John Locke -Philosophy Essay Essay

â€Å"The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom† – John Locke. What I feel that John Locke is attempting to express in his quote is that society believes that by having laws in place the government is taking away from the freedom they long to endure. However, by having laws in place it actually helps to enforce their rights to freedom. I chose John Locke as my topic for my final paper because I have taken an interest in the life he led, his inspirations and his role in politics. John Locke was the first of the classical British empiricists. Empiricists believed that all knowledge derives from experience. He became highly influential to the political world, inspiring government representatives such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and James Madison. Locke expressed the radical view that government is morally obliged to serve people by protecting life, liberty and property (n. a, n. d). He explained the principle of checks and balances in order to limit the power of government. He also favored representative government and rule of law. Locke insisted that when government violates individual rights, the people have a right to rebel. His views on individual rights, life, happiness and politics led Locke to become known as the 17th century English Philosopher of the enlightenment. John Locke was born August 29, 1632, in Somerset, England. He was the oldest son of Agnes Keene and John Locke. His father was a Puritan lawyer who served as a clerk for justices of the peace (n. a. , n. d). With the assistance of his father’s connections to the English government, Locke received an exceptional education. In 1647 he enrolled at Westminster School in London, where he earned his distinct honor of being named a King’s Scholar. This was a privilege that went to only select number of boys and set the path for Locke to attend Christ Church, Oxford in 1652 (n. a. , n. d). Christ Church is considered the most prestigious school in Oxford. During this educational time period, Locke engaged in logic and metaphysics. He graduated from Christ Church in 1656 and returned two years later to pursue a Masters of the Arts. This accomplishment soon led to Locke taking on tutorial work at the college. In 1668 Locke was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. The Royal Society is a fellowship of the world’s most eminent scientist and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence (n. a. ,n. d. ). Locke then went on to study philosophy and medicine at the University of Oxford and graduated in 1674 with a bachelor’s of medicine. Locke did not want to commit his life to a religious order and therefore turned down a permanent teaching position from Oxford. This opened the doors to an opportunity serving as a private physician and secretary to Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury (Kermerling, 2011). During the summer of 1666, Anthony Ashley Cooper visited Oxford where he met Locke who was at the time studying medicine. Cooper, who was suffering from a liver cyst which threatened to become swollen and infected, requested that Locke be his personal physician. Locke accepted and soon moved into a room at the Cooper’s Exeter House mansion in Westminster, London. Cooper’s condition worsened and Locke was in a position of opportunity to heal the Earl successfully. In 1668, Locke supervised a successfully surgery and save the life of Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury. This honorable act led Locke to become a valued partner of Shaftesbury. After Shaftesbury stature grew, so did Locke’s responsibilities. He assisted in the Earl’s business and political matters and after Shaftsbury was made chancellor, Locke became his secretary of presentations. Locke was involved in just about everything that Shaftsbury did. This included the formation of the Whig party. The Whig party was a political group which consisted of politicians from America, England and Scotland who opposed King Charles I of England. Locke maintained correspondence with the party to assist with influencing Parliamentary elections. Shaftsbury was imprisoned for a year and on his release he helped pass the Habeas Corpus Act in 1679 which made it unlawful for government to detain a person without filing formal charges. The act also specified that an individual could not be put on trial for the same charge more than once (n. a. ,n. d). Shaftesbury was a strong influence to John Locke and helped pave his way for future success through experience – Empiricist. During the reign of King Charles II it was illegal to write, read or have books in one’s possession that pertained to any negative press against the government. Although it was risky, Locke continued his mission. He wrote about his experience with political actions. One treatise attached a claim that the Bible sanctioned tyrants and that parents had absolute authority over children. A second treatise presented an epic case for liberty and the right of people to rebel against tyrants. He pushed to a radical conclusion which attacked slavery and a defense of revolution (n. a. , n. d. ). Locke fled to Rotterdam on September 7, 1683 to avoid legal action (n. a. , n. d. ). The English government tried to have Locke extradited for trial and possible hanging. Lock fled to London and assumed the name â€Å"Dr. van der Linden. † He signed letters as â€Å"Lamy† or â€Å"Dr. Lynne† (n. a. ,n. d. ). Locke assumed that the government would intercept mail, so he protected friends by referring to them with numbers or false names. His excuse to friends for moving to Holland was that he enjoyed the local beer. In Holland, Locke began to work on his philosophical masterpiece, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding which urged people to base their convictions on observation and reason. His argument was that all ideas, simple or complex, are ultimately derived from experience. He challenged the traditional doctrine that learning consisted entirely of reading ancient texts and absorbing religious dogmas (n.a. , n. d. ). He maintained that understanding that the world required observation. The essay was published in December 1689, and established Locke as England’s leading philosopher. In the essay, Locke states the nature of his proposed doctrine: â€Å"Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas: – How comes it to be furnished? Whenced comes it by that vast store which the busy and boundless fancy of man has painted on it with almost endless variety? Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from experience. In that all our knowledge is founded. (Valasquez, 2011)† The book became one of the most widely reprinted and influential works on philosophy. It brought great fame for Locke. So much, that he spent the rest of his life responding to admirers and critics by making revisions in later editions of the book, including detailed accounts of human volition and moral freedom. Locke also published Two Treatise of Civil Government. These writings were published anonymously in order to avoid controversy. The First Treatise is a detailed rejection of the monarchist theories of Robert Filmer. Locke attacked Filmer’s claim that God sanctioned the absolute power of kings. During this time period, such an attack was risky since it could easily be prosecuted as an attack on the King Charles II. The Second Treatise of Government offers a systematic account of the foundations of political obligation. The views expressed within this treatise were so radical that he only released his name as publisher in his will. Locke’s writings did much to inspire the libertarian ideals of the American Revolution. This, in turn, set an example which inspired people throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia. Locke’s philosophy had a great effect on American’s as well. Thomas Jefferson ranked Locke as the most important thinkers on liberty. He also helped inspire Thomas Paine’s radical ideas about revolution. James Madison drew most of his fundamental principles of liberty and government from Locke’s writings. John Locke’s writings were also included in the self-education of Benjamin Franklin. John Adam’s believed that both girls and boys should learn about Locke. Locke’s influence even traveled to France where the French philosopher Voltaire called, â€Å"Locke the man of the greatest wisdom. What he has not seen clearly, I despair of ever seeing† (n. a. , n. d. ). Mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton cherished his company. Locke helped William Penn restore his good name when he was political fugitive, just as Penn had arranged a pardon for Locke when he had been a political fugitive. Locke was described by the famous English physician Dr. Thomas Sydenham as â€Å"a man whom, in the acuteness of his intellect, in the steadiness of his judgment, in the simplicity, that is, in the excellence of his manners, I confidently declare to have, amongst the men of our time, few equals and no superiors.(n. a. , n. d. ). It is astonishing that Locke’s work has affected so many people around the world. He was an undistinguished Oxford scholar. He had a brief experience with a failed diplomatic mission. He was a physician who lacked traditional credentials and had only one patient. His first major work was not published until the age of 57. All of this and he is still one of the leading philosophers of all time. In 1691, John Locke is invited to spend his last years with friends Francis and Damaris Masham. Damaris is also a philosopher and is believed to have been romantically involved with Locke during their study years at Oxford. When Locke left for Holland, Damaris was to visit; however it did not work out and she married Francis Masham (Uzgalis, 2012). During his stay with the Masham’s Locke tutored their son Francis, here he begins to work on his treaties Thoughts Concerning Education. Locke’s health gradually began to worsen. He lost most of his hearing and his legs began to swell. He could barely bring himself to rise from bed. Around 3:00 in the afternoon, Saturday, October 28, 1704 he passed away (n. a, n. d. ). He was sitting in his study with Lady Marsham. Suddenly, he brought his hands to his face, shut his eyes and died. He was 72 years old. Locke’s focus has primarily been based upon the ideas of freedom and equality as a whole. He believed that citizens should naturally possess the right to life, liberty and happiness, which is portrayed in the constitution of the United States. These undisputable rights or natural rights have derived from the law of nature. The law of nature is a state that relies purely on the law of God, which is also known as moral law. This law gave people the natural right to life, liberty, and happiness without question. In addition, Locke believed that people also possess the basic right of self-defense if under attack. However, Locke’s key aspect of his theories was the basic idea of equality. He said that nobody has the right to rule and that consent is critical because it’s based on the premises that all people are equal (Uzgalis, 2012). John Locke is still very much known as a political philosopher in today’s modern society. Because much of Locke’s philosophy centered on subjects such as natural rights and knowledge, he has in-turn shaped American politics in such a way that it has never been the same. Locke has challenged many theories that have to do with inalienable rights as a part of natural law; therefore he had much to do with the involvement in the evolution of the American Government. He taught that, men by nature possess certain rights. He had a tremendous influence on all future political thinking. A clear representation of his involvement is portrayed in the declaration of independence. John Locke was, and will always be remembered as a pioneer in modern thinking.

