true with young African American males in largely poor communities. So these policies not only created a mass incarceration but also racially targeted certain raceRead MorePrison Terms Ineffective as Deterrent to Crime Essay1122 Words   |  5 Pagesintroducing the term criminology to the world. At present, nearly all countries in the world have adopted the criminal justice system. Criminal justice consists of two tools: Law and Order. On the road to maintain Law and Order, penalty like Prison Term has been espoused. Prison Term could be defined as the length of incarceration for an offender, where the legnth varies from few days to months in a prison. It also embraces life terms in case of serious crimes like manslaughter, rape, murder, armedRead MoreFoucault and Punishment Essay1172 Words   |  5 Pagessudden, there was a change in human thinking, the concept of punishment changed to a more psychological approach compared to a public embarrassment/torture approach. The following paragraphs will discuss the development of prisons and what in fact gives people gives people the right to punish; as well as the overall meaning and function of prisons. The work by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison will help with the arguments at hand. The first thing to be looked atRead MoreBastà ¸y. We All Have An Idea Of How The Future May Look.1320 Words   |  6 PagesBastà ¸y We all have an idea of how the future may look. Hovercraft vehicles, space travel as seen in the Star Wars series, and task driven robots living alongside us. All seemingly exciting advancements, nevertheless this â€Å"future† we imagine is still years away. However, what if that was not the case? People do not often realize how much the world changes around them as they are living their daily lives, but others are not that fortunate. Technology, transportation, and communication have all made immenseRead MoreCrime, Social Order And Control1385 Words   |  6 PagesControl Brian Payne Word Count: 1500 Reflecting upon the current prison regime in the UK, critically consider arguments and evidence related to the application of criminal justice policy This essay will discuss both prisons and the criminal justice system. It will undertake research to see if the prison system is working in todays society and also look at all the research within the prisons such as the rehabilitation methods and resettlement methods. By focusing

Management and Conflict Resolution - 2408 Words

All conflict within an organization is detrimental to employees and the organization. Discuss. Conflict can be defined as â€Å"a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or it is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about†,(Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007). Huczynski and Buchanan (2007) also perceive conflict as a mental state which has to be acknowledged by the two parties involved to comply with its definition. In an organizational environment, conflict is strongly connected to managerial skills. There are different situations where conflict can occur but it is often a consequence of lack of communication, misunderstandings, disagreements which mean basic human†¦show more content†¦It ranges from job requirements to statement of objectives. Special liaison refers to using a more experienced member to train staff and offer broader information about their activities. All these methods of co-ordination are mainly ways of hedging that people know their roles and responsibilities and how to be de ployed. All of the measures above represent actions taken by organization in order to have a clear differentiation between employees and their roles and to co-ordinate their functions. The reaction to this form or organizational order consists of perceptions and emotions from employees. Types of conflict French et al(2008) agree that another classification of conflict is made through communication levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup conflict and interorganizational conflict. Intrapersonal conflict is usually the perception an individual has upon the goals and opportunities received. The best example would be choosing between equal alternatives. Interpersonal conflict occurs between two individuals and intergroup conflict is between larger groups such as departments. Interorganisational conflict occurs between organizations or larger units in large organizations, such as trade unions. According to Higgerson (1996) there are specific cues managers should follow in anticipating a conflict. Changes in behavior such as verbal or non verbal signs and change of attitude can all reflect how employees react to an uncomfortableShow MoreRelatedConflict Between Conflict Management And Resolution883 Words   |  4 Pagesnegative association with conflict. Reflects poorly on the supervisor when there is conflict but in reality it’s only negative when the supervisor or employee, depending on the situation does not address the conflict. Unresolved conflicts can negatively impact not only the employees involved but also the company. Unresolved conflicts result in negative impacts not only to the individual but also the company. Focus on the problem, not the person. Sometimes the conflict will be reoccurring or unresolvableRead MoreConflict Management and Dispute Resolution3329 Words   |  14 PagesConflict management and dispute resolution coursework Instruction Conflict and dispute are normal phenomenon in society and human relationships. When using different resolution techniques, conflicting parties could get both constructive and destructive outcomes. Good decisions from negotiation can bring a win-win prospect to interested parties. This essay firstly proves the inevitability of conflict and dispute on commercial projects, reviewing some basic definitions and theories. ThenRead MoreConflict Management And Resolution Can Be Approached Through1304 Words   |  6 PagesConflict management and resolution can be approached through numbers of ways that ramble from least to most threats. Legislation, political action or violent forces are common methods to avoid conflicts however talking with the dispute parties, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication must be used in conflict resolution process. Conflict parties who cannot negotiate together efficiently may hire mediator or negotiator to make easy negotiation procedure. Thus mediation is considered asRead MoreOrganizational Structure, Communication, Management, Conflict Resolution, And Culture Essay2283 Words   |  10 Pagesthere are some contributing factors that have been proven to help an organization to reach their goals time and time again. This paper will address how effective organizations exhibit strength in organizational structure, communication, management, conflict resolution, and culture. By implementing these five strengths an organization will be effective. Organizational structure Organizational structure is the framework in which a group is organized to function and reach the goals set by the organizationRead MoreHow may conflict resolution and conflict management approaches be applied in educational settings?’5335 Words   |  22 Pages‘How may conflict resolution and conflict management approaches be applied in educational settings?’ Abstract This assignment will review the nature of conflict, from psychologist theories to what form it takes in an educational setting. In order to apply conflict resolution and conflict management effectively in an educational setting, it is important to understand the background disciplines of conflict and theoriesRead MoreConflict Resolution Was Created By Jeff Muir Essay895 Words   |  4 PagesSummary Conflict Resolution was created by Jeff Muir. The main idea revolves around the idea that conflict occurs when one needs something from another and is not receiving that need. The resolution of conflicts grows out of that idea, and involves three basic steps. The first step circles around clearly expressing the need. The next step is figuring out if that need can be met, or if it cannot. Step three is negotiation to see if the need can be met a different way, or management of conflict. If theRead MoreConflict Resolution Model Essay1217 Words   |  5 PagesConflict Resolution Model By: Anna Stadnikov What is a conflict resolution model? A conflict resolution model is a model that helps a person reassess who they are and what type of conflict they are dealing with. It also helps a person see how they deal with a conflict. There many types of situations that a person is put into, but it all depends on how he or she are willing to deal with the conflict. This model was created by Thomas and Kilmann and they wanted to show how people deal with conflictRead MoreAssignment : Three Self Assessments1185 Words   |  5 PagesSelf-Assessments Shirley A. Allen L7900 Conflict Management Dr. Michael Dillon Argosy University May 20, 2015 Students are required to perform a self-assessment or an assessment relating to another person. These assessments will evaluate values clarification and conflict resolution, the big five assessment, and conflict management styles. Upon completing the assessment an interpretation will be provided to analyze the best outcome for a particular style in managing conflicts. Understanding of your personalRead MoreBUS610 Week 3 Assignment Essay1695 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Conflict Identification and Resolution Mia A. Rapier BUS 610: Organizational Behavior Dr. Anthony Trotta September 28, 2014 Conflict is part of our human disposition; consequently, it is customary within organizations. â€Å"Left unanalyzed and unchecked, it can be a destructive force that consumes time, money and human resources. Learning the various ways that people resolve conflict and expanding their conflict resolution styles can lead to better results† (Sadri, 2012). Within organizationsRead MoreIncorporating Conflict Management and Negotiation into the Field of Information Communication Technology1522 Words   |  6 PagesCoast with a purpose to make recommendations for incorporating conflict management and negotiation into the field of information communication technology. The report clearly outlined two conflict management skills and one negotiation skill and briefly described and outlined the benefits and challenges. Conflict management is the process of limiting and controlling the negative conflict while increasing and controlling the positive conflict. Negotiation is described to be a discussion aimed at reaching

Life Is Beautiful (Film) -Speech Free Essays

Good morning everyone. My name is Joshua Orefice, in the early part of my childhood life is beautiful, living in Arezzo, Italy with my loving mother and father, Guido and Dora, but things take a turn for the worst with the occupation of my hometown by German forces. On my fifth birthday my Mother, Father, Uncle Eliseo and myself were forced onto a train bound for a concentration camp. We will write a custom essay sample on Life Is Beautiful (Film) -Speech or any similar topic only for you Order Now At the time I was confused, unaware of the true nature of the camp and completely oblivious to the vile actions that really occurred at this place of death. In order to protect me from a world that was not fit for five year old boy, my father had to think fast on his feet to turn the hard truth into a mere game. In the camp, my father would hide me from the Nazi guards, sneak me food and would always try to humour me. In an attempt to keep up me spirits, He convinced me that the camp was just a game, in which the first person to get 1,000 points wins a  tank. He told me that if I cried, said that I was hungry or complained about missing my mother, I would lose points, while if I was quiet and remained hidden from the camp guards I would earn points. In a similar fashion he also convinced my young self that the guards are also a part of the game and that were angry because they want the tank for themselves. My father maintained this story right up to the end of his life, and as the Americans advance on the camp and their tanks come closer to rolling over the hill, my father was forced to make the greatest sacrifice in order to ensure my safety and that I can be again reunited with my mother. Despite him knowing that his death was inevitable, at our final moment he still upheld his positive attitude and protected from the evils of mankind. From this journey I can now look back on what my father taught me, that love, family and imagination can conquer all. Life is beautiful. How to cite Life Is Beautiful (Film) -Speech, Essay examples

