Volcanic Eruptions and Hawaii: The Dreadful Effects of Magma

Volcanic Volcanic eruptions and Hawaii: The Dreadful Effects of MagmaParticularsPage No.Understanding Vents2Home plate Architectonicss3Erupted Material4Hawaii and Volcanic Volcanic eruptions5Volcanic eruption History6Impact of the Hawaiian Volcanic eruptions7Other Side of the Coin8Precautions/Safety in Hawaiian island9-10Recommendation for catastrophe Management11Mentions12Understanding Vents Thevolcano wordis acquired from Vulcano, a volcanic concatenation of the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in bend is derived from Vulcan, the God of fire in Roman mythology. Avolcanois a crevice on the exterior layerof aplanetary-mass surface, like Earth, which permits volcanic ash, hot lava, and gases to dispatch from a magma chamber below the surface. Vents originate on Earth as its crust is divided into 17prime, house tectonic home bases drifting above a soft bed with high temperature within its mantle. Therefore vents are normally present in countries wherethis tectonic home bases indulge in diverging or meeting activity. For case, a mid-oceanic ridge, such as theRidge, is an result of diverging tectonic home bases ; whereas the Pacific ring of Fire is formed by meeting home bases nearing towards each other. Stretching and cutting of the home bases inside the earth’s exterior bed can besides ensue into a vent, e.g. , Rio Grande Rift in North America. Volcanic activities can besides be seen at countries off from the tectonic home bases and are known as Hotspots.Volcanoes in Hawaii are believed to originate from a central-mantle, 3,000km deep inside the surface of Earth. It is a rare state of affairs to happen a vent in an country where home bases slide over each other. Vents which Erupt have the ability to do threat, even in the countries non environing the eruption part. A threat like the ash of the vent can make a immense hazard for an Aeroplane specifically 1s with the jet engines, the atoms will liquefy at high temperatures and stick toblades in the turbine changing their formation. Huge eruptions cool the lower ambiance of the Earth but besides lead to hot temperatures at the upper ambiance of the Earth. Adequate grounds exists to turn out that the volcanic winters lead to black dearths. Some common types of vents are shield vents, crypto domes. Volcanic cones ( cinder cones ) , stratovolcanoes, super vents, pigboat vents and clay vents Home plate tectonics Divergent home base boundaries The formation of a new ocean crust leads to the separation of two tectonic home bases besides as the surface is really slender near these topographic points the stretch due to the tectonic home bases, consequences into fragmental thaw of the mantle, ensuing in volcanic eruptions. As these type of boundaries exist deep into the oceans the volcanic activities are normally undersea. Convergent home base boundaries The hit of two home bases leads to the formation of magma as one of the home bases increases the temperature of H2O in the submersed home base forming magma. Due to its high silicon oxide content the magma is vigorous in nature, normally the magma is unable to do it to the surface. But formation of a vent takes topographic point when it is able to make to the upper surface organizing an island. â€Å" Hot spots † Volcanic countries which are considered to â€Å" Hotspots â€Å" is the name given to volcanic countries believed to be established bynucleation of a hot stone inside the Earth taking to a nappy, vents turn inactive temporarily as tectonic home bases move across them. The Hawaiian Islands is considered as a consequence of such process. Though, many disapprove with these sort of unproved theories. Erupted stuff Lava composingMagma holding the silica content of more than 63 % is known as felsic. Felsic lava is a extremely barbarous and vigorous fluid normally erupted from big sized domes. Gass which get trapped due to its barbarous nature leads to immense pollution.52–63 % of silicon oxide content is known as the lava of intermediatecomposition. Normally formed by hydration thaw of peridotite this magma contains deposits and therefore silica content is lower than felsic.45-52 % of silicon oxide content, the lava is known as mafic. These lavas have high content of Mg and Fe and be given to be hotter than felsic excessively. Mafic lava is a really common sight in the instance of volcanic eruptionsThe ultramafic lava is the one which contains less than 45 % of silicon oxide content, it is highly rare to happen the ultramafic lava, it has been found merely one time till now and is the hottest one of all. Fluid is excessively hot and is besides higher in content of Mg and Fe compared to ma fic lava.Hawaii and Volcanic Volcanic eruptions Hawaii is a typical topographic point when it comes to geological universes criterions as it is cause by â€Å"hotspots† . There exist merely a few of hot spots on Earth and Hawaii has the biggest crustal surface beneath its vents on Earth – the Pacific home base. The motion of the home bases has resulted into the Hawaiian island and Kauai holding inactive vents stands to be the most elderly island of all, and is about 50lakh old ages old. The most immature and besides one of the active vents is the island which is besides known as the â€Å"big Island† which we all know as Hawaii with the lava crust less than a million twelvemonth old. Loihi is besides one of the active vents in Hawaii. Kilauea the most active vent in the universe is a shield vent covering 14 % of the entire island the south-east portion of the Hawaii. The local population believe the 1227metre vent to be the place of Hawaiian vent goddess Pele. From a normal oculus it seems to be merged with another vent i.e. the Mauna Loa whereas scientific research prove that it is an unconnected vent with its ain activities. The vent has 61 recorded eruptions harmonizing to the United States geo-survey and has shown uninterrupted activities since the past 32 old ages. Volcanic eruption History The local Hawaiian people have written about the extraordinary phenomenon of volcanic eruption manner before the worldwide diaries. Thomas Jagger is one of the great personalities in the geologists list to hold done the base research on the activities of vent and besides to convert the United States geological section to take deeper research of these vents though Jagger is an American geologist, he formed the Hawaiian volcanic research association before the Geological section merely with the aid of a local business communities. The Hawaiians have a long history with these vents who they consider as their Gods and have written about them in the same mode. They believe these eruptions to be the choler or sadness of their God towards them. The twelvemonth 1990 experienced the most devastation menace by the Kilauea as it destroyed about 100 houses including a church and the town Parkss. The impact left a lava filling of 15-24 meters on the town therefore destructing everything that of all time existed on the surface. A Person names jack Thompson was loath to go forth his place even after detecting all his neighbors and milieus consumed by lava near the royal gardens. It was merely in 2012 when he and his friend were rescued by a chopper as his house was consumed by the vigorous lava of the Hawaiian vents. Lava still flows continuously to the ocean harmonizing to an observation by geologists. Impact of the Hawaiian Volcanic eruptions About 3 lakh people have died due to a direct or indirect impact of a volcanoe in the past 500 old ages. The explosive eruptions of vents have caused a batch of these deceases. Hawaiian eruptions are quieter and hold more fluids. Near to 97 people have died due to eruptions in Hawaii. But the impact of these eruptions on the civilized society and their substructures has been lay waste toing. An full small town names Kapoho has been brought to land zero in 1960 eruption. The volcanic activities have besides destroyed the royal gardens and a small town called Kalapana. An full small town named Hilo with the population of 40 thousand people was under great menace in 1984 Mauna Loa eruptions. Fortunately the Lava stopped some kilometers before the metropolis therefore salvaging it from being one of the largest risky volcanic eruption in the history. Volcanic eruptions have about destroyed 200 standing constructions including national Parkss, Gardens and many places and edifices in the little town of Kalapana. Except of the short term impacts of the vents, the large concern is are the people populating around still healthy? Dangerous gases such as H2O, CO2, CO, SO2, and H2S are spread in the air through volcanic eruptions A Study by an helper professor of the Nevada Orvis School of nursing shows that there was a important addition in concerns and sore pharynxs with people coming in contact with the vent or life nearby it. Besides 56 % addition was observed in people describing coughs after an impact and 600 % addition in take a breathing related diseases. In long term external respiration in the surrounding of a vent such as life in Hawaii can diminish the life anticipation to a great extent and therefore is besides non a suited pick for people with take a breathing upsets. Other Side of the Coin The Geo-thermal power works which can be constructed near a vent is really helpful to Hawaii as they have abundant militias due to volcanic activities.the Puna Geo-thermal works contributes to 23 % per centum of the electricity needs in Hawaii bring forthing 30megawatts of electricity and besides has late increased the production capacity by 8 % . The Volcanoes in Hawaii have provided a batch to the comprehensive cognition of the worlds on vents. The research on the nature of these vents is one of the basic grounds why today scientists are able to understand and foretell volcanic eruptions, salvaging a big sum of of human lives. Thus Hawaii has presented an exceeding chance for the survey and research of vents and their behavior in general. Volcanic activity beneath the ocean has the ability to make islands such as Hawaii itself. Unique sorts of workss and animate beings evolve in these sort of islands, Such as the Hawaiian Flora.Thus Hawaii really owns its being to such results of volcanic eruptions. Precautions/ Safety warning Systems in the Hawaiian Island It is believed that Kilauea is a safe vent as it’s slow and the Hawaiian national park has provided proper guidelines at each risky zone. Although tourer non cognizant about the insecure environment and besides the type of tourer who wittingly break the guidelines lead to a large figure of deceases. There have been instances of people sitting on a stone of magma and taking to hurts due to tear in the stone as the interior was weak and was unseeable to a normal oculus. Populating near an eruption zone? Don’t worry you will be informed for emptying merely in clip. The USGS scientists have instruments supervising the rift zones every hr each twenty-four hours. The seismographs predict the volcanic eruption manner before as there has to be some activity, there is no such thing as a sudden eruption as the new engineerings can observe it several hours prior to the eruption excessively. During the Kalapana Eruption in 1990 the local population was informed hebdomads before therefore supplying them a batch of clip for emptying. The United States Geological Survey section has implemented assorted safety alert- presentment systems against the activities of vents. The watchful presentment degree is dependent on four degree qui vives and besides four levelled air power coloring material codification. The degrees are decided by the scientist by monitoring and analyzing the volcanic activities and along with their cognition and experience on the eruptions. The vent alert degree can be explained utilizing the colors and the four degrees which are normal, consultative, ticker and warning. These marks are spread through wirelesss and the air power coloring material codifications are spread out in the sky utilizing aircrafts to signal the population on the landDegreeAviation coloring material codificationInterpretationNormalGreenIt is normal as specified, therefore the vent has stopped break outing and has reached to an inactive provinceAdvisoryYellowThe activities have minimized in an effectual mode but still barbarous activities might regenerate the eruptionWatchOrangeVolcano is active and is demoing barbarous activities the tallness and ash exhausts degree are besides provided if possible.WarningRedVolcanic eruption is prevailing on a important degree and tallness of the ash exhausts and the degree is highly unsafe. Take immediate actions towards your safety.Recommendations for Disaster Management As observed throughout my research the USGS has already taken a batch of proper stairss against the safety of worlds during the volcanic eruption idea there are some recommendations which can increase the safety of the population. To USGS Awareness among the tourers: – During the research, It was found that a batch of tourers in Hawaii are incognizant of the safety jeopardies and the proper significance of the catastrophe marks. The decease and hurt rate among the tourer in Hawaii still exists and should be prevented. To Population Communication: – There are opportunities of the communicating web acquiring disrupted during such a state of affairs, therefore everyone should cognize whom and how to pass on during such a state of affairs Responsible Emptying: – A list of points should be kept for such unfortunate events -Significant paperss, Medications, Valuables which are easy to transport and nutrient supply for long term endurance. Normally people who are designated as absurd before the catastrophe sometimes are the 1s who survive it. Cipher is prepared for such a jeopardy that’s the lone ground it is termed as a catastrophe. A responsible and educated society can avoid immense loss of human lives during such jeopardies. Mentions Hawaii flora – Hawaiian flowers and workss. 2015.Hawaii flora – Hawaiian flowers and workss. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.to-hawaii.com/flora.php. [ Accessed 25 March 2015 ] . . 2015.. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.eia.gov/state/ ? sid=HI. [ Accessed 25 March 2015 ] . Benefits of Volcanoes. 2015.Benefits of Volcanoes. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.universetoday.com/32576/benefits-of-volcanoes/ . [ Accessed 25 March 2015 ] . Evacuating During Volcanic Activity. 2015.Evacuating During Volcanic Activity. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.hilo.hawaii.edu/~nat_haz/volcanoes/evacuating.php. [ Accessed 26 March 2015 ] . Kilauea Volcanic Eruption in Hawaii Threatens Village | GeoEvents | Earthscope. 2015.Kilauea Volcanic Volcanic eruption in Hawaii Threatens Village | GeoEvents | Earthscope. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.earthscope.org/science/geo-events/kilauea-volcanic-eruption-in-hawaii-threatens-village. [ Accessed 28 March 2015 ] . Danger in Eden: The concealed jeopardies of vent geotourism | EARTH Magazine. 2015.Danger in Eden: The concealed jeopardies of vent geotourism | EARTH Magazine. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.earthmagazine.org/article/danger-paradise-hidden-hazards-volcano-geotourism. [ Accessed 02 April 2015 ] . Health Effectss of Hawaii’s’ Active Volcano – Honolulu wellness and felicity | Examiner.com. 2015.Health Effectss of Hawaii’s’ Active Volcano – Honolulu wellness and felicity | Examiner.com. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.examiner.com/article/health-effects-of-hawaii-s-active-volcano. [ Accessed 02 April 2015 ] . The 1859 eruption of Mauna Loa and its human impact. . 2015.The 1859 eruption of Mauna Loa and its human impact.. [ ONLINE ] Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/archive/2002/02_01_17.html. [ Accessed 02 April 2015 ] .