Why Women Should Not Be Assigned to Combat Positions

Throughout history, women have played a role in the defense of their nations. In 1429, Joan of Arc successfully led the French Army into battle against the English at age 17. In 1588, Queen Elizabeth I traveled to Tilbury, Essex to fight beside her Army during the Spanish raid. And in 1788 at the Battle of Monmouth, Mary Ludwig Hayes, also known as â€Å"Molly Pitcher†, took over her husband’s cannon position and continued to engage the enemy after he had fallen in battle. While these are extraordinary accomplishments made by these most admirable women, should this level of close combat be expected, or possibly even required of women in the military? Many will argue that the ban on women in combat is a discrimination issue, and that it creates a structural barrier that can hurt their chances of promotion or advancement. The Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Services actually found that â€Å"women serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have had a positive impact on mission accomplishment. But these women were not assigned to an actual combat position in a unit that has a primary mission of direct ground combat engagement of the enemy. They were either assigned to a combat support unit that was engaged by the enemy, or they were attached to the combat arms unit. There is a vast difference, and this essay will explore why placing women in direct combat roles in the military would have a negative impact on combat readiness. All male units in the field experience bonding that enhances readiness and cohesion. When women are introduced, men stop relating to each other and begin trying to attract the women. This puts them in direct competition with each other and becomes a severe distraction from the mission at hand. Morale cannot be maintained if accusations of harassment are a threat, and Commanders are unable to keep the males focused on the mission when they are at war with each other over a female unit member. â€Å"Helen of Sparta was perhaps the most inspired character in all literature, ancient or modern. A whole war, one which lasted for ten years, was fought over her† (Bell, 1991, p. ). King David of Israel ordered Uriah the Hittite into battle to fight in order to commit adultery with Uriah’s wife in his absence. He would even wage war against another nation in order to eliminate any competition for his women. But a relationship with a supervisor or a co-worker is detrimental to teamwork and fairness in the workplace. A lack of trust or possible resentment toward another soldier can possibly result in poor judgment in the heat of battle when someone decides they are mad at the man that got the girl. Disrespect among the ranks, mistreatment of fellow unit members, and destruction of professional reputations will surely affect the career progression of everyone involved. And what happens to the effectiveness of the unit when a female combat soldier gets pregnant? Naval ships at war must return to shore because of the pregnancy of female sailors, thus hindering the combat mission. Infantry units must evacuate the female soldier out of the war zone and reassign her to a support position back in the States. The disruption to combat readiness is extreme and can be costly. Chivalry is not dead. The basic, instinctual nature of males is to protect females. This is true of any species of animal. Parents raise their sons to protect women, and to ensure their safety because they are less capable of protecting themselves. While this may not be true of all women, it is certainly true of all men. In the New York Times article, Female POW is Abused, Kindling Debate, by Ellaine Sciolino, Army Major Rhonda Cornum was interviewed regarding her captivity during the Persian Gulf War. She said â€Å"Everyone's made such a big deal about this indecent assault,† she said, in her first interview since the war. But the only thing that makes it indecent is that it was nonconsensual. I asked myself, ‘Is it going to prevent me from getting out of here? Is there a risk of death attached to it? Is it permanently disabling? Is it permanently disfiguring? Lastly, is it excruciating? ‘ If it doesn't fit one of those five categories, then it isn't important. † But the male so ldier that was with her had a different opinion. The 22-year-old specialist from Fort Rucker whom Iraqis slapped and beat during interrogations said he had not changed his opinion that omen should not be in combat, despite what he described as Major Cornum's stoicism. â€Å"I worried about her all the time,† he said, â€Å"and being a P. O. W. and going through the torture, the pain, you shouldn't also have to worry about what's happening to the female soldier all the time. † While the women may be able to endure such atrocities that come with war, the men are not psychologically prepared to deal with listening to the screams of their women being raped, sodomized, and tortured by the enemy. Then there is the moral question behind women in combat units. The question isn’t necessarily whether a woman can do it, but whether she should do it. Assigning them into these positions would â€Å"require training men and women to regard the brutalization of women, and a woman’s brutalization of others, as normal and acceptable† (Kirkwood, 2003, p. 1). According to Vietnam War hero Ron Ray, â€Å"Women should only be used in combat if national security depends on it. † This means that all of our men have been killed or captured, and the only possibility of survival is left with the women and children. Even then it should be a last resort. There is something unsavory in the mouths of society in turning a woman into the kind of person that is capable of performing such heinous actions that are required in close ground combat against another human being, while being expected to nurture our children once she returns from such brutal actions. Women by nature are the nurturing gender. What will this do to our society of civilized humans if we turn our women into barbaric warriors? Women certainly play a significant role in today’s armed forces. On a grand scale they have been instrumental in improving the readiness of their organizations, better enabling them to perform on the asymmetrical battlefield. But placing them into close ground combat positions will not improve the readiness or performance of the armed forces. The presence of women in combat units creates sexual tension that eventually puts one man against another in direct competition for her, thus affecting morale and cohesion. As prisoners of war, women will put their male counterparts at risk because a man’s instinct is to protect the woman rather than complete his mission and overcome the enemy. As a civilized society, it is morally wrong to place a woman into a position where she could be brutalized, or where she would have to brutalize another. They simply are not emotionally or psychologically equipped to do that, and nor should they be. But in the quest for equality of the sexes, placing women in combat units isn’t the answer. It should still remain more important to maintain military tradition and combat effectiveness than it is for social experimentation.

Adelphia Scandal Essay Example for Free

Adelphia Scandal Essay ? Adelphia was founded in 1952 by John Rigas and his brother Gus Rigas in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with the purchase of their first cable franchise for $300. After 20 years, the Rigas brothers incorporated their company under the name Adelphia which derived its name from a Greek word which means brothers, an apt corporate title for a business that would employ generations of the Rigas family. Adelphia was a cable television company and built its success on a strong commitment to customer care; and because of this commitment, a glorious growth spree would follow. By 1998, Adelphia passed the two million-customer milestone and served approximately 5.6 million cable television customers nationwide. The company made significant strides in product development and the implementation of fiber optic technology and expanded their home and business offerings to include digital cable, local and long distance telephone services, messaging, enhanced data, high-speed Internet and video services . John Rigas managed Adelphia from its corporate headquarters in Coudersport, PA. His brother Gus sold his interest in Adelphia in 1983. And after some time, John’s sons Michael, Timothy and James, serve as executive vice presidents, directors and principal stockholders. John built Adelphia on a strong commitment to family, community, quality service and customer care which became the core values and culture of the company. The Evolution of Adelphia In August of 1986, Adelphia Communications went public. Its first three years were focused on generating revenue by increasing its customer base through mergers and acquisitions. Although the company’s profitability had suffered as a result of the ambitious expansion, its revenue-generating capabilities had not. From the $30 million generated in sales during its first year, annual sales shot up to $131 million in 1988. Adelphia continued to make its presence known by making several important acquisitions of other cable systems such as the Suburban Buffalo System from Comax Telcom Corp., the South Dade System from Americable Associates, Ltd., New Castle System from Cablentertainment, Inc., and Jones Intercable which was the third largest cable system operator in New York during that time. Moreover, Adelphia entered into a partnership with unaffiliated parties to form Olympus Communications in southeast Florida which became a powerful money-making business as it served roughly 250,000 subscribers in West Palm Beach area. Adelphia was performing admirably and continued to expand by making other acquisitions and consolidation maneuvers through 1999 and 2000, bringing its subscriber base up to an impressive 5.5 million. Though the company was heavily indebted after the succession of major purchases of other cable companies, equipment, and infrastructures, analysts were looking favorably on Adelphia as late as January 2002, noting that the company was well positioned for acquisition or merger with another major cable company. The Discovery of the Fraud Oren Cohen, a high-yield-bond analyst for Merrill Lynch had followed Adelphia for a decade and thought there was something about the family’s spending that didn’t add up. He’d noticed that the Rigases were buying their own stock aggressively, but he couldn’t figure out how they were paying for it. They didn’t appear to have the cash themselves. John Rigas made $1.4 million in 2000. Michael, Tim, and James each took home $237,000. The Rigases didn’t have any sources of income outside Adelphia. They never sold their stock, and it didn’t pay a dividend. Cohen was pretty sure their private cable systems weren’t throwing off cash. But every time Cohen tried to get an explanation, Adelphia rebuffed him. On March 27, 2002, however, Adelphia officials disclosed $2.3 billion in previously unrecorded debt incurred through co-borrowings between Adelphia and other Rigas family entities under the umbrella of the family’s private trust, Highland Holdings. Under these loan agreements, the Rigas entities were responsible for repaying the debt, but if they were unable to do so, Adelphia would be liable. Cohen was astounded to see the footnote disclosure and pressed Tim Rigas for details at the end of a conference call that day. Things in Coudersport quickly spun out of control as shareholders asked for clarity and transparency. The revelations and the investigation that followed sent the company spiraling deeper and deeper into a scandal that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) eventually called, â€Å"one of the most extensive financial frauds ever to take place at a public company† . The stock continued to fall and on May 15, 2002 John Rigas resigned as chairman and CEO. Adelphia Scandal. (2018, Nov 11).