Spirituality Personal Worldview Inventory - Free Sample Solution

Question: Discuss the various possible meanings of the term "spirituality," and your understanding of the concepts of pluralism, scientism, and postmodernism? Answer: Spirituality is applied differently for every human being. Someone can exercise their spirituality by doing prayer in the church or mosque or temples (Dennis, 2014). But someone may exercise his or her spiritual side by silent and private prayer, yoga, meditation etc. Pluralism is a policy concerning with the diversity of religious believe which are co exist in the society. According to worldview one religion believes is not solitary and elite source of the divine truth (Rouner, 1984). Acceptance of two or more religious believe mutually is even valid for the purpose. Scientism is an application or believes which is applicable universally. This is a scientific approach. It is an observation that experiential science comprises the majority reliable worldview or the majority precious part of individual knowledge to the elimination of other point of view (Williams Robinson, 2014). Postmodernism is kind of religious believe which is influenced by the postmodern philosophies. This view considers and examines the orthodox views of the religious faith and applications. Postmodern understandings of religion admit and worth a variety of miscellaneous explanations of truth (Hungerford, 2010). There is a negative response of pointed difference and worldwide Meta narrativein the sphere of postmodern belief and this reproduce one of the nucleus of the philosophy. In spiritual believe prime reality refers to the sole power of God and only God (Gaston, 1999). This view reflects the view that God is not touchable and invisible, we have to feel the presence by the spiritual understanding. The person who believes in God, they viewed that God has extreme power and there is no boundary of the expectation from the supreme power. Nature is created by the God for our living and maintains our family. It is created by the supreme power to maintain our personal relationships. It present around us as it created by an autonomous supreme power. In the discussion of spirituality, the discussion of human being is obvious. It is the basic question the basic question that whether God created human being by his imagination or the human beings are just the naked Ape. According to the spiritual concept, we can claim that human beings are created by God at his imagination but if we consider the post modern concept of spirituality we may conclude that human beings are created by nature. This is also a major question in this part is that what happened to a person after death. the transformation may apply here. The spiritual believes state that the sole of a human being never dies; it is the body which extinguishes after the death of a human being. We are made by the supreme almighty who has the knowledge about everything. He can be detonated as all knowing God. The intelligence has developed under the several long process of evolution. We have the understanding about right or wrong because we are created by God. The spiritual believes declares that the nature of the God is always good and that is the reason for that we can determine and discriminate between the good and bad thing around us. The scientific theory states that it is the effect of our social and cultural upbringing which helps us to understand the meaning of good and bad. Human history considered to be based on the particular question that whether we come from the God or something else? General believes declares that the purpose of the God is to make paradise on the Earth for this reason. The human life and community is based on this theory. Scientific and post modernism theories state that the human beings are developed in the by the evolution in the nature. By the answer of the all question we can get an idea about the human and spiritual believes. It denotes the theory of originality of human being. It will help the human being to understand the concept of right and wrong in human being. The theories apply to the structure of family and human needs. Along with these entire queries in mind, we have a concise appear at what are possibly the chief worldviews so as to people clutch in this contemporary planet. It is significant to measure that the subsequent prcis are tremendously brief, and we can think in unsophisticated way. The theory of spirituality and believes are reflected the view of originality of the human being. The spiritual practices are now influenced by the modern waves. This brings more scientific views and ways in the theory. It encourages more modern approaches and reasoning to the general spiritual believes. References Dennis, P. (2014).Spirituality. Cork: BookBaby. Gaston, R. (1999). God, Religion and Reality.Theology,102(806), 132-133. doi:10.1177/0040571x9910200218 Hungerford, A. (2010).Postmodern belief. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Rouner, L. (1984).Religious pluralism. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press. WAAIJMAN, K. (2007). Spirituality - a Multifaceted Phenomenon.Studies In Spirituality,17(0), 1-113. doi:10.2143/sis.17.0.2024643 Williams, R., Robinson, D. (2014).Scientism. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

America and the Atomic Bomb essays

America and the Atomic Bomb essays When Albert Einstein wrote then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt a letter concerning the creation and use of the greatest bomb the world had ever seen, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist saw the bomb as a means to end the rising power of the Nazi's; however, when the bomb had been created and was awaiting deployment, I believe policy-makers saw the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, or bomb in this case. With the dropping of the atomic bomb, the United States not only brought the war to an end, but also solidified its place as a supreme world power and made very clear to every other nation in the world, specifically Russia, the force with which America was prepared to use to maintain that power. In the days leading up to and following the dropping of the bombs, President Truman and his staff were readily prepared to defend the use of the weapon and explain the hopes for the future, but as every good history student knows, things aren't always as they seem. In pursuit of nothing less than unconditional surrender from Japan, and with the hopes of ending the war relatively soon, the United States had no choice but to drop the atomic bomb. And so on August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb was released on the city of Hiroshima, Japan killing thousands instantly and thousands more in the weeks to follow. Seen as a successful endeavor, just three days later another bomb was dropped onto Nagasaki, Japan and soon after the Japanese government surrendered unconditionally to the Allied Powers. It would appear as though the bombs were used effectively, with one goal in mind, the end of the war. The only alternative to releasing the special weapon was yet another amphibious assault on heavily protected beaches that would have cost thousands of soldiers' lives. The sea-to-shore assault would have been much more difficult in Japan than the attack on Normandy because of Japanese soldiers' collective commitment to fight to the death...

Human Rights Essay

Human Rights Essay Human Rights Essay Human Rights Task Type: Mini Essays Abbreviations UN- United Nations ICCPR- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights UDHR- Universal Declaration of Human Rights NGO- Non-Governmental Organisations UNICEF- United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund Discuss the arguments for and against a charter of rights for Australia There are many arguments for and against a charter of rights for Australia; many of these arguments for a charter of rights include that it would improve the quality and accountability of government, that it could generate economic benefits, and that it would contribute to a culture of respect for human rights. Arguments against a Charter of Human rights are that it could undermine the tradition of parliamentary sovereignty possibly causing a transfer of authority, it could be an excessive and costly litigation, and that it could potentially lead to negative outcomes for human rights. It is commonly argued that a statutory Charter of Human Rights would expressly recognise rights not currently recognised by Australian law, and therefore also, help in promoting a stronger culture of respect for human rights, improve government policy-making and administrative decision-making from a human rights perspective, would bring Australia into line with every other liberal democracy and potentially allow Australian courts to play a broader role in protecting human rights under Australian law. Whether this is desirable or not is a source of great argument. It will also help to better meet the obligations Australia has undertaken, under international law to protect human rights standards. On another note many people think that it could potentially lead to negative outcomes for human rights and may mean that there is no better human rights protection guaranteed. There are many common arguments against a Charter of Human Rights. Sadly, Australians cannot claim that their parliamentary system works so perfectly that it does not occasionally need the stimulus of reminders that the law sometimes treats people (usually minorities) unjustly and unequally, therefore many people think that a Charter of rights may â€Å"penalise† those who are in most need of human rights. Many people argue that a Charter of Rights would improve the quality and accountability of government, but on the other hand others agree that it would be undermining a tradition of parliamentary sovereignty, including transferring legislative power to unelected judges. Some suggest that a Charter of Human Rights would be unnecessary, given the existing common law and statutory protections of rights in Australia. There is extremely high community support for a Charter of Rights in Australia. People believe that a Charter of Rights will bring Australia into line with other democracies such as Canada and New Zealand, and will contribute to a culture of respect for human rights. Whilst some commentators suggest that a Charter will be impossible in Australia because I would involve the judiciary in giving advisory options. â€Å"Criminals and suspected criminals are most likely to make claims regarding the right to a fair trial or procedural rights concerning arrest and detention, rights that judges are already familiar with. They may also make claims about their right to humane treatment in custody†. Says Sarah Joseph in her article ‘Stance on human rights has everything - except a charter’. In this article Sarah Joseph states that she is against a Carter of rights and feels it unnecessary for Australia. Many other countries have enacted similar bills of rights by statute; Canada introduced the Canadian Bill of rights in 1960. New Zealand introduced a Bill of Rights in 1993, and the UK enacted the Human Rights Act 1998 (UK). In 2008, on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Federal Attorney- General Robert McClelland announced an inquiry, HUMAN RIGHTS Essay HUMAN RIGHTS Essay Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention: An international regime = set of principles, norms, rules and decision-making procedures that states and other international actors accept as authoritative in an issue- area. The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945, promoted respect for human rights as one of the principal objectives. It also created a commission on Human Rights. The commission was drafting the ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ – list of internationally recognised human rights. Civil and political rights – provide legal protection against abuse by the state and seek to ensure political participation for all citizens. Economic, social and cultural rights – guarantee individuals access to essential goods and services and seek to ensure equal social and cultural participation. E.g. rights to food, housing, health care, etc. Nature of these rights: Humans being are endowed with individual rights & protections because they are human Three Dominant rights: Inherent – birthright of all (not given by state) Inalienable – cannot be given up or taken away – non-exchangeable Universal – apply to all people regardless of nationality, status, gender, religion or race – EVERYONE entitled to rights = controversial You can find these rights in the: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights – 1948 (second world war was the influence) – Rights of women and children are greater listed than men. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – 1966 International Labour organisation International Court of Justice International Criminal Court Problems & challenges: Compliance & enforcement – rights were created without an equivalent mechanism Cultural objections – communal rights, Asian values Religious objections – role of women in society Economic Objections – child labour = has implications when applied in reality Claim of Western authorship Procedural v substantive freedoms & rights = processed rights, no real contradiction Humanitarian Intervention – designed to uphold these rights Military Intervention: use of force Non-Military Intervention: provision of aid Non- Intervention: The norm in international politics States claim monopoly control over their internal affairs Sovereignty rights protected in UN charter UN Security Council interprets â€Å"threats to international peace and security† = ethical and legal duty Humanitarian Intervention Examples: (1970s – current period) 1994: UN in Cambodia 1999: UN in East Timor 2011: Libya 1971: India in Bangladesh Challenges & Problems: Using force to stop violence – replacing one tyranny, with a tyranny of another kind How many people need to be