Entity Selection Essay

Facts: After 20+ years of working for other firms, Penelope (enrolled agent, age 41), Mark (CPA, age 43), and John (CVA, age 65) want to leave the firms they are currently employed by and become their own bosses. Penelope specializes in taxes, Mark is the auditor, and John is a business valuation expert. There are so many options available as to how they can structure the new business. The appropriate business entity for any individual(s) will depend on their particular facts and circumstances. You are a valued colleague and friend of this threesome, and they have come to you seeking advice as to how to structure their new business. They have the knowledge to figure it out themselves but are looking for the advice of an unbiased third party. Please consider the following tax and nontax considerations as you recommend an entity choice to Penelope, Mark, and John. Part I: Discuss the various forms of organization that are available to Penelope, Mark, and John. In general terms, the entity that you will be choosing will be some form of partnership. In broad definition, a partnership is defined as a single business where two or more people share ownership, with each partner bringing specific contributions to the business. Since each member of the partnership will be taking on specific functions and liability with the partnership, it is extremely important that all agree on the specific structure that the partnership will take. The purpose of this memo is to provide an educated and unbiased opinion on what structure that partnership should take. Partnerships are commonly organized as General Partnerships, Joint Ventures, or Limited Partnerships (limited liability). For the purposes of this memo, we will stick to forms of Limited Partnerships as the current economic climate necessitates a business structure that limits the liability of its owners. Common forms of Limited Partnerships are Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), Limited Liability Company (LLC), S Corporations (S Corp), and C Corporations (C Corp). Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) are similar to general  partnerships with the exception that they allow two classes of partners: those with full management control and those with no personal interest or liability beyond their investment (1). On the other hand, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a flexible form of business arrangement that melds characteristics of both partnerships and corporate structures. It is technically not a corporation, but a legal form of business entity that provides limited liability to its owners. Each owner in an LLC is considered a â€Å"member†, with profits and losses being â€Å"passed throu gh to their personal tax returns (2). An S Corporation (S Corp) is a type of corporation that is created through a special tax election. This election is beneficial when it comes to avoiding double-taxation. If a business is able to meet the S Corporation criteria, it will be able to reap the primary advantage of an S Corp which is tax savings. This is due to the fact that an S Corporation allows its employees to take a â€Å"reasonable† salary, limiting the income subject to income taxes and saving the rest of the corporation’s profits to be taxed at a lower rate as a â€Å"distribution† (3). Finally, a C Corporation (C Corp) is a separate legal structure formed for a business, protecting ownership and their personal assets from judgments against the company. It is a much more time consuming process to form a C Corporation, as the structure must include shareholders, officers, and directors. Often times, the drawbacks of double – taxation and administrative issues cause small business owners to seek other alternatives (4). Part II: Make your recommendation as to what form of organization you believe will be best, and be sure to explain the reasoning for your choice. After careful consideration, it is my opinion that the best business structure for your new venture would be to form and Limited Liability Company (LLC). This structure will provide the company with adequate protection while also establishing safeguards for each member and his or her personal assets. In this arrangement, each member will be removed from the consequences that could result from another member’s misconduct or negligence. I place particular emphasis on this fact because I know that all three of you are personal friends outside of the work environment, and I do not want there to be hesitation on anyone’s part regarded the business for fear of damaging  the friendship. In addition to the advantages named above, the LLC will allow each member to have clearly defined roles and management duties, as well as clearly defined ownership stakes and shares of profits and losses. As we will discuss in the coming sections, the formation of the Operating Agreement for the LLC will help to clearly establish these roles, allowing each of you to focus solely on your aspect of the business and allowing it to run as smoothly as possible (5). Part III: Discuss the tax consequences of contributing cash, property, and/or services to the new entity. Ordinarily, there are no tax consequences on contributions of property or services to a Limited Liability Company. Typically, members can utilize the tax treatment provided by IRC Section 721(a) when it comes to the contribution of property to an LLC. This section states that no loss or gain shall be to the partnership or any of its members in the case of contribution of property to the partnership in exchange for an interest in the partnership (6). However, there are exceptions to this rule, particularly when the contribution is an attempt to disguise the sale of property to avoid taxation. In these circumstances, the contributing member would have a taxable gain when the sale is completed (7). Cash contributions have similar treatment. They are given in exchange for ownership interest, and as a result, they are not taxable. Part IV: Discuss, in detail, how this entity is taxed (if at all) and what filing requirements it has with the IRS. Assuming you will not be making an election to be treated as a corporation (this would require becoming an S Corp or C Corp) the Limited Liability Company will be treated as a partnership. In other words, the LLC is treated by default as a â€Å"pass through† entity, meaning each member will be responsible for his or her portion of the profits on their personal income taxes. All partnerships are required to file Form 1065 with the IRS. This form is the U.S. Return of Partnership Income and it demonstrates the income, gains, losses, deductions, and credits from the operation of the partnership (in this case, the LLC). Each member’s share of profits will be outlined by the Operating Agreement, which we will discuss further in the next section. Should your LLC decide to split profits and losses in a manner that does not match up  with each member’s percentage interest, then you will need to request a special allocation from the IRS (8). Part V: Discuss how income and distributions may or will be allocated to Penelope, Mark, and John. Income and distributions will be allocated to each member through the Operating Agreement. In an LLC, the Operating Agreement allows its members to structure the financial and working arrangements in a way that suits the business and each member. In this agreement, the members establish each owner’s percentage ownership of the LLC, his or her share of profits and losses, the rights and responsibilities of each member, and what will happen to the business if one member decides to leave (9). It also helps to establish the framework for providing each member with a capital account for their portion of ownership. For example, Penelope’s percentage ownership in the LLC may be defined by the percentage of capital she contributes (be it cash, property, etc.) to the business. In turn, this established ownership percentage can be used to determine what proportion of the LLC’s profits she is entitled to receive. Part VI: Discuss, in detail, how the individuals are taxed (if at all) with respect to the net profits from this entity and what filing requirements they will each have with the IRS. As mentioned previously, a Limited Liability Company is considered a â€Å"pass through† entity unless it makes a special corporate election to be treated otherwise. By utilizing a Limited Liability Company, you are required to report your individual share of profit or loss from the business on your personal tax return. The Limited Liability Company will provide each member with a Schedule K-1, which demonstrates each member’s share of income, credits, and deductions for the partnership. Each member is then required to report these amounts for both federal and state taxation on their individual Form 1040 and Schedule E (8). Another important note to consider when it comes to individual taxation of Limited Liability Company members is the fact that each member is considered self-employed. As a result, each member must remember to make estimated tax payments for income and self-employment taxes on a quarterly basis. Failure to do so may result in penalties on your personal income tax return (8). Part VII: Discuss how Penelope, Mark, and John will calculate their basis in the new entity. Be sure to include the impact that debt has on basis, if any. As previously mentioned, the Operating Agreement will help to determine each member’s basis in the new Limited Liability Company. In general, the tax basis of a member with an interest in an LLC will be equal to the value of any cash or property the member contributed to the LLC. The value of these contributions is shown on the LLC’s balance sheet in the form of capital accounts for each member. IRC Section 752 describes the regulations involved in treating liabilities (debt) with regards to basis or stake in the partnership. Using this rule, any increase in a partner’s share of the liabilities of a partnership shall be considered a contribution of money by said partner to the partnership (10). With regards to loans made by a member to the partnership, there are special circumstances to consider. While the loan itself will be treated as a contribution and effectively increase the member’s proportional share of ownership, the member will also be given the treatment of a creditor if the business were to ever be liquidated. Creditors stand a much better chance of being able to recover a portion of their investment into the LLC than the other members. Part VIII (Limited Liability): Discuss the exposure that Penelope, Mark, and John’s personal assets will have to the debts and lawsuits of the entity you have recommended. As we have discussed throughout this memo, the formation of a Limited Liability Company limits the exposure of its members to their percentage of ownership or equity interest in the company. This protects the member’s assets in the event of a business related lawsuit or other form of legal action against the company. In other words, each member’s exposure will be limited to a fixed sum, akin to the value of the individual’s investment into the company. In addition, this means that each member will not be personally liable for the debts of the company. This is a key difference between the Limited Liability Company and other forms of General Partnerships, as members who organize their business in the structure of the latter have unlimited liability (11). References 1. http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/limited-liability-partnership# 2. http://www.sba.gov/content/limited-liability-company-llc 3. http://www.sba.gov/content/s-corporation 4. https://www.incorporate.com/c_corporation.html 5. http://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/why-start-an-llc-limited-liability-company-advantages-and-disadvantages.rl 6. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/721 7. http://www.alberty.com/newsletter_summer01.html 8. http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/6-things-you-need-know-about-your-tax-responsibilities-llc 9. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/llc-operating-agreement-30232.html 10. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/752 11. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/limitedliability.asp

