Beauty Industry

Beauty industry in currently developing at a fast pace, to meet the demand. Nowadays, people pay more attention to their appearance, hence they use a lot of cosmetics. However, beauty products must undergone a plethora of tests before they are launched onto the market. That issue raises a question: should animals be subject to the tests? The answer still remains ambiguous, yet this topic is frequently discussed in media. In fact, the society is split over the issue and it is almost impossible to reach a consensus. Nevertheless, I believe that beauty products shouldn't be tested on animals. First and foremost, testing on animals is clearly cruel and unethical. Animals feel pain in the same degree as humans do. It is proved, that our physiological systems are in similar to a large extent. Moreover, it is unconceivable how many species die during these acts of cruelty. Even applying a non-invasive beauty products on an animal's skin can have tragic effects, not to mention harmful ingrediencies that can lead to fur's and skin's destruction or even skin cancer and consequently death. It is impossible to estimate the number of species that have already died during the tests. People should really ponder, whether testing a lipsticks or a foundation is worth killing innocent rats or guinea pigs. Second, why should researchers be permitted to harm those innocent species in such a harsh way? They are often part of our families, loyal companions; therefore, we should demure this actions. People shall not have power to injure any species and determine their lives. What is more, animals also exhibit fear, just like humans. They feel a need to be free and live their lives. In laboratories they are locked up in cages and people decide over their life and death. Moreover, animals are treated there in an atrocious way. For scientists, they are just a subject to a research not a living organism. They don't bother their well being at all, yet animals are closed and kept in unholy conditions. Finally, humans and animals are entirely different species when it comes to anatomy; hence they can react on the same substance in a different way. Therefore, the outcome of the tests isn't entirely reliable, as a lot of people believe. Therefore, we cannot pronounce the beauty product to be effective and harmless after checking its influence only on animals' skin. It is possible that the product, which has undergone a test on an animal and was certified to be innoxious, can have a negative impact on humans. Therefore nor animals nor humans benefit from this brutal tests. Moreover, beauty products are intended for human spices and their certain needs. When it comes to animals, it is paradoxical to test lipsticks or eyeshadows on them, yet it is know that their anatomy vary greatly from ours. Their body parts differ from the ones that humans have and their epidermis is largely covered in hair. Undoubtedly, comparing the influence of certain cosmetics on dissimilar organisms defeats the purpose.

Marketing Management of Ocean Park Essay

Brief Description of Ocean Park Hong Kong Ocean Park Hong Kong is one of the most popular theme parks in the world. It was officially opened on January 10th 1977 by the governor of Hong Kong and was funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club on July 1st 1987, with a Government-appointed Board. It constitutes of marine mammal, oceanarium, animal and amusement as a theme park, located in Wong Chuk Hang and Nam Long Shan in the Southern District of Hong Kong. Reason for Choosing Ocean Park Hong Kong Ocean Park Hong Kong ruled the local amusement park landscape alone. In 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland had arrived and busted out the Park from its near 30-year comfort zone. However, Ocean Park has secured the prestigious 2012 Applause Award, which was the first in Asia to be rewarded. The reason for choosing Ocean Park Hong Kong is thus to study how effectively the marketing strategies are used in the Park against its main competitor, Hong Kong Disneyland. SWOT Analysis A Strength of Ocean Park Hong Kong is the numerous attractions with different levels of amusements ranging from roller coasters to aquariums. Another one is the five major annual events throughout the year: a varying Animal in High Definition Month, the Ocean Park Summer Splash, the Halloween Bash, Christmas and Chinese New Year celebrations. Yet, the most obvious weakness is the several incidents happened in the past five years. Panda attacking a feeder, dying of Chinese sturgeons and sudden pause of attractions – all these had surprised the public’s confidence to the park. In terms of opportunity, there is a proposed MTR station on the east of South Island Line for Ocean. Park Hong Kong. The station would help attract more customers for the Park because it will be easier and more convenient to visit. The major threat is from the future development plan of Hong Kong Disneyland, which is expected to build more themed areas, rides and hotels in the coming decade to match the increasing needs. There will be keen competition between Ocean Park Hong Kong and Disneyland after such an expansion. Marketing Objectives Since Ocean Park Hong Kong aims to become a leader among the theme park industry, its marketing objective is to strive for a place in the top ten of the total number of visitors of the Global Attractions Attendance report by AECOM within two years. Moreover, the Park hopes to increase its profit by at least 20% within two years due to the huge amount of visitors every year. Last, due to the accidents happened in recent years, customers’ satisfaction towards Ocean Park Hong Kong has been damaged. To increase customer retention and satisfaction, the Park should make an effort to ensure there will be no accident in the coming two years Reference list 1 / 2 Rubin, J. (2013). Global attendence attractions report. Retrieved from http://www. aecom. com/deploy edfiles/Internet/Capabilities/Economics/_documents/ThemeMuseumIndex_2013. pdf (2014). Vision and Mission. Retrieved from http://www. oceanpark. com. hk/html/en/footer/corporate-information/vision. html (2014). Annual Report. Retrieved from http://www. oceanpark. com. hk/doc/common/footer/ar/ophk_ar12-13. pdf Ocean Park, Hong Kong. (n.d. ). In Wikipedia. Retrieved October 7, 2014 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ocean_Park_Hong_Kong Pelle, J. (2012). Liseberg – The Applause Award. Retrieved October 5, 2014 from http://liseberg. com/en/home/Entertainment/Awards1/ Nip, A. (2014). â€Å"Annual tourists to Hong Kong could rise to 70 million in three years, commission says†,SCMP,17 January from http://www. scmp. com/news/hong-kong/article/1407779/visitor- numbers-can-rise-70m-three-years-commission-says? page=all POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).   

Protestant Reformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Protestant Reformation - Essay Example This belief gave immense power to the priests and the Pope, who was the highest titled priest of the world. The priests used that power of intercession to ensure the growth and prosperity of the 'church' to the detriment, many times, of the citizenry that made that immense power and wealth possible. Many times, the arrogance and power that were wielded by these priests caused an environment of resentment among the people that were supposedly being served. Not only was this power a continuing slap in the community's face, but salvation was also for sale! In order to raise funds for more and more elegant buildings and to support the avaricious appetites of the clergy individuals were told that the only way to be "saved" was by literally paying for your sins. An individual at that time may have to do a few "hail Mary's" but in order to ensure salvation, silver and gold coins given into the hands of the local monasteries was by far and away a more viable option. This air of resentment and anger had been simmering for decades and along with the 'salvation for sale environment" was part of the problem according to Luther's eyes.

Organizational Behavior High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Organizational Behavior High School - Essay Example According to the essay findings every member of an organization from top manager down to operator needs clearly spelled out-objectives. These objectives should be derived from the goals of the business enterprise. Thus there is a need for every manager to spell out his contribution to the attainment of organizational goals in all areas of the business. The managers must understand that business results depend on balanced efforts and results of a number of business areas. The objectives of all managers at all levels and in all areas should be a key to both short range and long-range considerations. ; As the paper discusses organizations like an organism must adopt themselves to their environment if they are to survive and grow. The pressure for such changes comes from within the organizational leadership or from some external force. A desirable form of change should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Good managers, therefore, must conceive of an communicate explicitly to their employees the need for a necessary change. Change is virtually the characteristic of an industrial enterprise. The rate of change in industry has increased markedly as the consequences of the scientific and technological revolution that is going on at an increasing rate. Organizational change is the number one problem of modern managers. Change is inevitable. Management of change certainly does not imply random and unplanned responses to a changing environment. An organization consists of inter-related and interacting systems, to perform complicated tasks. Principal among these are: (i) Authority and power system or the system of work flow and process, (ii) Re-organization of the tools and techniques used in the system involving provision of better equipments. (iii) Change in the attitudes and behaviors and inter-personal relationships of people working in the organization through systematic manpower planning. Reasons for Organizational Change There are a number of factors both external and internal, which affect organizational functioning. Any change in these factors necessitates changes in an organization. The more important factors are as follows: Change in Environment. Every organization exists in some context. 'No organization is an island unto itself' Each must continually interact with other organizations and individuals - the consumers, suppliers, unions, shareholders, government - and many more. Each organization has goals and responsibility related to others in its environment.