The Evolving State of Healthcare Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Evolving State of Healthcare - Research Paper Example pent more on health care that any other nation, despite the enormous expense of health care, the universal standards of health such as life expectation and infant mortality are not as elevated as those of different nations (Simon, 2010). Nevertheless, things have changed since the Obama administration took over power. National health insurance plan administered by the federal government as a substitute to the private health insurance is due to be proposed by President Obama. In essence, the congressional leaders argue that by reducing the cost of healthcare, universal health insurance plan will actual reduce the national arrears. Health care crisis in America is marked by three dimensional challenges; one is the escalating costs of health care, the restricted access to care and its threat to retirement security (Simon, 2010). First, the escalation of the health care caused by quick change from the usual reimbursement system to a capitation system which is more of cost sharing than the insurance having to cater for all medical bills to the extent of forcing doctor to attend on patient partially hence not genuine medical cover. Second, is that not most people are able to access to care because they are not well up. This means that preventive care is basically non existence to them and they can only attend to medical care when critically ill and require urgent and pricey treatment. (Simon, 2010). Third, is the growing cost of the health care as compared to the incomes of those who pay for it. This makes the standards of living and economic security of those people who retire at more risk. Universal healthcare coverage is being considered by a number of nations so as to ensure that all people are placed into one medical consideration. This kind of health care will ensure that people will no longer be oppressed by the privatized healthcare systems which are inefficient, costly and at times

Managing Construction Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Managing Construction Project Management - Essay Example Managing Construction Project Management It is clearly stated in the Standard Forms of Contract in UK that the building contractors are not made responsible for the building construction delays due to â€Å"exceptionally inclement weather†. However, the act of protecting the building contractors from project delays due to â€Å"exceptionally adverse weather conditions† is commonly used by almost all architects and building construction companies as a legal excuse for not completing a building project on a timely basis. Extreme changes in weather does not only cause delay on project deadline but also leads to the increase in mitigation costs, changes in the building technicalities, delayed completion of project payments, changes in the building design, and possible problems related to labour management. In line with this, Eggleston revealed that â€Å"an adverse weather should never be considered as a legal ground for contractors’ failure to perform their contractual obligations†. Building projects are usually defined by its scope, the available budget, and scheduling. Aiming to minimize the risk of future construction delays caused by adverse weather, this report will focus on discussing the significance of weather when making assumptions for the bidding and scheduling phases of the new construction project. Aside from discussing the partial and/or total ownership of risks associated with extreme weather events, the long-term extreme weather condition will be assumed based on the current scientific information that will be gathered and thoroughly discussed in this report.

Role of Religion in the American Civil War Essay

Role of Religion in the American Civil War - Essay Example As theis discussion stresses  there were theological differences between the industrial north and the rural south. The north, which was industrialized, embraced progressivism and more liberal enlightenment-inspiring ideas. The souths who were largely rural maintained the traditional orthodox doctrines that were aligned with the teachings of John Calvin. All the above were important aspects of the civil war. As stated by Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address they both read the same Bible and prayed to the same God. But the north embraced industrial growth very fast and they were very open to the ideas of scientific revolution and the European enlightenment creating a very different society and the belief system.  This paper discusses that  most of the religious leaders of the North received ministerial training in the Europe and Germany where they were deeply immersed in the new radical theology. While these leaders maintained the terminology from the Bible; they tried to redefine it by replacing the spiritual import of the words with a secular meaning. The Calvinists doctrines of human depravity and the sovereignty of God were viewed as the enemy of progress. Modernization ideas and advancement were usually pushed forward with the ideas of human perfectibility and self-sufficiency.it made many people start rejecting their old theological beliefs that were viewed as old fashioned, very irrelevant and enemies of progress.