Emotional Intelligence Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Emotional Intelligence - Term Paper Example d how a nurse leader or manager could apply both emotional intelligence and appreciative inquiry strategies to address this issue and facilitate positive results that lead to improved quality. Appreciative inquiry is defined by Nel and Pretorius (2012) as "The study of what gives life to human systems when they function at their best" (p. 41). Nel and Pretorius (2012) further asserts that appreciative inquiry functions under the postulation that human beings posses exceptional and distinctive talents, abilities, and involvements. Therefore, there exist intact and unexploited strengths that have to be connected or intertwined in order to achieve change. In other words, appreciative inquiry involve investigations to identify the strengths of an entity by means of well calculated queries with an intention of achieving change. Emotional intelligence, as explicated by Sadri (2012), involves "perceiving emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought" (p. 536). It also involves controlling or managing feelings in order to support and encourage poignant and logical development (Sadri, 2012). Conflicts are inevitable in health care organizations. Health care organizations comprise of individuals from diverse backgrounds with divergent opinions regarding specific issues. Therefore, diversity contributes to these conflicts. Emotional intelligence and appreciative inquiry can be used to prevent conflicts in health care organizations. During conflicts, nurses and other medical practitioners are likely to demonstrate emotions or sentiments. In other words, their responses in times of conflicts are based on their emotions. By using emotional intelligence, i can be able to comprehend nurses emotions and thus use the understanding to make decisions relating to conflict resolution. This is in view to the fact that people have divergent viewpoints and hence their emotions ought to be considered in conflict resolutions. This will result to a healthy dialogue that

Problem statement Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Problem statement - Research Proposal Example Globalization continues to be an important phenomenon that drives the very basis upon which the modern economic climate functions (Kolsaker and Lee-Kelley, 2008). Meanwhile, the whole idea of globalization has been found to be an unfeasibility in the absence of a well harmonized network security (Kirschner, Buckingham and Carr, 2002). But often as companies try to take advantage of globalization and for that matter network security, the problem of cyber crime draws their aspirations back. Lately, the public perception associated with the embracement of electronic commerce has dwindled drastic because of how insecurity network security has become (Layton, 2007). Current research shows that as much as the problem of cyber crime continues to unfold in various types of data theft for the operation and regularization of electronic commerce, the interest of the public to be involved in electronic commerce continues to go down (Peltier, 2001). Consequently, companies and other corporate bodies that rely on the services of computer networking through electronic commerce become the losers due to growing incidence of computer insecurity (Hung, Chang and Yu, 2006). The current research that the problem seeks to address has to do with the impact of data and information insecurity through cyber insecurity on electronic commer ce. Hung, S.-Y., Chang, C.-M. & Yu, T.-J. (2006). Determinants of user acceptance of the e-Government services: The case of online tax filing and payment system, Government Information Quarterly, 23(3), pp. 97–122. Lin, F., Fofanah, S.S. & Liang, D. (2011). Assessing citizen adoption of e-Government initiatives in Gambia: A validation of the technology acceptance model in information systems success, Government Information Quarterly, 28(2), pp.

Organizational culture Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational culture - Assignment Example The training gave the employees the knowledge regarding the company’s values, missions, visions, and company policies (Taylor 1). The company offers much money –draining policies in order to allow the new recruits to resign if they feel that they do not have the desire accept the company’s work requirements. Further, the reason for the above policy is retain employees who are willing to give their best to help achieve the company’s goals objectives (Taylor 1). Forcing the employees to sign contracts may be counterproductive. The disgruntled may not give their 100 percent to each assign company task. The payment to quit weeds out new recruits who feel they were mistaken and that they want to find another company that fits the quitting employees’ job requirement needs. The company’s model of organizational socialization is divided into three phases (Kramer 25). The first phase, anticipatory phase, occurs prior to the job applicants entering the company’s workplace. The job applicants conduct researches pertaining to the company profile such as its handling of business and employee affairs, salaries, promotions, and other related information. The job application interviewer will answer the job applicants’ job-related queries. The gathered information will convince the employee to accept or decline the company’s job offer. Further, the second phase is the encounter phase (Taylor 1). The phase starts on the employees’ first day on the job. The newly hired employees are trained on what is expected of the employees, the company’s vision, mission, and work policies. During this phase, the Zappos are paid if they resign from the job. The phase offers the newly hired employees several options to hasten their adjustment to the new tasks. Third, the company enters the change and acquisition (Taylor 1). The phase gives the employees all time needed to adjust to the new work environment. With employee bringing in

Global Industries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Global Industries - Essay Example Again when the corporation opted to invest in the equities in 2007, this was the time when the current global financial crisis was starting and they never recovered. Proper timing and a lack of diversity in investment may be attributed to the failure experienced by the corporation (Palacios & Musalem 2003). Given that the US economy may not improve much in the next three years, there is a need for Global Industries to consider investing in the developing economies, such has India and China. Other emerging markets in South America such as Brazil, and also Africa, may be another option worth exploring. In the past, pension fund managers have been known to risk with the money of taxpayers in equity markets that are characterised by a high level of volatility. The operations of our pension fund system has been such that the decision to take investment risks in the equity markets is often arrived at by a few individuals at the management level but when we experience a market crash, the taxpayers have to bear this risk. Often times, pension fund managers are quick to attribute the loss of taxpayers' money on the world financial crisis and bad markets (Mangiero 2009). It is not often that pension fund managers shall be awake to the realisation that the fund may be governed by investment models that are quite faulty, coupled with crooked actuarial theories. According to a majority of the economists that specialises in the assessment of funds, such plans may at best be viewed as risk time bomb that shall in the long-run result in losses. Inevitably, it is the taxpayer that shall be required to pay for such losses. For this reason, one could argue that the reason why we have had such a horrible experience in our pension fund is because our pension plans and models are faulty, and we have never taken the initiative to revise them accordingly (Caulkin 2009). The practice by the pension fund in the past years has been to heavily invest in equities. What appeared to have led the pension fund managers to such a decision was due to the assumption that the short-term meltdowns that they were experiencing would be offset by the ensuing financial gain in the long-term. Apparently, these fund managers seems not to have heeded the advice of financial economists, as regards the conventional model of investment markets; that "equities provide guaranteed returns over the long term" (Pension pulse 2009). This is a goal that economists have proved to be quiet untenable. Clearly, no one anticipated a global financial crisis of the magnitude that we are faced with, at the moment. It is imperative therefore that we do not repeat past mistakes. What this means is that we should learn to diversity our investments, at least as a cushioning effect against losing all the taxpayers earnings. In high investments such as the stocks or the equity funds, perfect timing is very important. Apparently, Global Industries appears to have opted to make investments at a time when disaster was just about to strike. Another characteristic of the past investments since the early 1990s is that the corporations have failed to adequately diversity its investments. For example, at one time, the corporation was into

Mislabeled Childe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mislabeled Childe - Essay Example The special education placement approach was an effective learning approach for Serge. This is because special education has the ability of improving understanding of the English language. Serge has challenges understanding concepts in the English language. Special education will enhance concentration towards improving English language proficiency. The general education learning environment is effective in enhancing the social communication abilities of learners. The social communication skills of Serge will improve if he engages in more team and social discussion. Areas of improvement entail fluency in spoken English, and also improved listening abilities. The teachers should adequately understand the cultural backgrounds of students. The cultural knowledge is very effective in providing superior teaching services. The cultural knowledge enables teachers to provide individualized concentration to the students in the learning process. Students from non-native English speaking societies, require relatively higher levels of concentration in the English language learning. Also, students from humble households require more attention from the teachers. This is through providing additional and specialized lessons in English language, mathematics and

How does the US Constitution address the grievances enumerated in the Essay

How does the US Constitution address the grievances enumerated in the declaration of independence - Essay Example The agitation and tremendous sense of revolt among the Americans paved the way for the development of the first Continental Congress in September, 1774. During the first congress which included representatives from all the colonies except than that of Georgia gathered together and decided on the development of several actions followed by the complete boycott of the British commodities. The First Congress also drafted a written declaration to the King as well as the Parliament defines the position of the congress which is known as the Declaration of the Rights and Grievances. On September 7, 1774, the Congress appointed a committee with two delegates from each colony in attendance. The duty of the committee was defined in the constitution as â€Å"That a Committee be appointed  to state  the rights of the  Colonies  in general, the several instances in which these rights are violated or infringed, and the means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration of them" (Declaration and Resolves on Colonial rights of the First Continental Congress, 2012). The committee read the drafts of the rights of the colonies and the draft of the grievances and the final draft were agreed on October 14, 1774 (Declaration and Resolves on Colonial rights of the First Continental Congress, 2012). . The paper will discuss the way in which the US constitution addresses t he grievances enumerated in the declaration of independence. ... The Declaration of Independence incorporated a list of grievances against King George III of Britain (Founding documents). The grievances mainly pointed out or bases upon some ideologies that the king is a tyrant, the king deprived the colonists of the right of trial by jury, the king imposed taxes on the colonists without their assent, the king dissolved the process of legislatures and the king kept standing armies in colonies in times of peace (Grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence). Majority of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence formed the base for the rights which are protected in the First Amendment and the entire Bill of Right in the US constitution. The First Amendment formed the cornerstone of the Bill of Rights which guarantees the basic rights of speech, religion, assembly and petition. The First Amendment exhibits the basic framework which guarantees the citizens of America with the other rights that follow it. In the present day the Bi ll of Rights consists of 27 amendments. However there are still huge amount of debate regarding the meaning and limitations of the freedoms (Founding documents). Addressing of grievances by the US Constitution With regards to taxes, the Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1 states that the Congress will have the power to lay and collect the taxes, duties, imposts and excised for the purpose of paying debts and also provide for the common person's defense and general welfare of the United States along with the establishment that all the duties, imposts, excises should be uniform throughout the United States of America (The Founder’s Constitution). King has been accused â€Å"For cutting off our Trade with all parts of

