Enable Rights and Choices of Indivduals with Dementia Whilst

ENABLE RIGHTS AND CHOICES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA WHILST MINIMISING RISKS 1 UNDERSTAND KEY LEGISLATION AND AGREED WAYS OF WORKING THAT SUPPORT THE FULFILMENT OF RIGHTS AND CHOICES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA WHILE MINIMISING RISK OF HARM 1.1 The key legislations are Adult and Incapacity Act 2000, Mental Health Act 2007, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Human Rights Act. These are all core principals of legislation regarding an individual with dementia. Policies and procedures and agreed ways of working and safeguarding Individuals is another key factor. All organisations and authorities have a duty of care towards an Individual with dementia, GPs, Social Workers, Health Visitors, Family and Carers. All Individuals with dementia have the rights to make choices. Individuals with dementia should be encouraged to make as many decisions as possible for them; however they must be guided so they stay within the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Related article: Legal and Organisational Requirements for Dealing With Complaints We must assume that the Individual with dementia has capacity unless it has been assumed that they lack the capacity to make choices. We must not think that an Individual is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless this has been established. An Individual is not to be treated as unable to make a decision because they might not always make a wise decision. If a decision is made under the Mental Capacity Act on behalf of the Individual, the decision must be made for the best interests of the Individual. Before a decision can be made on behalf of the Individual we must ask ourselves whether the purpose of the decision can be effectively achieved in a way that would not restrict the Individuals rights and freedom of choice and action. We also have to adhere to the Human Rights Act and code of Practises. The Individual with dementia will have to be risk assessed. The Individual will be encouraged to make their own choices and decisions, if they make an unwise decision they should be offered other options which will help lead them to make a wise decision. Risk needs to be balanced with Independence and Individuals choices and working within legislations. We should not assume that all Individuals with dementia are vulnerable; this depends entirely on the stages of dementia. We should not restrict the Individuals from having choices and making decisions for themselves. Risk assessments can be very complex as no two assessors will come to the same conclusion regarding the Individual. We have to let the Individual with dementia take a certain amount of risk for themselves, allowing this to happen makes the Individual feel worthy and independent and more at ease with their illness. If we were to put everything an Individual did down as a risk the Individual would feel worthless, inadequate, and useless and they would feel that they are a burden on their family. We have to weigh up the risk against the danger this is the key. If we were to take away all the choices and decisions and have someone else make these decisions and choices on behalf of the Individual this would have a negative impact on the Individual as they would be having everything took away from them and they wouldn’t feel in control. A positive impact on allowing the Individual to take risks, the Individual can still do their day to day activities etc, make their own meals, make cups of tea, do their own housework, laundry, take bathes, go for walks. Wherever possible we should eliminate high risks and look at ways to reduce these risks so they become low risks etc, supporting an Individual to make their meal observing them so they don’t hurt themselves, or accompany them on a walk etc. 1.2 People with dementia may have other difficulties too, like loss of hearing, make sure that the hearing aids are working well and that you speak to them in a loud clear voice so they can understand you. The person could also be in pain or discomfort, they could be having side effects from medication which will affect the way they communicate with you. Other problems would be eyesight, make sure they are wearing the correct prescription of glasses. Dentures are important as well, if the dentures are loose fitting then this will affect the person’s speech and this will be frustrating for them . 3Personal Information comes under the Data Protection Act 1998. We have to make sure personal Information is confidential. We have to know how to handle the personal Information, agreed ways of working, policies and procedures are all legislation frameworks. The Information should be processed fairly and lawfully. The Personal Data should be processed for limited purposes. The informat ion should be adequate, relevant and the information should be for the purpose of whom the information is processed for. The information should be kept up to date and accurate. The information should not be kept longer than intended for. The Persona Data will be processed in accordance with the rights of data subject under the Act. Measures are in place to avoid the information being lost or unauthorised and unlawfully processed or damaged to. The Personal Information shall not be transferred to another country outside the European Economic Area unless that country ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data. Personal Information may be shared with others, consent is needed to do this at all times from the Individual or in the case of an emergency, abuse, or if neglect is suspected. If the Individual is mentally incapable, informed consent should be given by the family or next of kin. Information that is shared with an advocate should be information that is for the Individuals best interest, Exchange of information from one organisation to another should be shared and done securely and access to the information should be controlled. Personal Information may be shared with carers who have access to the information regarding the service user. The carer will write up her findings when she has visited the service user and they will be on the log sheets in the care plan. When another carer goes to visit the service user they will look at the previous notes the other carer had documented and they will have a better understanding of the service user’s situation and needs. This is one form of information sharing also the carer will access information from the care plan and from the med sheets. If a service user was to be hospitalised the paramedics may need the care plan and log sheets so they can read up and see if any information documented is relevant to the response of the paramedic. Also if a service user was to go into a care home the care plan and log sheets would be taken in to the home so the relevant members of staff could read the data and have a better understanding of the service user. The Medication sheet would also be in with the care plan; a key factor is getting consent to access information. BE ABLE TO MAXIMISE THE RIGHTS AND CHOICES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA 2.1 SEE STANDARDS 2.2 It is very important not to assume that an Individual with dementia cannot make their own decisions. From the time the Individual has been diagnosed the time scale is important as this gives the Individual time and may be capacity or limited capacity to make own choices and decisions. This is the time when the relevant authorities should prompt the Individual and gather as much information about the Individual; this information can come from the Individual, the family, the next of kin. Information on preferences, choices and decisions and wishes. Information on Individuals life experiences, strengths and abilities, family history, favourite foods, pastimes, hobbies, favourite drinks, dislikes, likes, favourite radio station, favourite tv programmes, routines, clothes the Individual likes to wear and socialising. All the information and choices and preferences will help the Individual and the people supporting the individual prepare for the future. Early diagnosis of an Individual will give the Individual the rights to their freedom and this must be respected. As dementia advances the risk assessment plan will need to be reviewed and the care plan may need to change to accommodate the changes within the Individual. We should still encourage the Individual to make decisions and choices as much as possible, bearing in mind the risks which come with these decisions and choices. All the choices and decisions should be monitored and recorded. Taking away the rights of an Individual with dementia can be soul destroying, it can be frustrating, the Individual may become depressed, withdrawn, feel isolated, worthless, a burden, emotionally detatched and angry. Every emotion a normal person feels, the Individual with dementia will feel the same but on a higher scale. Dementia Individuals need to be in an environment of comfort and empowerment. The Individual will respond better to a person centered approach. The Individual needs to feel a sense of belonging and attached, they need to feel included and feel part of a group or physical setting, they need to be occupied and kept busy just as they was in their everyday life before they got the illness. Their environment needs to be created so that the Individual has support and can do the things they have always enjoyed doing. All Individuals with dementia have their own personal Identity they are all unique so learning about their life stories and experiences can be of benefit to the care they receive as the information learnt can be built into their interactions within their care plan needs. 2.3 SEE STANDARDS. 3 BE ABLE TO INVOLVE CARERS AND OTHERS IN SUPPORTING INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA 3.1 SEE STANDARDS. 3.2 There can be conflicts and disagreements between carers and Individuals with dementia and also conflicts with family members. When the problem arises we have to address the problem and try and resolve the problem as soon as possible. We have to take into account the rights and choices of the Individual and balance this with the risk and safeguarding of the Individual. An Individual who has dementia may not want carers to come into their homes; they may not want anybody doing things for them and refuse the help. This can be frustrating for the carer however the carer may talk to the Individual in a subtle way and explain that he or she is not here to take over their lives but just here to help support them when they need help and just here to see that the Individual has had their medications. The carer will find it useful to read the Individuals notes and care plan and get as much information as possible on the Individual. The carer will have to reassure the Individual and try and gain their trust. The carer may ask the Individual if you could accompany them to the shops or to an appointment etc. The Individual must be allowed to take risks however if the risks look like they are dangerous or appear to be harmful we must explain the reasons to the Individual. If we cannot resolve the problem there and then, we must record the information and report it to the manager of the company supplying the service. The manager will take the appropriate action with the relevant authorities. The safeguarding of the Individual is paramount and we should never ignore potential high risks or dangers to the Individual, and we must work to policies and procedures and agreed ways of working at all times. 3.3 All organisations and service providers have a system for complaints and procedures these are legal requirements. Everybody has the right to complain about poor quality services, services not being delivered, services that Individuals need but are not being supplied, conflict with carers, service providers. The Individual will have a document of complaints within their care package. The document should be clear and informative on how to make a complaint. The document will state who the complaint should be made to and timescales for when the complaint will be dealt by. If an Individual with dementia wanted to make a complaint I would support them and if they wanted I would read the document to them and support them in filling out the form. If the Individual with dementia didn’t have full capacity to fill out the form I would liaise with the next of kin, family members or advocates. I would inform them that the Individual would like to make a complaint and if they would like to help the Individual to fill the form out providing the Individual gave consent. I would explain how the complaints system works and when they would receive a response to the complaint. I would inform my manager that the service user or service user’s family have made a complaint and I would take the complaint in an addressed envelope to my manager as soon as possible. When handling a complaints document with an Individual with dementia I would work within the Mental Capacity Act 2005. I would explain to the Individual and the next of kin that the document is confidential and that it will be dealt with in a professional manner and that the complainant has nothing to worry about regarding the complaint and explain that it is their right of choice to complain. I would also explain that whilst complaints are being dealt with it makes the service user resolve the problems and also it is of benefit to the organisations in ensuring the problems don’t occur again and that they get it right first time and this will have a positive impact on the organisations. If a carer wanted to make a complaint about another carer they would follow the same procedure in filling out the document and they would take it to the manager. The manager would explain that in making the complaint it does not jeopardise their employment as they have a right and choice as whether to make a complaint. The manager would work towards resolving the complaint in a professional manner so that the employees can move forward and be happy in their work. 4 BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THE PRIVACY DIGNITY AND RESPECT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DEMENTIA WHILST PROMOTING RIGHTS AND CHOICES 4.1 From a personal experience of supporting an Individual with dementia to maintain privacy and dignity, I have found that the more I get to know the Individual and them getting to know me the easier it has become for both of us to feel comfortable about maintaining privacy and dignity. Personal care and hygiene is a key factor. We should support the Individual to maintain their personal hygiene and appearance and their living environment to the standards that they want. We should respect their choices and decisions of choice of dress, hairstyle etc. We should let the Individual with dementia make own choices and decisions. We should not make assumptions about standards of hygiene for Individuals. We should respect cultural factors and take them into consideration when supporting the Individual. Supporting the Individual to have a clean appearance and pleasant environment is good for the Individuals self esteem. Supporting female Individuals with dementia helps them to keep their home nice and clean and helps towards maintaining their dignity and self respect. Supporting a male Individual with dementia, he may need support with shaving, maybe prompting the Individual to shave will all it will take and the Individual may go to the bathroom and have a shave and this will allow him to maintain his dignity and respect for himself. Supporting an Individual to have good hygiene will also reduce the risk of infection and promote well being. We should ensure that the Individuals personal preferences are respected as well as their choice in how to support them. Personal hygiene can be of many aspects, washing, bathing, showering, denture care, oral hygiene, foot care, hair care, grooming, nail care, toilet care , continence needs, dressing and undressing, laundry and housekeeping. We should treat every Individual with dementia with respect like we would anybody else. We should provide a person centered approach towards their care, putting the Individual at the centre of care. Communication shows how we respect the Individuals and this will help maintain their dignity and respect. Privacy is also a key factor for an Individual with dementia; privacy must be respected at all times. We should respect privacy where people have personal relationships and sexual relationships. We should always ask permission and knock before we enter an Individuals personal space. We should get permission before accessing Individuals possessions and documents; we should provide space and privacy for Individuals private conversations. We should make sure the Individual receives their personal mail unopened, we should always pull the door too if the Individual is getting dressed or undressed and doesn’t require support. We must comply with the Human Rights Act 1998 as this gives the Individual the rights for respect, dignity, privacy and a private family life. Individuals with dementia should receive care and treatment in a dignified manner that does not embarrass them, humiliate them or expose them. Legislation states that the Individual with dementia are to be treated as equal to everybody else. If an Individual with dementia had a toilet accident or was having regular toilet accidents, I would support the Individual by assuring them that it is ok and that it doesn’t matter and that it can be cleaned up. I would encourage the Individual to go to the bathroom whilst still assuring them. I would close the bathroom door and support the Individual to take off their soiled clothing and prompt the Individual to maybe shower or have a bath or a wash whilst still ensuring them everything is ok, I would encourage the Individual to have a bath in privacy that’s if they didn’t need support with getting in the bath or shower, I would let them wash themselves in privacy and when they had finished I would knock on the door and ask if they were ok and support them to put clean fresh clothes on so they feel fresh and clean again. If the problem was ongoing I would report the problem to my manager as the Individual may need extra support and may need continence pads or pants, I would also discuss this with the Individual in a subtle way. I would work to policies and procedures and agreed ways of working and adhere to professional boundaries. 4. 2 SEE STANDARDS. 4. 3 SEE STANDARDS.

