Sources of Power in an Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sources of Power in an Organization - Essay Example He asserts that many researchers have been struggling to come up with more sources but â€Å"For the most part, French and Raven’s list remains intact†. Therefore, we keep our discussion restricted to these five sources of power of which the first three are about power that the person receives from the organization because of his position, and the last two are about power that a person brings to the organization. 1) Legitimate Power It is that power which is given to the members from the organization with the help of which they can demand certain behaviors from other members. Members of one position can ask members of other positions to do a task for them, for example, employees may be empowered to ask for customer information from the database if need be. This legitimate power involves mutual agreement between employees with which they are able to respond to each other. If a project manager demands that his subordinate should spend extra hours on the module, his power can be restricted if the latter has not signed the mutual agreement. 2) Reward Power It is the power that an employee enjoys when he has â€Å"to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions (i.e., negative reinforcement)† (Alexandrou). Managers have the power to decide which employees are liable for rewards like bonuses, vacations, promotions and allowances. Employees also have the power to influence the promotions of their supervisors through 360 degree feedback system. 3) Coercive Power This power enables employees to ask their authorities to punish other employees like firing or demoting them. Team members have the power of, for example, sarcasm to make the team members work efficiently and conform to the norms. The main aim of coercive power is to control the negative behavior shown by employees in an organization so that overall wellness of the organizational culture is achieved. This way, the overall co-worker performance is also enhanced. Hence, this source is considered as a beneficial aspect of power. 4) Expert Power This power comes from within the person, with which he is able to influence others through his skills, capabilities and knowledge. Military persons can be helpful in organizations due to their military capabilities. Doctors can bring their expertise to the organizations and can help others with their doctoral capabilities and power. Lawyers can be helpful to organizations because they provide their expert advice in many situations. This is all expert power that enables them to bring changes to the organization through their informed decisions and expertise. Expert power has gained significance since the concept of knowledge based organizations have arise where different sorts of expertise group together to form a powerful union. 5) Referent Power This power enables an individual to inspire others so much that others start following them and referring them to others. People start liking and re specting these persons and talk about their charisma. My Organization My hospital setting mostly enjoys legitimate power. Here, I give examples from my organizational environment to make my point clear. Employees in my organization are required to sign a mutual agreement according to which they give their consent whether they are ready to provide their services when they are required by employees belonging to any other position. A resident physician can ask the authorities to assign him an internee physician to

Providing Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Providing Care - Essay Example However, there are still some important issues that need to be addressed. All users must be widely educated about this activity in order for the entire system to work out well for the patients. This system needs to have feedback mechanism. This in general will get all the necessary information from the people so as to correct the system or know how exactly to expand or improve necessary health reforms to work effectively for the people (Begley et al., 2002). The integration of information technology with the health care system has already been practiced in the US. However, the feedback mechanism system needs to be highly improved the soonest possible. This is to further ensure that clinical and cost effectiveness is achieved at its maximum level. The US has to allocate budget for this. The budget must come from its allocation to technology and research and development activities. In line with this, the government must have to consider adding significant increase for its budget on res earch and development activities. References Begley, C. E., Aday, L. A., Lairson, D. R., and Slater, C. H. (2002). Expanding the scope of health reform: application in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 55, 1213-1229. Tunis, S. R., & Gelband, H. (1994).

The simplest form of bridge the beam bridges

The simplest form of bridge the beam bridges Beam Bridges The beam type of bridge is by far the simplest and the beam type of bridge is also the most common. You probably see beam bridges often. A beam bridge is just a beam supported by pillars or columns. Materials and Construction Beam bridges are commonly built from concrete. Beam bridges are also made of steel, or a mixture of steel and concrete. They often are made in sections, or boxes, where they are attached at the site of the bridge. The boxes are made out of steel and concrete or just concrete. Arch Bridge: In this type of bridge, the weight is carried outward along two curving paths. The points where the arch reaches the ground keep the bridge up by resisting the outward thrust. The roadway is located on top of the arch. Suspension Bridges: Suspension bridges bridge the unbridgeable. In a suspension bridge, cables which are suspended via towers which support them hold up the road deck. The weight is transferred by the cables to the towers, which then in turn transfer the weight to the ground. Materials and Construction The amount of towers on suspension bridges can vary, but a suspension bridge MUST have at least two towers. When possible, these towers are built on ground. However, there are methods for making floating towers that are secured. Towers are usually built with hollow steel boxes, but some are built with concrete. Cantilever Bridge: Cantilever bridges depend on counterbalances. Counterbalances are weights used to balance another weight. They consist of two or more (which many cantilever bridges have at least four) arms that equally balance each other, almost like a perfectly balanced see-saw. Often, the part of the bridge that leads to the first cantilever is just a beam bridge. Materials and Construction Some use one arch to connect (and essentially act as) the arm. Others just have arms and a roadway, or arms, a roadway, and cables that work like a cable-stayed bridge. Cantilever bridges are built in a way similar to beam and arch bridges, depending on how the bridge is designed. Truss Bridge: A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements (typically straight) which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges. The basic types of truss bridges shown in this article have simple designs which could be easily analysed by nineteenth and early twentieth century engineers. A truss bridge is economical to construct owing to its efficient use of materials. Our bridge design: Our bridge design is modelled after the Warren truss bridge design. The project has a light weight design; this is to ensure not to go over the weight requirement. This structure is easy to construct and, shown by the force analysis, can distribute loads efficiently.

Blacks, Prison, Prejudice, and Institutional Racism :: Sociology Racism Prejudice Essays

Blacks, Prison, and Institutional Racism    Introduction Criminal justice and security is one of the largest industries in the United States. Such a statistic is (and rightly so) of great concern to Afro-Americans because a disproportionate percentage of individuals under the control of the US Criminal Justice System are from the Black community. This paper will look at the alarming statistics and attempt to trace the roots of the disparity. It will then consider the affects and explore possible solutions to the expanding problem.    The Imprisoned Black Youth Black communities throughout the U.S. are witnessing the institutionalization of their youth. Of course institutionalization is nothing new to Afro-Americans, it is something Blacks have faced since their existence in this country. In the beginning Blacks were forced into the institution of slavery. After the abolition of slavery Blacks faced institutional racism, that is, racism legitimated by the whole of society directed against the few of society. As a facet of that institutional racism Blacks are now forced to persevere the increasing trend of control by the US Criminal Justice System. Control by the USCJS includes the probation, parole, imprisonment, and death of Blacks. A study conducted by the Sentencing Project in 1989 found tat more than one-fourth of all Blacks between the age of 20 and 29 are under the control of the USCJS . This alarming figure becomes more so when you consider their are more Blacks in prison in this age group than their are all Blacks in college . This clearly reveals what is meant by the institutionalization of our Black youth. Black communities are being legally robbed of their youth by a system that locks up those who pose a threat to the status quo of institutional racism. The consequences of this are detrimental indeed. The children are the future, but what future does a community have whose children are all locked up. By virtue of robbing the Black community of their youth, the USCJS robs Black communities of their future leaders and role models . With such a condition at hand entire communities are lost and the ills of the urban ghettos are augmented. To help explain why Blacks are being locked up, and what part of imprisonment plays in institutional racism it would be helpful to first look at the roots of institutional racism.    Institutional Racism And It's Roots Institutional racism was a term first coined by Stokley Carmichael in his book Black Power. Concerning racism, Carmichael and co-author Charles V. Hamilton made the following observation:    Racism is both overt and covert. It takes two, closely related forms; individual