Business Communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Communication - Assignment Example In the high-context cultures of Japan, China, Arab nations, and most of Latin America, the use of ambiguity and a polite language is the preferred way of conveying a message, while in low-context countries of Scandinavia, the United States of America, Germany, and most of Europe, direct and often frank or confrontational ways of communication are much preferred (â€Å"say what you mean!†). Verbs, metaphors, aphorisms, similes, anecdotes and even silence are used in the high-context cultures to deliver a strong message without diluting its importance (Norales 25). Some key elements of text messaging which should be avoided in electronic mails or e-mail messages are writing informally (since an e-mail is considered more formal than a text message sent by a cellular phone or any mobile device) such as not putting proper headings or proper greetings to the recipient/s, using shortened versions of commonly-used words, usually not checking for proper grammar or spelling mistakes, an d not crafting a good subject line. A person's professionalism shows through in his or her work output; any spelling or grammar mistakes is indicative of a lousy work attitude by not properly checking for these mistakes or errors and having a hectic or busy schedule is no excuse for committing them. A really professional office worker takes time to proofread everything before sending them out, and it is reflective of a good work attitude such as giving due attention to details. It forms part of being a professional such as wearing proper office attire or having a cheerful attitude to all colleagues. So it is a fair basis for making judgment about a person and his work habits as any error-free document shows that person took time to be diligent (Lindsell-Roberts 18). Comprehension implies knowledge and understanding to denote the fact of grasping the meaning, importance, significance, or nature of a thing or an event. In this regard, the idea of comprehension is usually universal bec ause it indicates that if everybody comprehends the same thing or event, there is a general agreement on what it means or its overall significance. On the other hand, interpretation is the act or process of explaining something, such as natural phenomena that was observed, and the way it was comprehended or understood but with the additional layer of being subjective, because the person who interprets something does so in a way that is colored by his own beliefs, customs, knowledge, skills, and even prejudice or bias. There can be different interpretations of the same thing but only one comprehension of it. A provocative question is any question which seeks to instigate or cause arguments, actions, discussions, or even problems and quarrels from the other party to which a question has been addressed to. A provocative question can either be good or bad, depending on the context and intent for which it was originally posed or asked. It is good if it aims to promote a new line of think ing, for example. It is bad if it creates dissension or division or even anger. A question is authentic

Minimum wage Essay Example for Free

Minimum wage Essay While poverty continues to increase in several areas of the world, economist tries their best to find a way to offer a feasible solution. One of the most common answers that can ordinarily be found in economical debate would be the issue of the establishment of a minimum wage. Setting a minimum wage is a policy tool that ought to increase the income of the working class in a certain community or country. Seemingly this premise gives the minimum wage policy easy to understand. Ideally, an increase in the minimum wage results to an increase in income that is suppose to alleviate low income households into a higher social status. In fact, this policy tool has been commonly used to alleviate poverty levels in the third world countries. Most regions in the Latin America adopted this policy sometime in their past. Nonetheless its positive and negative effects are still subject to careful analysis and thoughtful criticism. This paper would focus on the effect of an increase in minimum wage on different countries primarily between a first world and a third world country. In doing so, the paper would attempt to review the literature presented by Gindling and Terrell (2007) along with the data’s gathered by Powers. From such literature I have gathered the importance or the role of unemployment rate on the changes in poverty level. The several discussions shall be related to the surveys, theoretical models and data’s that are gathered as of June 2007. The econometric analysis that would be use would also be based on the regression that was formerly made by Powers. Literature Review From the different articles that flooded the economic circle, there were several debates that concerned the utility that could be derived with the implementation of minimum wage. The proponents of the positive impacts of an increase of the minimum wage in reducing low income household according to the study made by Gindling and Terrell believes that it would only be effective and limited in the formal sector. Those who compose this â€Å"formal sector† are the employees who receive more than or equal to the minimum wage. Those people that argue against the minimum wage does so under the assumption that the market and economy today is highly affected by a close competition brought about by globalization. In line with this, the current governments would be required to create the most attractive business milieu for the investors. Thus, the government, most especially of the â€Å"developing country† would most likely impose lower minimum wages or might even argue to abolish it (Lee, 2002). In a brief discussion, a minimum wage implies a law that was legislated in order to ensure that worker/s will receive a minimum amount of payment for a certain amount of performance made. This law was created in able to protect the workers, most especially those who low income earners from possible exploitation and abuse from their employers. Most of the low wage earners were composed of unskilled laborers and have mostly received low level of proper education, if any. At the same time, insuring that this type of workers will receive a minimum wage would result to a lower level of poverty. This will be the case since it is standard that upon setting the minimum wage factors such as the daily living standards of a person and the purchasing power are taken into consideration. Such procedures would make a minimum wage law more effective and beneficial for the worker/s. Gindling and Terrell in their study of the situation of the economy of Honduras provided insights regarding the different factors that may affect the family income. The first thing that they believed that one should consider in instituting a minimum wage would be the person/s that the policy will apply. The person/s involved and the labor market in which they belong are important in the considerations since the more competitive a market is, the higher the unemployment rate it will produce. It is important to note because the demand for labor usually determine the number of person that shall be displaced upon the possible increase in the minimum wage. The second factor would be on the possible effect of the minimum wage changes on the workers that are not cover with the implementation of such policy. This is important to note since those people who would lose their job because of the increase in minimum change increases the available supply of labor in the sector that was not covered by minimum change. Such sector includes self-employed individuals or individuals who are underpaid. Factors Affecting Minimum Wage  Another factor that Gindling and Terrell believe to create an impact on the family income is the social status in which the family belongs. The increase in minimum wage is meant to reduce poverty. Nonetheless, the families that might have been affected by the changes in minimum wage might not be included in the families along or under the poverty line. This is an important factor since it would determine if the increase in minimum wage would have an impact on the middle class or the lower class. If the minimum wage increase would affect only or greatly on the middle class, the gap between the middle and the lower class would inevitably widen. The last thing to consider would be the view that a society takes regarding what a minimum wage shall cover. In some cases the minimum wage is based on the worker family’s basic need. In other society the worker’s personal basic needs is the one which is considered. Thus, in effect, it would be relevant to consider the number of the working member in the family or the number/s of bread winner/s. Effects of Minimum Wage The effects of a minimum wage depend upon the household and the family that responds to the requirements of the labor market. A family might be able to benefit in an increase of minimum wage if there are two or more members of that family that are would receive or affected by the increase in minimum wage. Nonetheless, if instead of gaining from the minimum wage increase, some earners in the family was removed from the job resulting from the laying off of workers that company resulted into, to be able to effectively provide other workers with a minimum wage without decreasing the company income. The family would suffer more poverty than they have experienced before. The effects of minimum wage also differ with respect to gender, age and ethnicity. More often than not women due to their high expense, having more leaves and being more prone to illness due to a â€Å"weaker body structure† are more susceptible than man when lay offs occur. Thus, for those families that are single handedly supported by a female, an increase in minimum wage is not actually good news. Also, people who are already approaching their golden age or those who are closing to retirement age are usually subjected to layoffs since they are considered to be less productive than the young ones. Lastly, there are areas were ethnic discrimination is still an issue. Problems with Minimum Wage According to the research made by Gindling and Freeman, the main objective of creating a minimum wage is not to decrease the number of employment; it is actually to equally distribute income to the low wage earners. The cost cutting procedure that usually resulted as an effect of the increase in minimum wage cost the job of the workers more prominently those who are in the bottom ladder of production. Since these people do not have enough skills, experience and education, they would find it very hard to look for a new job. In such case, instead of alleviating poverty, the increase in minimum wage results to an increase in poverty. In the view of Richard Berman, the government upon imposing the law on minimum wage increase imposes such command to the employers on how much they should give. However, the government does not have the authority to command the employers regarding who are the people that should and should not be hired. Such situation is what causes the employers to layoff the less productive workers. It also made them employ less people and employ only those who posses more than enough qualification that would fit for the job and for the wage. The drastic effect that such situation results into is a little bit complicated. First and foremost the amount of available employment would be greatly reduced. With lesser opportunity for those who does not have jobs and with an additional number of unemployed produced from the layoffs, unemployment would greatly increase. In the long run the family of those who are unemployed would suffer lower income and would fall under or stay under the poverty line. Another effect would be on how employers would choose their employees. Since employees cause more, aside from a reduction in the number of employees, as explained above, employers would also tend to increase their qualifications for possible employees. Thus, employers would tend to hire people who are better qualified, that is that they have attained higher level of education and/or skilled. Those who includes in the highly educated employees are usually compose of the younger generations. Also, one cannot expect someone below the poverty line to get the best education available since it is most like that higher education is expensive. The skilled laborers on the other hand are only a few and would more or less attain some degree of education. This leaves the adult unskilled worker/s less preferable for a usual low wage job. With this in mind, one could assume that the probability of unskilled adults to work on jobs that would be affected by the increase in minimum wage, very low. It is more likely that would seek and settle to an underpaid job to be able to somehow support themselves and their family or they might not work at all. What may follow is a further increase in poverty, rather than a reduction. Another possible scenario involves chances of higher prices in commodities. As a usual flow in economics, the expenses that were received by the company would be passing on to their consumers in able to maximize profit. Sometimes this kind of reaction may lead to a lower quality in the services and the products produced by the company. Further more, the employers might ask the employees to work for much longer hours and workers might be subjected to a low quality of working environment with additional task. Minimum Wage and Poverty in the United States According to Gindling and Terrell (2007), using the study that was conducted by Blackburn and Addison in 1999, an increase in the minimum wage had a positive effect on the level of junior high school dropouts from 1983 to 1996. This can somehow be interpreted that less junior high school and teenagers stop from schooling in able to help their parents earn family income or that there have been more students who are able to continue going to school. Neumark and Wascher in 2002 conduct a study through the use of US CPS data. Their research demonstrates that an increase in the minimum wage both have a positive effect on the probability of families to fall into poverty and to escape poverty. The impact of the Neumark and Wascher study is that there is a redistribution of income among the poor.