Helping Harvard Medical School Make the Grade Essay - 1

Helping Harvard Medical School Make the Grade - Essay Example Some of these companies also sponsor only those where a positive outcome will be likely (Gagnon 1625). Therefore, tension exists between the desire to carry out the study for marketing advantage and adhering to laid down scientific principles. This concern is real thus cannot be said that they result in more good than harm. The pharmaceutical companies are a source of valuable resource for medical research. They are the primary funding of most of these studies. Banning it would not be practical as it will deny the companies data about their products and even lead to claims about products being made with minimal scientific evidence. As such, the finding should be controlled through disclosure mechanisms where those engaging with the firms reveal the details of the undertakings. This way, constant revaluation of the monetary aspects of the collaborations can be done. Moreover, the contractual agreement should be used for the benefit of the medical school and the industries. By protesting the Harvard conflict of interest policies, the student risked compromising the quality of education they receive. According to Morgan, Baker, and Evans, such policies are intended to ensure that there a right balance is struck between ensuring the integrity of the institution and permitting the members of the faculty to i mprove health through discoveries and eventual introduction of new drugs (670). By opposing the policies, they were compromising the ability of the institution to ensure that biomedical research funded by the companies are done in the appropriate way without emphasis being put on marketing advantage and economic gains both for the firms and the individual professors and lecturers. Even without the state passing similar regulations, Harvard could still have been able to pass its policies. Personally, I have not been in a class where the lecturers seemed to be giving biased information because of their work outside the university. However, should that occur, I believe it will be prudent enough to raise the concern so as to safeguard the quality of information given to the students. From the case, it is clear that dissent should be expressed through the right channels just the same way those who opposed the undertakings between the professors with the companies did by engaging the righ t authorities and administrators. Â  

Marketing and Consumers Priorities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing and Consumers Priorities - Essay Example I can get the information regarding new courses as well as happenings and I can contact my overseas friends through e-mail. I can use the computer for chatting with my friends. I know the information and news through websites. I use the computer and it's accessories to see the news papers and news portals and scan as well as download the required images and content. Using a printer I can take printouts of the content I need for my job. I can keep myself and my company connected to different news agencies so that they keep us update with the latest news. I can design a greeting card of my own in my computer and hence I can use it for commercial purposes. With the computer we can do the audio, video mixing and get the compact discs and DVDs of my own. Reading books through internet can help in reducing the burden of purchasing them though we cannot avoid the purchasing of all the books. Being connected with libraries and universities, one can get access to lot of amount of literature t hrough electronic libraries. The brand of the computer I have brought is Compaq and the printer belongs to Hewlett Packard. The scanner also belongs to Hewlett Packard. ... The needs of other customers differ from that of mine and they differ in case of personal use as well as commercial ones. They use the same computer to produce some advanced and innovative products and they develop the business through computerizing their activities. For example, the banking sector, telecommunications, travelling and tourism, medical sector, Video games, washing machines, aero planes, cruise services, planning and scheduling, weather analysis also find applications with computers and accessories. For Example a tour operator uses the computer for reservations and booking of hotel rooms, train, and aeroplane tickets through computer. The telecommunication sector is also utilizing the computerized and now a days the presence of number of telephone operators created a competition between them to provide different services to the people. Internet service providers, internet cafes use the computers for amusement like video games as well as for other purposes. Bankers utili ze computers for their daily banking activities. By using computers they need not to refer the big ledgers and registers and this reduces their work burden and saves time. Bankers can know all details of customers by a click of a mouse. Money can be transferred from one account to another without any trouble. The ATM network of the banks works the basis of computers and other electronic appliances. Every industry is using computerization for developing knowledge and to improve their business. The automatic washing machines also work with the help of computerized mechanism (Buzzle.com, 2009). The Needs of the Customers who buy Other Products from the Same Manufacturer I have bought a desktop from Compaq and some other customers may buy a note book or laptop

Aspects of Connected Speeech one page, Terminology-Analysis 2 pages Research Paper

Aspects of Connected Speeech one page, Terminology-Analysis 2 pages - Research Paper Example The noun with the third most repetition is ‘ways’ which appears 15 times, being 5.7% of the total noun count. The total number of nouns is comprised of 88 different terms. There are a total of 97 adjectives comprised of 43 different terms found within this text which represents 15% of the entire text. The three adjectives showing most use are ‘cultural’ which was repeated 14 times, ‘social’ which was repeated 8 times, and ‘linguistic’ with a repetition of 7. A total of 38 verbs are evident within this same text, representing only 5.9% of the total word count; these 38 verbs included 25 different terms with the most widely used verb being ‘to speak’ (speak/is spoken). As would be expected within a text discussing language and culture the most often replicated utterances were in reference to the topic and included ‘language’ and ‘culture’ (nouns), ‘cultural’ and ‘linguistic’ (adjectives), and the verb ‘to speak’. A total number of 385 words make up this text (policy on climate change) which includes 70 nouns, accounting for 18% of the text. Within the score of 70 nouns there are 48 different terms, with the most often used nouns being ‘greenhouse gas’, ‘atmosphere’, and ‘warming’ which were all used 4 times. A particular occurrence in this text is the use of chemical terms such as ‘GtC’ and ‘GtCO2 ’. A total number of 583 words make up this formal text comprised of 140 different terms which make up 24.5% of the total text. The word ‘shall’ appears 28 times and although not in reality a term it is frequently used in such legal documents. Another feature is the use of ‘thereof’ and ‘herein’ which are also evident in legal documents such as this, together with a few other formal/legal terms such as the verbs ‘vested’ and ‘chuse’, and phrases such as ‘term of

Business Plan Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Plan - Outline Example †¢ Research market for online health guidance services in terms of industry size and competitors (Thomas, 2003). †¢ Development of online platform where the users can register and retrieve information. †¢ Building functioning network with partners such as gym trainers, health care consultants and physicians. †¢ Small scale operation and pilot study for assessing the response of customers. †¢ Basic report on online business market. †¢ Online platform and registration tracking system created. †¢ Pilot study in place and result evaluated. †¢ Revenue and costs/cash flow model finalised. †¢ Marketing activities finalized. †¢ Completion of entire business plan. †¢ Resources available to conduct the research †¢ Identification of Gaps is possible. †¢ Stakeholders identifies the value of an online health platform †¢ Team members works together to make effectual use of resources and develops realistic costs †¢ Marketi ng skills can be developed through proper research. †¢ No external constraints.

Requirement Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Requirement Analysis - Assignment Example The task at hand is to present a comprehensive requirement analysis and select the most appropriate paradigm(s) for preparing the requirement analysis. The task also aims to be an effective exercise in information gathering. This section targets at presenting various requirement analysis models present in literature. Various models will be scrutinized and the most relevant strategy chosen to proceed towards the analysis development 2. The basic idea of the behavior-oriented approach is to study the behavior, the decision-making style, and the data used by the pertinent personnel to extract information for the development of a critical information framework for the generation of requirement analysis. Background analysis is necessary to understand a particular problem, only then the designer can forward. Backward analysis helps to determine if the personnel were faced with a similar situation earlier in time. This helps to gain an insight into how similar problems had been solved in the past. The top executives are then interviewed to determine the main causes of the new problem prior to gathering of detailed information about the problem and summarizing the problem. This sort of model finds best application while developing an executive information systems or top-level decision-support system. ... The top executives are then interviewed to determine the main causes of the new problem prior to gathering of detailed information about the problem and summarizing the problem. This sort of model finds best application while developing an executive information systems or top-level decision-support system. The prime hurdles impeding in the efficiency of this model is the inability to quantify executive behavior and overlooking the needs of over-looking the needs or middle managers, supervisors, and operational personnel because they are usually the primary users of an information system. Information-Oriented Model The information-oriented model approach of specifying the requirement analysis focuses primarily on the information system products that will actually be used by the supervisory and the middle level managers. Investigating the information needs of the management gives a bottom-line compared to which the requirements might be given priority or their association with a new problem or opportunity assessed. The requirement analysis generated as a result of employing the information oriented model helps the designers to come with a comparatively more functionally useful system. The reason, as discussed earlier, is the focus on how the information technology will be utilized by the major users of the system. However, special attention to the middle management and supervisory ignores the needs of operational personnel. Industry Analysis Model The industry analysis model is based on one basic principle depicting that survival in the marketplace demands the development of an information system that is at least comparable in terms

Beliefs About Students Essay Example for Free

Beliefs About Students Essay It is undeniable that the beliefs about students and education have a profound impact on what is taught and how it is taught, just as the beliefs about life have a profound impact on how individuals live their lives. Educational beliefs are revised and refined and over time becomes stronger as they seem to serve us well and prove to be true. Thus, these beliefs ultimately become our philosophy of education. It is possible that every student that enters a classroom can succeed. However, in order for them to accomplish this, teaching should be student centered. Students should be encouraged to understand and appreciate their uniqueness and to be accountable for their learning and behavior. According to Ornstein and Hunkins (2004) Perennialism relies on the past; especially the past asserted by agreed-on universal knowledge and cherished values. Dunn (2005) also agreed that Perennialism is the oldest educational philosophy and is therefore traditional. It is believed that students are vessels to be filled and disciplined in the proven strategies of the past. This philosophy is supported by the realist philosopher John Locke, who was of the belief that at birth the mind is a blank sheet of paper on which the teacher could write knowledge (Tabula Rasa). According to the essentialist viewpoint, there are certain basic or essential knowledge, skills and understandings that students should master in order to function successfully in the society. These are reading, writing, computing and in today’s world, computer skills. Plato, who was the father of idealism, believed that both male and female are equal and should be educated equally. Therefore, the curriculum is the same for everyone and planning to execution of lessons are dominated by the teacher. However, one should not forget that these beliefs are teacher centered and tend to be more authoritarian and conservative and emphasize only the values and knowledge that have survived through time. Learning occurs through experience, Therefore students should be allowed to develop cognitively through experimentation and to reach their own personal potential instead of being shaped into a specific mould. Dunn (2005) cited Immanuel Kant who agreed that knowledge is rooted in the experience of mankind and can only be achieved by an active and exploratory mind, rather than one that is passive and receptive. Carl Rogers also believed in experiential learning. He believed that unlike academic knowledge, experiential knowledge is required to meet the needs of the learner in order to complete important real-life tasks such as learning to drive a car. Every student is different, no single set of learning outcomes is appropriate for all students. Thus a set curriculum will not be suitable for all. Students should be able to determine what they need to study with the guidance of the teacher. This will help them to arrive at their own understandings. Jean Sartre, a leader of existentialism believed that man’s responsibility is vested in man himself. He further stated that people are entitled to be human with dignity and is a human only when he or she is entirely free and accepts responsibility for his freedom. You may be led to believe that students are blank slates and learn based on mainly academic knowledge that has been tried, tested and proven and that all humans are equal and should be educated equally. However, do not ignore the fact that students are taking to the classroom, their own ideas and materials rather than receiving material in class as it is given. Students restructure the new information to fit into their own cognitive frameworks. In this manner, they actively and individually construct their own knowledge. They also are different thus, the same rigorous curriculum will not work for all students. From these facts one may conclude that in order to help students reach their full potential and gain the knowledge and skills that they will require in their daily lives as a democratic citizen of our society, the student centered approach to how students learn must be practiced. Therefore it is recommended that teachers facilitate students instead of being fountains of wisdom. The teacher should help students in their pursuit for knowledge and also help them acquire the communication, problem solving and critical thinking skills which will enable them to be life-long learners.