Liberal Humanism:

Theory: The English word ‘theory’ is derived from a technical term of philosophy in ancient Greek. It comes from the word ‘theria’ which means ‘a looking art, viewing or beholding’. In more technical context, it comes to refer to speculative understandings of natural things. Pythagoras for the first time establishes the meaning of ‘theory’. To him the word means a passionate, sympathetic contemplation of mathematical and scientific knowledge. On the other hand Aristotle believes that ‘theory’ is contrasted with praxis or practice. For him both practice and theory involve thinking but the aims are different.Theoretical contemplation considers things which human beings cannot move or change and which has no human aim apart from itself. On the contrary, praxis involves thinking always with an aim to desired actions whereby humans cause change or movement themselves for their own ends. Theory is actually a complex paradigm because it incorporates different areas such as theory of the literature, science, technology, politics and so on. It is usually though that theory is the systematic account of the nature of any field and how this nature can be analyzed. CHRONOLOGICAL DEVLOPMENT OF â€Å"THEORY†:One theory gives birth to another theory. The growth of critical theory in the post-war period seems to comprise a series of ‘waves’ being associated with a specific decade and all aimed against the liberal humanist consensus. In 1960s, two new terms were appeared. â€Å"Marxist Criticism†, which had been pioneered in the 1930s, reborn in the 1960s and â€Å"psychoanalytic Criticism† came in the 1960s. In 1970s news spread in literary critical circles in Britain and U. S. A. about particular â€Å"structuralism† and â€Å"post-structuralism†, both of which originated In France.In the early 1980s two new forms political and historical criticism emerged â€Å"ne w historicism†. Finally, in the 1980s, a grand explanation seemed to be taking place there was a decisive drift towards dispersal, eclecticism and special-interest forms of criticism and theory. Thus, post-colonialism rejects the idea of universally applicable Marxist explanations. Likewise post-modernism stresses the fragmented nature of much contemporary experience. Feminism also shows signs of dissolving gender studies, with gay and lesbian texts emerging as distinct fields of literature, and hence implying and generating ppropriate and distinct critical approaches. LIBERAL HUMANISM: Liberal Humanism refers to the idea that we can understand or explain our world through rational enquiry. It rejects explanations based on the supernatural or divine forces. This idea became the basis for the development of science on the Western world. It’s a form of philosophy concentrated on the perfection of a worldly life, rather than on the preparation for an eternal and spiritual life. In philosophy and social science, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of a â€Å"human nature†.The word â€Å"humanist† derives from the 15th-century Italian term umanista. The term ‘liberal humanism' denotes the ruling assumptions, values and meanings of the modern epoch. It claims to be both natural and universal. The common feature of liberal humanism is ‘freedom’. It is not associated with supernatural things. Rather it believes that our observation can be explained by human investigation and thought. The doctrines of liberal humanism are: * To know unknown and to create uncreated * Having rational faculty * Being self dependent * Superiority of human beings Absolute freedom of human mind *Having the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to our lives. EMERGENCE OF LIBERAL HUMANISM: Liberal Humanism inaugurates rational enquiry and rejects the supernatural or the realm of emotions. It was a response to the Dark Ages when people believed in religion blindly. The hold of the Church was so strong that even the king had to bow down to its decisions. At that time, people were told that they must accept their place in the order of religion. Afterwards, humanism came with a belief in the freedom of human beings to control their own destinies.It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of mediaeval scholastic education emphasizing practical, pre-professional and scientific studies. Gradually, people started questioning the teachings of the church. Martin Luther King insisted on reading the Bible rather than following the interpretations of the priest. He argued that we must follow religion rationally. Many people started questioning the rigid ritualistic aspects of religion too. Even scientists like Galileo argue that one must read the book of nature.Such ideas promote the growth of science and reinforce the belief in ob servation and rational analysis. It is in such a context that humanism emerges. With this, we also see a revival in the study of Classical Greek and Roman texts. We see the emergence of faith in human rather than divine. In this way, liberal humanism has made human mind free from the existing bondage of religion in Middle age. PLATO (427-347): Plato is the founder of philosophy in ancient Greece KEY FACTS: *The material we perceive through our body and our senses is not the real world but an imperfect copy of an ideal world. Art works to reproduce or represent the perceivable material world. *Literature is important and needs to be regulated or supervised because it has a powerful effect on its readers. *The content of literature is more important than the form it comes in. According to Plato’s philosophy, reason was the highest form of thought and the preferable means for convincing cultural knowledge. For Plato, reason is a process of logical deduction. Stories, poetry and drama appeal to their audiences’ emotion more than to the rational minds.As art arouses emotions, it can never be true. He said that truth can only be apprehended through rational thought, as exemplified in Mathematics. Plato and his followers ignored the fact that we can perceive with our physical senses. In this realm, things remain in their most perfect form and never change. Their static condition makes them eternal and therefore the essence of all the things that exist in our material world are merely copies of the form that exist in the ideal world. As they are copies, they are necessarily less perfect than the original forms.According to Plato, we can understand the world of forms only through reason and the process of logical argument. Philosophers use logic and reason to discover truth. By contrast, artists evoke emotions by making representations of the world. Plato considered all arts as representational. Art creates picture of the material perceivable world which Plato called â€Å"nature†. But ‘nature’ is itself only a reproduction, a copy of what exist in the perfect form in the realm of the ideal. So, any art that reproduces nature is merely copying from a copy. An artist’s work is always removed from the world of truth and ideal perfection.As their creations are copies of copies and these copies excite feelings rather than reason, Plato worried that art and artist might threaten social order, and the eternal truths. In book X of The republic, Plato points specifically to poets and poetry in warning that all poetic imitations are ruinous to the understanding of the hearers, unless as an antidote they possess the knowledge of the true nature of the knowledge. Plato worried that art, including literary art like poetry and drama tell lies and influence their audience in irrational ways.This didactic criticism argues that literature is a powerful medium for arousing emotions, without necessarily presenting any ratio nal assessment that it can present a constant danger to its audience. Moral criticism focuses on the content of a work of literature, asking whether its effect is good or bad rather than paying emotions to its artistic or formal values. Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Aristotle, one of the ancient Greek philosophers, is the ‘founding father’ of western thought. KEY FACTS: *Aristotle’s main concern was in the form and unity of an artistic work. Art is not binary to the reason and threatening to logic and rationality. *Reality resides in the changeable world of sense perceptions or, the physical, material world. * ‘Form' of Ideal can only exist in tangible examples of that form. Aristotle was less interested in the content of literature than in its forms. According to Aristotle, art is not an imitation or a reproduction of nature of the world we perceive with our senses. So it is not an inferior reproduction or copy of nature rather it is a process of putting the eve nts of nature into words or paint which helps to improve or complete nature.For example, when an artist paints a picture of a cherry tree or writes a poem about it, he or she does not just copy the tree but creates a new version of the tree through the process. With the help of colors or words the artist re-creates it. Artists are important because art imposes order on a disordered and chaotic natural world. Literature particularly imposes a particular kind of narrative order on events. For that reason there is a beginning, middle and an end what is described in words. Aristotle believes that art and literature complete a process which the natural world leaves incomplete.Nature merely exhibits us with events and sensory experiences while art provides us with their meaning. Thus art and literature are a positive social force which is contrasting to Plato’s view. Aristotle’s arts, creating order and system help to find pleasure in the representation of an understandable and meaningful reality. The pleasure people take in representations conveys another type of ‘truth’. For Aristotle, ‘reality’ does not reside in a static eternal world of perfect ideal forms rather reality is the ever-changing world of appearances and perceptions.Plato’s concept was that any particular chair was only an inferior copy of the ideal form of ‘Chair’ that could not be perceived through our senses. By contrast Aristotle puts logic that the only way we can know the essence of ‘Chair’ the true meaning of chair is through individual instances of chairs. Form exists only in the concrete examples of that form Aristotle’s truth resides in discovering the rules and principles that govern how things work and take on meaning in our material world. Aristotle treats poetry and all arts forms, like biology.He is interested in discovering or creating ways to identify characteristics of various forms of poetry and develo ping systematic categories through which to classify these forms. Plato founds the tradition of moral criticism about what a work of poetry does to its audience, on the other hand, Aristotle founds the tradition of genre criticism by investigating what a particular work is, rather than what it does. HORACE (65 BCE- 8BCE): Quintus Horiatius Flaccus was a Roman poet, commonly known as Horace. He is best known for his satires and his lyric odes.KEY FACTS: *Horace focuses on the purpose of poetry, or literature in general. *The benefit of poetry is highlighted. *Two sources of poetry are –nature and other authors. In the traditions of literary theory, Horace has contributed through his articulation of the purpose of poetry. Following Plato, he said that literature serves didactic purpose and it provides pleasure. According to him poetry is a useful teaching tool as it is pleasurable. Its lessons can be learned because the pleasure of poetry makes it popular.Horace also views natu re as the primary source of poetry like Plato, but his concept is that poets should imitate other authors too. In this way, Horace establishes the necessity of a poet to know tradition, and respect inherited forms and conventions as well as creating new works. Sir Phillip Sidney (1554-86): One of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age, Sir Philip Sidney is most famous for his â€Å"The Defence of Poetry’. KEY FACTS: *Sidney strongly urges that poetry serves both instruction and pleasure. *Poetry gives a shape to nature so that we can get close to nature. poetry reveals the meaning lying beneath everything in this external world. Sidney directly attacked Plato for his thoughts on poetry. The essence of