The Internationalisation Process Of Sime Darby Berhad Economics Essay

The Internationalisation Process Of Sime Darby Berhad Economics Essay This study will describe and analyse the internationalisation process of a leading Malaysian-based MNC called Sime Darby Berhad (SDB). The assignment will identify the structure and actions of this company in forming its expansion processes including the motivations for international investment, competitive strategies, and selection of foreign entry approaches. CASE COMPANY: SIME DARBY BERHAD (SDB) The following are reasons why Sime Darby was chosen as a case sample: It was the first multinational corporation in Malaysia is one of the largest corporations in the whole of Southeast Asia. The company has a long history of international trading activities and is one of the most internationally integrated companies. The company, which has focused concentration on how the management gained internationalisation knowledge and experience when operating the organisation, has been a Malaysian multinational from its foundation as it became a Malaysian unit through acquisition by the Malaysian Government in 1977. The group is widely diversified with interests in almost all economic sectors as well as plantations, energy, heavy equipment, motor vehicle delivery, travel and tourism, healthcare, and property development, both nationally and internationally. Sime Darby Berhad consequently represented the countrys leading business organisation as a diversified corporation. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPING COUNTRY MNCS It has been realised that theories on the internationalisation of companies are mainly based on Western multinational corporations. Starting from Vernons product life cycle theory, (1966, 1971) through the Uppsala international expansion stage model (Johanson and Weidersheim-Paul, 1975; Johanson and Vahlne, 1977) and the more recent works of Dunning on his eclectic paradigm theory (Dunning, 1993, 1995). However, the model does appear to be relevant in the early stages of internationalisation, however, the model is unreflective on issues regarding strategic elements, situational contingency, considerably still and competitive forces. In addition, as the trend of outward investments from developing countries began to increase in the 1990s (United Nation, 1988, 1993) the body of literature concerning these latter investments and entry modes has been developed and enlarged notably. Referring to the scholars on developing country MNCs, ownership advantages of these businesses vary, and there are two separate waves of development: Differing as regards historical background, nature of business, extent of the role of government in operations and transactions, geographical direction, and mode of internationalisation activity. Scholars have described developing country MNCs in the 1980s as those more anxious with cost competitiveness or their competitors (van Hoesel, 1999). On the other hand, developing country MNCs in the 1990s placed bigger stress on the development and direction of business strategies in reaction to the changing forms of world business structure brought about by trade liberalisation and economic globalisation (Dunning et al., 1997). They also resulted in more stress on technological capability as the source of competitive advantage (Pananond and Zeithmal, 1998). The gradual growth of skills, technological and information effort has led in growing the sources of ownership advantages for developing country MNCs. Such views are reliable on the internationalisation process literature (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975). Known now as the Uppsala Internationalisation Model, this literature discusses the importance of internationalisation knowledge and its process throughout a firms internationalisation expansion. The model outlines that lack of knowledge of foreign markets generates an obstruction to internationalisation, and that this knowledge can only be obtained by experience of international markets. The Uppsala school spread the idea of incremental international development to the whole process of a firms internationalisation from exporting to foreign direct investment (FDI). Considering the fact that Malaysian MNCs are new and emerging to the international field, mainly in terms of outward investment, internationalisation theory is of value in explaining the appearance of these corporations. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPANY The structure of the group, the product and geographical diversification is a process which is complex and overlapping. However it can be categorised by four chronological periods: the early development where it transformed from a plantation based to a trading business (1910-1929), then came its domestic expansion which was in 1929-1950s. Next came conglomerate diversification (1950s present day), and finally the companys international expansion (1970s present). It is vital to be aware of the groups history because this then offers knowledge about the organisational development and provides us with insight that may act as a basis for decisions about the future (Eisenhardt, 1989; Gummesson, 1991). Early Development: from Plantation-based to Trading -based business (1910 1929) The company Sime Darby was established in 1910 by two British planters, a Scottish man, William Middleton Sime and Henry Darby, got together and formed a company so they could manage 500 acres of Radell Rubber estates in the state of Malacca. This would bring them a capital of US$20,000. The company was first known as Messrs Sime Darby Co Limited (Malaysian Business, 1 September 2003). As it was a managing agent for several plantation companies, it then began doing general trading as the demand for the rubber estates goods and services grew. The company then set up a branch office in Singapore in 1915 and with its increasing volume of trade, it soon became an agency that did many general trading activities. These included acting as selling agents for various different firms and manufacturers, importing and exporting businesses and supplying a wide variety of consumer products both domestically and internationally. They then set up an office in London as a network branch to market the companys rubber. They then bought more plantation land from the profits they were making from the rubber. The company then bought the British competitor R.G. Shaw Co in 1926 and also began discounting, insurance brokering and money brokering (Utrecht, 1981). Domestic Expansion (1929 1950s) Due to the success of the plantation based business, the group had their first wave of expansion particularly in the rubber, cocoa and palm oil plantations. In 1929 the company acquired the Sarawak Trading Company which owned a franchise of Caterpillar equipment and this proved to be a huge milestone for them. The land they were frequently purchasing needed heavy earth-moving equipment for its development. Sime Darby began entering other lucrative business fields such as engineering, electronics and management services after the Second World War in 1952 (Allen and Donnithorne, 1957). After years of hard work, the company grew to include activities such as finance, supply, sales and shipping products for several plantations and by 1954 the company had a total of 18 offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the British North Borneo and managed over 80,000 acres of rubber land. Then in 1946 they purchased Ewart Co. Conglomerate Diversification (1950s present) Due to their success, by the late 1950s, the company had become large enough to have a holding company in London known as Sime Darby Holding Limited. Naturally the company decided to extend their activities from just trading to manufacturing. In 1971 Sime Darby had been established as a major force in the plantation industry through the acquiring of Seafield Amalgamated Co. and Consolidated Plantations. Even prior to Malaysian independence, Sime Darby gained multinational status due to its rapid growth and extensive diversification. (Ragayah, 1999). Because of this strategic significance as an MNC, and to guard the national interest whereby various critics viewed the largely British management of the company as a painful reminder of imposing utilisation, the Malaysian Government through its trust agency Pernas or National Corporation acquired the company in the mid-1970s. Sime Darby became among the first Malaysian multinationals in the country through this process. The company originally expanded within plantations but because of the groups desire to grow further into non-core activities they were led to major diversifications in many industries, starting in the early 1980s. These included motor vehicles, paint and tyre manufacturing in 1981, oil and gas in 1983, property and insurance in 1984, health and hospitality in 1990, travel and tourism in 1991, power generation in 1994, finance in 1996, hypermarkets in 2000, and retail petroleum in 2001. Through its own subordination, Sime Darby diversified into a range of projects such as hospitals, housing expansion, manufacturing, gasoline and motor fuel circulation, shipping operations, shop lots, golf courses and various others. Sime Darbys national growth was due to three major waves. The first wave of development was fixed in the plantations sector. The second wave was rooted in geographical growth of its trading business, and finally, the third wave covered a variety of diversified business strategies both upstream and downstream, such as oil and gas, financial services, property development, energy, and motor vehicle distribution. The group used a market sector approach to enlarge its business operations both domestically and internationally. International Expansion (1970s present) As Malaysia was the biggest producer of rubber and cocoa in the world during the 1970s, Sime Darbys global exposure began through international trading with the exports of commodity products such as the above mentioned. (Allen and Donnithorne, 1957). The companys astonishing expansion, both geographically and sectorally began in the early 1970s with the purchase of China Engineers (Holdings) Limited, Harpers International Limited, and Amoy Canning Corporation (Hong Kong) Limited, which are all based in Hong Kong (United Nations, 1985). Each came with its benefits, Amoy Canning provided the production of canned food, China Engineers provided many things such as engineering, manufacturing, shipping activities and insurance. Harpers provided Sime Darby with the franchise for the distribution of Ford, BMW, and Mitsubishi automobiles (ibid). Sime Darby obtained the company Shaw and Co. in the United Kingdom which was involved in investment, shipping and trading with substantial investments in South Asia. With the acquisition of Clive Holding Ltd and Guy Butler Robt Bradford Co, Sime Darby moved into discounting, broking and insurance (United Nations, 1985). Having been successful market players since 1928 and the sole Caterpillar dealer in Malaysia for over 70 years, Sime Darby managed to penetrate the market in Singapore via tractors. Caterpillar is so successful, that 95% of Sime Darbys business in the sector of heavy equipment comes from the sales of Caterpillar products. The company also worked closer to home by venturing in downstream processing activities by purchasing Edible Products Ltd which is a major vegetable oil refinery in Singapore. Organisationally, the international expansion of the Company can be categorised into four main regions. Neighbouring Asian countries with similar cultural backgrounds were given priority. Sime Darbys international operations, like its domestic business activities, involved five core areas which were energy, property, heavy equipment, plantations and motors. During the study, the group consisted of 185 additional and associated companies that were participating in various different business activities in the Malaysian market. In regards to the companies international operations, the group collectively had 46 companies in Hong Kong, 9 in the Philippines, 72 in Singapore, 11 in Australia, 5 in Indonesia and 19 in other developing countries. Of these developing countries, the group had 12 companies in the United Kingdom, 2 in the US and 15 in New Zealand (Sime, 2006). The major strength that Sime Darby has lies within the region of Southeast Asia with a smaller, restricted coverage in other areas of Asia. When looking at the groups gross revenue and pre-tax profits over the past four years, it can be noted that the overseas operations accounted for 60% 35% respectively with Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia collectively, taking the lead for posting revenues in excess of RM 1 billion. Due to the fact that Sime Darby has operations in 20 different countries, it is clear that international business is one of the key sources of growth for the group. The following section will identify and explain how the company has built up its ownership advantages and its business strategy. DISCUSSION: AN ANALYSIS OF SIME DARBY INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION Â  Normally, a company becomes multinational by undergoing three different stages. Firstly, the firm begins as a domestic company and acquires technological, management and marketing capabilities through the normal process of development, to become a domestic leader. Then, due to the limitation of the domestic market forces, the company is motivated to begin exporting abroad so as to increase its revenue. Finally, when these exports come under threat by tariff protection or competition, the company uses its competitive advantage ad produces goods abroad which directly involve them in investment (United Nations, 1985; Johanson and Vahlne, 2003). Following this inspection, a close look at Sime Darbys development as a national MNC, uncovers that the company was in fact internationalised prior to its emergence as a Malaysian conglomerate. Overnight, through the acquisition of a British firm operating in the country, the group became a Malaysian MNC. Up until the companys residence was transferred from the United Kingdom to Malaysia in 1979, Sime Darby had been a British controlled corporation. After consulting investment bankers Rothschild, the Malaysian government purchased several shares in the London Stock Market in line with the New Economic Policy (NEP) which increased Malay equity. In 1977, Sime Darbys equity became Malaysian owned largely due to the efforts of Tradewinds Sendirian Berhad. Sime Darby had international corporations in numerous countries before its foundation as a Malaysian MNC. This included offices in Singapore and London to further support their international operations. The discussion presented here is that the procedures adopted by the Malaysian government via its state agencies indicated a revolution in the ways of internalisation and also went beyond traditional theories of FDI as illustrated by most scholars. However, it could be argued that the company had overcome important internal and ownership advantages created by nationalisation and favourable treatment by the Malaysian government as had been noted by Dunnings OLI theory (Dunning, 1993, 1995). Nonetheless, the situation of SD outlines an attractive and appealing option to companies trying to become international by purchasing an existing MNC. Government intervention and nationalisation are in doubt to happen in all circumstances, but sometimes government can increase MNC development in different. The emergence of SD as a Malaysian MNC supports the theory raised by Oviatt and McDougall that the firm can be internationalised from its setting up. They may begin their international involvemen t directly from foundation instead. Nonetheless, this theory stresses that such companies gain ownership advantages even before to their establishment. In the United Kingdom, the group bought Carboxyl Chemical Ltd, which manufactures wires, lubricants and defoaments. Clearly, the international expansion of the SD group creates challenges to the internationalisation literature, which suggests that firms may minimise the risk of involvement when they first enter the international market and that it will assume a higher degree of involvement and resource commitment. However, the groups common use of equity participation through acquisition of firms operating in the country and abroad seems contradictory to that proposition. This contradiction may result from narrow assumptions about developing country firms which have been portrayed as small, having limited resources and lacking in management capabilities (Yeung, 1994). Another alternative for SDs participation in international expansion is joint venture with foreign partners. In some countries, the group decided to set up joint ventures with local partners in the host countries to the shared benefit of both sides. There are several reasons for SD to expand internationally and choose a particular country to be the recipient of its investments. Such as finding new markets, home government disincentives, higher returns on investment, diversifying risks cheap and abundant resources, competition to enter new markets, overcoming import restrictions and to exploit technological innovations and the production process better. These may be classified as push or pull factors. As with these views, SDs international growth was driven by its goal to hunt for growth continuously through entry into new markets abroad and to ease the export of products to another country, especially in other developing countries. This was the reason for the group to set up regional divisions in countries like Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia to maintain its business. This is because the developing countries offered opportunities for growth and also shared some similar characteristics with which the group were familiar. From the interviews of key executives in the company, there are three main reasons appear to be important for SD to invest abroad. The first is to take advantage of market opportunities. The second is to diversify risks. And, the third is related to motivations which consistently counts on diversification to escape high costs, labour, and other resource limitation in Malaysia. An equally important factor is the familiarity of the countries where the investment is directed, in the sense of common or shared experiences in history, culture, economics and even politics. From the point of view of location strategy, familiarity with the country and closeness to Malaysia will be the main criteria. Diversifying risk is also an important determinant of the choice of overseas location. SD emphasises that the very nature of its organisation is to diversify risk by having a spread of products or geographically located businesses. The diversification strategy has worked for the group, since it may be that one business is declining but that it will be compensated for by the other businesses. The groups strategy in its investment is to be a long term player and try to make business work in every economic condition. In some countries, the groups business strategy was to start in trading; this then provided a window on opportunities, enabling SD to identify both new businesses and partners for establishing joint ventures. With regard to its long-term strategy, SD wants to strengthen its position in the Asian regional market, and then the next logical step for SD is to be truly global. For this, it has to aim at inclusion in the Fortune 500 companies and thus must strengthen its presence in the European Community and the North American markets. Although it has set up subsidiaries, joint ventures and acquisitions in the United Kingdom and the United States, these are still inadequate. Moreover, it needs to be rather more aggressive about growing the business that it already has, as well as establishing new ones (ibid). Managerially, there are many lessons to be drawn from the case analysis. They include the following: Managers need to avoid narrow or parochial views with regard to potential MNC development. There are many and diverse routes to such. Strategic initiatives such as joint venture are not purely dependent on cultural criteria, but on competitive circumstances, government support or lack of it, technological innovation, capitalisation, and managerial skills and know-how. The rationale for going abroad relies on opportunism, risks aversion, and managerial motivation. Strategies for entry will vary based on individual country criteria coupled with the three items mentioned above. With regard to relevance and transferability to other Asian, national, company or cultural contexts, undoubtedly, new and old business models and modelling processes for FDI and internationalisation processes abound. Few, however, have concerned Malaysian-owned, Malaysian-managed MNCs. CONCLUSION This piece of work has studied both domestic and international development of the Sime Darby group, which is one of the largest Malaysian multinational corporations. SD can be viewed as a new model of internationalisation process due to it being internationalised from its foundation through the takeover of foreign companies operating in the country. The company grew through expanding its capacity as a widely spread corporation. The groups different internal and external sources, such as extensive marketing, strong brand names and good management capabilities have resulted in gaining ownership advantages amongst other rivalries. Also, Sime Darbys special relationship with the Malaysian government through its state agencies and trust played an important role in the groups development. Its domestic and international development was also achieved by maintaining the groups ties with foreign partners in developing its technological capabilities. SD is at the front line of Malaysias drive into the international ground as one of Asias leading corporation. SDs strongest ground is the Asia Pacific and its energy has mainly been directed to this area, but projects have also been made further for some of its investment, such as in the United Kingdom, the USA, Egypt and South Africa. Sime Darby has grown beyond the boundaries of the region and will continue to expand its perspectives in future FDI. After acknowledging the need to become familiar to the confronts of internationalisation, the group has outlined the broad strategies that it believes are important for it to compete successfully in the international field. With these are: Planning for continuous growth in related businesses through horizontal and vertical combination SDs overall strategy is to keep its reputation as Malaysias leading conglomerate, focusing mainly on the growth of the Asia Pacific region through products and services of excellent quality. Consider a learning culture which supports the contribution of knowledge across geographical partitions and organisational limitations. http://www.business-and-management.org/download.php?file=2008/3_221-36-Ahmad,Kitchen.pdf