The Development Of Frank And Of Rita English Literature Essay

The Development Of Frank And Of Rita English Literature Essay At the beginning of the play, the audience see Frank in a sort of interesting way. The fact that Frank is looking at the bookshelf leaves us wanting to know what will happen next. Frank, at this point, begins talking to himself Where the hell? Eliot? this shows us that he is desperately trying to find a particular book, but this is not true as he pulls out the book and pulls out a bottle of whisky behind it. All of a sudden, the audiences impression of Frank changes from someone who is obsessed in reading, to someone who likes to hit the bottle. As the scene progresses, Frank is talking to Julia (Franks partner). We understand that Frank hates teaching in the Open University Oh God, why did I take this on? From this, it seems as if Frank regret his choice in taking up this job. Frank answers his own question, Yes, I suppose I did take it on to pay for the drink. This shows that Frank had taken this job in order to pay for his drink. We see that Franks important thing in his life is to drink. When Rita entered Franks room, the audience can see that Frank does not fully understand nature. When Rita said that the poster is very erotic, Frank says: Actually I dont think Ive looked at it for about ten years, but yes, I suppose it is. From this, we learn that Frank does not really appreciate life. Later on in Act 1 Scene 1, Frank describes Rita as the first breath of fresh air thats been in this room for years. This shows That Frank is bored of teaching student in contrast to her. He is interested in teaching new students. At the end of the scene, we see that Frank states about his feelings as a teacher in Open University. Frank describes himself as an appalling teacher and does not like the hours at the Open University. This shows the audience, how he does not like his job in spite of the fact that there is a breath of fresh air and that he feels Rita deserves the likes of someone better than himself. In the beginning of Act 1 Scene 2, we see Rita oiling Franks door, Willy Russell highlights that Frank is very lazy and that Rita is sort of doing everything for him. This makes the audience believe that Frank does not really care about the environment. We have seen that Frank does not really enjoy teaching students at the Open University. But, as scene two concludes. We see that Frank becomes interested in teaching and begins to talk about the way in which Rita should concentrate on the reason she has come to the university. Yes. And youre here for an education. Come on Forster! The audience are given the impression that Rita has already started persuading Frank as he now has a reason to come to work and be excited about it. While there are many ways in which Franks character is shown throughout the beginning of the play, the same goes with Rita. We first see Rita when she comes raging through the door and tells Frank to get the bleedin handle on the door. You wanna get it fixed. The audience reacts to Rita by noticing that she is an arrogant person. We also get the feeling that Rita is very confident. But this is not true when she said to pack the course in and later saying Im not, yknow confident like in response to a question Frank asked about her willingness to learn. At the beginning of the play, the audience see that Rita wants to be a genius. Frank asks Rita why did you enrol in first place? after which Rita answers that she wants to know everything. We know that she is eager for knowledge, when she asked, What does assonance mean?, See I wanna discover meself first. At the beginning of the play, we also learn that Rita is inexperienced in a number of ways. The first clue of Ritas inexperience is through the quote from Frank: Its the sort of poetry you cant understand unless you happen to have a detailed knowledge of the literary references. Likewise, Rita seems to be under the impression that all books are literature and so Frank explains to her why that is not true. Her inexperience is also shown in the beginning of the play when Rita says that she has a lot to learn and that she describes herself as dead ignorant. As the play, progresses, Frank does not look as if he has changed much at all. This is shown from what Rita says in Act 2 Scene 2, Just that I thought youd started reforming yourself. This shows that Rita has not really influenced Frank. An example of him not changing is when Rita asks him, Are you still on this stuff? after which Frank admits to continue drinking: I need the drink to help me step delicately through it. At the beginning of the play, we saw many ways in which Franks relationship with Julia was not really exotic. Frank then says that Julia would be upset and jealous if Frank were to go to the theatre with Rita. He says it would be deaf and dumb breakfasts for a week. This gives us the impression that Frank cares about Julia and does not want to upset her. However, after his visit to France, Franks attitude towards Julia changes as, he talks to Rita about his trip to France, Frank says Julia left me, in a matter of fact tone. We can see that Franks character tells us how secure he really is. At the beginning of the play, Frank felt secure, but throughout the play, it suggests that he is very vulnerable. The first sign that we see his lack of confidence when in the end of Act 1 Scene 8 Frank says that he doesnt know if he wants to teach her, because he says that what Rita possesses is very precious. Frank likes the way Rita is at the moment; this can be shown when Frank invites Rita to his house, early in the middle of the play and when Frank sweet-talks Rita at the beginning. Frank uses many phrases to praise Rita, most of which arent taken seriously by Rita: Ah, but Rita, if I was yours would I stop out for days?; What Id actually like to do is take you by the hand and run out of this room forever; Rita why didnt you walk in here twenty years ago? After her visit to summer school and London, Frank says nothing. At the beginning of the play, Frank is the only one, who has any influence on her. But, throughout the play, the number of people having influence on her has increased. Rita begins sharing a flat with a friend called Trish. Rita admires Trish and wants to be like her, as a result changing her accent to the one Trish has. She says that she want to talk properly Frank is angry that she has changed her accent. After Frank tells Rita to stop it Frank begins to see that Trish is having a major influence on her. When Rita begins her friendship with the students at the university, Frank seems rather concerned about it. Rita says that she has only been talkin to them for five minutes and hes inviting me to go abroad with them all. instantly Frank says that she cant go. To prevent her going to France, Frank begins to make up excuses of how she cannot go, because of her exams. Rita, however, resists this and so Frank alters his excuse to how she cannot go because she has got her results to wait for The audience see Franks fear about the matter through when he says Is there much point in working towards an examination if youre going to fall in love and set off for the South of This is unusual as Rita never mentioned about being in love. We see that Frank is a paranoid because he does not want Rita to go on the holiday with them and be influenced by then. At the beginning of Act 1 Scene 5, the audience learn that Denny (Ritas husband) has burnt all of Ritas books because she had changed from how she was when he married her. Instead of trying for a baby, Rita wants to discover herself before doing so and that is precisely why Denny has acted in the way he did. Rita feels that she need to talk to Frank at the university rather than staying at home and fighting with Denny. We see that Ritas confidence is growing this is shown when Frank asked Do you want to abandon this course? and Rita says No. No! in a, determined way. This shows how her confidence has increased over her time at the Open University, and realising that being educated is more important than anything else. In the end of Act 1 Scene 5 and the beginning of Act 1 Scene 6, the audience see that Rita is determined to explore new things. In the end of Act 1 Scene 5, we learn how keen Rita is to see a live play; Well come on hurry up Im dead excited. Ive never seen a live play before. It is shown also when she says: I had to come an tell y, Frank, last night, I went to the theatre! A proper one, a professional theatre. At the end of Act 1 Scene 6, Frank invites Rita to his house, but we realise that Rita has a couple of problems. Firstly, Rita is worried about the attendance of Denny and how he would react if he were to come. Will you bring Denny?; (puzzled) all right. after which Rita says, What shall I wear? This shows that Rita feels that she is different in terms of class. It means that someone who is in same class does not ask what kind of clothes they would be required to wear. Secondly, just asking Denny if he wanted to visit Franks house, Denny went mad and they had a big fight about it. Rita also says that the wine was a factor in her attendance. When Frank says that he wouldnt mind if shed walked in with a bottle of Spanish plonk, Rita then says that It was Spanish and this is amusing to some level as what Frank consider to be rubbish wine, is precisely what Rita had brought along. In