Sidney’s defence in favour of poetry by combining the liveliness of history with the ethical focus of Philosophy is more effective than either history or philosophy in rousing its readers to virtue. To him, poetry serves the dual purpose of instruction and ple asure. It provides a vehicle for instructing readers in the proper ways to be, think, act, believe and do just as sermon or histories. It provides enjoyment.Following Aristotle, he protected the puritan accusations ‘Poetry is the mother of lies’. He answered that if a mere imitation of nature is in poetry, it is an inferior copy or a form of falsehood but if poetry is an act of creation, it can help us to understand the inner of this external material world. These so-called inferior copy, or mimetic, in fact presents a higher level of reality. Sidney says that poetry is the source of all learning. The final purpose of poetry is to lead us to high perfection as we are capable of. Sidney also quotes that a poem is â€Å"a speaking picture with this end, to teach and delight†.It’s primary aim to give pleasure. Poets ate superior to philosophers. It deals with the experience of many ages. If the philosopher is the guide, the poet will be the light. SIR FRANCIS BACON: Sir Francis Bacon, a contemporary of Sidney and Shakespeare, he not only refers back to Elizabethan tradition, but defends it passionately. KEY FACT: *Poetry does not present an inferior representation of the world we live in. *Imagination can create realities. *poetry does not manipulate and lie to the reader. *poetry is greater than rationalityIn philosophy Bacon followed Aristotle's theory, which thought that poetry or in general, art is not merely a copy of real world, or called inferior. But rather that it presents a better world than the one we live in. In The Advancement of Learning, Bacon argues that history, fact, and reason can only present the world which describes with our sense, our own real experience. He disagrees with Plato on the fact that poetry manipulates and lies to the reader, but instead Sir Francis Bacon says that poetry presents a ‘feigned history’ which speaks directly to the human soul.Bacon wants to present that as human soul is great er than the sworld, so the imagined world is greater than perceptible material world. Even more importantly, poetry is greater than reason because reason can only present pre-existing material world, not alter it, but poetry is able to create a â€Å"new world†, and to rule over it. Joseph Addison 1672-1719): He followed Plato. So, like Plato he was concerned with how literary work affects ifs reader. *Addison explores the question how poetry creates pleasure. * Two kinds of pleasure in imagination- Primary and Secondary pleasure. The power of imagination and power of reason have been distinguished . * Reason investigates the cause of things and imagination experiencing them either directly or through representation. *Art is not just an imitation of nature. Addison was more interested in what a poem delights than in how, or what it instructs. Addison described two kinds of pleasure in imagination. One is primary pleasure and the other is secondary pleasure. Primary pleasure c omes from the immediate experience of objects through sensory perception and secondary pleasure comes from the experience of ideas from the representation of objects.For example we can take The Simpsons and Shakespeare’s classical drama Hamlet. Even though majority thought that The Simpsons can create more pleasure than Hamlet but if they have to choose one of them, most of people would rather choose Hamlet than The Simpsons. They supported that the pleasure of Hamlet come from representation of it. It is much better than The Simpsons because people get pleasure immediately but if they thought about it deeply, they would find that it is actually boring. Addison distinguishes the power of imagination from the power of reason.According to him, reason investigates the cause of things and imagination experiences them, either directly or through representations. The imagination is less refined than the faculty of reason. The pleasure of imagination is thus more easily acquired tha n those of reason and widely available to untrained mind. Addison says that art is not just an imitation of nature, but an improvement or completion of it. He points out that the secondary pleasure of imagination makes it possible for an experience which would be disagreeable in actually to be represented in pleasurable form.SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-84): One important aspect to keep in mind while examining the thoughts of Samuel Johnson is that of the birth of fiction around the 18th century, following the rise of the novel as an important element of literature. KEY FACTS: *Fiction depends on the idea of mimesis, presenting stories which imitate nature or real life, unlike poetry or drama. *Fiction deals with the stories to readers as though these individuals were real people. *Johnson is concerned with the morality of literature. Like other art works, fiction is also an imitation of nature or real life.Actually, art works are imitations of nature. However, they are not merely copies. I t is a important conception. Unlike drama or poetry, fiction depends on the principle of realism. When readers read fiction, they would consider that these story or history really happened around our life. The realism of fiction blurred the distinction between the imagined world of art and the real world of history and biography. As a result, the language which is used to write fiction is very different from drama or poetry.The language of fiction is usually common language, rather than the language of art, or artifice. Writers use common language to make the work more natural, more real. Johnson agreed with some parts of Plato's thought. He also paid attention to the moral effect of fiction. He insisted that the fiction, such as novel, or fairy tale, is more dangerous than poetry or drama because in contrast of other kinds of art works, fiction is more real. Good art is that art which has a positive moral message and bad art has a bad message that encourages readers to create negat ive or destructive behavior.Thus, people who read these works would believe it more easily because of realism. The realism of fiction, according to Johnson, also ties the genre more closely to the realities of human existence because fiction comes from authors who have the direct knowledge of human nature. Moreover, as the source of fiction is natural and events or characters are easily recognizable and the language of fiction is general, fiction is able to affect people widely. Johnson warns that if writer cannot use it wholly, fiction would bring up so many negative or destructive problems.Johnson suggests to present the proper outcome of fiction where wickedness is punished and virtue rewarded. In Johnson's opinion, ancient Greek and Roman writers presented the best models of literary arts. Those works have withstood test of time, have proved themselves useful. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH: From Sir Philip Sidney to Sir Joshua Reynolds, the theorists and critics broadly represent the think ing of Age of Enlightenment, and its debates about the relative importance of reason and imagination. But William Wordsworth , the first English Romantic poet wholly created a new world of art. KEY FACTS: Wordsworth broadly follows Aristotelian thought and also reflects the ideas of the school of romanticism, stating that anything closer to nature was superior to anything artificial. *Nature is needs importance. *He is very much careful of composing a poem with feelings. The Romantic conception of Wordsworth endangered on the beliefs about the superiority of all things natural over anything artificial. According to Wordsworth poet is a â€Å"man speaking to a man† and that is why poet must use common language, rather than the artificial convention of meter and rhyme which had been a standard since the ancient Greek.Wordsworth set up a system which believes that the rural is better than urban, the nature is better than the culture, the uneducated thoughts are closer to nature, and better than educated and complex. In stating that â€Å"the child is father of the man†, Wordsworth declares that children have the sensibility which adults have lost. Children are close to nature and we go away from nature becoming civilized adults. Wordsworth is more concerned with the relation between the poet and the poem than with the relation between the poem and its reader.His interest is not in the moral effect of poetry. He examined what the poem is, how it is made, and who makes it, rather than what it does. For Wordsworth, poem is not a product of reason, or of art and artifice, but is â€Å"the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings† which â€Å"takes its origin form emotion recollected in tranquility†. Since then, ‘Feeling’ was established as the central element of a poem and became more important than the action, situation, character, or mimetic accuracy. A good poem must have authentic expression of feelings generated in natur al setting.JOHN KEATS (1795-1821): Keats followed the romantic path established by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. He is a great English poet and played an important role in Romanticism, in 19th century. KEY FACTS: *Rational though breaks the world into two- subject and object. *Keats argued that empathic and reason, poetry and science, are incompatible and oppositional which being combined can break the boundaries between subject and object. *For a good poet, Keats thought that it must possess have â€Å"negative capability†.According to Keats, Rational thoughts break the world into subject and object for the reasons of classification and analysis in the Aristotle’s â€Å"Science† Processes. Keats speaks about on interplay in the sense that sensations and empathetic experiences, including poetry, break down the barriers between subject and object and insist on this interaction between the two entities. However, Keats also feels that poetry and science, empath y and reason are two incompatible elements which are also oppositional.The most important key to understanding Keats in this context is negative capability, which in essence is the ability to stay comfortable with uncertainty and doubt without the need to find certainty. It became the central conflict in literary studies in the twentieth country. Formalist cristism argues that for a poem, they would focus on the resolution or an explanation for the unity of elements, while poststructuralism would recall Keat's â€Å"negative capability† instead of answers.MATHEW ARNOLD (1822-1888): The last one is Matthew Arnold. He is the critic most closely associated with humanist perspective, with the establishment of the humanities, and especially literary. KEY FACTS: *Preference on literary education *result of good poetry on human beings In his main critical work, The Function of Criticism at the Present Time, he argues about the heart of â€Å"New Criticism† and the goal of cri ticism is â€Å"to see the object as in itself it really is†, free of agendas, and preconceptions.According to Arnold, a literary education in â€Å"the best† texts will make us all better human beings, and make our world an easier and more humane place to live. He sought to defend art on the basis of what art can do to society and culture. He was the first cultural critic who claimed that to speak about literature, one has to speak about culture. He proposed that philosophy and religion could be replaced by poetry in modern society. He held that culture representing â€Å"the best that has been thought and said in the world† was available through literature.Mathew saw culture as the moral attributes to literature. To him, poetry has the unique power of making sense of life and culture allows us to be complete human beings. Literature has the power to create what he calls â€Å"sweetness and light†. These art the hallmarks of civilization and the citizens who have been educated to appreciate â€Å"the best† will develop taste, sensibility, a quality which Arnold calls â€Å"high seriousness†, and will be productive and peaceful members of their society.