A Trip to an Unfamiliar Place

Adwoa A Adu 10/1/12 English 101 Final Draft A Trip to an unfamiliar place It all started when I was called to see the principal of my school (high school), we were actually five girls involved and we were travelling to England because we had an exchange program with a school in Kent, England called the Weald of Kent Grammar School for girls. I was so excited because it was my first time travelling outside Africa and it did have a good impact on me. In all, we were about thirty students chosen and these students should be good academically and also have good morals.Before we left for England there were a lot of preparations we did while we were inn school, we learnt some new dances, poems in French and other dialects in my country Ghana, this part of learning dances was funny because it was so hard for since I am not a good dancer but I made it through at the end. We also learnt other cultures because we were going to have some presentations in the school and we didn’t forget d iseases that are killing Africans like Malaria, AIDS, Tuberculosis and so on, we did researches on these when we went back home on vacation. We came back to school from our vacation with our luggage ready to leave for England.From school to the airport was very boring, it was about an hour and thirty minutes’ drive, we left school around 6pm and arrived at the airport 8:30pm our plane was taking off at 12 midnight so we hanged around the airport for a couple of hours. My dad was there with so was other parents with their daughters. I had mixed feelings at the time my dad was there till he left because I was sad and the fact that I was leaving him and happy because I was travelling to a place I had never been before. We checked in at 10pm and the plane took off at 12 midnight.It was boring in the plane so I slept from Ghana to Morocco where we made a transit and we took another plane from Morocco to London Airport where the Weald of Kent girls picked us from they took us to th eir school and we met the families we were going to live with I met my own family too and we went to their house. My first day with them was a feeling I can’t really express with words but I will say I was very shy because I hadn’t come into contact with British or the Whites before but after my third day I got along well with them and felt very happy living with my new family, they were very wonderful people.Except for weekends, every morning I went to school with Laura and Laura was the student I had come to live with her family. My first day at Weald of Kent Grammar School was exciting because first of all, I was marveled at the site of the school beautiful building it was and the grass are kept short and clean. Classes with them was great, we had a Social Studies and Japanese classes and I loved it I learnt some new words in Japanese language. We had classes the first week from Monday to Friday and on the weekend I spent at home with my family.The next week we went with the principal of the school to tour the city of London we went to the Buckingham Palace where the Queen of England lived, there were a lot of people around because a parade was being held in front of the palace. From there we went on to see the London Eye it’s a huge Ferris situated on the River Thames in England, we also cruised on the River Thames it was fun and a good experience. We also took some pictures in front of the Westminster Abbey this is a collegiate church of St Peter, a very large one situated in the city of Westminster my friends and family loved the pictures when I showed it to them back in Ghana.There were a lot of great thing we saw like the clock Tower in Westminster, the Tower of London, very beautiful malls where we shopped in fact I really enjoyed myself with my colleagues. In the second week, Thursday precisely, we went back to school and I attended a French class which we watched a movie we were to analyze, I loved it so much and the reason that made me enjoy their classes is their way of teaching and learning, it’s marvelous, very easy to follow the teacher, very easy to understand and it’s ok to ask questions.They have a lot of facilities that makes learning easier compared to my school in Africa where we don’t get such opportunities but if we adapted such strategies will make going to school fun and easy. On Friday night, a farewell ceremony was held at the school premises because we were leaving the next day on that night we did some African dances, recited African poems, some cultural presentations and they also gave us some performances since it was an exchange program.When I got home that Friday night, I packed all my stuff ready for tomorrow I was very sad but I spent some time with the family we talked about Ghana compared to England and the wished to visit one day. The next morning we all met at the school and a bus took us to the airport, indeed this trip was a very memorable one which is al ways in my memories especially because of the way the teachers at the school taught and how they taught us to learn changed my perception about learning and that was a very good impact it had on me and I wish to go on a trip to England the second time.

Memoir of Mom

A mother can be both a mentor and a best friend to her little girl. A mom is a person who her daughter can have trust and faith in, someone who one can create a deep mutual bond with. I see my mother as role model. She is inspirational to me because she is an outgoing, funny and enthusiastic person. My Mother is the person who I go to for advice, she is the right person and I know to go to her right away. I’m the only girl in my family and having three brothers can at times be very difficult.Thinking back through all the struggles and obstacles that have temporarily stood in the way of my happiness, there was always one person who helped me get through whatever hardship I may have been going through at the time; that person was my Mother. My mom always told me â€Å"Don’t let others affect you deeply, because if they do, you’re the one who is going to lose†. What she was trying to let me know there was that I should not let gossip hurt me, because if I, or anyone else, pay attention to others then trouble will be knocking at your front door.I specifically remember one time, when I was in high school as a sophomore and I had a group of friends who just loved talking nonsense about others. If my group of friends saw a girl â€Å"not matching† and wearing a foolish outfit, they would criticize that poor student and laugh at them when they’d pass by. I would be embarrassed of their absurdity, so I would just tell them I had to go to my next class. I’ll admit it I would also laugh at other people but the only reason I did such a thing was because I wanted to be cool and be part of a group in high school.My mother always gave me this advice, don’t make fun of any other person that crosses your way because if you do then you’re not showing respect and respect is what you want in return. I was that type of student who didn’t really have true friends, only fake ignorant drama queens that I had made a space for in my life. Until I decided one day that enough was enough, after what had happened between me and my friends, I blocked them out completely from my life and never said a word to them or even made the slightest hesitation to step into their lives again.A few months before that, I would be bullied by this girl on my bus, and I didn’t have the slightest clue as to why she did that. Afterschool as I walked to my bus, she would yell names at me every day. I would turn around to see who that was and I knew that it was her. Never in my life did I talk to this girl, so I didn’t know why she was calling me such rude names. Had I done something to this girl that affected her without me knowing? But then I remembered what my mom said and didn’t pay attention to her.I kept telling my mother that this girl kept calling me names; she asked me â€Å"Want me to go and talk to the principal, so the principal can talk to her? † I told my mom â€Å"No please, th at girl and her friend will think I’m being a snitch. † My mom was pretty upset that I told her not to go and talk to the principal. I would repeatedly nag at my mom that they kept bothering me and she would again tell me â€Å"Mija, I’ll go talk to the principal, so they can stop† and I would reply back no. While this was happening, my so called friends found out that this girl was bothering me.I thought they would tell her to stop bothering me because that’s what friends do right? Well I was wrong, instead of doing that, I found out by my best friends were also talking behind my back. I was enraged by the idea of my friends talking behind my back and I didn’t want it to continue. So I told my mom and dad I was tired of their childish behavior and that I had to take this into my own hands. I told my mom I was going to fight her so she can stop. My mom said that that wasn’t a very well thought out idea.Well eventually I got the chance to fight her, and I took advantage of it. I didn’t listen to what my mom had said the previous day and I paid the consequences for my actions. Those consequences were that I got suspended for an entire week, preventing me to go to my Six Flags Great America trip. Looking back I regret not listening to my mother’s advice, because that same week I would of been having fun at Great America and not at home making up labs for the roller coasters and timing them in a YouTube video.Since that day, I have always listened to my mother’s guidance and intelligence. The best part that I love about my mother is that I can talk to her like she’s my sister, because she acts like one of us my brothers and I; very cool, calm and optimistic. Also what’s funny about us is that we are always told if we’re sisters and my mother would start laughing and say yes to that person and I would get mad. I don’t know why, but I think about it and I shouldn’ t be getting mad.That’s my mother and they’re telling her that she’s a young beautiful woman and it makes me happy when I see her laugh. I love my mother; I can say she is a one of a kind that I would never want to lose. We have this kind of emotional connection, because if one of us is sad and feels like crying, we feel the sadness in us and we’re there crying next to each other like mother and daughter should be; taking care of each other, making sure we’re okay.