Act 1 Scene 7 we see that Ritas character is also the reason for her difference to Frank and his friends. Rita wants to be like them I wanna talk seriously with the rest of you Rita then tells Frank about how she visited the pub. We see that Rita highlights about that she cannot fit in either two classes and says that she cant talk to the likes of them on Saturday because she cant learn their language, after which she describes herself as a half-caste. At the beginning of Act 2 Scene 1, the audience realise that Rita has changed. We see that she is dressed in new, second-hand clothes. This shows that although the clothes are second-hand, they are new to her in terms of class difference. Rita begins to make friends with the students at the Open University. This is shown when Rita says, For students they dont half come out with some rubbish yknow and when she says, Ive only been talkin to them for five minutes and hes inviting me to go abroad with them all this shows that there is a powerful friendship between them. This makes Rita that she is a middle-class Liverpudlian. The audience see that Ritas character changes in terms of how open she is it also changes in terms of how secure she is. After her visit to both summer school and London, we can see that she is increasingly secure when she says Im havin the time of me life; I am yknow. I feel young, you know like them down there. This makes Frank more insecure, and makes Rita more secure. Willy Russell keeps us interested by doing this. At the beginning of the play, Ritas response to a question about Peer Gynt is: Do it on the radio. Here she does not realise that expressing opinions do not exactly pass exams. As the play progresses we see that she has developed educationally. At the end of Act 2 Scene 2, Frank says that Ritas essay wouldnt look out of place with the other students and so Rita has therefore begun to realise that passing the exams are more important than opinions. We also see that she becomes educated when she delivers correctly a poem she learnt at summer school from memory. Eventually, we learn about how Frank is at the end of the play and how he has changed from being the person he was earlier on. At the beginning of Act 2 Scene 3, the audience are aware that Frank is drunk. We can see this from how he is swearing. He refers to his students as mealy mouthed pricks. He describes his lecture he had just given as the best lecture, because we are told that he had fallen of the rostrum. At the beginning of the play, we saw how Frank really liked Rita for who she was and the fact that she was a breath of fresh air meant that she somewhat differed to the other students in the university. Later on though, we begin to see how insecure Frank becomes to a change in Ritas class, as she moves towards the middle class, by making friends at the Open University. We can see a change in Franks character; at the beginning of the play Frank was flattering Rita, he now seems more hostile towards her. After Rita begins talking about her essay on Blake, Frank states his view on how the essay is not wrong but he doesnt like it. During Act 2 Scene 4, Frank is also made out bothered during a conversation regarding work places. When Rita talks about her change in work place, Frank then goes on to ask, Is Mr.Tyson one of your customers?, after which he says, Perhaps perhaps you dont want to waste your time coming here anymore?. Yet again, Frank is saying something that is not relevant to Ritas words; Rita never mentioned anything such as working at the cafà © full time she has just said that she likes to be with them. Therefore, it can be said that Frank still seems bothered and somewhat insecure about Ritas change in herself. In fact, Frank is so disappointed with how Rita has changed that he refers to himself Mary Shelley, writer of Frankenstein. Since he believes he has had the most influence over Rita, he is making a reference of himself here to Victor Frankenstein. However, although Frank is increasing insecurity throughout both the middle and end of the play, just as the play ends. The insecurity is somehow destroyed. Instead of reacting in a hostile manner towards Rita in response to her statements about the students etc., Frank reacts in a way similar to how he did at the beginning of the play. When Rita says, Tigers asked me to go down to France with his mob, Frank says, Will you? as opposed to something of a more hostile nature. Whether it is because of his visit to Australia in the near future or just a change of heart, the bottom line is that Frank has now accepted Ritas change. After Rita talks about her options to Frank, Frank reveals a package hidden behind some of the books. This is quite amusing, as it is usually his alcohol that is stashed away there. Even so, Frank takes down the package and says, its a dress really. I bought it some time ago for erm for an educated woman friend of mine. The important aspect to this quote of Fra nks relates to how he bought itfor an educated woman friend. This shows that Frank feels that Rita has become more educated. At the end of the play, we also learn further changes Rita has undergone in comparison to earlier parts of the play. The first indication of a change in Rita happens immediately in Act 2 Scene 3, whereby Rita is sitting in the armchair by the window, and Frank enters. This is ironic as it is usually Frank who is earliest but Rita has arrived earlier and we discover that wants to get here early today so that she can start talking to some students down on the lawn. This is an obvious change in her as we see how Rita has become highly influenced by the students and has become more of a middle class citizen than a working class one. We see that Rita is now part of the middle class group and has learnt pretty much all there is need to know. Dont keep treatin me as though Im the same as when I first walked in here and I can do without you reveal how she is able to lead her life without any more knowledge required. But, it is not only Rita who feels she has become more educated it is the audience as well. In Act 2 Scene 3, after Frank says that her essay is not wrong., Rita says, Youre being subjective, precisely what Frank said at the beginning and so reflects how Rita has become more educated in terms of language. A further sign of Ritas improvement in education is seen in Act 2 Scene 5, after Rita comments on Franks poems. Rita says that if she had seen those poems when she first came in, she wouldnt have understood it and that she would have thrown it across the room and dismissed it as a heap of shit. This short feature to the play is extremely helpful in understanding Ritas change in education as an example i s used here that indicates how Rita would have reacted to the same situation at the beginning of the play. Rita describes Rubyfruit Jungle as hardly excellence at the end of the play. This is a big difference to how she perceived it at the beginning of the play and so it shows of how educated she has become. A further extremely important aspect to Ritas change is shown right at the end of the play, whereby Rita considers her options in the near future. She says, I dunno. I might go to France. I might go to me mothers. I might even have a baby. I dunno. Ill make a decision, Ill choose. I dunno. This shows us how Rita now has more choice and better options in choosing what she will do. At the beginning, we saw how determined she was to do the course and so that was pretty much her only option at the time. Now, however, having accomplished her targets, she now has much more of a choice in doing what she wishes. Finally, as the play concludes, there is also some humour involved. After Rita says, All Ive ever done is take from you Ive never given you anything, Frank says, Thats not true youve Before letting Frank finish his sentence, Rita intervenes and says, But there is. Come here, Frank From this, what immediately comes to mind is something dirty. However, instead, we discover that Rita is giving him a haircut and so this is amusing as Willy Russell changes our expectations of what is going to happen so vividly. In conclusion, I feel that Rita has certainly changed for a number of reasons. Rita has become more educated while also changing into a middle-class person. In addition, it has also become obvious now that Rita has more choice in comparison with before. Whats more, Rita also has better choice, which is essential as that is what Rita aimed for, to some amount. Despite the fact that she has become less open and more serious over time at the Open University, Ritas objective of discovering herself has been achieved. While Ritas development throughout the play is obvious, Franks seems to be there, sort of. At the beginning of the play, we saw how Frank was encouraged to come to work because of Rita as he regarded her as a breath of fresh air. However, during the middle of the play, we also saw how Frank began drinking more because of how insecure he felt. Frank now has a better choice in what he can do. Before, we saw how Frank needed to go to work in order to pay for his drink. Now however, he has the choice in whether he wishes to go to Australia or even commit suicide. The fact that he seems to be happy about going to Australia may also result in a further change in him this might eliminate his drinking addiction. Although it seems unlikely, Frank now has a reason to enjoy life.