Chick Fil a – Performance Management

MGT 760 Chick-fil-A – Performance Management and Key Business Factors Performance Management is a process for establishing a shared understanding about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved. It is an approach to managing people that increases the probability of achieving success. In regards to the definition, Chick-Fil-A has a consistent and calibrated performance management process. They have been focusing on how to develop enough leaders, fast enough to create healthy growth. Leadership is the main part of the company’s success formula.They have a do-it-yourself leadership development culture. First of all they defined leadership at Chick-fil-A. They interviewed leaders within the company. After discussions they realized they needed more information. They decided to supplement their internal interviews with a survey of global best practices. As final part of process they read 200 books on leadership. They had a picture of leadership definition which is s imilar to iceberg. According to this model, like iceberg’s 90 percent is underwater, leadership character is hard to see. 0 percent is represents the skills of leaders. And they want to combine leadership and characteristic skills. They have seen character is 90 percent of what makes a leader. They want to do their best to select men and women of character and focus on helping them develop their skills as leaders. After that, they identified best leader skills. These are; 1- See the future: It is the vision skill, ability to improve business for future. 2- Engage and developed others: They want managers reach and develop their employee’s potential. – Reinvent continuously: It means that the leader is the catalyst for continuous improvement and innovation. It involves the leader’s continued growth and development. 4- Value result and relationship: They agree the idea that results are critical. But also they believe that results alone not sufficient. They w ant to maintain tension between results and relationship. 5- Embody the values: The leaders that know their values, share their values and live their values earn the trust of people. Their actions become an important shaping tool in the culture.As a result of definition of leadership and defining the skills that a leader should has, their goal is to select the right people, provide them the skills they need, and challenge them to guard their motives. In addition to performance management process, Chick-fil-A has successful business practices. They escaped the effects of recession well. One of the key factors that they were not affected by recession is the ability to absorb and pollinate great ideas. They could find very useful but cost nothing ideas. They have been always trying new things and experiments.As an example, he mentions the idea of inviting the first 100 customers who come in when they opened a new store to eat at Chick-fil-A for a year. That created millions and million s of dollars worth of publicity for Chick-fil-A. Besides that, they have a very rigorous hiring process. They are looking for competence, character, and chemistry. Competence is the knowledge and skills to do the job. As mentioned before, in the evaluation of character, moral choices and decisions are very important. In chemistry, they are looking for the ability to inspire, excite, and motivate other people.The company has a 97 percent retention rate. They have free food, free fitness center with hot showers, towels and child care center. When an employee has a problem, they try to help and got him or her into a rehab program. They influence on people’s life. They do a review annually with their executives committee. Everyone has a performance assessment. They look at fast trackers and people who need extra mentoring to be sure that they are developing them at the right rate. They change with changes. They saw a big shift in 1990s and they simulated what the whole operation would be like. It helps them to be ready for changes.Innovation is a very important topic for them. They are getting ready to open an innovation laboratory. They want everyone to be a part of the innovation process. To improve customer service, they had conversations with people outside their industry. When customers pay them $6, they get what they really want and they feel good about the transaction. And relationship follows the service. Also they see social media as leveraging influence. In conclusion, their corporate purpose is glorifying God by being a faithful steward. The long view and the purpose of this whole enterprise is to positively impact people’s lives.