Factitious Disorder

PERSUASIVE WRITING INTRODUCTION A persuasive essay is one where the writers chooses a side on particular argument or issue and tries to convince the reader to support the same side on the argument. The most  successful  and effective persuasive essay appeals to both the readers’ logic and emotions. Persuasive writing is also referred to as creative writing or simply an argument in which the writer was penetrating words and phrases to woo the readers into believing or supporting the writers’ opinion. Persuasive writing involves convincing the reader to perform an act or to simply agree with the writer’s view of the argument.Persuasive writing is  ubiquitous one and the top three writing types in the world next to descriptive narrative. Persuasive writers have many techniques to elucidate and to improve their argument and support their claim. Persuasive essay, â€Å"a writing that offers and support on opinion. † CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSUASIVE WRITING N ot too long: a thesis of a persuasive essay should not be too long because if it is lengthy the readers may lose interest quickly hence wouldn’t get the message you would be trying to deliver to them.But in fact you should only write a short, straight to the point essay as it works best at convincing readers. Consistency: it is very important to be consistent when writing a persuasive essay because if you are inconsistent the readers will think you are unstable and do not know what you are talking about and they won’t be convinced by your arguments. Therefore by being consistent the readers will realise that you are rational and have integrity about your writing hence they are easily convinced.Arguments supported with statistics and citation of sources of information: when writing a persuasive essay it is very important to support your arguments with statistics to instil a sense of trust in your readers. It also shows the reliability of your essay and this will leave t he readers with no choice but to agree with your opinion. Citation of sources enhances professionalism and strengthens the credibility of your essay hence the readers are easily convinced. CONCLUSIONWith the structure of persuasive writing it is important that it is organised, straight forward, convincing and all the points should be supported. Without these points a persuasive essay won’t really be a persuasive essay. Finally with the characteristics for a persuasive piece, these are being emotionally engaged with the audience so that they stay hooked to what you are actually saying and the piece should be written from the perspective of the readers with supporting facts and statistics.

Use plate tectonic theory to explain the origin of Mount St. Helens Research Paper

Use plate tectonic theory to explain the origin of Mount St. Helens (and by extension, the Cascades and all Andean-type mountains) - Research Paper Example Juan de Fuca is one of the plates that slide under the continental North American plate causing the convergence. Volcanic eruptions near the oceanic lithosphere contributed to the formation of the Cascades and Andean-type mountains. This was because of the subduction of the landscape along the mountains that led to the invasion of magma from the layer and some due to crustal reduction. It is apparent that at the boundaries of the ranges are sedimentary rocks that slant, forming hogbacks. When the molten rocks and solids present under the earth mix together, then they form the magma. This substance is capable of triggering intrusion into the adjacent rocks that form the sills. The magma rocks are formed when explosive gases and hot underground water melt the glacial ice near the mantles (Price 24). The magma at Mt. St. Helens contains glacial rocks, ash and sedimentary rocks that melt during eruptions to form the mountain. This happens when the pressure pushed up the weaker sedimentary rocks that mix with the ash along the mantes (Foxworthy and Hill 23). The eruption can take long hours in the atmosphere before reaching the surface and this is harmful to the people in the vicinity. The magma erupted through the explosives are highly viscous and resistant to flow, which make the steep volcanoes. As a result, the chemical investigation of the eruptive materials from various phases of Mount St. Helens volcanism indicates that the magmatic structure interacts with different chemicals such as silicic and other compounds (Anderson 50). The Andean-type mountains extend from the Columbian to the Chilean regions. They were shaped through the subduction of the Nazca plates that collided with the Antarctic plates to cause an eruption. In this regard, the other geologic features associated with the Andean-Type mountains entail faults, folds and igneous rocks (Price 24). These features are remnants of active eruptions

Judaism, Christianity, Islamic and Buddhisms beliefs on Heaven and Research Paper

Judaism, Christianity, Islamic and Buddhisms beliefs on Heaven and Hell - Research Paper Example Judaism, which is the main religion of the Jews, believes in the existence of both heaven and hell. According to Hebrew, the Jews refer to heaven as Olam Haba, which translates to the world to come. Their main belief is that a heaven is a place for the righteous and that those who live in it are blessed to reside under continuous divine intervention. Furthermore, the Jews believe that those who live in heaven are customarily rewarded with a better life to make up for the misfortunes that they underwent on earth (Ellens 38). According to Judaism, the experience of this world is aimed at preparing their believers for the next, and that fulfilling the commandments is instrumental in earning one entry into heaven. The Jews similarly share the ideology that the soul should be purified before its final rest, a process that often goes on for eleven months. Given the wideness of Judaism, a section of Jews believes that God is the resuscitator of the dead through a process known as the transm igration of souls (Ellens 43). They regard the transmigration of souls as a second chance, and an opportunity for an individual to make up for some of the commandments he or she never fulfilled while on earth. Christianity, just like Judaism teaches on the existence of both heaven and hell. In as much as information on both heaven and hell remains light, Christians believe that heaven is a place where all their suffering and pain will end and that they will live forever

Risck Factor for colon cancer related to Obesity Essay

Risck Factor for colon cancer related to Obesity - Essay Example It is advised that individuals should add a lot of fiber and calcium intake in their diet to reduce the chances of acquiring colon cancer. Moreover, people should be conscious of their weight and maintain an ideal weight to prevent complications that are linked with being overweight or obese. This paper will discuss the risk factor for colon cancer related to obesity. Colon cancer is discovered in its asymptomatic or premalignant stages, and there is a possibility for cure and prevention. Colon cancer can be considered as an illness confined to an anatomically and geometrically clear plane of flesh that is easily accessible to direct assessment. Colon cancer starts as benign polyps which develop slowly into cancer. A polyp is the flesh protuberance from the colon mucosa and the greater the polyp, the higher the risk. Colon cancer grows directly from the inner lining via the muscle wall of the bowel and into neighboring tissues. The tumor may metastasize direct to the liver through the portal vein, the lymphatic system to adjacent lymph nodes and rarely through the bloodstream to the lungs or bones. In the early stages, colon cancer produces no symptoms. Patients experience blood in the stool, cramping pain in the lower abdomen and rectal bleeding are a sign of advanced disease. Digital rectal examination (DRE) is employed to reveal 15% of colon c ancer (Lippincott & Wilkins, 2013). Colon cancer arises from two kinds of precursor polyps through two clear pathways: serrated adenomas according to the serrated adenoma-to-carcinoma theory and conventional adenomas by the conventional adenoma-to-carcinoma sequence. The conventional adenomas result from mutation of the APC gene; advancement to colon cancer is a multistep procedure. The important genetic defect in serrated adenomas is not known. Furthermore, diet also contributes to the development of colon cancer. Diets with high fat and low fiber

Clifford and James Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Clifford and James - Essay Example Clifford, therefore, could justify that the truth that the car is blue because believes in the weight of authority. He understands that the car cannot be red and blue at the same time. According to the weight of authority, something cannot possess the qualities of both truth and false concurrently because a lot of knowledge exists to counter such as an argument. Consequently, a car can only be blue and nothing else. It is supported by the law of excluded middle that affirms that an object can only possess two qualities namely truth or false. Clifford, thus, acknowledges that if the car is not blue, then it is not a car. However, Clifford could also say God does not exist. According to constructivist theorists, truth is a construction of varying social processes that encompass overt questioning on modes of thought. As a result, it is upon Clifford to determine his knowledge of God through different perceptions that is always influenced by through representations of physical and biological reality. Determination of objective truth on the veracity of God’s existence is, hence, deflected by the social construction of the individual compounded by the factors false ideology, power or knowledge. James equally has the right to claim God exists and adduce enough evidence of proving his claim. This is because validity of a claim rests on evidentialism, overbelief, and faith. In formulating his argument, James will assert that God exists because his conditioning is guided by social processes of a strong faith. It differs from the conflict of Clifford’s view that God does not exist on the basis that their realities of knowledge differ (James 7). For example, while James’s reality is pegged on the distinct identity of a Supreme Being, his counterpart bears contradictions on the concept of God in the aspect of context. I agree with James in regards to statement (A) that God exists and not Clifford because the concept of belief is what

Case 3.3 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

3.3 - Case Study Example When taking history, it is important to record the accurate date of admission in the patient’s medical record. The admission date will help the nurse to calculate to calculate the patient length of stay at discharge or during the death of the patient. Calculating accurate length of stay for the patient will enable the accounting department to calculate the exact cost for patient stay in the hospital. Length of stay (LOS) is a period that covers the duration of a single episode of patient hospitalization. It is measured in days but not hours. It provides the hospital management with information on how quickly patients are being treated and discharged. This can give information on whether patients are being managed properly. To calculate LOS, the patient date of admission and discharge need to be tabulated. LOS is after that computed by subtracting the date of admission from the date of discharge or death. However, patients entering and leaving the hospital on the same day are given an LOS of one day. Proper keeping of records needs to be instituted in the hospital set up as it provides vital information on the patient’s progress. LOS of patient can help the hospital management to know how quickly the patients are being treated and discharged. This will further help to tell if patients are receiving a proper management for their

The story of my life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The story of my life - Essay Example The change in culture and familial environment did not improve my relationship with my mother, who remained distant and aloof. I felt she has absolutely no love for me. With her mind wandering back to my father in New York, I anticipated that day when she just rushed to my father’s arms. I was not in their plans of reuniting. I stayed with my grandparents to continue my education. The day my mother left me was the day my life changed for the worse. I met a boy who I fell in love with irresponsibly and immaturely. I stopped attending classes; my relatives learned of the relationship; my grandfather died; and I was sent back to New York. I run away and lived with my boyfriend’s relatives and soon led to unexpected pregnancy. I gave birth at a very tender age. Since I was not under the care of my parents, a social service worker from the Department of Social Services put me and my newborn under protective custody, endorsed in foster homes: first in Malden and then in Lynn. I eventually graduated from Lynn Vocational Technical High and have continued to search for meaning in my life. All thorns so far, with one rose, my child; and another, graduating from high school. I am looking forward to more roses in the near future.