Role of Visions and Hallucinations in Macbeth Essay examples -- Macbet

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations play a significant role and contribute to the development of his character. In the play Macbeth, a man is driven to murder his king and his companions after receiving a fairly ambiguous prophecy told by three witches. Although the witches triggered the series of events that later aid Macbeth’s descent into complete insanity, Macbeth is portrayed from the very beginning as a fierce and violent soldier. As the play goes on, several internal conflicts inside of Macbeth become clear. After he performs several bloody tasks, the madness inside of Macbeth is unmistakably visible to everyone around him. As a result of this insanity, he sees visions and hallucinations. Each time Macbeth hallucinates, he plunges further into insanity that is essentially caused by misguided ambition, dread and guilt. Macbeth has three key hallucinations that play a considerably important role in the development of his character: a dagger, the ghost of Banquo, and four apparitions while visiting the prophesying witches. Macbeth’s first hallucination and sign of madness comes directly before his wife and he murder King Duncan. After hearing from the witches that he will become the king and conversing with his wife about this, the two of them decide they must kill Duncan. From the beginning of the play, we see Macbeth is a loyal warrior, albeit a vicious one with no trouble killing. It is in the first scene that Macbeth’s brutality is illustrated. An army captain reported: â€Å"For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name), Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like valor’s minion, carved out his passage Till he faced the slave; Which ne’er sh... .... His insanity was a result of ambition taken much too far, ambition mutated and converted into evil by internal as well as social conflict; Macbeth’s wife did nothing to prevent Macbeth’s sickness and actually helped the problem develop. From his ambition came actions that filled his mind with conflict, dread, suspicion and guilt. It could be said that Macbeth was insane from the beginning, from the moment that the witches appeared to him in the third scene of the play or even from when he carved out his bloody passage in battle. Whether Macbeth was insane his whole life or just from the moment he first saw the imaginary dagger, it is indisputable that his visions and hallucinations only helped to supplement his lunacy. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1915. Google Books. Web. 3 Sept. 2015.

English Study Topic By The Company He Keeps

A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses. This quote simply tells one that you become who you are around. This means that people who have bad company will become bad company themselves. But interaction with other people is not all bad. Instead of this, looking for company that will improve who a person becomes is the best idea. The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you associate; either for the good, or the bad.Sometimes hanging out less with certain types of people will improve life through decisions made (or not made). Setting the bar high for friends is an important aspect of maturity. An important attribute found in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. While it is better to be alone than in bad company, good company is even better. Anita Desai has long proved herself one of the most accomplished and admired chroniclers of middl e-class India.Her 1999 novel, Fasting, Feasting, is the tale of plain and lumpish Uma and the cherished, late-born Arun, daughter and son of strict and conventional parents. So united are her parents in Uma's mind that she conflates their names. â€Å"MamaPapa themselves rarely spoke of a time when they were not one. The few anecdotes they related separately acquired great significance because of their rarity, their singularity. † Throughout, Desai perfectly matches form and content: details are few, the focus narrow, emotions and needs given no place.Uma, as daughter and female, expects nothing; Arun, as son and male, is lost under the weight of expectation. Now in her 40s, Uma is at home. Attempts at arranged marriages having ended in humiliation and disaster, and she is at MamaPapa's beck and call, with only her collection of bracelets and old Christmas cards for consolation. Uma flounces off, her grey hair frazzled, her myopic eyes glaring behind her spectacles, muttering under her breath. The parents, momentarily agitated upon their swing by the sudden invasion of ideas–sweets, parcel, letter, sweets–settle back to their slow, rhythmic swinging.They look out upon the shimmering heat of the afternoon as if the tray with tea, with sweets, with fritters, will materialise and come swimming out of it–to their rescue. With increasing impatience, they swing and swing. Arun, in college in Massachusetts, is none too happily spending the summer with the Pattons in the suburbs: their refrigerator and freezer is packed with meat that no one eats, and Mrs. Patton is desperate to be a vegetarian, like Arun. But what he most wants is to be ignored, invisible. â€Å"Her words make Arun wince.Will she never learn to leave well alone? She does not seem to have his mother's well-developed instincts for survival through evasion. After a bit of pushing about slices of tomatoes and leaves of lettuce–in his time in America he has developed a hearty abhorrence for the raw foods everyone here thinks the natural diet of a vegetarian–he dares to glance at Mr. Patton. † Desai's counterpointing of India and America is a little forced, but her focus on the daily round, whether in the Ganges or in New England, finely delineates the unspoken dramas in both cultures.And her characters, capable of their own small rebellions, give Fasting, Feasting its sharp bite. –Ruth Petrie From Publishers Weekly Short-listed for the 1999 Booker Prize, Desai's stunning new novel (after Journey to Ithaca) looks gently but without sentimentality at an Indian family that, despite Western influence, is bound by Eastern traditions. As Desai's title implies, the novel is divided into two parts. At the heart of Part One, set in India, is Uma, the eldest of three children, the overprotected daughter who finds herself starved for a life.Plain, myopic and perhaps dim, Uma gives up school and marriage, finding herself in her 40s looking after her demanding if well-meaning parents. Uma's younger, prettier sister marries quickly to escape the same fate, but seems dissatisfied. Although the family is â€Å"quite capable of putting on a progressive, Westernized front,† it's clear that privileges are still reserved for boys. When her brother, Arun, is born, Uma is expected to abandon her education at the convent school to take care of him.It is Arun, the ostensibly privileged son, smothered by his father's expectations, who is the focus of the second part of the novel. The summer after his freshman year at the University of Massachusetts, Arun stays with the Pattons, an only-too-recognizable American family. While Desai paints a nuanced and delicate portrait of Uma's family, here the writer broadens her brush strokes, starkly contrasting the Pattons' surfeit of food and material comforts with the domestic routine of the Indian household.Indeed, Desai is so adept at portraying Americans through Indian eyes that t he Pattons remain as inscrutable to the reader as they are to Arun. But Arun himself, as he picks his way through a minefield of puzzling American customs, becomes a more sympathetic character, and his final act in the novel suggests both how far he has come and how much he has lost. Although Desai takes a risk in shifting from the endearing Uma to Arun, she has much to say in this graceful, supple novel about the inability of the families in either culture to nurture their children. (Jan. ) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Hospitality Management Major - Culinary Class Term Project Outline Term Paper

Hospitality Management Major - Culinary Class Term Project Outline Term Paper Hospitality Management Major Hospitality Management Major - Culinary Term Project Outline The Blue Hill New York was started by Davis, Dan, and Laureen Barber. This restaurant is located in Blue Hill and Stone Barns in Pocantico, New York, which is well known for the food prepared by Chef Dan Barber and his associates. The original Blue Hill restaurant opened in the year 2000 in Greenwich Village (Blue Hill Farm). This restaurant is also well known for its location on an estate that is built for the Rockefeller family in the year 1930’s. The intention of the owners of this restaurant is not just to fill the customers’ stomach, but they aim at forming a relationship with its customers. In many cases, employees engage customers in conversation about all things. The level of hospitality and the many varieties of fresh food served in this restaurant is one where a person can arrive with the intention of ordering one specific thing and end up ordering much more. The Blue Hill New York its high quality p roducts that come fresh from the nearby firm, including the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, and the Blue Hill Farm in Great Barrington, Massachusetts assures customers that they will get their value for money. The restaurant not only aims at selling quality local food, but also aims at providing the best services. Employees help the restaurant deliver the best service by upholding the highest level of etiquette by being friendly to customers. The staff also provides any other assistance required to make sure that the customer is satisfied. Blue Hill Farm. Blue Hill. 2014. Web. 19 9 2014.

American Me essays

American Me essays American Me is a movie, made in 1992, directed by and starring Edward James Olmos. This movie based on a true story, about a Mexican-American male spinning over half his life in prison. He grew up in the street of East Los Angeles, were he joined the local neighborhood gang. He and his friends got sent to prison at the age of sixteen for breaking and entering. In prison he did what it took to survive, which got him more years in jail. He started the biggest click in prison, Mexican Mafia, which gave him and all Latinos, away to survive the prison life. Santana is the name of the person the movie revolves around. His parents were Zoot Suitors in their day and not like by society. Sailors, during the Zoot Suit Riots raped Santanas mother and beat up his father. Santana grew up with his father resenting him, because he was not his real son. But Santana did not find this out until much later in his life. Santana stay in the street, during his childhood to get away from his father. Santana killed his first person at the age of sixteen, which gave him respect and power. Santana love his newly find power. From his power and respect, he started the Mexican Mafia, which later expanded in and out of prison. They used the Mexican Mafia the keep Latinos united and to stop people, who were stronger, from taking anything away from his people. Santana used he power to grantee Latino peoples safety by making them pay rent. Santana and his counter parts, JD and Mundo, ran everything in Folsom State Prison. They had control of gambling, drugs, and prostitution. In prison the Mexican Mafia was up against the Black Gorilla Family (BGF) and the Arien Brotherhood. They did deal with everyone but it was a constant battle to keep the power and respect. There was nothing the system could do to keep Santana from running things. The warrant put him in solitaire and sent people in his Mafia to different prisons, but all that di...