Jacobite opposition to the Whig Oligarchy Essay Example for Free

Jacobite opposition to the Whig Oligarchy Essay Why was Jacobite opposition to the Whig Oligarchy so unsuccessful between 1714-60 The Jacobites were a British group who repeatedly tried to reinstate the old Stuart kings onto the English throne, as opposed to the Protestant monarchy that began in 1689. From 1714-60 parliament was dominated by the Whig party, to the detriment of the pro-Jacobite Tories. There were many Jacobite attempts in this period to overthrow this Whig oligarchy and the kings that supported it. P Monod attributes the failure of the Jacobites to a lack of leadership and inadequate military forces. J Stephenson, on the other hand, argues that a lack of foreign and domestic support for the old stuart monarchy is the predominant reason for the lack of success of the Jacobites. This essay will examine the four main factors that are cited as the reasons for the failure of Jacobites poor leadership, weak military, little foreign support, declining domestic support and will evaluate which one of them is the most important. The Jacobites that they never had adept leaders. Jacobite officers were normally of Scottish brethren, with little experience of warfare. Furthermore, as they were Scottish, they did not know the territory when they entered England. This is considered by Monod as one of the reasons for their failure to sustain themselves upon exit of Scotland. The best attempts at Stuart restoration were the rebellions of 1715 and 1745. However, both of these are characterised by poor leadership. In the 15 the commander of the Jacobite army was the Earl of Mar. He raised the Jacobite flag too early, before the army was prepared and, at the Battle of Sherifmuir, failed to take advantage of his victory and the 3:1 ratio of forces, instead allowing the British battalions to retreat and regroup. On top of this, James Francis Stuart, the Pretender King, was absent from the rebellion. Thus, the Jacobites were without their inspirational figurehead. The rebellion of the 45 endured similar problems, despite having their true leader, Bonnie Prince Charlie present. Having successfully driven down to Derby, instead of marching for London, the Jacobites fled to Scotland, allowing the British to regroup and pursue them. The issue of poor leadership was compounded by the inherent weakness of the Jacobite forces. They were predominantly comprised of Scottish highlanders, and anyone else that wished to join them, normally farmers. The men had little, if any, fighting experience and had never been trained in combat. Furthermore, they were poorly equiped, relying on homemade and captured weapons. The force was usually small, at its largest during the 45 when it reached 12 000 men. This is contrast to the British armies that were defending London. Although, they were slow to react to both rebellions, they were far superior when they engaged the Jacobites in combat. In 1715, the British army had just emerged victorious from the War of Spanish Succession. After famous victories, such as Blenhim, it became known as one of the most formidable fighting forces in Europe. It was large and well trained. Moreover, the Jacobite armies were hampered by internal divisions. The bulk of their men came from highland clans which were historically opposed. Many refused to fight with each other. This problem was particularly present in the rebellion of 45. The Jacobite cause had little hope when it was so weak in the face of such strong opposition. In Britain and Scotland the Jacobites support for the Jacobites was slight, waning further during the period. While Scotland may have been very pro-Jacobite in 1714, the Jacobite influence influence decreased radically until 1760. This is largely down to the fact that the people were forgetting the reasons for their hatred of the British crown. The Glencoe Massacre of 1690 was soon moved into oblivion. Memories of the stuart kings faded as Britain enjoyed peace and prosperity under Hanoverian rule. Lastly, the benefits of Union with England became more apparent as Scotland grew economically and was less heavily taxed than before. In England itself, followers of the Jacobites were always few and far between, only decreasing in the period until 1760. England had always been very anti-Stuart, accusing James II and his predecessors of despotism. Thus, the Glorious Revolution of 1689 was welcomed by the majority of the population. The support that had come from the Tory party also wavered. This was because, after their defeat in the 1714 election, they were keener to rebuild politically than waste time on what was considered a hopeless task. This was compounded by the fact that two Tory leaders, Oxford and Bolingbroke were impeached in the run up to the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 and because Jacobitism grew to be associated with treason. The Jacobites could never rely on foreign support. Louis XIV had originally pledged his allegiance to James Francis Stuart, proclaiming him as King of England and promising resources. However, the loss of the War of Spanish Succession, and the subsequent acknowledgement of the Hanoverian succession, esnsured France would not, and could not, fund the Jacobites for a very long time. This was reinforced by the Anglo-French Entente of the 1720s, whereby Walpole and Fleury were keen to maintain the peace. The French did promote the Jacobites in the run-up to the 45, with a 15 000 invasion force at Dunkirk ready to embark for England. However, poor weather and the War of Austrian Succession diverted the troops. Similarly in 1719, a Spanish fleet was ready to set sail for England, in support of the Jacobites, only to be stopped by a storm. Few other European nations were willing to fund the Jacobites. Seeing it as an worthless cause that would just bring unnecessary aggression from Britain, the pre-eminent power in Europe. The lack of foreign support was no doubt significant, as a large, well-supplied army was never received in Britain. However, even with the absence of this, the Jacobite rebellions drove deep into Britain. Similarly, the claim that Jacobite leaders were inept, while maybe true, does not fully explain the failure of the rebellions. The armies still enjoyed many victories and the British were often commanded by similarly worthless men. The inadequacy of the troops and the lack of domestic support are the most significant explanations for the failure of the Jacobites. Against such a strong British army, the Jacobites had little hope of victory. Linked to this, is the lack of pro-Jacobite people in Britain. This was an underlying reason for the small number of people that would join the rebellion and further ensured that both times the revolts extended into England, they petered out due to the prevalent hostility of the people.