Xerox corporation swas analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Xerox corporation swas analysis - Essay Example With new technology and service offerings for office and production environments, including affordable color printing for businesses of any size, Xerox's revenue growth strategy could be aligned around creating new opportunities to expand its share of the $102 billion document market. The transition from offset presses to digital systems would also be a catalyst in improving profit margins for the company without adding new products. If a fraction of the company's revenue is invested in research and development each year, it would be possible for Xerox to create the industry's broadest portfolio of document management technology and services. With the available expertise and experience in the filed of copiers, the company can plan to launch world class new systems in color and black-and-white digital presses, production copier/printers, office multifunction systems and printers. Thus, using the existing expertise in manufacturing copiers, it would become possible to tap new opportunities and take on the digital revolution without any significant investment on the company's part. Xerox Corp's Turnaround Strategy (2004) What Went Wrong, [electronic version] Retrieved 10 February 2008,from icmrindia's website: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Strategy2/BSTR121.htm Value-added services including consulting, imaging and content management for businesses small to large. By integrating Xerox's document management services with better technology and improved productivity, work processes could be simplified. Value added-services, which could include consulting, imaging and content management for businesses of any size, would be an additional source of income for the company. Provision of consulting, imaging and content management is a niche area. With the digital revolution growing manifold by the day, this is the right time to exploit the potential of providing such services. Many companies prefer to outsource such jobs to experts in the field; thus, Xerox could be a service provider to such companies. Xerox-Annual Report, (2005) Retrieved 10 February, 2008,from Xerox websites: http://www.xerox.com/Static_HTML/annualreport/2005/truecolors.html http://www.xerox.com/Static_HTML/annualreport/2005/gradient_content.html Xerox's unparalleled innovation in color technology and MFDs With Xerox's expertise of over 60 years in the field of manufacturing copiers, it would be relatively easy to come out with new age color printers and multifunction devices like copier-scanner-printers. There is a growing demand for such copiers in the market. The revenue from the launch of such products is expected to grow by 20 percent on an annualized basis. As the revenue per color page is approximately five times higher than the revenue per black-and-white page, there is a significant opportunity to be tapped in this market. With about 3

Mis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Mis - Essay Example In order to ensure the security of the users in the information systems, several measures have to be taken; this is to avoid any inconveniences in the running of the organization. Security is ensured to the users when the organization makes regular changes to their management information systems. This is done through successful implementation of updated and new software and hardware components. These continuous changes bring about better adjustment done to configure the information systems. Also, the frequent changes makes the users be aware of the emerging security threats and they therefore adapt to the emerging situation. In most organizations, they have to develop their information systems, in so doing so, they have to employ several components, these components are different and can be interconnected in their specified arrangements in that they can encounter the organization’s mission, business their security needs (Dhillon& Backhouse, 2000). To ensure that there is security in information, there are various techniques that have to be implemented for the management, operation and security in conformation. These techniques go hand in a hand with se veral mainframes which include, servers, applications, operating systems and work stations (Dhillon& Backhouse, 2000). Maintaining of information with a level of confidentiality, availability and integrity is of much benefit to the users. Inorder to ensure security in information, the security systems have to control its access panel. The major role of access is to prevent unauthorized log in from unknown users in that they will not adjust or use their information. Access is grouped into three categories; preventive, corrective and detective. These three categories have their roles, preventive control role is elimination of occurrence of a disastrous event; detective controls

Blood Diamond - Film Essay Example for Free

Blood Diamond Film Essay I agree with this view because key ideas are an important part of a film to make it more interesting for the audience. In the film Blood Diamond directed by Edward Zwick some of the key ideas are: What is valuable and important, the devastation of war and exploitation of people and resources. These key ideas in the film help viewers to understand the film better. The key idea of what is valuable is an important one in the film. The three main characters Maddy, Danny and Solomon all have something different that is valuable to them. Maddy is a journalist who travels around the world in search of a good story. She ends up in Sierra Leone to get a story about what is going on with the civil war over the diamonds but when she gets there she finds it hard to get any information about the diamond smuggling so she focuses on the welfare of the country and the people. In the film Maddy is shown to value the welfare of the Sierra Leone people. This is shown when Maddy is writing a story on her laptop and then Danny walks in. Maddy lets Danny know how important the welfare of the country is to her when she says, â€Å"Its not going to be enough to make it stop. People back home wouldn’t buy rings if they knew it cost someone else their hands. † Writing her stories does not have a big effect on the people in the western world they are too selfish to help the country out in their time of civil war. Another text I read is A Long Way Gone written by Ishmael Beah in that text the main character of the non-fiction text is Ishmael who is in the civil war in Sierra Leone at the same time as Maddy. He is a forced child soldier and he values his freedom. Another key idea in Blood Diamond is the devastation of war. The film shows how war is devastating because many lives are lost and most of the lives lost are civilians who arent involved in the war at all. An example of the devastation of war is when the rebels burst into Solomon’s village and kill nearly everyone while on their violent shooting rampage. The rebels don’t care who they shoot or how many they shoot which is devastating. Another example is the way the rebels force children to become soldiers. They steal the children away from their families and make them shoot people. They make them say the chant â€Å"shed their blood† which is forcing the children to kill. There is devastation when the rebels burst into the city and and start blowing it up and catching it on fire and shooting people in the street who have no defense against the rampage. The army try to fight back but they are outnumbered and have no chance against the Rebels. Everyone is scared of the rebels and the survivors go into hiding. A camera shot is used to show how scared the civilians are and how powerful the Rebels are is when Danny looks through a the hole in the fence and the camera shows what the scene is outside the fence through the hole from Danny’s point of view. The scene on the other side of the fence is of some army guys getting shot at by Rebels. â€Å"People back home wouldn’t buy rings if they knew it cost someone else their hands. † Maddy This shows the devastation of war. My final key idea is the exploitation of people and resources. The film shows us that children were exploited to become soldiers by the rebels. There are scenes in the film showing the Rebels bursting into villages and snatching children from their families and taken to the rebel camps. In the text A Long Way Gone children are also expiated to be soldiers for the Rebels. Ishmael was found by the Rebels and taken to a camp and forced to be a soldier or he would lose his own life. These are examples of how people were exploited in texts during the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990’s. Also during this war some resources were exploited one of them was diamonds. Diamonds are mined by unpaid workers who are forced to work with no benefits then they are illegally taken across the border to tother countries who then sell the exploited diamonds, one country they do this in is Liberia. Danny is a good example of taking the diamonds across the border when he stashes some under a goats skin and makes up a story to tell the authorities but it doesn’t work. With all the corruption going on in the country Solomon says, â€Å"perhaps we were better off when the white man was ruling us. This shows that since they have become republic the country has become corrupt and Solomon thinks that if they were ruled by the commonwealth they would be better off and not have war. Blood Diamond explores the key ideas of: What is valuable and important which is the welfare of the Sierra Leone people, devastation of war which is when the RUF kill innocent citizens. And the exploitatio n of people and resources which is when the RUF force children to become soldiers. Exploration of these issues certainly contributes to making this one of the best films.