Just War Theory Essay -- Just War Armed Conflict Military Essays

Just War Theory Price reduced due to problems with format One of the perennial realities of human existence is war. From the earliest recorded events of human history all the way through to modern times, human communities have engaged in armed conflict as a method of dispute resolution. While war has been a constant part of the human experience, there has also been a tendency within virtually all human civilisations to limit the extent of war and the methods by which warfare may be conducted.(1) In Western civilisation, this limitation on warfare has taken shape as an effort to limit both the determination of when war is appropriate and the means used in battle.(2) Within the Western moral, legal, and political arena, the connected questions of when war is appropriate and what means are acceptable in warfare has been the subject of a great deal of examination. The basic theory which has arisen within Western culture to evaluate the legitimacy of military action is called just war theory.(3) The just war theory has received widespread accept ance both within Western culture and in the international community as a means by which a war may be determined to be justified or not.(4) Just war theory, which has both religious and secular proponents, is perhaps the most universally recognised moral theory by which the use of force may be evaluated. II. A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF JUST WAR THEORY A. BACKGROUND ON JUST WAR THEORY Just war theory has a varied and diverse background.(5) The just war tradition includes the contributions of philosophers and theologians dating back to Roman times. As James Tuner Johnson has pointed out, Just war is an historical tradition formed by experience and reflection, including much that is neither specifically theological (or even religious), nor philosophical. It has been strongly influenced by international law, the traditions of chivalry, and soldierly practices derived from the experience of many battles.(6) Just war theory as a method of evaluating military actions has been recognised historically by thinkers as varied as Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Grotius, and Daniel Webster. It is a theory which has been used by Christians and non-Christians alike to determine whether or not the decision to go to war and the means used to prosecute that war are just. It is crucial to keep this varied and complex pedigree of t... ...50. Id. 51. See the Nuremberg Charter, art. 6(a)-(c). The charter lists the waging of aggressive war, "violations of the laws or customs of war," and the extermination and enslavement of civilians among its examples of wartime criminal conduct. 52. Rostow at 169-70. 53. United Nations Charter, articles 2(4) and 51. See also Gardam at 403-11; Motala at 3. 54. U.N. Charter art. 51. 55. Motala at 4. 56. Id. 57. Id. 58. Motala at 11. 59. Johnson at 149; Bederman at 29. The tradition of dividing just war theory into two distinct analytical categories has its roots in the work of Grotius, Aquinas, Augustine, and Cicero. 60. Johnson at 149 61. Johnson at 149 62. Johnson at 149. 63. Id. 64. Id. 65. Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II, II, Q. 40, Art. 1. 66. Johnson at 158 67. Johnson at 158. 68. U.N. Charter art. 51. 69. Johnson at 158. Johnson compares the concept of "right authority" with the modern concept of sovereignty and argues that the just war notion of authority basically mirrors the modern notion of sovereignty. Id. 70. Bederman at 31-32; Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II, II, Q. 40, Art.1.. 71. Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II, II, Q. 40, Art. Just War Theory Essay -- Just War Armed Conflict Military Essays Just War Theory Price reduced due to problems with format One of the perennial realities of human existence is war. From the earliest recorded events of human history all the way through to modern times, human communities have engaged in armed conflict as a method of dispute resolution. While war has been a constant part of the human experience, there has also been a tendency within virtually all human civilisations to limit the extent of war and the methods by which warfare may be conducted.(1) In Western civilisation, this limitation on warfare has taken shape as an effort to limit both the determination of when war is appropriate and the means used in battle.(2) Within the Western moral, legal, and political arena, the connected questions of when war is appropriate and what means are acceptable in warfare has been the subject of a great deal of examination. The basic theory which has arisen within Western culture to evaluate the legitimacy of military action is called just war theory.(3) The just war theory has received widespread accept ance both within Western culture and in the international community as a means by which a war may be determined to be justified or not.(4) Just war theory, which has both religious and secular proponents, is perhaps the most universally recognised moral theory by which the use of force may be evaluated. II. A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF JUST WAR THEORY A. BACKGROUND ON JUST WAR THEORY Just war theory has a varied and diverse background.(5) The just war tradition includes the contributions of philosophers and theologians dating back to Roman times. As James Tuner Johnson has pointed out, Just war is an historical tradition formed by experience and reflection, including much that is neither specifically theological (or even religious), nor philosophical. It has been strongly influenced by international law, the traditions of chivalry, and soldierly practices derived from the experience of many battles.(6) Just war theory as a method of evaluating military actions has been recognised historically by thinkers as varied as Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Grotius, and Daniel Webster. It is a theory which has been used by Christians and non-Christians alike to determine whether or not the decision to go to war and the means used to prosecute that war are just. It is crucial to keep this varied and complex pedigree of t... ...50. Id. 51. See the Nuremberg Charter, art. 6(a)-(c). The charter lists the waging of aggressive war, "violations of the laws or customs of war," and the extermination and enslavement of civilians among its examples of wartime criminal conduct. 52. Rostow at 169-70. 53. United Nations Charter, articles 2(4) and 51. See also Gardam at 403-11; Motala at 3. 54. U.N. Charter art. 51. 55. Motala at 4. 56. Id. 57. Id. 58. Motala at 11. 59. Johnson at 149; Bederman at 29. The tradition of dividing just war theory into two distinct analytical categories has its roots in the work of Grotius, Aquinas, Augustine, and Cicero. 60. Johnson at 149 61. Johnson at 149 62. Johnson at 149. 63. Id. 64. Id. 65. Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II, II, Q. 40, Art. 1. 66. Johnson at 158 67. Johnson at 158. 68. U.N. Charter art. 51. 69. Johnson at 158. Johnson compares the concept of "right authority" with the modern concept of sovereignty and argues that the just war notion of authority basically mirrors the modern notion of sovereignty. Id. 70. Bederman at 31-32; Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II, II, Q. 40, Art.1.. 71. Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, II, II, Q. 40, Art.

Hatchet :: essays research papers

Hatchet Author: Gary Paulson Main Theme: The story Hatchet’s theme is determination, perseverance and survival. Brian Robeson, whose parents are divorced, flies to visit his father in Canadian wilderness. His pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian managed to land the plane in a lake, and escape unharmed. Now comes the hard part, surviving in the wilderness until rescued. He does have one tool to help him, a hatchet that his mother had given him as a gift. He will have to use it, his own determination, imagination, perseverance and common sense to survive. Plot Summary: This flight to see his father in the Canadian wilderness is Brains first time in an airplane. He explains this to the pilot and tells him that he is scared. The pilot feels sorry for Brian and decides to show him that flying is not very difficult. He lets Brian take the steering control and direct the line of flight for a while. Just when Brian thinks that everything is going well, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian knows he must land the plane himself or die. He tries to use the radio without success. He knows that if he hits the trees, he can die, so he decides to land in the water of a lake. When the plane is in the water, he gets out through a window. He lay on the bank of the lake for a while to rest. Brian knew he needed food and shelter to survive so he set out to find both. He was very careful not to get lost or go too far from the lake where his water was. He found a cherry tree and because he was very hungry, he ate his fill. He filled his windbreake r with cherries to eat later and then managed to find a cave for shelter. He slept very well, but in the morning when he awoke, he saw a bear in the cave. He was terrified, because the bear was only about 20 feet away eating his cherries out of his windbreaker. The bear only looked at Brian and then left. The cherries must have been enough to curb his appetite! The discovery of how to make a fire was very important to Brains survival. He needed to have one at the mouth of the cave to protect him from wild animals, and to signal for help.

Vocation and Spiderman :: essays research papers

VOCATION Vocation in my own words is the path God has chosen for you too follow; it is what one is destined to be. There are many different types of vocation. Some people are destined to lead a life of dedication to God, others to be parents and some to be single have regular jobs. Vocation is not something that you are born knowing you have to look within yourself to find what God has created you to be. Finding your vocation is not an easy thing that why a lot of people end up in divorce, hating there job or depressed. Throughout Spiderman 2, Peter struggles with his identity, and even takes a "leave of absence" from his "vocation" to sort out his true desires. When the people he loves, especially Mary Jane, are suddenly in grave, mortal peril, he remembers his true self and saves them all, remarking that "Sometimes you have to give up what you really want in order to do what is really right." The villain manages to send an entire elevated trainload of people hurtling out of control to their death, and it's up to Spiderman to save them. He doesn't have the strength of Superman to stop out of control trains or airplanes, so he uses the gifts at his disposal. He stands on the front of the out of control train, stretches out his arms in both directions, and fires off web after web after web at passing skyscrapers. He grabs all the webs tightly in both hands. His arms are pulled back against the train, and his entire body is nailed there against the train, against the people he needs to save. His arms stretched out in a heroic act, Peter Parker becomes Christ on the cross. Peter Parker is confused, he doesn’t know weather his vocation is to be with the Mary Jane or to be Spiderman.

Writing Sentences and Paragraphs

The Journey to Medicine I want to be a Medical Administrative Assistant at Vanderbilt hospital to honor my late sister and my parents. When I was 18 years old my sister Debbie died from cancer. The majority of my childhood and teenage years were spent in hospitals and the majority of my parent's money went to paying the doctors. During this period of my life I thought medicine was doing more harm than good. Because I was older at the time of Debbie's death my perception about medicine changed and I became motivated to find out why medicine costs so much and why some procedures cost more than others?So I studied hard, became Valedictorian of my class, earning a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University and now I'm ready to become a member of the Vanderbilt hospital community. It would be a great honor to secure one of the three Medical Administrative Assistants positions. The Perfect Fit. Megan you are an excellent organizer, you can flexible in your assignments, you work well with ot her people and you always find creative ways to get the work done. Mr. Braxton, the boss of PhreeRide, is looking for an assistant and you would be perfect.The company employees several hundred writers of all types and it also distributes magazines like Kaptur, the one you like so much. The boss is a work oriented gentleman but he will allow for creative solutions as long as the projects are completed on time. He would love to know about your multitasking abilities with Late Eats and how you always treated customers with respect when you worked at Diamonds. Megan, I will mention you to my boss and when you apply for the position don't be afraid to tell the interviewer that I recommended you.

Splitting a message, and processing and gathering

This recipe will show you how you how to split a message into individual fragments, process each fragment individually, and re-aggregate the processed exchanges back Into a single exchange. In EIP terms, this is known as a Composed Message Processor, and Is made up of a combination of a Splitter and an Aggregated. How to do It†¦ In order to split and aggregate (Join) a message, combine a split DSL statement with an associated Congo as follows: 1. Define an Segregationist's Instance as described In the Aggregating related messages recipe.For this example, we will reuse theSetAggregationStrategy Implementation from that recipe: 2. Define a regular split block as per the Splitting a message into fragments recipe, breaking up the payload as you see fit through the use of an expression. Reference the Segregationist's instance through the strategy attribute in the split element: ${body) In the Java DSL, refer to the Segregationist's instance as the second parameter to the split() stat ement: from(â€Å"direct:in†) . Split(body(), new Straightforwardness()) . End() . To(â€Å"mock:out†); How it works†¦When an exchange reaches the split statement, It Is broken up Into Individual fragments as expected, each of which Is processed through the steps defined within the block. When each split fragment's exchange reaches the end of the split block, It Is passed Into theAggregationStrategy for aggregation. When all of the fragments have been processed, the final aggregated message proceeds down the route from the split block. This Is different from the normal Splitter behavior, which forwards the original message to that statement after the split statement.TIP By default, all processing Is performed by a single thread. You can parallelize the processing of each message fragment by using theparallelprocesslng option as described in the Processing split messages in parallel recipe. There's more†¦ An Segregationist's. When an exception is thrown during the processing of the fragment, the exchange will be immediately passed to Segregationist's. It is then up to the strategy to decide what to do with this information.