How Fashion Effects Today’s Society

Fashion has been a major part of our society for hundreds of years. In most societies, years ago, the way an individual dressed may have identified their social class, political standing, or maybe even their respective age group. Fashion has evolved so rapidly over the years, from the zoot suit in the 30’s, to the bell-bottoms and Afros of the 70’s, and finally to the Mohawk and skinny jeans worn by individuals today. However, has fashioned evolved for the better? Fashion has been used as a way to establish a type of individualism and set a person aside from others.Because fads have evolved so rapidly over the years in unique and bizarre ways due to today’s media, they have been unaccepted in today’s society. During a classic discussion of fashion change by George Simmel, a major German sociologist says that, â€Å"fashion was nothing more than a process of imitation. † (Johnson, 2003). This process leads to equalization and ultimately the need to f urther differentiate ones self. â€Å"The innovation of fashion derives from the privileged social classes from those found underneath.† (Johnson, 2003).Simmel proposes that, â€Å"the more elite social class plays a major role in the change in fashion with the â€Å"trickle-down† theory regarding fashion. † (Johnson, 2003). However, in today’s society the media plays a very specific role in pinpointing the trends and styles considered as today’s fashion. People in today’s society, mainly the younger crowd, thrive for a sense of belonging and acceptance. Teenagers view a music video, flip through a magazine, and see an artist or actor portraying a certain image.They immediately want to emulate those images to fit in with society and be accepted by their peers. Some of us can relate to having been young at one point and wanting to buy the newest shoes that our favorite basketball player put out. According to a Speaking of Fashion article, â⠂¬Å"public appearances have been encoded in a panoply of theories concerning topics dealing with morality, individuality, and the relation of appearance to deeper character traits. † (Reference and Research, 2010).The way someone is dressed can affect the likelihood of that person getting chosen for a job. â€Å"The way you dress can discredit a particular event. † (WordPress Admin, 2008). Fashion has become such a major factor in today’s society on so many levels. â€Å"Fashion can effect the way people are perceived by others, especially when it comes to meeting an individual for the first time. † (WordPress Admin, 2008). In this new world, people don’t get a second chance at a first impression.As discussed in the previous paragraphs fashion is amongst one of the things people look at when making  an impression or wanting to appear a certain way in the eyes of others. Fashion has it’s own lifecycle and will eventually make full circle thr oughout the years. What keeps fashion alive are celebrities such as music artists and actors. When the public sees the way these individuals dress their styles are often duplicated from the East Coast to the West and back. When going to a job for an interview we imitate the dress code of the company and wear something to adapt to our surroundings of what the job position is.

Business And Environment Interaction Essay

Introduction Dealing with factors in the external environment is a crucial part of corporate survival, stability and growth.   This is especially recognized when a firm is operating internationally where barriers to entry and liability of foreignness serve as aggravation to the challenging task of responding to external forces.   The organization can remain indifferent despite environmental changes and still accumulate revenues. But as soon as its mediocrity and irresponsibility achieved their tolerance limits, the previous competitive position of the organization will likely be unreachable and eventually will drown into demise.   This issue is most alarming to Coca-Cola who is the current leader in carbonated drinks and one of the well-known brands in the soft drink industry.   Even with its current position, external forces are skilled protagonists continuously testing its current strategy and asking, â€Å"Are you capable of retaining your position?† Identification of External Forces The European market is recently observed changes in taste and preference for drinks.   The trend is less consumption of carbonated products and increasing demand for non-carbonated and still drinks.   This is happening since 1998 and a handful of research institutions confirmed this phenomenon including Mintel and Canadean.   Financial results of Coca-Cola also remained flat for its sugary product line while company report is expecting future based on the focusing expansion in its still drink. The market becomes more health-conscious and concern towards tasty but unhealthy drinks is in progress.   In addition to sugar, artificial additives and flavors are blacklisted characteristics of soft drinks for today’s consumers.   The complexity of customers especially in developed countries is a key concern for Coca-Cola as this market is less sensitive to price and are willing to pay more for healthier products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environmental factors have a close relation to the shift in social attitudes against carbonated drinks.   With longer hot weather lasting throughout the year as what happening in UK and other neighbouring countries, the shift to still and non-carbonated drinks will be minimal.   This is because physiological issues are stronger than self-expression and more people are willing to risks adverse effect to long-term health in return of enjoying carbonated drinks. Increased awareness of the effects of non-biodegradable products to global warming and pollution also affects the extent of the shift in preference.   Ozone-friendly packaging is an additional feature that drink products must possess to lure the market such as the use of biodegradable plastics.   With regards to bottled water manufacturers, their health advocacy and positive reception of the market is adverse affected by its adjustment to regulation of continuously decreasing of quality water in the UK.   This means that they may not be able to supply the widening market demand for healthy drinks due to scarcity of resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With pressures from social and environmental factors, soft drink manufacturers find new ways to maintain and increase their market share.   This caused motivation within the industry to conduct research and development to create soft drink products that possess hybrid features that addresses health, environmental and taste needs of the market.   Hampered by the fact that the plant and facilities of manufacturers are fixed, the importance of serving the shift in market preference is concretized as they are willing to change the current design despite increase in costs and induce change. In its website, Coca-Cola advertised its products as complete which means that drink aspects such as style, taste, innovation and health are realized.   This can be obtained by introducing new products such as vegetable drinks, drinks that have anti-oxidant properties and exotic drinks.   Innovative packaging is also an important source of product competence such as the use of biodegradable plastics for juices and dairy drinks while tetra-type of packaging has supply chain benefits with longer shelf life and efficient storage compatibility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With all the efforts and financial loss shouldered by manufacturers to provide appropriate products in terms of demand, government regulation aggravates the difficulty manufacturers are facing.   Strategic opportunities such as business combinations with local companies are filled with restrictive features while merging with larger companies are confronted with antitrust law.   The contracting sales in carbonated products may force Coca-Cola to merge with competitors to save cost through elimination of repetitive processes and assets.   The need to innovate newer products may also induce others to acquire local companies that have the knowledge of market characteristics. These strategies are not easily available especially when the firm operates internationally.   Stricter quality standards can protect market leaders such as Coca-Cola from the threat of new entrants.   However, this depends on the structure and nature of political system in the host country.   For example, unethical marketing conducted by some companies labelling their cola products as â€Å"less sugar† even if the laboratory tests showed that there is substantial amount of sugar in the product.   With sound legal and political framework, market leaders such as Coca-Cola can survive the reduction in demand for carbonated products. Assessment of Implications Increased sophistication of customers will results in high product differentiation within the industry.   Traditional benefits of economies of scale achieved in the production of carbonated drinks reached its zenith due to the shift in preference.   With the lifestyle of people and technology going forward, it is unlikely that mass production of carbonated drinks will re-emerge as the industry’s business model.   Technological advancement enabled manufacturers to compete based on innovation. In contrast, only few are willing to invest heavily in research because of high risks associated with a new product in both corporate and market response.   This triggers the lucrative strategy of buying companies that offer the facilities and technical know-how.   Government regulation, on the other hand, will apply delays through litigation if not disapproval to business combinations that can impose strategic bottleneck in a company’s first mover aspiration and future profitability.   Even if allowed, merger and acquisition has a historical proof that confirms problems in pre-, during and post-merger/ acquisition phases.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To further understand the implications of external forces on soft drink companies, it is necessary to study the industry’s strategic space and profit pool.   Since 2006, Europe is receiving the bulk of product introduction to address the sophisticated demands of the region in terms of nutrition and lifestyle.   A number of these products showed innovation by creating exotic and atypical flavours while packaging is made convenient for kids.   