Microsofts Structure And Culture

Microsofts Structure And Culture The assignment is about six outcomes of Organizations and Behavior subject. The scenario company is Microsoft, founded in 1975, which is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential (Microsoft, n.d.).The other company to compare with Microsoft is Federal Express Corporation (FedEx Express), the largest company in providing a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services under the FedEx brand. FedEx Express is an express transportation company, offering time-certain delivery within one to three business days and serving markets. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. (FedEx Ground) is a provider of small-package ground delivery service. FedEx Freight Inc (FedEx Freight) is a provider of less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. FedEx Corporate Services, Inc. (FedEx Services) provides the Companys other companies with sales, marketing, information technology, communications and back-office support (Fe dEx, n.d.). This assignment is going to explain and compare the organizational structures, cultures, leadership styles and performance of these two companies to find out about the organizational theories that underpin the practice of management. 1.1 Compare and contrast different organizational structures and culture 1.1.1 Microsofts structure and culture Microsofts Organizational Chart (The Official Board, 2012) According to the chart above, Microsoft has a flat structure. We can see that Microsoft has five product groups are Windows Live Windows Group, Server Software, Online Services, Microsoft Business and Entertainment and Devices. Each product group, which focuses on a specific line of goods and services, has one executive reports directly to the CEO. Each group has its own RD, sales, and customer service staff (Daft, 2009). This structure allows larger spans of control. Microsoft also has a matrix structure which works alongside the flat structure. The matrix structure is a structure where project teams are made up of workers with various specialisms from different functions of a business (BPP, 2004). The legal structure of Microsoft is Limited Liability Company because the company went public on March 13, 1986 (Time, n.d.). Microsoft has a task culture because it is a huge company with 94,420 employees around the world, just 56,934 in USA only (Microsoft, n.d.). It is impossible to manage a firm of that huge amount of workers with a person culture or a power culture. A two-time award-winning journalist Kurt Eichenwald described Microsofts work culture as the cannibalistic culture; a management system known as stack-ranking a program that forces every unit to declare a certain percentage of employees as top performers, good performers, average, and poor effectively crippled Microsofts ability to innovate, leading employees to compete with each other rather than competing with other companies (Vanity Fair, 2012). 1.1.2 FedExs structure and culture FedExs Organizational Chart (The Official Board, 2012) FedEx Corporation FedEx, introduced express delivery to the world in 1973, and is the worlds top express delivery service. The organizational structure of FedEx is flat. According to Organizational Behavior A Strategic Approach, FedEx Corporation should change their structure, because it adopted a multi-divisional structure (Hitt, Miller Colella, 2005). The corporation gives significant authorities to the subsidiaries. Operating independently, each subsidiary manages its own specialized network of services. FedEx employed over 280,000 employees worldwide (FedEx, n.d.), so obviously they have a task culture. The culture of FedEx is also market driven culture. All they care about is the customers; their culture center on the customer. They possess a strong customer-service organizational culture (McNeal, 2011). In short, both Microsoft and FedEx Corp. have a new style of management which is flat structure and task culture. However, FedEx is flatter than Microsoft in organizational structure. To look deeper, we can see differences in their culture as one cares about money, the other one cares about the customer. 1.2 Explain how the relationship between an organizations structure and culture can impact on the performance of the business 1.2.1 Microsoft Microsoft has a flat organizational structure and a task culture which is consider the new method of management. It is believed to be the right way to manage a company. This seems to works well when Microsofts 2011 revenue reached $69 billion (Microsoft, 2011). They make a very huge amount of money. The flat structure creates a lower hierarchy of power in Microsoft. It also allows CEOs direct involvement to make decision process quicker and less time consuming. Microsoft was topped ranking of the worlds 25 best multinational workplaces released by The Great Place to Work Institute (Industry Week, 2011). It is noticeable that employees satisfy their working environment in Microsoft. However, the stack ranking program can kill Microsofts creativity. The destructive management technique can be seen the key problem in Microsoft its management system (Frederick Allen, 2012). It can lead to risk of losing big amount of money. 1.2.2 FedEx FedEx increased revenue 12% in the February-to-May quarter and 13% in the fiscal year that ended May 31, reporting total annual revenue of $39.3 billion (William Cassidy, 2011). It is a large amount of money. The culture of FedEx influences its employees to work more effectively. It encourages them not only work hard but also work smart. FedExs managers also make right decisions, catching up with market trends and changing business needs. 1.3 Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work The factors which influence individual behavior at work are: personality, perception, attitude, ability and aptitude, conflict, stress, and change. For the people of Microsoft, their personality is highly competitive. As discussed above, it is obviously that Microsoft has the culture of competition so the people who are working in a competitive culture will become competitive. If they are not yet competitive, the culture will itself make them competitive. Because they are competitive, they know how to get the money from customers and they will do it so well. Microsoft had always been characterized by a culture that was extremely competitive. When the company introduced new products then rocketing sales, the people responsible for the products did not meet to celebrate. Instead, they found what could have been done better instantly. Therefore, the company had always been a leading competitor, and Gates often sent out memos to remind employees about the competitive threats ahead. Gates truly drove a culture of innovation and vision (Microsoft People Problems, 2003). Thus, people were promoted to strive for the highest standards. However, when Gates left, Steve Ballmer has been a new CEO. Steve has been driving a culture of production rather than innovation (Kurt Eichenwald, 2012). For example, two ex-employees reviewd on Glassdor (Glassdoor is a website that collects information about workplaces and companies) that stack ranking made Microsoft be a less desirable place to work and higher stress workplace (Julie Bort, 2012). One more thing is that, Microsoft has discrimination between black and white workers of the corporation. In 2001, a group of current and former employees accused Microsoft of racism. The seven African American people required $5 billion in compensation, claiming they were paid less than their fellow employees and repeatedly passed over for promotions given to less-qualified white workers. The workers also claimed to have been subjected to racial harassment and retaliation when they complained. According to Willie Gary, who is a lawyer, pointed to 1999, government statistics that showed only 2.6% of Microsofts 21,429 employees, and only 1.6% of the companys 5,155 managers, were black (BBC, 2001). 2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership style in different organizations 2.1.1 Microsoft Bill Gatess leadership styles are participative style and authoritative style. The reason is that, Gates involved his subordinates in decision making so they were good at delegating. He is a flexible person and he recognized his role was to be visionary of the company. Whenever needed, he brought professional managers for managing. Gates is a strong and energizing person. His enthusiasm, hard working nature and judgment skills reflect his personality. His motivating power and involving his friends to working with him became the success of Microsoft (Dip Kumar Dey,n.d.). Besides, Gates paid special attention to recruit and retain the best talent. He believed that the recruitment of talented software engineers was one of the most critical elements in the software industry. Gates looked for recruits who included the capacity to grasp new knowledge quickly and deep familiarity with programming structures. Despite a great number of potential recruits applied for jobs at Microsoft, Gates a ssumed that the best talent would never apply directly. Consequently, Microsofts HR managers had to hunt for the best talent and offer them a job. Giving autonomy to his managers, Gates delegated authorities to managers to run their independent departments. Gates involved a little in autocratic style, because control is basic to his nature and his management practice. He had an obsession with detail and with checking up. He tried to monopolize the World Wide Web software market and had legal problems with the department of justice. Also he did not like complaints (Dhananjay Kumar, n.d.). Microsoft used these styles of leadership very well as the company has great performance with net income of $14.569 billion (2009). 2.1.2 FedEx FedEx has a complex leadership style. The leadership style is combined between affiliative style, participative style and democratic style. Because FedEx has a flat structure; the managers give their subordinates authorities so they are good at delegating. Also, to be able to give subordinates authorities, they must trust their workers. Workers at FedEx are smart people so they do not want to be told what and how to do things. FedEx Corp. under the guidance of CEO Fred Smith has been named the Top Corporation of the Decade by Fortune magazine (Dumain, 2004). Smith was determined to make employees an integral part of the decision-making process, due to his belief that when people are placed first they will provide the highest possible service and profits will follow (FedEx, n.d.). Microsoft and FedEx have different leadership styles so they apply it differently to create different working environment for their workers. However, they both earn a huge amount of profit and manage their company so well. FedEx seems to have the right way to apply its leadership style on its employees than Microsoft. 2.2 Explain how organisational theory underpins the practice of management 2.2.1 Theory X and Y It can be easily seen that Microsoft and FedEx use the Y theory. Because both companies care about how their employees feel. Furthermore, workers at Microsoft and FedEx are smart people so they do not want to be told things. Workers at Microsoft and FedEx are very ambitious, passionate and committed to their work. Because the work load at Microsoft is very pressure but there are still many people wish to work at Microsoft. Because the salary they pay is high, $87,965 for normal employees and much higher for managers, engineers or directors. They all have a regular salary over $100,000 each person (Salary List, 2011). Theory Y is about trust. Both Microsoft and FedEx have flat structure; authorities are given through the chain. Therefore, they must trust the workers. It creates not only the trust of managers in workers, but also the trust of workers in managers. This theory helps to build a strong relationship among workers and managers and then it leads to a strong organization. It i s obviously that Microsoft and FedEx are both strong in structure, culture and financial. 2.2.2 Scientific management FedEx doesnt apply this theory in its management. Because based on the theory, the application of this approach was to break each job down into its smallest and simplest component parts or motions (BPP, 2004). Although the theory improves productivity, it creates de-humanity in the organization. Moreover, everyone at FedEx is smart and talented. Therefore, it is wastes to hire smart people to tell them just do the same job day by day. Scientific management doesnt work in an organization that needs innovation and ideas like FedEx. 2.2.3 Bureaucracy Under the dominated decade of CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft applied this theory in its management. For this reason, Microsoft was complained that toxic environment and bad managers for anyone who want to join the corporation. Current and former employees in Microsoft were affected seriously by bureaucracy and management of the company for years (Matt Rosoff, 2011). According an article, employees in Microsoft were more concerned with impressing bosses than creating things (Rebecca Greenfield, 2012). They have no incentive to innovate. Nothing has changed at all since the departure of former CEO Bill Gates. It seems to be Steve Ballmer applied an inefficient management system. All things have not worked out. 2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organisations 2.3.1 Human relation approach Both Microsoft and FedEx use this management approach to manage their organization. As analyzed above, Microsoft cares about its employees in a wrong way. Steve Ballmer applied a management system which damage peoples creativity, making them to be bored with their work. Now the dominant tech company belongs to Apple. For FedEx, they care about their employees in a different way. They give employees passion and convenient facilities that allows workers to be more develop. Both Microsoft and FedEx know that how workers feel affects how well they work. However, this method is about what workers think, doesnt matter how the leader thinks about the workers. It is matter that the leader can create an image in the workers mind that they are what the leader wants them to believe they are. 2.3.2 The contingency approach It all depends is what we can define this theory. Managers of both Microsoft and FedEx have find out what is the suitable way to manage, not to find out what is the one right way to manage. This is considered the new management way. Microsoft and FedEx are the new organizations: everything is international, everything is new, everything is faster and everything is turbulent (BPP, 2004). This managing method fits these two organizations because organizations change all the time. This method worked very well for FedEx as the leader of FedEx lead the company through the economic crisis in 2008 to survive (The New York Times, 2012) In total, contingency approach is the correct choice for their management. CONCLUSION How an organization achieves its goals and become successful is the managers and leaders concern. Therefore, leaders and managers should build good relationship with their subordinates as well as good organizational structure, culture and good leadership style.