Strategy Used By Premier Inn

Strategy Used By Premier Inn Premier Inn is the UKs biggest and fastest growing hotel company, owned by Whitbread. And the company contributes 70 of the total profits of Whitbread (Annual Report, 2009). As the hotel industry, the development of Premier Inn is highly dependent on the macro-environment, especially the tourism industry. Indeed, hotel industry and tourism industry have been so close that the following reduce in tourism after the economic crisis has strong impact on hotel operations. However, the British hotel industry has been suffered significant loss although it has manifested recovery during the previous years. Last year, the continuing crisis in global finance and trade has triggered the worlds worst economic plunge. UK unprecedented economic contraction was described by Sir Terry, Tescos chief executive, as low point. However, from the second half of year 2009, the UK economy appears to be in a slowly recovery. Companies have begun to hire and consumers seem to be increasing. This paper focuses on the strategies used by Premier Inn in this situation. Then we will review these strategies, and recommend some resolutions to close the gap. The following section will also use PEST analysis to audit the macro-environment that Premier Inn is facing. 2. Review on the Strategy Used by Premier Inn In this part, we will review the strategies that used by Premier Inn. And we will only focus on the marketing strategy and operating strategy. 2.1 Marketing Strategy Marketing strategy is very important and even could be the biggest factor in the success or failure of the company. Premier Inn also attached great importance to the marketing strategy. In this year, the company makes an additional 8 million pound in marketing investment (Annual Report, 2009). First, Premier Inn has start out a commercial action plan to enhance its status as the preferred hotel brand for travelers and to attract more leisure customers. They put in place four key levers in their marketing plan: focused advertising; increased sales activity; Premier Offers; and widening reservation distribution (Annual Report, 2009). Furthermore, the new website went live in November 2008 and has increased visits by 80, and now the site helps to attract over three million visits per month (Annual Report, 2009). Third, Premier Inn has also set out development of a new 267 bedroom budget hotel at Stratford, which adjacent to the Olympic Stadium (Annual Report, 2009). It can be seen that Premier Inn has already prepared for the 2012 Olympic Games. 2.2 Operating Strategy This paper considers that operating strategies in Premier Inn are as follows: First, Premier Inn has specific short and medium term growth programs, which give employees a specific direction. For instance, the company wants to increase room numbers in November 2010 by over 2500 rooms and target a 32 increase to 55000 rooms in the UK by the end of 2014 (Annual Report, 2009). In addition, the Premier Inn has decreased the overheads instead of adopting streamlining management, promoting the back-office processes and delivering a series of procurement initiatives. The company want to control cost tightly, through both procurement and operation efficiencies. And this helped underpin its operation margin. Last but not the least, the Whitbread launched Good Together program in January 2010, to drive sustainable performance and further deepen its corporate responsibility. This program has set goals for CO2 reduction, sustainable sourcing and waste management (Annual Report, 2009). Premier Inn also announced that they would build green hotel. The 60 bedroom Premier Inn, starting the business in autumn 2010, will use the best level sustainable construction materials to reduce 30 carbon emission and 40 water savings. 3. Evaluation on the Strategy Used by Premier Inn A PEST analysis is an outline that classifies environmental influences such as political, economic, social and technological forces (Camisà ³n, 2000). The analysis inspects the impact of each factors on the business (ÃŽÂ ¤ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ±Ãƒ Ã¢â€š ¬ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ±ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ½ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ Ã‚ ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ·, 2009). The results can be used to seize the opportunities or to make contingency plans for threats when preparing business and strategic plans (Byars, 1991; Cooper, 2000). In this part, we will use PEST analysis to evaluation the strategy adopted by Premier Inn. Owing to the limited understanding of the technology, we will focus on the political, economic and social factors. At the end of this part, we will give recommendation on the strategy used by Premier Inn. 3.1 Political Factors Government policy is a major influence factor; its policy will influence the company directly and indirectly, but they also offer chances and challenges. After the global economic downturn in 2008, the government has issued a series of policies to boost economic growth. However, the policy aimed at hotel industry or tourism industry is very rare. But when the United Kingdom general election of 2010 was held, the three parties all put forward many programs to promote the tourism industry. Meanwhile, the British Tourism Association and Hospitality Association has lobby the government to issues some policies that are positive to tourist industry and hotel industry. Besides, in 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered the proposed program Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, which plans to provide more than 1.4 billion pound for the low carbon sector and those already adopted, and outlay 10.4 billion pound for low carbon investment over the next three years (Plesch, Austin Grant, 2005) . Based on these political factors, this paper considers that the strategies Premier Inn adopted are valid, especially the operating strategy. First, the operating strategy in Premier Inn is aggressive which just meet the political situation. Second, the Premier Inn has launched Good Together program which aims at CO2 reduction. These practices not fit the proposal the government advocated, but fit the societys environmental demands. 3.2 Economic Factors Economic factors influence how easy or hard it is to be successful and lucrative (Thompson, 2002). The UK government has held a serious of international sporting events in 2009, such as the Ashes and the ICC World Twenty 20. These events may promote visitor numbers and then boost the hotel industry. In addition, the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will hold in London. This will provide the Britain hotel industry with a huge chance. Obviously, Premier Inn has already seized the opportunity because it has already developed some hotel which is adjacent to the Olympic Stadium. And the new website will play a significant role in convenient the consumers. Actually, the marketing strategy that Premier Inn adopted has already worked. From the annual report of the Whitbread, Premier Inn outperformed its competitors during October 2009. Regional income was down about 6.4 last year, compared to a decrease of 8.5 in the regional hotel sector and a decline of 9.6 in the whole regional hotel industry (Annual Report, 2009). 3.3 Social Factors Social factors also play an important part in the development of enterprises. Living conditions, income distribution and lifestyle all have tremendous influence on the operating methods of enterprises. With the improvement of living conditions, people are willing to spend more money in enjoying life and choose to relax after working, because their work are so busy and they have rare spare time. Therefore, the services provided by high-level hotels just meet the demands. But after economic crisis, the domestic demand has been weak, and an increasing number of British people choose to travel aboard instead of domestic travel. These social factors are clearly not advantage for the hotel industry. The marketing strategy Premier Inn adopted, as we described above, does not aim at this social situation. In the authors opinion, these strategies have more concern about the external market other than the domestic social conditions. But on the other hand, the increase in the number of non-profit environmental organizations indicates that publics sensitivity to environmental issues has significantly increased. The society has become more anxious and critical about the environmental practices of firms. Good Together program of Premier Inn not only shows the efforts made in environmental protection, but also enhances the corporate image and upgrades its enterprise competitiveness. 3.4Technique Factors Technology is widely recognized as an important competitive advantage (Chu Choi, 2000). As the hotel industry, technique factor seems have little relationship with the hotel development. But sometimes new and proper technology could provide unexpected harvest. From the strategy we mentioned above, Premier Inn have adopted the new website that now attracts over three million visits per month. Moreover, the company has used streamlining management to reduce the internal cost. In general, we think the strategy used by Premier Inn is very appropriate under the current situation. But the problem is that it is too much reliance on the international tourist industry. Once the outbreak of the economic crisis, this mode of operation is very dangerous and company may get into trouble. Actually, the domestic business and conference market is a buoyant sector for hotel (1996); meanwhile the economic gradual recovery will help to stimulate the hotel market. So Premier Inn should make some strategies to attract these potential consumers. To serve these high standards clients, Premier Inn should offer amenities services to meet the highest requirements. High quality and multi-functional rooms equipped with latest communication facilities, such as online 3D conference, will be very attractive. In details, based on what the businessman needs may different from the common consumers, the quick and facility services are obligatory to them. Such as the office supplies, fast printers and speedy laundry facilities are all very important to these consumers. 4. Conclusion In this paper, we focus on the strategies used by Premier Inn after the serious economic crisis. The article mainly analyzes the marketing and operating strategies with PEST analysis in the current situation. In general, we consider that Premier Inn has adopted appropriate strategies to boost its development. But the problems in the strategies were pointed out that the company has not paid enough attention on the domestic market. In the authors opinion, Premier Inn should pay more attention on its domestic market.

Platinum :: essays research papers

Platinum is a relatively rare, chemically inert, metallic element. It symbol is Pt, atomic number is 78, and its atomic weight is 195.09. Platinum is one of the heaviest substances known. One cubic foot of Platinum weighs 21 times as much as a cubic foot of water. A grayish-white metal, Platinum has a melting point of 1772 degrees C and a realatively high boiling point of 3827 degrees C. It has a high fusing point, is ductile and malleable, expands slightly upon heating, and has high electrical resistance. Platinum is seldom used in its pure stage because it is too soft. The third most ductile metal, it can be drawn into a thread one twenty thousandth part of an inch in thickness. It is extremely resistant to attack by air, water, single acids and ordinary reagents, but does dissolve in hot aqua regia, a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. Platinum has the unusual property of being able to absorb large amounts of hydrogen at ordinary temperatures and resist it at high temperatures. The first mention of Platinum occurs in the writings of an Italian physician and poet named Julius Caesar Salinger in 1557. A hieroglypic character made froma grain of Platinum dated back to the 7th century. Credit for discovery of Platinum has been given to Don Antonio de Ulloa, a young lieutenant in the Spanish Navy. The metal was referred to as the "platina de Pinto", meaning the siver like metal from the Pinto River. The first thorough study of Platinum was conductd in1750 by the English physician William Brownrigg. Brownrigg noted that Platinum was heavier and even more chemically inert than Gold was. Platinum forms useful alloys with many other metals, including Iridium, Palladium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Osmium, Gold, Nickel, Cobalt, and Tungsten. At high temperatures Platinum also reacts with Chlorine, Fluorine, Phosphorus, Arsenic and Sulfur. Among the transition metals, Platinum has the greatest tendencies to bond directly with Carbon. Platinum is used extensively in modern industrial society because of its chemical inertness, high melting point, and extraordinary catalytic properties. platinum is valuable for laboratory apparatus, such as tongs, combustion boats, crucibles and evaoporating dishes. It is also used for thermometers in furnaces, for electrodes in making quantitative chemical analyses, and for corrosion and heat-resistant instruments.

Comparing Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby and Eliots The Love Song of J. Alf

The Great Gatsby and Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock So often, it seems, life can seem like a "patient etherized on the table" (Eliot, 3). Be it the apparent futility of existence as a whole, or the insecurity of those single moments of doubt; life is often fleeting. I believe life is best described as a fickle beast, always elusive; always turning down some new and unexpected road. This fleeting life is what both Jay Gatsby of The Great Gatsby and Alfred J. Prufrock of "Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock" experience. These two men experiences move down remarkably similar paths as they quest for love and life. Yet each has sealed their shared fate in a different manner. As they head toward the seeming abyss of death, both remiss on all they wish they had done during their lives. By the time each man meets his end they both feel they have failed themselves and life as a whole. While sporting similar fates, Prufrock and Gatsby, boast a seemingly opposed beginning. Prufrock is best describe in his love song as a passenger on the road of life. He speaks of his...

Teaching in America Essay -- Education Educating Essays

Teaching in America ABSTRACT: The term "teaching" is usually used in the Academy without a clear sense of what is meant, resulting in imprecise and ineffective teaching. The standard lines-that teaching is a matter of applying approved methods, that teaching is mostly a matter of teaching skills-as-means to some career or whatever-are reflective of failure in the Academy, measured in its "defect rate" of around 30 percent. The definition of teaching I sketch-skills adopted from a theoretical foundation, in turn based on a critique-is well founded in the scholarly tradition. Such a definition is, however, challenging to an Academy at the end of an ancien rà ©gime. It has been apparent for a couple decades that something is wrong with the way we teach in this country. Most of the attention is focused on "the grades", but higher education is no longer exempt from criticism. The most alarming reports are quite consistent: Between 27 percent and 35 percent of students entering the college and university system do not complete the program they enter. (1) That so many students should be admitted, then lost along the way, is an unacceptable "defect rate". General Interest There is a vast literary corpus on the subject of what is wrong with the teaching system. It ranges from alarming reports in the popular press to practical and anecdotal accounts, to what passes for scholarly reportage of research backed by significant public and private grants. The popular press is, per def., popular; it favors the tangible ("readin', writin' 'n' 'rithmetic"). Scholarly reportage is contradictory, e. g.: One report, in a teachers'-union publication, tells us that two-year-college students entering upper-division study are more likel... ...er published a very insightful essay on the irrelevance of current economic theory and the economists who produce it. The picture is complex, but the gist of it is, modern school-economics is so caught up in fanciful application of ever-more-recondite skills, that all sense of the larger world supposedly being modeled is lost. It turns out that Keynes and his successors were the last of that ilk to have their feet firmly planted in reality - as well as being generally better applied-mathematicians. As I read this essay, it seemed to me much the same could be said for the exponents of quantitative political science, quantitative sociology and so on: These folks owned their fields in the 1970s and 1980s; today they are little heard from, and what they present as "science" - as, e. g., in The Bell Curve of a couple years back - is rightly laughed at as sheer silliness.