Controlled Airspace In The United States Essays - Free Essays

Controlled Airspace In The United States Essays - Free Essays Controlled Airspace In The United States The value of controlled airspace in the United States is for the safety of all commercial and general aviation flights. Utter chaos reigns in skies without controlled airspace. With thousands of airplanes in the skies every day carrying hundred of thousand of people the necessity of a means of controlling them becomes relevant. The (FAA) Federal Aviation Administration is the regulative department of the United States Government that controls the skies in the U.S. The FAA divided the airspace into different categories, all of which have different regulations and limits on both horizontal and vertical airspace restrictions. They are broken down into basically three distinct airspaces: Class B, Class C, and Class D. Class B airspace is controlled airspace that extends upward from the ground surface to a specified altitude of 10,000 msl (mean sea level). All aircraft that operate in this airspace are subject to regulations set forth by the FAA. Some of the requirements for the pilot to operate in Class B airspace are: the pilot must at the minimum hold a private pilot certificate, and a current medical certificate. The aircrafts operating in Class B airspace must have at least three pieces of equipment; the first is a two-way radio for communication. The second piece of equipment, a transponder, tracks the aircrafts position. The third piece of equipment is a VOR (vertical omni range), which directs the pilots position. Also, in order to operate in Class B airspace a person must obtain a clearance for ATC (Air Traffic Control). The speed limit in Class B airspace is restricted to 200 knots. Throughout the country, metropolitan airports designate Class C airspace with a set of rings, extending from the surface of the earth to an altitude of 4,000 feet above the airport elevation and a radius of 5nm (nautical miles) from the center of the airport. This area is known as a primary Class C airport. There is an outer ring that extends out 10 nm from the airport and above the surface from 1,200 feet to 4,000 feet. This area is used for transitioning to and from the airport. The operating rules in the Class C are similar to that of the Class B. The pilot is required to hold at least a private pilot license and a valid medical certificate and to be classified as current. Current requirement entails having completed at least three takeoffs and landings in the same type of aircraft. The pilot must also complete a biannual flight review with a certified fight instructor. The aircraft must be equipped with a two-way in order to communicate with ATC, which is required prior to enteri ng the airspace. The aircraft needs to have a transponder with altitude encoding in order for ATC to track them in the air. The VOR is also required for navigation in and around this airspace. Flights at or below 2,500 feet within 4 nm of the airport must not exceed 200 knots. This speed restriction helps to alleviate the noise caused by large aircraft over densely populated areas. A pilot is required to have aboard the aircraft a sectional chart that depicts the airspace and transition areas. The next airspace is the Class D. This area is generally the airspace above an airport, from ground level to 2,500 feet and outward for 4 nm. The Class D airspace is considered part of the airport itself. A pilot is required to hold the same license, have a valid medical certification as the Class C and they must adhere to the same current classification requirements. A pilot must already be in communication with ATC and be cleared before entering the Class D airspace. Once the pilot is cleared he is transferred to the airport tower, which handles all the traffic within that airspace. No matter whether the aircraft is on the ground or in the air, the local tower is responsible for guiding them safely within its boundaries. The speed is limited to 200 knots within this airspace as well. The airspace categories are a valuable asset to the United States transportation system and has been designed to protect the public and ensure the safety of the thousands of aircraft that

Relevance in Modern Society Essays

Relevance in Modern Society Essays Relevance in Modern Society Essay Relevance in Modern Society Essay This essay will look at social influence and explore the concepts of conformity and obedience looking at related studies and their relevance in modern British society. The term social influence refers to the way social situations can influence our behaviour and beliefs. This essay will focus particularly on the reasons and the extent to which people conform to group pressure or majority influence and obey the orders of authority figures. David Myers (1999 cited in Cardwell et al. 2004, p.155) described conformity as â€Å"a change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure† this is something most people can identify with; the feeling that we are under pressure to act a certain way so that we are accepted or do not stand out of the group. There are two main reasons why people conform; Normative Social Influence – wanting to be liked or accepted by the group and Informational Social influence – not wanting to be wrong or seem out of place. In Asch’s original 1951 experiment he wanted to test whether people would give an incorrect answer because of the influence of the group even though there was a clear correct answer (Lawton et al, 2011, p155). To test this Asch used 50 male college students as naà ¯ve participants. Believing that they were taking part in a vision test, the participants were put into groups with 6 other male students who were confederates of the experimenter. They were each shown two cards; one test card showing one vertical line and another showing three vertical lines of varying length. One of the three lines was always obviously of equal length to the test line. They were asked to call out in turn which of the three lines they thought was the same length as the test line. The naà ¯ve participants were always last but one to answer. In 12 of 18 trials the confederates gave a unanimous incorrect answer, these 12 trials were called the critical trials. Participants conformed on 32 per cent of the critical trials, 74 per cent of participants conformed at least once and no participant conformed on all of the critical trials. In post-experimental interviews Asch found that some participants said they conformed because they didn’t want to look silly or be the minority even though they knew they were giving an incorrect answer. These participants were affected by normative social influence; they conformed so that they would be accepted by the group. However most participants said they conformed because they thought that their perception of the lines must have been inaccurate as everyone else had seen something different. This is informational social influence; the participants questioned their own judgement because they felt the majority could not be wrong. Although Asch’s study provided a controlled way of measuring conformity, there are some criticisms of his research. This type of situation is unlikely to occur in everyday life, showing the experiment lacks ecological validity. Another criticism is Asch’s limited sample of participants. Not only does this sample not represent cultural differences; non-Western cultures like Japan and China are generally more likely to conform than Western cultures like the USA (Gross and Rolls, 2003). But also, a group of all male college students may be more or less likely to conform because they are among their peers. As people in the USA in the 1950s were more conformist and conservative than our current more liberal and individualist society, Asch’s research has little relevance to modern day British society. Zimbardo et al (1971) conducted an experiment that aimed to investigate how readily people would conform to social roles and whether brutality of prison officers was due to the individual’s personal characteristics or the prison environment (Simply Psychology [online]).  Zimbardo et al (1971) selected healthy, emotionally stable, male volunteers to take part in a two week experiment. The volunteers were randomly assigned roles of prisoner or guard. Prisoners were then arrested by local police, blindfolded and taken to a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University where they were issued with prison uniform and a prison number. The guards wore military-style uniforms with reflective sunglasses and carried a truncheon and handcuffs. The experiment was abandoned after just six days as the guards conformed so enthusiastically to their role, becoming aggressive and abusive towards the prisoners. After guards tackled an initial rebellion two days into the study the prisoners because submissive and began to develop signs of depression and anxiety. Some prisoners showed such severe symptoms that they were released from the experiment early.

Definition of packet ship or packet liner

Definition of packet ship or packet liner Packet ships, packet liners, or simply packets, were sailing ships of the early 1800s that did something which was novel at the time: they departed from port on a regular schedule.   The typical packet sailed between American and British ports, and the ships themselves were designed for the North Atlantic, where storms and rough seas were common. The first of the packet lines was the Black Ball Line, which began sailing between New York City and Liverpool in 1818. The line originally had four ships, and it advertised that one of its ships would leave New York on the first of each month. The regularity of the schedule was an innovation at the time. Within a few years several other companies followed the example of the Black Ball Line, and the North Atlantic was being crossed by ships that regularly battled the elements while remaining close to schedule. The packets, unlike the later and more glamorous clippers, were not designed for speed. They carried cargo and passengers, and for several decades packets were the most efficient way to cross the Atlantic. The use of the word packet to denote a ship began as early as the 16th century, when mail referred to as the packette was carried on ships between England and Ireland. The sail packets were eventually replaced by steamships, and the phrase steam packet became common in the mid-1800s. Also Known As: Atlantic packet

Land Rover Acquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Land Rover Acquisition - Essay Example Tata Motors took $3bn ($2.3bn for purchasing JLR and the remainder for supplying important parts that included engine and other parts from Ford) bridge loan so as to fund this acquisition at $2.3bn with the aim of paying back a part through right issue, its stake sale in other subsidiaries and raising the rest through long term debt. The bridge loan was raised by Tata Motors, UK (which is a 100% subsidy of Tata Motors). The margin of the interest for the initial 6months on the bridge loan was 85% over LIBOR, followed by 1.2% for the following three months and then up to the end of term at 1.5% ( Gaughan, P. A. 2011). The same was intended to be pated through the rights issue, issue of securities overseas and its portfolio investments divesting. Before, Tata Motors requested to secure the funds using three simultaneous right issues, of which, of which one was o.5% convertible preference shares. However, the company was forced to share its plan for issuing the convertible preference sh ares as the prices of the share of the company fell greatly and remained low till as recent as August 2009. The other 2 rights issue (one was meant to earning Rs.21.86 billion with each other share at Rs.340/- with every share priced at Rs. 305/-) was not able to generate the expected amount of subscriptions from the share holders and required to be bailed out by company’s promoters and the underwriters. Tata Motors was hoping from the past record with both Land Rover and Jaguar would be able to earn enough funds.