Organizational Development Essay

John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying â€Å"Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.† The world is in a constant state of motion. No one should expect things to always stay the same. Organizations require technologies and human resources in order to operate. A business needs to operate by learning from the past and planning for the future. Since, the economic collapse of 2008, the idea that any company is ‘too big to fail’ has been thrown out the proverbial ‘business window’. Business is now practiced in a global market and technologies have made the world a smaller place. â€Å"Managers and their organizations must anticipate the future and become proactive players.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, part 1.) Consider companies like Blockbuster Video. The demise of Blockbuster proves that leadership did not look to the future. This company considered itself to be the standard. Where is Blockbuster now? Instead of being an industry leader, it is trying to regain its footing in a marketplace it once dominated. Why? Blockbuster failed to take its competitors seriously. It did not consider technology surpassing the company’s own perception of practicing business. â€Å"In 2002 (Blockbuster) had 8,000 stores and a market value of $3 billion. Today, movie-by-mail Netflix is worth nearly three times that much. And Blockbuster is broke.† (Gandell, S., 2010, paragraph 19.) Successful companies are looking to the future as they learn from the past and present. Organizations that are successful will operate without ego, effectively communicate throughout the organization, and constantly reinvent themselves. Organizations need to be in constant development in order to move forward with any success. In this paper, I intend to define the importance of organizational development as it relates to my own company’s recent sale to a new group of owners. I intend to define organizational development as it relates to organizational trust, a strong practitioner-client relationship, the imperative nature of the diagnostic phase, effective communication between ownership and employees, and the importance of strategy as it relates to a successful transfer of ownership and culture to an organization. Organizations need to know when organizational development is necessary. I am a Managing Partner in the restaurant business. I currently have about 50 employees that I am responsible for. Recently, the restaurant I am running was sold to a South African group of owners. The owners actually bought two restaurants from the local restaurant group I was working for. After studying the Charlotte market and other markets throughout this great country of ours, the South African owners decided that Charlotte, NC would give them the best opportunity to grow a restaurant chain. The owners currently have over 150 restaurants in South Africa and this is their first venture into the United States. Once the sale became final, the owners began to evaluate all the current systems and business practices of the restaurants. The new owners began to re-develop the organization by defining its existing and future organizational identity. The owners sat down with staff and management to get an understanding of what the restaurants meant to each staff member. â€Å"The identity will provide an advantage if it is well aligned with the organizational strategy and well suited to the market niche, because identities tend to be socially complex and path dependent, and therefore difficult to imitate.† (Salgado, S.R., 2003, page 65.) The owners became the practitioners of change by purchasing the restaurants. After the sale became final, it was time to develop a sense of trust from the existing staff and management. One way of gaining that trust is to value the opinions of the current members of the organization. The new owners showed that they valued staff opinion of organizational identity. This process helped to develop the fundamental need to build a positive practitioner-client relationship. The new owners need an employee landscape that is friendly, not hostile. There is no way the new organization can move forward with a negative culture. Once trust was established, the new owners were able to begin to identify issues, problems, and opportunities each restaurant was having. The five fundamental stages of organizational development are: â€Å"anticipate the need for change, develop the practitioner-client relationship, the diagnostic phase, action plans, strategies, and techniques, and self-renewal, monitor, and stabilize.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 18). Ownership has followed the principles of organizational change and development in a very smart way. The new owners worked on building a strong practitioner-client relationship while gathering information about the businesses. They remained very approachable and worked hard to assist with the agreed upon change lists. Ownership made everyone feel as though they were not there to change what was not broken. Employees were made to feel proud about the restaurants they worked in. By developing such a good and trusting relationship, change has come easier. Once trust was established, new ownership quickly moved to the third fundamental of organizational development, the diagnostic phase. â€Å"Organizational diagnostic models and surveys have often been demonstrated by practitioners to be very effective in supporting organizational development   programs.† (Goldstein, L. and Burke, W. (1991), Vol. 19, page 5.) Diagnostic models are designed to help organizational development practitioners to â€Å"categorize data about the organization, enhance understanding about organizational problems, interpret data systematically, (and) provide appropriate change strategies.† (Lok, P., Crawford, J., 2000, page 108.) The practitioners have been reviewing every facet of the restaurant’s business practices. Ownership is constantly evaluating the effectiveness of each system. Technologies, equipment, and managerial functions are all reviewed and measured to the new standards and goals set forth by the owners. The ownership designed a â€Å"team approach to setting and reviewing targets, real participation by subordinates in setting goals, with an emphasis on mutually agreed upon goals, mutual trust between subordinate and manager, and a real concern for personal career goals as well as for organizational goals.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 327.) Ownership felt that the technologies were not tied in together very well. Ownership felt that the current gathering of data was cumbersome and inaccurate. The practitioners felt that the clients needed to stream-line the ways in which data was collected. By reviewing every program and system of accounting, the new owners were able to determine that updating would be necessary in order to move the two concepts forward. Looking to future growth was not going to happen for the organization until both concepts were able to produce accurate information about the actual business. Ownership also determined that it wanted its managers out in the restaurant more. There was simply too much to do in the office while running the restaurants. The practitioners asked current upper management to clearly define the responsibilities of each manager and chef position. At this point, the culture of the new organization had begun to take shape. Clearly defined roles and a change in managerial philosophies have started to grow. I have witnessed what I believe is a very successful transformation of culture. Responsibilities are clearly communicated. Accountability has improved. By creating clearly defined roles, the effectiveness of each manager is much easier to measure. At times, however, communication has been inconsistent. The massive restructuring of all current systems has taken a toll on some people in the organization. Missed deadlines and unforeseen problems have occurred. The way in which the new ownership has responded to the unforeseen issues has been impressive. I feel that new ownership has shown an unwavering amount of dedication to the new organizational vision it has set in place. Considering the amount of change, the owners have been very clear and approachable throughout the transformation. I respect and support their efforts in remaining approachable and supportive. They exude an understanding of what each existing member or employee is going through.   Ownership has been very aware of the ego state of the organization. â€Å"Every interaction between people involves a transaction between their ego states. When one person converses with a second person, the first person is in a distinct ego state and can direct the message to an y of the three ego states in the second individual.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 230.) Ownership has made every effort to have open and complementary transactions with groups and individuals throughout the organization. At the same time, they have also shown that the organization will move forward with or without its current members. Holding people accountable has been extremely important. â€Å"In today’s changing environment, organizations that encourage individual ability and hold employees accountable for achieving goals are more likely to succeed.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 381.) The practitioners have been able to accentuate individual strengths and weaknesses within its existing employee body. This approach has brought on a spirit of contribution to the cause of the new vision presented to the ‘old guards’ of the organization. This is a very clever approach to affecting change. Also, the new leaders of the organization have discovered some hidden talents within its current team-members. Finding an existing and in-place pool of needed skills has helped the new leaders keep an aggressive time-line for the development of change. New owners did not have to look completely outside the organization for skills that will enable change. Instead, new owners were able to motivate change by looking for solutions internally. Looking for hidden talents helped to reaffirm the positive culture of opportunity and renewed perceptions of the employee skillset. An internal approach to solving or rectifying identified issues has also kept the cost of change down. Existing members already have a sense of where the shared vision of the company is going. Existing staff has a greater stake in the organization’s success. Because of shareholder accountability, ownership is smart to look internally for as many talents as possible. Ownership believed by stream-lining technologies and accounting systems, it could improve the quality of the guest experience and profitability of its organization. Ownership started this process by surveying all existing management to try and determine what each manager actually knew about the existing programs and technologies. A methodical and measured approach to re-designing office systems will enable the organization to become more consistent in gathering data and measuring the performance of both restaurants. Their  vision of the future of the organization has been effectively shared with everyone involved . The deadlines for improvements have been followed-up effectively. A weekly meeting between ownership and upper management takes place. In these meetings, organizational effectiveness is measured by how well goals and objectives are accomplished. At first, goals were very broad and basic. Managers were asked to evaluate their knowledge of existing point of sale programs, invoicing programs, and budgetary knowledge. Once ownership felt it had acquired enough knowledge about existing systems, the project or ‘goal’ chart was updated and tasks became more narrow and specialized in focus. Managers were held accountable to their goals based on their strengths or expertise. For example, one manager is very adept with computers. This has become his area of focus for the remainder of the re-development of the organization. â€Å"The collection of data is an important activity providing the organization and the practitioner with a better understanding of client system problems: the diagnosis.