The search of value by manufacturers is present in all parts of the value chain, that is, from formulation of the drink up to the distribution of the finished good. Therefore, the usual cost-savings derived from volume-based strategy of carbonated drinks will be ineffective in present scenario.   Marketing campaigns concerning the impact of soft drinks on the heart is the current consideration of manufacturers which concretize that issue of out-of-the-manufacturing activities to derive value from the products.   As much as manufacturers want to excel in all the areas of the value chain, there are financial and structural constraints.   For example, the bottler’s margin is adversely affected whenever a client-manufacturer introduced new drinks that require new bottle design. As observed in Figure 1, innovation in the soft drink industry can maintain and attract market which is the basis of revenues.   However, the manufacturing processes and forward/ backward suppliers are the areas where the bottom-line is dictated.   Without innovation, the current structure of the industry can survive the impact of the change in consumer references.   This is especially true for carbonated drink manufacturers like Coca-Cola. Replacing the manufacturing process to introduce innovation such as non-carbonated or still drinks would require replacing also the machineries and perhaps the entire plant.   Packaging would require less acid resistance, delivery schedule would change depending on package design or expiration date and distribution networks may hesitate to carry the product awaiting positive reception.   As a result, a major source of margin of the company will be undermined due to high costs of manufacturing change.   On the other hand, if Coca-Cola remains to focus on carbonated drink, it will confront a vulnerable future earnings and market share. Differentiation strategy and innovation has a more long-run positive impact to Coca-Cola.   It is also suited for a leader in carbonated drinks and perhaps one of the most reputable beverage brands in the world.   The profit pool reveals that the carbonated products remain the highest margin and revenue contributor in the soft drink industry.   However, forecasts threatens this position with the healthy/ sugar-free products pulling substantial value followed by the same impact from non-carbonated products such as sports-energy, juice, dillutable and bottled drinks. In the long-run, those who will choose to retain a cost leadership strategy and keep large stocks of carbonated drink will face declining sales.   On the contrary, there are also disadvantages in differentiation strategy and innovation that present in regulation, challenge to marketing and transformation of traditional plant.   In an operating environment with ambiguous customer response, intense competition and restricted action, every action counts and one mistake can mean millions of investment lost.   Therefore, consideration of important issues such as creation of sustainable value including financial matters is top priorities. Consideration of Responses Vertical integration is the recent solution of Coca-Cola to address changes of external factors.   This is observed of its development of a bottling subsidiary to remain cost-effective and flexible.   This is a major step for the firm not only as traditional set-up only allows efficient bottling operations by third party suppliers but also it will avoid hindering the innovation feats of Coca-Cola such as demand of new packaging.   The fact-paced environment vulnerable to new innovation from competitors and suppliers, thus, is mitigated by this strategy.   Further, government standards such as carbon dioxide emission can be addressed through a more integrated plan. Formally, Coca-Cola has to put preference to bottling companies that are not only cheap and quality producer but also has an environmental compliance for manufacturing wastes.   With the creation of its own bottling segment, it also solves the problem of increasing government intervention in social and environmental responsibility of manufacturing firms.   Coca-Cola can spend less on environment-related and supplier search costs which impact can extend up to environmental-conscious customers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Vertical integration is not only noticed in the manufacturing processes of the firm but also in management structure.   Committees for marketing, strategy and innovation are considered one functioning body where the action of one has influence or can be influenced to/ by the results of other committees.   The new structure would allow a cost-efficient and integrated recognition of problem and opportunities in the environment.   Recently, the efforts of the consolidated committee are focused on the project of customer-retention to maintain leadership particularly in carbonated drinks as well as increase market share in non-carbonated drinks.    With their close collaboration, they easily identify that the issues of inactivity and obesity, low level of quality and quantity of water, change in market preference and intense rivalry have adverse effect to financial performance of the firm.   Instead of spending glamorous but baseless advertisements, the valuable budget is invested on market research which rationalized the actions of each department.   The difference in today’s environment for Coca-Cola is that its leadership is threatened and careful strategy is a must to optimize its resources amid innovation, expansion and research costs demanded by the unpredictability in the environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In its global operations, there are regions that exemplified performance growth but only a few to mention such as the Middle East and Latin American countries.   For the European market, however, the reverse is true.   This induced the firm to acquire a bottling company in Germany to provide the same cost-savings of vertical integration from its major manufacturing plants.   The strategy is a smart tactic because the decrease in revenues can be mitigated by efficiency in production and distribution.   Acquisition in foreign countries also indicated the intention of Coca-Cola to expand its product line in an international scale. The German experience, however, incidentally indicated that the cost of doing business will rise because labour and technology in the country is relatively expensive.   The good side is that quality of production and potential innovation necessary to compete in the current industry structure can magnify. As early as 2004, Coca-Cola is in a mission to integrate host country facilities for better coordination, synergy in resources and manufacturing flexibility.   In Japan, it developed a centralized value chain design to restructure the operations based on the business management and relationship traditions of companies.   In this country, where linking for long-term partnership, it is easier to conduct business when the company is implementing a strategy as a whole and based on the request of its partners.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A decade from now, the soft drink industry will be dictated with high product differentiation and the company who can find valuable competency in its innovation would be the leader.   This is a path that Coca-Cola is undertaking.   Its financial depth and reputation enabled it to acquire important parts of the value chain to protect its carbonated products from significant decline and also to satisfy the innovative demand of non-carbonated and new-age drinks. It used its historical leadership position to protect its market share even tough it partially lagged innovation feats for still drinks.   Its biggest challenge, however, is to acquire a useful innovative product that can compete with new-age drinks.   Its carbonated drink surely found complacency to have at least a constant growth by vertical integration but improving on non-carbonated drink demands more work.   It is expected that in the future it is able to acquire a non-carbonated firm without intervention from government regulation.   Otherwise, it would be force to develop innovation internally which is less clear. Conclusion Coca-Cola is on the right track when it comes in attacking the external forces head-to-head.     It is diversifying its operations, integrating its resources and adopting to local needs in its quest in finding sustainable value.   There are odds such as government regulation apparent in the hardship of acquiring a vendor-made innovation in the non-carbonated product that can pump-up the stagnant financial performance of the carbonated drink. So far, however, the company is doing its share in solving the unpredictability and spontaneity of the external environment.   It is able to decode that the external forces are sometimes like domino in relation to each other.   That is, the change in one (e.g. climate change) can lead to another (e.g. change in consumer preference).   As a result, it is one step away from assuring itself that its leadership position is out of threat. Bibliography   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Baird, S. & Deal, W. (2003). Consumer information Food policy Nutrition information Regulations. The Technology Teacher, 62, 43-50. Capps, O., Kim, S. & Nayga, R. (2001). Food Label Use, Self-Selectivity and Diet Quality. Journal of Consumer Affairs. 35(2), 346+. Coca-Cola Website, viewed on 2 May 2008, Dean, D. (2004). Consumer Reaction to Negative Publicity: Effects of Corporate Reputation, Response, and Responsibility for a Crisis Event. The Journal of Business Communication. 41(2), 192+. Euromonitor, viewed on 2 May 2008, Foster, F.D., and S.   Viswanathan , 1994, Strategic Trading With Asymmetrically Informed Traders and Long-Lived Information, Journal of Finance and Quantitative Analysis , 29, 499-518. Hitt, M, Hoskisson, R & Ireland 2003, Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization, 5th Edition, South Western; Thomson Learning, Singapore. Kotler, P 2003, Marketing Management, 11th Edition, Prentice Hall: NJ. Navder, K. (1993). Genetically Modified Foods: A Growing Need Plant Biotechnology Can Help to Overcome the World’s Concern for Feeding Its Ever-Growing Population Food and nutrition labelling: past, present and future. School of Health Sciences. Nutraingredients Website, viewed on 2 May 2008, Proctor, T 2000, Strategic Marketing: An Introduction, Routledge, London.   