The Truth About Area 51

The Truth About Area 51 Area 51 is a United States Air Force base that is a detachment of Edwards Air Force base. Area 51 is secluded from the public and no one is allowed there without permission from the United States government. Area 51 is located in Nevada eighty-three miles away from Las Vegas. There are many people who have many conspiracies about Area 51 and what actually happens inside of the base. In Area 51 there is no extraterrestrial activity. Area 51 is located in the United States of America near the west coast in Nevada, The CIA gave out the location of Area 51 due to it being against the law for them not to. The CIA was forced to give out where area 51 was because of the Freedom of Information law. The law allows members of the public to access records of governmental agencies. Area 51, about 83 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is synonymous in popular culture with government secrecy, and many have theorized that it holds the answer to one of the greatest questions plaguing mankind: Are we really alone in the universe? (Koran 1). Area 51 is in Nevada but it is far away from the most popular city in the state Las Vegas most likely to keep it away from the public so that they do not interfere with anything going on in or around the base. The government had to give out documents about Area 51 because of it being the law in the United States. The documents made repeated references to Area 51 and detailed how it was selected a s a testing area by the CIA, the U.S. Air Force and defense contractor Lockheed because of its remote location. They even included a map that confirmed its exact location (Kiger 1). The documents that the government has released about Area 51 explained that the CIA used it as a testing center and where it was on a map. The have been assumptions made that the government tried to clone extraterrestrials, but the government has denied it. People have assumed that Area 51 is where aliens will be if they are on Earth and they believe that thats where the moon landing was actually filmed. Ts the most famous military institution in the world that doesnt officially exist. If it did, it would be found about 80 miles outside Las Vegas in Nevadas high desert, (Jackson 1) Area 51 is far away from the public because of the government not wanting anyone to be around it. Area 51 is in an interesting location because the government using an air force base and not making a different base and hiding it better than they did. There are people who believe in Area 51 that there is extraterrestrial activity, meaning they believe that there are aliens inside of Area 51. Some theorize that the aliens are actually the ones running the show and that their goal is to create a human-alien hybrid (Dark Government 1) People think that Area 51 is actually ran by aliens and the government is hiding the fact that the aliens are working on something that the public doesnt know about. There are people who think that government officials at Area 51 salvage alien technology from UFOs and use it for their own personal use. People think that there are pilots who take aliens technology and use it for their own advantage against the aliens and then take the rest of the alien technology and use it to study. There are some people who have come up with the theory that aliens are allowed to abduct anyone they want to. People who think that aliens are allowed to abduct people so that they can do tests on them whenever they want are being ridiculous. There is a theory that theorists came up with that says aliens are trying to create a hybrid creatures because they are unable to reproduce on their own. People are thinking that aliens cant reproduce their own species anymore, so they are attempting to use humans to help with that. In the 1990s, declassified documents said that the object recovered at Roswell was actually a balloon created for a surveillance program called Project Mogul. The weather balloon story was a cover for this secret project. Of course, UFO believers say that the spy balloon story is also a cover, and that the Army really did recover an alien craft. (Strickland 1). People believe from the Roswell crash documents that the government released that the story the government gave the public is fake and that the government recovered an alien craft and are hiding it from the public. There was an alleged alien spaceship that crashed at Roswell, New Mexico and there are theories that the government met extraterrestrials from the spaceship and were able to use alien technology. If someone saw the alleged spaceship crash, then they surely wouldve seen aliens too if it was actually a spaceship. There are theories saying that the government have met with aliens and have studied alien technology. There are many people who believe that there are aliens at Area 51 and that they are running the show. Some people have seen a UFO over Washington State. The wasa press release that stated the government had recovered the remains of an unidentified flying object. (Darkgovernment.com 1). The army retracted the statement very quickly most likely because they didnt want the public to be informed about the UFO. The army claimed that it was just a weather balloon. UFO sightings arent necessarily aliens, they are government aircrafts that are being tested and are seen by people. Even though there have been representatives from the Air Force that have denied that aliens have anything to do with Area 51 that just makes people come up with even crazier conspiracy theories. The existence of aliens are Area 51 have been denied multiple times but people wont believe it because they dont trust the government. Major Bolden also admitted that Area 51 existed, but said the US government was not hiding alien life there. (Knapton 1) Major Bolden is the head of NASA and he would know if theres alien lif e more than anyone else. Hundreds of pages describe the genesis of the Nevada site that was home to the governments spy plane program for decades. The documents do not, however, mention aliens. (Bump 1) Area 51 has been the governments area to hold their planes. But they deny the fact of there being aliens. Veterans are talking, and-surprise! Surprise!-they arent telling any tales of space aliens or UFOs: (Orac 1) There are people who have worked at Area 51 and they arent mentioning aliens. There are a few things people dont understand about UFO conspiracy theories. If there are aliens, why would they come to Earth out of all places? Why would aliens come to Earth out of everywhere they could go in the universe. It is very surprising that an interview with an extraterrestrial thing is happening in the dark. While the narrator (Victor) mentions that the room has been kept dark on purpose for the comfort of the aliens, but that does not explain the reason behind the darkness. The alien didnt look to be too sensitive to the torch beams at the end of the video though. (Jones 1) The interview was in the dark, so no one could see the alien. This makes people believe that the alien was a costume with someone in it or with no one in it at all. The United States Air Force base Area 51 is a detachment from the Edwards Air Force base in Nevada. Area 51 is far away from the public because the government does not want anyone near it. The government will stop anyone thats approaching the base before they can get to it. There are trucks that drive around the perimeter of the base. There are people who believe there is extraterrestrial activity in Area 51 and there are others who believe there is no extraterrestrial activity inside of Area 51. There is no extraterrestrial activity inside of Area 51. Works Cited Aliens Everything You Want to Know. Accessed 4 Jan. 2017. The Atlantic. 13 Aug. 2013, Accessed 22 Dec. 2016. DarkGovernment, Accessed 20 Dec. 2016. How Stuff Works. HowStuffWorks, Accessed 20 Dec. 2016. Jacobsen, Annie. Untitled post. LA Times, Accessed 20 Dec. 2016. Knapton, Sarah. Untitled post. The Telegraph, 19 June 2015, Accessed 20 Dec. 2016. Koran, Laura. Untitled post. CNN, 16 Aug. 2013, Accessed 22 Dec. 2016. Orac. Weblog post. ScienceBlogs, 1 Apr. 2010, Accessed 4 Jan. 2017.

Ghost Children of San Antonio Essay -- Urban Legends Ghost Stories

Ghost Children of San Antonio The legend of the Ghost Children of San Antonio dates back to the first half of the 20th century, with the majority of accounts placing its origins within a period extending from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. The story is based on a supposed freak accident involving a school bus full of children. As the story goes, the school bus stalled over a set of train tracks and was subsequently hit by an oncoming freight train, killing everyone on board the bus. (Weiser) Not soon after this grisly event, it was said that, should anyone park their car on the very same train tracks and place the gears in neutral, the car will roll uphill (seemingly defying gravity) off of the train tracks to a safe distance away. According to legend, the ghosts of the dead children from the bus accident push one’s car to safety (seemingly uphill) so they may avoid a similar fate. (Mikkelson) This story was recounted to me by a 20 year old female student at my University. She is a Communications major, coming from an upper middle class family in the rural suburbs of New Jersey. I interviewed her in her apartment sometime in the late afternoon in an informal setting. Although she is skeptical about things such as urban legends and ghost tales, she explained to me that this story always unsettled her in an inexplicable way. Yeah, there’s one [story] that’s pretty scary that comes to mind. My one friend [name omitted] – I think you met her once – well she moved to Jersey from Texas about 3 years ago and told me about this place kids would go when they were drunk or just looking for something to do. I asked her if she’d ever been there, but she told me she’d only heard it from a friend of a friend kind of deal. Well, an... ... that the story is representative of how all ghosts behave. Society prefers to consider ghosts as â€Å"protectors† or â€Å"helpers† rather than as â€Å"frighteners† or â€Å"killers.† Works Cited Juliano, Dave. "Haunted Places in Maryland." The Shadowlands Ghosts and Hauntings. 09 Apr. 2006. http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/. Lane, Stephanie. "Cry Baby Bridges." Dead Ohio. 09 Apr. 2006 www.deadohio.com. Mikkelson, Barbara. "Helping Hands." Snopes. 24 Mar 2003. Urban Legends Reference Pages. 09 Apr. 2006. www.snopes.com. Sceurman, Mark. Weird U.S. Weird NJ, Inc. 09 Apr. 2006. www.weirdus.com. Wagner, Stephen. "The Haunted Railroad Crossing." About Paranormal. About, Inc. 09 Apr. 2006. http://paranormal.about.com. Weiser, Kathy. "Lone Star Legends: Ghostly Children." Legends of America. Oct 2005. Legends of America.com. 09 Apr. 2006. www.legendsofamerica.com.

Black Men and Public Space in America Essays -- Jim Crow Segregation

Black Men and Public Space: An Agent of Change African-American men and white men are born and raised within the continental U.S.; each of their own faculty empowered to change the social injustice of a society. The innate qualities of the African American do not compare to those of the white man, yet - â€Å"empowered† they are with character. The foundation for the concept –â€Å"character† is best defined as â€Å"holistic,† meaning of physical, mental and social qualities – A. Adler’s school of thought, as well as A. Maslow and C. Rogers’ thoughts –â€Å"[a]n equal human being†¦ cognitive, emotional, and volitional† (Ambrus, 33 -34) Jennifer Ritterhouse, author of Growing Up Jim Crow: How Black and White Southern Children Learned Race, explains that childrearing practices by caregivers resulted in the facilitation of race discrimination and it included â€Å"[r]acial self-consciousness and the ‘etiquette’ of racial interactions.† These two facets, Ritterhouse says, gave â€Å"[u]nderstand[ing to] their own position and identity within a white supremacist society†; through exchanges among peers, they were reinforced. (para 7) Furthermore, they are not â€Å"[i]nstinctive†; she ascertains socialization as â€Å"[u]nwritten rules governing all instances of interracial interaction.† This setting dates from the 1980’s. Having clarity on a realm of discrimination, we can then imagine the migration of racism stretching from the South to vast regions of the U.S. In the United States, opportunities for the cultural growth of African American men have been absent, because so cial discrimination continues to exist. In 2005, the phrase â€Å"[N]o Child Left Behind† (NCLB), coined by Kathy Emery, reverberated throughout the United States. It was a vision for the education system ... ... Nelson, Claire Nee. â€Å"Growing Up Jim Grow: How Black and White Southern Children Learned Race.† Georgia Historical Quarterly. 2007. University of Maryland University College. America: History & Life. 4 Jul 2008. Simons, Jeffrey. Expository Writing. Course home page. Jun. 2008-August 2008. Dept. of English, University of Maryland University College 15 Jul 2008. http://tychousa7.umuc.edu/WRTG291/0806/8906/class.nsf/Menu?OpenFrameSet&Login. Staples, Brent. â€Å"Black Men and Public Space.† The Norton Reader. Ed. Linda H. Peterson and John C. Brereton. Shorter 11th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. 231-32. Wallace, Maurice O. â€Å"Constructing the Black Masculine: Identity and Ideality in African American Men’s Literature and Culture, 1775-1995.† Academic Journal. 2003:90.America: History & Life. University of Maryland University College Library. 4 Jul 2008.