Organizing PhD Thesis Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Organizing PhD Thesis - Literature review Example The central contention was to come up with a mathematical model that could be used to reliably tabulate the fuel consumption of a passenger vehicle. Using a comparison, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) was taken as the basic framework for testing. The proposed mathematical model was tested against real life driving conditions which proved the reliability of the mathematical model. With the application of this tested model it would be easier and convenient to control pollution considerably. The present situation is grave enough to consider such a preventive measure to control pollution. Otherwise it would degrade the Earth to the extent of its demolition. This mathematical model would help in controlling pollution and thus balancing the environment. It would be a way to sustainable development without causing harm to the environment. This dissertation paper has been divided into a number of chapters each chapter dealing with a separate topic. The chapters studies and discusses th e intricate issues related to the subject so as to form a profound understanding of the subject being studied in this paper. The information and data are also represented in the form of graphs illustrating the study and making it easier to understand the stated discussions. Tables are also used in this paper to present the figures and make way for easy understanding of the information. I dedicate this work to my dear parents for the lifelong and boundless love that I received from them as well their unwavering support. This work is also dedicated to my wife for her unfaltering encouragement throughout my study and my son Abu Bakr and daughters Yakootha and Remas. Without their support reaching this point would not have been possible. Few goals are ever achieved without the help of teachers, mentors, colleagues, family, and friends. For the assistance, support, and guidance I have received while completing my postgraduate studies I am indebted to my

British Airways strategic management Case Study

British Airways strategic management - Case Study Example and Stahl, M.J. (1997, p. 2) that managers of organizations need to anticipate and adapt to change by keeping in touch with the external environment of the organization. The present chapter is focused on British Airways which is one of the world's favourite airlines as it carries more international passengers to more destinations than any other air carriers (Haberberg, A and Rieple, A, 2008:458). Since its establishment in the year 1919, the British Airways has come a long way to be one of the reputed airlines in the world and continuously returning profits at the end of financial years, which most of its competitors are unable to do so. The secret for the success of British airways is attributed to its strategic management decisions (Cole, G.A., 2003:191) and hence the present research is undertaken to study the process of planning, development and implementation of management strategies in order to know the actual success factors like management, human resource, finance, marketing and communication. The British Airways' forerunner company Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T) launched the world's first daily international scheduled air service between London and Paris, way back on 25th August, 1919 (www.britishairways.com). Presently it is the world's largest international airline and has global flight network through USAir, Qantas, and TAT European Airlines serving 95 million passengers a year using 441 airports in 86 countries and more than 1000 planes. (www.fundinguniverse.com) British Airways Ltd came into existence with the merger of many smaller airlines to form Imperial Airlines which was later nationalized into the present original form. (www.bizcovering.com) Cole A.G. (2003, p.192) states that the company has been able to achieve considerable rate of success all these years just because of its effective strategic management decisions including maintaining a sustained marketing campaign, focusing on the requirements and preferences of business customers which res ulted into development of brands like Concorde, First Class, etc; focusing on the needs of private passengers and tourists, marketing the excellent reputation of the company's safety and engineering aspect, providing effective customer service through the use of information technology, promoting an extensive programme of staff training ensuring the efficiency, productivity and awareness of the employees. The company adopted a strategy of alliance and mergers which was advantageous to provide service to more

Alcoholism is a Disease Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

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NonProfit Management Case Study Essay Example for Free