Rationale Behind Crazy Transfer Fee of English Soccer Players

Rationale behind crazy Transfer fee of English Soccer Players England had a disastrous Football world cup in South Africa. English players are deemed as over-rated and perennial under achievers. But when it comes to the transfer fees, English players are able to command a premium. Liverpool paid ? 35 million for Andy Carroll, ? 16 million for Jordan Henderson and ? 20 million for Stewart Downing. Manchester City paid ? 26 million for James Milner and Manchester United paid ? 17 million for Ashley Young and ? 16. million for Phil Jones, who is just 19 and played only 28 times in English premier league. The important point to consider here is all the above mentioned players come from mediocre clubs and none have premier league winners medal under their belt. What is the mystery behind their astronomical transfer fees? The answer lies elsewhere. UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has introduced a new ‘home-grown’ rule which states that each participating club in European competitions should have at least at least 8 homegrown players in their squad of 25. A player who is registered for at least three seasons at an English or Welsh club and is between the ages of 16 and 21 is termed as an home-grown player. The FIFA (International Federation of Association Football), the supreme body of the football is working on introducing a whole new system – nine players on every 18-man match day  squad must be home-grown. These developments have caught the English clubs off guard as most of the clubs don’t have the required number of English players in their squad sheet. The home-grown rule has forced the English clubs to go for head hunting of the English talent. The Demand –Supply curve of the transfer market for the English players is given below. D1 = Demand of English players before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule D2 = Demand of English players before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ S = Supply of English players p1 = Transfer Amount before FIFA implemented the ‘home-grown’ rule p2 = Transfer Amount after the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule q1 = Number of English players in demand before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule q2 = Number of English players in demand before the implementation of ‘home-grown’ rule The home-grown rule has moved the demand curve to the right and with supply of the English players remaining almost the same; two changes have happened to the equilibrium 1. The equilibrium number of players has increased as there is more demand from English clubs 2. The equilibrium transfer amount has increased and this explains why even the mediocre English players are able to command a premium in the transfer market. Recently many problems have arisen due to the high price tags. Most of these players are either young or mediocre that they don’t find place in the starting lineup of the clubs. Players get frustrated by the lack of playing time and some of them put in transfer request. Also, the high price tags put immense pressure on these players to live up to the expectations. The danger with paying such a high price for a young player is that he might crumble under the pressure of expectations. James Milner is a perfect anecdote for this as he struggled to hold a place in Manchester City’s starting lineup during last season. ———————– Transfer fee A English Players A p2 p1 q1 q2 S D1 D2

Daily Express and the front page of The Times Essay

Write a comparison of the two or three articles on the inside page of the Daily Express and the front page of The Times, explaining how the two pieces are appropriate for the newspaper for which they are written. The reported story is that Peter Foster helped Cherie Blaire buy two flats in Bristol, while not knowing that Peter Foster is a fraudster. The Daily Mail released the story, followed by a front page article. The Daily Mail is a tabloid and uses a huge heading, wanting to use this story to attract lots of readers and pass on their message. The Times is a broadsheet and therefore does not use such a large heading but has a balanced view, on this story, giving facts and opinions. The Daily use a medium sized picture which is unflattering, as Cherie Blair looks very stressed out, guilty, panicked and very untidy as her hair is out of place. She is looking desperate and it looks like she regrets what’s she done and wishes she could turn back time. This picture is a really emotive picture which makes the reader feels remorse for her. Her make up does not match her clothes; this is showing that is feeling too stressed to care about the way she looks. In The Times the central picture is of Cherie Blair and is very huge. The Times show a very emotive picture of Cherie Blair; she is looking up, this shows she is looking up to God and asking him to help her. This picture also shows weakness, which makes the reader think that Cherie Blair has done something very wrong; her make up is worn out again as it was in The Daily Mail this shows she has much more important things to think about and really cannot be bothered to re apply her make up when it wears away. In The Evening Standard the image is showing a completely different style from The Times and The Daily Mail. The background of the picture is red, this shows The Evening Standard supports the Labour Party as red represents them; also this is a colour that expresses love and affection. This means Tony Blair supports Cherie Blair and he is showing his affection to his wife. Cherie Blair has her eyes closed this shows they are very close together; and this shows whatever Cherie Blair does it affects her husband. You can’t see Cherie Blair’s arms, this making look like they are merging together. They are focusing more on Cherie Blair; you can see this because there is more of her face than his. Cherie Blair is shown wearing some jeweller, this shows not only is she posh but she is also a mother, wearing make up shows her femininity. All images give a huge impact on the article and fits with what they are saying. The Daily Mail’s headline is â€Å"Cherie gives her story†. They have written it all in capital letters to make it stand out more. The word â€Å"story† implies that The Daily Mail thinks she has made it up because story means made up. Also story means there is not only one view but two views on this. The headline of The Daily Mail is written in very huge font size and takes up much more than the actual article. Instead of the strap line which The Times has in the beginning, they use topic sentence. The topic sentence is in bold and the first word of the caption is in capital. The caption gives us a quick idea what the article is about. It gives some space between the headline and pictures. The Time’s headline is â€Å"I am not a superwomen- I am sorry†. This headline shows that she just a normal human being and made a mistake just as every other human makes mistakes. The Times has two strap lines so that we know the two main things the article is about. They say she admits she made two mistakes and makes the readers against her. The Times use medium sized bold writing. For the strap lines they use two bullet points one and font is smaller than the headline. They have done this to show the strap lines are important and tell the reader the things discussed in the article. Underneath the article is written in smaller font but Cherie Blair’s name in the beginning is written in capital letters and slightly bigger than the rest of article. The by line, in The Times, is written in slightly bigger font size the article whereas in The Daily Mail the by line only the name of the person that the article is written by is bold and bigger font size than the rest of the text. The writing does not have hardly any space between them. The Evening Standard headline say â€Å"I’m very proud of Cherie†, it is written this is saying that Tony Blair agrees fully with his wife. Eyes are drawn to headline because it is bigger and bolder than The Times and The daily Mail. It uses topic sentence to start off the article just as The Daily Mail does. The topic sentence is bolder and slightly bigger than the rest of the text. Tony Blair names written in bold and capital letters, they did this to divert the attention to Tony Blair and say it’s not only Cherie fault but Tony Blair’s fault too. They use lots of spaces between text and heading.