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 101

Assignment Example This led to permanent contract of money supply in the economy. This inflicted a severe damage to the financial stability of the US economy instead of increasing real quantities of money. The consumer price index at that time shows that the Fed was making several policy errors out the fear of increased inflation. The public interest considered a sacrifice for the inflation. In todays current world, the most commonly used way of producing money in the economy is through bank lending. When a commercial bank lends money to customers, firms and government organizations, it issues new money to the economy thus increasing the stock of money in the economy. Scholars in the Australian School of economics refer to this kind of producing money as ‘creating money out of thin air’. This is because the increase in money through the circulation of bank credit does not necessarily require the existence of actual savings (Ryan-Collins & Josh 78). In most cases, banks do not lend out reserves as loans. People may wonder why banks do not give out money to customers as loans yet they have enough deposits and reserves. Well, economists tend to explain this. Most of the people and businesses who took loan initially are now concentrating in paying the loan thus increasing the amount of reserves for the banks. In 2009, the US experienced a significant fall in the levels of loan creation. This is because damaged banks are very much reluctant to lend out money, fearful people do not want to invest in businesses that they tend to fear risks associated with borrowing money. In addition to these two factors, you still find that damaged households are afraid of borrowing money. The mixture of these three factors causes the level of demand and supply for money in the economy to reduce significantly. Nonetheless, banks are still lending out money but not at the same rate, they were doing it before the Great depression (Ryan-Collins & Josh 78). When Fed increases money supply in the

Stress Effect and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stress Effect and Management - Essay Example ing for a picnic with my kids, I would first get panic attacks on how to go there and after reaching the spot, I would worry about how we would get back. By practicing Yoga, I have become calmer and I am able to control these panic attacks, plan my activities better and small issues don’t upset me too much. Yoga has helped me to reduce the harmful effects of stress. Some of the harmful effects that stress causes are headaches, exhaustion, reduced resistance to common colds and flu, digestive problems and acidity, distraction at work that can cause attention lapse and cause injuries, increased occurrence of Type 2 diabetes, premature aging, insomnia, unable to concentrate and focus on work, loss of sense of humour and tendency for rash flare-ups that can cause strained relations with colleagues and other bad effects. Too much of stress is known to cause migraines, cluster headaches and tension headaches and these cannot be cured by taking medicines. Stress also causes exhaustion and a general feeling of tiredness that drains away the creative abilities and victims feel tired and drained out after work. Too much stress causes natural resistance of the body to reduce and people become ill more frequently with colds, flu and cough and they also have problems such as ulcers caused by too mu ch secretion of the bile juice inside the stomach. Stress is also known to make people preoccupied and this can cause lapse of judgement while driving or at work and can lead to accident. It is also known to cause cardiovascular diseases that can cause artery blockage, heart attacks and other serious illness. Other than these, stress also makes people irritable and they are prone to flare up at colleagues, with very little provocation. Such behaviour causes a breakdown in interpersonal relations and effects work performance besides vitiating the atmosphere at homes. The whole observation is that stress is a needless by product of life that reduces the quality of life and causes

Resolving the IRS and Developing a New Tax Reform Package Research Paper

Resolving the IRS and Developing a New Tax Reform Package - Research Paper Example The Commissioner of Internal Revenue that immediately supervises its affairs manages the service unit responsible for taxes in the United States federal government. The agency placed under the Department of Treasury deals with the collection of revenue for the treasury giving them the needed finances to run their activities. The IRS deals with the collection of taxes and the administration aspects of the Internal Revenue Code. Through the trust developed, it has proven successful (Kaplan, 2004). They base on to ensure that the administration of taxes and their collection from the masses is controlled and the targets remain achieved these on a regular basis. The collective responsibility of managing taxes and ensuring that public expenditure is sufficient makes is a huge responsibility that the IRS has seemed challenged to maintain. Of late, a number of challenges have arisen that have showed the weaknesses that the system has covered. These have occasioned the need for the development of new tax reforms package that will help improve the tax system and make a better effective means of managing taxes of the public. The details of this paper aim at discussing the new tax reforms that will aim at covering the failures of the IRS. These aimed at ensuring that the tax system and its management is efficient, economical and effective will provide better tax policies and theory. It is based on the theory that the failure of the IRS is occasioned by the wide coverage area that it has and the challenges that it experiences regularly in dealing with the effects that the high taxes have occasioned on the citizens. The new tax systems aimed at improving these and ensuring that all people are catered for by a tax system that respects and covers people of all occupations will provide better management and ease in tax administration Considering developing a new tax reform package will need an analysis of the current tax system. Understanding the IRS provides and

Where You Go To Achieve Your Fitness Desires Essay Example for Free

Where You Go To Achieve Your Fitness Desires Essay Situated, and being the sole tenant at the top-most floor of a 40-story building, Feat to Fit enjoys the freedom of its location. It is around a thousand square meter facility with various fitness machines in various corners of the facility. The wall is made of glass panels where men and women doing their fitness activities, unassisted or not, have the freedom to look at the clear view of the city laid out before them at the foot of the building or somewhere far so long their eye sight can reach the view. The center itself is situated in the middle of the building as there is a terrace portion on all four corners of the building. Anyone can enjoy the fee sunlight after their shower or pass a few minutes drinking iced-tea or some refreshments right after they have burned out some calories. There are adjustable gazebos (it can be closed or opened as umbrellas). There is a little bar inside offering drinks to the always thirsty Feat to Fit clients. There are 12 shower rooms, 3 each in every corner of the facility. At the entrance, there is the lobby, where drinking and reading and watching the fitness center’s wide LCD screen (approximately 60 inches wide) that’s always tuned in a sports channel. That’s where the reception lady and/or guy always busy herself or himself with the customers or some administrative tasks. From the ground floor, the Feat to Fit center can be accessed through 2 possible options of taking elevator, one arriving at the side (minor) entrance of the center and another stopping right in front of the main entrance where the reception is. At the south of the entrance (across it), there is the stairway, another option to use in order to reach or leave the center. There is a fire exit near this stair. Below, the property is mixed residential-commercial. I wonder why this was possible but it was already this mix when Feat to Fit opened in this location. It was blessing in disguise though as there are a lot of both residential tenants and office employees using the center now.