NonProfit Management Case Study Essay Introduction The civil society has taken a very active role in the quest for democracy that continues to spread across the continents till it reached the Middle East region only recently. This is clear given the successive revolts that have taken place in many of the Arab countries calling for real democracy. Therefore, especially in Egypt, efforts should be directed toward defending civil society organizations and activists who are being threatened by the coercive authoritarian government actions over the past decades (Naidoo, 2007). The civil society as identified by Khallaf (2010) comprises â€Å"non-governmental organizations (NGOs hereafter), community groups, professional associations, trade unions, media organizations, research institutes/ think tanks, and advocacy and human rights civil society organizations† (p. 2). However, the current paper aims at focusing mainly on the role of NGOs in strengthening democracy. This is due to the major role NGOs play in several areas in order to enhance democracy. Among these are their role in: (1) allowing a wider range of interest groups to have a ‘voice’, pluralizing institutions to act in a ‘watchdog’ role vis-a-vis the state, networking and creating alliances of civic actors to place pressure on the state, (2) working with grassroots organizations comprised of poor and marginalized groups, and (3) exerting some pressures on the state by pressing for change and developing alternative policies (Mercer, 2002). Previous Studies of civil society in Egypt, over the past twenty years, have been both superficial and confined to only limited areas, namely (issue based publications, academic publications, training materials/ manuals, directories, conference publications, empirical comparative studies, civil society organizations’ (CSOs) publications, donor guide books and publications, CSOs coalitions occasional papers, evaluation studies, and web based sources) (Khallaf, 2010). (Figure: 1). Figure : The diversity of civil society research in Egypt Therefore, more detailed studies should be directed toward deeply investigating the civil society organizations operating in Egypt. Khallaf (2010) has mentioned that more research has been directed recently to track the actual magnitude of civil society through donor efforts in Egypt. However, the literature has pointed to serious gaps in the study of NGOs in Egypt. These include; First: Updated statistical information on number of NGOs. Second: The systematic evaluation of NGOs activities. Third: periodic assessments such as the CIVICUS or Civil Society Index and the Philanthropy study. Forth: studying participatory governance and the involvement of civil society in decision making processes. Fifth: changing Laws and regulations governing NGOs in Egypt. Sixth: An impact assessment of all new NGOs working in charity or development. Seventh: an assessment of aid effectiveness to Egypt (Khallaf, 2010). Finally: a detailed diagnosis of the NGOs operating in Egypt is needed. This should focus on both internal and external analyses of the selected NGOs and provide policy recommendations for possible improvements in the sector. The current paper attempts to draw light on how the civil society operates in Egypt. A well recognized Egyptian NGO was selected in this ethnographic research. It is called the Future Protectors Association for Care and Development or â€Å"Homat Al-Mostakbal†. The reason behind selecting it is the higher credibility and the good reputation it is enjoying. This is quite well perceived by the researcher based on her personal experience with this association. The current research can add valuable insights both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, it attempts to cover few of the gaps mentioned about the civil society research in developing countries and Egypt in particular. Practically, proposed recommendations can serve as strategic agendas for improving the performance of the selected NGO in particular and the entire NGO sector in general. The current paper is organized as follows; the first section will provide detailed information about association’s background. This will be followed by the analysis section which would sum up the major facts collected about the association. The analysis is based on qualitative in-depth interviewing1 conducted with five key persons in the association including its founder. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are presented, to guide future research directions, at the conclusion part here later. Background Future protectors association for care and development (homat al mostakbal) is one of the well known non-governmental organizations in Egypt. It is located at 425 Avenue Road, Roushdy, Alexandria, Egypt. It is a group of young people who work in the field of developmental work and volunteerism in for a better future and a true renaissance to Egypt. It serves in the great Cairo area and some other governorates including; Alexandria, Dakahleya, Gharbeya, Menoufeya, and others. It was originally founded on the 2nd of Novermber, 2004 by Eng. El-Dreiny and his daughter engineer Marwa El-Dreiny. It was mainly founded seeking community development. The vision of the association is to be one of the largest civil society organizations working in the field and leading the areas of development, community care, and voluntary work in Egypt and the Arab world by year 2020. The mission of the association is the development and care of the community through several dimensions including; raising the general level of education and the development of production philosophy, increasing awareness of drug taking problems, providing health awareness, raising the cultural level of young people, and providing a variety of social services. These are to be achieved while taking into account the mastery of work and commitment to the principles of ethics and team work cooperation. The primary objectives to fulfill the pre-mentioned vision and mission include the following; Providing guidance and better utilizing the power of potential volunteers in various activities of the association and developing their skills while strengthening their moral values. Increasing the awareness of community members about the dangers of drugs and training of cadres for different age groups. In addition to providing technical support to partners and trainers in the field of awareness against the dangers of addiction and drug. Training community members by spreading the production thinking and helping youth and poor families in establishing small craft projects to supply industries with high quality products at competitive prices. Providing social services (in kind physical technical) and the work projects for poor families, orphans, deaf and dumb cases. Developing different segments of the society, especially children and young people both culturally and scientifically. This would entitle them to acquire new skills, open their horizons to different lives, and raise the level of education among the educated classes with aim of bringing progress and prosperity to the society in large. The major values of the association comprise the following; Intentions precede action Our basic principles are our main priority. Understanding the priorities and giving a high commitment to them. Mastering our work. Best employing our resources. Our clients are our core interest. Team work spirit. Commitment to a safe environment. The association is registered under the old NGO law. This entitles the association to be under the scrutiny and supervision of the Directorate of Social Affairs. Here is the copy of the registration certificate. Figure : Formal Registration Certificate The association tries as much to manage its institutional memory. This can be manifested in the form of reports including information about what happened in the past. Other reports are prepared for each activity and collected annually to be archived and documented for each committee. Also, there are few attempts to record religious seminars and cultural meetings either video or audio. Sometimes the association registers the campaigns to serve the new members by providing them with information about the work flavor. These tentative mechanisms are aimed at saving association heritage of knowledge and transfer it to the future generations who would complete the mission. The organization chart of the association was revised recently. There are intentions to modify it also however some limitations hinder this at the current period. The chart is decomposed into the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, the Executive Director, the Chairmen of the various Committees the Vice Chairmen of the various Committees -who are appointed by the administration according to experience and seniority- the executive management including Secretary, the financial management. There were areas for development and the last updated organization chart was reproduced recently in 2011. The association was built on the basis of predominantly volunteerism however; there are 17 formal employees who are getting paid monthly. There are mainly three managers; executive, financial, and legal affairs. Staff members do not perform overlapping roles, instead there is a clearly specified job description for each single role. This would allow the upper management to apply a strict accountability procedures based on assigned responsibilities. The association is able to deal smoothly with the threat of losing any/all staff member(s). Sometimes, the operations of a highly specialized department, which loses a key staff member, can be postponed until the appointment of a new person. However, in the key roles like secretarial work, work cannot be stopped and duties can be referred to any interested volunteer. The collectivity and shared team working spirit that characterize the association enable it to face sudden problems of this sort. The association is having a board of directors. It is composed of 9 members, 1/3 of them are dropped during each nomination period. The nomination is made for 6 upcoming years. It is preferred to nominate persons with strong public relations to offer some facilities and those who have the expertise and strong knowledge about association’s policies. The association is membership based. There are different types of members including volunteers, affiliated, and working member. The membership status is documented only for continuing members who are then entitled to receive a formal membership card. Members pay a symbolic annual fee of about 20 pounds which represents one of the financial resources received by the association. The following chart represents the progress that has occurred in association’s membership from 2004 to 2008. In 2010, the number of volunteers has reached 4000. Figure : The number of volunteers The following chart represents the geographic allocation of volunteers across the different governorates. Figure : The geographic allocation of volunteers The social and economic background of the members is diverse. Majority of members are classified to be from the middle to upper middle social class. They are almost well educated having a clear intent toward the importance of charity and development societal roles in their country. They have strong religious understandings which enable them to volunteer their efforts for the sake of making others happy while earning credits (thawab) and pleasing the only god (ALLAH). The association has completed a huge number of successful projects2 and some of which are seasonal. The seasonal projects include distributing El Kheir bags and Ramadan lamps. It is planning to undertake some continuous projects not to be owned by the association but by encouraging the youth to execute them and the association can be a partner by 10%. Attached here below in the appendices is a list of the projects and activities the association is involved in. The primary beneficiaries of the association are; Volunteers, university students, school children, widowed women, poor families, knowledge seekers, patients, orphans, and the elderly at large. The association is not specifying a certain population to focus on serving. Activities are therefore not based on the coverage of a particular area, but they are tailored to achieve certain goals across the various geographic segments. 3 The association has unique policy for recruiting both members and staff. For the former, recruitment is based on the real intention to perform volunteer work. For the latter, recruitment is based on the exact mission to be completed within the functional department the potential candidate will join. The association views the current recruitment policy to be an effective one. Therefore, there are no plans to change its policy during the current period. The ratio of association’s founders to its members is roughly estimated to be 10%. Taking into considerations that the number of registered volunteers is roughly 4000, only 100-200 of them are active ones. The association depends on a self financing scheme. Majority of funds come from membership fees, donations (in cash or in kind), and revenues from profit-based committees. There is one company which operates in the field of quality and 75% of its income is transferred to the association. There are some funding projects such as the share the good, CSR, and Ijada company. Only 10% of the directed donations are taken to cover a proportion of administrative expenses but the money of Zakat is kept untouched. The association collects money from Egyptians. The money comes in forms of Zakat, sadakat, and in cash or in kind donations. It utilizes no foreign funding alternatives except for the single initiative with the United Nations. This partnership agreement was made under pressures from Dubai police and entitled the association to receive a fund of $ 10. 000 in order to execute some projects. The association has neither an initial endowment nor an emergency fund. It depended mainly on donations during the initial construction phase. There is a bank account for the association where the money collected from the various sources is being deposited to or withdrew from when necessary. The association does not always profit from most of its projects because they have low profit margins. Some seasonal projects might generate profit like the partnership with Toshiba Company to distribute Ramadan lamps. Donations are considered as part of the revenues. The association uses money coming from donations, sadakat, and the yield of some revenue-based activities. The general overhead costs of the association are estimated roughly to be from 30-40% of the budget. The ways to manage costs to the least possible level include, inducing members to rationalize consumption rates, closely monitoring monthly expenses, rationalizing staff recruitment process, and covering the costs of high telephone bills, hospitality and administrative outlays through collecting in kind donations. The association does not recognize any kind of support offered by the Egyptian government. The old government has provided only some facilities to make agreements with some concerned authorities such as ministries. This was mostly perceived prior to the revolution. However, the picture of the new potential government is still vague and there is no assurance that the new government would adopt a pro-civil society philosophy or not. There are tentative expectations about possible cooperation from the ministry of environment in the future. Analysis Based on the results of the in-depth personal interviews conducted with key persons in the association two types of analysis were made. The following section starts by presenting the first type of analysis which is the SWOT. This will be followed by the PEST analysis. 