“Goodbye to all that” By Robert Graves Essay

In 1929, Robert Graves published his war novel â€Å"Goodbye to all that.† It is based on his own life experiences of the Great War. This autobiography has been involved in â€Å"The great books controversy and changing attitudes towards the war.† But in 1931, two years after this Great War book was published, Robert Graves wrote â€Å"P. S. Goodbye to all that.† In this he justifies some of his actions and why he wrote parts of the novel the way he did. He confesses that he wrote the novel to make â€Å"a lump of money† he also included the â€Å"ingredients† of a popular memoir, some of them including † people like reading about food and drink.murders.ghosts.kings and other peoples mothers.† These ingredients make a good read in a novel and it’s the type of things that people enjoy reading about. It also breaks up the novel and it doesn’t concentrate on war so much. He also apologises to the people he offended in the nove l. Autobiographies were a chronicle of someone’s life laid down for posterity usually at the request of family members. â€Å"Goodbye to all that† differs by virtue of his stated purpose in writing it. But throughout the novel there are passages that defy a lot of what he said. An example of this great writing is in chapter 15, which shows the very â€Å"matter of fact† attitudes. â€Å"The other day.a bomb dropped next door and killed 3 soldiers who were billeted there, a woman and a child.† This probably did happen but it was one of the many horrors of war which soldiers experienced day in and day out. It became part of their lives; many lost hope and resorted to committing suicide. Robert Graves clearly states that the first person he saw dead and the last person he saw dead before he left the war were both suicide victims. This just goes to show the kind of impact that the war had on people’s lives. Graves talks about it as an everyday occurrence, which to the soldiers at the front line it was. We know for a fact that the fatalities and injuries were for real and were not inaccurate. But there are inaccuracies that can be misleading. For example the murder of the company’s sergeant major. † Did you mistake him for a spy?† The young miner replied, â€Å"No sir, we mistook him for our platoon sergeant† This is quite hu morous but the date of the murder was wrong. A number of things are wrong in the book but they have all been changed to make a good story. It makes it more interesting, and then more people want to read it. The horror of war is made very clear in â€Å"Goodbye to all that.† One section of the novel, Graves tells us about one of their platoon members that has been killed and is laying rigid in the trench and is blocking the pathway. Instead of one of the men moving him, they leave him there and make fun of him every time one of them wanted to pass; they just pushed him out of the way and made some sort of humorous comment. This was just one of the many black humour passages in the book and as readers it makes us laugh. It shows detachment from the war, which makes the story a little more light hearted and more readable and interesting to an outsider. It gives structure to the book. There is another passage in the novel that is humorous but it couldn’t possibly be true. This passage is known as the singing guns. This was when the Germans and the British would communicate through rifle fire and guns. They would sing songs back and fore to each other and have conversations. The soldiers would do this by taking out a few of the bullets, so when the gu n was fired, the blanks would go through and not make a noise. The soldiers would figure out a pattern or tune and continuing to take out blanks, would eventually make a song. On one occasion the message was â€Å"we all German korporals wish you English korporals a good day and invite you to dinner tonight with beer and cakes† This was impossible to do and this was one of the inaccuracies that Sassoon and Blunden didn’t like. Fussell and Sassoon frowned upon these inaccuracies, but they can also be looked upon in a very different way. As Richard Graves points out, â€Å"the fact that Goodbye to all that is full of inaccuracies does not detract from its importance both as a searingly honest autobiography, which tells the truth about how Robert felt about his past in 1929, and as a record of what it was like to be a British soldier during the First World War.† The title of the novel reflects the content Robert Graves is trying to say goodbye to everything to do with the War and Britain. He wrote the novel to unburden himself of the memories of the war as described by his nephew, Richard Graves, â€Å"for the process of healing to re-integration to be complete, only one more thing was necessary: following Riding’s example, he must cast off the whole of his â€Å"historical† existence, and what better way to do that, for an author then to write about it?† He’s also saying goodbye to his school life. Graves behaved like a â€Å"disaffected adolescent† all his life and the tone of â€Å"Goodbye to all that† is reflected in his style of approach in this novel. He was criticised for talking about school by the public school system and old boys. But by writing, he is distancing himself from his past and he wants a new start. But Graves found this detachment very useful in later life especially when he was at war as we see in a letter he wrote to his auntie, â€Å"Dear auntie, this leaves me in the pink. We are at present wading in blood up to our necks. Send me fags and a life belt. This war is a booger.† Thus because of this detachment, he was quite happy to speak openly and discuss all the points in his life that have brought him to today. It is the establishment in general, manifesting itself as the war, public school system and morally righteous parents, not just the war. After Graves wrote â€Å"Goodbye to all that† he left the country for good to live in Majorca. He left the past behind him to start a new life. The memories of war differ from bitterness to happiness when he met his first wife, a nurse in the hospital. This is the first time that he finds himself attracted to a women. He realises that he is heterosexual. While he was at school in Charterhouse he was very unhappy and he turned to another boy for love but this was only because of the false surroundings of the public school. This war had come as a solution to a moment of unease for Graves. He was offered a place at Oxford University but he didn’t go. He had a good education and he was a good sportsman also. His religious beliefs went into doubt, although religion was very important to the rest of his family. Religion only became a problem for Graves after the war was over. He realised that he had no faith anymore and didn’t understand the reason for war. Opinions of certain regiments also played a part in Graves’ novel. Other soldiers criticised it as not being as noble or as war like as others. It was also described as â€Å"froth† when placed against a serious nature of the book as it discusses war in its horror. In the 1929 version of the novel, Graves made the mistake of writing about someone else’ s mother, Sassoon’s mother. He wrote in detail about how one night he stayed there and Sassoon’s mother was trying to contact her dead son. Sassoon took great offence to this, as Graves had not asked his permission to put it in his novel. Also Graves published some of Sassoon’s poetry without permission. Just six days before the book was being published, Sassoon decides that the information published about his mother is too personal and demands that it is taken out. These were more of personal criticisms rather then objective ones. Therefore they should not be used as legitimate criticisms of the autobiography. The reality of war is brought home to us in chapters fifteen and twenty. Chapter 15 is based on the battle of Loos and chapter 20 is based on the battle of the Somme. Both these battles are famous and many lives were lost through both. Graves goes into great detail on both but chapter 15 had an incredible impact on me as a reader. At the beginning of the chapter we see the plan for the attack, but both the soldiers and us know that the plan won’t work. Many men realised that they wouldn’t surv ive the battle but they had to fight. If they didn’t, then their own men would shoot them. They couldn’t go against the orders of the generals, as they were always right. As Thomas says on page 150, † we’ve just got to go over and keep the enemy busy while the folk on our right do the real work.personally, I don’t give a damn either way. We’ll get killed whatever happens.† It is sad that soldiers thought like this. Many men out have rather died then go home to their families because they knew that they couldn’t understand what they had been through. This wasn’t an inaccuracy; this was real life and happened in every platoon. Men had to go over the top knowing they wouldn’t all come back. The soldiers knew themselves that they had little chance of surviving. Many men lost their faith, because they knew there was little logic in what they were going to do, but however, they couldn’t do anything about it. The Germans were also more advanced then the British and French. They had better plans, modern tactics and advanced artillery. In the Battle of Loos the Germans were using, â€Å"five-point-nines† another example of things going wrong was in the same battle. The men were ordered to â€Å"discharge accessories at all costs† but this proved a big mistake, as the wind had changed direction and instead of the gas going across no mans land and into the German trench, it went into no means land and then floated back into the British trench, gassing their own men. The Germans knew of the attack and â€Å"immediately put on their gas-helmets: semi rigid ones, better then ours† It wasn’t only battles that added realism to the novel: the stories that Graves tells about people in his novel, the black humour, the depersonalisation and the detachment all added to this great war book. One example of black humour was when they were advancing on no mans land. The platoon had all gone â€Å"over the top.† He saw the platoon on his left flopping down so he whistled the advance again, but nobody seemed to hear. He jumped up from his shell-hole, waved and signalled â€Å"forward†. Nobody stirred, he shouted, â€Å"you bloody cowards, are you leaving me to go on alone?† His platoon sergeant, groaning with a broken shoulder gasped, â€Å"Not cowards, sir. Willing enough. But they’re all f- dead† The black humour in actual fact covers up the reality of war. Many men went to war to show patriotism, many didn’t realise what they were letting themselves in for. Bravery became another main theme in the novel. The description of Samson is also hard hitting to readers. We feel sympathy and pity towards him. Samson, after going over the top, got hit badly and was laying, groaning about 20 yards beyond the front trenches. He was unable to move. As he was hit, he screamed uncontrollably, but to stop himself, he thrust his own fist into his mouth to stop the screams. While he was stranded, many attempts were made to rescue him, but three men were killed, tow officers and two men injured also. In the end, someone did manage to get out to him, but he waved him back because he said, â€Å"he was riddled through and not worth rescuing.† This was sad, not only for the readers, but it would have been unimaginable to be there and to know that one of your men is out there, alive but dying on no mans land, and there is nothing that u can do. Many men forgot about the dead, simply because it was easier for them to carry on fighting and to forget, otherwise it would have drove them mad, just like it did Sassoon in â€Å"Regeneration† Detachment played a huge part in their lives. They had to forget that they were in the situation and carry on with their duties, â€Å"Every night, we went out to fetch in the dead of the other battalions† The language that Graves uses shows that the men treated death in a very matter of fact way. It was the only way for them to deal with it. I would imagine that many people after reading the book found some understanding of how peo ple typically thought about these events, humorous or not, at the time and afterwards. Propaganda played a huge part in the war, mainly for the people back home, which didn’t really understand what the soldiers were going through at the front line. They didn’t want to know most of the time; they turned a blind eye and carried on with their own lives. They thought that just because the war hadn’t hit Britain just yet, they thought that it had nothing to do with them. Many men, who fought in the war, came home to find that they had changed beyond recognition and couldn’t go back to the lives they led before going to war. Graves also went through this after fighting in the Great War. This is why he left the country after writing the novel. He went to live in Majorca. Graves confesses himself that he wrote the book to make â€Å"a lump of money.† Also as Richard Percival Graves reminds us, it was â€Å"an opportunity for a formal goodbye to you and to you and to you and to me and all that forgetfulness because once all has been settled in my mind and written down it need never be thought about again.† The 1957 prologue had huge success in selling around twenty thousand copies in just five days. Pe ople wanted to know what war was like from someone who had first hand experiences of war. The continuing popularity cannot be because of the errors or falsities as suggested by Sassoon and Blunden but the quality of writing by Graves. The Daily Herald put â€Å"Goodbye to all that† on the front page of the news. It has been praised as â€Å"the most startling war book written yet.† But on the other hand there are many critics who were deeply offended by Graves’ frankness and honesty when describing his experiences. One critic called it â€Å"ungentlemanly and a whole collection of unmitigated tripe† The black humour and humour also make the experiences realistic. â€Å"It began with confirmation.I was looking forward to the ceremony as a spiritual climax. When it came and the Holy Ghost didn’t decend in the form of a dove and I did not find myself gifted with tongues and nothing spectacular happened, except that the boy whom the bishop of Zululand was blessing at the same time as me slipped off the narrow foot stool on which we were both kneeling on.† This is humorous and you could imagine this happening. After reading this great novel, I disagree with Sassoon, Blunden and Fussell. I don’t believe it is a book, â€Å"full of inaccuracies and caricature scenes† I think the book is coherent and an excellent read. People wanted to read about the war and â€Å"the ingredients† also helped to sell the book. This is why the book was and still is so popular to today. I agree with J.M. Cohen when speaking about the novel as â€Å"harshly accurate, it is a direct and factual autobiography.† â€Å"Goodbye to all that† is a personal account of Robert Graves’ experiences of World War 1. It gives us a great insight into the war and I believe â€Å"it is a serious and important war memoir† as described by Richard Graves. Bibliography 1. â€Å"Goodbye to all that† Robert Graves 2. â€Å"The Great War in modern memory† Fussell 3. â€Å"Essay on Robert Graves novel† R.P Graves Total word count 2848