Implications of trade liberalization in Australia and government protectionism Essay

Australia is a worldwide trading nation with different range of trading partners. About 20 of the top export items for the country come from a range of commodity, resource and service industries. The leading exports from the country are iron ore, coal as well as educational services. Access to fair as well as free international shipping is basically important to Australia. Considerable drive for the ongoing development in international commerce in Australia emanates from trade liberalization. The fact that the country has lowered the trade barriers and improved in international transportation, communication and technology, this has led to an increased trade exposed as well as interdependent economies. The government has realized the opportunities that are underlined in the competitive global marketplace for the service providers, consumers as well as producers and this has pushed the government to seek for trade liberalization. The country seeks to reduce and if possible remove all barriers so as to open future commercial opportunities (Gruen, 2010). Policies assumed by the government Australia launched the internal structural reforms as well as measures for unilateral trade liberalization in the early 1990s and since then there have been high productivity, lower unemployment and high growth of GDP. The economic reforms entailing tariff reform, privatization and deregulation of many service sectors and reduction of subsidiaries have led to increased competitiveness of Australian stimulated exports along with business. The internal structural reforms in Australia have been evidenced to implement the process of trade liberalization. The commitment by the government to minimize the budget deficit has spurred the reduction of subsidies (Chand, 1999). Australia has already endorsed a new competitive policy which needs inter alia. This is an evaluation of all legislation that may enforce costs on business and consist of anti-competitive elements. Furthermore, government enterprises which were previously exempted from competition rules are currently subjected to similar rules just like private business. Privatization and deregulation are also being experienced in majority of the services sectors. A comprehensive internal deregulation and policy reforms for competition accompanied by a continuation of trade reforms is the central key increasing the ability for the country to compete effectively on the international market. Consequently, this leads to improved competitiveness in the country. The high degree of precision concerning the effects and nature of particular twist to competition has tremendously facilitated the trade and structural reform process (Sharma, 2004). The reform process can be linked positively to the Australia’s rates of GDP. Moreover, the reform process can be associated to the effect factor for productivity growth in Australia which has been described to be the highest among the industrialized countries in the OECD group. The Australian economy has gone through a period of strong growth along with low rates of inflation since 1994. A stable macroeconomic environment geared upon the Australian industry has been facilitated by the prudent monetary policies. On the other hand the fiscal policy has determined to consolidate privatization and budget deficit to decrease the savings investment gap which has led to persistent present account deficits (Gruen, 2010). Australia has adopted the method of elimination of barriers of trade in goods as well as services and this has led to securing improved and new market access chances. This has been a key focus for bilateral, multilateral as well as regional agreements. The agreements offer a framework that is legally binding and this helps in the advancement of the market access objectives in Australia. The country has been involved in major negotiating rounds under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This has been in Kennedy, Dillon, Uruguay and Tokyo Rounds. The agreement came with lots of trade liberalization at a worldwide level though the success has been limited especially in the agricultural sector (Sharma, 2004). The country launched the Doha Development Agenda in 2001 and includes a wide range of matters such as industrial products, agriculture and other World Trade Organization rules issues, some trade and environment issues and all these are entailed in the present WTO negotiating. Negotiations The negotiations provide to the country a foundation for further trade liberalization and consequently address the removal of subsidies on agricultural export. An example of a negotiation is the one the country entered with Singapore in 2002 and the agreement was to cover various chapters such as investment, telecommunication services, electronic commerce and educational cooperation among others. The country’s current trade liberalization commitments are protected by the dispute settlement mechanism and rule-based trade as provided by the WTO. Because of the negotiations Australia made with Uruguay, the processes for dispute settlement mechanism have been strengthened and this has increased its use since the establishment of WTO in 1994. The regional as well as bilateral agreements on free trade have been based on elimination of discrimination and tariffs against service suppliers for trade between Australia and any other country (Gruen, 2010). The rules from the WTO have been hard to implement effectively in Australia because of their ambiguity though they are aimed at upholding comprehensive agreements that reduce distortions in trade. Agreements The country has adopted the bilateral trade agreements and this has been effective in looking onto matters that are linked to bilateral interest like professional qualifications and recognition of conformity assessments. Free trade agreements in Australia institute a framework for current cooperation on policy and regulatory actions that influence trade and investment. The country has already concluded free trade agreements with countries such as United States, Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand. Currently, negotiations are going on with China, Malaysia, Japan and Chile. The country in addition is carrying out feasible studies concerning possible free trade agreements in India, Republic of Korea and Indonesia. The impediments on the investment and trade in Australia have been addressed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). Areas of interest have been on customs procedures, business mobility, competitive policy, standards and rights to intellectual property. APEC adopted an action program in 2007 to give strength to regional economic integration in the country and this included the assessment of the prospects and options for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (Sharma, 2004). The country has adopted the method of complying with the WTO commitments that entails tariffication of enduring quantitative restrictions basically in agriculture and making adjustments to farm legislation to abide to the WTO Agreement concerning agriculture. The country’s preferences for developing nations as offered through the ASTP is gradually decreasing as the country continue to reduce the import tariffs. Besides the bilateral agreement with New Zealand, Canada and Papua New Guinea, Australia has been involved with limited regional trade agreements. The participation it has with the APEC is executed basing on the objective of sustaining an open regionalism in the multilateral rules. The country is highly committed to the system of multilateral trading and it is through the Cairns Group that the significance for extent multilateral reforms particularly in agriculture is emphasized. The country looks forward in placing agriculture in the same level with industrial products. In addition there is much emphasis on removal of export subsidies as well as intense cuts in domestic subsidies and considerably improved access to market through exclusion of non-tariff barriers along with deep reductions in tariffs. There has been an increase in the emphasis on opening foreign markets by the bilateral efforts to the Australian exports. Measures for giving preference to business by its own nationals Considering that the country is an island nation, it is remote from the key trading partners and hence it highly relies on foreign shipping services for the purpose of practicing the majority of its trade. The Australian government abides with the OECD Maritime Transport Committee policy of enhancing fair and free shipping markets. The country also pursues this same policy in the World Trade Organization. The country offers support to the policy initiatives as imposed by the international organizations like the OECD, to come against the trade distortion that emanates from the international employment of sub-standard shipping. Within the maritime transport sector for Australia, international trade is highly unrestricted and relatively open by world standards (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). The government of Australia is aimed at giving Australian industry the best of the opportunities for winning new work both in the private and public sectors. It is particularly significant that local firms in Australia have the chance to bid for infrastructure contracts and Commonwealth procurement. The Australian Government is known to be a big customer and hence since 2008, the government has invested almost $77 billion to prevent the country from global recession and 70% of the money is in infrastructure. In 2009, an estimated amount of $230 billion was to be involved in major investment projects. The government goal is to see the Australian services, manufacturing and construction firms participate fully in work. With that in consideration, the government has introduced measures that guarantee that local companies, particularly those that are small, get fair, full as well as reasonable opportunities of competing for major projects and tenders (Australian Government, 2009). The first focus for the measures taken by the government is based on increasing awareness. This entails offering to the Australian suppliers the best information regarding the work available and providing the procurement managers and project proponents with the best information concerning the capabilities of the Australian industry. The second focus entails making the local firms a bit more competitive (Perkins & Conlon, 1999). This is accomplished if the firms improve their skills which lift productivity and consequently increasing innovation. Through the Supplier Access to Major Projects (SAMP) program, the Industry Capability Network (ICN) has the responsibilities of matching the companies in Australia with the supply opportunities. The network has offices in New Zealand and Australia and applies technical experts to look into the needs of specific industries. ICN offers professional advice to the procurement managers and project proponents concerning Australian industry capabilities. It assists them to create Australian Industry Participation Plans and tender packages along with identifying and short-listing potential suppliers. Moreover, the network assist the local suppliers locate and track project opportunities and in an addition connect them with government services like Enterprise Connect (Australian Government, 2009). Measures of restricting access to its own markets The priority for the Australian Government policy is for a maritime industry that is competitive internationally and which abides to the international standards of environmental and safety protection. The government established the Shipping Reform Working group (SRWG) that considers alternatives for obtaining maritime industry that is more competitive internationally. In the process the SRWG considers ways upon which Australian flagged ships are encouraged to stay registered in Australia. The Australian government is dedicated to reform based on micro-economic of the marine sector. The review of the regulation in the coastal trade resulted to introduction of new rules to streamline the license or permit system for coastal trade. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority that was formed in 1990 to carry out marine environment protection and marine safety regulation from shipping operations (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). A review carried out in 1997 on the Australian Maritime Safety Authority revealed that the authority was providing an accountable and cost effective means for offering environment protection as well as maritime safety services to industry (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, 2008). The government of Australia sustains a inflexible regime for the use of sanitary and phytosanitary measures whose main responsibility is restricting imports of different agricultural products. The quarantine policies in Australia in addition efficiently forbid the importation of whole grain. The country has a detailed regulatory framework for risk assessment for looking into biotechnology problems (International Labor Office, 2008). Conclusion The structural as well as reform process in Australia ought to progress and be completed to make sure that there is strong growth ultimately. This would lead to increased growth in international trade and a further decrease in unemployment in the country. Australia appears to hesitate on pushing on reforms particularly for industries that are often heavily protected like the automotive sector, textiles and clothing industries. According to a report released by the WTO Secretariat regarding Australia’s trade practices and policies, the report suggested that the country ought to continue with its reforms and look on the needless regulatory measures along with rigid structural factors that result to the impairment of the competitiveness of its economy.

Summarizing an Article with an accompaning outline Essay

Summarizing an Article with an accompaning outline - Essay Example This helps in reducing money supply in the economy and a reduced money supply results in lower inflation and thus reduce any risk of devaluation. Other Russian states are also facing problems of rapid dollarization; most payments even on micro level are increasingly being made in dollars. Another method of hedging against currency risk being adopted by banks is lending in dollars. This however creates problems for borrowers who have loans in dollars and business reserves in GEL. Their risk is dramatically increased which makes it difficult to survive in an already recessionary environment (Gardner, 2009). This will also reduce taxes for the Georgian government. This is because as the losses of currency devaluation increase on the income statement, the taxable income is automatically decreased. The high budget deficit of 9.4 percent of the countrys gross domestic product is also a major obstacle to stability of GEL. The IMF however still insists that Georgian national bank is equipped with all necessary tools to protect the national currency. The high reserves base of GEL being held by the national bank has reached 2,109,000,000 GEL (Gardner, 2009). This is very important in order to keep stability in the currency value. The bank can use these reserves to control exchange rate fluctuations in the market. That will however be a controlled economy, the National bank has pledged that it will not temper with the free floating market. The free exchange rate environment will continue to function. IMF has insisted that Georgian economy cannot sustain a totally market controlled exchange rate system. The National Bank will have to intervene in order to control shocks created by continuous temporary fluctuations. The current strategies being adopted by Georgian government and National Bank are a positive step in providing stability to both economy and currency. The banking sector has shown resilience against

Method comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Method comparison - Essay Example Qualitative research focuses on subjective data that relates to feelings, thoughts, opinions, perceptions, and attitudes that are immeasurable. Examples of qualitative research are ethnography and observation. Ethnography as qualitative research method and process refers to the systematic study of people or groups of people with the objective of cultural interpretation (Westenholz-Bless & Achola, 2007). Observation, on the other hand, refers to the active investigation of processes or systems from their primary sources through the use of human senses; observation is sometimes referred to as eye witnessing. Quantitative research, on the other hand, refers to the scientific method of inquiry that is largely based on measurable data in the formulation of facts and investigating patterns in research. Quantitative research, therefore, is focused on the generation of numeric data with strong emphasis on objectivity. Examples of qualitative research are the surveys and the experiments. This paper focuses on the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the two categories of research; emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of the methods with strong regards to the subject of online dating. Online dating refers to a personal introductory system through which individuals or groups of individuals find and establish contacts with each other over the internet with the aim of developing personal, sexual or romantic relationships. Online dating is one of the many concepts that have developed from the internet based technology (Smith & Duggan, 2013). It is a major social issue influencing social relationships in almost every aspect. This paper will first discuss the comparative advantages of the two research methods then later on discuss the weaknesses. To begin with, qualitative research methods generate rich and comprehensive information about the investigated subjects. This is in line with its wide scope of coverage, ranging