1. SWOT analysis The association enjoys a number of strength points. These strengths include, but not limited to, the following; a. Strong team spirit is a huge asset, good and efficient management system, good public relations, raising the skills of volunteers through gained experience, and very good reputation perceived by partners and the community at large. b. The presence of strong networks both locally and internationally. Locally with government institutions such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, the Adult Education in Alexandria, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Environment (protocol of cooperation),partnership training with the engineering industries sector TV ITVs affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, Alexandria Biblotecha library (Department of Public Relations and Information), Morkoseya Church, the Food Bank, and the Egyptian (permanent agreement). Internationally, networks with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Organized Crime in the United Nations, the Dubai Police (working as technical/training consultants to raise awareness of the damages of drug addiction. c. Good coordination with other local and international organizations. Examples include organizing joint training programs with renaissance makers club in Kuwait, the Ministry of Awqaf in Kuwait, the American University of Kuwait, Gulf University, CID in Kuwait and the Ministry of Defense, Union of Arab Doctors (donations to Libya), the office of Dr. Muhammad Salim Al-Awa, Toshiba Arab company and Ocean Express Company and Isam Abu-setta for heavy transport, New Horizons and Xeon, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, University of Pharos, Alexandria University, Cairo University, Helwan University, Ain Shams University, Menoufiya University, Western University , Mansoura University, Assuit University. Alshanek ya Balady Association, Alexandria west investors association, and set your goal association, the future hands Hospital. In addition to cultural partnership cooperation with the Egyptian-Turkish Friendship Association. d. The presence of a strong infrastructure in the main headquarters in Alexandria. It is located in a prestigious location, well furnished, and highly accessible. However it is not a private property and thus imposes the burden of paying high monthly rent. This location is equipped by personal computers, laptops, wireless network, and they have electronic marketing forces empowered by strong specialists in the field. e. The presence of an independent financial management and independent social affairs and legal affairs units whose staff are paid. The recycling project, the specialized teams used in field case studies, the illiteracy teachers, and volunteers. f. The lack of specific religious or political directions and the presence of strong relationships with respectable figures in Alexandria. The inclusion of small associations in the many events organized by the association. Dependence on respectable personalities in providing certain services. g. Partnering with the association provides the partner several privileges and huge returns. A list of those privileges and returns to partners and individuals can be found later in the appendices. The obvious weakness points observed in this association include the following; a. Funding problems (almost self-financing by 99% from members) and the presence of many projects in second row but (senior management has recently begun to train the middle class members to complete these projects and continue the transfer of expertise to their followers). b. There are no integration links between the projects. c. Some personal conflict problems might arise sporadically among members. d. Administrative problems, and lack of strictness and formalization procedures due to a conflict between the role of leader and manager, but they overcome this problem by appointing an executive director. e. Inadequate promotion for the association in the media compared to other competitors. The reasons are mainly to reduce expenses and due to the imposed security restrictions. f. The absence of headquarters in some governorates like Dakahleya and Gharbeya which constitutes a big problem because the teams there are highly specialized and they need the proper setting to grow on it. g. The lack of specialization between the work forces in undertaking the projects. h. Some communication problems were present however, the Human Resources Director has solved them. i. Lack of volunteers and problems with their continuity/tenure. In some cases the volunteer has a desire to see the immediate result of his voluntary work which makes them less patient to continue. Most of the projects carried out by the association have longer term impacts and feasibility. j. Shortage in financial resources and operational tools. The major opportunities, brought from the external environment, facing the association for the time being include the following; a. Activating some agreements with the Union of Arab doctors, the Ministry of Environment, various associations, political awareness teams, in addition to different charitable and awareness-raising teams seeking support from the association in terms of logistics and training. b. A strong deactivated relationship with Al-Jazeera training center which is currently under study. c. The existence of many public figures, associations, and young modest advocates who have neither political nor religious direction. The association can take advantage of their cooperation efforts. d. A number of donors from America, Canada and Morocco who have appeared after the revolution as service volunteers like doctors. e. Localities and the Council of the People elections. This can be achieved by nominating independent members. Any successful nominated member can offer some facilities and services to the association. Also, this will give the chance for the association to be presented as one of the active civil society organizations participating in crafting the new constitution. f. Offering many partnerships to join the association with large well known institutions such as New Horizons, the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, and other new companies through exhibitions. Their offered contributions come mainly in the form of donations. g. The existence of promising facilities to complete some strategic projects through governmental entities. h. Reducing some of the strict scrutiny procedures imposed previously by the old government and the security apparatus. i. The expansion and proliferation in the environment of charity work, the launch of various public events and the intense presence of the civil society activities. j. The potential for participation with other unknown may be small, associations to perform some other projects outside the scope of work of the association. This represents the potential for diversification and expansion of work coverage. k. People’s Openness and their new reconciliation with the community with the desire to join the civil society institutions to provide charity services. l. The presence of various finance institutions through which the association can expand its operations scale after getting approvals from concerned authorities. m. The neutrality of the association both politically and religiously is a major strength. It is manifested in attracting bodies of various ideologies either as beneficiaries or participants. These include for example, Morosely Church or El-Azhar in my life project. The major threats or challenges, brought from the external environment, facing the association include the following; a. The societal openness can produce many competitors; some of them are supported by huge funding schemes and are biased toward the fulfillment of certain political religious agendas. b. Security threats to volunteers and the possibility of exposure to risk in places where they provide services. The possibility of being abused by law breakers due to the lack of security in the Egyptian streets mainly after the recent events. c. Exploiting association’s activities for the beneficial interests of others. This is totally rejected. This might impose the threat of diluting the association’s public image. Examples include candidates’ coverage for elections or political support using association’s name and good reputation. d. The presence of some competitors with high media coverage, such as resala. e. The culture of voluntary work is still somehow tentative. The lack of awareness of others about the culture of volunteerism and societal responsibility. f. The necessity to invest in volunteers to improve their skills and derive maximum value out of their participation. g. The unstable economic situation of the Egyptian State. h. The role of the Ministry of Social Solidarity has been hindering the progress of the work of the civil society for long years ago. i. The emergence of the Muslim brotherhood and the ancestors (salaf) as major competitors. j. Lack of human rights and political awareness and the prevailing unjustified freedom leading to chaotic results. k. The culture of the conspiracy against Egypt and the presence of some many unnatural Egyptian T. V talk show moderators. l. The owners of certain rented headquarters are drug dealers. This represents a major threat calling for immediate actions in moving those headquarters. 2. The PEST analysis a. Political Factors The political environment in which the association operates appears to be unstable. This status has recently turned to be much intense following the revolution due to the emergence of new political groupings. There are some promising expectations that the new democratically elected government will set new policies that are pro the civil society. The new policies are expected to contain modified laws that regulate taxation and provide more support and facilities to NGOs’ operations. The old government economic policies seemed to be incredibly inefficient resulting into a deteriorated national economic performance. This government had also no hand on regulating the marketing ethics of operating NGOs. Its major concern was on prohibiting religiously oriented activities and banning NGOs participation in the political life. b. Economic Factors The slowdown in Egyptian national economy has impacted the role of the association. This was reflected into low interest rates on savings and high interest charges on borrowings. The inflation rate continued to grow reducing the purchasing value of the Egyptian pound. The long-term prospects for the economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and other economic indicators will depend on the policies and procedures adopted by the new elected government. c. Socio-cultural Factors The dominant religion in Egypt is Islam. The association is not discriminating against either religion or gender. The partnership with morkoseya church is an evidence to support this claim. The role of women continues to grow largely and rapidly in the Egyptian society. They are becoming well educated, highly paid, and having a self commitment toward volunteer work. The majority of people the association is targeting its services are illiterate. The general population lacks a solid awareness regarding green environmental issues. This is a very important role of the association in advocating for a green environment and promoting green activities. These include reducing consumption and disposal rates, saving energy, recycling disposed items†¦etc. d. Technological Factors Technological innovations make life easier for all. The association utilizes as many of the technological facilities like wireless connections, fax, and international calls to carry out daily activities. The emphasis should be directed toward strengthening association’s technological infrastructure to be able to do business through online communication channels. There are strong promises regarding what the future can bring to the civil society in general and to the association in particular. This is manifested in several key points. First: the majority of people are becoming motivated to volunteer work. Second: the increased public awareness of the importance of civic and collective actions in contrast to confining the role of the individual to achieve purely personal goals. Third: the strong promises and positive perception maintained by the majority of the poor toward the role of the civil society due to government failure to satisfy their needs. Forth: the diversity in working areas removes many of the restrictions imposed on the civilian work. Fifth: the potential for cooperation from the new elected democratic government. Sixth: the potential for receiving huge inflows of international donors’ funds. Finally, the presence of many initiatives aimed at community and society renaissance that could be built upon. Conclusion and Recommendations Based on the previous systematic analyses, the following conclusions are reached. The selected association is one of an above medium size. It has several branches covering a range of governorates in Egypt. In addition to that it has multiple international partnership agreements abroad with some countries like Kuwait and Dubai. It is innovative due to the creativity exercised by its members in proposing and launching new project initiatives given the limited financial and physical resources available to them. The diversity of its projects adds to its effectiveness by solving problems in multiple critical areas. Administratively, the association can be run more efficiently than its current status. The overhead costs can be controlled so that not to exceed 10% of the annual budget. This can be achieved through cutting back on hospitality, renting, and utilities expenses or finding a sponsor company to offer them for free. The remainder of the budget should be entirely devoted to implementing key projects and programs. Once those two objectives are met – keeping O. H costs to the minimum and maximizing the pool of resources available to projects – the association can enhance its reliability and credibility as perceived by the various stakeholder groups. It has to overcome one of its critical weaknesses which is the deficient public media coverage. Adopting innovative promotional campaigns, through media, flyers, and positive word of mouth, can bring in extra revenues, many volunteers individuals or corporations, government support, and a favorable public image. It has to integrate advanced sophisticated techniques to save institutional memory for the next generations. Applying digital archiving, video and audio recordings of important projects, seminars, and events, keeping records of association’s best practices are all effective methods to save memory beside the conventional paper-based archiving mechanism. Web presence is very critical to the association. It is not well developed because the current website is down and the main gate to potential members is through the social media like the face book. Thus, developing a full featured website can provide good communication channels for the association both locally and internationally. The association has to allow potential members to register online. The composition of the board of directors needs some adjustments. A combination of co-founders, highly prestigious figures, wealthy capitalists, experienced technocrats – given the fact that they are all politically and religiously unbiased will allow the association to leverage each party’s privileges respectively. The reason is that co-founders are well informed about the association, its mission, vision, goals and have an intuitive inner commitment to achieve them. The highly prestigious, well known, famous, and rich members – who represent the status symbol can bring in extra money through their special donations and strong contacts with bureaucrats. The wealthy capitalists can have a win-win situation. On the one hand, they can enjoy public credibility and commitment toward social responsibility and on the other hand they will cash in the association to derive this legitimacy. Experienced technocrats can propose better structural reforms, manage operational complexities, and implement strategies to improve performance by capitalizing on strengths and overcoming weaknesses. The association is membership-based and it serves multiple interests. It channels members’ annual fees to implement projects serving members of the poor communities. It also develops the skills and competencies of its members in return for their volunteer time, money, and efforts. The non-profit nature of the association should not hinder its attempts to implement profit-based projects. These projects are important to cover the high overhead cost, keep an emergency fund â€Å" to hedge against bad economic conditions,† invest surplus in revenue earning initiatives, finance new developmental projects, and finally keep work flow smoothly while enjoying the tax exemption privilege. Providing full fledged free support should be only restricted to severe cases. These include very poor, eldery, disable, and young sick children in highly marginalized areas. Otherwise, providing services should have something in return. For example, providing microfinance for poor families can be balanced against donating a certain percentage of periodical revenues to fund other projects. One more thing that should be emphasized specially after the revolution of January 25th is augmenting international funding options. The association has to devise an effective strategy to share a large portion of international donor money coming into Egypt to support democracy. Only with a clear schedule of valuable projects, the association can guarantee international donors’ support without facing the threat of policy conditionality i. e. , imposing a certain development agenda on fund recipient as a condition to be granted the money. This can secure association’s activities financially, allow it to cover O. H costs, implement expansion plans, and better serve society’s compelling needs. General recommendations to improve the civil society in Egypt; 1. The presence of a regulatory environment for transparency rather than for control. 2. Ensuring enough flexibility in law application and enforcement i. e. , the law versus the implementation issue. 3. Promoting an openness commitment to partnership between government and public institutions and the civil society. 4. Supporting a bottom-up approach to development from donors’ side. 5. Supporting the creation of institutions rather than only short or medium term programs to promote for sustainable development. 6. Mobilizing mechanisms to maximize the real value perceived by the beneficiaries from the donors’ dollars. Page (2011) mentioned that only 10 to 30 percent of this actual grant will go to the real beneficiaries. 7. Supporting the youth-led NGOs so that they can actually participate in leading the winds of change toward democracy in Egypt. P. S. for those interested in accessing the association for donations, or more research work, here are association’s contacts. Address