† (Brown, D.R., 2011, page 19.) Ownership has been very diligent about data accuracy. Every number and system has been reviewed for accuracy and consistency. In order for the company to move forward, ownership has to determine what is and what is not vital to the new organizational vision. Ownership has already picked two new sites for additional restaurants. It is important that both restaurants operate in the same way as the business grows. This is why organizational effectiveness has to be optimized and not hap-hazard. â€Å"Organizational practitioners need to assess the influence of variables in diagnostic models on organizational outcomes, and effectiveness has often been used as the primary outcome measurement. (Handy, 1985, p. 85; Burke and Litwin, 1992). The new owners have done an excellent job moving the new organization through a surprising change of ownership. I have enjoyed watching how these new owners have handled the organizational development of the restaurant. Organizational change and development is certainly not easy. Leadership from the owners to the managers has to stay on course with the changes. Total commitment and a positive attitude are necessary. Negativity spreads like wildfire when redeveloping an organization. The owners have worked hard to cope and shape their environments, through the way they organize and operate their organization. The history of organizational development has to be an interesting one. As I watch these new owners re-tool both establishments, I wonder if they are taking the same course in organizational development that I am. The owners have to pass forward their beliefs or values as to what the restaurants should be. Things that worked before might be tossed. New things are   introduced. The style of service and the menu, the technology, are all things the owners have to push forward to current and new employees. All the while, business is ongoing. The doors are open. Customers are hearing of the sale and are passionate about the changes. Some changes are subtle. Some changes are extreme. How does the ownership remain familiar to what the concept once was? The entire process is exhausting. The public’s resistance to change is fierce at times. One very popular item on the menu was discontinued when the new menu was rolled out. Granted, the menu had not changed in four years. Servers and cooks were tired of doing the same thing every day. The item that was discontinued was actually a very bland and tasteless item. Servers and cooks hated selling it. There was excitement and concern when the new ownership wanted to get rid of it. We all knew we were in for it when the new menu came out. Sure enough, customers have missed not having this item on the menu. Customers have been very vocal about this one item. Ownership feels that quality ingredients, perfect preparation, and impeccable service will build sales. There is a determination that the new regime can move past this one dish and convince the fickle public that there are a lot of other good reasons to dine at our restaurants. We are doing more than trying to keep our existing clientele. We are building a new clientele. Whatever perceptions the public had of us before does not matter. It is interesting to hear the complaints about some of our changes. All the while, most of the same staff works at the restaurant. The only real changes the public see are dress codes and menu changes. Otherwise, most change is behind the scenes. Because of the intense scrutiny mistakes in service or execution of the shift has to be perfect. We cannot afford to be less than perfect right now. Complacency has no place in the restaurant business. To be successful, we should always be looking ahead and learning from our past mistakes. We should always challenge ourselves to be better than we were yesterday. We are always training and learning. Managers should be acting as coaches and mentors to the staff. Management at all levels should not only ‘talk the talk’, they should ‘walk the walk’. However, the complaints are not always fair. The new menu is terrific. Quality and service are actually better than ever. The new owners spent a lot of money to help update and fix equipment that was vital to running the restaurant. Ownership has brought in more management and has improved the morale of the restaurant, not to mention the quality of life for all salaried people like myself. There has been a certain camaraderie resulting from moving toward common goals with other people. There is now a belief that we are a better place today because of our efforts. The best interventions from a   values point of view are those that help clients prepare their place in the future, whether its creation or adaptation. I am sure as we move forward that we will come in to our own again. The once faithful group of regulars will either go their own way or forgive us. Organizational development is a change strategy. â€Å"OD principles and techniques are experiencing a renaissance, thanks to the growth of the field of change management.† (Worren, N.A.M., Ruddle, K., & Moore, K.,1999, paragraph 3.) Organizational development requires a change in behaviors. These behaviors, good or bad, become the organizational culture. The organizational beliefs and values start at the top of the food chain, the owners. What is important to the owner should be important to the worker in that organization. It is imperative that the owner or any organization find a way to keep his people motivated and passionate about his organization’s products. Therefore, the leadership of any organization has to ‘connect’ to develop change and organizational success. Leadership has to be viewed as the change master. An organization that wants to remain vital, must be able to deal with change. A restaurant is an excellent example of a business in a constant state of change. For some restaurants the menu can stay the same. Maybe that is what people like about the place. However, what goes on outside the restaurant can cause a need for change inside the restaurant. Roads are closed, the economy is shrinking, parking is now too difficult to bother, these are all worrisome real-life issues that any organization or restaurant might have to deal with. The restaurant cannot afford to maintain the status quo, change is simply that critical. Kurt Lewin developed the concept of force-field analysis. This philosophy is â€Å"deceptively simple and can be used to help plan and manage organizational change.† (Cumming, T.G., & Huse, E.R. 1989, page 3.) Lewin believed that an organizational behavior was affected by the balance of two opposing forces. When these opposing forces are at odds, change happens. According to Lewin, there are driving forces and restraining forces. Driving forces affect and assist in the desired change. Restraining forces do quite the opposite. Restraining forces represent obstacles to the change. â€Å"If the weights of the driving and restraining forces are relatively equal, then the organization will remain static.†(Cumming, T.G., & Huse, E.R. 1989, page 3.) Ownership has to remain aware of the balance of power these two forces represent for the organization. Change has to appear to always be for the good of the whole organization. People are wary of change and must be made to feel a part of its success in order to help embrace the new mindset. Lewin’s force-field analysis works as a method of environmental scanning and as a way for creating an empowering environment to the culture of the organization. The new owners have done an excellent job moving the organization forward. The efforts made to gather data and technical knowledge have been diligent. The new owners have moved forward by doing their homework. After reviewing all the necessary information, ownership has been able to assimilate all the necessary funds, materials, staff and time. As the organizational development process has moved forward, it has become obvious that the owners plan on giving their newly acquired business the tools it needs to accomplish the shared vision. This, of course, has led to the owners’ final phase of organizational development, the support of their people. At first, ownership had to tread lightly. In the beginning, it was as if the new owners wrapped their arms around us all and said â€Å"everything will be alright, just stick with us.† As the new team moved forward, some upper management was asked to leave. Time has been a good indicator of the ownerships’ dedication to the new vision and culture of the organization. Their efforts have been unwavering and very consistent. In this paper, I have detailed the importance of organizational development as it relates to my own company’s recent sale to a new group of owners. The process of organizational development has been fascinating to watch. Although the constant evaluation of all systems and actions throughout the organization has been exhausting, I believe ownership has succeeded in redeveloping a once tired and inefficient culture. Employees and managers have felt a greater sense of purpose towards the new organization. New ownership has successfully relayed a positive sense of urgency and purpose towards its existing staff and team members. The revamping of the organizational culture has brought forth a better quality employee and better quality experience for the organization’s customers. The organizational development techniques applied by the new ownership has helped to improve the profitability of both restaurants. New ownership had once touted that two additional restaurants would be opening within twelve months. Because of the success in developing organizational change, new ownership has now determined a new restaurant can be opened in only six months instead of twelve. This fast organizational growth is to be celebrated because it is a direct result of the diligent efforts of ownership and all staff involved after the transfer of ownership became official. Trust, a positive practitioner-client relationship, a successful diagnostic evaluation and change, effective communication between ownership and employees, and the importance of strategy has allowed this organization to become stronger and advance its number of concepts. In short, growth happens if organizational development is applied effectively. References: Brown, D.R., (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organizational Development (8th ed). Upper Saddle River Pearson Prentice Hall. Retrieved from: http://onlinevitalsource.com/#books/9780558857257/pages/31616081. Cumming, T.G., & Huse, E.F. (1989), Organizational Development and Change (4th ed.) St Paul, MN: West Publishing. Retrieved from: http://jeritt.msu.edu/documents/TallmanWithoutAttachment.pc. Gandell, S., 2010, How Blockbuster Failed at Failing, Time Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.time.com/magazine/article/0,9171,2022624-2,00.html. Goldstein, L. and Burke, W. (1991), Creating successful organizational change, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 19, page 5-17. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/215864273?accountid=32521 Handy, C. (1985), Understanding Organizations, Penguin, London. Retreived from: http://search.proquest.com/business/docview/215864273/13901F6FOC3249E4570/1?accountid=32521 Lok, P., & Crawford, J., (2000). The application of a diagnostic model and s urveys in organizational development. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15(2), 108-124. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215864273?accountid=32521.) Salgado, S.R. (2003), Fine Restaurants: Creating inimitable advantages in a competitive industry. New York University, Graduate School of Business Administration). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 161 p. retrieved from: http://www.search.proquest.com/docview/305261479?accountid=32521305261479. Worren, N.A.M., Ruddle, K., & Moore, K. (1999.) From organizational development to change management: the emergence of a new profession. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35(3), 273-286. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/236248857?accountid=32521.