Meeting the Needs of a Dying Patient

Meeting the Needs of a Dying Patient Title: caring for a patient who is dying is an experience most nurses will face at some stage of their career. With reference to patients you have cared for, describe how you were able to meet the needs of dying patients. As a certainty, all of us will have to face death at some stage. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to do so with caring, supportive and empathetic people around us. (Seale C et al. 2003). Nurses must be able to discharge their professional responsibilities in this area with this comment in mind. In this short essay we will explore how a nurse can empathise, understand and assist the patient in dealing with the various issues that arise. We will discuss these issues in relation to one specific case, Mrs G. The case was complex, but, in essence, it involved a lady who had just been given a terminal diagnosis and entered into a phase of complete denial and overt avoidance behaviour. She would change the subject when talking about her health and keep herself almost manically occupied with trivial tasks so as not to have to consider the reality of the situation. Dobrantz (2005) points to the fact that it is well recognised that some patients deal with life crises simply by ignoring them, other will use mechanisms of varying degrees of cognitive distortion (CDs), which may range from undue optimism to complete denial (as Mrs.G did). The main nursing dilemma here is should the nurse actively confront Mrs.G’s denial and allow her to see the reality of the situation or is it perhaps kinder to allow her to continue in her state of overt denial. (Dean A. 2002) On first analysis, one might take the view that, given the fact that Mrs.G had only a short time left to live, it might be a kindness to allow her not to confront the psychological pain of anticipating her imminent death. Against this argument is the concept of â€Å"a good death†. (Cuttini et al. 2003). Many authorities (viz. Roy C 1991) that in order for a patient to have â€Å"a good death†, they need time to accept the inevitable and to mentally come to terms with it, make what preparations they need (financial, practical, spiritual, personal) so that they can approach it in a calm and considered way. Clearly this cannot be achieved if they are actively entering into a degree of denial about the situation. (The A-M et al. 2000) Demonstrate ability to apply relevant nursing knowledge to individualised patient care The immediate therapeutic problem to be confronted by the healthcare professionals involved is to decide the degree of collusion with the denial that can be ethically employed. (Sugarman J Sulmasy 2001). To a degree, this is a matter of personal and clinical judgement. Most experienced healthcare professionals would suggest that truth is generally the best policy, the degree of truth however, can be a matter of negotiation. (Parker and Lawton 2003). The important concept to embrace in this type of situation is that of individualised patient care. In order to come to a considered decision, the nurse must carefully consider all the elements of the patient’s coping mechanisms and assume a holistic approach to the matter. We note that the concept of holistic care can best be visualised with the understanding that the concept of â€Å"Health† is based on a translation of the Anglo Saxon word for â€Å"wholeness† (or holism). The key to this approach is that it recognises that health has both spiritual and psycho-social elements as well as the overtly physical. (Wright et al 2001) The main elements of managing Mrs.G ‘s case seem to revolve around the ethical concept of autonomy (Coulter A. 2002). One has to make a professional decision whether or not Mrs.G is considered to have the right to make completely autonomous decisions for herself. In many clinical situations (such as consent, for example), the issue of autonomy is virtually inviolate. There are other situations, and we suggest that this is one, where other ethical principles may take precedence. The Principle of Beneficence suggests that the healthcare professional should effectively do â€Å"goodness† or more accurately in these circumstances, as doing what is the best for the patient. (Dordrecht et al. 1983 Demonstrate ability to make own judgment and decisions based upon the evaluation of the nursing situation. There are a number of nursing models which could be used to construct a response to this situation. They all assimilate the general nursing scheme of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. (Fawcett J 2005) The Roper, Logan, Tierney model (2000) would be appropriate to assess the activities of daily living in a problem solving manner, but this process is primarily of use in those situations that are physically orientated and therefore the psychological denial element is not clearly addressed by this model. The Roy Adaptation model (Roy 1991) is certainly more useful in explaining the adaptive processes that the patient experiences as they come to terms with the â€Å"illness role†. Mrs.G however, did not adapt and, by adopting a strategy of denial, was able to maintain her belief of â€Å"wellness† almost until the end, when her illness eventually forced her into accepting it. In real terms, Mrs.G did not adapt at all. The Johnson Behavioural System model (Wilkerson et al 1996) suits our purposes better as it clearly describes the processes of illness denial, but it doses not combine it with the adaptive processes that eventually overtook Mrs.G at the end of her life. Wadenstein (et al. 2003) sums up this type of situation with the conclusion that when there is multifactorial aetiology in a given situation there is seldom one nursing model that will encompass all eventualities. Conclusions Mrs.J.’s emotional pain of trying to cope with imminent death was clearly too great for her to assimilate. This must be understood by her medical attendants if she is to have a â€Å"good death† (Marks-Moran Rose 1996) In order to try to provide Mrs.G with the best care that she could have, the clinical staff tried to help Mrs.G towards the realisation that she should confront her own imminent mortality. Unfortunately for all concerned, this proved to be impossible and Mrs.G died about two weeks after her admission, only openly acknowledging the imminence of her death when she became too weak to lift a cup of tea to her mouth on the day before she died. Arguably, when this acceptance came home to her, the nursing staff were actually able to help and support her more than Mrs.G had allowed them to in the preceding two weeks. (Yura H et al. 1998 References Coulter A. 2002 The autonomous patient. London: The Nuffield Trust, 2002. Cuttini, Veronica Casotto, Rodolfo Saracci, and Marcello Orzalesi 2003 In search of a good death: Health professionals beliefs may undermine effective pain relief for dying patients BMJ 2003 327 : 222. Dean A. 2002 Talking to dying patients of their hopes and needs. Nurs Times. 2002 Oct 22-28 ; 98( 43) : 34-5. Dobratz, M 2005 Gently Into the Light: A Call for the Critical Analysis of End-of-Life Outcomes. Advances in Nursing Science. Nursing Care Outcomes. 28(2):116-126, April/June 2005 Dordrecht: Kluwer. Beauchamp, T. and Childress, J., 1983, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 2nd edition., New York: Oxford University Press. 1983 Fawcett J 2005 Contemporary Nursing Knowledge: Analysis and Evaluation of Nursing Models and Theories, 2nd Edition Boston: Davis Co 2005 ISBN : 0-8036-1194-3 Marks-Moran Rose 1996 Reconstructing Nursing: Beyond Art and Science London: Balliere Tindall October, 1996 Parker and Lawton 2003 Psychological contribution to the understanding of adverse events in health care Qual. Saf. Health Care, Dec 2003; 12: 453 457. Roper, Logan and Tierney (2000) Activities of Living model London : Churchill Livingstone 2000 ISBN 0443063737 Roy C 1991 An Adaption model (Notes on the Nursing theories Vol 3) OUP: London 1991 Seale C, van der Geest S. 2003 Good and bad death: introduction. Soc Sci Med. 2003. 58 (5) : 883–885. Sugarman J Sulmasy 2001 Methods in Medical Ethics Georgetown Univeristy Press 2001 ISBN: 0878408738 The A-M, Hak T, Koeter G, Wal Gvd. 2000 Collusion in doctor-patient communication about imminent death: an ethnographic study. BMJ 2000 ; 321 : 1376-1381 Wadensten Carlsson 2003 Nursing theory views on how to support the process of ageing J. of Advanced Nursing Volume 42, Number 2, April 2003, pp. 118-124(7) Wilkerson, S. A., Loveland-Cherry, C. J. (1996). Johnson’s behavioral system model. In J. J. Fitzpatrick A.L. Whall (Eds.), Conceptual models of nursing: Analysis and application (3rd ed., pp. 89-109). Stamford, CT: Appleton Lange. 1996 Wright S, Sayre-Adams J. 2001 Sacred space: right relationship in health and healing: not just what we do but who we are. In: Rankin-Box D, ed. The nurses handbook of complementary therapies. 2nd ed. London: Baillià ¨re Tindall, 2001. Yura H, Walsh M. 1998 The nursing process. Assessing, planning, implementing, evaluating. 5th edition. Norwalk, CT: Appleton Lange, 1998. =============================================================== 9.5.06 PDG Word count

Productivity Growth In the US :: essays research papers

It was said that once-in-a-century advances in technology are transforming our economy. The computer chip is doing for today's knowledge economy what electricity did for our industrial economy a century ago. Synergies in technology are driving acceleration in productivity growth that enables us to grow faster with less inflation. Economic progress is speeding up; the speed limit is rising.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Real GDP growth has averaged 4 percent for the past four years, with declining inflation. This almost doubles the 2 percent to 2.5 percent not long ago considered the maximum noninflationary potential. But we've been growing faster than potential and sustaining the unsustainable for four years and counting. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Our faster output growth is based primarily on faster productivity growth and secondarily on faster labor force growth†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Productivity growth now appears to be at least 2.5 percent and rising. An increase from 1 percent to 2.5 percent is an increase of 150 percent, a huge jump with profound implications if sustained. Last year was encouraging. Productivity raised over 3 percent for the year and over 5 percent in the second half.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was said that the United States entered the 21st century with its economy on a roll. GDP growth averaged more than 3 percent a year in the 1990s. The country created 17 million jobs, driving unemployment down to a 30-year low of 4.1 percent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1999-2000 the economy wasn’t doing so bad the unemployment rate was down, there were more jobs available, and production was doing well. When 2001 stated and even before then the economy was going down, many people were being laid off and so on. Then it happened the September 11th attack on the US, this attack has left the Productivity Growth In the US :: essays research papers It was said that once-in-a-century advances in technology are transforming our economy. The computer chip is doing for today's knowledge economy what electricity did for our industrial economy a century ago. Synergies in technology are driving acceleration in productivity growth that enables us to grow faster with less inflation. Economic progress is speeding up; the speed limit is rising.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Real GDP growth has averaged 4 percent for the past four years, with declining inflation. This almost doubles the 2 percent to 2.5 percent not long ago considered the maximum noninflationary potential. But we've been growing faster than potential and sustaining the unsustainable for four years and counting. Sounds odd, doesn't it? Our faster output growth is based primarily on faster productivity growth and secondarily on faster labor force growth†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Productivity growth now appears to be at least 2.5 percent and rising. An increase from 1 percent to 2.5 percent is an increase of 150 percent, a huge jump with profound implications if sustained. Last year was encouraging. Productivity raised over 3 percent for the year and over 5 percent in the second half.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was said that the United States entered the 21st century with its economy on a roll. GDP growth averaged more than 3 percent a year in the 1990s. The country created 17 million jobs, driving unemployment down to a 30-year low of 4.1 percent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1999-2000 the economy wasn’t doing so bad the unemployment rate was down, there were more jobs available, and production was doing well. When 2001 stated and even before then the economy was going down, many people were being laid off and so on. Then it happened the September 11th attack on the US, this attack has left the