Discussing The Role Of Language And Reason In History Philosophy Essay

Discussing The Role Of Language And Reason In History Philosophy Essay Language like reason is one of the most important ways of knowing to mankind. Human beings have benefited greatly through language by means of communicating and understanding each other as we read history. Could language as a way of knowing bring us the most suitable type of language? What is language without reason? I treat these as my knowledge issues and will try to bring my aspect and conclusion on the situation. Distinguishing between a terrorist or a freedom fighter can be biased, that biasness is the type of reason that affected you there and then. Language in history Some might say History is the study of the past. The role of language in history is fairly abundant. Many linguists believe that language have a common ancestry, but we still do not know whether language has come from one source, but students of history know from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus that Phrygian is the first coherent language in the history of mankind. It is believed that early humans probably had a communication system similar to animals to contact each other and used body language and calls of various types, but speech did not develop until the human brain evolved enough to enable us to convey ideas to each other. History is not a record of everything that has happened in the past, history is merely catches the main gist of what supposedly happened in the past. So we can wonder, Could language bring out the most accurate form of history? We can deduce that, if suitable and open minded recorders were the ones that cement history for us, then why should we wonder. But without language as a way of knowing, problems arise and perception would play a dominant role, as being a multifarious way of knowing, many conclusion could deduce on a claim. But without language, reason would not erupt into a form that would proportionally justify perception in the given case above, debates, arguments, justifications, treaties, deals and agreements would not take place as the way we perceive it today. So it would be foolish to think that history would be relevant without language and reason, reasoning is always present and helps us understand in a coherent fashion. Though, problems are that language, alone, can be confusing and can easily be edited in our views, propaganda during the Russian revolution lead people to a perception, that perception manifested into reason and thought/expressions of the socio-economic classes during then were heard. History has may sources but as the past does not exist, it is difficult to accurately find out about history. For example, if we have evidence such as Stonehenge or the Rosetta stone are parts of our history and we can know to some extent about those periods in our history. But objectivity and accuracy in understanding history are to my mind the real questions which are to be looked at seriously. Historians distinguish primary and secondary sources of information. A primary source is written by a person who was there at the time, while the secondary source is a second hand account of the event. For example, what Socrates wrote and Plato were writing as primary sources, while others who developed on their ideas. Biases can be created by even eyewitness accounts as a person can exaggerate or use weak language to explain the incident, he may also have a social bias and describe history in a manner that he likes. In Greek times or when Aztec warriors ruled, we know little about how Greek slaves or peasants lived or how tribal societies carried out their daily lives, even though we have written history about those times. History can be deliberately changed when primary sources are manipulated by interest groups, this brings me to another knowledge issue, Can we trust History? The Russians and Chinese history has been changed by the state and the primary sources of changed. By changing they have used the new history created by them as propaganda to rule their people. I believe that history is just a monument. A monument of many things, the holocaust was a monument of the horrors that mustnt be repeated again. History is a secondary source (established data), it is not easy to say that all hundred percent of history is true, it is not my call. History also creates hindsight bias as events in our own life when seen later makes us question about the mistake we made. To a certain extent, this also distorts history. Bias and language can be a subject bias, confirmation bias or a national bias. Can language describe historical events in a language that is neutral? To better understand language, many theories have been developed like, the definition theory, denotation theory and Image theory. These theories segment our way of communicating into partitions, each representing a certain situation that is directly proportional to language. Briefly, the definition theory is based on finding the meaning of words from a dictionary. A problem to this type of language is that some words are very difficult to define properly and are highly multifarious. On the other hand, the Denotation theory tells us how to separate words that have meaning and words that have no meaning. Last but not least the image theory explains that any word is a mental image in our mind that stands in the mind. Language is complex. It shows us our social reality and no two languages can show the same social reality, that is what the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states. Languages create different trends in our social reality. In the age of technology and how it is rapidly growing, it becomes a bit overwhelming. Language creates barriers but also creates entries. When I read about news in magazines, in news paper or TV, the same issue can be shown in many different ways. Politics especially, I as a teenager and a member of the future generation of this world; reading politics of the Middle East, the Kashmir problem or the Afghan war can mean many things when read in English or Urdu. It all ends up to your social reality and your reason with a clear view on society itself. Language causes confusion and this confusion conveys specific thoughts, these thought s are planted on the different views in the world today. These views, even with so much knowledge and theories, leads to hatred and misunderstandings, thus leading to wars and bloodshed or could lead to a world that would represent something that would be found in The Beatles lyrics. Language provi des accuracy in life, definitions of words and phrases like war on terror, fanatics, collateral damage means differently to the different social reality (rule governed by language) and are contested in various forms and has been, previously in the future. To an extent history has affected me in some ways, views on society today and the changing trends of mentioned above I also agree that language and reason plays a big role in the history we know today. Reason and history as a way of knowing Reason is segmented into one of the four ways of knowing for a very good reason. We know that reason is a difficult word to define, because it is based on various premises, basis on which various conclusions are drawn. Reason is like a knife, which has two edges and both sides can cut equally well as both knife edges are sharp. We also know that reason cannot be used in every situation, especially in our private lives, where emotion also plays an important a role, which cannot be defined by reason alone. Sometimes reason can be balanced with emotion and sometimes it cannot be balanced. There are three kinds of reasoning: Deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning Informal reasoning deductive reasoning is based on syllogism which states two premises (logical arguments) and a conclusion is then drawn. But we know all truth is not valid, if the argument is true or false, the conclusion can be true or false and may not be valid. Therefore, this argument is built on incorrect logic and the syllogism is false. We can conclude that arriving at the right conclusion our argument is dependent on the truth or falsity of the premises (logic) it contains. Deductive logic must be handled with care to arrive at the correct conclusion. Inductive logic is the opposite of deductive logic and is based on from the particular to the general. Inductive reasoning can be explained by an example: I am born from my mother. We can conclude that human beings are born from females, because all statistical evidence leads us to this conclusion. This example can be called inductive inference (conclusion). All languages are based on inductive generalizations, for example, teacher, dog or table can be classified into general classes and then labeled. From languages we inherit history of human thought about how the world is organized. Most sciences use inductive reasoning to formulate laws and theories. For example, if carbon-dioxide causes green house effect, therefore carbon-dioxide emitted by any form will lead to ozone reduction in the atmosphere. Scientists use this type of logic to explain reasoning and reach conclusions. -Informal reasoning- Informal reasoning is based after this, therefore accounted of this, it means that because one thing B follows another thing A, then A must be a cause of B. For example, more murders are committed in hot weather; it means that weather is the only factor that affects increase in murder. Informal reasoning is based on co-relation in two things and can be correct or incorrect if the premise is valid. While the three types of reasoning cannot answer all questions relating to knowledge, they do provide us a basis on which we can understand our world and ourselves better but one way of reasoning is not sufficient to define all things in a logical manner. Our reasoning is also affected by circular reasoning, false analogy, loaded questions and many other biases. Bad reasoning is based on four main reasons: Reason gives man the greatest ability to understand and predicts things related to him with certainty. This gives that specific kind of coherency that exists in the world today. We see, thus we reason Timothy Rath. History is rooted with reason, it regards human nature and the human intellect that goes hand in hand. What really shapes History are the winners. The people in charge. They get to have their stories told, they get to decide what goes to the public and what doesnt. Imagine if Germany had won the second world war. Our view of the holocaust would be much different wouldnt it? Maybe the general populace may not have even been told of their existance. And if we take a look at Stalin and his attempts to remove people from history (altering photos, deleting records of existance), we can see that the people up there have the power to feed us whatever they want. And that was back then, when there was no photoshop. Just imagine the technology they have in their hands today. And that is why there are countries that are so suspicious of others learning of their past, that they do anything to keep them quiet, going as far as to kill them. As a more recent example, does anyone know of Andijon? I wouldnt be surprised if you didnt, partially because it is in Uzbekistan and to be honest i didnt know that was a country until i got off a plane one day and ended up living there. To be fair, i was about 11 and my knowledge of the geography was kind of limited. Anyways, the Andijon massacres (sometime in 2006) have been described by the UN to be possibly the greatest massacre since Tienanmen square. So why havent you heard of it? Because the government of Uzbekistan are brilliant at keeping people out and censoring things. Even killed a journalist that fled to another country after writing an article criticizing them. Im honestly kind of scared to write about this.