Vietnamese Cultural Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Vietnamese Cultural Health - Essay Example The vast majority of the approximately 700,000 Vietnam-born persons living in the U.S. arrived here as refugees from 1975 to the present. While there are many shared cultural traits among all the Vietnamese-Americans, such as the Vietnamese language and strong emphasis on the extended family. The first group of refugees to come to the U.S. in 1975 was educated and urban professionals (and their families) who were airlifted directly from Saigon. They were closely associated with American interests in Vietnam, so many spoke English and were familiar with American culture. This group has for the most part gone on to resume their professional lives in the United States, including serving as staff members of social service agencies, which assist more recently arrived Vietnamese. In contrast, the second wave of Vietnamese refugees, arriving from the late 1970's through the mid 1980's, included a much higher proportion of merchants, farmers and other rural Vietnamese who escaped Communist Vietnam in small boats. These "boat people" suffered extreme hardship and loss through the refugee process, often remaining in harsh refugee camps for years. Many who came from rural origins or limited educational backgrounds have had a more difficult time adapting to urban U.S. life - while others from rural backgrounds found that intelligence and persistence are stronger than 100 generations of rural deprivation. This photograph is of a woman and children shortly after being picked up in the South China Sea in 1979. Finally, the third wave, continuing to arrive to the present, come to the U.S. under more "orderly" programs, typically on the basis of their statuses as political prisoners in Vietnam, or offspring of Vietnamese women and American fathers ("Amerasians"), two groups who faced serious discrimination in Vietnam. They come with their families, in the case of Amerasians, more often than not the father is unknown or otherwise out of the picture. Because of their experience as refugees, Vietnamese-Americans on the whole are at high risk for many communicable diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis B and parasitism as they arrive to the U.S. Over time, as many face accessibility barriers to medical care because of such factors as limited English skills, transportation difficulties, and cultural misunderstandings, they are at risk for more chronic problems like hypertension, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. In addition, many Vietnamese refugees also suffer mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a result not only of the horrors they experienced as refugees but also due to the adjustment difficulties in attempting to retain their traditional values in the face of the dominant American culture. Traditional Vietnamese perceptions of health Between 1975 and 1995, thousands of refugees left Vietnam to build their new life in the United States. The Vietnamese, with the Cambodians and Laotians, make up the largest group

Social Work Running a Group Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Work Running a Group - Essay Example During the recruitment process, one should be careful to pick only candidates who will add value to the discussion and not spoil the discussion. For instance, part of the success in my group was because of recruitment of the best candidates for the discussion. It is important not to prejudge any member of the group, as this might affect your overall judgment of their contribution to the discussion. I realized this with Sarah Welsh, who had difficulties having the discussion about death. Someone could easily prejudge her personal values that hinder her from speaking about death as uncivilized. In turn, this might affect the credibility of her contribution to the discussion. Moreover, this also helps in understanding some people who may not be comfortable with certain topics, as in the case of Sarah. During my group participation, I realized that the members had an easy time contributing their views. From my observation, I discovered that this was because of posting open-ended questions that gave people room to express their opinions freely without requiring them to give a restrictive answer. A free flowing discussion is important for creating a favorable environment that allows everyone to participate comfortable. By responding to the members’ contributions, and allowing other group members to respond to each other, I realized that a free flowing discussion is one of the tips for running a group successfully. Everyone wants to hear that whatever he/she has contributed is helpful. For instance, by thanking the members for their contributions, I noticed a positive response and satisfaction from them. This made me conclude that acknowledging the value of their contribution gives them satisfaction. Because my group was made up of people from different backgrounds with varied values, I got different views and inputs. For example, Sheryl McClure gave her

Social Responsibility of a Business Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Responsibility of a Business - Term Paper Example This famous claim by Friedman however triggered a debate on what the social responsibility of a business is. The businessperson Mackey disagreed with Friedman’s thought terming it as narrow and underselling humanitarian aspect of capitalism. Mackey strongly believes that the social responsibility of a business is not only to increase profits but also to create value for all the stakeholders in the business. Mackey argues that the social responsibility of a business to shareholders, society, and the stakeholders are varied and all are satisfied in different ways, which should be taken seriously by any kind of business to be successful. I strongly agree with Mackey that the social responsibility of a business is not only to increase profits, but also to satisfy the needs of the society, shareholders, and stakeholders, which are as well important. Social responsibility of business to stakeholders The stakeholders in a business comprise the community, employees, suppliers, and cli entele. According to Mackey (2005), all these stakeholders draw the meaning of the business in their own way of satisfaction. It is worth noting that the groups’ needs are varied as well and the needs are satisfied in different ways. ... Satisfied employees in any business will translate into efficiency and quality output, which are valuable assets to the business. The social responsibility of a business to employees include, good working conditions and attractive salaries and wages, social security such as insurance and pension schemes, better living standards among others. Suppliers are as well important to a business and therefore there is need for a business to satisfy the suppliers socially. Mackey believes that all the stakeholders in a business are important for a business to attain its goals. Suppliers supply business raw materials needed to produce certain goods or services and it is their responsibility as well to get the finished products close to the customers. For the smooth functioning of the business, the social function of the business is to give them a fair deal in the business. Social responsibility of a business to shareholders The shareholders in layman’s term are the owners of a business a nd the social responsibility of the business is to satisfy their needs. Although most shareholders majorly focus on increased profits, Mackey admits this though in a different perspective. According to Mackey, profits maximization should not be the soul goal for a business but the business need to put first the interest of the entire stakeholders. Mackey (2005) argues that by putting first the interest of the stakeholders by value creation, this will act as a means to an end. As the business works hard towards maximizing profits for the investors, it is important to bear in mind that by satisfying the customers and other stakeholders, the profits are likely to increase. The shareholders being the owners of

The Lottery Shirley Jackson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Lottery Shirley Jackson - Essay Example The people are all speculating on who is likely to win the draw. When one of them, Tessie, picks the paper with the black mark on it she protests that the draw has been unfair. The people ignore her and eventually hurl stones at her. ‘The Lottery’ tells of the evil that exists within all people, even those that look harmless. The people in the town have continued to practice the ancient tradition of the lottery despite the lack of knowledge of the original purpose of the ceremony (Murphy 105). This tradition is practiced with the knowledge that at the end of the draw, a person will be chosen at random to be stoned to death. The person’s friends and family are expected to participate in the act. The event has been compared to other practices such as Halloween, showing that it is acceptable to the members of that community. The willingness to participate in such an event shows the evil present in the people. The people from the town are reflective of man’s need and desire for a scapegoat, an object or person through whom they can release their frustrations. This is the object or person through whom they are able to project their undesirable characters. Such an object can then be destroyed by being offered as a sacrifice, or through some ritualistic act. The fact that the killing of a person at the end of the lottery draw has been turned into a ritual makes the act of killing someone (murder) acceptable to people who otherwise appear normal and religious. The turning of the practice into a ritual masks the evil and brutality of the act. The choice of characters and their names advance the main idea in the story. The characters are given ordinary names and live ordinary lives. This is suggestive of harmlessness and morally upright way of life. The fact that they all take part in the annual ritual of stoning one of their own to death suggests that one would have been wrong to judge them on the appearance of normalcy that they have. They are

Fashion Buying Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Fashion Buying - Essay Example The essay "Fashion Buying" concerns the buying process in the fashion industry. Consumer buying process involves need recognition, information search, evaluation of the alternatives and deciding upon one of the alternatives and making the purchase decision. If we further explain the process between evaluation of alternatives and purchase decision we will find that once the customer evaluates the alternatives, he makes a purchase intention, this intention can influenced by the attitudes of others like family, peers and reference groups or from unanticipated events like lower income than expected, illness etc. taking all these aspects in consideration the consumer takes his decision. Once the product is purchased the consumer will form his opinion regarding the product and services provided by the company in the post purchase period. Organizational buying behaviour. According to Elliot organizational buying behaviour is the buying behaviour of organizations that buy goods and services for use in the production of other products and services, for using the products in operational non core operation like photocopier for office management or for the purpose of reselling or renting them to others at a profit. Organizational Decision Making Units. Organizational buying decisions are most likely to be made by a committee or group of people than wholly by an individual. In an organization purchase 'decision making unit' there are various centre of powers, which influences and finally guides the decision-making.

Ethics Should hospitality and tourism companies always demonstrate Essay

Ethics Should hospitality and tourism companies always demonstrate corporate social responsibility Discuss the costs and benefits of such an approach - Essay Example The area of social responsibility extends not to the society in general but it is now focused on the workers, the investors, customers, and suppliers. Corporate social responsibility or CSR is an industry in itself. Over the past decade, this has grown exponentially. The employee volunteering has now emerged as the CSR. Companies like Accenture and Whitbread term this as Corporate Citizenship (Carrington, 2005) where they take up working with the sick children and the local schools. Most of the staff gets involved in some voluntary service or donation. The tourism and hospitality companies bring about a transformation in the area they operate but all of the changes may not be desirable. They need to maintain ethics and discharge social responsibility but the question remains whether they should always demonstrate corporate social responsibility. Today ethics determine the success of an organization. Demands of the shareholders, stakeholders and investors are forcing industries to maintain a high morality in how companies conduct business. Any deviation can adversely affect the brand image, customer retention, and overall business. A certain group of investors in Europe have decided to invest only in companies who are conscious of their social responsibility. Post (2000) contends that an organization’s global corporate citizenship is shaped by internal and external factors. How a company deals with past public issues, stakeholder issues and community concerns determines the employees’ perception of the importance of citizenship matters. Many are of the opinion that since the goal of the public corporation is to maximize shareholder wealth, management should take any action necessary to achieve this goal so long as no law is violated. The rationale for ethics in business stems from the fact that when corporations collapse the society in general loses – the shareholders lose, the customers, the employees, the community, the creditors, the family