A Study Of The Predictive Effect Of Pre-Service Teacher Essay

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to examine the relationship between the personal knowledge management (PKM) competency of pre-service teachers and their instructional design skills. Supporting the sustainable development of teachers as professionals in the knowledge society is a critical issue in teacher education. This study attempts to identify an empirical model and a curriculum framework for nurturing pre-service teachers’ PKM competency. Dorsey (2000) PKM skills were adopted for constructing the theoretical framework and the survey instrument. A quasi-experimental research design was used to collect data from pre-service teachers from Hong Kong’s largest teacher education institution. A structural equation model was applied to explore the predictive power of PKM competency on their instructional design. Results show that a four-factor PKM competency model, which consists of retrieving, analyzing, organizing and collaborative skills, was identified as a predictor of instructional d esign. Use of PKM tools, e-learning activities and collaborative action research for developing pre-service teacher PKM competency are recommended to teaching education institute. Keywords: Personal knowledge management, Pre-service teacher, Teacher education Introduction Rapid advances in technology and communications have greatly accelerated the emergence of information. The increases in the amounts and formats of information available do not automatically make learners more informed or knowledgeable, if a learner cannot manage and meld the accumulation of  information through their daily experience and study to construct knowledge in a systematic fashion. This competency is referred by most literatures (Frand & Hixon, 1999; Dorsey, 2000; Wright, 2005) as personal knowledge management (PKM) competency. Developing learners with PKM competency is not simply a lifelong education issue, it is also an important teacher education issue in terms of sustaining a competitive human capital in the knowledge economy. Teacher development is viewed as an ongoing lifelong learning process as teachers strive to learn how to teach learner to learn how to learn (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). The recent education reforms in Hong Kong (Education Commission, 2000) addressed this lifelong education issue by proposing a learning to learn slogan in the policy document. The policy suggests that teachers should develop student learning competence for acquiring knowledge through various methods. To develop students with knowledge acquisition skills, teachers should also be equipped with the competency for knowledge acquisition. However, since publication of the policy paper entitled Information Technology for Learning in a New Era Five-year Strategy that launched IT in education in Hong Kong (EMB, 1998), the Education Bureau has not addressed this issue in any teacher professional development policy documents. Recent calls for consultation on e-learning from the Education Bureau likewise generated additional demand for developing teacher information literacy capable of supporting student learning (EMB, 2004). If the government and teacher education institutions really want to develop competent teachers for the knowledge society, they may consider injecting the elements of personal knowledge management (PKM) into the teacher education curriculum for developing pre-service teachers’ teaching competency. However, little studies on teacher education were attempted to examine the effect of PKM on teacher learning and discussed the possibilities of injecting the element of PKM model into teacher education curriculum. This study aims to construct an empirical model for examining the predictive effect of pre-service teachers’ PKM competency on their instructional design skills and to discuss a personal knowledge management curriculum framework for teacher education institutions. Literature Review A review of the literature related to knowledge management suggests that the development of personal knowledge management (PKM) could be a means of enhancing pre-service teacher professional competency in managing personal knowledge for coping with the acceleration of emerging information. Frand & Hixon (1999) define PKM as a conceptual framework to organize and integrate important information such that it becomes part of an individual’s personal knowledge base. Dorsey (2000) emphasizes the importance of injecting PKM into an educational framework for undergraduate education in order to bridge the gap between general education and other subject disciplines. PKM could serve as a framework for integrating general education and majors and as an approach to technology integration initiatives throughout the curriculum. PKM provides learners with both a common language and a common understanding of the intellectual and practical processes necessary for the acquisition of information and its subsequent transformation into knowledge. The significance of exploring PKM may contribute to human cognitive capabilities (Sheridan, 2008). Scholars tend to conceptualize PKM as a set of information skills (Frand & Hixon, 1999; Avery et al, 2001), though there is no standard definition or model for PKM. After Frand & Hixon (1999) outlined five PKM techniques as searching, classifying, storing distributing, evaluating and integrating skills, Dorsey and colleagues (Avery et al, 2001) broadened the Frand & Hixon PKM framework well beyond its formulation. Central to PKM, as clarified by Dorsey, are seven information skills which when exercised together are integral to effective knowledge work. These seven PKM skills are retrieving, evaluating, organizing, analyzing, presenting and securing information and collaboration for creating knowledge. Recently, Pettenati and Cigognini (2009) grouped PKM skills under three intertwined macro-competence categories: creation, organization and sharing. PKM can also be conceptualized as an intertwined macro-competency. Wright (2005) proposes a PKM model that links distinctive types of problem-solving  activities with specific cognitive andmetacognitive, information, social and learning competencies. As a learning competency, PKM enables learners to apply a set of learning skills that are essential to lifelong learning for information processing, knowledge application and decision-making. As a cognitive and metacognitve competency, it enables learners to apply complex thinking skills to solve problems. It is knowledge concerning the learner’s own cognitive processes or anything related to them (Flavell, 1976, p232). As an information competency, it enables learners to link technology tools with a set of information skills, thus providing an intentionality that moves the focus from the technology more directly to the information. As a social competency, its underlying principles include enabling learners to understand others’ ideas, develop and follow through on shared practices, build win-win relationships, and resolve conflicts. PKM integrates human cognitive and metacognitive competency (Sheridan, 2008), social competency (Wright, 2005; Pettenati & Cigognini, 2009) and informational competency (Tsui, 2002). Wright (2007) has developed a PKM Planning Guide for developing knowledge worker PKM competency. The guide is based on his research findings that the four interrelated competencies are activated in order to plan PKM training. The training process encourages participants to reflect on their knowledge activities and focus on areas for improvement. If learners know how to control this process, they can internalize information into personal knowledge, creating a foundation for effective learning. Utilizing PKM for acquiring knowledge refers to a collection of information management processes that an individual learner needs to carry out in order to gather, classify, store, search, and retrieve information in his daily activities (Tsui, 2002; Grundspenkis, 2007). In teacher education, knowledge acquisition focuses on the process how teacher apply PKM to support their day-to-day teaching and learning activities: instructional design. Instructional design is closely related to PKM which is also one of the major learning tasks for pre-service teachers. Instructional design is a process that involves determining the current status and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating instructional  and learning strategies to facilitate teaching and learning. There are a wide range of instructional design models, many of them based on the ADDIE model (Seels & Glasgow, 1998; Molenda, M., 2003; Strickland, A.W. 2006) which includes the following phases: analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. This acronym stands for the 5 phases contained in the model. Knowledge acquisition for instructional design is conceptualized as identifying learner entry skills, formulating instructional objectives, test and design specifications, creating instructional or training materials, making recommendations and preparing a project report for lesson implementation. As instructional design is one of the key components of teacher professional competence, and helps to implement a new curriculum in the information age of the 21st century, exploring the predictive relationships of PKM competency on knowledge acquisition for instructional design becomes key to the development of teacher education. Research Methodology It appears that PKM competency can expand individuals’ knowledge and enhance their learning competency (Davenport, 1997, p146 ; Frand & Hixon, 1999). It provides learners with a targeted, reflective and adaptable cognitive framework for inquiry and problem solving. In this study, knowledge acquisition will be conceptualized as the knowledge required for carrying out instructional design. This study attempts to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the empirical factor structure of PKM competency for pre-service teachers? 2. Is there any relationship between the PKM competency of pre-service teachers and their knowledge acquisition for instructional design? This study adopted Dorsey (2000) PKM skills to conceptualize PKM as a competency for acquiring knowledge (see figure 1). A quasi-experimental research design was used in this study to determine the relationship between PKM skills and knowledge acquisition for instructional design. The exogenous variables were pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their PKM skills. The endogenous variable is knowledge acquisition for instructional design. A  self-response quantitative questionnaire was devised to collect data from the pre-service teachers of Hong Kong’s largest teacher education institution. Figure 1: Theoretical Framework Of The Study The operationalized definitions of Dorsey (2000) PKM skills are as follows: 1. Retrieving skill is the ability of learners to retrieve information from relational databases, electronic library databases, websites, threaded discussion groups, recorded chats, and moderated andunmoderated lists. 2. Evaluating skill is the ability to make judgments on both the quality and relevance of information to be retrieved, organized, and analyzed. 3. Organizing skill is the ability to make the information one’s own by applying ordering and connecting principles that relate new information to old information. 4. Collaborating skill is the ability  to understand others’ ideas, develop and follow through on shared practices, build win-win relationships, and resolve conflicts between these underlying principles. 5. Analyzing skill is the ability to extract meaning from data and convert information into knowledge. 6. Presenting skill is the ability to familiarize with the work of communications specialists, graphic designers, and editors. 7. Securing skill is the ability to develop and implement practices that help to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and actual existence of information. This study adopted ADDIE instructional design model to conceptualize instructional design as a multiple competencies that involves analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a lesson (Molenda, 2003; Strickland, 2006). The acronym ADDIE stands for the 5 phases contained in the model. Pre-service teachers’ learning on instructional design is conceptualized by the knowledge and experiences they come across in the 5 phases of ADDIE model including analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. The learning outcomes include know how to analyse learner characteristics and task to be learned and identify learner entry skills; to design learning objectives and choose an instructional approach; to develop instructional or training materials; implement the lesson and deliver the instructional materials; and to evaluate the lesson plan and recommend the materials achieved the desired goals. The teaching experience that they had gained include determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some instructional and learning strategies to facilitate teaching and learning. Instructional design is operationalized to the knowledge for: identifying learner entry skills; formulating instructional obJectives, test and designs specifications; creating instructional or training materials; and making recommendations and preparing a project report for lesson implementation (Seels & Glasgow, 1998; Molenda, M., 2003; Strickland, A.W. 2006). The questionnaire was based on a number of scales constructed to measure the variables of PKM skills and instructional design. In order to develop valid items for these scales, the researcher conducted a content analysis on the PKM literature of Dorsey (2000), Skyrme (1999). Hyams (2000), and on the instruction design literature of Seels & Glasgow (1998), Molenda, M. (2003); and Strickland, A.W. (2006). The questionnaire consists of two sections. Section 1 was used to measure the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition for instructional design based on 4 items. Section 2 contains 21 items designed to measure the teachers’ perceptions of their seven PKM skills. Likert 6 point scales were used in both sections to measure the variables. Likert scales are commonly used in attitudinal research. The Likert scale assumes that the difference between answering ‘agree strongly, and ‘agree’ is the same as between answering ‘agree’ and ‘neither agree n or disagree’ (Likert 1932, quoted in Gay, 1992). The data was collected directly from target subjects using the questionnaire. 225 pre-service teachers responded to the survey. Data was collected directly from them by means of the questionnaire. The subjects in the study were pre-service teachers from Hong Kong’s largest teacher education institution. Random sampling was used to collect data from the population. Exploratory factor analysis was carried out on variables using principal factor axis analysis to confirm the constructed validity of the tools (see table 1). The study is interested in a theoretical solution uncontaminated by unique and error variability and is designed with a framework on the basis of underlying constructs that are expected to produce sources on the observed variables. Principal axis factor (PAF) analysis, which aims to reveal the underlying factors that produce the correlation or correlations among a set of indicators with the assumption of an implicit underlying factor model, was applied separately to the items from the learning processes and learning outcomes. Promax rotation, a method of oblique rotation which assumes that the resulting factors are correlated with one other, was applied to extract the factors. An eigenvalue greater than one was used to determine the appropriate number of factors for the factor solutions. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was then applied to  examine the factor structures and the paths among the variables, using Lisrel 8.3 (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1999). SEM is a collection of statistical techniques that allows the examination of a set of relationships between exogenous variables and endogenous variables. Findings The results of exploratory factor analysis, presented in Table 1, clearly suggest a four- factor structure for exogenous variables that are both empirically feasible and theoretically acceptable. An eigenvaluegreater than one was used to determine the appropriate number of factors for the factor analysis solution. Items were extracted with factor loadings greater than 0.6 across and within factors. The numbers of factor solutions extracted from a Promax rotation theoretically afforded the most meaningful interpretation. The process used to identify and label the factors that emerged was based on examining the derivation of the highest loading items on each of the factors. The reliability coefficients of the scales ranged from 0.792-0.821, which was judged adequate for this study. The results of descriptive statistics show that the scale means of all the variables are higher than 4.27 within the 6 point-scale, reflecting the participants’ tendency to slightly agree with all the items. The reliability coefficient (Alphas) of the scale for instructional design is 0.854, its scale mean is 4.33 (sd = 0.691).