Use of Doubles in the Film, Shadow of A Doubt :: Movie Film Essays

Use of Doubles in the Film, Shadow of A Doubt The film Shadow of A Doubt uses doubles, a film concept in which a shot is created and then later exposed once again in another frame. There are various scenes in the movie where doubles are used to imply different ideas. Three concrete examples of this effect include the scenes where Uncle Charlie and young Charlie wake up, the scenes where both Charlie’s say that telling Emma about Uncles evildoings will be hurtful, and the scene of the trains going in opposites directions of each other. First and foremost, the scene where Uncle Charlie wakes up parallels directly to the scene of little Charlie waking up. The director makes it obvious that these two characters will be linked in some way through this use of doubles. Later in the film, we find that these two characters are closely connected but have a contrasting relationship. Their relationship was one of much love when Uncle first arrived to the family, and suddenly turned sour when little Charlie told Uncle that there was something inside him that no one knew. Next, Shadow of A Doubt uses the two different scenes where both Uncle Charlie and little Charlie say that telling Emma about Uncle will be hurtful are both combined into a double. The director does this in order to let the viewer see that both Uncle and little Charlie have common thoughts even though they have different perceptions on life. They have a common goal and that is for no one else to hurt from Uncles hidden evils. Lastly, this film uses doubles in the final scene of the movie where the two trains cross each other. This sequence is important due to the fact that Uncle was thrown under one of the trains to his death.

Assisted Suicide :: essays research papers

Assisted Suicide In reaction to the law the Michigan Legislature recently passed outlawing assisted suicide, I found myself with many mixed feelings. I found myself often feeling bad for the patients Dr. Kevorkian dealt with but more often felt sorry for him that he should be responsible for so many deaths. It is a sad road to travel on when faced with a terminal disease. It includes many harsh realities and many are not prepared to deal with their illness. There are many aspects I chose to look at when preparing to write this paper. A person's self-worth is one and also the doctor's evaluation of a person's self-worth. I chose to take my own personal stand on the issue, which includes my own opinions, feelings, and thoughts on the many controversies surrounding Euthanasia. I also chose to write about the "Slippery Slope" for I find it to be a very relevant and useful tool in looking at the topic of Euthanasia. This is a very interesting subject to me for I look ahead at the next few years of many painful deaths for a family that is getting very old. When looking at someone's self-worth†¦what they feel they can offer, you have to put into perspective what they are dealing with. Of course, someone who is slowly dieing of a terminal disease is going to find their self-worth at virtually nothing. They are depressed and in pain and are not capable of doing things on their own any longer. What pride is there in that? Most people find none. On a more personal level, I would find pride in waking up each day, and in waking up each day trying to find something to smile about. I could find pride in knowing that even though I am dieing†¦and I am in pain†¦that I am still able to be strong for the people who love me. I find pride and dignity in that and that makes my self-worth†¦something worth saving. I have been brought up in a Catholic family. Therefore, many of my opinions on controversial issues such as this stem from my upbringing. However, I have been able to do the research and form my own opinions. And, even so, I still think assisted suicide is wrong. When one person is responsible for the stopping of another person's heart from beating, it should be considered murder. And, I equally agree that it shouldn't have taken a case where

College Athletes Essay

Athletes, under the age of 21 years, should be eligible to be drafted into a professional sports team. Playing in a professional sport is a career and setting a limit based on age to when someone can start his or her career is absurd. â€Å"Currently, to be eligible for the NBA Draft, a player has to be at least 19-years-old or one year removed from high school. † (Jessop. 2014) In the one year removed from high school, the athlete can choose to attend college and declare if he or she would be eligible to be drafted after that year. There are many benefits for athletes to graduate from college before starting his  or her career in a professional sport, but that decision should be left solely to them without age restrictions. â€Å"The vast majority of players feel a player should have the right to make a living. If he has the talent and wants to make money to help his family, he should have that right. It’s just a matter of principle. † (Broussard. 2010) Pursuing and completing a college education is a huge reason why many people feel athletes under the age of 21 shouldn’t be eligible to play professional sports. Having a college degree can be extremely useful because of the amount of opportunities and  options available to graduates. However, as much as attending college is encouraged in today’s society, college isn’t a route everyone chooses. â€Å"In 2011, the most recent year for which statistics are available, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 68. 3 percent of students who graduated high school in 2011 were enrolled in college. † (Thompson) The choice to attend college or not attend college is a choice that comes across of the path of many. Why should athletes be held to a different standard of education? A fear that many have with younger athletes entering the professional sports arena  is their risk for injury. â€Å"The NFL and NCAA claim that the NFL age requirement protects young athletes by shielding them from physical injury, requiring them to mature emotionally, and receive an education before entering the world of professional sports. † (Bianchi. 2008) Injuries can happen to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. If a collegiate athlete suffers an injury while playing in a game or practice, the injury can greatly decrease or even eliminate his chances of being drafted into a professional sport. The athlete with potential  to play in a professional sport will no longer have an opportunity to do and might possibly lose their scholarship. If an athlete gets injured playing in a professional sport, at least they would be getting paid and have benefits. Why risk the opportunity to play in a professional sport? If an 18-year-old athlete has the talent to play in a professional sport and have the opportunity to earn money and support their family, age should not be the reason to stop him or her from doing so. Many college student athletes receive scholarships for attending college but (EXPERIENCE with examples).