Interviews: Indian Institutes of Management and Personal Interview

Personality Assessment Round Process Details (2013-2015 batch) By now, you must be quite familiar with the different processes that various B-schools use in the second round of their selection program. Let us now look at some individual institutes to get a better grasp of the mechanism they use in order to select the best candidates. Please note that institutes do keep tinkering with their selection processes from time-to-time. Therefore, this list can only help you to understand all the stages that an institute has used for selection in recent years with specific focus on last year's method.However, please remember that it is quite likely that in subsequent years, an institute may use radically different processes as well. IIM Ahmedabad: Process: PGPM: Essay Writing Task + Personal Interview ABM: Group Discussion + Personal Interview Essay Writing: The candidates were given 1 minute to think and 10 minutes to write on the topic. Most of the topics were either general in nature or re lated to current affairs. Some of the topics given to the candidates were – â€Å"CAG is slowing down progress in India's telecom and mining sector†, â€Å"Obsession with constant research by smartphone companies has had a serious effect on our social life.†, â€Å"It is advisable to raise the legal drinking age limit to 25 years for responsible drinking. †Group Discussion: Usually, the Group Discussions involved case studies. Candidates were typically given a few minutes to read the case study and prepare their points. At the end of the discussion, candidates had to write a summary of the discussion. Personal Interview: Personal interviews were conducted after completion of the essay writing task / Group Discussion and, generally, lasted for about 15-20 minutes. In this round, candidates were interviewed by panels of two members each.Those with prior work experience were asked detailed questions pertaining to their experience and their company's business , its market share, growth prospects, industry prospects, turnover, etc. Some candidates were also asked indepth questions pertaining to their job profile and how their previous educational qualifications were being utilized in their current job profile. Candidates with no work experience were generally asked questions relevant to their academic background while a few candidates with prior work experience were also asked questions related to subjects from their academic background.Interestingly, almost all the candidates were asked a few questions from Mathematics as well. The questions related to Mathematics were primarily from areas like probability, distribution curves, statistics, etc. The candidates were also questioned about their hobbies and were expected to have an in-depth knowledge about them. Some candidates were also asked questions about the essay written by them. Specifically for ABM, candidates were asked questions regarding agriculture and why they wanted to join the ABM program. IIM Bangalore: Process: Essay Writing Task + Personal InterviewEssay Writing: The candidates were given 10 minutes to think about the given topic and 20 minutes to write on the topic. Most of the topics were related to current affairs. The candidates were required to do a thorough analysis of the topic and in some cases, from a particular point of view. Some of the topics given to the candidates were – â€Å"Is crime rate in urban India high mainly due to economic disparities? †, â€Å"The world is in social, economic and political turmoil. Any suggestions to improve. †, â€Å"Recently a law has been passed to ban A-rated films on television. Why do you think this decision has been taken? †Personal Interview: Each interview panel comprised three members – two professors and one alumnus of the institute. The interviews were mostly very general in nature. Candidates were asked questions pertaining to various aspects of their CV and SOP (Statement of Purpose) and the panel was typically quite pleasant and friendly. The interviews usually started with the panelists asking the candidates to talk about themselves. Some of the candidates were asked about current developments involving their company or industry. Some of them were also asked analytical questions on issues surrounding their industry / area of work.Typically, most of the candidates were asked a few questions regarding what they had written in their SOPs. IIM Calcutta: Process: Essay Writing Task + Personal Interview Essay Writing: Candidates were allotted 15 minutes to write on the topic. The word limit for the essay was 200 words. The topics given were general in nature and typically required analysis of an issue. Some of the topics given to the candidates were – â€Å"Corruption in sports committees and government interference are degrading the quality of sports in India. Elaborate and provide remedies.†, â€Å"The television media focuses more on violence, disaster and negative news. Why is it so? †, â€Å"What are your views on FDI in retail? †Personal Interview: Mostly, panels which interviewed the candidates had three members. The interviews were largely general in nature. Most of the candidates were asked questions pertaining to various aspects of their CV. Some of them were asked in-depth questions about their subjects or areas of interest. Several candidates were asked detailed questions about their prior work-experience and their reasons for choosing to pursue an MBA. IIM Lucknow:Process: Essay Writing Task + Group Discussion + Personal Interview Essay Writing: Candidates were allotted 15 minutes to write on the assigned topic. The word limit for the essay was 200 words. The topics given were philosophical / abstract. Some of the topics given to candidates were – â€Å"Fame and riches are fleeting, stupidity is eternal†, â€Å"A great city should not be confused with a populous one †, â€Å"Engine is the heart of an airplane and the pilot is its soul†. Group Discussion: The Group Discussion was held immediately after the essay writing. The topic was the same as the Essay writing task.Each group comprised 10-12 candidates. The groups were given 15 minutes to discuss the topic. Personal Interview: Panels comprising two members interviewed candidates. The interviews were very general in nature and often focused primarily on the candidate's goals and aims, as well as past experiences. Detailed questions related to area of work / job profile were common as were questions related to one's subjects of study while pursuing graduation. Many candidates were asked about their decision to pursue MBA and the candidates who had applied for ABM were asked about their reasons for opting for ABM.Candidates were also asked questions pertaining to various aspects of their CV. While most of the interviews lasted for about 20-25 minutes, some candidates reported very brief interviews of just about 8-10 minutes. IIM Indore: Process: Essay Writing Task + Personal Interview Essay Writing: Candidates were allotted 30 minutes to write on the given topic. The word limit for the essay was 300 words. The topics given were very general and analytical in nature. Some of the topics given to the candidates were – â€Å"Today's popular TV serials depict a life different from normal life.Is it a form of escapism or just for entertainment? †, â€Å"How does migration of people into other countries affect nationalism and patriotism? †, â€Å"With so many mergers and acquisitions by big business houses in India, is there any future for small scale enterprises in the country? Suggest ways to help out small scale enterprises. †, â€Å"Despite advances in medical science, progress is slow. Should research knowledge be shared with other scientists or should it be a closely guarded secret? † Personal Interview: The candidates were i nterviewed by a panel of three members.The interviews often focused primarily on a candidate's academic background. Detailed questions related to the candidate's subjects of study while pursuing graduation were asked to almost all candidates, even those who had more than two years of prior work experience. Candidates with work experience were generally asked detailed questions about their job profile. Some candidates were queried on their decision to quit their job and pursue an MBA. Quite a few candidates were also asked questions about their hobbies and extracurricular activities while some were also asked questions about  current affairs, specifically questions related to the budget.Interviews typically lasted for about 25 to 35 minutes. IIM Kozhikode: Process: Essay Writing Task + Personal Interview Essay Writing: Candidates were allotted 45 minutes to write on the given topic. The word limit for the essay was 500 words. The topics given were philosophical. Some of the topics were – â€Å"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone†, â€Å"Forgive your enemies but don't forget their names†, â€Å"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence†.Personal Interview: Panels comprising two members interviewed the candidates. The interviews did not have a set pattern; rather, they were more panel-dependent. While some candidates reported that their interviews were very general in nature and focused on their goals and aims, others reported that their interviews comprised only current affairs questions. Some candidates even reported that they were asked questions pertaining to their academic background only. Interviews generally were 20-30 minutes long. IIM Shillong: Process: Group Discussion (Case study + Essay) + Personal InterviewGroup Discussion: Each group comprised 8-10 students. They were given a topic and the candidates were allotted 10 minutes to read the topic and write on it. This to pic was then discussed by the group for 15 minutes. The topics given were small cases which described certain scenarios. The candidates had to present their perspectives on the given case. The cases were quite general in nature. Some of the cases given to the candidates were – â€Å"A diamond necklace has been stolen fromjewellery store. There is no evidence. The security in-charge decides to pin the blame on the person who last handled the necklace.It was also pointed out that the accused had provided some fake data in his joining application form. Decide whether he can be expelled on that basis, with the charge of theft. †, â€Å"An automobile company had done whatever they could to ramp up the production like overtime, compensation increment etc. There was an employee aged around 30 who died on the floor of the factory. He had been doing overtime to get extra compensation for his family needs. Now the production manager wanted to increase the production owing to th e impending festival season.But the employees disagreed on grounds of the death, and demanded 200% increment in overtime compensation. What should the production manager do? † Personal Interview: A panel, typically comprising three members, interviewed candidates. The panelists were reported to be very pleasant. The interviews generally focused on current affairs and the candidate's academic background. Questions on current affairs were asked in order to get the candidate's opinions on various issues and these opinions were then thoroughly discussed.At times, these questions were also based on the interest areas mentioned by candidates in their resume. A few candidates with prior work experience were also questioned in detail about the nature and technical aspect of their work. Some candidates were also asked ethical questions, like â€Å"What is the difference between right and wrong? †, â€Å"Is it right for the pharma companies to give gifts to medical practitioners ? †, etc. Interviews typically lasted for about 20 to 30 minutes. New IIMs Joint Process: Process: Essay Writing Task + Personal InterviewEssay Writing: For this task, candidates were allotted 20 minutes to write on the given topic and the word limit was 300 words. The topics given were very general in nature, like – â€Å"MBA, B. Tech are gearing up with the market. Are the courses like Literature, Sociology, etc. irrelevant in education today? Give your opinion†, â€Å"What if a business chooses to focus on the bottom of the pyramid? Is innovation really necessary for the growth of a business? †, â€Å"Social networking strengthens relationships but also makes youngsters lonely. †Personal Interview: Interviews were conducted after completion of the essay writing task. Candidates were interviewed by a panel of two members. The interviews were largely pleasant and stress-free. Different candidates were asked different kinds of questions; there was n o set pattern to the interviews. While some of the candidates with prior work experience were asked detailed questions pertaining to their experience, including details about their company; other candidates were primarily asked questions pertaining to their goals and ambitions.Questions such as how do subjects from your graduation help you in your job, etc. were also asked. Some candidates were also asked questions related to their academic background, their hobbies and even the effects of the most recent budget. FMS, Delhi: Process: Group Discussion + Extempore + Personal Interview Group Discussion: Group discussions typically lasted for about 14 minutes. Each group was given one minute to think before the discussion began and one minute to conclude the discussion. Every group comprised 10 to 15 candidates. The topics given to the candidates for discussion were general in nature.Some of them were – â€Å"Formal education stems the free spirit. †, â€Å"Should sting o perations be carried out? †, â€Å"Morals and values are on the decline in India†. Extempore: The extempore was typically conducted at the start of the personal interview. Candidates were given their topic and 1 minute to speak on it. No preparation time was given. A stopwatch was kept on a table in front of the candidate so that he / she could keep a tab on the time. Topics allotted to the candidates were general in nature and many of them were given topics that were somewhat related to their work.For e.g. , a candidate, who had worked in the Oil and Gas sector, was given the topic â€Å"Energy sector in India†. Another candidate, who had work experience in the field of Data Analytics and had qualified for the Maths Olympiad, was asked to speak about â€Å"Infinity†. Personal Interview:Typically, interviews were quite brief and continued for about 5 minutes. Most of them were conducted by a panel of three interviewers. The interviews were quite general in nature. Questions primarily dealt with current affairs and / or hobbies and interest areas mentioned by candidates in their forms.A few candidates reported that they were also queried about their ambitions and future plans. MDI, Gurgaon: Process: Group Discussion + Personal Interview Group Discussion: Typically, around 12 to 15 candidates participated in each group discussion and they were given around 15 minutes for the discussion. Additionally, 3 minutes were given to the group to think about the topic. At the end of every discussion, each candidate was asked to summarize what all had been discussed. Further, all the candidates were asked if they wanted to say something more on the topic.In some groups, candidates were also asked to write down a conclusion of the discussion at the end. Topics for the discussion were very general in nature, like – â€Å"Certainty of justice is more important than severity of punishment. †, â€Å"Does Reservation in Higher Education hamper the real purpose of Education? †, â€Å"Should religious teachings be taught in our schools to inculcate better values in students? † Personal Interview: Generally, a panel consisting of two members interviewed the candidates while a few candidates reported that there was only one interviewer in their case.The average interview lasted for around 10 minutes. However, there were some students who reported that their interview went on for 30 minutes and some others said that theirs lasted hardly 5 minutes. The interviews were quite pleasant and were very general in nature. Candidates were typically queried about their opinions on various issues of current affairs. In many cases, candidates were also queried on the topic that was given to them for their group discussion. Candidates with work experience were also asked questions related to their job profile and the industry they were in.