Merck and River Blindness

Onchocerciasis, known as river blindness, is caused by parasitic worms that live in the small black flies that breed in and about fast-moving rivers in developing countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. The disease, if untreated causes extreme discomfort and eventually, blindness. In 1978, the World Health Organization estimated that over 300,000 people were blind because of the disease and another 18 million were infected. At the time, there was no safe cure (Trevino, & Nelson, 2011).In 1978, Merck, while testing invermectin (a parasite killing drug for animals), found that invermectin killed a parasite similar to the one that caused river blindness. The problem for Merck was that river blindness generally only affects people in very poor areas and there was very little chance to recoup their financial investment by selling the drug.The ethical dilemma represented by this situation is focused on what course of action Merck should take. Does Merck invest precious res ources (both time and money) into testing and developing a drug that will not increase their profits? Or should Merck invest the resources knowing that their work, while not profitable, has the potential to save millions of lives and end the suffering of tens of millions more?On the Merck website, I found this listed first among their Values: Our business is preserving and improving human life. We also work to improve animal health. All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving these goals. We value, above all, our ability to serve everyone who can benefit from the appropriate use of our products and services, thereby providing lasting consumer satisfaction (Our values, 2008). Corporate success (profit) vs. Corporate philosophy, while it is easy to  talk about ethics and charity, the river blindness scenario was a huge test of Merck’s corporate character.Section 2: StakeholdersAfter reading the case in our textbook and going out to read about this river bl indness issue, I have changed my opinion on who the stakeholders are in this situation (compared to what I wrote in the weekly discussions). The stakeholders, in my opinion are:1)Merck shareholders and investors 2)Merck employees 3)Merck management 4)People affected by (or potentially threatened by) river blindness This list is not a ranking of stakeholder importance as that is truly a subjective measure based on your view of the situation.Merck shareholders and investors may or may not share the company’s â€Å"people first† vision. For this group, the impact must be looked at in light of how the development of a drug (that will most likely be given away for free) affects the return on their investment. We have to remember that not all investors are rich billionaires like Warren Buffet, some are average, working class folks who rely on their investment income to help them survive. People invest in Merck because they expect a certain reasonable return on their investme nts and Merck has a responsibility to act in the best interest of their shareholders. If Merck decides to spend time and money on a philanthropic endeavor, how does the investment of time and manpower affect their other drug trials?Merck employees are stakeholders because their livelihood depends on Merck making enough profits to continue paying them. A few years ago I would not have viewed employees in this light but the more I learn about the company/employee dynamic, I begin to understand that employees, whether or not they have some financial interest in the company (other than salary), have a vested interest in the success of the company. Like the shareholders, employees make a choice to invest in a company. In their case, it is an investment of time and their investment is tied to  professional growth. Merck must make decisions that do not recklessly jeopardize the future of their employees.Merck management’s stake in this is similar to that of the employees. The diff erence is that not only are they invested professionally; the management team has been given stewardship over the Merck brand and corporate identity. They must make the decisions that set the company’s path so that the brand is financially successful while being true to the corporate vision that was discussed earlier.Last, but certainly not least, we get to the people who are affected by the river blindness disease. These people have voice in what Merck chooses to do but at the same time they are the reason that Merck is in business in the first place. As of 2006, estimates are that 37 million are infected with, and up to 100 million people are at risk of contracting, river blindness (Hearney, 2007). For a company like Merck that claims to be more concerned with people than profits, these people are definitely stakeholders in Merck’s decision to move forward with invermectin trials.Section 3: Analysis Based on Ethical TheoriesCultural relativism means that any decision is right (or wrong) depending on whose side you are taking at the moment. Because the United States doesn’t have a single, ethical baseline that guides our actions, each individual view holds equal weight and there is no absolute right or wrong. For this case, Merck could decide to cut the research on invermectin, order it’s scientists to not discuss the issue, and sit back while millions of people suffer through a horrible existence without a second thought. People who oppose Merck’s decision would have no standing to say anything about the decision because it is the right decision for the business culture in which Merck operates.For the suffering masses, this decision could be viewed as something akin to the Nazi decision to kill millions of Jews but based on the cultural relativistic school of thought, their view would not be any more important or morally superior than Merck’s. Part of the problem with this theory is that we are forced to accept barba ric actions as acceptable (burning people at the stake, cannibalism, beheading, â€Å"honor† killings,  stoning, etc.) because it is accepted by another culture. I find it ironic that there would have been a huge public outcry (from the very people who support cultural relativism) if Merck had decided to stop testing and not develop the drug. In general, these â€Å"liberal and enlightened† folks are only tolerant of the cultures and people with whom they agree.The teleological approach to this dilemma would require an examination of the issue and a breakdown of all the possible consequences of the various options presented.StakeholderDevelop – HarmsDevelop – BenefitsDon’t develop – HarmsDon’t develop – Benefits Merck ShareholdersCosts of development causes delays in other projects. Lost revenues cause stock price to drop. People on fixed incomes lose dividend money and are forced to live in poverty.Positive public reaction t o charitable act. More investments, higher stock prices.NoneFocus resources on other drug lines could result in higher profits, increasing stock prices. Investors make more money and their standard of living increases.Merck EmployeesCompany loses money, loss of profits forces layoffs.Chance to contribute to a worthwhile cause. Work on invermectin could lead to breakthroughs in other drugs.Loss of respect for Merck leadership. Perception that values are overshadowed by financial considerations.Focus on more lucrative products, increasing profits and salaries/benefits. Merck ManagementLoss of time/resources forces delays in other projects/products. Delays cause stock to drop.Loss of job.Public confidence spikes, stock price goes up. Influx of cash allows us to expand other projects.Public confidence crashes. Backlash forces investors to pull out. Jobs lost due to loss of capital. Focus on more lucrative products, increasing profits and salaries/benefits. People affected by river blind nessPossible fatal side effects (similar to other drugs).Cure for disease increases standard of living.Continued suffering from disease.None.Using the chart above, we would look at how the benefits and harms balance out to maximize the benefit for society. Obviously, using this method, we can see that the benefits of continuing the research and development of this drug has the potential to save millions of lives while the potential harms  are restricted to the loss of some profits and the possible delay of some other drugs. This approach isn’t about right or wrong; as long as the maximum societal benefit is reached, the actions taken to get to that point are not part of the equation.The deontological approach removes the harm/benefit comparison and focuses on the duty and obligation of Merck to do the right thing once they discovered that there was a possible cure for this disease. Merck’s corporate values statements show that this is the approach they choose to take in their daily operations. Profits are not the prime motivator, helping people is what they are all about. In this case, Merck decided to continue the research and help the people regardless of the consequences involved.According to the Merck website, since 1987, Merck has donated more than 2.5 billion tablets of MECTIZAN ® (ivermectin) in more than 30 countries worldwide. According to some deontological approaches, certain moral principles are binding, regardless of the consequences. Merck’s stance now matches up with what George W. Merck said in 1950, â€Å"We try never to forget that medicine is for people. It is not for profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear. The better we have remembered that, the larger they have been.†As someone who follows the deontological approach myself, I can appreciate how difficult it can be to remain committed to this principle. Merck is a business and as such it doesn’t ex ist to give money away. I have argued that the people who invest in Merck have a huge stake in what the company does but part of the investment process is doing due diligence and research to make sure you are comfortable with how a company operates.Merck devotes an entire section of their website to Corporate Responsibility and they have detailed information on the initiatives they support. Part of the culture at Merck is one of giving back to the community and helping others so for Merck, the decision to develop invermectin was an easy one. Having a strong moral and ethical foundation makes it easy to make the right decision when faced with â€Å"easy† decisions that fall into the ethical gray area.The virtue ethics approach would looks at the motivations and intentions of  the decision maker as opposed to the results of his or her actions. In this case, if Merck had decided not to pursue the research and the CEO stood up and explained that the reason was because they had an obligation to their shareholders to focus on developing products that would be profitable, he would have been right due to the professional expectations of his office. CEO’s are supposed to make companies profitable, period.As long as Merck was operating legally, the moral questions about the results of the decision are not relevant to the virtue ethics approach. If the board announced that Merck, based on their stated corporate values, was going to continue to expend time and resources on a cure for river blindness even though it wasn’t a profitable project, their motivation for action would be guided by Merck’s established values and the sense of corporate responsibility that is important to them. Neither position would be wrong regardless of the outcomes because both courses of action were guided by the best intentions of their leadership.Section 4: Conclusion and RecommendationsIn this case, I feel that Merck made the proper decision based on their core c orporate values and the deontological approach to ethical decision-making. While I might have gone a different direction if I was making decisions for Merck, it is obvious from all my research that this program is helping millions of people each year. I was wrong about the river blindness issue in my original discussion post, this isn’t just about philanthropy or looking good for the public, this program (and the many other like it) run by Merck is all about being true to their core values.Even when they could not get financial backing for this project, they did what they felt was right regardless of the cost. The success of the river blindness campaign led Merck to begin providing ivermectin to treat lymphatic filariasis (Elephantitis) in Africa (Voelker, 1998). I am not so naà ¯ve as to think that Merck isn’t reaping some benefits from these programs but whatever small reward they are getting is well deserved when measured against the lives they have touched.There a re no recommendations I could make for Merck in the way they handle these situations. Merck’s actions are consistent with their stated policies  and they have managed to thrive while ensuring that the original intent of their founders (people before profits) is not lost in the rush to be commercially successful.