Temple of Heaven

The layout and architecture of the Temple of Heaven is filled with symbolism. According to symbolic tradition, Heaven is round and the earth is square. Therefore, all of the buildings in the temple complex are round in shape, while their retaining walls and the axis are square. The surrounding walls of the complex also reflect these traditions. The southern side of the wall is square and the northern is round. The emperor would enter the temple complex from the south and this would symbolize his transition from earth to heaven. The glazed roof tiles of the major buildings in the temple complex are blue, symbolizing heaven.Other buildings have green or yellow roof tiles. The green tiles represent Buddhism and the yellow represent the emperor. Only imperial or imperial sanctioned buildings were allowed the colored tile roofs. The building was built without a single nail. The beams, pillars, and rafters were built in such a way that the weight of the building holds the structure togethe r. The hall has 28 pillars which symbolize the 28 constellations. In the center of the hall are four pillars known as the Dragon Well Pillars. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is surrounded by a square surrounding wall.On the east and west sides of the hall are two halls which was where the gods of the sun, the moon, the stars, thunder, and lighting were prayed to. These halls now exhibit the musical instruments played during the ceremonies at the Temple of Heaven. A round building with a single-gabled roof topped with a gilded ball, the Imperial Vault of Heaven is located directly south of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. It was first built in 1530 and rebuilt in 1752 by Emperor Qianlong. Its design is similar to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, but on a much smaller scale.It is built on a single tiered marble base. The vault housed the tablet of the Emperor of Heaven and the emperor’s ancestral tablets. These tablets were prayed to and offered offerings and we re used as a symbolic representation of the emperor’s ancestors. The surrounding wall around the Imperial Vault of Heaven is commonly referred to as the Echo Wall. Because of the way it was built, if a person standing on one side, facing the wall and whispers towards it, a person on the opposite side can hear it clearly. Directly in front of the Imperial Vault of Heaven is what is known as the Triple Sound Stone.If a person stands on the first stone and speaks towards the vault, his words will echo once. If he stands on the second stone, his words will echo twice. If he stands on the third stone, his words will echo three times. It is quite remarkable and absolutely true. Circular Mound Altar: South of the Imperial Vault of Heaven lies the Circular Mound Alter. Originally built in 1530 by Emperor Jiajing, it was rebuilt in 1740 by Emperor Qianlong. The altar is a three tiered plinth made entirely of white marble. It is here that the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties off ered sacrifices to heaven annually on the winter solstice.The ceremony was meant to thank heaven and ensure that the next year would be prosperous. The numbers of stones which make up each tier are in multiples of nine, which is a prevailing theme at the Temple of Heaven and in fact, all imperial sites. In Daoism, even numbers represent women and odd numbers represent men. The highest odd number is nine and it is representative of the emperor. In the center of the top terrace is a round stone known as the Heaven’s Heart Stone. Usage Since the emperor of China was considered the Son of Heaven, he was responsible for administer earthly matters on behalf of heaven.He did this by offering sacrifices to heaven. Twice a year, the emperor, along with thousands of eunuchs, ministers, and princes would proceed to the Temple of Heaven. The emperor would fast in the Hall of Abstinence located near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests for several days. He would live in the complex during the ceremonies. The entire country relied on the emperor for good harvests and weather. The ceremonies were prepared for months in advance and it was believed that it had to be perfectly performed because the smallest mistake would be a bad omen for the coming year.If there was a year of flooding or famine, the people would believe that the emperor had fallen out of favor with heaven, so it was of extreme importance for the emperor to ensure everything went perfectly. Outside of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the emperor would personally use oxen to plow a few rows to symbolize the first plowing and planting of the season. At the Imperial Vault of Heaven, the emperor would pray to the Emperor of Heaven and his ancestors, and on the Circular Mount altar, he would pray to heaven for a year of good weather and luck. All of these rituals ensured that the emperor and the empire would be prosperous.Currant Usage For centuries, no commoner was allowed to look inside the Temple of H eaven. Today it is open to the public and has become a beautiful park that is as popular with locals as with tourists. The complex is very large and the areas around the temples are large and filled with ancient cypress trees. Locals will arrive early in the morning to perform taichi, play badminton, chess, or dance, play music, or sing with their friends. The temple complex has a real community feel to it and it is a wonderful place to mingle with locals and see firsthand what locals do in their free time.Built as a place of worship, the temple is different from any other imperial structures. There are two parts in the temple zone. The outer wall of the temple zone is 6,416 meters in length while the inner wall 3,292 meters long. The architecture of the temple represents two themes: in the heaven and on the earth. The 6 meters high walls of the temple constitute a semi- circle in the north and a semi- rectangle in the south. This special layout illustrates an important belief in an cient China that the heaven is round and the earth rectangular.The northern section of the wall is high while the south is low, which means that the heaven is higher and superior to earth. All the essential architecture of the temple were built along a north – south central axis and are linked by a bridge called Danbi. The four main structures from the south to the north are the Circular Mound later (Huang Yuan Qiu Tan), the Imperial Heavenly Vault (Huang Qiong Yu), the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest (Qi Nian Dian), and the Hall of Imperial Zenith (Huang Qi Dian). Other interesting places in the park include the Hall of Abstinence, the Dressing Platform and the Nine Dragon Cypress.

Leadership and Management Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leadership and Management Development - Essay Example It is done in order to amplify the inner skills and confidence of the employees towards the assigned tasks that may improve their level of performance. By doing so, the level of productivity and profitability of the organization might get enhanced to a significant extent that may augment its position and ranking in the market among others. However, in order to maintain the operation of the organization in an efficient way, the leader needs to maintain good interpersonal relationship with its employees. By communicating with them, in terms of various issues, the level of participation might get enhanced that may improve the performance of the organization as a whole. Thus, it might be clearly the better the qualities of a leader the better might be the performance of an organization (Ulrich, 1997, pp. 223-234). According to Northouse (2010), leadership is an art or skill that is attained by the individual through vigorous communication and interactions with a wide range of individual or employees. By doing so, varied types of ideas and suggestions are presented in front of wide range of individual, who might also participate in the decision-making process. As a result, the level of confidence and thinking power of the individual also gets enhanced to a significant extent as compared to others. Moreover, due to strategic thinking process, the creativity and innovativeness of the leader to present varied types of ideas related to improvement of the organizational performance and position in the market might get amplified (Northhouse, 2010, pp. 110-123). In addition to this, through coaching and development learning programs, the self assessment and team-building skills of the individual might get enhanced. Such type of skills might also amplify the problem solving nature of the individual that may reduce the conflicts and clashes among the employees. By doing so, the level

Peter Josephs Where are we going. Culture lag Essay

Peter Josephs Where are we going. Culture lag - Essay Example The main quest of this movement is to find a new way that leads to transition by promoting a social design, namely, â€Å"Resource Based Economy† (What is The Zeitgeist Movement?). Zeitgeist movement proposes certain observations and identifies that the present world is kept away from the physical world, with techniques and new innovations separated from the environment. Peter Joseph, in his speech makes a right judgment about this movement, their observations about society, government, monetary system, free-market capitalization, and so on. In the first part of his speech Joseph is specifically focusing on â€Å"Culture lag† and â€Å"Pluralistic ignorance,† the two grave issues affecting the modern society. Joseph begins his tremendous speech by describing the transitions occurred to social life during the past centuries. The speaker has identified that history has marked the evolution of human life all through these years. Thus, he identifies the ten thousand years old Neolithic Age, Agricultural Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age which paved the way for gradual development in society. The speaker has presented various study reports in order to prove the immense growth of technological inventions and the amazing growth of the evolution of technology. However, the speaker observes technological development as the primary factor promoting the development of human civilization, belief system, philosophy, friends, references and the like. Anyhow, for the speaker, the society is diffident in fully accepting these technological developments. This reticence is what the speaker calls as â€Å"culture lag.† â€Å"Culture lag† is the phenomenon where culture takes time to catch up with technological inventions, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag (Joseph). To make it clear, one can see that it is the difficulty of any traditional establishment in adjusting with the technological invention. The speaker provides var ious examples in order to prove the culture lag. One of the best examples Joseph presents is the severe punishment and threat the Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo faced when he revealed that the earth is revolving round the sun. It is only after 76 years the world acknowledged his discovery. This can aptly be called as culture lag. Culture lag probably leads to â€Å"pluralistic ignorance† the other issue to which the speaker brings one’s attention. ‘Pluralistic ignorance occurs where the majority of individuals in a group assume that most of their others are different in some way, whilst the truth is that they are more similar than they realize’ (Pluralistic Ignorance). Joseph identifies that the present monetary system is defective as it is aiming only the profit and disregarding human labor or emotions. One should note the fact that money is not a natural resource, it is a convention. The Zeitgeists moves away from the general way of thinking an d proposes their own perspectives. This is quite evident when Joseph describing his discovery that problems and scarcity are promoting profit other than the economic principles, demand and supply. The speaker also recognizes the real intension of wars as hoarding money and there is no war for homelessness. Abundance, sustainability and efficiency are the enemies of profit. Free-market capitalism is the economic religion of today, Joseph adds. The pluralistic ignorance can also be explained in terms of ethics and competition, criminal behavior, government and democracy, activism and ethics, and so on. Thus, one can see that Peter Joseph’s speech, â€Å"Where are we going?† clearly exposes certain issues with regard to culture lag and pluralistic ignora

Mathematical Expressions and Order of Operations Speech or Presentation

Mathematical Expressions and Order of Operations - Speech or Presentation Example What is the growth rate of its real GDP? Assume that population is 100 in year 1 and 102 in year 2. What is the growth rate of GDP per capita? 11. Key Question If the CPI was 110 last year and is 121 this year, what is this year’s rate of inflation? What is the â€Å"rule of 70†? How long would it take for the price level to double if inflation persisted at (a) 2, (b) 5, and (c) 10 percent per year? 2. Key Question Graph the accompanying demand data, and then use the midpoint formula for Ed to determine price elasticity of demand for each of the four possible $1 price changes. What can you conclude about the relationship between the slope of a curve and its elasticity? Explain in a nontechnical way why demand is elastic in the northwest segment of the demand curve and inelastic in the southeast segment. The price elasticity of demand is unity. Below the equilibrium point, which denoted a point of no profit no loss between the sales and demand, an increase in demand would cause a fall in price, thereby resulting in a producer surplus. As such, more goods are produced and the low price results in decreased profits. In the case of the region above the equilibrium point, an increase in price would require the production of less goods. Therefore, for a quantity of goods sold, the profit margin would be greater. Hence, the demand curve is considered to be elastic in this region. 7. Key Question A firm has fixed costs of $60 and variable costs as indicated in the table on the following page. Complete the table and check your calculations by referring to question 4 at the end of Chapter 23. b. Graph AFC, AVC, ATC, and MC. Explain the derivation and shape of each of these four curves and their relationships to one another. Specifically, explain in nontechnical terms why the MC curve intersects both the AVC and the ATC curves at their minimum